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Legend of Zelda - Twilight Princess Review
In talking about perfection in games, there are very few names that deserve that kind of accolade. If the business situation demands it, once great titles may need to be compromised in the name of the bottom line. Even great gaming franchises experience bumps in the road or unexpected problems. Many players considered Wind Waker a letdown; too much ocean, not enough story. Now that Link is back on dry land, he has found his feet again. The Legend of Zelda is gaming at its pure best. Created by a man who enjoyed walking in the woods and exploring the caves near his childhood home, Zelda captures the fun, the excitement, the danger that every game dreams of delivering. For most gamers, the adventures of Link and the story of Zelda have never failed to deliver. The latest chapter in the cyclic Legend, Twilight Princess, had the fate of not only Hyrule but a brand-new gaming platform resting on its shoulders. It has - almost unreasonably well - borne up under the pressure. Link saves himself and the princess from the darkness of evil, and the Wii from the darkness of financial misfortune. Read on for my impressions of the latest chapter in gaming's greatest dynasty - The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.
They go by fairly quickly during this extended introduction period, but there are hints of the differences to come early in the game. The twilight creature Midna, who sort of 'adopts' Link in his wolfen form, is unusually cynical for a Zelda title. She has an honestly funny sense of humor, and seems to delight in manipulating events towards some goal we're not privvy to. Zelda herself is distant and remorseful, the art style of the twilight world is very distinctive - the game has a serious tone from the get-go.
What begins to happen, as you pass beyond the introductory period and move into the game proper, is that you stop crawling. You start running. After the long tutorial, your legs stretch out and before you know it you're looking around at a game that demands your continued movement. The element that shifts Twilight Princess beyond Ocarina is the sheer momentum that the game builds as it hurtles forward through the story. There's so much to see, so much to do, that the game stops being 'another Zelda' and becomes Zelda in its purest form. There are references throughout the game to other chapters in the series, and you begin to realize that you aren't just playing some schmo here: you are playing with the Hero of Legend.
The gravitas which sinks that idea in is echoed in every element of the game. Link isn't the hero foretold by the marketing department when they dreamed up this game's ad campaign. Link is a hero, and you know it. You've been there, in other times and other places, helping other Links to complete the quests that made those Links into legends. When you pick up the boomerang, or the bow and arrow, it's not just another item upgrade. These are the tools of a hero, going all the way back to snagging that boomerang off of a dead moblin in the first dungeon of the very first game.
That may sound overly dramatic, but it's something that has to be experienced to be believed. The Wiimote control scheme is the first stepping stone. The fear Zelda fans expressed when it was announced you were going to have to waggle to swing your sword was palpable. They needn't have worried; holding your hands apart in your lap, destroying your enemies with a quick flick of the wrist, is the most natural thing in the world. Most impressively, you'll even find there are a few 'Wii Sports' moments in the game. There is no in-game need for you to do a completely elaborate overhand slash into the boss's weak point ... but it's a hell of a lot of fun. The control scheme turns the spin attack into a regular part of your routine, too. With no need for charging up, a simple gesture with your nunchuck hand sends mobs of enemies to their doom.
The controls fit seamlessly with other traditional Zelda elements, as well. Complex themed dungeons and brain-breaking puzzles litter the game. Each holds not only the simple pleasures of tackling room after room of enemies and traps, but pits you against a mini-boss and a end-boss for each labyrinth. The bosses further the game's seriousness, pitting you against devious creatures which require unique strategies to put down. Likewise, puzzles are likely to force you to utilize every tool you've been taught and every item you've been given to overcome them. Even if you have to spend twenty or thirty minutes staring at one puzzle element, you'll always get it eventually. Twilight Princess has no cheap tricks or unfair moments; solving a puzzle is always a cause for celebration, not for throwing your Wiimote.
It's the Wiimote, of course, that makes these bosses and puzzles work so well. Aiming for targets with the boomerang or bow and arrows is just a matter of pointing. Because all of the buttons (A, B, C, Z) are so close together, and so distinctly placed on the two parts of the controller, performing quick presses with any of them is just a matter of reacting. There's never a need to think 'Which one is B, now?' You just know.
The slow buildup at the start of the game is what makes that possible. Your thorough grounding in the 'basics of Twilight Princess' leaves you well-prepared for the unpredictability of the later portions of the game. You'll bounce back and forth between light and darkness, freeing portions of Hyrule as a wolf, and then returning to the light to exterminate the twilight beasts with your sword and shield. In the twilight realm, Midna rides atop your furry back, while in the light she hides within your own shadow. In both realms, she offers advice whenever she feels it's appropriate, as well as hints as to what to do next. Once you've begun defeating shadow creatures, she'll offer you teleportation services across Hyrule as well. It's a truly great experience, to have the option to bop across Hyrule or make your way via more conventional means.
The game's teleportation service, and the availability of Link's horse Epona throughout the majority of the storyline are just more pieces of the well-made path the designers have laid down: Even though this title is in the neighborhood of 70 hours of content, there are no wasted moments. As good as Final Fantasy XII is, the need to grind levels means that some portions of your quest are, ultimately, forgettable. Twilight Princess is just the opposite. You'll never find yourself unable to do something you shouldn't be able to. Traveling between dungeons, you'll find hidden niches of goodies, new heart containers, even mini-dungeons that make you suspect every boulder and bush of containing an unseen realm. If you see something you can't reach you can move on without frustration; you'll get back to it eventually.
Whatever that unattainable object is, chances are you can see it from quite a ways away. Despite the (relatively) underpowered nature of the Wii, Twilight Princess is a very, very beautiful game. To an eye used to the slickness of the 360 or PS3, some portions of the games textures can certainly appear muddy and dull. The difference in image quality between AV cables and component cables is also quite striking; unartistically abstract portions of the game pop to life with the increase in visual quality. What the game lacks in graphical power, though, is more than made up for by the sheer amount and precision of the graphics. Zelda's huge environment is lovingly laid out, with every portion of the world having received careful attention. Places like Hyrule Castle, Death Mountain, and Kakariko Village are instantly recognizable, but look quite different from previous incarnations. The game's audio needs no qualifiers. I've been a fan of the music in Zelda games since the original 8-bit theme kept me up at night. This title's score is equal parts tradition and originality. The twilight realm, especially, moves the horizon of the game's musical landscape. Twisted, vaguely mechanical sounds are now a part of the instrumental selections, and the game's use of music to build mood is carefully laid down. Both visually and auditorally, Twilight Princess is a feast.
