It's just you.
But I wouldn't put aside any of Confused Gamer's points, guys. As I was reading your post CG, I knew exactly what you were talking about. For me, difficulty usually isn't a problem, because it just means I can get to the end of the game easily. I didn't mind the easiness in Wind Waker, but I did in Twilight Princess. I think because the game gave off a dark atmosphere, and it felt more mature, you'd think it would be suitable for the mature gamer, looking for something difficult... But it wasn't. It was easy, and the difficulty level in Twilight Princess was annoying. Heck, I had to use the Ordon Sword after I got the Master Sword just so I could enjoy the battles for a little longer. Nintendo needs to take the series back to it's Zelda II days and make the battles and puzzles super-freakin'-hard.
And yes, the story was kind of over before it was told. I'm not sure what I was expecting with Twilight Princess... I might have been expecting Midna to turn against Link, or I was expecting the Twili to be evil and for Midna to be good... I was expecting something, but I didn't seem to get it.
But my major gripe with Twilight Princess is the lost potential with the wolf. Seriously, when you saw Wolf Link howling to the moon at the end of the second trailer, were you pumped? And that mysticism you felt with that scene... did you feel that in-game? No. The wolf in TP felt like the transformations in Majora's Mask (which were done well in a different sense), you were only transforming into a wolf for conveniences, to get a puzzle done, or just because you were forced to. It felt like you were just Link controlled differently. I was expecting villagers' to hunt you down, I was expecting a clan of wolves as characters in the story, better use of an animal's senses, better interaction with other animals. Transforming into a wolf should have been
cool, not
different. Oh, and he sounds like he's in pain when he howls. Makes me sad
.
I completely disagree with your points on the music however. The music was pretty damn excellent, I don't think I would have enjoyed it too much more if it was orchestrated, and I think some of the of "clownier" songs in the game added a nice well-expected Zelda contrast. The boss battles had very epic music, I loved it. So I don't really know what you are talking about.
The gameplay was also incredibly decent (minus the difficulty level) and is pretty much a good enough reason why Twilight Princess should and did get several Game of the Year nods. The gameplay is absolutely perfected, and it makes Zelda worth playing. I think the Arbiter's Grounds is the absolute pinnacle of dungeons in a Zelda game. Nintendo just really need to take a good think about how easy the games are becoming. PLEASE go back and play Zelda II, Nintendo! The items (namely the Dominion Rod, Bomb Arrow and Spinner) are very nicely done, and well up to par with all Zelda games. The bosses are creepy and the strategies are well thought up, but the lack of difficulty just cuts the bosses in half. Sorry, guys. Still, the atmosphere with all the bosses is super duper. Oh, and horseback combat is SO AWESOME -- but you guessed it, would have been better if it were harder.
Oh, and the beautiful ending was enough to make me fall in love with this game. I've never felt more connected to a character in a video game than I have with Midna. Her story is extremely well done. It was worth butchering Zelda's role just so Nintendo could tell Midna's story, and it was really something new that I truly adored. Although the ending was vague, I couldn't have loved it more than I did. Absolutely amazing... Whoops, I've made this post too long, no one is going to read it now
.
Oh, and Zant is the best villain ever.