I finished the game at around 7PM EST, and i'm here to give my full review. Some little spoilers, nothing bad at all. I hope you enjoy! I know it's long, but I tried to make it a good read.
GUMMB's DETAILED ACCOUNT OF THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: SKYWARD SWORD
OVERVIEW: 9.5
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is a gameplay giant and a breath of fresh air amongst a modern overdose of recycled gameplay experiences. What the game lacks in thematic and atmospheric wonder, it makes up for it in engaging, novel chunks of gameplay that truly demonstrates Nintendo's kingship over all developers. Skyward Sword is not perfect, but there is no other game in existence that offers this much quality content where expanding the way you play is the name of the game. The fact that we leave the game coherent, nonetheless masters of every experience in the game is an utterly ludicrous achievement in game design. Skyward Sword truly is a triumph, and it is here that I will explain why.
STORY: There's a Game in my Story!
In one particular "Iwata Asks" article, Miyamoto was depicted as he normally is as criticizing his fellow coworkers' efforts. Miyamoto was not initially please with Skyward Sword, and one reason was because of the amount of text Aonuma had allowed in the game. "Aonuma-san," Miyamoto said, "you've put in too much text!" This is still the case. The first two hours are bloated with obnoxious amounts of unnecessary dialogue that hinder all forms of progress. Small bites of gameplay are often interrupted by pages of text.
This suggests a conflict between gameplay and story, and this is indeed the case. The story of Skyward Sword is forced to squeeze in between gameplay experiences, making it disconnected and almost completely unimportant. It is clear that gameplay continues to dominate Zelda, and this does hurt the composition of the story attempting to unfold. While the majority of Skyward Sword's characters are paper thin, there are some truly endearing, funny experiences to be had with a few. The main relationship in the game between Link and Zelda is front loaded and acts as a simple motivational tool. Thankfully, the story comes to a satisfying end that fans of Ocarina of Time will cherish, despite some timeline disputes.
One character, Fi, deserves special attention. Nintendo's dedication to their new generation of gamers certainly isn't doing Skyward Sword any favors. Fi, the main offender, is a character that almost exclusively serves as a game buffer to ensure the player is never lost or confused. She has, by far, the most text in the game, and "I estimate that 90% of it is useless." Fair enough Nintendo, everyone wants to play a Zelda game. Having optional repeats of information would have been sufficient. Unfortunately, the game is littered with annoyances from Fi repeating knowledge and interjecting for no purpose. For the story, she serves no true function. A real disappointment.
The villain, Girahim, is interesting enough to make you wonder what he'll do next. Understandably, some have criticized his design as too flamboyant, but by the end, his gleeful cackle and gesticulations are his true call to fame. A good villain for sure.
GAMEPLAY: Let's Split This Sucker Up!
1. Game Structure: Many have correlated Skyward Sword's sky with Wind Waker's ocean. This is a false correlation. While Wind Waker's ocean is mostly a vast desert harboring side-quests, towns, simple enemies, and entire dungeons, Skyward Sword is more complex. First, imagine a tree diagram. Skyloft, the village in the sky where Link and Zelda live, is the base of that tree. Moving up the tree, it expands to include small islands with minigames and simple enemies. Continuing, the tree splits into three separate paths, one path for each area Link can land underneath the clouds. These areas are semi-open environments with dungeon-esque experiences and many enemies. The tree diagram then splits again, each into the multiple landing sites that are available. These include the many dungeons and important spots on the map.
What is important to understand here is that this is different than any Zelda before it. While the sky may seem like Wind Waker's ocean, it does not take long at all to reach a destination in Skyward Sword - so much so that the "overworld" theme is less than 2 minutes long, and there is no night traveling allowed by bird. While the ground may seem like some potpourri of a Hyrule Field and dungeon mechanics, it actually represents the closest design to Zelda I's overworld. In total, Skyward Sword is something new. For those looking for a "traditional" 3D Zelda structure, you will sorely miss the atmosphere of Wind Waker's ocean, the connectedness of Twilight Princess' field, and the ease of Ocarina of Time's fast travel.
What Skyward Sword's design allows, however, is a separation between the lofty, fun nonsense above the clouds, and the rich, dense, expansive gameplay underneath the clouds. The story-driven game clearly favors the latter, ripping the player from one "underworld" area to the next and back again for seconds and thirds. If you become in tune with the game's rhythm, you may completely forget about the many alternate objectives the game offers above the clouds.
Additionally, the three areas of the "underworld" allow the developers to set up certain conventions to expand on each time the player returns. Returning to these same places over and over often starts as a task, but ends as a joy. Each time you return, new, fascinating places become open to you. The second third of the game (the middle of the game) takes the best advantage of this as dungeons and pre-dungeons meld together into ten hours of unrelenting gameplay expansion. Players will often have a sense of awe when they reflect on just how much they have done.
Nintendo perhaps has too many gameplay ideas for this Zelda. After the middle of the game finishes and the player begins to sense that the end is nearing, Skyward Sword alters its story slightly here and there in order to incorporate every idea the developers approved. Around the thirty hour mark, players will begin to ache for the ending, obviously nearing gameplay fatigue.
For those who persevere, however, Skyward Sword has the best ending sequences in Zelda's gameplay history (final dungeon to the final boss).
