Why Zelda: Twilight Princess Sucks.

Wow...

Wow, I am totally suprised by this. I honostly thought it was a joke post for ahwile.

I disagree on pretty much all of your points. I love the Wiimote controls, I think the music is fantastic, and while the graphics are no 360 or PS3 level of quality I think the overall art style and feel of the world is beautiful (maybe it helps that I never owned a Gamecube and I don't know what those graphics looked like?). The only item I can't really touch on is the inovation one (same old game).

I'm one of the only people on the planet that absolutely hated Ocarina of Time (I despised the transition to 3D) and hadn't played a Zelda since then (Link to the Past is still my all time fave). Twilight Princess was the first time I have given Zelda another look after all those years and I absolutely love it.

I agree with your rating almost perfectly! While I don't own this game, I had 10 hours to demo it earlier before it released and I came back less than thrilled as well for the exact same reasons you wrote about.

Congratulations on not falling into the same "OMFGS ZELDA!!!11one!121!" mentality that the other reviewers seemed to do. You and that guy over at Gamespot gave it one of the most real and serious reviews I've seen.

One.
They rushed this game.
Why? Well probably because they needed to show what the WII had to offer. So, basically, they used only 50% of what the WII could really offer (WII has ATI card). thats the answer for you grahpics madness. And, well, i personally like this review cause you were very serious.

um....ok dont you think you're being a little harsh. I find the wii remote to be a blast! Its a whole new way to experience the game instead of just sitting on your butt through out the game. The story thus far is compelling and I LOVE the art style. Theres plenty of originality in this game (ok maybe not the music and the "go save the princess thing"), but thats why I enjoy it so much. Nintendo has pushed themselves to change the zelda series with the controls and what not, while you still feel the familiarity of previous zelda games that we've all come to love. So I think Nintendo did a wonderful job! 10/10

@Michelle:

While you are certainly entitled to your opinion (And I am actually very glad that you are enjoying the game) I don't think I am being too harsh. This is a company that expects us to purchase their (expensive) product on a promise that it will be good. There are certain expectations that they have built on. One of them was the inclusion of the Wii controls. They were *supposed* to be innovative and fresh. What they turned out to be was tacked on at the last minute. Twilight Princess was never planned out from the beginning as a Wii title. Only after it got pushed back and delayed over and over again did they decide to rework it with Wii controls, and it shows.

As for the art style though, what do you like about it? Personally I think that the Twilight Realm is the only redeeming part of it. Can you honestly tell me that you can look at a screenshot of, say, a house, and not knowing it was from Zelda Twilight Princess identify it as such? That for me is the sign of a real solid art style. I can look at any object in Wind Waker and go "That's from Wind Waker". I doubt I could do that for TP.

I believe they could have kept the "familiarity" of the previous Zelda games and created a whole new storyline, or even a direct sequel. Look at Majora's Mask (easily the most underrated Zelda game). I am just tired of the same "legend retold" poop we get shoveled at us every couple of years. Give me surprises. I like surprises.

This must be a joke. The only part of the game that was even slightly hard to get used to was maybe the tutorial-based beginning of the entire game. But, maybe that was what it was put there for, hmm? Once I got into the first dungeon the controls were a breeze! What you need to do is stand up and get into it, it's called interactivity, that is what the Wii is about! If you are planning to be playing Zelda while typing on an instant messenger and eating, then forget about it! Go buy a PS3 and waste that well-earned money. You should be ashamed as a nintendo fan, it's a new view on video games it won't come to you all at once, perfectly. The Wii-mote is a phenomenal invention, although I would have to agree with you about the poor quality of the sound, I do not think that it is over used. They put it there to use it, not just for looks. Also the moving of the fairy is not bad at all, if find it enjoyable even. The sound, sure it's classic and getting some orchestrated music should have been on the list for such a "next-generation" game, it does not ruin the experience in the least. And when it comes to graphics, it can also come down to graphic creativity, who doesn't like the twilight zone? Honestly! It is so cool, it is the largest change in "worlds" that a Zelda game has ever had, you don't just get older, and change events, you change , like, a Dimension(?)! I think the graphics, although not amazingly impressive, above all, were artistic.

