#01 - N-Europe: Let's Talk Games (Skyward Sword)

[Fused King]

I've been thinking of creating this thread for a while now, because over the years opinions have been uttered about certain games which are, simply put, a nice read over breakfast

 

So, let's get down to business.

 

*I shall present to this realm a game, every sunday, and you are free to discuss its merits, flaws and what have you.

 

*What I also want is for you to give a grade in your initial post, both with a few words (such as 'nostalgia rush', ...just an example you can go with whatever you want) and with a number between 1 and 100.

 

I crave your words, N-Europe, like the desert craves the rain.

 

Righto lads, let's make this thread last!

 

Let's Talk

 

 

Average Score: 81.6

Memorable Quotes:

... a fitting swan-song for the Wii in addition to celebrating the series significant twenty-fifth anniversary in style.

I think Skyward Sword is a good example of how a Zelda more focussed on plot than gameplay can suffer.

The Legend of Motion Plus...is AWESOME!

Disney-like Magic

Music? What music?

It's strange to complete a game, yet have the feeling I never learnt how to play it.

I think the amount of time you want to invest in a Zelda game and how good an impression it leaves on you depends on how you feel about its world. Skyward Sword is one of my favourite worlds and therefore I love the game.

Ghirahim deserves a paragraph to himself. Best Zelda newcomer.

The motion controls were incredibly unwelcome. It was like a continuously surfacing simple puzzle reminiscent of a 'match the shape to the correct hole' baby toy.

All in all - a fun and enjoyable title with minor niggles. The biggest being that you might struggle to remember it in a few years, especially living in the shadow of its namesake. 7/10.

I kind of see it as a test run for future installments - I would be a little disappointed if some of the newer mechanics didn't carry over the the next console Zelda - things like the combat being refined and the upgrade system expanded upon.

 

DAT FI HATE!

*Fi. The Worst ever.

Fi, as already stated muchly, was rather annoying.

It also had its fair share of immensely irritating features, repetitive bosses, Fi, or basic UI irritations like being told about a pickup a million times or being warned about my battery being low.

Fi was the worst thing about the game, unfortunately. A nagging thing that won't go away. If only she was likeable, but she wasn't.

Fi definitely isn't as good a companion as Midna.

It just felt like I was completing minor activities stacked on top of each other to view another Fi-fest. :-(

I HATED Fi

Fuck Fi. Fuck her to hell.

Worst Bits

Fi!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fi, the sword ghost, was really annoying.

Hate Fi, the most annoying sidekick.

 

 

Edited January 19, 2014 by Fused King
Automerged Doublepost

[S.C.G]

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

 

A truly fantastic entry in the series which fully deserves to be played/enjoyed from start to finish as simply put it's a masterpiece even if it falls short of being breath-taking due to certain design choices and the limitations of the Wii at the time.

 

In the future I would very much hope that Skyward Sword gets a budget HD re-release keeping the original control scheme while at the same time adding in the ability to use the Pro Controller - so as to please everyone - plus fixing that glitch so that the gameplay experience is unhindered.

 

While it may lack a substantial overworld falling somewhere between Wind Waker's 'free' exploration style except having less actual 'openness' while managing to capture some of the better elements from the N64 Zelda games within the few environments it actually had.

 

Personally I enjoyed the story even though some elements felt out of place - certain Fi cut-scenes spring to mind - but this was made up for with the excellent items added into the series such as the mechanical flying beetle and of course the superb boss battles which were genuinely spectacular at times.

 

Overall I'd say that Skyward Sword is one of the greatest Zelda games as we know it, representing some significant steps forward alongside a couple of jarring mis-steps which could be corrected if they decided to re-release the game at a later date on the Wii U but ultimately I have to say that in terms of sheer enjoyment this is one title in the series which certainly delivered for me and I will still remember fondly in years to come even in its original form as it was a fitting swan-song for the Wii in addition to celebrating the series significant twenty-fifth anniversary in style.

 

94/100

[Wii]

Oh God you've opened the gates of hell. Why this game? You'll get as much hate as love I feel. I don't like this game. 6/10 for me, easily the worst Zelda. When I've more time I'll tell you why. I have said it before. Empy sky, controls were fine though I constantly had to recentre them. Awful minigames. Hate Fi, the most annoying sidekick. Some bosses were great. Bowling the bombs were great as was the Buddha boss. Squid was good but fighting that giant black dildo, what 3 times? Yawn. Final boss while great looking was too easy. Just 3 worlds and disjointed didn't help either. I cannot understand how people are blind to its failures.

