The only Twilight Princess I'd played since then was a short play of the Wii version of the game. I really have no idea why I never finished the game. I never even entered the castle. I completed the Twilight Temple, and then stopped. So, since they asked, I figured, "Why not?" I prepared myself for a bit of a steep learning curve since I knew there were a few special sword moves that were essential to playing the game and instrumental in completing several key battles.
So I started playing. After some digging through the menus and playing with the controls, I found the button strokes for the special moves, and I was on my way. I went into the final level with 0 potions, and since it had been so long, I had no idea where to find any, so I just went in as I was, with (I think) 16 hearts and three empty bottles.
The level was setup as a series of one on a dozen or more enemies which really served to get my Zelda chops back in a hurry. It was just like riding a bike. I dominated the lower levels of this temple, no matter how many enemies they threw at me. The mini-bosses (and there were several) were no match for my too-long-dormant skill and I wiped them out with hardly a heart lost in the process. The puzzles in the temple, while mildly clever, were mostly easily deciphered (with only a couple causing any sort of long thought). It was all a matter of figuring out what everything did and doing something with it. I even rocked the spinner climb up the stairs bit, which the Queen and Rock Girl got a kick out of.
Now, LadyBug and Sassy Pants were there, but they only mildly enjoyed the hopping around as neither of them play the game. They did watch for a little while though, especially when I got to the end.
Reaching Ganondorf was really easy in the end. I walked in and the cinema sequence began before final battle part 1 began. Part 1 was easy enough and more about patience and timing than skill. Part 2 was a bit annoying, but once I got the hang of it (and a tip from the Queen (the only one I needed) who was looking at the strategy guide), that one was also defeated.
Then came Part 3. Oh, I hated Part 3. This part left be complaining to high heaven about this game. Nintendo does some really strange things sometimes. They create these battles that are difficult enough, but not so difficult or repetitive that you want to throw your controller at the screen (too many times). Part 3, however, was one of those one off Nintendo battles that was more irritating than it was difficult where the enemy had a tendency to get you over and over and over again if your timing was bad. Well, timing was only a part of it. Thinking about how I eventually got this section figured out, it was a combination of timing and placement of self as well as general persistence that won it. I think the persistence part was the most annoying of them all because it had to do with a horseback ride. Ganon's horse goes slightly faster than your horse (naturally), but you still have to catch up to him, so you have to whip the crap out your horse to get her to go faster...and then you run out of hits so you have to wait for it to charge back up, which sets you back a little bit...and then Ganon releases his undead horsemen to whack you (as if his own hits weren't enough). After I got him figured out, I knew the point of his undead entourage, but it was still annoying. The whole ordeal (which probably cost me more lives in a single battle than any battle in the entire game, primarily due to my lack of potions and the game's tendency to start you after a game over with only 3 hearts) made me compare it to Metroid Prime.
I love Metroid Prime. It's a great game. Fun to play. Awesome play controls on both the GameCube and then the Wii revision in Metroid Prime Trilogy. The maps are great. The bosses are challenging but fun to fight...until the end. And this is just Metroid Prime because I haven't played the other two games to their final bosses yet. Metroid Prime gives you a save point at the beginning of the final level, and then expects you to traverse this entire final level every time. This level is long and time consuming with its endless supply of Metroids constantly attacking you out of holes in the ground. Yeah, they have no end because the ground is reproducing them, so as soon as you finish one set (they're made in twos), you have about 30 seconds to move before another set is on you. And these Metroids are the classic freeze and kill variety. No, these are the ones where you have to use a specific beam-and-missile combination after freezing them, so not only do they both consume a lot of time, but they consume a lot of resources to get past them. Hence, after fighting a grueling battle through this level that takes probably 30 to 45 minutes, minimum, you get one point to recharge your missiles, fight a few more of these dreadful Metroids, and then face off against the big bad bass, Metroid Prime. The thing is huge, uses a gross amount of resources to defeat, and I have yet to do it because once it beats you, you have to start all over at the save point...yeah, another 30 to 45 minutes of an uphill battle fighting those danged Metroids again. Hence, when I was actively playing it, I tried once a day since that was all the Metroid I could handle, and then I finally stopped. I had gathered every item in the game, and still couldn't defeat the Prime boss, nor did I have the patience for that final level. But I digress...hugely.
Once I figured out the secret of that horse battle, it was on to Part 4, which was a classic one on one sword fight between Link and Ganon. I ended up using a single special move over and over again after scavenging all the hearts (and fairy) from the ring of skulls inside the battle wall. I really dislike these battle walls, since they swipe a quarter heart form you wehn you hit it, but the bad guys, of course, can do what they wish without damage.
Anyway, it only took a couple of times, and Ganon was down. It showed that I was, indeed, at the end of the game when I inexplicably stopped playing, and that even after almost 2 1/2 years, I was able to play the game just fine.
I also found that the Wii's motion controls have spoiled me. Two years ago, I was not interested in the Wii version because it was identical to the GameCube version. Well, after having to aim with the control stick again, I wanted the Wii version so I could just point at the screen. Funny the way that these things change you.
So, I finished another game. Rock Girl got a kick out of watching it, though she was shocked at how much I had done in 46 hours and how she wasn't even close to the end after as much time as she had put into it. I assured her that I was able to do this due to this being my sixth Zelda game along with over 20 years of playing video games. But it was fun to play it again, and once I get through my Metroid Prime Trilogy (whether I defeat the big bad bosses or not), I might look into Twilight Princess again.
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