[Spoiler-Free] Zelda: Skyward Sword

[Mokong]

Back to thoughts/speculation of the game for a moment

 

 

Ok after getting the first flame and having the Triforce of couage appear on Links hand left me a little confused. As that usually means Zelda has Wisdon and Ganondorf has power yet Ganondorf shouldn't be in this game given where it is placed in the timeline (at the start and way before OOT, which is stated to be the first time Link and Zelda encounter Ganondorf).... unless by the time I open this Gate of Time it's gonna send me into the future and into OOT ina weird Back to the Future 2 style thing... though I doubt that would happen... but thinking bout it now, how awesome whould that be? haha

 

But then after getting the 2nd and 3rd flame it now appears as if Link has all of the Triforce... WTF is going on, haha.

 

Also while I have the Master Sword now I am still expecting it might upgrade a bit more.... the "wing" part of the hilt should extend out a bit further shouldn't they?

 

[Ike]

Well, not being able to put the sword away and hitting themselves with the cord are their own stupid fault not the game.

 

I have problems getting the thrust attack to work but 3rd boss wasn't too difficult to beat. Don't think I even beat it with a trust attack.

 

Your not really recalibrating the Motion Plus every time, it just re-centring it. You don't have to put the remote down every time you want to use the pointer.

 

Personally I'm enjoying the story and I like Fi, she has a few humorous moments:

 

(read her info about the Bokoblins).

 

[Hero-of-Time]

Just finished the 2nd temple, loved the boss fight. I'm still not digging the fighting in the game though. I've found that when I try to be precise and wait for an opening I get hit more often, so now I usually have a waggle fest with the wiimote and it works out really well. Think Jimmy Fallon when he showed off the game.

 

There was one point where you have to run up a hill and then duck into an alcove before the rocks hit you. I later came across the same puzzle but you had to blow up the rocks before running into the alcove. For the life of me I couldn't figure out how to blow up those rocks. I tried rolling the bomb, throwing it, running up the hill and planting one, I even asked Fi...who turned out to be useless. I then had a scope around with the beetle and seen what I had missed.

 

When you crawl through the little tunnel I didn't dig the spots because I thought thety may have hearts and I may need them later. I did think there would be an air vent from one of them.

 

I absloutely ADORE the design for what I assume is Impa. She looks fantastic, best character design in a Zelda game in a long time.

 

 

I love it how the temples themselves aren't that long, but the actual run up to them is like a temple in itself.

 

Off to do some sidequesting now.

[Mokong]

Glad to see your starting to get into the swing of things now H-o-T and enjoying the game.

[dazzybee]

I've found the game insanely easy - all the bosses, most of the puzzles, the first trial etc. Absolutely adore this game, but hope it ramps up!

[Grazza]

This game is giving me a roller coaster of different feelings - lofty highs, but also deep lows. I'm not sure if the structure is still really a spoiler, but just in case, here's a key:

 

Place A = Skyloft

Place B = Overworld/Pre-dungeons

Place C = Dungeons

 

 

When I'm in Place A, I love it. The buildings, humour, sidequests and exploration are all good enough that it almost feels like that 10/10 game the reviews said it was. I even love the motion controls in this section, using them for very trivial things. When I'm here, I think "I was wrong to doubt this game" and "I was wrong to be sceptical about motion controls".

 

Then I go to a Place B, and I'm still enjoying it for a bit, but my mood slowly drops. They're a bunch of narrow passages, with none of the atmosphere of a true overworld. But still, it's fun to follow the trail for a while. Then you get hit with an absolutely blatant fetch quest. I don't know how anyone's going to be able to criticise WW's Tri-Force hunt again with a straight face!

 

Places C are not bad, but have tougher enemies, and so it once more becomes a game of "Which way do I attack from?" Again, I must stress I don't strongly dislike the motion controls, just the type of gameplay that has been enforced because of them.

 

I just feel very confused about it at the moment. No real-time Day & Night cycles, no NPC routines, no true overworld... It feels very devolved. I'm very concerned about where the Zelda series is heading, because this doesn't feel like it builds on the old ones.

