Oh the Legend of Zelda. How much I love thee. I fucking love
Zelda. It’s a fantastic franchise that almost always has games that are
top-notch in almost every category. The Zelda games I like in particular (as
well as a lot of other people) are the modern 3D Zelda games. Ever since
Ocarina of Time wowed the world in 1998 with how good it was, Zelda has been
held to very high standards. I know the series had already had a great track
record with the original NES classic, Zelda II, and of course A Link to the
Past, but the Zelda game everyone orgasms over the most is definitely Ocarina
of Time. However, I’m not reviewing that game today. That’s for another day.
Today I am reviewing the newest mainstream console release in the series,
Skyward Sword, which has been held to a lot of the high standards Ocarina of Time
was held to. It’s gotten great critical reception across the board. So what’s
my opinion on this game? Do I agree with all the higher-ups who consider this
game absolute perfection? Well let’s find out. I’ll be going over the graphics,
plot, music, and gameplay to thoroughly assess the quality of this game. All
right well let’s get started!
Graphics
What better way to start out with reviewing Skyward Sword
than talking about its absolutely STUNNING visuals? There’s very little I have
to say about the graphics. The game looks beautiful. The presentation looks
like it could’ve been from a movie! These are arguably the best graphics seen
on the Wii. It looks like it could be in HD! I love the art style of Skyward
Sword and I definitely think it would be great to see it return in future Zelda
titles. Graphics get a 10.
Plot
Alright so far it sounds like I really do love this game
like all the gaming journalists, right? Well to be blunt things are gonna go a
little downhill from here. You’ll see what I mean. The plot of Skyward Sword is
decent. I liked seeing the backstory of how the master sword and Hyrule came to
be. I also thought it was very nice to see who the original bearers of the
triforce were. What a great way to celebrate the 25th anniversary! The
game is also filled with many likeable characters such as Zelda, who feels more
relevant to the plot than ever. Groose, a supporting character, is your average
school bully but he’s damn hilarious. He’ll spit out a bunch of one-liners in
the game such as, “They should name this place Grooseland!” and not to mention
his theme. Ghirahim is an amazing villain. I felt that in Twilight Princess
they really pushed the main villains to the side until the very end, but in
this game, you see Ghirahim a lot and you fight him 3 times. Unlike a certain
other character in the game you fight 3 times, Ghirahim’s fights are epic and
fun. Some other characters though… I just can’t stand. There’s one in
particular that I’ll talk more about in gameplay. I’ll give you a hint; she
gives you a lot of those throughout the game. I also think that a lot of
pointless filler was put into the main game to pad out for time like collecting
the notes to the Song of the Hero. I felt that that was a very pointless part
of the game that easily could’ve been taken out. I don’t care for Demise nearly as much as I
do Ghirahim, especially because he felt a little phoned in and I didn’t
particularly like the boss fight with him very much. More about that in gameplay.
The plot gets an 8. There are very likeable characters and moments that stick
out, but I feel that it was padded out a bit too much. Not to mention that it
had you revisiting a lot of the same places rather than having more places to
explore.
Gameplay
Oh boy here comes the part where I’m gonna rip this game
apart. This part of my review will be VERY rant-heavy so be warned. While I feel that Skyward Sword has
outstanding aesthetics visual and plot wise, I think that the gameplay is this
game’s huge weak spot. This game was made to take advantage of the Wii Motion
Plus and the motion controls of the Wii but I honestly think that the controls
are just… bad. These are some of the worst controls I’ve ever come across in a
video game. The motion controls feel very gimmicky. Some parts of the game
really show the controls’ ugly self, especially at the end of the game where
you have to wiggle your wiimote through hoards of Bokobins and Moblins. That
part shouldn’t have been in the game at all if they wanted to go with the
motion controls. In the final part f the final boss battle, you have to quickly
wiggle your Wii remote and nun chuck a certain direction to land the final
blow, and it is VERY easy to mess up. I would’ve much rather pressed A to
deliver the final blow like in the previous game.I also found myself having to
constantly recalibrate my Wii remote due to the game glitching up on me. The
game doesn’t even let you turn the motion controls off if you don’t like them!
I know Zelda games aren’t known for customizable controls but this game
could’ve definitely benefited from choosing whether or not you wanna use the
motion controls for those who aren’t so hot on them like me. I honestly feel
that Twilight Princess, a game that didn’t set out to push the limits of the
motion controls, did a much better job at handling the motion controls. I know
they weren’t used very heavily in that game but the way they were executed was
just right for those who were interested in them and for those who saw motion
controls as a passing fad. There’s even a version of that game on the Gamecube!
I’m not saying that Skyward Sword should’ve been on the Gamecube, in fact it
probably would’ve been impossible for the Gamecube to handle Skyward Sword, but
what I am saying is that the previous game gave people options to whether or
not they wanted to try out the new motion controls or not versus having them
forced onto them for the entire game.
