November 2011 Schedule

   With tons of new and exciting games coming out this month and next, there's going to be tons of reviews to compiment them. Because I'm not a professional reviewer I won't be getting my reviews out before the games launch, but I'll try to make up for that by providing my most honest opinion possible. With my Top Zelda marathon in recess until Skyward Sword comes out, I won't be reviewing much this month besides the new titles. My only review during November will be a big one though, Super Mario 3D Land's review will be online starting November 20th 2011 (Skyward Sword's launch date). And just a peak into the future, Skyward Sword's review will be online starting in early December 2011, exact date is not confirmed but expect it sometime between December 1st and December 4th of 2011. Stay tuned for more updates in the coming weeks.

November 2011 Schedule:
November 20th: Super Mario 3D Land

Top 3D Zelda Contest

  Now that I have declared Ocarina of Time better than Majora's Mask, Twilight Princess better than Wind Waker, Ocarina of Time better than Twilight Princess, and Wind Waker better than Majora's Mask, my final decision awaits. So let's look at the standings based on my comparison reviews:

1. Zelda: Ocarina of Time
2. Zelda: Twilight Princess
3. Zelda: The Wind Waker
4. Zelda: Majora's Mask

 At this point Ocarina of Time is the definite winner of the contest, but I refuse to crown it champion until after I reach my verdict regarding Skyward Sword. So, check back on this site near the beginning of December for my decision on where Skyward Sword ranks on the above list, and my final verdict on the top five Zelda games of all time! Check the site in the coming weeks for details!

"TLOZ: Ocarina of Time" vs. "TLOZ: Twilight Princess"

Over the past few weeks, I’ve declared that Ocarina of Time beats Majora’s Mask as the best N64 Zelda, and that Twilight Princess beats Wind Waker as the best GameCube adventure. And as far as 3-D home console Zelda’s go, I’ve covered them all until Skyward Sword soon releases. But one question still remains, which of the two best Zelda games are better, Ocarina of Time or Twilight Princess? In my original reviews Twilight Princess received a 9.7 and Ocarina of Time 3D received a 9.8 (as well as the original), will my decision here match up to my previous review scores? Let’s find out!

            The graphics in both games are some of the best on their respective systems; Ocarina of Time was a masterpiece and the first 3D Zelda, while Twilight Princess took a more mature realistic art style and looked phenomenal in nearly every way. If I based my decision on the level of quality for the time of release Ocarina of Time would more than likely win, but this is not a review, and therefore I do not need to review based on original release. And if I were to pick the prettier of the two games Twilight Princess would certainly win. The massive world and unique characters all look great and are supported by a adequate frame rate.

Best Graphics: “TLOZ: Twilight Princess”

            Perhaps the most lopsided victory for Ocarina of Time comes in the field of audio. Both games sound effects are great (Twilight Princess has great sound effects), and character noises sound fine on both. However, Ocarina of Time has easily some of the best themes in the series ranging from Gerudo Valley’s desert Arabian theme, to the sketchy Shadow Temple theme, from the royal Zelda’s Lullaby, and even fun upbeat songs like Lost Woods. Ocarina of Time is one of the most musically inclined games ever released. Twilight Princess on the other hand, more than likely has the worst music in any Zelda game ever. With only a few highlights, Twilight Princess gives up its chance for best audio.

Best Audio: “TLOZ: Ocarina of Time”

            The story is similar in both of these games, and the characters and worlds are just as engaging in both. However, Ocarina of Time maintains a more traditional approach to storytelling and has a better main hook than Twilight Princess, which complicates things by bringing in the Twilight, Midna, and some uninteresting characters. Overall my choice is clearly aimed towards Ocarina of Time.

Best Story: “TLOZ: Ocarina of Time”

            The most important comparison category: Gameplay is also the toughest category to choose the winner and don’t forget, this category is worth two points so this could be the deciding point for the winner. Twilight Princess has better dungeons, a bigger world with more sidequests, and better and a more variety of items, plus the bosses are bigger and better. On the other hand, I much prefer going back in forth in time, than turning into a wolf, and the Twilight sections of the game are sometimes annoying. The biggest deciding factor however, is the fact that Ocarina of Time came out nearly a decade before Twilight Princess, and had much more innovation including the L-Targeting system. Because Ocarina of Time revolutionized the way we play Zelda, and Twilight Princess was more of evolution: I choose Ocarina of Time as the best playing of the two adventures.

Best Gameplay: “TLOZ: Ocarina of Time”

            Another close contest is the determination as to which game has more content overall. Both games have nine main dungeons, and I’ve found Twilight Princess’s dungeons to be a bit lengthier. Twilight Princess also has a larger world to explore, and it seems to have more to do in that world. So to keep it short, Twilight Princess is our winner but both games have just about the same amount of content.

