#(no really: both Twilight Princess & Breath of the Wild were delayed to be launch titles for Wii & Switch respectively)

[sage-nebula]

How come you think twilight princess is one of the worst Zelda games? I wasn’t really in the zelda scene when it first came out but it was one of the first zelda games I played, so I’m not sure if there were issues when it actually came out or what. Granted I didn’t actually finish the game so I don’t really know how it ended but from what I played I enjoyed it, so I’m just wondering your thoughts? Also this isn’t intended to be like rude or anything so if it comes across that way I’m sorry!

You’re not rude at all, it’s a fair question!

So, honestly, my first issue with Twilight Princess is actually something that has nothing to do with the game itself, but is actually a petty grudge I’ve been holding against Nintendo for years. Twilight Princess was originally planned to be a Gamecube exclusive. They announced it years before it was remotely ready, as was Zelda tradition, and then kept announcing planned release dates before pushing it back again, and again, and again, as was again Zelda tradition. But then they did what I’m sure many people older than I was at the time could have predicted would happen: They delayed it solely so that they could port it to the Wii, and release it as a launch day title for said Wii.

Now, this on its own would have been fine, but . . . despite it being completely finished, they delayed the release of the Gamecube version by months to entice people to buy the Wii and the Wii version of the game. I was a poor kid who had to wait a couple years after the Gamecube’s launch (three, iirc) to get it as it was because we couldn’t afford to get it at launch, so the idea of being able to get the Wii on launch was extremely laughable, especially if you remember how hard it was to get it back then. This meant that I was going to have to wait even longer to play a game I’d been waiting actual years for, all because Nintendo wanted to push their new system. Thankfully it seems they learned their lesson since they released both the Switch version and the Wii U versions of Breath of the Wild on the same day (albeit I got the Switch, but still), but I still think that was a very scummy move of them and it will always taint my memory of Twilight Princess.

That said, for the game itself my gripes were:

The dungeons were just too long. It’s likely because of my ADHD, but I have a limit when it comes to the length of dungeons. Wind Waker was already pushing it, but Twilight Princess just went above and beyond with how fucking long those dungeon crawls took. I spent something like two hours in Arbiter’s Grounds alone. Two hours!! And it’s not that I didn’t know what I was doing, because I had a damn strategy guide to help me when I got stuck. That’s just how long it took to get through the damn dungeon. I don’t find super long dungeon crawls like that to be very fun. I prefer to explore the overworld instead.

While I love the aesthetic, the world was visually pretty boring. I love the aesthetic of twilight and wolves and all that, but there was way too much effort put into ~realism~ in Twilight Princess that made the overworld a bunch of varying shades of brown and brownish-green. I get that was to fit with the ~twilight~ theme, but I feel like they could have gone with that theme and aesthetic without making the overworld look so boring. I can’t remember anything really visually stunning from that game, whereas games like Wind Waker and Breath of the Wild are gorgeous to look at. (Skyward Sword is, too; its graphics were not one of its problems.)

I just could not get invested in the characters at all. Again, this is a subjective issue, but for a game that was packed with characters, I just didn’t find most of them compelling. I really wanted to like Ilia, especially since it felt like she was supposed to be like Malon would be if Malon had been more involved in Ocarina’s plot, but even though she had amnesia from her kidnapping(?) and Link was supposed to be sad about it, I just didn’t feel that. Zelda had a gorgeous design, but it was wasted because she was basically a non-entity. Zant started off interesting, but then he turned into a total joke. And Midna, well . . .

I felt betrayed she wasn’t a villain. This is 100% a Me problem and I totally own that, but when I played Twilight Princess, there was this part near the beginning where Midna calls Link “[her] lonely little hero,” and that is SUCH a villain line that I got hyped up for a plot twist wherein she was evil all along. Then she wasn’t, and she was instead just a woobie, and I just . . . lost interest completely. Any traits that I might have liked in her were already done by Tatl (snarky, takes Link’s help because she has no other options, warms up to him over the course of the game, etc), and while I love Tatl, I think she should remain her own character rather than having an expy. Also, unpopular opinion, but I like Midna’s imp form more than her princess form. She was just a disappointment to me all around.

