So I have probably talked about it at a decent amount of length with my feelings on 3D Zeldas with my review of Ocarina of Time. Subjective, sure, and I won't take away any of the grand influence these games had, they just aren't my particular idea of what a Zelda game should be. Twilight Princess, in my eyes, was even more gimmicky than its predecessor (The Wind Waker) and made things worse for the franchise's expectations.

Before I proceed, it's worth noting that I don't think Twilight Princess itself is a bad video game, but a FLAWED Zelda game. Developed and released for the GameCube in 2006, this would be the last big first party release for the ill-fated lil' box. I'll be fair, it was quite the bang to go out on, as the Cube was a less than stellar market flop. With its darker tone and atmosphere, Twilight Princess was more accepted than the [at the time] grossly misunderstood Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. Edgy 2000's Nintendo fans didn't take too kindly to the colorful cel-shaded art style and chibi-style representations of Link and Tetra, making it look super kiddie and aesthetically wimpy, compared to the grittier culture gaming was embracing by this point; Nintendo "didn't grow up with me", being the grand rallying cry.

So cool, we got rid of the silly cartoon characters and turned Link into a dog. The sense of exploration has been reduced from this vast world we can sail through, down to a linear hallway with cramped, repetitive temples and desolate towns. Even the shadow pup transformations, which occurs when a monster from the Twilight world curses him, it turns searching around for items more of a chore. Yeah, you can swap at will, but overall makes the layout feel a touch counterintuitive, as the world feels that much smaller.

My gripe with this is, the meta of a Zelda game is utilizing your assets in an open manner to solve the puzzles. Twilight Princess INTENTIONALLY puts the wall of the pup transformation, giving the illusion that you used your wits to solve the riddles. Midna will giggle, offering hints where some items and passageways can be located, which I don't have much of an issue with giving players a "hot or cold" approach to spelunking. In reality, the game TELLS you to do most of its core story puzzles and spells it out for you. It's probably redundant at this point to explain why this irritates me so much, but I don't like being BY the game about how I should play it by STOPPING my progress and commanding I do it THIS WAY. 

Okay, I'll [try to] stop complaining provide some impartiality. Credit where its due, Twilight Princess is one of the best-looking pieces of software on the GameCube. The Xbox 360 had launched by this point, and the era of high definition was growing out of its infancy, and with the right circumstances, the GameCube is capable of upscaling to a 480p image, so the visuals still look relatively clean for the time. It has some fascinating detail, even if the game's hues sit in a rather muted palette. A darker, more serious looking Zelda, but less interesting to me. The little imp Midna, who's assisting Link, has some very expressive facials and provides a contrast to the gloomy aura, so there's that.

When it comes to its gameplay, it's not breaking any mold for a 3D Zelda by this point, but as far as functions go, it's certainly playable, borrowing the control scheme from the previous two entries. As a wolf, he uses bites to take down enemies. Along with that, Link has the standard itinerary of weapons to aid him (bombs, grappling hooks, bow and arrows, etc.), and the layout of the world feels...smaller.

I suppose this leave it to a more contained and tight-knit experience, except I found this to be one of the more claustrophobic LoZ escapades ever. Silly, gimmicky items like the magnet boots and TWO hook shots seem trite, because stopping to aim one hook shot isn't sped up by hanging to aim your OTHER hook shot. Just feels dumb. There's on scenario early in the game where an epic battle on horseback against King Bulbin, and again on The Great Bridge of Hylia, it's genuinely amazing. There's very little else that feels that cool again for me.

Suffice to say, I have never been a big fan of this game. While the handheld games continued to be fascinating, Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess continued the rather increasingly stale feeling of the 3D entires "going through the motions". There's only so many times I can stomach the similar tutorial scenarios of learning how Z targeting or riding Epona works, only to find the same bow and arrow and be NOT surprised when the big enemy has a glowing eye that I have to target with my newly acquired weapon. There's no enthusiasm or wonder for me as a player. And with Skyward Sword being a colossal mess, it'd be a while before the mainline Legend of Zelda games would be interesting to me. Because this one left me feeling as empty and retentive as the version of Hyrule this one presents. 

I also never played the Wii version, which I've heard is the definitive way to play it