Zelda WW vs. TP vs. SS

Shane

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How about we have a comparison of these three Zelda games? Which are Wind Waker, Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword. It's okay if you also talk about other Zelda games in this thread, but let's at least try to compare those three. I feel like a lot of topics get too broad sometimes, which is why I'm making such a narrow topic.

Okay so Wind Waker has the largest world of any released Zelda game right now if you include the water. I'm also going to say something very controversial and say that the remake has the best graphics and animation of any released Zelda game right now.

Twilight Princess is the closest game to Zelda Ocarina of Time and has dark, realistic graphics. The game isn't quite as twisted as Majora's Mask, but it is as dark as it, I feel.

Skyward Sword is a good, underrated Zelda game. I once felt like it was my cup of tea, but then I realized that Twilight Princess was better, Twilight Princess just scared me in the way of creeping me out. I am past that though, saying that while Skyward Sword is a fantastic game, Twilight Princess may be better.
 
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i agree 100% to all your statements. The only thing i have to say is when i finally finished SS, i felt like it was a chore more than fun. I hated every second of the motion controls except the fight at the end. It had a great story, music and all but I just didn't quite care for it. That was odd for me because I'm a huge fan of all the games.

WWHD is the best, its my fav game of all ever and it was even better in hd with the gamepad. Loved it even more. Its the only Zelda i've played 3 times. Good topic!
 
Alright, I played the intro to Skyward Sword, and let me just start by saying the motion controls really were more a hindrance. That being said, I never actually played through the whole game, so I'm gonna base my post on Twilight Princess and Wind Waker.

There are probably going to be spoilers in the text below. I'm going to try to avoid them, but I'm not sure what counts as a "spoiler" as everyone thinks differently.

WINDWAKER:
So let me start with Wind Waker. Cute graphics, a good storyline, and a large world to explore are high on my list of praises for this game. It really captured the essence of adventure for me, which, in a Zelda game, is something I look for. I never found myself wanting for things to do, because there was just so much to do besides the main quest.

The music! Wind Waker has an unbelievable soundtrack, with every score perfectly reflecting the area you're in. Boss battles feel EPIC, sailing feels open and free, and every (main) island's music just feels /right/. It's full of memorable pieces, too. You hear something and you go "Oh yeah, I know that place!" and it's stuck in your head for a while. Go ahead and tell me you can't remember the music for Dragon Roost.

Dungeons in Wind Waker were nicely varied as well. Puzzles were challenging at first, but completely doable once you knew how. In fact, I always thought the dungeons were fun in this game. The level design was beautiful, the music fitting. The bosses made good use of the items found within the dungeon.

But for all of it's good points (and there are so many), there were also times that it felt tedious. Sailing from island to island eventually did feel like a chore (Somewhat mitigated later in the game, but the statement stands). In the Gamecube release, collecting the Triforce pieces from the bottom of the ocean was bad, but in order to even FIND them, you had to pay Tingle an outrageous amount of Rupees (Something like 398/map). It's no minor task, and definitely necessitates a great deal of grinding. In the WiiU version, this was reduced to only having to pay for 4 maps (as opposed to 7). Phew!

I also have a bit of a pick with the story. It's a great story, it's fantastic. I cried so hard at the end, I could barely play. But the story! Now here's a definite spoiler alert so :
You start out trying to save your sister, Aryll. Great! Yes. But when you're booted off to Windfall, this boat picks you up and says "Hey, I know you wanna save your sister and all, but you're gonna grab these balls for me first". The first time I played, I remember trying to go back to the Forsaken Fortress because I just wanted to save Aryll. Of course, game logic is not my logic, so off I go to find the shiny glowing balls.

The story goes from "Save your sister" to "Save the world" in such a subtle way, it almost makes me feel cheated. "I didn't ask for this", I say to the screen. "This isn't my battle". But it is. It's a Zelda game, after all.

But over all, it's not a bad game; it's definitely my favourite game of all time.

tl;dr: Wind Waker is a good game with good music and cute, fun graphics. The story is good but sometimes can feel as if you have no sway over anything. Also sailing and a greedy fairy.

