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The Zelda TP pre-launch NON-SPOILER thread (READ BEFORE YOU POSTTTT)

since nobody answered me in that other thread I'll try here...


what happened to the gamespot zelda review thread? it's completely gone from the forums. deleted? :lol
 
it was an embarrassment and needed to be obliterated from the earth.
and i'm talking about the thread, not the review--a lot of people really made fools of themselves when they saw that score.
 
Slurpy said:
Seems like its time for an update...

47wzlu0.jpg
Click to expand...
This may be the best picture made ever.
 
I'm glad work kept me away from all that.
8.8
from Gerstmann sucks, but it looks like Zelda fans went fuggin bonkers.

Seriously though, I was expecting the score. We all were I think. Jeff, and most of GS just aren't into the Wii, judging from that wii marathon, and their recent podcasts. That was inevitably going to bite TP in the ass.

*sigh* At least Toasty & Matt see the light :).
 
MaddenNFL64 said:
Seriously though, I was expecting the score. We all were I think. Jeff, and most of GS just aren't into the Wii, judging from that wii marathon, and their recent podcasts. That was inevitably going to bite TP in the ass.
Click to expand...

Well we've all seen that horrible Wii play marathon, but let's ignore that for a minute and look at Gerstmann's conclusion for Zelda

Gerstmann said:
Objectively speaking, it's still a little disappointing that the series hasn't evolved much at all with this latest installment. You'll almost certainly enjoy the game for its terrific puzzles, colorful characters, and compelling story, but at some point the feeling of nostalgia crosses the line and holds this game back from being as unbelievably good as some of its predecessors. So as impressive of a game as it is, Twilight Princess seems like it could have been so much more with a few presentational updates and more effective and interesting uses of the Wii's unique control scheme. But even without those things, Twilight Princess is a great game that stays extremely true to the Zelda franchise's past. That's excellent news for fans of the series, who'll find in Twilight Princess a true-blue Zelda game with updated visuals, some new twists, plenty of challenging puzzles, and a faithful dedication to the series' roots.
Click to expand...

Sure he thinks that there should've been more focus on the unique Wii-abilities, but his main complaint seems to have a purely gameplay-based reason. He thinks that the series hasn't evolved enough with this installment and offers fanservice (to put it bluntly), but not enough original things. This kinda conflicts with other reviews that claim the dungeon design is really intricate and that it offers the best ones in the series. Also reviewers have said that the latter half of the game contains some really cool new gameplay elements. Maybe Gerstmann didn't even play it to the end. We'll have to play the game for ourselves to find out if we can agree with Gerstmann's argument.

This whole Gerstmann thing just really opens op a good debate of how a Zelda game should be. I mean, let's just assume that TP is indeed OoTx2 and that it offers a similar experience, only bigger, with a focus on story. It doesn't offer anything particularly 'new', but the gameplay is as strong as ever. Do you rationally dock points because you did all this before, or do you rate it as the overall awesome experience it is? Personally I think this is really hard to do. But what I don't understand then is why Wind Waker would earn that 9.3. That game really didn't add anything we didn't already do before too, apart from the sailing and the few stealth bits.

Maybe the best way to rate games like this is just go with how satisfying the experience was and ask yourself if you never got bored while playing, whether everything still feels fresh after all these years. For Gerstmann it didn't apparently. Still... this game gives you 60+ hours of great action/adventure gameplay, with practically no padding if we were to believe other reviews. How many games still offer this on yearly basis? So that may be a reason to give it a higher score and make it at least stand out a little. I might put too much emphasis on gameplay here, but it still remains the main reason to play at all.
 
unifin said:
IGN video review is up... dunno about the spoiler level. 9 minutes! @_@
Click to expand...

Spoiler level is pretty high for you folk. I'd avoid if I were you.

