Slow Beginning

Twilight Princess was an excellent game, but its biggest flaw, in my opinion, was its slow beginning.

Some people did not continue playing the game after the first 3 hours because it was too boring to them. I was tempted to stop as well, but I made the right decision to continue as it got better.

There are many people I know who are simply very busy people and simply did not have much time to invest in it. And I wish they could have seen the best of the game rather than the worst of it.

Collecting the tears of light the first time was fun. It added variety to the game. The second time it felt like a chore. And having to do it a third time just felt like too much. The third tears of light should have just been the one giant bug which provides enough tears of light to fill the case.

Later in the game, you can warp just about anywhere, but in the beginning, it took a lot of time to get from place to place.

Of course, Twlight Princess is among the longest of the LOZ games, but it could have been better without the fluff. If the beginning was a little bit more fast-paced and interesting among other things, it would have topped Ocarina in my ranking list. But on the whole, Twilight Princess is a great game.

Actually, I did the very same thing, lol!

When I first got the game as a gift from my parents, It was a used game from gamestop.

When I first played it, I was totally bored out by Link in Ordon village, hearding goats and all. I was like "gee, this is very boring, I wanna take it back to the store!"

I wasd also disappointed, because the graphics were cool, and it seemed like a waste of time to play on a ranch the whole time. Then I decided to play further and I was impressed by the beasts kidnapping everyone, and Link being a wolf in the dungeon in the castle.

I didn't get how to fish at first, it took me like 40 minutes to catch one by luck.

Also, not a fan of the tears of light.

Remember Link to the Past?
Wake up. Raid a castle. Quest time.
Good times.

takes about 30 mins for it to start

Well, it feels like hours.

Could be worse, though. Could be KH2.

The first time I played it, it wasn't so bad. A little annoying, but nothing that deterred me. More recent playthroughs are a ***** to get into though.

yeah it was slow at first, but now that I know how to do it, I can get through it pretty fast.

Ordon does take a bit of time to get out of but i loved the first half of that game. To me, it was after Arbiter's Grounds did the game really slow down.

Originally Posted by Mandrag

Well, it feels like hours.

Could be worse, though. Could be KH2.

Could be any KH game, they all take a while to start.

But, seeing as I don't complain about games if the turn out fun, or unless they are just bad. I was fine with the starting, sometimes you just have to take it slow, start off slow enjoy all the new area's and then let crap all break down into fire and chaos right before your eyes. It's one of the ways how you create a good game, you just need to find the right balance between and peaceful starting to a destructive fire burning middle.

Twilight Princess, they were close to the right balance of it. Just a touch or two off, but still very close. And I don't care what anyone says, I really enjoyed Twilight Princess.

I agree completely, and it was it's only flaw in my opinion.
Unlike in OoT where your almost thrown into first temple. Majora's Mask might've turned some people off with starting as a Deku Scrub but I feel like it wasn't half as slow as TP. Especially with the whole find the cat quest in the beginning.

The thing is though. Once you do get past that, the game is amazing.

Originally Posted by ipoopinurlunch

I agree completely, and it was it's only flaw in my opinion.
Unlike in OoT where your almost thrown into first temple. Majora's Mask might've turned some people off with starting as a Deku Scrub but I feel like it wasn't half as slow as TP. Especially with the whole find the cat quest in the beginning.

The thing is though. Once you do get past that, the game is amazing.

Well, decent, anyway.


Mostly worth it, overall.

Originally Posted by Mandrag

Well, decent, anyway.


Mostly worth it, overall.

I know some people might find it kinda lack luster, but I found myself 100% and replaying it multiple times.

I didn't mind the start, it felt kind of humble (the fishing drove me up the wall though). Humble but slow, I actually raced through the first bit just so I could get to the Temple haha.

Twilight Princess was an excellent game, but its biggest flaw, in my opinion, was its slow beginning.

I didn't even read the rest of your post, but this is spot on.

The opening segments of Zelda have become far too long-winded and uneventful.

In LoZ, it was "it's dangerous to go alone, take this." And then the game begins in earnest.

Since OoT, openings have become laden with lengthy cutscenes, silly fetch quests and unnecessary tutorials.

This totally kills any chance the game has of attracting a new or skeptical player. For the dedicated fan willing to exhibit patience, it still makes replaying the game sound much less appealing.

Zelda needs to get back to "pick up and play." Text needs to be faster and less abundant.

Like Mandrag implied, I want a zelda game with a good tutorial which is also effectively involved with the plot, like ALttP's beginning.

Twilight Princess' beginning was long, but it made me feel like i had actually lived in Ordon for a while. It was very immersive. (Is it too early to be feeling nostalgic about TP yet?)

^ I agree, it's simply good storytelling to establish a connection between the gamer and his hometown to make the moment at which the hero sets off all the more poignant. While Twilight Princess may have taken a little too long to do this, Wind Waker did it perfectly. The game is already picking up the pace an hour in, when you're at the Forsaken Fortress (first time).

Both games not only make you feel like you live in the community you start in, they also build the anticipation for a plot that escalates further and further the longer you play.

Just because LoZ had it a certain way doesn't mean it needs to stay that way forever. If Nintendo released a Zelda that felt and played like LoZ, I'd cry. So perhaps TP had a bit too much, but there does need to be a bit of a slow start, like in Wind Waker.

There doesn't need to be a slow start at all. Yes it can be effective in the ways you say but not every story needs that.

Every time I had to do something like fish, herd goats, tame demon birds, and convince some guy to let me use his cannon, I facepalmed. I prefer Zelda games that don't have these silly peripheral side-games.

I agree that Twilight Princess was way too slow at the beginning. Why is Link's daily life necessary? Even the beginning of Wind Waker wasn't so drawn out.