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[Ezquimacore]

Ok so I heard a lot of stuff about Skyward Sword's linearity, how it was not open world like Twilight Princess and that's true, although twilight princess is linear as f too when it comes to the story (which is not a bad thing) and a weak aspect of twilight princess is the side missions, there's nothing to do in the "open world"
I was thinking Skyward Sword was some sort of "zelda mario" game where you don't have any freedom and there's nothing to do, only the main quest. Man people really like to exaggerate shit... here we go.

So I did the intro and finished my first dungeon first of all, yeah the first area was lineal but the whole thing feels like a dungeon before a dungeon, so I guess that's what people don't like, the fact that everything is a big puzzle instead of riding epona with some epic fanfare. While I do agree that's lovely, after breath of the wild (which I love) I appreciate the different approach of this game.

first area.

Ok so I was ready to continue the linearity but I was wrong...

this is my experience with the game after the first dungeon

1. I was scolded for trespassing, a first for a zelda game.

2. I found this baby girl and she needed help with her bird because she doesn't know how to properly ride the thing and almost kills the poor bird.

3. I was scolded by this captain righteous asshole because bitch I want my money.

4. But then I found out he has his mom living in a dirty house all alone, he's trash.

5. Then I ruined this woman's life.

6. Of course, Link has a Demon friend.

7. Then I helped this weak ass

Shrines are cool and everything but I feel breath of the wild needed more of this, this is zelda stuff. So yeah, while the game is "lineal" there's stuff to do in between and more freedom than I expected.

 

[Corgi1985]

Nothing wrong with linearity.

There is something wrong with being an insultingly easy hand holding boring piece of garbage, which is what skyward bored is.

 

[Ezquimacore]

Nothing wrong with linearity.

There is something wrong with being an insultingly easy hand holding boring piece of garbage, which is what skyward bored is.

another exaggeration, Fi says some shit that you can easily ignore and keep playing the game, the first dungeon of this game was more challenging, interesting and better "zelda dungeon experience" than every shrine and divine beast on breath of the wild.

 

[ArtemisClydeFrog]

Nothing wrong with linearity.

There is something wrong with being an insultingly easy hand holding boring piece of garbage, which is what skyward bored is.

Oh, you typed "skyward bored" because OP was talking about Skyward Sword, but you find the game boring so you replaced the word "sword" with "bored" because it rhymes but also expresses how you feel about the subject. That's deep bro.

Most Zelda games haven't been super hard so I for one am excited to try this one for the first time.

 

[jigglet]

another exaggeration, Fi says some shit that you can easily ignore and keep playing the game

I'm one of the few that really enjoyed SS and will defend almost all of it, but come on, I don't think Fi's harassment is exaggerated at all.

She reminds you about what rupees are literally on each reboot. And her other tips are incessant as fuck. She teaches you basic things you should have learned in the first 30 mins when you're 40 hours into the game. It really is as bad as everyone says.

 

[Vagswarm]

I played it (to completion) when it was released, and didn't think it was that bad at all. The only thing I really disliked was the flying. Was pretty surprised by all of the backlash, but people complain about anything it seems. Likely there's some bandwagoning going on with that as well.

 

[Ikutachi]

She reminds you about what rupees are literally on each reboot.

That's a leftover from Twilight Princess.

 

[Ezquimacore]

I'm one of the few that really enjoyed SS and will defend almost all of it, but come on, I don't think Fi's harassment is exaggerated at all.

She reminds you about what rupees are literally on each reboot. And her other tips are incessant as fuck. She teaches you basic things you should have learned in the first 30 mins when you're 40 hours into the game. It really is as bad as everyone says.

That's not Fi tho, that's the game's item management, they fixed that on the new version. And her hints are basically "I think we should go there" I press A 3 or 4 times and keep playing, and her hints are optional on the hd version. imo Navi and the owl on ocarina of time were more annoying. Seems like the game was victim of a bad timing because people were expecting something like breath of the wild at the time. However, playing it after breath of the wild you can appreciate the many great things the game has to offer. Doing the second dungeon, so fucking good... the music too!