[Hero-of-Time]

When I'm in Place A, I love it. The buildings, humour, sidequests and exploration are all good enough that it almost feels like that 10/10 game the reviews said it was. I even love the motion controls in this section, using them for very trivial things. When I'm here, I think "I was wrong to doubt this game" and "I was wrong to be sceptical about motion controls".

 

Then I go to a Place B, and I'm still enjoying it for a bit, but my mood slowly drops. They're a bunch of narrow passages, with none of the atmosphere of a true overworld. But still, it's fun to follow the trail for a while. Then you get hit with an absolutely blatant fetch quest. I don't know how anyone's going to be able to criticise WW's Tri-Force hunt again with a straight face!

 

Places C are not bad, but have tougher enemies, and so it once more becomes a game of "Which way do I attack from?" Again, I must stress I don't strongly dislike the motion controls, just the type of gameplay that has been enforced because of them.

 

I just feel very confused about it at the moment. No real-time Day & Night cycles, no NPC routines, no true overworld... It feels very devolved. I'm very concerned about where the Zelda series is heading, because this doesn't feel like it builds on the old ones.

 

I'm totally in the same boat as you, I really don't know how to feel about the game. At times is great, usually when combat isn't involved, but once that comes around the game gets dragged down for me again.

 

Certain actions just don't click with me and seem to have been forced due to the motion controls. I mean does rolling really need to be done with a waggle of the nunchuck when a press of a button is all that's needed?

 

I'm also not a fan of the whole stamina system, especially when Link doesn't run as fast in doors yet still uses stamina.

 

Enjoying some things, hating others.

[flameboy]

So I just had to return to the first area under the clouds having just beat the 3rd dungeon and all the stuff that comes after that so to speak and basically:

 

that I am now going to have to return to each old dungeon as part of a quest to do something that will get me each of the 3 flames? The silent realms intitally disappointed me, it's not got the same vibe as the towers in the DS games because its just the same enviroment rehashed with Link nerfed.

 

I just followed the dowsing for the sacred water and ended up back in the first temple. I'm going to be very disappointed if this is how the next few hours of the game span out.

 

[Shorty]

It's not, don't worry. You only go back there for a few minutes. I thought it was kind of cool, makes them feel like real environments with a purpose.

[Cube]

So I just had to return to the first area under the clouds having just beat the 3rd dungeon and all the stuff that comes after that so to speak and basically:

 

that I am now going to have to return to each old dungeon as part of a quest to do something that will get me each of the 3 flames? The silent realms intitally disappointed me, it's not got the same vibe as the towers in the DS games because its just the same enviroment rehashed with Link nerfed.

 

I just followed the dowsing for the sacred water and ended up back in the first temple. I'm going to be very disappointed if this is how the next few hours of the game span out.

 

I was worrying that at the same point.

 

I was completely wrong.

 

[flameboy]

Good cheers @Shorty and @Cube I was genuinely worrying I would feel underwhelmed totally due to that issue. Shorty on your point about it feeling like an actual environment:

 

When I checked out the symbol and then got to the waterfall etc...a whole area I didn't even reallyt realise was there BUT I felt it less during the Silent Realms section and like I said having just restepped into the first temple fear for the worst.

 

[dazzybee]

I really really enjoyed going back to the previous places, with the new items and abilities finding new bits etc. I didn't know this happened and I would have dreaded it, but in the game it really worked for me. Can't wait to have a blast tonight again; haven't played it the last two nights (due to spurs and a performance) going to blitz this, mario and kart over the weekend (best weekend ever?!)

[Goron_3]

This game is giving me a roller coaster of different feelings - lofty highs, but also deep lows. I'm not sure if the structure is still really a spoiler, but just in case, here's a key:

 

Place A = Skyloft

Place B = Overworld/Pre-dungeons

Place C = Dungeons

 

 

When I'm in Place A, I love it. The buildings, humour, sidequests and exploration are all good enough that it almost feels like that 10/10 game the reviews said it was. I even love the motion controls in this section, using them for very trivial things. When I'm here, I think "I was wrong to doubt this game" and "I was wrong to be sceptical about motion controls".

