JuicieJ
SHOW ME YA MOVES!
So I've criticized Twilight Princess a lot here at the Zelda Dungeon forums. A lot. I've written some blogs about the game which had praise in them, but right alongside of them were criticisms. Welp... I've decided to make a thread doing just what the title says: giving TP credit where credit is due.
There are quite a few things TP did well, even if it didn't particularly nail anything it did (gameplay-wise), and I never really get the chance to talk about them in my posts, but no more! Today, I'm here at the second 3D GameCube Zelda game's side to honor and shower it with glory!! All those who've suffered through my endless *****ing, happy birthday. (Idgaf if it's not your birthday yet.)
Controls & Combat
Okay, this is something most Zelda games have done better at, but it's something in TP I have positive things to say about nevertheless. Of course, since the controls are flawless, Link responds to any command flawlessly. Press the B-button/swing the Wii Remote? Link will swing his sword. Targeting an enemy to attack it? The precision programming will ensure a hit every time, so long as you don't epicly screw up. Press any button to perform any action, whether combat-related or not? No worries, Link will obey every time. This allows the combat to flow smoothly and seamlessly with the rest of the game, something that may not seem like much, but something a surprising amount of average games fail to get right.
In addition, Twilight Princess took the parry mechanic found in The Wind Waker and improved it. Instead of an assortment of glorified QTE's readily available at our disposal and animations that varied depending on the foe, TP had us unlock skill after skill and let us use them as we saw fit. A couple moves were overpowered (Helm Splitter, Mortal Draw), and they could have been used more intricately with the combat, but they still flowed well with the overarching game design, so I have to give them props for that.
Old Items, New Uses
Twilight Princess was packed with fan-favorite items, such as the Hookshot and Boomerang. But rather than just recycling them, it decided to put new spins on them. The Boomerang became the Gale Boomerang, dropping the ability to stun enemies but gaining the ability to suck things up in the tornado it created when thrown. The Bombs received an underwater version. The Iron Boots were used to cling to magnetic surfaces (in one dungeon). The Bow received an optional bomb attachment (technically seen in Link's Awakening, but not as an official item). And the Hookshot became the Clawshot, which got its own upgrade, the Double Clawshots. It's one of the few areas TP was legitimately creative with, and it's something I can't help but wonder why Skyward Sword didn't have more of than it did, because it's such a great thing to do. It creates a sense of familiarity while bringing something fresh to the table, which is exactly what a series as old as Zelda needs to do.
Dungeon Treasure-Hunting
Twilight Princess's dungeons were loaded with treasure. I mean loaded. The Goron Mines even had two Pieces of Heart stored away. And they were actually, get this... well-hidden. Yes, the game I've constantly whined about having poorly-hidden secrets in the overworld had well-hidden treasure chests in its dungeons. This begs the question where all that effort went when the overworld was made, but that's not a praiseworthy topic, and this is a praise thread, not a ***** thread.
Anyway, there was always something to go off to the side and find in TP's dungeons, even when they were unbelievably linear (Goron Mines, Temple of Time), and to encourage searching for them early on, developers placed the Compass later in the dungeons than usual, with the exception of the Snowpeak Ruins (but that's fine, the dungeon was practically built with the Compass in mind). I guess it could be tedious to have to backtrack to some of the early treasures we may have missed, but it was always an optional thing, so I don't think it's fair to hold that against the game. This was, again, something I couldn't help but wonder why we didn't see more of in Skyward Sword. SS may have had vastly superior puzzles, but TP owns it in amount of hidden content in the dungeons.
Monster Design
Yes, Zelda always handles this well, and, yes, some of TP's monsters looked like they belonged in a horror game rather than a fantasy one, but gdi were this game's monsters fantastic-looking. From the Western thug-looking Bulblins to the badass-looking Darknuts to the totally freaking awesome Death Sword, Twilight Princess had a nonstop overflow of incredible creatures. Including the bosses. Their fights may not have been all that great, but their designs were definitely impressive. Come on, you can't tell me you saw this and didn't think something along the lines of "epic" or "holy ****". I know you can't without being a liar.
