The Gamer's Quarter

[SuperWes]

[Dracko]

Mario Kart Double Dash had pretense to a story?
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"This is the most fun I've ever had without being drenched in the blood of my enemies!"

[helicopterp]

I think Wes's point was that the story doesn't matter for a Zelda game just like it doesn't matter for a Mariokart game. So, no, Double Dash did not have a pretense to a story.

I only half agree with Wes, though. I think the stories in Zelda that are important are the small ones, the people you talk to whom you help and who help you. I think those miniature ones should be subject to the most scrutiny, and ultimately redeem the game or not.
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Like you thought you'd seen copter perverts before. They were nothing compared to this one.

[Dracko]

And Wes' point is wrong because Zelda obviously wants to tell a story.
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"This is the most fun I've ever had without being drenched in the blood of my enemies!"

[SuperWes]

[Nana Komatsu]

Link's Awakening might have been responsible for this. Or the CD-I games.

[Dracko]

[SuperWes]

[purplechair]

Given that I started with Link to the Past, I always found Zelda's storylines to be pretty explicit. It's only in the last couple of years that I've gone back to the original, been dumped in a field with no instructions and thought "Well where the fuck am I supposed to go?!"

Not that I'm saying that's bad as such. But, looking at the series as a whole, it seems like the exception rather than the rule.

[The Great Unwashed]

I just got up to the second Dungeon, on Death Mountain. The minute I stepped onto Hyrule Field, I tried to explore around instead of just heading straight off to where Midna wants me to go.

Of course, you can't. Every other exit from the field has been arbitrarily blocked off.

This is pretty much indicative of the whole game, so far. I haven't yet found somewhere where I thought "Awesome, I'm not supposed to be here, and there's nothing I can do here yet, I'll have to come back later". At least OoT had the decency to let you go somewhere and realise you couldn't do shit there until you had [insert item here.]

Midna, too, is really beginning to bug me. She's the biggest example of a railroading piece of deus ex mechanic ever. She can do practically anything she wants and yet she keeps hammering it in that you have to do it, which, when she's walking you through pointless little scenarios of which there is only one acceptable outcome, I personally find fairly condescending and certainly quite annoying.

Unlike many other games which at least make me feel like I'm in control, even when I'm actually not.. Twilight Princess is giving me a very strong vibe of being just a pawn in a story. I'm hoping this will change, and I'm definitely going to finish it because despite these gripes I am quite enjoying it, but still.

Also, they totally didn't even bother getting new music for the Goron city. Come on.
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[Harveyjames]

'i;m gonna stick my balls in the table \and write my definitive views on this in the SotC thread. See you there!

[Nana Komatsu]

I started playing the GC version again. I was lost after the plot stuff following the Water Temple but with some help from Dess I figured out what I needed to do next.

I've come to the conclusion that I think I like the wolf portions of the game more than the Link parts. Sadly at this point I'm worried that switching into wolf mode will just be a gimmick for the rest of the game, and the Arbiter's Grounds has done nothing to change my opinion of this.

Also, the Spinner might be the coolest item added to a Zelda game in a while.

Does anyone else care about this game anymore seeing how most of you have beaten it already?

[Cycle]

I just started playing it again after taking a break. I'm in the Snowpeak Ruins right now. It's been a highlight!
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[Nana Komatsu]

I just got there myself! But now I'm stopping for the night since it's 5 am.

[Nana Komatsu]

Just now I left my game on as I was typing my last post and there was a second introduction video that had all sorts of scenes from parts of the game I've beaten (with spoilers). Can anyone else confirm that there's some sort of unlockable intro video? Will more get added to it as I progress further in the game? In any event. this is pretty neat!

[Mr. Mechanical]

Wow, I need to start playing again. I'm at Snowpeak too, guys! Well, I will be if I can ever manage to catch one of those friggin' reekfish.

But yeah, I stopped playing for about a week and then picked it back up yesterday. I can see where people are coming from with their complaints, but I'm still having a really good time with the game.
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Mr. Mechanical

[internisus]

[purplechair]

[Nana Komatsu]

So I'm almost done! I basically played all day today beating all three of the mirror pieces dungeons and the Palace of Twilight. The Snowpeak ruins was the highlight by far, and I liked the City in the Sky the least. Something about the level design just annoyed me, and I could tell right away they were giving me Another clawshot. I will say the boss of that dungeon was the best of the three.

The more i play this game, the more I can't figure out how people are managing to play it with the Wii controller. It feels like the game was made for the Gamecube controller (and well, it was) and I understand they had a lot of time to tweak the wii controls, but I can't wrap my mind around the idea of shaking a remote for 40 hours. The game just feels too natural with the GC controller.

Also, the return of the gigantic hand in the palace of twilight amused me quite a bit.

I still want a full-size plush Midna ;_;

[dmauro]

What's up with the music when you do the downhill race with the yeti? It sounds like shmụp music and is very un-Zelda-like but completely awesome.

[FortNinety]

Okay, haven't read much of this thread, since I'm trying my best to avoid spoilers. But I just wanted to say....

I started out hating the game due to the fuck-awful fishing portion in the beginning. Though things have gotten better, though I'm still not 100% comfortable with the controls, but then again, I am playing the Cube version. But thing have slowly been getting better and better, and I find myself really enjoying the game, due primairly to its fine Zelda feel, which I know many have complained about, but I personally don't mind the classic elements, since much of it has been refined quite nicely.

