CON-TRAST -/- E3 2005: Zelda Preview

::Zelda: Twilight Princess - Impressions

Although I already did a recap of every game I played at E3 last week, I somehow forgot to mention one of the little ones. You could claim that I intended on giving it its own space from the start, but most people wouldn't believe you. My point is, Zelda: Twilight Princess might as well have had its own building at this year's E3. I went into the Mr. Toad's Wild Ride-like booth with high expectations. I expected the game to feel like The Wind Waker and look like Ocarina of Time. What I got was somehow much more.

"Where's the game demos?" They're behind those massive sheets of course! Like I said, the booth felt like a ride at Disney Land. Hell, it even had its own version of Mickey! Let it be known that I am absolutely terrified of cartoon mascot characters that try to hug me. This one however, he doesn't hug you. He gives you knux and a manly tap on the shoulder.

Say what you will, but we all KNOW that's Miyamoto in there. Depending on how early you early you got to the seeminly invisible booth, the wait to get in went up to about 5 hours. The entire Nintendo booth was surrounded by people. Luckily I got there in time to only wait 45 minutes. Upon entering, I immediately noticed the castle surroundings, vegetation, and trees.

This picture really doesn't do the place justice, but I think you get the idea. In this first room, there were 2 available demos on 8 or so machines. The first demo I played was entirely focussed on the new horseball battle aspect. I was thrust into a boss battle against an armored...thing on top of a giant boar. He also had about 6 of his own men that attacked while I tried to take him down. This is one of the aspects of Zelda I was worried about since almost no one can create a game with seemless controls at every turn. Riding Epona is still the smoothest horse ride in town. It feels a lot like it did in Ocarina of Time, but I didn't find myself getting frustrated with it like I did every now and then in the N64 game. Attacking with your sword while riding is quite simple thanks to the "hold forward, push A to accelerate" control scheme. You could get off the horse during this demo, but I stayed on.

One of the many little things added to Twilight Princess is that it seems EVERYONE has destructable armor on them. It no longer feels like you're stabbing the crap out of someone until they just explode. It gives the game a sense of realism almost no other game has. The boss battle is no exception. Once you take off some armor and smack the guy around a bit, he then retreats into a castle. You follow but your path is blocked by burning thorns so it's now time for a joust on top of an incredibly atmospheric bridge at sunset. If you can appreciate the important atmosphere plays in a game like Metroid Prime, you'll love what Nintendo has done for Twilight Princess. The joust has you charging with epona and choosing to either guard, attack, or just move to the side. Given the situation, I once again expected clunky controls. Needless to say, it wasn't a simple button timing like in Resident Evil 4's QTE events, but it felt great. Once you knocked the bastard off the bridge, the demo was over.

Upon finishing the demo, I politely let someone else play and waited to play the second demo. This demo took place in Tauro Village, Link's hometown. Link starts the game off as a poor-ass cowboy. Nintendo didn't waste any time getting you aquainted with Epona. I'll be loose on the details so you can see it firsthand, but Epona pretty much bursts out of a stable head first towards Link. The first task is to wrangle up some goats into the barn. He IS a cowboy afterall. Don't let movies like City Slickers fool you, this is how it's done. Twilight Princess boasts the best goat AI I've seen in years. They act almost TOO smart and actually walk in on their own once they're close enough to the door. So many games do the whole "lead them this way until they're in, OMG time limit" horribly. This felt great and even funny, plus there was only a timer for your own personal record.

Did I mention how much I loved the interface? Menus in the Wind Waker seemed a little plain to me, but TP is like reading a digital 1st testament bible, only without all the vengeful God and incest.

Hmm I went off track there. Other tasks in town include helping a pregnant woman obtain her baby basket from the river after paddling in a canoe (another perfect control scheme) towards it. You learn a little bit of sword action from the classic "Im the only guy in town with a sword, but I firmly believe children should learn my ways." You then meet up with this girl that, get this, looks like a 16 year old girl should look! Zelda: Twilight Princess has a distinctly real life anime look and I was just surprised to not see overblown proportions. The town was huge and there were a lot of things to do, but I only wanted to play enough to get a feel for things.

