Twighlight Princess. Wii Version

*face palm* let's just get this over with...


Now before i begin, i want you, the reader, to know i am a huge Zelda fan. It's my favorite series; i own hylian shield, made by your's truly. The hyrule historia (limited edition) and a self made cell phone case (poorly done) and know meaningless trivia for most of the games. Ah fan-dom... 

Ah glorious sweet Zelda merchandise. 

Now like most Zelda fans, my favorite in the series is Ocarina of Time. It simply is amazing. A good story, great controls and bosses that are intriguing as well as nicely put together. Hell even the handhelds are amazing, and i'm not just talking about the new ones. My personal favorite handheld is minish cap, It was brilliant. I remember i was 12 and i spent the whole weekend non-stop playing this game, ah youth, i don't remember the whole story but i remember feeling such joy playing it. 

By far my favorite sidekick a Link has had

I can go on and on about all the zelda titles i find different and appealing, like majoras mask... that game needs a remake, but I'm talking today about Twilight Princess...

Now before i start the tearing, i want you to know, i think Twilight princess has gotten too much praise for what we got. It simply isn't as good as many of the other games in the series. I don't care if you disagree, nor do i care if you think my reasoning is wrong; compared to the other games in the series, Twilight princess should not be in the top 3. 

This got released on both consoles, I actually wish i had played this for Gamecube.

This game was the first Zelda title on the wii, but it was originally meant to be played on the Gamecube, so when you played it on the Wii many things were off. The wii motion controls were weird, swinging the sword while holding buttons to swing in a specific motion, you could tell the game wasn't meant for the wii. Not only that, the game is supposed to take place after the events of Ocarina of Time. But on the wii version, the whole world is flipped. Things that would be on the right are on the left and so forth (also personal prejudice, link was right handed in the wii one).

yes skyward sword did it too, but i didn't hate skyward sword as much as Twilight princess

That is only the first of the problems i have with this game. Second it copies so much from Ocarina of Time. Chronologically, twilight princess was released 2 games after Ocarina of time, after Majora's mask and Wind Waker, and those two games didn't follow Ocarina this much. 

And winner by default! IS!

CDI Zelda! OH BOY! 

(if you really require the answer to the VS. i got bad news for you)

Now besides the fact it felt like a rehashed Ocarina of time, the feel of the game was so dismal... Yes i get it was twilight, but still, i hated being in the twilight area because it was so lack lustre. Zelda games have always been bright and colourful and always have an opposing feel. With Ocarina of Time there was the destroyed world and Link to the past had the underworld (kinda), but twilight was gritty and ugh. When the first time you step out to hyrule field and all you see is a dark area, you don't know what the "Light worlds" area looks like. If they had let you see the colours of the field prior to darkening it with twilight, hell i might have felt obliged to really look forward to fixing the world.

Entering into this place without seeing what it looked like before is... eugh, also there's no daytime

When i first got to hyrule field and saw the vast openness, in the twilight, i lost all interest in replaying the game. All i remember from hyrule field was the fact it was huge, unbearably huge. In Ocarina of Time the field was big, colourful and had peculiar sights to see, but in Twilight princess it felt huge with nothing in it to see, and nothing to sight see. Many areas are blocked off from the start so to make sure you follow the set path. Now yes i know all zelda games have done this, Blocking off certain areas till you get bombs or hookshots whatever. But from what i remember in Twilight Princess, you could only really go in one area at the start. In Ocarina of Time you could essentially go anywhere, while very, very specific areas were blocked off. 

This is the entirety of Hyrule field, all in one map. Pretty big but it's populated and there are things to see.

In this map the "Hyrule field" is seperated into 3 parts. Yep, 3 huge maps with nothing in them, actually i'll be fair, They lack things of proper size to fit the hugeness of the map. 

Now zelda games have usually had the "Recover the land" type of thing to return things to normal and such. Twilight princess does this as well, personally i love that mechanic. BUT, in other games they show you before hand what the place looks like for you to look forward to fixing the whole area. When i walked into hyrule field i saw dark and black. If i was a first time player of this game, i'd be like "I don't like this place". You have to show the area before bad things happen, so you get a sense of what you lost.

