I'm 25h into the game, having gone through the Temple of Time just now, and I've got to say my opinion differs radically from most posts here. The combat system is simple and fluid, and works as it should: the only issue I found to occur every now and then is the occasional undetected attack, when you swing the Wiimote: but these are few and far between. As far as the puzzles go, it's a much less linear experience than your average Zelda game: even in mid-to-late game dungeons you're still using the tools you found at the beginning, and most of them have a recurring application that isn't strict to its dungeon. Fighting on a horse is easy, and aiming with the WiiMote pointer is a much easier experience than with an analog.
The graphics are what you'd expect from a '06 game for the GameCube: good, but doesn't even scratch what the Wii can do. They aren't horrible or bland, they're just outdated. I can live with that.
As far as the story goes, I can only say what I've seen so far: it's got me enthralled. I've kept myself away from spoilers, but from Zelda's reaction to Midna and Midna's insistance on her quest, I'm assuming she's the Twilight Princess (I'm also assuming this is something pretty damn obvious). Also, I love Malo -- he's the best secondary character in the Zelda franchise. Ever. The storytelling is nice, albeit slow-paced: I can tell you what I've learned from 25h of gaming in just a few minutes - but, by what I've been seeing, this game is supposed to last 40h+, so there's still plenty of ground to cover. And this I consider a good characteristic: an action-adventure that relies solely on its single-player needs to have an expansive quest and a considerable amount of side-quests to do, and TLoZ: TP seems to deliver well (I wish there were more secondary dungeons, though).
My verdict is that TLoZ: TP is great, and it's a welcome addition to the Zelda franchise. Easily one of my favorite Zeldas, along with OoT and MM, and certainly the longest I've ever played. There isn't a single or a group of factors that damage the quality of this game -- the only complaints I've seen often are concerning the controls (which, as I've said, work fine for me) and how easy the game is (combat-wise) -- which I agree. I haven't died once -- but I don't think it' s a cakewalk: it's just not hard. Definitely not as bad as some people make it to be, and certainly not a disgrace to the series. I give it a 4 out 5.
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