oh my good lord, i love this game..

before coming back to the states, i ordered a copy online since they had been several rumors that the gamecube version was going to see a very limited release. of course, upon being in the states, i've seen copies all over the place for gamecube. in fact, it's easier to find on gamecube than on the wii.

anyways...

after getting stuck in Portrait of Ruin, i decided to start my game of zelda and i finally put down the controller after 14 hours.

this game is phenomenal.

the graphics are beautiful. the charcters, the environments, everything looks amazing.. it is very similar to Shadow of the Collosus, though, actually, shadow has a more realistic natural feel to it. Zelda still retains the cartoony unrealistic feel thanks to character design, which i think takes away from the majestic nature it tries to portrey.

the story is rather wicked and darker than most other Zeldas, as to be expected from all the hype. The notion of darkness engulfing hyrule is presented with eerie sounds and an ambient supernatural soundtrack. darkness, in the case of twilight princess, is known as twilight, which is where the title derives it's name from. the animation and graphics compliment the sound beautifully.

link has the most expression out of any previous game. despite that fact he still does not speak on screen, he has an amazing range of emotions that will still convey his dialogue for the story. he shows empathy, disgust, and madness throughout the story, so far, which are emotions i've never felt from a previous zelda game.

the gameplay is good old legend of zelda style. same old, same old. no jumping. the dungeons and puzzles so far, have been quite entertaining.

one thing they've added that i've wanted in zelda game ever since Ocarina of Time was a time gauge that told me how long i've played the game.

anyways... i can't really remember the last time i played a game for 14 hours straight, still wanting more. i only stopped because i was getting hungry, and wanted to eat something a little more substantial than chips.

after 14 hours through the game i've only made it to the 3rd dungeon. in standard zelda style, they are usually the first 3 dungeons, then you fight something in hyrule castle. After that, something crazy happens to the world, and you must trek through another 8 dungeons. Unfortunately, the 8 dungeons is where Wind Waker failed. though we've been promised by nintendo that there are more dungeons in Twilight Princess than any previous zelda game. that would make Twilight Princess a pretty goddamn long game.

anyways... i love this game and won't be playing Final Fantasy XII or any other unplayed game sitting on my shelf for a little while longer. wheee

by the way.. i named link "Billy" and the horse, epona, "Blacky" to experience Twilight Princess in true Crystania fashion.