 

[jigglet]

they fixed that on the new version.

Are you speculating or do you actually know? Because Fi honestly annoyed me enough to not want to play it through again despite loving my first play through.

EDIT: actually the reboot thing is only one of her many issues. I hope there is an option to turn her off completely.

 

[Ezquimacore]

Are you speculating or do you actually know? Because Fi honestly annoyed me enough to not want to play it through again despite loving my first play through.

EDIT: actually the reboot thing is only one of her many issues. I hope there is an option to turn her off completely.

 

[Belmonte]

I love Skyward Sword. One of my favorite Zeldas.

It is more linear than any of them, which was a sin for many fans since they were thirsty for an open world Zelda. A Link between Worlds and Breath of Wild great reception were an indication of this. But I don't care. Skyward Sword is a very charming, well thought game in its linearity, something like "Metroid in wide spaces" which works very well.

Love all the characters and the ending was rewarding. Great game, deserving to be the first one in Zelda chronology.

I didn't read any Fi tips to not spoil the experience.

 

[jigglet]

Oh! And it has skippable cut scenes!!! And fast text!!!!!!! One thing I'm still worried about is the noise it made in that trailer when Fi has something to say. Sure it's optional but it's not really optional if it still makes an annoying "ping" sound you're forced to hear. Is that just a trailer effect that won't be in the game? Surely it must be?

 

[rubhen925]

Only issue i had with the game was the crappy motion controls. Stopped playing it after the first dungeon on the Wii.

 

[royox]

OP come back to this thread after you visited every area 3 times with diferent "dungeon before dungeon" themes.

Or after fighting the same.fucking.boss 5 times.

 

[vaibhavpisal]

OP your screen captures look gorgeous!!

 

[I Love Rock 'n' Roll]

It's not linear, it's trash!

It's fucking ugly in 2021 (why was the art style toned down, it was beautiful! Why should Nintendo care about gamers who never went to a museum and are 100% clueless about painting!) , and I guess the story is still one of the worst ever written.

The fucking story is worse than the controls in the Wii version. The rest was ok.

 

[RoadHazard]

All of your examples are from Skyloft, which is the only place where you're free to explore a bit and do some side stuff. And it runs dry really quick. The Sky is very small and has only a few minor things to find by exploring. That was super disappointing for me, I was hoping for something like the Great Sea but in the sky. It's very far from that.

Then the rest of the game IS very linear, with you just visiting the same three levels on the ground a few times each in a set order. And they do feel like separate levels rather than different parts of the same world - you can't go from one to the other, you're always entering one of them from the sky. There's no exploration, no freedom, only puzzles. They tried to get away from dungeons being this separate thing from the overworld by making EVERYTHING a dungeon, and they took it too far. A Zelda game without exploration is just not right. I was SO happy that they went in the very opposite direction with BotW.

(Despite all of that, I actually did enjoy SS back when it was first released. But it's a type of Zelda game I never want to see again.)

 

[DGrayson]

I think this was a solid game. But I dont have any desire to play it again.

The backtracking / replaying the same areas was the worst part, the rest was fine IMO.

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

Twilight Princess is open world? WTF?

 

[Spukc]

I think this was a solid game. But I dont have any desire to play it again.

The backtracking / replaying the same areas was the worst part, the rest was fine IMO.

Skyward sword is even worse.
When you go play the intro of that game..

after having spend 400 hours in botw..

the amount of handholding is insane

 

[Touch fuzZy. get BizZay]

Damn, those screens...It actually looks really pretty in HD. Those weird character designs are awesome.

Still not gonna play it again tho

 

[Kev Kev]

i liked it. it had all the zelda things and it was fun to play and figure out the puzzles... but it just felt like a by the numbers zelda game. i didnt feel like i was going on an adventure or doing anything really epic or heroic. it was like filling in a coloring book.

