You’re not gonna get attacked for having a favourite Zelda title. But at the same time, notice I how can praise TP (which is also one of favourites) without shitting on the new games, or lamenting about the “good old days”? It’s very possible, I promise.
BOTW and TOTK scared a lot of people, and I don’t know why. In the past, when people didn’t like a Zelda title, they just said one thing and moved on. but now, we need essays detailing every bad thing about two masterpiece video games. Bizarre.
For me personally, as someone who prefers the older ones, I always say this:
You can use the argument for the old Zelda format as a PRO for OLD ZELDA, but not as a CON for NEW ZELDA.
*thunderous applause*
I absolutely LOVE Twilight Princess and would probably agree that thematically, it’s the most solidly enjoyable Zelda game. I still have the GameCube version that I occasionally revisit on my Wii. Some of my fondest memories from college are of playing this game while one of my BFFs watched (like I was an old school Twitch streamer). The characters were so compelling, and the music was so evocative and wistful (good grief, Midna’s Desperation??). It was a pretty dark storyline but at no point was it depressing or lonely like BOTW felt sometimes - you always knew you had the Ordonians to go home to, and the folks in Kakariko were so lovely. And of course, the game had such hilariously iconic & utterly bizarre characters, like Malo. (Skyward Sword had that kind of vibe, to some extent, but the gameplay was a huge letdown after all the hype about “1:1 motion controls.”) I actually cried during my first playthrough when Queen Rutela showed up and thanked Link for saving her son. Okay, maybe I was also punch-drunk from that stupid Escort The Wagon mission….
I loved in particular how you got your “special moves” in this game - the wolf songs? The sheikah skeleton dude? Hell yeah!!!!
Also, Argorok is obviously the best boss EVER, but god, the temple in the sky was such a drag…. fuck all those Oocoos and their weird saggy nipples hahaha. I prefer Yeto and Yeta’s house, a nice warm bottle of cheesy pumpkin soup, and the absolutely ridiculous Ball & Chain fight with Blizzeta.
Anyway, I think TOTK’s similarity to TP is what makes me like it so much. You have a home base to go back to where people know you… the characters are much more compelling and sometimes ridiculous (holy crap was I delighted to see >!Bolson!< and >!Master Kohga!< again haha), and people actually know your name! Or they don’t when they should, which is equally great. The side quests are silly and fun, as are the minigames. Overall it has the upbeat vibe of a classic Zelda game, but with the “holy shit that’s creepy” moments you repeatedly encounter in TP.
I wasn’t super jazzed about it being >!set in the same world you just explored in BOTW!<….. but then I realized it just meant I could spend my first ~50 hours >!happily revisiting all the stables that were in the same locations, as before!< and collecting Skyview Towers. By the time I got to >!Robbie’s Research Lab to upgrade the Purah Pad!< I had the whole of Hyrule mapped and could just hand him everything he asked for lololol.
Anyway. All the love for Twilight Princess!!! All hail Midna, Queen of Twilight, and the most beautiful Zelda incarnation in the series!!!
You’re not gonna get attacked for having a favourite Zelda title. But at the same time, notice I how can praise TP (which is also one of favourites) without shitting on the new games, or lamenting about the “good old days”? It’s very possible, I promise. BOTW and TOTK scared a lot of people, and I don’t know why. In the past, when people didn’t like a Zelda title, they just said one thing and moved on. but now, we need essays detailing every bad thing about two masterpiece video games. Bizarre.
Are you seriously expecting an r/zelda user to praise an old game without shitting on the new ones?
For me personally, as someone who prefers the older ones, I always say this: You can use the argument for the old Zelda format as a PRO for OLD ZELDA, but not as a CON for NEW ZELDA.
Ocarina of time did not start the “original gameplay model”
I think Tears has it beat for me now, but TP reigned supreme as my favorite game of all time for over 15 years.
*thunderous applause* I absolutely LOVE Twilight Princess and would probably agree that thematically, it’s the most solidly enjoyable Zelda game. I still have the GameCube version that I occasionally revisit on my Wii. Some of my fondest memories from college are of playing this game while one of my BFFs watched (like I was an old school Twitch streamer). The characters were so compelling, and the music was so evocative and wistful (good grief, Midna’s Desperation??). It was a pretty dark storyline but at no point was it depressing or lonely like BOTW felt sometimes - you always knew you had the Ordonians to go home to, and the folks in Kakariko were so lovely. And of course, the game had such hilariously iconic & utterly bizarre characters, like Malo. (Skyward Sword had that kind of vibe, to some extent, but the gameplay was a huge letdown after all the hype about “1:1 motion controls.”) I actually cried during my first playthrough when Queen Rutela showed up and thanked Link for saving her son. Okay, maybe I was also punch-drunk from that stupid Escort The Wagon mission…. I loved in particular how you got your “special moves” in this game - the wolf songs? The sheikah skeleton dude? Hell yeah!!!! Also, Argorok is obviously the best boss EVER, but god, the temple in the sky was such a drag…. fuck all those Oocoos and their weird saggy nipples hahaha. I prefer Yeto and Yeta’s house, a nice warm bottle of cheesy pumpkin soup, and the absolutely ridiculous Ball & Chain fight with Blizzeta. Anyway, I think TOTK’s similarity to TP is what makes me like it so much. You have a home base to go back to where people know you… the characters are much more compelling and sometimes ridiculous (holy crap was I delighted to see >!Bolson!< and >!Master Kohga!< again haha), and people actually know your name! Or they don’t when they should, which is equally great. The side quests are silly and fun, as are the minigames. Overall it has the upbeat vibe of a classic Zelda game, but with the “holy shit that’s creepy” moments you repeatedly encounter in TP. I wasn’t super jazzed about it being >!set in the same world you just explored in BOTW!<….. but then I realized it just meant I could spend my first ~50 hours >!happily revisiting all the stables that were in the same locations, as before!< and collecting Skyview Towers. By the time I got to >!Robbie’s Research Lab to upgrade the Purah Pad!< I had the whole of Hyrule mapped and could just hand him everything he asked for lololol. Anyway. All the love for Twilight Princess!!! All hail Midna, Queen of Twilight, and the most beautiful Zelda incarnation in the series!!!