Also, come on, Wind Waker? It was in no way near on par with Ocarina of Time. And I feel that this replicates the feel of Ocarina of Time greatly!

Welcome to being the one out of a dozen people on the planet who don't like Zelda on the Wii.

Lets see... your Avatar is an extreme likeness to Link, you've got pictures of people enjoying the hell out of Wii on your blog, you list your favorite game series as Zelda, except this one sucks and the controller is gimmicky? I call BS, you apparently need more traffic to your site, and I'm sure this little inflammatory piece of journalism will do it.

I got news for you, Sunshine. You say now that you've gone through 15 hours of gameplay... guess what? If you were playing say, Gears of War for the Xbox 360, you'd be able to beat it, twice.

What do you think happens when you play Zelda long enough? It gets better, and better. Imagine that - a game that actually increases in quality over time instead of making you wish it would just end already. You think Wind Waker or Ocarnia of time was amazing when you first started out? You could barely wipe your own ass, let alone kill Ganon 5 or so hours in to it.

Twilight Princess almost has twice as much gameplay time as any other Zelda, it's only natural that the introduction WILL BE LONGER AND MORE DRAWN OUT.

In 15 hours you have barely learned any of the sword moves, unable to transform to & from wolf form whenever you want, and haven't even begun to find any of the really great items that are in the game.

Come back to this review after you're at least past Arbitors Grounds. Do the people who read this site a favor and actually get a taste of what this game is all about instead of just spending the equivalent of 5 minutes in Twilight Princess then posting an essay about how horrible it is.

I dare you to write this same review after 30 hours in to the game.

@sinner

Well, considering I want to like the game, I hope you are right. But just because a game is longer doesn't mean it's better than any shorter game. Gears of War might very well have been then best 7 hours of my life, who knows.

Dude, seriously....you obviously SUCK at playing Zelda if you haven't gotten used to the controls. Like said before, the controls were a breeze to get used to. And the game starts off slam awesome, and also keeps getting better and better as you go. Who gives a crap about graphics? And WindWaker? psshhhh, that game was a damn cartoon, thats how you could tell "oh, thats from WW". You should play the entire game and quit sucking at Zelda so much. Stop crying about it, it's an awesome game. You're an idiot.

Its not a true next gen experience tho, they couldve just made a gamecube attachment thing. for 250 bucks they couldve made it alot better. And it was delayed so much, how long have they been working on this game.

Zelda is not definitely the "first" game one should play when they get their wii, as the controls will frustrate them people. I brought my Wii in school to have grades 8-12 (one per grade) to try my wii using wiisports, rayman and zelda...

Zelda was indeed the hardest game to get used to, however a surprise was it only takes 15-30 mins for them to really get the hang of it.. REALLY. Not a frustration with the slashing, or the projectile attacks.. owwie?

Not to be boastful, but it seems as if you don't play videogames.. this is one of the games where as even flailing arms would get you somewhere in the game, I haven't died once -- just lost a lot of hearts.. I love the emersion of the controls..

anyway ill shut up.. go suck a lemon now :) frodo-

I guess you can call me old fashioned, but when I pay money I want something for it. And to many people $250 is a good chunk of cash for an entry level console.

I see you point that people are spending money on the Wii (many for Zelda) and they are getting a Gamecube title with an additiopnal controller.

Kinda gimmiky IMO.

