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The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword |OT| Home of Punkin' Chunkin' Champion 2011
- Thread starter Amir0x
- Start date
HylianScribe
Member
Crunched said:
Let me go over my points again from my initial impressions (which I had written up after just beating the game for the first time. I am still favoring Twilight Princess, though. Let me revisit my points and see if I still feel as strongly now.
Boss Battles - Yea, I still think the game has some pretty good boss battles.
Soundtrack - Except for a few of the dungeon tracks (I'm looking at you
third dungeon
Side Quests - As I said, the NPC driven ones felt more like Majora's Mask, which is a game I really like and want more games in the series to strive for. I just wish it was tied a bit more into the core structure, like in Majora's Mask (or even Xenoblade).
Most of the dungeons - Everything after the second dungeon is pretty good.
Third dungeon is awesome, fourth dungeon had some cool design ideas, fifth dungeon was very good, sixth dungeon was kinda meh
Motion+ - For the most part, I enjoyed this stuff. I will still say some parts of the game should have stuck to regular controls (ie, analog movement - looking at you swimming), but I would like to maybe see more of a fusion going forward.
Upgrade System - This was a good concept that I think wasn't utilized to its fullest. They really needed to push it further, and I hope it returns in a more refined form next time. Also, please don't make me have to watch the item description plus putting it in my inventory every single time I get the same item after resuming play after powering off my consoles.
Durability Mechanic - Again, I still love that your shield can break. I wish maybe they would extend this to other items.
The First Two Dungeons - I still agree that these weren't the finest examples of dungeon design. I said they were shorter, and I can personally vouch that
Skyview
Earth Temples
Skyview
Earth
rolling on the rock in lava
The Warp System - I still think this was a poor design choice. What happens when you accidentally warp to a spot you didn't mean to and it's quite far from your goal? The process of warping has one too many steps in it, but it isn't as big of a deal as you may think. It was just a minor issue to me.
The Sky - There's just so little to do there. I think there's
three islands with NPCs/activities
The Overworld - My problem isn't that there isn't a seamless overworld, it's just that I keep going back to the same three regions. I know you go to different areas of those regions and they sometimes change, too, but I felt like most of the zones were sparsely populated, and, outside of your main objective, had little else to do. I would be totally fine with this design if there was just a bit more density. I mean, I hate to say it, but look at Dark Souls or Arkaham City. Seamless overworlds that have a lot of density in them, lots of side activities, and a huge emphasis on exploring. It wasn't there for me in Skyward Sword. It wasn't the worst thing, but it was a bit of a let down.
Fetch Quests - Originally I whined about backtracking in general here, but it's evolved into my dislike of some of the fetch quests in this game. The game has a lot of padding in the form of fetch quests, and while it isn't at RARE levels, it was enough to get annoying at times. I would have preferred that they work on new areas or something. I get that backtracking isn't bad, and I like games like Metroid. I said it was like Temple of the Ocean King, but it's not quite that bad at all. It's just not done nearly as well as you've seen in other games, like Metroid.
The Silent Realm - Whatever, this part isn't that bad honestly. There's some moments of tension, but it's actually just too easy for me? I would have rather had the concept developed a bit more.
The Stamina Gauge - Okay, I did a bad job of explaining why I don't like this. The new mechanics given to you (running, jumping, leaping) are a huge positive to me. A stamina gauge is not inherently bad, either. It's just that it's a static limitation you can never change. I get why it is the way it is due to the design of the areas, but I was expecting a way to upgrade my stamina at some point. The fact I can't really do anything about it is a bit frustrating. Plus, some actions don't tap into the stamina, while others do? You can side hop and backflip all you want, but I can't run for more than a few seconds. Plus, when you're hanging on vines, you can cancel the depletion of the gauge by using an item, which makes no sense. It did not ruin the game and wasn't the worst thing, though.
Item Variety - I am one of those people who was not happy that you'd get an item once and never use it again (Spinner in Twilight Princess, anyone). What Skyward Sword did - making you have to continuously re-use your items to solve puzzles - was a great idea and I liked that part. I just think they didn't have enough usable items in general, and as a result, things got a bit too predictable in the later parts. Just throw in a few more items and maybe think of a few more clever ways to use existing ones, and it would be awesome.
Lack of Memorable Characters - I still stand by this. Groose is the best character in the game. Though, I think there are a few more good NPCs than I originally saw the first time through.
Ghirahim - Listen, I know that he does more on-screen than many other villains in the past games, it's just I don't like his personality nor does he seem like that much of a menace, but rather a nuisance. He does has some absolutely ridiculous dialog with crazy theatrics I'm sure fans of him will gobble up, but it came off as cheesy to me. This is just a personal issue, but I just don't like Ghirahim. For clarification's sake, I didn't like how Ganon was shoe-horned into Twilight Princess, either, and thought that was a terrible idea. I thought Zant got ruined in the end, too, and I don't like that villain. Truth be told, the best depiction of a villain in the series so far were Ganon in The Wind Waker, and nothing has come close since.
The Presentation - I don't like the art style, simple as that. I think the animations in the game look incredibly archaic, and I think some parts of the game just look flat out ugly. I am going to stick to my guns and say I want them to try voice acting. I do not buy any arguments that VA takes away from other areas of the game during development, nor do I buy that because it has sucked in X game, it will suck in Y game. Plus, if they give the option to just have subtitles/text, what's the problem?
Lack of Geographic Diversity - I would have liked to have seen a few more areas in the game, but it wasn't the worst thing, honestly.
Cygnus X-1
Member
Switzerland: status is shipped. I think tomorrow or the day after I'll receive the special pack. YES!
HylianScribe
Member
Kard8p3 said:
Not sure.
