I was excited about yesterday because A Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past was posted to the virtual console. This game served as the prototype to the modern Zelda game, and though it has been re-released in several iterations since its original North American release in 1992, I’ve never played through it in its entirety. I used to own this game when I was much younger, but I am ashamed to admit that my progress was very limited at the time. However, as a gainfully employed adult, I now have the opportunity to right this wrong in the comfort of my own home on the console that gets the most playtime. And I get to hear that swanky shop music before I do it.
Another reason I was excited about getting another Zelda game is because frankly Twilight Princess didn’t quite do it for me. Despite being lengthy and fun with astoundingly well-crafted puzzles, I felt shortchanged because the plot was a throwaway and I had zero emotional investment in any of the characters other than Midna. “Who plays games for the plot and character development?” you may be asking. I do, dammit! If I don’t care about what happens to the characters, what is my motivation for finishing the game? The fact that I spent money on it? Pshah. That’s like staying in a movie that you know sucks just because you’ve paid.
If a game has a story, it should have a good one. That’s part of the fun for me. Caring.
Matt Cassamassina @ IGN had this to say in the January 17th mailbag regarding IGN’s choice of Okami for the PS2 as game of the year:
The Okami win surprised me and, the more I thought about it, pissed me off. Clearly the editors chose a game that felt new, but the truth of the matter is that Okami’s stylized presentation is its only pioneering attribute. It does not deliver a new gameplay experience. Twilight Princess, by comparison, is deeper, more intuitive, better balanced, and ultimately much more entertaining by just about any measure.
Generally speaking, I don’t think Matt is full of shit. His heart is in the right place, and his allegiances are clear. But when I read that, it pissed me off. What he says about Zelda is true (except for possibly the last bit), but what he says about Okami is a hideous oversimplification. It is highly stylized, true, but the main point of the game is that the story is so steeped in Japanese mythology and ancient culture that most Japanese people don’t even understand it fully. I had a deep emotional investment in many of the characters in the game (which was sometimes annoyance or hate, but those are emotions too!), and the writing towards the end of the game is good enough to rival most movies. The game was striking, culturally significant, and incredibly well-written in addition to just being fun. I even got choked up toward the end, and I won’t spoil why. Okami is the first game that has done that for me since Shadow of the Colossus.
Twilight Princess in particular is a flying leap backwards from the plot and character development in The Windwaker. People knocked that game for its cutesy art style and excessive sailing, and the dungeons in Twilight Princess put most of the ones in The Windwaker to shame. But in the end, I cared about what happened to the hero. I was concerned about his little sister. I cared about what happened to Tetra (the pirate ship captain), Prince Komali, and Medli. Hell, I had more of an emotional investment in my damn talking boat in that game than I did for Zelda in Twilight Princess! It may sound utterly ridiculous, but it’s true.
But otherwise Twilight Princess is a fantastic game, right? If you’re able to separate out the writing, sure. But I tend to judge critically on story because despite the fact that good writing and character development have been around basically forever, few game designers bother to get it right. People tend to rate games based on graphics, sound, game play, replayability and things like that. A game will get docked for muddy graphics or odd control scheme choices, but an uninteresting — sometimes laughably so — story line can apparently be forgiven. Even if it’s an adventure game.
Well, I say no. I demand uniform excellence. If you’re going to have a story, make it good. Draw me in. Don’t just wow me with new controls, great graphics and music and well thought-out puzzles. Make me care.
That’s all.
