[Spoiler-Free] Zelda: Skyward Sword

[Shorty]

Maaan.

 

Last night I was home alone from 7pm-12am, planned a long gaming night. I put AC:R in my 360, Uncharted 3 in my PS3 and Skyward Sword in the Wii. If I had started with one of the other games, they might've had a chance. But I started with Skyward Sword and didn't stop playing it til 1.30am.

 

This game has its niggles, but none of them really detract from an amazing game.

[Moonwulf]

I've been playing this game for about 2 weeks straight and just beated it last Tuesday with everything collected.

In my opinion the dungeons were not so bad, but the 3rd dungeon's puzzles were kinda grating on me for quite a bit. The bosses were alright too, but there were very few actual memorable ones like the 3rd and 4th ones. (I swear Zelda developers love bosses with eye weaknesses)

 

But the progression of the main game in the overworld feels a bit repetitive with the dowsing mechanic, and when you go to a actual new location, the game then usually requests you to go get something from a old one, making it more of a 'fetch quest' than actual exploring eventually.

 

 

I really think the other 3D Zelda's were more memorable than this one.

Edited December 9, 2011 by Moonwulf

[Jav_NE]

They're all named after birds.

 

I didn't know that, thanks!

 

So I'm at the 5th dungeon now having been enjoying the game up to this point... the linearity of the game has moved into the extreme now though. It's just so 'now go here then here. Now here. This is next'. There's no natural progression or exploration. The game actually points out where to go next and you just wander along with everything worked out for you.

 

There's only ever one path to take and when you actually reach a 'puzzle' a doorway opens for you to get you back to the start again. In one way it's good that you don't have to backtrack through pointless rooms but it's kind of disappointing that the dungeon layouts in this game are basically collections of circular paths with a single puzzle to solve and you end up instantly where you need to be as soon as you're done.

 

The second there's anything you need to work out on your own, the game has shown you a massive hint as to what to do anyway before you have control of Link back.

 

I've just opened the boss door and octopus tentacles have burst through the floor. Ok so I guess there's an octopus? I went back out the door and made my way to the deck. The game is almost yawning obstacles at me. The game pauses for the screen to slant slightly and then some barrels roll through the corridors. I pass them with no problems and get to the first set of stairs. Suddenly the game stops again and everywhere behind me fills instantly with water and stops at my feet.

 

It just feels so lazy. Everything is just happening so slowly and the music doesn't add anything at all. Oh I missed the part where the tentacles block your path and before the scene ends, Fi has told you exactly how to get past them. Why bother putting them there at all?

 

Now I've reached the deck and I see the ship is in two halves. Funny how I received no indication of that despite being inside the ship. It must have been the most careful destruction ever.

 

Now I'm facing the stupidest-looking boss I've seen so far, some kind of rastafarian octopus :p I had to stop and post here. This could've been done so much better. I hope the actual boss fight is good.

 

 

Major disappointment. Long post. I think I hated the 5th dungeon.

 

That's interesting, i actually loved that part of the game, and said boss was awesome in my eyes. True it didn't look that menacing, it was almost quite cute in a way, but the fight itself was awesome.

 

Had a good session last night. Nailed the Fledge pumpkin shoot after about 15 minutes of trying - that felt good, got my tumbleweed, upgraded pretty much everything i have to the max now, and then had fun meeting the Imprisoned again. I actually had a Game Over screen! It was quite upsetting - not because i died, but because the stupid thing made it to the temple. I blame the air holes, i always chose a bad one that didn't position me well to jump on it. Ah well, i quit and started again just in case having a Game Over affected any chance of special goodness later, though i dont think it will. Was easy second time.

 

Most annoying thing though was getting to such a pivotal point in the game. I opened the gate of time, speak with Impa, hear Zelda is waiting behind a glowing door, feel my pulse racing with excitement... then my girlfriend comes home from work and wants to watch TV... noooo!

 

Edited December 9, 2011 by Jav_NE

[Mokong]

It's not as good as any of the other 3D Zeldas, really, because it just doesn't stick to the formula closely enough. They are all clearer, more coherent visions than Skyward Sword, and all have better overworlds. Skyward Sword is certainly below OOT, MM and WW. It's more of an equal to Twilight Princess, but even then, for all it improves on, it falters in other ways. There's nowhere as atmospheric as TP's Lake Hylia or Hyrule Field in SS and, forgetting about the Twilight Realm bits, TP falls into more of a rhythm than this latest game.