Best Gameplay Amount: “TLOZ: Twilight Princess”

Verdict:

Both of these games are absolute must-plays and on my top five games ever list. As to which is better? Why should it matter. In all honesty both games are games you should own and nearly perfect in their own way. Picking my favorite is like picking my favorite child but perhaps even harder, but, If I had to pick one Ocarina of Time would have to win because of its way of revolutionizing gaming as we knew it. It was the first 3D Zelda, and what better way to end out my comparisons of 3D Zelda’s than to give the crown to the one that started it all!

These are my final decisions for each category including overall:

Graphics	Twilight Princess
Audio	Ocarina of Time
Story	Ocarina of Time
Gameplay	Ocarina of Time
Gameplay Amount	Twilight Princess
Overall	Ocarina of Time

“The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time”

Is our Winner!

"TLOZ: Wind Waker" vs. "TLOZ: Twilight Princess"

Continuing off of my first comparison review of Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask, today’s matchup consists of Zelda’s two GameCube titles instead, “Wind Waker”, and “Twilight Princess”. During my Twilight Princess review I mentioned some similarities and differences between the two titles, and here I’m going to put a spotlight on the game that overall is a superior adventure. Plus, the winner of this matchup will go against Ocarina of Time for the best 3D Zelda adventure yet, but even that winner may lose the crown once Skyward Sword is released on November 20^th of this year. So sit back and get ready to find out which GameCube title is the best!

            We begin our comparison review with what is perhaps the closest and most controversial of all categories: graphics. In all honesty all of the categories I had zero trouble deciding on except for this one, which took me quite a while for me to find my verdict. So here goes, Wind Waker is an amazing game, and it has amazing graphics which are clearly the most unique in the series. The cel-shaded cartoon world is a brilliant concept, and even better in the finished product. The game’s scope, like Twilight Princess, is fantastic, and the character models in both games are great. Twilight Princess specializes in more realistic graphics than Wind Waker, and looks great in that respect. It’s really difficult to compare these games as they each have complete opposite art style of each other, one being realistic, the other being cartoon. As to which is better comes down to which holds up better, and whereas they both hold up quite well, Wind Waker holds up a bit better with its unique art style and animation. Both game’s graphics received a perfect 10 from me, but in the end only one can win (unless I occasionally awards both titles with a point which is rare). Both games have my favorite visuals in the series, and both are deserving of this point (which may be the deciding point for these games), and I love both dearly. Overall, my point has to go to Wind Waker for being the most unique, creative, expressive, intriguing, holding up the best, and whereas Twilight Princess had some bad texture work, Wind Waker looked perfect. Wind Waker is sheer visual perfection folks.

Best Graphics: “TLOZ: The Wind Waker”

            The audio in both games are great. I’d say Twilight Princess has the superior sound effects and character voices, and the music is definitely better in Wind Waker. In my original reviews, Twilight Princess received a 9.5 for audio, whereas Wind Waker received a 10.0. Sure, Twilight Princess had some good themes, but only a few whereas Wind Waker has Dragon Roost Island, The Great Sea, The Title Theme, Outset Island, and so much more. Wind Waker’s themes perfectly match its artistic visual qualities, whereas Twilight Princess’ music is much more dull and dreary, Wind Waker’s are more upbeat and fun. So there you have it, Wind Waker has the superior audio for sure.

Best Audio: “TLOZ: The Wind Waker”

            Another lopsided victory is which game has the best story. Yeah sure, Twilight Princess has a good story complete with Midna and other cool things, but its characters are more dull and boring, and the story seems sort of convoluted. Wind Waker on the other hand has much more energetic characters, and the story has tons of twists and turns such as the revelation that Tetra is Zelda, or that Hyrule is underwater. Plus the ending scenes in Wind Waker are much better than Twilight Princess, and that’s all there is to say, Wind Waker wins!

Best Story: “TLOZ: The Wind Waker”

            So here we are at the most important category, and the one that is worth double points: the gameplay. Both games have great items, puzzles, fighting, and tons of other stuff, but I’m going to keep this short: both games are drop dead amazing. But here’s the catch, Twilight Princess’ dungeons are far superior to Wind Waker’s, and not only that, but Wind Waker’s gameplay gets bogged down thanks to the tedious sailing across the ocean and the hunt for Triforce charts. My review scores agree with my decision here, as Twilight Princess got a perfect score while Wind Waker received a 9.5, and that’s all there is to it. So in the end, Twilight Princess has the best gameplay, and therefore receives two points.

