Twilight Princess is the best Zelda game, and by extension, the HD version of Twilight Princess is the best Zelda game now. The End kids, now go to sleep.
Oh, right, CONTENT.
You're probably thinking that such a lofty claim comes from a place of nostalgia, in the same way pretty much any Zelda fan will believe in their heart, weather they're vocal about it or not, that the first Zelda game they played was the best Zelda game. Like how Dr Who fans will always hold a soft spot for the first iteration of The Doctor they saw, "Their Doctor". In that same vein, many Zelda fans hold Ocarina of Time as "Their Zelda", and hold it up on a pedestal as the gold standard for Zelda games.
But my first Zelda game was Phantom Hourglass. I do love PH to death, and I can't think of a better entry point to the series for a 10 year old child, but it's way too child-friendly for me to consider it anything more than my own personal gem. I picked up Twilight Princess on the Wii not long after, and while I can't deny that there's still some nostalgia in the game for me, after replaying it again without the waggle controls and with the game the right way round, I stand by my claim that it remains the best Zelda game to date.
To me, Twilight Princess represents everything Ocarina of Time set out to do, done better. I played through Ocarina for the first time on 3DS with the remake, and while I thoroughly enjoyed the experience, I couldn't see any individual element of it as anything other than a lesser version of what Twilight Princess would achieve later. The story in OOT popped it's head up occasionally, but for the most part remained quiet in favour of letting you get on with your hero duties. It was also very segmented, choosing to keep each of it's little tales contained in one area. Twilight Princess on the other hand, feels like so much of a bigger and more interconnected world, by way of your many quests sending you all around Hyrule (and also, well, being a bigger and more interconnected world), and a main quest that actually feels significant in how it presents itself.
Even down to the little things TP just feels like a step up. TP's side characters are more numerous and far more memorable in my mind, the combat is leagues ahead of any other game in the series, even the fishing is better in TP. But what sticks out to me most is something which bugged me about all the Zelda games prior to Wind Waker (which is also pretty excellent), that TP deals with so well, is the lack of direction. OOT 3D wallpapered over that crack with the Sheikah stone videos that you could consult whenever you got stuck, but it was still a fix to a problem in the core game design that was never there at all in WW or TP, hence why the Sheikah stone videos haven't made their reappearance in TP HD like they did in OOT 3D and Majoras Mask 3D. I never once had any need to consult any sort of guide at any point during TP, even as a 10-11 year old child. There's always enough narrative drive to convey where you need to go even without the map markers, even for the side quests.
The bug hunt quest tells you where you found bugs you've collected, and you know there are 2 in each area, so if you have one then you know where the other is, and by simple process of elimination you can figure out where you need to look for the ones you're missing. The number of poes left in each area is listed on the map, which at most may have you walking in to each dungeon after the midway point to check if you missed any in them. The fortune teller can tell you where all the pieces of heart are for rupees. Everything you need to complete the game is in the game, which sounds like a redundant and obvious thing to say, but so many games, especially Zelda games pre-Wind Waker, forget that as soon as it comes to side activities. I've yet to finish A Link to the Past, Minish Cap, and Link's Awakening because they don't even have that direction in the main quests, often leaving you lost and confused wondering what comes next after leaving a dungeon. Kind of like when you leave dungeons in real life. Especially the sex ones.
I said before how Ocarina seems to push the story to the wayside in favour of letting you do what I guess people would think of as "Zelda Things". Namely, Dungeons, and using all your new toys on things you've seen sitting about in the map that you couldn't get at before. And while that stuff is all well and good, god knows TP has a lot of Dungeons and they're some of the best and most memorable in the series besides Skyward Sword, and there's even a section of the main story based around using a new toy on stuff lying around Hyrule.
But Twilight Princess makes the time in between dungeons into something to look forward to as well, with wonderfully directed cutscenes telling what is at it's core a simple tale, but a thoroughly engaging one, with some excellent characterisation. It's a shame that not everyone gets a chance to shine thanks to there being so many amazing characters, but wanting more of a good thing isn't the worst problem to have. The resistance group that drive the second "Gather 3 things" main quest all get their brief moments of importance, but never enough I feel. Especially Ashei. God I wish we had more Ashei. Why isn't she in Hyrule Warriors? She should be in Hyrule Warriors.
A lot of people didn't like how main villain Zant was pushed aside by the Big Man Himself by the end, but I feel that misses the point of both their characters. Zant was a great villain in a very traditional way, made into a spectacular one by the reveal of his true nature as mad, snivelling wreck of a Twili, a compliant puppet to Ganondorf, who played his madness like a fiddle. And both their boss battles are brilliant, though I did take ages to take the hint as to the gimmick in the first part of Zant's battle.