 

On the other hand, there are some imaginative, smooth-flowing dungeons, some excellent bosses, and the tone is a very well-judged one of humour and romance. The NPCs are really colourful - you'll love them, Fused King.

 

Imagine a jumble of a game with some very good bits scattered around here and there, and that's Skyward Sword.

 

I'm sorry but have I missed something here?

 

People complained about Twilight Princess saying is stuck too close to the regular Zelda formula...and now people dislike Skyward Sword because it doesn't stick to the regluar formula close enough?

[Moonwulf]

At Jav NE:

 

Did you try shooting at it's head with Groose's cannon so you can stun him and then slash away one of the feet's toenails so he moves slower? You can also try blocking the shockwaves with your shield

 

[Shorty]

I'm sorry but have I missed something here?

 

People complained about Twilight Princess saying is stuck too close to the regular Zelda formula...and now people dislike Skyward Sword because it doesn't stick to the regluar formula close enough?

I wouldn't worry about it man :p some people are never pleased.

[Dog-amoto]

Maaan.

 

Last night I was home alone from 7pm-12am, planned a long gaming night. I put AC:R in my 360, Uncharted 3 in my PS3 and Skyward Sword in the Wii. If I had started with one of the other games, they might've had a chance. But I started with Skyward Sword and didn't stop playing it til 1.30am.

 

This game has its niggles, but none of them really detract from an amazing game.

 

You must have a huge electricity bill.

[Shorty]

Doesn't everyone these days? :/

[dazzybee]

Up to the 6th dungeon now - took a a few hours to upgrade all my items/weapons, do as many side quests as I could and back on.

 

I absolutely love this game. I always think it's funny when people slag games off. And consoles. Everyone will be slagging off the wii u version saying it's nowhere near as good Skyward Sword. This is the pattern

 

N64 was rubbish. Game cube comes out and that was rubbish and nothing compared to the masterpiece that had all the best games of there N64.

Then the Wii comes out and it's rubbish, nowhere near as good as as the gamecube and so on.

 

Same with Zelda. Wind Waker was slated (there's a still huge attack on the ending of the game). Twilight Princess was. And now this.

 

Personally, I think it's the best Zelda game, but doesn't feel as fresh because it's still very familiar. (though still (hopefully) a long way to for me).

 

It is the best art direction in any game I've ever played (if only it was HD). It has the best controls (controversial) in a game. It has a quite a lot of issues and niggles (don't even get me started on getting bugs/objects on a new load), the worst being the difficulty, it's too easy and Fi (and the game) tells you too much and too soon what to do; but I just absolutely love the game - I love the combat, the puzzles, the worlds; the outside dungeons are the best it's ever been, the dungeons are so tight and well designed it's unreal, and as has been mentioned the boss fights (though I wish they were harder) are fantastic.

 

We'll see what happens from now; but easily my game of the year (though not played Uncharted 3 yet!)

[Jav_NE]

At Moonwulf:

 

Yeah, thats what i did pretty much the second time. What happened first time was i wasted loads of time at the start. It was an annoying thing that happened really, because i was trying to call on Groose for the canon when i was in the air, thinking that it would be awesome to stun the boss and land on him straight away. Turns out the game doesn't let you so i had to wait until i landed and wasted loads of time which let the monster climb up a wall. Bad Nintendo!

 

Edited December 9, 2011 by Jav_NE

[Goron_3]

I'm sorry but have I missed something here?

 

People complained about Twilight Princess saying is stuck too close to the regular Zelda formula...and now people dislike Skyward Sword because it doesn't stick to the regluar formula close enough?

 

The people that didn't like TP didn't like the empty overworld throughout the game. You basically just went from dungeon to dungeon with nothing inbetween because the world and towns were basically empty.

 

Skyward Sword is different. It's a very linear 'point A to point B' game and weirdly enough it is exactly the opposite of The Legend Of Zelda. The overworld is also basically just a hub world too which is probably the thing that I'm most disappointed about. Oh, that and the lack of story/Ghirihim does fuck all.

