Gaming The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

[James]

[quote]Explain, please. Do explain how it's still so obviously me just following something to justify my views, when I'd voiced those predictions ages ago, long before many of the hands-on previews, only to have my predictions ultimately confirmed in reviews that don't just get wowed by TP and give it a 10/10 without so much as a second thought. Not to mention having those predictions confirmed by my own first-hand experience playing the retail launch edition of WiiTP. Man, it's not me following something to justify my views; it's my first-hand experience and reasoning skills justifying the 8.8 review.
[/quote]

[font=arial]Your "predictions" were simply emotional gripes related to the fact that Twilight Princess was a conversion and that GameCube owners were having to wait. It was all very transparent and the wealth of online impressions and reviews have thusfar quashed it absolutely. Of course, some reviews will be negative and some will be positive - every review is different. But plucking one review out of the air (on a site that has had questionable reviews in the past) doesn't really cut it, lol.

In any case, I'm simply not going to argue it with you. If I do, it will go around in circles and you will end up doing exactly what you did last time - let's not go there. I just don't have the energy for that cylical garbage these days.
[/font]

[quote]1UP? Man, they were lovey-dovey even months before launch, and it's not like they were much skeptical at all before that, so don't even try to portray them as some sort of convert.[/quote]

[font=arial]1UP/EGM have generally been relatively harsh on both Nintendo and Microsoft at times - probably more often than they have been with Sony (Microsoft in particular as of late). I even remember whole articles being written online about that during the last few years.

But more importantly, as I said - and will not repeat a million times - it's important to look at a spread of reviews and impressions. That's what I tend to do. Generally I think this provides a more accurate reflection of media interest.

And just as a final point...my argument has never been that everyone should give this game a 10/10 right off the bat. I've never suggested that this game's greatness shouldn't be in question. Ever.

What I have simply said is that it is inappropriate to a) dismiss something off-hand without having in-depth knowledge of it and b) to make a pre-judgement on an issue and then selectively insert information (whether relevant or irrelevant) which supports that conclusion. That's a case of putting the cart before the horse and it doesn't make for good discussion generally.

That last paragraph really underlines my entire philosophy on the subject. I would rather make that general statement than go into a convoluted discussion that regularly strays from the core points.[/font]

[quote]And I can't wait to see what happens when you play what I just suffered through.[/quote]

[font=arial]Even that comment demonstrates a misunderstanding of everything I've been saying thusfar. There's just no point responding at all in that situation, lol.

If I play Zelda on Wii and I don't like it, believe me, I will say so. I never give something a pass if it doesn't interest me or if I feel something about it isn't right.

The main difference is that I try to keep an open mind until I have enough information about something, as opposed to making a purchasing decision and [i]then[/i] justifying it through selective use of information (some of which being totally inaccurate).[/font]

[quote]I remember reading something where Nintendo said that Twilight Princess was the last traditional Zelda game. I'm 99% sure it wasn't a rumor or anything, one of the creators or directors or someone said it, so I look forward to the completely Wii-designed Zelda that will come out sooner or later.
[/quote]

[font=arial]Yes, that about sums it up. Twilight Princess is designed to be "the definitive traditional Zelda".

The [i]"new"[/i] Zelda will debut on Wii sometime in the future. I actually hope that the next Wii-centric Zelda is quite different to what we've seen before.[/font]

[Papa Smurf]

[quote name='James']Your "predictions" were simply emotional gripes related to the fact that Twilight Princess was a conversion and that GameCube owners were having to wait.[/quote]
Yes, I'm sure it was all just driven by pure emotion because I felt slighted after it became clear I wasn't going to be getting a GCN game that I'd cancelled my preorder for almost two years before any announcements were made regarding the Wii. James, don't even try to masquerade my previous predictions as "emotional gripes." Nintendo made a stupid business decision, and once people see just how overhyped WiiTP was, and how greatly a game like Madden 07 just shats all over WiiTP's Wiimote functionality, they're going to realize just how stupid a decision it was. I'm not an idiot fueled by emotional angst, despite what you may want, so do not try to misrepresent me as such.

[quote]It was all very transparent and the wealth of online impressions and reviews have thusfar quashed it absolutely.[/quote]
"Quashed it absolutely"? lol. Have you even played the game? James, I'll tell you right now. WiiTP was overhyped beyond anything. Don't be fooled (and don't let yourself be fooled) by those perfect 10s and 9.5+ scores. They're not accurately reflecting this game. The visuals downright suck in most places. The textures look awful. The controls feel ancient and archaic. The motion sensor does next to nothing to deepen the gameplay experience. And the fact that we don't even have a manual camera anymore is a major step back in the series.

[quote]In any case, I'm simply not going to argue it with you. If I do, it will go around in circles and you will end up doing exactly what you did last time - let's not go there. I just don't have the energy for that cylical garbage these days.[/quote]
Cyclical garbage eh? Okay, we'll just let you have this one and we'll continue to forever consider it cyclical garbage, even after I've seen my own predictions confirmed right before my eyes after I've laid my hands on WiiTP...on launch day no less. You'll have to forgive me for sounding so harsh, but I'm sure it's still "cyclical garbage" when it's becoming so, so obvious I was right all along.