I mentioned the real life anime look. What I mean is that yes, all of the characters look realistic, but they are still stylized to keep the Zelda feel. If you played the Wind Waker (like you should have) you may have been able to appreciate the range of emotions Link had. Now his face actually morphs from talking happily with his female friend, to looking embarrased alongside the town mayor. Seeing a girl lecture Link and the mayor should bring a smile to anyone's face. The range of emotions is unrivaled by anything outside a game on the scale of a new Final Fantasy. There were no cut-scenes to be found, but they really don't seem necessary.

Although I was definately impressed with the new look and horse-riding of Twilight Princess, I was also dissapointed that I couldn't experience what really mattered, the dungeons. I walked out what I thought was the exit, only to see the quaint outdoor surrounding transform into a dungeon. There was a Romanesque window with footage of dead knights and dungeon creatures inside it. Even more impressive was the pile of bones on the ground behind a cage that rose up into a huge Stalfos. I think he was trying to pick a fight with some chick. Again, this all felt like the best parts of an amusement park: the aestetics of a ride and the arcade. Now I hadn't seen the latest trailer shown at the conference since I was on a plane at the time, but this guy pretty much solidified one of my predictions:

An anamatronic wolf tethered at the groin loomed around the 2nd demo room. Link turns into a wolf at some point. Neat. Anyways, I anxiously awaited my turn to play one of the other 2 demos. It was a dungeon limited to 15 minutes and the boss battle at the end. I didn't want to play the boss battle for the sake of experiencing the full version later this year, but I had to try out the dungeon.

Of course, the available dungeon was the Forest Dungeon (temple?). You start off with a sword, lantern, and some health items. The d-pad manages your items. If you've ever played Ratchet and Clank, the interface will be familiar to you. I didn't see an item selectable for the Z button, but hey, I'm not complaining.

Let me take a momment to explain combat. It definately feels like the Wind Waker's improved combat system, but it has improved once again. It appears that alternating B and A results in different combos on top of timing button presses. The classic swing is better than ever. You hold your sword back in the same fashion as before, but the charge seems like a throwback to LTTP. A light shimmer rolls to the tip of the blade and then sparkles when it's ready to kill. For some reason, I found this to be amazing. The spinning effect is also impressive and the entire movement looks very realistic. Link's side jumping and backflipping are back, but there's a nice new addition to the familiar jumping slash

(A + forward). If the enemy is on the ground, Link now jump stabs him for a finishing blow. While this looked really odd in Soul Calibur and Smash Bros, it actually makes sense in Twilight Princess as he doesn't jump 10 feet in the air now. Supposedly there is more combat in the works, but it's already a blast.

The Forest Dungeon. There's so many things to mention so I'll just fly right through time. First off, the lantern produces some incredible lighting effects that naturally casts over everything around it. You can now slash and run (FINALLY) so cutting grass both looks great and isn't annoying. Doors are now opened with Link's actual hands! Sure, he opened doors in town before, but now instead of rising and falling rock slabs, Link places his hands on the door, NUDGES it to the side and the door rolls to the side with dirt falling naturally. Maybe I'm easily impressed. You interact with monkeys that help you get across large gaps. You aquire the Gale boomerang right away. The thing creates a tornado when you throw it and it locks in on multiple targets just like before. This was used for some simple door "puzzles" but I'm sure it will be more fully utilized than it was in the Wind Waker. Floor switches were just like LTTP in that they were little circles that fell into the ground if you stood on them for a second. I liked that they were a little hard to find. Dungeons should prove to be more of a challenge this time around. Killing an enemy that used to give you a stick in OOT now drops a giant deku-nut like nut. Link picks the thing up like a football and then chucks it in the same manner. Link doesn't just look badass, he chucks nuts like the pros.

Oops, time's up. Well I didn't get to finish the demo, but I absolutely loved it. One play was good enough for me as I really don't want to spoil the final experience. Graphics, combat, story, camera, items, enemies, emotion, no Tingle, everything is better. I am really not overselling this game. I had very high expectations and they were completely surpassed. The only thing I'm curious about is this Wolf aspect. It appears that Link is NOT a werewolf, but merely becomes one when he's in a certain area. It reminds me of LTTP and how Link turned into a bunny. Then again, this wasn't a FEROCIOUS bunny. I didn't get to play as wolf-Link, but the video I saw really made me want to. In closing, there's really no more buzz words I can use to stress how...fantacular this experience was. I spent over $600 coming down to LA for E3, but this is all I needed.



