Welp, I’m done with Zelda. Review tomorrow.
Exclusive preview of the review: I liked it.
More to the point, I found myself enjoying the game more the longer I played — considering the marathon sessions I put in, that’s no small feat. Especially since a fair number of other games in the series have dragged in the second half. Nice to see a game that isn’t a few hours of substance followed by tons of padding prior to the finale.
Incidentally, I don’t know if you’ve been following this week’s 1UP Cover Story, but I wrote almost all the text for it. It’s sort of weird to read articles that are just now being published, since they were written by a Jeremy Parish who had much less experience with the game and are very incomplete. Not that I’m out to spoil things for anyone. I just hate being a purveyor of partial information.
Holy crap, that must be some kind of turnaround record — I finished the game five hours ago, and already the review has been written, top edited, copy edited and posted. See? I said I liked it.
33 thoughts on “The twilight of Twilight”
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OMG don’t post such spoilers in the main post!
is it worth buying on sunday morning? along with a console that presumably would also then be worth buying?
I think if you like Zelda games the answer should be fairly self-evident.
So, silly little nit-picky question, but it’s always bothered me: Isn’t Link first refered to as left-handed in the Zelda 2 instruction manual? I know he LOOKS left-handed in the first game, but all the official art (and merch) from the first game have him right-handed (I think). I’m not saying this as a picky fanboy, but actually to point out that people need to chill out about the change for the Wii version (and can’t people who are left-handed play as a lefty Link?).
I grow ever sadder that this will be the first Zelda game in nearly ten years that I don’t get on day one.
Congrats on enduring the marathon. If you were a racehorse, you’d get a nice rub-down and some hot mash.
If you were a racehorse, you’d get a nice rub-down and some hot mash.
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MURRRRRRRRR
I have to do this quickly before I accidentally glance up at the comments and I spoil another part of what I hope to be a Nintendo masterpiece. Just based on your almost daily updates about Zelda on your website, it seems like you really did enjoy your time with this game. At least I hope so, many times I try to predict the outcome of your reviews based on the optimistic teasers you post and I’m extremely wrong, e.g., the outcome of my Yoshi’s Island DS prediction. I have yet to try the game though, so it might just mean that you have sadly lost your way from the warm shelter of Yoshi. But back to my point, I do hope this game is as wonderful as the media says it is. My world, won’t end if it isn’t, but it would be a shame after all of this time avoiding websites to keep myself from reading spoilers. This game better be worth the praise, publicity, and possible spoilers I’ve seen all over the 1up website. That means it better to receive a perfect score Parish!
Substantial story in a Zelda game? This may be the strangest development since FMV cutscenes in a Mario game.
I don’t want to read the review (sorry! Nothing personal, I just don’t read reviews of games I haven’t played), but how long did it take all told?
I just wanted to say that your review for Zelda on 1up was beautifully written.
Holy crap. I know the number scores aren’t important, but I can’t even remember the last time I’ve seen you give a game a perfect score.
Ten is not a perfect score, just the highest score possible. It’s an important difference.
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I finished at about the 55-hour mark, but it would have been more in line with the 70-hour number Nintendo was tossing around had I been allowed to take to my time.
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Jessica: thanks!
I’d like to read your review, but there are two factors stopping me:
1. Fear of spoilers
2. 1up hasn’t loaded for me in like the past two weeks.
However, it is exciting to hear that you have given TP the highest score possible. I’m glad that Nintendo has (probably) justified all of the delay and hype for this game. And seriously: Is it relatively challenging, when comparing it to TWW and/or OoT?
The million-dollar question is “which is better, Twilight Princess or Okami?”
Seriously, parish. I hope you realize just how much weight a 10 out of 10 coming from you holds.
I’m expecting no less than seventeen gamegasms for this.
But… but… wait a minute! You can’t give a Wii game a perfect score, no less a launch title at that! Now what will us Nintendo fanboys do?? To whom will we project our foam and froth?? Don’t you realize what you’ve done??? You’ve broken the system! The way it’s supposed to work is, you give a game a respectable score that fails to match our oh-so-inflated expectations, we wail and gnash and lavish scorn upon your very existence, the game comes out, we play it, and all is forgotten. THE SYSTEM HAS BEEN BREACHED!
I suddenly felt as though millions of GameFAQS users were crying in terror, and were silenced at once.
Excuse me, a 10.0, not a “perfect score.”
