What made Ocarina of Time so special? I don't have a good answer to that question, and neither did Nintendo in 2006. Most people would agree that Link meeting Zelda for the first (and pretty much only) time in the castle courtyard is where Ocarina really hits its stride, but trying to discern why that moment sticks out is much more difficult. The most obvious potential answer to this is its brevity- the game's called 'The Legend of Zelda,' so the fact that your encounter with Zelda herself is so fleeting has to leave a pretty big impression, right? Evidently not, since Twilight Princess only goes this far and ultimately ends up leaving Link's meetings with this iteration of Zelda void of substance and rendering her a complete non-character. This pretty much represents Twilight Princess as a whole- it's a by the book Zelda game with only a shallow understanding of what makes the book good in the first place.
Ocarina of Time presents its conflict in the most natural way possible. The player literally gets to play through what happens if Link doesn't end up completing his quest, motivating the player in a way no textbox possibly could. In Twilight Princess's Hyrule there's a clear conflict but the fallout doesn't impact anything the player does whatsoever. The only event that could be seen as working towards making the world feel like it needs to be saved is the children getting captured, but frankly it's not like that couldn't have happened if not for the Twilight Realm shenanigans. Castle Town is the most jovial, bustling location the series has ever seen and its residents are completely unfazed by the castle being captured. The group that meets up at Telma's bar just baffles me since it seems like they should be the ones who are actually aware of what's going on, but instead, each member just happens to be researching something independently that ends up leading Link to the next dungeon.
Zelda isn't a dungeon crawler, it's an overworld crawler. Don't get me wrong, Zelda dungeons can be fun or even highlights of the game, but the focus has been on the overworld since the very beginning of the series, and for good reason- if having to scour everything above ground is the bulk of the game then it just makes reaching the most unexplored corners of the world that much sweeter. Twilight Princess treats the overworld in the least Zelda-like manner possible: as means to an end. In my opinion it shouldn't be possible to finish one dungeon and immediately walk into the railroad to the next one without any interaction with the overworld, at least not without a complete overhaul of the formula that Twilight Princess certainly doesn't commit to.
Twilight Princess's dungeon design is largely considered its biggest strength, but I only find myself agreeing halfway. Although the game's dungeons aren't particularly close to being my favorite in the series from a mechanical perspective, I can't deny that they all stand out from a memorability perspective. If I never replayed any Zelda games ever again, I'm pretty sure I'd remember walking along magnetic surfaces with the iron boots or obtaining the boomerang from a possessed orangutan or the fact that one of the dungeons just takes place in a character's house over pretty much anything from any other dungeon in the series. The game clearly succeeds in what it's going for here, even if it wouldn't be my first choice for a dungeon design philosophy.
There's also some smaller flaws that strike me as completely baffling. They don't even attempt to do anything interesting with Wolf Link and Midna's leaping ability is probably the most insulting mechanic Zelda has ever had for reasons I shouldn't have to explain. The spinner is far and away the most unique item the series has ever seen but it gets relegated to contextual use only. The game introduces two separate adjacent worlds to Hyrule but doesn't allow you to talk to the residents of either one. Zant's non-character further solidifies Skull Kid as the only great villain that the series has ever had, and Midna's personality death is honestly even more egregious than Tetra's in my opinion.
Aside from generally enjoying the dungeons the things I appreciate about this game are relatively minor. Jovani, Agitha, and the hidden skills are all some of the better collection quests that the series has had, and I genuinely appreciate the amount of Rupee sinks that were put in this time around. The terrain is varied enough so that each region actually feels pretty distinct despite most of the map just being Hyrule Field, with the standout being Zora's Domain. Malo Mart. I don't have to mention that the music is stellar as usual. This was the only Zelda game that I intentionally avoided initially (for a reason that now seems silly, me just thinking it looked ugly visually) but I'm really glad that I played it in a post Breath of the Wild world. I don't hate Twilight Princess, but I think it was a step backwards for the series, and I'm relieved that the Twilight Princess -> Skyward Sword trajectory ended before it received a third entry. But then again I guess that means I'll never find out what made Ocarina so special. Poo tee weet.
