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

Feep said:
I don't necessarily mean just "sidequests", I mean all optional content. The 50-level extra dungeon thing, the river rafting, the Magic Armor, the giant Quiver/Bomb Bags, the Poes, Giovanni, fishing (!!!!!!), and more. It actually had a fair bit.
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Thank you for reminding me about that memory. That shit was pretty awesome and it felt so good to get through it. That's the only sidequest I really enjoyed, the snowboarding and rafting were ok too.
 
jarosh said:
i'm curious, were you also less than thrilled with the motion combat, like me, feep?
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I thought it served its purpose well enough. It certainly doesn't feel much like swordfighting, at least the type we all naively envisioned when the Wii remote was first shown off. Because of the directional lock-off to only eight types of "swing", slashing the Wii remote might as well be a button press with a number attached to it: 1-8. There are very few combat situations that really go beyond "Okay, only directions 2, 4, 6, and 8 will damage this enemy," or, "Only directions 3 and 5 will damage this enemy." The Skyward Strike is kind of cool, but it's a little slow to feel perfectly natural (the game has to "lock" you in the correct position before the charging can begin).

I personally found the sword combat in Wind Waker to be superior, but it's still fun here. The motion controls worked best for me on my items (the bow especially) and my bird.
 
The empty sky is pretty disappointing, same with lack of sidequests. But I'm confused, as some reviewers oppose this while some agree.

I was reading Edge today and this quote from Miyamoto stuck out to me

"I know its strange for me to say this, but I can only describe this game as amazing. Over a hundred staff have been working on it for five years. It's the biggest game we've worked on to date." - Miyamoto

The biggest Nintendo game ever?
 
Mistle said:
The empty sky is pretty disappointing, same with lack of sidequests. But I'm confused, as some reviewers oppose this while some agree.

I was reading Edge today and this quote from Miyamoto stuck out to me

"I know its strange for me to say this, but I can only describe this game as amazing. Over a hundred staff have been working on it for five years. It's the biggest game we've worked on to date." - Miyamoto

The biggest Nintendo game ever?
Click to expand...

Yes Reggie said that too.
 
Feep said:
I don't really understand the "there's tons of exploration!" comments, as it was the primary negative focus of my review.

Every major area in the game (the three of them) are almost absolute corridors. Not corridors like Final Fantasy XIII, rather, but there is usually only one way to progress, period. You must follow the path and puzzle designs they set, or you cannot proceed. Couple exceptions here and there, but nothing major.
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Yes but, almost all 3d Zelda areas are like this. Death Mountain is a linear path up some falling rocks, Zora's Domain is a linear treck up a river, The Lost Woods, sans the semi multi path lost woods part is a straight path through the forest. I mean its always been like this. It seems like the illusion of freedom gave you a sense that this wasn't always this way but its always been this way.
 
Mistle said:
The empty sky is pretty disappointing, same with lack of sidequests. But I'm confused, as some reviewers oppose this while some agree.

I was reading Edge today and this quote from Miyamoto stuck out to me

"I know its strange for me to say this, but I can only describe this game as amazing. Over a hundred staff have been working on it for five years. It's the biggest game we've worked on to date." - Miyamoto

The biggest Nintendo game ever?
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Weren't over two-hundred people involved in Brawl's development? The credits in that game were absurdly long.

It might be EAD's biggest game nevertheless.
 
Dr.Hadji said:
Yes but, almost all 3d Zelda areas are like this. Death Mountain is a linear path up some falling rocks, Zora's Domain is a linear treck up a river, The Lost Woods, sans the semi multi path lost woods part is a straight path through the forest. I mean its always been like this. It seems like the illusion of freedom gave you a sense that this wasn't always this way but its always been this way.
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Absolutely, but there was a world connecting them, with free open fields, and sidequests, and optional areas to explore besides the direct linear lead-up to the dungeon. In Skyward Sword, you simply warp to the direct linear lead-up, and there is nothing else. Because of this, the illusion of freedom simply doesn't work as well. It's much more noticeable to the average player.
 
Feep said:
I personally found the sword combat in Wind Waker to be superior, but it's still fun here. The motion controls worked best for me on my items (the bow especially) and my bird.
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Really? I haven't played SS yet, but WW was pretty much the genesis of Nintendo's "press A to win" design philosophy. Constant button prompts do not a good combat system make. On the other hand, the combat system was one of the few things I unabashedly liked in TP. Too bad very few enemies required calling on all the cool abilities you learned.
 
