Topic: Radio Free Nintendo: Episode 182

[Jonnyboy117]

Twilight Princess gets some undue flack for its graphics. I agree that they are certainly less vibrant and memorable than those in Wind Waker. However, TP wasn't going for true realism; it was more an evolution of the style in Ocarina of Time, which was actually stylized in its own way. The character designs in particular are clearly not attempting to be lifelike. Also, don't forget that Twilight Princess uses its own version of cel-shading for Midna and everything else related to the twilight. While the overall effect may not be as striking, I think the game deserves some credit for successfully combining two disparate art styles in a believable way. In fact, one of my criticisms is that you see very little of the twilight during the long middle portion of the game.

[Halbred]

My problem with Twilight Princess' art style isn't so much that it tries to be realistic and fails. It's clearly a further evolution of Ocarina's aesthetic. However, I get the feeling that there was no clear art design concept from the get-go. The art direction is all over the map as a result.

And I agree--I would have liked to have seen much more Twili characters and Twilight environments. They had a very alien look to them.

[ShyGuy]

Why would you use a Japanese Wii for that? The story is much easier to follow if you use a European Wii. Here's a better use for that Japanese Wii.

DANG IT EUROPE STOLED IT FROM ME

[Sundoulos]

I actually love the art sytle of Twilight Princess, though I agree that time will probably be much kinder to the Wind Waker art style.

I guess I haven't read enough forums to know.   I didn't realize that there was much criticism of Twilight Princess' art style.   Perhaps if the game didn't have so many "me, too" moments borrowed from previous games, that particular sin would have been overlooked. 

The Twilight Princess hype train also lasted way too long.  Looking back at that history, I think it makes sense that Nintendo has been playing so many things close to the vest during the last year or two, at least in regard to some of it's titles.  Say what you will about Spirit Tracks, the late Zelda as the Phantomreveal sold me (or suckered me, depending upon your POV) into buyingthe game.  I wasn't even considering it because I had lukewarmfeelings towards Phantom Hourglass.

Part of me hopes that the Zelda we see revealed at E3 will kind of be another completely unexpected turn of events on par with the Wind Waker reveal, though I don't know that we'll ever get that kind of shock again.

[noname2200]

Regarding the GotD feature, I think whoever pitched Pikmin had the most creative pitch. I don't necessarily agree with the selection, but he did a great job in presenting his reasoning.

[Jonnyboy117]

Game of the Decade... I don't do this often, but I feel like teasing a little bit for the next episode, which we just finished recording. We started at 7:00 Mountain and finished at 10:45 or so. There's roughly half an hour of New Business, and the rest of the episode is pure GotD madness. I personally found the whole discussion to be impassioned and exhilarating. It was probably the most fun I've ever had recording the show. If you like our special retrospectives on Ocarina of Time and Super Metroid, think of the GotD episode as a super-sized buffet version of that, in which we talk about a dozen or so of our favorite games ever. We managed to keep it pretty positive overall, while successfully cutting the list down to a manageable final set. You may not entirely agree with the list we came up with, but I think we made an earnest effort to go through the selection process in a fair, methodical way and gave due consideration to a very diverse field. Finally, I would highly encourage RFN listeners to make it through the entire episode before voting in the poll.

I'm really quite giddy with this whole thing and can't wait to hear the polished version. After we finished, I told the guys that I felt like I had just run a marathon -- exhausted, nearly ill, but strangely ecstatic.

[Killer_Man_Jaro]

Very nice. I'm looking forward to the discussion. Hopefully, you'll be able to keep most of it during the editing process - even if it exceeds 3 hours, I would love to hear it all, as this is a pretty momentous occasion.

As an aside, a talk about the Games of the '00s would, in my view, not be complete without Super Mario Galaxy. I'll have to wait and see if that is mentioned on this episode, but I really do believe the game is a contender for sure.

[Jonnyboy117]

KMJ, I think you'll enjoy the moment when Jon argues that Galaxy (a game he barely played) may be more deserving than RE4 (which he has beaten at least twice, across multiple platforms). I'm not giving any hints as to the final list, though!

[NWR_Lindy]

Yeah, the episode we just recorded was pretty epic.  Very, VERY grueling selections, and since all of the games are top-notch, we're really getting down into the smallest of comparisons.

[D_Average]

man....I wanna hear this new show NOW!!!