Mr eel
I Just Finished Zelda - The Twilight Princess
Wow. What an awesome game. I’ve played quite a few of the Zelda games and this one is pretty close to being my favourite. I need to think about it a little, but I think Wind Waker is still the Zelda game I like the most. But that may change…
The most compelling part of the game for me was the plot. It wasn’t predictable, the dialog was actually very good and most importantly it had characters you could empathise with. I mean holy shit, this game actually had character development!
Despite obviously being a Gamecube Port — I played the Wii version — it looks absolutely fabulous. I couldn’t care about the amount of polygons or textures. All that matters is that the art was bang on.
The character design in particular is very good. Standouts are Midna and Ganonodorf.
I think I need to mull over it a little more, but as a whole this is a deeply impressive game. Seriously, if you’re a gamer you should check it out.
Comments
notheory on January 6, 2007
I’ve been weighing which of the two games is my favorite as well, and it’s a really hard decision to make. I think over all, i enjoyed Twilight Princess more than Windwaker. That said, Windwaker still has a leg up on Twilight Princess in a number of regards. While there was more stuff to do in Twilight Princess (which equates to more fun IMO), the Windwaker world was much more fun to just wander around in. Sailing is enjoyable, and just kicking around the world is something i’ve not seen another game replicate. Just going. I still feel like Twilight Princess had a more interesting and varied world, in terms of expansiveness and complexity. Where ever you went, the landscape was unique and fairly detailed, but regardless, if you’ve seen one large grassy field with monsters, you’ve sort of seen them all, and they just become the spaces between point A and point B.
Twilight Princess wins hands down for the combat system though. The sword fighting is so much more complex than it was in Windwaker. You can clearly see the influence that Windwaker had on Twilight Princess though. Twilight Princess definitely feels like its successor in terms of sword combat. I think i may have enjoyed the dungeons in Windwaker however. I found wandering through the temples in Twilight Princess to be challenging, but kind of boring at the same time. There weren’t really any surprises in the temples, and the items you received made your life a little easier but never really gave you abilities which you could get excited about. Being able to ride a top was kind of cool, but not really all that practical. The gigantic mace is definitely cool, and a kind of practical, if you don’t mind crawling like a caterpillar everywhere.
In the end i guess i felt like Windwaker was the more original of the two games (I could accurately tell how far from the end of Twilight Princess i was based on what plot event i was engaged in), and as such much more interesting and mysterious, but that Twilight Princess is just so much superior in terms of game play and things to do (canoeing, horseback riding, snowboarding, coucou hanggliding, flying obstacle course, fishing, hook shot game, etc, etc) that it makes windwaker pale somewhat in comparison.
Mr eel on January 7, 2007
I agree with your point on exploration. In Windwaker it was just good fun to jump in the boat and tool around. I know some folk find that the most boring part of the game, but I really got into it. There were so many mysterious islands to investigate and the sense that you could just sail and explore all day was really evocative.
Riding your horse in Twilight Princess had the same potential, but there wasn’t so much emphasis on exploration. You’re right, it just became a matter of A to B.
I feel the same about the dungeons as you do. They weren’t all that varied and some of the puzzles just seemed obtuse. I think Hyrule Castle had the most potential, but it turned out to be way too short. I think it was fairly obviously rushed.
Windwaker was the more original game, but Twilight Princess has the better plot. I think that puts them on an even footing.
If I was really forced to choose, I’d pick the Windwaker and for the most shallow reason — I love the art design and cel-shading. It’s so cute!