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

Mistle

Member
^ yup, well said. agree on all points (the music is incredible). loving all the positive impressions i've been hearing recently, definitely deserved. it's not a perfect game, but it's probably my favourite Zelda game, so it's doing a damn lot right.
 
K

kittens

Unconfirmed Member
Well, I just got to the first dungeon, and... I can't say I've had much fun so far.

A few things are really bugging me:
- Too many god damn hints.
- Unskippable dialogue.
- Constantly wrestling with the camera.
- The level design feels more frustrating than inviting. I don't want to explore, because it's annoying and aggravating going in circles and getting lost. Some games are fun to get lost in. Not this one.
- The cursor / aiming reticle is sluggish as hell for me.
- Motion controls don't add as much as I thought they would. I'm finding myself more annoyed by their inaccuracy than anything else.

So, yeah, I'm really bummed. I think 3D Zelda just isn't for me. Ever since Ocarina of Time, the level design has felt both boring and jarringly unnatural. I've never had that feeling in 2D Zelda (except for the Oracle games).

I'll finish the first temple, but if I'm still not feeling it, I'm giving up. There's so many other new games I do enjoy. I just want to get into a new Zelda so bad. :-(
 

john tv

Member
Just finished it. 56 hours in total, probably about 95% completion (got everything except:
four heart pieces, 10 gratitude crystals, Hylian Shield
).

Gonna read through this thread first but hopefully post some post-game impressions at a later point. Long story short, game was not w/o its faults, but on the whole it was pretty damn great. Ending was fantastic, too.
 
Well, I just got to the first dungeon, and... I can't say I've had much fun so far.

A few things are really bugging me:
- Too many god damn hints.
- Unskippable dialogue.
- Constantly wrestling with the camera.
- The level design feels more frustrating than inviting. I don't want to explore, because it's annoying and aggravating going in circles and getting lost. Some games are fun to get lost in. Not this one.
- The cursor / aiming reticle is sluggish as hell for me.
- Motion controls don't add as much as I thought they would. I'm finding myself more annoyed by their inaccuracy than anything else.

So, yeah, I'm really bummed. I think 3D Zelda just isn't for me. Ever since Ocarina of Time, the level design has felt both boring and jarringly unnatural. I've never had that feeling in 2D Zelda (except for the Oracle games).

I'll finish the first temple, but if I'm still not feeling it, I'm giving up. There's so many other new games I do enjoy. I just want to get into a new Zelda so bad. :-(

Nothing in the game is fun until the boss in dungeon 2, so I wouldn't force yourself to play.
 

ASIS

Member
Just finished it. 56 hours in total, probably about 95% completion (got everything except:
four heart pieces, 10 gratitude crystals, Hylian Shield
).

Gonna read through this thread first but hopefully post some post-game impressions at a later point. Long story short, game was not w/o its faults, but on the whole it was pretty damn great. Ending was fantastic, too.
Is there any game without faults?
Well, I just got to the first dungeon, and... I can't say I've had much fun so far.

A few things are really bugging me:
- Too many god damn hints.
- Unskippable dialogue.
- Constantly wrestling with the camera.
- The level design feels more frustrating than inviting. I don't want to explore, because it's annoying and aggravating going in circles and getting lost. Some games are fun to get lost in. Not this one.

- The cursor / aiming reticle is sluggish as hell for me.
- Motion controls don't add as much as I thought they would. I'm finding myself more annoyed by their inaccuracy than anything else.


So, yeah, I'm really bummed. I think 3D Zelda just isn't for me. Ever since Ocarina of Time, the level design has felt both boring and jarringly unnatural. I've never had that feeling in 2D Zelda (except for the Oracle games).

I'll finish the first temple, but if I'm still not feeling it, I'm giving up. There's so many other new games I do enjoy. I just want to get into a new Zelda so bad. :-(

Use Dowsing

Slow Down
 

Locke_211

Member
I really disliked the game until the first dungeon. Halfway through it, I started really enjoying things, and then loved it from after that.
 

