General Modern Twilight Princess Vs Skyward Sword

[2bmc]

Skyward Sword and Twilight Princess are entirely different from the way I see it, they both offer unique experiences and the focal points of both games differ as well. Skyward Sword'S overworld is not accessible by foot, which is a huge change compared to the vast Hyrule in TP. SS gave off a Wind Waker vibe for me, as the actual overworld is not land, but sky, or ocean in WW's case. Idk about you all but I'm still hungry for a game that had an overworld similar to OoT, but whatever thats not the point.

SS was too linear for me, I felt like I was being spoonfed a lot of the time. Dowsing? That was a really wussy idea for a Zelda game to me. Not to mention that the gossip stone by the sparring hall can basically give you all the solutions to a bunch of things. Of course, it is not required to use any of these, but just knowing those options are there kinda gets to me.

TP also had it's flaws too, and I agree with MW7 that some of the quests in between dungeons were somewhat dull. Hyrule Field lacked and had so much more potential; there could've been much more to do in terms of that. TP was just one of those games that made me go wow though. I was so captivated by the whole experience of the game. I can remember the first time waking up in the twilight as a wolf, and the whole graphical experience there just got me.

The motion controls for SS were flawless and an amazing addition to the series, and puzzles were very entertaining. I loved how you had to solve more puzzles in order to work your way up to the dungeon, but these areas to me were on the bland side imo. I didn't feel any connection with any of the races in SS, which is something that I missed from Oot, MM, WW and TP.

This next bit might come off as a bit odd, but I absolutely hated Lanayru Desert (dont mean to offend anyone who enjoyed it), and I had a really hard time believing the Timeshift Stone and the electricity concept. If this was the first Zelda game chronologically in terms of timeline, then why was there electricity and a whole entire race of monotonous 'ancient' robots? This really bugged me, probably not only for those reasons, but also for the fact that there has been no return of the Gerudos since OoT. Ganondorf is the 'King of the Thieves', right? yet the Gerudo's have hardly been a big deal since Oot, and I'm really itching to know the origins of the whole race. Instead, in SS, we got a desert inhabited by a race of ancient robots that I honestly did not care for

I'm definitely more a fan of TP. I do still enjoy SS tho dont get me wrong (I needed to rant about all the things that I disliked :p)

 

[Azure Sage]

To be honest Twilight Princess is one of the worst Zelda games, if not the worst, in my opinion.

It has many, many flaws, and one of the most prominent is Ganondorf's implementation. He was not necessary at all. Let's look at Zant real quick. He was a fresh new face for the ranks of Zelda villains. The extent of his power was shrouded in mystery, and his very existance was an enigma. He was the kind of villain that leaves a player craving to know more about him. Of course, all of this is completely ruined once the player finishes Arbiter's Grounds. It is then that Ganondorf is arbitrarily tossed into the mix. And through the use of a flashback at that. His introduction left a lot to be desired, but more than that, he busrt the bubble of fresh air Zant gave the game. With no fresh air left to breathe, the game started to drown in disapointment.

After Arbiter's Grounds, Link learns he must collect three shards of the Mirror of Twilight, which are spread out through the next three dungeons. This sounds an awful lot like what Link just did. In the first half of the game, Link had to collect three Fused Shadows, which were spread out through the first three dungeons. The second half of Twilight Princess is basically a re-hash of the first half. Also, Ganondorf leaves the scene until the very end. He isn't in more than twenty percent of the game. On top of that, the boss battle against him isn't the least bit challenging. And the only phase of the battle that was actually epic was the final swordfight. But even that was a joke. Ganondorf sadly turned out to be a failure, and is a major contributing factor to the game's incredible loss of potential. It would have been much better to introduce Ganondorf from the beginning. But there was absolutely no legitimate hint of his presence until after Arbiter's Grounds. Zant was the only one Link needed to worry about. The game even lead the player to believe that up until the halfway point, too. This is the main thing I hate about the game.

