Zelda: The history of a legendary saga by Nicolas Courcier & Mehdi el Kanafi

Author:Nicolas Courcier & Mehdi el Kanafi [Courcier, Nicolas & El Kanafi, Mehdi]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Third Editions
Published: 2019-02-19T05:00:00+00:00

REFINED MECHANICS

Now comfortable in its 3D skin, the new entry in the Zelda series continues to refine the basic formula introduced in Ocarina of Time. From this point of view, there are no major surprises, as Twilight Princess remains extremely faithful to the structure and gameplay of its predecessors.

The main innovation therefore lies in Link’s transformation into a wolf at the beginning of the story. The character gains new abilities from his new form: he can dig in the ground, detect smells (which appear on-screen in a visual form for the player), and jump on his enemies to bite them. In general, Link’s abilities as a wolf are fairly true to reality; we never see him fighting with a sword in his mouth like in Kingdom Hearts II or Ōkami. After Twilight Princess was introduced at E3, many people pointed out the obvious similarities with Capcom’s Ōkami—although it is only fair to point out that the gameplay in that game was itself inspired by the Zelda series as a whole, and that its atmosphere was reminiscent of the light tone of The Wind Waker. In the end, the presence of a canine hero and a few artistic similarities are merely superficial details. We must simply admit that the two games were developed in parallel, and conclude that their similarities reflect a convergence of ideas rather than plagiarism in either direction. Indeed, Ōkami is widely seen as one of the greatest homages ever made to Miyamoto and Aonuma’s classic saga.

We mentioned before that Link can count on Midna’s help during his time as a wolf. Riding on the animal’s back, the young resident of the Twilight Realm can assist him in several ways. When climbing, she helps Link get to hard-to-reach places; in battles, she allows the hero to lock on to multiple enemies at once, then take them out in one continuous chain—which turns out to be the only technique that is effective against the Shadow Beasts.

Twilight Princess also adds another innovation to the usual structure of a Zelda game. In the first part of the adventure, when Link is in wolf form, he must drive the shadows from Hyrule by breaking the Twilight’s grip on occupied areas. To do so, he must find and destroy Shadow Insects in order to collect enough Tears of Light to fill the corresponding Vessel of Light. This is the only way to free the good spirits in each area who can drive away the darkness. By introducing a mission that breaks out of the usual village-dungeon-boss cycle, these enjoyable sequences provide a bit of diversity, while also extending the length of the game considerably.

Besides these new features, there are also a few new items in Link’s inventory, as expected. These include the Clawshot, the Dominion Rod (which allows Link to bring statues to life and control them), the Ball and Chain, and the Spinner (a floating vehicle shaped like a gear). It’s even possible to combine items now: for example, combining the bow with bombs allows Link to fire explosive arrows.

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