Ouch. I'm afraid I'd have to disagree with you there on most of your points. Firstly - I was quite worried in the first 30 minutes to be honest, since I simply wasn't "getting" "it". As soon as you were in the green for the first time, this game got good. Perhaps you can call be inexperienced at Zelda - having only played OOT, Majora's Mask and Wind Waker, but Twilght Princess just.. clicks. Wind Waker didn't do that for me, nor did Majora's Mask. One thing that is strange to find is a Zelda games player who actually doesn't much care for the dungeons, I am one of them. Twilight Princess is the first Zelda game where I truly enjoy the dungeons/temples. The Wiimote + Nunchuk combo works excellently and the music on Hyrule Field is one of the best Zelda musics I've ever heard. I wouldn't want a new score - I like how they've remixed the older tunes it gives a feeling of familiarity. The only things that are wrong with this game are some of the graphics in the Twilight Realm and the slow start. This game makes you care - when I first saw Hyrule Field I wanted to get rid of that ugly black curtain over it, if only to be able to ride Epona right across it. Just so you know, I've played this probably under 7 hours. If it indeed gets better as it goes on, by god I cannot wait.

Honestly, you're an idiot. Every single one of your points is ignorant. Not only that, TP isn't even close to the same as OoT. Man, I'm at school so I can't really say waht I want to say, but this is the most ignorant, close minded review I have ever read. Not because I love this game. If you actually had a good argument to back up you claims, I wouldn't mind but you don't.

Either way, I'll sit back and enjoy the 2006 Game of the Year. Sorry you missed out dumbass.

lol internet

Let me put it this way.

Final Fantasy XII. I got that game. I also went out and got Twilight Princess. Guess which one dominated my time, that I couldn't drop, and that I found to be the most beautiful and engaging game I ever played? I'll give you a hint, it wasn't released for a Sony System.

Twilight Princess is by far the most beautiful game I ever played. The landscape speaks scores. Traveling you can see the remnants of the sites from previous games, and you feel as if you're walking through a land of legend and ancient history.

I'll agree the intro had me ready to weep, but it was definitely not out of despair. The crescendo of the music, the peaceful scenes cut through by a haunting wolf's howl. This game was a masterpiece that was a welcome turn for the series from the mistake that was windwaker. The game definately had its humorous parts, as is keeping with the Zelda series (From the tingle-look-alike running the tent that you could frustrate, to the frustrated mailman, to the sumo wrestling, to Malo drafting Goron elders for Malomart. Nice social commentary there that was funny as well.) But, like all Zelda games, the comedy serves to punctuate the overall dramatic air of the game through contrast.

SPOILER:
And I loved the fact that Gannon truly wasn't an issue for the majority of the game except a little at the end, and most of the game's threat coming from Zant. (My only complaint being how he went a little 'squawky' near the end, until then he was succeeding in being more menacing than Gannon had ever dreamed of. But, still, there was something more real about him than Gannon.)

After windwaker, the different tone was nice for Zelda. I had grown up with Zelda, and it felt like it stopped that when it went with windwaker. Though it got back to where it should be with Twilight Princess. I'm not talking the darkness alone either. (Although the moral ambiguity of Medina did a lot for me.) No, what this game pulled off by leaps and bounds more than nearly any other game I've seen is subtlety.

I'll give examples. Most games, if you want to really enjoy the intro music, you turn it up loud and and rock to it. Although you can pump up TP's intro music and it sounds good, it comes as its most powerful if you play it quietly. It will send shivers down your spine (good shivers).

Also, the game keeps one of the high qualities of the Zelda games: You're never really doing the same thing twice. Every room is a new challenge, and every encounter tests you in a different way. And the controls just allowed for a level of depth of control that I have never seen in a video game before.

Yes, there are points that can be complained about, you can find something to complain about anywhere if you look hard enough, but it's extremely difficult with this game. Twilight Princess is an artistic masterpiece.

Yea, I have the occasional complaint about Twilight Princess (like I didn't quite care for the angled design of twilight) but I can also complain about the symphonies of Beethoven and point out some flaws in Romeo and Juliet.

Just like every great art piece, it's made by people, and you can feel the care that was put into this game the whole way.

The only game that has ever moved me as much as Twilight Princess did is Final Fantasy VII (albeit, in very different ways). This game is definitely worth your time.

