Mr Khan said:
Helios said:
Twilight Princess... Now that I am done with it, I'm not sure what to think.
It is, in my personal opinion, the most deeply flawed title of the main series (well, Spirit Tracks is up there if you consider it eligible). The direction simply does not sit well with me. I suppose it depends on what you want to get out of the game; for me, the overt sentimentalism, the cinematography, the art direction and the music all fail to impress. The tone is inconsistent as well, but that's mostly due to a sense of farcical self-awareness, which I do not mind.
That's not to say it is a poorly designed game, or that I don't enjoy it. It has elements to it that are quite well done, including some of the dungeons, the combat system (enemy and (especially) boss design does not live up to it, though), the writing and the theme.
The latter provides a reasonable justification of the parallelisms to Ocarina of Time and (more subtly) The Wind Waker that people tend to complain about. In more ways than one, the game is the antithesis of The Wind Waker. It presents an alternate course of history following Ocarina of Time, exploring the events of the adult timeline in a new way. But more importantly, it serves as a thematic counterpoint. Indeed, both games highlight the concept of a fate ordained by the gods, but the treatment is more ambivalent in Twilight Princess. I think the it is captured well enough in Midna's story - I doubt the irony of the ending is lost on anyone - but also in Ganondorf's character and the treatment of the Triforce. |
Kid timeline, i'm assuming, where Ganondorf's initial victory in OoT never came to pass, given that, with sufficient warning provided by Link, Ganondorf was subdued even with the Triforce of power in hand
It's either that, or we are to believe that the timeline split occurred at Twilight Princess, and that The Wind Waker and onward simply represent a period where Link wasn't around for the events of TP
And i probably know what the "irony of the ending" is, but i can't think of it off the top of my head. Something to do with the fact that Midna, who ultimately proves unambiguously good, wilfully cements the segregation imposed by the Gods?
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Twilight Princess does indeed take place in the child timeline. What I wanted to communicate with that comment was that it also acts as a symbolic parallel to the adult segment of Ocarina of Time (hence the complaints about recycling old ideas/material). In a sense, Twilight Princess is the child timeline's version of those 'lost' events.
You are correct about the ending, as I see it. The irony of it is that, just as Midna began to care for the residents of the light world, she also came to realize that she was tasked with destroying the only link between them, and that this act was ultimately ordained by the gods. This fate, which Midna personally had to carry for the sins of her ancestors, certainly has a tinge of cruelty to it, though it is not necessarily unjustified or without merit.
