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[∀ Narayan]

Damn you, Amazon! I'm getting my copy tomorrow. :|

How well does Dolphin run this? Good? Does it have Dolby Pro Logic II support? I'm thinking about using it to play this.

 

[Screenboy]

I can't believe Ive just finished the 2nd dungeon and I've clocked 11 hrs already.

 

[Medalion]

Mogmas are awesome... wonder what happen to them in the other Zelda games... the fact Gorons basically take over that whole territory some day

 

[ksamedi]

I actually like the dowsing mechanic and fetch quests although I think I'm one of the few. To me they feel like puzzles. Its not like you have to just straightforwardly collect stuff in a bunch of levels. You have to learn the area and solve various puzzles to complete them. Its fun to just explore every nook and cranny of an area while doing the fetch quests and it makes it easier to find new secrets when you revisit the area with new items.

 

[Nocturnowl]

Mogmas are awesome... wonder what happen to them in the other Zelda games... the fact Gorons basically take over that whole territory some day

I want to believe that they are still around living below ground because the Mogma are too good to never appear again.

 

[ASIS]

I actually like the dowsing mechanic and fetch quests although I think I'm one of the few. To me they feel like puzzles. Its not like you have to just straightforwardly collect stuff in a bunch of levels. You have to learn the area and solve various puzzles to complete them. Its fun to just explore every nook and cranny of an area while doing the fetch quests and it makes it easier to find new secrets when you revisit the area with new items.

For the last time they are not fetch quests. I mean, they are in a very literal sense, but not in "gaming terminology" (ala "gimmick").

 

[Anasui Kishibe]

I just wish people would understand, this isn't a BAD game. It's a Zelda game, so it's good. There are just Zelda expectations with a Zelda game. It's just... there were expectations that this installation would bring a lot of changes that the Zelda franchise needed for years. Nintendo certainly implied in interviews and trailers that there would be a certain level of changes that maybe brought the Zelda formula to modern standards. But I think really, there are problems here that have plagued the franchise for years but were somehow enhanced and made even worse. So in this way, I think some of us who are playing it and expected one thing based on their comments simply are shocked that this is the package. Some of the problems are just like "WHY", because I don't understand the need for half of these problems. They've invented these problems. Nintendo creates them when they have a brilliant base underneath for no reason. They're afraid to just let people experience it freely without their "loving" guiding hands.

that goes deep down Nintendo's philosophy; they are pretty firm in making every game enjoyable at every age. It works with Mario because it's a platform where you don't give a shit about anything else but complete the level, it's got to cause some annoyance in a game like Zelda where there's got to be a story and it's an action RPG; all of us who have played a lot of similar games are experienced enough to do it without the hand holding. Not sure I dislike this trend or how much of it is in SS since I still havent gotten my copy, but I don't see it going away anytime soon

 

[Caelus]

But that's literally all it does better than the other Zelda games. Stuff like NPCs, overworld, pacing, music, sidequests, difficulty... other Zeldas have done them better.

MM has better sidequests, but most of the music is rather repetitive, with only a couple of memorable songs like Oath to Order, Clock Town and Song of Healing. TP may have had a more organic overworld, but the difficulty was a joke. Zelda II was harder in terms of difficulty, but I don't remember much sidequests.

Other Zeldas were better in some parts but worse in others. SS, like OoT, offers a nice balance between these several things.

 

[TheExodu5]

Haven't tried sticking the game in my Wii yet...is it going to force me to update and screw over my homebrew? If so, how do I prevent that?

 

[Medalion]

Haven't tried sticking the game in my Wii yet...is it going to force me to update and screw over my homebrew? If so, how do I prevent that?

There are no firmware updates with this game

 

[DevelopmentArrested]

The first hour was not good at all. Boring ass tutorial, fetch questy shit and WALLS of text. Ugh. I know it'll get better but come on.

