All right, Twilight Princess (Wii Version). Yossy is playing this today, so when she comes back she will probably be able to give you a second opinion (GCN version), which is always useful of course.
GRAPHICS:Let's start with the graphics. It was hard to find decent screens, a lot has changed from the time when they were originally taken, and I don;t want to give you guys the wrong ideas.
Also realize that these were probably taken very early in the development process. The graphics in the game YOU guys will buy won't be nearly this blocky. Quite the opposite in fact.
These are great! But not because they are pretty, it's because how they used them. Instead of giving the face like, a million polygons, and like four to the hands, they gave an even workout to the whole character. Also, every little thing reacts to the environment. If he jumps into the water, his clothes get wet, and he drips water. If it's windy, his hat blows around. If he is standing on a hill, one foot will be higher than the other, etc. However, they are limited in the way that they are only game cube level graphics. This game, as many of you know, is actually a conversion from the GCN version. This means that a lot of the textures are pretty bland and stretched out looking. However, this does not take away from the gameplay at all, you'll hardly notice if you aren't going out of your way to look for it.
Even with all that said, I still haven't covered everything about them. You'll be amazed at how pretty some of the areas in the game are, most noticeably-
Also, the water effects are amazing. Just...awesome.
SOUND:I've recorded a sample. This is the Hyrule Field Theme. (REALLY, REALLY sorry about the constant galloping noise, the music doesn't play past a certain part unless you are moving.)
http://rapidshare.com/files/7754469/zelda.mp3.htmlAs you can see, the music is still done in MIDI. That doesn't mean it's bad though, this has some of the best music I've heard from Zelda! The only problem I have with the music is the bosses. The theme starts well, but there is a VERY obvious "OK TIME TO WHALE ON THE BOSS" music that comes in once you have them tenderized and ready to well...beat on. Other than that, the music is very good, and fits very well in all of the places it gets used.
Sound Effects also fit very well, the little bit of voice acting that the game uses (grunts, squeals, laughter, and odd noises from the elder Gorons) is also very nice. The sword sounds really cool, but you can tell it's kind of faked. The wolf's sounds are awesome...except when it howls.
It hits JUST the right frequencies, so TURN YOUR SPEAKERS DOWN. Even if they are all the way down, the speakers rattle like CRAZY. I can only imagine that it would blow them out if I had them loud enough, especially if I had this thing going in surround, so uh...watch out.
GAMEPLAY:Awesome. Just awesome. Loads of puzzles, lots of action, (some of the scenes feel like your playing out something from a MOVIE, thanks largely in part to an AWESOME camera) a decent array of enemies...an ASSLOAD of weapons...
The enemies are tricky sometimes, so watch out for that, they aren't so easy as in Ocarina of Time. A couple of enemies are a sort of throwback to Link to the Past, you should get a kick out of that.
As a matter of fact, this whole GAME is a throwback. Some music makes a return, enemies like I said, and even a certain person!
I guess I should talk about the wolf. It's neat but...kinda lame after a while. The first few times it's interesting, and kinda fun, but then it gets boring...then lame...then tedious...until you just don't want to touch it anymore. The only good thing about it for me was-
Even if you just tear the main storyline apart, there is still like...HALF A GAME's worth of stuff to do. All of the side quests and special events you can take part in are really awesome. In one case, you can even unlock a CHEAT!
One thing though. The boss fights are absolutely PITIFUL. I beat almost all of them with reduced life, on my first try! It's a SHAME. There was only one boss in the game that was hard for me...
And that was only towards the very end of the battle. That aside, the rest of it is great.
SUMMARY:All in all, I think you will really enjoy this game. However, it feels kinda...rushed. Some of the plot seems to rush along a little too quickly, and some of it kinda drags...Some areas felt like there should have been a lot more, even though they were fun and really, really well thought out.
But, the game was fun all the way up to the end, despite these minor flaws. Sometimes I got worried, sometimes I laughed my ass off, but the whole thing was a welcome experience. Totally worth my money. I can only imagine that being able to use the wiimote seriously upped the gameplay experience. In short? Buy this game. You will weep tears of endless joy.
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