Ocarina of Time presents its conflict in the most natural way possible. The player literally gets to play through what happens if Link doesn't end up completing his quest, motivating the player in a way no textbox possibly could. In Twilight Princess's Hyrule there's a clear conflict but the fallout doesn't impact anything the player does whatsoever. The only event that could be seen as working towards making the world feel like it needs to be saved is the children getting captured, but frankly it's not like that couldn't have happened if not for the Twilight Realm shenanigans. Castle Town is the most jovial, bustling location the series has ever seen and its residents are completely unfazed by the castle being captured. The group that meets up at Telma's bar just baffles me since it seems like they should be the ones who are actually aware of what's going on, but instead, each member just happens to be researching something independently that ends up leading Link to the next dungeon.
Zelda isn't a dungeon crawler, it's an overworld crawler. Don't get me wrong, Zelda dungeons can be fun or even highlights of the game, but the focus has been on the overworld since the very beginning of the series, and for good reason- if having to scour everything above ground is the bulk of the game then it just makes reaching the most unexplored corners of the world that much sweeter. Twilight Princess treats the overworld in the least Zelda-like manner possible: as means to an end. In my opinion it shouldn't be possible to finish one dungeon and immediately walk into the railroad to the next one without any interaction with the overworld, at least not without a complete overhaul of the formula that Twilight Princess certainly doesn't commit to.
Twilight Princess's dungeon design is largely considered its biggest strength, but I only find myself agreeing halfway. Although the game's dungeons aren't particularly close to being my favorite in the series from a mechanical perspective, I can't deny that they all stand out from a memorability perspective. If I never replayed any Zelda games ever again, I'm pretty sure I'd remember walking along magnetic surfaces with the iron boots or obtaining the boomerang from a possessed orangutan or the fact that one of the dungeons just takes place in a character's house over pretty much anything from any other dungeon in the series. The game clearly succeeds in what it's going for here, even if it wouldn't be my first choice for a dungeon design philosophy.
There's also some smaller flaws that strike me as completely baffling. They don't even attempt to do anything interesting with Wolf Link and Midna's leaping ability is probably the most insulting mechanic Zelda has ever had for reasons I shouldn't have to explain. The spinner is far and away the most unique item the series has ever seen but it gets relegated to contextual use only. The game introduces two separate adjacent worlds to Hyrule but doesn't allow you to talk to the residents of either one. Zant's non-character further solidifies Skull Kid as the only great villain that the series has ever had, and Midna's personality death is honestly even more egregious than Tetra's in my opinion.
Aside from generally enjoying the dungeons the things I appreciate about this game are relatively minor. Jovani, Agitha, and the hidden skills are all some of the better collection quests that the series has had, and I genuinely appreciate the amount of Rupee sinks that were put in this time around. The terrain is varied enough so that each region actually feels pretty distinct despite most of the map just being Hyrule Field, with the standout being Zora's Domain. Malo Mart. I don't have to mention that the music is stellar as usual. This was the only Zelda game that I intentionally avoided initially (for a reason that now seems silly, me just thinking it looked ugly visually) but I'm really glad that I played it in a post Breath of the Wild world. I don't hate Twilight Princess, but I think it was a step backwards for the series, and I'm relieved that the Twilight Princess -> Skyward Sword trajectory ended before it received a third entry. But then again I guess that means I'll never find out what made Ocarina so special. Poo tee weet.
4 Comments
Heya Chump. Twilight Princess is my favorite game, but mostly just because I'm held hostage by it. I do not think Twilight Princess is that good, but some mysterious charms about it have kept it locked in place as my favorite game. I agree with almost everything you say about it, but want to know what you mean by Midna's "personality death" - she's one of the few things in the game that I actually think is very good.
It's been a little while so forgive me if I get some of the details wrong, but I remember her basically shutting down after the scene where Link saves her life. I'm fine with her personality changing after that point but just having her do a complete 180 from her playful antagonism seems like a pretty lazy way to do it, in my opinion. I remember feeling like she was pretty much absent from the last act of the game.
Amazing review. I always thought TP was a bit of a mid Zelda game (to be fair, "mid Zelda" is a level a lot of games wish they could reach), but never could put my finger on why. I plan to replay it soon, and I'll keep an eye out for these issues you mentioned.
Dief88
2 years ago