• Welcome to ZD Forums! You must create an account and log in to see and participate in the Shoutbox chat on this main index page.

Twilight Princess vs. Skyward Sword

Zorth

#Scoundrel
Joined
Apr 22, 2011
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.

I'd recommend you play these games to freshen up your memory. TP and SS are not so different as you make them out to be. This argument would only work if we are talking about comparison between two vastly different genres, example SS vs League of Legends or TP vs Pokemon Stadium.

TP and SS have the same audience, action adventure fans (zelda fans). TP's only "dark" aspect is the twilight portion of the game, which honestly isn't anymore depressing than the silent realms. Both stories could frighten little kids, and both stories can get chuckles from adults. The biggest difference would be in art style, TP has the teenage anime look while SS looks like a weird cartoon.


side note:

I am impressed that you picked the port from GCN to Wii as your main reason for why TP is bad, there is so much other stuff you could have picked.
 
Joined
Feb 17, 2015
Graphics: Skyward Sword
I love the art style of Twilight Princess and would love a return to that sort of style in a future Zelda game. However, the graphics in Skyward Sword were an improvement in quality. The painting style of the game held together a lot better than the blocky textiles of TP.

Sound: Twilight Princess
I go back and forth on this. I loved the orchestrated music of SS but the music of TP was so much more memorable. Also, in the 25th anniversary cd of orchestrated Zelda music, Twilight Princess theme is my favorite.

Overworld: Twilight Princess
SS overworld was way more barren then TP. There were very few things to do with your loftwing in the sky. (I consider each area more like a dungeon.) I never felt bored in TP when crossing Hyrule Field.

Characters: Twilight Princess
Someone mentioned forgettable characters? Of course there is Midna and Zant, but what about Telma, Illia, Malo, the Postman, That Yeti guy, Occoo, That four member team whose names escape me right now, and Agitha? Now SS as some some strong characters but only a few. Most of the people of Skyloft don't even matter, really.

Story: Twilight Princess
I was so engrossed in TP's story that I cried when Midna left for the Twilight World. I do love the romance of SS, but TP's story was deeper.

Combat: Twilight Princess
I've only played the wii version of TP, but unlike a lot of people, I've never had a problem swinging my sword to attack; in fact, I think it's one of my favorite things about TP. SS on the other hand can be so frustrating!!! "I'm pointing my remote in the air! Do a freaking skyward strike, Link!!" I also love all the items in TP.

Dungeons: Twilight Princess
Some of my favorite dungeons are in SS (Ancient Cistern) but TP dungeons scared me, and I like that. There was a bit of uncertainty and that usually keeps me entertained. Also, I enjoyed TP's puzzles more.

Pacing: Twilight Princess
While it does take a while to get TP started, the pacing throughout the rest of TP was much more enjoyable. Now that I think about it, when I first played the game, I don't remember thinking the beginning was long. The story was so interesting to me that I never wished it would hurry. There were moments in the beginning of SS that were slow as well, but also towards the end when you had to get the parts of the songs from the dragons. That was rough.

In my opinion, Twilight Princess is the better game. It needs a remake in HD at some point. Skyward Sword was a great game and a step in the right direction, but not as good as TP, OOT, or WW.
 
Joined
May 7, 2015
Graphics: Skyward Sword

We can go back and forth about the limitations of the hardware and whatnot, but Skyward Sword thumbed its nose at those limitations and came up with a very unique style. I love the painted effects.

Sound: Skyward Sword

Just plain higher quality recordings. This is nothing against Twilight Princess's music, which I enjoy very much. I also love the mysterious mood of SS's music.

Overworld: Skyward Sword

This one is a toughie. Twilight Princess arguably had more free exploring. I did love flying around on the loftwing, though, and the overworld itself felt like one big dungeon. I'm not saying I disliked TP...Zelda has always been very Metroidvania-like, so this type of gameplay always exists to a point.

Characters: Tie

Legend of Zelda always has awesome characters. My faves from TP were Rusl, Colin, Ilia, and Midna, while Skyward Sword had one of my all-time favorite Zeldas. (That is, the person.) Groose was hilarious. Ghirahim was also extremely creepy...but it put you in the mood for impaling him.

Story: Twilight Princess.

Twilight Princess was interesting in that the "princess" of the game was no longer an object of courtly love on a pedestal, but a platonic friend and equal. Link's motives for the call to adventure were very close-to-home. He had to save what was to him, his family, which included the other villagers and his girlfriend. It's nice that those familial relationships continue to be addressed through the game in a variety of ways. To me, it made TP Link one of the most grounded Links in a LoZ game, and an oddly believable, down-to-earth hero, much in the way WindWaker Link was.

Don't get me wrong, I loved Skyward Sword. It's like somebody stuck HTTYD and Inu Yasha in a blender. I also loved Zelda in that game, and she doesn't get enough screentime for being the title character, IMO. However, I'm a bit more into "down-to-earth" than "mythical", and SS really played up the mythical. That's not "bad", it's just my personal preference.

Combat: Skyward Sword

No contest. I think this is the best use of the Wiimote, ever, hands down. Sparring with the WiiU was one of the most fun video game experiences I've ever had.

Dungeons: Twilight Princess

I have Spinner bias. I loved that thing. :P The only thing I disliked about it was I didn't get to use it more.

