Zelda screens and impressions at IGN

[orfanotna]

IGN just posted impressions and new screens from the Twilight Princess.

http://wii.ign.com/articles/744/744044p1.html

Check out the screenshots.

Most of them are gorgeous, BUT you can definitely see dithering in almost all of them. I don't know if this is because it's a Gamecube game, or because Wii can only do 24-bit color, but the dithering is there and it's obvious.

 

[rounin]

Looks like a mix of Okami and Shadow of the Colossus.

 

[see colon]

regarding the dithering, i'm not sure those are frambuffer grabs. they look almost identical to the quality that my (cheap) TV card captures from an S-Video or composite source. theres some banding for sure, but there's also a horizontal patern that looks like a low quality deinterlacer is at work.

 

[fearsomepirate]

Cube games that run in 6:6:6:6 color mode have much worse banding and other artifacts than what we see in these screens. It's not like 32-bit color solved all color problems forevermore, world without end, amen amen. There were plenty of games in the closing gen that used 24 bits for RGB that still had issues.

 

[pc999]

Well it seems anouther great LoZ game, cant wait.

It is really impressive what a GC can do (remember that the only diferencce is the 16:9), beautifull game and very impressive by its tech as it does have big outdoors, lots of NPCs, detailed gfx and a lot of fxs all in a very high qualitity I wonder if the final game will also have AA.

 

[Blade]

My biggest concern (length) was addressed, and I am very happy with the news.

It only makes sense to follow up arguably the shortest Zelda title (TWW) with the longest.

 

[Hardknock]

70 hours for a Zelda game seems a bit much. OOT is my favorite game of all time and it's roughly around 20 to 30 hours or so. This is 3 times that

I just hoped it's not padded with needless collectathons like Wind Waker and the triforce searching bit.

 

[Megadrive1988]

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=572343878219967625&q=Tree+house+nintendo+twilight&hl=en

according to the TreeHouse interview by 1up, the Nintendo reps said Hyrule Field (HF) is at least five times the size of HF in Ocarina. that's better than the reported 2-3 times the size of older reports. I guess the game got bigger with the 1 year delay.

The part of HF seen for the horseback fight against the boss that was shown at E3 2005 is small part of Twilight Princess's HF but is about the same size of Ocarina's HF.

There are 9 *named* dungeuns (suggesting that there are more unnamed ones).

the playtime between each dungeon is longer than what we're used to. you're also not going to do the same thing over and over between dungeons.

the video quality of this google video version is AWFUL, but it loads easily, good for listening to the audio. do yourself a favor and watch it on gamevideos, even though the buffering (or download) time takes longer. it looks really beautiful. http://www.gamevideos.com/video/id/7293

 

[barnak]

Man, I think Zelda is gonna push me to buy a Wii. I was planning on getting the Gc version, but I hear the Wii version is the best way to go.

 

[SugarCoat]

Its Not A Gold Disc!

I've been waiting a long time for another Zelda game but the damn Wii price is just too much for a single game. Going to wait till they go down, then pick one up with the game. Its going to be a cruel wait but after the horrendous Wind Waker, i can make myself wait for (hopefully) something great a bit longer.


edit-my mistake it does actually apear gold on further inspection, its just hidden behind that white coating.

 

[pc999]

Seems that 70h it is not enought.

GP: What sorts of online features are you looking forward to in the future?

Harrison: Downloadable content, such as additional levels.



GP: What sorts of differences are there between the Wii and GameCube versions?

Harrison: There is very little difference in the graphics, although the Wii version supports 16:9 displays. In the GameCube version Link is a lefty, as he has traditionally been. All the fighting and puzzles are reversed because of this, and the game basically mirrors the Wii version -- even the cinemas are flipped.

The story is the same and it's basically the same game, except for the big difference in control schemes.

 

[GB123]

They say widescreen as if that's some huge deal, fact of the matter is you're still getting the same pixel count.

