These threads make me laugh so much. Not because people are expressing opinion, but because it allows me to see just how fickle and finicky the masses have become now. Instead of giving a company its fair share of criticism, hoping to provide a company some insight on what gamers expect/ want from their titles, many consumers/gamers immediately jump on the "this game sucks because of a handful of minor things I didn't like, so I'm going to completely drop every single game and console I've ever owned by this company because this one single game has shown me that they don't care in the slightest about anyone or anything" bandwagon. Seriously, it's a riot reading these posts.
Anyway, I literally just finished playing Skyward Sword (SS) about 30 minutes ago, and I must say that the game was an absolute delight. I enjoyed a good majority, although there were a few minor things here and there that bothered me They might not even be what you think.
Let's go over some things that people seem to loathe the most: controls, graphics, and storyline.
First, controls. The Wii was designed with motion controls in hand. Early in the console's life, the Wii Remote only had a basic accelerometer that wasn't really all that precise. It got the job done, but for those tricky, precise maneuvers, you were typically reliant on the IR functionality, which wouldn't really do much good in a sword fighting game that involves swinging a sword left and right. Nintendo eventually remedied this with the Wii MotionPlus add-on and the Wii Remote Plus. Now, true 1:1 motion controls could be recognized, and the reliance on "waggle" would be a thing of the past. With that said, the practice of wiggling my wrist to slice and dice in Twilight Princess (TP) wasn't really appreciated by myself. From the beginning of that game, I had actually hoped for a way to actually wave my sword around, directing it where I wanted, and having it swing where I wanted it swung. Over the course of playing TP, I eventually got used to the waggle, and accepted it.
When SS came along, I was so used to the waggle concept, that the first few hours of playing were kind of an awkward learning curve for me. I had to constantly remind myself not to just flick my wrist, but to actually think about what I was doing, where my sword was going, and how I was going to slice and dice. After a while, I stopped instinctually wiggling, and began hacking and slashing with ease. It felt more natural, and it actually made things easier, than waiting on a cue for a pre-scripted move to act out (the parry from Wind Waker (WW) comes to mind). This was finally a Zelda game where I truly felt like I was in control, and when I game a beat down, I felt like I was doing it, not just sending inputs to a character and letting him do all the work.
If there is any negative to the motion controls, it would be the flying/swimming aspect. I often found myself spinning or missing things I needed to collect when navigating with the Wii Remote. Personally, I would have enjoyed an option to switch to a different control scheme, but these instances were few and far between, not enough for me to give an unjust scolding to Nintendo for implementing them.
Secondly, graphics. While the Wii isn't known as a technical powerhouse in any aspect (unless you're comparing it to consoles of old), Nintendo always has had a penchant for adding a good deal of character and depth to their games, whether it be in character models, backgrounds, environments, etc., and this is no exception. Nintendo definitely hit the ball out of the park on this game in terms of graphical prowess. I haven't been more dazzled by something running in 480p in a long time. The problems that most people seem to have are actually very minor in contrast to the game. "Link looks stupid", "Groose is dumb", "Why is everything all watercolor?" It's artistic license, and Nintendo is simply trying out things. I still remember when WW was demoed and everyone loathed the graphics in that game, calling it "Cel-da" and "absolute crap". Looking at it now, many people seem to have a much different opinion than they did before. Was it just because it was a shock to them? Was it because they genuinely didn't like it, but it grew on them? Who's to say? But it's shocking just to see how quickly the fan base turned, then slowly (and quietly) it came back with praise.
SS has a unique art style. It does this because if the game is going to look the same, it's almost insulting to the gamers. There's a reason we are making things look different, and typically better (there are some exceptions in the gaming world). People do like change, because the same thing, over and over, gets extremely boring, and it tells us that the developers don't care enough to stray from a formula (story arcs are exempt from this with enough change, if they weren't, we would have been done at Zelda II). If I had to say anything about SS's art direction, it actually caters to its story. The game is one of the earliest (if not the earliest) point there is in the Zelda storyline. The look adds a sort of antiquity to it, it's not super sharp lines, it's not super rich detail. It's a little dingy, a bit weathered. It has a pop, but it's almost as if it's sort of fuzzy, like a long forgotten memory that's being retold. For a game that's supposedly telling a story that's ages old, it certainly gives it the aged look. And that's a good thing.
