18 replies to this topic

[JRPomazon]

So I normally don't do the whole HD Remake thing unless I missed the first release of the game, it becomes more convenient to play the game on a newer console or if that game has a special place in my heart. I got Twilight Princess because of reason number three and that sweet Wolf Link Amiibo. Also known as Link Loup and Link Lobo in other countries.

 

I'm 2 hours in now, the game feels weird without the motion controls from the Wii but I'm slowly getting used to it. The cutscenes look a lot better and the close up details are nicer with new textures but the character models didn't entirely get the same polish. With the Wind Waker remake, everything looked different because of how they added so much to the cel-shading base of the last game. Load times also seem a little faster? I not entirely sure, Link seems to move a little quicker but I might be imagining it. Anyone else get this game?

[Elvenlord]

I'm not getting it almost entirely because they didn't update the models. The textures are nice and the remastered soundtrack is great, but without the update in models it isn't worth a full-price game for me.

[Chukchi Husky]

I got the bundle with the Wolf Link amiibo and the soundtrack CD. The main reason why I bought it is because my Wii copy of the game disappeared (along with a bunch of other Wii games). One thing I did notice, the chains look like hexagons.

[DarkJuno]

I picked it up over the weekend, even though I liked Wind Waker HD I guess I had already replayed that game (and OoT and MM) multiple times so it didn't feel anything to me beyond a remind that, hey, I really liked this game. TP is a little different, because despite having also liked the game a lot, I never did replay it. I especially remember enjoying how some of the dungeons weren't the typical ancient temple/ruin/sacred place and were more "normal," for lack of a better term, and thinking that unlike WW, it felt like this game was reaching way beyond what the Gamecube was really capable of, while the Wii just made everything look kinda odd and janky since it was a half step ahead. The proper clean up of the textures is nice so far, and honestly, it's a small change but having the world oriented the correct way instead of the mirror image on the Wii makes it artificially feel a bit more new to me here. I'll probably end up playing it all the way, because while it is a slow start, it does feel a lot better with a controller since the waggle was added late in the game for that version.

 

The only thing I'm somewhat miffed by, as back then, is how it's five pieces of heart for a new heart container. Come on, it's four before and since this game, that's just weird.

[Hana-Nezumi]

I think TP HD looks gorgeous. I LIKE that it's just a clean and clear upres. I would have loved if that had been the case for WW HD, with which I felt like the fancy lighting effects betrayed the original's deliberately flat, vibrant, cel shaded style. Unfortunately despite loving TP's world and story, it's one of my least favorite in the Zelda series gameplay-wise, so I have to pass. :/

[Veteran]

I love TP solely for its dungeons. Each one is great and completely different and the apex of 'find an item, use that item' - so much so it might have ruined the formula for later games.

The music in the Temple of Time, then the Sky Temple, THEN Hyrule Castle fused with Ganon's theme? I could gush all day!

And the best part? This guy:



He's not a hero, but he can provide heroic prices.

[Green Goblin]

Replaying it myself. For the first time though, I'm doing it on heroic mode.  I've been told that "Dark Souls Hyrule" is Heroic Mode + Ganondorf Amiibo activated, but I'm having a tricky enough time as it is without recovery hearts around me.  I also forgot how surprisingly good the story and characters were in this game.  I remember replaying the game some time around 2010, but I stopped caring right around the arrival into the Goron village due to other games coming out.  That was a mistake. 

[JRPomazon]

 I remember replaying the game some time around 2010, but I stopped caring right around the arrival into the Goron village due to other games coming out.  That was a mistake. 

 

That is basically word for word what happened to me with my latest playthough. Pokken Tournament taking precendence at the moment.

[Arturo]

Got it. Enjoying the game, although the remake is a bit too lazy for my taste...

[SteveT]

I bought this because it was on a decent sale after E3.  I'm currently in Kakariko village and it really is striking how many flawed decisions Nintendo made with Twilight Princess.  The opening was just abysmal, with only a few fun sections before the Forest Temple.  The first temple was OK, but now I'm back on the rails and doing a twilight bug scavenger hunt.  This one doesn't hold up half as well as Wind Waker.

[Hana-Nezumi]

I bought this because it was on a decent sale after E3.  I'm currently in Kakariko village and it really is striking how many flawed decisions Nintendo made with Twilight Princess.  The opening was just abysmal, with only a few fun sections before the Forest Temple.  The first temple was OK, but now I'm back on the rails and doing a twilight bug scavenger hunt.  This one doesn't hold up half as well as Wind Waker.

I feel the same way.

But admittedly... I might end up getting TP HD just to train Wolf Link for BotW.

[SteveT]

I finished it today.  This has to be the Zelda game I am the most mixed on.  Up until you walk into the Water Temple, the game was butt.  Super linear, tons of interruptions, tears of light quests, wolf-lock.  The Lakebed Temple really kicked up the dungeon design a notch, and there was a really good streak of dungeons for the rest of the game.  Dungeons are certainly the strength of the game.  Bosses have cool designs and are fun to fight, but they are so damn easy that they were unimpressive the second time around.

 

But the real sin of this game is the exploration.  The world is so segmented that it's a chore to explore.  I still loved unlocking and exploring the caves, but too many big chests contained rupees or stamps.  If you give me an exciting-looking chest, I want an exciting prize!  Heart pieces or dungeon items only.  Even heart pieces are devalued by requiring five per heart container.  Let me see a small chest and decide for myself if it's worth my time.

 

I also relived my single greatest Zelda-related disappointment in this one.  The Owl Statues.

