linko9 said:

Ok, but if you're claiming that other Wii games make your arm tired, that means there's something not right. Because trust me, having played lots of Wii games for hours at a time, none of them make my arm tired. Obviously this game will require more movement than most other games, but if currently existing games tire you out, understand that you're an exception. Maybe you're just swinging the wiimote a lot harder than you have to?

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SovanJedi said:

Who is that other girl?

It looks like Tetra. Which I know it's not, since... y'know.

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cpp_is_king said:

Part of it has to do with the controller being extremely sensitive to positioning in relation to the sensor placed near the TV. If I could just chill while reclined, and my arm in whatever position happened to be the most comfortable, it would be fine. but I actually have to hold my arm practically straight out in front of me for the entire time I play. It's awkward and uncomfortable. It could be my TV, could be me, or it could be the system. Doesn't really make a difference either way, the end result is still that it's obnoxious to play any game on it.

It takes me forever sometimes just to move the damn hand on the home screen to the icon that launches the game, even when I'm trying to be as careful and accurate as possible.

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Orayn said:

Sword control is a combination of those last two, with IR only being used for menus and certain projectile weapons.

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Being a huge fan of the original NES The Legend of Zelda games, and more recently Ocarina of Time 3D, I was expecting Nintendo's Wiincarnation of Zelda to be huge. Unfortunately, blindly going into the game having such high expectations was a mistake. From the screenshots, movies and demo, the game definitely looked promising. Soon after the game begins, however, most of the visual beauty takes a back seat to a bad camera and fairly repetitive gameplay.

To be blunt, the camera system in Skyward Sword sucks. The game takes place from a 3rd person point of view, and as soon as Link start moving forward it's obvious that the camera sits way too low and too far back. In a tight room or area, the camera attempts to give you the best view possible, but there are always enemies seemingly falling from the sky right beyond your view or shooting arrows at you from off-screen. As soon as you try to re-center the camera and see where the beating is originating from, you end up being surrounded and taking additional damage. The camera has a tendency to just focus on Link at the most inopportune moments and frequently you'll be fighting an attacker you can't even see. In other circumstances, objects and the environment itself will obstruct your view as the camera swings around. I seriously believe I spent more time fighting the camera than the bad guys. The camera issue is extremely frustrating and is clearly the game's primary shortcoming.

From the few instances where the camera does behave, the gameplay in Skyward Sword isn't necessarily bad. Link unfortunately has nowhere near the amount of technique he has in The Wind Waker. He can block/dodge, perform a regular attack, a special attack, and a long distance attack. Jumping towards certain walls will result in Link either running along or climbing up the wall with the option to perform an attack from that position. Holding the sword up charges up a super special attack, which is unleashed upon the swing of the sword. Eventually Link finds other weapons and learns additional attacks and techniques such as the slingshot and whip. As mentioned earlier, besides attacking from off-screen, enemies will frequently surround Link and begin pounding away. Trying to fight out of those situations will frequently end badly, because as soon as one gets a hit in, the others will take some cheap shots.

Besides the fighting scenes, Skyward Sword also contains some minor adventure and puzzle elements. Link can find various healing potions, status altering relics, maps, weapons and key-like items. The key items are used to open doors or unlock new areas, and once in a while you'll need to backtrack through previously completed areas to progress through the game. Link can also trade some of the enemy items for various upgrades such as potions and shields whenever he comes across a shop statue. In the end, the adventure elements are uninvolving and simple and serve merely as a way to help break up the action segments.

As touched on earlier, Skyward Sword is a beautiful looking game. It's obvious that Nintendo knows the Wii hardware well, as most of the environments, animation and effects are gorgeous. The environments are not as interactive as hoped though, with only small, obvious objects such as lanterns, torches and book cases being interactive. Some of the best dungeons look like they were pulled directly from Okami's universe. However at one point early in the game, Skyward Sword abruptly shifts from a lush feudal Japanese style to a more modern, sterile, mechanized world. The enemies also follow the same pattern. Later on towards the end, the game takes on a more weird fantasy-like element. There are a few (often confusing) realtime cut-scenes mixed into the game and they are of your typical modern Nintendo variety. The plot and storytelling totally pale in comparison to Ocarina of Time on the N64. Which, for it's time, was a cinematic masterpiece. Overall, Skyward Sword doesn't really stick to the classic Zelda formula and style, but it's an attractive game nonetheless.