I also found the story to be lacking. Perhaps because I couldn’t get invested in the characters, I also couldn’t give less of a hell what the plot was about. Granted it’s been years since I’ve played it, but it’s also been years since I played Wind Waker or Skyward Sword and I remember those perfectly well. But Twilight Princess? Uhhhh, Zant stole the Forged . . . Forsaken . . . Forbidden . . . Fused? F-Something Shadows from Midna and also stole her power, which is why she’s an imp. He took over the Realm of Twilight. Now he’s spreading Twilight over Hyrule because Ganon Said So. The end? It honestly felt like the story was more of an excuse to have a pretty aesthetic and turn Link into a wolf. It just didn’t do it for me.

So while there were plenty of people that really liked Twilight Princess, I was not one of them. It wasn’t the worst game I’ve ever played, or even the worst Zelda game I’ve ever played, but it’s definitely not one of the best. 

[sage-nebula]

what did you think of e3? any standouts?

The only presentation I actually watched was Nintendo's (although I heard about Bamco showing only one game and have not stopped laughing since, smh Bamco), and to be honest I was underwhelmed. Nintendo at least showed a lot of games (especially compared to Bamco, who followed them oh my god), but most of them are ones I'm just passively interested in, if not disinterested. Like for instance, I am actually interested in Metroid Dread and will probably pick that up when it comes out, but it's not one I'm super excited for. Super Monkey Ball Bananarama (is that what it's called?) looks okay, but not something I'd pick up at launch. And the Zelda segment . . . oh my god don't get me started.

First of all, while I know there are small children who might not have experienced Skyward Sword, I would say most of the audience already knows all the answers to the questions posed during the explanation of Skyward Sword, because it's a game that has been out for ten years and the story isn't changing a bit. Small children probably aren't even watching E3, so for Nintendo to act like the information about Skyward Sword was anything new was kind of embarrassing.

Aonuma once again said that Age of Calamity precedes the events of Breath of the Wild when it absolutely does not, so I guess he's just really stuck on lying when it comes to that game. Doesn't surprise me when he kept promoting A Link Between Worlds as if it was the first ever direct sequel to A Link to the Past when A Link to the Past had three sequels already (Link's Awakening, Oracle of Seasons, and Oracle of Ages), but it still makes me mad.

Despite Mario getting a massive anniversary campaign for its 35th anniversary, it was confirmed that Zelda is getting nothing beyond the same game we got for the 25th and a little Game & Watch gimmick with ports of games we can already play if we have Nintendo Switch Online (or have the updated remake). To say I'm salty about it is an understatement.

The only good thing to come from the Zelda segment was the glimpse of Breath of the Wild 2, and while it is nice to see it, it really didn't tell us anything new about the game except that we'll get to explore some sky areas (fingers crossed there's actually stuff to explore up there, unlike in Skyward Sword) and that there are some new powerups. Oh, and that Zelda is likely damseled, despite her being the first princess in the series to be the one to lock Ganon in the castle in the first game. (Because seriously guys, Zelda was not trapped in there with Ganon. He was trapped in there with her. It was kind of the whole point.) I'm also not thrilled with the implication that this story is taking steps back from Breath of the Wild . . . Zelda being damseled, Ganon having human form again, possible lengthy dungeons . . . please don't go backward, Nintendo. Go forward. The entire reason I wanted a Breath of the Wild sequel was because it broke away from a stale formula. Please let my worries be baseless here.

All in all, it was very okay, and pretty underwhelming. We didn't even get an update for Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and honestly that's perhaps what hurt the most, even more than the lack of Zelda 35th fanfare . . . it seems like ACNH really is in its final build despite missing so much content that was present in past titles and there being nothing to do anymore (at least for people like me who've completed the museum and everything), and it's just so disappointing. In fact, going back to the Zelda 35th, they couldn't even give us Zelda items like they did for Mario? They couldn't even do that bare minimum? Smh.

On the plus side, this is not the last Direct that Nintendo will ever have, and I expect another one in a few months anyway. Here's hoping that one will be more exciting, and that we'll have an ACNH 2.0 update on our way soon. Please, Nintendo. This game really needs it. Please.