[quote]1UP/EGM have generally been relatively harsh on both Nintendo and Microsoft at times[/quote]
Oh, then you've got to provide links to these articles, because I haven't seen [i]anything[/i] that is "relatively harsh" on Nintendo. In fact, I haven't seen anything from 1UP [i]or[/i] EGM that could ever be classified as even remotely harsh. So what are you reading? What do you think is "harsh" at all? Give me some quotes from previews that could be harsh to even the most case-hardened reader.

[quote]But more importantly, as I said - and will not repeat a million times - it's important to look at a spread of reviews and impressions.[/quote]
As if I don't? Sorry, but "more than any of the stupid-simple perfect score reviews posted elsewhere" would imply that I do in fact look at the spreads of reviews and impressions...and read them, to boot.

[quote]What I have simply said is that it is inappropriate to a) dismiss something off-hand without having in-depth knowledge of it and b) to make a pre-judgement on an issue and then selectively insert information (whether relevant or irrelevant) which supports that conclusion.[/quote]
But James, here's the really awesome part: I was right all along. And I've had the hands-on experience no more than five hours ago [i]to prove it[/i].

[quote]If I play Zelda on Wii and I don't like it, believe me, I will say so.[/quote]
James, I never knew you had a sense of humor.

[quote]The main difference is that I try to keep an open mind until I have enough information about something[/quote]
Oh, yeah, because even though I'm not convinced that Wii is truly a revolution, I'm not keeping an open mind by actually being genuinely excited about trying Excite Truck and WiiTP? Or being willing to stand outside of a Toys R Us for almost five hours in 40-ish degree weather on launch day because a friend wants to play Wii with me? Or what about offering good, reasonable advice to the mothers in line behind me when they're figuring out what accessories to purchase along with the Wii for their sons? Or that I'm now further driving home what I've been saying after I most certainly have enough information--from my very own hands-on experience with WiiTP? Or the fact that I'll still buy a Wii sometime in 2007? James, you're dead wrong, because all of that is totally keeping an open mind.

[James]

[quote]But James, here's the really awesome part: I was right all along. And I've had the hands-on experience no more than five hours ago to prove it.
[/quote]

[font=arial]I think you just need to go back and read some of your previous comments. The absolute rubbish that was spouted only a few pages ago about development cycles and such was clearly coming from someone with an axe to grind - this is not simply me mis-reading your comments, others who have posted in this thread have echoed the same sentiment. That's good enough for me.[/font]

[quote]James, I never knew you had a sense of humor.[/quote]

[font=arial]The fact that you don't understand the irony of this very comment just isn't amusing anymore, lol.

That you claim to be objective - after the constant twisting and turning you've been doing in recent posts - is actually laughable. That you then claim I'm not objective because I'm pulling you up on your self-contradictory style of debate is bordering on offensive.[/font]

[quote]Oh, yeah, because even though I'm not convinced that Wii is truly a revolution[/quote]

[font=arial]Don't kid yourself. If it were simply that you were saying you weren't convinced Wii isn't a revolution, that would be completely fine.

But you have systematically attacked nearly every aspect of the platform in recent times and many of these attacks have been based on completely erroneous information. That is most certainly [i]not[/i] open-minded.

The reason I dislike debating on such grounds is because engaging in a debate on false premises isn't going to get anyone anywhere - it literally just comes down to who can type the most. And in those cases, points are ignored and we get majorly off the topic.

As I have said repeatedly until I'm almost blue in the face...my only issue has ever been erroneous claims and viscious "attacks" on points that people are not even making. That kind of stuff just doesn't make for a reasonable debate - and clearly we are starting to slide down that slope again here. So this is where it'll end, unless something truly constructive can be said.

At the end of the day it becomes more about arguing for the sake of it than actually having a substantial discussion. And that isn't something I'm interested in at all; I certainly don't want the thread to be dominated with those types of posts.

If what I've said here still isn't driving the point home, then there isn't much more I can really do. lol[/font]

[Goodbye, Face]

[font=arial][size=1]I want to quickly jump in with some opinions after reading some reviews.

A major one is that to me there were two types of reviews:

1. "OMG I don't care about its shortcomings, it's Zelda and I'm not going to talk about them. ^^"

2. "This was a great game, completely worthy of a perfect score. The only problems were basically everything. The game is long though, like 40-70 hours. It has an epic feel to it... yeah. Let's talk about the puzzles! Man, those puzzles are great! Let's spend four whole paragraphs talking about the puzzles! You should get this game, even though I just talked you out of it."

Obviously, having not even seen a Wii in person yet, I cannot have my own opinion. It just seems to me that a lot of these reviews were bullcrap. What I have to go off of is my friend who's been calling me off and on while playing the game and she's said so far that it doesn't feel next-gen at all, she hasn't been "annoyed" at anything yet, and that she hasn't played it enough yet to form a real opinion. She's coming over right before Thanksgiving with her Wii, so we'll see.[/font][/size]

[James]

[font=arial]I think with a game like this, the reviews are going to be all over the place. I rather liked IGN's review, mostly because Matt has been pretty skeptical about Twilight Princess at E3 (and he was actually quite anti-Wii until he actually knew more about it) and the review gets to all the main points without waffling too much.

