Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess - Part 1

I know I've talked about it before, but I really enjoy playing the Zelda games. There's something about the adventure combined with puzzle solving and its own created mythology that really attracts me. At any rate, it's a good formula for a game.

The Water Temple in Ocarina of Time never fails to baffle me. I still need to dig out a strategy guide for it. And Majora's Mask was so confusing to me that I never finished it. Something about the three-day repeat that I could never wrap my head around. For those who haven't played Majora's Mask, you repeat the same three-days, Groundhog Day-style, throughout the game.

I was excited when Twilight Princess was released, as it featured Teenage/Adult Link and a darker storyline than previous Zelda games. But it was only recently that I was able to secure a copy for myself - the Gamecube version, since I'm a purist and think Link *should* be left-handed! (They completely flipped the game's visuals for the Wii version) I'm sure the Zelda game they are developing exclusively for the Wii will feature a right-handed Link, but while I have the opportunity to play a left-handed Link, I'm going to!

So this series of posts will be my impressions on playing the game through - hopefully without having to rely on a walkthrough. I'll try to make my comments so they don't overly spoil the game if you haven't played through it yet.

Many people have compared the visuals to an upgraded version of the visuals in the N64 games, and that I will have to agree. While textures and characters are more smooth and detailed, and seem more realistic in their anime way, it's quite obvious that Ocarina of Time served as a parent to Twilight Princess, in more ways than one. It's not necessarily a bad thing.

I really like that there are generally no load times while you are inside buildings. This feature really helps with game immersion. There are some load times between maps and if you enter/exit a building, but it's not that bad.

The controls are also similar to Ocarina of Time, adapted for the Gamecube controls. I'm not sure I like the generic controller that I bought (through a deception of the retailer) so I might get a genuine Nintendo controller and see if I like that better.

The first part of the game immediately puts you into the storyline with a view of pre-hero Link, which I think seems more natural than previous games. Story-wise it seems kind of lame that Link was just sitting around waiting to get the call to become a hero, who then has to do all these little primer quests. The mini-quests that are supposed to serve as the primer for game controls are integrated in the storyline, as opposed to "do this strange side-game whose point is only to show you how to use your new item".

Maybe I've played enough Zelda games to realize what you're supposed to be doing to complete the mini-quests, but I thought some people might get a little confused in the mini-quests that happen in the village (so what if your cat ran off?!? what do I care?). If you get lost when you get there, just talk to everyone, and know that the three tasks that the villagers are talking about can be done without moving to a different map.

So far it seems the characters are less annoying than they were in Ocarina of Time. So let's hope that holds. Maybe that just comes with the general tone of the game.

It took me about an hour and twenty minutes from start to the entrance of the forest temple, which seems about right to me, considering I talked to everyone on the map several times and backtracked a map or two to make sure I was on the right path. Someone who isn't as meticulous or has played the game through before could probably get to this point in an hour. Already I've been introduced to Link, the village he comes from, had a primer on swordplay, slingshot-aiming, horseback riding, and killed some easy baddies and worked through some small puzzles.

I'm already very excited about the game and I look forward to playing through the rest!