Skyward Sword review thread [Newest Reviews - Cubed3 10/10, GC: A, AusGamers: 7/10]

Caelus said:
And I daresay it looks much better than blurry and drab TP, which is a pain to look at on my TV- even OoT and MM look better. Too bad.

TP is the worst. Terrible design choice given the platform.

If only we didn't have HD tv's.
 
Crunched said:
I see that now. Misread "the game could make it not be able to work until some fixes go through." Thought it said, "the game could not be able to work..."
Yup, no prob. About compatibility, I think that graphically speaking we can expect some issues from using a cell-shaded approach, just like the issues with Wind Waker, and problems with the orchestrated music (which in theory should be solved used the LLE audio backend).
 
timetokill said:
https://twitter.com/#!/cwgabriel/status/133277872780619776

KW1oI.png

!!!!!!!!
 
oatmeal said:
Indeed.

I think when we look back in 5 or so years, TWW will continue to look the best from this decade. It's timeless.
It's WW and Okami for me. This gen's lookers have been Donkey Kong Country Returns, El Shaddai, that Miyazaki-looking Level 5 game, and hopefully Skyward Sword.

Smart art design trumps technical prowess nearly every time for me. Okami is still my favorite looking game.
 
Neiteio said:
I think the pink Quagsire guy was confused because TP was also on Wii. But your point is TP was designed for GCN, which was last-gen tech, and SS still looks like TP (albeit with soft toon-like shading), which is true. And yeah, it's ironic both games look duller than TWW, which was practically swelling with life.
WUT!?
Sorry...uhh are we looking at different games here...or?
 
IceDoesntHelp said:
WUT!?
Sorry...uhh are we looking at different games here...or?

I played SS videos on the Nintendo Channel, and when streamed at low video quality it still manages to look 100X better than TP. It's on the same level of TWW, but I like SS slightly more because the character designs remind me of ALttP artwork.
 
Caelus said:
I played SS videos on the Nintendo Channel, and when streamed at low video quality it still manages to look 100X better than TP. It's on the same level of TWW, but I like SS slightly more because the character designs remind me of ALttP artwork.
Yeah, I love the way it reminds me of aLttP art.

My ideal Link would be one with the brown shirt and items like this guy, but updated to a modern look
(with pants)
:

 
Neiteio said:
Skydiving through portals to access a fire world, forest world, desert world, etc, feels like jumping through paintings in Mario 64. I think some people are saying they would be more excited if there was at least an illusion of connective tissue, I.E. desert sage transitioning to pine, etc, to make the world feel like a cohesive whole rather than splintered levels you explore on a smaller scale. Yes, functionally it's the same as any other Zelda game, but it's just the presentation of clouds --> forest --> clouds --> fire feels more jarring. Just my take on what some are saying.

I think its fine, though Metroid-esque short cuts between the areas might have been nice.
 
IceDoesntHelp said:
WUT!?
Sorry...uhh are we looking at different games here...or?
It's OK. I can see how you think SS looks different, but can't you see how one can also tell, at a glance, that they're cut from the same cloth? The proportions, the character models, etc, all look more similar than they do different. That's not a good/bad thing, it just is what it is. To me, SS looks more pastel-colored, with more charming/attractive characters (dat Zelda), but all in all it looks like TP. And actually, I'd say that based on what we've seen, TP is graphically prettier in some respects. For example, I haven't seen any SS dungeons yet that have the same beauty as Goron Mines or Snowpeak Ruins (but then again, I'm smitten with particle effects, which those two were full of). To each his/her own, I guess. Neither holds a candle to TWW. :)

Though if you ask me, the ultimate Zelda game would be cel-shaded to look like the promo art for MM, which was full of dark contrasts. Sort of like MvC3's cutscenes, now that I think of it.
 
IceDoesntHelp said:
WUT!?
Sorry...uhh are we looking at different games here...or?

It still looks like it's hampered by low tech.

A lot of shitty textures, mixed in with some really cool ideas (watercolor blurring, etc.)

It's a different art style, but it still looks very limited. Super Mario Galaxy 1&2 (different game, I know) looks much cleaner and better.
 
oatmeal said:
It's a different art style, but it still looks very limited. Super Mario Galaxy 1&2 (different game, I know) looks much cleaner and better.

They have less stuff going on screen.
 
Neiteio said:
It's OK. I can see how you think SS looks different, but can't you see how one can also tell, at a glance, that they're cut from the same cloth? The proportions, the character models, etc, all look more similar than they do different. That's not a good/bad thing, it just is what it is. To me, SS looks more pastel-colored, with more charming/attractive characters (dat Zelda), but all in all it looks like TP. And actually, I'd say that based on what we've seen, TP is graphically prettier in some respects. For example, I haven't seen any SS dungeons yet that have the same beauty as Goron Mines or Snowpeak Ruins (but then again, I'm smitten with particle effects, which those two were full of). To each his/her own, I guess. :)
The problem with TP, outside of the weird character models, was that its art design was not held up by its muddy textures. It could look great at times, but often was a blurry, Earth-toned mess.
 
Diprosalic, that avatar is awesome. Do you have a full-sized pic of the shoebill-turned-Loftwing?

And Crunched, I agree, but the two dungeons I cited were, imo, very beautiful in TP.
 
I will say I'm sad this game doesn't support 720p. Sad because component cables don't make much difference in my experience, and I want good games to look good on modern tech. :( Thankfully, I have an SDTV handy, but it would be nice to play it on an HDTV so I can have the wide screen.

I don't know how this Dolphin business works (is it even legal?), but would certainly be interested to try it if it meant SS playing at modern resolutions.
 