The game is not flawless, of course. If you don't like adventure games, or the Zelda series, there is nothing here that will change your perspective. Likewise, while I don't think the extreme visual style of Wind Waker would have been appropriate here, I wouldn't have objected to some slightly more stylized graphical elements. Titles like Okami and Final Fantasy XII have proven what you can get out of an aging console if you focus on style over realism; it might have been interesting to see what such a marriage could reap with a Zelda title.
These are minor, minor quibbles. Zelda is nothing less that the most precisely crafted adventure game of the last several years. Twilight Princess may be the finest adventure game ever made, for the simple reason than it encompasses the entire possibility range that the genre offers. Every single gameplay element you could think to see in an adventure game is here, and many novel and interesting new pieces besides. As you move forward through the game you're constantly challenged with new ideas, new items, new puzzles, new gameplay elements; what you are actually doing within the game never stands still. If boredom can be defined as repetition, you will be hard pressed to point at any section of the title and call it boring.
The path the designers have laid down leads from the last generation to the next. They've built this game on series traditions, and fitted the stones into place with the tools of their 'new gen' console. The highest praise I can think to give to a game is to say that it is fun. Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is an awful, awful lot of fun. Not only is it a reason to buy a Wii, it's proof that despite all of our doubts, despite the fears that they'd gone crazy-nutso with this 'waggling' thing, they really know what they're doing. Truly, perhaps, the best part of this whole scenario is the date on the calendar. This was a launch title. If they can so finely craft the entertainment experience of a Wii title this early in the console's life, one can only hope that future titles will be able to build on the lessons of Twilight Princess. Zelda won't be the best game on the system. Down the line, I look foward to more memorable, physically involving, and deeply moving experiences on Nintendo's little white box.
- Title: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
- Publisher/Developer: Nintendo
- System: Wii (GameCube)
They go by fairly quickly during this extended introduction period, but there are hints of the differences to come early in the game. The twilight creature Midna, who sort of 'adopts' Link in his wolfen form, is unusually cynical for a Zelda title. She has an honestly funny sense of humor, and seems to delight in manipulating events towards some goal we're not privvy to. Zelda herself is distant and remorseful, the art style of the twilight world is very distinctive - the game has a serious tone from the get-go.
What begins to happen, as you pass beyond the introductory period and move into the game proper, is that you stop crawling. You start running. After the long tutorial, your legs stretch out and before you know it you're looking around at a game that demands your continued movement. The element that shifts Twilight Princess beyond Ocarina is the sheer momentum that the game builds as it hurtles forward through the story. There's so much to see, so much to do, that the game stops being 'another Zelda' and becomes Zelda in its purest form. There are references throughout the game to other chapters in the series, and you begin to realize that you aren't just playing some schmo here: you are playing with the Hero of Legend.
The gravitas which sinks that idea in is echoed in every element of the game. Link isn't the hero foretold by the marketing department when they dreamed up this game's ad campaign. Link is a hero, and you know it. You've been there, in other times and other places, helping other Links to complete the quests that made those Links into legends. When you pick up the boomerang, or the bow and arrow, it's not just another item upgrade. These are the tools of a hero, going all the way back to snagging that boomerang off of a dead moblin in the first dungeon of the very first game.
That may sound overly dramatic, but it's something that has to be experienced to be believed. The Wiimote control scheme is the first stepping stone. The fear Zelda fans expressed when it was announced you were going to have to waggle to swing your sword was palpable. They needn't have worried; holding your hands apart in your lap, destroying your enemies with a quick flick of the wrist, is the most natural thing in the world. Most impressively, you'll even find there are a few 'Wii Sports' moments in the game. There is no in-game need for you to do a completely elaborate overhand slash into the boss's weak point ... but it's a hell of a lot of fun. The control scheme turns the spin attack into a regular part of your routine, too. With no need for charging up, a simple gesture with your nunchuck hand sends mobs of enemies to their doom.
The controls fit seamlessly with other traditional Zelda elements, as well. Complex themed dungeons and brain-breaking puzzles litter the game. Each holds not only the simple pleasures of tackling room after room of enemies and traps, but pits you against a mini-boss and a end-boss for each labyrinth. The bosses further the game's seriousness, pitting you against devious creatures which require unique strategies to put down. Likewise, puzzles are likely to force you to utilize every tool you've been taught and every item you've been given to overcome them. Even if you have to spend twenty or thirty minutes staring at one puzzle element, you'll always get it eventually. Twilight Princess has no cheap tricks or unfair moments; solving a puzzle is always a cause for celebration, not for throwing your Wiimote.
It's the Wiimote, of course, that makes these bosses and puzzles work so well. Aiming for targets with the boomerang or bow and arrows is just a matter of pointing. Because all of the buttons (A, B, C, Z) are so close together, and so distinctly placed on the two parts of the controller, performing quick presses with any of them is just a matter of reacting. There's never a need to think 'Which one is B, now?' You just know.
The slow buildup at the start of the game is what makes that possible. Your thorough grounding in the 'basics of Twilight Princess' leaves you well-prepared for the unpredictability of the later portions of the game. You'll bounce back and forth between light and darkness, freeing portions of Hyrule as a wolf, and then returning to the light to exterminate the twilight beasts with your sword and shield. In the twilight realm, Midna rides atop your furry back, while in the light she hides within your own shadow. In both realms, she offers advice whenever she feels it's appropriate, as well as hints as to what to do next. Once you've begun defeating shadow creatures, she'll offer you teleportation services across Hyrule as well. It's a truly great experience, to have the option to bop across Hyrule or make your way via more conventional means.
