A reader argues that Zelda : Twilight Princess is the best entry in the series and unfairly criticised for being unoriginal. It’s probably going to be at least five years till we get another mainline Zelda game. There’ll obviously be other games in the meantime, like remakes, remasters, and spin-offs, but the next game is going take ages, especially as it doesn’t use the same map as Breath Of The Wild .
I’m really looking forward to this year’s Zelda: Echoes Of Wisdom , as it seems a very imaginative spin on the usual gameplay, but it’s going to be very different to the regular games. Since it’s going to be such a long wait until the next ‘proper’ Zelda I feel we’re going to see a lot of best of lists and the like ranking the current ones, especially if they start remaking some of the older ones (I am all for redoing Ocarina Of Time and Oracle Of Seasons/Ages). What always annoys me is that my favourite Zelda is almost always near the bottom of the list, especially once you discount the portable and other weirder games.
But Twilight Princess is absolutely my favourite Zelda. I think there’s an argument to be made that you can’t really compare the classic and newer formulas, but especially if you’re only looking at the classic ones, I’d say that Twilight Princess does it better than any, including Ocarina Of Time and The Wind Waker. The main complaint against Twilight Princess, that I have heard, is that it’s too similar to Ocarina Of Time.
I can understand that, because that’s certainly what it’s riffing on, but it’s not like it’s a copy and I would say it was much better in almost every way. Ocarina Of Time was groundbreaking, there’s no doubt. One of the most important video games of all time.
But playing it now, its age is very obvious, not just in terms of the graphics but the restrictive design of the maps and enemies. Twilight Princess is much more epic in scope and feels much more like a modern game, especially after the HD remaster. It might not be the most innovative entry, but I feel everything with the wolf form was handled very well and Midna is fantastic.
She’s only ever been in one game (weirdly) but she’s got far more personality than Zelda or Ganondorf or anyone else in the series. It’s no wonder she’s a fan favourite and when you compare her to annoying characters like Fi or non-entities like Impa it’s really no contest. On the other hand, I admit some of the other character designs can be a bit.
.. ugly but I like it, it adds to the sense of weirdness in the game, which is quite a bit darker in tone than most of the others.
For me it’s the perfect balance for a Zelda game: not too childish and not attempting to be grimdark. Again, it’s something that Nintendo has never really tried again since then. The dungeon designs are great too.
City in the Sky, Arbiter’s Grounds, and Snowpeak Ruins are all top 10 creations for the whole series and a hundred times better than anything in Breath Of The Wild or Tears Of The Kingdom (I love those games too but the dungeons are the worst thing about them). More Trending 'Microsoft should sell its Xbox business to Nintendo' ‘Why I’m skipping this generation and will never buy a PS5’ ‘The best video game of the year is not what you think’ - Reader’s Feature ‘Sony should release all their PS4 games for Nintendo Switch 2’ - Reader’s Feature It may not be the most original entry, but I really feel that has led to Twilight Princess being unfairly criticised, as it’s excellent in all other areas. I hope there’s a new remaster for the Switch (or a remake for the Switch 2) and then hopefully more people will be able to appreciate it.
By reader Franky The reader’s features do not necessarily represent the views of GameCentral or Metro. You can submit your own 500 to 600-word reader feature at any time, which if used will be published in the next appropriate weekend slot. Just contact us at gamecentral@metro.
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