The soundtrack doesn't really stand out and the limited voice acting is quite forgettable. There are some nice sound effects and ambient tunes here and there, though you'll probably hear more sword clashing effects than anything else in the game.

Skyward Sword is just not the Zelda I expected. It's overwhelmingly mediocre, not enjoyable to play, and the horrendous camera alone destroys any redeeming factors the game may have. Most PlayStation 3 owners should remember Factor 5's similarly overhyped Lair. I'd almost go as far as proclaiming Skyward Sword to be the Wii equivalent.

Rating: C-

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Nintendo-4Life said:

Where did you get that review from?

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Ridley327 said:

Sub in Ninja Gaiden for whenever Zelda is mentioned and you have GAF's review of that title.

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volturnus said:

Is it true that the game has no left-handed options?

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AniHawk said:

well, here's one negative review.

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Nintendo-4Life said:

Where did you get that review from?

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EatChildren said:

With all due respect, you're definitely an exception to the norm if it took you ~100 hours to get everything in Twilight Princess. I'd say on average Twilight Princess would take ~50 hours to get absolutely everything, maybe a little less. It's a huge game to be sure, but I cant imagine spending 100 hours on it.

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Caelus said:

SS doesn't use IR at all, the pointer is not relative to the screen. Imagine a 3D mouse.

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AniHawk said:

well, here's one negative review.

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AniHawk said:

well, here's one negative review and I won't give the source.

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Orayn said:

Really? That's a bit of a bummer, actually, because IR is more accurate and responsive for controlling a 2D cursor.

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ThaiGrocer said:

You forgot to mention that.

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FINALBOSS said:

For people who don't own a Wii...how we supposed to play this?

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FINALBOSS said:

For people who don't own a Wii...how we supposed to play this?

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FINALBOSS said:

For people who don't own a Wii...how we supposed to play this?

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ThaiGrocer said:

You forgot to mention that.

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Being a huge fan of the original NES and arcade Ninja Gaiden games, and more recently the entire Dead or Alive series, I was expecting Tecmo's Xbox reincarnation of Ninja Gaiden to be huge. Unfortunately, blindly going into the game having such high expectations was a mistake. From the screenshots, movies and demo, the game definitely looked promising. Soon after the game begins, however, most of the visual beauty takes a back seat to a bad camera and fairly repetitive gameplay.

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Truth101 said:

It is a joke, obviously.

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Cygnus X-1 said:

On Gamerankings, it's still first since 1998. But you know the interesting thing? If this will not be the best Zelda ever made, Miyamoto will not let Aonuma make Zeldas anymore. Not sure if he was kidding.....

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walking fiend said:

There's something strange about Skyward Sword. I haven't played it yet, most of us haven't, but somehow I feel like I have known both Ghirahim and Zelda for a very long time, as if they have been characters that I was grown with since my childhood; there's just this feeling of intimacy that they radiance, I don't know. (I guess part of Ghriahim is thanks to Burntpork, but I have no explanation for Zelda)

This game is just gonna be too good, it'll be an experience.

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Orayn said:

OoT is the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club of video games. Hugely influential? Check. Stands the test of time? Yep. Overrated? At least a little. Still mind-blowing when you strip away the nostalgia? Absolutely.

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The Zelda team will likely never make another Wii game. It's a sad fact, but The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword will stand as the final serious release of a Wii game in a huge Nintendo franchise. And with 40 hours of Ocarina of Time-like stick swinging and a liberal sprinkling of classic Zelda action ahead of you, you'd think it would make a delicious swansong. However, the truth couldn't be further from the myth.


A bright start

It all begins brightly enough. A mysterious princess called Zelda finds herself swooping through the atmosphere of Skyloft, living there and being friends with Link. Link's everyday life is interrupted by an event involving the Goddess Sword that reveals that there is a land below Skyloft, which is actually Hyrule. It is then discovered that Hyrule is being overrun by evil forces, forcing Link to go there. Unfortunately, Zelda's benevolence gets the better of her, and before long she's incarcerated by Ghirahim. Without Link's help, she'll be stuck there for good, and Hyrule and all its peace-loving inhabitants will die.