Anyway, came in here to ask: Wii version = widescreen. I don't have widescreen. What happens? Does it redraw a 4:3 picture (repositioning HUD etc), or black bars? Also is an SD card required for saving, or can that happen on the onboard memory?
 
mrkgoo said:
Spoiler level is pretty high for you folk. I'd avoid if I were you.

Anyway, came in here to ask: Wii version = widescreen. I don't have widescreen. What happens? Does it redraw a 4:3 picture (repositioning HUD etc), or black bars? Also is an SD card required for saving, or can that happen on the onboard memory?
Click to expand...

If you set your Wii to 4:3 then Zelda will be 4:3 like your television set. And you can save it to your Wii flash memory.
 
mrkgoo said:
Spoiler level is pretty high for you folk. I'd avoid if I were you.

Anyway, came in here to ask: Wii version = widescreen. I don't have widescreen. What happens? Does it redraw a 4:3 picture (repositioning HUD etc), or black bars? Also is an SD card required for saving, or can that happen on the onboard memory?
Click to expand...

It's not a letterboxed 4:3 - from what I've seen, it's a REAL widescreen option.

AFAIK, saves can be made on the 512 MB internal memory.

EDIT: Christ, this is really is the only safe place on the internet now. There's a spoiler .gif going around that I've only barely avoided.
 
Darunia said:
Well we've all seen that horrible Wii play marathon, but let's ignore that for a minute and look at Gerstmann's conclusion for Zelda



Sure he thinks that there should've been more focus on the unique Wii-abilities, but his main complaint seems to have a purely gameplay-based reason. He thinks that the series hasn't evolved enough with this installment and offers fanservice (to put it bluntly), but not enough original things. This kinda conflicts with other reviews that claim the dungeon design is really intricate and that it offers the best ones in the series. Also reviewers have said that the latter half of the game contains some really cool new gameplay elements. Maybe Gerstmann didn't even play it to the end. We'll have to play the game for ourselves to find out if we can agree with Gerstmann's argument.

This whole Gerstmann thing just really opens op a good debate of how a Zelda game should be. I mean, let's just assume that TP is indeed OoTx2 and that it offers a similar experience, only bigger, with a focus on story. It doesn't offer anything particularly 'new', but the gameplay is as strong as ever. Do you rationally dock points because you did all this before, or do you rate it as the overall awesome experience it is? Personally I think this is really hard to do. But what I don't understand then is why Wind Waker would earn that 9.3. That game really didn't add anything we didn't already do before too, apart from the sailing and the few stealth bits.

Maybe the best way to rate games like this is just go with how satisfying the experience was and ask yourself if you never got bored while playing, whether everything still feels fresh after all these years. For Gerstmann it didn't apparently. Still... this game gives you 60+ hours of great action/adventure gameplay, with practically no padding if we were to believe other reviews. How many games still offer this on yearly basis? So that may be a reason to give it a higher score and make it at least stand out a little. I might put too much emphasis on gameplay here, but it still remains the main reason to play at all.
Click to expand...

Well it seems he's in the minority....
 
Xdrive05 said:
If you set your Wii to 4:3 then Zelda will be 4:3 like your television set. And you can save it to your Wii flash memory.
Click to expand...
Ok, thanks...wonder if it will feel cramped?

Anyway, I realises it is real widescreen...and was wondering if I could actually view it with black bars....guess not.

doesn't matter I guess.

Spoilers for IGN video reivew (which is excellent):

items, bosses, cutscenes
 
I'm surprise no reviewers have but the pieces together yet but to let my analogy do the talking

Legend of Zelda :: Ocarina of Time
Zelda II :: Majora's Mask
ALTTP:: Twilight Princess

Looking at the parts individually you could say TP is some multiplier of OOT but the way it all comes together presents a different experience alltogether.
 
Xdrive05 said:
What kind of spoilers are they? Just an extra item or two or something little like that?
Click to expand...
You wish :P

No, there is one thing I REALLY didn't know about yet. I kind of guessed it was in, but now I know what it looks like.

