That duel-hookshot dungeon was a thing of Zelda gaming bliss. And that boss!I just finished Twilight Princess last night for the first time. I don't know what score I'd give it, but I will say I almost didn't finish the game. I hated the tear collecting portion, and pretty much any time I was forced to be a wolf.
There was a thread here not to long ago about greatest dungeons in the Zelda series, and if I hadn't seen some of the TP dungeons in that thread I wouldn't have completed it.
That being said, I'm really glad I did because I enjoyed the second half of the game. Roughly corresponding with when I got the ability to shape shift at will.
I just finished Twilight Princess last night for the first time. I don't know what score I'd give it, but I will say I almost didn't finish the game. I hated the tear collecting portion, and pretty much any time I was forced to be a wolf.
There was a thread here not to long ago about greatest dungeons in the Zelda series, and if I hadn't seen some of the TP dungeons in that thread I wouldn't have completed it.
That being said, I'm really glad I did because I enjoyed the second half of the game. Roughly corresponding with when I got the ability to shape shift at will.
Sometimes we need a reminder of why we let certain things go in our lives.He's say while posting on Gaming Side six years later.
Wow. I mean, NeoGaf is generally pretty inside baseball, but an anniversary thread for a...review? This is what we're doing now?
Was a more than valid score. Instead of being enraged back then it actually made me a bit more skeptical. After finishing it on Wii back then I wouldn't have given it any higher of a score.
The waggle really did get to me. It was so bad for sword swings. Being forced to rapidly shake my wrist just to wander through bushes looking for money was atrocious. After you got lazy enough and broke it down to the core functionality (briefly waggling up and down or left and right) it became tired. I wanted nothing more than to just hit a B-button instead. The only good part about the Wii version was the widescreen support.
I more recently played through the Gamecube version and was far more pleased with it. Left-handed Link, and a single button for sword attacks. I really wondered why I was so displeased with it in the past, and in retrospect it must have been those tacked on waggle controls.
It was quite the shitstorm at the time. I enjoyed the trip down memory lane.Wow. I mean, NeoGaf is generally pretty inside baseball, but an anniversary thread for a...review? This is what we're doing now?
Wow. I mean, NeoGaf is generally pretty inside baseball, but an anniversary thread for a...review? This is what we're doing now?
It was a huge deal when it hit, and it's still relevant to modern video game journalism.
Not that I was into review scores before TP, but this score really highlighted the absurdity of review scores in general.
In hindsight, the reasons for docking Twilight Princess for trivial, frivolous matters were beyond silly; the game is, and was, amazing in nearly all respects. In a world where derivative trash like Gears of War and CoD routinely get perfect scores, the backlash to the review wasn't all that hard to see or understand.
On the other hand, games journalism lol.
Wow. I mean, NeoGaf is generally pretty inside baseball, but an anniversary thread for a...review? This is what we're doing now?
It was a huge deal when it hit, and it's still relevant to modern video game journalism.
Eh, more relevant to gaming community's (im)maturity.
Differences?
If I had a 9.0 game and a 8.8 game right next to eachother, and played them both unknowing of their respective scores, I sure as hell wouldn't notice a difference in quality. So I do not understand what all the fuzz was about. 8.8 is hardly worth crying over. 0.2 from 9... It can be taken the other way around too. Why didn't Jeff just give the game 9 to avoid upsetting the fanbase? I mean, it's so trivial.
The outrage should have been over that it received such a high score. The fact that it was pretty much a rehash of OoT and totally lacked the originality of the previous Zelda game (Wind Waker) objectively should have put it's max score no higher than 8.0. It's a conceptionally lazy game.
Then there's the long tedious tutorial, no challenge whatsoever, very little exploration involved in the overworld, boring parts where you're a wolf and have to collect bugs, unmemorable music, and the added emphasis on cutscenes. It just wasn't that great.
That's a good point. Scores are always relative. It would be interesting to see which games from the same era received better scores (from Gamespot, and from Jeff Gerstmann in particular) than TP and how these games are perceived in retrospect.HOWEVER
When you're speaking with the benefit of hindsight, I do feel you need to realize these were different times. All the (somewhat good) major console exclusives in those times got between a 9.4 and a 10. Every single one. Doesn't matter if the reviewer hated it, this was something that was expected to be done. Gerstmann's 8.8 did feel like a break of form, and for someone to do that, you felt it had to be personal somehow. Not trying to argue in favor of the vitriol, just trying to add perspective. The gaming world at that point suddenly started growing up, which made a lot of teens very angsty.
That duel-hookshot dungeon was a thing of Zelda gaming bliss. And that boss!
Such a shame. If it were a 9.0, I would've totally bought it.
At 8.9, I'd have considered it.
8.8? NO F*CKIN' WAY.
SUCH BULLSHIT. F*CK YOU JEFF GERSTMANN. GOD.
I'm not sure how to respond to ur Oracle reviews. Can I ask your boss to fire you?The Legend of Zelda - 8/10
Adventure of Link - 9/10
Link to the Past - ∞/10
Link's Awakening - 10/10
Ocarina of Time - 9/10
Majora's Mask - hardly played it, don't really like it
Oracle of Ages/Seasons - 7/10
Wind Waker - 7/10
Minish Cap - 8/10
Twilight Princess - 9/10
Phantom Hourglass - never played it
Spirit Tracks - 6/10
Skyward Sword - 8/10
For what it's worth, I thought Gerstmann's review was fair at the time and still do.
Wow. I mean, NeoGaf is generally pretty inside baseball, but an anniversary thread for a...review? This is what we're doing now?
8.8 is a really good score. It rounds to 9, my goodness!
I'm not sure how to respond to ur Oracle reviews. Can I ask your boss to fire you?
I'm not sure how to respond to ur Oracle reviews. Can I ask your boss to fire you?