				\| links stuff profile \| . : .
	::Zelda: Twilight Princess - Impressions Although I already did a recap of every game I played at E3 last week, I somehow forgot to mention one of the little ones. You could claim that I intended on giving it its own space from the start, but most people wouldn't believe you. My point is, Zelda: Twilight Princess might as well have had its own building at this year's E3. I went into the Mr. Toad's Wild Ride-like booth with high expectations. I expected the game to feel like The Wind Waker and look like Ocarina of Time. What I got was somehow much more. "Where's the game demos?" They're behind those massive sheets of course! Like I said, the booth felt like a ride at Disney Land. Hell, it even had its own version of Mickey! Let it be known that I am absolutely terrified of cartoon mascot characters that try to hug me. This one however, he doesn't hug you. He gives you knux and a manly tap on the shoulder. Say what you will, but we all KNOW that's Miyamoto in there. Depending on how early you early you got to the seeminly invisible booth, the wait to get in went up to about 5 hours. The entire Nintendo booth was surrounded by people. Luckily I got there in time to only wait 45 minutes. Upon entering, I immediately noticed the castle surroundings, vegetation, and trees. This picture really doesn't do the place justice, but I think you get the idea. In this first room, there were 2 available demos on 8 or so machines. The first demo I played was entirely focussed on the new horseball battle aspect. I was thrust into a boss battle against an armored...thing on top of a giant boar. He also had about 6 of his own men that attacked while I tried to take him down. This is one of the aspects of Zelda I was worried about since almost no one can create a game with seemless controls at every turn. Riding Epona is still the smoothest horse ride in town. It feels a lot like it did in Ocarina of Time, but I didn't find myself getting frustrated with it like I did every now and then in the N64 game. Attacking with your sword while riding is quite simple thanks to the "hold forward, push A to accelerate" control scheme. You could get off the horse during this demo, but I stayed on. One of the many little things added to Twilight Princess is that it seems EVERYONE has destructable armor on them. It no longer feels like you're stabbing the crap out of someone until they just explode. It gives the game a sense of realism almost no other game has. The boss battle is no exception. Once you take off some armor and smack the guy around a bit, he then retreats into a castle. You follow but your path is blocked by burning thorns so it's now time for a joust on top of an incredibly atmospheric bridge at sunset. If you can appreciate the important atmosphere plays in a game like Metroid Prime, you'll love what Nintendo has done for Twilight Princess. The joust has you charging with epona and choosing to either guard, attack, or just move to the side. Given the situation, I once again expected clunky controls. Needless to say, it wasn't a simple button timing like in Resident Evil 4's QTE events, but it felt great. Once you knocked the bastard off the bridge, the demo was over. Upon finishing the demo, I politely let someone else play and waited to play the second demo. This demo took place in Tauro Village, Link's hometown. Link starts the game off as a poor-ass cowboy. Nintendo didn't waste any time getting you aquainted with Epona. I'll be loose on the details so you can see it firsthand, but Epona pretty much bursts out of a stable head first towards Link. The first task is to wrangle up some goats into the barn. He IS a cowboy afterall. Don't let movies like City Slickers fool you, this is how it's done. Twilight Princess boasts the best goat AI I've seen in years. They act almost TOO smart and actually walk in on their own once they're close enough to the door. So many games do the whole "lead them this way until they're in, OMG time limit" horribly. This felt great and even funny, plus there was only a timer for your own personal record. Did I mention how much I loved the interface? Menus in the Wind Waker seemed a little plain to me, but TP is like reading a digital 1st testament bible, only without all the vengeful God and incest. Hmm I went off track there. Other tasks in town include helping a pregnant woman obtain her baby basket from the river after paddling in a canoe (another perfect control scheme) towards it. You learn a little bit of sword action from the classic "Im the only guy in town with a sword, but I firmly believe children should learn my ways." You then meet up with this girl that, get this, looks like a 16 year old girl should look! Zelda: Twilight Princess has a distinctly real life anime look and I was just surprised to not see overblown proportions. The town was huge and there were a lot of things to do, but I only wanted to play enough to get a feel for things. I mentioned the real life anime look. What I mean is that yes, all of the characters look realistic, but they are still stylized to keep the Zelda feel. If you played the Wind Waker (like you should have) you may