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I started playing Twilight Princess. Finally. I bought it and the guide just after Christmas, but my mom needed to play it first (possibly one of the dorkier things I've ever said?) because the gamecube is mine and, living in my own apartment, I wanted it with me, so if she was going to play it at all she had to play it first. There so wasn't time for both of us to be playing it simultaneously. So I left it at her house, and she played it, and actually I think finished up the game* in March or so. And I kept forgetting to get the cube back from her, every time I went over there. So finally on Saturday my dad packed it up for me and I got it from them. I am very glad to have my cube sitting in the spot I reserved for it, between the DVD player and the action figures (another candidate for dorkiest thing I've ever said?). Just knowing it's there pleases me.
So, anyway, Sunday morning I started playing Twilight Princess. I'm about four hours in: I'm a wolf, I just finished the skulking-around-the-village part where I steal the sword and shield, and I just re-entered the twilight land. I sense a forest temple approaching. Zelda's a hottie in this game, too. And Midna creeps me the hell out.
It's really fun to be playing a Zelda game again. So many of the little game noises are familiar from past games. And the gameplay is almost identical to what they've been doing since Ocarina of Time--fishing's a little different, wolf senses are new, but overall, much the same as in previous games. And that's comforting, and also good because the gameplay in OoT was excellent and really didn't need much changing.
I'm having my usual "do I follow the manual exactly or just play the damn game?" conundrum. I've been alternating between reading up on a section for a few pages and then playing it through, and/or playing through a section and then going back and reading to make sure I didn't miss anything. Which I think is what I prefer, although there are times in these sorts of games when you hit a cut scene and suddenly you're very far away from where you just were and you missed the chance to get something useful. One of the nice things about the Zelda series, though, is that first of all they don't let you proceed without the minimum whatever you need to get through the next part, and secondly you can go back to almost anywhere later on to get what you've missed. Of course, this can be a major pain in the neck--like hunting down all 100 Skulltulas in OoT and trying to remember which one you might've missed--but at least it's possible. My mom reads the guide step by step and plays the game exactly according to the guide's instructions; I think I'm going to have to loosen up and just play, and check against the guide only after a section or when I find something I can't figure out.
So far, I am about 4:45 hours into the game. It took my mom over 103 hours to finish; I don't think it'll take me that long, but I'm curious to see how long it will take me. Apparently she ran her time up because she'd be mid-temple trying to do something, and shutting off the game would've made her start back at the beginning of the temple again, so she just left it on overnight. I try not to start a temple until I've got the time to finish the whole thing, so we'll see. In general, though, I'm planning to take my time in a big way. I don't want to rush through; I want to explore every area and get everything and really enjoy it. And I have lots of other things to keep me busy, and I'm not obsessed with the game (at least, not yet), so I fully expect to be playing it for a few months.
I'd definitely been craving video games, though. After this I may play through Buffy again (there's just something about kicking the crap out of Kakistos that I really enjoy doing on a regular basis). Or Prince of Persia. Or even Sphinx & the Cursed Mummy, which I absolutely loved up until the ending. If I played that again I would play through the whole game and get all the stuff and just not do the final battle. Which would feel silly and be frustrating, but oh well. Or maybe I'll borrow the other two PoP games from Chelsea. That might be cool.
* I realized while I was typing that I used the phrase "the game" repeatedly. Even though I'm no longer playing THAT game, I will go ahead and say that I thought about it, so that no one else will have to lose.
So, anyway, Sunday morning I started playing Twilight Princess. I'm about four hours in: I'm a wolf, I just finished the skulking-around-the-village part where I steal the sword and shield, and I just re-entered the twilight land. I sense a forest temple approaching. Zelda's a hottie in this game, too. And Midna creeps me the hell out.
It's really fun to be playing a Zelda game again. So many of the little game noises are familiar from past games. And the gameplay is almost identical to what they've been doing since Ocarina of Time--fishing's a little different, wolf senses are new, but overall, much the same as in previous games. And that's comforting, and also good because the gameplay in OoT was excellent and really didn't need much changing.
I'm having my usual "do I follow the manual exactly or just play the damn game?" conundrum. I've been alternating between reading up on a section for a few pages and then playing it through, and/or playing through a section and then going back and reading to make sure I didn't miss anything. Which I think is what I prefer, although there are times in these sorts of games when you hit a cut scene and suddenly you're very far away from where you just were and you missed the chance to get something useful. One of the nice things about the Zelda series, though, is that first of all they don't let you proceed without the minimum whatever you need to get through the next part, and secondly you can go back to almost anywhere later on to get what you've missed. Of course, this can be a major pain in the neck--like hunting down all 100 Skulltulas in OoT and trying to remember which one you might've missed--but at least it's possible. My mom reads the guide step by step and plays the game exactly according to the guide's instructions; I think I'm going to have to loosen up and just play, and check against the guide only after a section or when I find something I can't figure out.
So far, I am about 4:45 hours into the game. It took my mom over 103 hours to finish; I don't think it'll take me that long, but I'm curious to see how long it will take me. Apparently she ran her time up because she'd be mid-temple trying to do something, and shutting off the game would've made her start back at the beginning of the temple again, so she just left it on overnight. I try not to start a temple until I've got the time to finish the whole thing, so we'll see. In general, though, I'm planning to take my time in a big way. I don't want to rush through; I want to explore every area and get everything and really enjoy it. And I have lots of other things to keep me busy, and I'm not obsessed with the game (at least, not yet), so I fully expect to be playing it for a few months.
I'd definitely been craving video games, though. After this I may play through Buffy again (there's just something about kicking the crap out of Kakistos that I really enjoy doing on a regular basis). Or Prince of Persia. Or even Sphinx & the Cursed Mummy, which I absolutely loved up until the ending. If I played that again I would play through the whole game and get all the stuff and just not do the final battle. Which would feel silly and be frustrating, but oh well. Or maybe I'll borrow the other two PoP games from Chelsea. That might be cool.
* I realized while I was typing that I used the phrase "the game" repeatedly. Even though I'm no longer playing THAT game, I will go ahead and say that I thought about it, so that no one else will have to lose.
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Date: 2007-05-10 05:01 pm (UTC)From:no subject
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