So I started Minish Cap a couple days ago and I can't put it down. It has some pretty innovative puzzles and some new items (I love that Gust Jar, hehe). It's good old-fashioned Zelda and it's just SO darn fun! I've just gotten the Fire Element and am currently going on a Kinstone-fusing spree. And a figurine-collecting spree. And a Minish-finding spree in Hyrule Town....

Yeah, I absolutely loved Minish Cap.  I played, start to finish, in nearly one sitting; I was helplessly addicted. Everything about it is wonderful.

Minish Cap is a great game. It's just a shame that it's probably the shortest Zelda game out there because I wanted it to last forever...

Yeah, the Kinstone hunting is addictive. Staying away from the figurines, though. Did anyone actually collect them in Wind Waker?

Umm... yeah.

I got them all.

...in both games.

...shut up. 

How'd you manage to do that?  I hardly had enough money for the amount of shells it would've taken by the end of the game.

I haven't even considered getting them all in Wind Waker...  In fact, I have yet to replay that.  I'll get to it by the summer time.

Are you sure you'll get to it this summer?  Because you just might be a bit busy playing TWILIGHT PRINCESS!!  ahhhhhhhh, how nice will that be   well, assuming Nintendo finally decides to release it...!

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Well, the portability of Minish Cap allowed me to work on getting the figures when I was bored and on the train.  As for the money, I'm not sure how that could ever be a problem in that game.  If there was one thing that annoyed me in Minish Cap, it was that they gave you WAY too many rupees to ever spend.  I opened so many treasure chests hoping to find something worthwhile and instead would get a few hundred rupees that would be wasted because my money was maxed out.  Eventually I figured out to blow all my money on figures so that my wallet would have space for more when I got it!

Wind Waker's figures are tedious, but in a different way.  There is no excuse for forcing you to only carry 3 pictures at a time... taking them to the figure shop is a gigantic pain in the arse.  And for the record, I got all of the figures on my second playthrough (with pajama Link), not on my first.  Zelda is the one game series where I feel compelled to get everything, and Wind Waker disappointed me with how worthless some of the difficult-to-get extras were, like the figures and whatever the magic armor was called.

For Gamecube fans there will be plenty of time, since, you know, Twilight Princess is the ONLY THING COMING OUT (after Chibi Robo, which looks amazing, of course).  As for me, if Twilight Princess has an April release date I'll be extremely torn.  On one hand, I'll want to play it as soon as possible.  On the other, I'll likely be inhereting an HDTV from another JET come late July... and given that I bought Gamecube component video cables for 980 yen last year and have been waiting to try them out, I'm tempted to wait and play the new Zelda in gorgeous high rez. 

Ohhhhhhhhh!  Will Zelda be high rez????

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I'm assuming Zelda will be, since I think most of Nintendo's first party releases have had progressive scan modes.  If it doesn't, I guess that just solves that dilemma then for me, doesn't it...

I'd be shocked if Twilight Princess hits the U.S. before September (assuming that you still plan on waiting for the U.S. version).

@ Qui-Gon Joe...  What armor in Wind Waker...???  And incidentally, Wind Waker is the very first Zelda where I'm *not* compelled to complete every little thing.  Only three pics in the camera at a time just sealed the deal for me.  I will get all the Heart Containers and otherwise max out though... but what is this armor you speak of? 

Also, you guys, don't forget...  TP isn't the only game comin' out this year.  We're gettin' Baiten Kaitos 2!!  Can't wait for that either...

It's not really *armor* necessarily, but it's an item that (if I remember correctly) you activate to cover yourself in purple glowiness that makes you take half damage.  It might drain mp, but it's been a long time and I don't recall exactly how it works.  It's the last item I got and was generally useless.

BUT that reminds me - another pet peeve of Minish Cap is the far more useless mirror shield.  It's an item you can't get until AFTER you've beaten the game, and there is NOTHING for you to do in the game any more after that point.  This means you just load up the save, fetch a shield, and... that's it.  Really crappy game design there, I think.

I think it was just supposed to be a bit of fan service.  It's like: "Hey, we're sorry we didn't make the game as long as it should've been, and we know you want that mirror shield, so hey!"

I didn't bother with the Kinstones. I found them obnoxious...

0_o 

That was so addicting to me!  I remember scouring all the caves just so I could get that last Goron to appear... it was madness!  I only had about 15 Kinstones left to fuse, but I couldn't find anyone who wanted to fuse for the life of me.  Can't wait to play TMC again! 

Must... Get... Every... Figurine... and... every... Kinestone... FUSED!!!

This thread inspired me to pick up The Minish Cap, which I bought recently but hadn't made time to play. It's been one of the most enjoyable and heartwarming (in the "hits the golden-era old-school gaming spot juuuuust right" sense) gaming experiences I've had in a long while. Thanks Schala & Friends!