The motion controls aren’t the only thing I find wrong with the
gameplay, oh hell no. There’s also Fi. I HATE FI. Sure, she’s a relatively
interesting overall character plot-wise, but she is also the worst thing about
this game. She points out every single little detail that you could’ve EASILY
figured out on your own. She even lets you know when you’re low on hearts when
there’s already a beeping noise that tells you that! What the fuck were they
thinking? I also don’t like how she gives you all this probability shit. Don’t
tell me there’s an 85% chance the triforce is in Sky Keep, just tell me that
you think it’s in there. I know it goes with the super computer-like
personality given to Fi, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. People say
that the ending of the game where Link has to say goodbye to Fi is very sad and
emotional. Quite frankly I was happy to see that I could finally say goodbye to
possibly my least favorite video game character of all time. Yes, I really do
hate Fi that much. At least Navi wasn’t nearly as all-up-in-your-face as Fi is.
Fi’s just completely pointless in my opinion and I think that the game could’ve
been way better if they toned down her level of handholding. So let’s talk
about other things this game has. Well dowsing is a completely pointless
mechanic. Why the hell can’t I just look around the area for the dungeon until
I find it? I mean sure the dowsing could be helpful for finding secrets and
stuff but I think they should’ve made it do JUST that. If you hold up your Wii
remote for a while, you’ll charge up a skyward strike, which is essentially a
sword beam but I think the sword beam is much more useful. The skyward strike
is really just there for the plot, not much else. Sure there’s the goddess
cubes, but that’s about it. You can run in the game but you have a stamina
meter that goes down VERY fast. Granted you can get potions and there are plenty
of little bulbs that’ll restore your stamina, but I feel that it was a
completely pointless addition. Why can’t
I just run as much as I’d please? Why does there need to be stamina for
climbing when you were able to do it for as long as you’d want in the older 3D
games? I think this game could’ve very much so done without the stamina meter.
Let’s hope it doesn’t return in Zelda U. I know it returned in A Link Between
Worlds, but I think it was handled better in that game. It was used in
substitution for amo and magic power and it might’ve been a bit of a chore to
wait for it to go back up, but it didn’t go down so damn quickly. You can get upgrades to your weapons at the
bazaar in Skyloft by collecting little items found from defeating enemies.
These upgrades are not worth it in my opinion. Yes, it’s nice to have a beetle
that flies a little faster, but getting the items necessary for a payoff so
small just isn’t worth the time. When you collect the small items like a
monster’s tail, the game will ALWAYS tell you that you obtained the item and
describes it for you no matter how many of that item you’ve collected. It
really breaks the flow of the game and feels tedious. In other Zelda games like Majora’s Mask you
can get your sword forged to be more powerful and the in the game that came out
after Skyward Sword, A Link Between Worlds, you can get your items upgraded by
collecting 10 Mai mais, as well as sword upgrades via Master Ores. While the
item upgrades in Skyward Sword are similar to the ones found in other Zelda
games, they don’t feel as effective. They don’t add effects to your weapons
like making the whip take little items from enemies like the grappling hook in
Wind Waker. The Harp is absolute shit. You just strum it with your Wii remote.
It’s not like the Ocarina or Wind Waker where you’d have to input a certain
button combination to play a song. While the harp does make it so you don’t
have to memorize songs, it’s used so little that I can’t help but call it
wasted potential. Why can’t I use to warp to parts of a dungeon? Granted you
can select which save point you wanna go to on the map when you dive into a
previously visited place, but that just takes away the potential the harp
could’ve had. You can fly on your Loftwing in the sky, much like Epona, and
unlike riding on Epona or sailing on the King of Red Lions, the flying doesn’t
really feel that good. It is partly because of the motion controls, but it’s
also because I just don’t really feel like it adds much to the game, I think
it’s just another motion control gimmick thrown into the game. The sky is also
boring. While there are places to visit there, it just feels so underdone
compared to the great sea from Wind Waker.