Levyne

Banned
So, yeah, I'm really bummed. I think 3D Zelda just isn't for me. Ever since Ocarina of Time, the level design has felt both boring and jarringly unnatural. I've never had that feeling in 2D Zelda (except for the Oracle games).
(

I was agreeing with you until you mention the Oracle games. Those are great! You, my friend, have terrible taste.

Except for that Jabu Jabu dungeon.

I am not being totally serious btw, agree to disagree.
 

Thrakier

Member
So can anyone explain the basic combat against the red guys to me? If they block to the left I try to strike from the right, right? But if I move my sword over (which I have to do slowly because otherwise I would slash) the guy blocks to the other side already. I#m much better and faster by just waggling blind till he's dead.
 

Red

Member
So can anyone explain the basic combat against the red guys to me? If they block to the left I try to strike from the right, right? But if I move my sword over (which I have to do slowly because otherwise I would slash) the guy blocks to the other side already. I#m much better and faster by just waggling blind till he's dead.
Fake them out, same as boss one. Once you hit them a single time, just alternative swings, ie left right left. Failing that, just parry their attacks and quickly swing back.
 
This game doesn't use the infrared sensor bar stuff at all. I think the only time it even looks at that is the screen centre calibration when you start the game up or replace the batteries. Otherwise, it's all motion based .

I'm almost positive the menu controls (anything with the pointer finger cursor) make use of the sensor bar in some way. Whenever I was playing in non-optimal lighting conditions--bright light sources behind the TV--the menu controls would go haywire, while in-game controls would still be fine.
 
whats with the dungeon 1 hate? i thought it was one of the better and harder dungeons in the game

Well, I just got to the first dungeon, and... I can't say I've had much fun so far.

A few things are really bugging me:
- Too many god damn hints.
- Unskippable dialogue.
- Constantly wrestling with the camera.
- The level design feels more frustrating than inviting. I don't want to explore, because it's annoying and aggravating going in circles and getting lost. Some games are fun to get lost in. Not this one.
- The cursor / aiming reticle is sluggish as hell for me.
- Motion controls don't add as much as I thought they would. I'm finding myself more annoyed by their inaccuracy than anything else.

So, yeah, I'm really bummed. I think 3D Zelda just isn't for me. Ever since Ocarina of Time, the level design has felt both boring and jarringly unnatural. I've never had that feeling in 2D Zelda (except for the Oracle games).

I'll finish the first temple, but if I'm still not feeling it, I'm giving up. There's so many other new games I do enjoy. I just want to get into a new Zelda so bad. :-(

cursor/aiming is based on motion, not infrared pointing. keep that in mind and youll get used to it soon enough

i dont understand how you can get lost in this game considering the pre dungeon areas are practically dungeons themselves and the dowsing always tells you where to go. this is actually one of the more linear zelda games

inaccuracy of motion controls is probably your fault (unless something is very wrong with your controller). keep your controller straight then make your slices. spend time in the sparring hall getting used to combat. take things slow and youll enjoy this game


Finally beat this just now. I think I might need a few days to sit on it and see how I really feel about it, but overall? I'm feeling really positive about this game. I'm quite sure that it's partially because: a) I stayed on a media blackout as much as possible, and b) I lowered my expectations dramatically and focused on the stuff I really liked from what little previews I've seen.

i avoided all media except for the reveal trailer back in 2010 and im glad i did. after beating the game, i went and watched all the other trailers and video reviews and its crazy how much they spoil.

next zelda game i probably wont even bother heading into the official thread until i beat it. best way to experience IMO
 

Cosmozone

Member
Oh shit, I just discovered now that you can switch between the various overworld maps by zooming out several times using the d-pad. Embarassing. Until now I only saw those maps when choosing a landing point.
 

Dark Schala

Eloquent Princess
The 4th dungeon boss ?
Incredible
That is, without a doubt, my favourite boss of the game, It was very fun. I thought the other bosses were okay, but when that one came up... at first I was like, "meh..." And then
when he got legs, I was like, "Ooooohhh..."
And then
when I got to use his sword against him and take his limbs apart, it became incredible
. I think my mind was blown.

Also, after beating the boss, I hope I wasn't the only one who
took one of his swords and bashed his remains a few more times, lol
.