The game's teleportation service, and the availability of Link's horse Epona throughout the majority of the storyline are just more pieces of the well-made path the designers have laid down: Even though this title is in the neighborhood of 70 hours of content, there are no wasted moments. As good as Final Fantasy XII is, the need to grind levels means that some portions of your quest are, ultimately, forgettable. Twilight Princess is just the opposite. You'll never find yourself unable to do something you shouldn't be able to. Traveling between dungeons, you'll find hidden niches of goodies, new heart containers, even mini-dungeons that make you suspect every boulder and bush of containing an unseen realm. If you see something you can't reach you can move on without frustration; you'll get back to it eventually.
Whatever that unattainable object is, chances are you can see it from quite a ways away. Despite the (relatively) underpowered nature of the Wii, Twilight Princess is a very, very beautiful game. To an eye used to the slickness of the 360 or PS3, some portions of the games textures can certainly appear muddy and dull. The difference in image quality between AV cables and component cables is also quite striking; unartistically abstract portions of the game pop to life with the increase in visual quality. What the game lacks in graphical power, though, is more than made up for by the sheer amount and precision of the graphics. Zelda's huge environment is lovingly laid out, with every portion of the world having received careful attention. Places like Hyrule Castle, Death Mountain, and Kakariko Village are instantly recognizable, but look quite different from previous incarnations. The game's audio needs no qualifiers. I've been a fan of the music in Zelda games since the original 8-bit theme kept me up at night. This title's score is equal parts tradition and originality. The twilight realm, especially, moves the horizon of the game's musical landscape. Twisted, vaguely mechanical sounds are now a part of the instrumental selections, and the game's use of music to build mood is carefully laid down. Both visually and auditorally, Twilight Princess is a feast.
The game is not flawless, of course. If you don't like adventure games, or the Zelda series, there is nothing here that will change your perspective. Likewise, while I don't think the extreme visual style of Wind Waker would have been appropriate here, I wouldn't have objected to some slightly more stylized graphical elements. Titles like Okami and Final Fantasy XII have proven what you can get out of an aging console if you focus on style over realism; it might have been interesting to see what such a marriage could reap with a Zelda title.
These are minor, minor quibbles. Zelda is nothing less that the most precisely crafted adventure game of the last several years. Twilight Princess may be the finest adventure game ever made, for the simple reason than it encompasses the entire possibility range that the genre offers. Every single gameplay element you could think to see in an adventure game is here, and many novel and interesting new pieces besides. As you move forward through the game you're constantly challenged with new ideas, new items, new puzzles, new gameplay elements; what you are actually doing within the game never stands still. If boredom can be defined as repetition, you will be hard pressed to point at any section of the title and call it boring.
The path the designers have laid down leads from the last generation to the next. They've built this game on series traditions, and fitted the stones into place with the tools of their 'new gen' console. The highest praise I can think to give to a game is to say that it is fun. Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is an awful, awful lot of fun. Not only is it a reason to buy a Wii, it's proof that despite all of our doubts, despite the fears that they'd gone crazy-nutso with this 'waggling' thing, they really know what they're doing. Truly, perhaps, the best part of this whole scenario is the date on the calendar. This was a launch title. If they can so finely craft the entertainment experience of a Wii title this early in the console's life, one can only hope that future titles will be able to build on the lessons of Twilight Princess. Zelda won't be the best game on the system. Down the line, I look foward to more memorable, physically involving, and deeply moving experiences on Nintendo's little white box.
Has anyone reviewed the gamecube version? I realize that the wii is the more inexpensive of the new consoles, but it is still outside my price range. I'm interested in hearing how the game is without all the waving and what not. Will this be like having a 3-d movie but no glasses for those of us still on the cube?
It's hard to believe that's how Micronians are made. Why don't we see it right now by having you both kiss one another?
If it weren't for finals I would have beaten the thing by now. Oh well, only about 30 pages left to write and then I can finish the damn wonderful thing.
http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/920500.asp
I thought Zelda was *very* good, but I think the controls turned out a bit... awkward, for lack of a better word. I think they worked quite well, but it never felt really natural. Also, it's honestly time for some voice acting Zelda. All in all a fantastic game though!
Where is this game even widely available? Amazon sells it, but only through their third-party sellers; they don't have any in stock themselves, though oddly the release date is listed as the middle of November. And that's only the Wii version, the Gamecube version isn't even in site. How did Zonk get his hands on a copy?
I have to say that I agree with your opinion of this game. When I first purchased my Wii, this was the one additional game that I purchased and I've been very pleased. Fortunately, my wife isn't interested in adventure games -- or else we'd be fighting over game time.
I have always been a huge Zelda fan, but I wasn't sure if I could justify purchasing the wii just for twilight princess. Now I'll have to rethink that decision.
Klingon Software is not released, it escapes, inflicting terrible damage onto the enemy as it does
thank god i know I'm getting the game cube version this Christmas
WulframII - Free Online Mutiplayer 3D Tank Shooting Game
Wiis are sold out every where and the only reason I really want one is to play Zelda. The GC version comes out this weekend should I just go ahead and get it or will I regret not having the Wii version?
Every sentence of a review needs to provide information directly relating to the game? I enjoy a little background information. It helps explain why things are they way they are.
I always imagined him as the guy in Grandma's boy that lives with his parents and has the car bed.
In a world of acronyms, the words are the real victims.
Where are these high-res (relatively speaking) images coming from, since the Wii only produces 480p?
Do not anger the worm.
...that this douchelord didn't play the game for more than a few hours before tapping out his poorly-written abortion of a review. Dear DigiNews: I wouldn't trust Daniel "monk" Pelfrey to review the steam off my piss.
Am I the only one with visions of attachments like these developing to the extreme. The sex industry only has to copy THX-1138 and make millions!
www.tribalnetworks.org - helping tribal people around the world to own their own means of high-tech communications
Well done, Zonk. A most excellent review: one of the best I've read for anything
09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
But...
