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The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword |OT| Home of Punkin' Chunkin' Champion 2011

A

AgentOtaku

Member
Mistle said:
The music is amazing imo. The only ambient stuff is the dungeon tracks (which are still great). Otherwise everything else is memorable. At least, by the end of the game it is, after you've spent a considerable amount of time in all the areas.
Click to expand...

Yeah, this is what I'm figuring will happen. After all, I was meh to Twilight Princess' music at the beginning as well, but I ended up loving it by the end.
 
E

Electric Brain

Neo Member
Choppasmith said:
Okay so, I guess I'm getting close to the second dungeon, have to find those key pieces, got three of them. Dousing points me to a path that's blocked by rocks it's by the area where
The one "dressed in black" extends the bridge for you
, but the bomb flowers (by the fallen watchtower) seems to be too far away. Did I miss another path, or is there some kind of trick? Help?

Also, since this is my first post in this thread. I've been digging the game so far. I'm surprised, that aside from typical tutorial dialog, the game doesn't hold your hand and isn't as brain-dead easy as much as recent Zeldas. Seemed to resemble Okami in that aspect.

Only thing that bugs me is Motion control for sword fights. I'm getting more and more adept, but there are times where it won't read a thrust/stab when it should. And other times when it's a little wonky.
Click to expand...

If I recall, that's at the base right? If it's the rock I think, then you have to get to the other side of the rock. That rock is a shortcut to get back in.there are two pieces, that you approach from the burning room.
 
K

Koodo

Banned
Yeah, the music was a huge disappointment for me as well and completely forgettable. Not bad at all, but I had my expectations high after the orchestral glory that came out of the Galaxy games and Twilight Princess' terrific soundtrack.

To illustrate: I was humming what I thought was Skyloft's theme until I realized I was actually humming Wind Waker's Outset Island (which I haven't touched in a while). I literally cannot remember the theme of Skyloft even though I spent hours on that island.

And sometimes there was a disconnect between the music and the environment, such as (late game spoiler)
the theme inside the volcano at Eldin, which made the whole area seem threatening when in reality nothing terrible happened there; the dungeon in the area also happened to be the most upbeat and quirky
.
 
P

peakish

Member
Re: Music, I can't remember a single tune from TP and just the main theme and overworld theme from WW. I think this is better than it's been in a long time, though not very "catchy".

Nintendo-4Life said:
Tell me about it. This is the first game in my life that I immediately replayed after beating it. I've never done that, ever!

But really it seems the controls just pushed it over the edge for me. Even though the game is still very fresh in my mind I still get the same amount of fun just doing the mundane things.

Try playing through hero mode. In the beginning you will feel like something is wrong because you have to start from scratch. But once you get into it, you'll get into it :p.
Click to expand...

Nah, I really think I'd get tired of a lot of the fetch quests plaguing the first half of the game. Looking back on the game there was much too much of that and I can totally see why that kills the game for some since it hurts it for me. Who knows, maybe I'll blast the game when I replay it, like TP fell from great to just good for me in a few years because of the amount of bullshit in that game, though I do think that SS is more substance over style compared to that. At least in terms of the core mechanics.

No, Monster Hunter it is. But I can't wait to see what Aunoma and Fujibayashi will do with the series in the future, this finally made it feel like they escaped OOT again and I hope they continue in that direction.
 
R

Red UFO

Member
Koodo said:
To illustrate: I was humming what I thought was Skyloft's theme until I realized I was actually humming Wind Waker's Outset Island (which I haven't touched in a while). I literally cannot remember the theme of Skyloft even though I spent hours on that island..
Click to expand...
Hahaha, this happened to me too.
 
R

Rocket Punch

Member
Finally finished the first dungeon. I was almost starting to get sick of Fi but now I understand the first dungeon is basically a tutorial level for dungeon mechanics. I was pleasantly surprised that Nintendo decided to forego
the slingshot (acquired earlier) or boomerang for the Beetle
as the first dungeon item.

The way to the dungeon, the forest setting was very nice and interesting. I enjoyed the Kwikies. They're cute and funny.

The dungeon itself was pretty straight forward for the most part but with enough new mechanics to make it fresh. I like that shortcuts and save station are incorporated liberally. The only unfortunately negative was Fi's overwhelming tutorial conversations every 10 steps.