I suppose the only thing that annoyed me about it was his comments about voice acting - but certainly, he has the right to his opinion. I do somewhat agree with him about the MIDI element though, especially since Nintendo did at one point talk about fully-orchestrated music...I'm not quite sure what happened there, but it's certainly disappointing.

1UP's review was quite straight forward and it touched on the negative points, but there was nothing terribly interesting about it to me...it was just an example of a generally positive review.

I think it probably comes down to what each reviewer finds important. For some, the visuals are going to be a huge let down that will hurt the experience - for others, this will not be a problem at all.

I'm not sure what camp I'm going to sit in. I'm used to Xbox 360 visuals, so Zelda might disappoint me and that might be annoying. On the other hand, if I like the controls enough, I might be satisfied to overlook texturing problems and so on.

Right now it's a totally open question. It's one that I'm not willing to make a judgement about until I've played the game for several hours (I don't think I could form a full impression with a few minutes in front of a kiosk in the middle of a store).[/font]

[Papa Smurf]

[quote name='James']The fact that you don't understand the irony of this very comment just isn't amusing anymore, lol.[/quote] Irony? Where? It's only irony if I don't shoot straight, or give credit where credit's due. But look at this. I'm not a big football fan at all. I played the original NFL Blitz on N64 and that was the extent of my 3D football gaming. I have since had zero interest in football videogames in general. I've been skeptical of the Wiimote itself for much of the launch titles, and have even had my doubts about Madden 07. And yet here I am, singing its praises. So where's the irony in your previous statements? Do I not play things fairly? Do I not maintain a level of objectivity? Come now, James. Don't be such a foolish dandy.

[quote]But you have systematically attacked nearly every aspect of the platform in recent times and many of these attacks have been based on completely erroneous information. That is most certainly not open-minded.[/quote] Oh, please, then, do tell me what in this system is truly revolutionary! There are such massive logical inconsistencies in the entire marketing campaign. The very philosophy behind the Wii is a complete mess--and even people waiting in that line earlier today could see how none of these new features made any sense whatsoever. Oh, please, fearless leader, tell me just how any of these features on Wii are revolutionary to where they just cannot be put under any type of intense scrutiny.

[quote]The reason I dislike debating on such grounds is because engaging in a debate on false premises isn't going to get anyone anywhere[/QUOTE] I know what you can do! You can go into detail and tell me what "false premises" actually means.

Do you mean that my predictions that the Wiimote function in WiiTP will feel "tacked on" is a false premise, only because of positive hands-on previews, even when we know for a fact that hands-on previews can be so, so misleading? Which would be the truly false premise there?

Or would my comments regarding the development cycle and the "rush job" Wiimote functionality be considered a false premise, when in fact the end result of such a small window feels dull and sloppy, and lacking the kind of depth of the combat in WindWaker? Keep in mind that the combat in WindWaker was impeccable, and at times had the responsiveness, accuracy, and attack punctuation of top fighting games. Also keep in mind that the Wiimote is a controller largely unsuitable for the fighting game genre.

Or perhaps it's my overall skepticism regarding the status of an online gaming service that we have heard absolutely nothing about? Is that a false premise? Is it wrong for people to lack confidence in a product when the development company is not releasing any of the important details of said product? I think it's quite the contrary. That's a perfectly valid and logical reaction when the individual loses confidence in said company.

Maybe that "false premise" has more to do with what can be classified as a "fundamental change to play control"? A premise can only be false when there is clear, undeniable, concrete, immediately accessible and easily experienced proof that contradicts such a premise. When discussing fundamental changes to play control, there are most certainly true examples of fundamental changes to play control which have gone above and beyond whatever we were seeing coming out of WiiTP, so how would it be a "false premise" to conclude that WiiTP is in fact not a fundamental change to play control?

What could possibly be a false premise, James, when all of that regarding WiiTP comes from direct hands-on experience from no more than five hours ago? I'm outright stating exactly what wasn't working in the retail launch version of WiiTP. There are no false premises here, dear.

OH! And you must know that I'm not talking about spending a few minutes playing WiiTP at some random kiosk in some random store. I was playing it in my house, on my own TV, in my own chair, for quite a bit longer than "a few minutes."

[James]

[quote]Oh, please, then, do tell me what in this system is truly revolutionary! There are such massive logical inconsistencies in the entire marketing campaign. The very philosophy behind the Wii is a complete mess--and even people waiting in that line earlier today could see how none of these new features made any sense whatsoever. Oh, please, fearless leader, tell me just how any of these features on Wii are revolutionary to where they just cannot be put under any type of intense scrutiny.
[/quote]

[font=arial]Nobody's saying the system can't be scrutinised.

