Its crazy to think that The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess was released on the Wii console 20 year ago. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is considered to be one Nintendo’s most iconic video games from the 2000’s decade. The reason why Zelda: Twilight Princess was a big deal back in 2006 was because it was the direct sequel to the Ocarina of Time game which appeared on the N64 in 1998. The critically acclaimed Ocarina of Time game from ’98 is widely regarded as one of the greatest Zelda games of all-time. In terms of 3D gameplay Zelda: Ocarina of Time was groundbreaking because of its storytelling along with its heavy emphasis on time travel. Being able to shift between the child and adult versions of Link was one of the many things that added to the overall appeal of the Ocarina of Time series. Twilight Princess is slightly different because while a form of time travel is featured in the game there is less emphasis on it compared to Ocarina of Time.

The Twilight Princess game follows the Child Ending of Ocarina of Time with Link being a descendant to the Hero of Time. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess stood out from other entries that preceded it because of its dark tone. While games like Majora’s Mask felt extremely dark and apocalyptic in tone the aesthetics in Twilight Princess felt more gloomy than destructive. The Twilight Princess game for Nintendo Wii felt like an upgrade compared to the cartoony Zelda: Wind Waker title from 2002. Also, the gameplay for Twilight Princess felt more immersive than previous entries because of the Wii Remote and Nunchuck. In Twilight Princess using weapons like a bow, clawshot or a sword provided players with more precision with Wii accessories opposed to standard analog sticks. Twilight Princess was an open world game with nine main dungeons and linear progression while featuring a mini-map on the HUD similar to that of Grand Theft Auto. The story for Twilight Princess focused on Link trying to save the Twilight Realm from a usurper named Zant who seized the throne from Midna.

In Twilight Princess Midna is considered to be the main deuteragonist and the true ruler of the Twilight Realm. Even though, Zant was initially considered to be the main villain its later discovered that he was just Ganondorf’s pawn. Zant’s main goal was to plunge the Twilight Realm into darkness which pretty much captured the vibe of the Twilight Princess game. The cutscenes in Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess had theatrical features to it which made it more memorable. Also, while Twilight Princess did have some voice acting it was very limited and made some of the theatrical cutscenes feel somewhat awkward. However, despite its flaws the positives in Twilight Princess far outweighs the negatives in a variety of different areas. In terms of graphics and in-depth gameplay Twilight Princess was arguably the best Zelda installment Nintendo had released during the 00’s.

Since its releases on Nintendo Wii and GameCube back in 2006 The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess managed to sell more than 8 million copies worldwide. Not only was Twilight Princess a massive commercial success but it managed to gain a strong cult following since its release. There many people who also liked the HD version of Twilight Princess which appeared on the Wii-U console back in 2016. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess was one of those games that ended up being far better than anyone could have expected during the mid 00’s. There were many who believed that Twilight Princess was going to remembered as the greatest Zelda game of all-time 20 years ago. But after the release of games like Zelda Breath of the Wild (2017) and Tears of the Kingdom (2023)the idea of Twilight Princess being greatest entry of all-time is something that is subjective.