Twilight Princess and Wii Remote Plus

[V. Amoleo]

After completing Skyward Sword I decided to have a go on Twilight Princess again.

 

I'm playing it with the exact same controller I used to play Skyward Sword, the golden Wii Remote Plus, and after a period of time the + - HOME buttons will stop responding. Switching to a standard Wii Remote or a Wii Remote with Wii Motion Plus attached and the + - HOME buttons work again.

 

Has anybody else experienced this?

Edited April 26, 2013 by Grazza

[Beaneth007]

Thats strange...but on a side note, which game do you prefer?

[Grazza]

Can't answer the question, sorry, as I didn't manage to get a Wii Remote Plus. Perhaps this would be a good thread to compare the two games though.

 

I've just had a strange experience. I fired up the Wii (a challenge in itself) and decided to play around with both Skyward Sword and Twilight Princess. Skyward Sword is still fresh in my memory, and my opinion of it hasn't changed. I still find the graphics to be blurry and the motion control to make the game feel "stodgy", like wading through mud.

 

Then I loaded up Twilight Princess (GameCube version). Now bearing in mind I'm still using the Wii, so it's exactly the same television and exactly the same leads, it's surprising that the graphics look 100x better. Even just by the title screen, where Epona rears up, it just looks so much clearer and sharper. I don't mean this as a snide comment, but I think 6 years of playing on the Wii have made me forget what good graphics are like. To me, Twilight Princess on GameCube honestly looks much better than anything on Wii.

 

Anyway, I chose a save file and materialised in Lake Hylia - certainly a beautiful version of it, arguably the best in the series. But it was night, so I decided to boost to the desert. Now, in my opinion the desert in TP is also the best in the series, as it actually feels like a desert rather than the barren, Super Mario 64-like playset in Skyward Sword. I found a hog, jumped on its back and rode along in the direction of the grand palace, which is visible in the distance.

 

After that I warped to the Southern Woods, ran northwards and soaked up the atmosphere. Upon entering Hyrule Field, I called Epona and rode anti-clockwise around the map, through Kakariko Village, then getting into a fight with hog-riding Bublins in the field north of that. Everything felt so smooth and fluid as I held the GameCube pad and swung my sword on the go. I then warped to Zora's Domain and explored the underground caverns.

 

What struck me about the whole thing is that Twilight Princess is so much more like the full Zelda experience than Skyward Sword is. It has a proper overworld to explore and - just as importantly - atmosphere. The lighting, the music, the visual detail... it's all heartfelt.

 

The awkward thing for me is that I've been a critic of Twilight Princess, and for that I honestly feel I owe Eiji Aonuma a huge apology. In my defence, I was very angry about the way Nintendo made two versions, and I still think I was "correct" about the things I've said in that regard. But my anger blinded me to how good it really was - until my 2nd and 3rd playthroughs, that is. With Skyward Sword, though, there is no anger. I just don't think it's that good.

 

I could opine a lot more about this, but let's just say that I think they could do a lot worse than go back to the Twilight Princess style on home consoles (and personally, I'd like them to forget the Wii ever happened). Get Eiji Aonuma back directing, because he's brilliant (he only produced Skyward Sword, not directed). And basically, you know that demo of Zelda HD, with Link fighting a giant spider? I wouldn't be at all sorry to see more of that next week at E3 and to find out it's been turned into a full game.

[Beaneth007]

I agree with most of what you said there, I didnt finish Skyward Sword (very nearly though) but I found it on one hand - original, often awe inspiring and styish with great puzzles....but on the other hand, paronising, fuzzy and seriously limiting with little to no scope......It took you by the hand every second of the way, really de-railed my enthusiasm for it.

 

Twilight Princess felt big,good looking (clear!), wide in scope......a zelda fans wet dream (at the time, after wind waker's cel-look) what with all the pretty locations, lovely views, designs and puzzles.....I preferred it as a pure zelda game but found it sometimes sparsely populated, empty and tedious.

 

I prefer Twilight Princess as a Zelda game, skyward sword is a wonderful idea and basic concept to build on - to be honest if they had made some sort of new franchise set up in that kind of way,or a spin off then that wouldve been great....But a full blown epic game, twilight princess' style is the way for me!

