First Impression: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Wii)
Posted on
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
by Gary A. Ballard
I have never been a Zelda fan. Other than about two hours of play on Wind Waker, I have never played a Zelda game. I have no emotional investment in Link or any of the past villains, dungeons, or gameplay. But it was THE game to get when purchasing the Wii, if only because the Zelda name is a mark of a quality game. It is a known commodity, almost sure not to disappoint. When approaching launch titles for a new console, one has to take into account that many of them will be test platforms for developers to learn the quirks of a machine's development kit. Zelda, however, had originally been designed as a GameCube game before being switched to a Wii title, so it was more likely than not to be well-designed rather than a half-assed rush job. And Zelda had swordfighting, which seems to be the killer gameplay mechanic for the Wiimote. My purchase was assured, and I'm happy to say that so far, it seems worth it.
This is not a full review. It's based on approximately three hours of play. I've barely scratched the surface of the game, so this is meant to give a general impression of the gameplay mechanics, graphics and sound as opposed to a full review. If my impression changes pretty drastically after more play, I'll either write up a full review or update this one, depending on how my feelings on the game change. But I've always thought you can tell the most about a game's mechanics in the first few hours of play, and if it doesn't grab you by then it never will.
Twilight Princess is a game with caveats, at least for those without prior Zelda experience. One must be willing to put up with cutesy characters that are heavily anime-inspired, sampled keyboard music and a lack of voiceovers. In most other series, that might be considered a travesty, but in Zelda it feels like a conscious design decision. In fact, the quest engine, movement and characters feel a good bit like those I encountered in Wind Waker, only rendered in a more traditional 3-d video game style. The graphics are lushly textured with generous use of a "fantasy bloom" style of filtering that gives everything an unearthly, Rivendell-esque glow. The terrain and character models are somewhat angular, but it appears to be a choice of art direction and not lack of rendering capability. No, it isn't the shiny, curvy, bump-mapped hi-def visual orgy of the 360 or the PS3, but it is at least as pretty as the best looking X-Box games I've seen. The audio portion of the game is strong as well.
But the important part is the control. How does Zelda work with the Wiimote? Quite well. The addition of the Wiimote speaker helps immersion greatly, despite being lo-fi in quality. Hearing sword swings moving past my ear as I swing the Wiimote is a small thing, but adds to the experience greatly without distracting me from the main action. The Wiimote acts as a sword during fights, an aiming device when using ranged weapons, and a fishing pole for the fishing mini-game. The control of the device is responsive and acceptably precise. While the Wiimote pointer is not pixel-perfect, it's close enough to be an effective tool.
Finally, the game is just fun. Could the game have been done on a traditional controller? Certainly it could have. I've seen reviewers that consider that a bad thing, but I think those reviews miss the point. What the Wiimote adds is a bit of visceral immersion, a sense of direct action that enhances the gameplay far beyond what it would be on a traditional gamepad. That sense of breathless thrashing about imbues the game with a childlike glee that hearkens back to my days slamming away on the keyboard of a Commodore 64 while playing Track and Field. That kind of exertion, that kind of directed control is missing from a lot of gameplay in the last few years.
My recommendation is that if you buy a Wii, Zelda is one of those games you should buy unless its style or genre is just not your bag. My first impression is that Zelda is a fun game filled with gasping moments of childlike wonder.
This is not a full review. It's based on approximately three hours of play. I've barely scratched the surface of the game, so this is meant to give a general impression of the gameplay mechanics, graphics and sound as opposed to a full review. If my impression changes pretty drastically after more play, I'll either write up a full review or update this one, depending on how my feelings on the game change. But I've always thought you can tell the most about a game's mechanics in the first few hours of play, and if it doesn't grab you by then it never will.
Twilight Princess is a game with caveats, at least for those without prior Zelda experience. One must be willing to put up with cutesy characters that are heavily anime-inspired, sampled keyboard music and a lack of voiceovers. In most other series, that might be considered a travesty, but in Zelda it feels like a conscious design decision. In fact, the quest engine, movement and characters feel a good bit like those I encountered in Wind Waker, only rendered in a more traditional 3-d video game style. The graphics are lushly textured with generous use of a "fantasy bloom" style of filtering that gives everything an unearthly, Rivendell-esque glow. The terrain and character models are somewhat angular, but it appears to be a choice of art direction and not lack of rendering capability. No, it isn't the shiny, curvy, bump-mapped hi-def visual orgy of the 360 or the PS3, but it is at least as pretty as the best looking X-Box games I've seen. The audio portion of the game is strong as well.
But the important part is the control. How does Zelda work with the Wiimote? Quite well. The addition of the Wiimote speaker helps immersion greatly, despite being lo-fi in quality. Hearing sword swings moving past my ear as I swing the Wiimote is a small thing, but adds to the experience greatly without distracting me from the main action. The Wiimote acts as a sword during fights, an aiming device when using ranged weapons, and a fishing pole for the fishing mini-game. The control of the device is responsive and acceptably precise. While the Wiimote pointer is not pixel-perfect, it's close enough to be an effective tool.
Finally, the game is just fun. Could the game have been done on a traditional controller? Certainly it could have. I've seen reviewers that consider that a bad thing, but I think those reviews miss the point. What the Wiimote adds is a bit of visceral immersion, a sense of direct action that enhances the gameplay far beyond what it would be on a traditional gamepad. That sense of breathless thrashing about imbues the game with a childlike glee that hearkens back to my days slamming away on the keyboard of a Commodore 64 while playing Track and Field. That kind of exertion, that kind of directed control is missing from a lot of gameplay in the last few years.
My recommendation is that if you buy a Wii, Zelda is one of those games you should buy unless its style or genre is just not your bag. My first impression is that Zelda is a fun game filled with gasping moments of childlike wonder.
Labels: Video Games, Wii, Zelda
posted by Gary A. Ballard @ 9:10 AM
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