Edited January 12, 2014 by Wii

[Serebii]

This game is woefully under-rated. It gets trashed a lot, having changed many Zelda conventions. The story was cool, and nice to set up the entire Zelda timeline. Each dungeon was unique and revisiting old dungeons to have things change was cool.

 

Yeah the world was a bit less open, but every part of it had something to do...it wasn't just an empty field with a bombable rock in it.

 

With the use of the 1:1 motion, each battle stopped feeling like a "hindrance" needed to pass to the next area, but when you defeated an enemy, you felt a sense of accomplishment.

 

While not the best Zelda I have played, it is definitely good fun

 

9/10

[drahkon]

Hm, such a difficult game to give an opinion on.

Never finished it, so I'm not really qualified to write anything about it, but I'm still going to :p

 

When I first started it, I was blown away by the art style and graphics. I loved them and I wish for Nintendo to make a new Zelda in a similar style with crisp HD-gorgeousness.

 

Everything else...I've already forgotten. Nothing memorable for me. And I had hoped so much that I'd love the game

 

 

 

 

By the way, great idea for a thread.

Hope you will soon choose a game that I've completed :p

[Happenstance]

How well was the game received? I wasn't paying a lot of attention to the Wii at the time but I just don't remember a lot of the coverage or fanfare that you would expect for a new Zelda game.

[Ike]

They should give it the WWHD treatment. If they sorted out some of the issues they could make it in to a much better game.

[Guy]

Surprisingly unfriendly controls, a weak overworld and padding are my main thoughts when I think back over Skyward Sword. As for the plot and gameplay... I remember enjoying playing, sure, but I can't really pinpoint any particular bits that blew me away. There was an old woman and a Biff Tannen character, Groose? Link rides on a flying Pokemon in the sky and the game continually makes you play music on a ridiculously fiddly harp.

 

I just mentioned the harp to my girlfriend and now she's tormenting me with her rendition of the harp mini game in the milk bar.

 

Zelda had a lot of personality this game and it was nice to have her so involved in events rather than tucked away in the castle. Sister was doing it for herself.

 

Fi, the sword ghost, was really annoying. Constantly pointing out the obvious. The main bad guy Ghirahim was also a ridiculous let down and I can't remember a single boss battle save for one with... nope, can't remember any of them. Maybe a statue with some bombs or some swords?

 

The final battle against Akuma was just okay with some pretty fire hair graphics. Very easy once you figure out the gameplay mechanic of doing Skyward Sword attacks over and over.

 

Graphics were fantastic, especially as the game was released for the Wii during the HD Xbox/PS3 era. The painting effect still looks good today and coming off the back of the hideous Twilight Princess only made me appreciate the visual style even more.

 

I remember a few pieces of music quite fondly. That Skyloft/Link/Zelda/romance theme was great and using Zelda's lullaby backwards for the main theme was surprisingly cool. The rest is gone from memory though. I haven't even grabbed the soundtrack so I guess that says something about the music.

 

I think Skyward Sword is a good example of how a Zelda more focussed on plot than gameplay can suffer. The plot wasn't even that strong. That isn't to say the gameplay was bad, I remember enjoying the variety, but spent half of the time just wishing the game would get on with it and send me to the next dungeon.

 

Flawed, but certainly not terrible by any means.

 

80.

[nekunando]

My history with Zelda games has been fraught with instances of becoming fatigued during each adventure and having to set whatever entry in the series I've been playing to the side for a few weeks or months in order to recharge myself for the final onslaught.

 

This isn't to say that I've found any of the games to be a drag, apart from Spirit Tracks perhaps, but I just seem to get burnt out at some point in each adventure. It's one of the reasons I may never persevere with something like Xenoblade Chronicles as the prospective length just seems overwhelming.

 

Skyward Sword, however, didn't suffer from this fate I played through the game over a period of several weeks and constantly felt a strong desire to get home and play, a genuine feeling of excitement that has been all too rare in recent memory.