The game's level of difficulty was pathetic, too. Twilight Princess was most definitely the easiest Zelda game to date. Each dungeon had it's own interesting puzzles, but sadly many of them were not much of a challenge to figure out. The game itself was even handicapped. In some instances, a cut scene was initiated that showed you where some things were or where to go. This diminishes the fun in figuring it out on your own. Even Midna was too much of a handicap. At times she explains things that can be solved easily by one's self. For example, after Link cleanses Lanaryu Province of the Twilight, he needs to use Fyer's cannon to leave Lake Hylia. Before Fyer realizes Link is a customer, he rants about the Zoras building a temple too deep for a human to swim to. Earlier, Queen Rutela asked Link to rescue her son Ralis, and would reward Link with the ability to respire in deep water like a Zora. This request and Fyer's rant was enough of a clue as to what Link needs to do. But after you use Fyer's cannon to leave the lake, Midna explains the obvious connection to you right away, as if it were something nearly impossible to figure out. This is just one example of the unnecessarily large handicap Twilight Princess forces onto it's players.

Those are just a few of the many things I hate about Twilight Princess. Skyward Sword, on the other hand, was fairly decent. I haven't been able to finish it yet, but I have made it very far. Almost to the final boss. So I still have plenty I can talk about.

Skyward Sword was disappointing in the fact that it is a lot like Twilight Princess. This was my biggest fear when I was eagerly awaiting the game's release for so long, and I'm saddened to learn that it came true. The Silent Realm is like the Twilight Realm, Ghirahim is like Zant, and the set-up of dungeons is similar. The first three dungeons are spent trying to find something; in Skyward Sword's case it's Zelda, and in Twilight Princess's case it was the fused shadows. Then the next string of three dungeons is spent trying to gain access to a new area. In Skyward Sword it was where Zelda is, and in Twilight Princess it's where Zant is. Both villains were both trying to free their imprisoned master, although at least Skyward Sword told you that early enough so that the villain's role isn't totally ruined, unlike in Twilight Princess.

Skyward Sword's overworld was beautiful, but it was too condensed. I liked it, but it needed work. There was usually just one direction you could go. Forward. Unlike Twilight princess's overworld, which was sadly too large for it's content, you couldn't really go in other directions. Twilight Princess, however, blocked any other path you could take until it was time to go there. The linearity was unbearable to someone like me who loves exploring. Skyward Sword's overworld was too small to be too linear, and there wasn't a lot of ground to cover. Ocarina of Time had the perfect overworld; not too big, not too small, and not a lot of barriers to exploration. You had more options, something which Twilight Princess's overworld greatly lacked and Skyward Sword's overworld could have been better off with having.

The difficulty of Skyward Sword was pretty good. I almost actually needed a guide. There were only two Zelda games I've played that forced me to use a guide; Majora's mask and Link's Awakening. Skyward Sword isn't as difficult as those two, but it was sort of close. And that's a good thing. The bosses were fun for the most part, except for the boss of the Mining Facility which was a total joke. The dungeons all had their own decent challenges, although some puzzles were a bit obvious. Swordplay was excellent, and I've never had any trouble with the motion controls. Sure, I've had to center the cursor a few times, but I never had to re-calibrate. Flying in the sky is a lot of fun, and definitely one of my favorite aspects of the game. Unlike the overworld, the Sky had plenty of places to go right off the bat. Unfortunately, a lot of the islands aren't landable. Skyloft didn't have a lot of NPC's, but there was enough of them. There are plenty of sidequests, so there's almost always something to do.

After taking all of this into consideration, I have to say I like Skyward Sword a lot better, in regards to gameplay, story, characters, villains, overworld, graphics, sidequests, items... I think pretty much every category. Skyward Sword does lose a lot of points for being "Twilight Princess 2.0", but it definitely beats out Twilight Princess with ease. I have to say Skyward Sword is the better game.

 

[TheWind]

Twilight Princess was bad. The Twilight Realms were a grueling experience, as Wolf-Link was absolutely no fun. While his design is formidable, he can do nothing of interest. His senses are cool, but they present no puzzles. Wolf combat is a joke, and the extra speed isn't enough to counter-balance his uselessness. The game is titled "Twilight Princess", yet both the Twilight and the Princess were unpleasant. The dungeons were interesting but too easy, the overworld was large with largely nothing in it, the graphics were unpleasantly inappropriate, and the story was lazy. Granted, I could give two sh*ts about the story, as the storyline in Zelda games has never been intricate anyway, and it doesn't have to be, because it's all about the gameplay. But the gameplay of TP left much to be desired. With all of these flaws, I don't see how TP could win over any other title (Besides maybe PH).

