With the release of Twilight Princess HD just a month away, Zelda fans world over are on the edge of their seats to revisit the Twilight Realm. Despite Japan receiving the game nearly a week later than other regions, the Japanese site for the game has effectively launched first as of early this morning.
The homepage for the website should look familiar to anyone that’s played the original for the GameCube or Wii. Greeted with the very same intro video from the game, visitors of the website are given a few options as far as navigation goes. As the site is in Japanese, it’s hard for me to become as fully immersed into it as someone who spoke and read Japanese fluently might be able to, but despite this setback, the site is still beautiful visually.
After scrolling down a bit, you’re given what appears to be a marquee that lists news, though the only bit that’s noted right now is that the site has been published. There are also slides that act as links to the corresponding pages of the game and amiibo on Nintendo’s Japanese website, as well as a link to the game’s Twitter. If you’re interested in the game’s amiibo support, especially regarding the new Wolf Link amiibo, there’s a large button right here that will bring you straight to the page detailing it.
Scrolling a little further, you can view a few slides with screenshots from the game. There’s information over these slides, though unfortunately I’m unable to translate it. Directly under that are more amiibo details, a video that demonstrates the GamePad’s use within the game, information about Miiverse compatibility, and more screenshots with information regarding them.
While that covers the homepage, there’s still much of the site to be explored. By clicking on the second button of the navbar at the bottom of the page, you’ll be brought to another scrolling page that appears to list some general information about the game. Again, I regret to say that I’m unable to translate what’s on the page and therefore can’t confirm exactly what it says, however, I can say that there is a button here that brings you to a page with videos with gameplay footage of both Link and Wolf Link. Beneath this section is a map of the game, with screenshots of each area mapped out and pinpointed on the larger map.
When you click on the third button of the navbar, you’ll be brought to what’s obviously a character page. By selecting any of the main characters, you’ll be brought to a new page that talks a little bit about them, while selecting any of the minor character groups below will give you a popup window with brief descriptions about each character in the group. The fourth selection on the navbar is simply the gameplay videos of Link and Wolf Link from the button on the second page revisited.
Something worth noting, there is one section of the navigation bar that’s left untouched, instead being faded out with the words “Coming Soon” listed on it. There’s no hint yet as to what this could be about, but stay tuned in case any new information is released.
We’re sure we’ll see the launch of the English website soon, and once we do, we’ll be able to gather more detailed information in a more confident manner, but for now, the Japanese site is definitely worth exploring, even if you can’t understand it! Like I said, it’s visually stunning and, as always, feels just like the game we’re looking forward to playing again.
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Written by George Comatas
As a wannabe social media personality and professional in the world of sarcasm, George does his best to always adapt to the changing world around him. He considers himself a maverick: a true-to-heart gamer with the mind of a pop star. Whether this makes him revolutionary or a setback, he's yet to find out. But one thing’s for sure; he's one-of-a-kind.