 

Then I go to a Place B, and I'm still enjoying it for a bit, but my mood slowly drops. They're a bunch of narrow passages, with none of the atmosphere of a true overworld. But still, it's fun to follow the trail for a while. Then you get hit with an absolutely blatant fetch quest. I don't know how anyone's going to be able to criticise WW's Tri-Force hunt again with a straight face!

 

Places C are not bad, but have tougher enemies, and so it once more becomes a game of "Which way do I attack from?" Again, I must stress I don't strongly dislike the motion controls, just the type of gameplay that has been enforced because of them.

 

I just feel very confused about it at the moment. No real-time Day & Night cycles, no NPC routines, no true overworld... It feels very devolved. I'm very concerned about where the Zelda series is heading, because this doesn't feel like it builds on the old ones.

 

The main issue the game has is that it is SO linear and there is such a lack of a world/other characters to interact and develop stories with that in order to stop they've just put in loads of fetch quests in between some of the games key moments without any real story development. I've just completed dungeon 6 and FINALLY they developed the story again, but then there was another fetch quest and I've lost a bit of interest (The fact I've got loads of coursework too doesn't help).

 

Okay, you can complain that the old OoT model doesn't work so well nowadays because it is kinda of just 'go to this dungeon, then this one, then the next one' but if memory recalls that game actually doesn't send you on any fetch quests. Wind Waker had the triforce quest but that was better than what's on offer here. Did Twilight Princess have any? I don't recall it having many (apart from the shadow realm bits).

 

Oh. The game holds your hand WAY too much with respect to telling you where to go ALL the time (Fi is the worst culprit of this). I wish you could turn dousing off. With it on it's sometimes like playing Super Metroid, only the game telling you where to go all the time.

[Hero-of-Time]

Oh. The game holds your hand WAY too much with respect to telling you where to go ALL the time (Fi is the worst culprit of this). I wish you could turn dousing off. With it on it's sometimes like playing Super Metroid, only the game telling you where to go all the time.

 

I try not to use it, I find it way too cheap.

 

Just finished the 3rd temple, didn't care for it much, but I did enjoy the boss battle.

 

The boss fight was great but am I right in thinking that your supposed to stab the eyes? I couldn't get it to work, so just I just did my random waggling technique and ended up beating the hell out of him.

 

The cutscenes after the temple were great. Impa is hard as nails! I also enjoyed the cutscenes with Groose. I had a lol moment when Link was falling through the sky and Groose showed up.

 

I wasn't expecting a boss fight so soon after the temple. It was a pretty easy fight and kind of seemed like a poor mans Shadow of the Colossus.

 

 

Another thing that's starting to annoy me is the whole item pop up. Why does the game keep telling me about items that I have already discovered? Fair enough, tell me about the pick up when it's the first time i've picked it up, not everytime I boot the game up! Same thing goes for when you open a chest.

[Diageo]

You're not meant to stab the eyes, you're meant to slash in the direction that is not protected. You only stab when he closes his claws and starts twirling is tail around.

[Hero-of-Time]

You're not meant to stab the eyes, you're meant to slash in the direction that is not protected. You only stab when he closes his claws and starts twirling is tail around.

 

I see. Either way, it's dead now.

[Ronnie]

The lack of a proper day/night cycle is a little strange, but then so was having it turn from day to night in a few minutes.

 

I don't mind the fetch quests, I quite enjoy them (so far anyway) and I love exploring the surface areas, the forest and desert ones are great, the items are cool, the visuals are gorgeous and there are some very clever puzzles... but so far this game isn't making me smile and doesn't have anywhere near the same charm as Wind Waker. I know it's an intangible, subjective notion, but things like trying to find that missing Korok on the forest haven island, noticing some musical notes coming from the waterfall and using your grappling hook to swing inside it to find him playing his fiddle in that cavern. Using the leaf to glide down to the dungeon island (visually even more impressive at night) or arriving at Dragon Roost with that awesome catchy music or the Forsaken Fortress that just looks like something from a cartoon with the ominous music and search-lights. Little moments like that I miss.

[Ganepark32]

Did the 6th dungeon on Wednesday (haven't had much time to play the game this week as I've been working pretty much solidly on stuff for uni) and I really didn't care for it much, nor the area leading up to it. The aftermath, storywise, was decent enough but I wasn't feeling that area/dungeon combo.