" The Legend of Motion Plus

..is AWESOME! "

 

The game may have felt more linear, in many ways, than previous entries in the series but I found it to be a welcome change at the time and was enthralled throughout the experience, particularly due to the excellent controls that immersed me in a way that traditional controls wouldn't have replicated.

 

In reality, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword would probably only have been half of the game it was if it hadn't been for Wii Motion Plus, but in the end The Legend of Motion Plus.. is AWESOME

 

90

[Fused King]

I went back on what was one of the lowpoints for me in this game and it's even worse than I'd remembered.

 

*Non-memorable tunes, and the fact that these tunes are at the core of the Three Goddesses makes it even worse!

*Looking at it now, it honestly looks as if the game is glitching out somewhat.

Look at how Fi is singing and how Link is playing that harp!...looks like a glitchy mess is what it looks like.

 

[Retro_Link]

Honestly this is my second favorite Zelda game only behind Ocarina of Time

That game will probably always remained unchallenged because it was my first Zelda game... so for Skyward Sword to even get within a hookshots range of it's crown should tell you how much I thoroughly enjoyed it.

 

Tbh, the controls I could take or leave, I'd probably have been just as happy playing this with a traditional control scheme.

 

And partly for this reason the game is not without fault. I have to say that even right up until the end I was never 100% comfortable with the motion controls. At no point did they ever become completely natural to me, always a slight distraction for me. However, in terms of the overall experience I got from this game... that really didn't matter!

 

Not since Ocarina of Time had a Zelda game captivated me as much as this one did.

 

Link and Zelda have more personality than ever before, relationships feel heartfelt. Skyloft had an air of magic about it. For me, the game had the best art style and visuals on the Wii console; everything is just so colourful and vibrant. Less emphasis on temples (which by this stage in the series had begun to get predictable) and instead a more integrated and connected overworld that felt more like a continuous journey. It was a shakeup the series needed for me.

 

The story I thought was told so fantastically through such beautiful cutscenes, and with humor, it was almost like watching an animated movie at times. I loved the Dragons, the giant sky whale Levias, the story of the origin and creation of the Master Sword, the journey back and forth through time and Hyrules history with the gates and time stones. The moment it all comes together for our hero...

 

 

And whilst it's true the music as a whole isn't perhaps as memorable as other Zelda's, for me the game delivered one of the greatest pieces in Zelda history...

 

 

I loved this game.

 

95/100 Disney-like Magic

Edited January 12, 2014 by Retro_Link

[Hero-of-Time]

Hard one to rate for me. In some cases the game does some brilliant things, while other times it falls flat on its face.

 

Worst Bits

 

Fi!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I've never been a fan of motion controls and putting them in one if my favourite game series was a big issue for me. There were times when I just couldn't get the controls to work and eventually I started to just waggle my way through the game, which worked surprisingly well.

 

The music is always been a big part of Zelda but with this game the tracks felt very flat, bar a couple of tunes. In fact, apart from the main theme I can't remember another tune off the top of my head.

 

The overworld in the sky felt very empty, with little to really do or any real places of interest.

 

The Imprisioned boss fights were hands down the cheapest in the series so far. It's not a fun boss fight at all and then having to do the thing again and again just screamed padding to me.

 

There was a scene with Link looking at an imprisioned Zelda and banging on what she was trapped in. That scene fell completely flat for me because Link was silent the whole time. No screaming Zelda's name, no angry shouts, nothing. I dunno if this annoyed me due to the Lunk being silent or because of the lack of voice acting. Maybe both? Either I hated that scene because it could have been do much more.

 

Highlights

 

Some of the dungeon boss fights were fantastic. I think I enjoyed all of them, well apart from the one that looked like a reject from Monsters Inc. The dude with the multiple arms was probably my favourite though. Using his own swords against him was very satisfying.

 

The time switch dungeon was amazing. Using them orbs to bring the world back to life, which looked amazing and full of colour, and then hitting them again to turn it back into a barren state was so much fun.

 

The portrayal of Zelda was probably the best in the series. It gave her character and someone you actually cared about. She was really fleshed out and it's something I would like to see more of in future installments.

 

So, yeah, a very mixed bag for me. I would probably put it at the lower end of the Zelda games scale, maybe even bottom. It's the only Zelda game where I never finished it 100% because I hated the control method and overworld.

