Twilight Princess is nothing short of amazing. Admittedly, this is my first foray into the Zelda franchise, but still. When I finished it, I had absolutely no wish to replay it, because it would totally ruin my awesome memories of the first playthrough.
The plot starts with Link trying to get his friends back, but soon spirals into an adventure to save two linked worlds from a common evil (which doesn’t start off as Ganon, but eventually turns out to be, obviously).
What makes the game different, and better than it sounds, is the fact that, after a certain point, you can switch between the forms of a human and a wolf. Unfortunately, despite being far cooler in theory, the latter’s only main advantage (besides advancing in dungeons and whatnot) is that it moves faster; you can’t use items or talk to people. Sure, you can turn on “scent vision”, but it’s hard to see, and you can dig places, but the human form is far more versatile.
What makes it brilliant, though, is the plot and the unique elements that come with it. Morphing into a wolf is just one of these; others include moving between two worlds (the real one and the Twilight), and the shadow-powers of your companion Midna (such as creating awesome, green-glowing portals).
Speaking of Midna, she manages to be a useful companion without being too irritating. (I’ve only heard bad things about Navi from Ocarina of Time, for example. “Hey, listen! Over here!”) That said, though, her giggle eventually began to drive me utterly insane.
And fighting the final boss (*cough* Ganon *cough*) felt suitably epic - from the music alone. And when you also take into account the fact that he is far and away the hardest boss yet, who goes through four different phases, it only gets better. Also, there’s a freaking thunderstorm going on. And I’ve always been a sucker for rain.
The cutscenes were really well crafted. The second-to-last one, just before the credits, was crazily heartwarming. And the last one, about halfway through the final credits, genuinely made me sad. These two moments were on my mind for hours afterwards. (Yes, fiction can move me in a way that real life never can.)
It's also inspired me to blog my way through the entire franchise... which I think is a good thing. And it's sure set a high standard!
Brilliant.
Twilight Princess is nothing short of amazing. Admittedly, this is my first foray into the Zelda franchise, but still. When I finished it, I had absolutely no wish to replay it, because it would totally ruin my awesome memories of the first playthrough.
The plot starts with Link trying to get his friends back, but soon spirals into an adventure to save two linked worlds from a common evil (which doesn’t start off as Ganon, but eventually turns out to be, obviously).
What makes the game different, and better than it sounds, is the fact that, after a certain point, you can switch between the forms of a human and a wolf. Unfortunately, despite being far cooler in theory, the latter’s only main advantage (besides advancing in dungeons and whatnot) is that it moves faster; you can’t use items or talk to people. Sure, you can turn on “scent vision”, but it’s hard to see, and you can dig places, but the human form is far more versatile.
What makes it brilliant, though, is the plot and the unique elements that come with it. Morphing into a wolf is just one of these; others include moving between two worlds (the real one and the Twilight), and the shadow-powers of your companion Midna (such as creating awesome, green-glowing portals).
Speaking of Midna, she manages to be a useful companion without being too irritating. (I’ve only heard bad things about Navi from Ocarina of Time, for example. “Hey, listen! Over here!”) That said, though, her giggle eventually began to drive me utterly insane.
And fighting the final boss (*cough* Ganon *cough*) felt suitably epic - from the music alone. And when you also take into account the fact that he is far and away the hardest boss yet, who goes through four different phases, it only gets better. Also, there’s a freaking thunderstorm going on. And I’ve always been a sucker for rain.
The cutscenes were really well crafted. The second-to-last one, just before the credits, was crazily heartwarming. And the last one, about halfway through the final credits, genuinely made me sad. These two moments were on my mind for hours afterwards. (Yes, fiction can move me in a way that real life never can.)
It's also inspired me to blog my way through the entire franchise... which I think is a good thing. And it's sure set a high standard!