Though I gotta say, I find the wolf parts pretty lacking (and I figured it would be the coolest part too). In fact, I dare say they flat out suck. And I'm pretty sure its not the controls, though I have to wonder if the camera is any different (i.e. better) in the Wii edition.

Maybe it gets better (I'm still relatively early on in the game), but the controls, combat, and all the quests thus far have been pretty boring and at times, needlessly frustrating. Not to mention various lapses in logic that I personally find dumb as hell, such as the switiching between sight and senses, which makes no sense to me no matter what.

[Nana Komatsu]

Is the fishing really that hard for people playing the GC version? I haven't had much trouble but I've noticed others listing it as a pain point.

[FortNinety]

Yeah, I'm well past that point, I'm still super pissed about it. Then again, I like to hold grudges, even against games!

[grumbel]

[Cycle]

Fishing with your own pole is really pretty terrible, but if you do it at the fishing hole it's actually pretty nice and relaxing. Has anyone else here actually visited the fishing hole? It's so pretty I also like the owners enthusiasm!
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[B coma]

[B coma]

[Harveyjames]

[SuperWes]

[Harveyjames]

A piece of heart. And I hear you can see the fishing girl's tits.

[internisus]

I spent a lot of time there, and I found that any pleasantness is subverted by the obvious fact that fish are more or less stationary targets. You cast your lure, and if there's nothing there right away, nothing's ever going to be there, so you immediately reel it in and cast somewhere else. The process becomes routine and gamey. Most annoying of all, I hit a ceiling on sizes for all my catches almost immediately. Everything I caught after the first half-hour at the fishing hole got tossed back. I still have no idea how to catch anything larger or to use the frog lure to get the legendary fish from the book.

[Cycle]

So it's pretty much like real fishing?
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[internisus]

No, not at all. In real fishing, you don't zoom in your camera immediately after casting to see whether you've gotten a fish's attention or not and then immediately reel in to cast somewhere else if you haven't.

[Mr. Mechanical]

[internisus]

I don't know how it happened, but I was steadily donating between dungeons and at some point the amount needed jumped from like 1700 to 200. Maybe someone else cared as much as I did.

[Ethoscapade]

that happens if you get the goron to smash down the rocks directly between castle town and the forest.

also, internisus, have you made it to the fifth dungeon yet? it's a low point for the implementation of the controls (though you're on cube so it might not matter) and a peak for everything else.

[dessgeega]

make sure you bring normal bombs though.
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[Ethoscapade]

ehhh it's not such a tremendous problem if you don't; warping to kakariko and back takes all of five minutes and anybody taking their time with the game would more than likely have a couple separate bomb bags by then anyway.

[dessgeega]

you can have seperate bomb bags?
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[Mr. Mechanical]

[dessgeega]

you people are nuts.

hey what's the third outfit
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[Mr. Mechanical]

[internisus]

I had three bomb bags when I went through the fifth dungeon. I didn't think it was so hot. The water temple and sky city were my favorites.

The third tunic is a stupid set of "magic armor" you buy at the castle town malo mart for 598 rupees. It runs on money. I'm spoiling this for you so that you don't feel as let down as I did.

Also, for anyone who is interested, when I finished the game I had about 55 hours clocked and was only seven heart pieces short of all of them. I haven't yet bothered to find all the bugs (I think I have 18 our of 24) and I only have 39 poes. I'm looking forward to spending time in the cave of ordeals but I doubt I'll ever do the rest.

[Mr. Mechanical]

[dessgeega]

yeah, i have like eleven poes and one bomb bag and a 300-rupee wallet. the only thing i'm somewhat interested in picking the game back up to see is the cave of ordeals. what's this about hidden grottos, though?
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[Mr. Mechanical]

Well, they're hidden, see.
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Mr. Mechanical

[Slonie]

Just cause dess rushed didn't mean everyone else did. The grottoes are out there, sometimes behind bombable walls, sometimes accessed by digging in the ground (look for really big shiny diggin' spots). Good way to get hundreds of ruppees and/or heart pieces. The magical money armor can come in handy in the cave of ordeals, but only if you need every advantage you can get.

I think I have like 42 poes, and I ain't going back to look for more. Probably a little more than half of the bugs, too, but I ain't gonna go back for those either. Still, I had a good time.
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-Slonie

[Ethoscapade]

i think the point of the magic armor is that by the time you've finished the necessary sidequests and bought the thing, you really don't need rupees anymore.

and yeah, i've found the heart piece collecting, bomb-bag-and-quiver-and-wallet upgrading, and whatever else to be pretty briskly paced. there is no way in hell i will find every poe, or every bug, or even every heart piece, as i'm not twelve years old anymore. however, i'm at about twenty five hours or so in the sixth dungeon, and other than an implied second quiver upgrade (which will take me all of two minutes and will be fun, if the first was any indication) i more or less have a straight slog to the end of the game from here.

like, especially as regards the poes, there's no way in hell you aren't going to find twenty while playing normally, but you have to be a total nut to get all sixty(?). that's as suitable a balance as i can think of.

[david]

[SuperWes]