Image from Flickr user Thiago Borbolla (CC)

A New Gaming Challenge: Making Nice With The Twilight Princess

Image from Flickr user Thiago Borbolla (CC)
Image from Flickr user Thiago Borbolla (CC)

Since giving up on not beating Metroid Prime, I’ve been wary of challenging myself to complete old, unfinished (or never started) games in my backlog.  Or, I should say, wary of challenging myself and then making myself accountable by documenting the process in writing, i.e. blogging about it.  But even though my Metroid Prime challenge didn’t have the best ending, from the experience came a number of thought-provoking…err…thoughts that I hadn’t considered when I first played it. Plus, sharing the game here provided much needed support that helped propel me to its almost-end, for which I remain grateful. And since it’s the start of a new year, why not resolve now to work through a game that’s been itching at the back of my skull for several months now…

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.

I actually thought that I had given away my copy of Twilight Princess. But after re-setting up our gaming space and consolidating all our games, I discovered that Twilight Princess was still in our stash. That was a couple years ago. Since then, Twilight Princess has been sitting on the shelf along with what’s left of our Wii library, waiting very patiently. I quite fell out of love with the Wii for a good long while, until last year’s success with Xenoblade Chronicles reminded me that it’s not such a bad system after all.  Since then, Twilight Princess has been on my mind, because as with Xenoblade Chronicles, my first time with the game didn’t go very well.

I got The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess as holiday-time gift in late 2007. At that point, the only other game I had tried on the Wii was Super Mario Galaxy. (And that had a sad, unfinished ending too.) Part of me wanted badly to be in love with the Wiimote and nunchuck and motion control, but part of me despised it. The main reason I didn’t get along very well with either Super Mario Galaxy or Twilight Princess was because of exactly that – the motion control.  (Of course, maybe it would have helped if we had had more space in our then-tiny apartment to use a console like the Wii properly, but c’est la vie.) I had a really terrible time aiming and navigating in both games, especially Twilight Princess, and it made for some dour times. So much so that I pretty much abandoned the Wii in favor of more “traditional” console fare.

Last week I fired up the ol’ Wii to see if it still contained any old Twilight Princess data; sure enough, it did. According to it, the last time I played the game was May 17, 2008. I had put in just over 10 hours. Yep, sounds about right. In that moment, I considered re-starting that old game, but, the voices in my head told me to start a brand new game. And in a matter of minutes, I was wrapped in the warm, fuzzy blanket that is a Zelda game. Having the Wii set up much more appropriately than it was long ago, I had no trouble using the Wiimote and nunchuck. There I was in Ordon Woods, herding goats and fishing and riding Epona and instigating trouble. It was all much more enjoyable and beautiful than I remembered it. After putting in a few hours with the game, I had made my choice. If I was to complete one single game this year, it was going to be The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.

Given that I don’t have much gaming time, and that there are waaaaaay too many other games to play (plus, I’ve also got it stuck in my head to complete a couple Saints Row games), it could very well take me all year to get through Twilight Princess. But I’m going to set May 17th as a target date for, perhaps, completing the main story.  (I feel very diffident about typing that out loud, but…accountability is key.) I’ll offer up occasional updates on my progress here over the coming months, and I also welcome any tips and tricks for the game from you, our wonderful and supportive readers.

Plus, if all goes well, maybe it’ll get me extra jazzed for the new Zelda game. Only time will tell there, I guess. For now, it’s time to save Hyrule from the Twilight!

4 thoughts on “A New Gaming Challenge: Making Nice With The Twilight Princess”

  1. I have the GameCube version of Twilight Princess, so I get to avoid those silly Wiimote controls. Good luck on the game. Once you get through the beginning, which I found rather boring (because of those spooky kids), it gets a lot more fun. The game has some pretty great dungeons, too.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Yes, not much is going on that the start of the game, but I enjoyed playing around in Ordon Village. Brought back a lot of memories.

      I had forgotten that this game was also made available on the GameCube! That would be preferable, but the motion controls aren’t terrible. …Yet.

      Like

    1. Thanks! I think things are going to go much better with the game this time round.

      Funny how the “right time” with a game often happens when you least expect it. Hmm…that could be a good blogging topic…:)

      Liked by 1 person

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