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Twilight Princess vs. Skyward Sword

Iridescence

Emancipated Wind Fish
Joined
May 11, 2014
Location
United States
Graphics - SS
SS's abstract art ages better and is more unique for the series. TP's art is a rehash of OOT and MM.

Sound - SS
SS's sound gets the full orchestral treatment whereas TP's is mostly poorly synthesized sound loops.

Overworld - SS
SS's ground world may be small but each area is unique with new things to do. TP's overworld is big but it's totally barren and disjointed in design.

Characters - SS
Yes, Midna was a great character but everyone else in TP was forgettable. SS had a very colorful diverse cast of quirky characters though.

Story - Tie
TP's story jumped between Illa/villagers and Zant/Midna. SS's story also was completely stagnant during the middle.

Combat - SS
TP's combat was conventional with tacked on controls. SS's combat was very unique with the Motion Plus. It wasn't perfect but it was really fun and innovative.

Dungeons - TP
TP's dungeons were bigger, more abundant, more complex, more labyrinthine, more daunting. SS's were almost as excellent, but TP's were more intricately designed.

Pacing - SS
Both games are the same length and have filler. But SS keeps its filler in the later part of the game, but even worse, TP's first 10 hours are really slow and that's much worse.
 

Kyru

WOAHHHH!
Joined
Jun 11, 2015
Well if I follow a similar path.

Graphics - TP
I'm a very big on the realistic graphics but SS had very crisp graphics.

Sound - SS
I agree with what you said. But it was just that everything seemed the same in TP

Overworld - TP
I mainly credit TP because it was more of an overworld than SS was. SS was more of a sections than an overworld.

Characters - Tie
I preferred the characters in TP that were emphasized. SS had a lot of good characters and terrible characters which balance.

Story - SS
I give it up to them, as much as I loved TP the story was very much "save the world" and nothing much. I just find myself enjoying SS more.

Combat - SS
I was very much for the having different angles of attack, rather than hit anywhere.

Dungeons - TP
I agree with a similar idea. SS were very stale...
 

Iridescence

Emancipated Wind Fish
Joined
May 11, 2014
Location
United States
Overworld - TP
I mainly credit TP because it was more of an overworld than SS was. SS was more of a sections than an overworld.

That's both an asset and a problem for Twilight Princess. Skyward Sword's overworld was designed to be an abstract series of individual levels which coalesce into one experience (like scenes of a movie). Yes, TP's overworld is realistic looking but it's every bit as disconnected as SS's. There's still chokepoints, loading segments, dead-ends, and a lot of linearity.

Twilight Princess is an illusion in a way. It's bigger than Skyward Sword - with its world, levels, item roster and everything, but bigger isn't better.
 
Joined
Feb 7, 2014
Location
Ohio
Gender
tree
Graphics - TP.
Sound - In dunno, tie?
Characters - Unsure, they both had good and bad
Story - TP
Combat - TP
Dungeons - TP
Pacing - Unsure
 

Dio

~ It's me, Dio!~
Joined
Jul 6, 2011
Location
England
Gender
Absolute unit
Graphics-TP
SS's graphics and TP's graphics both look like hazy piles of crap but SS is overly colourful and has ridiculous enemy designs and TP has a better aesthetic in my view.

Sound - SS
SS has a fully orchestrated soundtrack and has some delightful pieces of music including Koloktos's battle theme, the industrial Silent realm Guardians tune and Ghirahim's battle.
TP has a good set of tunes also but is unfortunately spoiled by crappy MIDI orchestrations.

Overworld - TP
TP hands down has a better overworld than SS. It is vast, it feels natural and offers locales that look inviting to explore, it isn't full of puzzles. It may just offer mainly scenic enjoyment for the player but that's a lot better than having to puzzle your way through a cramped and small disjointed overworld which you dont even want to explore anyway and is obviously designed as a video game overworld rather than to create the impression of a real place within a fictional setting.

