Support NeoGAF

[lunarworks]

Bought the game Day 1.

Finally beat it today.

Let's just say it can be difficult finding enough time to play games these days. But damn, it was all so good.

Groose could literally carry a game as a protagonist, he probably has the strongest and most clearly presented character development arch of anyone in a Zelda game yet.

Yes! Groose needs his own spin-off. He deserves the same level of respect as Wario.

 

[KenOD]

If Tingle can get three games then by goodness Groose should at least get one.

 

[guek]

Just finished this game for the first time. Bought it day 1 but haven't been able to commit a lot of time to it until now due to school.

Holy hell this was a good game. I still feel like there are a couple obvious things that nintendo should have done differently, and there are more of those little niggles than I'm comfortable with, but overall the game was fantastic. Stupendous. Worthy of Zelda.

It's so radically different from just about any other modern game today that I can kind of understand why a lot of people were a bit turned off. The game required a lot more patience than I think most gamers are used to. Complaints about the silent realms or the limited number of areas are understandable, but though I viewed those as shortcomings at first as well, I eventually became enamored with the design of this game. It feels like the anti-thesis of open world games, but avoids the feeling of playing through a linear tunnel. The areas are so thoroughly explored and expanded upon, the claustrophobic feelings I occasionally felt were nothing compared to the joy I experienced by simply playing the game.

What I really don't understand are the complaints that this is the same old zelda, repackaged for the millionth time. SS offers up so many new things that we've never seen before in zelda games. At it's core, it's definitely still "Zelda," and maybe people just want to play something else. Maybe people just want this game to be Skyrim, but that's something Zelda will never and should never aspire to emulate. SS might have started out a little slow, but it ended on an amazing high note...

That ending! Whoo! Pitch perfect.

 

[King of the Potato People]

What I really don't understand are the complaints that this is the same old zelda, repackaged for the millionth time. SS offers up so many new things that we've never seen before in zelda games.

Some people just like to use lazy arguments.

 

[Tookay]

Just finished this game for the first time. Bought it day 1 but haven't been able to commit a lot of time to it until now due to school.

Holy hell this was a good game. I still feel like there are a couple obvious things that nintendo should have done differently, and there are more of those little niggles than I'm comfortable with, but overall the game was fantastic. Stupendous. Worthy of Zelda.

It's so radically different from just about any other modern game today that I can kind of understand why a lot of people were a bit turned off. The game required a lot more patience than I think most gamers are used to. Complaints about the silent realms or the limited number of areas are understandable, but though I viewed those as shortcomings at first as well, I eventually became enamored with the design of this game. It feels like the anti-thesis of open world games, but avoids the feeling of playing through a linear tunnel. The areas are so thoroughly explored and expanded upon, the claustrophobic feelings I occasionally felt were nothing compared to the joy I experienced by simply playing the game.

What I really don't understand are the complaints that this is the same old zelda, repackaged for the millionth time. SS offers up so many new things that we've never seen before in zelda games. At it's core, it's definitely still "Zelda," and maybe people just want to play something else. Maybe people just want this game to be Skyrim, but that's something Zelda will never and should never aspire to emulate. SS might have started out a little slow, but it ended on an amazing high note...

That ending! Whoo! Pitch perfect.

Good post. It's definitely not the same old, same old in terms of structure and the use of its environments. In some ways, it feels more like Mario 64 in that every stage is used to its fullest... maybe going a bit too far with squeezing some life out of them. It's all very experimental, and while some of those experiments are busts (that whole section after dungeon six kills the pacing), there are a lot of things the game does right. Even some of the groan-inducing concepts like the Silent Realm I thought were actually pretty well-executed.

And when the game was on fire with its ideas, man, it was incredible. A couple of the dungeons (3-5 especially), the boss fights, and the whole last hour or so were fantastic.

 

[AniHawk]

Some people just like to use lazy arguments.

the same arguments repackaged for the millionth time.

 

[guek]

Good post. It's definitely not the same old, same old in terms of structure and the use of its environments. In some ways, it feels more like Mario 64 in that every stage is used to its fullest... maybe going a bit too far with squeezing some life out of them. It's all very experimental, and while some of those experiments are busts (that whole section after dungeon six kills the pacing), there are a lot of things the game does right. Even some of the groan-inducing concepts like the Silent Realm I thought were actually pretty well-executed.

And when the game was on fire with its ideas, man, it was incredible. A couple of the dungeons (3-5 especially), the boss fights, and the whole last hour or so were fantastic.

Yeah. There were a couple low points in the game for sure, but I felt the sum of its parts vastly outweighed its flaws. It's just frustrating when there are problems with a game that are incredibly easy to fix.

 

[vanty]

What's the problem people have with the Silent Realm stuff? Because of failing and having to redo or something? I only failed the first once and then did the others without any issue, so maybe that's why they're fine by me.

