Now, the first real article of Zelda Heaven for a long time.

 I was playing over Twilight Princess and a thought occured to me. “This game is setting a lot of standards for future Zelda games.” So I did my research, and came up with this article.

Twilight Princess is a diverse game made for the wide and varied (or maybe not so much) fans of the Zelda series. Sure, the graphics are phenomenal, the music just as much, and the entire game just a big, fat, WOW! but, that is not all there is to the game. This article seeks to find and explain as many of these little “path-finders” as possible.

 For a small example, the fishing game. While this was originally designed in Link’s Awakening for the GameBoy, the fishing game eventually became so popular that it was made again in Ocarina of Time and once more so far in Twilight Princess. The aim of the article isn’t to explain the history of fishing in Hyrule, though, so let’s set that aside for another day.

The fishing game offered a variety of rewards and it was very easy, very fun to play. Much like actual fishing (without so much a wait as in real life, >_<’). Point is, Nintendo wanted a fun and creative mini-game, and fishing proved more a success than they thought. So in TP, they expanded the fishing game to have different types of fish, different seasons, different weather patterns, different everything! And the rewards were a lot more, well, rewarding. Plus, an almost hidden bonus was the Ball Game she had in her shop (one of my favorites!). At any rate, The Fishing Game will be expected to be like this in future Zelda games, and no doubt, it will be!

 Another thing I’d like to point your attention to is the tradition of assistants or partners in the Zelda series. Midna, I’d like to say, was way cooler than any partner Link has had (maybe, just maybe, with the exception of the three other Links in Four Swords [Adventures]). I mean, look at her! Elf-like, floating (a natural expectation of partners in games nowadays), a hot temper (but not like Tatl from Majora’s Mask. Tatl was just plain annoying. Midna has a reason to be angry like that.), and the ability to teleport Link almost anywhere he wants (betcha Navi, Tatl, and The King of Red Lions couldn’t do that!). Also, she is vulnerable, whereas most partners don’t get injured in any way in most games. Midna actually needs your help, in two different ways! Fans no doubt want more partners like her in the Zelda series.

Let’s turn our attention to the Dungeons of TP. Three words to describe them: Elaborate, Beautiful, and Amazing. These dungeons consisted of what I like to call the Natural Nine (or in some cases, Eight): Forest, Fire, Water, Desert, Snow-Area (may differ according to game. In TP, it was on top of a mountain in a rather-friendly Yeti’s house), Temple, Sky Palace, and Castle (this last one can also be a Technology related dungeon.). The dungeons each included a legion of fearsome enemies and the traditional boss (each was very original, I’ve never seen anything like them [with the exception of Armaghoma, and even then, Ghoma didn't come close.]!). My favorite was the Desert boss, Stallord. Maybe it was the music or something, but he really released my inner Zelda. Thank you Stallord!

Let’s look at landscaping right now. A comparison, I think, would be nice. In Ocarina of Time, the land map was really small. I could have swam in a pond bigger than Lake Hylia. Death Mountain was more like a hill, and there was really nothing to explore!! In TP, I got frustrated with Lake Hylia because it took so freakin’ long to swim across, and Death Mountain looked tiring to climb just looking at it. Gerudo Desert was really a deserted wasteland, but think about it. We had free rein this time! No stupid sand plumes to worry about taking us back to the start of the… of the… no, I said too much. I’m mad at OoT right now. I said enough on that one. Hyrule Field was more like a Field this time, and with a lot more secrets to explore than OoT. There was the addition of the Mountain Range. Is it just me, or was the mountain range in this game named after the one in Termina? I must check that. The forest felt so much more like a forest and less like a place that horses use as a bathroom. The only things annoying here were that weird purple mist and the puppets (scary at first, then just retarded). All in all, Twilight Princess landscapes? Freakin’ sweet.

Finally (for today, don’t worry! I should write another of these later…), let’s look at the Pit of 100 trials. First of all, I hated that place my first time through. Just like Wind Waker, and with every bit of annoying pressure. Rip my eyeballs out instead, I’d rather lose them than my sanity. But, this was really good, when you think about it. The second time through, I was realizing something really odd about everything, and then it hit when I reached the final floor again. All the enemies were in greater numbers. This freaked me out because there were four Darknuts at the bottom, and, you know, these are a lot harder then the ones from Windwaker. I lured one away from the pack and killed him, then rinsed, and repeated. I was stupored. Me? Kill four Darknuts? Umpossible! But, I did it. And you know what? That mailman was down there. He was past the four Darknuts. How, I ask you? And why? Although I did talk to him, and he said, “It has to be here somewhere…” Was he talking about a letter of his, or perhaps *gasp* the Triforce? I shall study this further.

 And with that, I must leave you. Nooo! But, there is always tomorrow. Ciao!