Overall 9.7 Graphics 9.7 Sound 9 Addictive 8.3 Story 9.3 Depth 8.3 Difficulty 7
9
"One Hero, One New Adventure, Two separate souls" sonicthehedgeho..
*Runs across field and looks at screen* Huh Huh...Hey all you viewers out there glad you could make it to another adventure of mine, though I'm not quite sure how we always manage to meet up like this? Well I guess I shouldn't complain since it has been a while since I've seen you adventurers in fact you only saw one of my ancestors with a more...childish look but I figured I'd meet you again soon afterwards. What's that? Why am I huffing and puffing with a determined and threatening look on my face well that's because..! Oh crud that's right I have to go after those thugs that took the daughter of the village leader, the place where I live. I saw you and I completely forget I have to get going, sorry to have to rush *looks up at wall* What the heck?! When did this get here before I've never seen this before? *Gets sucked into the wall* ..... ~|Twilight Realm| ~ ugh...what's happening to me...ugh...WRRRAAAGGH!!!! *Morphs into Hedgewolf57*. "Have I changed, or am I still the same? Wait a minute I can't speak normally, something bad has gone wrong!" *Howls across the twilight*
~ Taking the realistic approach on a hero's land and looks ~
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For those fans out there that were quite angered over the cartoonish style look and feel of the game, feel relieved because this game will settle your problems having a more so realistic and more so an actual life character (like Cloud or Snake) to which I will definitely say as much as I enjoyed the previous entries new style, I'm also in love with the look of this game as it is a nice change...personally in my eyes it feels like a very well upgraded look to the N64 Zelda games which I love deeply as well. Other than that there's nothing much else to say characters wise so I'll move onto the next section which is...
~ Beautiful surrounding area's with some familiar and unseen ~
In case you're confused by the title of this section I'll explain, basically some places here are found in other games like Ocarina and Link to Past so this game having more beautiful scenery also has some recollection/remembrance because of this so older people that have enjoyed this series and newcomers are sure to love the attractions. Not only that but there are completely new area's (of course) each having a unique details to them which I'll explain a few examples here.
~ Death Mountain ~
That's right it's the once peaceful land of the Gorons again, we saw their leader before in Ocarina of Time and though they did seem rough they never were too violent, however in this game due to some unknown reason they seems to be more vulgar and as such when you walk through the rocky road (no not the ice cream) you'll see several times down the road a dark brown rolling type boulder coming your way which is in fact a goron coming after you to knock you down off your feet. If that wasn't bad enough for you, do you remember the lava from N64 days? It was more so dark red with slight shades of orange and usually it stood in place and didn't do much besides making the area lighter and darker, this game makes it not only look completely different but frightening as well but what's worse is the animation that occurs when you fall into the lava: OOT ~ MM: fades to black and respawns...on the other hand Twilight Princesses: Link is grasping his hands from outside the lava as he sinks deep down below yelling in agony :S nice looking but *shudders* hoo pretty gruesome.
~ Lost Woods ~
This one is actually a mix of two versions of forest theme levels in both the N64 releases wherein it is a place in which if you go the incorrect way you will start over however it's also has a character that you must follow in order to make it to the end safely which both tactics were used in the 2 different games on the system mentioned. The area itself has a nice foggy/misty type aura to it which literally makes you feel as if you were in a huge forest landscape, alongside the fact that almost all the monstersfound in this area are made of wood this gives a really nice feeling of being as the title states: lost in the woods.
~ Ordin Village ~
Ordin is a completely new area made from scratch for this game, and as it states it is a village type area however this one follows the definition of village FAR better than previous entries in the series (from SNES until this point) as when you think about a village area I usually picture houses made out of woods and a nice plain field type area where normal villagers live. Twilight Princess takes that definition and follows it exactly adding in few more details such as a lake for fishing and other noticeable places like farms for animals. You may say: well what's the big deal just seems like lost woods to me :S true I won't deny it but since like I've said many times before this game tries taking on a more human/realistic tone compared to it's predecessor on the Gamecube, as such picking an area like this is perfect since it is something you can see a person in the real world being born in and growing up around.
*breaths heavily* whew that was long but by the "look" of things I think we can put this section to a close, so all in all I'd say the graphics for Twilight Princess have to earn a perfect 10 out of 10 score.