 

[Mato]

I had a great time with it when it came out. Granted, I haven't played it for a long time and perhaps a second play-through might change my mind. I think people wanted something more akin to BOTW, hence they where disappointed. But SS is still good for what it is.

 

[Yoshi]

OP come back to this thread after you visited every area 3 times with diferent "dungeon before dungeon" themes.

I found that aspect absolutely amazing and it was really astonishing how they managed to make such a dense world and still offer a completely different puzzle experience on a repeat visit. That last visit to the volcano area as one of the most impressive pieces of work in all of gaming imo.

I love Skyward Sword, it is my favourite Zelda and it is a shame that walking through enormous empty fields is what people seem to want from Zelda instead.

 

[DeviousAngel]

I think the QoL improvements made as well as traditional button controls will go a long way to improve the overall approval rating for this game. The core experience is actually quite solid.

 

[Kuranghi]

Are the screenshots from an emulator?

 

[brian0057]

Unironically, I enjoyed Skyward Sword a lot more than Twilight Princess.
Beat it several times and loved every minute of it.
The time changing on the ship in the desert is probably my favorite Zelda dungeon ever made.

 

[rabbity-thing]

Except for Breath of the Wild (and a little bit in Link Between Worlds), all Zelda games are fairly linear. There is a set order to do things in and gatekeeping is usually done via the items you collect being necessary to access new areas. At no time during my playthrough of Skyward Sword did I ever think, "Oh man, this is so linear and unlike a traditional Zelda game."

 

[Kuranghi]

Unironically, I enjoyed Skyward Sword a lot more than Twilight Princess.
Beat it several times and loved every minute of it.
The time changing on the ship in the desert is probably my favorite Zelda dungeon ever made.

Yeah I loved turning the enemies to bones just before they got to you, the bit with the boat looks so visually unique as well. The robo-boss is so crazy as well, kinda nightmare fuel ha.

 

[Ezquimacore]

Are the screenshots from an emulator?

Yes Dolphin emulator

 

[Neff]

It's non-linear in that you unlock shortcuts to allow more convenient travel, just like Zelda. There are paths which split, numerous sidequests, and obstacles you'll want to return to later with new gear so you can progress, just like Zelda.

The biggest thing differentiating Skyward Sword from traditional Zeldas (besides the dedicated motion controls) is that the 'overworld' adheres to gated, dungeon-like design, and like OP I found it refreshing.

insultingly easy

Don't ever play Wind Waker or Twilight Princess bro

 

[ResurrectedContrarian]

The "between dungeon" sections were an enormous improvement over Twilight Princess, IMO. If you're not going full open-world like BOTW, having open fields with a few enemies is simply boring, and these dungeon-like outdoor traversal areas are much more engaging than anything in the overworld of TP.

 

[Scotty W]

Nothing wrong with linearity.

There is something wrong with being an insultingly easy hand holding boring piece of garbage, which is what skyward bored is.

It’s not actually boring, it’s just your brain telling you it is.

 

[jigglet]

Now that I’ve seen the quality of life improvements I’m pretty excited.

The only other thing I was hoping to see was the removal of that huge blob boss in the spiral / cylindrical area. It was boring, ugly and uninspired so who thought it was a good idea to have us fight him THREE times? Once was a chore. But three times was taking the piss.

 

[Astral Dog]

Oh, you typed "skyward bored" because OP was talking about Skyward Sword, but you find the game boring so you replaced the word "sword" with "bored" because it rhymes but also expresses how you feel about the subject. That's deep bro.

Most Zelda games haven't been super hard so I for one am excited to try this one for the first time.

Honestly, Skyward Sword was not that easy, there is a learning curve with the motion controls, it was definetly the hardest 3D Zelda since Majoras Mask when it released

 

[dave_d]

I think the QoL improvements made as well as traditional button controls will go a long way to improve the overall approval rating for this game. The core experience is actually quite solid.

