The Legends of Zelda are games made for video gamers. They try not to be, it seems, but are so filled with inside jokes and self-references that it is inescapable. If you have played one Zelda game you have played... not all, but about half of them. Which is like fantasy in other genres. Once you start into fantasy, you find out quickly that most of them are very similar to each other. A fantasy writer is an artist with cliches so common they cease to be cliche, at least within the genre.
There are, of course, several sub-genres. American fantasy tends to be filled with gleaming castles while British fantasy has gritty, more realistically dark-age castles. Japanese fantasy, however, has flying castles. Everything is more epic in Japan.
My favorite is the British type. It is for this reason that Twilight Princess was so appealing to me. The graphical approach, at least, leaned more heavily toward British fantasy than anything inside the video gaming universe. Which can be oppressively narrow at times. There still is one true flying castle in Twilight Princess and many other points which rather detract from the experience (one of them being your primary weapon: The Master Sword, it looks like something a Power Ranger would use.) but it manages it better than anything else I have come across.
Zelda is the only game wich really attempts to be an "Epic Fantasy Video Game" story which isn't a rather dull RPG where one spends 90% of their time in tit-for-tat battles. And it is the most successful at creating this atmosphere. Even more so than Ocarina of Time, which has an even more Quintessential story line, Twilight Princess achieves this. The Zelda enthusiasts like Ocarina more, partially, I believe, because they find Twilight Princess to be less unique. The story is more unique. But it is true that this new game borrows about half its ideas straight out of ol' Ocarina of Time sometimes without even the slightest modification. If you have played Ocarina of Time, than this one may not really be worth the hours you'll spend playing it. If you've never played a Zelda game, this is a good place to start.
But beware: Zelda games can be outrageously annoying. The story is very linear and it keeps you on track by simply not allowing you, the player, to do certain things if it would interfere with the plot. Even if Link would otherwise be able to do it. Like jumping over a wall, climbing over a grate. Sometimes you will see your destination, and think of a very cleaver way to achieve it, but it isn't the one you are supposed to use, so it will not ever work. Quit trying now. There seem to be more of these you-are-not-allowed-to-do-that moments in this game than in others I have played. For people who like a lot of modern epicly sized games like Morrowind, you will find Zelda to be oppresivly one-dimensioned.
Having some little creature follow you around and tell you what to do is obnoxious as well; as is Link's amazing level of courtesy. There is one puzzle in the game which is only necessary because Link always, always, shuts the door behind him. If he left it open, it would be easy to carry cannon balls everywhere you'd need to go. He always obeys the oppressive thing that follows him and has since Ocarina.
I am impressed that Twilight Princess tries to be more cinematic, and tries to be emotional, but video games don't have enough practice it seems and the game fails. It also suffers from Disney Syndrome where nothing really bad can ever happen.
There are, of course, several sub-genres. American fantasy tends to be filled with gleaming castles while British fantasy has gritty, more realistically dark-age castles. Japanese fantasy, however, has flying castles. Everything is more epic in Japan.
My favorite is the British type. It is for this reason that Twilight Princess was so appealing to me. The graphical approach, at least, leaned more heavily toward British fantasy than anything inside the video gaming universe. Which can be oppressively narrow at times. There still is one true flying castle in Twilight Princess and many other points which rather detract from the experience (one of them being your primary weapon: The Master Sword, it looks like something a Power Ranger would use.) but it manages it better than anything else I have come across.
Zelda is the only game wich really attempts to be an "Epic Fantasy Video Game" story which isn't a rather dull RPG where one spends 90% of their time in tit-for-tat battles. And it is the most successful at creating this atmosphere. Even more so than Ocarina of Time, which has an even more Quintessential story line, Twilight Princess achieves this. The Zelda enthusiasts like Ocarina more, partially, I believe, because they find Twilight Princess to be less unique. The story is more unique. But it is true that this new game borrows about half its ideas straight out of ol' Ocarina of Time sometimes without even the slightest modification. If you have played Ocarina of Time, than this one may not really be worth the hours you'll spend playing it. If you've never played a Zelda game, this is a good place to start.
But beware: Zelda games can be outrageously annoying. The story is very linear and it keeps you on track by simply not allowing you, the player, to do certain things if it would interfere with the plot. Even if Link would otherwise be able to do it. Like jumping over a wall, climbing over a grate. Sometimes you will see your destination, and think of a very cleaver way to achieve it, but it isn't the one you are supposed to use, so it will not ever work. Quit trying now. There seem to be more of these you-are-not-allowed-to-do-that moments in this game than in others I have played. For people who like a lot of modern epicly sized games like Morrowind, you will find Zelda to be oppresivly one-dimensioned.
Having some little creature follow you around and tell you what to do is obnoxious as well; as is Link's amazing level of courtesy. There is one puzzle in the game which is only necessary because Link always, always, shuts the door behind him. If he left it open, it would be easy to carry cannon balls everywhere you'd need to go. He always obeys the oppressive thing that follows him and has since Ocarina.
I am impressed that Twilight Princess tries to be more cinematic, and tries to be emotional, but video games don't have enough practice it seems and the game fails. It also suffers from Disney Syndrome where nothing really bad can ever happen.
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