I have to admit, this one just didn't grab me like I hoped it would have.
As I played Twilight Princess, oddly enough, I found myself getting bored. Admittedly, the dungeons were pretty awesome but I felt like Nintendo tried too hard to make this game "epic." I could almost hear them talking about how they could figure out how to make this game the biggest and longest game ever. Sadly, I feel like they wasted a lot of our time with the constant running around between dungeons. Seriously, think about it. If you take out a lot of the mundane running around bits this game would only clock in around 30 hours or so from start to finish. To the contrary, it seems like every time I do something I have to do some random second and third thing to REALLY get what it is I'm looking for.
In the end, this game IS a definite requirement for any Wii owner. It is definitely a solid game but after playing Zelda for so many years I feel like Nintendo could have done much, much better. Seriously, how many freakin' times are we going to have to fight Ganon as the final boss? It's "classic" and all but it's REALLY starting to get old. You'd think they could think of some genuinely fresh material rather than just rehashing the same general concept over and over again.
I must say that the graphics in this one were quite pretty and the musical score, at times, was moving. Too, the attempts to make an original story were OK but, again, not what I expected from the "next gen" of Nintendo. If it weren't for the upgraded graphics, which aren't really all that upgraded by today's standards, this game would never have made it. However, as Wii owners we'll be satisfied because we've finally gotten some pretty decent 3D Zelda action even if it isn't totally next gen.
I actually bought my Wii in early 2007 and one of the big reasons I bought it was for this game. Interestingly, now that I'm done with this game, I really don't feel there is much more to play on my Wii. I'd hope that the "big N" has some new tricks up their sleeves but I'm not so sure. I'm sure there is more to come but I'm not going to be as anxious about it as I was this round.
I guess we'll see what happens...