I am all for the new innovation the Wiimote offers, but after playing Zelda TP for about 20 hours, I really don't think its integration with the Wii is anything special. I understand it was originally a GameCube game, but even as great as the game is, I think it still is a GameCube game for the Wii. Where with Wii Sports the movements of the players mimic what you do, with Zelda you just shake the Wiimote when you want Link to strike with his sword. I noticed in the E3 vids showing gameplay of Mario Galaxy (or whatever its called) you shake the Wiimote to do a superwarp or superjump. That struck me as weird, like it wasn't an instinctive motion. Why can't you just map that to a button? Did you need to put the motion sensitivity in there somewhere so sword equals jiggle the Wiimote, THERE YOU GO? If the motion can be replaced by a button, I don't see it causing excitement. I see a lot of developers thinking "How can we incorporate the wiggle?" I hope soon enough they figure out how this new interface really works. Hopefully Trauma Center and Elebits can be used for a future template on why there is motion sensitivity in the first place!
3A 4E 22 05 C1 83 0B 7A
It's random, but my posting it here is probably considered illegal to someone.
Try aurally.
I'm still playing the game and I like it cus it's Zelda but I there are somethings I do hate like the direction they give you on screen for the controls are kinda veg and hard to understand sometimes.
The worst example of this is the scene where you joust a guy and 2 second before you hit the controls of what you are supposed to do pop up and then you get hit and die.
That and the game over screen takes to long to let you get back in.
$DO || ! $DO ; try(); > try: command not found
The game is not flawless, of course....I don't think the extreme visual style of Wind Waker would have been appropriate here, I wouldn't have objected to some slightly more stylized graphical elements. Titles like Okami and Final Fantasy XII have proven what you can get out of an aging console if you focus on style over realism; it might have been interesting to see what such a marriage could reap with a Zelda title.
Wow. You're not the first one to say that. It's funny how Nintendo were completely lambasted for making the Wind Maker cell shaded so they decided to take Twilight Princess in the art direction that the fans wanted. And now they're criticized to making the game too dark and gritty?
Damned if you do, damned if you don't.
What's so bad about being lazy? What if there was a war and nobody showed up?
You really need to get laid. Maybe you'd relax more then.
Good luck with that.
Haha, that's cute. No, I don't -- and a little bit of insight: Only people who can't get any themselves make that particular comment. So go fuck yourself; it might help.
I don't own a GameCube, so I never played WindWaker. I played OOT and Majora's Mask for N64. I didn't like Majora's Mask very much, but I loved OOT. Best Zelda game I've played.
;).
I got a Wii and TP on launch day, and I've been playing with it ever since. There are a lot of things I like better in TP than OOC, but there are a lot of things I hate about TP. I love how the Poes look and behave, and the zombies (can't think of actual name right now) models look amazing. I love the new graphics too.
But what I don't like is how you have to use grass to call Epona (and only in certain places are there grass). I hate howling songs because it sounds unbelivably stupid. What I miss from OOT is Navi. She would help you and give you information about any boss you fight. They tried to replace her somewhat with Midna, but she was nowhere nearly as helpful as Navi. Also, the `zombies' in OOC were one of the hardest mobs to fight... in TP, they are actually really easy.
My main gripes with TP is that they make the bosses too. Fucking. Easy. And they make everything else much harder to figure out/do. I think I've only had to redo a boss once (used fairies a few times, though
Overall, I liked the game, but I didn't think it was nearly as fun to play as OOC. I think they spent too much time making TP look beautiful than to think about the little things that would have made it a truly awesome game.
Just my 2 cents, YMMV, yadda yadda.
Your reviews are well written and thorough, and you seem to have a long history of console gaming experience to tap into.
;)
And from what I gather, you kinda maybe like the Wii
I actually *loved* Wind Waker's look. What I didn't like was that it was rushed out the door to meet with the demands of Nintendo's corporate strategy. It (almost) felt like the over-compensated with Twilight Princess. Wind Waker is short, and kind of spartan, while Twilight Princess is just *so much game* that it can feel a little overwhelming at parts.
As for Princess's look, I just think that the art style they used in the twilight realm was infinitely more interesting than the off-the-shelf fantasy feel of the light world. I'm like most gamers: I like seeing new stuff. More newness in the visual style would have just been even more icing on an already delicious cake.
I purchased this game along with my Wii. Having played most of the previous Zelda games (NESx2, Link to the Past, Link's Awakening, OoT, Seasons, Ages, Minish Cap, Wind Waker), I have a certain idea of what I expect in a Zelda game versus say Final Fantasy games. I am currently 9 hours in to Z:TP and have been sorely disappointed. Never before has Zelda included required+very difficult mini-games (sumo training, jousting, sumo match, etc). While I enjoy the main game, and the control scheme is pretty intuitive, these mini-games make me feel like I'm playing something other than Zelda.
The Zelda scheme has always been get item, use new item to beat dungeon, use new item to get to next dungeon, repeat. All sidequests/mini-games have been optional. That's what puts all the past Zelda's in the 'epic adventure' category of games. Z:TP falls in to the classic RPG category. While both are enjoyable, they should not be confused and Nintendo should not have moved Z:TP from epic adventure to RPG.
All you're doing is selling more Wiis to people who are not me. This does me no good at all. I've been holding off on this Zelda thing until I felt confident that the series had some staying power, and I was just about ready to pick one up. Well... thanks a lot, you selfish jerk!
I have to disagree with some of what's been said. Firstly, and perhaps more importantly, I have NEVER been a fan of ANY Zelda game, and it is Twilight Princess that's the one game that's totally turned me around on the land of Hyrule.
Yes, Zelda games have already had beautifully composed music, and Twilight is no exception. But it was about damn time Nintendo grew up and abandoned it's AWFUL MIDI-esque synthesizers and recorded some orchestral audio. Very bad form Nintendo, this game deserved better instruments.
