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92-760: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is a 2006 action-adventure game developed and published by Nintendo for the GameCube and Wii . Originally planned for release exclusively on the GameCube in November 2005, Twilight Princess was delayed by Nintendo to allow its developers to refine the game, add more content, and port it to the Wii. The Wii version was a launch game in North America in November 2006, and in Japan, Europe, and Australia

184-619: A fantasy " setting. Tutankham , debuted by Konami in January 1982, was an action-adventure released for arcades . It combined maze, shoot 'em up, puzzle-solving and adventure elements, with a 1983 review by Computer and Video Games magazine calling it "the first game that effectively combined the elements of an adventure game with frenetic shoot 'em up gameplay." It inspired the similar Time Bandit (1983). Action Quest , released in May 1982, blended puzzle elements of adventure games into

276-446: A joystick -controlled, arcade-style action game, which surprised reviewers at the time. While noting some similarities to Adventure , IGN argues that The Legend of Zelda (1986) by Nintendo "helped to establish a new subgenre of action-adventure", becoming a success due to how it combined elements from different genres to create a compelling hybrid, including exploration, adventure-style inventory puzzles , an action component,

368-566: A monetary system , and simplified RPG-style level building without the experience points . The Legend of Zelda series was the most prolific action-adventure game franchise through to the 2000s. Roe R. Adams also cited the arcade-style side-scrolling fantasy games Castlevania (1986), Trojan (1986) and Wizards & Warriors (1987) as early examples of action-adventure games. Games like Brain Breaker (1985), Xanadu (1985), Metroid (1986) and Vampire Killer (1986) combined

460-759: A subgenre of open world action-adventure video games in the third-person perspective . They are characterized by their likeness to the Grand Theft Auto series in either gameplay or overall design. In these types of open world games, players may find and use a variety of vehicles and weapons while roaming freely in an open world setting. Metroidvania is a portmanteau of Metroid and Castlevania ; such games are sometimes referred to as "search action", and are generally based on two-dimensional platformers. They emphasize both exploration and puzzle-solving with traditional platform gameplay. Survival horror games emphasize "inventory management" and making sure

552-488: A GameCube copy of Twilight Princess was played on the Revolution, it would give the player the option of using the Revolution controller. Miyamoto confirmed the Revolution controller-functionality in an interview with Nintendo of Europe and Time reported this soon after. However, support for the Wii controller did not make it into the GameCube release. At E3 2006 , Nintendo confirmed that both versions would be available at

644-401: A bow and arrows, a boomerang, and bombs. While L-targeting, projectile-based weapons can be fired at a target without the need for manual aiming. The context-sensitive button mechanic allows one button to serve a variety of functions, such as talking, opening doors, and pushing, pulling, and throwing objects. The on-screen display shows what action, if any, the button will trigger, determined by

736-431: A centre for interaction with other players and non-player characters (NPCs). Hub worlds in single-player games are often used for worldbuilding, while hubs in multiplayer games are more purposed for storage for weapons and equipment, as well as restocking supplies. They serve as safe areas in between dangerous areas and quests where players can take on more passive actions. Wired and Kotaku described overworlds as

828-414: A century after Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask , in an alternate timeline from The Wind Waker . Twilight Princess was critically acclaimed upon its release, received numerous game of the year awards, and has been called one of the greatest video games ever made . By 2015, it had sold 8.85 million copies worldwide, making it the best-selling Zelda game until being overtaken by Breath of

920-545: A choice of what to say. The NPC gives a scripted response to the player, and the game offers the player several new ways to respond. Due to the action-adventure subgenre's broad and inclusive nature, it causes some players to have difficulty finishing a particular game. Companies have devised ways to give the player help, such as offering clues or allowing the player to skip puzzles to compensate for this lack of ability. Brett Weiss cites Atari 's Superman (1979) as an action-adventure game, with Retro Gamer crediting it as

1012-448: A complex text parser and no free-moving character. While they share general gameplay dynamics, action-adventures vary widely in the design of their viewpoints, including bird's eye , side-scrolling, first-person, third-person , over-the-shoulder, or even a 3/4 isometric view . Many action-adventure games simulate a conversation through a conversation tree . When the player encounters a non-player character , they are allowed to select