The fighting definitely takes some getting used to. It actually requires some skill as opposed to a button press and I think this is what people find bothersome. Granted, Motion plus is not perfect and sometimes Link will strike the wrong way I intended but overall I'm very pleased with the results. The boss fight was very fair and I didn't have any control related problems.

I'm glad Nintendo is allowing Zelda to mature thematically in its own unique way. There's a lot of gameplay elements and characters that have moved decidedly beyond the typical Zelda quirkiness. Something as simple as the word "demon" would have been censured by NoA in the past. One character in particular would have been deemed too controversial in past but now serves to enrich the cast of characters.

The second surface setting, Eldin came also as a surprise departure. A fire setting yes, but everything else is decidedly different. The music, the characters seem more akin to a Warner Bros cartoon. Item fetching is kept within reasonable amounts and most importantly it's kept fresh and fun. Fi is keeping quiet allowing me to run around at my leisure to figure stuff on my own. Dialogue is stellar. Kudos to the Treehouse localization team for giving the different locals their own distict identity and dialogue that is interesting, smart and funny.

I'm really enjoying this game. It's managing to surprise me in every corner throwing small but welcome changes while maintaining the Zelda charm all around.
 
M

Mistle

Member
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrVPxmdGYw4
Romance

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0_xtoAZgkE
Opening

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mP3_KPlUcak
Groose

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuHS6RDTn7k
Academy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4LnUyuDOHw
Skyloft

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsuTmevpCec
The Imprisoned

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_2zBH30HJU
Faron Woods

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHCXwA18EHA
Bazaar

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZKW1RX3wH8
Fi

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNW2Aujg6sY
Eldin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJkSWdCYb8A
Lanayru Past

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxcYqtkKF9o
Batreaux

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2jM4mHxhGI
Silent Realm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7irrTXr2tsk
Lake Floria

And the main theme of course.

Just a small sample of the amazing soundtrack. Just to refresh some memories :p And there's so many more good ones, I've missed some of the best even, I'm just scared to go on Youtube any longer to find them in case of spoilers. I'll post more once I finish the game and can really search for the tracks, especially the amazing boss ones.
None of those are just "ambient". They all have focused melodies. If they stick in your head or not is a matter of opinion, but they have sure stuck in mine.
 
A

AgentOtaku

Member
peakish said:
Re: Music, I can't remember a single tune from TP and just the main theme and overworld theme from WW. I think this is better than it's been in a long time, though not very "catchy".
Click to expand...

Really? (O__o)

You finished it right?
It's an average of a 35-40 hour playtime. There's not alot a songs so it was kind of impossible for NOT to have it commit to memory.
For sure I can think of TP and instantly a theme pops in my head. Most notably Queen Rutela's theme and the overworld.
 
B

BGBW

Maturity, bitches.
I like the miniboss theme with the slight oriental(?) slant to it. Especially the way the songs ends when you beat the final enemy in the room. The transition is perfect.
 
M

milkyjay20

Member
i hope the next zelda follows up with this kind of structure. the outdoor areas, with its buffet of puzzles and enemies and platforming and action movie sequences, gave me the feeling that any new and fun gameplay experience was just around the corner. the openness of each province reminded me of link to the past. there were the tantalizing places to hookshot or swim through, except instead of revealing a piece of heart, it was a whole new area. it was like a metroid lite, or a LttP but less organic and more guided. the dowsing and constant companion really has to go; the setup needs refining, but it's far more interesting than "go to this place, run through some rudimentary area real quick, now solve the dungeon." it had become blatant in twilight princess that 3D zelda needed to radically alter its structure.

Mistle said:
True. It's just the "iconic" Zelda shield, so I thought maybe they'd touch on it. Not a big deal that they didn't though.
Click to expand...

well, this may not mean anything, but the shield was spat out from the thunder dragon from ages past. since the dragons are direct lieutenants of the goddess, that shield in a sense comes straight from the goddess. which explains its emblem, the triforce and the loftwing. the shield also tells us why link's loftwing happens to be red.

Mgoblue201 said:
Also, I find that stabbing straight ahead should activate the move every single time. If you deviate at all to either side, then it may work.
Click to expand...

yep. when i practice the sword moves out of battle, they work perfectly. get in a battle, especially against a tough boss or something, and it goes haywire. it's because i'm tense and i wasn't focused enough during that strike.
that last fight with ghirahim had me screwing up the thrust a bunch of times, and i never do that. i was running out of potions.

it makes me wonder about the reports of inaccuracy tho. skyward sword has problems; the handholding here, the padding there, but inaccuracy isn't one of them. i'd go far enough to say that it's 100% accurate... but there were a few times during my 70 embarrassing hours of play that the controls would glitch out on me at start up. i'm thinking those reports have something to do with the interference or whatever it was that made the glitch occur those few times.
 
