Deftones

Just finished the game.

Great game. Might be as good as Ocarina.

actyper

Good to hear. I just turned into the wolf, and previous to that, I don't think I would have continued playing had it not been a "Zelda" game.

darkside

Having finished it I really have to say I thought the ending was fine. I kind of counted the entire boss battle as the ending story and thought it all wrapped up nicely. I don't see how you can do much more with a Zelda game. This game screamed for voice acting and a full orchestra soundtrack though.
I really liked it and enjoyed the experience. Great way to cap off the GameCube era. I won't go so far to put it above Ocarina, but its closer than I thought it would be. I thought about playing it again on the Wii when I finally get one, but it was so dense that I can't see going through it again. I gave up completely towards the end on any sidequesting and finished it a little over the 40 hour mark.
I need a long break from games like this and I'm ready to go back to stuff like Phoenix Wright on the DS.

Michael Corvin

Yep. Have to agree with Josh and the others. Until you get to the first dungeon the game is dreadfully boring.

Since my 360 is in for repairs it gave me an excuse to jump back into Zelda. I stopped after 1st dungeon before getting Viva Pinata. So I started up collecting the tears and did the Goron dungeon. The game is getting much better. I'm still not to keen on the wolf stuff yet. It's okay. The designs of the two dungeons I've done are excellent. The second was pretty straight forward, but it still took an hour to complete! Impressive.

But that leads to my complaint, the game is hard to get into if you can't devote a couple hours at a time playing. I don't recall previous Zelda's being like that. Especially hour long dungeons. Maybe Ocarina, but even at that I remember being able to jump in and out without such a time commitment.

darkside

I have to agree. This is a good or bad thing depending on perspective. When I was younger I loved the 2-3 hour grinds, but as I've gotten older I prefer shorter sessions. I really only like gaming in 15-20 minute sessions now which is why I prefer playing games on the DS.

sniper308

I'm just getting started (just turned into the wolf) so I can't speak definitively, but I agree... and I know that's just the way Nintendo does things, but it just kind of kills a game with any kind of story line for me anymore if there's not voice acting, etc... I don't want too much (lengthy cut scenes, etc), but something to nudge the story along.

Josh H

I was like that for a while, but after playing Okami and Zelda back to back I've kind of gotten back to prefering those epic games.

I just seem to get more out of throwing in a couple long sessions a week, rather than a bunch of short sessions.

I kind of use them as rewards, get ahead on my work and studying and I'll reward myself with a night of gaming until the Wii hours.

It's also that a lot of the games that are just good in bursts of 15 minutes or so end up not feeling worth the money to me.

ScandalUMD

I don't think Link needs to talk. I didn't particularly like that Mario started talking in Super Mario 64.

I am perfectly satisfied with text, I can read faster than voice actors can speak and English language voice acting is always a step removed from the game anyway, and often suffers. Also, weird Japanese moments get weirder in full voice. I still remember being embarrassed to be playing FFX when the romance stuff kicked into high gear, because of the acting, and the little vignettes with Colin would be possibly painful if they were done in full voice.

Speaking of which, the Ordon kids would be a total waste if it weren't for Malo, who is the best new character to join this series since Ganondorf.

I had high hopes for Midna.

These games always feature a number of characters you encounter who are beset with horrible troubles, and helping them is how you progress, but you always hate them just a little bit. It would have been fun to have an evil little sidekick who rips on them all the time. In past games, you could blow holes in the walls of people's houses and steal from the shops and torture the livestock, and it would be fun to have a character encouraging mischief. But she goes into full good-guy mode really quickly.

Ravenous

Im not reading this whole thread to avoid spoilers but I have a quick question,

Does this game require alot of backtracking? I just beat that mountain dungeon with the Gorons but I have a chest there I couldnt get to (the one high above the water where alot of those orc things were shooting fire arrows), plus There are several chests still in the FIRST dungeon that I couldnt get (the ones trapped behind that rising shelves). Do I need to go back when I get certain items or did I lose out?

