LOZTP: 30 min.

The opening cut-scene lacks some of the realism that many of the reviews claimed made up for some of the noticeably sub-par graphics. I am thinking specifically of the water effects. The opening cut-scene is a dialogue takes place near pond with small water falls, but the waterfalls don’t particularly grab my interest.  The dialogue however, does seem rather interesting. The character Link, who I only recognize because previous experience with Nintendo, is being addressed by another older, unknown man. The man mentions three places specifically which I assume will be significant as the game progresses. He mentions (i) the village where he and Link live, (ii) Castle Town, the settlement surrounding (iii) Hyrule Castle, and (iv) the rest of the world.

The scene opens just before sunset (also called twilight ironically enough). The man recounts something of a myth detailing that twilight is the only time when the spirit-world intersects with the world of living and this is why loneliness comes at twilight.

 I was hoping that cinematography of the cut-scene would be more impressive. It is fine that it is not. A game does not require that graphics exhaust technological capabilities in order to be a good game, but it does seem like a luxury to play a game that is as pleasing to watch as they are to play. 

I was prepared by the reviews for the lack of spoken dialogue in the game. A game like Final Fantasy X (FFX), which boasted strong graphics and captivating story lines, seemed like it was able to capitalize on its voice acting and cinematography. [Since FFX was the last video game I played seriously, most of my comparisons are going to involve FFX]. I do not get the impression that the creator of LOZTP had similar goals in mind. My research told me that the “no spoken lines” rule was a small controversy for this game. I think that I, personally, would have enjoyed the added drama that voice acting brings to the table of a game like this.

Off the bat, many of the interface aspects of the game are intuitive. The game did not prompt me to use the control stick on the nun-chuck to move my character. And when I first started playing it did not occur to me that I had not been prompted.  My first reaction to having control of Link is to start trying out the buttons. I have a presupposition that buttons harder to reach will be used less often. Buttons such as “+” and “-” pause the game in different ways. With “+” pause, I see a profile of my character and the only item he has (his wallet). I expect I’ll be using “+” pause to equip items to Link in the future.

Both in the pause screen and in game play, I see a small blue fairy that I can control by pointing my Wii remote (hereafter Wiimote) at the screen. It doesn’t seem to do anything.

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I’ve been roaming around the village with my horse, Epona for a few minutes now and have just figured out that where I was supposed to go. I was supposed to help a villager  with the task of herding his goats. Herding the goats ended up being a mini game where i chase one or more goats into a barn while riding Epona. I hope my initial confusion is not a foreshadowing of how the game will remain.