~ Orchestral music that will create tears in your eyes, and memories in your heart ~
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*pushes viewers back* ok you may want to stand back for this part so that way you won't fall down too badly in shock, if you've ever wondered what it'd be like to mix music with an choir group tome and putting that together with the traditional Zelda themes then you've got yourself the sacred treasure you'll have been searching for which I'll tell you in more detail what I mean by this down below in case you need a better explanation:
~Intro~
The intro to this game is probably the best example I can give to explain the chorus type atmosphere because right from the get-go as you see our hero Link run off with his trusty stead Epona across the land of Hyrule as you have the people in the background singing/humming and it follows the background nicely as we watch the screen progress from our hero in green on the peaceful land of hyrule, into the dark reaches of the twilight as his figure chances to that of his new wolf form. It sets the tone perfectly for the player and let's them know: you're going to be on one heck of an interesting adventure!
~ Final Battle ~
I'm not going to say what happens but at this point you're going face to face with the true creator of this horrid land known as Twilight and at this time the princess of hyrule lends a hand to defeat this foul monster as well. The loud and dramatic beat alongside the chorus voices in the background during this fight really bring the battle to life and makes you know that even though you have a good chance your enemy is powerful and can't be taken lightly. It's all rewarding to hear that theme as you try and slay the dark matter once and for all!
~ Midna's Lament ~
If you're one for sad tracks in video games A la Song of Healing (Majora's Mask), and Daily Agony (Shenmue) then you're going to love this theme as it has a very saddened tone to the game and I think it's the saddest Zelda song created to this date and for good reason....c'mon really? The title says it all, lamenting is something that happened when a sad event takes place or someone dies or is on the verge of it so in essence it goes like this. When you meet with the "villain" of this game something will take place causing your partner to lose her energy therefore her life force is started to fade away, and the only one that can save her is the princess of the land. So you're listening to this heart-wrenching melody as you're running from land to hand with your almost dead partner of this game, perfect song.
Looking at everything in order I'd say the sound as always with Zelda games has to receive a 10 out of 10 for its amazing quality of music and its nice sound effects as well (which you can expect what they sound like from earlier games just upgraded).
~ Having fun between the human world, and world of darkness ~
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*Warning, hater alert incoming* |Yes I'm kind of expecting this when I'm going to say this but this game to me isn't as addictive and it's predecessor as even though the graphics are beautiful and the game is fun, it seems to me there was more so to find so sadly before I begin this section I will say this won't be as high as the previous entry, other than that actually move on.|
What makes this new addition into the franchise so great is the fact that before you were limited to how you could attack enemies and just the environment itself, as such you couldn't swing your sword while running without having to halt and you have more items to use in different situations so it's nice to try them all out and see how they work. But the main selling point of this game for me has to be the twilight sections wherein "no secrets here" you get turned into a wolf of your former human self but your mind and thoughts get to stay them same, and just like before you can still fight as a wolf (even more so when you have help from your partner Midna) but the main change is your sense of smell is greatly boosted I would say how high it has gone (but I don't want any DBZ references here).
Therefore it gives you a nice change of style and pace to the game, it also gives you a nice idea of what it's like to be inside this animals body, or how about this you remember in Majora's Mask and Ocarina of Time where you could only attack foes with your arrow while on horseback. This game will be your holy triforce as you can attack enemies while on your horse WITH your sword <3 talk about a prair being answered. You'll learn more into why this game is addictive in the next section as well but that's best saved to be described there, so though this may be short I'm not going to add pointless information just to make it longer so I'll end this off here with my score of an 7 out of 10 for addictiveness.
Bringing a new hero through light and dark to defend this world!
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Many moons have risen, just as many of the have set....before you can begin your quest which being unknown to you at the time. You're forced to go back and listen to the elderly tales of the old destruction that occurred in the well known land of Hyrule where the royal family had to defend itself from the dastardly plan of a twilight realm king known as Zant unknown and never seen in this land before and soon afterwards the land soon feel from the depth of honesty and light into the darkness and sunken lands of the twilight. Have all the inhabitants disappeared and died? Is the land truly only filled with deception and deceit anymore? That's a question that can only be answered now in the present time.
We begin our journey with a young adult whom lives a normal village life catching sheep and doing work around the village while spending time with 3 infants and 1 old teenager of the village headmaster, everything was fine with this loyal man until he was given a duty to embark on a shipment to the old town of hyrule and things were going well until many of the members of the village were taken hostage and our hero was taken to a strange world. But upon his arrival there his body begins a strange metamorphosis, passed out could the last we see of our hero...is a furry tail and heightened smells...we then meet a mysterious otherworldly being standing before us, as she giggles and laughs saying we're cute the nasty animal that we are but decided we could be useful in defeating the foul monster that has not only affect our normal world but destroyed this girls original form held together by 3 treasures.
