The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword [Discussion, Thoughts, Reviews etc.]

Hi all,

Today, the new Zelda game, Skyward Sword was released today in North America, yay! I personally went out to a local Target to purchase the bundled game, which includes a limited edition gold, Zelda Wii Remote Plus and a limited edition 25th Zelda Anniversary audio CD with orchestrated Zelda soundtracks (have to keep this audio related, yes?). I didn't own a Wii Remote Plus prior to today, so I thought the bundle was a nice package to buy, especially considering it's a limited/collectors edition. I haven't had the chance to open the box yet since I still have a lot of schoolwork to do, but I am super excited to give it a try.

For those who don't know too much about the game, I posted two trailers that I thought best represented the game below:

                                       E3 2011 Trailer                                                                                                   

                                           Harp Trailer

With a Metascore of 95/100 from Metacritic, based on the reviews from 44 major video game critics, Skyward Sword is one of the best Zelda games to date.

IGN said that Skyward Sword "is the greatest Zelda game ever created. It's the best game for Wii and one of the finest video game accomplishments of the past 10 years." IGN gave Skyward Sword a 10/10 rating (which outranked the highly anticipated Elder Scrolls: Skyrim game for PC, Xbox 360, and PS3, which received a still very good score of 9.5/10).

                                          IGN Video Review

The Japanese magazine Famitsu gave Skyward Sword a perfect 40/40 score, which makes Skyward Sword one of sixteen games to get on the perfect list.

Anyhow, I just wanted to create this thread for discussions'-sake, so please feel free to discuss anything about the game.

Please do not give away any spoilers to the game as I haven't had the time to play it, and it would spoil the game for others as well.

Just from what I've seen from the trailers and gameplay videos, the Wii Motion Plus technology actually makes the game look challenging rather than the random hand waving movements you could do in Twilight Princess. I look forward to these new controls as it seems to add a new depth of gaming to the Zelda series. Also, I recall that a looooot of people were complaining about the art style of Skyward Sword. I personally find the art style to be very pleasing to the eye. It reminds me of Wind Waker-style graphics from the GameCube (which is one of my favorite Zelda games to date) combined with odd-looking (in a good way) characters from Twilight Princess. Fighting the new villain of the game Ghirahim definitely looks like a fun, interesting, and challenging battle and his personality is just so different to have in a Zelda game. I also noticed in the IGN Review Video posted above that there seems to be a character with the Sheikah eye symbol found on Impa's outfit from Ocarina of Time. Whether or not she actually is Impa is still unknown to me, but supposedly Skyward Sword takes place before Ocarina of Time, so it is quite possible that it is her.

EDIT: I found this video on YouTube. Apparently it's some of the songs recorded on the 25th anniversary orchestrated soundtrack. Can anyone identify any of the headphones used? 

Quote:

Originally Posted by manveru 

I played Skyward Sword for about 15 minutes at Comic-Con. The Motion Plus definitely makes it a lot more challenging and will take some getting used too. Although one might think it would be more intuitive because it's just like doing the motions in real life, it actually feels extremely awkward at first. However I'm really glad they went in this direction with the graphics. I'm sorry but I'm very adamant about this: Wind Waker has the best graphics of any Zelda game--ever. Nobody has to agree that it's the best, but if you're one of those people who hate Wind Waker's graphics you are quite simply a retard and you have no soul :) Anyways its too bad that I already spent all my money on audio equipment, because I've been looking forward to this game for a long time...I need a new job!

The motion controls do look like they will take some time to get used to though, especially coming from Twilight Princess where you could just lightly swing the Wii Remote back and forth to slash. Hopefully I won't have the calibration issues that some people have claimed to have.

Yaay! To me, Wind Waker was one of the most enjoyable Zelda games in the series. Apart from all the ocean travels (it was fine the first time through), the music, humorous personalities, and cel-shading graphic effects were very memorable (I still love the ocean theme song despite the long travels). I look forward to seeing how the characters act in Skyward Sword.