[Tales]

Majorly stuck in the fifth dungeon but I'll probably be feeling dumb when I solve it :p

 

Fi is ridiciosly annoying. And not in the navi-is-annoying-so-she's-cool-cult thing. She always states the obvious or hold my hand like a 6-year old at puzzles between dungeon A and dungeon B. Like I saw a scene with the dungeon door open and she says "Master, there appear to be a change in the dungeon structure." No kidding. I don't recall exactly what she said but it usually goes like this: Stone tablet: "You need a key to open this door." Fi: "There's an 85% chance the key the stone tablet is talking about is needed to open this door." She is so lifeless and uninteresting. I wish I could turn her off. She pops up way to often for her role in the story and contributes with next to nothing in terms of things I didn't already know or didn't need/want her help. And the percentages.....how in the world does she calculate that and for what purpose? Are we supposed to laugh at it?

 

 

The people that didn't like TP didn't like the empty overworld throughout the game. You basically just went from dungeon to dungeon with nothing inbetween because the world and towns were basically empty.

 

Skyward Sword is different. It's a very linear 'point A to point B' game and weirdly enough it is exactly the opposite of The Legend Of Zelda. The overworld is also basically just a hub world too which is probably the thing that I'm most disappointed about. Oh, that and the lack of story/Ghirihim does fuck all.

 

I think I'm the only one in the world that enjoyed TP's world map. Or the game. TP>SS.

Edited December 9, 2011 by Tales
Automerged Doublepost

[Goron_3]

Majorly stuck in the fifth dungeon but I'll probably be feeling dumb when I solve it :p

 

Fi is ridiciosly annoying. And not in the navi-is-annoying-so-she's-cool-cult thing. She always states the obvious or hold my hand like a 6-year old at puzzles between dungeon A and dungeon B. Like I saw a scene with the dungeon door open and she says "Master, there appear to be a change in the dungeon structure." No kidding. I don't recall exactly what she said but it usually goes like this: Stone tablet: "You need a key to open this door." Fi: "There's an 85% chance the key the stone tablet is talking about is needed to open this door." She is so lifeless and uninteresting. I wish I could turn her off. She pops up way to often for her role in the story and contributes with next to nothing in terms of things I didn't already know or didn't need/want her help. And the percentages.....how in the world does she calculate that and for what purpose? Are we supposed to laugh at it?

 

 

 

 

I think I'm the only one in the world that enjoyed TP's world map. Or the game. TP>SS.

 

It has the best dungeons ever. It's weird, they set out to make the dungeons in SS part of the world but it's still pretty bloody obvious when you enter a temple because it shows a cutscene. They did it better with TP with areas like Goron Mines (which had houses and an out door section), City in the Sky and the Snow Mansion.

[Jav_NE]

I never got very far in TP, it bored me. I'm ashamed to say it, but it is the only console Zelda that i havn't completed, and i don't feel any need to go back and try it out. I think it was the tacked-on Wii controls - maybe i should've gone for the Cube version.

 

SS is evidently way better for me as it has kept me going and given me reason to play. It's all in the satisfaction of the controls.

 

My disappointments with SS so far i guess are the lack of change after completing a dungeon. One of the things i really love about OOT is how there is a community in dire need of your help, then when you complete the temple, something changes and they are all happy again. I loved going around post-temple to chat with everybody again and see the changes, not only in the people but in the environment as well.

 

But after you finish a dungeon in SS, nothing really changes in the surrounding area. It feels like there is really no point to what you just did. You just get a piece of heart and move on. That has disappointed me a few times so far.

 

That and the musicical instrument. Surely some button presses or something could have made it feel more like you were playing it? It is a bit lame. And Fi's face when she sings - that always upsets me, but i do generally like Fi, mostly for her voice, i just love it when she pops up and says something like "mahee-madas!" for master. The stats are just a bit of fun.

 

During the mine cart area, there is a part when Fi asks you to check in the sand to find something, which in turn awakens a scorpian boss. After you kill it there is the best statistic ever if you keep blowing the sand - "Master - there is 0% chance of finding anything in the sand now, we should leave this area!". She got quite angry with me and kept saying things along those lines again and again because i was adament on finding some rupees or something in the sand!