 

70/100.

[Fused King]

The time switch dungeon was amazing. Using them orbs to bring the world back to life, which looked amazing and full of colour, and then hitting them again to turn it back into a barren state was so much fun.

 

NINTENDO finding that balance between grey/brown and colourful awesomeness.

A very well thought out metaphor presented to us in the game.

'The past was bright and colourful, the present not so much.'

[Wii]

Music? What music? Couldn't hear it and was forgettable. The harp was awful. Swing left, swing right. Rubbish, did they borrow that from Wii Music? Collecting a piece of tumble weed for the 1,000th time and being told like it's the first. Conversations were slow and couldn't be skipped. A giant purse as a reward for healing that underground freak in Skyloft. Thanks. Not a fan of the stamina meter either. So much wrong with this game. I honestly feel like Nintendo didn't try, they probably thought it's released so late and requires motion plus that they couldn't be arsed.

 

Choose Xenoblade next week please and I'll sing its praises tile the cows come home.

[Retro_Link]

I think I enjoyed all of them, well apart from the one that looked like a reject from Monsters Inc.

LOL oh god!!

 

That was such a great build up to that Boss! The secret pirates ship was brilliant to explore, a fantastic 'dungeon' and then the ship starts to sink and you think some great Kraken like beast is attacking the ship, it's tentacles bursting through as you flee, threatening to tear the ship apart and leave you sunk...

 

You burst out onto the deck sword in hand, ready to confront this monstrous beast... only to be confronted by Reggae Reggae Squid

 

[Eightbit]

I don't know how to rate this. There were parts that really disappointed me, such as the glorified 'hub' world. People say that they didn't mind it being like that because of how it was 'packed with things to do.' I don't know where they were looking but it seemed packed with a whole lot of nothing to me.

And then some things were done brilliantly. Motion control added so much to the combat, the beetle was amazing and even the bow seemed to be ten times better than Twilight princess.

I found it to be too long, padded out in places. I absolutely hated cutting that creatures toes to shreds, such a poorly designed creature, didn't carry any fear/threat for me.

But then the dungeons and boss fights were the best I've seen, and they added some great new species that for really well into the Zelda lore like those mole people and fat mole-plants (apologies I cannot recall their actual names)

 

Art style I couldn't care less if they gave me a green brick and told me it was link I would be fine as long as it plays well.

 

Ranks as my 4th best 3D Zelda and I award this a 75/100

[Fused King]

fat mole-plants (apologies I cannot recall their actual names)

 

KIKWI

 

 

Damn that Elder is an awesome scrotum.

 

They're not moles, they just hide under their hairy plant-like backs, which, in the Elder's case, looks like a giant blob in the landscape with a little bush on top

[Goron_3]

People give Wind Waker a hard time because of the triforce quest at the end of the game which was used to 'pad' the game out. Well, if you call out Wind Waker for that then you need to call Skyward Sword out for the INSANE amount of padding that the game has. Re-doing boss fights, collecting those flipping tad tones for no reason other than to, once again, prove that Link was 'worthy'. The imprisoned fights were hilarious as well, one of the worst examples of padding I've ever seen. The 'tests' that Link had to keep undergoing just made no sense as well..why are the courage, wisdom and power test exactly the same?

 

Girahim was hugely disappointing too. He is in 2 dungeons and appears during a cutscene but literally does nothing throughout the whole game. Compare that to Ganondorf who betrays the King and destroys all of Hyrule and Zant who was terrifying...yeah, what a waste.

 

The controls were okay but I didn't find them immersive at all. When a bad guy walks up to you carrying a shield with a convenient vertical hole in it yelling 'HIT ME THROUGH THIS GAP' it doesn't make it immersive imo. It would have been nice to use an analogue stick half the time too, especially for swimming and flying the bird. Ah well. I didn't experience loads of problems with the controls not working but they just seemed a bit forced.

 

On another note, the dungeons are fucking amazeballs. Whilst they didn't compare to some of Twilight Princess's (City In The Sky, The Mansion, Arbitar's Ground) they were really impressive.