All things considered our brave hero decided to embark with this girl named Midna as they travel across the land to meet this mysterious foe Zant, the only thing I wonder is...is this being really the cause of all this darkness and destruction? Or is there an even greater force at work lurking in the shadows from our sight? *Sniffs ground and barks* (Translated) ~ Only one way to find out and that's to continue onward and for you to begin the journey yourself! Looking between the cracks and mirrors I'd say the story likewise with all these games peaks my interest alot therefore earning the 10 out of 10 rating.
If you feel you haven't had enough info already, this game will feast your wolf's appetite
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Now if you enjoy a game with alot to find and/or do then this game will probably be the best or one of the best to fulfill that need in this entire series, (not sure between Wind Waker and this one) as when you journey through this adventure you'll travel across 11 different area's each usually containing 1 temple based on the surrounding area: exc ~ Goron = Gorons Mine which is lava based, or Zora = Lakebed Temple which is water based. So already that should prove to you that this game will definitely let you gain some hours into it. Including the other features I already mentioned in previous sections with the wolf which I don't think I need to explain again so I'll go onto other things that you can find in the game.
~ Unlockables & Secrets ~
Starting off since we know about the wolf sections of this game I'll talk about the "Hidden Talents" you'll gain throughout your adventures between the normal and twilight realm, in order to gain these skills you'll need to find a howling stone as a wolf then when you get the chance you must turn into a human and find the gold wolf that you saw before you. Although none of these are necessary to the game they would come quite in handy. You can also unlock a different tunic by spending a certain amount of ruppies at the Malo Mart (around 2000) which you can then buy from the shop, basically it will give you infinite invincibility but it will drain you of your ruppies faster than draining your human shape when turning into your wolf form.
One thing/easter egg I've always wondered are 2 separate things but leading to the same person that's the warrior that arises from the gold wolf and a Stalfos that you catch later in the Sacred Grove, what in the howl am I barking here you say? Ok basically in Ocarina of Time you learn a song named Saria's Song something she only taught to her private and best friends, and yet this Stalfos seems to know this song very well and is able to play it with just a simple horn...doesn't this seem like the same hero.
Either that or take a look at the warrior hidden within the gold wolf form, take a look at his stance and the way he fights...he's left handed an about 90% of the time The Link's have always been left-handed and if that isn't enough proof for you that this one is specifically related to OOT/MM Link then listen to what he says after learning a move "Never give up, Believe in your strengths young hero" this is EXACTLY what the Happy Mask Salesman said to you at the beginning of MM (Majora's Mask) is this all just coincidence?...I wouldn't bet my paws on it! Either way this game does have alot to offer not just with how long it'll last you but also some nice throw backs like the ones mentioned above, there are far more but a good warrior never reveals all the skills to their blade ;) so I'll leave my score here on depth with a nice 9 out of 10.
~ Bringing the true definition of war and hardships to this land ~
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*Sheathes Sword* This section is where you need to have your instincts prepared and your mind ready, as this game at times ohh I swear it's the hardest in the series to figure out, as during the 1st 1/4 of the way through the game you are either stuck as A. The Link we know and love, or B. The dark form he takes on in this land. During this point you can't switch forms by will until much later on so there can be points where you think you know where you're going but you need to be in the previous form to make it through so you'll definitely have to put alot of though process behind it. The difficulty on the puzzles and enemies are however quite fair and more so balanced where as before the enemies were kind of a few moblins short of the tentacle these ones actually seem to use more intelligence blocking when you do and attacking mostly when you're open. So don't take this game as lightly as you would normally with this series, never underestimate your opponents here...I'll give you one example which game me a hard time the first time I played and even now I forget, this isn't a spoiler as no plot details are discovered here so don't worry.
There is a certain area wherein you're forced to be a wolf once more and typically in these moments you must search for certain items in order to return to your human self once more, however you can look all over the land and go back out and search the other ways around that would seem logical but you'll have not even a Deku Scrub of luck, turns out you need to howl on a piece of grass surrounding the area closest to those item and you'll be carried away....unless you remember what you had to do around the very beginning of the game to now you'll probably be stumped her as well. I think I've digged my claws deep enough into this subject though so I'll put an end to it here with my score for difficulty at an 8 out of 10.
I've come towards the final confrontation now, time to bring this dark time of the Twilight to its conclusion! I won't allow havoc and devastation to stretch any farther than it already has on this land! *Unsheathes Sword* My eyes have come to see the pain and sorrows created by this vile creature of a man standing before me, when I couldn't see spirits as now I saw them through another being's body one that I know will vanish once I leave this convoluted land and destroy the darkness pulling the wires behind this hidden curtain. Ganon with the power of Vizzed and Hyrule you will fall!!!!