I'm only saying that random and totally blind attacks that have no factual basis are asenine. Simple.[/font]

[quote]I've been skeptical of the Wiimote itself for much of the launch titles, and have even had my doubts about Madden 07. And yet here I am, singing its praises. So where's the irony in your previous statements? Do I not play things fairly? Do I not maintain a level of objectivity? Come now, James. Don't be such a foolish dandy.
[/quote]

[font=arial]You just aren't getting the point, are you? Saying that one game is great does not add credence to consistently vague and emotive trash-talk. We aren't five years old here - one thing doesn't immediately cancel out the other.

It's like saying "I hate you but you have a nice haircut". It just doesn't gel. lol

[quote]What could possibly be a false premise, James, when all of that regarding WiiTP comes from direct hands-on experience from no more than five hours ago?[/quote]

It's convenient to completely disregard everything else you've said about this game in the last few pages, isn't it?

Anyway, this latest post is yet [i]another[/i] complete disregard of everything I've said up until this point. How you can quote something and then totally misinterpret it escapes me. And where do you get off calling insulting people personally? That's like a constant last resort when you are actually being questioned about glaring contradictions in your posts. Adding patronizing comments to what is already a ridiculously convoluted cycle of arguing doesn't help.

Enough is enough.[/font]

[eleanor]

[QUOTE=RiflesAtRecess][font=arial][size=1]I want to quickly jump in with some opinions after reading some reviews.

A major one is that to me there were two types of reviews:

1. "OMG I don't care about its shortcomings, it's Zelda and I'm not going to talk about them. ^^"

2. "This was a great game, completely worthy of a perfect score. The only problems were basically everything. The game is long though, like 40-70 hours. It has an epic feel to it... yeah. Let's talk about the puzzles! Man, those puzzles are great! Let's spend four whole paragraphs talking about the puzzles! You should get this game, even though I just talked you out of it."

Obviously, having not even seen a Wii in person yet, I cannot have my own opinion. It just seems to me that a lot of these reviews were bullcrap. What I have to go off of is my friend who's been calling me off and on while playing the game and she's said so far that it doesn't feel next-gen at all, she hasn't been "annoyed" at anything yet, and that she hasn't played it enough yet to form a real opinion. She's coming over right before Thanksgiving with her Wii, so we'll see.[/font][/size][/QUOTE]

[color=dimgray] I haven't any reviews like that so far. Links would help, I guess.

James wrote exactly what I was thinking, which is a bit weird, but it saves time. :D

I was almost afraid to say I like Cassamassina's review, because a lot of people seem to just hate IGN. I watched the video review (to try and partially fill the gaping hole I have because I can't play the game until December), and it was pretty concise and to the point. And entertaining. [spoiler]There was this part about Link being able to run and swing his sword around at the same time, which I thought was the neatest thing ever.[/spoiler]

The only bad review I've read so far was the [url="http://www.joystiq.com/2006/11/11/nintendos-new-zelda-falls-flat/"]one at Joystig[/url], which basically dismissed the entire game because the reviewer didn't like the graphics. Shoddy job of a review, since reviews are supposed to take everything under consideration. [/color]

[Desbreko]

[color=#4B0082]I got my Wii and TP yesterday and played for about six hours. I just learned the finishing strike (aka down strike) and got into the first dungeon, so I'm going to hold off on writing anything resembling a review until I get farther, but here's some initial thoughts:

First, the lack of a manual camera, like the one in TWW, annoys me. I absolutely adored TWW's camera so it was a pretty big disappointment to find it missing from TP. Right now I'm really curious about whether or not the GCN version has such a camera (since it has the C-stick to make use of). That would be a big incentive for me to buy the GCN version as well, whenever I get around to replaying TP after finishing it once.

But the camera issue, as big an annoyance as it is, is still just an annoyance and won't stop me from enjoying the game. I've had plenty of experience with OoT's and MM's cameras, which are pretty much identical to TP's and always worked fine, so I'm still right at home with it.

Motion sensor control for the sword has, so far, not presented any problems. It took me a few minutes to get the hang of it when I first started swinging around the Wooden Sword but now it feels pretty natural. It's not quite as sensitive as I might like but it still doesn't require much effort and it's not hard to time my swings either. (I was playing for six hours straight and my wrists never got tired from the motions.) My only real disappointment is that you still have to use the control stick to differentiate your sword strikes, rather than using different motions for horizontal slashes, vertical slashes, stabs, etc.

And I really like being able to do a spin attack simply by shaking the nunchuk rather than messing around with rotating the control stick. Another thing is that there's an added delay of about three seconds after you do a spin attack, during which time you can't perform another. You can still do everything else but it keeps you from doing constant spin attacks, which is something I always complained about being horribly broken in OoT, MM, and TWW.

And that's all for now. I'm hoping to get through the first dungeon later today after school, though, and I'll probably have more to say after that.[/color]

[Ellerby]

[COLOR=DimGray][FONT=Tahoma]Alright, I got my Wii and rented Zelda. I've now racked up a near 7 hours in two days (though I was home from school today so I did get some time in there, ha ha) and I love it. How can you tell? The last 5 hours were all played continuously, no bathroom or food breaks at all. In fact, I'm only now having my first meal of the day. The sad life of an addicted gamer, I tell you. lol

[b]Camera:[/b] As far as the camera goes, I was pleasantly surprised to find that I don't have to do anything at all. Some of you like to have a little more control but for me, just a simple "follow your characters back when he moves" view is just dandy. That, combined with pressing the "Z" button (lock on mode) to move the camera back behind your character makes for perfect view.

