There's been some recent jokes regarding Elden Ring about how it's the "best unfinished finished game" around, obviously in reference to how despite its state of having enough content and variety available to do whatever you want and be satisfied, you can notice corner cuts that're as obvious as a neon sign, or as subtle as a light breeze slowly adjusting the angle of a hanged portrait outside. I've yet to touch ER myself, I want to play OG Demon Souls or Dark Souls 1 first, so my hat toss for that title is Wind Waker.
This isn't in reference to Jabun's predicament or the Triforce Quest part, the former's does feel deliberate as a thematic and narrative device to showcase Ganondorf's limitless power and control, and the latter's from people clearly just doing it all in one go instead of simply cutting it up piece by piece as you go along, like you're supposed to do. No I'm talking about some of the other stuff available.
Isn't it weird how island variety pretty much drops once you reach that second half? The way exploration unfolds makes sense, but you can notice quickly that the devs intended there to be more out-there island designs like the GC Island or Stovepipe Island, which probably was transformed and made it onto the final release as examples thanks to Hyrule Historia detailing them. Instead you have numerous Eye Reefs, Enemy Ship locations that despite trying (and sometimes succeeding) in repurposing them into something more appealing the reused area design becomes more obvious, hell even the Earth & Wind Temple seemed to have been truncated than it should've due to quickly utilizing the three remaining islands you've yet to complete, and the case of padding feeling more prevalent in those two than before.
On the note of dungeons, you ever feel like there should've been more to them? I mean I never minded the dungeons in this game, linearity be damned - this has a better package of dungeons compared to Minish Cap, Twilight Princess, and Skyward Sword, bite me - but even I'm hardpressed to say the two I mentioned before, as well as Ganon's Tower, eek out some lingering design philosophies and extensions that couldn't quite make the cut. Feels weird to have the three grandest and location-specific areas be used for bite-sized puzzles and a boss rush at the end, despite understandable application to begin with. The Ghost Ship feels like it should've been a proper, full on dungeon with how you're supposed to find it and nab the Triforce Chart (or Shard, depending on the version), but it's over about as quickly as you begin it. It's the opposite of how Majora's Mask from before handled it, having a small pool, but maximizing dungeon and puzzle elements to weave the... story... they're telling....
As I grow older and notice more flaws and cracks among my favorite games, it also funnily enough heightens the appreciation I garnered for them, and notice new things that tie into it. Dragon Roost and Forbidden Woods uses Medli and Makar starting out in order to deliver the aspect of a change of wind and generation due to one starting out determined to find and fix the cause of their habitat's change in tone and climate, and the other being a typical child klutz, doing what was ordered against and getting themselves into a bad spot cause of it. Tower Of Gods usually gets marked as where the linearity is at its most obvious, but it's kind of the point there due to the climb from the bottom to the top as you prove your worth and heroism to the Gods. I wouldn't be surprised if this same principle was the influence needed to design TP's Temple of Time dungeon as it was to begin with. Even disregarding that, the area doesn't quite have the major intent to harm you; it's a test of resolve, with its decor and ethereal atmosphere, Gohdan giving you ammo when necessary and its theme constructed with organic keys, lite drum loops, and noted bass.
Windfall Island is the closest this iteration of Zelda has to a hub, due to it being the most frequent stop on the journey, as well as being the biggest showcase of the change from the world's influence and the nature of the people. You see and can participate in events with the townspeople that, in one way or another, sort of changes how they feel about something. Giving a guy who loves the moon a colored Pictograph of its full phase, planting the various flower pots around and expanding the lot thanks to the trade quest, fixing the lighthouse thanks to the fire arrow. There's other examples of this to find and do, such as using a fairy on Link's Grandmother back in Outset Island or the numerous small activities you can do such as on Dragon Roost or Bomb Island, but little that carries this much extent.
Why did Link set out to begin with? To rescue his sister Aryll, who got kidnapped on her birthday after the two noticed and went after Tetra, which in turn served his desire to explore the Great Sea. Why did Link continue after the rescue of Aryll and even other children from Forsaken Fortress? Ganondorf kicked his shit in due to the Master Sword suffering its loss of power, and it also revealed Tetra's status as the descendant of Zelda (which admittedly in hindsight was obvious due to how the Charm worked), and is now in serious danger, pushing him even further onto the world to try and finish up. Why does Link, even after all this, continue to explore when he could hang back at Outset Island? For the adventure.
People will recommend the Wii U version, but I'm gonna be one of those people that says to stick with the original in conjunction with the Better Wind Waker hack made a few years before. While you can use Cemu's graphic pack menu to change the contrast and overall look to match as closely to the Gamecube's as possible, there's still the changes made to the treasure chart which people don't really go over cause "oooo it makes the Triforce Hunt easier". Even disregarding my eyeroll for this, quite frankly the overhaul creates new baffling scenarios than it does lighten the load. 4 of the 5 new regular charts are just Rupees, in a game where it was easy to accumulate them as well as not being as necessary to hoard due to these changes marking the deciphering cost down. Also, making the Hero's Charm, a niche item that you could theoretically get within the halfway point via 40 Joy Pendants, now the final reward of Savage Labyrinth, a combat gauntlet that you unlock at the end of the game, thereby severely limiting its time usage instead of a Piece Of Heart like before? What?