*Hedgewolf57 reflection over twilight*
~Sonic57tm (Erick Davis) 2014 ~
Graphics 10 Sound 10 Addictive 7 Story 10 Depth 9 Difficulty 8
Review Rating: 4.7/5
Submitted: 07-01-14
Updated: 07-01-14
Review Replies: 6
9.8
Into the twilight uusretrohippi
The legend of Zelda is one of the most famous and arguably greatest game series of all time, and Twilight Princess is one of my personal favourite games of all time. While initially successful, the game has afterwards received some backlash for different reasons;mainly because some people think it's this game that first started to formulate the series, but I'm trying to make an honest review of what I thought when I first played through the game. Let's begin.Graphics: Twilight Princess contains one of the best graphics that have ever been on Nintendo game in my opinion. When I first entered the Hyrule fields in the light world I could barely contain my excitement. Everything seemed so rich in detail and organic, that I just wanted to wander round and see what all there is to find. Every enemy and character seems realistic and colorful, without entering the dreaded Uncanny valley. Some people have expressed some complaint about them, especially when compared to the more cartoony graphics of the previous entry in the series: The wind waker, but I really have to disagree. I still can't think of a game that looks as visually pleasing as this one; even when compared to some Hyper-realistic shooters that would later show up on PS3 and Xbox 360.
Sound: Legend of Zelda has always been renowned of their sound and music, and Twilight Princess is no exception. Every single dungeon and house has a perfect match in it's music and overall feeling. Still I can't quite give the game full points, mainly because it has so large shoes to fill. While music is aesthetically excellent, it just isn't quite as memorable as that of Ocarina of Time's (which I think has the greatest soundtrack all time alongside Super metroid and FF7) or even Wind wakers.
Addictiveness: It's top notch. I can play this game over and over and it always feels as great. Even after completing the main story I can still collect Pieces of heart, and Poe souls, and even they don't feel like I'm just trying to get the mandatory 100 %, like is often the case. Again I can't give it a complete 10 just because there are even more addicting games such as Pokémon. This is damn near perfection, but I like to give the game a 10 if I really think there is absolutely nothing that can top it.
Story: It's rather good. There's not very much moments that really keep you awake thinking at night, but the characters are likable and interesting. While the game is rather straightforward as Zelda games often are I really was interested in how things would turn out, and the game even managed to give some surprises and plot twists. There are some legitimately interesting cut scenes and back story, but I don't think anyone truly plays this game because they want to know the story. Still I think that there's quite a beautiful balance between storytelling and game play, so that you're always interested about the place both in terms of game play and story.
Depth: In a usual Zelda manner there's quite a lot to do. Between dungeons you're playing side quests or searching town in hope of Pieces of heart, bottles, rupees, new attacks etc. One thing I have to make a slight complaint about is that, there's not as much reward in completing side quests as you would hope. There's of course pieces of heart which always bring slight pleasure upon finding, but for example there's collecting bugs which mostly just gives you more rupees. Outside the ultimate armor there's not really anything that's too expensive to buy, so you may wish for some meatier surprises. Of course there are also tutorials that teach you new moves that can be used in battles, but mostly you know that the best battle equipment comes from the dungeons. Perhaps if there were some elemental upgrades that could be incorporated in your armor and weaponry so you could gain some slight tactical advantages they'd feel actually useful but who knows. There would then probably be complaints that they don't fit in the Zelda universe, or that they're really unnecessary RPG-elements, and I could even agree depending on how they would be implemented. Anyway it's not really anything that feels like an actual flaw but just something I thought.
Difficulty: The game is really quite easy. I think I only died few times on my first play through and even then it was mostly because of some bosses, whose strategies I knew for the second battle. Some may wish that there was more challenge but I don't know. Maybe I'm just too soft core for video games but I didn't really think that the game needed to be more challenging. If I want to keep on dying I'll play Super meat boy or classic Nintendo games from NES era.
Overall: I think every gamer has that one game which defines what they want video games to be, and I think this just may be it for me. Like I said in the beginning, there are a lot of complaints that this game plays just like Ocarina of Time with revamped graphics and dungeons and on some level I may agree, but I really don't care. This game is just so much fun to play that to me it feels like the same as complaining that Jimi Hendrix's All along the watchtower is just a cover of Bob Dylans original. So yeah, I definitely recommend it to anyone.
Graphics 10 Sound 8 Addictive 9 Story 8 Depth 7 Difficulty 4
Review Rating: 4/5
Submitted: 01-09-14
Review Replies: 0
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