Lantern Caves
Caves have been around in the Zelda series for quite some time, but none of them have been used quite like they were in Twilight Princess. Not only were quite a few of them were really deep and filled with lots of enemies and treasure chests, but they were always dark, making the Lantern a necessity to see properly. This gave an otherwise useless item a purpose, and since it needed to be kept on most of the time, it was always wise to bring some lantern oil with you, as you were probably going to run out if you didn't. That's good resource management, the kinds seen in the classic titles, especially A Link to the Past. It's a shame the rest of the game didn't have strong resource management like that, but I'll take one extremely strong bit of it over virtually none at all any day. (I'm looking at you, The Wind Waker.)
Presentation
Presentation is something that has progressively gotten better with each new installment in the Zelda franchise, so Twilight Princess doesn't quite have the best the series has to offer, but, come on... can you really say its presentation wasn't fantastic? No. You can't. Not without being dead wrong, anyway. Even when things felt rushed (Ganondorf, Zant's development), the presentation of the individual scenarios was beyond top-notch. Seriously, some moments in this game are really moving, such as the Colin kidnap scene and the following chase & joust sequences, and the game's villains, Zant and Ganondorf, were beyond threatening. They didn't **** around. They meant business. And we had to deal with it. Kudos.
Midna
Midna. Freaking Midna. FREAKING! MIDNA!
I love her. I love that sassy princess. I love her look, I love her attitude, I love her dialogue, I love her style... I love everything about her. Midna is one of the few characters in Zelda that actually had great storytelling behind her. She started off as a complete jerk who bossed you around and treated you like her slave, creating an intentional tension between us and her. We were supposed to hate her early on. As the game progressed, though, she became less and less selfish and more and more of a likable character. By the end, I was in it to win it with her. She kept the game going for me even through the most unbearable moments. And, man, when Ganondorf had apparently killed her... I lost it inside. I was like, "Yeah, you're goin' down, punk. You don't mess with Midna like that." And when I saw she was alive, my heart was filled with rainbows... especially when I saw how hot she was in her true form. And, yes, I was sad when she broke the Mirror of Twilight. I understood she had to leave, but noooooooo, Midna y u leev 4evr?
And that's my list.
There are quite a few things TP did well, even if it didn't particularly nail anything it did (gameplay-wise), and I never really get the chance to talk about them in my posts, but no more! Today, I'm here at the second 3D GameCube Zelda game's side to honor and shower it with glory!! All those who've suffered through my endless *****ing, happy birthday. (Idgaf if it's not your birthday yet.)
Controls & Combat
Okay, this is something most Zelda games have done better at, but it's something in TP I have positive things to say about nevertheless. Of course, since the controls are flawless, Link responds to any command flawlessly. Press the B-button/swing the Wii Remote? Link will swing his sword. Targeting an enemy to attack it? The precision programming will ensure a hit every time, so long as you don't epicly screw up. Press any button to perform any action, whether combat-related or not? No worries, Link will obey every time. This allows the combat to flow smoothly and seamlessly with the rest of the game, something that may not seem like much, but something a surprising amount of average games fail to get right.
In addition, Twilight Princess took the parry mechanic found in The Wind Waker and improved it. Instead of an assortment of glorified QTE's readily available at our disposal and animations that varied depending on the foe, TP had us unlock skill after skill and let us use them as we saw fit. A couple moves were overpowered (Helm Splitter, Mortal Draw), and they could have been used more intricately with the combat, but they still flowed well with the overarching game design, so I have to give them props for that.
Old Items, New Uses
Twilight Princess was packed with fan-favorite items, such as the Hookshot and Boomerang. But rather than just recycling them, it decided to put new spins on them. The Boomerang became the Gale Boomerang, dropping the ability to stun enemies but gaining the ability to suck things up in the tornado it created when thrown. The Bombs received an underwater version. The Iron Boots were used to cling to magnetic surfaces (in one dungeon). The Bow received an optional bomb attachment (technically seen in Link's Awakening, but not as an official item). And the Hookshot became the Clawshot, which got its own upgrade, the Double Clawshots. It's one of the few areas TP was legitimately creative with, and it's something I can't help but wonder why Skyward Sword didn't have more of than it did, because it's such a great thing to do. It creates a sense of familiarity while bringing something fresh to the table, which is exactly what a series as old as Zelda needs to do.