P

peakish

Member
AgentOtaku said:
Really? (O__o)

You finished it right?
It's an average of a 35-40 hour playtime. There's not alot a songs so it was kind of impossible for NOT to have it commit to memory.
For sure I can think of TP and instantly a theme pops in my head. Most notably Queen Rutela's theme and the overworld.
Click to expand...

Maybe the Hyrule Field theme but none of these two feel really unique or special to me, more like rehashes of music from previous entries. Even at release I remember being underwhelmed by it and that was in a complete hype mode (I'll even admit that I was one of those raging on the Gamespot 8.8, veeeery shameful and being young was no excuse).

Most of the tracks in SS also melt into the background easily but they sound much better, plus there are the wonderful Fi themes and Ballad of the Goddess.
 
M

MoGamesXNA

Unconfirmed Member
I just finished the third dungeon and I'm really annoyed with the absence of a standard control option. Some of the motion controls just aren't one hundred percent reliable. Stabbing motions and angled strikes are the worst offenders.

On a positive note, the third dungeon really was epic. So much better than the second.


Edit: I've been playing for four hours straight, it's midnight and my arm is sore. I'm just having a whinge because it's clearly passed my bedtime. It's going to be hard to choose between this and Skyrim for my GoTY
 
A

AgentOtaku

Member
MoGamesXNA said:
I just finished the third dungeon and I'm really annoyed with the absence of a standard control option. Some of the motion controls just aren't one hundred percent reliable. Stabbing motions and angled strikes are the worst offenders.

It's a genuine shame as the game would be an absolute classic otherwise. I'll finish the game but it's really dampened my enthusiasm to do so in all honesty. It's starting to feel like a lot of effort working around the control problems.

On a positive note, the third dungeon was fantastic. So much better than the second.
Click to expand...

Only thing I have issue with is how low the damn wiimote has to be to roll your bombs. I basically have to hunch over from my sitting position so my arm can reach downward enough in front of my couch.

Thrust strikes have always kinda been shitty in ANY waggle game. I've just come to except it.
 
M

MoGamesXNA

Unconfirmed Member
AgentOtaku said:
I basically have to hunch over from my sitting position so my arm can reach downward enough in front of my couch.

Thrust strikes have always kinda been shitty in ANY waggle game. I've just come to except it.
Click to expand...

I have the same problem. I actually thought that was just an issue with my setup (IR sensor is on the base of the TV). That said it's probably using the gyro, not the IR response, to determine whether the WiiMote is pointing downwards. You're right, that is annoying as well.

I only just picked up a Wii recently so I'm not accustomed to having to change my seating position to perform a game action. I'll get used to it no doubt. SS really is brilliant though. I'm looking forward to playing through OoT and Link's Awakening next.
 
R

richiek

steals Justin Bieber DVDs
I gotta say, even though I like how SS borrows some aspects of the Elder Scrolls series (fatigue meter, upgradeable items), I hate the shield damage/breaking mechanic. It's so tedious to have to repair it every time it sustains damage. Hell, even Skyrim got rid of repairing broken weapons/armor from Oblivion.

I also don't understand why there's no natural day night progression like in Ocarina of Time and you're forced to sleep in beds to change the time of day.
 
G

Green Mamba

Member
Uchip said:
that shield was never the best one in the game though nor was it really important
Click to expand...

It has only been in two games prior to this one and it was the best shield in one of them, so that's 2 for 3 it's been the best.

Tenbatsu said:
Can't wait to see a no damage hero mode run of that battle, I personally can't do it that's for sure.
Click to expand...

What, you mean something like this?:

WARNING! Do not click the following link unless you've beaten the game!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibxFYAEL24Y
 
C

ced

Member
Finished the first dungeon last night, and wandered around the sky for a short bit.

For really disliking motion controls, I'm starting to love the combat, the 1:1 sword is actually really well done(besides running around with my arm and sword poking straight out). I'm still not a big fan of all the other uses for motion, it just doesn't work well enough compared to analog sticks.

The sky sucks though, just a bunch of brown with tiny rocks floating around, I'm assuming this opens up.

