The Legend of Zelda:Twilight Princess

[motion]

My review of the ending:

 

Non-spoiler version

 

7.5/10 - Epic, sure. Long, I guess so. Scenes as powerful as OoT and WW, nah. The final dungeon was very cool, if a bit 'empty', seemingly a recurring theme in the game. Don't expect the same old stuff as previous games, they've sort of taken a new approach this time.

 

Past items crop up once every so often which is nice, though I would have liked to use them more. A couple of scenes are excellent, one that probably holds the title for the most emotional moment in the game, and Links reaction (however muted) really made me smile. Having said that, that touching moment amounts to nothing later on oddly enough. You'll see what I mean when you play that bit (outdoors on a sort of bridge).

 

The final battle was pretty cool, more varied than any other game definately and it was nice to be treated to more than one 'round'. The first bit of the boss battle will make your jaw drop and is fantastic.

 

Post-final boss... meh. Pretty short, though I have to say it was all going very well... until 'it' happened, which pretty much ruined the whole thing. Not sure why they did it, but it was dumb if you ask me. Last few scenes were ok. Music was excellent. FINALLY the classic zelda tune makes an appearance!

 

Final battle: 8.5

Ending: 6

 

Spoiler comments

 

The ending was exactly how I expected it to be, fantastic in scope and epicness, but empty.

 

The scene with your friends in Telma's bar was one of the best scenes in the game for me. Very touching and Link's nod to them was great to watch. The puzzles were cool, I enjoyed being guided by the ghosts in that room where the tiles fall.

 

In terms of the end boss...

 

The battle with Zelda was an excellent idea, very nicely done, great music. Good stuff.

 

Beast Ganon was frustrating as it became very confusing what Link was actually supposed to be doing. Nice idea I suppose though at this point I thought this would only be a first transformation so could excuse the lack of any depth to it.

 

Horseback Ganon was a great touch, loved to see Epona take part in the final battle. Light arrows... YES!! Made me smile when I saw them, thank god! Shame we don't get to fire them but oh well. Very easy sequence though. Did he have some bodyguards? Cause I didn't notice.

 

Final battle was very WW in style, not bad, though I think Ganon should have been attacking more. Rain and lightnight and more of an edge would have been cool. Final finishing move was ok. The animation of Link doing it was not.

 

Ganon stuttering, meh. Him saying it's not over, fine. That weird neck breaking person (Zant?) I didn't understand in the slightest. Ganon just standing there was a cool image, though I'd be convinced he's still alive. Triforce of power leaving him, hmmm... suppose that makes sense. Still, left a lot to be desired. Midna appearing on the horizon + the rest of that scene was excellent. Loved Midna's line.

 

Credits were fine.

 

Mirror scene... everything was going perfect (if a little short and lacking in any emotion) until Midna destroyed the mirror... erm... WHY?!?!?!? What the hell was that for?? Ruined the whole ending for me and left a very sour taste in my mouth.

 

More credits, fine. Though it sort of highlights the not highly impressive graphics in this day and age.

 

Link coming home, yeah fair enough, certainly nowhere near the quality of Link putting the master sword back in OoT and walking away with the bells ringing or Link and Tetra setting sail in WW with the awesome ending music. Again, as much of the game feels, a hollow ending.

 

It's strange cause I really liked the final boss battle but I still felt cheated by the ending.

 

Also it would have been nice to have the familiar: play each round again (forest, mines, lakebed) in the final castle. Would have been nice to fight each boss again too but that would probably be pushing it.

 

Basically, yes I enjoyed the game, it had some amazing bits, some not so great ones and some awful elements in it but in the end it's yet another fantastic Zelda game. I would still prefer to play OoT, MM and perhaps even WW.

 

Don't bash me for having an opinion please.

 

 

Platty, I find it strange that you can't find anything wrong with TP. In my eyes it did 100 things right, and 80 things wrong. You'd make a lousy reviewer with your attitude of 'just sit back, enjoy it and don't analyse'. I've been waiting for this game for many years, as we all have, we were promised a huge and amazing game. What we got was shallow and towards the end, rushed. No doubt about it the quality of the game drops as you go through it.

[The3rdChildren]

It was said that as long as Ganondorf was his God, he would ressurect Zant if he were killed. Ganondorf's Triforce of Power kept him alive despite the HUGE HOLE in his stomach from the sword. This is similar to Zant, who was dead... but brought back to life because of Ganondorf's power.