[b]Fight System:[/b] I'm in the second dungeon right now, equipped with [spoiler]Rusl's sword and a Hylian shield[/spoiler]. I've mastered [spoiler]two hidden techniques - the finishing blow and shield attack -[/spoiler] and I just adore how you fight. The Wiimote usage is perfect. Not too much, not too little. You feel part of the game, even though you're just sitting on your couch (Yeah, you don't have to be incredibly active to play WiiTP. At one point I was laying down with my cat sleeping on my legs and I did just fine).

To swing your sword you just swing your Wiimote. A lot of the time your sword doesn't swing the same direction you swung the Remote, but you get used to it. To jab, you press forward on the analog stick and simply make a jabbing or swinging motion with the remote. To lock on, you press Z (on the Nunchuk attachment) and hold it. While locked on, you can press A to jump and do a downward slice. The [spoiler]shield push is a fun one. While locked on, you just jab your left hand (the Nunchuk hand) forward and Link will jab his shield forward.[/spoiler] Neat, huh?

[b]Epona:[/b] Lots of fun on the horse. Instead of an Ocarina or Wind.. Thing.. from TWW, Link uses [spoiler]grass (in Human form) and howls (in Wolf form)![/spoiler] Anyway, once you call Epona over, you get on her with A and just steer with the analog stick, pressing A to dash. Simple stuff.

I won't say much more than that because I'd really like for you guys to just try it and find out for yourselves some of the fun stuff that comes up. So far some highlights include [spoiler]sumo wrestling, goat herding (yeah, that was a highlight for me), the hawk and jousting[/spoiler].

Cheers.

[b]EDIT:[/b] I forgot to mention that fishing is done really easily. It's done entirely (no buttons once you bring out the rod) with motion, which is nice.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[Tatsubei Yagyu]

[COLOR=Navy][FONT=Comic Sans MS][quote name='White][COLOR=DimGray][FONT=Tahoma][b]Epona:[/b] Lots of fun on the horse. Instead of an Ocarina or Wind.. Thing.. from TWW, Link uses [spoiler]grass (in Human form) and howls (in Wolf form)![/spoiler] Anyway, once you call Epona over, you get on her with A and just steer with the analog stick, pressing A to dash. Simple stuff.[/FONT'][/COLOR][/quote]

Wait, why would you call Epona [spoiler] while you're a wolf? It's not like you can ride her (... cough cough <,<)[/spoiler]...or am I wrong?

Just something I'm curious about, seeing as I won't have a Wii for a while...[SIZE=1]lucky bastards[/SIZE]...lol v.v[/FONT][/COLOR]

[Ellerby]

[QUOTE=Tatsubei Yagyu][COLOR=Navy][FONT=Comic Sans MS]

Wait, why would you call Epona [spoiler] while you're a wolf? It's not like you can ride her (... cough cough <,<)[/spoiler]...or am I wrong?

Just something I'm curious about, seeing as I won't have a Wii for a while...[SIZE=1]lucky bastards[/SIZE]...lol v.v[/FONT][/COLOR][/QUOTE]
[COLOR=DimGray][FONT=Tahoma]You sing totally different melodies while in Wolf form. The ones you sing as Wolf Link don't bring Epona to you. ;)[/FONT][/COLOR]

[James]

[font=arial]So, White, what do you think about the game's difficulty? I've asked this elsewhere but I might as well ask here too. You seem to be a little further in, having been through a dungeon and such. How are the puzzles and the battles compared to previous Zelda titles?[/font]

[NorykoAngelcry]

[quote name='James][font=arial']So, White, what do you think about the game's difficulty? I've asked this elsewhere but I might as well ask here too. You seem to be a little further in, having been through a dungeon and such. How are the puzzles and the battles compared to previous Zelda titles?[/font][/quote]

I'll put in my two cents on this question.. simply because a few different opinions are probably better then just one.

So far, I haven't run into anything too difficult.. a few complaints about camera angle, but the monsters I encounter are easy enough to grasp the strategy behind. The boss fights (just entered the third dungeon) are really fun, especially the second one (Wii controller makes aiming fun =P) Honestly, I've played enough Zelda / adventure games to understand how most developers expect you to fight bosses.. so, never really a problem there. Some of them so far are just a learning curve, and then 'pew-pew' and they are dead.

From the opening movie for the game, and some of the movies I've seen out there, I know there are going to be more interesting fights. The learning curve for the game is really nice, first monsters are your bats and simple one-hit kills.. then it progresses to a few hits, then some that get knocked down for Finishing Moves..

All in all, I am loving this game..the difficulty isn't so hard that it will frustrate you, and yet, don't expect to just walk through the game, for every fight.. some of the boss fights are so clever, I want to go back through and replay them =)

I'll stop now.. more ramblings then you probably wanted =P

Aaron..