 

[Ventus]

Twilight Princess is the better game. It has the best overworld Zelda has ever seen. Best gameplay. Best characters. Best everything.

With every progressing day, though, SS is starting to rank lower and lower on my favorites scale. It's gotten to the point where SS is almost equal to TP, and that's something fierce. What I see when comparing the two is that Skyward is just Twilightv2.0, with pretty colors and 1:1 gameplay. Everything else is largely the same IMO. They're almost indistinguishable, which is disappointing. As I said, though, SS is TPv2.0 so it's pretty much better. After all, you can't have a future release be a step BACK from the initial release unless you've done something horribly wrong.

 

[A Link In Time]

Now I'm not picking on you but I found your point interesting.

To be honest Twilight Princess is one of the worst Zelda games, if not the worst, in my opinion.

It's a more complex build of Ocarina of Time. That thought is absurd. But this is your opinion so from here on out I'll respect that.

It has many, many flaws, and one of the most prominent is Ganondorf's implementation. He was not necessary at all. Let's look at Zant real quick. He was a fresh new face for the ranks of Zelda villains. The extent of his power was shrouded in mystery, and his very existance was an enigma. He was the kind of villain that leaves a player craving to know more about him. Of course, all of this is completely ruined once the player finishes Arbiter's Grounds. It is then that Ganondorf is arbitrarily tossed into the mix. And through the use of a flashback at that. His introduction left a lot to be desired, but more than that, he busrt the bubble of fresh air Zant gave the game. With no fresh air left to breathe, the game started to drown in disappointment.

Your own signature reads, "Great Characters Breathe Life Into Great Stories". Ganondorf is one of the best characters ever featured in the Zelda franchise. This was pointed out in the article GaroXicon posted today on the main site. And though that mainly discussed Ganondorf in Ocarina of Time and the Wind Waker, I'd love to fill in the Twilight Princess part. Ganondorf is shown not only as a man of hatred and malice but as a more thoughtful figure than before. Ganondorf never claimed power over Hyrule yet in the Child Timeline but he's already known pain from being cast away. His actions are more well thought out and he uses pawns to do his dirty deeds. But in all seriousness, did you really think Nintendo would reveal the final villain so early in the game? I realize some fans were disappointed but Zant served his purpose. Then again, these are your thoughts and I respect that.

After Arbiter's Grounds, Link learns he must collect three shards of the Mirror of Twilight, which are spread out through the next three dungeons. This sounds an awful lot like what Link just did. In the first half of the game, Link had to collect three Fused Shadows, which were spread out through the first three dungeons. The second half of Twilight Princess is basically a re-hash of the first half. Also, Ganondorf leaves the scene until the very end. He isn't in more than twenty percent of the game. On top of that, the boss battle against him isn't the least bit challenging. And the only phase of the battle that was actually epic was the final swordfight. But even that was a joke. Ganondorf sadly turned out to be a failure, and is a major contributing factor to the game's incredible loss of potential. It would have been much better to introduce Ganondorf from the beginning. But there was absolutely no legitimate hint of his presence until after Arbiter's Grounds. Zant was the only one Link needed to worry about. The game even lead the player to believe that up until the halfway point, too. This is the main thing I hate about the game.

And yet the same thing was started in A Link to the Past but no one blabbered when it was put in Ocarina of Time. And Ganondorf doesn't need to appear often. He was a rarer sight than in Ocarina of Time or The Wind Waker but still made his presence felt.

The game's level of difficulty was pathetic, too. Twilight Princess was most definitely the easiest Zelda game to date. Each dungeon had it's own interesting puzzles, but sadly many of them were not much of a challenge to figure out. The game itself was even handicapped. In some instances, a cut scene was initiated that showed you where some things were or where to go. This diminishes the fun in figuring it out on your own. Even Midna was too much of a handicap. At times she explains things that can be solved easily by one's self. For example, after Link cleanses Lanaryu Province of the Twilight, he needs to use Fyer's cannon to leave Lake Hylia. Before Fyer realizes Link is a customer, he rants about the Zoras building a temple too deep for a human to swim to. Earlier, Queen Rutela asked Link to rescue her son Ralis, and would reward Link with the ability to respire in deep water like a Zora. This request and Fyer's rant was enough of a clue as to what Link needs to do. But after you use Fyer's cannon to leave the lake, Midna explains the obvious connection to you right away, as if it were something nearly impossible to figure out. This is just one example of the unnecessarily large handicap Twilight Princess forces onto it's players.