 

When the Triforce of Power left Ganondorf, presumably because he was dying, it showed Zant dying to symbolise that the Triforce of Power that kept Zant alive after dying was gone... so Zant dies and so does Ganondorf?

 

It's kinda confusing. I think Zant had more to do with Ganondorf's presence in the light world than is let on. Is it possible they were somehow linked. Ganondorf couldn't have done the cool Twilight separation thing had he not been using Zant's Twilight abilities somehow.

 

 

Midna destroyed the Mirror of Twilight because it was hinted that she was in love with Link, and their love could never be... so she broke the mirror as it would be too painful to ever see him again.

 

 

I had no qualms with that part at all. In fact I felt it was the best part of the entire end sequence, all of which was beautifully laid out and animated. The end boss has shitty huge eyes though - makes him look less badass than he should.

 

Overall I give the ending a 9/10. Faulted only because once the credits start to roll it seems more broken up into segments than I remember other games being. It also doesn't hold a candle to Ocarina for all the obvious reasons, but it beats the ending to Wind Waker hands down. Hell, anything beats those lazy bubbles.

 

---

 

Is it possible the game feels more shallow and rushed towards the end because the start of the game absolutely spoils you with so much to be doing? There's more to do between dungeons at the start of the game than any Zelda I remember before it - maybe too much. They should have done something to balance the out of dungeon stuff throughout the game - Tales of Symphonia really suffered from rush-to-the-end syndrome as well.

[Fierce_LiNk]

 

Platty, I find it strange that you can't find anything wrong with TP. In my eyes it did 100 things right, and 80 things wrong. You'd make a lousy reviewer with your attitude of 'just sit back, enjoy it and don't analyse'. I've been waiting for this game for many years, as we all have, we were promised a huge and amazing game. What we got was shallow and towards the end, rushed. No doubt about it the quality of the game drops as you go through it.

 

He isn't a reviewer. He is a gamer.

That's exactly what sets reviewers and gamers apart. He chose to play this game and enjoy it for what it was, a hugely enjoyable game that will no doubt be one of the moment defining titles of this generation.

 

He didn't choose to look at parts and say "well that could've been better" "that was underwhelming." He just played it, like he would play other games. He's gained an experience out of it, and that experience will be taken with him for generations to come.

[Hellfire]

This thread makes me mad at humanity.

[motion]

Fierce Link: Fair point, but I stand by the first statement I made.

 

3rd children: where was that hinted?? lol that went over my head. Yeah the WW's ending was pretty horrible, MM's wasn't that great either. The one thing I loved about the Wind Waker's ending was that last scene where Link and Tetra set sail, beautiful and the music really makes it.

 

Back on point: probably right about the fact that there's much more to do at the beginning of the game. It sort of gives you a false sense that the whole game will be like that when it turns out it isn't which is disappointing. I would have prefered for the game to start slower and gradually get bigger and better.

 

Also:

if the goodbye bit had been a bit better I would have forgiven the breaking of the mirror. A close up to her face with a wink to Link would have been nice but it was all over so soon

 

[The3rdChildren]

3rd children: where was that hinted?? lol that went over my head. Yeah the WW's ending was pretty horrible, MM's wasn't that great either. The one thing I loved about the Wind Waker's ending was that last scene where Link and Tetra set sail, beautiful and the music really makes it.

 

What other reason could there be? That and she said "Link... I..." before breaking the mirror, which pretty much cements the theory for me. What else could she have said aside "I love you?" afterwards?

 

I dunno. A lot of the storytelling is either badly done or intentionally ambiguous.

 

 

Of all the boss stuff, I'd say the second stage was the most disappointing considering how awesome he was last time we saw him. Nice how you fight a transformation with a transformation though.

[motion]

Hmmm, that 'I' was quite odd, I'd forgotten about it. If it was supposed to mean 'I love you' then it came out of no where. I do remember her saying that the mirror might have to be destroyed (in the scene after Arbiter's grounds), I can't remember why though.

 

Any thoughts on the lack of Hyrulian myth, triforce talk etc? That scene after the lakebed temple was awesome but it just seems like they abandoned that whole direction after that?

 

 

Hmmm, I see what you mean about it being a bit disappointing. The beast on beast thing was awesome though I agree. Nice idea. I tried using my senses in that battle but it didn't help.

