Had a really great time with this one! I respect it a ton and Mikami is amazing. The level design here is just so labyrinthian and it gets very satisfying to finally start to learn the layout of the mansion the further in you go. A great argument for fixed camera angles, the game looks absolutely gorgeous still and the camera does a lot to add to that moody atmosphere. Crimson heads are a fantastic idea and add so much to the tension, forcing you to plan out routes to avoid creating more potential headache later on. Some small complaints: It'd be real nice to skip door opening animations... at the time it obviously wasn't possible but I'd love to see this version of the game patched or reworked to have more seamless loading. Also, the inventory management got just a bit too out of hand for me at times. With all that being said, I'm really glad I finally played this.

Not an original opinion here but this is one of the worst games I've ever played lmao. Why does Yuji Naka think his stupid one button philosophy is a good idea for a 3D platformer of all things? Losing the ability to jump with certain costumes kneecaps the level design so hard and the decision is entirely arbitrary.

Movement feel is terrible, art/designs are mostly garish and simply bizarre, technical problems are everywhere. The "Tims" are just... not explained? Anywhere? And they seem to be the only point of the collectible gems as well so the fact that it's this obtuse is baffling. A platformer with awful platforming, a collectathon with bland, confusing collectibles that aren't even placed in interesting locations. Don't even get me started on the "combat."

Why is there just terrible raw mo-cap data slapped on exaggerated cartoony characters with no extra work done... why do all of the NPCs just vanish when you get close to them... why does the world have this nauseating stage morph effect always going on... I'm just rambling at this point.

This entire trainwreck is absolutely hilarious to the point where if you didn't already consider him to be a bad game director I think this has to force you to reevaluate Naka's entire legacy. Final point: Arzest should be shut down for crimes against humanity, we can't keep letting them get away with it

Hot take incoming: I have very complicated feelings about the nature of remakes/less faithful remasters, but every time Nintendo/Grezzo have gone back and revisted a Zelda game they've made it the superior version. Yes this includes Majora's Mask, Wind Waker (lighting changes and all), and Link's Awakening. Note that I didn't say "definitive version" as I absolutely think there is still a lot of merit in playing the originals in every case but Shadow of the Colossus 2018 these are not.

This has me very excited for what they end up doing with this game which has flaws that run deeper than any other 3D Zelda despite in my opinion still being very enjoyable on the whole. There's no "faster sailing" button they can push for this and as a result I imagine I'll still consider it my least favorite 3D Zelda. That being said, I hope the inevitable quality of life improvements and control adjustments help people come around to this one and recognize it's strengths: namely some actually very fun combat and fantastic dungeon design. Shame they're not gonna cut all that filler though and frankly, this is probably the worst the exploration side of Zelda has ever been. The world outside of Skyloft just doesn't feel alive.