 

Overall, I really enjoyed the game but at times it was obvious that Nintendo were running out of ideas and the padding was insulting. That said, it was their 3rd Zelda game on the same hardware so at least they tried something different. I've always wanted to go and play the game again (just for the dungeons) but I just can't bring myself to play it again because some parts of the game just dragged on. Maybe one day I'll check it out again.

 

Oh. Fuck Fi. Fuck her to hell.

[dazzybee]

Interesting...

 

I absolutely LOVED Skyward Sword. I HATED Fi and I hated that when you started the game from a save and you picked up items... oh God I don't even want to talk about it...

 

I relaly liked a lot of the characters in this game, the opening was amazing. It was a classic, safe Zelda but that is still one of the best gaming designs there is, what set it apart was 1. The controls, I know people hate them, but I engaged with them so much and loved it 2. The art design. Just stunning. Beautiful.

 

95/100

[Grazza]

It's strange to complete a game, yet have the feeling I never learnt how to play it. That's how I view Skyward Sword. As accurate as the controls were, I thought they were only enjoyable as a novelty (and a showcase of motion controls), rather than anything that could improve the Zelda series. I disliked the combat system even more than the controls, and completed the game purely through waggle (neither satisfying nor enjoyable, but it was the only way I could).

 

My dislike of the controls and combat meant I didn't enjoy the three Ghirahim fights, or the one with his boss. Not only that, the three main overworlds were so cramped - many were just a series of narrow paths - it was a pain to go anywhere in them. Good design involves spacing things out when necessary, which is why so many of us are still fond of Lon Lon Ranch in the middle of OOT's Hyrule Field. Furthermore, none of the overworlds were properly linked to the hub world, meaning the game as a whole was anything but seamless.

 

The other main thing I disliked was how the game felt like a series of scenes set up for you to take part in, especially the frustrating Trials and (to a lesser extent) the fights with The Imprisoned.

 

On a positive note, I did enjoy the non-swordfighting boss encounters, especially Koloktos. Something about that just felt so right, especially the way you could swing his swords at him. Skyloft Bazaar, too, was impressive, with the way the stallholders became more lively as you got closer to them. I also quite liked the Wind Waker-type hub world, for what there was of it. With some of the islands, it actually mattered where you dismounted onto them (unfortunately not with Skyloft itself, which was just represented by a model).

 

Overall, Skyward Sword is not a game I'm fond of, but may actually have been the right Zelda game for the Wii. I say this because a lot of people genuinely wanted a motion-controlled Zelda. Whether I like it or not, I do think it suits the Wii. Now we know what a motion-controlled Zelda is like, though, I sincerely hope all future games in the series stick to a more traditional type of control.

[tapedeck]

Each area felt like N64 era 3D platform areas. Like Banjo Tooie or something. I missed a vast (grounded) overworld and a real sense of adventure. I got to the bit where I have to find a windmill piece and I know where it is...but I just...can't be bothered to go back. It just felt like I was completing minor activities stacked on top of each other to view another Fi-fest. :-(

 

The game irks me as it's the only console Zelda I've not finished. I meant to go through it during the Christmas break but I just felt like it would be a waste of my time. Maybe it was a pacing issue. I wanted to love it and enjoyed the art style and new areas...but it just never clicked with me.

Edited January 13, 2014 by tapedeck

[James McGeachie]

Arguably my favourite 3D Zelda game.

 

I loved the world.

 

Were the sidequests perfect? No. Did the overworld have the same sense of being a complete interconnected world that other entires do? Not quite.

 

Regardless of that, I loved its atmosphere. I loved its life. The art made every area of the game wondrous to me. Walking through that forest, swinging on vines, climbing up trees. Complete overworld or not, I was exploring some fantastic areas and I was happy to be doing so.

 

Then there's Skyloft. I much prefer it to the main town islands from Wind Waker. You're from Skyloft and it feels like home. The characters and sidequests they provide aren't quite up to Majora's Mask level but nothing probably ever will be because of the design of that game. I still enjoyed everything they had to offer, even if it was a fetch quest of some sort, because I was immersed in the world.

 

Motion controls? A great addition. The swordplay in boss fights is excellent. It works and it should never go back. If it does, then we lose the nuance it brought to combat. I want that to remain.

 

Storyline was nice. As an origin story it works well. It didn't hit the sense of full scale epic that Twilight Princess perhaps reached, but I do think it was a well spun tale in its own right.