Characters - TP
TP has the best companion character. Midna. She is the only one I cared about and loved spending time with. TP has the best villain in Ganondorf. Having Ganondorf is an instant boost to the game, it brings the player back to OOT and WW and his presence as a villain is far greater than Demise or any new buttmunch could ever be because we already know what he is capable of and how big a threat he is.
I also loved the Goron Elders, Telma and Agitha.
I think SS's Zelda, Ghirahim and Groose were more fleshed out than most TP characters but they were the only ones. The supporting cast in Ss that were not those three was pretty ****ing dire. TP had a load of quirky and interesting characters that I actually wanted to know about. I couldn't give a crap about the minor SS characters.


Story - TP
TP's story is better because it isn't just a simple save the princess story like SS. It starts out as you are simply out to save the children of your village but there is the whole backstory of the Twili and you can see how the twilight has affected the land and people of Hyrule.


Combat - TP
Hidden skills. Need I say more.

Dungeons - TP
SS had a couple of great dungeons but most of TP's were grand places and the greatest iterations of forest, water and fire temples were present in TP. I also loved the Arbiters Grounds and the Twilight Palace had a great aesthetic to it.
SS had the ancient cistern and mining facility its truly standout dungeons but the rest were pretty mediocre.
Some say the sandship was great but it was a horrible bland dungeon in reality.



Pacing - TP
I never took issue with pacing in either game. Some criticized the length of startup in both but I think they helped set the scene for the adventure to come rather well.
SS unfortunately had us puzzling too much in the overworld for my taste whilst In TP I genuinely enjoyed the process of getting to the next dungeons. (well except for the sky symbol collecting. That was just atrocious)
 

mαrkαsscoρ

Mr. SidleInYourDMs
Joined
May 5, 2012
Location
American Wasteland
graphics - tp
while i really like skywards graphics,how twilight princess looked was near perfect for what i wanted out of a zelda game

sound - tie
definitely a tie,in fact skyward sword is the only zelda game that i feel would rival tp in the ost

overworld - tp
yeah the sky really wasn't doing for me,at least not as much as i hoped [and the sky was actually the overworld,the surface areas were basically levels]

characters - ss
i do feel i liked ss' cast just a bit more,plus it had BEEDLE

story - tp
the whole twili backstory really intrigued me,as w/o it,it would be another link has to save zelda from ganon
skyward's was good,but that 3rd party in the twilight gave tp the upper hand

combat - ss
probably what i most enjoyed out of skyward sword

dungeons - i don't care

pacing - tp
ss i think had a bit too many fetch quests,and easily the worst offender was the tadtone mission,ONLY redeeming factor of that was the mario sunshine esque theme
 
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Cross

For rent
Joined
Feb 16, 2015
Graphics-SS
The cartoony/water color style is more interesting and pleasing to look at. TP barely has any color.

Sound-SS
Fully orchestral soundtrack, that's about all that needs to be said.

Overworld-TP
The Sky/Ground is more interesting and you can do a lot more than in TP, and while TP has almost nothing to do at all in the giant overworld, TP simply has a bigger overworld, making the journy feel longer.

Characters-Tie
TP has Midna and Zant, SS has Ghirahim, I simply can't choose.

Story-SS
While it does lack in overworld, it makes up for it in it's story, simple but elegant.

Combat-SS
1:1 motion controls are superior.

Dungeons-SS
Timeshift stones+the only good water dungeon in a Zelda game. The bosses are mostly better too.

Pacing-SS
TP takes way to long to get going.
 

Jirohnagi

Braava Braava
Joined
Feb 18, 2010
Location
Soul Sanctum
Gender
Geosexual
Sorry but A) SS is from an earlier age timewise so clearly things are gonna be different to TP :cool: You are comparing two games that have at least 5 years difference between them so again everything is going to different and Finally. Both games were made with different objectives in Mind, and to be quite frank both games were crap, each had their own inconsistencies and failings that ruined the game. For SS it was the ridiculous motion controls and for TP it was the stupid ass port from one console to the other.
 

Spiritual Mask Salesman

CHIMer Dragonborn
Staff member
Comm. Coordinator
Site Staff
I'm debating on which role I should take... should I pull a JJ? Should I completely disregard the topic and pull a Ventus move by claiming OoT is better than both games?