Best Gameplay: “TLOZ: Twilight Princess”

            The final category before my verdict is the gameplay amount. This category should come as to little surprise for Zelda fans, as one game is much longer than the other. Both Wind Waker and Twilight Princess have massive worlds to explore in which you can complete sidequests, but Twilight Princess’s main quest is nearly double the length of Wind Waker’s. For one, Twilight Princess has nine dungeons compared to Wind Waker’s six, and Wind Waker’s latter half of the game has Link completely boring tasks of fetching the Triforce charts which is not all that fun, and I’m not counting it towards the main quest since it is essentially a sidequest integrated into the main quest. So Twilight Princess wins yet another category, and takes home its third point.

Best Gameplay Amount: “TLOZ: Twilight Princess”

VERDICT:

The decision between Wind Waker and Twilight Princess is a much more difficult decision than that between Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask. You see, Wind Waker received three points for winning best graphics, audio, and story, and Twilight Princess received three points for winning gameplay amount, and gameplay (2 points) which put them at a tie. If only Wind Waker had Twilight Princess’s gameplay, or Twilight Princess had Wind Waker’s artistic qualities we would have the defining Zelda adventure, and that’s what Skyward Sword looks to be doing. I can never say for sure which is better as Wind Waker certainly is better in the arts whereas Twilight Princess is a better playing game. My final score for Wind Waker was a 9.5 in the original review, whereas Twilight Princess received a 9.7 overall score, and I’m happy and sad to say that this comparison will remain the same. Sure, graphics, audio, and story are important to a game, but it’s the game itself that really matters and is why my choice for today’s winner is going to “The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess”.

These are my final decisions for each category including overall:

Graphics	Wind Waker
Audio	Wind Waker
Story	Wind Waker
Gameplay	Twilight Princess
Gameplay Amount	Twilight Princess
Overall	Twilight Princess

“The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess”

Is our Winner!!!

"TLOZ: Twilight Princess" Review

Pros:	Cons:
Amazing visuals and Link Character model	Story and gameplay starts too slow
9 Dungeons and a Massive World	Wolf Link is underused
Fantastic new items and dungeons	Some minor issues (characters, textures, etc.)
Good music and story

            Writing a Zelda review feels like watching the same show over and over, every review I say the same things and praise the game’s dungeons while complaining about a few minor issues, and if you’re expecting something different here you’re not going to get it. This is both good and bad, on the downside we don’t get much variety in Zelda with the exception of this year’s Skyward Sword, and the basic formula is still the same as it was 15 years ago. On the other hand, the way these games play is masterful, so why change them? Twilight Princess is yet another cookie cutter of the immensely successful Ocarina of Time, but is better for it. Sure it feels like playing an enhanced version of Ocarina of Time…but isn’t that a good thing?

            Like in all my other reviews, I begin with the graphics, and like in all other Zelda’s they’re absolutely breathtaking. In the case of Twilight Princess the scope and size of the game is stunning, not only can I see great distances in Hyrule Field, but the characters on screen simultaneously, and the glory of Kakariko Village help add to the game’s unprecedented scale. The animation and frame rates are glorious as well, and the colorful creative locations are all unique and easy to distinguish between each other (with the exception of some locations in Hyrule Field, which commonly resemble each other making it difficult to judge where you are). My favorite aspect of the game’s visuals is the character models themselves (especially Link). Midna was well created from scratch, and Link himself (both in Wolf form and regular) looks fantastic. His handsome character model sports the usual green tunic and loads of weapons but in Twilight Princess he looks better than ever and is a highlight of the game’s approach to realistic visuals all in its own.

            One place in which Twilight Princess is both better and worse than its predecessors, is in its audio. The sound effects are great, I love walking in the Goron Mines and hearing the different sounds of Link stepping on the floor depending on what kind of material the floor is made out of, and Link’s usual yelling and screaming in the game are better than ever (and less annoying when rolling across Hyrule Field). The downfall to Twilight Princess is the music, which is quite good for the most part, but still doesn’t even compare to Ocarina of Time or Wind Waker. Some highlights of the music include Hyrule Field, Midna’s Theme, and some of the boss themes, but overall there aren’t really any stand out themes such as Gerudo Valley in Ocarina of Time. It’s not a huge complaint as the music is still fantastic; it’s just a downer that it wasn’t up to the standards set by Ocarina of Time.

            Another way in which Twilight Princess is lacking compared to its siblings, would be in its story line. The story begins slowly and does pick up the pace, but is never really clear and tantalizing as it was in Twilight Princess’s sister game, Ocarina of Time. Sure, Midna is a great inclusion and helps boost the score, and the story of the Twilight is great as well, but it all feels too similar to Ocarina of Time and the developers tried to change it up by throwing in hooks like Wolf Link, which isn’t as cool as it sounds. Plus, the characters in the game besides Midna, Zant, Link, and Zelda, are quite dull and lifeless, and Ganondorf isn’t even shown until the end of the game, but instead replaced by Zant which while Zant is awesome, why did the story hide Ganondorf until the end. These are all minor complaints but add up to the worst aspect of the game, and one of the worst stories in Zelda history.