@starfyre
Wow. No. You really just can't look past the nostalgia, can you? Let's address your points one at a time.

1. the landscape speaks scores. Remnants of sites from previous games? You mean a retelling of sites from the other games, don't you? Since this is not a direct sequel and is not really in the same timeline as any other Zelda game (because pretty much each Zelda game is a re-imagining of the series) there couldn't be remnants from other games. The landscape suffers from a lack of atmosphere. There is detail, sure, but it's just all so flat. As I walk through it all I get is bored. I don't get a sense of ancient history. That's you and your imagination right there.

2. The intro made you weep with joy? What part about it was amazing to you? The cheesy wolf howl? Because we all know how those t-shirts with the wolves howling at the moon are so cool. The intro is a display of the game's poor graphics, that's it. Even ocarina of time did a better job showing atmosphere. I'd much rather have the intro from Wind Waker, with a beautiful woodcut story scroll than some stupid wolf walking on a polygonal field of grass.

3. Windwaker was a mistake? You are obviously very young and naive if you think that. I agree that TP has some great humorous moments, but I would hardly call it a masterpiece. I don't really appreciate the recurring characters as much as you do, apparently. I would rather have an all new storyline than a rehash of the same Goron theme, or the same mailman, etc. Drafting Goron elders was social commentary? Where did you get that? That's about as deep as an episode of Full House where they talk about the dangers of gangs.

4. what you call subtlety I call laziness. There is a lack of atmosphere. You want subtlety? Go look at Shadow of the Colossus. TP had a long time to refine its look and feel, but fell way short. This is a game that should have been released two years ago (when it was supposed to be released). The intro music is not memorable to me, nor does it give me shivers. And never doing the same thing twice? What the crap are you even talking about. The same puzzles occur over and over in the game. Sure they are fun, but they are in no way unique to the series. If I see a cracked wall, I know I can bomb it. If I see an unlit lantern, I know I can light it. That's not innovation.

5. TP is in no way a masterpiece. Like I said, it is a game that should have been released a couple years ago. Luckily Nintendo seems to be working on the *real* Wii Zelda. If this game had come out on time for the gamecube I probably would have liked it a lot more. These days, however, there are deeper and more interesting games that demand my time. The story is hideously weak, the graphics are dated, the music and sound effects are annoying and it all suffers from being in the oven too long.

I am glad that you enjoyed the game, but I think you should probably look a bit more critically at the title before you bandy about terms like "masterpiece" and compare it to Beethoven or Shakespeare.

Wow, okay then. Well you know what they say, "take it with a grain of salt", far as I'm concerned I'm taking your word with hardly even a molecule of salt. Critical whiner.

I just have to say I haven't played TP yet. But after reading this I can't wait. And I really liked some of the stuff that Starfyre said. I imagine I would feel exactly the same way; very nostalgic. Of everything said here, the good seems to outweigh the bad. And as Mrs. Frodo here, I have to say quit your B****in' woman!!

okay frodo this is my veiw. you have some good points about repitition but you have to think about it from two diffrent veiws. 1st lets take the die hard zelda fans. okay these people(me) enjoy this game because its putting the game they love into a diffrent light using new puzzels or evan old ones with a twist, familure characters and items etc i think you get the point. these people love this story and the music and they dont want it to change to much because they are looking forward to what they love about the game already with some tweaks such as graphics and such. what it seems like to me is either you dont really like zelda that much in the first place or your tired of it because it just seems like your asking for a brand new game to me. it just seems like you want them to do what they did with ff. all ff did is make a completely new game and use the same name that way its self advertised thats it think about it. there are very few simmilarities between ff1 and ff 12 not that im complaining ff3 and 7 are probably my all time favorite games along with zelda but when i play a new ff game i dont feel that sense of a game that ive come to love over years it just seems like a brand new game hopefully that makes sense to you.
the next veiw is the new gammer. these ppl have never played zelda and are in for a new treat with puzzels they havent seen a new character to get familure with etc i hope i sort of got my point across to you which is mainly you either never really liked zelda a whole lot any ways or your tired of it thats just how you come across to me

Finally a review that makes sense to me. This game looks shity as a lame 3rd grade ps2 RPG. This game is so stale as a 3D pacman running DirecX 10 in trilinear filtering.