 

While I love that they've blurred the lines between what's a dungeon and what isn't with the overworld in each area, the dungeons themselves haven't been particularly great, bar the 3rd which I loved. It seems in some cases that most of the effort went into making the areas leading up the the dungeons more interesting than the dungeons themselves.

 

The boss battles have been ok (2 and 4 have been the best so far) but the dungeons are leaving a lot to be desired. There's nothing I've seen so far that has been truly memorable in the same way that the Yeti's Mansion was in TP. Don't get me wrong, incorporating multiple item use into the dungeons was a great idea and something they should definitely stick with but it's all very straight forward with very little in the way of 'Wow... that was awesome'. Perhaps there'll be something that gets me later in the game but after 25 hours, it's not really found its groove for one of the biggest features of a Zelda game: the dungeons. Puzzles seem to be lacking a little as well, as is the characterisation and strong story others have mentioned.

 

Maybe I've been spoiled by Xenoblade Chronicles but I definitely think that Nintendo need to look West (in the same way Monolith Soft did with incorporating elements of various Western RPGs into their game) for how to bring Zelda forward (Although rumour has it that Ueda of ICO and SotC fame is leaving Sony after they finish Last Guardian so he could certainly help with characterisation if Nintendo are willing to put forward the money). It's still enjoyable but I'm beginning to wonder whether the enjoyment is coming from the Zelda brand and it being a new entry rather than what's actually on the disc.

Edited December 1, 2011 by Ganepark32

[FalcoLombardi]

I dislike dowsing.

[Agent Gibbs]

Well I've finished

 

My favourite Zelda, it surpasses Wind Waker for me (WW being superior to MM, MM being superior to OoT)

 

the Design of the water and fire Dragons, they had too small a head for a dragon and the fact it was copy paste change colour palet for them annoyed me. Thunder Dragon however was great

 

 

Bosses, i found Gihrahim to be harder than demise, took me ages to work out how to stop him with his large sword. Demise however seemed to be more of a homage to Gannondorf (ironic given he was his predecessor/first incarnation)

 

 

i'll give it a few month (time for Skyrim) then

play the 2nd Quest

 

 

as for complaints on fetch quests, i wouldn't say that they were particularily bad, they certainly reduced the tedium of the old formula of take last aquired item and journey to new area using it and wander to dungeon. it sort of filled the gap with more content, Zelda has always been about the quest and not the journey with lots of killing like TES

besides all of them combined were enjoyable and not nearly as dull as WW triforce fishing quest....

[Magnus]

Demise however seemed to be more of a homage to Gannondorf (ironic given he was his predecessor/first incarnation)

That's not how irony works.

[Grazza]

Certain actions just don't click with me and seem to have been forced due to the motion controls. I mean does rolling really need to be done with a waggle of the nunchuck when a press of a button is all that's needed?

 

Yeah, I agree. Apart from the sword, wouldn't it be easier and more fun to just point and press a button?

 

Also, I have an issue with this whole "Which way do I attack from?" gameplay. Directional slashes were possible with the analogue stick, eg. press left + b = left slash, so why has Nintendo now decided this is an important element? It is quite possible without motion control but, wisely, it has never been part of Zelda before.

 

Did Twilight Princess have any? I don't recall it having many (apart from the shadow realm bits).

 

It had those statues towards the end, but that was much better than the Dowsing. It is absolutely blatant: point your remote towards the scattered things. Doesn't matter which type of "things" they are, as long as there are things!

 

In my opinion, the worst/most invalid criticism towards Twilight Princess was that it stuck too closely to the OOT formula. The Zelda formula works (or at least it did). The main problem with TP was that it began to devolve Zelda. Skyward Sword takes it even further.

 

Twilight Princess abandoned NPC routines, but at least it still had the Day & Night cycle and a proper overworld. I didn't like the way you could only get to the desert by cannon, but I put it down to technical limitations. They've taken it to the extreme here - the whole game is like that.

 

Think back to Majora's Mask, which had a 3-day NPC routine and a descending moon. Or Wind Waker, which only had a 1-day NPC cycle (on Windfall Island), but also had an 8-day moon cycle. In those games you could also control your shield, which led to Mirror Shield puzzles. Whilst I celebrate certain evolutions, I can't shake the feeling that too much is being left behind.