Dungeon Treasure-Hunting
Twilight Princess's dungeons were loaded with treasure. I mean loaded. The Goron Mines even had two Pieces of Heart stored away. And they were actually, get this... well-hidden. Yes, the game I've constantly whined about having poorly-hidden secrets in the overworld had well-hidden treasure chests in its dungeons. This begs the question where all that effort went when the overworld was made, but that's not a praiseworthy topic, and this is a praise thread, not a ***** thread.
Anyway, there was always something to go off to the side and find in TP's dungeons, even when they were unbelievably linear (Goron Mines, Temple of Time), and to encourage searching for them early on, developers placed the Compass later in the dungeons than usual, with the exception of the Snowpeak Ruins (but that's fine, the dungeon was practically built with the Compass in mind). I guess it could be tedious to have to backtrack to some of the early treasures we may have missed, but it was always an optional thing, so I don't think it's fair to hold that against the game. This was, again, something I couldn't help but wonder why we didn't see more of in Skyward Sword. SS may have had vastly superior puzzles, but TP owns it in amount of hidden content in the dungeons.
Monster Design
Yes, Zelda always handles this well, and, yes, some of TP's monsters looked like they belonged in a horror game rather than a fantasy one, but gdi were this game's monsters fantastic-looking. From the Western thug-looking Bulblins to the badass-looking Darknuts to the totally freaking awesome Death Sword, Twilight Princess had a nonstop overflow of incredible creatures. Including the bosses. Their fights may not have been all that great, but their designs were definitely impressive. Come on, you can't tell me you saw this and didn't think something along the lines of "epic" or "holy ****". I know you can't without being a liar.
Lantern Caves
Caves have been around in the Zelda series for quite some time, but none of them have been used quite like they were in Twilight Princess. Not only were quite a few of them were really deep and filled with lots of enemies and treasure chests, but they were always dark, making the Lantern a necessity to see properly. This gave an otherwise useless item a purpose, and since it needed to be kept on most of the time, it was always wise to bring some lantern oil with you, as you were probably going to run out if you didn't. That's good resource management, the kinds seen in the classic titles, especially A Link to the Past. It's a shame the rest of the game didn't have strong resource management like that, but I'll take one extremely strong bit of it over virtually none at all any day. (I'm looking at you, The Wind Waker.)
Presentation
Presentation is something that has progressively gotten better with each new installment in the Zelda franchise, so Twilight Princess doesn't quite have the best the series has to offer, but, come on... can you really say its presentation wasn't fantastic? No. You can't. Not without being dead wrong, anyway. Even when things felt rushed (Ganondorf, Zant's development), the presentation of the individual scenarios was beyond top-notch. Seriously, some moments in this game are really moving, such as the Colin kidnap scene and the following chase & joust sequences, and the game's villains, Zant and Ganondorf, were beyond threatening. They didn't **** around. They meant business. And we had to deal with it. Kudos.
Midna
Midna. Freaking Midna. FREAKING! MIDNA!
I love her. I love that sassy princess. I love her look, I love her attitude, I love her dialogue, I love her style... I love everything about her. Midna is one of the few characters in Zelda that actually had great storytelling behind her. She started off as a complete jerk who bossed you around and treated you like her slave, creating an intentional tension between us and her. We were supposed to hate her early on. As the game progressed, though, she became less and less selfish and more and more of a likable character. By the end, I was in it to win it with her. She kept the game going for me even through the most unbearable moments. And, man, when Ganondorf had apparently killed her... I lost it inside. I was like, "Yeah, you're goin' down, punk. You don't mess with Midna like that." And when I saw she was alive, my heart was filled with rainbows... especially when I saw how hot she was in her true form. And, yes, I was sad when she broke the Mirror of Twilight. I understood she had to leave, but noooooooo, Midna y u leev 4evr?
And that's my list.
Last edited:
