Twilight Princess had flaws on the character side of things. It had some flat characters, it had a disappointing town, some oblivious NPCs, and the later stages of its quest were less eventful than the first. And when characters become less believable, the player’s ability to stay immersed in a game or story is lessened. Such flaws certainly damage the game… but not enough to dim the brilliance of the Ordonians, or the Gorons, or characters like the children. Next to it’s successes, Twilight Princess’ character flaws fade to background complaints, mere annoyances that, although a bit irritating, can be brushed aside as inconsequential.

Finally seeing characters give Link the respect and admiration he deserves is a wonderful thing. Seeing the four adventurers storm into Hyrule Castle to save Link is something I will remember for a long, long time. Malo-Mart? Hahahah! Telma and her winking… The heartbroken reactions of the Ordon parents when their children are kidnapped is the stuff masterpieces are made of; simple down-to-earth characters that shine with a feeling of authenticity rarely found in the world of games.

Of course, supporting characters are only half the battle, and arguably the less important half… what of the main characters? How did Zelda, Ganon, Zant, Midna, and Link himself fare in this installment? I was originally planning on tackling them in this article, but I ended up writing a hell of a lot, and I suspect that those main characters are going to get several more pages out of me. I’ll deal with them later.

For now… Twilight Princess, I am proud to see you join the ranks of the Zelda series.