Yeah, audio equipment vs gaming was a big decision in my next "over $50 USD" purchase. I decided to get Skyward Sword since I purchased my Shure headphones a few months ago and I am still quite satisfied with them. Not only that, I couldn't pass on the 25th Zelda anniversary limited edition bundle; I don't know of any limited edition headphones out right now in my price range.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RexAeterna

 

it's out already! dang it.....only if i didn't buy those fostex. ohhh well. game can wait. besides Metroid, Zelda is one of my favorite franchises of nintendo. i buy nintendo just for metroid and zelda. been playing those games since nes days. can't wait to try this one out. defiantly gonna try to get it before christmas.

Yeah, I really enjoy the Metroid series as well. If there's a local GameStop store near by, I think they have a Skyward Sword demo on the Wii that you can play. I haven't played it myself, but it might be worth trying out to see how the controls work out for you.

So, I finally got to open this up today and install it on my external hard drive running the Configurable USB Loader Homebrew application (only as a backup in case the disc scratches like what happened to my Smash Bros Brawl and Metroid Prime 3 discs).

Yes, yes, and yes, that is definitely the case. The characters in Skyward Sword do have that kind of Wind Waker feel to them. I'm really, really enjoying Skyward Sword so far. The motion controls are a bit awkward to use to be honest. Maybe it's because I haven't used the Wii Motion Plus before, but the motion controls are not as 1:1 as I thought they would be. For instance, I can move my arm in a circle in front of me, but Link will sometimes place his arm somewhere else. The sword slashes aren't as diverse as I originally thought they would be, but it's still very fun to slash around with. There seems to be only an 8-direction movement for the sword slashes: top, upper left, left, lower left, bottom, lower right, right, upper right. The spin attack directions weren't very clear (apparently you have to swing the Nunchuck and the Wii Remote together like a baseball bat).

Despite the odd motion controls, I have to admit, this is a reaaally engaging game so far and I've only gotten to the first dungeon. The characters are really something in this game, just like in Wind Waker; Zelda is so adorable!! The artwork is really great too, despite their lack of high definition textures or whatnot. It gives the game a refreshing cartooney feel to it. The soundtrack is also enjoyable and seem appropriate in the settings I've encountered so far.

Well, now that I've had more time to play though Skyward Sword a little, I have to say: MAN this is a great game!

The controls do take some time to get used to (I have to re-do some of my actions to get used to the controls), but once you get the hang of it, the gameplay seems fun and engaging. It's so fun to swing the sword in a specific direction to hit your opponent and requires some careful 'aiming' of the Wii Remote Plus. For instance, not related to fighting, swinging your sword downward-left can slash a pumpkin on your left, swinging your sword downward-right can slash a pumpkin on your right, thrusting your sword forward can stab a pumpkin in front of you onto your sword which you can then throw with another sword swing, and swinging your sword vertically down can slash a pumpkin in front of you. It's such a natural way of controlling your character and it really adds to the depth of gameplay. This type of control is crucial to fighting some enemies, which is a lot different from just 'shaking' the Wii Remote to attack enemies in Twilight Princess.

I just reached the first dungeon in Skyward Sword, but I can tell you, the characters seem really dynamic and have personalities, which I find to be unique in the Zelda series apart from the cel-shaded games (Wind Waker, Phantom Hourglass, and Spirit Tracks). The bond between Zelda and Link seems to be more obvious than any of the other Zelda games and adds a charming aspect to the game's storyline in my opinion.

Quote:

Originally Posted by slaw slaw 

I think I broke my wrist trying to fly my bird in that race.

Yeah that's one of the things I had to re-do since it took a while to get used to the controls. It's pretty easy to navigate the bird for the most part as soon as you get the hang of it. The moving of the Wii Remote Plus for the bird does get a bit 'wrist-wrangling' though especially when you want to speed up, go higher, or make a sharp turn.