Regardless of whether or not this was to be a GameCube game first, the WiiMote is a totally natural way to play this game and I think it's essential to the way I've experienced the game.
This IS Zelda at it's most distilled and finest, and I finally feel like a part of the genre which so many enjoy but which I myself have had trouble adopting.
Anyone else notice the summary was about half the article? So much for snippets...
"developed by someone who walked in the woods" or whatever tells us NOTHING about this game
Yes it does... it says Miyamoto.... that tells a lot
-- rev. layle
... what people would say if Resistance: Fall of Man for the PS3 was basically a PS2 game with some Sixaxis support? Sony would be skinned alive. Yet the Nintendo's premium launch title is basically a Gamecube game with some motion sensing strapped onto the side. Meanwhile, they're artificially sitting on the GC release in case anybody finds out that it plays almost identically on a console costing 1/2 the price. I'm sure Zelda is very good game for other reasons, but it is interesting to note the double standards at work here.
roar! if we don't agree with someone's views let's rip him to shreds.
chill out guy. it's a video game review! you don't like it, move on!
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
Americans are supposed to be leaders in creativeness and innovation but some of the recent products, like the wii or the Prius, from Japan are simply amazing. The Nintendo Wii is an extremely creative and innovative product. By comparison, the xbox 360 (from an allegedly free-to-innovate american company) already looks like a dinosaur.
480p means 720 horizontal x 480 vertical pixels.
That's what those shots look like to me, whether or not Zonk actually took them.
"For most gamers, the adventures of Link and the story of Zelda have never failed to deliver."
Only because most gamers were spared the horror of playing one of the two CD-i Zelda games. I picked up a refurb CD-i dirt cheap for the time ($100 w/the MPEG cart) for the 7th Guest and decided to try out the Mask of Gamelion (sp?) while I was at it. Not only was that easily the worst game I've ever played (and I've played ET for the 2600), I was dumb enough to pay $35 for it. That is one scenario where the "adventures of Link and the story of Zelda" SERIOUSLY failed to deliver.
lol, all I can think of is...
If you haven't seen this film, and you're a gamer, I recommend you see it (if you like screw ball comedies of the flavor of National Lampoons).
Cheers,
Fozzy
"The past was erased, the erasure was forgotten, the lie became truth." ~1984 George Orwell
Zonk is married, so unless it was an arranged marriage...
"No doubt one may quote history to support any cause, as the devil quotes scripture." - Learned Hand
I have a Wii, I have Twilight Princess, but I am not a Zelda fanboy (I only played the first Zelda and Majora's Mask).
This game is good, but it is not the best game ever made. Period. All these fanboy reviews that say the game is the second coming are seriously blinded by the (Nintendo) label on the front. Furthermore, the main problems with it aren't the ones that all the fanboys talk about.
The main problems are these: ... in fact, it may be the best video game story this year, however, it develops at a snail's pace.
1. Awkward camera control. There are times when you get some awkward camera angles. I, for one, have stared at epona's ass through the entirety of more than one NPC conversation.
2. Awkward traditional controls. The new Wii controls work great, but the traditional control scheme can be clunky at times.
3. Sloooooooooow story. If you don't enjoy exposition, you won't like this game. The story is good
4. Poor graphics. The look of the game is awesome; the art design really hangs together. Nonetheless, some of the models have a very low poly count. Yeah, it's forgivable in a game with such a consistent art direction, but after playing RE4 on the cube, I have a hard time putting up with some of these models (like most of the terrain in the game).
None of these are huge issues, but they are issues. I would still give the game a 8/10, but anyone who argues that this game is the best game of the year is taking things too far.
burrocrisy
and that would be what? Ruling by jackasses? Never has a slashdot misspelling been more apropos
Any differences in game play, aside from the new Wii controller?
"It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
Also, do you miss any important history, or using new items, if you jump from Majora's Mask directly to TP, ignoring WW altogether?
"It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
So a double negative isn't English?
Preferable? No. English? Yes.
"No doubt one may quote history to support any cause, as the devil quotes scripture." - Learned Hand
I have a problem with how the controls work in that I feel they're inconsistent and overcomplicated. For instance there are three different sub-screens you can go to, one for your map and two different inventory screens. For the first inventory screen you press A to exit but the other inventory screen and map screen you press B to exit. The A button can attack with a sword but with a lantern it puts it out, you use B to swing a lantern. And to refill a lantern you have to go to one of the inventory screens, map a jar of lantern oil to the d-pad, exit the screen by pressing A (not B which is used to exit the other screens) then press the d-pad which usually swaps an item to your B button but in this case uses a jar, but when I want to refill a jar I have to equip it with the d-pad then press B. I think it would have been better if the game filled your lantern automatically or you did it in the equipment screen. Another problem I have is that sometimes you have to hold down the A button to push/pull objects but sometimes you press A to grab and press A again to let go.
My major problem with the game was actually its story. So much in the beginning seemed to foreshadow something really great; I thought, "this story is really going to go somewhere. It's going to turn around and have some great revelation and some 'lesson to be learned' in the end."
Well, when I was still thinking that in the latter third of the game, when it still seemed to be "setting up for something great," I realized that it really would be just another Zelda story. Pretty good as far as games go, but not great by any means.
I don't want to get into details, that would mean MAJOR spoilers which is probably inappropriate here... but there are a number of issues. So many places are so close to something that it's infuriating.
So close. (TP was still an awesome game and well worth playing, but this really, really bothers me. Probably just because the rest of the game was so great, and the story was so nearly so.)
Omnes stulti sunt.
The last Zelda game I played before buying my Wii was the orginal Legend of Zelda for the NES. I cannot even recall if I finished the game.
I lucked out and picked up a Wii at my local Best Buy the Sunday after Thanksgiving. From there I walked next door the to the Wal-Mart and purchased TP.
I am only about 6 hours into the game, and I have to admit, it is a lot of fun. I am an offical 'Geezer Gamer', and I liked the fact that the controls were very easy to learn, and The game play is made to ramp up your skills before you have to use them.
