Category Archives: Published

Hey, Look, Listen: Analyzing Handholding in Twilight Princess

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I love Twilight Princess.

This 2006 Zelda title, released for both GameCube and Wii, has its share of flaws. Several key moments in the story are poorly explained, the motion controls on the Wii version (which I played for this audit) feel like they hinder the gameplay more than they enhance it, and the graphics are consistently murky. That said, I cannot get over how deliciously satisfying its temples and swordplay are, how packed the overworld is with things to do, and how frequently the game made me, and Link, feel like a badass. Twilight Princess is more than the game Zelda fans were hoping for before they caught their first glimpse of Wind Waker in 2001; it is one of the best Zelda games ever made.

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Hey, Look, Listen: Analyzing Handholding in Majora’s Mask

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I did not enjoy Majora’s Mask.

I know this is a game close to the hearts of many, but my first entire playthrough of Majora’s Mask was rarely as pleasant or rewarding as the other Zelda games I’ve played. My 27 hours and 29 minutes of play time were marred by an incompetent camera, clunky controls, dreary environments, side quests and main quests that felt tedious, an overly complicated saving process, and a lackluster central focus on masks, too many of which felt like one-trick-ponies.

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Hey, Look, Listen: Analyzing Handholding in Skyward Sword

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Skyward Sword is a great game.

While watching the ending credits, I was reminded of all the fun I’d had in Skyward Sword‘s tremendous environments and colorful characters for 39 hours and 16 minutes. Many of the most satisfying moments of my Skyward Sword playthrough were found deep in its dungeons, or the instant I dealt a final blow to the end boss with only a lone heart and no health potions or fairies remaining. A smile was also brought to my face many times by Groose’s antics, Peatrice’s outrageous infatuation with Link, and the simple of joy rotating a boss key into position with the Wii Remote.

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Hey, Look, Listen: Analyzing Handholding in Zelda

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One of my biggest disappointments with Skyward Sword was a sense that the game held my hand too often. Skyward Sword felt to me like one of those games where the tutorial never lets up; my sense of agency and freedom as a player felt stripped away because I felt like too many puzzles were explicitly explained to me either by Fi or the camera zooming to an objective. I want to be challenged, but I also want to have some idea of what I have to do in order to progress. A fine line exists between telling me what an item does, and a magic ghost woman flying out of my sword to explain exactly how I need to use an item the moment I enter another room… before I even see the puzzle, let alone get a fair chance at solving it.

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Sensebellum

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Casey Scalf is an entertainment entrepreneur who I made a documentary of with the help of some colleagues for a class in late 2013.

I cannot thank Billie Weller and Erin Brewer enough for their contributions to this video’s creation, not just for their insight on the use of visuals and music, but what they taught me about teamwork. I was chiefly responsible for transcribing and organizing the overall flow of the video, as well as getting some extra b-roll.