IGN said:

I first played The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword a few month's ago at E3 2011, but it wasn't until my most recent play session that I began to fully grasp the grandeur of Link's next adventure. Earlier this week I had the chance to sit down with this game for about nine hours straight, to really get comfy with the new controls and new setting. I walked away more excited than ever to get my hands on what promises to be the most exciting new Zelda release in a very, very long time.


One of the biggest factors that's been keeping me up at night, dying to return to Skyloft and the land below, is the game's amazing presentation. The scope of this tale is the likes never before seen in a Zelda game. With over 100 minutes of cutscenes and 50 to 100 hours of gameplay, even after spending an entire day with Skyward Sword I've barely scratched the surface of this adventure.


But even with all the mystery still surrounding it, one thing is clearer than ever: Zelda as Zelda fans know it is back, and with a vengeance. If you're not already, it's time to get excited.


Balancing Story and Gameplay


A nagging problem that many modern titles - specifically Nintendo titles - suffer from is going overboard with gameplay explanations. They often break down every minute action your character can perform, effectively dragging the game's opening pace through the mud. The purpose is understandable, to ensure that new and casual gamers are able to pick up and play these games with as small of a learning curve as possible. But the result is often a tedious first few hours of gameplay that does little to inspire you to continue playing.


Luckily, Skyward Sword marks a departure from this frustrating trend, finding an exquisite balance between making this largely new control scheme easy to understand and not drowning the player in a sea of boring explanatory text. Much like in the older games, you're thrown right into the story and the action relatively as soon as Link rolls out of bed. Though things are still explained, the text is much more concise, but without sacrificing clarity (in other words, your mom should still be able to figure out how to execute a Spin Attack after the sword tutorial).



HYA!!


What's particularly impressive is that Skyward Sword seamlessly blends these gameplay tutorials into the narrative groundwork, so you never feel like you're wasting time on a giant aside that won't actually have any effect on the game. Want to learn to fly? You do so by diving off the edge of a cliff onto your Crimson Loftwing. How about swordplay? A quick trip to the Sparring Hall has you covered. Everything feels like it serves a purpose, in some way informing the overarching narrative by either expanding upon the world itself or setting down key story and character development.


From what I've played so far, Skyward Sword looks to be the perfect incarnation of storytelling for a three dimensional Zelda game. It mildly harkens back to the 'jump in and go' opening segment of A Link to the Past, but necessarily slowed down to make way for the layered story this lengthy, epic saga is trying to tell. We already know this title is set to be the earliest in the Zelda timeline, and from what I've seen it's clear it will shed some light on the entire Zelda universe.

The world in Skyward Sword is far more expansive than anything we've seen in the Zelda universe thus far, full of new and familiar faces and positively bustling with life and personality. The opening of the story introduces you to Link's schoolmates from the Knight Academy (you heard correctly, Link is training to become a knight in this go-round). An oafish rival named Groose sets up some minor, initial conflict - as well as establishes where Link fits in on the floating isle of Skyloft (he's a favorite of Zelda, but ridiculed by the other kids who are jealous of his rare bird).


Teachers and neighbors round out the roster, each with their own agenda and opinion on what's going on at the moment. In other words, Skyward Sword certainly boasts the variety of quirky characters we've come to expect from the franchise.



Wipe that smirk off your face, Groose.


Filling in the role of Navi (the character who you call upon for guidance) is a new character named Fi, a mystical sword girl sworn to help the fated hero to fulfill his destiny. She provides a fun change of pace for this role, which is usually filled by a creature with a spunkier, pushier personality (a la everyone's favorite fairy, or the grumpy/playful Midna from Twilight Princess).


Fi is all cold logic and duty, but her lack of emotion is presented in such a way as to still be endearing. It's more just who she is, and some of her dry reactions to certain situations are downright priceless. In a way she's Spock meets R2-D2 (Spock2-D2?), and is an interesting compliment to the other colorful, exuberant characters Link meets along the way. Considering we already know Skyward Sword will touch on the creation of the Master Sword, which Fi no doubt plays an important role in, I'm excited to learn more about this mysterious girl and her place in this new Zelda world.



A new take on Link's sidekick.


While Fi should prove quite the fascinating companion, surprisingly, one of the most interesting characters in Skyward is actually Zelda. I'll go into more detail on the evolution of this classic character at a later time, but suffice to say the game presents a side of this perpetual damsel in distress than we've ever seen before. Of course, she's not the only familiar name to be making a return in Skyward Sword…


Guess Hoo Hoo's Coming to Dinner


And now we come to a character who, ever since he first showed up in the E3 trailer for Skyward Sword, has been sending Zelda fanatics chattering. We now know for sure that the man with the wild eyebrows is, indeed, a human incarnation of Kaepora Gaebora - the ancient, wise owl who has been guiding Link along his adventures since Ocarina of Time (or Link's Awakening, depending on what you choose to believe).



The eyebrows give it away.


In this game, Gaebora continues with his duties as Link's mentor of sorts, this time through the role of headmaster of the Knight Academy. He's definitely a figure that Link and the other Skyloft residents look up to and revere almost as a leader, and he has another surprising role in Skyward Sword as well - Zelda's father.


We'll just have to wait until November to find out how Gaebora being Zelda's father plays into later events in the Zelda universe, but it's an exciting inclusion for longtime fans of the series (and of the owl). Hopefully this game will shed some light on Kaepora Gaebora as an ancient sage, which he was revealed to be according to one of the Gossip Stones in Ocarina of Time.


Links to the Past


Above all, what Skyward Sword accomplishes best is striking a balance between old and new. New characters are mixed in with old ones. Fresh insight is given to recurring characters. Tried and true gameplay concepts are intermingled with fresh innovations and improvements.


The game also throws some nods to other, lesser-known Zelda titles, such as Link's Awakening (the monster that kidnaps Zelda, for instance, looks like a more complex, stylized Nightmare). But the title it referenced the most, at least as far as I played, was Minish Cap (I'll be examining the correlations between these two titles in detail in a future article). For longtime fans of the series, these references, both large and small, should prove a welcome addition.


While much of Skyward Sword is reminiscent of older Zelda games (the return to a greater difficulty level, for example), it's mixed in with enough new breakthroughs for the franchise (like the one-to-one swordplay, which actually makes motion controls seem worthwhile) that the whole experience feels fresh yet familiar.



We'll be rolling out more on Link's forthcoming epic in the days and weeks to come, but in the meantime sound of on what you think of Skyward Sword in the comments section below. Like us, has all the new info that's come out got you more excited for this title?

New videos from Nintendo

Intro

Faron Woods

Skyview Temple

Map

Art

New stuff