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1104-501: A downloadable title for the Nintendo 3DS . Midna, in both her imp and Twili forms, Zant, and NPC character Agitha, all appeared as playable warriors in the Zelda crossover title Hyrule Warriors and its various iterations. Since the release of Hyrule Warriors , Agitha has been recognised as a "main character" of Twilight Princess . Action-adventure game An action-adventure game

1196-499: A heartfelt goodbye, Midna uses her powers as true ruler of the Twili to permanently destroy the Mirror of Twilight. Some time later, Hyrule Castle is being rebuilt, and Link returns the children and Ilia to Ordon before departing to parts unknown. In 2003, Nintendo announced a new The Legend of Zelda game for the GameCube by the same team that had created the cel-shaded The Wind Waker . At

1288-417: A human, digs holes to create new passages, and uncover buried items, and has improved senses, including the ability to follow scent trails. On his back, he also carries Midna, a small imp-like creature who gives him hints, uses an energy field to attack enemies, helps him jump long distances, and eventually allows him to "warp" to any of several preset locations throughout the overworld. Using Link's wolf senses,

1380-462: A pointing-based interface for the bow and arrow, and Aonuma found that aiming directly at the screen gave the game a new feel, just like the DS control scheme for Phantom Hourglass . Aonuma felt confident this was the only way to proceed, but worried about consumers who had been anticipating a GameCube release. Developing two versions would mean delaying the previously announced 2005 release, still disappointing

1472-576: A score of 86/100 at the review aggregator Metacritic , indicating "generally favorable" reviews. The title received the Nintendo Game of the Year award at the Golden Joystick Awards in November 2016. Twilight Princess received the awards for Best Artistic Design, Best Original Score, and Best Use of Sound from IGN for its GameCube version. Both IGN and Nintendo Power gave Twilight Princess

1564-580: A seemingly lifeless Zelda as a puppet. After a struggle, Midna restores Zelda before teleporting her and Link outside of the castle to face Ganondorf alone. Nevertheless, Ganondorf soon arrives on Hyrule Field, crushing the Fused Shadow in his hands, implying that he has killed Midna. Link manages to defeat Ganondorf with the Master Sword; before dying, Ganondorf witnesses Zant breaking their oath. Midna, having managed to survive, returns into her real form. After

1656-705: A side-scrolling platformer format with adventure exploration, creating the Metroidvania platform-adventure subgenre. Similarly, games like 005 (1981), Castle Wolfenstein and Metal Gear (1987) combined action-adventure exploration with stealth mechanics, laying the foundations for the stealth game subgenre, which would later be popularized in 1998 with the releases of Metal Gear Solid , Tenchu: Stealth Assassins , and Thief: The Dark Project . The cinematic platformer Prince of Persia (1989) featured action-adventure elements, inspiring games such as Another World (1991) and Flashback (1992). Alone in

1748-400: A single avatar as the protagonist . This type of game is often quite similar to role-playing video games . They are distinct from graphic adventures , which sometimes have free-moving central characters, but also a wider variety of commands and fewer or no action game elements and are distinct too from text adventures , characterized by many different commands introduced by the user via

1840-410: A single level or area a few times in a given play session, the music for any such section of the game will typically be shorter and/or less complex, and thus less time-consuming for the designers to produce. The overworld theme frequently functions as the main theme of a game, often used as a motif for other tracks (e.g., a "romance" theme features the main melody of the overworld theme, orchestrated in

1932-407: A small number of Nintendo DS game cards containing a preview trailer for Twilight Princess . They also announced that a Zelda title would appear on the Wii (then codenamed "Revolution"), but were not clear to the media if this meant Twilight Princess or a different game. The team worked on a Wii control scheme, adapting camera control and the fighting mechanics to the new interface. A prototype

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2024-467: A sort of "home" for the player in-game. They have also been considered an essential element of RPGs. The 1981 arcade games Route-16 and 005 were among the earliest examples of a hub world. In Route-16 , a driving maze game, exiting a maze takes the player to a large overworld map showing the locations of the player, cars, mazes and treasures. In 005 , an early stealth game , players could enter buildings like ice rinks and warehouses from

2116-415: A special "lookaround" mode required on the Wii; however, in the GameCube version, only two of Link's secondary weapons can be equipped at a time, as opposed to four in the Wii version. The game features nine dungeons—large, contained areas where Link battles enemies, collects items, and solves puzzles. Link navigates these dungeons and fights a boss at the end in order to obtain an item or otherwise advance

2208-552: A theme of two separate, yet connected, worlds. In A Link to the Past , Link travels between a "Light World" and a "Dark World"; in Ocarina of Time , as well as in Oracle of Ages , Link travels between two different time periods. The Zelda team sought to reuse this motif in the series' latest installment. It was suggested that Link transform into a wolf, much like he metamorphoses into a rabbit in

2300-447: Is a video game hybrid genre that combines core elements from both the action game and adventure game genres. Typically, classical adventure games have situational problems for the player to explore and solve to complete a storyline, involving little to no action . If there is action, it is generally confined to isolated instances. Classical action games, on the other hand, have gameplay based on real-time interactions that challenges

2392-557: Is a game that has enough action in it not to be called an adventure game, but not enough action to be called an action game." In some cases an action game with puzzles will be classified as an action-adventure game, but if these puzzles are quite simple they might be classified as an action game. Others see action games as a pure genre, while an action-adventure is an action game that includes situational problem-solving. Adventure gamers may also be purists, rejecting any game that makes use of physical challenges or time pressure. Regardless,

2484-424: Is heavily reliant upon the player character's movement, which triggers story events and thus affects the flow of the game. Popular examples of action-adventure games include The Legend of Zelda , God of War , and Tomb Raider series. There is a good deal of controversy over what actually constitutes an action-adventure game. One definition of the term "action-adventure" may be '"An action/adventure game

2576-482: Is included with the limited-edition bundle in other regions. A three-disc original soundtrack consisting of 108 pieces from the game was released in Japan in July 2016. Twilight Princess was released to critical acclaim and commercial success. It received perfect scores from major publications such as 1UP.com , Computer and Video Games , Electronic Gaming Monthly , Game Informer , GamesRadar and GameSpy . On

2668-578: The Uncharted franchise, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Ark: Survival Evolved . Overworld An overworld or hub world is an area within a video game which connects its other levels or locations. The term can also refer to a safer area which players frequently return to, like a town. They are common in adventure games , role-playing games (RPGs), platformers , and dungeon crawlers . Multiplayer games have hub worlds which serve as

2760-495: The Master Sword to break Zant's curse. After obtaining the sword, Link is able to transform into a wolf at will. Without Zelda's presence, Hyrule Castle becomes surrounded by a powerful barrier. The pair reaches the depths of Gerudo Desert to use the Mirror of Twilight, the only known way that connects Hyrule and the Twili's realm, only to discover that Zant has broken it into fragments. Ancient beings known as Sages appear and reveal

2852-559: The Wii Remote . The speaker emits the sounds of a bowstring when shooting an arrow, Midna 's laugh when she gives advice to Link, and the series' trademark "chime" when discovering secrets. The player controls Link's sword by swinging the Wii Remote. Other attacks are triggered using similar gestures with the Nunchuk . In the GameCube version, players can control the camera freely, without entering

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess - Misplaced Pages Continue

2944-496: The Wii launch , and had a playable version of Twilight Princess for the Wii. Later, the GameCube release was pushed back to a month after the launch of the Wii. Nintendo staff members reported that demo users complained about the difficulty of the control scheme. Aonuma realized that his team had implemented Wii controls under the mindset of "forcing" users to adapt, instead of making the system intuitive and easy to use. He began rethinking

3036-477: The Zelda team settled on an HD remaster of Twilight Princess . At the time, most of the Zelda team was preoccupied with Breath of the Wild , so Nintendo sought a partnership with an external development studio , the Australia-based Tantalus Media , to work on Twilight Princess HD . According to Eiji Aonuma , who directed the original release and produced Twilight Princess HD , ensuring

3128-474: The execution of custom code from a Secure Digital (SD) card on the console . A specifically designed save file would cause the game to load unsigned code , which could include Executable and Linkable Format (ELF) programs and homebrew Wii applications . Versions 3.3 and 3.4 of the Wii Menu prevented copying exploited save files onto the console until circumvention methods were discovered, and version 4.0 of

