- Game: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD
- Platform: Wii U
- Release Date: March 4, 2016
- Takeaway: Graphical Letdown
Some previously stalwart opinions of mine are beginning to get flipped around, thanks to the newly revealed Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD. I used to be of the opinion that The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD was a somewhat unnecessary remake, considering the original GameCube version already looks so striking and unique, even by today’s standards. Its development story bears strong resemblance to that of Twilight Princess HD. Both originally released on GameCube (setting aside the Wii port of Twilight Princess), and both have been treated to a new HD coat of paint on Wii U. Neither have been given a complete overhaul in terms of character models or environments.
Twilight Princess HD has made me realize that I was wrong to think The Wind Waker didn’t need or deserve the remake treatment. I now believe that The Wind Waker is much more deserving of it than Twilight Princess, in fact.
Allow me to be somewhat harsh. Twilight Princess, brilliantly well-designed game though it is, takes place in a world that might have been too ambitious for its own good. Hyrule Field is huge, yet it is visually bland and lifeless. There’s something missing in other locations as well. Hills, mountains, bridges, and more seem somewhat blockish and pointy in a world that tries and, to a degree, fails to look organic and realistic.
Many fans were disappointed by the Twilight Princess HD footage shown in the recent Nintendo Direct. To them I ask, what were you hoping for? The only way to save Twilight Princess from the above mentioned issues would be to rebuild the world and characters from the ground up, in a similar vein to the Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask remakes. I wasn’t disappointed in the least, because I knew the difference between the original Twilight Princess and the HD remake would not be great. And I knew that because I have personally been able to closely compare the original Wind Waker to its HD remake.
So it all boils down to art style. The Wind Waker was more deserving of an HD remake than Twilight Princess because The Wind Waker‘s visuals had a greater ability to shine in HD, thanks to color and style.
That’s not to say I dislike Twilight Princess. Far from it; I remember the game with fondness and, believe it or not, I have already pre-ordered the HD remake. Yes, it was mostly for the Wolf Link amiibo, which I probably should have talked more about, but I look forward to having a good excuse to revisit the game and celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Legend of Zelda franchise!
More Direct Takes
I think a from the the ground up approach for Twilight Princess would have been amazing. Probably could’ve looked like that Zelda tech demo shown when Wii U was first shown. Unfortunately though I think they quickly decided to make this to sort of fill negative reaction to no Zelda Wii U this year. In fact I’d almost say this announcement guarantees that Zelda Wii U will also be Zelda NX next holiday season.