I can feel the heat emenating off this discussion. O_O'
SS looked pretty, but it had a pretty storyline. It was a classic "our bold hero goes traipsing through unknown lands to save the love of his life, who also happens to be pretty BA in her own right." There were times when the constant readjustment of the WiiMotion Plus got frustrating, and the Silent Realms were one of the hardest things I've ever done in any video game. And FI. The sentient sword stuff got SO ANNOYING. "Your hearts are depleted. Your batteries are low. Zelda is no longer in the vicinity." Sure, the dowsing ability was helpful, but it made it seem very easy in terms of fetch quests. The graphics bothered me, because it made Link look very childish and young. AND ZELDA. She was so maddening! My mother thought I was going insane when I started yelling at the TV during the cutscene where she pushes Link off the statue instead of kissing him. Not being able to fly at night, not having the three regions connected, not having Epona on the surface like I expected, not being able to Z-target to shoot things, and having to sleep to make it nighttime were also problems.
TP had its share of problems, though. HOWLING. Nuff said. Honing your senses (or whatever it is the Midna calls making everything look green) was a chore that was aggravating. Having the Fused Shadows ripped from you right when you find the last one, and finding out Ganondorf was actually orchestrating everything instead of just Zant was an irritating plot twist. Some other things include: darkened graphics (though I felt that was intentional, since the game is all about a TWILIGHT invasion....), Midna being obnoxious, and the thought of killing things with your mouth. Ew.
Of course, it wouldn't be fair not to include the pros of these games.
SS: the struggle between Link and Groose for Zelda's affection was amusing. Very much like Mido. Being able to have Fi analyze enemies was also kind of cool, especially when Midna couldn't do this. Flying instead of galloping around on a draft horse was an interesting change, though I was disappointed when there was no Epona on the surface. The "young love" storyline was definitely interesting, rather than the "save the princess."
TP: Being an animal was so awesome for me. I loved running around as a wolf, and sometimes I would just ditch Epona, transform and run around the fields for in-game hours. I really like the Dominion Rod, contrary to what everbody else says, and there was other uses for it besides in the Temple of Time. You had to use it to get the information for Shad so you could get to the Sky Cannon, and I had a lot of fun randomly moving statues into the middle of the field because I could. The game explained a decent amount of Hyrulian History for those who had never played a Zelda game before. And the Spinner was not useless. There was a few instances outside of Arbiter's Grounds where you had the opportunity to use it. There was a Piece of Heart that required the use of the Spinner and that hallway in Hyrule Castle, and it was effective at annihilating lesser opponents in the Cave of Ordeals.
I also loved the fact that in a sort of skewed way, Link has all three of his guide-girls with him. Fi, who is the semi-sentient Master Sword, Navi, who is your cursor even though she's mute and doesn't contribute at all to the story (instead of that stupid little hand in SS!), and of course Midna, who is a smart aleck and chimes in with her two-cents wherever she deems fit, whether you need that info or not. My favorite part of the game is when you beat the Star Game and those three girls in Castle Town swoon everytime they see you. I was just so amused!
I know people are always like "TP sucked!" but I liked it much better than SS. Personally, ALttP is my favorite game, but TP comes in a close second. I think people will be saying all the same things about SS when the new game comes out, even though they're saying it's fantastic now. It's just because it's new and shiny.
I tend to like those types (like in spyro with the speedway mini games) but I also like the effects the Wii motion plus had with it, I liked that whichever way I moved my arm link did the same. An the graphics and gameplay was great which was a plus for me.