3220-813: The "first to utilize multiple screens as playing area". Mark J.P. Wolf credits Adventure (1980) for the Atari VCS as the earliest-known action-adventure game. The game involves exploring a 2D environment, finding and using items which each have prescribed abilities, and fighting dragons in real-time like in an action game . Muse Software 's Castle Wolfenstein (1981) was another early action-adventure game, merging exploration, combat, stealth, and maze game elements, drawing inspiration from arcade shoot 'em ups and maze games (such as maze-shooter Berzerk ) and war films (such as The Guns of Navarone ). According to Wizardry developer Roe R. Adams, early action-adventure games "were basically arcade games done in

3312-486: The Dark (1992) used 3D graphics , which would later be popularized by Resident Evil (1996) and Tomb Raider (1996). Resident Evil in particular created the survival horror subgenre, inspiring titles such as Silent Hill (1999) and Fatal Frame (2001). Action-adventure games have gone on to become more popular than the pure adventure games and pure platform games that inspired them. Recent examples include

3404-562: The Dark World of A Link to the Past . The concept for Link to transform into a wolf and its surrounding narrative elements came from a dream that Aonuma had while overseas on a business trip. He dreamt that he was a wolf, locked inside a cage, and, after he woke up, he was confused and disoriented and it took a while for him to remember where he was. The story of the game was created by Aonuma, and it later underwent several changes by scenario writers Mitsuhiro Takano and Aya Kyogoku . Takano created

3496-510: The Nintendo DS. At the same time, the Wii was under development with the code name "Revolution". Miyamoto thought that the Revolution's pointing device , the Wii Remote, was well suited for aiming arrows in Zelda , and he suggested that Aonuma consider using it. Aonuma had anticipated creating a Zelda game for what would later become the Wii, but had assumed that he would need to complete Twilight Princess first. His team began work developing

3588-479: The Twilight Realm. A commitment to "preserving the feel of the original" inspired several design decisions, such as keeping the frame rate at 30 frames per second. 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

3680-547: The Wii Menu patched the vulnerability. A high-definition remaster of the game, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD , was developed by Tantalus Media for the Wii U . Announced during a Nintendo Direct presentation on November 13, 2015, it features enhanced graphics and Amiibo functionality. The game was released worldwide in March 2016. The idea for a high-definition version of Twilight Princess first originated during

3772-670: The Wii and GameCube in the US that year. In the United Kingdom, the Wii version received a Platinum sales award from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA), indicating sales of at least 300,000 copies in the UK. The game had sold 5.82 million copies on the Wii as of March 2011, and 1.32 million on the GameCube as of March 2007. As of September 2015, the game had sold 8.85 million copies worldwide across both platforms, making it

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess - Misplaced Pages Continue

3864-576: The Wii version, but has a section in the back with mirror-image maps for GameCube users. The game's score was composed by Toru Minegishi and Asuka Ohta, with series regular Koji Kondo serving as the sound supervisor. Minegishi took charge of composition and sound design in Twilight Princess , providing all field and dungeon music. For the trailers, three pieces were written by different composers, two of which were created by Mahito Yokota and Kondo. Michiru Ōshima created orchestral arrangements for

3956-520: The Wild in April 2018. In 2011, the Wii version was rereleased under the Nintendo Selects label. A high-definition remaster based on the GameCube version, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD , developed by Tantalus Media , was released for the Wii U in March 2016. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is an action-adventure game focused on combat, exploration, and puzzle-solving. It uses

4048-593: The Year ", " Outstanding Achievement in Game Design ", and " Outstanding Achievement in Gameplay Engineering ". The game placed 16th in Official Nintendo Magazine ' s list of the 100 Greatest Nintendo Games of All Time. IGN ranked the game as the 4th-best Wii game. Nintendo Power ranked the game as the third-best game to be released on a Nintendo system in the 2000s decade. In North America,

4140-540: The action-adventure label is prominent in articles over the internet and media. The term "action-adventure" is usually substituted for a particular subgenre due to its wide scope. Although action-adventure games are diverse and difficult to classify, there are some distinct subgenres. Many games with gameplay similar to those in The Legend of Zelda series are called Zelda clones or Zelda -like games. Popular subgenres include: A Grand Theft Auto clone belongs to