So yeah, best Zelda game, fight me.
Now I'm kind of wanting to replay Wind Waker, though that'll have to wait. Dark Souls 3 is happening soon, I need to top off this Final fantasy XIII ride with Lightning Returns, and I'm almost done replaying Dark Souls 1 again, so maybe I'll do something with that one day.
Oh, right, CONTENT.
You're probably thinking that such a lofty claim comes from a place of nostalgia, in the same way pretty much any Zelda fan will believe in their heart, weather they're vocal about it or not, that the first Zelda game they played was the best Zelda game. Like how Dr Who fans will always hold a soft spot for the first iteration of The Doctor they saw, "Their Doctor". In that same vein, many Zelda fans hold Ocarina of Time as "Their Zelda", and hold it up on a pedestal as the gold standard for Zelda games.
But my first Zelda game was Phantom Hourglass. I do love PH to death, and I can't think of a better entry point to the series for a 10 year old child, but it's way too child-friendly for me to consider it anything more than my own personal gem. I picked up Twilight Princess on the Wii not long after, and while I can't deny that there's still some nostalgia in the game for me, after replaying it again without the waggle controls and with the game the right way round, I stand by my claim that it remains the best Zelda game to date.
Even down to the little things TP just feels like a step up. TP's side characters are more numerous and far more memorable in my mind, the combat is leagues ahead of any other game in the series, even the fishing is better in TP. But what sticks out to me most is something which bugged me about all the Zelda games prior to Wind Waker (which is also pretty excellent), that TP deals with so well, is the lack of direction. OOT 3D wallpapered over that crack with the Sheikah stone videos that you could consult whenever you got stuck, but it was still a fix to a problem in the core game design that was never there at all in WW or TP, hence why the Sheikah stone videos haven't made their reappearance in TP HD like they did in OOT 3D and Majoras Mask 3D. I never once had any need to consult any sort of guide at any point during TP, even as a 10-11 year old child. There's always enough narrative drive to convey where you need to go even without the map markers, even for the side quests.
The bug hunt quest tells you where you found bugs you've collected, and you know there are 2 in each area, so if you have one then you know where the other is, and by simple process of elimination you can figure out where you need to look for the ones you're missing. The number of poes left in each area is listed on the map, which at most may have you walking in to each dungeon after the midway point to check if you missed any in them. The fortune teller can tell you where all the pieces of heart are for rupees. Everything you need to complete the game is in the game, which sounds like a redundant and obvious thing to say, but so many games, especially Zelda games pre-Wind Waker, forget that as soon as it comes to side activities. I've yet to finish A Link to the Past, Minish Cap, and Link's Awakening because they don't even have that direction in the main quests, often leaving you lost and confused wondering what comes next after leaving a dungeon. Kind of like when you leave dungeons in real life. Especially the sex ones.
I said before how Ocarina seems to push the story to the wayside in favour of letting you do what I guess people would think of as "Zelda Things". Namely, Dungeons, and using all your new toys on things you've seen sitting about in the map that you couldn't get at before. And while that stuff is all well and good, god knows TP has a lot of Dungeons and they're some of the best and most memorable in the series besides Skyward Sword, and there's even a section of the main story based around using a new toy on stuff lying around Hyrule.
But Twilight Princess makes the time in between dungeons into something to look forward to as well, with wonderfully directed cutscenes telling what is at it's core a simple tale, but a thoroughly engaging one, with some excellent characterisation. It's a shame that not everyone gets a chance to shine thanks to there being so many amazing characters, but wanting more of a good thing isn't the worst problem to have. The resistance group that drive the second "Gather 3 things" main quest all get their brief moments of importance, but never enough I feel. Especially Ashei. God I wish we had more Ashei. Why isn't she in Hyrule Warriors? She should be in Hyrule Warriors.
A lot of people didn't like how main villain Zant was pushed aside by the Big Man Himself by the end, but I feel that misses the point of both their characters. Zant was a great villain in a very traditional way, made into a spectacular one by the reveal of his true nature as mad, snivelling wreck of a Twili, a compliant puppet to Ganondorf, who played his madness like a fiddle. And both their boss battles are brilliant, though I did take ages to take the hint as to the gimmick in the first part of Zant's battle.
So yeah, best Zelda game, fight me.
Now I'm kind of wanting to replay Wind Waker, though that'll have to wait. Dark Souls 3 is happening soon, I need to top off this Final fantasy XIII ride with Lightning Returns, and I'm almost done replaying Dark Souls 1 again, so maybe I'll do something with that one day.
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