Director's Cut: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Double Feature)

I want to analyze two videos this time. So, let's get cracking!

Flying up the river
-Shame it only lasts a 1:38 (though you get to redo the part with Shadow Bugs). But if you've already seen the video on YouTube, you know how I've gushed all over this part of the game. The music is just so mysterious and enjoyable, a frenetic pace as you fly on a Shadow Kargaroc up a dry river infested with Shadow Bulblins trying to shoot you down. WIth no water around, the river's cavernous route reverberates the sounds of bows twocking, Bomb Arrows smacking hanging stalactites, and the destroyed rocks serving as obstacles as they fall.

The first time I played this (back in 2006), I admit to my confusion to the controls. With this game being ported from the GameCube and adapted to use the Wiimote, the developers wanted to test some techniques. Having both GCN and Wii version, pointer controls to pilot the Shadow Kargaroc is surprisingly responsive. However, it proves to stink when attempting a sharp turn, as evident at 1:20.

Frozen Zora
-Reaching the throne room and looking down the ice to see dozens of frozen Zoras was a bit creepy. Learning of what happened here from Queen Rutella was also disturbing. Imagine having to witness your queen executed in front of you and then frozen in place, awaiting someone to notice something is wrong or dying a slow, cold death...

Twilight Princess is likened to another dark title in the Zelda-series: Majora's Mask. Both games have disturbing backgrounds they base on set pieces. The aforementioned Zora scene is just one; the next video describes one of the more bizarre and disturbing scenes to witness in a Zelda game.

The Story of the Fused Shadow
-Ok, ignore the giant Shadow Bug at the start; we've been hinted on that the Fused Shadow were a dark power that could take on the powers of Twilight. Here, we get told the origins. As expected, greedy people want unimaginable power. Friends turn on each other and chase the powers of gods. Another group emerges using dark magic to start riots until the spirits seal their magic and banish them. The dark magic, as it happens to be, is the Fused Shadow. These dark interlopers wanted to establish control over the Sacred Realm but were stopped by the Goddess' order to the Light Spirits.

This motif is one of the more darker ones in Nintendo history. Using Link and Ilia to represent the peaceful Hylians before they betrayed each other is quite symbolic of the troubles that happen not only in this game but in actual life. People in history have proven to be traitors if it means a benefit to them. At this point, we don't know who the dark interlopers are, but suffice to say, a band of misfits, when tempted by power, will crush anyone in their way. What deals this allure of power is the intoxicated look Link has before snapping out of it when Lanayru finishes giving its caution. His sinking to the ground in defeat signals shame the hero feels at being tempted.

Director's Cut: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Wii) (Part 21): vs. Fyrus, Twilit Igniter

Another Director's Cut? Sure, let's analyze one of the more infamous battles in Twilight Princess!

Fyrus, Twilit Igniter
-The opening of this battle is done in a good matter. Perhaps limitations with the GCN prevented developers from adding artistic design to the arena; with the backstory that the Gorons were forced to lock their patriarch up, I would have liked to have seen more wreckage because certainly, Fyrus would not have gone quietly.

But that's not my biggest gripe with this battle. As I mentioned, the opening sets up what is sure to be a fantastic battle. The music is simply superb, setting up for a clash of opposite spectrums, a sort of David and Goliath battle (come on, a Bow and Sword vs. Flaming Giant?). A giant, flaming Goron roaring fire your way and swinging around madly? Sign me up for a good battle!

Except it doesn't happen.

Fyrus is slooooow. That's not the big issue though; a hulking beast is what he's supposed to be after all. No, when I say slow, I mean he doesn't react fast enough. Look at 2:00, where I miss with the Hero's Bow. He just...stands there. His flaming wall attack takes forever to create. A beast of his size should also try to block those arrows at least. I feel that the player should have been challenged in this battle. With the Wiimote providing pinpoint accuracy dependent on the player, this battle could have been more challenging; make the player wait for an opening to aim for Fyrus and punish them for being frantic. After all, Link is wielder of the Triforce of Courage. If the designers would have worked on the enemy AI better for this battle, this boss would have been epic. As it stands, good cinematic and music, bad boss battle.

Still, the Ending Blow here is pretty wicked.

Oh, and I still don't like Malo. Little punk doesn't bow like he should!

Director's Cut: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Wii) (Part 2): Thieving Cat.

And we're back!

0:44 - And here we have three more youngsters: Talo is too freaking loud, Beth is a gold digger, and Malo...well...I plain don't like Malo. Suffice to say, Malo in Spanish means bad. I hate Malo.
2:13 - Twilight Princess is notorious for forgetting most of the items and techniques you learn. The blade of grass is no different...which is a shame.
3:18 - Oh, how I wish this was Skyward Sword right now...climbing in Twilight Princess is slooooooooooooooow at climbing. The stamina bar in Skyward Sword meant you couldn't hang around all day, but for that limitation, you could climb faster by using up your stamina.
6:53 - Fado's a bad wrangler.
7:24 - Look very closely at Link's hands...he isn't holding that Cuckoo at all!
10:11 - Freaking cat thief. That was my lunch!
11:24 - Sure, Sera...tell yourself that...And ew! Backwash much?