Josh H

It doesn't require much back tracking, and there's nothing you can leave in the dungeon that you need later as the crucial item is required to get through the dungeon.

One exception with some back tracking is to get into the sky dungeon late in the game requires some wander around.

Of course you always have the option to back track and get chests you missed/couldn't get to until you got a certain item. But that's not required to beat the game by any means.

Ravenous

Yea I know that once youre done with the dungeon whatever is left will probably be more money, heart pieces, something, but Im curious on how to get most of em as of now, they seem, impossible. I backtracked in the Mountain one and it was a pain in the ass, that stupid Ooccoo or whatever dissapears once youre done and you have to walk all the way back... bummer.

argh923

If it helps, there's two heart pieces in every dungeon except the Temple of Time - there's three in that one.

Josh H

I"m not sure if there are chests in dungeons you can't get unless you come back later.

I just tried to get the 2 heart pieces in ever dungeon and didn't worry much about the chests after that. I'm not much of a completist with games anymore. More of a see the credits roll and move on to the next game on the shelf gamer these days with my limited time and long list of games to try out.

Ravenous

Well if theres 2 heart pieces than I think thats what Im missing, if I remember correctley I only got one in each, not counting the boss. Damn it.

Im not one for bieng a completist either, I dont have that time. But for Zelda, I make the exception

sniper308

I usually outpace the voice actors as well... but that's how I can tell if I think a game has good voice acting, if I catch myself listening to it even after I've finished reading the subtitles...


Yeah, it gets kind of old when games turn you into feeling like an errand boy... I like the feeling of going on a mission to save earth, etc ... not so much on the "Go and fetch my lost chicken..."

Michael Corvin

I think I only got one out of Goron. Hmm.

LivingINClip

I'm at the third duegon now and I hate to say it, but damn, I don't like this game. Anytime I transfer into a wolf it is simply painful to play, the rest of the game is overly long...List goes on and on. Think I prefer Wind Waker.

Josh H

The wolf parts aren't as frequent after you finish the quest after that dungeon as you can

The game also goes quicker after the 3rd dungeon, at least pacing wise. I was somewhere just under or over 20 hours when I finished it, but beat the game in 45 hours.

There is much less running around between dungeons with one exception (quest for the sky temple) if you don't do side quests and the 8th and 9th dungeons aren't really full dungeons and are much quicker to get through than the others.

But if you aren't having fun by all means don't waste time and move on to something you enjoy, but it does sound like a couple of your concerns will solve themselves with another couple of hours of play.

LivingINClip

Well, it looks like I quit. Not sure what it is about this Zelda, but I am bored to tears with it. I feel like I'm working when I play it. May give OoT and Wind Waker another run through, this Zelda just isn't clicking with me. I'm at the Water Temple now and I can't play it more than ten mintues without being bored and annoyed.

KurrptSenate

well LivingINClip, it appears you and I share that belief.

Demontooth

You all got a lot farther than I did, I got annoyed in the village.

KurrptSenate

i actually stopped at the lava temple tbh

LivingINClip

Maybe we need a thread just for those who don't "get it"? I only made it past the village because my friend kept saying it picked up and was one of the greatest games ever.

KurrptSenate

i find it ridiculous to HAVE to play a game for 10+ hours before it actually "starts"

Josh H

While the tutorial village crap is way too long, it was more like 5-6 hours tops, not ten.

The game was fine for me as soon as you got to the first dungeon. I couldn't put it down after that.

But I agree they need to quit with these long introductory tutorials and come up with more engrossing ways to teach people the controls and introduce the characters, world and story.

It sucks that some of you just couldn't get into it after suffering through the tutorial though as it ended up being one of my best ever gaming experiences.

Sucks even more since the Wii has nothing else worth playing, or at least worth buying at $50 anyway, IMO. I don't see myself buying another Wii game before Metroid, starting to wonder if I'd been better served just catching up on PS2 and DS games and waiting until after a price drop to have gotten a Wii when some more decent games are out.