^ yup, well said. agree on all points (the music is incredible). loving all the positive impressions i've been hearing recently, definitely deserved. it's not a perfect game, but it's probably my favourite Zelda game, so it's doing a damn lot right.
Yes, the game is flawed, but I enjoyed myself a lot and it's definitely one of my favourite Zelda games (I couldn't really get to sleep last night because I was trying to think of how I felt about it, lol). I really enjoyed the ending, and I'm a little surprised with how emotional it made me feel regarding a lot of the characters (some of whom you can probably guess). The only other Zelda games' endings that made me feel that way were Majora's Mask and The Wind Waker.

It got a lot of the gameplay correct in my eyes. The Beetle is probably one of my favourite new items because of how well it controlled, and also because I thought it was a better alternative to the Boomerang (it has more flexibility, you can upgrade it for speed and stamina, etc). I had lots of fun with the motion controls most of the time as well. There's something exhilarating about being able to take on quite a few heavy encounters when you're controlling the sword. I didn't break a sweat after some of these boss encounters, but I had to breathe sighs of relief every now and then. Beating something that's kinda hard "yourself"? It feels fantastic.

I never wanted to say it in this thread, but I always stood up from the chair for boss battles. I did this for two reasons: 1) It was kind of cool, and 2) I felt the controls worked better and I had more room to move to beat on the bosses.

I also liked the narrative outside of a few bits. Groose is one of my favourite Zelda characters now, and there were a few points where I didn't like Zelda herself (you can guess when those bits were; I had alluded to it earlier in the thread), most of the robots were great, the Mogmas were fun and the Kiwikis (which don't look like kiwis... they look like... something else... *blush*) were adorable. I didn't like, however, how oblivious some of the Skyloft residents were. Not about Zelda... about everything else, especially towards the end of the game. @_@

I liked how creative some of these dungeons could be, particularly Dungeons 3, 4 and 5. Dungeon 4 was essentially
a take on the Buddhist Short Story "The Spider's String" in one portion, and also the rest of the dungeon went with that since it had Buddhist designs throughout
. Dungeons 3 and 5 (and the preamble leading up to Dungeon 5) were spectactular, and again, I've alluded to why earlier in the thread. While TP's areas had fantastic architecture and some of the puzzles were great, those three dungeons were utterly fantastic in what they were trying to accomplish to me.

The soundtrack is utterly fantastic, melodic and consistent. Zelda needed orchestration badly and it finally got it. I'll go into detail about this when the Soundtrack of 2011 thread goes up, but I don't think I'll be able to stop gushing about it. The credits music is beautiful. I can't stop listening to it, and I'm glad I held out on listening to the entire soundtrack prior to playing through the game. I love everything they did here. Not only in original BGMs, but a lot of the nods to past games whether it's in music or sound effects (oh my, the sound effects were just an absolute joy to hear sometimes). The music is truly one of the things that made me say, "Hell yes, this is a 25th Anniversary title, for sure!"

I don't think a lot of people noticed it, but I liked pulling out the harp in any new environment with a new BGM playing in the background. It's something I noticed when I started playing the harp for the Goddess Walls and Stones. The music the harp plays complements the currently playing BGM very well. It's always different depending on the BGM playing too. No matter the tempo you're playing the harp, the tones the harp plays will match up and harmonize with the currently-playing BGM. That genuinely surprised me and I loved that. Gameplay-wise, you are randomly strumming the harp, but in-game, you're playing something rather remarkable that blends in with the current BGM nicely, adding wonderful additional tones to the background. It's a small thing, but it's a very nice Easter Egg that the composers threw in for the hell of it. It was great, and I'm glad I figured that out.

The artstyle is gorgeous. I think I prefer the watercolours a little over The Wind Waker's cel-shading, but I admire both artstyles regardless. This is about Skyward Sword, though. This game features so many amazing facial expressions, something I've noticed since Nintendo showcased Ghirahim's boss battle. We've come a long way since Twilight Princess's horrible Link facial expression. Those were pretty bad and definitely not engaging at all. Adult Link finally looks convincingly emotive, an excellent complement to Child Toon Link of The Wind Waker. Link is angry, happy, disgusted, and even sad in this game and it's very convincing (it's also enhanced by a brilliant orchestral score). The animations are also fantastic, and what really surprised me early in game was
Link finally making animations to tell a story or say something--but I can't remember if his mouth moves too... I want to say yes.
. Ghirahim is a fantastic showcase of the enhanced animations and facial expressions. I love him even more just because of how interesting and creepy his animations and expression were, especially that bit in endgame, which made me laugh hard. Cutscene direction was also well-done. Nice cuts, nice animations and nice facial expressions to complement the dialogue. Loved it.