 

[Platty]

 

Platty, I find it strange that you can't find anything wrong with TP. In my eyes it did 100 things right, and 80 things wrong. You'd make a lousy reviewer with your attitude of 'just sit back, enjoy it and don't analyse'. I've been waiting for this game for many years, as we all have, we were promised a huge and amazing game. What we got was shallow and towards the end, rushed. No doubt about it the quality of the game drops as you go through it.

 

He isn't a reviewer. He is a gamer.

That's exactly what sets reviewers and gamers apart. He chose to play this game and enjoy it for what it was, a hugely enjoyable game that will no doubt be one of the moment defining titles of this generation.

 

He didn't choose to look at parts and say "well that could've been better" "that was underwhelming." He just played it, like he would play other games. He's gained an experience out of it, and that experience will be taken with him for generations to come.

 

I think Flinky answered that for me.

 

I've been playing games for most of the 23 years of my life and never once have I ever wanted to review one. I think it takes the fun and enjoyment out of games to be honest.

 

I enjoyed every moment of TP and would hate to play it with a "reviewers" line of thought. But thats just me and probably why I have so many games that people think are bad but yet I have enjoyed.

[The3rdChildren]

Any thoughts on the lack of Hyrulian myth, triforce talk etc? That scene after the lakebed temple was awesome but it just seems like they abandoned that whole direction after that?

 

I think the Triforce was more prominent than it appeared to be in Twilight Princess.

 

It's likely they didn't delve too much into Hylian myth because they wanted to focus on the Twilight. There was enough myth and Triforce for my liking though, and the following is what I observed Triforce-wise with the three main characters:

 

Ganondorf's Triforce of Power awakened inside him and allowed him to survive impalement with a holy blade, kill a sage and use Zant.

 

Link possessed the Triforce of Courage, which stopped him becoming a spirit in the Twilight Realm, and basically allowed him to become the hero he was destined to be.

 

Princess Zelda's piece of the Triforce seemed the least discussed and prominent of the two. It's assumed it was what allowed her to heal Midna and what kept her from spirit form in the Twilight. She also commands the loyalty of those Light Spirits, which is probably a neat perk of having a piece of the Triforce? I dunno.

 

It was more important than let on but not heavilly discussed or even mentioned outside "POWER OF THE GODS" and stuff. I guess Nintendo wanted to be more covert about it for some reason.

 

 

For me, the single biggest mystery in the game is how exactly a certain person's body ended up in the possession of another certain person. Anyone got a theory?

[motion]

Your triforce explanation makes perfect sense really and I admit that there was enough to worry about with the twilight etc... - Still I can't remember seeing it on Link's fist, and definately not on Zelda's which is a shame. Question is why does Ganon keep the triforce of power after OoT, yet it 'leaves him' after TP?

 

Also, I'm not sure what you mean about people being in posession of other bodies etc...

 

And can you explain that odd creature right before Ganon dies? Before we hear that neck snapping sound?

 

[Dante]

Your triforce explanation makes perfect sense really and I admit that there was enough to worry about with the twilight etc... - Still I can't remember seeing it on Link's fist, and definately not on Zelda's which is a shame. Question is why does Ganon keep the triforce of power after OoT, yet it 'leaves him' after TP?

 

Also, I'm not sure what you mean about people being in posession of other bodies etc...

 

And can you explain that odd creature right before Ganon dies? Before we hear that neck snapping sound?

 

The Triforce appear on Link's hand after his friends where taken from the his hometown and the odd creature was Zant.

 

[The3rdChildren]

Your triforce explanation makes perfect sense really and I admit that there was enough to worry about with the twilight etc... - Still I can't remember seeing it on Link's fist, and definately not on Zelda's which is a shame. Question is why does Ganon keep the triforce of power after OoT, yet it 'leaves him' after TP?

 

Also, I'm not sure what you mean about people being in posession of other bodies etc...

 

And can you explain that odd creature right before Ganon dies? Before we hear that neck snapping sound?

 

It's definately on Link's hand, and it's shown on Zelda's hand too.

shows it glowing on her hand.

 

Ganondorf wasn't killed in Ocarina of Time. He was banished to the sacred realm which is why he was able to keep hold of the Triforce, I assume. In Twilight Princess the Triforce symbol seems to vanish because he's dying - overwhelmed even for a Triforce wielder and it disappears, rendering him a normal Gerudo... who then dies because of the wound in his stomach that would have killed a normal being.

