So, does Zelda: Twilight Princess live up to the hype?

[Slothy]

Are you kidding me? Play Ocarina of Time then Majoras Mask then Wind Waker and say that. Or play Super Mario World and Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine.

I haven't played Majora's Mask so I won't comment on that, but Wind Waker at it's core wasn't much more than OoT with sailing. The gameplay really didn't change at all, and if you want to try and convince me that sailing was a good thing I suggest you save your breath. Super Mario World shouldn't be in there either; obviously the 3D games changed drastically from previous instalments, and I'll wholly admit that no one did it better than Nintendo in the N64 days. Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy Super Mario Sunshine that much. The basic gameplay really didn't change much from Mario 64, and I found the new abilities (in particular the ones that replaced old ones) didn't add much. I just didn't enjoy sitting their squirting things with water all that much. Neither of these two Gamecube games really pushed their genres in new and interesting directions if you ask me. The new stuff was generally boring and the old gameplay, though done well, just struck me as being more of the same.

If only that were true... except they continue to sell new sports games year in and year out that only update graphics and rosters. Or racing games which are just the same thing over and over. Or fighting games, where the only difference is characters and special moves nowadays.

Allow me to re-word what I said then; I can only play the same thing so many times before I need something new. In fairness, I also know a lot of people who feel the same way I do. For the record, if I ever buy a sports game (which is rare anyway), I buy one and then never touch the series again. The same generally goes for racing games and other genres as well. Unless they do something to really change the gameplay (which more fighting series do than you give credit for if you ask me). I don't like playing the same basic gameplay a dozen times over in a dozen different games. And I'm like this with everything whether it's TV, movies, music, or games. Keep in mind, I didn't say Zelda was a bad game; anyone who wants and expects the typical Zelda gameplay will love it. I just wish they'd freshen the series up a bit myself.

[Roto13]

Well, what would you have done differently?