2. Controls: Too much has been said about Skyward Sword's controls. The majority of players seem to intuitively understand how to use the controller to manipulate Link's toolset, and have high levels of success. Many others seem utterly frustrated by slight inconsistencies in the controller's performance. There are even the minority who lament that the controls fail to work properly. How is one to know whether the game's fundamental premise - motion - works or not? The truly vexing answer is that you have to try it for yourself. I cannot speak for the gamers in the latter two categories who are frustrated by the controls, but I will attempt to address the issues they express.
My experience with Skyward Sword's controls were joyous. The second I first used my sword, I was flabbergasted that I could accurately chop poles of wood along specific grooves. I had fun doing the most simple things - moving my sword in circles, twisting my wrist, poking wooden signs, motioning for a semi truck to honk its horn, etc. These first moments with the sword solidified our relationship for the rest of the game. We were buddies: she was going to attack stuff, and I was going to command her with added specificity and overzealousness just to show her that I could. Pure joy.
These feelings of rapture extended to most every item in the game. The beetle, for example, became my bitch. I would send her to scout an unknown area, do a quick attack, and then she would always come back to me. The bombs became my minions. Much like pikmin, I threw them overhand and bowled them underhand, too often wasting several just because I could - I can now pluck them from the ground and store them for later. I wish I could tell you about all of my friends, but this review will remain mostly spoiler free. The point is, however, that the fidelity of the controls made me love my items, especially when they were used together.
Indeed, often my beetle and bombs would team up to cause some amazing gameplay combinations. This is true for the entire game. While there are not a huge amount of items, the ones you have are so expertly used over and over in different combinations that I become dizzy trying to think of all the ways I used them. Experimentation also becomes key. Try combining different item effects to see the result. You may be surprised.
For those dissenters, I offer you this: the controls are not nearly perfect. Often, the wiimote will lose track of my movements making my beetle dive-bomb when I was motioning to go further up. There are other items that are worse offenders, but this is what I offer. The fact remains, however, that this game exists in a set of rules that the player must figure out over time. Just like when you found out that "B" in Ocarina of Time uses your sword and not "A", so too must you find out the limits of your motion. Slowly over the course of the game, you learn and learn until you are a master of your craft and can spin dive your enemy from above using your beetle. Motion may give the illusion of realistic movement, but this is not accurate. Approach it for what it is - a game - and learn how to use the controls.
The game also offers a tutorial, a "down d-pad" quick fix, a manual, and hint guide for ways to use your items. Learn how to use your resources and act in your best interest to make the game more enjoyable. My experience was amazing, and I'm positive yours can be as well.
VISUALS: Dear Lord, is that Monet?
Upon stepping outside your room at the beginning of Skyward Sword, you are greeted with sharp (as sharp as SD can get you) foregrounds and a pointillism effect for the backgrounds. Looking through a distant open archway, you see a chair and a table and wonder if this counts as "still life" art. Gazing upon beautiful interiors may inspire awe, but your first trip on your trusty flying "loftwing" grants you the ability to soar over the beautiful Skyloft in full impressionism. Flap your wings while you're getting close to the island and the effect increases, creating a thrill.
These first moments in the game extend to the entire game experience for those who slow down their minds and look at the objects most distant from them. Truly, this is the one flaw of such a style. Those things immediately identifiable are the ugliest in the game (not that they are at all ugly). Beautiful landscapes of trees, however, do become 2D juts of green. It's unfortunate that such beauty in Skyward Sword probably originates out of necessity for the Wii's processor rather than as a fully featured art style that radiates from all spaces.
It remains, however, that Skyward Sword is beautiful.
SOUND: Where is my theme?
Copious amounts of criticism has been aimed toward Nintendo for their cheap inability to include an orchestra for their biggest franchises, Zelda being an obvious inclusion. Well, it has finally arrived, and Nintendo's orchestrations are of a top sound quality. The actual notes of those quality recordings, however, fail to provide an overarching theme that resonates throughout. Often, points of great emotion are lost due to seemingly lost themes. The best themes in the game include the stunningly beautiful theme for Fi, - the emotionless buffoon - and for Zelda, which we already know (and is thus just as impactful).
The instrument of choice this time, the harp, is novel, but its many notes do not create themes, but rather harmonies. Playing the instrument in the game yields chordal progressions matching the music of the game. This is entertaining to experiment with, and best used when you need a diversion from a puzzle that it frustrating you. The special songs you play throughout the game, however, are complete throw-aways. Other music, such as those for towns and dungeons are all great. My favorite dungeon theme is definitely the third dungeon -- especially when it switches. Music has been important for Zelda since its inception, and sadly Skyward Sword disappoints.
What is almost just as important is the overall sound design of the game. As always, Nintendo has fantastic sound teams, and I have no clever insight to offer. All I can say is "another great job Nintendo sound teams!"
OVERALL: Gameplay is king, and no one does gameplay better than Nintendo
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is a phenomenal game. It does not aim to recapture the best moments of previous Zelda titles, but instead wholeheartedly at offering a dense gameplay experience in a multiplicity of ways only possible with motion. It will be impossible to say goodbye to my friends the sword, the beetle, the bombs, and my other companions. Once again, Zelda has trapped me into wanting more of the same, but this time, I want more Skyward Sword.
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What do I win!?
I'm going to bed for now, but i'll edit this puppy tomorrow. I hope you guys read it! Tell me if you have questions or want my opinions on other parts of the game that I didn't include in the review.