TWILIGHT PRINCESS
(This one is definitely spoiler heavy, will include a tldr)
Alright, TP. Twilight Princess. Or as I like to call it "Hyrule Dating Sim". I'll explain in a bit.

So I liked Twilight Princess because it's such a MOOD SHIFT. You go from happy - go - lucky Wind Waker to "The world is ending". The game is dark, it's moody, it's got so much ATMOSPHERE. It's also responsible for burning two big spots in my T.V. (One of those boxy ones that weighs 90 pounds, you know, before the age of flat screen ;) ) The story was phenomenal and for all the dark tones of the game, was actually really enjoyable.

The music was sad, melancholy, and definitely set the stage for the rest of the game. Unfortunately, I didn't find it as memorable as previous Zelda games (WW and OOT for example). I'm trying to think of one melody that might stand out to me, but I really can't. It's mood music - something it did really really well.

There's also a great big world to explore, and there's lots TO explore! There's plenty of hidden areas and places you can go to snag a chest or a heart piece. In that way, I prefer TP's world to WW's. It was just more INTERESTING to go looking for things.

ITEMS. There are some good items in the game! Aside from the standard Zelda items (Hookshot, bottles, etc) there are some really nice other items you can get that help progress the story. Like a fishing rod. Or a BeyBlade. A lot of these items can also be used in the overworld to get to chests and heart pieces (Not saying OTHER Zelda games didn't do this).


spoilerifics inside:
The story starts out slow, but picks up right after you leave the starting area. It's made very clear what's happening and why you're being pulled into this situation. No, it's not by choice necessarily, but you HAVE to go into the twilight to save the kids and your friend Illia. Love interest #1.

When you enter the twilight zone (doo doo dooo), you are transformed into a wolf and collapse on the ground, where you're carried off by two big guys to... prison. Yes, you are a wolf in jail. Please, tell me how that makes sense. From what I recall it's never actually explained WHY you're sent to a cell. I could be wrong.

It's in Jail that you meet Midna, a short, impish looking thing that finds you and uses you as her vehicle. She knows you're not a wolf, but a person, and sees the potential in you to meet her own goals. Love interest #2.

AND THEN. You meet Zelda. Princess of Hyrule. You growl at her. Love interest #3.

I liked Twilight Princess, but it certainly wasn't my favourite. The dungeons felt slow, really REALLY slow. I found myself wanting to do anything BUT the dungeons. Again, the world was just begging to be explored.

The Forest dungeon in particular is a slow, trudging mess. I hate the forest temple dungeon. I loathe it. I tried playing Twilight Princess again, and just stopped as soon as I got to the forest temple (so ~30mins in). It has really made it hard to replay a game that I KNOW get's better further in!

Overall, it's a good game, I do LIKE it, but I've never been able to play it again.

tl;dr: Good game, good music, dungeons, items. Music was good but not memorable. Dungeons can be tedious. Beyblades.

There's so much MORE I want to say, but I haven't had my coffee yet and my brain is already exhausted because I've been drawing for 48 hours.

*clapping*
 
Not sure how well I could comment, since I've only nearly beat Wind Waker (Think I got to beating the tower dungeon).

Anyways, Wind Waker is my favorite of the 3. I loved the characters, art, music, world, everything. It was also my first Zelda game so that may be a bit biased. The ocean travel was a bit tiring at times.

Twilight Princess I probably played the least. Don't know if I even did the first dungeon, that depends on whether or not it was before or after meeting Zelda. The graphics were alright, but a bit too much 'drab' for my taste. Kinda forgetable of what I've played.

Skyward Sword, I do like, it had a nice style. Though it is a bit linear, I also like how it gave more story to the Zelda series. Motion controls didn't bother me too much.
 
Twilight princess. Enough said.
 
Probably Windwaker for me too. It was my first real Zelda as a kid (but I gave up trying to retrieve my sword in the very first dungeon and didn't finish until WWHD) and now I've completed it three or four times and am doing a 100% run. TP originally I lost too much progress after a ragequit during the wagon escort mission, now I'm at the final boss. I'm only halfway through SS though and have yet to get a feel for the world.
 
TP is fine and all but just OoT basically.

Wind Waker until BoTW releases WW is the best 3D Zelda.
 

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