The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess or Skyward Sword?

[Solly]

This is true, but that doesn't mean it isn't dumb. He's got like no presence in the game, when he does show up properly he's just Ultrabuff O'Badguy, and the spoiled thing, that's explaining something that didn't really need to be explained...or maybe, adding something that doesn't really add anything. Ganon/dorf was already a recurring antagonist with a grudge against the forces of good, wasn't he?

I can agree that it probably didn't need to be explained- he's by all means an unnecessary character, but considering that Skyward Sword is supposed to be one big origin story, his obvious similarities with Ganondorf at least have reason to them. That's all I was really getting at.

[Mangoaxe5]

Zant was cool when he was a imposing, domineering figure and not a crazy coo-coo who just happened to be hijacked by Ganon.

Zant was always crazy. And he wasn't hijacked by Ganondorf. Personally for me I like the fact that he's crazy since it makes him standout from the other Ganon wannabes.

[Solly]

Zant was always crazy. And he wasn't hijacked by Ganondorf. Personally for me I like the fact that he's crazy since it makes him standout from the other Ganon wannabes.

Except when it's revealed that Ganon was the source of Zant's power and he ends up being the final boss instead.

Edited February 23, 2013 by Solly

[Mangoaxe5]

Again he wasn't hijacked by Ganon.

The game makes it clear after the third dungeon that Zant was only a puppet.

"How dare you?! Are you implying that my power is...our old magic? Now THAT is a joke! This power is granted to me by my god! It is the magic of the King of Twilight, and you WILL respect it! My Midna...
Did you forget? That beast is one of the light dwellers who oppressed
our people. No matter how much you may desire otherwise, you will never
be more than a shadow in their world. You cannot consort with their
kind! But if we can make their world ours, Midna...light and darkness
will meet at last. Our tribe will take back their realm...and sweet
darkness will blot out this harsh light! And that, Midna, is why... I
need you. Not just for me, but for all of our people... Lend me your
power." — Zant

And again this happens early in the game so

Ganondorf

was foreshadowed.

[Kuzu]

To be honest, I found it hard to give a shit about Zant before he went all crazy, he just seemed like "Generic stoic big bad" with no real personality to stand out.

[Solly]

Again he wasn't hijacked by Ganon.

The game makes it clear after the third dungeon that Zant was only a puppet.

"How dare you?! Are you implying that my power is...our old magic? Now THAT is a joke! This power is granted to me by my god! It is the magic of the King of Twilight, and you WILL respect it! My Midna...

Did you forget? That beast is one of the light dwellers who oppressed

our people. No matter how much you may desire otherwise, you will never

be more than a shadow in their world. You cannot consort with their

kind! But if we can make their world ours, Midna...light and darkness

will meet at last. Our tribe will take back their realm...and sweet

darkness will blot out this harsh light! And that, Midna, is why... I

need you. Not just for me, but for all of our people... Lend me your

power." — Zant

And again this happens early in the game so

Ganondorf

was foreshadowed.

3 temples in is long after Zant was established. Yes, what ultimately happens is foreshadowed, but it's not like Ghirahim, for example, whose entire purpose was to bring back his master.

So while we're made to expect Ganondorf, the game is still playing Zant up like the game's Big Bad until pretty much the very end. I'd still say Ganon hijacked the story, even if pretty much everyone saw it coming.

[Nepenthe]

I don't find the "Big Bad Guys" of this series to be offensive. The nature of the gameplay means eventually you're going to be forced into close-quarters combat with them, which is already stressful enough, so the more powerful you play up such a villain through stoicism and flippancy, I think the better they serve their purpose and the atmosphere of a major boss fight. 

Also, Ganon did feel tacked on at the last minute in TP. Just...meh. The horse portion of the fight was kinda cool. :|

[JezMM]

To be fair wasn't Ganon introduced halfway through the story in TP?  It would have been a nice change of pace to have Zant be the real final boss but to be honest until proven otherwise I assumed from that point on Ganon would be the last boss (though admttedly even the multi-stage battle and the better (complexity-wise) swordfight were nothing compared to the staging of Wind Waker's finale).

[Diogenes]

I don't find the "Big Bad Guys" of this series to be offensive. The nature of the gameplay means eventually you're going to be forced into close-quarters combat with them, which is already stressful enough, so the more powerful you play up such a villain through stoicism and flippancy, I think the better they serve their purpose and the atmosphere of a major boss fight.

Stoicism just doesn't do it for me, I guess. Oh wow big man with a big sword, who cares; you get stabbed same as everyone else no matter how much you try and hide it. Keep on bein' grumpy as I carve a hole in your stomach and see how that works out.

Crazy, tho', that keeps a guy going. You stab a crazy person and they only get more dangerous. How do you read someone who's abandoned rational thought? How do you fight someone who's powerful in spite of defying all rational conventions? How do you match the passion of someone consumed by madness?

[Conando]

I see where you're coming from. Ganondorf does do that in Wind Waker. He just freakin' snaps, and it was glorious. That was madness done right. Zant was just a flippant ape all of a sudden, and it came off as ridiculous.

Edited February 23, 2013 by Wreck-It Ralph

[JezMM]

I liked the Zant battle, it made him way creepier and more unique as an enemy but... I agree it kinda came out of nowhere.  Endgame Zant and early game Zant are completely different people and I still don't really understand what in the plot caused the change.

 

...I hope OP has made his decision as is ignoring this topic now because we're totally discussing plotlines in a topic made by someone who has never played the games and was asking what to get lol.

Edited February 23, 2013 by JezMM

[Nepenthe]

Any enemy worth his guff isn't going to give up after a few hits regardless of their personalities. Both Ghirahim and Demise changed the landscape after a particular series of hits and thus upped the ante anyway, so I never underestimated either, despite the fact that they're entirely different characters. However, Ghirahim- unlike Zant- saved himself by maintaining just enough sanity and calculation that I was forced to give him the respect he deserved every time we fought. He never broke character.

 

But enemies who are completely off their rocker always inherently feel less threatening to me because they lack any sort of calculation to their tactics at that point. They throw something at you, and when that doesn't work, they throw in something else. They're just sloppy enemies, and the kind of homicidal deliberation, the unpredictable thought of someone who is sane but nonetheless extremely powerful and is just biding their time with little old you, that thing that makes someone truly frightening, is gone at that point. It's similar to when you show a monster or other horror entity over and over again, it just ceases to be scary.

[Masterofnone169]

Ok.  I have some virtual console points. Now I just need to get the wii off of the rest of my family and download ocarina of time.  Something tells it will be a while before that happens.

[JezMM]

Ok.  I have some virtual console points. Now I just need to get the wii off of the rest of my family and download ocarina of time.  Something tells it will be a while before that happens.

 

Just to confirm, you have a Gamecube or Classic Controller right?  You'll need one to play it.

[Masterofnone169]

I do.  Don't worry I have done my homework.