Well everyone knows this game will be amazing but you haven’t heard everything about the game. That’s right there are things they haven’t even told you that are just simply incredible. Check out all of these things they haven’t told you about the game and after reading this you’ll know why it is game of the year. Its about the combat and storyline an everything in the game:
I want to also talk some more about The Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess. This game without one doubt will absolutely dominate the rating and sales charts all the way through next year. I know a lot of people were disappointed with the delay. But remember that Ocarina of Time was also delayed…many times. This game will also truly surpass Ocarina of Time in every aspect…story, game play, expansiveness, scoop, atmosphere, you name it. Make no mistake this will be the last and best GameCube game and no doubt the best game of 2006 hands down. Although even if you have a Revolution you will still be able to play it and it might even look a little bit better. As I said before I am so inspired on how this game is directed and presented all the way through. Epona is so lifelike and realistic in how she moves and reacts to things in Hyrule. If you loved the horse animations in Shadow of the Colossus get ready for a dramatic passion for these animations. Depending on what’s going on Epona will gallop across the beautifully rendered expanses of Hyrule in the wild-spirited free-flowing majestic gesture similar to SOTC but much better animated and even more lifelike. The mane of her hair and tail flowing in the wind realistically with subtle physics applied is a truly beautiful sight. But if her and Link are coming up on combat or in the midst of it, her attitude will reflect Link’s. She will gradually change to a much more menacing, aggressive faster gallop. She will often move her head and exhibit gestures of that of a real horse depending on the situation of Link and her surroundings. She will react to going to full speed to a complete stop just like a real horse and react to almost slamming into something. I have already gone into how utterly awesome the horse combat is. So I don’t have to remind you of the intensity and sense of speed while riding the horse. But Link can also sit down or stand up in the saddle and do a wide variety of things. He can also hijack boars and ride all kinds of other animals. The animation’s of Link’s facial expressions are also a true sight to behold. They communicate his attitude, surroundings, and objective to the player and truly surpass those of Wind Waker.
Furthermore this game really is a evolution of The Legend of Zelda, the story has a lot to do with the romance between Link and Princess Zelda. This is also most definitely the saddest and most melancholy Zelda ever created. The game will set game play and story benchmarks not only for all Zelda’s to come but for games in general. Now this game is not nearly as depressing as Guts N’ Glory, but after playing and seeing what I saw from that demo, you will agree this will be a depressing game at times. Not in a bad way of course, but it will definitely be an epic powerful emotional experience. The orchestrated soundtrack is also downright amazing. Everywhere you go the soundtrack perfectly sets the mood. Aonuma has openly stated that this game will have over 100 hrs of game play once 100% completed which is in and of itself astounding.
Link will also be able to obtain a huge eagle/griffon friend named Talon, which can be used to fly basically anywhere. Link can do combat and use his sword , arrows and bombs while on the bird which is very well done and visceral. One sequence showed Link call Epona while on the bird and Epona was running beneath you. Right before you needed to take an enemy by surprise, an interactive cut scene would come up and when done correctly. Link leaps off the bird and onto Epona to deal the finishing blow to the unsuspecting enemy. You can also hijack other enemies flying animals for a limited time through interactive cut scenes and fly them around for a bit to do battle, then kill them. It showed Link flying on a flying beast with a long neck and after dispatching enemies in different ways from atop this flying beast. He fires an arrow into the back of its neck, then a interactive cut scene prompts you to press Y+A. If done in time, as the beast falls toward the ground Link will sort of surf down its neck and onto Epona, as the beast crashes into the ground behind you. If you hadn’t called Epona in advance Link will just surf down the neck and jump to the ground. At which point you will need to lock-onto the beast and use your shield so the impact of the crash doesn’t send you flying. The Master Sword will be present but will bear a different name and slightly different appearance. Gone are the days of colleting keys and other old traditions in dungeons. There will be twelve dungeons in all and all revolve around a theme and specific main purpose. The overworld will be utterly enormous with branching places but also geographically distant places. Some you will have to fly to and others can be swam to and a boat can be used.
The game play while in wolf form the demo only offered you the chance to run around…you couldn’t make Mida do anything. But in the final game you will be able to and she will serve a substantial element to that game play area. The animations for the wolf form are just as good as Epona’s. The way it is directed is sheer brilliance in how it looks and presents the wolf, Mida and the action on-screen. While in his wolf form at some point in the game Link will have to survive without Mida though. But anyway, the way the wolf runs is very “wolf-like” and depending on whether you’re running or just walking along the animations are spectacular. He could bite with the A button and swipe with his paw with B. He could also leap onto an enemy or five or six like I stated in an earlier e-mail. Then do a running pounce and perform a speed kill…depending if you caught the enemy off-guard. He has many attacks but I won’t spoil anything else. Let’s just say that interactive context-sensitive cut scenes will be truly redefined with this game. The enemies are very smart in this game and will put up quite a fight, even the lesser enemies. The AI is among the best on current-gen hardware in how they react dynamically to every situation and use the environments to their advantage. The puzzles are also very ingenious. This will definitely be among the hardest in the series, if not the hardest.
