The Legend of Zelda series has many great titles, making its namesake almost legendary. Twilight Princess keeps the series’ reputation alive, preserving the fundamental Zelda formula but at the same time adding new features.

What makes the Zelda games special for me is their uncanny ability to make you feel like the most powerful individual in the entire Kingdom of Hyrule.

When you first start your adventure, you are just like any other person, but you slowly gain more and more increasingly useful and powerful weapons until you finally have a sense of invincibility. This same approach is applied to the dungeons as well.

Upon first entering a dungeon, you get pounded by the enemies and you have to go the long way through rooms. Once you find the dungeon’s hidden item, however, the enemies become a piece of cake and you discover shortcuts all over the place. It is immensely satisfying.

Another reason why I love the Zelda series is its ability to create several wondrous, tranquil moments where you just feel at peace with everything, and Twilight Princess is no exception.

One moment that stands out in my mind, in particular, is climbing up the tallest tower in Lake Hylia and gazing down at the vast, calm, serene waters that extend hundreds of feet below the depths as the sun sets on the horizon…and then diving in. To me, these instances are part of the charm and magic of Zelda.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a Zelda game if it didn’t have combat, and the new weapons featured in Twilight Princess are among the most innovative the series has to offer. The spinner lets you glide effortlessly along grooves in walls, the ball and chain gives you a terribly destructive weapon, and the double clawshots allow you to ascend a hundred plus foot cylindrical room in a matter of seconds.

Some items found in previous Zelda games return as well, but with new features. For example, you can now combine bombs with your bow and arrow to send an explosive flying through the air, detonating on impact. Also, the iron boots can now stick to magnetic surfaces, enabling you to walk on the ceiling.

Another classic Zelda element is the myriad side quests scattered about the land of Hyrule, and this is certainly present in Twilight Princess. You will be searching far and wide for golden bugs, Poe souls, pieces of heart and howling stones in the hopes of being bestowed with magical gifts.

To aid you in your quests, you have Epona (the horse from Ocarina of Time) and the ability to warp to several locations on demand. As always, these diversions are addicting and take up a lot of your time, begging you to explore every inch of the vast region of Hyrule.

The most identifiable tunes from the Zelda series remain present in Twilight Princess, but there are many more new ones as well. The Zelda music has a very distinct flavor to it, which is why I think it is so appealing. The music matches the mood of the story and landscape surrounding it perfectly.

The soundtrack does a wonderful job of getting you into a rhythm that suits the game play. I have never heard sounds that are so melancholic and stunningly beautiful at the same time. There are few games where you can just sit and listen to the title screen music for minutes on end.

Also, the Kingdom of Hyrule has never looked so gorgeous. Especially within the Twilight Realm, every polygon seems to be saturated with detail. The different locales, including Zora’s River, Lake Hylia, and Gerudo Desert all look stunningly beautiful. There will be several times during your adventure that you will just want to stop and admire your surroundings.

Twilight Princess continues the tradition established with the Wind Waker, providing a stronger narrative and more memorable characters. Despite the games more somber and heavy theme, the many wacky characters help to balance it out, keeping the dialogue mostly light-hearted and humorous, making it still a distinctly Zelda game.

While I felt that the characters were done well, I feel as though the story wasn’t what it should be. There were several cut scenes that I just found weird, disturbing and confusing. The basic premise is still clear, thankfully, so the story doesn’t tarnish the game, but it is still clear that the writers were trying for something more, but what that something is I’m not quite sure.

The new gameplay hook, being able to transform into a wolf, was well designed. During the segments that you are a wolf, you have different abilities at your disposal, such as a heightened sense of smell and sight. I am glad that both Link’s human and beast form were incorporated into dungeons and the story.

I like the change of pace the two forms bring to the game. When you are a wolf, the game seems to go by faster. In short, while I don’t think changing into a wolf beats time travel, I think the designers did the best job possible, and the finished product is immensely fun. It really succeeds in showing you Hyrule in two different lights.

There are really only two gripes I have about the game. First and foremost on my list is your inability to eventually change from day to night or vice versa on command. This feature has appeared in the other recent Zelda games.

It is especially annoying that this is lacking because there are several times when you will need it to be day or night, and also the fact that it takes about ten minutes to change from day to night. I just don’t understand why the developers would leave something like that out.

My other complaint is that, while there are various move sets, oftentimes the motion sensor bar won’t recognize a certain movement. This is never really a problem, as this isn’t a combat-heavy game and in most skirmishes the basic sword swings are effective, but it still isn’t good. For being one of the first Wii games ever, the motion controls are well executed.

Twilight Princess is a game that everyone should play and would enjoy. The setting is flushed with beauty, the story is rich with history, the music infused with emotion, and the gameplay and game design is top-notch. Even if you have never played a Zelda game before, the story stands on its own, and nothing is dependent on previous knowledge of the Zelda Universe (although there are some aspects of the game that Zelda veterans will recognize). I would give this game a well-deserved nine out of ten.