have been able to appreciate the range of emotions Link had. Now his face actually morphs from talking happily with his female friend, to looking embarrased alongside the town mayor. Seeing a girl lecture Link and the mayor should bring a smile to anyone's face. The range of emotions is unrivaled by anything outside a game on the scale of a new Final Fantasy. There were no cut-scenes to be found, but they really don't seem necessary. Although I was definately impressed with the new look and horse-riding of Twilight Princess, I was also dissapointed that I couldn't experience what really mattered, the dungeons. I walked out what I thought was the exit, only to see the quaint outdoor surrounding transform into a dungeon. There was a Romanesque window with footage of dead knights and dungeon creatures inside it. Even more impressive was the pile of bones on the ground behind a cage that rose up into a huge Stalfos. I think he was trying to pick a fight with some chick. Again, this all felt like the best parts of an amusement park: the aestetics of a ride and the arcade. Now I hadn't seen the latest trailer shown at the conference since I was on a plane at the time, but this guy pretty much solidified one of my predictions: An anamatronic wolf tethered at the groin loomed around the 2nd demo room. Link turns into a wolf at some point. Neat. Anyways, I anxiously awaited my turn to play one of the other 2 demos. It was a dungeon limited to 15 minutes and the boss battle at the end. I didn't want to play the boss battle for the sake of experiencing the full version later this year, but I had to try out the dungeon. Of course, the available dungeon was the Forest Dungeon (temple?). You start off with a sword, lantern, and some health items. The d-pad manages your items. If you've ever played Ratchet and Clank, the interface will be familiar to you. I didn't see an item selectable for the Z button, but hey, I'm not complaining. Let me take a momment to explain combat. It definately feels like the Wind Waker's improved combat system, but it has improved once again. It appears that alternating B and A results in different combos on top of timing button presses. The classic swing is better than ever. You hold your sword back in the same fashion as before, but the charge seems like a throwback to LTTP. A light shimmer rolls to the tip of the blade and then sparkles when it's ready to kill. For some reason, I found this to be amazing. The spinning effect is also impressive and the entire movement looks very realistic. Link's side jumping and backflipping are back, but there's a nice new addition to the familiar jumping slash (A + forward). If the enemy is on the ground, Link now jump stabs him for a finishing blow. While this looked really odd in Soul Calibur and Smash Bros, it actually makes sense in Twilight Princess as he doesn't jump 10 feet in the air now. Supposedly there is more combat in the works, but it's already a blast. The Forest Dungeon. There's so many things to mention so I'll just fly right through time. First off, the lantern produces some incredible lighting effects that naturally casts over everything around it. You can now slash and run (FINALLY) so cutting grass both looks great and isn't annoying. Doors are now opened with Link's actual hands! Sure, he opened doors in town before, but now instead of rising and falling rock slabs, Link places his hands on the door, NUDGES it to the side and the door rolls to the side with dirt falling naturally. Maybe I'm easily impressed. You interact with monkeys that help you get across large gaps. You aquire the Gale boomerang right away. The thing creates a tornado when you throw it and it locks in on multiple targets just like before. This was used for some simple door "puzzles" but I'm sure it will be more fully utilized than it was in the Wind Waker. Floor switches were just like LTTP in that they were little circles that fell into the ground if you stood on them for a second. I liked that they were a little hard to find. Dungeons should prove to be more of a challenge this time around. Killing an enemy that used to give you a stick in OOT now drops a giant deku-nut like nut. Link picks the thing up like a football and then chucks it in the same manner. Link doesn't just look badass, he chucks nuts like the pros. Oops, time's up. Well I didn't get to finish the demo, but I absolutely loved it. One play was good enough for me as I really don't want to spoil the final experience. Graphics, combat, story, camera, items, enemies, emotion, no Tingle, everything is better. I am really not overselling this game. I had very high expectations and they were completely surpassed. The only thing I'm curious about is this Wolf aspect. It appears that Link is NOT a werewolf, but merely becomes one when he's in a certain area. It reminds me of LTTP and how Link turned into a bunny. Then again, this wasn't a FEROCIOUS bunny. I didn't get to play as wolf-Link, but the video I saw really made me want to. In closing, there's really no more buzz words I can use to stress how...fantacular this experience was. I spent over $600 coming down to LA for E3, but this is all I needed.