 

With all that moaning, it sounds like I am not enjoying Skyward Sword, which is not the case - I can't wait to get back to it! It's just that I do have misgivings.

[Shorty]

I just hit my most disappointing moment. There've been a few things that have niggled me about this game so far but not enough to dampen an awesome experience, until this.

 

I was totally disappointed that the second trial was just a clone of the first. With the first being described as a 'test of courage', I was really impressed how they managed to capture that feeling. You had to be 'brave' (in a video-game sense, anyway), running past the enemies that could finish you off in a single swipe. On a couple of occasions you had to run right past the lantern things and sometimes you went that little extra for a dusk relic.

 

With that in mind, and the idea of the three parts of the Triforce, I dared to assume that trials two and three would be tests of Wisdom and Power, with completely different objectives. Repeating the same trial just felt lazy and a wasted opportunity. In story terms, it also proved absolutely nothing.

 

[Hero-of-Time]

I finished the 4th temple last night, before I went to bed.

 

Firstly the song you learn before the 4th temple is absolute rubbish, easily one of the worst Zelda songs i've heard. What makes it even worse is that Fi is supposed to be singing along, yet they use the same animation as the other songs, so she just stands there with her mouth open most of the time. Quite terrible.

 

I had a scare when you had to go back to the first temple. I thought that Nintendo had cheaped out and I was just going to have to do it all over again. Luckly it was just a quick look in. Do you have to do this with all of the temples?

 

The actual 4th temple was a joy to play through. I enjoyed it much more than the 3rd. Again, the boss fight was fantastic and these encounters are fast becoming my favourite parts of the game.

 

[Mokong]

Why are people complaining about the dowsing? This I don't get.

 

If you think it makes the game too easy then simply don't use it, that's how I've been playing.

 

I never hear anyone playing an FPS complain about that little dot you have to follow or in Xenoblade the arrow pointing your way. (OK you can turn off the arrow in Xenoblade.... don't know/think you can turn off the dot in any FPS)

 

At least with the dowsing it's 100% your choice to use it or not. Use it once when you first get the ability to dowse for something and turn it off again a second later just to stop the initial "beeping" thing. Then just don't use it again.

 

If you want to go into First Person View without dowsing then hold down the C button and pick the bottom option (the "eye") and you can look around as much as you want without the dowsing feature.

 

Then you are free to explore for whatever on your own and actually do some proper searching.

 

 

Anyway I progressed the story a little bit last night after the 6th dungeon but also got distracted with some new mini games so didn't get that far.

 

Hope I can title this spoiler tag in a non spoiler way but people will still know where I am...

 

 

Ok after doing a side quest where I had to find someone to plow the pumpkin patch at the lumpy pumpkin I went down to the Sealed Temple, beat the Imprisoned again... enjoyed that catapult Groose made, haha. Then opened the Gate of Time and met up with Zelda.

 

Was hoping I would get to explore the past world though, very dissappointed whne the doors wouldn't open.

 

I'm also guessing Impa and the old lady are actually one in the same?

 

 

Was a nice cut scene, good to get some answers and find out what Zelda's role really is in the game... though I don't get why they had to go back to the past? Though maybe I had imagined the idea of going to the Future through the Gate of Time too much and was hoping for that

 

At least now I know what was in that organe crystal behind that broken locked door now.... so Zelda was both in that and growing up on Skyloft at the same time? Paradox anyone?

 

Oh also LOVED how Groose was saying he wanted to grow a tree in the temple. Alluding to the Great Deku Tree maybe. And looking at the map the areas all fit in with rough locations of where things are in OOT too. Sealed Temple/Great Deku Tree to the east, Death Mountain in the north, Temple of Time in the West. Only one that doesn't fit is Lake Floria, which I thought might later become Lake Hylia... but then again there is no real "South" area on the map, doesn't mean there isn't one with another bigger lake there though.

 

Also surprised by Groose and how his character developed. From the red hair I was thinking he would become a bad guy and be like an ancestor of Ganondorf or something

 

Anyway back to the present.

 

I found Levias and beat the parasite that controlled him... (Did anyone else think "Windfish" from Links Awakening when they saw that guy?)

