I have completed Wind Waker. again, there will be no spoilers.



Like with Prince of Persia, I had played the latest entry in this series, Twilight Princess, before playing this game. But to be honest in terms of gameplay, apart from the controller I used to play both games, and a couple of little things I'll go into later, Twilight Princess and Wind Waker play and feel very much the same. (I understand they all follow the template Ocarina of time layed down)

First of all, I love the way the game looks, I think it's beautiful. The colour palette is gorgeous and varied, the art style is unique and full of personality. I know back in the day there was a big ho-ha over the fact they made the game all cartoony instead of semi realistic looking. But that cartoonish look has also ment that this game has not aged a day visually, and it's all because the cell shaded style completely hides just how old the technology powering that game is. There was a point when I was sailing across the sea, and the sun was rising over the waves, it was just picture perfect. Seriously, in that moment, I could have honestly believed I was playing a low end current gen console game (it looks better than dragon age, thats for sure). It is important to note that I have been playing it on SD screen, I don't know if it looks that good on a HD screen, I haven't tryed yet. I suspect it's probably a bit fuzzy on a HD screen, much like PS2 games.

The music in this game is of a very high quality and The Great Sea theme is one of my new favourite pieces of video game music. The soundtrack as a whole really gets across that feeling of going on a grand adventure, and can really inspire you in ways that can get the adrenalin pumping and urges you to push forwards, which is always the mark of good video game soundtrack.

The story line is very well told and well put together. There are a couple of twists and turns, only one of which I didn't predict a mile off. Seriously, if you don't guess who princess Zelda is in the first 10 minutes of that game,...consult your doctor. I like the back story about there being a Hero of Time (who I assume is Link in Ocarina of Time), who had defeated Ganon before the land was covered in ocean, and once it was a huge land mass, not just tiny islands divided by sea. It is just nice to have a sense of history and mythology to the land your exploring. I personally still prefer the story in Twilight Princess, but hey, thats just me.

The gameplay is largely identical to Twilight Princess. Lock on combat, auto jumping, puzzle temples, etc, etc. There were some clever boss battles, some really great puzzles to solve. That end game scavenger hunt is a big pain in my ass, but what ever, thats Zelda I suppose. But I found the variety, not just in gameplay, but in weapons and items, to be more extensive in Twilight Princess. But ofcourse it is, it's the latest installment in the franchise, thats the way it should be; so thats hardly a valid complaint. What I will say is I much prefer the Wii controller to the Gamecube controller. The accuracy with things like the hook shot, the bow, etc, were far superior with the motion control aiming mechanic than the really imprecise Gamecube analog stick. This wasn't hugely annoying, because most of the time you could lock on with your bow anyway. But after coming off Twilight Princess, with its really smooth aiming, it was a bit frustrating. As for the camera though, it was better than Twilight Princess, but it was still a bit rubbish.

Overall I really liked the game, and I think it's one of the best looking last gen games I've ever played. That said, I still think Twilight Princess is the superior product on all fronts. Bring on Ocarina of Time, lets see if this legendary game holds up for me.

 A while back I decided to start catching up on old games that are considered by many people to be classics. As I have never experienced these games before, I thought it would be neat to talk about how I feel about these games having played them now, rather than when they were first released. I'm not going to go into any spoilers, just incase there are other people who haven't played these games, and might pick them up at some point (possibly because they trust my opinion  )

Any way, first up, I have completed Prince of Persia: Sand of Time.



I should mention I had played the 2008 Prince of Persia before this game, and really loved it. So my opinions are coming from someone who has already tasted from the tree of HD. But I have to say, I think this game holds up really well. Ok, obliviously the graphics are very dated and aren't any where near as spectaclar as the 2008 prince. But thats hardly a valid complaint when I know going in that I'm playing a 7 year old game. I will say the art direction is beautiful, evoking a more realistic feel than the 2008 prince, but at the same time maintaining that magical feeling that is so reminiscent of the tales in Arabian Nights ( or One Thousand and One Nights, if we're being anal).

First off, Yuri Lowenthal is a much better fit as the voice of the prince, than Nolan North. Don't get me wrong, I love Mr. North, he is an extremely talented voice actor, but he doesn't give off the right vibe I felt a middle eastern Prince (theif in 2008's case) should give off. Yuri captures it perfectly, and his performance as the prince is very charming and believable (I might be biased because he's Yosuke in Persona 4). Farah was also a nice love interest, who provides some emotional substance to the events in the later stages of the game. In fact the story over all is very well constructed, well told and it didn't force me to do something stupid at the end of the game (you know what I'm talking about. )

The platforming....is f**king AMAZING! Seriously, I was really impressed. The level of control you have over the prince and skill required to pull off some of his moves really makes the 2008 prince feel a bit automated by comparison. Running on walls, swinging from pole to pole and climbing up pillars all felt fluid and responsive. The challenge each platforming section provided was taxing, but fair. I had a huge amount of fun figuring out and eventually completing all the platforming sections in this game.

I wish I could say the same about the combat. Maybe it doesn't help that I'am a huge God of War fan, or that I've played devil may cry 3 twice, or even that Bayonetta has recently entered my life and shown me the best combat system out there to date........but the combat in this game is awful, I mean really, really, really bad. It was a chore I had to force my self through in order to get to the awesome parts of the game. At first it was really boring, because all I had to do is flip over peoples heads and slash them in the face before I landed on the ground, rinse and repeat. Then it decided that this tactic wasn't valid anymore, and I had to fight these guys properly, other wise I would be going to an early grave. That would be fine, if the dodge button wasn't the same as the flip over enemies button. So situations would arise where I had gotten surrounded and I wanted to get the hell out of there, but instead of dodging out the way, the prince trys to flip, gets thrown to the ground and then gets beaten to death by 5 sand zombies. The counter attack was also completely useless, your basic attack was uneffective unless Farah was distracting them with her bow or they had their back turned. And the combat sections had far too many enemies that kept respawning over and over again. Loads of enemies is fine when your controling a character like Dante, Kratos or Bayonetta, characters that always feel like they are in control of the battlefield. But I always felt like I had barely survived because the prince had clearly spent more time learning gymnastics and less time learning basic sword combat.

I know I dwelled on the negative there, but excluding the combat sections, I really liked this game. The platforming is some of the best I've experienced, the story telling was solid and so was the voice acting and character work. Next up, I will hopefully finish Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker, but I'am interested in playing the other PoP games. I hear warrior within is kind of a bummer, should I give it a miss and go straight to Two Thrones? Or play both?

Feel free to disagree with any thing I have said in regards to PoP:SoT