Twilight Princess was my favorite LoZ since the first minute. The game has so many quality "Holy Shit!" moments that are way over the top and epic, even in the basic gameplay (Twirling your sword into your holster after slaying an enemy is one of my favorite).
Of TP's 9 dungeons, The first 7 are all in my top ten favorite in the entire series.
The game revolutionized the way almost every recurring item worked. Iron boots aren't just water and weight adjusters, they allow you to magnetize yourself to vertical walls (Holy shit that's awesome!), AND wrestle with Gorons! (Holy Shit that's awesome!). Arrows cut rope just like a sword, can be picked up off the ground for the first time, and can also knock enemy projectiles out of the air. The Boomerang causes gusts of wind. The hookshot now grapples you to walls and can be raised/lowered instead of just plopping you down when you reach the destination... also by the way? There's two of them. (Holy shit Spiderman!) Bombs can be used in water! Rolled towards enemies! Tied to your Arrows! Thrown from horseback! (Every item can now be used on horseback! That's amazing!)
Every item, even the worst ones (Here's to you dominion rod!) completely came out of the blue and radically shift the dungeon into new light. You don't expect the bow... Not in the fire dungeon! And all of it's targets are hidden as ropes- a new mechanic to prevent you from suspecting. All of the hookshot points in the water temple are hidden as torches on the wall, or metal grating that you assume is just the aesthetic of the temple. The Second Clawshot? Jesus Christ, opening up the Second Clawshot and being floored that you could even do that is hands down the coolest moment of the entire series for me right there. Ball and Chain? What the hell do you even do with this thing? Oh shit it breaks ice! WAIT, THE ENTIRE LEVEL IS COVERED IN ICE. I THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO GET FIRE ARROWS OR THE CANDLE OR SOMETHING
Every single dungeon is like this. Every single item.
Midna's probably the most likeable and most useful sidekick (both plot and powers) Link's ever had. Zelda is probably the most mature and queenlike she's ever been. (Not knocking on Tetra/Sheik or any others, it's just a super interesting take on the character that still hasn't been copied). Ganondorf has never been more downright evil. He murders the water sage on-fucking screen. Ganon has never been more beastly. You've never gotten to fight him on horseback before. You've never had any meaningful horseback fights before, and this game gives you three, all fantastic, all epic. Zant's fucking creepy. Midna's fucking creepy. The Gorons look badass for the first time. Many of the bossfights are just downright epic. Flaming Goron swinging his chains around at you like whips? Giant Dragon you have to swing around and ride? Giant eel that erupts from the ground mid-fight and radically changes the entire encounter? Giant Ogre that you slowly beat into submission who switches sides because he respects you? Colossal mechanical spider you pound into a pulp? And how about the Super Hero squad that comes out of the blue to rescue you at the castle? Auru has a fucking rocket launcher for godsake. That's badass. And finally, finally, finally: Those macguffins you've been running around all game for? Those typically useless medallions, or orbs or glorified keys that basically do nothing? They don't do nothing. They do a great many things. The Mirror is a physical gateway you have to physically piece back together. Mechanically, it's no different. But the way it's presented as a key you have to put back together so much more sincere and powerful and visible in helping you achieve your goals. And the Fused Shadows? Oh Boy. You actually use them. Or, Midna does. She turns into a massive Chthulu/Majora monster and rips apart Ganondorf's precious little shield like it was made of paper. Completing the dungeons actually does something, and it's very powerful. (MM also does this really really well, although that's more because of how the environment changes rather than how a boss's mask actually advances your quest)
People complain that Twilight Princess didn't do anything to revolutionize the series. But it did. It brought epic fights, epic bosses, epic sword moves, epic enemies. The game lives to be a giant glory fest, once scene or encounter after another. No other game has as huge a thrill ride from start to finish, and Link and his adventure has never really been as grandiose. That's the thing TP added to the series.
Let's also take a moment to talk briefly, briefly, about Zelda Lore. Twilight Princess takes all the previously known lore in Zelda and expands it without ruining it, or overwriting it, or bullshitting it's way out of the situation. Every single LoZ game since Twilight Princess either outright ignores the series's history, or flings the story so far into the future or past that nothing at all is relevant anymore.
Who built Majora's Mask? We Still don't know, but for some reason it's imagery is repeated all over the Twili's magic and culture. The Skull kid still lives in the lost woods, and still reminisces about his lost friend. Din, Farore, and Nayru are now prominently incorporated into the world with regions named after them. The Temple of Time? It's sitting in ruins, otherwise looking exactly like it was in Ocarina. It still protects the Master Sword and hints at the world that was. But let's take a step even further back. The temple of time was a temple in Ocarina: the only one you never got to really enter and beat. In TP, you go back into the past before the ruins were decrepit and enter the dungeon through a secret entrance- One that Navi basically wandered into at the very end of Oot. You literally play the one level that was stolen from you in a previous game because of time constraints. Not only that, but the boss of the temple is actually from Ocarina of Time! Armored up and horrifically afraid of you, because it recognizes you. Twilight Princess is the only game in the series that respects and honors the timeline, and the other games. It's the only one.
nathanjosiah on December 21st, 2017 at 03:57 UTC »
I don't get the hate.. TP is still one of my top 3.
