- A slow starter, but overall a great game.Due to time issues, I no longer am able to get a game when it first comes out anymore, nor am I able to play it in one sitting for as long as I would like. Because of this, I was very late in getting the new installment in the legendary Zelda series. I was even contemplating if I would have time to go through it knowing how long Zelda games could be. I am glad I decided to get this game for the Game Cube as I am pretty impressed with the overall game.
The game starts off when link talking to someone while sitting at the bank of a river. It's a long scene and because of the lack of voice acting you have to read what is being said. This is really the only flaw to this game, but as you progress in the game, its not really that bad. After the opening scene you are finally given control of Link and you are off on your newest Zelda adventure.
I really don't feel like going through the plot of the game, but Zelda vets will know that regardless of the storyline, it's the same basic concept; find items, heart pieces and other things that will help your quest in addition exploring dungeons and defeating the dungeon boss etc. etc. An interstig twist in this game is that now you are able to now turn into a wolf, I wasn't really a big fan of this, because I felt it slowed the game down, but that is just my opinion, its not too bad when I think about it and I guess it was just something I had to get used to.
I am really impressed with the graphics on this game, even with only the standard yellow Video cable. At first the game seemed a little blurry graphics wise, and obviously not as good as my X360's graphics, but a few adjustments to my TV display and the game looks VERY good. I was thinking about getting the HD cable for my Game Cube, but for some reason Nintendo no longer sell it, and people on Ebay are taking advantage of this by gouging the price ($50+). I would like the HD cable, but no way I'm paying that much for it, so I will settle for the standard video cable for now as the graphics are still pretty good.
The sound is also good as well. Some tunes are very familiar if you are a vet of the series and others are new. One good thing about the BGM is that it seems to match the environment you are in. The music at Lake Hylia actually sounds like "lake music" and the music played in Hyrule field sounds like someone walking alone through a vast field in the middle of the day with the sun shining in the distance. This is not a big surprise because games like Zelda and Metroid have always had great musical soundtracks. The sound of the enemies is also done pretty well, with a small complaint being that the roaring and ground stomping could have a little bit more bass.
As I said in my title, the game is a VERY slow starter. So slow in fact that after I defeated the first dungeon, I didn't play the game for a few weeks because it was quite tedious to me. But I finally came back, and after I dealt with a little more tediousness, the game is finally starting open up; now I play it everyday when time allows. In fact it's the only game I play right now, other than PGR3 and NBA2K7 on the Xbox 360. Because the game is so vast with quite a few side quests, it's very easy to get overwhelmed with what you really have to do. But your guide does a pretty good job in leading to what you have to do. However you are still on your own when it comes to finding heart pieces, golden bugs and Poe spirits. The only help you get in this department is a fortune teller that you eventually meet in the game, can give you some clue on where to find a heart piece for only 10 rupees. The key to finding hidden items in Zelda is to observe EVERYTHING, pay particular attention to things that look out of place and you should do fine in this department.
This game also has some pretty fun puzzles that will tease your brain. And unlike Metroid Prime 2 which went WAY overboard with the puzzles, this game has the perfect blend of puzzles that flow along nicely with the game instead of frustrating you to no end. My favorite puzzle so far is the one you have to do in order to get the Master Sword. Sure you can look online for the solution, but its much more rewarding solving it yourself instead of taking the easy way out. I solved it on my own as well as all the other puzzles in this game, and it's a very rewarding feeling.
I've had this game for about 5 months now, and judging by my number of hearts, I am probably a little over halfway done. I quite satisfied with the game, and it's my first Zelda game since Ocarina of Time on the N64. I was planning on getting Majora's Mask, but never got around to it, and I really did not want to be disappointed comparing it to the greatness of OoT. Also, even though people were saying how good Wind Waker was, I couldn't get over the cartoony graphics, and by the time I was thinking about getting WW, Twilight Princess was about to come out anyway. While I still think Ocarina of Time is arguably the best Zelda game I've played, Twilight Princess is still a very good game, definitely worth a run through for Zelda vets and new comers alike.
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