I've long considered Twilight Princess one of my favorite Zelda titles.

There's a part of me that still feels this way, but there's a setback to me fully committing to this feeling...

I haven't played Twilight Princess since it came out in late 2006!

Which means I waaasss... around 12 years old? I'm 27 as of writing this... so it's fair to say that I've changed a bit since I was a literal child.

I originally played the Wii version, but for the purposes of this playthrough, I've decided to use the GameCube version. I want to see if I can get a fresh experience out of playing it a different way than I remember. (I'm also playing it on the Dolphin Emulator because I don't have the GameCube game because it's Expensive)

The first thing I'm reminded of is how the entire first part of the game is Friendly Farm Boy Simulator. Which, honestly?... is fine with me. Link, in this iteration, is some sort of self-sufficient late teen, with a backstory that seems to be unaddressed yet or unimportant overall. He seems to be an integral part of his community, being the only person with a horse and the main person anybody goes to when they have problems or chores.

Link also has a childhood friend (implied love interest?? idk, not well implied), Ilia, who could not care less for Link and only hangs out with him for his horse.

I'm sure they're fine friends, but the horse is clearly priority.

There are other villagers, such as "the one i thought was Ilia's little brother, but isn't", Colin.

   

A bunch of other shitty kids (including a weird, intelligent baby)

Colin's mom and dad, who I think are a cute couple despite the dad looking like a goofball.

And Puppy.

 

 

I love you, puppy.

There are other villagers, but these are the most important.
(to me)

What strikes me about the village immediately is how much detail is in everybody's individual houses. I live for tiny detail in video games, and the camera function in this game allows you to look around, even in settings with a fixed camera, which I find to be rare.

Here are some of my favorite screenshots of the houses in the village.

Colin's parent's house is delightful.

 

As are other corners of houses in the village. I wanna be invited over to this lady's house for dinner.

Even Link's house, a teen who lives alone, has an idyllic
house with a loft and a full basement. I think it's the biggest house in the village? Wild.

...

This playthrough is in-progress. If you like long, meandering thoughts on different aspects of this game, check back in later. ;)