This isn't in reference to Jabun's predicament or the Triforce Quest part, the former's does feel deliberate as a thematic and narrative device to showcase Ganondorf's limitless power and control, and the latter's from people clearly just doing it all in one go instead of simply cutting it up piece by piece as you go along, like you're supposed to do. No I'm talking about some of the other stuff available.
Isn't it weird how island variety pretty much drops once you reach that second half? The way exploration unfolds makes sense, but you can notice quickly that the devs intended there to be more out-there island designs like the GC Island or Stovepipe Island, which probably was transformed and made it onto the final release as examples thanks to Hyrule Historia detailing them. Instead you have numerous Eye Reefs, Enemy Ship locations that despite trying (and sometimes succeeding) in repurposing them into something more appealing the reused area design becomes more obvious, hell even the Earth & Wind Temple seemed to have been truncated than it should've due to quickly utilizing the three remaining islands you've yet to complete, and the case of padding feeling more prevalent in those two than before.
On the note of dungeons, you ever feel like there should've been more to them? I mean I never minded the dungeons in this game, linearity be damned - this has a better package of dungeons compared to Minish Cap, Twilight Princess, and Skyward Sword, bite me - but even I'm hardpressed to say the two I mentioned before, as well as Ganon's Tower, eek out some lingering design philosophies and extensions that couldn't quite make the cut. Feels weird to have the three grandest and location-specific areas be used for bite-sized puzzles and a boss rush at the end, despite understandable application to begin with. The Ghost Ship feels like it should've been a proper, full on dungeon with how you're supposed to find it and nab the Triforce Chart (or Shard, depending on the version), but it's over about as quickly as you begin it. It's the opposite of how Majora's Mask from before handled it, having a small pool, but maximizing dungeon and puzzle elements to weave the... story... they're telling....
As I grow older and notice more flaws and cracks among my favorite games, it also funnily enough heightens the appreciation I garnered for them, and notice new things that tie into it. Dragon Roost and Forbidden Woods uses Medli and Makar starting out in order to deliver the aspect of a change of wind and generation due to one starting out determined to find and fix the cause of their habitat's change in tone and climate, and the other being a typical child klutz, doing what was ordered against and getting themselves into a bad spot cause of it. Tower Of Gods usually gets marked as where the linearity is at its most obvious, but it's kind of the point there due to the climb from the bottom to the top as you prove your worth and heroism to the Gods. I wouldn't be surprised if this same principle was the influence needed to design TP's Temple of Time dungeon as it was to begin with. Even disregarding that, the area doesn't quite have the major intent to harm you; it's a test of resolve, with its decor and ethereal atmosphere, Gohdan giving you ammo when necessary and its theme constructed with organic keys, lite drum loops, and noted bass.
Windfall Island is the closest this iteration of Zelda has to a hub, due to it being the most frequent stop on the journey, as well as being the biggest showcase of the change from the world's influence and the nature of the people. You see and can participate in events with the townspeople that, in one way or another, sort of changes how they feel about something. Giving a guy who loves the moon a colored Pictograph of its full phase, planting the various flower pots around and expanding the lot thanks to the trade quest, fixing the lighthouse thanks to the fire arrow. There's other examples of this to find and do, such as using a fairy on Link's Grandmother back in Outset Island or the numerous small activities you can do such as on Dragon Roost or Bomb Island, but little that carries this much extent.
Why did Link set out to begin with? To rescue his sister Aryll, who got kidnapped on her birthday after the two noticed and went after Tetra, which in turn served his desire to explore the Great Sea. Why did Link continue after the rescue of Aryll and even other children from Forsaken Fortress? Ganondorf kicked his shit in due to the Master Sword suffering its loss of power, and it also revealed Tetra's status as the descendant of Zelda (which admittedly in hindsight was obvious due to how the Charm worked), and is now in serious danger, pushing him even further onto the world to try and finish up. Why does Link, even after all this, continue to explore when he could hang back at Outset Island? For the adventure.
People will recommend the Wii U version, but I'm gonna be one of those people that says to stick with the original in conjunction with the Better Wind Waker hack made a few years before. While you can use Cemu's graphic pack menu to change the contrast and overall look to match as closely to the Gamecube's as possible, there's still the changes made to the treasure chart which people don't really go over cause "oooo it makes the Triforce Hunt easier". Even disregarding my eyeroll for this, quite frankly the overhaul creates new baffling scenarios than it does lighten the load. 4 of the 5 new regular charts are just Rupees, in a game where it was easy to accumulate them as well as not being as necessary to hoard due to these changes marking the deciphering cost down. Also, making the Hero's Charm, a niche item that you could theoretically get within the halfway point via 40 Joy Pendants, now the final reward of Savage Labyrinth, a combat gauntlet that you unlock at the end of the game, thereby severely limiting its time usage instead of a Piece Of Heart like before? What?
3 Comments
Yeah let me know when you solve that particular Da Vinci code wouldja
It's been making doing these retrospective reviews difficult cause I want people to see them but they can't unless it's a new entry or logged for this year, goddamn!!!!
BlazingWaters
1 year ago