 

[The Technomancer]

that goes deep down Nintendo's philosophy; they are pretty firm in making every game enjoyable at every age. It works with Mario because it's a platform where you don't give a shit about anything else but complete the level, it's got to cause some annoyance in a game like Zelda where there's got to be a story and it's an action RPG; all of us who have played a lot of similar games are experienced enough to do it without the hand holding. Not sure I dislike this trend or how much of it is in SS since I still havent gotten my copy, but I don't see it going away anytime soon

Right, and I'm fine with that when its optional. I love the super guide mechanic in NSMBWii and DKCR because it seems like it allowed them to ramp up the difficulty for skilled players while allowing novice players to reach the end. Why the fuck there's no reason to turn Fi's non-story speech off is beyond me.

 

[GrotesqueBeauty]

I'm still trying to figure out the complaints about the slow start.

Probably because the last few generations have acclimated you to the tortured preamble, which has become somewhat of an unfortunate fixture of "epic adventure" games. Skyward Sword may not be a sluggish as WW and TP were about getting to the meat of the gameplay, but it doesn't exactly throw you right into the thick of things either (something that used to be common in the series). There's a lot of fluff with the events of Skyloft before you ever truly hit the ground and start outright adventuring. It's fine if that speaks to your sensibilities as a gamer, but I think all these attempts to write off complaints of a slow beginning are a bit disingenuous. You could play through the entire first dungeon of multiple Zelda games in the time it takes you to get your most basic gear in Skyward Sword. The game isn't particularly good about corralling the player at first either. You have this city begging for exploration, but if you try to deviate from your narrowly prescribed directive there's nothing to do. It's all a bunch of empty rewardless areas, which makes the atmosphere seem rather cardboard in spite of the game's insistence on trying to make you care about the characters.

 

[TheExodu5]

There are no firmware updates with this game

Beautiful. Now to copy my save over from Dolphin. I hope to god the controls become better. It's driving me nuts. I swear I lose calibration after 3-4 strikes. If I strike the sword super slowly it stays calibrated, but if I strike 4 times in say 2-3 seconds, the calibration is out the window until I pause and look at the sensor bar.

 

[Anasui Kishibe]

Right, and I'm fine with that when its optional. I love the super guide mechanic in NSMBWii and DKCR because it seems like it allowed them to ramp up the difficulty for skilled players while allowing novice players to reach the end. Why the fuck there's no reason to turn Fi's non-story speech off is beyond me.

ah, you can't? Yep I can see it being annoying

 

[Neoriceisgood]

That place of silence and tears.

Spoiler

after collecting all 15 tears I figured I'd take a shortcut and swim under the tree ... just to find a fence.

Good thing I'm pretty nimble, I managed to run all the way past all the active guards and make it to the start position after that horrible mistake, hahahah.

 

[The Lamp]

I think there is a really charming effect the game has in general... the art style perfectly compliments the Zelda universe in general. The animations are beautiful and really a joy to watch. The music is generally awesome, except in many dungeons oddly enough. It's a combination of factors that really work to make one be, well, charmed by the proceedings. It's hard not to be. It feels very light, fluffy, "airy." It's a good thing to me. I don't need super serious Zelda.

I just wish Nintendo didn't think gamers were retards.

Nintendo knows they have you, but they're trying to get other people who don't normally play Zelda to get into the experience as easily as you do. Thus their elaborate tutorials and hints and helps.

 

[Medalion]

I really don't get this uncalibration stuff... my biggest gripe with these motion controls is having to remember certain combination of swipes with wiimote and/or nunchuk to execute certain moves or actions

 

[dwu8991]

that goes deep down Nintendo's philosophy; they are pretty firm in making every game enjoyable at every age. It works with Mario because it's a platform where you don't give a shit about anything else but complete the level, it's got to cause some annoyance in a game like Zelda where there's got to be a story and it's an action RPG; all of us who have played a lot of similar games are experienced enough to do it without the hand holding. Not sure I dislike this trend or how much of it is in SS since I still havent gotten my copy, but I don't see it going away anytime soon

I must admit I got stuck in TP for frequent long periods of time not knowing what to do or where to go next! I found Midna would give me a vague idea which ended up confusing me even more.
I'm sure there were heaps of people just like me who needed to go to ign guide for help.
If SS is designed as much as PH, I'm not going to be bothered.

 

[The Technomancer]

Nintendo knows they have you, but they're trying to get other people who don't normally play Zelda to get into the experience as easily as you do. Thus their elaborate tutorials and hints and helps.

