this is not a perfect game. i think it fails in quite a few areas - the themes of light/shadow/darkness and the power of cooperation aren't thoroughly explored, zelda is very sidelined as a character, the post-snowpeak questline with the hidden village and the sky book is a huge pace-killer. the visuals haven't aged gracefully, a couple of bosses are real stinkers, and it's way too easy!
but this game still gets so much right! the cinematic presentation and stellar cutscene direction strengthens the tone perfectly. and that music!! it's not a live orchestra like the later Zeldas, but the breadth of the soundtrack in this game is unmatched outside the likes of 100-hour JRPGs. it's epic. it's Epic!! because of its scale, the tone is able to be managed so perfectly that the comic relief in Barnes and Malo Mart and the Postman still feel fitting where certain tonal digressions in other Zeldas (looking at you, Majora's Mask) tend to undermine the overall vibe. in another game, unmasking Zant's menace as clownish petulance might have come off as diluting the atmospheric build-up of the final stretch of the game, but slotting it next to the (overhated) reveal of Ganondorf keeps things in balance. the story is bigger than just Zant and Midna's battle for control of their world, as it rightly reminds you, and so Zant getting popped like a balloon doesn't feel overwhelmingly goofy - it just adds a bit more texture to the game's overall flavour.
and the flavour of TP's world, too, is so much more refined than people give it credit for. we all love snowpeak mansion, but arbiter's grounds as a haunted prison, the city in the sky as an otherworldly ghibli homage, the goron mines as. mines! this game's hyrule hits the crucial balance between ancient ruins and lived-in homeliness that other zelda games never got quite right (at least for this linear pre-BOTW style). this world and its cinematic ambitions invite you to consider it deeper, and while the depth isn't always there, the texture of its elements is a standout in the action-adventure genre (especially of the time) and the reason this game is a classic imo.
twilight princess isn't the precision and refinement of a fine wine like breath of the wild or a hearty-but-hollow soup like wind waker - instead, it's a full three-course meal, with a couple undercooked ingredients and a couple real juicy ones, cooked to cater to many but still with a care and attention to detail to reward the observant. it's not as consistently great as ocarina or as laser-focused on its core design as BOTW, but it's still a fucking phenomenal game and deserves a higher standing than it currently holds among fans, i think!!
but this game still gets so much right! the cinematic presentation and stellar cutscene direction strengthens the tone perfectly. and that music!! it's not a live orchestra like the later Zeldas, but the breadth of the soundtrack in this game is unmatched outside the likes of 100-hour JRPGs. it's epic. it's Epic!! because of its scale, the tone is able to be managed so perfectly that the comic relief in Barnes and Malo Mart and the Postman still feel fitting where certain tonal digressions in other Zeldas (looking at you, Majora's Mask) tend to undermine the overall vibe. in another game, unmasking Zant's menace as clownish petulance might have come off as diluting the atmospheric build-up of the final stretch of the game, but slotting it next to the (overhated) reveal of Ganondorf keeps things in balance. the story is bigger than just Zant and Midna's battle for control of their world, as it rightly reminds you, and so Zant getting popped like a balloon doesn't feel overwhelmingly goofy - it just adds a bit more texture to the game's overall flavour.
and the flavour of TP's world, too, is so much more refined than people give it credit for. we all love snowpeak mansion, but arbiter's grounds as a haunted prison, the city in the sky as an otherworldly ghibli homage, the goron mines as. mines! this game's hyrule hits the crucial balance between ancient ruins and lived-in homeliness that other zelda games never got quite right (at least for this linear pre-BOTW style). this world and its cinematic ambitions invite you to consider it deeper, and while the depth isn't always there, the texture of its elements is a standout in the action-adventure genre (especially of the time) and the reason this game is a classic imo.
twilight princess isn't the precision and refinement of a fine wine like breath of the wild or a hearty-but-hollow soup like wind waker - instead, it's a full three-course meal, with a couple undercooked ingredients and a couple real juicy ones, cooked to cater to many but still with a care and attention to detail to reward the observant. it's not as consistently great as ocarina or as laser-focused on its core design as BOTW, but it's still a fucking phenomenal game and deserves a higher standing than it currently holds among fans, i think!!
Luichi
7 months ago