I'm just wondering how well controlling the sword via the right thumb stick will work. My guess is probably fairly well. My main complaints about the game were the motion control and too many of those segments in the other world. (There were 4 of them I think, the last one was just one too many.) FWIW I'm playing Twilight Princess HD now and think Skyward Sword was overall better. The bosses are way too puzzley in TP. Oh and

Spoiler: Why am I bothering with a spoiler for a 14 year old game?

I absolutely hated the Twilight Palace and I hated the Zant fight.

 

[Astral Dog]

i liked it. it had all the zelda things and it was fun to play and figure out the puzzles... but it just felt like a by the numbers zelda game. i didnt feel like i was going on an adventure or doing anything really epic or heroic. it was like filling in a coloring book.

This is a huge problem with Skyward Sword to me, the puzzles and design, even combat are awesome, but it feels less like an epic adventure, and more like a cute anime 3D platformer, people always complain about Fi, but 'Hyrule' s animal friends are just as annoying and only exist to give Link motion control tips they are the lamest 'races' in Zelda all in one game.the tone is just wrong :^/

 

[Dr.Guru of Peru]

It was linear the same way that Metroid Prime was linear. In that it really wasn't.

Skyward Sword was a fantastic game. I'd go back and play if but I can't put up with Fi and don't want to pay Nintendo $80 to buy the same game again.

 

[Deputy Moonman]

The "between dungeon" sections were an enormous improvement over Twilight Princess, IMO. If you're not going full open-world like BOTW, having open fields with a few enemies is simply boring, and these dungeon-like outdoor traversal areas are much more engaging than anything in the overworld of TP.

It's hard to feel any sense of exploration if I'm herded down a linear path. I definitely didn't feel like any of the sections were pre-dungeons. I also hated the overworld of SS. Flying around empty space was far worse to me than riding around a world with trees, streams, hills and rocks. You say TP's overworld was boring but at least there was something to look at. What did you find interesting about flying around empty spaces? And then seeing a floating rock in SS was anticlimactic, because obviously there is something to find on that rock. It's literally the only thing to see in Skyword Sword's overworld... I dunno. I just didn't like SS at all. The dungeons were not great but not bad either. They were so so for a zelda game imo. I'd argue OoT, MM, TP, and WW's dungeons were all much better though.

 

[kingpotato]

Is this an official thread? Of what now?

I'm looking forward to this release. I hope my joycons hang on long enough since they are starting to have drift issues.

 

[Neff]

Honestly, Skyward Sword was not that easy

Yeah, I remember being quite shocked (and pleased) when I saw multiple hearts disappear from a single enemy strike, rather than a puny quarter of a heart as with WW/SS. For the first time in a long time I made upgrading my shield and finding heart pieces a priority rather than just doing it for the sake of it.

 

[Ikutachi]

It's not better at it than either N64 Zelda game.

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

Is this an official thread? Of what now?

I'm looking forward to this release. I hope my joycons hang on long enough since they are starting to have drift issues.

It’s the official thread of damage controlling a 10 year old game

 

[Kuranghi]

Yes Dolphin emulator

I was about to try it but its still locked to 30 fps right? I figure its worth getting 60fps on the official remaster.

 

[mcjmetroid]

Ok so I heard a lot of stuff about Skyward Sword's linearity, how it was not open world like Twilight Princess and that's true, although twilight princess is linear as f too when it comes to the story (which is not a bad thing) and a weak aspect of twilight princess is the side missions, there's nothing to do in the "open world"
I was thinking Skyward Sword was some sort of "zelda mario" game where you don't have any freedom and there's nothing to do, only the main quest. Man people really like to exaggerate shit... here we go.

So I did the intro and finished my first dungeon first of all, yeah the first area was lineal but the whole thing feels like a dungeon before a dungeon, so I guess that's what people don't like, the fact that everything is a big puzzle instead of riding epona with some epic fanfare. While I do agree that's lovely, after breath of the wild (which I love) I appreciate the different approach of this game.

first area.

