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Twilight Princess: Link plus Zelda plus Midna by Zelbunnii (found here).

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess:

Take a seat guys, because i'm about to tell you of not only my favorite Action Adventure game, but my second favorite game of all time. First some music:

Before I got my Wii, my main source of enjoyment with the console was playing it with a close friend of mine who had it (and still has it even if he got a PS3). I played with him mostly Wii Sports and Mario & Sonic at The Olympic Games, but one which we only played for a while but never knew what to do was The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.

I knew about the game at that time and also heard it was pretty good, but due to my basic knowledge of English (my friend himself didn't know anything) and our failure to do basic stuff, we couldn't even at first pass the first basic missions at the village. Still, I wanted to play the game, so after I received my Wii, I got to buy the game around early 2009.

After creating a file, I did the very early part where you had to send goats to the stable and then did the village tasks, or known as the parts I got stuck with my friend. However, the reason why we couldn't continue is pretty stupid: we didn't know we had to buy a slingshot. Idiotic, I know, but hey, I was aroud 12, so my english was very basic. Still, I managed to do that and then I knew the game would get good once the monkey appeared, one of the kids got lost chacing it and I had to return him back, since that part involved going depper into the forest and do the first serious combats and explorations, which I thought were very fun.

However, the real experience started much later after I finished that mission when Bulblins attacked the village and their king left Link unconcious. When Link wakes up exalted to the events that transpired, he runs fast to the path to the woods, only to find a mysterious dark wall. As he aproaches, he's dragged behind the wall by a big hand. Inside, he suffers a painful transformation that turns him into a wolf. He faints and then is dragged away by mysterious creatures, while another myterious figure watches.

We then wake up inside Hyrule Castle and meet that mysterious figure called Midna, an imp who is quite the jerkass and has her own agenda. Then we set to explore the castle in our new Wolf form and meet Princess Zelda herself, who tells us about our current situation and what is going on with the twilight, the darkness that is covering the entire territory of Hyrule. After exiting the castle and being transported by Midna to the place where we were attacked, it was time to start an adventure of epic proportions.

From there on, I was hooked into the game and loved everything about it. However, tragedy struck when around the water temple, I couldn't play my copy of the game anymore. It wasn't damaged, but revealing what happened would take another blog that I hope to do someday, as it has to do with a controversial topic (I revealed that to whatacow in a blog, but no one noticed, so Blake, if you're seeing this, shhhhh :P).

I wanted to continue the game, but for some reason, didn't have inspiration to get a new copy.... Until Skyward Sword was announced. I wanted to play that one, but because I had Twilight Princess unfinished, I set a goal to first finish Twilight Princess before getting Skyward Sword. In March of 2011, I got my wish come true and had Twilight Princess again at the palm of my hand.

More music:

After that, I finally beat the water temple and continued the game. In the end, it was all worth it, because Twilight Princess was an experience that I will carry inside me.

Above many other things, a key factor I look in games it's inmersion. I like being engaged into a game and be part of its world and the contents of the game, and for me I felt engaged with Twilight Princess. I loved exploring the vast region of Hyrule and discover its secrets and if I wasn't exploring a secret cave or finding the many spots with rupees, I simply just rode around the Hyrule Fields with Epona and awesome music blasting in the background. It feels relaxing. Of course, the story mode, the meat of the game, is also engaging, both on the story itself and the things to do in the main quest like exploring new territories, the plot-important missions and the dungeons. Even if they don't do much in the long run except being distractions from the main plot, I still liked some of the side quests and minigames and if you want to rest from the plot, they prove some entertaining distractions (beware though, some side-quests like collecting bugs and getting the souls of Poe's can be a drag).

When it comes to gameplay, Twilight Princess doesn't dissapoint. I love the combat present in the game. It might not be strategic, but it does a big enfasis on the swordfight, which gets better as you learn techniques from the Hero's Spirit. Combat is equaly great on horse, combined with the use of items. I should also mention one of the main selling points: the transformation into a wolf. I will admit that though not completaly useless (in fact, it's still needed to complete areas), the human form take more enfasis once you clear the Hyrules zones covered in twilight and you unlock the ability to change into wolf and human at any time. That said, controling Wolf Link is also fun, with diferences like reaching places not posible in human form, diging rupees, treasures and shortcuts, seeing the Poe's and other super natural beings invicible to the human eye, following trails of people thanks to the smelling, being the best way to defeat Shadow Beasts and scaring the citizens at Hyrule and talking to animals..... okay, the last two are useles, but hey, they are also fun to do.

It wouldn't also be Zelda without the equipments, dungeons and bosses we all know from the series. The only problem I had with the equipment was that the slingshot, ball and chain, Dominion Road and Spinner had only small uses outside their dungeons. The rest of them are useful and are fun to use (Double Clawshot anyone?) and even the ones I said that don't have much use were fun when they were in their dungeons. Though I prefer the dungeons of Skyward Sword, Twilight Princess still had a set of solid dungeons that were interesting, from the hot Goron Mines, to the scary Arbiter's Grounds and I think Snowpeak Ruins, the Palace of Twilight and Hyrule Castle have great designs. And of course, the boss fights, that are as epic as they are good, with memorable ones like the one against Stallord on the Arbiter's Ground or the fight against Zant that combines every previous boss fight and gets crazier the more you beat him. Especial mention goes to the last boss fight, separated into four parts, which is one my favorites.

Though I can see why some wouldn't like them, I liked the graphics, art style and washed-out tone of Twilight Princess. It ain't that brown to make everything colorless and it suits the dark tone and nature of the game and at times look beautiful. The soundtrack is fantastic. I gotta give props to Koji Kondo for creating memorable tunes that pump the heart in intense moments, suit the darkness of the game, sometimes make everything scary and give some parts melacholy.

One thing I also liked a lot is the story and characters. It's not deep stuff, but the main storyline is very interesting, filled with many scary, sad, funny, happy and awesome moments. Though they don't get as much attention or character development, the characters are charismatic in their own right to very much like them.

However, the character that is pretty much the center of the game and proves to be the best is Midna. You see, she starts like a mysterious and selfish Imp that only uses Link for her own agenda and doesn't care for him or for any other human. But (without spoiling one of the most heartbreaking moments and impressive moments), she has a near-death experience that once she gets cured of it, she starts acting less selfish and opens-up more to Link (improving their relationships in the process) and doesn't show comptent to people anymore. She also reveals her true motives and even much later, she ends up as the most important character. Those who have played the game know why.

Before I finish, I want to mention that the ending is one of my favorites. It's heartbreaking, it's happy in tone either way and is a great conclusion to the game. Here it is (SPOILERS!!!):

If I have to be frank, i'm writing this in tiredness, so I don't really feel like i'm giving this game much respect and doing it justice. But just to make sure that I get my message across here, I LOVE THIS GAME. For me, it has been one of the most inmersive experiences I had ever delved into and I felt a great sence of acomplishment once I finished the game, feeling like I had the role in something important, and that the adventure to get to my destination was filled with great and memorable moments. To make it short, I felt like I was in an epic adventure. There's just simply a sence of acomplishment I haven't ecountered anywhere else and I had yet to see a game that felt like Twilight Princess. 

That's all for today. For this time, i'm only going to give a clue to my favorite game of all time just to keep the surprise:

- Captain N knows which game is my favorite. Oh and dude, if you're reading this, don't tell them my favorite game :P