The Legend of Zelda Wii: Weak

May-2-07, 7:00 pm by Hanford
File under: Bad User Interface, Video games, consoles, Wii, game design, Games I didnt like

I'm trying hard to enjoy Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess for the Wii, but I'm having a hard time. Here's why:

The camera is annoying. Not being able to control the camera is a serious flaw of the single stick control (nunchuck) system that the Wii has. I am constantly fighting Link to get the proper view. I am pressing the C button constantly to re-center my view, but it simply is not enough. It makes jumping puzzles where you need to align Link with the platform needlessly difficult. For the mini-bosses they should have taken a tip from Psychonauts and had the camera lock on the boss, even when you're not targeting.

The game is super-linear. So far, anyway. I do enjoy linear games, but Twilight Princess is frustratingly so. Several times it makes you retread old ground while at the same time arbitrarily locking you out of new locations, and special-case closed locations and cutscene triggers that interrupt gameplay and move you to a new location are heavily relied upon to tell us the story. For a world that is as big as it is, TP ends up feeling incredibly small and closed.

Rookie UI mistakes So they have this new pointing device that's relatively new, and pretty sensitive. Why oh why, when you die, do they stick small "Yes" and "No" buttons up in the upper right corner of the screen, with perhaps a 5 pixel gap between them? I just ended up quitting instead of restarting because my Wii aim is not quite up to par.

No save-anywhere. Actually, you can save anywhere, you just actually won't be there when you reload your game, and you'll have to work your way back through a location re-solving the puzzles you already solved just to pick up from where you left off. Come on Nintendo, this is 2007! Why the $@! can I not save where I want to and be able to be there again when I return?! I sure hope the Phantom Hourglass is better. It looking like it's got ten times the charm and style of the Twilight Princess.

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Prancer wrote: Jan-4-10, 7:44 pm

tjb, the person who posted is correct i have encountered this bug as well, i had to leave and saved and now the monkeys wont swing me, i tried for 3 hours going in all the rooms, and the monkeys would not allow me to swing west from the main room, so my advise is dont save, this is just fatal save bug, like the cannon room bug where if you save, you will need to restart the game. (BetaComment)

tjb wrote: Feb-6-08, 3:32 pm

whoever the annonymous person is, youre being really unfair. you didnt even go to the first boss yet and you throw out the game- first of all if youre to the point where the monkeys are swinging you across the void thats right before the first boss room. try saving AFTER you go through the boss door. plus the monkeys dont refuse to swing you across, if you go back to them you just swing again. the programmers wouldnt have made it so you cant go back someplace youve visited.

i actually really enjoyed the game. i liked the boss battles even though theyre a little repititive. the game is more puzzle oriented anyways, and the boss fights are all really epic, especially the last one.

katie wrote: Jan-6-08, 10:11 am

That's pretty unfair considering you havn't played the gamt to the end.

The camera in twilight princessn is fine and if you can't use it i'ts your problem. The first game I played on the WII that you can free roam and use the camera about you was twilight princess and I had no problems at all. Although I do admit the camera is easier in wind waker.

The story of the game may lead you in a fairly straight line but as the game goes on you find your self going to different places(that aren't in a staight line.)

As for the the controller PRACTICE. Use a digi camera's memory card and doodle on it or do a puzzle on it. If you are small put the reciever somewhere lower.

Finaly saving. There must be something wrong with your game because our WII is new and our game is new and it saved every last detail I did. Sure a few switches might have stopped whatever they did and you have to push them again but everything else is SAVED!

Annonymous wrote: Dec-16-07, 10:38 am

Actually, the save is a big problem. For example, there are the rooms in the dungeon where the monkeys swing you to, and if you save in them, and restart, you appear outside of the room and the monkeys refuse to swing you back over, which means that if you want to get back, you must start the whole game again. @?/!ing annoying. I'm throwing it away because of that. It took me 6 hours to get there.

amy wrote: Jul-30-07, 7:50 am

how do you get the fourth monkey on zelda? im stuck

Walka wrote: Jul-17-07, 6:38 pm

Although the camera problem isn't bothering me too much (about halfway through the game right now), the super-linear portions are extremely annoying. I am happy to finally be able to roam most of Hyrule without interuptions or blocked off passageways, but for the almost 40 hours I've played before this (little brother erased the game, also extremely annoying. I think he was having trouble moving the cursor as well, so that would explain it.) I was sick and tired of having to be human or having to a wolf without the ability to switch.

Oh, and Moogly, if you still have yet to figure it out, throw a hawk at the monkey and catch a fish for the cat.

Moogly wrote: Jul-3-07, 6:31 am

I haven't notice the problem of camera yet, coz I'm still wondering around in the village after almost 5hours play. Just got the bees down, can anyone give me some tips that pass the cat and monkey, so that I can get the bow...??? so looking forward, but....... need help.... afterall, it is a great game.

Texann wrote: Jun-14-07, 4:22 pm

I am a new Zelda fan. I was thouroughly enjoying the game until the Gorgon Mines. I have successfully fought the mini boss and was searching for the big Boss when I decided to stop playing for a while. When I put the disk back in I was all the way back where the first alligators have to be fought and the wall has to be moved (don't quite remember what the area is called) but I am so mad to have to start all over again. From what I have read starting over is common but to have to refight a mini boss? I was thinking that the game is corrupt or something? Should I have to go back that far?