Finally in our list of common gripes, we have storyline. This seems to be one of the biggest hot points that I've seen with this game. People either loved it, or hated it. Some think there wasn't enough story, some people think it was a perfect amount. I will agree that the storyline wasn't the absolute strongest in a Zelda game, but let's think back to how this franchise started. Back in 1986, when players first started up The Legend of Zelda (LoZ) on their NES, they were given a story that said:
MANY YEARS AGO PRINCE
DARKNESS "GANNON" STOLE
ONE OF THE TRIFORCE WITH
POWER. PRINCESS ZELDA
HAD ONE OF THE TRIFORCE
WITH WISDOM. SHE DIVIDED
IT INTO " 8 "UNITS TO HIDE
IT FROM "GANNON" BEFORE
SHE WAS CAPTURED.
GO FIND THE 8 UNITS
"LINK" TO SAVE HER.
Grammatical and spelling errors aside, this was pretty much the only back story you got before, and during the game. The only real conclusion you received was when you finished the game, which was more or less a "You win!" screen. Looking at the official timeline, LoZ was placed somewhere near the end of the timeline, making it one of the more recent adventures where there could be tons and tons of backstory. When you start at the beginning though, as you do in SS, you don't really have any backstory, so you need to craft what you can with what you have. The premise behind SS's story is actually pretty easy to follow and simple to understand why most of the inhabitants don't really know anything. There was a war that happened many eons before SS's story took place. Many lives were lost, many belongings and relics destroyed. Those who survived to tell the tale did so, but only with what knowledge they have. They passed down their fresh knowledge to their children, and their children to their children and so on. Over time, details were skewed, stories were embellished, and names and locations forgotten. After eons, history was only a fragment what it was, to the point that the humans, who were descended from surface inhabitants, and are now living in Skyloft were convinced there was nothing below the clouds. Just emptiness. How's that for historical records?
You could argue that the villains could have had a back story, but in keeping with a more logical look at things, that would require a lot of careful work to make sure that you weren't trampling on some piece of lore from a "future" (read: previous) game. Not knowing who characters are also adds for new possibilities, and new story lines. Why pidgeon-hole yourself with lore about characters that you really don't interact with? You have a few boss fights, sure, but that's kind of about it. No villain is going to stand and start waxing poetic about his whole life story just before he guts you. That's not a villain. That's a cry-baby who's pleading for attention, and a hug from someone who cares.
As I mentioned before, there were a few things that bothered me about SS. The flying/swimming mechanic was cumbersome at times, and the overworld wasn't as large or varied as it has been in previous games. But these are quite minor complaints I have. I'm not looking to spend hours on some silly side game, nor am I looking to just warp from place to place. The over world was good for what it was. A big empty sky, with some curiosities thrown in.
Some of my favorite aspects of the game?
Fi. Without a doubt the least annoying sidekick in a Zelda game yet. She only popped up when you were almost dead, your shield was almost broken, or you needed some kind of general direction on where to go. No more "HEY!" "LISTEN!" every 10 seconds, no flying fairy to constantly have to listen fly around and lock onto things. Fi was quiet, but was always available whenever you wanted her. The only annoying thing about her was when she sang the harp songs. She just looked weird.
The music. I've never had a problem with the MIDI compilations on previous games, because they were done so well, and were far more dynamic in what they were able to do. For instance, with a pre-recorded orchestral piece, if I have background music playing, then I approach an enemy, the "track" needs to switch to something else, to give the player an audible cue that there is danger close by. With a MIDI composition, the music would alter itself dynamically, adding in instruments, becoming a lower tone, etc., without having to change completely. That being said, however, the music in this game was extremely well written and composed with only a handful of tracks being mediocre. If I could get the official soundtrack on iTunes, I would.
And lastly, I'd have to say the weapons/items. The weapons and items in this game were made fantastically, and the designers took a lot of time to make sure that they were used on a regular basis, not just in one dungeon, never to be touched again. There were also a good number of them, without becoming overwhelming. The only two items I found myself not using all that often were the bug net and slingshot (although the latter was used a lot toward the end game). The idea that this Link was taking a sword and creating the true Master Sword that is used from there on throughout the series was also incredible and very satisfying. If there are two things I want back from this game, it's the Clawshots and Beetle. Completely indispensable.
Other than that, I really don't have much else to say about SS. It was a great game, and incredibly fun. There were a few minor things here and there, but I think Nintendo should hold their heads high, and I look forward to another game from them. I just hope that instead of gamers rushing to snap decisions, they give the game its due time. Sit down, think about it, and provide some kind of constructive criticism, rather than outright bashing the title.
![[face_tongue]](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.ignboards.com/styles/ign/ign/smilies/classic/stickouttongue.gif "Stick Out Tongue [face_tongue]")
Problem solved for me. (Less so where Nintendo is concerned as they make future games with their mistake in mind...)
But it definitely has flaws in some of the areas that you mentioned.
).
![[face_thinking]](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.ignboards.com/styles/ign/ign/smilies/classic/thinking.gif "Thinking [face_thinking]")
