Since I was planning to unplug my Wii this weekend with every game I currently own finished (gonna buy a few more nonetheless, but keep them on-hold) I decided to play through one last game. My choice turned out to be the Gamecube version of
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, a game I have not touched ever since it came out about six years ago and I had mixed feelings about.
The control schematics is easy to understand, since it is mostly the same as in
The Wind Waker, with a few minor changes to it. A serves as the universal action button, B is for attacking, X & Y are for items, Z calls Link's sidekick Midna, R is a secondary action button and L is for targeting or placing the camera behind Link. Unlike in the other 3D installments of the series, Link uses his shield automatically when pressing L unless a different item like the slingshot is in use.
I found combat to be rather challenging, especially in the latter areas where you face off against foes that can not be taken down by one hit. It is also far more dynamic than combat in
Skyward Sword which felt a little too puzzle-esque since the sword was controlled by the Wiimote instead of a series of button combinations. Despite that, I would have wished for more mass-fights as it rarely occurs that you are facing more than five to six enemies. On the other hand, the game's main bosses seemed a bit too easy for me and I've had more trouble dealing with the mini-bosses at times although even they did not do a lot of damage. Being knocked around by an Iron Knuckle isn't "fun" when it deals a blow that results in only 1 heart of damage.
The main quest's plot is overall good, but the way the main quest is executed is not the best I've seen. During parts of the game, I felt like I was being unnecessarily sent throughout the world just for the sake of getting to the next dungeon and it seemed to me that the makers just wanted to stretch the main quest. The dungeons were well-designed, but their structure is not vastly different from that in
Skyward Sword – you still are given one single correct way to get through the dungeons. That being said, this is something the
Zelda series has – more or less – always been doing, but it never was as clear as in the last two installments.
The game had much to offer aside from the main quest, but these tasks were not exactly thought out well. Yes, you get a lot of stuff to do, but many give off a vibe of being built in just for the sake of being there. Especially the two major side tasks, the bug catching and the collecting of poe souls. Both take a lot of time, the poe soul quest more than the bugs and the rewards do not live up to the time you need to pour into it. Because they're rupees. Yes. Fucking rupees which you have an abundance of throughout the entire game – I had to ditch a lot of treasure chests because I didn't have the space for all those rupees which I never needed because items like bombs were literally everywhere and since the enemies were quite "weak" (as in "not doing a lot of damage"). At least a piece of heart should've been in it for me.
Speaking of more positive things: The soundtrack is well-made and it is far better than Skyward Sword's, even though it isn't orchestrated. The graphics are really great and it has very beautiful lighting, even though the textures could probably have been a little better (which I won't count as it is a rather old game).
All in all, it is a good game, but it's lacking on the content side. A little less would've been better.
Twilight Princess managed to positively suprise me in some ways, but disappointed me in others. Even after six years.