Dascu said:
Yea, I totally forgot about Goddess Cubes as a side quest. Interesting about the archery one. As I said, I haven't 100% completed the game yet, so there's obviously some stuff still waiting to be found.
HylianScribe
Member
Dascu said:
Why do you say that?
HylianScribe
Member
Dascu said:
I agree with that, but does a mini-game have to be replayable over and over? I guess it's kinda borderline.
The Evil Ganon
Member
Only four days remaining. EXCITE!
shadyspace
Banned
This thread will be wall-to-wall MM countdowns starting tomorrow.The Evil Ganon said:
Lord_Byron28
Member
Ah yes I agree and see what you mean with most of these things that you've mentioned. I think perhaps you didn't fully elaborate on what you meant in certain areas when you wrote your initial impressions. I can't comment on Presentation or Characters yet but it's your opinion.TSA said:
Now that you've spent some time with this, would you want to see another game in the same vein as SS(obviously if they improve and expand on things) like how TWW and TP followed in the same vein as OoT?
shadyspace
Banned
I remember being worried about livestreams and lets plays over the two day wait. Nobody ever considers the Swiss Inquisition.BY2K said:For Europe, anyway.
RPGCrazied
Member
Divvy said:
Does this mean it'll be 2016 before we play the next console Zelda? We better relish all that Skyward Sword has to offer!
shadyspace
Banned
Hopefully the 3DS' horsepower will contribute to a more console-like Zelda on that platform.RPGCrazied said:
gamergirly
Member
Good impressions, TSA
Lord_Byron28
Member
Well let's hope that since they got the controls and a lot of things already figured out with SS it doesn't take as much time for another Zelda. Two of the biggest reasons I recall for Zelda SS taking so long was figuring out the motion controls and the art style. Let's hope they figure things out quicker in terms of controls, art style and direction. Then again it might take them some time to get used to significantly more powerful hardware with the Wii U since most other developers(Japanese) in particular struggled a lot this gen with the 360/PS3.RPGCrazied said:
brandonh83
Banned
Are there a good amount of pretty water environments?
the more pretty water environments in my life, the better. it was the sole reason I liked Star Fox Adventures.
the more pretty water environments in my life, the better. it was the sole reason I liked Star Fox Adventures.
Annoying Old Party Man
Member
brandonh83 said:
Not that many but what is there is quite pretty
. Of course you have your typical lake/underwater exploration area/dungeon set.brandonh83
Banned
Annoying Old Party Man said:Not that many but what is there is quite pretty
I didn't really like how big and round Lake Hylia was in Ocarina, but I liked all the rivers/streams in say A Link to the Past. So hopefully Skyward's water environments are a bit cooler and more varied than that. Than Ocarina I mean.
RPGCrazied
Member
I see no mention of a
, is there no one to be found in this game? I mean hell, you can swim in this one. Though I'm not fond of those in past games, to annoying and confusing.
Water based dungeon
Lord_Byron28
Member
You must purposefully be trying to avoid as much info as possible.....RPGCrazied said:
HylianScribe
Member
Kard8p3 said:
Not sure yet.
Xun said:
Maybe I am confusing it, so this is what I specifically mean. Look at how Nathan Drake in Uncharted or Ezio in Assassin's Creed moves. Now look back at Link's movement. To me, it's night and day. Everything in Skyward Sword looks a bit goofy, which I guess you can say is the "style" of the game and how it's looked for years now, but to me it looks odd now.
KeeSomething
Banned
I know what you mean. Link looks stiff in the way he runs and jumps (as he did in Twilight Princess and Wind Waker). I noticed that in certain cutscenes, like when Zelda is captured in the sky and her and Link reach for each other, the characters look so stiff it's embarrassing. Yet, there are scenes where Ghirahim and Link interact, and it's done so well that it looks like it was a different animation team.TSA said:
TSA said:
From what I've seen, the cutscenes look great animation wise. Very expressive and full of subtle stuff. The general in game animation is still pretty stiff and gamey though. It's obvious that they're either different animation teams or just not as much time was put into them.
jump_button
Banned
Sinthetic said:
Uk ads still piss's me off every time I see it for not using Music from game
As I said before, hopefully voice acting never comes to Zelda. I heard Mario speak for more than 10 seconds and already wanted to shoot my brains out.
Zelda has a fantastical, distant, ancient vibe to it when the story is told without voice acting. It feels like you're peering in on a language that was too old and legendary for anyone to remember. It's part of the charm to me.
If everyone starts talking like in Metroid....no...I don't want to think about that.
Zelda has a fantastical, distant, ancient vibe to it when the story is told without voice acting. It feels like you're peering in on a language that was too old and legendary for anyone to remember. It's part of the charm to me.
If everyone starts talking like in Metroid....no...I don't want to think about that.
@ TSA
As someone else who has completed the game looking back on your impressions it isn't as bad as I thought it was, but I do think a lot of your complaints are very much nitpicks and you still haven't made it clear why you prefer Twilight Princess or Ocarina of Time to the game. The game has better design than either of those games it isn't even funny, plus the game is still better paced than Twilight Princess. I do agree the lack of variety is disappointing but for what's there, for being generic themes used throughout the series, it's incredibly unique in each area (except for the forest). I think the desert, including the two dungeons it has, is one of the best areas in any Zelda game in terms of level design.
As someone else who has completed the game looking back on your impressions it isn't as bad as I thought it was, but I do think a lot of your complaints are very much nitpicks and you still haven't made it clear why you prefer Twilight Princess or Ocarina of Time to the game. The game has better design than either of those games it isn't even funny, plus the game is still better paced than Twilight Princess. I do agree the lack of variety is disappointing but for what's there, for being generic themes used throughout the series, it's incredibly unique in each area (except for the forest). I think the desert, including the two dungeons it has, is one of the best areas in any Zelda game in terms of level design.