Nearly every 3D Zelda game with such supporting characters as Midna offers quite a bit of advice. Navi was always pointing out suspicious things like a hole in the wall or whatnot in Ocarina of Time. Also, how many Zelda games did you play before Twilight Princess? That has to be taken into account before you offer judgment.

Those are just a few of the many things I hate about Twilight Princess. Skyward Sword, on the other hand, was fairly decent. I haven't been able to finish it yet, but I have made it very far. Almost to the final boss. So I still have plenty I can talk about.

Skyward Sword was disappointing in the fact that it is a lot like Twilight Princess. This was my biggest fear when I was eagerly awaiting the game's release for so long, and I'm saddened to learn that it came true. The Silent Realm is like the Twilight Realm, Ghirahim is like Zant, and the set-up of dungeons is similar. The first three dungeons are spent trying to find something; in Skyward Sword's case it's Zelda, and in Twilight Princess's case it was the fused shadows. Then the next string of three dungeons is spent trying to gain access to a new area. In Skyward Sword it was where Zelda is, and in Twilight Princess it's where Zant is. Both villains were both trying to free their imprisoned master, although at least Skyward Sword told you that early enough so that the villain's role isn't totally ruined, unlike in Twilight Princess.

Skyward Sword's overworld was beautiful, but it was too condensed. I liked it, but it needed work. There was usually just one direction you could go. Forward. Unlike Twilight princess's overworld, which was sadly too large for it's content, you couldn't really go in other directions. Twilight Princess, however, blocked any other path you could take until it was time to go there. The linearity was unbearable to someone like me who loves exploring. Skyward Sword's overworld was too small to be too linear, and there wasn't a lot of ground to cover. Ocarina of Time had the perfect overworld; not too big, not too small, and not a lot of barriers to exploration. You had more options, something which Twilight Princess's overworld greatly lacked and Skyward Sword's overworld could have been better off with having.

The difficulty of Skyward Sword was pretty good. I almost actually needed a guide. There were only two Zelda games I've played that forced me to use a guide; Majora's Mask and Link's Awakening. Skyward Sword isn't as difficult as those two, but it was sort of close. And that's a good thing. The bosses were fun for the most part, except for the boss of the Mining Facility which was a total joke. The dungeons all had their own decent challenges, although some puzzles were a bit obvious. Swordplay was excellent, and I've never had any trouble with the motion controls. Sure, I've had to center the cursor a few times, but I never had to re-calibrate. Flying in the sky is a lot of fun, and definitely one of my favorite aspects of the game. Unlike the overworld, the Sky had plenty of places to go right off the bat. Unfortunately, a lot of the islands aren't landable. Skyloft didn't have a lot of NPC's, but there was enough of them. There are plenty of sidequests, so there's almost always something to do.

After taking all of this into consideration, I have to say I like Skyward Sword a lot better, in regards to gameplay, story, characters, villains, overworld, graphics, sidequests, items... I think pretty much every category. Skyward Sword does lose a lot of points for being "Twilight Princess 2.0", but it definitely beats out Twilight Princess with ease. I have to say Skyward Sword is the better game.

Well, I'll try to tackle this whole second portion at once because I generally agree. It's sad to see Nintendo made the same mistakes in two consecutive console installments. The story was once again a carbon repeat of the ALttP formula. But it was a scenario much worse than that of Twilight Princess. The sky was completely unacceptable as there was almost nothing to do. 2-3 islands with something worthwhile and the rest barren with a single treasure chest to be found. If Nintendo is so obsessed with this patterns at least throw in some enemies and make the sky dangerous like the Great Sea was in The Wind Waker. And because Skyward Sword repeats the same flaws, I find it worse than Twilight Princess. It's definitely not the better game. Dungeons are focused but they're also very short. And Skyloft is a complete contrast to the surface throughout the entire game. This takes away from the darker tone later in the game. The controls though are quite tight though I'll never get used to horizontal slashing. Buttons are much better! And why Link's Awakening for a walkthrough?