Mistle said:
The empty sky is pretty disappointing, same with lack of sidequests. But I'm confused, as some reviewers oppose this while some agree.

I was reading Edge today and this quote from Miyamoto stuck out to me

"I know its strange for me to say this, but I can only describe this game as amazing. Over a hundred staff have been working on it for five years. It's the biggest game we've worked on to date." - Miyamoto

The biggest Nintendo game ever?
Click to expand...

Wow, i never read a quote like that from the man himself. I don't think he gets that strange feeling very often lol.

And yea, all these opposing views are really confusing but make it clear that the game has to be experienced first-hand.
 
Dr.Hadji said:
Yes but, almost all 3d Zelda areas are like this. Death Mountain is a linear path up some falling rocks, Zora's Domain is a linear treck up a river, The Lost Woods, sans the semi multi path lost woods part is a straight path through the forest. I mean its always been like this. It seems like the illusion of freedom gave you a sense that this wasn't always this way but its always been this way.
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Other than the original game, Wind Waker was the game with the most freedom in that regard. And even then it took a while to get total freedom to go anywhere on the sea.
 
GamerSoul said:
And yea, all these opposing views are really confusing but make it cear that the game has to be experienced first-hand.
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No doubt. I mean, the Zelda games contain so many elements of gameplay...puzzle solving, combat, exploration...and most gamers tend to focus on one of those elements in particular as reason why they love the series so much. It's impossible to find a group of Zelda fans who can agree on which 3-D Zelda they love the most, because they each excel in different areas, and people appreciate different things.

But like Jarosh said, these negatives aren't nearly enough to make the game, you know, not really fun. I had a blast, I really did. Everyone's going to have a great time.
 
Feep said:
I thought it served its purpose well enough. It certainly doesn't feel much like swordfighting, at least the type we all naively envisioned when the Wii remote was first shown off. Because of the directional lock-off to only eight types of "swing", slashing the Wii remote might as well be a button press with a number attached to it: 1-8. There are very few combat situations that really go beyond "Okay, only directions 2, 4, 6, and 8 will damage this enemy," or, "Only directions 3 and 5 will damage this enemy." The Skyward Strike is kind of cool, but it's a little slow to feel perfectly natural (the game has to "lock" you in the correct position before the charging can begin).

I personally found the sword combat in Wind Waker to be superior, but it's still fun here. The motion controls worked best for me on my items (the bow especially) and my bird.
Click to expand...
yeah, i feel the exact same way about the motion controls. feels and works great on all the items and the bird, but on the sword it feels kinda meh and isn't "revolutionary" or mindblowing in any way. and i believe that has mostly to do with how the enemy encounters haven't changed at all since wind waker. they should have tailored the combat to the newly gained precision. but there's nothing very strategic or methodical about how you deal with most of the common enemies, especially when they appear in groups. they all just corner you mindlessly and aggressively and there's little point in trying to tackle them slowly and methodically, one by one.


Dr.Hadji said:
Yes but, almost all 3d Zelda areas are like this. Death Mountain is a linear path up some falling rocks, Zora's Domain is a linear treck up a river, The Lost Woods, sans the semi multi path lost woods part is a straight path through the forest. I mean its always been like this. It seems like the illusion of freedom gave you a sense that this wasn't always this way but its always been this way.
Click to expand...
have you played skyward sword? "boxy" and "constricted" are other words that come to mind when thinking of some of the pre-dungeon areas. i wouldn't even describe most of oots (usually much smaller) areas that way. and it doesn't help that the different areas in ss are so fractured and there's no real hub connecting them.
 
Heh, another poster on a messageboard I frequent has the game. (Holland)

Apparently Game Mania was a bit too fast in that respect.
 
Sinoox said:
http://www.gametrailers.com/video/episode-185-invisible-walls/723938

So any of you listen to the most recent Invisible Walls on GT? They talk about Skyward Sword and Shane berates the game. I'm thinking his controller is broken or he simply doesn't know how to play the game, there is no 20% of malfunctioning for me. The motion plus always works for me, only issue I have is with the pointer, Nintendo chose to leave it all up the motion plus instead of the sensor bar so it can sometimes get in the way but if you press down on the directional button is fixes it.