 

Having said that...Id love another wind waker game, set on land thiss time. A big, properly cel shaded world would be stunning.

[Retro_Link]

I haven't finished Skyward Sword yet... currently on my second visit back to the desert/ocean to get the second flame.

 

@Grazza I really don't like desert environments in games, so for that reason I still think Ocarina of Time holds the best desert in a Zelda game. Because what you do explore feels like a vast desert, an expanse of nothing with swirling sands... you spared from any structures to negotiate; and it's bookended by the fantastic Geurudo Fortress and the lovely Spirit Temple setting.

 

I don't like the Lake Hylia in Twilight Princess as you're essentially in a canyon! It's not a nice setting, you're confind to the edges and there's nothing to really look out on, or interect with in the same way Ocarina had the bridges, architecture and islands.

 

Twilight Princess might have been big, but damn was it empty!

[Grazza]

Having said that...Id love another wind waker game, set on land thiss time. A big, properly cel shaded world would be stunning.

 

They are both fantastic styles, indeed, TP and WW.

 

I really don't like desert environments in games, so for that reason I still think Ocarina of Time holds the best desert in a Zelda game. Because what you do explore feels like a vast desert, an expanse of nothing with swirling sands... you spared from any structures to negotiate; and it's bookended by the fantastic Geurudo Fortress and the lovely Spirit Temple setting.

 

I don't like them either - TP's and OOT's are probably the only ones I like, but I give the edge to TP due to the hogs, Bublin camps and the fact it's generally not too much of a pain in the neck to traverse.

 

I don't like the Lake Hylia in Twilight Princess as you're essentially in a canyon! It's not a nice setting, you're confind to the edges and there's nothing to really look out on, or interect with in the same way Ocarina had the bridges, architecture and islands.

 

That's a very good point. I knew I had a small reservation about it. At the same time, the calming music and impressive draw-distance win me over.

 

Twilight Princess might have been big, but damn was it empty!

 

Was it really big though? I've always thought it wasn't really that big - you can ride round it quite quickly on Epona. This is the thing about Twilight Princess - you can see what they were aiming for and I think it was a very noble goal indeed, just let down a bit by technical limitations. The overworld, though, was definitely along the right lines. It's a case of "You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone", because I for one could not predict that Zelda would start to abandon large, explorable overworlds.

 

If Twilight Princess is - for the most part - the traditional Zelda experience, to me Skyward Sword is like "playing through a story". What I mean by that is that it sets up scenes and locations for you. It's not just that it holds your hand; it's actually very hard to describe. I am confident I will not look back and say Skyward Sword was a classic. Just to be clear though, I think there were some very good things about it that were indeed an improvement on TP and we may miss from future entries:

 

1) The Bazaar in Skyloft was excellent. Castle Town remains one of my biggest peeves with TP, as you don't really feel you're down there in it. Skyloft's Bazaar is superb though - bustling with life, humour and much more Zelda-like NPCs.

 

2) The Loftwing. We may indeed come to miss having a flying mount. The small islands in Skyloft were quite enjoyable in that you had to approach them at the right angle. In other words, they existed in 3D. Unlike the main town, you could jump off your mount and land exactly where you intended. This gameplay was a very good addition.

 

3)

What can I say? Picking up those huge swords and swinging them at the boss had the sense of "play" that games should be all about.

 

 

So I'm not saying Skyward Sword didn't add anything at all, but I think people will not become too nostalgic about the experience as a whole.

[darksnowman]

I can't help either V. Amoleo but I'm still gonna add my tuppence about Twilight Princess, if you don't mind.

 

This is something that will always be with me, that pretty much sold me on how motion controls were a natural progression for gaming (as well as THAT Water Temple boss fight). A while after finishing TP, something possessed me to pop in the GC disc of OoT. I started a new file and was running round the Kokiri Forest, getting the sword and gathering rupees to buy the shield, you all know how it goes.

 

So, I ran into the grass and this is no lie, I couldn't remember how to swing the sword! Suddenly I realised I was holding a controller and didn't know what to do with it. I shook it instinctively but nothing happened. I really had to sit and think for a minute what to do!

 

Even with Twilight Princess simply being waggle controls, it had ingrained itself on me and I missed it. (I worked out the OoT controls and got near the end of it on that file before being distracted with something else.)

