Twilight Princess, Part One
Aug. 10th, 2015 12:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rynlingI started playing Twilight Princess, because of course I started playing Twilight Princess.
It's better than Skyward Sword. Way better. I'm actually enjoying myself.
My deep dark secret that I usually try to steer around in various conversations is that, although I've started playing Twilight Princess twice in the past, I never got very far. The whole thing with sexy possessed Zelda and sexy impaled Ganondorf? I've never actually seen it with my own eyes. On my last playthrough, I got as far as the Lakebed Temple. I had to put the game down somewhere in the middle of the dungeon, and when I came back about a week later I couldn't figure out where I was supposed to go or what I was supposed to do.
I think many serious adult gamers - even professional developers and gaming journalists - go through a period in their lives when they are absolutely not interested in video games. Either they have some sort of bad experience (their romantic partner might monopolize their time) or they have other things going on (they might spend a year or two abroad); but, whatever the trigger, they suddenly have doubts about their hobby and begin to see gaming as a waste of time.
For me, this period lasted from the spring of 2004 to the fall of 2006. I bought my first Nintendo DS in the spring of 2007 and got a Wii and a PS3 in the spring of 2008, but I totally missed games like Okami, Persona 3, and Twilight Princess when they first came out, and until fairly recently I never found the time or momentum to go back.
What broke me in the fall of 2003 was Final Fantasy X-2, by the way. I still resent the shit out of that game.
It's better than Skyward Sword. Way better. I'm actually enjoying myself.
My deep dark secret that I usually try to steer around in various conversations is that, although I've started playing Twilight Princess twice in the past, I never got very far. The whole thing with sexy possessed Zelda and sexy impaled Ganondorf? I've never actually seen it with my own eyes. On my last playthrough, I got as far as the Lakebed Temple. I had to put the game down somewhere in the middle of the dungeon, and when I came back about a week later I couldn't figure out where I was supposed to go or what I was supposed to do.
I think many serious adult gamers - even professional developers and gaming journalists - go through a period in their lives when they are absolutely not interested in video games. Either they have some sort of bad experience (their romantic partner might monopolize their time) or they have other things going on (they might spend a year or two abroad); but, whatever the trigger, they suddenly have doubts about their hobby and begin to see gaming as a waste of time.
For me, this period lasted from the spring of 2004 to the fall of 2006. I bought my first Nintendo DS in the spring of 2007 and got a Wii and a PS3 in the spring of 2008, but I totally missed games like Okami, Persona 3, and Twilight Princess when they first came out, and until fairly recently I never found the time or momentum to go back.
What broke me in the fall of 2003 was Final Fantasy X-2, by the way. I still resent the shit out of that game.
no subject
Date: 2015-08-10 05:51 pm (UTC)*casually marks FFX-2 off to-do list*
no subject
Date: 2015-08-10 07:17 pm (UTC)What got me was the game completion percentage counter, which is heavily dependent on missable scenes. Some of these scenes are unlocked by arbitrary dialog choices, while some force you to master a one-shot minigame before you move on. X-2 also expects you to grind like a maniac, which makes the hours you spent doing so seem all the more wasted when you realize that you've missed a percentage point of completion and will thus never get the good ending.
X-2 is kind of like the sequel to the original Super Mario Bros. game in that it feels as if it were meant to reward hardcore players who had already mastered the first game and were willing to sink in dozens (if not hundreds) of hours into something more challenging. For the rest of us it felt like punishment.
People seem to be getting back into the game after the HD release, though. Perhaps, now that we're collectively more inured to huge games for which it's almost impossible to achieve 100% completion, no one is bothered by X-2's bullshit anymore.
And also you can just watch the "perfect ending" cinematic on Youtube, so there's that as well.
My own theory about the "Tidus comes back" ending is that it doesn't make a great deal of thematic sense for him to do so; it's cheesy and anticlimactic. In this sense, the perfect completion ending is almost like one giant game developer eye roll, like, "Fine, you care about these games that much? Here, have your little dog treat and leave us alone."
Wow, I... wrote you a small essay here. Sorry about that. *towels off face*