It's neat!
Def goes a bit too far in the "hey remember ocarina of time guys" vibes but I feel like that was more due to overcorrection from the backlash that wind waker got for being too colorful. It's definitely a product of its time, given that gaming as a whole was shifting to darker, edgier, more mature vibes. Which is kind of weird, since it's both the swansong of the Gamecube, a system that in its time had a reputation of being a "baby toy", as well as the introduction of the Wii, a console that retrospectively is known for being the casual system. It's def a weird tonal direction, but honestly I think that alone makes it all the more unique.
From a gameplay perspective, this is the dungeon game. The overworld isn't as vast or explorable here, and the optional side content offerings are quite sparse. The focus here is on a lot of dungeons, and they are quite good. The items are unique, albeit a few being a bit underutilized in the grand scheme of things (spinner my beloved), and the dungeon themes are cool. Personally my favorite part of zelda is the explorative aspect though, so sometimes things felt like they dragged on a bit as I was hit with back-to-back dungeoneering.
I have played a lot of Gamecube games in my time, and I can safely say this is one of, if not THE best looking game I have ever seen on the system. Sometimes it goes a bit overboard on the bloom, sure, but the fact that they have lighting and texturework this good on a gamecube game is insanely impressive and the game is a real visual treat.
The plot was also just your typical zelda goings-ons, nothing too crazy there. I did like the characters, though. Zant is a cool villain, Midna is pretty cool (though her fans scare me), the whole beginning village posse of kids are likable, there's mfin jesus in karariko village, the gorons are homies as always, that kinda vibes. The only eh characters are these like weird knight side characters that are played up to be a big deal but only do like one singular thing in the whole story and then are never mentioned or show up ever again so that was certainly something.
Despite the derivative nature of the game overall being a bit of an OoT rehash, the dungeon-focused design not being particularly my fancy, and the plot being there, something about this game still felt inherently satisfying. Perhaps it's because I liked OoT a decent amount so being an imitator of that isn't inherently a bad thing, and perhaps it's just because the vibes this game has are just that solid. If you like zelda dungeons, this do be a must-play. One of those games that's def greater than the sum of its parts.
Def goes a bit too far in the "hey remember ocarina of time guys" vibes but I feel like that was more due to overcorrection from the backlash that wind waker got for being too colorful. It's definitely a product of its time, given that gaming as a whole was shifting to darker, edgier, more mature vibes. Which is kind of weird, since it's both the swansong of the Gamecube, a system that in its time had a reputation of being a "baby toy", as well as the introduction of the Wii, a console that retrospectively is known for being the casual system. It's def a weird tonal direction, but honestly I think that alone makes it all the more unique.
From a gameplay perspective, this is the dungeon game. The overworld isn't as vast or explorable here, and the optional side content offerings are quite sparse. The focus here is on a lot of dungeons, and they are quite good. The items are unique, albeit a few being a bit underutilized in the grand scheme of things (spinner my beloved), and the dungeon themes are cool. Personally my favorite part of zelda is the explorative aspect though, so sometimes things felt like they dragged on a bit as I was hit with back-to-back dungeoneering.
I have played a lot of Gamecube games in my time, and I can safely say this is one of, if not THE best looking game I have ever seen on the system. Sometimes it goes a bit overboard on the bloom, sure, but the fact that they have lighting and texturework this good on a gamecube game is insanely impressive and the game is a real visual treat.
The plot was also just your typical zelda goings-ons, nothing too crazy there. I did like the characters, though. Zant is a cool villain, Midna is pretty cool (though her fans scare me), the whole beginning village posse of kids are likable, there's mfin jesus in karariko village, the gorons are homies as always, that kinda vibes. The only eh characters are these like weird knight side characters that are played up to be a big deal but only do like one singular thing in the whole story and then are never mentioned or show up ever again so that was certainly something.
Despite the derivative nature of the game overall being a bit of an OoT rehash, the dungeon-focused design not being particularly my fancy, and the plot being there, something about this game still felt inherently satisfying. Perhaps it's because I liked OoT a decent amount so being an imitator of that isn't inherently a bad thing, and perhaps it's just because the vibes this game has are just that solid. If you like zelda dungeons, this do be a must-play. One of those games that's def greater than the sum of its parts.