The next part was showing how Link can communicate and rally animals. In humanoid form and especially in wolf form Link can interact with all kinds of animals. He can call his hawk, which can be used to get real-time info on different things. You also have the option to view the world from the hawk’s eyes and even guide and control him. It showed Link rallying all kinds of animals to your side in combat. Including sheep, ox, dogs, wolves, etc… There are a few things I’ll keep secret though about his interaction with the animals. But Link’s new “musical instrument” is a long straight wooden flute. It showed him playing it, but didn’t show the dynamics of how you will make Link play it or what it does.
Different distinctive choices are also the order of the day with Twilight Princess. The story itself with have many choices that you can make. As well as with the core game play itself. Not in any “good or evil” kind of choices but what you choose to do in the game and how you choose to get there. I’m not going to spoil any of the story choices I saw or even most of the game play choices. But the freedom in this game and how you meet your object has never had such cinematic flair or brilliant intuitive execution. Like when you are fighting this plant boss. There is this monkey that has a bomb and the most obvious route to take is to lock onto the bomb with the boomerang then onto the plant when its eye is open. Then release the boomerang so it snatches the bomb from the monkey and hit the boss’s eye. Then when the boss drops you can take out your sword and slash the eye. But there are several other possibilities you can use to defeat this boss. One being that you can walk around the ledge and get the plant to try and attack you, and when he comes to attack you roll out of the way. Then you will be prompted to do an interactive cut scenes for a split-second. If your fast enough Link will stab his sword through the plants neck causing the plant boss to be stuck to the ground. At this point Link will not have his sword and the plant won’t open his eye. You can either go get your sword back or get creative. You will realize while the plant’s head is stuck to the ground its “mouth” is more wide open. Inside the mouth is a another small little eye. So you target that little eye (which causes the big eye to open back up) then the bomb the monkey has then the big eye. Then throw the boomerang. Which will then allow you to slash his main eyeball with your sword again. Remember you have to do all this within the time limit while dodging or shielding the monkey’s bombs. But if you wait too long he will pull himself off the ground sending your sword into the air where Link will catch it. Other choice it to use the new “shield bump” which requires you to hold L to draw your shield and then press A for a shield bump, but these can only be done with the right timing. What happens is when the plant’s eye is open you wait for the monkey to throw a bomb at you. Draw your shield and when his bomb gets a certain distance you will see your shield flash for a second. Then press the A button when the prompt comes up that reads “counter”. Then Link will use his shield to bump the bomb up into the air then use his sword to smack the bomb like a baseball right into the plant’s eyeball. After that of course you can slash the eyeball. These are just three of a lot of different ways and that’s all I’m revealing at this time. Rest assured there’s a whole lot more for this part and a lot more parts of the game.
There was also the early in development forest sequence we played where Link is running through a dark forest with only a lantern to light the way. I also want to say that from the demo we played that was still ways off from release. The graphics screens and video that the public has seen are only about ¾ of how good this game is going to look in the final product. The lantern part was really only to show off the extensive lighting work that has went into the game. Although this part will surely hold a much bigger place in the final game. We only got to play this for about 20 sec. Before it switched to another part. But it showed Link (without the green getup on yet) walking through a very dark forest, which was rendered beautifully on the GameCube hardware. Then showed how the light and shadow effects were playing off of nearly everything including Link his clothes and everything else realistically. His hair blowing realistically in the wind. The game also sports some of the best real-time physics and dynamic deformation of objects and environment that can be done on current-gen hardware. The effects are never exaggerated or over-the-top though. They are subtle effects that help game play and are never used as a graphical gimmick to help sell a experience that lacks substance like many other games today. A couple examples are how the leaves blow around and float realistically after the Gale Boomerang is thrown. The way the grass blows in the wind and Link and Epona’s hair flows. The ways bombs deform objects, ground and the environment when they detonate. If Link or an enemy hits the ground dust and particle effects abound. Occasionally the ground will deform from certain impact. These are just some of the little subtle touches.