I don't mind Fi, as I've said before. I do think it sucks that sometimes her dialogue seems to scroll slower than other dialogue and that she can sometimes state the obvious, but I don't really have much of a problem with her. Ending spoilers:
Her final goodbye was kind of sad, though. It made me realize how much I liked her character in the end
. Tatl and Midna are still my favourite sidekicks in the series, though.

I do think that this game really needed a Bomber's Notebook or a Quest Log to keep track of things like sidequests, Goddess's Cubes, Goddess's chests, etc. It was sometimes a pain to keep track of all of that, and sometimes I forgot I had even gotten all the Goddess Cubes in a certain area when I wasted time looking for them. :/

Some of the controls for stuff like swimming or controlling the Loftwing weren't bad, but sometimes they felt like odd design choices (ex: using the Wiimote to swim, but using the analog stick above water or turn and talk to people underwater?). The game also had a little bit of what I'd qualify as padding, but eh. I enjoyed the overall package nonetheless.

There was also a particular boss fight that I didn't really like very much just because it didn't really do much differently every time you fought the boss. You can probably guess what it is.

There was also one cutscene bit that I didn't like at all. (Pre-dungeon 4 spoilers):
Oh my goodness, how did Nintendo deal with the pre-Silent Realm cutscenes? You have this entire game filled with wonderful facial expressions and great animation, but then you have these awful cutscenes with weird mouth movements and janky Link harp-playing animation. So bad... and they kind of ruined the song-playing experience a little bit.

It may be flawed, but I don't care. I loved it very much, and that's the most important thing to me. I think it really is my favourite 3D Zelda next to Majora's Mask after some reflection. I've played this game for 55+ hours, loved almost every minute of it, and I want to take the journey again and again. No question.
 

Thrakier

Member
I started on Dolphin finally for my "second-playthrough" and the cursor feels way off on that compared to how smooth and completely problem-free the experience was for me on an actual Wii.

So basically i'm switching back to the Wii. Sure it looks more pretty, but it doesn't play half as good as it does on the actual Wii.

That's bullshit, it works the same. You just have to fix your settings, get rid of EFB.
 

Mistle

Member
That's bullshit, it works the same. You just have to fix your settings, get rid of EFB.
Definitely doesn't work as smoothly for me either. Others agree too over in the Dolphin thread, I brought it up just before.
I know what the EFB problem is, but it's definitely not that

Edit: ah, you are in the dolphin thread. no avatar is confusing, lol
 

Dark Schala

Eloquent Princess
Also, re: handedness input (I'm left-handed, you see):

I forgot to mention that I played this entire game (outside of a few experimental instances) left-handed. There was one instance where I tried to switch to right-hand input, which was for
the Lumpy Pumpkin harp-playing minigame
to see if it worked out. I was even less precise with my right-hand than my left.

When I tried to use my right arm for swordplay, the end result was very clumsy sword-swinging, but my shield-bashing was a hell of a lot better, lol. Based on this, I guess handedness didn't really matter in the end, huh? I had a fine time with the control using my left hand in the long run and never really felt like I needed to switch hands mid-battle for more precise input.

Edit: And regarding the Silent Realm bits:
I loved them a lot. They were so much better than Twilight Princess's Twilight Realm bits. You can finish off the Silent Realm really quickly if you wanted to, and you can do them again and again if you ask the Thunder Dragon. They're such adrenaline rushes, especially if you screw up. Running away from the guardians was actually kind of fun, since there's a risk associated with getting hit (ie: losing all the tears you've gathered and being forced to start over). Also, all the Silent Realm music, especially Guardian Chase, were awesome. Loved the presentation far more than the Twilight Realm.
 

cacophony

Member
All this post-dungeon 3 stuff is so lame and boring. Trying to power through it as fast as I can
at the Skyview temple for the 2nd time now
 

ASIS

Member
Some of the controls for stuff like swimming or controlling the Loftwing weren't bad, but sometimes they felt like odd design choices (ex: using the Wiimote to swim, but using the analog stick above water or turn and talk to people underwater?).

