Cfrock
Keep it strong
Yesterday there was an article on the main page which listed five things Zelda U should borrow from A Link Between Worlds. It's a decent read for those who haven't checked it out, but I want to draw attention to one specific point.
The first element discussed in the article was the length of the beginning. The article mentions Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword as having lengthy beginning sections, but what this thread is for is to discuss what exactly is the 'beginning'? When is the 'beginning' of the game over? What does the 'beginning' mean to you, exactly?
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For me, the beginning is when the game properly gets going, the point when the gentle tutorial pace ends and you can get on with things without being taught how to move or climb or breathe. The article states that, "Skyward Sword took its own sweet time before giving players free reign to enjoy its puzzle-packed dungeons", which implies that the writer's view of the beginning is everything before the first dungeon. Personally, I would say that the beginning of that game was over by the time you first touch down on the Surface. Likewise, I see the beginning of Twilight Princess as being over at about the point when Link finds himself locked in a cell and meets Midna for the first time, way before the first dungeon. In contrast, I think the beginning of Ocarina of Time is over after you have completed the first dungeon, because it's basically a glorified tutorial more than a dungeon.
So, to me, the beginning is the early part of the game when you are learning the basics, being introduced to characters, and perhaps the plot gets its initial jump-start. The appearance of dungeons isn't the mark I, personally, use to define when the game has 'begun' in earnest. But enough about what I think; what do you think?
Keep it strong, Zelda Dungeon.
The first element discussed in the article was the length of the beginning. The article mentions Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword as having lengthy beginning sections, but what this thread is for is to discuss what exactly is the 'beginning'? When is the 'beginning' of the game over? What does the 'beginning' mean to you, exactly?
---
For me, the beginning is when the game properly gets going, the point when the gentle tutorial pace ends and you can get on with things without being taught how to move or climb or breathe. The article states that, "Skyward Sword took its own sweet time before giving players free reign to enjoy its puzzle-packed dungeons", which implies that the writer's view of the beginning is everything before the first dungeon. Personally, I would say that the beginning of that game was over by the time you first touch down on the Surface. Likewise, I see the beginning of Twilight Princess as being over at about the point when Link finds himself locked in a cell and meets Midna for the first time, way before the first dungeon. In contrast, I think the beginning of Ocarina of Time is over after you have completed the first dungeon, because it's basically a glorified tutorial more than a dungeon.
So, to me, the beginning is the early part of the game when you are learning the basics, being introduced to characters, and perhaps the plot gets its initial jump-start. The appearance of dungeons isn't the mark I, personally, use to define when the game has 'begun' in earnest. But enough about what I think; what do you think?
Keep it strong, Zelda Dungeon.