 

[DragonSworne]

What's the problem people have with the Silent Realm stuff? Because of failing and having to redo or something? I only failed the first once and then did the others without any issue, so maybe that's why they're fine by me.

Zelda games are too easy, except when they are hard.

 

[WrenchNinja]

What's the problem people have with the Silent Realm stuff?

I never found them difficult at all. Theyre boring unengaging fetch quests for shitty tears of light (oh joy, theyre back again) in the guise of an easy mode stealth sequence. Like how does any of these test courage, wisdom and power? Why do you even lose stamina as a spirit?

 

[Ushojax]

What's the problem people have with the Silent Realm stuff? Because of failing and having to redo or something? I only failed the first once and then did the others without any issue, so maybe that's why they're fine by me.

I thought they were good, the atmosphere was tense and they were satisfying to complete. There was one person in the OT who spent hours trying to complete the very first one, I never got my head around that.

 

[Mistle]

I thought they were good, the atmosphere was tense and they were satisfying to complete. There was one person in the OT who spent hours trying to complete the very first one, I never got my head around that.

There was also somebody in the OT who couldn't even manage to fly above the clouds, so I wouldn't give that OT much credit.

 

[abasm]

I never found them difficult at all. Theyre boring unengaging fetch quests for shitty tears of light (oh joy, theyre back again) in the guise of an easy mode stealth sequence. Like how does any of these test courage, wisdom and power? Why do you even lose stamina as a spirit?

I found them disarmingly tense for a Zelda game. In fact, I would say that the Silent Realm is meant to test courage, while the dungeons test wisdom, and the swordplay tests power. (speaking with regards to the overall game structure.)

 

[guek]

I found them disarmingly tense for a Zelda game. In fact, I would say that the Silent Realm is meant to test courage, while the dungeons test wisdom, and the swordplay tests power. (speaking with regards to the overall game structure.)

The silent realms were awesome. There were maybe one or two too many in the game, but I overall found them to be a fantastic change of pace. I died during them once :-(

 

[SaintMadeOfPlaster]

Yes, the first Silent Realm was one of my biggest "this game is fucking awesome" moments of the game.

 

[Log4Girlz]

Loved silent realms...should have been optional though.

 

[SephCast]

What's the problem people have with the Silent Realm stuff? Because of failing and having to redo or something? I only failed the first once and then did the others without any issue, so maybe that's why they're fine by me.

They were alright, I just hated the Tadtones. Now that was a shitty fetchquest.

 

[sphinx]

I agree, silent realms were awesome.

the own in the volcano... god, that was so tense. I liked them.

 

[Sagitario]

I agree, silent realms were awesome.

the own in the volcano... god, that was so tense. I liked them.

I didn't like the first one (Faron Woods), but loved them from Eldin and onwards!

 

[Yagharek]

I thought they were good, the atmosphere was tense and they were satisfying to complete. There was one person in the OT who spent hours trying to complete the very first one, I never got my head around that.

Agreed completely. I loved the tension in the challenges, especially when going for the last of the tears and being right next to a guardian when you reach it.

They were alright, I just hated the Tadtones. Now that was a shitty fetchquest.

That was the most beautiful part of the game, the entire flooded forest. How could you hate that? It was relaxing, colourful and a great play on the region that had seemingly been explored fully up til that point.

 

[guek]

The tadtones weren't bad, but I can see why some people might hate them. I thought they were tedious too until I realized spinning made it easy. Then it was sort of fun.

 

[hateradio]

I actually stopped at the tadpoles. I haven't played the game in a month or two, and thinking about them makes me less inclined to play it again, even with spinning.

 

[Xun]

I actually stopped at the tadpoles. I haven't played the game in a month or two, and thinking about them makes me less inclined to play it again, even with spinning.

I'm really not sure what the fuss is all about to be honest.

I did them in about 20 mins max.

 

[Maxrunner]

Im currently in the sand ship and going to get the final flame i assume...its been great....i do agree that the blue girl thing gets on the nerves sometimes, she talks a bit to much, but if you don't have the time to play continuously like me she's good at remind you where to go. Still its been a very good game, and i can safely say its better than twilight princess..

 

[BGBW]

I agree, silent realms were awesome.

the own in the volcano... god, that was so tense. I liked them.

The Eldin one was tense for me because I messed up and ended up in a situation where I had to run half way across the map looking for the next bit. I even had to abuse lava re-spawning to dodge the enemies. When I finally found the next one in the cave where you require the heat resistant earrings I jumped off the edge straight into a puddle of cursed water. Just my luck.

 

[The Boat]

I'm really not sure what the fuss is all about to be honest.

I did them in about 20 mins max.

In general terms, I think most people just see "oh I need to collect stuff, I hate it" and that's it, there's no going back.

 

[PokéKong]

I was perfectly fine with the likes of the Silent Realm, but the tadpoles were a few steps too far for me. It hurt that the whole premise was ridiculous and unbelievable, it made the game start to feel more like a 3D Mario game, where suddenly you enter a stage to do a certain objective and the area has been transformed in some radical way to suit the mission.