4232-469: The awards for Best Graphics and Best Story. Twilight Princess received Game of the Year awards from GameTrailers , 1UP.com , Electronic Gaming Monthly , Game Informer , GamesRadar , GameSpy , Spacey Awards , X-Play and Nintendo Power . It was also given awards for Best Adventure Game from the Game Critics Awards , X-Play , IGN , GameTrailers , 1UP.com , and Nintendo Power . The game

4324-521: The basic control scheme introduced in Ocarina of Time , including context-sensitive action buttons and L-targeting (Z-targeting on the Wii ), a system that allows the player to keep Link 's view focused on an enemy or important object while moving and attacking. Link can walk, run, and attack, and he will automatically jump when running off of or reaching for a ledge. Link uses a sword and shield in combat, complemented with secondary weapons and items, including

4416-499: The best ever in Zelda games". Regarding the Wii version, GameSpot ' s Jeff Gerstmann said the Wii controls felt "tacked-on", although 1UP.com said the remote-swinging sword attacks were "the most impressive in the entire series". Gaming Nexus considered Twilight Princess ' soundtrack to be the best of this generation, though IGN criticized its MIDI -formatted songs for lacking "the punch and crispness" of their orchestrated counterparts. Twilight Princess HD holds

4508-409: The best that Hollywood has to offer". GamesRadar praised Twilight Princess as "a game that deserves nothing but the absolute highest recommendation". Cubed3 hailed Twilight Princess as "the single greatest videogame experience". Twilight Princess ' graphics were praised for the art style and animation, although the game was designed for the GameCube, which is technically lacking compared to

4600-456: The best-selling single title in the series until it was surpassed by The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild in April 2018. The remaster sold 52,282 copies during its first week of release in Japan, which placed it at second place in the video-game sales charts. The following week, it came in at number 9 on the charts, selling an additional 7,705 copies. By comparison, 30,264 copies of The Wind Waker HD were sold in its first week in Japan. In

4692-447: The castle serves as a safe area where players can experiment with its movement system and serves as an entrance to all other levels. Players are free to leave the castle whenever they wish. In terms of video game music , overworld themes are often orchestral in nature, and of greater length and complexity than other pieces in the same game, due to the amount of time spent travelling the overworld map. Because players will usually visit

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4784-405: The consumer. Nintendo President Satoru Iwata felt that having both versions would satisfy users in the end, even though they would have to wait for the finished product. Aonuma then started working on both versions in parallel. Transferring GameCube development to the Wii was relatively simple, since the Wii was being created to be compatible with GameCube software. At E3 2005 , Nintendo released

4876-404: The controls with Miyamoto to focus on comfort and ease. The camera movement was reworked and item controls were changed to avoid accidental button presses. In addition, the new item system required use of the button that had previously been used for the sword. To solve this, sword controls were transferred back to gestures—something E3 attendees had commented they would like to see. This reintroduced

4968-557: The experience. Aonuma left his team working on the new idea while he produced The Minish Cap for the Game Boy Advance . When he returned, he found the Twilight Princess team struggling. Emphasis on the parallel worlds and the wolf transformation had made Link's character unbelievable. Aonuma also felt the gameplay lacked the caliber of innovation found in Phantom Hourglass , which was being developed with touch controls for

5060-567: The first week of Twilight Princess HD ' s United Kingdom release, the remaster was the second-best-selling game and the best-selling game released for a single platform in the country. Twilight Princess HD ' s sales dropped 84% in its second week in the UK, making it the ninth-best-selling game in the country. In the United States, it was the third-best-selling game sold in brick-and-mortar retailers throughout March 2016, according to market-research firm The NPD Group . As of December 2022,

5152-475: The following month. The GameCube version was released in December 2006 as the final first-party game for the console. The story focuses on series protagonist Link , who tries to prevent Hyrule from being engulfed by a corrupted parallel dimension known as the Twilight Realm. To do so, he takes the form of both a Hylian and a wolf, and he is assisted by a mysterious imp named Midna . The game takes place over

5244-409: The following year's Game Developers Conference , director Eiji Aonuma unintentionally revealed that the game's sequel was in development under the working title The Wind Waker 2 ; it was set to use a similar graphical style to that of its predecessor. Nintendo of America told Aonuma that North American sales of The Wind Waker were sluggish because its cartoon appearance created the impression that