 

[Shorty]

Skyward Sword is different. It's a very linear 'point A to point B' game and weirdly enough it is exactly the opposite of The Legend Of Zelda. The overworld is also basically just a hub world too which is probably the thing that I'm most disappointed about. Oh, that and the lack of story/Ghirihim does fuck all.

I found that at first, but I think some people's disappointment stems from the fact that the three main areas don't feel connected. If you could run from one to the other and there was a small field in the middle, would it feel better? In which case, it's hardly any different flying up to the sky and coming back down again.

 

Also, after you clear an area it starts to feel more inhabited, the Kikwi make a home in one corner, the Mogma move into the Demon Tribe's tents. It's a shame there's no shops and the Gorons don't have a village, but it's meant to feel like a barren world that was ruined by war years ago, not like an ancient relic of Hyrule.

 

For me, Skyloft ties it all together neatly and I love the fact that, for the first time, the whole village makes sense. Every character has a home and a bed, rather than Kakariko village that had 10-15 inhabitants and only 2 houses.

[Hero-of-Time]

I absolutely love this game. I always think it's funny when people slag games off. And consoles. Everyone will be slagging off the wii u version saying it's nowhere near as good Skyward Sword. This is the pattern

 

N64 was rubbish. Game cube comes out and that was rubbish and nothing compared to the masterpiece that had all the best games of there N64.

Then the Wii comes out and it's rubbish, nowhere near as good as as the gamecube and so on.

 

Same with Zelda. Wind Waker was slated (there's a still huge attack on the ending of the game). Twilight Princess was. And now this.

 

Not everybody fits into this so called pattern and posts like this are just as common as the pattern you're describing. Loved my N64, loved my Cube, have issues with the Wii but still enjoy it. Loved OOT, WW and MM but thought TP was average and I still do despite playing through SS.

[dazzybee]

Not everybody fits into this so called pattern and posts like this are just as common as the pattern you're describing. Loved my N64, loved my Cube, have issues with the Wii but still enjoy it. Loved OOT, WW and MM but thought TP was average and I still do despite playing through SS.

 

I know, but that's a general vibe that happens. I guess it boils down to in the moment, the flaws are apparent (no games on the N64 or gamecube, loads of shovel ware and dodgy controls on the wii; kiddy graphics and game ruining triforce hunt for Zelda etc etc); but in retrospect only the good remains... I'm just saying that I really think in the long run, Skyward Sword will be remembered as fondly as Ocarina!

[Goron_3]

It also boils down to the fact that people who don't like the game come out and criticise it once it's out. People who loved the game then post about how much they loved the older game a few years later and everyone is like 'lol Zelda cycle', despite the fact it's two separate people.

 

Reason enough to just ignore neogaf Zelda threads

[Ronnie]

I'm a little surprised by the lack of story-telling cutscenes, the lack of any kind of traditional Zelda mythology (up to half way where I'm at, that is) or the lack of the recognisable Zelda music. Then again being a prequel I guess it's to be expected.

 

Quite amazing how high standards the Zelda series has, says it all about how high the bar has been raised for every new game to try and reach.

[Dog-amoto]

Fi pisses me off the most when she tells you that the batteries in your wiimote have nearly depleted. No Fi, I'll wait till my remote disconnects like a sane person and change them then. I don't need you to tell me (with the annoying slow text) every time I restart the game.

[Ronnie]

Haha her telling you about low batteries I can just about deal with, but EVERY TIME you get down to 3 hearts??

[Shorty]

Both are annoying, no option to disable it or anything. I put it on pro interface I expect to be treated like a competent human being -_-

 

Especially when you tap d-pad down to find out information about the targeted enemy, and she tells you about your hearts instead.

[Ronnie]

Also I HATE that final paragraph from Fi after you Z target an enemy. "You have defeated zero of these enemies......". What's the point! Like people are really going to call her up to find that info out.

[Cube]

I think the constant low health sound is even worse (especially as I use headphones). Especially when you can't find any hearts for absolutely ages.

[Mokong]

I think the constant low health sound is even worse (especially as I use headphones). Especially when you can't find any hearts for absolutely ages.

 

And it's ages later when you figure out what all the chairs are for