Everettj14 on December 21st, 2017 at 07:51 UTC »
TP is one of my favorite 3d zelda games, but the skytemple can go fuck itself.
RAV0004 on December 21st, 2017 at 11:01 UTC »
Twilight Princess was my favorite LoZ since the first minute. The game has so many quality "Holy Shit!" moments that are way over the top and epic, even in the basic gameplay (Twirling your sword into your holster after slaying an enemy is one of my favorite).
Of TP's 9 dungeons, The first 7 are all in my top ten favorite in the entire series.
The game revolutionized the way almost every recurring item worked. Iron boots aren't just water and weight adjusters, they allow you to magnetize yourself to vertical walls (Holy shit that's awesome!), AND wrestle with Gorons! (Holy Shit that's awesome!). Arrows cut rope just like a sword, can be picked up off the ground for the first time, and can also knock enemy projectiles out of the air. The Boomerang causes gusts of wind. The hookshot now grapples you to walls and can be raised/lowered instead of just plopping you down when you reach the destination... also by the way? There's two of them. (Holy shit Spiderman!) Bombs can be used in water! Rolled towards enemies! Tied to your Arrows! Thrown from horseback! (Every item can now be used on horseback! That's amazing!)
Every item, even the worst ones (Here's to you dominion rod!) completely came out of the blue and radically shift the dungeon into new light. You don't expect the bow... Not in the fire dungeon! And all of it's targets are hidden as ropes- a new mechanic to prevent you from suspecting. All of the hookshot points in the water temple are hidden as torches on the wall, or metal grating that you assume is just the aesthetic of the temple. The Second Clawshot? Jesus Christ, opening up the Second Clawshot and being floored that you could even do that is hands down the coolest moment of the entire series for me right there. Ball and Chain? What the hell do you even do with this thing? Oh shit it breaks ice! WAIT, THE ENTIRE LEVEL IS COVERED IN ICE. I THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO GET FIRE ARROWS OR THE CANDLE OR SOMETHING
Every single dungeon is like this. Every single item.
Midna's probably the most likeable and most useful sidekick (both plot and powers) Link's ever had. Zelda is probably the most mature and queenlike she's ever been. (Not knocking on Tetra/Sheik or any others, it's just a super interesting take on the character that still hasn't been copied). Ganondorf has never been more downright evil. He murders the water sage on-fucking screen. Ganon has never been more beastly. You've never gotten to fight him on horseback before. You've never had any meaningful horseback fights before, and this game gives you three, all fantastic, all epic. Zant's fucking creepy. Midna's fucking creepy. The Gorons look badass for the first time. Many of the bossfights are just downright epic. Flaming Goron swinging his chains around at you like whips? Giant Dragon you have to swing around and ride? Giant eel that erupts from the ground mid-fight and radically changes the entire encounter? Giant Ogre that you slowly beat into submission who switches sides because he respects you? Colossal mechanical spider you pound into a pulp? And how about the Super Hero squad that comes out of the blue to rescue you at the castle? Auru has a fucking rocket launcher for godsake. That's badass. And finally, finally, finally: Those macguffins you've been running around all game for? Those typically useless medallions, or orbs or glorified keys that basically do nothing? They don't do nothing. They do a great many things. The Mirror is a physical gateway you have to physically piece back together. Mechanically, it's no different. But the way it's presented as a key you have to put back together so much more sincere and powerful and visible in helping you achieve your goals. And the Fused Shadows? Oh Boy. You actually use them. Or, Midna does. She turns into a massive Chthulu/Majora monster and rips apart Ganondorf's precious little shield like it was made of paper. Completing the dungeons actually does something, and it's very powerful. (MM also does this really really well, although that's more because of how the environment changes rather than how a boss's mask actually advances your quest)
People complain that Twilight Princess didn't do anything to revolutionize the series. But it did. It brought epic fights, epic bosses, epic sword moves, epic enemies. The game lives to be a giant glory fest, once scene or encounter after another. No other game has as huge a thrill ride from start to finish, and Link and his adventure has never really been as grandiose. That's the thing TP added to the series.
Let's also take a moment to talk briefly, briefly, about Zelda Lore. Twilight Princess takes all the previously known lore in Zelda and expands it without ruining it, or overwriting it, or bullshitting it's way out of the situation. Every single LoZ game since Twilight Princess either outright ignores the series's history, or flings the story so far into the future or past that nothing at all is relevant anymore.
Who built Majora's Mask? We Still don't know, but for some reason it's imagery is repeated all over the Twili's magic and culture. The Skull kid still lives in the lost woods, and still reminisces about his lost friend. Din, Farore, and Nayru are now prominently incorporated into the world with regions named after them. The Temple of Time? It's sitting in ruins, otherwise looking exactly like it was in Ocarina. It still protects the Master Sword and hints at the world that was. But let's take a step even further back. The temple of time was a temple in Ocarina: the only one you never got to really enter and beat. In TP, you go back into the past before the ruins were decrepit and enter the dungeon through a secret entrance- One that Navi basically wandered into at the very end of Oot. You literally play the one level that was stolen from you in a previous game because of time constraints. Not only that, but the boss of the temple is actually from Ocarina of Time! Armored up and horrifically afraid of you, because it recognizes you. Twilight Princess is the only game in the series that respects and honors the timeline, and the other games. It's the only one.