Zelda: Twilight Princess

[Protocol Penguin]

Oo-err, just realised I hadn't played this since the beginning of May. (And I haven't used my Wii U as a games machine since then.) Dungeons were engrossing and at times epic, at least as far as I played, but the overworld elements were tedious as buggery, really sapping any excitement from the game. And don't get me started on the wolf sections….

[Paulando]

That's exactly how I felt when I picked it up in May, but it turned out to be the kind of game I needed in the last month or two: something slow and relaxing, but with a bit of challenge in there too.

[Paulando]

Closing in on 50 hours now, and I'm partway through the fifth dungeon. I've spent a lot of time hunting bugs, poes and heart pieces - there's so much stuff to find.

 

When I entered Snowpeak I was expecting the usual 'snowy caves' dungeon, but the Snowpeak Ruins mansion made for a nice surprise; it's lovely 

[Girth Certificate]

this has probably the worst initial section of any Zelda, as you trudge back and forth doing nothing of interest and talking to ugly ugly children, but the dungeons are so great  

[shirubagan]

Just started this again on Wii after buying it back in 2006. 

 

The Forest Temple is ace. 

[Sarlaccfood]

I started playing the HD version in anticipation of BotW, it's the one I remember the least and now I can see why. Honestly I think I might give up. 

 

It's visually quite bland and hasn't aged half as well as Wind Waker. There's so much collecting of bits and bobs before you can do a dungeon and because the collecting has you searching every nook and cranny of an area before you unlock it properly, it takes all the mystery and illusion of a new area away before you even start looking around as Link. 

 

I've only got to the Gorons now so perhaps I'm being a bit too harsh and should keep going. I'm just worried I'm going to be Zelda'd out by the time the new one is out.

[R0b]

I was discussing just today how Twilight Princess isn't as bland in its style or content when actually playing it as my memory of the game suggests, but the whole experience remains curiously forgettable. It has many great qualities in situ, and is often underrated, but it just doesn't seem to stick for me. I've played it twice - once on the GameCube, once on the WiiU - and although the second playthrough was only last year, I can recall only brief snippets of the game while other Zelda titles became etched into my memory in an instant. I mention that I played it on the GC (very close to Wind Waker, a game that dominated my attentions back then) so its lack of staying power isn't attributed to playing a game as a child vs playing a game as an adult and how much more likely it is that the former makes a game stay with you. It just isn't as strong in some indefinable way. 

[KRP]

It was a very barren Zelda. All the functional parts were there but environments felt very dead and unmemorable.

[macosx]

I can't remember much about it, except it being very dour and dark. Wouldn't play again.

[Broken Thumbs]

Am playing this at the moment on GC. My original save is still on the memory card, dated 2007. Stopped 17 hours in. I remember I just lost the thread of what to do; spent some time running around aimlessly as a wolf, and gave up. 

 

This time i'm 44 hours in and have reached what might be the last temple. I've used a guide a few times, but thats purely because i have a terrible memory and very limited play time - I don't want to drop the game again. Even with my goldfish memory, I've found the dungeons fairly straightforward. Not bad, but definitely not a huge challenge (I've not used a guide in any dungeon, which is saying something). I'm enjoying it, its ace, but I agree with some of the negative comments in this thread. I see two main problems:

 

First, whoever made it is deeply in love with Ocarina of Time. Even though the game has more than enough of its own to feel unique, it somehow doesn't feel distinctive. Majoras Mask felt unique, but this doesn't. Areas like the Gorons and Zora areas look great...but somehow not as lovely as they were before. I'm sure this is memory playing its rose tinted tricks, but its an issue. The game is much better when it does its own thing, like the Snowpeak Mansion. 

 

Second, the warping. There's a lot of jumping around the map, which I personally don't mind given my limited play time, but it does spoil the feel. It misses that epic journey feeling, which I got with Ocarina and with Wind Waker, as the music kicks in and I move with purpose to discover a new area. Yes, you've got to travel the first time, but what happens is once you've opened up the warp, the designers have used it to revisit areas over and over again. Its left the game feeling slightly disjointed. 

 

These criticisms are only in relation to other Zeldas, and how high they've raised the bar. Still, I'm loving it. Its shot through with beauty, and weirdness. I'm glad I've stuck it in to give it another go. I'm determined to play Skyward Sword before I play the new one. Probably around 2025. 

 

[Mallet]

I just finished this on the WiiU,  I absolutely loved it.

 

[Xevious]

On 03/02/2006 at 18:05, SharkEnergy said:

I'm going with 2.5 million worldwide sales from both Cube AND Rev owners.

 

Only a factor of over three out.

