SPOILER ALERTSPOILER ALERTI have to say I really enjoyed this game, and the experience itself was just as good if not better than Ocarina of Time. The depth of the story, characters, atmosphere, and scenery was spectacular and a vast improvement over previous Zelda titles. Link seemed to have more personality than any other game before. The music, like any Legend of Zelda game was superb. Perfectly fit the mood of the scene every time. And that orchestrated Great Fairy theme in the main menu.... damn!
So how about the gameplay? That is where my only complaints with this game lie, and for many that is the most important part of the gaming experience after all. The 1:1 controls were interesting, but the learning curve was a bit steep. That will be a pro or a con for different people, but personally I kind of liked the extra challenge a lot of the earlier dungeons had. However, once you figured out the weaknesses of each enemy, it became a lot easier.
I do have quite a few complaints about the game however. I know a lot of people praised the 1:1 controls, but I found a lot of times Link would not do what I wanted him to do. For example, I would be thrusting the nunchuck forward but Link would not bring forth his shield. Similary, I would accidently spin attack or vertical slash if I moved my left hand just a little bit. I understand that if you take your time, these things tend to occur less, but there were a lot of times were time wasn't something I had a lot of, or I was being surrounded by a lot of enemies. The flying mechanism was a bit strange as well and it got pretty redundant. Although there were a lot of little islands throughout the sky, most of them had nothing on them or simply just a treasure chest. It kind of took the fun out of exploring the sky. Sky diving and swimming were also VERY figidty, although I got the hang of diving towards the end of the game. And of course, the wii motion plus doesn't use the wii sensor bar and it often needed to be recalibrated, which was a BIG pain in the ass, especially during boss fights. During Tentalus, my bow would go haywire as I frantically tried to get it to point where I wanted it to go without being slammed by a tentacle. Every time you reset the game, it will give you a screen telling you about a treasure every time you pick one up. There were a few times where I accidentally picked up something, and Link PUTS HIS SWORD AND SHIELD DOWN WHEN YOU DO IT. Once you press 'A' past the screen, you're very likely to receive damage since the game rendered you defenesless. The same with Fii, any time you would talk to her you would be vulnerable immediately after. Very annoying.
However, my biggest complaint was with the dungeons. I found the dungeons in this game extremely lackluster. I defeated almost all of them within one day. Most of the dungeons were only a couple rooms large. There were a couple times I got stuck, which is nice, but there was so little substance to the dungeons themselves that it didn't feel challenging or very rewarding. I didn't even realize the pirate ship was a dungeon at first because of how tiny it was, I thought it would be a mini dungeon like the Ice Cave in OOT. But nope, then I got the boss key and face palmed a bit.
The Fire Sanctuary was probably the most interesting of the dungeons and provided the most challenge. I thought having to do the Skyview Temple twice was kind of a cop out, since I think there might have been one new room and that was it. They just added some harder enemies and that was more or less it. While the dungeons were kind of weak, the quest itself still took a long time for me to beat. My final time was around 55 hours, but that included all of the side quests and exploring. Nintendo said the main game would last atleast 40 hours, and I think that is a fair representation. You certainly DO get your money's worth with this game.
Now that my complaints are out of the way, let's get to the good stuff! A lot of people complained about the graphics when they were first shown. Personally, I've never had a problem with the Zelda graphics. Each game is different and brings a new personality to the games. But I have to say that these might be my favorite graphics, even more than Twilight Princess. Everyone raved about how dark TP was, but I feel that SS was just so vibrant and interesting. The cinematics in the game were literally breathtaking, I will admit that I teared up several times during the more emotional parts of the game, and I think that is the first time a game has done that to me. The story and development of the characters shone throughout the game. The exchange between Link and Zelda when you first travel to the past might be one of my favorite video game scenes ever, and as I traveled back to the present, I actually felt a sense of sadness come over me. The ending of the game was amazing as well, and I don't want to spoil that for anyone, so find out for yourself!
The treasure hunting was a fun little side quest to try and upgrade your items. The bugs were kind of worthless to me, as I didn't use a single potion until the very last boss. The mini games were VERY challenging, at least to me. The only one I completed was the Bamboo and Bug games, and neither of them provided heart pieces so they didn't help me much
(although you do need to beat the bug game to get the gratitude crystals... more on that soon). My highest score in the archery game was somewhere in the 400s. I don't know why I can't get over 600 in that, but I can't. The other two mini games I only tried once, with the fun fun island game seeming to be more luck than anything and the cart game something i just don't think I will be able to accomplish. I found most of the Godess Cubes, and those remaining are just rupees. The gratitude crystal quests seemed more like chores than anything, but they gave you something to do when you wanted to take a break from the dungeons. The side quests were nowhere near as fun or complex as the ones in previous 3D Zelda games, but there was still a lot to keep you busy.
The bosses in the game were very good. I thought Girahim was a great villian, and the first time I encountered him he gave me the creeps and I couldn't wait to whoop his ass.
These sword bosses/enemies were definitely the hardest enemies in the game for me, as you really had to watch their movements carefully. Still, I found most of the time I would swing blindly hoping to make contact.
Scaldra was really boring, just the typical throw a bomb in it's mouth type of thing. The Imprissoned fight was really redundant, but at the same time it was probably one of the more stressful fights (third time) and certainly VERY intimidating the first time you encounter it. Tentalus was another boss that gave me a lot of trouble, as the first two times I fought it I kept getting pushed off the edge during the last stage of the fight. However, the last two bosses in the game were by far the most stressful and fun boss battles in the game. They give you the option to save inbetween the two bosses, which is great because I don't think there is any way I could beat both back to back without being able to refill on hearts/potions. There is also a mini game where you can rebattle the bosses, similiar to the boss mode in Super Smash Brothers Brawl. I only did 8, enough to get the shield. I eventually plan on trying to beat them all. It's not as hard as it sounds, since you have the master sword when fighting them and the earlier bosses go down in just a few hits. However, I can imagine the Hero Mode boss battles will be a lot tougher since you take more damage and don't get hearts as often.
The Silent Realm trials were nail biting! Although I got through the first three without dying (actually I might have died once), there were quite a few close calls. The final silent realm was very tough and it took me about 4 or 5 tries before I completed it. The sneaking around parts of Zelda games are always the ones I hate the most just because of how stressful they are, but that is a good thing too. When you DO complete them it is a great feeling. I also liked how each dragon had it's own unique challenge. The water one was my least favorite because of the crappy swimming controls. The fire dragon's quest was a lot of fun though and brought back memories of Wind Waker. The Thunder Dragon's was more of a short puzzle than anything and was the easiest of the bunch.
So all in all, I was very impressed with Skyward Sword. There were a few weak points to the game, but I think the pros outweighed them. I certainly had more fun playing this game than any other game in recent memory. I know a lot of people often will compare newer Zelda releases to Ocarina of Time, but I have to say that this game brought back the same magic I experienced during my first play through of OoT when I was 9. When it comes down to it, I think this had a lot of potential to be the best Zelda game. The developers obviously put a lot of work into making this an enjoyable experience and it really paid off. Aside from the occasional controller problem and the lackluster dungeons, this was a terrific game. And as I said, even though the dungeons seem to be small, the game itself is quite long, so I can't take too much away from it because of that. I know that years from now, I'm still going to have great memories of my first play through of this game.
Final rating: 92/100SPOILER ALERTSPOILER ALERT
Topic: Legend of Zelda Official DTF Discussion Thread (Read 110336 times)
