Well, it's official Zelda now has a title: TWILIGHT PRINCESS. Write it into the video game history books. The name in itself evokes a degree of mysticism and an impression of gothic melancholy. Certainly as good as "The Gates of the Realm." in my honest opinion, and sets a good tone for what could be a darker more Japanese anime-like Zelda game. From the footage I've witnessed this most certainly will be everything that Ocarina of Time was, and I predict far more, with what appear to be far more interactive and interesting characters, many more monsters and bosses, numerous side quests and skills related to animals.

So...Link turns into a wolf or warewolf perhaps every night when the moon arises. I think this may be some kind of curse that has happened to Link, a spell that must be broken as part of the storyline of the game. This is certainly along the lines of things in the other Anouma Zelda, Majora's Mask, where Link would take on the persona of those creatures he put the mask of on. It's obvious that riding creatures is an integral part of gameplay. That little character with the wacky mask on makes an emergence, harkening back to Majora from Majora's Mask. However that looks like Princess Ruto from the Zora race, that may be the referance of the twilight princess. In the newest trailer for the game I saw, they showed a hooded woman, I am certain that woman is Zelda. There was no sight of Ganon though, where he is...who knows? Ganon wasn't an integral character in Majora's Mask either so this may prove my point that the two games share similarities. The versatility of Link's capabilities also seem to be expanded from shield smashing to rowing boats, there's just so much more Link's going to be doing. I love that the boomerang is a featured item in his inventory, it's always been one of my favorites throughout the series.

Hyrule appears to be the larger world that I had hoped for, and a larger world is a good thing for a number of reasons. The game will have an atmosphere of realism and expansiveness that an "adventure" should have. As well it leaves the door open for more glitches and exploits to add more replay value after all aspects of the game have been mastered.

Out of all the buzz surrounding next gen systems and games at E3, Nintendo can still hold its own with a Zelda game, there is a timeless fun that surrounds playing Zelda. Games as an artform continue to develop and transform and it's fortunate that Zelda is reinvented in many unique and more impressive ways with each generation of gaming console. It's likely that the day will come when Link is photographically indistinguishable from a real person. And Hyrule will be a true immersive world.

THE ODYSSEY OF HYRULE