            Opposite of the story in the game would be the gameplay as it is surely the best aspect of the game, and the best gameplay in Zelda history. Nearly everything about it is masterful; the controls, the items, the puzzles, and the fighting. Combat works how it always has complete with the returning L-Targeting system to target onto your enemies, and tons of sword moves so that Link can easily dispatch his foe. The puzzles are genius and innovative as usual and although they are rare to find, they are always a nice change of pace from the usual gameplay. The new items such as the Spinner are used extremely well when they are used, but are often used exclusively in their respective dungeon and not needed much after that, and this seems to be a problem in many Zelda adventures, why can’t the cool items be used more often? The controls work extremely well from aiming your arrows, to using your sword, Wolf Link could control a tad better, but besides that the controls are solid (note: controls based on GameCube version of game). The dungeons in the game are creatively designed and each revolve around a central item, and consist of the player traversing unique terrains to find this item, as well as a boss key, and eventually fighting the end boss and completing the dungeon/temple. Some of my favorite dungeons in the series are present here in this game, including Arbiter’s Grounds, a desert location that feels like a double-length dungeon with a great final boss, Snowhead Temple, a house belonging to a yeti that is more unique than any dungeon I’ve ever seen, and the City in the Sky, a dungeon in the sky complete with Oocoos (creepy chicken things), and the best boss in the game. All the dungeons are the best in the series with the exception of maybe the first three (Forest, Goron Mines, and Lakebed) but it is still a solid group of dungeons, absolutely fantastic. If there’s areas to complain, and there are, they would include the opening hour of the game which basically consists of Link running around doing lame errands and jobs for villagers, boring…     On the other hand once the game picks up it never gets boring again. The worst aspect of the gameplay is the game’s main hook: controlling a wolf form of Link and travelling through the Twilight realm to find light balls. Wolf Link isn’t that great, and whereas the Twilight looks cool, it’s not all that amazing. I do appreciate the light balls mainly because they help introduce you to the area, but they are still annoying and unnecessary. Wolf Link is not only dull and must complete tedious tasks, but I found that his skills are unrealistic, he commonly jumps 30 feet with the help of Midna as if wolf’s could jump that great of a distance. I could go on like this for a while but as it is, this paragraph is getting much too long. In the end, masterful gameplay and a difficult quest with its only problem being some aspects of Wolf Link, nonetheless the best aspect of the game and the best gameplay in the series.

            The amount of gameplay perfectly complements the gameplay itself. Whereas Wind Waker ended too soon, Twilight Princess consists of nine amazing dungeons and a massive world to explore and hunt for sidequests in. I love how in this game, you can literally walk from Link’s house, to Hyrule Castle, and then to Lake Hylia, it’s just such a freeform game and I love the sense of exploration. This is easily the largest Zelda game to date and will take most gamers a few dozen hours to complete, and even once you do complete it and find all the heart pieces, you’ll only want to play it again.

            While the other GameCube Zelda, Wind Waker, may have beat Twilight Princess when it comes to the arts (graphics, audio, story), Twilight Princess is a far superior title when it comes to the game itself (gameplay, gameplay amount). As to which is better you can check my separate article for that (which compares the two fantastic adventures and chooses one as the best) Twilight Princess is a true Zelda game and perhaps the best Zelda adventure in existence. The final fight with Ganondorf is appropriately epic in size and scale, and is a blast, and the ending scenes are heartbreaking and sweet. Twilight Princess may have a few minor flaws like every other Zelda game, and like I said it may feel like a cookie-cutter of Ocarina of Time, but once again, isn’t that a good thing? Looking into the future with Skyward Sword changing the way things work, I can’t wait to see how that compares to Twilight Princess and see if changing the formula is good or bad. It’s masterful how it is, how do you get better than that?

Graphics: Scope and Size of worlds is amazing, great character models (especially Link)     10.0

Audio: Great sound effects, music is good, but not as good as other Zelda games                   9.5

Story: Story is great but starts slow, most characters are boring with exception of Midna      9.0

Gameplay: Dungeons and items are best in series, Wolf Link is underused, good controls 10.0

Gameplay Amount: Nine dungeons and a massive world to explore with sidequests        10.0

Overall: Zelda at its best, a true sequel to Ocarina of Time and not to be missed                    9.7

October 2011 Schedule

   I will be finishing my 3D Zelda playthroughs this month with my review of Zelda: Twilight Princess on October 16th, and my comparison of Wind Waker and Twilight Princess on October 23rd.
October 16-Zelda Twilight Princess
October 23-Wind Waker vs. Twilight Princess

The 3-D Mario Marathon including Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine has been cancelled.