[James]

[QUOTE=NorykoAngelcry]I'll stop now.. more ramblings then you probably wanted =P

Aaron..[/QUOTE]

[font=arial]No, I'm more than happy to read more impressions. Talk about whatever aspects you like. The more impressions I read about this game the better - I like to see what people are enjoying and not enjoying about it.

I've read most of the impressions from online gaming sites, but it's always good to have impressions from people who you can ask direct questions to.[/font] :catgirl:

[eleanor]

[color=dimgray] Another question for everyone who has Twilight Princess. So, what's with the storyline? Are you guys too early into the game to tell or is it really that good? [/color]

[Ellerby]

[quote name='Lunox][color=dimgray'] Another question for everyone who has Twilight Princess. So, what's with the storyline? Are you guys too early into the game to tell or is it really that good? [/color][/quote]
[COLOR=DimGray][FONT=Tahoma]The storyline is fairly deep for what you would think to be such a simple game. Though, Zelda games always have great storylines. But yeah, it's really cool. A breath of fresh air when you compare it to more recent games (though it's very similar to a couple other LoZ games).

As for the difficulty, I haven't had a whole lot of trouble yet. I didn't die the first dungeon, but I have died a few times in the second so I can tell it's getting a bit harder. The puzzles aren't complicated either, but they can take [i]some[/i] time to figure out. However, once you do figure them out, it's easy as pie (unlike other Zelda games *coughwatertemplecough*).

So, yeah. Just got my [spoiler]Hero's Bow[/spoiler] and I'm now going to bed.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[NorykoAngelcry]

[QUOTE=James][font=arial]No, I'm more than happy to read more impressions. Talk about whatever aspects you like. The more impressions I read about this game the better - I like to see what people are enjoying and not enjoying about it.

I've read most of the impressions from online gaming sites, but it's always good to have impressions from people who you can ask direct questions to.[/font] :catgirl:[/QUOTE]

Agreed.. I usually take word-of-mouth over some critics review on a gaming site. Sure, I'll use it for new games, but if I can, I prefer to hear what friends of mine think on games. They can answer questions I have better then a pre-written review. -_-

[quote name='Lunox][color=dimgray'] Another question for everyone who has Twilight Princess. So, what's with the storyline? Are you guys too early into the game to tell or is it really that good? [/color][/quote]

Here's the condensed version:

[spoiler]The Twilight King (from the 'DARK SIDE') sort of invade the realm of Hyrule.. stealing powers from the Light Spirits (from the 'LIGHT SIDE') .. get it? dark vs. light.. Your job is to stop the king, and thusfar, my task is to gain power to stop him, including the power of the 'DARK SIDE' .. I hit the dungeons for these dark fusion pieces.. [/spoiler]

sloppy rundown, but, there you go.. I'm only past the second dungeon. I left a lot of stuff out (a LOT of detail) .. but, this just gets you an idea of what the story is so far...

Aaron..

[Desbreko]

[color=#4B0082]I finished the first dungeon today and I'm close to getting into the second one. I just got back into human form in Kakariko Village, so now I get to head up onto Death Mountain next. I can't wait to box a Goron![/color]

[quote name='James][font=arial']So, White, what do you think about the game's difficulty? I've asked this elsewhere but I might as well ask here too. You seem to be a little further in, having been through a dungeon and such. How are the puzzles and the battles compared to previous Zelda titles?[/font][/quote][color=#4B0082]So far the difficulty has seemed to be about on par with Ocarina of Time. Meaning that, for me, it's basically a walk in the park. But then Zelda [i]is[/i] kind of my specialty. Though I did actually die once. It was my first encounter with the shadow beast things while in wolf form. I was charging up the area attack when all three of them jumped me at the same time, killing me before I could do anything; three hearts, three hits, and down I went. :animesigh

But other than that I've never been in much danger of dying. All the enemies I've encountered so far are easy prey (the shadow beasts haven't hit me since, now that I know how to deal with them) and hearts are abundant. The first boss has about eight hearts stocked in its room, I think it was.

Thus far the puzzles have been pretty standard Zelda fare, though I'm happy to report that not a single eye switch has shown up yet. Lighting and extinguishing torches, using the Gale Boomerang to hit switches in order, etc. The first dungeon doesn't have anything that an experienced Zelda player would have any trouble with, so long as you look closely at your surroundings. Brown treasure chests are easy to miss when the entire dungeon is brown and green, heh.

This is pretty much what I expect from any Zelda game, though. The first dungeon is always a walk in the park compared to the rest. Usually even just from the first to the second dungeon the difficulty gets stepped up significantly, so I'm really looking forward to getting into the second one.

Okay, so, the Gale Boomerang. Yeah, it's frickin' [i]awesome[/i] when combined with pointer control. I absolutely love being able to whip it out toss it where I want with just a quick aim of the pointer. Another great thing is the ability to set lock-on points wherever you want, unlike in TWW where only targetable objects could be locked onto. The boomerang has finally become just as useful as in the 2D Zeldas and that makes me very happy.