*wails* But let us turn them off!

 

[Slurpy2k20]

It's also annoying when she pops up to tell you you're low on health. I know I'm low on health. Not only because I have eyes, but because I'm listening to the same obnoxious beeping you hear in every modern Zelda. I don't need Fi to pop-up and tell me to find some health. It's so incredibly patronising. They should just flat-out ask you at the beginning of the game if you've ever played a Zelda game before so people have the opportunity to avoid these constant intrusions.

It doesn't matter even if you've never played a Zelda game. You will understand the concept of 'health' 5 minutes into the game, regardless. Visual and audio cues are enough. For her to explicitly bug you about it to is pretty ludicrous of a decision. I can understand the 1st few times MAYBE.. but throughout the entire course of the game? Come on Nintendo.

 

[Frillen]

So I unlocked a chest in Skyloft on the rightmost island on the map (in Skyloft). But how do I get to that island!?

 

[GWX]

I actually like the dowsing mechanic and fetch quests although I think I'm one of the few. To me they feel like puzzles. Its not like you have to just straightforwardly collect stuff in a bunch of levels. You have to learn the area and solve various puzzles to complete them. Its fun to just explore every nook and cranny of an area while doing the fetch quests and it makes it easier to find new secrets when you revisit the area with new items.

I'm with you, man.

Spoiler

I'm playing that part where you have to find the 5 key parts in Eldin's Volcano, and I'm enjoying it. I've been discovering some brand new parts of the land that I haven't explored yet

. The only problem I have with the game so far is something that's more on my end: rolling bombs, while playing sitted down, sucks pretty badly.

Edit: For the people complaining about Fi's intrusiveness, well... Ignore her. Never press that damned down button. It has been a pretty smooth ride so far: she isn't bothering me anymore.

 

[Tuck]

Wow this game is great.

Spoiler

Eldin is a great area. Big, loops back on itself, dowsing is minimal, and really not even needed, shortcuts and secrets everywhere. Fantastic. Feels so much more involved than Twilight Princess. I haven't even gotten to the dungeon yet!

 

[Medalion]

So I unlocked a chest in Skyloft on the rightmost island on the map (in Skyloft). But how do I get to that island!?

Why can't you fly there on your Loftwing? I actually have no idea what you are referring to but sounds like something I'd try

 

[Slurpy2k20]

I must admit I got stuck in TP for frequent long periods of time not knowing what to do or where to go next! I found Midna would give me a vague idea which ended up confusing me even more.
I'm sure there were heaps of people just like me who needed to go to ign guide for help.
If SS is designed as much as PH, I'm not going to be bothered.

The thing is, Fi will never, ever help you when you're actually stuck. I've been stuck a few times and she has absolutely nothing to say. These are her incredibly useful contributions:

- Notifying you incessantly when you're low on health, because the flashing hearts and deafening chime aren't enough.
- Repeating ad nauseum what another NPC JUST told you, adding some random percentage to the mix
- Informing you that the massive key you just got from the massive chest goes in the massive boss door right behind you
- Informing you there's an 87.292% chance there may be a scary monster behind the massive boss door you just put a key in and completed a dungeon to get to
- Informing you about scary monsters before you enter any temple/area

I'm sure there's some other vital stuff I'm missing.

I have another million pet peeves besides Fi, but in spite of all that the game is still manages to be fucking awesome. Go figure. I'm loving flying around collecting the Godess Chests for some reason. I just collected like 10 in a row. Making a ton of discoveries I'll have to go back to.

 

[Kandinsky]

This game is amazing and gorgeous, just finished the first temple@8h mark, I'm in love, theres really nothing like a console Zelda game, nothing.

 

[Jomjom]

Damn BB sold the LE copy I preordered. What the hell!? What am I giving them my money down for then??

 

[ItWasMeantToBe19]

I don't want to try to get the derail the thread, but the first hour and 45 minutes really seemed like it could use voice acting. Just really awkward to see their mouths move with no sound and Link to talk with no text.

 

[Slurpy2k20]

So I unlocked a chest in Skyloft on the rightmost island on the map (in Skyloft). But how do I get to that island!?

Spoiler

You just dive onto it from the ramp. Make sure you angle your fall as much as possible towards the Island. You'll JUST make it.