 

[Supermanisdead]

Tadtones was one of my favourite parts. It was really easy to find them and swimming was a fun challenge. Also ~underwater graphics~

 

[Meatvillain]

Admittedly the tadtones were extremely contrived but I actually enjoyed that part of the game, it probably helped that I enjoyed the swimming controls - probably some of the best swimming controls I've experienced in a game.

 

[watershed]

Im appreciating the game's soundtrack more and more months after beating the game. In particular all the skyloft and sky in general music, Fi's theme, and all the desert music.

 

[BD1]

Silent Realms were awesome! The tense moments when the guardians came alive were awesome, but I agree, there should have been less. One giants Realm would have been very cool.

The tadtones? Meh, not so much. Nintendo needs to drop the fetch/collect missions from Zelda games. They are jarring.

 

[Risgroo]

Yeah, I really don't see the problem with the Silent Realm parts, there were tense as hell. While I always wanted them to be over soon, it wasn't because they were bad, I was just a bit freaked out. As for the tadtones, yeah, they were the weakest part of the game, but far from a dealbreaker.

Skyward Sword was my GOTY, and I loved almost every minute of it, guess I'm just easy to please compared to the rest of GAF.

 

[BGBW]

Tadtones would have probably been better if it was more of a continuous trail of them rather than a hunt. It was interesting to explore a previous map underwater, but not when half of the time you just swam around mindlessly hoping for the best.

 

[abasm]

Skyward Sword was my GOTY, and I loved almost every minute of it, guess I'm just easy to please compared to the rest of GAF.

Hey man, don't sweat it. Contempt is infectious. The fact that you still appreciate the game as much as you do is commendable.

 

[SaintMadeOfPlaster]

I never understood the hate for the tadtones either. It doesn't take long, and it's one of the more visually stunning moments of the game.

Plus, you can just use dowsing to find any tadtones that are hard to find.

Fetch quests suck when they force you to retread areas previously visited, a la the Metroid Prime series. They're perfectly excusable (as far as I'm concerned) if they force you to explore new areas or old areas in new ways.

 

[WrenchNinja]

Plus, you can just use dowsing to find any tadtones that are hard to find.

Only after you collect the majority of them and boss Kikiwi tells you you're allowed to douse for the rest. My hang up is that I hate the controls for swimming and the whole reason you're doing this section is completely idiotic. Maybe I'd tolerate it more if they gave you a good reason to collect shit.

 

[hateradio]

It's not the tadpoles themselves, it's what they represent. (And I wouldn't call that section visually stunning . . .) It's just that the game tends to make me play mini-games when I really don't want to play mini-games. I don't particularly find it fun to run around or swim around or whatever around for 10-30 minutes. I like my time sinks to have purpose. :nod:


Oh, and something else is that I just can't stand the swimming in that game. Like I said, it wasn't the tadpoles, they were probably just the final straw. Moreover, I don't have a Wii in my room, so if I wanted to play the game, I'd have to play in my sister's room or steal the Wii for a while. I'm uninterested in doing either.

Edit: Pretty much what Crewnh said.

 

[Hydderf]

hi guys, I juste finished Skyward sword too, fantastic game. I have two questions:

- Pipit and his mother : appart from cleaning his mother's house and hearing her constantly asking to "Say hi to my son" at night, is there something else to see with this family?
I remember witnessing kind of a fight between Pipit and his mother but that didn't trigger any event...

- In the last dungeon that I don't remember the name where you have to constantly re-organized the room (liked that ): Am I the only one who totally skipped one room and still got the triforce ?
The room I skipped is the one where you have to hit three purple diamonds with an upward motion. I NEVER found out how to access the last one (I cut some bamboos to clear the path, sent a bomb into a statue with my fellow beetle and then....I...I got stuck

anyone ?

 

[BHZ Mayor]

My issue with the tadtones is less with the tadtones themselves and more with the fact that Faron was a complete asshole. Not to mention that she reminded me of Hexadecimal from Reboot.

 

[phisheep]

It's not the tadpoles themselves, it's what they represent. (And I wouldn't call that section visually stunning . . .) It's just that the game tends to make me play mini-games when I really don't want to play mini-games. I don't particularly find it fun to run around or swim around or whatever around for 10-30 minutes. I like my time sinks to have purpose. :nod:

I can relate to that.

When it comes to Zelda I am a completionist nutcase anyway, so I always eventually polish off everything - so for me at least the complaints of 'padding' didn't ring true with me - it's about the same size overall as the other zeldas.

And I loved pretty well all of Skyward Sword. But I didn't necessarily like having to do it in that particular order, or feeling that the game was making me do something now that I'd really rather like to do but in my own time thanks very much.

That said, I did enjoy the Silent Realms (or at least I enjoyed the satisfaction of having completed them, which isn't quite the same thing!) and the totally unexpected volcano stealth section.