 

Flaws for me: Dungeon backtracking, eh. I like exploring areas of the world again. Going deep into the hearts of dungeons again is less fun and does come across a bit lazy.

 

Night flying should be in. Why isn't it? There's no equivalent of riding Epona on horseback through the night.

 

Music is not the best the series has had, by a decent margin. It's well arranged and works well but yeah, there could definitely be more in the way of memorable tracks.

 

Fi definitely isn't as good a companion as Midna.

 

Anyway, overall I loved the experience. I didn't want to leave the gameworld. I felt more immersed in it than I did in Hyrule of OOT or TP. Although it was limited in similar ways, I feel like there's more of a sense of life in the game world than in the great sea in Wind Waker. Majora's Mask has an excellent world but the sense that you can't take your time to soak it in (which is good in its own right though).

 

I think the amount of time you want to invest in a Zelda game and how good an impression it leaves on you depends on how you feel about its world. Skyward Sword is one of my favourite worlds and therefore I love the game.

[Jonnas]

This was my opinion, immediately after finishing the game.

At this point, Skyward Sword, Spirit Tracks and Oracle of Seasons are the only Zeldas I've never replayed.

 

What do I remember now? The motion controls were wonderful, never really bothered me, and I'm looking forward to using them again.

 

The sidequests were very enjoyable. I had completely forgotten about dowsing until I found that post, but it certainly had a hand in it.

I didn't mind revisiting the areas one bit, since they changed every time you had to.

 

The dungeons were great, and so were the bosses (giant squid excluded). I like how they fleshed out dungeon design a bit more, and that there are bosses outside of dunegons (with alternate methods to defeat, no less). Love that you can actually replay the fights, too.

 

Final boss was amazing. Design, epicness, the battle itself. Would replay just to see that again.

 

Ghirahim deserves a paragraph to himself. Best Zelda newcomer. Memorable chap, memorable battles, great villain that gets better the more you see of him. I should also mention Groose, Zelda, Impa, and most of the NPCs, what a great cast.

 

Art style was proper, but not spectacular. Music had quite a few good tracks, I'm fond of it (I remember the main theme, the pumpkin bar theme, ghirahim's battle)

 

Fi was the worst thing about the game, unfortunately. A nagging thing that won't go away. If only she was likeable, but she wasn't.

 

 

Overall, what I remember the most was how Ocarina-like it felt to relearn everything. I'm looking forward to replaying this, to see how I feel.

 

From memory, I'll give it:

8/10

(It doesn't need to get more specific than that)

 

And a silly video to end this "review":

 

 

It fills my heart with rainbows!

 

@Fused King: Yo, this is an excellent idea for a series of threads, but how come you yourself haven't posted your full thoughts yet?

 

How well was the game received? I wasn't paying a lot of attention to the Wii at the time but I just don't remember a lot of the coverage or fanfare that you would expect for a new Zelda game.

 

It received a lot of perfect scores, and gained immense coverage because it was a 3D Zelda. I remember a few sites were even holding the contest "Skyrim vs. Zelda".

 

I thought all of that was too much. Made SS overrated.

Edited January 13, 2014 by Jonnas

[tapedeck]

I remember a few sites were even holding the contest "Skyrim vs. Zelda".

I thought all of that was too much. Made SS overrated.

 

You mean Skyrim, right?

I played that on the PS3 at launch. How that was allowed to come out I'll never know.

I don't remember any glitches in SS. Guess that's the beauty of Nintendo software that is sometimes forgotten about.

[S.C.G]

You mean Skyrim, right?

I played that on the PS3 at launch. How that was allowed to come out I'll never know.

I don't remember any glitches in SS. Guess that's the beauty of Nintendo software that is sometimes forgotten about.

 

There were no glitches, apart from one which was actually a game-breaking one. :p

 

I never encountered it myself possibly because I revisited the three main quest areas in the most standard way possible - the order you first visit them in - when I was given the choice, but apparently if you visit one of them in particular first - not sure which one - then you encounter a glitch which means you can't progress any further.

 

Thankfully you can download a patch for it but if they were ever to remake the game then clearly this would be the first thing for them to change.

 

Here's an article on how to avoid the glitch though... http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2011/12/skyward-sword-bug/