I realy like the graphics, not only for their styling, but because they don't cause motions sickness! I can play the game for hours on end without getting motion sick. As much as I love playing HALO2 with my friends on my Xbox, I cannot play more than one hour straight without tossing my cookies. Same thing with the Marrowind Series.
Actually, it's my personal opinion that the same people who severly criticized the Wind Waker's art direction, to the point they refused to even look at it, are the same ones gushing over the PS3. There's just a core group of gamers who feel that 'good' is simply more powerful texture and bump mapping. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I'm just not one who agrees as 'photo-realistic' doesn't mean the game fits stylistically.
Wind Waker, for me, had some of the best graphics. The animation of things just made the whole interaction feel 'real' even if it looked more cartoon-ish than photo-realistic. With that said, while I'm playing through Twilight Princess, I actually feel myself saying "boy, I wish this was more like the Wind Waker". The way bosses exploded out of lava, to the level of detail of far away objects, was just amazing. Water and grass movements felt much better too. Of course, The Twilight Princess is still a pretty graphically solid game! But, I don't agree that it deserves it's super star status.
I've been finding a lot wrong with the Zelda series for a while. Mainly, repetitiveness. I felt that the last several titles failed to change anything about the story. It's usually just another Link from another generation, fighting the same evil (or something similar) as before. You first do the forest dungeon, then the mountain/fire dungeon, then the water dungeon, then the desert dungeon, then the winter dungeon, etc., etc., etc. Not always in that order. Then you throw in the 'ok, it's time to get the Master Sword' mini-quest, and 'buy the Hylien shield' before doing the fire stage.
Twilight Princess feels almost too cut and paste from previous versions of Zelda (and it certainly takes good elements from them all). Oddly, I still find myself immensely enjoying it, but, not as much as I was expecting. The wolf form certainly helps a lot, though. Yet, I'm still looking forward to a Zelda that's not like all the others. I don't care if Gannon is the final boss, but I do care about having to run back and forth, collecting the same objects and fighting in the similarly same dungeons, where the puzzles work in similar ways. (use the lanter to light candles, use the fire arrow to light candles, etc.)
Also, the controls are a bit awkward. They work, don't get me wrong, but they're not as responsive as I'd like. Sometimes I swish the remote 4 times to get him to swing once. Also, it seems the pointer on my screen is badly calibrated. It points about 3 inches higher than it's aiming at. (I'll have to check the Zelda options menu, which I've not done yet, but other games and the Wii menu do not have this problem).
Zelda is still fun and there are great new elements in this version. Wolf form and 'animal sense' is a great idea. The horse/boar chase and riding is nicely done and fun. The story is still great. But I would only give this title an 8 of 10 due to it still fitting to closely the the same formula as other Zelda games. I'm still looking for a new story arch and a 2-player mode with Link and Zelda teaming up to master dungeon puzzles or battle the bad guys.
Cheers,
Fozzy
"The past was erased, the erasure was forgotten, the lie became truth." ~1984 George Orwell
I actually *loved* Wind Waker's look. What I didn't like was that it was rushed out the door to meet with the demands of Nintendo's corporate strategy.
Yeah, WW's style was great. It was a nearly perfect rendering of an interactive cartoon. I thought it looked good at first, but when I first saw the Moblins in Ganondorf's castle I was blown away.
Like you, the obvious length-padding the game received due to being rushed is my only major complaint -- but a major one it is. Unlike every other Zelda, I haven't played through it twice simply because I see no need to do the stupid sailing-around-the-world-for-triforce-pieces bit again. Even the ones who made the game have admitted that this was a failure of the game. Frankly, I would have liked WW better if they had just left it as short as it would have been without the padding. I'd rather complain a game was short than long and boring.
I like the look of TWP too, and all I really needed to hear from the reviews was that the game was long and more importantly stuffed with quality gameplay rather than padded just to make it long. The fact that this meant the game was in development for a long time is fine with me. The downside is that while being released for the Wii it is still a two-year-old GC game graphically, the upside is that it's a finished game. That's a worthy tradeoff to me.
The enemies of Democracy are
...which game would be a good place to start? I'm curious if there ii/are one or more titles that would be good as an introduction?
This about sums up the story in Zelda: Wand of Camelon for CD-i:c di-remix.swf
http://www.somethingawful.com/flash/shmorky/zelda
I don't have a Wii and haven't seen TP in person, but I prefer the WW art from what I've seen. TP just doesn't look very colorful, and Zelda feels like it should be colorful (unless a lack of color is signifying something, like a dark world). Not that I'm saying it should look like WW, but like you say they could have tried something new and different like they did in WW. Well, hopefully next time.
Warning: Apple/Nintendo fangirl. Likes her electronics cute & cuddly. May be rabid.
Can any left-handers comment on how playable the game is with the Wii Remote, especially swordsmanship? Can it be played left-handed in a natural way, or do you need to retrain yourself to play right-handed?
...finished. After I figured out you had to sail your ass all over the place to find the pieces of the triforce I snapped, and quit playing. My daughter always asked me to play 'link' and was very upset I refused too. She's quite in love watching me play Twilight Princess though. Running commentary from a five year old on 'you didn't do that right' or 'no don't do that as a wolf do it as link' is rather fun for a bit.
The new control scheme is second nature to me, and the six or eight hours straight don't have my hands numb and sore from gripping the controllers. Casually holding the Wiimote in the right and the Nunchuk in the left works well for me, and the cord is just long enough it doesn't get in the way.
The newer 'moves' you learn as the game progresses work well with the nunchuck/wiimote hack slash combos works well and I agree with the review in that you hvae many 'Wii Sports' moments by really getting into it and flailing about.
I'm currently inbetween the forest and air dungeons, and having a blast. About 29 hours into it.
As a rock-in-roll Physicist once said, No matter where you go, there you are.
I just bought Zelda for Wii during lunch at a local EB Games. I can't wait to get home to play! Friggin work, always in the way of life.