Windwaker was a work of art, this is N64 recycled turdite cattering to a selection of Wii hype whores.

Face it nintendo belivers your god has deserted you, nintendo gave up on you and build a console not for you, but for your mommy and her friends instead. I hear you dear nintendo got you a totally stupid $13 CPU clocked ABOVE 700 Mhz? Oh my my that is a mighty powerfull processor for your mommy and granny to play "super mario Zzz Zzz"...

@yourself88

Dude. I have a triforce tattoo. I am a HUGE Zelda fan. I don't want them to do what they did to Final Fantasy, I just want to play a new zelda game. I do understand how people are comforted by familiar gameplay and music and the like, but it's just laziness on Nintendo's part. How long are we going to be playing the same game over and over again, repackaged and remastered so that Nintendo can keep ringing the cash register? I want innovation, I want new experiences.

Yeah. I think I am just tired of it. Tired of the series. They either need to do something amazingly different next, or just stop making them completely. They will run it straight into the ground.

Mainly I am afraid that I will have to get this tattoo lasered off.

One more thing:

I DID play the game, on a GC...

gameplay:
enter room, kill gigantic spider, collect heart, use boomerang to hit switch above door... ... ... ???
Is this what one might call super stale or others "classic"?

graphics:
the intro sequence, last time I've seen graphics so miserable was on a N64 emulator running OoT. When I saw those pathetic cliffs and mountains I went "Nooo..." and looked down towards the gamecube as if perhaps something was wrong with the console. Why would somebody ride a hurse on the edge of a cliff? Besides shoddy graphics where the character eyes look like stickers on a doll, the limited playing areas, being always in some corridor or tunnel really enforces the feeling your are on a cheap TV set.

sound:
fugedabaudit... oh, yeah... the sound is "classic".

TP is hot right now, cause nintendo whores are all over each other, but frankly I cannot see how an outsider could be drawn to this game in 2007. TP is nothing more than repackaged nostalgia sold to people who have fond memories of their childhood with the big N in their livingroom.

how much better would this game be if link was black

I really do not see your problem... I finished the game and believe me, after the 3rd dungeon the game offers a lot of cool new things. Great and inovative itemns (don't want to spoil here but "spinner" anyone???), fabulously inovative dungeons that aren't really dungeons at all and, ofcourse, the sheer amount of things to do in the huge world. I really like this Zelda and maybe you just expected it to be to be much more then just a great Zelda game, what it truly is.

I generally agree with this review, particularly that the game was rushed and does not live up to the standards of perfection one expects from a Zelda game. Specifically, there is a huge frustration factor in some of the gameplay, and there are gameplay elements that would have been left out or changed if it had been given a test / fix cycle normally reserved for Nintendo's A++ title.

Feel free to call me lame, but I've played every other 2D and 3D Zelda game and loved them without running into the kind of problems illustrated in the following two examples:

1) Bobber-fishing doesn't work. It took me two hours of trial-and-error to get through this portion (i.e. hook two fish) in what is supposed to be an easy part of the game. I'm a huge Zelda fan, but I almost gave up on the game when I encountered this. If they can't get this right, then what worse problems am I going to find after I've invested 40 hours in playing? Not only frustrating, but extremely boring.

2) Escort mission, a long carpal-tunnel-inducing ordeal where you have to pay attention to several enemies at once and manage resources etc. The problem is that you will probably have to do it over again several times, and when you do you have to sit through 15 minutes of cutscenes before you get to try it again. So again, this is a fairly meaningless part of moving the story along, and it's the better part of 30-45 minutes to get throuh each try, and it's just tedious as hell. So if you have a job or school and only have an hour or so to play every day, you're just basically stuck. I start to think maybe this isn't the best way to spend my free time.