Questions/comments/suggestions? Ask away in the comments!

Director's Cut: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Wii) (Part 1): A Twilit Start

I've been thinking about doing this for a couple of weeks. Now with a bit of free time, I wanted to test out this experiment.

I've had a YouTube channel for a while now and I use it mostly for video game playthroughs and guides. The descriptions for many of these videos is enough to give one an idea of what they're watching. With this Director's Cut, I want to get a deeper look into the game, both on the story and design elements from the creator of the game and my own techniques. This will be indicated by timestamps. Hope you enjoy the video and my thoughts!

0:00 - Wow, surprised it still looks this nice after seven years. The HD capabilities of the Wii U help out!
1:03 - Twilight Princess is in the Majora's Mask cycle now. It has taken the "not bad" position owned by Wind Waker, with Skyward Sword getting the "it sucks" position. Meanwhile, Wind Waker is now in the "I love it!" post while Majora's Mask joins Ocarina of Time as the "Timeless Classic" spot. Zelda fans are so fickle...
1:42 - Let's get it out of the way...I'm not sure about voice acting in The Legend of Zelda. I definitely don't want Link to speak; the silent protagonist (battle cries notwithstanding) just fits him right in terms of you being Link, as Shigeru Miyamoto intended it. As for the other characters...it really depends on the voice actors they choose. We'll see if Zelda Wii U brings them along!
3:52 - One of the brats, Colin. I still can't tell if it's a girl or a boy (a boy apparently...).
4:09 - Horse Thief Ilia!
4:59 - There's going to be a lot of Skyward Sword references in these Director's Cut. I appreciate the infinite rolling more than the stamina bar rolling, for example. Still, Skyward Sword improved some of the mechanics that were stagnant by the time Twilight Princess came out.
5:29 - That long shirt makes the crush Ilia look like a midget.
7:20 - Let's be honest...does anyone in Ordon Village really need the shop to exist? You'd think a small community like this would share...Speaking of which...
8:40 - How much does Link get paid for cattle wrangling?

See anything you'd like me to discuss about the video? Post in the comments!

The Social Experiment

I was checking out my subscriptions on YouTube today and I came upon the latest episode of Ray William Johnson (by the way, if you haven't subscribed to his channel, do so if you like to laugh!). In this episode, he discusses two social experiment videos in which a male and a female each ask random strangers if they would like to have sex with each other. Curiosity peaked after Ray analyzed both videos (and poked fun at them) and so I went and viewed the original, uploaded by whatever (yup, the channel's name) to view in depth the hilarity. All through this hilarious social experiment, I realized some key differences and reactions that each individual faced, and so here, I want to give my thoughts on...from the perspective of both a guy and a human being.

Men:

Boy...we suck.

Or maybe women are bigger...uh...Anyways, this poor guy gets rejected not once, not twice, not thrice, but 100 times! Ok, so maybe asking someone for sex up-front isn't the most romantic way to get with someone. But let's be honest: how many of you ladies still love romance? Wait, you do? Why do I get rejected then?!

Back on topic...let's analyze this dude for a bit. Ignore the fact that he's asking random strangers to have sex with him. Does he sound confident to you? To me, he doesn't. It's almost like he's embarrassed to be asking the question. There are a few instances where he does a follow-up question or a little bit of teasing. There's even a few instances where I thought this guy would get punched by a boyfriend of one of these girls; yes, he even asked some of these people if they were a couple before proceeding with the experiment! But overall, the guy seems a bit bashful when asking the question. There's a bit of hesitation and a few uh's (which seem to be prevalent in speech nowadays, alongside like), almost like he's dreading the answer.

But as it has been pointed out, the dude was rejected 100 times. The reactions from the women ranged from "Are you serious?" and simple no to more hilarious ones like laughter or throwing a cup of water in the guy's face. Now ladies, let's look at this guy: he's not bad-looking. Some might even say he has quite the good looks. So, with that being said...would you have accepted his invitation for sex?

Women:

Boy...we suck.

Ok, so the key difference between this miss versus the dude from the previous video is confidence. Or maybe it's a sense of fun. Whereas the dude did a bit of follow-up to the big question, the miss resorted to the ol' bag of tricks: teasing, playful looks, and displaying her assets. Her wardrobe helped in this aspect, a tank top exposing her belly button and short shorts compared the her counterpart's tamer look of knee-long shorts and t-shirts.

The sample size is also shorter with only 14 men in total asked if they would like to have sex with her. Maybe there wasn't a whole lot of confidence after all, or more likely, a 50% success rate at getting a guy to answer yes to sex suggested she quit while ahead. Of course, there may be some more unsavory folks she asked and for the purpose of keeping it on track, the video editing team kept it out. Of her successes and fails, the first one was full of hilarity as the old man literally flipped out and called the cops on her.

But like I said, we suck. Seven men did a quick look around, asked "Are you sure," and ultimately or immediately said yes. Guys, what does this suggest of us? Are we sex hungry? Is our sex drive that active? No comment in my part though! ;)