Next, the wolf sections of the game. I'm a bit surprised, since I didn't think I'd like playing as the wolf as much as normal Link, but I'm really enjoying these parts. Combat isn't as boring as it looked in the trailers I'd seen, where all I saw was the energy field thing where you auto-attack everything in the circle. You can actually fight similar to how you fight as normal Link.

My favorite part about Wolf Link, in fact, is his jump attack. He leaps forward, bites the enemy and, if the baddie is large enough, latches on for you to keep biting by tapping the A button. It seriously looks like you're ripping the thing's throat out while it flails around helplessly. It's just . . . satisfying. :toothy:

Combat actually seems to take more of a back seat to puzzle solving while in wolf form than while in human form, though. But this is fine by me as well, since I like the way they're doing the puzzles. While basically fetch quests--you know where you need to go, the trick is in getting there--they're enjoyable because they make you think outside the Zelda norm. A good example, which has been used a lot so far, is the need to get inside a house. This would be no problem for human Link (he would go through the door, duh) but, well, you're a wolf; no hands, [strike]no mouth[/strike]. So you have to search the environment and find a way to get to what you want by using Wolf Link's abilities. Nothing has been very complex yet but the Wolf Link sequences have been the most puzzle-solving fun I've had in the game so far.

My only concern is that these sequences won't increase enough in their creativity. If the same sorts of things that I've done so far are recycled and not much new brought it, they could get boring really fast. Zelda level design has always been great, however, so I'm not overly worried.[/color]

[Ellerby]

[COLOR=DimGray][FONT=Tahoma][quote name='Desbreko][color=#4B0082]So far the difficulty has seemed to be about on par with Ocarina of Time. Meaning that, for me, it's basically a walk in the park. But then Zelda [i]is[/i'] kind of my specialty. Though I did actually die once. It was my first encounter with the shadow beast things while in wolf form. I was charging up the area attack when all three of them jumped me at the same time, killing me before I could do anything; three hearts, three hits, and down I went. :animesigh[/color][/quote]
Just wait until you get [spoiler]Epona[/spoiler] back. There's a nice [spoiler]horseback fight waiting somewhere[/spoiler]. ;)

[quote name='Desbreko][color=#4B0082']But other than that I've never been in much danger of dying. All the enemies I've encountered so far are easy prey (the shadow beasts haven't hit me since, now that I know how to deal with them) and hearts are abundant. The first boss has about eight hearts stocked in its room, I think it was.[/color][/quote]
Yeah, the enemies are extremely easy I find. In fact I mostly just die from falling. ...come to think of it, that's the only way I've died (though falling off a bridge and falling into a river of lava are two very different things).

[quote name='Desbreko][color=#4B0082]Okay, so, the Gale Boomerang. Yeah, it's frickin' [i]awesome[/i'] when combined with pointer control. I absolutely love being able to whip it out toss it where I want with just a quick aim of the pointer. Another great thing is the ability to set lock-on points wherever you want, unlike in TWW where only targetable objects could be locked onto. The boomerang has finally become just as useful as in the 2D Zeldas and that makes me very happy.[/color][/quote]
The boomerang is [i]so[/i] cool. The Z lock-on, like you mentioned, just rocks your socks off immediately and the whole mini-tornado is sweet too. I just loved throwing the boomerang at those tile guys and watching them fly into the air.

[quote name='Desbreko][color=#4B0082']My favorite part about Wolf Link, in fact, is his jump attack. He leaps forward, bites the enemy and, if the baddie is large enough, latches on for you to keep biting by tapping the A button. It seriously looks like you're ripping the thing's throat out while it flails around helplessly. It's just . . . satisfying. :toothy:[/color][/quote]
Yeah, I actually like it more when you use it on a small enemy like a bat. You literally bite in its wing, flail it around a bit, and then throw it away, killing it.[/FONT]
[/COLOR]

[Charles]

Here is the definitive opinion, from the Godfather of Gaming on OtakuBoards.

When I first booted up the game, I was somewhat disappointed. I had just finished several rounds of Wii sports, which was insanely enjoyable and the transition to Zelda was not easy. The game's opening is decidedly dull. Ocarina of Time opened with an intense prophetic vision of Ganon in pursuit of Zelda on horseback. WindWaker opened with a beautiful, albeit somber montage of stained-glass storyboards. Twilight Princess, on the other hand, puts Link in a rural setting where the player herds goats, chases a cat, and fishes.

I also thought the game was pretty unimpressive from a visual standpoint--it looked like a Gamecube game that should have been released in 2005. The textures were blurry, the people looked ugly, and the animation was stiff. To compound the problem, component cables are not going to be available in stores until December. Even the ones on Nintendo's site are backordered. So, on my television, especially, the game looks pretty bad. Many of the textures look like vomit. I was (and still am) also disappointed that the music is not orchestrated. However, it should be noted that the actual composition of the music is still quite beautiful. Just imagining it fully orchestrated really leaves me wanting more.