Then they go on about how it's more of the same; where were they when Twilight Princess came out? If they wanted to complain about the Zelda formula feeling old they're about five years late. A lot of their gripes I can't relate with at all, and I'd even go as far to say that a lot of the things they're talking about is untrue. This is a big leap in terms of design for Zelda, it's not the same at all. And the actual dousing segments don't amount anywhere near the boredom level of collecting bugs in Twilight Princess; yet I never heard anything about that from them. Dousing segments are just a means to lead you to puzzles, that's all I've seen so far and I just finished the third temple.
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More of the same ? really?? what about Skyrim did they said it was also more of the same???because it certainly looks like it with better graphics...
 
Branduil said:
Other than the original game, Wind Waker was the game with the most freedom in that regard. And even then it took a while to get total freedom to go anywhere on the sea.
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the original game...and Zelda 2...

And lol at the battle system being worse than WW, that's pretty much the worse game in that regard in all the serie....yep even worse than the DS games.
 
Mael said:
the original game...and Zelda 2...

And lol at the battle system being worse than WW, that's pretty much the worse game in that regard in all the serie....yep even worse than the DS games.
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Zelda 2 was somewhat linear from what I played, your path was blocked off at certain points.
 
Branduil said:
Zelda 2 was somewhat linear from what I played, your path was blocked off at certain points.
Click to expand...

Well the same goes for WW really, when you finally get the Wind's waker you can go anywhere....and do jackshit in the places because you didn't have the tools to explore the islands anyway.
At this rate Zelda 3 and LA offer more interesting exploration than the boring great sea.
Let's hope SS is better than that.
 
Mistle said:
I was reading Edge today and this quote from Miyamoto stuck out to me

"I know its strange for me to say this, but I can only describe this game as amazing. Over a hundred staff have been working on it for five years. It's the biggest game we've worked on to date." - Miyamoto

The biggest Nintendo game ever?
Click to expand...
Don't buy that. Miyamoto is just trying to sell the game as a huge five-year project. But it began development in mid-2007 at the earliest. Considering that the story wasn't even finished in mid-2009, I just don't believe that they started on it as soon as Twilight Princess was finished. Especially since Fujibayashi – who did the Skyward Sword concept – was occupied with writing and co-directing Phantom Hourglass.
 
Prime Blue said:
Don't buy that. Miyamoto is just trying to sell the game as a huge five-year project. But it began development in mid-2007 at the earliest. Considering that the story wasn't even finished in mid-2009, I just don't believe that they started on it as soon as Twilight Princess was finished. Especially since Fujibayashi – who did the Skyward Sword concept – was occupied with writing and co-directing Phantom Hourglass.
Click to expand...
I guess he just counts the very VERY beginning, where there were probably just scribbles of ideas and really nothing substantial. It's all part of the process I guess, but debatable whether or not it should be included as "development time".

I don't read the quote in such a literal sense though. To me he is just trying to say that's it's a huge, amazing game. I mean, of course he is going to say that, but he sounds legitimately enthused and passionate. That quote is from the pre-TGS event, but he also seemed very proud of the game at E3. More so than previous Zelda games.
 
Prime Blue said:
Don't buy that. Miyamoto is just trying to sell the game as a huge five-year project. But it began development in mid-2007 at the earliest. Considering that the story wasn't even finished in mid-2009, I just don't believe that they started on it as soon as Twilight Princess was finished. Especially since Fujibayashi – who did the Skyward Sword concept – was occupied with writing and co-directing Phantom Hourglass.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I agree on that. I remember some interviews stating the game wasn't in development till Fall 2007.
 
Sadist said:
Heh, another poster on a messageboard I frequent has the game. (Holland)

Apparently Game Mania was a bit too fast in that respect.
Click to expand...


Hmmm, got my copy preordered there, im gonna check after work stat!
 
Sadist said:
Heh, another poster on a messageboard I frequent has the game. (Holland)

Apparently Game Mania was a bit too fast in that respect.
Click to expand...
That's bullshit. I work there and we don't even have the game in. We don't even get deliveries on monday, so he's lying.
 
Prime Blue said:
Don't buy that. Miyamoto is just trying to sell the game as a huge five-year project. But it began development in mid-2007 at the earliest. Considering that the story wasn't even finished in mid-2009, I just don't believe that they started on it as soon as Twilight Princess was finished. Especially since Fujibayashi – who did the Skyward Sword concept – was occupied with writing and co-directing Phantom Hourglass.
Click to expand...

Who gives a shit when development started? If Miyamoto says its the culmination of a 5 year project or 10 or even 20 years it makes not a single difference.

Unless you have some inside info you are no position to say when and where it started...for Miyamoto SS could have started development when he drew on a napkin or was taking a shit.
 
