The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD
| The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD | |
|---|---|
 North American cover art | |
| Developer(s) | |
| Publisher(s) | Nintendo |
| Director(s) | Tomomi Sano |
| Producer(s) | Eiji Aonuma |
| Programmer(s) | Sean O'Sullivan |
| Artist(s) | Paul Court |
| Series | The Legend of Zelda |
| Platform(s) | Wii U |
| Release date(s) | |
| Genre(s) | Action-adventure |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD (Japanese: ゼルダの伝説 トワイライトプリンセス HD Hepburn: Zeruda no Densetsu: Towairaito Purinsesu HD) is an action-adventure game in Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda series for the Wii U home video game console. A high-definition remaster of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, originally released for the GameCube and Wii in 2006, it was released worldwide in March 2016. The game was co-developed by Tantalus and Nintendo Entertainment Planning & Development and published by Nintendo. Announced during a Nintendo Direct presentation in November 2015, the title features enhanced graphics and Amiibo functionality.
Gameplay
Gameplay in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD is largely unchanged from that in the original title, Twilight Princess. As in all previous The Legend of Zelda games, players control the series' main protagonist, a young swordsman named Link. In combat, Link primarily uses a sword and shield; his other weapons include a bow and arrows, a boomerang, and bombs.
Similar to The Wind Waker HD, many of the gameplay tweaks present in Twilight Princess HD involve its support for the Wii U GamePad. The controller's touchscreen displays a map of the current area and Link's inventory, allowing the player to quickly switch items. Projectiles can be aimed using the GamePad's motion controls; the game can be played solely on the controller via Off-TV Play. The player can swap between Link's human and wolf forms faster by pressing a button on the touchscreen. The Wii U Pro Controller is also supported.[1]
Scanning the Wolf Link Amiibo figurine transports the player character to a Wii U-exclusive challenge dungeon called the "Cave of Shadows"[1] and can carry data over to the upcoming 2017 Zelda game.[2] Other Zelda-related Amiibo figurines have distinct functions: Link and Toon Link replenish arrows, Zelda and Sheik restore Link's health, and Ganondorf causes Link to take twice as much damage.[1]
In the Cave of Shadows, Link fights waves of enemies while restricted to his wolf form.[1] Comparable to the optional "Cave of Ordeals" present in the original release, opportunities to recover health during the trial are sparse.[3] The player unlocks portions of the Cave of Shadows while advancing in the game.[1]
"Hero Mode", a higher difficulty setting first introduced in Skyward Sword,[4] returns in Twilight Princess HD. Activating the Ganondorf Amiibo while in Hero Mode quadruples the amount of damage Link normally takes when hit.[1]
Development
After the release of The Wind Waker HD, which was developed internally at Nintendo, the Zelda team decided it would pursue a remake of Twilight Princess. At the time, the developers at Nintendo were preoccupied with the upcoming Zelda title for the Wii U, so an external development studio, Tantalus, was approached to work on Twilight Princess HD.[5]
According to Eiji Aonuma, who directed the original release and produced Twilight Princess HD, ensuring the remake would take advantage of the GamePad was a point of focus early in the title's development. The control scheme used in the GameCube version was adapted for the remaster due to similarities between the button layouts of the two consoles' controllers.[5]
Aonuma considered underwater gameplay in the remake significantly improved. Other enhancements include speeding up a handful of cutscenes that seemed prolonged by modern standards[5] and reducing repetitive gameplay elements, such as collecting Tears of Light while in the Twilight Realm.[6]
A commitment to "preserving the feel of the original" inspired several design decisions, such as keeping the frame rate at 30 frames per second.[5] Tomomi Sano, the assistant director of the Wii U version, noted the degree of refinement the graphics would receive required much consideration: "When we created more precise models of objects to go with the higher resolution, we found that everything was too clear and we lost that soft and delicate atmosphere that you get in particular at twilight or with the light in a forest."[5]
Release
Twilight Princess HD was announced during a Nintendo Direct presentation on November 12, 2015.[2] The game was released in North America and Europe on March 4, 2016; in Australia on March 5, 2016;[7] and in Japan on March 10, 2016.[8] Certain bundles of the game include a Wolf Link Amiibo figurine.[2] A CD containing 20 musical selections from the game was available as a GameStop preorder bonus in North America, and was included with the limited-edition bundle in other regions.[9]
In the first week of Twilight Princess HD's release, the remaster was the second best-selling game in the United Kingdom and the best-selling game released for a single platform in the country.[10]
Reception
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Twilight Princess HD holds a score of 86/100 at the review aggregator Metacritic, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[11]
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Otero, Jose (February 4, 2016). "The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD Looks (and Plays) Better Than You Think". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on February 4, 2016. Retrieved February 6, 2016.
- 1 2 3 Otero, Jose (November 12, 2015). "The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD Announced for Wii U". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on November 15, 2015. Retrieved November 14, 2015.
- ↑ Phillips, Tom (January 21, 2016). "Zelda: Twilight Princess HD's Amiibo-exclusive dungeon revealed". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on January 22, 2016. Retrieved March 8, 2016.
- ↑ Otero, Jose (August 22, 2013). "The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD Offers a Definitive Experience". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on August 22, 2013. Retrieved March 4, 2016.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Aonuma, Eiji; Sano, Tomomi (March 2, 2016). Interview: Eiji Aonuma and Tomomi Sano Shed Light on The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD. Nintendo Life. Interview with Thomas Whitehead (Gamer Network). Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
- 1 2 McElroy, Griffin (March 1, 2016). "The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD review". Polygon. Vox Media. Archived from the original on March 1, 2016. Retrieved March 3, 2016.
- ↑ "The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD, Hyrule Warriors: Legends, and New Nintendo 3DS XL Hyrule edition provide a Triforce of releases to start 2016". Nintendo. January 22, 2016. Archived from the original on January 23, 2016. Retrieved February 6, 2016.
- ↑ Romano, Sal (January 29, 2016). "The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD story trailer". Gematsu. Archived from the original on January 30, 2016. Retrieved February 6, 2016.
- ↑ Jenni (February 19, 2016). "The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD’s Sound Selection CD Features 20 Remastered Tracks". Siliconera. Curse, Inc. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved March 3, 2016.
- ↑ Whitehead, Thomas (March 7, 2016). "The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD Leads the Way for Nintendo in UK Charts". Nintendo Life. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on March 7, 2016. Retrieved March 7, 2016.
- 1 2 "The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD for Wii U Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. 2016. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
- ↑ Crossley, Rob (March 1, 2016). "The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD Review". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on March 1, 2016. Retrieved March 3, 2016.
- ↑ Otero, Jose (March 1, 2016). "The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD Review". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on March 2, 2016. Retrieved March 3, 2016.
- ↑ Whitehead, Thomas (March 1, 2016). "Review: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD". Nintendo Life. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on March 1, 2016. Retrieved April 6, 2016.
- ↑ Ronaghan, Neal (March 1, 2016). "The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD (Wii U) Review". Nintendo World Report. Archived from the original on March 2, 2016. Retrieved April 6, 2016.