To detract from all the Zelda love, the latest Castlevania is out in Japan. Does this mean that parish can now tell us if it’s actually good and remembers that it’s a damn Bloodlines sequel or if it’s the pathetic, shoddy Dracula X rehash all the current media makes it look like?
“Ten is not a perfect score, just the highest score possible.”
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Amen, brother. I see people wringing their hands about the fact that lots of titles are getting 10s and I think – shouldn’t you be excited that there’s so many great games out right now?
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Like the 1up Gears of War review. It convinced me to purchase the title (I was on the fence), and I’m glad it did. Is GOW a “perfect” game? Hardly. Better than Zelda? Not even on par (despite sharing a number). But it absolutely deserved it’s ’10’, even if only for the fact that it will elevate the quality of an entire genre by setting the bar incredibly high.
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But then you go and read the rantings of armchair statisticians who are trying to weigh this consoles ’10’ against that rating systems ‘9.0.2.1.0’ against that genre’s Tony Hawk.
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But who cares. I’m getting Zelda on launch day (and if heaven shines upon me, some component cables), and I have a sinking feeling that my other consoles will end up collecting enough dust that they might be temporarily mistaken for a PSP.
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Chris, you win the Comment of the Day Award. Wear it with pride.
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This is another situation where I’m glad I don’t work for a site with a 100-increment scale. What’s the difference between a 98 and a 99? At that point, the fine distinctions only serve to politicize things and polarize readers, not to inform anyone of anything useful.
You know what Jeremy. I’ll rightly admit I was afraid of you reviewing this game. Why (Cause Zelda always rocks, even WW)? Although I find your stance on most games quite like mine (they are all rehashed, reused game mechanics with a different theme, character, etc.), I thought you would kill Twilight for this. While reading previews, I too thought it was very similar to OoT. Hey if it’s good for Jeremy, I know it has got to be good for me. I’m glad you do review games. Keep up the great work!!
What you should do, is make 10 a perfect score, and then render your criteria obsessively impossible to muster a good grade. EG: Zelda = 5/10, Contact = 3/10, Ghouls & Ghosts PSP: .001/10. That should fill your monthly quota for pissing off fanboys! Oh, and if you re-review Super Metroid under that scale, it better get a 9/10 minimum or I’ll be angry & start a forum flame on pointless message boards!
I appreciate the ‘best’ vs. ‘perfect’ distinction, especially since I think a perfect game is absolutely impossible. Curiosity demands that I ask, though: how many 10s have you given out since you started reviewing on a 10-point scale?
Personally, I was glad when I found out Parish was reviewing the game, since I trusted he’d give the game a fair go. “Fair go” in the sense he would give the game an evenhanded, justifiable verdict, not in the “go easy on it” sense.
This review holds a lot more weight in my mind than others I’ve seen. Thanks for the insightful review, Jeremy.
“how many 10s have you given out since you started reviewing on a 10-point scale?”
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Just the one. And only two 9.5s that I can recall — one of which I regret, since it happened back when I first started at 1UP and was given out of a sense of “Well! I’m new at this and should tread lightly.”
Out of curiosity, since the 1Up site is dog slow, what were those 10/9.5 games?
Nice review, Jeremy. I’m pretty excited about popping it in my Wii late tomorrow night.
I was surprised by the 10, pleasantly mind you. But the question is: did you enjoy it more than FFXII?
Although that might be an unfair comparison since I don’t know if you’ve finished XII.
Thanks alot Jeremy. Now I am so freaking excited that I am not sure I can wait until tommorow night. There has to be a way to get a Wii and Zelda now. Hmmm… anyone know much about Gamestop security systems?
FFXII vs. Zelda is what you call a “false dichotomy.” I’ve enjoyed each in entirely different ways. Can I quantify and compare those? Not really. But I’m pretty sure I would have given FFXII a 10, or something very close, had I reviewed it.
Hey Parish, the review is a great piece of writing; I give it a 10…
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Also, I think its important to note that staying at home and playing for 4 days straight without “burning out” is a testament to the game. Beyond that is the fact that J. Parish clearly expresses in his writing a healthy portion of zeal and ardor for the game despite the “55 hours”
Awesome to hear Zelda is ’10’ material. Not suprising, but awesome all the same.
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From here on in I’m on an internet blackout (a quiet before the storm, if you will). Sunday morning I shall be up bright and early.