 

[CrimsonLoftwing]

Twilight Princess will always hold a special place in my heart, because it was the first Zelda game that I really loved. But Skyward Sword (Which may very well be my new favorite Zelda game) takes one of the best things about Twilight Princess and takes it above and beyond, and that's one of the many things I love about Skyward Sword.

 

[Azure Sage]

Your own signature reads, "Great Characters Breathe Life Into Great Stories". Ganondorf is one of the best characters ever featured in the Zelda franchise.

Ganondorf was NOT a good character in Twilight Princess, and the story was NOT great either. Using my own lines against me won't work here.

But in all seriousness, did you really think Nintendo would reveal the final villain so early in the game? I realize some fans were disappointed but Zant served his purpose.

It wasn't about revealing who he was necessarily. But I would have like SOME legitimate hint that there was someone else. Skyward Sword gave us that at a good time. Twilight Princess gave us no such thing.

And yet the same thing was started in A Link to the Past but no one blabbered when it was put in Ocarina of Time.

I've never played A Link to the Past.

Well, I'll try to tackle this whole second portion at once because I generally agree. It's sad to see Nintendo made the same mistakes in two consecutive console installments. The story was once again a carbon repeat of the ALttP formula. But it was a scenario much worse than that of Twilight Princess. The sky was completely unacceptable as there was almost nothing to do. 2-3 islands with something worthwhile and the rest barren with a single treasure chest to be found. If Nintendo is so obsessed with this patterns at least throw in some enemies and make the sky dangerous like the Great Sea was in The Wind Waker. And because Skyward Sword repeats the same flaws, I find it worse than Twilight Princess. It's definitely not the better game. Dungeons are focused but they're also very short. And Skyloft is a complete contrast to the surface throughout the entire game. This takes away from the darker tone later in the game. The controls though are quite tight though I'll never get used to horizontal slashing. Buttons are much better! And why Link's Awakening for a walkthrough?

I generally agree about the sky being barren, but admit it. Flying is fun. Skyward Sword may repeat the same flaws, but the story and the characters are much better. At least Groose has a majorly helpful purpose. Did any of the kids in Twilight Princess have a majorly helpful purpose? Talo just lets you play a minigame. Malo makes smart-*** remarks while selling you stuff. Beth does practically nothing. And Ilia loses her memory and is only important again when you need to go to the sky. But even then she barely gets to do anything. Groose helps you take down the Imprisoned twice. Scrapper helps you carry stuff from the surface to the clouds. Skyloft is supposed to be a contrast to the surface. It wouldn't be much of a safe haven for the Goddess's people if it were like the surface teeming with monsters and dangers.(even if Skyloft is dangerous at night)

I do appreciate you respecting my opinions, so thank you for that. But these are just a few things I had to point out.

And Link's Awakening got me in Eagle's Tower, lay off!!

 

[2bmc]

The one thing I dont understand is the whole "Twilight Princess was so easy" thing. Hello people, have you played SS? By far the easiest Zelda game. The whole dowsing thing was like, what? Why? Youre gonna tell me where this is? I can see why people would like SS over TP, but if it's because of difficulty well... SS pretty much handed you the answers to the majority of the puzzles. Nintendo even intended it to appeal to the casual gamer audience

 

[Zarom]

I enjoyed SS much more than TP. Pretty much everything was better in SS: The dungeons, the enemies and bosses, the music, the level design, the story, the difficulty, the side quests, the characters, etc. Many parts in TP were tedious and boring, while I never got bored once in SS. So SS is a much better game in my opinion. I'm still not sure if it's my favorite Zelda though...

 

[Midna666]

I like Twilight Princess better then Skyward Sword.

I found the first couple of hours of SS to be pretty boring.
Using the Wii Motion Plus is fun for a little bit, but after awhile I got sick of it and wished that I could just use regular controls. And Fi is a boring sidekick.
As for the story.

Spoiler

I don't like how it introduces a new goddess who we've never heard of before out of nowhere. Plus Zelda being the reincarnation of the goddess makes her seem kind of like a mary-sue.

Twilight Princess on the other hand has better storyline pacing. And I found myself caring about the characters in that game more then I did care about the characters in SS.