Sheila

Geoff wrote: Jun-13-07, 1:07 pm

I enjoyed Twilight thoroughly. But I've played every other Zelda game. The issue you have with saving in Twilight is how it's always been done and long time players expect it. Perhaps it's annoying to non-fan-boys. And those of use that adore Zelda games will have to deal with the changes in future games to satisfy new players.

Russell Carroll wrote: May-22-07, 7:33 am

;)
Well I hope you enjoy it. I have to admit the first levels and horribly boring monkey temple were supplemented by utterly un-inspiring amounts of brown graphics. There are certainly moments I can do without (fighting on horseback while protecting a wagon from mounted riders sounds like a cool idea, but I sure didn't enjoy it), but for the most part I've been continually impressed by how the game surprises me with game variety that is fun to play. (I want to go back to Death Mountain just to do some more sumo!)

Glad to hear you're giving it another go, I think it is well worth the time :).

Hanford wrote: May-21-07, 1:01 pm

Russell, your description of later hours of game play has piqued my interest in re-firing up Twilight Princess and playing it (if I can remember where I am and what I'm supposed to do). Thanks for the feedback -- perhaps you should consider writing game reviews professionally ;)

Russell Carroll wrote: May-21-07, 10:11 am

I haven't liked Twilight Princess as much as Wind Waker, but the later I personally feel is the best game I've ever played, so my perspective is a little different.

As just someone who enjoys playing (and reviewing) way too many games, I didn't see all the problems that you noticed. I enjoy Zelda games because I like to explore new places and wander through the story. I like the adventure of it all. Twilight Princess is a game that I though was pretty 'meh' until I got the bow. I really liked pointing to fire it (seemed quite an improvement over past Zelda titles, no more trying to carefully aim with an analog stick...and failing half of the time).

At about 10 hours in I decided I really liked the game, at 20 hours in I thought it was absolutely wonderful. I'm at 30 hours in now and look forward to playing it whenever I get the chance to do so. The sprawling mansion turned pseudo-dungeon in the snowpack ruins, after hunting a Yeti and snowboarding down a slope, just further gave me the feeling that every time I play I'll be find something new and fun to do. The later boss battles are epic (and reminiscent of Shadow of Colossus).

Overall, I couldn't be more pleased, but I didn't have a problem with the issues you noted (and a couple of them, such as the Save issue, gets resolved in the later dungeons). I think there are just different types of games for different people. My personal opinion of Twilight Princess is quite high.

RohoMech wrote: May-8-07, 2:08 pm

Hanford, with regards to the camera issues, I heard a rumor that Mario Galaxy had small planets specifically to negate that problem. I haven't played the game, but my memories of previous 3d zelda experiances tells me that camera control is always an issue, worse when a bad camera angle kills you.

I'm kind of suprised the game has that many glaring UI issues, I'm betting it annoyes you more than most people, but yea, come on Nintendo....set a good example, especially since other game makers are gonna clone what you do!

Hanford wrote: May-3-07, 12:47 pm

Ben,

I haven't finished the game ... but that just shows how much these problems really affected me. It turned me off to playing it.

The camera is an issue all the time, since I can't look around; I have to shift into a different mode to do that. A big part of a 3d game is just seeing where you're going, and in Zelda there just isn't a natural way to do that -- when Link changes directions the camera doesn't (not immediately anyway) so I can't see where I'm headed. When standing still looking around is a pain.

UI issues: Using the nunchuk to navigate the UI doesn't excuse the Wiimote UI. Whichever method a user chooses to use should be functional.

Harry:
I totally agree regarding the difficultly in picking the game back up after not playing it for a while. I really liked how The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap did this ... whenever you started the game up from a save, your talking cap would perk up and remind you what quest you were on at the moment. That's a great way to refresh player's memories. And it is proactive -- it happens automatically without users having to remember to trigger it. TP could have used something like that.

el moco wrote: May-3-07, 2:51 am

hoo-boy, you better hope the fanboys over at GoNintendo don't get a hold of this.............

Ben wrote: May-3-07, 1:35 am

I think some of your points are rather unfair considering you haven't finished the game.

For me there have only been a couple of instances where a controllable camera would be helpful. I think they did pretty well with the camera really.

Whilst the game starts off quite linear things open up considerably after the third dungeon.

Also, regarding the buttons/ UI, you don't need to use the wiimote to aim at all. You can use the nunchuk joystick to switch between options and just press A on whatever is highlighted (play again is highlighted by immediately).

I suspect the saves are a legacy things. It's the way they have always worked, and the dungeons are designed in such a way that it doesn't take that long to get back to where you were. You certainly don't need to redo all the puzzles you have completed, only the small non essential ones. The ones that open new pathways are saved.

Harry wrote: May-3-07, 1:15 am

Couldn't agree more.

Also hate that feeling when you forget or can't quite suss out what your goal is. Like you pick up the game after a two week break and find you've got two monkeys following you still and you vaguely remember rescuing them. What do I do now? Wonder the caves aimlessly for an hour until I eventually give up and find a walkthrough on the internet...

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