I know that they decided not to make the sky the real form of
exploration in this game, but they didn’t need to make it this small. So yes,
some things were taken out of this game in favor for being used for other
things like warping and exploration, but I don’t think the changes were very
well executed. The actual landmarks beneath the sky are full of exploration
though and are fun to go through, so I’ll give it to them for that. Some parts
of the game require you to go into these spirit realm-like worlds called the
Silent Realm. I’ll say this; I like the concept of Silent Realms. Your weapons
are all taken away and you have to go around the area collecting goddess tears
and when you collect all of them you get a useful item or upgrade like the
Clawshots. And this time you get both of them instead of just one like in
Twilight Princess. The silent realms also do a good job at showing you where
the goddess tears are, but for the sake of exploration, I feel that the game
should’ve let you find them on your own. If you touch the water or if a timer
runs out for the Silent Realms to be peaceful, the guardians all wake up and it
becomes what can be described as a nightmare. If one of the guardians gets to
touch you, you must start the level over. This sounds fine and dandy and all,
but again they aren’t very well executed. They can be very frustrating and
they’re FILLED with pressure, which is something I don’t like in a video game
if there’s too much of it, which in this case there is. Your shield now has
health and while it admittedly makes your shield feel more important than other
Zelda games, I still don’t find myself using my shield very much. Not to
mention that the health goes down from using them to defend attacks, which is
what they’re made for. That’s just a minor complaint though. The new items
include the Gust Bellows, the Whip, and the Beetle. The Gustbellows are only
useful for the puzzles that involve it like cleaning out sand and pushing carts
across a conveyer belt, the whip is only mandatory for the dungeon you get it
in and the Sky Keep, and the beetle is great for testing out further away areas
and for solving puzzles. Ok, so I know I’ve complained A LOT about the gameplay
and I probably sound like a whiney fanboy by now, so now I’m gonna talk about
what I do like about the gameplay. The dungeons are very well designed, with
special mentioning going to the Ancient Cistern, and most of the boss fights
are climactic and fun to partake in. Notice how I said most. There’s one boss
fight in particular that I just do not care for and that’s the Imprisoned. It
puts a lot of pressure on you as it climbs to the top of the area to devour the
Sealed Grounds and it’s just an annoying boss fight. The game makes you fight
the imprisoned 3 TIMES throughout the entire game, and 4 if you count Demise,
with each fight getting harder and harder and more frustrating. Other than
that, the boss fights are very good. They’re some of the best fights in the
series. My case-in-point is Koloktos. Man do I love this boss fight or what?
You pull his limbs apart using the whip and then use one of his own weapons
against him to completely wreck the shit out of him. It’s fun. Another great
boss fight is the last fight against Ghirahim, where you continuously try to
throw him off the edge and have him fall down for you to strike his chest. My
only problem is that this game reuses boss fights a little too much. Ok so now
it’s time to give the gameplay a score; 5. Yes, it’s that low. The gameplay can
be really good at some parts, but there are so many pointless additions,
awkward controls, and so much hand holding that it just doesn’t really do it
for me.
Music
Ok, it’s a Zelda game. There’s very little I have to say
here. The soundtrack is great and for as much as I hate her, Fi’s theme is very
pleasing to the ear. It doesn’t hit home for me nearly as much as Ocarina of
Time, Majoras Mask, or Wind Waker’s soundtrack but it’s good for what is. Music
gets a 9.
Overall
So at the end of the day, Skyward Sword is a good game. It’s
different from a lot of Zelda games, sure, and a lot of the new changes are
pointless, but overall it’s still a decent game worth playing for all Zelda
fans. I just think that the good stuff and the bad stuff about the game mix in
a way that feels…awkward. It’s still a fun game, but it’s just very flawed. I
honestly think that Skyward Sword is an overall step back for the Zelda series
because of all the handholding and motion controls. Trust me, I think that a
game that differs from the usual formula of its series can be good. I really
like Kirby’s Epic Yarn and Majora’s Mask; I think that they do the job of being
different right. I don’t think Skyward Sword does a very good job at being
different and instead just comes off as an awkward kind of different. Like Fawful’s Minion said, it is very limit
pushing to what Zelda usually is, but unlike him I don’t think it pushes limits
in a positive way. To be completely honest, I think that Skyward Sword takes a
shit on what Zelda used to be, and not in a good way. Yes, the original game
could’ve been better if it marked objects that you could burn or bomb, but that
non-linearity of the game and the huge feel of adventure is what made Zelda
Zelda. True, the 3D games aren’t as open ended, but I think that A Link Between
Worlds is a better example of what the series should be doing in the future,
not this game. I hope that this game is just one of a kind and that Nintendo
focuses on making 3D Zelda games open world, free for you to explore dungeons
in any order you’d please, more streamlined, and I hope that the subsequent
console Zelda games don’t baby you as much as this game. Skyward Sword is worth
your money, and if you haven’t played it yet than you should, but just be
warned, it’s a different kind of beast that you may or may not end up liking
very much. Skyward Sword gets a 32/40 and an average 8/10. I’m not doing a
personal score this time since my personal score is the same as my critical
score for the game. It’s nowhere near perfect, contrary to the perfect scores
it gets, it’s actually very far from it, but it’s still rather good, but most
of the good stuff in the game lies in its visuals, characters, and music. The
gameplay, which is the most important factor in any video game, falls short
though and this game is flawed because of it. If you get Skyward Sword, all I
can say is to proceed with caution.
Next review: Wind Waker (yes another Zelda game)
Next countdown: Top 10 Johto Pokémon
Next rant: The Problem With the Gaming Community
Even though i skimmed it it seems like a decent review
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