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theawkwardgamer:

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Ah, it’s that time of year again. Gaming season, when all of the hit games come out just before Christmas. All big names, Skyrim, Call of Duty, Battlefield. Nintendo also released their next big title: The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword. When I first saw  the gameplay trailer at E3, I was appalled. Though the motion controls looked solid enough, it looked to me like the bastard child of Twilight Princess and Wind Waker— and not in a good way. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy cartoon graphics— after all that’s what made Wind Waker so special. But this one looked too kiddy for my liking. Despite this off first impression, I still ventured forth to my local Gamestop and picked it up. And I must say, I am glad that I did.

Skyward Sword takes place in the land of Skyloft, an area separated by The Goddess Hylia from the main land by a thick layer of clouds consisting of floating magical islands and hunks of rock. Link and Zelda live in Skyloft with their loftwings— giant birds that they ride replacing Epona for a nameless “crimson loftwing”. Unlike previous Zelda titles, Zelda isn’t a princess. In fact, she is just the popular girl that everyone likes. And also unlike previous installments, Link and Zelda have a developed relationship that goes beyond the simple “You’re the hero, I will help you.” But just when Link almost gets to first base, a giant evil muppet emerges from below the cloud layer and devours links paramour. Once again, it is up to him to save her, finding a good sword and what is now predictable weapons. This may sound wash and repeat by now, almost as cliche as a Mario story line. Princess gets kidnapped, you save her while gaining power ups along the way. However, Nintendo manages to refurbish this typical story and make it feel new again with a clean shine. The weapons have been remastered for the Wii’s motion plus and feel alive and new, even those that have been around since the beginning, like bombs and the bow. The story also feels new, as it should. As most of you Zelda fans probably know by know, this game is the first in the Zelda universe timeline and explains a lot of holes in the story— for example, how Ganon is always trying to rain on the parade and it is up to Link to save her. The story is invigorating and encourages you to continue. You slowly grow fond of the characters (yes, even Groose) and quickly become involved. But like every valley, you have your peaks and your downs. At it’s peak, the story is amazing, involved, and exciting. In it’s low moments, it is slow and even boring. True, you feel connected with the main characters— Zelda, Link, Ghiraham, Groose, Impa. It just seems like Nintendo put all of the character development only into these select few. You only hold love for them. Your red loftwing (who remains unnamed) could be plummeting to Earth at terminal volocity and leave a giant, bloody, feather strew crater in it’s wake and you wouldn’t care less. The same is to be said to other various side characters. Screw the dragons, I just want my sacred flame. What was surprising though, is the lack of character Fi has. She talks and explains with cold, emotionless statistics and it feels more like your traveling with your Garmin GPS than a character. I couldn’t help but miss Midna’s witty remarks and hints in dungeons and other places and Fi certainly lacks her charm. After a while though, you grow used to it, like much of the other aspects of the game; it adds to her faithfulness to her mission and only shows what is laying underneath at the very end. It just needs time, like the game over all, to truly grow on you. Over all, the story is one of the best I have played in a Zelda game yet, though lacking some character development to keep the world from feeling empty.

With Skyward Sword being the first TRUE Zelda title made for the wii (TP originally being developed for the NGC), you would expect the controls to be sold. And by God they are. One large improvement is that the sword (along with the other items that may or may not require pointing) now utilizes the wii motion plus, not the sensor bar, which allows it to be more sensitive, more accurate, and in some cases more frustrating. The sword follows your wii mote motions to the dot— so no more wiimote waggling. You must align your attacks to the enemies weak spot, or the predict their movements. Jumping straight into this, waving your wiimote about like some sort of mad fly swatter will not get you very far and you WILL be punished for this later in the game. Severely. You need to adapt quickly to this new gameplay style or face combat hardships to the point of wanting to avoid fights all together out of piss- off-iness. However, once you get the hang of it, combat is fun and intuitive.

    Bringing the motion plus upgrade back into the picture, this is a much needed relief. No long do you need to sit perfectly straight in your chair with the pointer at the tv. You can now be slouched on the couch, or even facing the opposite wall, and still control everything smoothly, realigning the pointer to how you’re holding the wiimote. One small nitpick is that it doesn’t stay like this for long and you may find yourself having to press up on the d pad often to regain proper control.

       Your loftwing is also controlled by motion controls. Simply tilt to turn and flick up to ascend. He (assuming it’s a he) turns at the slightest movement of your hand and flight is enjoyable. During a forced aerial combat, though, and the sensitivity almost turns against you. You over turn in your excitement and your loftwing clearly wasn’t meant for combat. If this battle is extended due to failure, expect a sore wrist afterwards.

        Innovation is the core of SS. And with innovation comes new weapons to try out, including a whip and a new flying magical beetle that completely make the slingshot moot. Disappointment comes after you leave the dungean you obtained your new monster murdering machine, though. Although the beetle has many uses— namely replacing the boomerang when it comes to item recovering and cutting stuff, your whip has no use whatsoever outside its dungeon. True, you can whip belt buckles off of poor bokobins and swing and a WW swing shot fashion, but these are never really used except to obtain crafting items. You almost forget you even have it with you. 

       Other than these minor complaints, the gameplay is solid. It is fun, enjoyable, and feels alive in your hands. That is, after you get used to it.

      The world of Zelda games could either make or break the game. If the world doesn’t tickle your interest and curiosity, why explore? The over world and sub areas of Skyward sword don’t tickle your Adventure bug. They kill it. With poison. And clubs. The over world feels empty. There is literally nothing to explore outside of Skyloft , and even there it is meager pickings. All it consists of is little, floating, life deprived rocks. Unless you find the TWO minigames (slim amount when compared to its predecessors), collecting quests, or getting 100% of the items, there is nothing really to do. You could follow some of Skylofts denezens around to learn about their back stories. Could. 

          So, if the overworld (the HYRULE FIELD of the game) is empty, then the sub worlds must be full and interesting, right? There you are wrong. You may be sorely disappointed to find that there are only 3. 4 if you really want to count the storm cloud. These areas feel confined, like you are exploring in a fenced in playground and not allowed to wonder. You only wonder when Nintendo says you can. They have no return value other than for collecting sakes. Or for doing annoying collecting, stealth, or guiding quests to continue the story. It’s just that these areas feel played out in a Zelda title. Forrest (with small, SMALL lake attached to serve as the water world), Volcano, and Desert. The lack of variety is monotonous. 

          The dungeons have always been a staple to the Zelda games. And Skyward Swords are some the best, originally designed I have seen, some taking influence in Asian culture. Each feels new and fresh. Clearly, all of the developers creativity went into them. Even the ‘same’ dungeons (fire, desert, and forest) feel like completely new ideas from each other, leaving few similarities between them. The areas are large and impressive and so are the bosses.

         One small, personal nitpick of mine is with the size. Though you can spend hours in a dungeon, they still feel small to me. This may just be because of the lack of backtracking you are forced to do. The rooms may be larger, but the number of rooms are fewer than previous games. They just don’t feel as intense as they used to, nor as draining. But this is a personal qualm I have and doesn’t take away from the experience.

Over all, Skyward Sword is a new and refreshing addition to the Zelda franchise that brings with it a whole bunch of new ideas and concepts with it. You can really tell that Nintendo put effort into it and hat effort has really paid off. Some may need time to grow used to the game, but once you do, you will not forget it.