 

[Medalion]

I thought it was hilarious that we see speech bubbles for other characters but when Link has to explain himself he just makes hand signals like he's mute and people pretend they understand what he's saying

 

[Frillen]

Why can't you fly there on your Loftwing? I actually have no idea what you are referring to but sounds like something I'd try

That's not possible as the island is connected to Skyloft and if you try to land on it the game puts you into the loading screen (loading Skyloft) and you drop off on a different part of Skyloft.

 

[Ghost_Protocol]

The first hour was not good at all. Boring ass tutorial, fetch questy shit and WALLS of text. Ugh. I know it'll get better but come on.

I felt that way in the beginning.....and after 5 hours I still feel the same. Fi still refuses to shut the fuck up, and the forest pre-dungeon/dungeon were boring as hell. If the game doesn't pick up sharply in the next hour/two hours, I'm done.

 

[DJ_Lae]

The first hour was not good at all. Boring ass tutorial, fetch questy shit and WALLS of text. Ugh. I know it'll get better but come on.

Yeah, I sat and played the first hour or two while my girlfriend watched. Half an hour in, she was fast asleep on the couch.

So far it's not as bad as TP's intro, but it's not that far off.

Game looks great for running at 480p, though.

 

[Frillen]

Spoiler

You just dive onto it from the ramp. Make sure you angle your fall as much as possible towards the Island. You'll JUST make it.

I'm sorry but what ramp are you talking about. Dive from the bird or from the island?

Edit: Figured it out. Thanks!

 

[GrotesqueBeauty]

I thought it was hilarious that we see speech bubbles for other characters but when Link has to explain himself he just makes hand signals like he's mute and people pretend they understand what he's saying

When my friend and I were playing yesterday we couldn't help blurting out imaginary monologues over Link's continual pantomiming.

 

[Jocchan]

I've got 30 or so gratitude crystals, so I like messing around there. I feel like I've ran out of things to do (or rather I'm not sure what else to do), so I've stopped going so much. I miss it a bit.

You didn't get many. There's a grand total of

Spoiler

80 crystals

in the game.

I don't want to try to get the derail the thread, but the first hour and 45 minutes really seemed like it could use voice acting. Just really awkward to see their mouths move with no sound and Link to talk with no text.

I had this impression for the first time while playing a Zelda game. It's probably due to the lips moving and no sound coming out.

 

[IceDoesntHelp]

POST 4th DUNGEON SPOILERS UP AHEAD

Spoiler

matey!

I can't help but have a big stupid smile on my face when

Spoiler

I drive the boat, feels like a mini Wind Waker

 

[TheExodu5]

After having played the game for 5 hours on Dolphin, nothing could prepare me for how bad it would look on Wii.

 

[Epic Tales of Penis]

Any word on whether Nintendo plans to release any more bundles or is that it?

 

[Jocchan]

That's not possible as the island is connected to Skyloft and if you try to land on it the game puts you into the loading screen (loading Skyloft) and you drop off on a different part of Skyloft.

Are you talking about a round island next to the waterfall in Skyloft? If so, you need a certain item you get between dungeons

Spoiler

4 and 5

.

 

[Medalion]

After having played the game for 5 hours on Dolphin, nothing could prepare me for how bad it would look on Wii.

I've never played the game on Dolphin but your screenshots in the Dolphin thread made me pretty dissapointed by teh graphics when I played on the Wii on my HDTV

 

[GrotesqueBeauty]

After having played the game for 5 hours on Dolphin, nothing could prepare me for how bad it would look on Wii.

The resolution/jaggies don't really bug me that much, but I must admit that the color banding is out of control, particularly in dark areas. At first I thought the GPU on my GF's Wii was fried or something.

 

[Jucksalbe]

Et tu, Nintendo? I just had my first freeze. 30 minutes of Lanayru lost.

 

[Guevara]

After having played the game for 5 hours on Dolphin, nothing could prepare me for how bad it would look on Wii.

It's a shame, it really looks terrible. I wish I kept my 70lb CRT just for this game.

