| Platform | OVERALL |
|---|---|
| Wii | 9.50 |
| Overall | 9.50 |
|
There is no bigger event in gaming for me than a new console Zelda release. I expect nothing but pure excellence with each new installment, if it is not a 10 in my book it is a disappointment. Well Skyward Sword is a disappointment and throughout this review there I will be harsh on the game but make no mistake, this game is still a stellar title. Skyward Sword takes the bold approach of creating an entire action adventure game around motion controls. Zelda has never been a series with deep combat, for the most part players can just mash the attack button to get through most enemies. SS attempts to change the way all combat is handled through full motion controlled sword attacks and while it definitely makes the combat more interesting it still fails to create a deep combat system. The sword combat puts you in control of the action in a way almost no game has before, you are the one doing the attacks, Link is an extension of you and it makes each encounter matter in a way previous games could not match. The game records a slash in the 8 basic directions. During combat it is not true 1:1 nor does it have to be. Enemies come at Link while protecting certain parts of their body and always leaving a certain spot open which is naturally where you must slash. Most enemies get stunned after an initial strike which allows you to just slash wildly to beat them. This is where I get so frustrated with SS as the enemies don't really explore the controls enough. Why make this interesting control scheme to have most enemies still be defeated by just slashing like a madman. I cannot understand the design teams choices for enemies, here is a game all about sword play and many of Zelda's greatest sword best enemies are nowhere to be seen. Instead it is filled with the fodder of the enemy tree, how are there no darknuts in this game? Why are there like only 5 stalfos knights in the entire game? It boggles my mind cause any time an enemy puts up a true battle the control scheme shines so bright, it does not happen enough sadly. The entire game revolves around motion control which is a blessing and a curse. It works beautifully with almost all Link's items like the beetle and especially the bow and arrow. To me there is nothing like motion control aiming, especially when you can hold the wii and nunchuck like a bow and arrow and have it mimic the motion to shoot, works so well. The flip side is the over-reliance on using the motion control for movement, specifically flying and swimming. An analog stick works better to guide an object in a 3D space. It is not so bad with the flying since there is so much room to move around but for swimming in tight quarters it does get annoying. Overall I found the motion controls to be under-utilized. I always had this vision of a Zelda game with insane puzzles built around the player manipulating objects with the motion controls, a true revolution in game design. This game basically fits the motion controls into well-established Zelda mechanics and it works well, I enjoyed it but many that don't care for motion controls will probably be annoyed by it. Game structure was another area that Nintendo wanted to work on promising to change how we view areas outside of dungeons, a game where everything is like a dungeon. For the most part they succeed as the games three main hubs on the surface are very well designed game areas built for pure gameplay. There are no giant empty fields to run around in, no big empty spaces. Most of the game is pure gameplay as in you will be solving puzzles, battling enemies, maneuvering your way through these environments in a way that resembles more a Zelda dungeon than an overworld. I am amazed at how well designed many of these areas are, especially Lanaryu desert which clearly towers above the rest of the game in terms of quality. The dungeons as usual are of the high quality but they rarely reach the greatness of the dungeons of Twilight Princess. They feel more linear and I felt the puzzles were slightly easier; in general the puzzles were very basic almost always being a one-step puzzle. With all the cool new items at Link's disposal I saw so much potential for more complex puzzles that never came. On the flip side Skyward Sword still offers a mix of combat and puzzles that no other game even comes close to offering, the formula to me is still the best in gaming and it still works even with basic puzzles. When the Skyward Sword is at its best it is as good as the very best Zelda games, moments where I felt this is some of the best gaming of the generation. Most of these came in Lanaryu in and out of its two stellar dungeons. But as high as the highs are the lows are very low, this creates this Jekyll and Hyde experience which drove me mad. It is why my comments on Skyward Sword are all over the place. Link will have to revisit the three main areas many times which leads to a sense of backtracking or just fatigue of seeing the same area over and over. Now most of the time you are exploring new areas and as always you return with new toys that allow you to access previously unreachable secrets. Still there are moments where the game simply makes you go on a fetch quest, they don't hide it, quests like "go back to X area and bring back X item here". It happens a little too often and most of the time it doesn't feel like it seamlessly fits with the flow of the game thus it feels like a fetch quest. There are also a few repeating bosses, they come back with new patterns but it still feels repetitive. I couldn't help but feel like Nintendo feels us gamers are stupid and need extreme guidance every step of the way. Even though there is an optional hint system built into the game, Nintendo decided to force your guide, Fi, to annoy you with exactly what you must do. The constant interruptions will probably get on your nerves, especially when she ruins a puzzle. The sky is the area that I was most disappointed in as there is almost nothing to do. Imagine a giant empty space of nothing with small islands scattered all around that are all available to explore right from the start. There is no sense of exploration; it is all on your map from the beginning. There are objects called glyphs that you strike down on the surface which allows you to open a locked chest up in the sky, I felt this system was terrible as it takes away from the thrill of reaching the chest. Now you reach a chest and it’s locked until you randomly unlock by finding the glyph which lights up a beacon on your map telling you where to go. Plus it takes forever to get around the sky, for some reason there is no warp system so you have to slowly fly across the sky of nothingness to reach your destination. What the hell happened with this part of the game, the surface is all so jam packed with design and then you get to the sky and there is almost nothing to do. At the heart of the sky world is the main hub city of the game, Skyloft. This is basically the only city in the game and you are required to return over and over again throughout the adventure. The city is a fun place to explore with some great NPCs and some neat side quests but it is still no Majora's Mask in that regard. Personally I like the idea of discovering new cities as I play, not having one hub. Skyloft does serve as the center where all new game mechanics of upgrading takes place. Now items can be upgraded using bugs or treasures found throughout the world. Upgrades to items are a welcome new addition as it creates a progression system to items that normally are one time events. Potions can also be upgraded which brings back an old school blue potion, red potion feel. For the most part the game is too easy for any of these upgrades to be essential but it is a nice step in the right direction and it allows rupees to matter far deeper than in most Zelda games. Skyward Sword has a watercolor like cell shading graphical style which I feel creates a beautiful looking game for the Wii. I love the way Link looks and the way many of the enemies are designed, it is a style that perfectly fits the Wii. Many of the musical tracks are fully orchestrated which leads to a few gems but overall I felt like a lot of tracks sounded like ambiance more than full tracks. As always there is no voice acting which I don't mind except for the scrolling text moving sooo slow. Oh and then there is the prompts that pop up every time you restart the game and you pick up a bug or treasure, it will drive you mad. The story is pretty decent for a Zelda game and it introduces a few new characters that will be new fan favorites, like Groose. Skyward Sword takes a few steps forward but always takes a step back. As much as the game drove me mad with missed potential it still provided a 50 hour long epic adventure with a level of gameplay that few games ever match. The good greatly outweighs the bad but those areas make this a disappointing Zelda game. I feel it is the weakest of all the 3D console Zelda's when it easily could have been the greatest of them all. Even with all the changes Skyward Sword is still Zelda so those who never cared for the series won't find anything new that will change your mind. For those us that love the series it is another excellent entry, just one that makes one too many mistakes. |
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Posted by Dvader Tue, 31 Jan 2012 04:15:25
Recently Spotted:
robio (7m)
Gives it a 9.50
o_O
Damnit, Wind Waker is the white elephant in the room, are you color blind?!