 

The creature before Ganon dies is Zant. It was said that as long as Ganondorf possesses the Triforce of Power and is Zant's god that Zant could be resurrected if killed. Zant died because Ganon's power to revive him and keep him alive after was gone, and Ganon died at that moment too for the same reason - he could no longer keep himself alive due to his wound.

 

Lastly, I still don't understand how Ganondorf was able to obtain Zelda's body after it vanished. Her spirit was clearly one with Midna for a brief time after Zelda disappeared into her... but how did Ganon get her body?

 

[dabookerman]

Completed the game, and i am truly underwhelemed.

 

I cannot see myself playing this a second time.

[The3rdChildren]

Completed the game, and i am truly underwhelemed.

 

I cannot see myself playing this a second time.

 

Seriously? That's gotta suck.

[motion]

Ahh, clearly I had forgotten that it glowed on Zelda's hand in that very nice scene. Ok well then it all makes sense.

 

Again, I see what you mean about Ganondorf not being killed in OoT. Still pretty disappointing that Ganondorf was actually killed this time though... erm, until next time??

 

Bloody hell you're making a lot of sense tonight got it, and fully understood.

 

Bit of a plot hell I guess??

 

 

 

 

 

Completed the game, and i am truly underwhelemed.

 

I cannot see myself playing this a second time.

 

 

Ok, even I want to play it a second time

 

Underwhelmed with the game or the ending?

[dabookerman]

Seriously? That's gotta suck.

 

Even though Wind Waker was dissapointing, the game had more character then Twilight.

 

 

Ok, even I want to play it a second time

 

Underwhelmed with the game or the ending?

 

Its a very long game. And i would of really had to love the game to be able to replay it.

 

I enjoyed it yes. It is one of the best games of 2006, but then 2006 didnt really have that many good games on consoles anyway.

 

To me, the game is scraping a 9, as it is a well polished game, Hyrule itself is grand.

The dungeons are forgettable. The last boss and ending, well, i just didnt care when i completed the game, no sense of achievement.

 

I dont want to compare the game to ocarina, but when the game was set out to surpass it you cant help but to compare it to ocarina. And it doesnt surpass it, not even close, hell, it doesnt even surpass LTTP.

[The3rdChildren]

Bloody hell you're making a lot of sense tonight got it, and fully understood.

 

I spent a while thinking about it. If anything, I have you to thank for finally helping me to rack my brains to make sense of the Zant scene at the end.

 

---

 

Adam

 

I disagree with some of the things you're saying, but your opinion is just as valid as anyone here. I do have to say I found none of the dungeons forgettable in the slightest. Every one of them had something cool I'll always remember them by.

 

Forest Temple - The monkeys, especially red-ass boomerang monkey.

 

Goron Mines - Awesome setting, great mini-boss and the iron boot usage.

 

Lakebed Temple - Just great fun all round. Strange for me to enjoy a water temple.

 

Arbiters Grounds - Spinner, wolf/Link changing and the boss/cutscene afterwards.

 

Snow Mansion - The location for this dungeon was supreme, as was the item within. Boss was awful though - my least favourite of the dungeon bosses by far.

 

Temple of Time - Jesus, that intro was epic. Fun puzzles with a cool, if underused later, item. The end boss was awesome too, if not easy as hell.

 

Sky Temple - Just plain cool puzzles, quite challenging with the annoying switch above the boss key. Great, GREAT end boss.

 

The last two were kind of short, but no way forgettable. Every one of the dungeons were pretty darned cool, with enough challenge and that awesome feeling you get when you figure out a puzzle. If anything was weak about the game, it was certainly not the dungeons.

[Fierce_LiNk]

I'm stuck in the 5th dungeon and it's tearing my brains out. I think I'm just being a bit thick with this, as I really can't see what I have to do.

 

In the ice mansion thing. I've just got the first key, and i'm in a room with those 3 slidey/icey things. Hitting them with your sword means you get frozen and pretty much die. Hitting them with your weapons just makes them slide.

I can't see a switch anywhere.

 

[motion]

wow dabookerman makes a lot of sense, I'm finding it hard to disagree with anything he said. I definately agree that Wind Waker had more character but TP had it's own style. In many ways it was more 'weird' and odd than Majora's Mask.

 

Putting Zant there at the end was a nice touch now that I understand it. I just wish they hadn't turned this big butch COOL monster into a snivelly, whiny, screaming pansy! lol

 

 

Am I the only one who wants the next Zelda game to be more of the same? Ie. not something completely different but the same sort of format as Oot/MM/TP etc...?

