NOTE: I've decided to reorganize how I dealt with the review. I will talk about the game itself in one post, and deal with the controls in a separate post. I'll also be editing the posts to add pictures.
I grew up with Zelda games, with Link's Awakening being the first game I remember playing to completion. I've since played almost every Zelda game, except its Game Cube outing. All in all, I think Skyward Sword is a suitable swan song for Wii and a celebration of Zelda's 25th Anniversary. The best (and perhaps the worse) of Zelda through its history has all been brought back. I shall discuss the various aspects of the games, and what I felt. Naturally, I will avoid spoilers, but when illustrating some of my points, I might pull out specific instances in the game.
For anyone not familiar with Zelda, it has built its success on the same formula. You start with a sword and shield and have to save the princess from an evil force. In each dungeon, you find a new item, which you will use henceforth to complete the dungeon, defeat the boss and that opens up new areas in the overworld, leading you to the next overworld area and dungeon. Since A Link to the Past, Zelda games typically involve time/inter-dimension travel, through which Zelda's exquisite gameplay and dungeon design is flaunted. Zelda games have an aspect of “open-ness” in that there also are collectables and mini-games available in the game. However, the main storyline and the order of dungeons (except the first game) are pretty linear. Eventually, you get to a showdown with the great evil and rescue the princess.
Having played all previous Zelda games, I completed the game, uncovering every piece of heart by myself, in about 50 hours. So, I think 50 hours is about right for anyone playing for the first time. If you want to dig out all the hearts, it will take another 10-15 hours, probably less if you look up an online guide. In my second play through, I didn't dig up everything, and completed it in about 25 hours. About an hour or 2 went to perfecting the boss rush mode.
The controls have arguably been the most divisive amongst fans and reviewers alike. Essentially, the game makes use of Wii Motion Plus, which allows you to have one-to-one sword controls, amongst other things. The direction you swing your remote affects how Link swings his sword, giving you unparalleled immersion in any Zelda game. As a result, you can no longer blindly waggle your controller, instead each strike has to be strategic and purposeful to defeat your foes. In theory, this makes for an exciting Zelda game. However, the controls are clearly not without issues and I've looked at it as objectively as I could. However, anyone who manages to get the controls working will probably enjoy themselves and not understand what the haters are talking about. Fans who are unable to do so, get ready to use your nostalgia and expectations of the game to tide you past the controls. Anyone who already hates motion controls, don't expect this game to change your mind.
While I cannot blame Nintendo for wanting Zelda to be the poster child of their innovation, I can completely understand how motion controls have and will continue to piss people off. Nintendo may have proved that it is possible to build a hardcore game using motion controls, however, I personally felt that they did it at the expense of Zelda. Sure, the game is great, but I leave you with two questions: Would you have stuck through the controls if this was not a Zelda game? If this game had the controls from Twilight Princess, how much of the experience would have been completely lost?
The presentation seems to be the next most debated issue. Like Wind Waker, the designers have once again manage to use their art style to present the game fantastically. Except, impressionist art is used instead of cell-shaded animation this time around. While there are moments in the game that will easily make you forget that you are playing an SD game, there are just as many moments that does the Wii no favours in the eyes of the typical core gamer today who looks for realistic graphics.
Don't get me wrong, I love the art style. However, there are textures that clearly have been given less attention then others. There are objects which could have benefited from more polygons. Other than that, I love the art presentation.
Many reviewers point out that Skyward Sword are lacking many of the tools to compete with the current generation games. They include lack of voice acting, and quest logs, just to name a few. The former belongs to the "style" category. I really think you're barking up the wrong tree here. I don't think voice acting would significantly change the game. So what if every other current generation game today has it? Its almost as ludicrous as the "good graphics make good games" argument.
However, the latter belong the the UX (user experience) category. I personally feel that Skyward Sword has to improve here. I recall in Twilight Princess, every time you boot up the game, the first time you pick up a rupee of a denomination more than 1, you would be given a brand new dialogue. Skyward Sword improved on this by removing it for the rupees, but forgot to do it for some of the collectables. Skyward sword also has no quest log, which really becomes an issue when you're running multiple side quests, but eventually can't keep track.
