General Modern Which Did You Dislike More: the Twilight Realm or the Silent Realm?

[ThatCreepyGuy]

Which is worse? The two are so similar, I thought I should post a thread about it. Oh, and I think I know what the answers are going to be. Coughcoughslientrealmcoughcough

 

[JuicieJ]

Silent Realms were worse? Strange. The Silent Realms were actually really good. They required strategy in how to go about collecting all the tears while managing time in-between each one and avoiding the Watchers. If caught, you had to find another tear before getting hit by the Guardians. The Twilight Realms were just kinda there. They weren't bad, but they were pretty monotonous. Just go and find some bugs. Nothing much to them. Seems pretty clear to me which of the two is worse.

I find that to be an odd question in of itself, though. Do you consider both to be bad? If so, why?

 

[snakeoiltanker]

ill be the first to ruin your day, i love the twilight realm, if there added a lil more flair to it it would work. the silent realm in SS was just too easy for me, played it on hero mode or what ever and it was still just too easy, so i say twilight. i also want another form of wolf link. even if not a wolf. i just like how you had to kill all three freaky lookin dudes at the same time or they wouldnt die. just an opinion, what do i know i a 30 year old man

JucieJ dang you you beat me to the post cuz i just had to run my mouth. but i agree with you dude, nither is bad just different in their approach

 

[ThatCreepyGuy]

let me rephrase the question. I thought the silent realms were freakin scary. I thought the twilight realms were kinda boring. Which one did you have the lease amount of fun playing? I personally didn't enjoy the silent realms, because they stressed me out. I found the twilight realms to be a little more tame, and even though I thought they were boring, I liked them more then the silent realm. Just thinking about the silent realm makes me want to shriek...

 

[JuicieJ]

let me rephrase the question. I thought the silent realms were freakin scary. I thought the twilight realms were kinda boring. Which one did you have the lease amount of fun playing? I personally didn't enjoy the silent realms, because they stressed me out. I found the twilight realms to be a little more tame, and even though I thought they were boring, I liked them more then the silent realm. Just thinking about the silent realm makes me want to shriek...

Ah, that makes more sense, lol. Now I can see where you're coming from.

 

[Ventus]

From a strict gameplay point of view, the Silent Realms performed better than the Twilight Realm, in my opinion. The SR trials were simply like two-seven or so minute trials, filled with a massive adrenaline rush every single time the Guardians come passing by. The TR trials, however, weren't much beyond...five-fifteen minute trials of exploring--knowing--the map and hunting little bugs.

However, if I were to count what enriches the SR vs the TR, the Twilight Realm would most definitely win. There is a bit of a story context that the Twilight Realm has; as I recall the realm is something of a prison, a different plane of existence where the baddies (the Twili) are sent to atone for their crimes. I recall Midna talking about how the world is a realm of shadows:

They were banished. They were chased across the sacred lands of Hyrule and driven into another realm by the goddess.

Some call our realm a world of shadows, but that makes it sound so unpleasant...The twilight there holds a serene beauty...You have seen it yourself as the sun sets on this world. Bathed in that light, all the people were pure and gentle...But things changed once that foul power pervaded the world...

So, with that little bit of context, the gameplay is definitely enriched somewhat, I could say the realm was almost completed because of the stoy context. While I went through the tears of light runs in TP, I kind of felt that drabness closing in on me, like a prison would. I noted the beauty of the realm that wasn't that much different from the actual Hyrule's beauty, and pushing forward felt like I was escaping a prison. The atmosphere in the TRs was notably dull, just like a prison! That also enriched the gameplay; it felt, to me with the perspective that the TR was a realm that served as a perpetual prison, that I was escaping form a prison. <3

I can't say the same about the SR trials, though. I can't remember much of the text of the game, and I don't have a text dump with me, but the story from what I recall didn't put any kind of contextual enrichment for those trials. Essentially what I felt was this for each and every one of the Silent Realm trials:
Gameplay objective: Complete the realm.
Story objective: So you got turned down by your one true love and her guard dog, now you must go and complete many trials to prove your power, wisdom and courage so that you can...finally reach Zelda.
I would go into detail on what I mean, but suffice to say that the SR only had good gameplay for me, it didn't bring any kind of heart or soul to the area; it didn't have an impetus for me to delve deep into it.