Anyway, after the boring opening, suddenly the game takes off and you see why the opening was so stale. This world you think you know, is suddenly going to get flipped upside down. The fabric of society is going to crumble and the feeling of terror is pervasive. I will not post spoilers, but once the plot gets going and Link enters the Twilight World, the game's genius becomes quickly apparent. This is a much darker, more stylish Zelda game than you're accustomed to; it's dark and serious in a way that Marjora's Mask is not. Suddenly, you get to meet the Midna character, who is simply fantastic. She has a malignant, yet playful edge to her that makes her immediately intriguing, and likable, if not trustworthy. I also like her design; her design reflects the two art styles going on at work within the game. You have the typical anime-inspired Zelda look, and a Tim Burton-esque style going on at the same time. There?s also an imposing sense of isolation and terror that surrounds Link. Since Link does not speak, this feeling is subtle, but it is there. His only companion has her own motives and you get the feeling that she could betray him at any time. The fact that Link remains silent, makes him even more stoic and sort of compliments that theme nicely.

It quickly becomes apparent that Twilight Princess is the most cinematic Zelda game ever developed, but in a good way. As most of you have probably realized, I definitely want to see voice acting implemented in this series. However, the facial expressions of the characters almost sate that desire. Although the models are not the most technically advanced out there, the art direction goes a long way in establishing genuine emotion. Pain, joy, and sorry come across poignantly. I really found myself caring about the characters based on their facial expressions and how they moved. The actions scenes, on the other hand, are very epic and get my blood pumping. Very beautiful direction that I think anyone can appreciate.

The gameplay is polished, as you?d expect from a Zelda title. At first, the gameplay seems a little too familiar. However, once you become the wolf, there?s suddenly a new dynamic that makes everything fresh again. The wolf segments easily put Okami to shame. Although you control the wolf much in the same way you would control Link, you have access to special inhuman abilities, such as senses, agility, and digging. Also, the wolf segments more prominently feature Midna as a side-character, which affects the gameplay. The Wiimote works really well. Just controlling Link with the analog stick feels great. The game really shines though, when you?re aiming with the slingshot or the boomerang. I could not imagine going back to the standard controller for these items. The combat is neither better nor worse than when using a traditional controller, for the most part. Only the spin attack feels better. The combat, overall feels better though. Once I acquire all of Link's abilities, I have a feeling that the combat wil be deeper and more rewarding than in past Zelda titles.

I am currently in my second dungeon and so far, the dungeons seem better than OOT and Windwaker, comparatively. What I mean, is that the first dungeon in Twilight Princess is longer and more enjoyable to play through than the first dungeon in either of those two games. None of the puzzles in the first dungeon are particularly difficult, but they are clever.

Thus far, this game is quickly shaping up to be my favorite Zelda game and I cannot wait to play it in 480p, so that I can appreciate it even more.

[Desbreko]

[color=#4B0082]I suppose I've never paid too much attention to graphics, but TP looks pretty good to me. Some of the textures do look kind of blurry, but I love the lighting and particle effects. They're nothing too incredible by technical standards but I think they still look really nice.

As for the dungeons, I couldn't agree more. I beat the second one yesterday and I absolutely loved it. The puzzles still weren't incredibly complex, but they were clever, creative, and just a lot of fun to work through.

My only problem with the second dungeon was the huge letdown which was its boss. I'm sure most of you remember that big Balrog-looking monster that was shown in one of the trailers, right? Well, that's the boss of the second dungeon. . . . And it never hit me. Yeah, not once; the thing was incredibly easy to take down, and besides having its weakness be really obvious, Midna practically tells you the first step in stunning it.

So TP still isn't impressing me in terms of either number of enemies or combat difficulty. In that regard, the game still seems very much stuck in the 3D Zelda rut of focusing almost entirely on puzzles in the dungeons. There are actually more enemies in the overworld than in dungeons which, while not really a bad thing, is kind of sad.

At least horseback combat is lots of fun.[/color]

[eleanor]

[color=dimgray]Another question from me. P:

Do the component cables make that big a difference? Just wondering, mostly, because my TV is pretty old and only supports composite. >_> I wish my parents would get a new one already.[/color]

[Charles]

[QUOTE=Lunox][color=dimgray]Another question from me. P:

Do the component cables make that big a difference? Just wondering, mostly, because my TV is pretty old and only supports composite. >_> I wish my parents would get a new one already.[/color][/QUOTE]

They make a HUGE difference. However, if you have an HDTV and run a game in standard definition, it looks far worse than it would on a standard definition television with composite cables. This is why the graphics are such an issue to me right now. They look far worse than they should. :animedepr

[Zidargh]

[QUOTE=James][font=arial]

Enough is enough.[/font][/QUOTE]

Owned. *PS turns red and then vanishes in a transparent haze with a weird sound.*

[i]Anyway.[/i]

Right, I'm not sure if I'm going to ask for a Wii for Christmas, however I'd definitely like to play Zelda. The only problem is that I'm not sure if I should wait 'til I get a Wii, or just request the Gamecube version.

For any of you who've played it, and I'm assuming the responses will be from a Wii perspective, could you try and tell me if the GC game's worth getting?

I understand that the Wiimote is incredibly different to a standard controller, but do you feel the system will 'convert' just as well onto the Gamecube?

Much obliged.