Link will also have the biggest assortment of weapons, upgrades and accessories of any Zelda game to date. Link will have access to up to six distinctively different swords with there own advantages, including the beloved Master Sword and swords similar to the Biggeron, and Great Fairy swords. It also showed briefly Link wielding two different swords at once…shield on his back. Four distinctly different shields, including the Hyrulian shield, Mirror Shield and two others were shown. He will also be able to wield many projectile weapons, including the Fairy Bow which now has the option to fire up to three arrows at once, and fire exploding arrows. Link can also combine certain items and weapons to make new ones or upgrade exsiting ones. Many tunics were also shown including the Goron (red) tunic, Zora (blue) tunic, a black tunic, white tunic, and even silver tunic. Each one looked distinctly different from the standard green chain mail getup. The different types of gloves were also shown (bronze, silver, and gold) that gave him more strength. The demo also showed a lot of different magic that he could do which showed at least eight different types, and how they could be executed at will in the midst of combat if you wish. Link will start out with his regular boots. But it showed him obtaining of course the Iron Boots, and the Gravity (winged) Boots from OOT were also shown. There were another pair of boots but I don’t yet know their purpose. I remember that the inventory screen has also been redone and looks a lot different and even better than before. The demo also briefly hinted around and showed Link in the pouring rain looking down nervously at something he was holding. To what was revealed as the Fierce Deity Mask. So I would hope he might be able to put it on at some point and become Oni Link once more.
The combat is also very revamped. As I stated before Link can now target up to six enemies at one time. He then switches to a free-form combat style and has a lot of the same moves he had in Soul Caliber 2. All-new context-sensitive interactive cut scenes are abound here including a rehauled “parry attack” from Wind Waker. But I’m not going to spoil any of those. Link is much more brutal with the combat in this game on and off his horse. His facial expressions to every thing around him is really great to see return with such love and attention to detail. Link can still lock-on to one enemy at a time if you wish and this has also been rehauled to be much better but still keep the familiar play mechanics and style. Link is WAY more brutal than in past Zelda games but it never seems to lose the Zelda feel to it. While locked-on or not Link will have a vast array of offensive and defensive moves and maneuvers. I don’t want to spoil anything else about the combat so I’ll just guarantee that this game’s fighting and combat engine is the best in any Zelda game to date. If not the best in any third-person action/adventure game.
Fishing is back too from Ocarina of Time. This time it will be done in a row boat and on shore like in OOT. The fishing game play dynamics seem to be very similar to the OOT fishing game but will allow a lot more locales. There seem to be different species of fish to catch and also many types of lures. At the end of that part it also showed Link in some kind of lake monster boss fight where he will be using the fishing pole to a great degree to fight it. He was in the boat and was using the pole for something in order to defeat the boss, and would need to row away quickly at certain times to avoid attacks. Which would be accomplished by an A button interactive context sensitive cut scenes in order to row away in a quick burst. This part wasn’t playable but looked extremely fun and amazing visually. The water was rendered exquisitely and the splashes and water effects showing things getting wet and Link himself getting wet were simply amazing.
Another thing I’m really excited about is that swimming is finally back in full. This was one of the most breathtaking parts of the demo we played because of how much detail went into the water and Link as he swims. There are real-time reflections on the water from Link, fish, and everything else. When Link gets out of the water you can tell he’s been wet. His hair will be dripping and be hanging down slightly, his face will shimmer in the light from being wet, You can see when he first exists the water that he is dripping with water. The ground will get wet where ever he walks. But the cool part is that he dries in real-time, no more ten second drying. The diving mechanic is still there with either 5 or 10 second dive intervals. But once we got a platinum scale from fishing out a 34 pound monster bass and turning it in. The platinum scale allows you to swim in the water freely in any direction (like the Zora transformation in Majoras Mask allowed) for 60 sec at a time before you need to come up for air. So expect a Water Temple of some kind to be in full effect and challenge. Of course as you throw your controller across the room because you just died for the 50th time and you just can’t figure the Water Temple out. Where the hell is that Strategy Guide. You know how it was to beat the Water temple in OOT. But back to the fishing. The effects and visuals from what I saw were downright awesome. Even the fishing mechanics have been somewhat revamped now you can use a wide assortment of lures, fishing poles, and different species of fish to catch. Because come on in the OOT fishing game I didn’t leave that place for like three weeks straight. But the visuals are outstanding with the water effects, the way he throws his line is cool now, the mists of rain at times during that part of the demo. So I am waiting on the final game to be able to fish oh fish again…and in a row boat too! The you will also be able to purchase a spear gun from what I can tell from the demo too. Which allows you to get and help capture much more larger fish and possibly could be of use in the lake boss fight we couldn’t actually play…but it looked amazing. The day-to-night lighting and environment effects are in real-time also and are simply breathtaking to see in action. When you first start the game it will ask to where you live so the time-of-day effects can be accurate to you.