 

https://vgsales.fandom.com/wiki/The_Legend_of_Zelda

 

I've recently completed this for the first time, despite buying it with my Wii on launch day.  It's a great game, but some of the complaints in this thread hit home.  I expect I have benefitted from leaving it so long, so I was not suffering from Zelda formula fatigue, but the brown and muted colour palette - particularly during the twilight sections, was pretty depressing.

 

Now that you have had multiple new Zeldas since, including the Best Game of All Time, how does Twilight Princess stack up?  Are you still disappointed in it, or do you still love it - or has your opinion changed?

[Mars]

TP has a really special place in my heart, seems almost like a fever dream in my memory. 

 

This is beautiful and I think of it often:

 

 

 

[Paulando]

On 17/01/2017 at 13:51, Paulando said:

Closing in on 50 hours now, and I'm partway through the fifth dungeon. I've spent a lot of time hunting bugs, poes and heart pieces - there's so much stuff to find.

 

When I entered Snowpeak I was expecting the usual 'snowy caves' dungeon, but the Snowpeak Ruins mansion made for a nice surprise; it's lovely 

^ I ended up finishing it after this - 70 hours or so? I absolutely loved it.

 

I actually think ‘Zelda’ is my favourite genre. And while some are better than others, none of them last forever, so I’m fortunate for each one I get to play.

[Popo]

Where’s my HD re-release bundled with Wind Waker, Nintendo?

[Sarlaccfood]

On 28/01/2017 at 07:42, Sarlaccfood said:

I started playing the HD version in anticipation of BotW, it's the one I remember the least and now I can see why. Honestly I think I might give up. 

 

It's visually quite bland and hasn't aged half as well as Wind Waker. There's so much collecting of bits and bobs before you can do a dungeon and because the collecting has you searching every nook and cranny of an area before you unlock it properly, it takes all the mystery and illusion of a new area away before you even start looking around as Link. 

 

I've only got to the Gorons now so perhaps I'm being a bit too harsh and should keep going. I'm just worried I'm going to be Zelda'd out by the time the new one is out.

I traded it in shortly after this. Probably the only Zelda I’ve done that with. (Although I’d already finished it on Wii when it first came out)

 

Couldn’t be less enthused about them releasing it again. Gimme Metroid Prime instead Nintendo you cowards!

[Kevvy Metal]

I absolutely loved it. For me, it was like seeing a next-gen Ocarina for-filled. 

I also played it on Gamecube and found it to be one of the best games I've ever played. 

 

I could not play the Wii version - which I got only a few weeks later with my launch day wii - and I just could not get my head around the mirror world and the controls. 
I still have the Gamecube version, and should play through that with my CRT, just like old times! 

[Fatsam]

I must have finished it 4 times including the HD version and I'm pretty sure I'll still think it's magnificent if I played it again today.

 

My main criticism remains that its not quite bold enough. Too often reverting to Ocarina fan pleasing safe ground. To be fair, it does do almost everything better than Ocarina, but I wished they'd run with the wolf thing even more and maintained the focus on that rather than it getting a little sidelined later on in the game. They definitely should have built up Zant's part, possibly making him the only big baddie. The world was familiar but fleshed out which was great, but it was better when it went beyond that. More expanded or hidden hyrule would have been ace.

 

But those dungeons. And Midna and her Lament. Pure magic.

[the_debaser]

The wolf was a terrible idea in this game, really ruins the combat. And it takes way, way too long to get going, the start is almost, but not quite as bad, as Skyward Sword.
 

Still a solid game though and better than 99% of the stuff that gets released today. Get it on Switch, Nintendo. 

[Paulando]

17 minutes ago, the_debaser said:

And it takes way, way too long to get going, the start is almost, but not quite as bad, as Skyward Sword.

I got bored after a couple of hours of this on the Wii, and the same with Skyward Sword - I had two false starts on that and just gave up. The opening bored me to tears.
 

I wasn’t so much a Zelda fan at the time though, and my tastes have changed a hell of a lot since then. When I came back to the HD remake of this, and then the Switch remake of SS, I found the opening sections absolutely delightful. Just loved pottering around.

[Made of Ghosts]

Agree with most of what’s been said. It was nice to have a big grand meaty adventure after the relatively trim Wind Waker. It’s generally a lot of fun, the combat has a lot of improvements, and there aren’t many weak sections. I would probably rate it the strongest post-N64-pre-BOTW entry. But it doesn’t really have a strong identity, the wolf/twilight realm stuff is whatever and everything else is very much business as usual. Which was probably the objective. 

[Mars]

I'm watching a playthough of snowpeak mansion whilst I do some work, such a trippy level for a Zelda game.

[megamixer]

Loved TP on the Gamecube. Hunted down the GC version years ago because I couldn't be arsed with Wii controls in all honesty - just wanted to play with a standard pad. Well worth it. Wind Waker is still my favourite from the era though, for the art style and exploring the seas (more fun without a map).