The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD

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Twilight Princess HD
Twilight Princess HD logo.png
Twilight-Princess-HD-Box-Art.png
Release

Platform

Date

Wii U

United States March 4, 2016
Europe March 4, 2016
Japan March 10, 2016

Credits

Developer

Tantalus
Nintendo

Publisher

Nintendo

Producer

Eiji Aonuma

Director

Tomomi Sano

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD is a remaster of the Nintendo GameCube and Wii game, Twilight Princess, for the Wii U. It was announced in a Nintendo Direct on November 12, 2015, and released on March 4, 2016. The game features graphical improvements, higher resolution, and various quality-of-life features that improve the experience.

The game received generally positive reviews from critics, and currently holds an 86/100 on Metacritic. A Limited Edition version of the game was bundled with a new Wolf Link amiibo, and in the European and Japanese versions, the Sound Selection CD. The Japanese version came with a pre-order bonus of 20 themed postcards.

Changes from original version

Graphics

  • The graphics have been reworked primarily with new textures, making the game look cleaner and higher-definition.
  • Twilight Princess HD uses the standard 1080p resolution, as opposed to the 480p resolution in the original versions. This means there are six times as many pixels, improving clarity, especially for faraway objects and precise aiming.
  • Most textures have been touched up with new textures. Notable examples include Link's hair, Zant's armor, and many background textures.
  • Certain textures have been completely changed, such as the grass in Hyrule Field and a stone Triforce symbol in the Sacred Grove. The new textures are less muddy and blurred than the originals.
  • The lighting is brighter with less intense bloom.

Like The Wind Waker HD before it, Twilight Princess HD is not a complete graphical remake, as most models and geometry are untouched in terms of polygons.

Gameplay

  • In normal mode, Twilight Princess HD uses the world orientation from the GameCube version, in which Link is left-handed, which had previously been reversed on the Wii version to better accommodate new players.
  • The improved resolution makes HUD elements less intrusive on-screen, similar to The Wind Waker HD.
  • Items can now be equipped to the X, Y, and R buttons, while L calls Midna.
  • The right stick can be used to move the camera freely.
  • The mini-map is smaller and now features a translucent black background.
  • The game makes use of the Wii U GamePad to streamline gameplay; It displays the dungeon map and inventory, enabling Link to equip new items on the fly, and the gyroscope can be used to aim Items such as the Gale Boomerang or Bow. Once the ability is unlocked, Link can transform between Hylian and wolf forms by simply tapping the GamePad screen.
  • The game also features off-TV play, and is compatible with the Wii U Pro Controller.
  • Hero Mode has been added, which is available from the start. In Hero Mode, Link takes double damage, Hearts do not drop, and the world orientation is changed to match the Wii version. Unlike The Wind Waker HD, the difficulty cannot be changed after creating a save file.
  • The game supports Miiverse. 50 Miiverse Stamps can be found in various Treasure Chests or in areas around Hyrule, usually replacing Rupee chests. Stamps depict letters of the Hylian alphabet, items, objects, and character faces with various expressions.

amiibo Support

Twilight Princess HD is compatible with the Wolf Link amiibo, as well as the Zelda-themed amiibo in the Super Smash Bros. series; This includes Link, Zelda, Ganondorf, Sheik, and Toon Link. amiibo support is unlocked after returning light to Faron Province, although each character can only be scanned once per day.

  • Wolf Link: Unlocks the Cave of Shadows, a new optional dungeon that is accessed from the collection screen. Structured similarly to the Cave of Ordeals, Link must clear 40 floors of increasingly tougher Enemies while in wolf form; If successful, the player receives the Colossal Wallet, a Wallet upgrade that holds up to 9,999 Rupees (if the player does not have the Giant's Wallet, they will receive that instead, with the Colossal Wallet becoming the reward from Agitha). The Wolf Link amiibo can also save a "checkpoint" of Link's current health, which will reset Link's health to that amount when scanned again. The number of Heart Containers Link has when he scans the amiibo will reflect Wolf Link's health in Breath of the Wild.
  • Link/Toon Link: Fully replenishes Arrows.
  • Zelda/Sheik: Fully replenishes health.
  • Ganondorf: Doubles Link's health, indicated by his Hearts turning blue. If scanned in Hero Mode, Link takes quadruple damage instead.

Other changes

Locations

Items

  • Link will no longer return Rupees to Treasure Chests if his wallet is full.
  • Rupees no longer show a text box with their value after being picked up once, even after closing and restarting the game.
  • Wallet sizes have been adjusted: The base wallet now holds 500 Rupees, the Big Wallet holds 1,000, and the Giant's Wallet holds 2,000, as opposed to 300, 600, and 1,000 in the original versions.
  • The number of Tears of Light in each province has been reduced from 16 to 12.
  • A new Item has been added, the Ghost Lantern; This is received from Jovani after collecting twenty Poe Souls. The Lantern lights up when a Poe is nearby, even during daytime.
  • The map now displays locations of Horse Grass, minigames, Side Quests, and where the game was last saved, as well as how many Poes remain in the current area.
  • Green Chu Jelly now has a text box when scooped and a description in the item screen.

Miscellaneous

  • Link only needs to catch one Fish for Sera's cat, instead of two in the original.
  • Link's sword does not hit against walls, instead passing through them. This makes close-quarters combat more managable.
  • Link's slashing animations now leave trails.
  • The controls and handling for both swimming and riding Epona have altered.
  • Swimming and climbing animations are now faster.
  • Dialogue has been modified, fixing errors and typos.
  • Falling into lava now only deals 1 Heart.png of damage, as opposed to 1 Heart.png1 Heart.png in the original version.
  • Darkhammer now has armor on its tail, although this is purely cosmetic and doesn't affect gameplay.
  • The game's trailer no longer plays when remaining idle on the title screen; Instead, the title sequence loops.
  • Midna now has a reflection, whereas she didn't in the original.

Development

Eiji Aonuma stated in an interview that the main reason behind the Wii U remake was to improve picture quality. He also explained that the Wii motion controls were removed in favor of the GamePad's gyroscope, since it focuses in the maps and plays a large role in gameplay. Since Aonuma and his team were busy developing Breath of the Wild, they contacted Tantalus Media to create the game, since they had a good reputation for making HD games.

Gallery

Main article: Gallery:Twilight Princess

References

The Legend of Zelda Games[edit][hide]
Spin-offs
Crossovers
Japan-only
[[Games]]
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