 

[Hypatia]

Well Wind Waker's aesthetic is, to me, on a playing field all its own. It OWNED the Zelda aesthetic, its animation (particularly facial) is unmatched to this day in the franchise and it actually married the serious and light hearted in a near perfect harmony at the end. It was quite elegant, really. I think in regards to 'covering up its flaws', I think Wind Waker would have been near the perfect Zelda if they simply made it more difficult and added back in those two or so dungeons that they didn't have time to patch in. That's to me all that was missing (oh, and make it so you don't have to constantly change wind direction to change ship travel direction). Wind Waker, even back when it came out, instantly disarmed me with its brilliant artistic direction and stellar list of improvements to the Ocarina of Time gameplay formula, which to this day represents the best "mixture" of old and new. I still vastly prefer its combat to what we have in Skyward Sword and TP introduced some new problems, so WW is the right chord.

Skyward Sword has the best bosses in the franchise, however, and some of the music is top tier. And its art direction is a good compromise between the two classes of Zelda styles, but I prefer Wind Waker's.

The more subtle animation in character movements is definitely better in Skyward Sword, but I still think facial animation wise Wind Waker is king.

I'm constantly wavering between choosing WW and SS as my favourite in terms of aesthetic. WW definitely wins in regards to facial animation because of the extra amount of stylisation involved but I adore SS's paint filter and the constant texture detail.

In more general animation terms I find it even harder to decide; I've always felt like WW's characters are the most charming of any Zelda but all those extra touches SS has makes it hard to decide (I love how the item shop guy reacts to what you do). It's too bad that these little touches are wasted on otherwise empty characters.

I'm honestly not sure if I'd want more Wind Waker aesthetic in my Skyward Sword or more Skyward Sword aesthetic in my Wind Waker.

My list of actual gameplay issues with WW is a bit longer though; I prefer SS's larger, more open dungeons (as well as their internal variation) to WW's small-room-to-small-room thing.

And I love SS's blurring between overworld and dungeon. I do wish they'd gone even further with it (since I was imagining something like Ico when I first heard about it) but it's a huge improvement over WW in that regard.

I prefer the sailing in WW though. Even though flying in SS is a lot more involving I find the sky to be far less interesting to navigate. It could do with either being smaller or having more towns. Actually I'm surprised that SS manages to have less towns/islands than WW. It almost balances out since SS's sky is a lot smaller but yet, oddly, it still feels far more barren to me. Huge improvement over TP's overworld though.

Combat wise, yeah WW's my fave too. TP generally felt like a step backwards and while SS is a nice change it largely feels superfluous. It's like they've given depth to a combat system that needed breadth. Why not actual combos? Optional sword techniques you can find and upgrade? Hell they've got elemental enemies in SS, why not elemental sword techniques to counter them? Why not integrate Links new agility more into the combat?

I still think MM is the best in terms of story/characters/world building and side quests though. WW can't touch those aspects of MM and sadly SS is worse (especially since they removed day/night cycles and weather).

But yeah WW's being given a good run by SS as far as I'm concerned. I'm doubting it'll be able to top WW's ending though.

 

[ShockingAlberto]

It looks fine on both my 26-inch LCD and my 49-inch LCD, though obviously the distance I'm sitting at differs.

You can still tell it's a Wii game, but it doesn't look bad or anything.

 

[ace3skoot]

help please! how do i get forward momentum on a skydive, i'm doing a side quest in sky loft to get something for a baby and i keep falling short?

 

[TheExodu5]

Alright, well even though it looks way worse on Wii, it controls better. Stabs feel much, much better, even though the input lag is still kind of annoying.

When playing on Dolphin, if anything, the delay is very inconsistent, so it may be my Bluetooth adapter that sucks. Or it may just be the emulation which isn't that great for M+.

 

[GrotesqueBeauty]

It looks fine on both my 26-inch LCD and my 49-inch LCD, though obviously the difference I'm sitting at differs.

You can still tell it's a Wii game, but it doesn't look bad or anything.

You haven't noticed the intense color banding/artifacting in areas of shadow? Because I'm not not normally one to rail on the Wii's IQ (playing on a 34" CRT btw), but Skyward Sword has the most blatant dithering issues I've seen on the system. I'm really surprised given the amount of time and effort that went into the game, honestly.