 

Fast forward and similar things have happened to me with the 3DS. I think I also did some stupid things that I carried over from SS to OoT 3D as well as shaking the thing in an attempt to make Mario spin in 3DL, as he did in the Galaxy titles.

[tapedeck]

 

So, I ran into the grass and this is no lie, I couldn't remember how to swing the sword! Suddenly I realised I was holding a controller and didn't know what to do with it. I shook it instinctively but nothing happened. I really had to sit and think for a minute what to do!

 

Even with Twilight Princess simply being waggle controls, it had ingrained itself on me and I missed it. (I worked out the OoT controls and got near the end of it on that file before being distracted with something else.)

 

I was playing WW recently and was shaking the Wavebird to throw things and swipe the sword. It was like a cognitive moment where I thought the controls were broken and then realised Nintendo have made waggle a part of my gaming life. It felt like a natural thing to do and the button press was a total effort.

 

Glad to know I'm not the only one

[Dog-amoto]

To go back to the original question - (as this has gone off topic a little!!) I popped in TP for an hour or so after I finished SS, using the Gold Wii Remote Plus, and it seemed ok to me. How long before it started to do that?

[Beaneth007]

Whoops...i kind of messed up the actual topic with my question. Still........this week ive given a whole day for each of Wind Waker, Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword ...And I'm swayed towards Twilight Princess, just!

[V. Amoleo]

To go back to the original question - (as this has gone off topic a little!!) I popped in TP for an hour or so after I finished SS, using the Gold Wii Remote Plus, and it seemed ok to me. How long before it started to do that?

 

I think it was under an hour but I wasn't on the look out for it so I can't be sure. If it didn't happen for you the Wii Remote Plus is most likely not to blame. I'll have to see if I can get it to happen again.

 

UPDATE: Today the Wii Remote Plus + - HOME buttons only remained active in the first area I was in.

 

I asked here because there are other cases of this happening when you Google search but none of them seem to have found the cause of it. I was hoping that between us all we might be able to solve it! I've just been using another Wii Remote to get around it.

 

Whoops...i kind of messed up the actual topic with my question. Still........this week ive given a whole day for each of Wind Waker, Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword ...And I'm swayed towards Twilight Princess, just!

 

I don't mind! I'd still like to find out the answer but your question really interested me. I've been trying all week to think of a good reply but after playing all three I feel there's so little between them all.

 

Gameplay-wise I'm going to say Skyward Sword. It's looking like that's an unpopular view but I was impressed with how it worked. It wasn't exactly traditional Zelda but we need the series to evolve rather than just putting a fresh coat of paint on it.

 

I felt that the controls in Skyward Sword were the natural progression from the waggle controls in Twilight Princess and they were really good when they worked. But I do believe they should have put more forced Wii Remote Plus configuration points in places where precise controls were required (such as before boss fights).

 

I also liked how Skyward Sword had the ability to upgrade weapons based on items that you collect. The musical instrument in Skyward Sword was nearly pointless though, they were better in the other two.

 

Stylistically I think I prefer Skyward Sword and Wind Waker. The environments and the character design in Skyward Sword are incredible. While Wind Waker's cel-shaded look is an entirely different take on Zelda. They're both those type of games where it doesn't really matter that it's in SD. That's not to say that Twilight Princess doesn't look nice, it's just that it's the one that I feel would actually be improved if it were a HD game.

 

Story-wise I like all three of them equally. Fi is significantly more annoying than Midna and the King of Red Lions though.

Edited May 31, 2012 by V. Amoleo

[M_rock]

The wind waker always will be my all time favourite, but I think Skyward sword and Twillight princess did an amazing job too. I just think all these games are so perfected, so polished, that choosing between them is a matter of taste. So I don't really feel like one of them is ultimatly better than the other ones.

 

I am however very convinced that Fi being annoying during the game was nintendo's intention. It made her feel so lifeless like a computer, and god that contributed so much to the ending of the game. I just feel that it wouldn't have been possible to give Fi's slumber such an emotional impact without her suddenly feeling happiness. The contrast with her former behavior just totally made that moment magical.

 

So yeah I really believe that skyward sword will be looked upon as a classic in the future. I'm certain of it, WW and TP also didn't get all the appreciation at launch that they are getting now.