I will also note that whomever made the decision to interrupt the game every time I load a game and get one of the many items should be canned, how ridiculous.
 
Z

zoukka

Member
Just finished in about 42 hours. Collected all crystals, got the best gear and almost all hearts.

It's a good game. And that's pretty much all I feel. The ending was super safe. The end boss was super easy and short... the game is riddled with some bad design decisions and some very good. But I still feel like the whole experience was too safe and I'm afraid, quite boring at times. Especially during the numerous fetch quests. For all the hand holding and dialogue, I feel like there was way too little story exposition. Like if you want me to listen to a sidekick from every angle, make the dialogue worth my time or just leave it be.

A lot of Zelda games are better than SS and some are worse. I feel that I will never replay it just because of the slow and linear structure.

SS had the most underwhelming soundtrack in any Zelda.
 
RoadHazard

RoadHazard

Gold Member
Metroid Killer said:
Wow, I haven't listened to any of the music from the game except the Ballad of the Goddess from the trailers. But I decided to listen to the first link in your post. I have no idea what track it is(just let youtube play in the background), but man it's really really good.

So fucking awesome the finally went for orchestrated music.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately they didn't go 100% orchestrated. A lot of the music is still MIDI (or at least not recorded with a live orchestra), like in the Galaxy games. Most of it sounds fine anyway, but some is pretty bad.
 
D

dark10x

Digital Foundry pixel pusher
RoadHazard said:
Unfortunately they didn't go 100% orchestrated. A lot of the music is still MIDI (or at least not recorded with a live orchestra), like in the Galaxy games. Most of it sounds fine anyway, but some is pretty bad.
Click to expand...
Indeed. There are some pieces in there that actually detract from the game.

I actually put the game down a week ago after reaching the second area (the lava filled section) as the music actually turned me off. My urge to explore was drained by the dull incidental tracks they selected.
 
Sanic

Sanic

Member
Just finished the game. A bit too early to post any thoughts, but I do have a couple questions:

-There's a gear slot that's empty (not sure what it's actually called. The wheel that houses your beetle, whip, etc.). Optional item I missed?
-Any sidequests worth doing? I generally don't do them in games but i'm curious if there's anything interesting I would want to see. Only thing i've done is the quest relating to finding kukiel, so I know of the monster and the crystals I can collect.
 
E

Evlar

Banned
Pandoracell said:
Just finished the game. A bit too early to post any thoughts, but I do have a couple questions:

-There's a gear slot that's empty (not sure what it's actually called. The wheel that houses your beetle, whip, etc.). Optional item I missed?
-Any sidequests worth doing? I generally don't do them in games but i'm curious if there's anything interesting I would want to see. Only thing i've done is the quest relating to finding kukiel, so I know of the monster and the crystals I can collect.
Click to expand...

You missed the bug net.
 
G

Green Mamba

Member
Branduil said:
How does
he block electric attacks with the iron shield?
Click to expand...
You can deflect electric attacks with an iron shield provided you shield bash them properly. Try it out on the hermit crab enemies in Lanayru.

Link Man said:
The Mirror Shield is not better than the Hylian Shield, just better in certain situations ( it can't reflect Deku Nuts, for example).
Click to expand...
Well, I was giving him the benefit of the doubt.
 
C

cool_dude_2049

Banned
So how do I get the
Hylian
shield?

I know that before you start doing the pirate ship stuff, the Sheika stone in the caverns tells you that there is a dragon somewhere. Is this something that comes up later or something I can do now?

Also, Dungeon 6 spoilers
I'm about to get the last flame for my sword. How much is left of the game at this point?
 
C

Combine

Banned
So those tiny robot creatures, are they related to that one boss in Wind Waker in the Tower of the Gods? That's the first thought I got when seeing them for the first time during my last play session.
 
E

Electric Brain

Neo Member
cool_dude_2049 said:
So how do I get the
Hylian
shield?

I know that before you start doing the pirate ship stuff, the Sheika stone in the caverns tells you that there is a dragon somewhere. Is this something that comes up later or something I can do now?

Also, Dungeon 6 spoilers
I'm about to get the last flame for my sword. How much is left of the game at this point?
Click to expand...

Post Dungeon 6:
It's not something you can do until after Dungeon 6. You still have a considerable amount to do. Side quests aside, I'd say you're 85% through. Maybe 83%.

I love how this game has so much variety. It means there will be some stuff you LOVE, but as a consequence, some stuff you'll probably hate. And I also love how the different areas appeal to different people.