Again, they did it so the whole "inverted" matter wouldn't be a problem anymore. That's why you use the Wiimote when you play in 3 dimensions (flying, diving) and the control stick in two dimensions (walking, swimming).
 

Thrakier

Member
So they kinda implemented Basketball and Bowling in this game...uhm...what's next. Soccer? -.- It's not that isn't a fun mechanic, it's just...I don't know. Archaic. It works as a game, yes. As a story, an adventure...so far...barely.
 
Ok I keep seeing this calibration complaint popping up in regards to the cursor. Are you people pointing at the screen before you press B like the game tells you? I've been playing that way and I have never once had the cursor misaligned. The only times it happened is when I have the wiimote pointed away from the screen when I press B. I just don't comprehend how people are having this problem so frequently.

Yes. It becomes misaligned within seconds, even after pressing B to re-center. It's the exact same problem I have with the Move. Motion-based pointing is just terrible. Even aside from the drift, it's laggy and less responsive than direct input methods. I don't know why Nintendo abandoned the excellent IR pointing.

IR pointing is so great, and my speed, accuracy, and steadiness is unmatched. My friends are amazed by how steady my aim is. From the way the cursor drifts with motion-based pointing, you'd think I have some kind of hand-quivering illness or martian rays in my house.
 

Thrakier

Member
Definitely doesn't work as smoothly for me either. Others agree too over in the Dolphin thread, I brought it up just before.
I know what the EFB problem is, but it's definitely not that

Edit: ah, you are in the dolphin thread. no avatar is confusing, lol

Yeah, it would be nice if the guys who are complaining actually shoot a video or something because "not as smooth" sure won't fix anything. You are running @locked 30FPS, yes? But please, let's talk about this in the dolphin thread.
 

keep

Member
The problem guys is that i have to do it constantly. I don't know why, but after a while things just go off and i always have to fix the controls.

It is my only gripe with the game, but it affects everything I do. I worry more about the controls then the actual enemies in the game. Things are just not responsive enough for me.

I kept having to reconnect the remote every time I swung the sword a bit frantically because Link would go insane and start veering off to the left on its own. This was EXTREMELY ANNOYING and I thought it was just the way it was with the game. About 12 hours in, I switched the Wii Remote to another one with a different WM+ and I haven't had a problem ever since.
 

Dark Schala

Eloquent Princess
Again, they did it so the whole "inverted" matter wouldn't be a problem anymore. That's why you use the Wiimote when you play in 3 dimensions (flying, diving) and the control stick in two dimensions (walking, swimming).
Ohhhhh, is that why? It felt kind of jarring during swimming, but I guess it makes sense when you put it that way.
 

ASIS

Member
So they kinda implemented Basketball and Bowling in this game...uhm...what's next. Soccer? -.- It's not that isn't a fun mechanic, it's just...I don't know. Archaic. It works as a game, yes. As a story, an adventure...so far...barely.

Basketball?
Ohhhhh, is that why? It felt kind of jarring during swimming, but I guess it makes sense when you put it that way.

Oh that is my own guess, sorry I didn't make that clear.

But it does make sense, a lot of sense actually.
 
K

kittens

Unconfirmed Member
Thanks for the responses to my earlier complaints. I'll give the game some more time and see if I can get into it.
 

dark10x

Digital Foundry pixel pusher
I picked up the game again after putting it on hold to finish other titles. Played through the volcano area and into the earth temple and, man, I'm still finding myself getting very frustrated here. The controls can work really well, but then you end up in annoying situations where the camera, motion controls, and "helpful bits" all work to annoy you.

It's like everything is constantly working against me in this game. You want to use that bomb? Too bad the camera isn't lining up right and the motion controls aren't doing what you'd expect.