In regards to expansive overworld, please keep those Bethesda type deals out of my games.

There's a little something I'm very fond of in my videogames, something called design.
 
Neiteio said:
I will say I'm sad this game doesn't support 720p. Sad because component cables don't make much difference in my experience, and I want good games to look good on modern tech. :( Thankfully, I have an SDTV handy, but it would be nice to play it on an HDTV so I can have the wide screen.

I don't know how this Dolphin business works (is it even legal?), but would certainly be interested to try it if it meant SS playing at modern resolutions.
I don't know if it depends on TV, but with component most of the games look 'crisp' on my Sony LCD, though I just need to change default settings a bit, like totally turning off noise reduction, but then it looks really clear, no need for an SDTV at all
 
I'm being honest here, I don't think that SS's design is very creative. From what I've Seen so far I also don't think that the watercolor design works very well. It's pretty subtle and not outstanding.

However, I think that skzwards design is brilliant. It's the way zelda is supposed to look. It's the perfect combination of the realistic style of OoT and the colorful 2D style seen in ALttP. It's perfect and I wish that skyward won't be the only Zelda that uses this gorgeous style which fits in a IMO natural way to the franchise.
 
Neiteio said:
I will say I'm sad this game doesn't support 720p. Sad because component cables don't make much difference in my experience, and I want good games to look good on modern tech. :( Thankfully, I have an SDTV handy, but it would be nice to play it on an HDTV so I can have the wide screen.

I don't know how this Dolphin business works (is it even legal?), but would certainly be interested to try it if it meant SS playing at modern resolutions.
It's legal provided you rip your own games, but that's very easy to do following instructions in the Dolphin/homebrew threads.

It helps a lot. TP runs full speed for me, and looks like this:

 
Neiteio said:
I don't know how this Dolphin business works (is it even legal?), but would certainly be interested to try it if it meant SS playing at modern resolutions.
Yes, nothing wrong with emulators as long as you own the game. And yes, The differences are pretty much mind-blowing.

Zelda%20WW%2033.jpg


EDIT - bah, beaten.
 
BY2K said:
I wonder what those low points are.

That it eventually has to end is a low point. The fact that you have to stop playing to go to work, eat, and sleep could be a low point.

Really though there's no way to know right now. Since no one else is saying anything about low points it's hard to say whether these low points are actual problems or just things he doesn't like. Maybe he doesn't like some of the backtracking.
 
walking fiend said:
I don't know if it depends on TV, but with component most of the games look 'crisp' on my Sony LCD, though I just need to change default settings a bit, like totally turning off noise reduction, but then it looks really clear, no need for an SDTV at all

Could you provide your settings?
 
I can't even comprehend this nonsense about SS looking worse or as good as TP. Absolute balderdash.
Anyways the reviews seem to be rolling in a lot quicker. So I'm gonna get out before the spoilers start rolling in as well.
 
wrowa said:
I'm being honest here, I don't think that SS's design is very creative. From what I've Seen so far I also don't think that the watercolor design works very well. It's pretty subtle and not outstanding.

However, I think that skzwards design is brilliant. It's the way zelda is supposed to look. It's the perfect combination of the realistic style of OoT and the colorful 2D style seen in ALttP. It's perfect and I wish that skyward won't be the only Zelda that uses this gorgeous style which fits in a IMO natural way to the franchise.

what in the what
 
Crunched said:
It helps a lot. TP runs full speed for me, and looks like this:
Good stealth edit =p
Though I would say that the realistic look that Nintendo tried with TP doesn't really shows how much of an improvement we can get. Imagine WW with a more mature tone and tailor made for the Wii, running on Dolphin... Jesus.
 
felipepl said:
Good stealth edit =p
Though I would say that the realistic look that Nintendo tried with TP doesn't really shows how much of an improvement we can get. Imagine WW with a more mature tone and tailor made for the Wii, running on Dolphin... Jesus.
I thought the first shot looked alright, but the HUD is bothersome and the ground texture is just terrible in the starting area.

Here's one from combat, and a Wind Waker shot with a hi res HUD pack:





That'll be it from me. But hopefully it pushes those who can take advantage of Dolphin to really see what it has to offer.
 
Dascu said:
If there were others, we'd probably have seen them by now.

Zant was revealed like two weeks before TP came out. Not entirely uncertain they're still holding some of the bad guys back.
 
Read the Edge review (got the mag a few days ago) and, even though a lot of it went over my head, the basic gist I got was that the Motion+ really brings a new experience. They also seemed to suggest the formula has been shaken up quite a lot, which helps.
 
DeathbyVolcano said:
what in the what
It's a mistake to assume that something has to be creative in order to be brilliant. Skyward looks great despite being more or less just a combination of the two most popular styles of the series - and while combining something might mIght not be very creative, the result is striking despite that. Because to my mine the combination makes it look like the quintessence of Zelda graphics.
 
Jocchan said:
What's the ETA for the OT? The game is out in 12 days here in Europe :p

The new rule is 7 days maximum before the game's release. So I would guess probably in five days, although you'd have to ask Ami.

That reminds me, I need to do those headers. >.>
 
Curious which embargos go up when in general for the holiday.

I imagine we won't see diddly on Revelations due to the franchise's past reviews until the day it's out or the day before. Sounds like Skyrim is early this week along with Skyward Sword and maybe Saint's Row. Some clarification would be great though.
 
Andrex said:
The new rule is 7 days maximum before the game's release. So I would guess probably in five days, although you'd have to ask Ami.
Thanks, I wasn't aware of the lower day count.
 
Top Bottom