The dungeons felt a little too adult like for my taste. I get that they were trying to mature and give the game a dark feel, but i feel out of all the zelda titles, it sticks out the most. Each game has had characters you fall in love with, and im not talking about main characters. For me, Majora's mask would be the "malon clones", Ocarina of time, music man an so forth. But in twilight Princess the characters shown pretty much have a bland persona. Zelda is seen as the princess who lost everything and is so depressing, links childhood friends get kidnapped and if i remember correctly his love interest loses her memory. I wouldn't mind as much if they were a bit more "alive". From what i remember my favorite character was the woman from Kakariko village who drives the cart. I don't even remember her name.

(lady from kakariko village) Now the real reason i remember her is because she hugs link so hard he gets sucked into her breasts and he gives a look of desperation for freedom. Exaggerating a little bit.

Now i do not, I repeat, Do not hate this game. Its like Justin beiber, you don't really hate him, you hate his fans (wait, no i really do hate him) [god this statements gonna bite me in the ass someday i know it]. But seriously, i hate most of the people who worship this game. Twilight princess was good yes, but not that good. When i meet people who are zelda fans and they instantly tell me about Twilight princess, i instantly know what type of fan they are. Band-wagoners. Twilight princess came at the perfect time for new people to get into the series, and for that i'm glad people love it, but please do not worship the game. Midna was cool, not amazing (neither was navi but still).

"WHAT DO YOU DISLIKE A GAME FROM THE SERIES! DIE FOO'!"

Recently i got a Zelda belt-buckle. It looks pretty cool i admit. Generic zelda design on the front, gold and green. Though, once you flip the buckle over the logo on the back is "Legend of zelda: Twilight princess". Why does a generic zelda buckle have a specific game title on the back? I'll be honest if the buckle had Ocarina of time, i'd still be confused. Its generic, it should just say "Legend of zelda". I digress.

Why does something like this need to have a "Twilight Princess" logo on it?

Overall, Legend of zelda twilight princess was a good game. It brought new things to the table, and kept other aspects as well (some really easily comparable to ocarina of time), it is not close to my favorite game in the series nor will it ever be. Does it mean others shouldn't worship it? Yes. Stop worshiping this game. Of course not. Though if your favorite title is Twilight princess, take a look at the other titles in the series, and if after playing those games you still adore twilight princess to the same extent, 
Band-wagoners Then so be it. 

Words cannot express my feelings accurately 

Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon. Nintendo 3DS

Ah, i remember a time where games gave twists at the end or least near it, surprised the player. Like some where you find out you were really the villain, or the villain you were going to fight was not at all what you expected, and i'm not talking about that "HAHA YOU DEFEATED ME NOW FIGHT MY SECOND FORM, BITCH" no. No. Thats dumb.

Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon claims that it is a much more finely tuned game from its predecessor, but i don't see it. 

LUIGIS MANSION (gamecube) SPOILERS

Luigi's Mansion for Gamecube has a memorable story line, Luigi wins a mansion in a lottery and finds out its inhabited by ghosts. After much adventuring through this colossal mansion, you realize Bowser has trapped Mario in a painting (least i think it was a painting), and seeing that as a kid was like "whoa, Luigi's going to fight Bowser? damn Luigi". Then finally, you get to the boss, and after defeating him, he becomes King Boo. WHAT?! There was no inclination to this! ....Save the boo's which spontaneously spawned in the mansion half way, but that wasn't a giveaway... but man, that was a twist for the better. The game had suspense, mystery, great story and the ghosts themselves had personalities. 

POP GOES THE BOWSER HEAD

LUIGIS MANSION (gamecube) SPOILERS END

And now I start my tear down...