On a basic level, I repeat that the SR > TR.
On a more complex level, I repeat that the TR > SR.
^^my opinion!

 

[SpiritGerudo]

I loved the Twilight Realm. Or at the very least I didn't dread them like I did the Silent Realms. For one thing, I LOVED playing as a wolf, and boring though it may be, I just enjoyed running around and playing as a wolf. The Silent Realms, though I admit they were pretty cool, I dreaded doing and I was all happy when I beat the last one and then it was like "Nooooooo. . . ." when I found out there was a fourth one (but I didn't really hate the Skyloft one as much because I know my way around there so well). I did discover, though, you can get pretty dang far even with the Guardians following you. I found that out in the Eldin one and I ran around there for a good three minutes or so when they were chasing me and I was looking for the last tear (it was the one near the entrance to Eldin, where you have to crawl under the rock and then walk up the rope). After that they weren't as bad, since I wasn't as worried about getting caught or running out of time.

 

[nsanesk8er16]

i would have to say i like the twilight realm more but the silent realms were more challenging

 

[ZeldaTeacher]

The Silent Realms were definitely challenging. I was nervous going into the Eldin volcano one, but I actually found it to be a better experience than the Lanayru one. I didn't mind the Twilight realm, it felt like it just flowed with the game.

 

[izi]

The two are similar, as you said in the initial post, but they are almost too different to compare. The Silent Realm's goal was to come up with the best strategy to collect all of the spheres, while the Twilight Realm was more of a treasure hunt. Of course, there's also the major difference that you can't attack in the Silent Realm, so you have to run away from all the enemies, while you can defend yourself in the Twilight Realm.
The two, however, are a prime example of the major differences in LoZ games: Strategy vs. Combat. Skyward Sword was puzzle and combat heavy, being the best of both worlds. Twilight Princess, however, had a large focus on combat in many different ways. Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks included more strategy, with a limited view area and a very simple combat system. I could go on, but I feel like I've made the point there.

All in all, I enjoyed the strategic focus on the Silent Realm, while I enjoyed the exploration and treasure hunt aspect of the Twilight Realm. If I had to choose which I liked more, I would say the Twilight Realm, simply because I always felt very stressed while sprinting through the Silent Realm.

 

[DarkestLink]

Easily sailing. Silent Realms were pretty fun and I had a blast in the Twilight Realms, not to mention how much story they had. Sailing was literally doing nothing. Just putting up your sale and spending the next 10 minutes on the Zelda Dungeon forum until you arrived at your desti--oops! Gotta go!

 

[Katelynn]

The Silent realm, in my opinion had a greater amount of fear put into it than the Twilight realm. While the creatures of the Twilight were more ferocious you could actually kill them, and you didn't have a timer dictating when they would come to scare you ****less, unlike the Silent realm; when the little flower's petals at the top left of the screen wilted and fell off you were just a few seconds closer to peeing your pants and once again scrambling to find another tear of light before a Guardian found you and well.... you know the rest....

 

[Hanyou]

The Silent Realm was fun. There was real tension and well-designed gameplay, and I never really felt bored by it. It also wasn't harder than it needed to be.

The Twilight Realm is tedious and has no redeeming qualities. Not to mention that you're forced to play as a wolf, one of the worst elements of an already disappointing game.

 

[Katelynn]

I don't think Twilight Princess was as much as a disappointment as it was lazily put together and over-all eventually just ended up being anti-climactic.

 

[Azure Sage]

The Twilight Realms were much, much worse than the Silent Realms.

The Twilight Realms weren't really designed that well, in my opinion. Bug hunting was tedious, and it became more and more tedious each time you reached a new Twilight Realm. Not to mention Wolf gameplay was pretty limited and boring. I hated playing as a Wolf. The Twilight Realms are implemented poorly, and are hardly any fun at all. They're way too tedious.

The Silent Realms are actually really good. Searching for the Tears under that time limit while avoiding Guardians and Watches and Walking Water was extremely exhilarating. Unlike the Twilight Realms, the Silent Realms were designed very well, and I had fun in each one of them. They really get your heart pounding and your adrenaline running. Not only were they fun, they were also really good challenges.

In conclusion, the Silent Realms are far superior to the Twilight Realms in every way. They were put together really well, compared to the Twilight Realms which were very tedious and sloppily-designed.