I have seen other complaints about both of these problems on the intertubes, so i doubt it's just me. These are levels of frustration, boredom, and forced-cutscene-viewing that I haven't encountered in any of the other Zelda games.

I completely agree with this review as well. These reviews that say this game is near perfect are a hoax.
Seriously, I dont ever remember any previous Zelda games being this lacking in controls, graphics, storyline and expecially the way it all unfolds. Its the same old formula from 20 years ago that has a new coat of paint.
It feels extremely rushed and usually boring. Everything in this game feels gimmicky with a feeling of antiquity.
Dont get me wrong....I am a big supporter of Nintendo but this just feels CHEAP.

What the hell are you thinking? This game is amazing. Like yourself88 said, I don't think you can actually be a Zelda fan if you didn't enjoy this. The atmosphere, music, graphics are so much better than the previous games e.g. Ocarina of Time. The environment's amazing and I can't see how you can be bored with so much to do (Mini-games, fishing, bugs, poe souls, heart containers). This game is what a Zelda game should be. And no, the music is not exactly the same, although the lost woods, goron and
zora tunes are there which adds nostalgia. The music is way more atmospheric, have you heard the hyrule field music? (PS-for the doofus who can't fish, all you have to do is move the Wii remote upwards when the bobble goes down)

Hmm. While you make a good point and use a lot of Evidence, I have to say I disagree. I think it is your comparison to Final Fantasy. Because quite frankly, Twilight Princess has some of the best graphics I've seen. (Perhaps because I've never owned a playstation let alone any games for it.) But I do have to say, some new music would have been nice. In the slightest, their hair does move a bit. But I can't say anything about the Wii, because that system its self looks stupid and I have no interest in getting it. I have Twilight Princess for Game Cube myself, and the controls are very easy. But yeah, good evidence, and I'm glad you're starting to enjoy the game some more.

Bobber fishing isn't hard. When you see the bobber move up and down, yank the wiimote up. The end.

Sword controls are silly, but everything else is easy to control after a very short learning curve. I don't know what to add about the graphics, I hope you're joking when you say they're N64 quality. When was the last time you played Ocarina of Time? Play it again and compare its graphics to TP, there's a big difference. TP uses realistic motion capture and the character models are more detailed. It's on par with Resident Evil 4 for the most part.

I am sort of disappointed with the game as well, it's too short and seems empty, i.e. not enough NPCs or side quests. It's a bit more challenging than Wind Waker and certainly a better game overall, but not enough. Hunting poes is boring and you can't turn day to night, you just have to sit there and wait until poes appear...

okay i thought that this review made little sense becuase all he does is bash the facts that its a repeat.

this is the first zelda ive ever played .have you considered the people who never played a zelda game before ? and twilight is a beautiful game so if you dont see that then your not the person that can say graphics dont matter . yeah gears of war is a damn great game (played it ) even though its short the storyline is pretty caveman and never interesting though the gamplay is alright. yeah zelda is something most people experinced before but the story always changes into something deep and beautiful and you cant wait to see what happens next . beat the game and post again and if you still hate it trade in your wii becuase you are not ready to experience gamplay but keep playing 360 i here the graphics are awsome.

Yes, the game was clearly rushed. This was evident especially near the end: The twilight and castle parts were boring, short, and ugly.

Defeating Ganon was irritating.

No console action RPG has yet bested Alundra, and that was for PS One! Not to mention real PC rpgs, which were better than this a decade ago.

dude, wow. This is really funny reading this. I liked TP A LOT better then WW. Sure, WW was a pretty fun game, but I beat that game extremely fast. With TP it took a little time. Idk more gameplay for me! lol once again this is my, repeat MY own opinion

dude if u dont like it dont play it

Hey. To all you 13 year old morons who are telling me to just not play it if I don't like it: I am a game reviewer. I get games from companies for free in order to play them and tell others my opinion of said games. You are missing the point. I am a critic. I am critiquing.