I've overcome the soundtrack by using my own music in areas where the soundtrack is poor (the music used for the volcano stuff is just awful).

There's a lot of good stuff here, but the constant bullshit from Fi, the controls, the bad music, and the camera all conspire against it. I actually had more fun with Darksiders, if you can believe it.

I'll keep going, though, as there is still a lot of fun to be had. It's just mixed with frustration and disappointment.
 
awesome post

thanks for eloquently putting my thoughts of this game together. my review read like a kid who just saw something incredible and had to tell everyone he knew about it. thats what i loved about this game, this childhood glee and sheer happiness i felt playing it.

regarding the boss fight,
are you talking about demise?
 

Let me in

Member
This game can be detestable sometimes. There always has to be something frustrating in a Zelda. Post 6th dungeon:
The Imprisoned is awake for the third time. Bad enough in itself. Except now it's much more speedy and annoying. When I finally knock it down, I can't even get past it to knock the sealing spike back in! What am I doing wrong?
 
This game can be detestable sometimes. There always has to be something frustrating in a Zelda. Post 6th dungeon:
The Imprisoned is awake for the third time. Bad enough in itself. Except now it's much more speedy and annoying. When I finally knock it down, I can't even get past it to knock the sealing spike back in! What am I doing wrong?

drop down then use the air gust things to boost up on the platform near his head. or you can go up a level, then drop down. to make things easier, have groose shoot him to make him stop walking then smash away. when he starts to move again, wait until groose is ready then shoot him with bombs again.

the end to this fight is pretty cool
 

Papercuts

fired zero bullets in the orphanage.
I picked up the game again after putting it on hold to finish other titles. Played through the volcano area and into the earth temple and, man, I'm still finding myself getting very frustrated here. The controls can work really well, but then you end up in annoying situations where the camera, motion controls, and "helpful bits" all work to annoy you.

It's like everything is constantly working against me in this game. You want to use that bomb? Too bad the camera isn't lining up right and the motion controls aren't doing what you'd expect.

I've overcome the soundtrack by using my own music in areas where the soundtrack is poor (the music used for the volcano stuff is just awful).

There's a lot of good stuff here, but the constant bullshit from Fi, the controls, the bad music, and the camera all conspire against it. I actually had more fun with Darksiders, if you can believe it.

I'll keep going, though, as there is still a lot of fun to be had. It's just mixed with frustration and disappointment.

yeah, you pretty much need to Z target constantly to keep recentereing the camera here. I think the controls would just feel odd trying them at an angle and not link's back.
 

Dark Schala

Eloquent Princess
thanks for eloquently putting my thoughts of this game together. my review read like a kid who just saw something incredible and had to tell everyone he knew about it. thats what i loved about this game, this childhood glee and sheer happiness i felt playing it.

regarding the boss fight,
are you talking about demise?
Close; the Imprisoned. It felt more like a single boss battle that was split into three for... padding, I guess. It could have been split into two at the most; one for regular combat and the other for the Groosinator. It's great that I had realized that you can just get to higher ground, jump on his head and quickly whack the seal in rather than taking his toes off. It goes so much faster.

And your review is fine. :D
 

Let me in

Member
drop down then use the air gust things to boost up on the platform near his head. or you can go up a level, then drop down. to make things easier, have groose shoot him to make him stop walking then smash away. when he starts to move again, wait until groose is ready then shoot him with bombs again.

the end to this fight is pretty cool
I finally got it, thank you. Thought it had something to do with that but didn't think I had time to go around.
 

RagnarokX

Member
I finally got it, thank you. Thought it had something to do with that but didn't think I had time to go around.

No no no.
Don't hit the toes. Stun him with the Groosenator, then jump on his head and nail down the spike. Toes are totally unnecessary.
The rest of the fight is self explanatory.
 

Ydahs

Member
Currently at the end of the sixth dungeon. Even though I'm really enjoying this game, I can understand why some aspects of the in-between dungeon parts can cause frustrations and take away from the experience. I didn't really mind the
Sacred Realm
but would have preferred if it wasn't included.

With that said, the motion controls and dungeons continue to be the highlights of this game. Some of the boss battles have been really creative and intense.
 
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