What is the consensus on Skyward Sword?
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Poor pacing, repetitive, too long, inconsistent quality - especially compared to other 3d zeldas.
BUT...
-A few outstanding dungeons (ie ancient cistern, sandship)
-Some really interesting ideas for mechanics (time crystals, moving the final dungeon around on a grid!)
-Pretty solid story
-An overall very pleasing painterly aesthetic (although I do feel the design of SS is pretty confused at points, like surely Tentalus and Demise don't belong in the same game?!)
OVERALL:
SS is definitely a transitional title. Its clearly the team's first attempt at trying to rethink zelda. Moving away from stuff like a midi soundtrack and the dungeon-overworld formula was a good start for modernising Zelda.
Unfortunately the game's overall quality control is pretty poor. You can tell development did not go smoothly on this one. Most sadly of all, SS hasn't stood the test of time as a title that fans are keen to revisit.
I can't be bothered to discuss the motion controls. The end.
BUT...
-A few outstanding dungeons (ie ancient cistern, sandship)
-Some really interesting ideas for mechanics (time crystals, moving the final dungeon around on a grid!)
-Pretty solid story
-An overall very pleasing painterly aesthetic (although I do feel the design of SS is pretty confused at points, like surely Tentalus and Demise don't belong in the same game?!)
OVERALL:
SS is definitely a transitional title. Its clearly the team's first attempt at trying to rethink zelda. Moving away from stuff like a midi soundtrack and the dungeon-overworld formula was a good start for modernising Zelda.
Unfortunately the game's overall quality control is pretty poor. You can tell development did not go smoothly on this one. Most sadly of all, SS hasn't stood the test of time as a title that fans are keen to revisit.
I can't be bothered to discuss the motion controls. The end.
Genuinely, genuinely disliked it.
When I started I felt like I might be into it, but about half way thru I realized I was forcing myself to like it because, well..."Zelda". This vs. say, BotW or ALBW which my fondness for grew throughout.
It's the endgame of linear Zelda design, the motion controls work fine I guess, but I them found unpleasant, and the hub world (sky) is so barren, and feels that way, that it might as well be a map you just choose locations on.
Good riddance.
When I started I felt like I might be into it, but about half way thru I realized I was forcing myself to like it because, well..."Zelda". This vs. say, BotW or ALBW which my fondness for grew throughout.
It's the endgame of linear Zelda design, the motion controls work fine I guess, but I them found unpleasant, and the hub world (sky) is so barren, and feels that way, that it might as well be a map you just choose locations on.
Good riddance.
(I have been trying to formulate myself here but I am worried that it makes me seem combative or patronizing. If this reads like that, it is not my intention)
I can deal with many different ways of controlling something. Mouse/keyboard or gamepad inverted or normalt, does not matter. I even used a Novint falcon on one occasion. Playing Wii sports or shooters with motion controls is also completely acceptable to me.
Skyward Sword is by all accounts a completely conventional action/adventure game that has controls that make playing it a chore. I am sure it is possible to get used to it, but that isn't an argument in the game's favor. The same game with immediately intuitive controls would be much better by default.
It's got the best narrative out of the entire Zelda franchise, but the motion controls were a pain to use and it was an overly long bloated mess. Still, I enjoyed it.
It will stand out in gaming history as a fully fledged action adventure title with motion controls, for better or for worse.
I was around 12 - 13 when the prerelease hype for Skyward Sword began, that was when I joined NeoGAF and delved into the hype and speculation. It was fun times. I remember softmodding my Wii so I could play the E3 demo disc. For that reason, the game holds a soft spot in my heart.
I'll probably replay it with Gecko codes to disable Fi's notifications so I could give the rest of the game a better chance, it has some standout setpieces for the Zelda series. Bosses like Koloktos are amazing, the Sand Sea, the dungeons, the entirety of Lanayru desert... were all great. The padding is so atrocious though, and although the art style complements the environmental design well, I think BotW does SS's artstyle better (besides the impressionist backgrounds, those were cleverly implemented).
