Unboxing time!
Been a while since I’ve done this, hasn’t it? I remember posting unboxings on the old EZMU blog every other month it seemed. Anywho, let’s get to this awesomeness!
Twilight Princess HD is finally among us. And so far, from the hour or so I put into it (feels like 3 hours with that freaking tutorial), I have to say that I am insanely excited to continue on. It looks pretty amazing! Yeah, there’s a lot of grumbles around the internet about it not looking as HD as people were expecting, but seriously, what the heck do people want?! I’m sure I’ll hit spots where it’s not the greatest, but being able to play this again on a current gen console and experience it without motion controls (thank you, N!), there’s really nothing we should be complaining about.
I love that so many people (mostly the younger generation) will have an opportunity to play this gem. There’s so many amazing adventures you can relive in the Zelda franchise these days on the Wii U and 3DS that it makes me incredibly giddy to have them at arm’s reach to play at a moment’s notice. I’m jealous of all those who get to experience all these titles for the first time, but on the other hand, I’m so happy for them.
But enough about that, let’s get to the goods: the Wolf Link amiibo!
It’s even more gorgeous in person than it is in pictures. I remember seeing it when it was announced and going straight gaga for it. Yeah, it was embarrassing, but c’mon, look at it!The detail is so deep, it’s glorious to admire.
Everything from the fur on Wolf Link to Midna’s helmet.. thing, to the base. Just. Amazing.
I went with Gamestop because they had a free sound selection CD to go with the game when you pre-ordered. They refer to it as a sound selection, but with 20 tracks on it, I’d go ahead and refer to it as a soundtrack. I absolutely love getting things like this for free when you pre-order something. Music is a huge part of any Zelda game and it’s something I know I’ll look back at in a decade and be happy I have it.
So that’s that for the game itself, but that’s not the only thing I picked up! I was lucky enough to get in on a sale Gamestop.com had around Christmas time where they had the Collector’s Edition Guide on sale for $20. Of course, collector’s edition + Zelda strategy guide = no brainer, so I jumped on it.
I adored the CE guide for Majora’s Mask 3D. And comparing it to that one, I still have to favor it. It seemed like more detail went into it. It felt different. The front and back covers felt like a softer material, as if the hard cover wasn’t as hard as a normal hard cover. There was beautiful art as soon as you opened the book.
Now, I’m not saying the Twilight Princess guide is lackluster. It’s definitely worth what I paid and I will get a huge use out of it. A beautiful hardcover guide with the Royal Crest on it is an automatic win. I was just expecting a little more after the Majora’s Mask guide.
All these CE guides have special pack-ins. This one had a cloth map of Hyrule.
Now, I know I said it feels clothy in the video, but thinking about it, I would say it feels more silky than clothy. I would compare it heavily to one of those eyeglass cloths that come packed in with eyeglass cases, you know? Very light material.
While it’s a thousand times better than paper, I wouldn’t have minded more on the cloth side. STILL, it’s a cool addition to have! The details are cool, like all the information and markings being written in Hylian.
Plus I get a kick out of imagining that’s Cinderella’s Castle in the middle. Sue me, it’s the simple things.
Though, after really looking at it, I can’t help but compare it to the map from the intro sequence Game of Thrones. So much so that I can’t stop humming the song every time I look at it. I even made a video of zooming around the map and turning the camera around and all that dorky stuff, but I’m too lazy to put the magic together with the song and stuff, so I’ll just let your imagination run wild about how that would have came out.
I really wasn’t going to make some drawn out post with detailed pictures and such. I was just going to write up a small blurb about the book and game and be done. But that would’ve been an injustice. The magnificence of the amiibo, with the beauty of the book had to be shown. Twilight Princess was a huge game when it came out. It signified the end of one era for Nintendo, and the beginning of another. It helped get the Wii into the hands and homes of dedicated gamers and it totally helped that the game itself could walk the walk. I look forward to playing through it again, but more importantly, I look forward to my kids having yet another amazing Zelda title to experience on an HD console once they can appreciate it.
…And develop the patience to sit through the opening tutorial. Because, damn.
