also known as Legend of Zelda, The - Twilight Princess
GameCube
🇯🇵
Reviewed in 2006
94
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✪ Reviewed on June 4, 2026
90
The dark, grown-up Zelda that closes the GameCube era in style. Twilit world, wolf transformation and long, sumptuous dungeons. Slower opening than other entries but the whole package aims true and lands. A great Zelda, set apart in the series.
Your verdict
Category
Action Adventure1 player12+
Description
Wolf-transformed Link battles Ganondorf in the Twilight World in this Japanese Nintendo Twilight Princess. Published by Nintendo, released in Japan in December 2006. Epic action-adventure with Link exploring Hyrule, wolf transformation and Midna in the darkness.
Zelda no Densetsu - Twilight Princess review
MAX
Art direction
★★★★★
"Iconic"
MAX
Music
★★★★★
"Legendary"
4/5
Story
★★★★★
"Captivating"
Twilight hues, veiled light and a harsher Hyrule weave a solemn, almost painterly atmosphere. The transformation into a wolf and the realm of shadows extend this melancholy stance with rare coherence. This visual gravity, running counter to the previous entry, remains one of the most spellbinding in the saga.
Darker and more solemn, the music embraces Hyrule's twilight with low strings and melancholy motifs. Midna's spellbinding theme, between fragility and mystery, haunts you long after the controller is set down. This orchestral gravity, in perfect harmony with the mood, marks one of the saga's emotional peaks.
Gameplay
"Masterful"
Switching between Link and his wolf form, taming an arsenal of items and tackling dungeons of constant inventiveness: the adventure unspools mechanics of remarkable fluidity. Horseback duels and hidden techniques thicken an already generous combat. More classic than revolutionary, but executed with such care that it stays a pleasure from start to finish.
Fun
"From the very first minutes"
Addictiveness
"Obsessive"
Advancing from dungeon to dungeon, earning the item that opens what comes next and combing through a vast world weaves a progression you struggle to step away from. Switching between human and wolf forms, solving puzzles and rounding out your kit chains short objectives with constant rewards. The opening drags a little, yet this adventure-discovery mechanic keeps a remarkable grip.
Difficulty
"Balanced"
Lifespan
"Massive"
Roaming a twilight-touched Hyrule, by turns human and wolf, opens an epic dense with cunning dungeons, puzzles and areas to explore. The main quest, among the longest in the series, is doubled by side quests and collectibles that hold you for a long time. That scope, served by ambitious staging, makes it a peak of adventure you take your time to savour.
Zelda no Densetsu Twilight Princess is the original Japanese edition of Twilight Princess on GameCube via Nintendo Japan. Collector value comes from the JP version keeping the game's original left-handed orientation (the Wii version was mirrored) and from the limited Japanese print, the Japanese market having favoured the Wii version.
Memorable bosses
Darker and more outsized, this entry's guardians bet on scale: the colossal skeleton Stallord ridden at full tilt, the dragon Argorok stormed in midair, or the unsettling Zant. Each repurposes an item picked up along the way to renew its mechanic, before a Ganondorf split across several phases. A near-cinematic staging seals their impact.
A cult cover
Link in light armor, sword ready, stands out in a twilight glow where shards of the Twilight Realm drift: the saga's regained gravity lives in this image. Browns, muted golds and a solemn gaze break sharply with the previous cel-shaded entry. Stately and refined, it embodies the most grown-up Zelda of its generation.
Is Zelda no Densetsu - Twilight Princess still worth playing in 2026?
Nintendo's answer to fans demanding a mature Zelda, Twilight Princess offers a realistic art direction and a darker narrative in which Link shifts into a wolf inside the twilight realm. The dungeons rank among the most inventive of the series, Midna remains a memorable companion, and the sword work runs with exemplary precision. Visually dated by now, the title keeps a narrative grasp and gameplay sensibility that place it among the greatest Zelda entries. An indispensable experience of the catalogue to absolutely traverse.
