There’s a ‘legend of Silent Hill’ joke here somewhere, with the dark alternate version of hyrule and the fact a lot of the soundtrack literally uses idential soundfonts to SH2.
When the game first started I wasn't into it, it's got a typical overly-long Zelda tutorial, the hylians look ugly and I've been told this is one of the worst in the series. At least it has Midna, but I will say, it's a shame that what might be the most interesting story in a Zelda game eventually just becomes 'beat Gannon' after not even featuring him (and making Zant a really cool and different villain, with a boss fight that feels like a perfect climax to the game) is disappointing, the first half of the game makes you collect bugs too much, and the fishing minigame makes me want to tear my eyes out, but other than those things, something started to become clear...
As the game went on I started getting surprised, not only does this game have some of the most interesting art design, even through some missteps (please don't make me look at the hylian kids) and the lack of colour, some of the most well-directed cutscenes and some of the most varied, richly featured and and epic-feeling gameplay in the entire franchise, and of course Midna. There was a moment about two thirds of the way in where I shot a guy off his horse, stunned him with the boomerang, turned into a wolf, finished him off, then stole his mount and got to where I was going, that I realised that I was having a GREAT time.
The thing that pulls it all together is the story, which I was surprised to find is actually really strong, in a Zelda game, a strong story, seriously let that sink in. It achieves this by making link a fleshed out character, yet still open enough to work as a self-insert, and then shifting the story halfway in to make the main character of the story Midna, who previously was just a smug na'vi that makes me feel strange things. Making Midna the protag and link the Mad Max character to help her reach the end of her journey is really smart and works really well.
The way I'm feeling right now, I've been totally blown away by this after expecting to find it straight-up bad, this could be one of my favorite Zelda games. The story, the scope of the world, the mechanical richness, and even a majority of the art design really stands out and is really something special. Also as a final note; Midna. Take from that what you will. This game is more likely an 8/10, but I'm giving it a 9/10 for now based purely on how much it's absolutely blasted by expectations out of the water.
When the game first started I wasn't into it, it's got a typical overly-long Zelda tutorial, the hylians look ugly and I've been told this is one of the worst in the series. At least it has Midna, but I will say, it's a shame that what might be the most interesting story in a Zelda game eventually just becomes 'beat Gannon' after not even featuring him (and making Zant a really cool and different villain, with a boss fight that feels like a perfect climax to the game) is disappointing, the first half of the game makes you collect bugs too much, and the fishing minigame makes me want to tear my eyes out, but other than those things, something started to become clear...
As the game went on I started getting surprised, not only does this game have some of the most interesting art design, even through some missteps (please don't make me look at the hylian kids) and the lack of colour, some of the most well-directed cutscenes and some of the most varied, richly featured and and epic-feeling gameplay in the entire franchise, and of course Midna. There was a moment about two thirds of the way in where I shot a guy off his horse, stunned him with the boomerang, turned into a wolf, finished him off, then stole his mount and got to where I was going, that I realised that I was having a GREAT time.
The thing that pulls it all together is the story, which I was surprised to find is actually really strong, in a Zelda game, a strong story, seriously let that sink in. It achieves this by making link a fleshed out character, yet still open enough to work as a self-insert, and then shifting the story halfway in to make the main character of the story Midna, who previously was just a smug na'vi that makes me feel strange things. Making Midna the protag and link the Mad Max character to help her reach the end of her journey is really smart and works really well.
The way I'm feeling right now, I've been totally blown away by this after expecting to find it straight-up bad, this could be one of my favorite Zelda games. The story, the scope of the world, the mechanical richness, and even a majority of the art design really stands out and is really something special. Also as a final note; Midna. Take from that what you will. This game is more likely an 8/10, but I'm giving it a 9/10 for now based purely on how much it's absolutely blasted by expectations out of the water.