5336-466: The fragments of the Mirror. Once the Mirror is complete, they cross into the Twili Realm to confront Zant, who reveals that his oath has revived Ganondorf. Upon retrieving the Fused Shadow, an angered Midna inadvertently kills Zant with its power. Returning into Hyrule, Midna uses the Fused Shadow to break the barrier surrounding Hyrule Castle. Ascending through the castle, they confront Ganondorf, now using

5428-560: The fragments' locations, and explain that Zant could not permanently destroy the Mirror as he is not the true ruler of the Twili. Before Link leaves, the Sages reveal that the Mirror was used to banish Ganondorf , leader of the Gerudo; Ganondorf was convicted of an attempt to steal the Triforce and nearly escaped execution before his banishment. Link and Midna travel through Hyrule once more and retrieve

5520-421: The game has sold 1.17 million copies worldwide. An eleven-volume manga series based on Twilight Princess , penned and illustrated by Akira Himekawa , was first released in Japan on February 8, 2016, and ran until January 30, 2022. The series was made available via physical copies, online bookstores, and publisher Shogakukan 's MangaOne mobile application. While the manga adaptation began almost ten years after

5612-717: The game was designed for a young audience. Concerned that the sequel would have the same problem, Aonuma expressed to producer Shigeru Miyamoto that he wanted to create a realistic Zelda game that would appeal to the North American market and meet Miyamoto's original vision of realism for the series. Miyamoto, hesitant about solely changing the game's presentation, suggested the team's focus should instead be on coming up with gameplay innovations. He advised that Aonuma should start by doing what could not be done in Ocarina of Time , particularly horseback combat. Early development of what would become Twilight Princess began and special care

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5704-417: The game was sold with three of every four Wii purchases during its first week. The Wii version sold 412,000 copies in the United States during November 2006, representing 87% of Wii launch sales that month, the highest attach rate for a launch game since Super Mario 64 launched with the Nintendo 64 in 1996. It went on to become America's fifth-best-selling game of 2006 with 1.5 million copies sold for

5796-406: The gameplay still follows a number of adventure game genre tropes (gathering items , exploration of and interaction with one's environment, often including an overworld connecting areas of importance, and puzzle-solving). While the controls are arcade-style (character movement, few action commands) there is an ultimate goal beyond a high score. In most action-adventure games, the player controls

5888-552: The hunt for Tears of Light the player partakes in when in the Twilight-covered world. The atmosphere of the Twilight-covered Hyrule, as well as the Twilight Realm dungeon later in the game, were intended to make players feel uncomfortable. Special care was taken, however, to ensure that this was balanced right, so that it did not make the player so uncomfortable that they did not want to progress further or could not enjoy

5980-502: The initial release of the game on which it is based, it launched only a month before the release of the high-definition remake. Viz Media began releasing an English localization of the series in 2017 and was finished in March 2022. To commemorate the launch of the My Nintendo loyalty program in March 2016, Nintendo released My Nintendo Picross: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess , a Picross puzzle game developed by Jupiter as

6072-473: The main reasons for the decision. Both six- and seven-track versions of the game's soundtrack were released on November 19, 2006, as part of a Nintendo Power promotion and bundled with replicas of the Master Sword and the Hylian Shield. Following the discovery of a buffer overflow vulnerability in the Wii version of Twilight Princess , an exploit known as the "Twilight Hack" was developed, allowing

6164-418: The main screen to avoid enemies, leading to different screens. The final scene tasks the players with controlling their getaway helicopter to escape and finish the level. Dubbed "a game in four screens", 005 was then described as a " RasterScan Convert-a-Game " according to The Encyclopedia of Arcade Games . In Super Mario 64 (1996), Princess Peach's Castle serves as its hub world. Free of enemies,

6256-411: The next generation consoles. Both IGN and GameSpy pointed out the existence of blurry textures and low-resolution characters. Despite these complaints, Computer and Video Games felt the game's atmosphere was superior to that of any previous Zelda game and regarded Twilight Princess ' Hyrule as the best version ever created. PALGN praised the game's cinematics, noting that "the cutscenes are

6348-440: The optional "Cave of Ordeals" present in the original release, opportunities to recover health during the trial are sparse. 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. A CD containing 20 musical selections from the game was available as a GameStop preorder bonus in North America; it

