I beat it a few days ago, and thought I should chime in considering how many posts I have on GAF about this game, and the series in general.
I thought it was very good but with some serious reservations.
I found plenty about the game to love. Some of the dungeons-- not all-- were fantastic and extremely varied. Some of the bosses-- not all-- were fun with excellent music. However, the best thing about Skyward, bar none, was the story. I generally go into Zelda games not giving two hoots about the plot, but here I actually very much enjoyed it and thought that how many seeds it planted for the rest of the series, in both a figurative and literal sense, was highly enjoyable and even clever. I loved how Demise was the original template for Ganon, I liked the battle with him (and the music!) and the ending was very, very good, probably my favorite ending sequence in any of the recent games.
On the negative side, it's more or less what everyone else is complaining about. Slow text boxes, Fi, Fi, more Fi, some control issues (swimming sucks, rolling is easy but still relatively contrived, some response issues), more than a few pointless missions and fetch quests (tadtone section is easily the worst bit of a Zelda game of all time), the synth tracks contrasted with the higher quality recordings in a very terrible way (Eldin Volcano music, you come to mind), the game pointlessly notifying everything you pick up and letting you know what it is over and over (not a new issue to the 3D Zeldas).
It's easy to see the biggest problem with Skyward: most of its problems are relatively minor, but there are so many of them, and even worse, most of them didn't even have to happen at all. I understand that not every game can be pitch-perfect, but a lot of these problems shouldn't have even existed in the first place. They're not huge problems that would have been difficult to fix, but rather it falls purely on the ignorance of the developers. That's the worst part. The things they nailed about the game are things that I want in future Zelda titles, but it bothers me to think that some of these issues may still be prevalent in the future.
On a less technical level, another big problem I had with the game is how they handled some of the settings. I thought it was interesting how the Sky Keep actually plugged into the Sacred Grounds, but I didn't like how you engaged in the final boss confrontation-- a castle would have been nice here, Nintendo, with a huge view of Hylia's Realm in the distance-- which led me to another problem-- how you actually went into Hylia's Realm but didn't get a chance to explore the place a bit. It was all too reminiscent of Wind Waker, how you get down to Hyrule but you can only see its expanses from the bridge leading to Ganon's Castle.
I realize that the game is still sizable enough, but that was far too much of a cocktease for me. Having Demise's Castle being the last dungeon, this huge, evil, sinister place would have been amazing, but no, we get to go through a portal at the base of this giant ugly cylindrical hole in the ground. Very anti-climactic, as was the setting of the final duel against Ghirahim. It's true that I'm a more traditional kind of guy and I like my climactic battles at the peak of a tower or castle or something, but this was just way too wimpy for my tastes. I also felt like since you fought Ghirahim at the end of two of the dungeons that, in turn, the game lacked some different bosses there. Granted the fights with him were pretty cool, but I still like some variety. I also absolutely detested the Imprisoned confrontations. Incredibly annoying, very frustrating, and no fun-- they are certainly preventing the desire for replays, or to even think about trying Boss Mode.
It did so many amazing things, but seemingly tried to counter most of them with amateurish design decisions that could have seriously went a long way toward a better product. Speeding up text boxes, not stopping to tell me what bug I just caught and how popular they are with the kids of Skyloft, how many rupees a red rupee is worth, Fi telling me that I have a Wii remote in my right hand, and so on-- none of this shit should have plagued the game. It's almost like they didn't play the other 3D Zeldas with similar problems, that or it just never bothered them. I dunno. I realize I spent more time on the negatives, but I feel very strongly about them and I hope to fucking god that they don't pull some of this shit again.
As for what I think they should do with the next Zelda, aside from not including these easily avoidable flaws, I don't know. Aonuma says that the next one will challenge some of the franchise's conventions, but what they need to do is concentrate on a more refined experience. I like that this game got rid of big empty places, but at the same time, it was still bogged down with a load of unnecessary things. They need to make a more varied and tighter adventure with much bigger dungeons and more of a Zelda feel. Skyward, in all actuality, I felt it kind of lacked the Zelda feel. It still had just enough of it, but I think by this point the formula they have going on with the 3D games is getting stale, or its just not working for me anymore.
That's not to say that I'm tired of Zelda, but rather the formula that they have went with since Ocarina. I'm not necessarily looking for a drastic change, or even a cosmetic change, but perhaps an atmospheric one. I think dungeons like the Forest Temple in Ocarina and the Sky Keep in Skyward are two of the most Zelda-like places in the 3D installments, along with the majority of Twilight Princess' dungeons. A lot of Skyward, apart from the Sky Keep, lacked that kind of ethereal Zelda atmosphere and that's one of the reasons why I look forward to these games more than any other. So I guess I simply want more of that kind of thing. If they won't shake up the formula, they at least need to find their footing in that sort of atmosphere that only Zelda can really deliver.
If I had to rank the 3D Zeldas, it'd look something like this:
1. Twilight Princess
2. Ocarina of Time
3. Skyward Sword
4. Wind Waker
5. Majora's Mask
Very good Zelda, and easily the best game I played this year despite its shortcomings. That's the thing about Zelda, for me anyway, even just "good Zelda" is still better than most other games I play, and with Skyward its no exception. Just please, Nintendo, no more of these problems, no more excuses-- you've experimented, you've gotten feedback (I presume) about this stuff-- stop dicking around and get the franchise back up to where it should be.
Would have been a really interesting path to take if they had. Unless they did something really awesome however I doubt it would have worked. They nailed Groose's character imo, I want the 3DS Zelda to be a SS sequel so badly lol.