It was late last night when I first got to see the Trailer, since then I have watched it at least fifty times, it really is that damn good. To try and keep all my random thoughts in one place I have created this post. I have grown up with the Zelda series, it is afterall what sparked my interest in gaming. I have been following The Twilight Princess' progress since it was first announced and now that I have finally seen the E3 trailer I cannot keep the excitment bottled up!
I will go through each part of the Trailer giving my thoughts and feelings as accurately as I can (sorry if this bores you guys, but it has to be done ^_^).
The Tower - As the trailer opens up we are greeted with the omnious looking tower that we first saw in the EGM artwork. It bears a striking similarity to Ganon's Tower in OOT. As the camera pans upwards you get a sense of scale and how big the Tower/Castle must be. A large evil looking bird flies past the camera and the screen goes black. Instantly you get the feeling that this game is going to be much darker than any previous Zelda game.
The Opening in The Sky - A portal appears, this reminds me of TWW in that it bears the distinct artistic style that TWW had. The blocks with coloured lines running through them are a lot like the design of Gohdan's room in The Tower Of The Gods in TWW. Several shadowy creatures drop from the portal. These creatures look very alien, possibly sent from the future.
The Forest and The Boy - I have read somewhere that Link's first quest is to go to a mountain to rescue Epona. This young boy apparently teaches Link some of the basic game mechanics, like crawling through tunnels. The forest looks great with light shining through the trees in beams, you get the feeling that the forest is actually a living breathing place. Also we see Link running through a Darkened Forest, my guess is that Nintendo will implement a Day/Night cycle. The light given off by Link's lantern looks superb as it creates shadow and lights up only nearby trees ect. Im hoping also that the Lantern will be used in a simliar way to ALTTP.
The Hooded Figure - The hooded figure has been the subject of much speculation in recent weeks, but only now do we finally see what she (almost positive it's female) looks like in-game. Also you can just make out the shape of a headress or stone much like Zelda wears, on the characters forehead. Staring out through the window perhaps waiting for someone... perhaps waiting for Link. Inside the castle looks very dark and omnious. I love the particle effect of the dark matter that appears to be floating upwards, this gives a sense of un-reality and makes this dark place look even more twisted.
Link-Wolf Transformation - Now the moment we all had been waiting for, the Wolf's signifigance finally revealed! This portion of the video was a little dark, but you can clearly see Link's change from Hylian to Wolf and it looks Fantastic. It may sound odd but you can still see it's Link even in his Wolf form, possibly because of his eyes. Anyhow this probably (for me) the most important part of the trailer as it has cleared the question of why is there a Wolf in the game.
Wolf in chains and Midna - This scene introduces Midna and also shows Wolf-Link in captivity, chained by the ankles. I love watching Link struggling to break the chains! Midna protrudes from the darkness looking very scary indeed, that is until he opens his eye, so cool to watch. I've noticed from this forum and others that not a lot of people were not impressed with Midna but I think he/she has great character and really does look the part. I have read that Midna is an enemy to begin with but It and Link team up to fight a 'greater evil' which sounds quite promising.
Wolf Link and Midna scaling the Castle - Now we seen Wolf-Link climbing the castle with Midna riding on his back, very similar to Link riding epona and the boar. The atmosphere given off in this 'scene' is amazing with wind blowing and thunder crashing in the background. Also the scale of the castle (from what can be seen) looks huge! We also see a small fight with Minda using it's Hand Head thing to attack the evil looking bird from the intro scene. Even this small battle, has an epic feeling to it!
Sewers and Ghost Rats - This scene to me looks quite strange, Link and Midna sort of stand there until suddenly the ghost rats appear and start biting Link. You can clearly see Midna's distress as this happens and she/he frantically shakes about atop Link's back.
Battle with Three portal dropping things - This is the first actual battle we see with Midna and Wolf Link. It looks as if Midna casts a spell upon the ground, selecting the creatures and then running through them killing all three. I really like the way they have kept to a similar 'poof explode red smoke' death animation like TWW. It looks as though this move is a combo, perhaps there will be many more similar moves to utilise when using Wolf-Link and Midna.
Boar Rider and Hostage - This scene is really cool, the standoff between the large Boar rider that was seen in the first trailers and Link on horseback. The hostage, held by the Boar rider is (i think) the boy from the Forest at the beggining of the trailer. I read somewhere that the boy gets kidnapped shortly after you find Epona/Horse, this is obviously where you get the little guy back! Again there is a certain sense of 'epicness' about this scene. It trully gives me chills just watching.
Horseback battle - We now see Link riding through and knocking off BokoBoblins left right and centre, there is a lot of action in this scene, with explosions, arrows flying and rain and thunder effects. Horseback battle i think is going to be one of the most promising features of Twilight Princess.
Characters - We are now introduced to two very colourful characters that would not look out of place in TWW. The girl with the horse in the woods and A 'large' woman with what could be moo moo milk in her hands. Also worth noting that the Cat on the counter looks very realistic and even moves realisticly, licking its paws ect.
Link on the Farm, canoeing, Herding? - This scene shows what I believe to be various parts of tasks you must complete on the farm where you start the game. Link canoeing looks splendid, the water ripples as he paddles and the sunlight shimmers on the waters surface. Also a large bird comes and rests on Links hand, further indicating that Link's interactivity with animals will play centre stage in this new adventure.
The Forest Dungeon and Various Battles - We see Link at what looks to be the entrance to a dungeon in the forest. Again a fantastic use of lighting effects. There is one battle in particular that really caught my attention. The battle with the spider, Link casts what could be a spell to create a tornado, this flies towards the Spider and knocks it over. What is really cool about this is that as the tornado travels towards the spider it kicks up the tiling on the floor, a really detailed and well done effect. Also the enemies that come from the trees and move similarly to the marionettes in DMC look really interesting, it's nice to see Nintendo still hasnt run dry on enemy designs! The part I really like is also when the Monkey throws the Boomerang at the bridge cords, cutting the bridge down and possibly preventing Link from advancing further. Later on you will probably fight the Monkey, as shown in the other Trailer and gain the Boomerang for yourself. Although there is an evil Monkey we also see a helpfull monkey that gives Link a boost over to the other side of a dungeon by swinging him as he jumps, this again shows Links interactivity with animals. Really good stuff.
The Plant Boss - WOW! Easily my favourite part of the Trailer. As any true Zelda Fanboy knows, no Zelda game is complete without epic boss battles, Twilight Princess looks to carry on this tradition. The creature is indeed HUGE and looks amazing, I especially like the slime coming from its mouth when it roars! (can anyone guess where the creatures weak point is) ^_^
The bridge battle - Finally the Trailer ends with another horseback battle, this time high up on a bridge of some sort. The two combatants run towards each other and just as they are about to clash blades the trailer ends with the games newly revealed title displayed. A fantastic ending to a fantastic Trailer!
Thank you all for reading, I'm sorry if that bored you but I just needed to get it out of my system :P
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