Game Essentials Overview: Room for Improvement?

Even when failures don't easily come to mind when thinking of a game as enjoyable as these, there's always room for improvement. Besides the unavoidable slew of occasional bugs and glitches innately found in Twilight Princess and the Prince of Persia games, each have their fundamental design failings.

Twilight Princess alone is hard to find fault with, besides the storyline which is initially similar to its predecessors that may be just as easily redundant as it is familiarly enjoyable to fans of the older Ocarina of Time and other Zelda games.

The limited audio of the game are definitly notable though, since the various charcters throughout Hyrule still appear voiceless as all dialogue and explanations are presented in text form only. The deisngers could easily have employed that capability but for whatever reason chose not to accompany the updated graphics and extended scope of the game with new in-game dialogue and voiceover additions as well. Even the sound capability that Nintendo added to the Wii controller is also a design flaw in my opinion- the sound quality is poor and annoyingly tinny, and while the idea of having Link's yells, sword clashes, and certain sound cues like the melodic opening of a door come from the controllers itself might be good in theory, the actual implementation of it is ultimately distracting and detracts from the immersiveness of the game whenever the player hears half of the key sounds coming from their hands and not echoing from the room around them.

Additionally, the hearing impaired players might run into trouble during the few sections where sound is helpful or even essential to gameplay, for example when Link must follow the music through winding forest paths to find the Master Sword.

The motion-sensitive manual interface of the Wii is another feature with its own cons as well as pros; while the controllers allow more physical involvement and command over the myriad of items and long-range weapons than the Gamecube or N64 consoles could ever offer the Zelda franchise, it might make more sense and make gameplay more fun if the direction of the player's Wiimote motions actually corresponded with Link's swordstrokes.

Turning a critical eye to all three Prince of Persia titles , more flaws are naturally noticeable, perhaps in part because Ubisoft didn't quite have the option of following as popular a tried-and-true blueprint as Twilight Princess had to build off of. The Sands of Time that generated more than a little acclaim in its own right, was named Game of the Year in 2003, and is arguably the best designed title of the trilogy I've examined here, still leaves room for one or two improvements; the character models aren't exactly incredibly high polygon, although the textures and animations used do compensate for their limited realism. Besides that, the visuals are stunning, even by today's standards in my experience. The implicit challenge level of some boss battles could be questioned too, and the limited combat options definitely get repetitive after repeating the same 4 or 5 moves throughout the game.

Warrior Within elicited widespread criticism from many fans of the first game, namely for its sudden directional change and accompanying deviation from the more likeable, innocently arrogant Prince to make way for a darker, tougher, selfishly-motivated warrior. I enjoyed this game as much or more than the first one however, although I did notice a few new features that bothered me. Although the backtracking through previous environments perhaps was intended to be more immersive than the sometimes unnaturally linear gameplay of Sands, it pushed the explicit challenge of navigating the extensive environments with an entirely useless minimap menu to a level that was downright confusing and frustrating at times. The intentionally darker, almost obnoxiously moodier feel of the game overall would likely anger fans if they didn't take it as an entirely different game altogether, but even with such acceptance, the less-than stellar voice acting (Favorite line: "You BITCH!" Or was it "Who do you think you are??" - "I am the Prince of Persia!" No shit, Sherlock. Guess he still doesn't have a name) seemed cheesy and idiotic, a far cry from the charming banter in Sands of Time.

The Two Thrones seeks to combine the best of its two predecessors, returning to the simpler storyline and more linear gameplay of SoT with the visual vengeance and free-form combat system of WW. Its few flaws then, are naturally a decrease in breadth and content from the previous title, as well as more limited explicit and implicit challenges- it sought to replace the puzzles and strategy the first two titles possesed with more action and fighting, although even the exciting chariot races and boss battles seemed a little too easy.

Game Essentials Overview: Success?

In review, both Twilight Princess and Prince of Persia games successfully immerse the player in the game world and play experience by effectively implementing rules, challenges, level design, visuals, audio, and an excellent story and cast of characters.

Both games make sure to set enough limiting parameters and guiding rules so that the player isn't totally lost in figuring out what the point of the game is or how to play, while still leaving enough mystery and content for the player to explore on their own so that the player doesn't get bored quickly. Both are sure to clearly define victory conditions, such as defeating an enemy, completing a subquest, unlocking a door to access another level, or even ultimately killing the final baddie responsible for the protagonist's strife. They also make sure the player is aware of loss conditions, such as letting your health run out while fighting minions or evading traps, falling from a ledge, or allowing an enemy to capture or kill an ally.

Various goals are set to guide the player's actions and provide a challenge, including puzzle-solving, combat, exploration, and advancement. Challenges faced in each game are implicit and explicit, that is intentional and immediate or emergent through gameplay itself, which helps create a more interesting and varied play experience. Implicit challenges like defeating different enemies using a series of swordstrokes, acrobatics, and evasion tactics, or having to guide Link or the Prince through deadly traps or a winding dungeon are obviously entertaining in the first place, but having to figure out which passage leads to somewhere I've already been before, deciding which door I need to go through first, or realizing I need to use Link's iron boots to traverse the magnetic deposits on the walls and ceilings of the Goron Mines adds another element of fun and discovery.

The levels of each game seem for the most part to be expertly designed in my experience- I can't recall being bored by any particular part of either game, although I may have gotten frustrated by an especially confusing setting or tricky fight on more than one occasion; levels were geared towards accomplishing the current goal, and usually ideally balanced the time spent completing them with the amount of content found throughout them- I'd spend just about the number of minutes I had patience for completing a task or defeating an enemy, and just about the amount of effort I wanted to expend to find doors, hidden objects, powerups, and other bonuses in the levels before I lost interest. The settings were varied and interactive enough to convince me in the moment that it was real and significantly natural which accentuated the rich story and world of each game. It was up to me whether I wished to race through a series of cleverly integrated ropes, ladders, and platforms, slip past any enemies I didn't need to confront, and breeze through required quests/tasks to finish the level, or whether I wanted to take my time exploring environments, looking for hidden rewards in a cracked wall or treasure chest, talking to non-essential characters, completing subquests, and "playing" with my enemies using attractive but probably unnecessary fighting combos.

The visuals and audio of each game were also superb- The environments blended realistic textures and lighting with a more fantastical layout and ambiance. Although the Twilight Princess graphics were a little more stylized and less realistic than those for the Prince of Persia games, each created the sense that this was a living, breathing realm of its own. Painstaking details in each like the wandering cats and dogs in the streets of Hyrule Castle town or the weapons that can be picked up and used once a weapon rack has been smashed in any of the last two PoP games made each world all the more believable.

The original soundtracks for each added even more to the pleasantly complex gameplay, and there seemed to be realistic sounds for any event imaginable, such as the thud and resounding clanging when Link hits a bucket-headed training dummy with his sword, lights a torch, barks in wolf form at an opponent, or when the Prince cracks open a wall with his sword, pulls a rusty lever, or rolls over smooth flagstones. The voiceovers in the PoP games are decently executed and expressive as well, and help to enrich the story and the general mood of the game as well.

Both series are definitely notable for their memorable characters and compelling storylines, and while each utilized the age-old model of the Hero's Journey Joseph Campbell observed, neither plotline was boring or too cliche. The character development that emerges through the Prince and Farah's entertaining interactions in the SoT is distinctly charming, and the developers did a good job of evolving the Prince's more mature character to fit the changing feel of the following games. Twilight Princess Link is the same, quietly humble farmhand turned fierce and dedicated warrior he's always been, but he's still easy to identify with and sympathize with throughout the story.