Dark Moon claims it has done more than the first, but i did not see that. The game length is about the same as the first even though there was 1 mansion in the first and Dark Moon had 5. That's not a real disappointment the length of the game is quite well done and is a perfect length of a game, but the way it's advertised is that "Luigi's not going through but 1 mansion this time, but a multitude of them", so instantly we who played the first are like "This games gonna be huge"

Now my biggest problem with the game (to me it least) was the ghosts didn't really have anything special. In comparison, the original had all their boss ghosts with something unique, there was a man in a rocking chair, a man eating endlessly at a table and more. These ghosts not only were different they were all their own original character, they each did something different. Also they all had a biography (if i remember correctly). It was interesting to see the level of creativity that went in to a game that no one had expected to explode the way it did. 

Red heavy, Green regular, Blue ... other regular

Now Dark Moon does not do this at all. The closest it gets to giving ghosts a biography is a boss of these 3 sisters. Though it does not feel like a real change in the boss. In first game, each boss ghost looked significantly different in terms of the way it was created (so graphic wise). But each ghost in this game look like they were made in the same way.

A lovely redeeming quality i must admit to though is what Mr. Miyamoto stated in the Nintendo Direct. (not exact qoute) "We wanted to make it really feel like luigi was in the room with the 3D" and god damn this is one of the best 3D games i've played. It's not over the top, not a gimmick it just feels right. I played majority of this game in 3D, and i usually play games in 2D.

Its...its like i'm really there!

Now for the less redeeming qualities. Again.

Before Dark Moon was released, many pics were released about it, some fan made some real, but you can never tell on the internet. So the pic which seemed like it'd be the Picture of the box art showcased Luigi facing King Boo, the boss from the first luigi's mansion. Now that's not a bad idea, king boo really gave a great twist at the end. But in Dark moon, it's like your making yourself a cheese sandwhich, hoping to dear god it will turn into a sub sandwhich, and when you bite into it, its still a cheese sandwhich. Don't get me wrong, im all for cheese sandwhiches, but a sub is great every now an then. 

SPOILERS

Luigi goes through the game slowly uncovering 'What or Who' destroyed the crystal moon, known as Dark Moon, (there's the title...) and Luigi "Slowly" finds out it was King boo who did it. The annoying part is, in the start of the game, we get a cut scene showing, King boo did it. So instantly the player knows who's behind it so were forced to watch luigi uncover this mystery. After saving some toads trapped in paintings, each in a different mansion, they show luigi a picture they took of the ghost boss, each time slightly missing King boo. 

Opening cinematic. Look there's king boo!

Now i can deal with that, King boo wants revenge. Ok good plot i admit, but the secret which we find out, which i hope most found out in the first photograph from the toads, was that mario was captured. Again. By the same dude. Mario wtf are you doing? You are THE PLUMBER, yes i know its luigi's game and he's the hero, but what were you doing to get caught? In the first game mario won the first mansion and got caught, and luigi went in after him trying to find him. Ok Sensible. BUT WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE IN THIS GAME MARIO.

But hey gotta lure Luigi out somehow, wait? The doctor forced him to help out? Oh nevermind.

Would you trust this man? He's playing with a vacuum. 

Now the final big problem is the final secret. Or lack of. In the first game It's a huge twist that the final boss is not actually bowser, and man was that a good twist, dissapointing that i wasn't fighting bowser, but a excellent twist which burned itself into my mind. So as a fan of the previous one, i kept hoping there would be some sort of twist. They show King boo at the begginning, middle and near the end, so it's too obvious that it has to be a twist or something. But no, it's king boo. Now i don't want an M. Night shyamalan thing here, but i was hoping for a bit more...

It was continually boasted how this game was going to be what they wanted to do with the gamecube version. If you ask me, i rate the gamecube one much higher than this one. 

What the fourth wall toad. C'mon!

To conclude, Dark Moon isn't a bad game, but they failed to really deliver on their promises. They said i'll give you cupcakes, and you get muffins (granted i love muffins an hate cupcakes so that doesn't apply to me). If you never played the first game, all those years ago, then don't worry, you'll love it. But if you're like me and have something to compare this to, you'll see the flaws overtime, but still a good game to play. Very challenging at times and other times easy.

Don't cry luigi, It's still the "year of luigi".