Motion controls should've only been the weapons - everything else should've had a button substitute. I actually find KingK's retrospective to be right on the money with my beliefs:
I was around 12 - 13 when the prerelease hype for Skyward Sword began, that was when I joined NeoGAF and delved into the hype and speculation. It was fun times. I remember softmodding my Wii so I could play the E3 demo disc. For that reason, the game holds a soft spot in my heart.
I'll probably replay it with Gecko codes to disable Fi's notifications so I could give the rest of the game a better chance, it has some standout setpieces for the Zelda series. Bosses like Koloktos are amazing, the Sand Sea, the dungeons, the entirety of Lanayru desert... were all great. The padding is so atrocious though, and although the art style complements the environmental design well, I think BotW does SS's artstyle better (besides the impressionist backgrounds, those were cleverly implemented).
Motion controls should've only been the weapons - everything else should've had a button substitute. I actually find KingK's retrospective to be right on the money with my beliefs:
The motion controls took away almost all of the enjoyment out of the game, and then the mechanic of flying around finished it off. If they would remaster it and adjust the control scheme I would probably enjoy the game. It's not my least favourite 3d Zelda title, but it's certainly down there
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There is a good game in there, it's just cluttered with a lot of poor design choices. It's the worst console Zelda.
Apparently there isn't one.
The motion controls by nature don't work all the time. And because now the combat is reduced to "swing your sword in a certain direction" it kinda takes all the fun out of it and the only fun times the motion controls actually add to the combat is a handful of boss fights.
I'd put it in my bottom tier of Zelda games. Just above Spirit Tracks and Phantom Hourglass but below Zelda 2.
The motion controls by nature don't work all the time. And because now the combat is reduced to "swing your sword in a certain direction" it kinda takes all the fun out of it and the only fun times the motion controls actually add to the combat is a handful of boss fights.
I'd put it in my bottom tier of Zelda games. Just above Spirit Tracks and Phantom Hourglass but below Zelda 2.
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Okay, so I've messed around more with how I use the motion controls as I play. Using more deliberate, wrist-only movements has helped with motion control accuracy. But still its maybe 80% accurate at best and 20% of the time I wondering why he swung that way.
I was under the impression that the music was the only thing in this game that is generally liked by most.
Decent characters, but the motion controls and the overall design of the game let it down for me. The controls actually made me stop playing.
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Whoa dude. I was gonna at some point play this in Dolphin now that they can emulate the extra motion. I find this statement absurd though. No way this is true or even remotely close.
I'm really wondering how this would play in Dolphin at 4K with the motion controls warped to say a DS4. Hey at least no battery warnings if you are wired?
I don't know why everyone is saying that the dungeons sucked. This game has by far the best puzzles, and the aesthetics are great ( cuff cuff Botw )! Here's a great video about it:
The Joycon should work perfectly actually, considering SS doesn't make use of the Wii Remote's IR pointer feature and instead uses the gyroscope for "pointing"/aiming. Honestly, a remaster of SS should be inevitable at this point. The game didn't sell that well on the Wii, so I think Nintendo will jump at the opportunity of breathing new life into it.
I would have played it more than five hours and it would have been probably a great game if it wasn't for the shit controls.
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It used the sensor bar to realign the cursor. But I guess you could get away without one with a dedicated percenter button.
I've actually just started playing this for the first time recently. I've finished the first dungeon so far.
I'm pretty sure I would like this game if it didn't force motion controls in so many unnecessary ways. Obviously I have a lot more to play, but so far it's pretty unremarkable aside from being annoying to play.
I'm pretty sure I would like this game if it didn't force motion controls in so many unnecessary ways. Obviously I have a lot more to play, but so far it's pretty unremarkable aside from being annoying to play.
Skyward Sword is not a bad game. However it frustrates me in a special way that a bad game usually can't. Skyward Sword was very close to being a top tier Zelda games, but it's inundated with ridiculous and head scratching design decisions that shouldn't have happened given the pedigree of the staff that worked on it.