The OP isn't updated :( What did Gamespot and Gametrailers give the game?
 
butter_stick said:
Yeah, I don't get why either. I found very reliable in TP when in first person mode. I don't see how SS can be as good.
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Call me a liar, but first time I used bow, what I literally told to myself: 'OK, so that was the slingshot which used M+ and bow is the IR'

It's really accurate. Well, having already played Sports Resort, I should have expected that
 
butter_stick said:
I hope so. Just playing the demo of SS, I found moving around the main menu with the M+ to be kinda slow and sluggish compared to the IR.
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I think that's due to the design. Like the pointer in the main menu which is as if you are moving it in a honey jar, although that is IR and not motion
 
plank said:
Wow the game doesn't use the IR? I there a reason for this? its all WM+?
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Yes, and I actually prefer this over IR for one reason.
You can perfectly aim at the edge of your TV without any problems whatsoever while the IR would lose contact sometimes when doing so.
 
So what does everyone think about Gamespot not having posted their review yet? Could the possibly be talking to Nintendo about the score maybe?
 
I just saw the clip of Jimmy Fallon playing Zelda. Glad to see the game punished him for playing so badly, seriously, he wiggles that shit like a retarded monkey and they give him free (worth 400+$) Zelda statues. :/

Also glad to hear the game is getting great reviews, sent in my order for the game during the weekend.
 
Ugh. First I hear it has a lot of side quests, then I hear it has less then TP? Which is it? I mean, I read somewhere that the side quests give you points, in turn you can use for things. Are there really not that many explorable islands in the sky? Is there not a many level cave of ordeals or anything?
 
Sinoox said:
http://www.gametrailers.com/video/episode-185-invisible-walls/723938

So any of you listen to the most recent Invisible Walls on GT? They talk about Skyward Sword and Shane berates the game. I'm thinking his controller is broken or he simply doesn't know how to play the game, there is no 20% of malfunctioning for me. The motion plus always works for me, only issue I have is with the pointer, Nintendo chose to leave it all up the motion plus instead of the sensor bar so it can sometimes get in the way but if you press down on the directional button is fixes it.

Then they go on about how it's more of the same; where were they when Twilight Princess came out? If they wanted to complain about the Zelda formula feeling old they're about five years late. A lot of their gripes I can't relate with at all, and I'd even go as far to say that a lot of the things they're talking about is untrue. This is a big leap in terms of design for Zelda, it's not the same at all. And the actual dousing segments don't amount anywhere near the boredom level of collecting bugs in Twilight Princess; yet I never heard anything about that from them. Dousing segments are just a means to lead you to puzzles, that's all I've seen so far and I just finished the third temple.
Click to expand...

After watching this I am absolutly sure that he wanted to give it a much lower score than 9.1, but som editor stepped in.
 
Sinoox said:
http://www.gametrailers.com/video/episode-185-invisible-walls/723938

So any of you listen to the most recent Invisible Walls on GT? They talk about Skyward Sword and Shane berates the game. I'm thinking his controller is broken or he simply doesn't know how to play the game, there is no 20% of malfunctioning for me. The motion plus always works for me, only issue I have is with the pointer, Nintendo chose to leave it all up the motion plus instead of the sensor bar so it can sometimes get in the way but if you press down on the directional button is fixes it.

Then they go on about how it's more of the same; where were they when Twilight Princess came out? If they wanted to complain about the Zelda formula feeling old they're about five years late. A lot of their gripes I can't relate with at all, and I'd even go as far to say that a lot of the things they're talking about is untrue. This is a big leap in terms of design for Zelda, it's not the same at all. And the actual dousing segments don't amount anywhere near the boredom level of collecting bugs in Twilight Princess; yet I never heard anything about that from them. Dousing segments are just a means to lead you to puzzles, that's all I've seen so far and I just finished the third temple.
Click to expand...

Shane always criticizes games for the very reasons people love them.
 
butter_stick said:
I hope so. Just playing the demo of SS, I found moving around the main menu with the M+ to be kinda slow and sluggish compared to the IR.
Click to expand...
Yep, really didn't like how that felt.
 
Just saw the Gametrailers review and it made no sense whatsoever. I really thought they were going to give the game something below an 8, however it got a 9.1. It's funny that they say it has bad dungeons yet they are still the best in the series. Also, I would've liked them to elaborate on how gaming has come a long way, I've been waiting forever for a game with real 1 to 1 swordplay (which I hope Skyward Sword really has) so if that's not moving forward I'd like to know what is...

It really made it seem like they did not let the reviewer really give the score he wanted.
 
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