Sorry, can't tell you more :P

If you live in the US and get Zelda tomorrow: don't watch.
If not, you might watch it, but be prepared for some (I guess early game) spoilers.

/edit
Oh, I got from the other thread you already watched it ^_^
 
MaddenNFL64 said:
I sort of want to say its his opinion, and the game will be great regardless etc., but I REALLY want to say Gameplay - 8??? = WTF JEFF.
Click to expand...

I guess according to Gamespot, that;s like great or something. As faras I can tell, the gameplay mechanics haven't changed since Ocarina of time - so it's not revolutionary or anything. Maybe a few new stuff, but nothing genre defining overall.

I guess.
 
Darunia said:
Well we've all seen that horrible Wii play marathon, but let's ignore that for a minute and look at Gerstmann's conclusion for Zelda



Sure he thinks that there should've been more focus on the unique Wii-abilities, but his main complaint seems to have a purely gameplay-based reason. He thinks that the series hasn't evolved enough with this installment and offers fanservice (to put it bluntly), but not enough original things. This kinda conflicts with other reviews that claim the dungeon design is really intricate and that it offers the best ones in the series. Also reviewers have said that the latter half of the game contains some really cool new gameplay elements. Maybe Gerstmann didn't even play it to the end. We'll have to play the game for ourselves to find out if we can agree with Gerstmann's argument.

This whole Gerstmann thing just really opens op a good debate of how a Zelda game should be. I mean, let's just assume that TP is indeed OoTx2 and that it offers a similar experience, only bigger, with a focus on story. It doesn't offer anything particularly 'new', but the gameplay is as strong as ever. Do you rationally dock points because you did all this before, or do you rate it as the overall awesome experience it is? Personally I think this is really hard to do. But what I don't understand then is why Wind Waker would earn that 9.3. That game really didn't add anything we didn't already do before too, apart from the sailing and the few stealth bits.

Maybe the best way to rate games like this is just go with how satisfying the experience was and ask yourself if you never got bored while playing, whether everything still feels fresh after all these years. For Gerstmann it didn't apparently. Still... this game gives you 60+ hours of great action/adventure gameplay, with practically no padding if we were to believe other reviews. How many games still offer this on yearly basis? So that may be a reason to give it a higher score and make it at least stand out a little. I might put too much emphasis on gameplay here, but it still remains the main reason to play at all.
Click to expand...
The review was also full of some blatant pieces of idiocy, though.

Jeff knocks the graphics for not utilizing the Wii's potential... and then knocks the sound because the speaker on the wiimote itself is tinny?

He says when he tried to do the shield bash, it ALMOST ALWAYS resulted in a spin attack. You have to hold forward to do the shield bash. Did he seriously never consider the possibility, after it didn't work for the hundredth time, that HE was doing something wrong?

He NEVER mentions the aiming controls, at all. Or even pointer-aided menu selection/Z-targeting. By all accounts, they're the best part of the Wii version, and he pretends they don't exist. :|

Edit: He also complains about MIDI quality music, while mentioning nothing about the compositions themselves. He totally ignores the dynamic music, arguably the whole reason EAD went with MIDI in the first place.

It's just a horrible, horrible review.
 
he wanted to give the game a low score, that much is obvious. so he had to look for reasons to do that, sound was one of them so he chose to bash the speaker and yeah he didnt say anything positive about the wiimote controls.
 
Error2k4 said:
he wanted to give the game a low score, that much is obvious. so he had to look for reasons to do that, sound was one of them so he chose to bash the speaker and yeah he didnt say anything positive about the wiimote controls.
Click to expand...

We all knew he hates the Wiimote, but why choose sound? He could have just docked points in gameplay.
 
mugwhump said:
The review was also full of some blatant pieces of idiocy, though.

Jeff knocks the graphics for not utilizing the Wii's potential... and then knocks the sound because the speaker on the wiimote itself is tinny?

