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« on: April 20, 2015, 10:08:11 PM »
So after three consecutive hours of play, I've reached the end of the Forest Temple. This experience is giving me a new appreciation for the game, as well as making me appreciate other parts of the game less than ever.
While I've always defended the slower intro to this game, it's becoming very difficult to justify it now. When I last played Twilight Princess, I was fourteen years old, and now at twenty-two I feel like my time is being disrespected as the game asks me to herd goats twice, direct a falcon twice, and catch fish for a cat twice. None of these actions are relevant for the entire rest of the game after this tutorial is over, although it is cute how an NPC uses the falcon against you later after you basically teach it to him.
There would be nothing wrong with using this time to introduce us to concepts if these concepts were actually used at all for the rest of the game. It reminds me of the boss fights in Deus Ex: Human Revolution; it's completely incongruous with the rest of the game, and I wouldn't be surprised to hear that the whole beginning section was outsourced to another team entirely.
Despite the terrible start, the game picks up quickly when we reach the first temple. I truly do not remember the rest of the game's temples, but if they only get better from here on out, then this has the makings to be the Zelda game with the best dungeons by far. Twilight Princess can be most directly compared with Ocarina of Time due to a similar world and structure, and the Forest Temple is already significantly more fun than Inside the Great Deku Tree, which is kind of a straight line in comparison.
In the meantime, the Forest Temple is nonlinear. While there is a strict progression clearly planned by the developer, it's not immediately obvious which way you're supposed to go, giving the entire dungeon the feeling of a big puzzle that needs to be solved. Rooms need to be revisited a couple times with new items or perspectives, and the backtracking is quick enough and sparse enough that it never feels egregious.
I've only just begun the game, and I have a feeling that it's going to be much better than I remember.