Zelda: Twilight Princess (Short Review)

Since I'm lazy, and since people generally like to complain about the bad more than they praise the good, I'm going to follow the norm here. A lot of my points are going to have to do with the wii based controls, so if you played it on the gamecube, I'm willing to bet that your experiences may have varied depending on the situation.

The great: On the whole, I loved playing an action adventure RPG with the Wiimote and nunchuk. In most repsects it is very ergonomic; you can position your hands far or close apart, stretch your arms, and in general just play comfortably. Also, this was definitely a longer game than Ocarina, and in my book longer games are better games (unless they are filled with tedium, but as most Zelda fans know, this is never the case). All of the art work was astounding. The plot may be the best Zelda plot yet, although admittedly the plot is rarely what we are looking for in a Zelda game since we usually know what happens ahead of time, generally speaking.

The not so great: Like any other Wiimote based game, I find it annoying when I want to be extremely lazy and lay down on the couch while I play. I can't complain too much, that's what FFXII and the PS2 are for. Also, I found aiming ranged weapons to be somewhat difficult - partly because my Wiimote receive is high up, and partly because I have a tendency to not steady my arm on my knee (this definitely helps).

The mediocre (mild Spoilers): While most of the boss fights in this game were very entertaining, they weren't really that challenging - at least, I remember Ocarina bosses being quite a bit more difficult in general. The last boss is divided up in to 4 parts, and only one of those parts is really the least bit challenging. The final part (the hardest section in the 4 part fight), had such great potential, but they escaped cheaply by making the boss another block crazy fool, and while it was cool to really use your sword, it would have been nice to have had to use some of the other 8,000 (approx.) items you get in the game. The last fight is really just a trial of patience, much like the cave of ordeals in the game; an hour long endeavor that rewards you with free health potions (the potions also come with an attack boost that lasts about 10 to 15 seconds - hardly worth it in the final fight which is the only time you would use it; this is because most of the time the boss will be blocking your attacks). Warning: limit one per customer.

Really though, this game is hard to beat (in terms of fun, not difficulty...) - I just hope Nintendo cleans up my minor complaints in their next Zelda title, but even if they don't it'll still be great (so long as it doesn't involve more water or air - or space, though I find a Zelda in space to be more unlikely than the analagous Mario Galaxy, than land).