6440-590: The pair to revive the Light Spirits in the Twilight-engulfed regions of Hyrule. After reviving the nearest Light Spirit, Link returns to his human form and is deemed the hero of the gods. Link and Midna travel through Hyrule and revive the Spirits of each region, who reveal information about the Fused Shadow, a relic holding powers as strong as Zant's. On their way, Link also finds the children and Ilia, who wait within

6532-514: The player can see and listen to the wandering spirits of those affected by the Twilight, as well as hunt for enemy ghosts named Poes . The artificial intelligence (AI) of enemies in Twilight Princess is more advanced than that of enemies in The Wind Waker . Enemies react to defeated companions and to arrows or slingshot pellets that pass by, and they can detect Link from a greater distance than

6624-489: The player has enough ammunition and recovery items to " survive " the horror setting. This is a thematic genre with diverse gameplay, so not all survival horror games share all the features. The Resident Evil franchise popularized this subgenre. Action-adventure games are faster-paced than pure adventure games, and include physical as well as conceptual challenges where the story is enacted rather than narrated. While motion-based, often reflexive, actions are required,

6716-400: The player's reflexes and eye-hand coordination . Action-adventure games combine these genres by engaging both eye-hand coordination and problem-solving skills. An action adventure game can be defined as a game with a mix of elements from an action game and an adventure game , especially crucial elements like puzzles inspired by older adventure games. Action-adventures require many of

6808-598: The plot. The dungeons are connected by a large overworld , across which Link can travel on foot; on his horse, Epona ; or by teleporting with Midna's assistance. When Link enters the Twilight Realm, the void that corrupts parts of Hyrule , he transforms into a wolf. He is eventually able to transform between his Hylian and wolf forms at will. As a wolf, Link loses the ability to use his sword, shield, or any secondary items; he instead attacks by biting and defends primarily by dodging attacks. "Wolf Link" gains several key advantages in return—he moves faster than he does on foot as

6900-438: The problem of using a right-handed swing to control a left-handed sword attack. The team did not have enough time before release to rework Link's character model, so they instead flipped the entire game—everything was made a mirror image. Link was now right-handed, and references to "east" and "west" were reversed. The GameCube version, however, was left with the original orientation. The Twilight Princess player's guide focuses on

6992-435: The production of Breath of the Wild . Nintendo experimented with an HD version of Twilight Princess running on Wii U development kits when trying to settle on a graphical style for the new game. This ultimately led to the production of The Wind Waker HD , whose success encouraged the Zelda team to pursue other high-definition remasters. After its release, which was developed internally at Nintendo in only six months,

7084-547: The remaster would take advantage of the Wii U 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. Aonuma considered underwater gameplay in the remaster to be significantly improved. Other enhancements include speeding up a handful of cutscenes that seemed overly long by modern standards and reducing repetitive gameplay elements, such as collecting Tears of Light while in

7176-623: The review aggregator Metacritic , Twilight Princess holds scores of 95/100 for the Wii version and 96/100 for the GameCube version, indicating "universal acclaim". It is the highest-rated game of 2006 on Metacritic . GameTrailers in their review called it one of the greatest games ever created. On release, Twilight Princess was considered to be the greatest Zelda game ever made by many critics including writers for 1UP.com , Computer and Video Games , Electronic Gaming Monthly , Game Informer , GamesRadar , IGN and The Washington Post . Game Informer called it "so creative that it rivals

7268-517: The safety of Kakariko Village. After restoring the regions to their glory and retrieving the Fused Shadow pieces, the pair are ambushed by Zant, who steals the relic and curses Link into his wolf form. Midna calls him out for his abuse of power, but Zant reveals his power to be from another source, and exposes Midna to the Light. Link brings a dying Midna to Zelda, who uses her sacred power to heal her; before mysteriously vanishing, Zelda informs Link to locate

7360-439: The same physical skills as action games, but may also offer a storyline, numerous characters, an inventory system, dialogue, and other features of adventure games. They are typically faster-paced than pure adventure games, because they include both physical and conceptual challenges. Action-adventure games normally include a combination of complex story elements, which are often displayed for players using audio and video. The story