Just the Wii version is anomorphic, does the Wii even support a digital or VGA connection for true widescreen ?

It obviously not a big deal to most but those 38400 extra pixels would make a difference, especially if your plan to play on a large screen TV.

Other than that the game looks very nice, and no doubt will be great to play.

I will probably end up getting the Cube version though, as it will be the cheaspest option.

 

[Blade]

SugarCoat: What was so horrendous about Wind Waker?

Outside of the length issues (which prompted the fetch quest near the end) I thought the game was incredible. A little easy, and a tad bit too much sailing, but that's about it. Easily a 9/10 or higher.

 

[fearsomepirate]

I've been waiting a long time for another Zelda game but the damn Wii price is just too much for a single game.

I heard that there will be other games on the Wii, too. But that's a rumor at this point.

 

[OICAspork]

They say widescreen as if that's some huge deal, fact of the matter is you're still getting the same pixel count.

Just the Wii version is anomorphic, does the Wii even support a digital or VGA connection for true widescreen ?

It obviously not a big deal to most but those 38400 extra pixels would make a difference, especially if your plan to play on a large screen TV.

It is progressive scan over component or D-link cable. So yeah, that is a very big difference versus the 3:4 interlaced gamecube version. I think this might be the best launch game in history. =D

 

[SugarCoat]

SugarCoat: What was so horrendous about Wind Waker?

Outside of the length issues (which prompted the fetch quest near the end) I thought the game was incredible. A little easy, and a tad bit too much sailing, but that's about it. Easily a 9/10 or higher.

I thought the dungeons were very small and incredibly easy in comparison to past games, even the old ones on nintendo. Boss fight was very easy too. The story itself was fine, same with the art, but it was very very easy and when the credits rolled i felt a little dissapointed that that was it.

I heard that there will be other games on the Wii, too. But that's a rumor at this point.

Well you know what i mean, the only game i'm interested in at this point. Even for the gamecube there were only a dozen titles or so that really perked my interest.

 

[Blade]

SugarCoat:

Honestly, I felt that the presentation/graphics actually propelled the game into my heart.

Which is ironic given that the art-style was the most controversial thing about the game.

 

[fearsomepirate]

On my TV, 3:4 S-video is as good as it gets...so it's the Cube version for me!

I also thought WW was way too easy. However, the original NES Zeldas weren't by any means easy...unless you had a map. That really helped things out. I swear they made that game just to sell Nintendo Power subscriptions.

 

[nintenho]

http://www.thewiire.com/news/548/1/Twilight_Princess_to_Feature_Downloadable_Content

Speaking with GamePro, Nintendo of America's Senior Vice President of Marketing and Corporate Communications George Harrison revealed that the Wii version of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess will offer downloadable content after release.

According to Harrison, gamers can look forward to "downloadable content, such as additional levels" for Twilight Princess sometime following the game's November 19 launch. How soon after release Harrison did not say.

Harrison also reiterated that Nintendo's latest Zelda game is expected to offer 70+ hours of gameplay and will retail for $50, as well as that the GameCube version will be sold online and at retail outlets for the same price, despite previous rumors that the game could only be purchased online.

What the hell?

 

[SugarCoat]

SugarCoat:

Honestly, I felt that the presentation/graphics actually propelled the game into my heart.

Which is ironic given that the art-style was the most controversial thing about the game.

Like i said, it wasnt the art which many people found kiddie, it was simply that i beat the game fast, and that was with all the sailing which could easily take up a quarter of the game unless you were using a walkthrough, in which case you'd beat the game faster. Just wasnt enough meat in it for me. I actually got happy for a very brief moment when they sent you to the alternate hyrule area or what ever it was (been awhile) where everything was kinda washed out colour wise, thought for a brief moment there was a whole nother section of the game. 30 minutes later the credits rolled.

I, like most fans, have higher expectations for Zelda games based off the past titles. Its not a FPS where 6 hours of quality gameplay is acceptable to me. I want more!