The next part also wasn’t playable but it showed was Link riding Epona through this beautiful forest with sunlight cutting through the treetops. (You may have seen a screen or the official trailer of this) but it is absolutely breathtaking in motion with the orchestrated score. Link dismounts Epona then begins walking toward a giant silhouette, as he keeps walking you realize that everything has a much larger sense of scope and more emphasis on organic environments. There is light beaming down from every direction, especially from the holes in the canopy. Then Link notices that there is a cave up ahead. Then a very large imposing fellow stubbles up onto him with rope in his hand. Link then converses with this big yellowish thing and they agree to go inside the cave. That’s where the scene ends
The last part which wasn’t playable showed off Link facing off against the large fire beast that looks influenced by The Lords of The Rings Balrog from the first teaser that was shown. As this infernal goliath propels waves of flames at Link and swings his chains you can’t help but admit that the detail that went into this character model is astounding. The fire effects rival Resident Evil 4’s if not even better. The heat-blur effects are awesome. You can even see how the intensity of the heat is affecting the color of the chains near its hands. But a number of things have been changed about this guy since the teaser was shown. First of all apparently taking a nod from Shadow of the Colossus, this guy is BIG!!! He is as big if not even bigger (believe it or not) than the tallest and most gigantic colossus from SOTC. It also showed Link doing context-sensitive interactive cut scenes to dodge the chains and fire, then doing timed button-presses to attack at certain times. It also showed Link having to scale the enormous beast right before the scene cut off. That’s all I’m going to spoil though about that part. This battle will be amazing though.
There are also subtleties of cel-shading in the game also. Midna’s crazy headgear and arm tattoo’s have this toon-shading applied. Patterns on creatures’ flesh in the Twilight Realm use the technique as well. Monsters that drop into the Realm plumment from a cel-shaded breached void in the sky. When killed the creatures’ vanish in a storm of similarly animated panels. But the only cel-shading in Twilight Princess appears to be centered in the Twilight Realm.
The story itself in the demo went a small amount into what was shown in some detail how this game’s story will be more “mature” and realistic. As I said before the romance between Link and Princess Zelda, the Twilight Realm, Princess Zelda’s sadness shrouded but shown by her dark cloak, and her connection to Gannondorf. I’m don’t want to spoil anything but Gannondorf might be more connected to Zelda than you know, even romantically connected. Link and Gannondorf in this game may have been good friends at a time. Maybe the conflict of romancing Princess Zelda could later tear a wedge between Link and Gannondorf at some point in the game, and cause them to take different sides. There are a lot of grey areas in the story and game play that convey just because someone’s good doesn’t mean their not also somewhat evil. But finally lets me come to the realization that maybe the Princess Zelda has some of those grey areas, where she’s not just good but also evil. How should I say it “Twilight Princess” perfectly suites this game. And the fact that Gannondorf has nothing to do with the Twilight Ream and there is another force at work here. The demo ended after the credits rolled will a terrible “revelation” that Link might die in this game. All of these characters twisting stories and how they intertwine and connect to each other is going to be the most epic and moving game in history. There is a very high melancholy (depressive) aspect to this game as it rewrites all of the rules of previous Zelda’s. This will be a sad game, but at the same time epic and moving. This game The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess will without a doubt be the greatest game ever made, but at the same time a true work of art. Whether it be scale or scoop, best graphics on GC, Story, atmosphere, Cinematics, Gameplay, Playability, Control, Orchestrated score…the list go on and on. It will be Best game of all Time and most magnificent work of true art placed in digital media. Take my word for it.
These questions like who is actually manifesting the twilight realm if it isn’t Gannondorf. Could there be another force or person involved in this? Why has Princess Zelda cloaked her sadness, could this have something to do with her being like a real person…with a good divine side, and bad evil side…like all real people. Remember that this game is a continuation of the Ocarina of Time saga, after Zelda sends Link back 7 years to live as a boy again. This game shows what happens after he saves Clock Town from the moon in Majora‘s Mask. It shows where he went afterward (with Fierce Deity Mask in hand) and ended up in Toaru Village sporting a triforce tattoo. This game will go much deeper into the lore and mythos of The Legend of Zelda.
On a speculative side note if Link does indeed die in this game. Then that would explain why the “hero of time” disappeared before the Wind Waker took place and a new hero was needed and Hyrule was underwater.
Aonuma has also been saying secretly that there will be some sort of spoken dialogue in Twilight Princess. He says there will be spoken narration throughout the entire game and that possibly even Link may say a word or two throughout his adventure. These of course won’t be long drawn out spoken lines, probably at a turning point in the story he may say a word or two. It really is essential to keeping the Zelda mystique in tact by making most of it text based, with only a spoken word or two here and there. But the narration should be very outstanding for this title, and should help dig deeper into the lore of the Legend of Zelda.
I won’t go into the deeper exacts about the story, game play, or twilight realm because some things are better left unspoiled. But this game without a doubt will be hands-down the best game of 2006 and furthermore surpass Ocarina of Time for the best game ever made. Miyamoto and Aonuma have really outdone themselves this time.
Now by the end of reading this you don’t think this is the most amazing game ever then you are crazy. This is a next-gen game on a current gen system. This game is incredible and will take Game of the Year 2006 no problem.
Now I know you are probably thinking I’m throwing out bullshit but you’ll see.
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