7452-434: The script for the story scenes, while Kyogoku and Takayuki Ikkaku handled the actual in-game script. Originally, Link was planned to be a wolf from the game's start to bluntly contrast the Ocarina of Time formula, but this was changed so that new players could be eased into the Zelda series' traditional gameplay and narrative formula. The narrative premise in the story regarding the children of Ordon village getting kidnapped

7544-406: The situation. For example, if Link is holding a rock, the context-sensitive button will cause Link to throw the rock if he is moving or targeting an object or enemy or place the rock on the ground if he is standing still. The GameCube and Wii versions feature several minor differences in their controls and gameplay. The Wii version of the game makes use of the motion sensors and built-in speaker of

7636-464: The three compositions, later to be performed by an ensemble conducted by Taizo Takemoto. Kondo's piece was chosen as music for the E3 2005 trailer and for the demo movie after the title screen. Midna has the most voice acting—her on-screen dialogue is often accompanied by a babble of pseudo-speech, which was produced by scrambling English phrases sampled by Japanese voice actress Akiko Kōmoto . Media requests at

7728-456: The time. The game was developed with having a large convincing world in mind, one with a vast scale to meet the expectation for fantasy worlds that audiences had become accustomed to with The Lord of the Rings . In four months, Aonuma's team managed to present realistic horseback riding, which Nintendo later revealed to the public with a trailer at E3 2004 that was met with enormous praise. The game

7820-430: The trade show prompted Kondo to consider using orchestral music for the other tracks in the game as well, a notion reinforced by his preference for live instruments. He originally envisioned a full 50-person orchestra for action sequences and a string quartet for more "lyrical moments", though the final product used sequenced music instead. Kondo later cited the lack of interactivity that comes with orchestral music as one of

7912-412: Was an example of the game featuring darker story elements than any past iteration. From a gameplay perspective, the Twilight Realm portions of the game were vaguely inspired by the fact that prior Zelda games had always distinctively separated dungeons from the overworld. The team wondered what the result would be if a traditional Zelda dungeon was placed inside the open world instead. This resulted in

8004-629: Was considered the Best Console Game by the Game Critics Awards and GameSpy . During the 10th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards , Twilight Princess was awarded with " Outstanding Achievement in Story and Character Development " by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences , while also receiving nominations for " Overall Game of the Year ", "Console Game of the Year", " Action/Adventure Game of

8096-531: Was created that used a swinging gesture to control the sword from a first-person viewpoint but was unable to show the variety of Link's movements. When the third-person view was restored, Aonuma thought it felt strange to swing the Wii Remote with the right hand to control the sword in Link's left hand, so the entire world map was mirrored for the Wii version. Details about Wii controls began to surface in December 2005 when British publication NGC Magazine claimed that when

8188-541: Was possible in previous games. Princess Zelda is forced to surrender when Zant, the usurper king of the Twili, invades Hyrule Castle and begins to engulf the land into Twilight. In Ordon Village, ranch hand Link pursues Bulbins who have kidnapped his childhood friend Ilia and the village's children, and encounters a wall of Twilight. Pulled beyond the wall by monsters, Link transforms into a wolf and collapses before being imprisoned. An imp named Midna offers to free Link if he assists her. Midna guides Link to Zelda, who instructs

8280-492: Was scheduled to be released the next year and was no longer a follow-up to The Wind Waker ; a true sequel to it was released for the Nintendo DS in 2007, in the form of Phantom Hourglass . Miyamoto explained in interviews that the graphical style was chosen to satisfy demand and that it better fit the theme of an older incarnation of Link. The game runs on a modified The Wind Waker engine . Prior Zelda games have employed

8372-453: Was taken to improve the realism of the horseriding, with lead character designer Keisuke Nishimori riding a horse for himself to feel what it was like. Just as the original Legend of Zelda game was inspired by J. R. R. Tolkien 's The Lord of the Rings novels , the aesthetic of Twilight Princess was inspired by the Lord of the Rings films, as they had just come out and were very popular at

8464-466: 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". Certain bundles of the game contain a Wolf Link Amiibo figurine, which unlocks a Wii U-exclusive dungeon called the "Cave of Shadows" and can carry data over to Breath of the Wild . In the Cave of Shadows, Link fights waves of enemies while restricted to his wolf form. Comparable to

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