 

So for a Zelda veteran, you look around the world and see obvious locks.  Hookshot targets, arrow-actived switches, bombable walls.  You explore the world and take note of where you need to come back when you get the item you know you'll need.  So then Twilight Princess comes along and you see...owl statues.  Owl statues?  You don't know what to do with an owl statue.  You don't know what item will unlock them.  So after every dungeon, you go back to the owl statue and tried to to interact with it with your new item.  Finally, you find the Dominion Rod!  A new item that lets you interact with statues.  Those owls are about to get moving!

 

And then...it doesn't work in the future.  You can't go after those owl statues just yet.  But you power through, complete a boring side quest, and get your Dominion Rod back!

 

And all the owl statues are marked on your map.

 

And the reward for using them is a plot coupon to open the next dungeon.

 

And the game never makes you equip the Dominion Rod ever again.

 

It was such a let down, and 10 years was long enough for me to forget the disappointment and get let down all over again.

 

And then they made Skyward Sword, where the whole game is owl statues, doubling down on all the flaws of Twilight Princess and making the worst 3D Zelda, hopefully of all time.

Edited by SteveT, 31 July 2016 - 03:55 PM.

[JRPomazon]

I'm going to echo some of Steve's sentiments on TP. I agree that the beginning of the game is far too linear and corralled. I felt like I was on rails until I beat the lakebed temple. In my game which I'm playing on and off, I just finished the Arbiter's Grounds and holy shit this game's second half was so strong. Everything from the story to the gameplay mechanics are thrown up a couple notches, it becomes the Zelda I loved to play back ten years ago! Haven't gotten to the Temple of Time yet in my game although I have been dreading it. Oh well, at least I have the yeti house to look forward to.

[Masamune]

I haven't got around to finishing TP HD (I got derailed by Hyrule Warriors of all things), but I'm inclined to agree. The dungeon design in this game is pretty phenomenal, but sadly the overworld is very restrictive and the item usage is just so painfully limited for some of the more unique items like the spinner and dominion rod. It's a shame because some of the recycled items like the iron boots find some very creative uses to give them longevity and versatility, but they just didn't know what to do with some of the other stuff outside of the dungeons they were found in. I would still say I enjoy the game on the whole, though. It's just kind of a slog to get through some of the sidequests and boring parts.

[SteveT]

It was also really striking on the replay how many story beats came directly from LttP.

 

- Foreign wizard usurps the throne

- A darkness-themed world, which is a corrupted version of a holy realm and a distorted version of Hyrule

- Link locked in an animal form in the Dark World

- A magic mirror used to transport between worlds

- Thieves invading a sacred realm to seek power as part of the backstory

- Ganon sealed away in said sacred realm by sages as part of the backstory

- Master Sword in the Lost Woods

- Mirror as transportation between realms

- Zelda seemingly sacrificed

- Foreign wizard revealed as a puppet of Ganon

- Pig Ganon's glorious return

 

In retrospect, the way Twilight Princess mirrors LttP was probably the strongest evidence for a split timeline that we had up until its release.  It's very much a parallel version of that story.

[Egann]

I do not have TP HD (no Wii U) but I remember the game well for my Gamecube. It's interesting I have some of the opposite recollections of TP than some of you.

 

The worst offender of the early game was the multiple hour startup before you get into combat, and the sheer number of cutscenes you have to wait through. The early game also has the bug killing quests, which are tedious and forced exploration. Not really a good design decision, especially compared to the Skulltula spiders in OoT and MM. That said, the early game temples are actually pretty difficult, and after Lakebed they regress in difficulty. Still fun, but Palace of Twilight is shockingly easy, and Snowpeak Ruins isn't difficult, either. 

 

The worst offender, though, is that horseback combat feels amazing...and there are only three battles in the entire game. It makes me wish that at least one dungeon had required Epona and had another horseback battle for a boss fight.

 

In sum, TP is more flavor than substance. Which isn't surprising, but disappointing after Majora and Wind Waker were home runs for both.

[SteveT]

Sounds like our opinions are actually pretty well aligned.

 

I agree that the difficulty curve is off.  TP is a very easy easy game and the main driver of the difficulty is how long it takes before the game lets you off the rails to go looking for heart pieces.  Enemy damage seems pretty flat, although their defenses get better as the game starts throwing armored lizalfos and Darknuts at you.  Once you get two bottles and 10 hearts, there is practically zero risk of death.  So if your sole criteria for a good Zelda dungeon is combat difficulty, then yeah, I can understand feeling that the quality dropped off.  However, I think the navigation of dungeons got more and more interesting and challenging as the game progressed, combat aside.

 

I guess ever since OoT, I've viewed 3D Zelda dungeons more as escape rooms than anything else.  The 2D games have generally been a good middle ground between the two styles of dungeon.  Dark Souls is a better successor to the NES games in that respect.

 

I definitely agree that Nintendo dropped the ball on Epona.  A boss fight would be great.  Unfortunately, I ended up resenting the one major horseback battle because it was a scripted escort mission.

[Masamune]

I did the Hero Mode, which made it legitimately harder and gave more use for your money (you NEED potions!), but even then once you hit a certain threshhold of hearts, it's not that bad. 

[Sir Turtlelot]

I really need to get this game, it's probably third on my list of Wii U games to purchase next, behind Star Fox Zero and Pokken Tournament.

 

Outside of an HD coat of paint and off TV play, is there much else added into this version of the game? I'm just curious is all, I plan on buying it regardless, since it's probably my favorite Zelda game in the post-N64 era, with only really ALBW giving it a run for it's money. Also having the gamepad screen as the map screen is great for these kind of games.