I beat Twilight Princess for myself this past Monday. The game is completely awesome, but not without it's gripes. I pretty much agree with the positives that Zonk listed, so I won't bother listing those again. Instead, I'll touch on some negatives I found that I didn't see listed.
First, the battle camera- it's like it actually got worse from Wind Waker. When using Z-targeting, the camera tends to slowly circle Link and his locked-on foe. As it does so, the directions changes in relation to the analog stick, so if I'm trying to do a forward slash I might wind up doing a side jump. This is annoying, especially when I need to be able to look straight on.
Second was movements with the Nunchuck. Perhaps I just need more practice, but actually doing a Shield-Knock (or whatever it is called) was rather annoying. More often than not I wound up doing a Spin Slash instead. And, speaking of the Spin Slash, the movements I had to make with the Nunchuck never seemed completely constant- sometimes a little shake was enough, sometimes I'd have to flail my arms to get it to work.
Finally, I am saddened that a lot of the additions in Wind Waker weren't included in Twilight Princess. First, the ability to use the weapons of enemies. Even if they'd been less effective, it would have been fun to pick up one of the ginormous swords of the new (and much bad-ass) Iron Knuckles. Second, I kind of liked the whole picture collection thing, though there are lots of other collecting to do in TP to make up for that. Finally, the ending.
-----(SPOILERS AHEAD! SCROLL FAST!)-----
After finally defeating Ganondorf (following one fun as hell horseback fight), you kind of stand there with Zelda, and the Light Spirits bring back Midna in her true form. She says a witty line, and then credits. To me, this seems like the least cohesive of all Zelda endings, even worse than Ocarina of Time. Yes, in the middle of the credits we have a scene where she goes back to Twili and destorys the mirror on her way out, but still- what happened to Ganondorf? Did he completely die? Was he just defeated enough to be sent back into the Light/Dark World? These are really only necessary if you're trying to fit into continuity, but still... I feel like the ending was severly lacking.
------------(END SPOILERS!)-------------
And then they don't even give us some sort of New Story+. Granted, I still have 30 hours of content to go through for this initial game, but you don't even get to save at the end and unlock some nifty little things. WW allowed you the use of your normal clothes, an extra heart, being able to understand the Guardian beasts (which was well worth it) and the Photo box early on after initially beating the game.
For all that though, it was still a great game. A lot of the new items were great, too. The Ball & Chain is fun as hell, the Spinner adds new gameplay elements, and the double hookshot is also nifty keen. My $50 was definately not wasted.
And posts like that prove it.
Besides, I thought people didn't care for reviewer's scores because we know all reviewers are bought out by companies like Nintendo to give games high scores.....
...it's a fuckin' LION!
I personally hated the N64 version of Zelda and found my first two days on Twilight Princess to be horribly similar to the older experience. Fortunately most of the things I decided to hate had gone away the moment they put a sword in my hand. I think swinging the remote (which can be done with minute hand guestures) feels VERY natural and adds a large amount of fun factor to the game.
I would agree with just about everything said in the review except for the graphics being even considered "decent." The game to me looks like I would be calling it ugly even if it were running on a Gamecube. The textures look pre-Xbox (original) which probably stems from the fact the game was developed with the Cube in mind, not the more powerful Wii. My video game time has began to suffer as a result of leaving my college years. I have not been very excited about playing games, nor have I been playing very much. Thankfully a title so wonderful as Zelda:TP has come to sweep away hours of my life, I have no problem playing this thing for even two hours at a time while chores and life continue to pass me by. The gaming experience is simply beautiful, thank you Nintendo!
I went to eat some animal crackers and the box said, "Do not eat if seal is broken." I opened the box and sure enough..
The review seems to assume that you already know a lot about Zelda. I don't--I have never played one of the games. I get the idea that there is a lot of story here, ok, but what is the GAMEPLAY like? Is most of my time spent in combat or in puzzles? Is combat action, turn-based, or a hybrid? Do I have a party or do I work alone? First or third person view? Is there an hour of reading before the game actually starts, like in a lot of the Japanese RPGs I have looked at? How do I manage inventory? What's the save system like? What's the enemy AI like? Do I bust out with the magic or are my abilities mundane?
Saying it's a great game just isn't enough. If save points are few and far between, for example, that KILLS me and I can't play the game. Sorry, I have a short attention span. Let's go ride bikes!!
There was no such thing as the CD-i, and obviously then there could not have been such a thing as CD-i Zelda games.
Stop spreading your evil lies, heretic!
You're just as dangerous as those sinners who claim that the Wachowskis made not just one, but two sequels to The Matrix. Burn the lot of ya, I say!
The enemies of Democracy are
No, he says that the visual style of Wind Waker wouldn't have been appropriate for this game, but he would have liked some flair in the visual style. That's not a contradiction.
"Sufferin' succotash."
What are you talking about Zonk? You seriously can't attribute TP with single-handedly keeping the Wii from the darkness of financial misfortune. Really, they are making money on every single console, and I for one have not bought TP yet, but I have purchased 4 other titles, and I must say that the bundled Sports are also played quite a bit on my console.
I would dare say that the Wii would still be seeing it's first month's sold-out, constant success even if TP had not been a release title.
I know that a large portion of those who bought a console, also bought TP, but that doesn't mean that this single game is keeping the console from being a financial misfortune.
Self proclaimed wannabe geek. You know how it is. Most of us who read this stuff probably fit in that category.
Twilight Princess is coming out for the GameCube as well, right? In fact it was originally developed for the GC, so theoretically it should control as good or better compared to the Wii version. So why would I pay $250 for a new Wii when I can just play the game on the GC I already own?
Like most Legend of Zelda games before it, the story of this game has nothing to do with the previous Zelda titles. There are some neat revisions or upgrades to items from the previous games, but their use is always explained. There are only passing references to the stories/situations of previous Zelda titles, so you will not be left in the dark there either.
Good grief, the sailing wasn't that bad. They put teleporters all over the place so you don't have to sail for ages. Admittedly, access to them comes later than you'd like, but it generally doesn't take more than a minute or so, and probably less, to sail across any given grid on the map.