 

And found out about needing to find the dragons. Then got distracted by a few mini games.... namely the Bug Catching game... finally got under 2min (1min 44sec) though dissappointed there was no Heart Piece reward

 

and the Bow and Arrow mini game... took me like 10 tried but finally got over 600 points to get the Heart Piece.

 

Discovered 2 new side quests, one to look for a plant, the other to look for a crystal ball. I'm pretty sure I know where exactly the ball is so I decided to go for the Plant first as I was gonna go to Faron Woods anyway seeing as I already know where the Dragon there is. Was surprised then when I couldn't warp where I wanted and had to fight The Imprisoned again.... thankfully the fight changes slightly each time you fight him to make it a little different. Loved having to get Link to land on his head and take him out from there.

 

Oh and what were people complaining for that OOT let you choose the order to do dungeons in and this doesn't? OOT let you choose only between 2 dungeons not all of them. And at this point I reckon you can go to either of the 3 maps in whatever order you want and they will have have changed slightly.

 

Well I did go down to the Volcano for a look to check also so I know things are different and nothing told me I had to go back to Faron Woods... but I wanted to anyway so I reset as I had only just saved.

 

So I went as far as finding the Water Dragon and her giving me a test to find the parts to her part of the song. That's when I saved and went to bed.

 

Might ignore MK7 when I pick it up later and try finish this off first

 

 

I just hit my most disappointing moment. There've been a few things that have niggled me about this game so far but not enough to dampen an awesome experience, until this.

 

I was totally disappointed that the second trial was just a clone of the first. With the first being described as a 'test of courage', I was really impressed how they managed to capture that feeling. You had to be 'brave' (in a video-game sense, anyway), running past the enemies that could finish you off in a single swipe. On a couple of occasions you had to run right past the lantern things and sometimes you went that little extra for a dusk relic.

 

I actually expected all the trials to be the same so I didn't have any issue with it. I actually enjoyed it. But looking at your view of it, it would have been pretty awesome if they were all different and reflected each Triforce part. Though I still enjoyed the trials anyway so I'm not complaining

 

 

I finished the 4th temple last night, before I went to bed.

 

Firstly the song you learn before the 4th temple is absolute rubbish, easily one of the worst Zelda songs i've heard. What makes it even worse is that Fi is supposed to be singing along, yet they use the same animation as the other songs, so she just stands there with her mouth open most of the time. Quite terrible.

 

 

Yeah the music in general and it's use and implementation has disappointed me, as I mention on the previous page... I'll report here in case you didn't read it... there's no spoiler for where you are involved in this.

 

Oh one thing that I'm not liking though is the instrument...

 

 

 

 

The harp.

 

Not really having much problem controlling it. Got the "concert" side quest at the pub in one go... though can't repeat a good performance since in trying to earn some cash

 

And no problem when required to play it to unlock something. But it's the method of control that is bothering me. Sure with motion+ it is a nice way to play a harp item. But your not ever really playing any different songs.

 

The rythm required for all the gates was the same but each was meant to be a different song. And then once you do it long enough Link cut scene plays the actual song he "learnt".

 

Would have been better if they used a button press with a motion to pluck certain strings in a Guitar Hero kinda way so that you could actually play different songs whenever you wanted. And then you could have had more songs and be able to do other things.

 

Like a sun song so you don't have to find a bed all the time.

 

A warp song that would allow you to warp to a active bird statue in the map area you are in (so you don't have to go to the sky and back down if you want to jump to certain places)

 

A song of Storms return would have been cool too.

 

Just a few ideas.

 

I had a scare when you had to go back to the first temple. I thought that Nintendo had cheaped out and I was just going to have to do it all over again. Luckly it was just a quick look in. Do you have to do this with all of the temples?

 

The actual 4th temple was a joy to play through. I enjoyed it much more than the 3rd. Again, the boss fight was fantastic and these encounters are fast becoming my favourite parts of the game.

 

With that in mind, and the idea of the three parts of the Triforce, I dared to assume that trials two and three would be tests of Wisdom and Power, with completely different objectives. Repeating the same trial just felt lazy and a wasted opportunity. In story terms, it also proved absolutely nothing.