He says when he tried to do the shield bash, it ALMOST ALWAYS resulted in a spin attack. You have to hold forward to do the shield bash. Did he seriously never consider the possibility, after it didn't work for the hundredth time, that HE was doing something wrong?

He NEVER mentions the aiming controls, at all. Or even pointer-aided menu selection/Z-targeting. By all accounts, they're the best part of the Wii version, and he pretends they don't exist. :|

It's just a horrible, horrible review.
Click to expand...

Yup, in a nutshell. But I think we should stop giving him and his review attention- which is exactly what he wanted. I'm more irritated at him including major weapon/item/location spoilers with absolutely no warning, (shows he doesnt give a **** about anyone who gives a **** bout the game) but what can you expect from him. His review will be utterly irrelevant when more scores come flowing in. WHen a score is that far way from the average, you know its the reviewer, not the game, that has issues. WE'll leave it at that.
 
Probably to about 13-14 hours until it's in my hand. I won't play it until after football. But with great football games and Zelda, it's gonna be a great day. I'll probably stay up to 2-3 am. Here's hoping for some blowout specials I can turn off and play Wii.
 
So who has actually PURCHASED Zelda already and has it in their possession?

I'm going to try to get the game before I buy the system.... any recommendations?
 
E-phonk said:
http://img411.imageshack.us/my.php?image=mkaetwwx2.jpg

Don't know if this is old, but very cool nonetheless.
Click to expand...
Thats so ****ing old lol.


WHO CARES THOUGH!!???



ZELDA LESS THEN 5 HOURS!!!!!!!!!!ZELDA LESS THEN 5 HOURS!!!!!!!!!!ZELDA LESS THEN 5 HOURS!!!!!!!!!!ZELDA LESS THEN 5 HOURS!!!!!!!!!!ZELDA LESS THEN 5 HOURS!!!!!!!!!!ZELDA LESS THEN 5 HOURS!!!!!!!!!!ZELDA LESS THEN 5 HOURS!!!!!!!!!!ZELDA LESS THEN 5 HOURS!!!!!!!!!!ZELDA LESS THEN 5 HOURS!!!!!!!!!!ZELDA LESS THEN 5 HOURS!!!!!!!!!!ZELDA LESS THEN 5 HOURS!!!!!!!!!!ZELDA LESS THEN 5 HOURS!!!!!!!!!!ZELDA LESS THEN 5 HOURS!!!!!!!!!!
 
Slurpy said:
Yup, in a nutshell. But I think we should stop giving him and his review attention- which is exactly what he wanted. I'm more irritated at him including major weapon/item/location spoilers with absolutely no warning, (shows he doesnt give a **** about anyone who gives a **** bout the game) but what can you expect from him. His review will be utterly irrelevant when more scores come flowing in. WHen a score is that far way from the average, you know its the reviewer, not the game, that has issues. WE'll leave it at that.
Click to expand...

My huge issue with Gerstmann's review has more to do with the quality of the writing and how he backs up his points in addition to all the spoilers in the text.

Every single point he makes to bring down the game is either completely contradicted in every review written besides his own, is not well thought out, or in most cases both. It's like he got 10 minutes into the game, decided he was going to give it a bad review, then backpedaled a bit because he didn't want to piss off everyone intending to buy the title.

I'd be fine with him giving it an 8.8 if he could offer me a well written reason as to why (and I can think of several.) It's the effort put into the actual rationale that bothers me instead. I understand writing a short, crummy review for a short, crummy game. When the game in question is Zelda, I expect the same attention the developers paid to the title and if you can't hack doing that, don't bother.
 
unifin said:
So who has actually PURCHASED Zelda already and has it in their possession?

I'm going to try to get the game before I buy the system.... any recommendations?
Click to expand...

I have it. I got my copy from Hastings yesterday. Hopefully I can get the system tonight but thus far I'm not getting my hopes up.
 
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