[The3rdChildren]

I'm stuck in the 5th dungeon and it's tearing my brains out. I think I'm just being a bit thick with this, as I really can't see what I have to do.

 

In the ice mansion thing. I've just got the first key, and i'm in a room with those 3 slidey/icey things. Hitting them with your sword means you get frozen and pretty much die. Hitting them with your weapons just makes them slide.

I can't see a switch anywhere.

 

Slidey ice things? I always just smacked them with the sword and they bounced around and then I'd smack them again to end their ass.

[Dante]

Hit one and hit it again as it comes flying back with a spin attack.

[motion]

I disagree with some of the things you're saying, but your opinion is just as valid as anyone here. I do have to say I found none of the dungeons forgettable in the slightest. Every one of them had something cool I'll always remember them by.

 

Hmmm... I can see what he means when he says the dungeons are forgetfull, but then on the other hand, reading your list did make me remember the cool stuff about each one.

 

Forest Temple - The monkeys, especially red-ass boomerang monkey.

 

Monkeys were good, boomerang one especially. The item was cool.

 

Goron Mines - Awesome setting, great mini-boss and the iron boot usage.

 

I can't remember the mini boss off the top of my head? The final boss was probably the worst of the game though. Iron boots sideways/upside down walking was cool though.

 

Lakebed Temple - Just great fun all round. Strange for me to enjoy a water temple.

 

I found this very dull, lacking in character and forgetfull. Boss was generic water bad guy.

 

Arbiters Grounds - Spinner, wolf/Link changing and the boss/cutscene afterwards.

 

Cool temple. Cool item.

 

Snow Mansion - The location for this dungeon was supreme, as was the item within. Boss was awful though - my least favourite of the dungeon bosses by far.

 

Very fun, lovely setting. Boss was easy and predictable. Though it did look nice.

 

Temple of Time - Jesus, that intro was epic. Fun puzzles with a cool, if underused later, item. The end boss was awesome too, if not easy as hell.

 

Fun puzzles but WAAAAAYYY too easy, short and linear. Boss battle was one of my favourites but agree, too easy.

 

Sky Temple - Just plain cool puzzles, quite challenging with the annoying switch above the boss key. Great, GREAT end boss.

 

Disappointed with the look of the sky temple, and more frustrating than water temple in oot I find. End boss was awesome if a tad convenient.

 

The last two were kind of short, but no way forgettable. Every one of the dungeons were pretty darned cool, with enough challenge and that awesome feeling you get when you figure out a puzzle. If anything was weak about the game, it was certainly not the dungeons.

 

Still in relation to other Zeldas, I find that most of those (with the exception of 4 and 5 and MAYBE 7) lacked any sort of magic or character. And the fact that the difficulty curve goes down as you progress still bugs me.

[The3rdChildren]

Am I the only one who wants the next Zelda game to be more of the same? Ie. not something completely different but the same sort of format as Oot/MM/TP etc...?

 

You're not. I always want a genuine Zelda (more Ocarina than Majora for example) with more refined elements and a slightly new take on the story each time in a hope they can one day topple the imo flawless premise of Ocarina.

 

I think we get our freshness from Zelda not from the givens or the main three characters, but from new puzzles and dungeons, items and the newer characters like Midna and Zant. The great thing about Zelda is the basic ideas (Link/Ganon/Zelda and the Triforce) can be applied to almost any story.

 

As long as Nintendo can keep providing me with more of the same, just better than before, I'll be happy. They've never disappointed me with a Zelda game yet.

[motion]

Glad to hear it, but do you think the next one will be something completely different or would Nintendo not dare to upset things?

 

As fantastic as Majora's Mask was, I like the genuine Zelda premise more, though the odd Majora/Link's Awakening is a good thing.

[The3rdChildren]

Glad to hear it, but do you think the next one will be something completely different or would Nintendo not dare to upset things?

 

As fantastic as Majora's Mask was, I like the genuine Zelda premise more, though the odd Majora/Link's Awakening is a good thing.

 

Hopefully we'll get our Majora Zelda in Phantom Hourglass and another genuine Zelda in a few years for the Wii.

 

I think Nintendo wouldn't dare change the formula too much, but I have faith they'll do what's right for the franchise if we see much change. I'll be playing/enjoying it regardless of what's different, I'm sure.