Pacing: Twilight Princess

Both games kept me on the edge of my seat, making me want to continue playing on, even when it was really time to do other things. Both games also have enough diversions to take a break from adventuring. However, I liked the minigames in TP better, so it gets the vote. I really don't know if my life was bettered at all by flailing at a stick of bamboo, and the harp-strumming thing was annoying. But snowboarding was as fun as it was frustrating.
 

Jirohnagi

Braava Braava
Joined
Feb 18, 2010
Location
Soul Sanctum
Gender
Geosexual
I'd recommend you play these games to freshen up your memory. TP and SS are not so different as you make them out to be. This argument would only work if we are talking about comparison between two vastly different genres, example SS vs League of Legends or TP vs Pokemon Stadium.

TP and SS have the same audience, action adventure fans (zelda fans). TP's only "dark" aspect is the twilight portion of the game, which honestly isn't anymore depressing than the silent realms. Both stories could frighten little kids, and both stories can get chuckles from adults. The biggest difference would be in art style, TP has the teenage anime look while SS looks like a weird cartoon.


side note:

I am impressed that you picked the port from GCN to Wii as your main reason for why TP is bad, there is so much other stuff you could have picked.

oh granted there are many other reasons TP is godawful, but that damn map reversal is the worst, especially to people coming off the wii version and swapping to the GC.

Also each Zelda is completely different to the others.
 

Zorth

#Scoundrel
Joined
Apr 22, 2011
Also each Zelda is completely different to the others.

Still having trouble processing this. How?

I can definitely understand that Zelda games are not clones of each other but they are still similar, even across platforms. And that is not such a big surprise considering it is the same franchise. They all have elements of action/adventure, master sword + shield combat, exploration, progress through dungeons, the "chosen one" (guy in green tunic) going off to save the world (usually means saving Zelda).

Intended audience for the game doesn't really feel like a solid reason for claiming that two games are COMPLETELY different. It would be equally odd for me if somebody claimed that Modern Warfare 2 can't be compared to itself, because it has the option of turning off gore & language, that is obviously intended for a different audience.
 

Dio

~ It's me, Dio!~
Joined
Jul 6, 2011
Location
England
Gender
Absolute unit
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.

If people were releasing the same **** now as they were in the early and mid 2000's then of course they would be judged more harshly than games actually released in that era.

The fact is SS is very much a game that would have fit well into that era, but as a modern game it did not stand up. It didn't keep to the current industries standard of the time it was released, nor did it evolve much from past iterations of the series.

Therefore if it was judged harshly for that, then it fully deserved to be.
 

Iridescence

Emancipated Wind Fish
Joined
May 11, 2014
Location
United States
I agree with you. If Skyward Sword were released with the Wii in 2006, it would have been seen as a hallmark game.

So, in a way, Twilight Princess was a better release for its time than Skyward Sword's was for its time. But in absolute terms, to say Skyward Sword was worse than Twilight Princess?
 

Dio

~ It's me, Dio!~
Joined
Jul 6, 2011
Location
England
Gender
Absolute unit
I agree with you. If Skyward Sword were released with the Wii in 2006, it would have been seen as a hallmark game.

So, in a way, Twilight Princess was a better release for its time than Skyward Sword's was for its time. But in absolute terms, to say Skyward Sword was worse than Twilight Princess?

I still say it is worse because the overworld, the majority of the dugeons, the general story and atmosphere of TP were better.

SS really has music and a few more characters that were fleshed out, those are the only aspects where it is superior. Though considering you spend the whole of TP with Midna who is very well done the actual number doesn't make that much of a difference.

The promise SS offered of being a prequel to OOT and clearing up unanswered questions. It did it in a very vague, very poor way.
TP as a spiritual successor to OOT on the other hand did that job incredibly well.
 

Zorth

#Scoundrel
Joined
Apr 22, 2011
I still say it is worse because the overworld, the majority of the dugeons, the general story and atmosphere of TP were better.

SS really has music and a few more characters that were fleshed out, though considering you spend the whole of TP with Midna who is very well done the actual number doesn't make that much of a difference.

The promise SS offered of being a prequel to OOT and clearing up unanswered questions. It did it in a very vague, very poor way.
TP as a spiritual successor to OOT on the other hand did that job incredibly well.

+9000

All other things aside, what bugged me the most was their failure to be a prequel to OoT. Like you said, the stuff we got to know was very vague and didn't really make for awesome Zelda lore.
 

MW7

Joined
Jun 22, 2011
Location
Ohio
My mind is still the same after playing each game multiple times, Skyward Sword improves on several aspects of Twilight Princess, most noticeably the much better inter-dungeon quests. The tears of light in TP were unbearable whereas the Silent Realms were an excellent change of pace involving stealth. TP has extremely easy combat whereas the motion controls in SS gave a Zelda game a challenging learning curve for the first time since Zelda II. The content of both games was excellent - I'd say TP has better dungeons on average, SS has two dungeons that are amazing, and SS has a more interesting overworld. I still can't talk about SS without complaining about how they took the annoying rupee notifications from TP and multiplied the problem by tons of collectibles. Overall I definitely prefer SS over TP.
 

Iridescence

Emancipated Wind Fish
Joined
May 11, 2014
Location
United States
You said it perfectly, MW7. TP does have better dungeons, but almost everything in between them is forgettable. Skyward Sword may not have as good of dungeons, but it's a more well rounded game overall.
 

ThePurpleKnight

ThePurpleKnightmare
Joined
Dec 11, 2012
Location
Canada
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.
You could run in twilight princess, a lot faster than you can in skyward sword. You just hold the button down and you run.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Top Bottom