Some of these UX issues really need to go. Most of the people playing your games are seasoned fans. Do I really need to hear a prompt every time I enter a new area? It easily gets on your nerves and at times I really rather figure out stuff myself, like how the original Zelda was. I think how Deus Ex handle the problem was good - have difficulty settings, in harder difficulty settings, you lose basic helpful UI elements. I understand that you want to ensure that the game is more accessible to newcomers. Fair enough. To us, your loyal fans, we already know what to do.
Other times, the UX really could be streamlined. If I were to buy potions for the 50th time, do I really still need to hear what that potion does? No. One of the most annoying instances is during the skydiving minigame. The minigame is hard, so a typical gamer would probably need to play it more than 20 times to get the perfect score. However, every time you talk to the NPC, you have to go through all his standard banter. Then you have to walk and drop into the cannon (which is blocked by a hatch so you have to detour slightly), to be launched upwards. Is any of this necessary? Would walking to the cannon immerse me anymore? No. Is it hard to automatically launch me up? No. This is not the only instance of such issues. Some of these problems are dealt with (automatically returning to listing of items to be upgraded after upgrading one of them), while other are not. I'm nitpicking here, but I think more thought put in here would reduce the frustration caused.
Excluding UX issues, the rest of the presentation is, in my opinion, an issue of personal preference. If you want great set piece moments, voice acting and excellent realistic graphics, go play Modern Warfare (which incidentally has some terrible textures in specific areas) or Battlefield. However, there is cause for concern here. I worry for Nintendo, whether they would have the expertise and resources to compete in the HD era when they head over to the Wii U. Skyward Sword took 5 years to develop. Would 2016 be too late for the first HD Zelda title?
I'm actually done getting all the negativity (from me) out of the way. Because at the core of these UX, presentation, controls issues, is solid gameplay and level design. Zelda games comes from a long tradition that excel in both these aspects, Skyward Sword is basically a tribute to the fans. The level design is probably the best in the series. Its very streamlined, so if you're not killing monsters, you're figuring out how to open up the next door. The best design, as with Zelda games' past record, shines when it involves time travel. I really would have wanted more time travel related gameplay because I had so much fun there.
Modern Warfare and Uncharted may have great set piece moments. However, I think Zelda does just as well through its boss fights. Every boss fight is memorable and fun to play. In Hero's mode (unlocked after one play through), you lose twice as much health and hearts cannot drop from the environment or enemies, your skill is tested. I would have liked to see how time travel could be involved in the one boss fight (for example, you have to go to the past to weaken the boss first, then only in the present could you damage it).
Reviewers have laid criticism on the gameplay as well, claiming that it is too formulaic and involves too much backtracking. Its hard to take some of these reviewers to seriously when they talk about being formulaic, because the same reviewers would seem to forget this criticism on other current generation games, great as those games might be. However, the criticism is not without reason. Throughout the game, there was only one or two moments I had to stop and think to figure out what to do next. Being so well trained with the other Zelda games, I pretty much knew what to expect and what to do. Aonuma has promised that its time to shake things up, and I think its about time. As for the backtracking, I think its a matter of perspective, and tolerance. I found it perfectly alright, since I regarded the three main areas as part of the overworld. So the only obvious backtracking to a specific dungeon only occurs once.
If you look at what's stacked against it (debatable motion controls, weak hardware, dated presentation), and then you think about how its still going places in the eyes of gamers and critics alike, its hard not to be impressed. If anything, it tells you how solid the core of the game is, despite its many issues. However, the reality is harsh. I think Nintendo and Zelda faces an uphill battle in the coming years. There are areas in which Nintendo and Zelda must improve, while other areas Zelda can and should stubbornly defend.
I thoroughly enjoyed my 70 hours with the game, but like many, my experience was initially marred by the controls. I sometimes wonder how such big titles can release games with such issue. Its unthinkable that these issues were not picked up by testers. Were they simply pressured into releasing the game with these issues, or were they blind to the issues? I seriously hope its not the latter, especially when you listen to what Nintendo themselves say about the game. Come on Reggie, I am a big fan of the series, but I really wouldn't put aside the competition. I hope the series learns from the issues from this outing, and defy expectations once again in its next outing.
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