Ok so I was ready to continue the linearity but I was wrong...

this is my experience with the game after the first dungeon

1. I was scolded for trespassing, a first for a zelda game.

2. I found this baby girl and she needed help with her bird because she doesn't know how to properly ride the thing and almost kills the poor bird.

3. I was scolded by this captain righteous asshole because bitch I want my money.

4. But then I found out he has his mom living in a dirty house all alone, he's trash.

5. Then I ruined this woman's life.

6. Of course, Link has a Demon friend.

7. Then I helped this weak ass

Shrines are cool and everything but I feel breath of the wild needed more of this, this is zelda stuff. So yeah, while the game is "lineal" there's stuff to do in between and more freedom than I expected.

The game gives you a first good impression ( Bar the long intro). It'll start to grate on you about 5 - 7 hours in don't worry.

Then it all becomes too much and you won't finish the game.

If you manage to finish it within 1 week or even 1 month I'll be impressed. I never could.

 

[MacReady13]

I played it for 20 minutes. Cannot for the life of me remember why but I never continued playing past that 1st 20 minutes at launch and never played it again. I have it pre ordered through Amazon with the 2 Switch Zelda themed joy cons and I cannot wait to get into this game! I miss traditional Zelda so this should be right up my alley!

 

[hemo memo]

True. I prefer the linearity of SS over BotW “go anywhere. It is an adventure” approach. SS has some of my best dungeons in the series.

 

[Blond]

I think we should embrace more Yakuza/Witcher 2 style design. Open, but not TOO open and maximize everything you have leading to a more lived in world. Witcher 2 felt much better than 3 in that regard so I understand where he/she is coming from so I’m in full agreement that smaller more filled in worlds are better than large empty ones

 

[Fbh]

I really enjoyed the open world design in BotW but I have nothing against linearity (usually prefer it, to be honest).
I'll probably check this out as soon as I can get some used copy. I've always been curious about it. On the one hand some people say it has some legit great dungeons, but on the other hand I've also seen many say it takes the shit I've always disliked about 3D Zelda (super slow intro and need to treat the player as if they'd never played a videogame before) to the extreme.



I'm also not sure if the HD treatment will actually help this game.
That's a really creepy looking Link.

Looks like freaking Michael Jackson doing cosplay after not having slept for 4 days.

 

[HotPocket69]

Ok so I heard a lot of stuff about Skyward Sword's linearity, how it was not open world like Twilight Princess and that's true, although twilight princess is linear as f too when it comes to the story (which is not a bad thing) and a weak aspect of twilight princess is the side missions, there's nothing to do in the "open world"
I was thinking Skyward Sword was some sort of "zelda mario" game where you don't have any freedom and there's nothing to do, only the main quest. Man people really like to exaggerate shit... here we go.

So I did the intro and finished my first dungeon first of all, yeah the first area was lineal but the whole thing feels like a dungeon before a dungeon, so I guess that's what people don't like, the fact that everything is a big puzzle instead of riding epona with some epic fanfare. While I do agree that's lovely, after breath of the wild (which I love) I appreciate the different approach of this game.

first area.

Ok so I was ready to continue the linearity but I was wrong...

this is my experience with the game after the first dungeon

1. I was scolded for trespassing, a first for a zelda game.

2. I found this baby girl and she needed help with her bird because she doesn't know how to properly ride the thing and almost kills the poor bird.

3. I was scolded by this captain righteous asshole because bitch I want my money.

4. But then I found out he has his mom living in a dirty house all alone, he's trash.

5. Then I ruined this woman's life.

6. Of course, Link has a Demon friend.

7. Then I helped this weak ass

Shrines are cool and everything but I feel breath of the wild needed more of this, this is zelda stuff. So yeah, while the game is "lineal" there's stuff to do in between and more freedom than I expected.

Why are you playing and posting this now and missing out on the zeitgeist when the overpriced HD version comes out in a couple weeks?