Ah well. Personally I feel both games are about even, I always felt they had equal amounts of good and bad things overall. Also I'm just not a fan of rehashing this debate, we had enough of it in 2012.
 

Iridescence

Emancipated Wind Fish
Joined
May 11, 2014
Location
United States
You are comparing two games that have at least 5 years difference between them

That's the problem, and the reason why Twilight Princess tends to get a pass on its mistakes. While Skyward Sword has been judged from a contemporary perspective, it's been 8 years since most people have played Twilight Princess.
 

Iridescence

Emancipated Wind Fish
Joined
May 11, 2014
Location
United States
Skyward Sword had a meter that if it emptied, you couldn't run. With something that dumb added into the game, over world and combat go to TP by default.

You couldn't run in at all Twilight Princess. Skyward Sword gave you the option to run, but limited it so you couldn't use abuse it in the action bits. Which is better than not having it at all.
 
D

Deleted member 14134

Guest
Graphics-TP
Wasn't a big fan of skyward swords graphics. Some colour doesn't make up for poor style

Sound-TP
I was excited for the fully orchestrated soundtrack from skyward sword but the soundtrack was just so forgettable. TP's Hyrule field, hidden village and Midna lament are all more memorable than anything from SS soundtrack.

Overworld-TP
The Sky was just another great sea with 5 minutes of travel between activities. Yes TP's Overworld was big and empty but there are more convienent warp points and riding Epona is much faster and easier than flicking my arm up to get the loft wing to fly across the map.

Characters- TP
Wasn't a big fan of the flamboyant groose or the creepy Girahim. Midna may be the best character to ever come out if the series. Also the overall character design was much better, Link looks his best in this and Zelda looks like a woman and isn't just a damsel in distress like other games.

Story- TP
I prefer the darker more mature aspects of twilight princesses story.

Combat- TP
The hidden skills from TP added much needed depth to the series. 95% of battles could be beaten in SS by flailing and the motion controls didn't work very good when you needed them to.

Dungeons- TP
Every dungeon felt unique and had a story behind it. Arbiter grounds is the best 3D dungeon in the series and has the best use of a item found within that dungeon. Snowpeak ruins was perfectly designed, the temple of time improved on ideas like the tower of the gods from wind waker where instead of just going straght up, you had to go back down and resolve all the puzzles a different way.

Pacing: TP
SS had too many fetch quests, a very slow beginning and more backtracking than I would have liked. Also it didn't pick up for me until the end while TP I enjoyed throughout.
 
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Jirohnagi

Braava Braava
Joined
Feb 18, 2010
Location
Soul Sanctum
Gender
Geosexual
That's the problem, and the reason why Twilight Princess tends to get a pass on its mistakes. While Skyward Sword has been judged from a contemporary perspective, it's been 8 years since most people have played Twilight Princess.

Sorry but i am fairly certain that people have been passing judgment on TP for these last eight years, And may i add it was judged harshly, ditto skyward sword. You can't compare two games which are entirely different and intended to be played by different audiences. SS is almost entirely child friendly (bar those stupid ass controls and stamina) TP was the end of the dark phase that nintendo had. How bout instead of comparing two ENTIRELY different games compare the games with their remakes if and when they come.
 

mαrkαsscoρ

Mr. SidleInYourDMs
Joined
May 5, 2012
Location
American Wasteland
Sorry but i am fairly certain that people have been passing judgment on TP for these last eight years, And may i add it was judged harshly, ditto skyward sword. You can't compare two games which are entirely different and intended to be played by different audiences. SS is almost entirely child friendly (bar those stupid ass controls and stamina) TP was the end of the dark phase that nintendo had. How bout instead of comparing two ENTIRELY different games compare the games with their remakes if and when they come.
"child friendly"
yeah,b/c w/ all the mention of bloodshed what whatever else carnage related things ghirahim brings up,nothing can get more PG than that

and you act like they're in completely different generes,honestly there's been plenty more outlandish comparisons people have brought up,tp and ss are fine
also this ISN'T that kind of comparison,that's like saying we shouldn't be allowed to compare something like tetris to dr mario,only tetris to tetris dx or whatever
 

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