"The review seems to assume that you already know a lot about Zelda. I don't--I have never played one of the games. I get the idea that there is a lot of story here, ok, but what is the GAMEPLAY like? Is most of my time spent in combat or in puzzles? Is combat action, turn-based, or a hybrid? Do I have a party or do I work alone? First or third person view? Is there an hour of reading before the game actually starts, like in a lot of the Japanese RPGs I have looked at? How do I manage inventory? What's the save system like? What's the enemy AI like? Do I bust out with the magic or are my abilities mundane?""
I haven't played this one yet, but Twilight Princess seems to be much like previous Zelda games:
"You'll never find yourself unable to do something you shouldn't be able to."
So a double negative isn't English? Preferable? No. English? Yes.
For what it's worth, I found this sentence incredibly difficult to parse as well. There are actually three negatives in there - never, unable, shouldn't. Two negatives cancel each other, so let's rewrite the sentence:
You'll [] find yourself []able to do something you shouldn't be able to.
You'll never find yourself []able to do something you should[] be able to.
You'll [] find yourself unable to do something you should[] be able to.
That makes perfect sense now!
I didn't call anybody a "heretic"...
And anyway, I'm not defining Zelda canon... Nintendo is, by disowning and moving on as if the CD-i games never existed.
/* No Comment */
Sailing was never a big deal IMO. Why does nobody slam WoW for time spent travelling and flying? No difference there.
What have you done! Thousends of /. geeks will have clicked on that link and have had to change their pants! :P
This is exactly what I meant - now we need the male version - as seen in THX-1138...
www.tribalnetworks.org - helping tribal people around the world to own their own means of high-tech communications
It wasn't Zelda fans that objected to the style of Wind Waker, it was the graphics snobs. The 2D Zelda games are very cartoonish. The animation style in Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask was also rather cartoonish, but the N64 just wasn't powerful enough to draw cell shaded graphics.
Graphically, Twilight Princess is completely out of place compared to the rest of the series.
The Zelda series is pretty long, but it includes a couple of things which are GENERALLY true across the games (much like Mario generally jumps on heads to defeat enemies and includes lots of action in the vertical dimension).
* Your avatar is Link, a spunky young man who has no lines and is destined to save the kingdom of Hyrule and its Princess Zelda. Typically, he doesn't know this at the start of the game. You will never have control of anyone but Link. For 3D Zeldas, you typically have a third-person camera behind Link view, but when aiming certain items (see below) it turns into first person. The game is real-time except during cutscenes (generally in-engine as opposed to rendered) and conversation.
* The game involves an overworld map, which you traverse in real time, and dungeons. Often, their is a gimmick with the world being split into two, and the necessity to use certain places or items to traverse between the two linked worlds.
* Link is equipped with a sword, which cuts stuff (his primary way for killing things) and has a special attack, a shield (which is used to block a rather small subset of attacks), and a series of items. The items are typically useful in both combat and in puzzle solving or exploration. For example, you can use a slingshot to kill a spider. You can also use the slingshot to knock a particular item in Link's village off of a tree.
* There are dungeons. Every dungeon includes a new item for you, which you typically get about halfway through the dungeon, and a boss mob who will require innovative use of that item (possibly coupled with items you have already mastered) to defeat. Dungeons include a mix (what % depends on the dungeon) of puzzle solving skills (both creative use of your items and also fairly simple logic puzzles, such as "OK, I can push a block in one direction but only once. There are 15 blocks ahead of me in a maze. I need to cross the room. What order and in which direction do I push the blocks such that I can navigate this maze successfully?" Typically the puzzles do not include time or pressing resource constraints and the game is more-or-less forgiving when it comes to allowing you to avoid combat... except with bosses. Items range from the mundane (bow and arrow) to things which invoke interesting magical abilities (many games in the series provide you with a pair of rods, one which can produce fireballs and one which can freeze things).
* Inventory is accessible from another screen. You get one spot per item, and you either have the item or you don't -- inventory space is never a resource and managing it is not a challenge the game offers. For consumables used by an item, there is a simple count kept internal to the item (arrows for your bow, etc), with a maximum carrying capacity which, depending on the game and item, may be upgradeable. There is an inventory subsystem in that Link generally can earn Bottles as items (generally up to four), which can hold a variety of interesting things against need later. For example, you might decide if you have one Bottle to fill it with a potion that, when consumed, will restore you to full health. Of course, that means you can't also fill it with a fairy (which will restore less health, but be invoked automatically if you should pass away).
* Link has a life meter, abstracted as a certain number of hearts. He invariably starts with 3. You take a certain number of hearts or fractional (quarters or halves) hearts from environmental damage (walking in fire generally hurts unless you are prepared to do it) or getting hit by monsters. You can refill your hearts by a variety of mechanisms, the most common being by picking up hearts dropped by defeated enemies. You gain an extra heart by finding either a full heart container (one is handily dropped by every major boss) or collecting heart container pieces (generally 4, 5 in TP) which you earn through exploration (quite common), minigames (rather rare) or side quests (uncommon relative to the length of the game).
Help poke pirates in the eyepatch, arr.
So sometimes you're a wolf, and there's a ledge 5 feet in the air that you'd like to jump to. Sorry Link, you can't jump as a wolf. Unless you're at some pre-defined location, in which Midna will gladly let you jump 30 feet in the friggin air. This inconsistency in the game's logic ruins part of the immersion.
Zonk, I respect your use of gravitas to indicate the staid, heroic manner in which Link behaves. But please don't use it so close to words that make it seem to mean more like "gravity." Gravity, even of the emotional sort, does not have the same meaning as gravitas.
Ever intent on helping people to stop mauling Latin words!
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nope, only the ones who screamed 'OMG my kids game looks like a cartoon! how lame! blablablablabla'
It was a brilliant zelda in its own right.
Agree.
When I got tired of sailing I'd just play the Ballad of Gales to teleport near to my next destination.
Maybe most of the complainers never learned it.