I’m about 2 or 3 hours into this game. It’s hard to say because I accidentally left it on overnight once so the playtime on my save is inaccurate.
I just got back from my first trip to the twilight, after meeting princess Zelda. Now I’m at the part where my town is in chaos and I’m trying to find a sword and shield for that little fucker who rides on my back.
I’m not impressed at all so far. In fact I’m bored, don’t care about the story, don’t like the mechanics . . .
The only reason I’m still playing is because the reviews are SO GOOD and I don’t want to give up if it’s just a slow starter that gets good later.
But if this is all there is, I am dumbfounded over what all the hype is about.
Well, the swordfighting was the highlight of the game for me. I can’t recall if you’ve been to the first dungeon yet or not, though. If you haven’t, try going at least that far. If you have, you may not want to punish yourself any more if you’re just not enjoying the game.
I really don’t know why people on the SD dislike TP so much, though. I enjoyed the hell out of it.
I had to find my way out of a sewer-type place. Don’t know if that counts as a dungeon. I don’t have a sword yet, though. I had to give away my wooden sword right before going to the twilight, and I’ve been a wolf since then.
No, I’m talking about an old-school Zelda-style dungeon. The Forest Temple in this case, it looks like. If that doesn’t grab you, the rest of the game probably won’t.
TP is one of my favorites and I hated the forest temple, I actually think it doesn’t pick up until the Goron Mines, second dungeon.
Also, just an aisde, once you start going into the Twilight more and having to clear light bugs, don’t kill the last one until you find a stone with a hole in the middle and get the secret ability from it, the first few can come in handy (the second one especially while climbing Death Mountain).
ABORT! ABORT! The game does not get better. In fact, it arguably gets worse. It is, bar-none, my least favorite Zelda game–and I’m a big Zelda fan. Even worse, it’s a bad game, period. I, unfortunately, had to play through the whole god damn thing because it was my job, but it’s a clumsy excuse for a game, and an insult to the Zelda name. And I wanted to love it so much (the original trailer still impresses!).
Quit now and play the previous ones if you haven’t already, such as Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask, or Link to the Past.
ETA: Regarding the reviews: Reviewers are idots–really (I’ve worked with many of them–I like them personally, but some of the things involved therein…ugh). Donkey Kong 64 also got great (well, at least strong) reviews, and that game was garbage. Reviewers are often blinded by big names and big budgets. I think you’ll find many of them feel less strongly about the game now than they did when it first came out.
I played Ocarina and Link to the Past when they came out. Majora’s Mask didn’t really appeal to me at the time and still doesn’t. What do you think of the Wind Waker?
I personally loved Wind Waker and thought it was way better than Twilight Princess, but it too gets mixed reviews.
TP was just trying to be a retread of Ocarina of Time, with the first three dungeons being the same, and riding a horse along Hyrule Field. TP does have some great dungeons, and some clever new items. The problem is, you’ll get a cool item in a dungeon, and then never use it again. TP just seems like a collection of good ideas without anything to hold them together. It does have its moments, so it’s worth playing a little longer at least.
Twilight Princess is arguably my favorite Zelda for gameplay, although Yumblie’s criticisms are on point. I personally didn’t think the game really picked up until after you clear the three twilight zones and get your sword on–the wolf parts mostly suck.
On the other hand, I found the horseback combat phenomena, way better than OoT.
It’s also less monotonous and single-use-itemy than Wind Waker in my opinion, but then, so is watching paint dry after painting with a roller that only works with that paint.
And Red, you crazy. Arbiter’s Grounds is the best dungeon in any Zelda game ever.
I always forget about Wind Waker–it might be tied with Twilight Princess as the worst Zelda game. Crossing the overworld in Twilight Princess was tedious, but it can’t hold a candle compared to the pinnacle of mundanity that is Wind Waker’s ocean. I also detested using that damn wand to play a song every time I wanted to switch wind directions; it got to the point where I would sail across the world directly opposing the wind, weaving back and forth to catch whatever wind I could, at a grand speed of about 3 miles-per-hour. I found that more entertaining than the stupid baton.
The only part of Wind Waker I actually enjoyed was that island-town, if only because it reminded me of the brilliant city in Majora’s Mask. It offered several varied activities that kept me busy for hours.
I honestly don’t remember much of Wind Waker, but “single-use-item” is pretty much how I would define Twilight Princess. Virtually every item you find, within a temple, is used almost exclusively for that temple, such as the Spinner or the statue-control rod thing.
I don’t remember anything particularly memorable about that temple. The spinner could have been cool, but was under-utilized (especially outside the temple) and controlled sloppily, and the boss–while cool looking–wasn’t particularly engaging.
This was pretty much my biggest disappointment in Twilight Princess.
I liked the boss better than you did, then. To be honest I was happy with the level of spinner utilization in the game–it bordered on too much for me.
Maybe it’s a philosophical difference–I tend to prefer my Zeldas to have a few core items I can get skilled with and a bunch of special-purpose stuff for the occasional puzzle or reflex challenge.
Tch. I thought Twilight Princess was easily the best Zelda game in terms of swordfighting. I had an absolute blast using the special moves to fight the Darknuts, especially in the Cave of Ordeals. The story was fairly interesting too, if not classic Zelda. The special items did feel more gimmicky in TP than in previous games, but the swordfighting more than made up for it.
The only thing I liked combat-wise in TP that hadn’t been in previous Zelda games, was the ability to swing the sword while running. Otherwise, the combat was your standard Zelda-fare, which is fine, because I’m always been a fan of it. However, that ‘shield thrust’–which you execute by jutting the nunchuk forward, is bullshit as the motion is rarely interpreted correctly. I imagine it works better on the GameCube version.
I’ll give you the shield thrust, as I thought that was gimmicky bullshit too, but I have to admit I don’t recall the special moves existing in OOT beyond what Z-targeting allows. They provided a fluidity of movement during combat that, while not as smooth as certain games of the time like Ninja Gaiden and Prince of Persia, I still found enjoyable and new to the series.
Still, I’m not gonna say it’s the best game of the series, as that honor is strictly reserved for Link to the Past.