I loved Faron the most, followed by Lanaryu and then Eldin. Not saying the latter were bad, I just love forest areas.
 
D

decoyplatypus

Member
milkyjay20 said:
i hope the next zelda follows up with this kind of structure. the outdoor areas, with its buffet of puzzles and enemies and platforming and action movie sequences, gave me the feeling that any new and fun gameplay experience was just around the corner. the openness of each province reminded me of link to the past. there were the tantalizing places to hookshot or swim through, except instead of revealing a piece of heart, it was a whole new area. it was like a metroid lite, or a LttP but less organic and more guided. the dowsing and constant companion really has to go; the setup needs refining, but it's far more interesting than "go to this place, run through some rudimentary area real quick, now solve the dungeon." it had become blatant in twilight princess that 3D zelda needed to radically alter its structure.
Click to expand...

I've seen the LttP comparison a few times, and I don't get it. SS is structurally the least LttP-like of the 3D Zeldas. Instead of a comparatively open, seamless overworld, SS has fairly linear, disconnected maps. You can never wander far from the beaten path. Zelda games have almost been like Metroid in that you explore areas, see doors you can't open or gaps you can't cross, and then return later to take advantage of your new power-ups/items. But the Metroid that SS most resembles is, as Zoukka points out, MP3 - the most restrictive and least SM-like of the 3D installments.

About the only thing that SS's and LttP's overworlds have in common is density (at least if you exclude the sky). And that's something future installments should try to match, but it would be a mistake to treat that density as invariably tied to structure. The 3D games can have density without sacrificing openness or seamless exploration. They just need a reasonably compact overworld (smaller than TP's) plus a healthy supply of NPCs (both friendly and hostile) and traversal challenge. SS shows that EAD is perfectly capable of designing an environment that can entertain the player the first time through without becoming a slog on repeat visits (although I think there was a letdown in giving the player a reason to actually want to revisit the areas).

If anything, I think the post-OoT Zeldas show the series didn't need a radical alteration in structure but a subtle one back toward LttP. Look at the critical reception of the post-OoT Zeldas. The most criticized elements tend to be the structural departures from OoT: these are mainly pre-dungeon fetch quests in the 3D games (triforks, tears, and a couple of items in SS) and the central dungeon/transportation focus in the handheld games. Meanwhile, there is near universal approval for the elements that make direct improvements on OoT: better graphics, deeper NPC interaction, more engaging combat.

TP's map is an important outlier. Nintendo clearly thought they were making a bigger, badder version of Hyrule Field. They were only right about the "bigger" part. Everyone complained (justifiably) that the field was too empty and too large to merit exploration. But the empty thing was a problem in Ocarina too, and what that suggests to me is not that the entire structure is broken, but that the one refinement it has needed all along has been missing. We have not had a 3D Zelda that genuinely tried to recreate both the density and the openness of LttP's overworld. Each game has had either openness or density or neither (although MM perhaps came closest to getting both). Why not give that a try before we decide the entire formula's got to be chucked?
 
H

HeySeuss

Member
I don't understand the hate/annoyance of the Silent Realm areas. I got hit twice in all 3 of them combined and I didn't feel they were at all hard. In fact, while I have died a handful of times(haven't ventured into the last dungeon yet) this game doesn't feel any more difficult than TP or TWW.
 
D

decoyplatypus

Member
Shick Brithouse said:
I don't understand the hate/annoyance of the Silent Realm areas. I got hit twice in all 3 of them combined and I didn't feel they were at all hard. In fact, while I have died a handful of times(haven't ventured into the last dungeon yet) this game doesn't feel any more difficult than TP or TWW.
Click to expand...

I don't think difficulty is the source of complaints against the Silent Realm. Personally, I liked the Silent Realm better than its equivalents in TP and PH/SS. It's a more focused mini-game, and (compared to the DS games) it benefits from the inherent fun of moving Link around in a 3D world. I even outright enjoyed the final Silent Realm, but I wouldn't particularly want to replay it or its predecessors. Redundancy is a real problem when (end-game spoilers)
you've got four of the same thing
, and even that I might not resent as much if the dialogue beforehand didn't suggest different sorts of challenges.

I thought the game was slightly more difficult than TP and TWW. Losing a full heart to enemy attacks made a difference. I actually used a fairy in this one, which I think is the first time that's happened since that horrible fish boss in MM (Gyrog)?.
 
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