And it's here, after three hours of toiling with Link and learning the basics of aerial combat, then ground-based movement, auto-jumping, using items/explosive bombs and dodge-rolling, that we're finally reintroduced to the meat of the game. Link is still Link, and he kicks around with the same enemies, and when Link is chartered to return Hyrule to peace by finding Zelda, he hops on a bird and lands within different dungeons, beginning a journey which will take him across all of Hyrule.

Along the way he'll receive help from Phi, a mysterious ghost-like creature. She provide tips and tools, and at times it does feel like a team effort.

It should be magnificent. The Zelda team has borrowed from past work like The Wind Waker and injected plenty of things learnt from Wii Sports: Resort, and the result is a beautiful, accessible adventure of mammoth proportions, with Lylat Wars-style sky combat missions thrown in for good measure.

But ultimately Skyward Sword is a poor imitation of greater games. Most notably Ocarina of Time. Anybody who has even looked at Ocarina of Time will feel quite at home here - so much of it is borrowed. From the health system (with its hearts, sorry shields, which grow in number as you progress) and puzzle-filled dungeons which yield sacred stones, to life force doors (which require multiple enemy dispatch to open) and the entire combat system, the whole game is eminently Zelda.

Unoriginality is not the foundation of a bad game though. If that were true then 90 per cent of the games we write about would be decidedly awful. What's upsetting is that despite five years of development, despite one of Nintendo's most endearing franchises and despite delivering beautiful visuals, Skyward Sword falls down on account of stupid little things - like flaws in the combat system. Ocarina of Time had you measuring the distance, blocking as much as you swung and thinking about it; Skyward Sword can quite simply be played waggling the Wii Remote in spite of Wii Motion Plus. Enemies - even in great numbers - will queue up and take you on one-by-one, and fighting them is simply a case of swinging the remote quickly. Thanks to a nice, artful stop-starty effect the sight of Link twisting and turning and wielding his sword like a lightsaber is enjoyable... for about five minutes. Five hours later though, and you might change your mind. However, as a professional games reviewer I welcomed this - thanks to my child needing some exercise I could play Skyward Sword whilst stirring the pasta, which made my life a lot easier.

The more you play, the more you realise that each borrowed idea seems poorly implemented, like the symbols you have to shoot to open doors. Another remnant of Ocarina, these have either been hidden (to frustrate, probably) or stand out like an elephant at a hamsters-only basketball tournament, and you have to shoot them with your newly acquired beetle item. On that subject though, it's easy to expend ammunition like confetti at a wedding, especially with another Zelda relic, the swarms of irritating birds. It's another example of a bad move by the Zelda team - fire on them and you're wasting ammo (especially since they're so tediously hard to target), don't fire on them and you're wasting health, but they'll respawn in a few seconds anyway so it's all very academic.


In fact, one could argue that the entire good/evil thing is pointless - you collect different types of coins to replenish your shields and harass plants for weapon-augmenting buds, but these are in such abundant supply that we made it almost the whole way through the game without dying. That's 40 hours.

Other issues range from the in-game stores (which are located beyond a rather pointless virtual obstacle course, and full of items you have to buy to progress) and the over-reliance on the map (in the absence of any real feeling of where to go) to a rather pointless and contradictive story (why, if the Hyrule is actually going to die, do the locals want payment for their help?!) and the most awful dialogue in a game since... well, since ever [Are you sure it's worse than Metroid: Other M - Ed?]. I can understand the need to flesh out the story with lots of talk of Skyloft this and Legend that, but why do all the locals (including Zelda) speak total gobbledygook? At one point early on, Phi says in a 'not so fast' sort of voice: "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da!" We felt physical pain.

All that said though, Skyward Sword is not a game without redeeming features, as you must have guessed from the score. Fans of Skyloft Sword will enjoy seeing their favourite characters on a new adventure, and graphically there's little on the Wii which can compete. The 3D environments are sprawling and laden with incidental detail, and the characters are decked out in a new fur effect which looks stunning. The depth of field effects are a bit awkward at times, but along with the many, many enemies in the game, Link and his companions are all magnificently detailed and their animation is extensive and very smooth. Thanks to the variety of locations you rarely get bored of looking at Skyward Sword either - it's the constant running around badly made dungeons in search of a switch and the exhaustingly repetitive combat which sees to that. If I did have to make a criticism about the graphics though, I'd simply say that there's no 'wow' factor. You rarely cast your eyes over anything and think 'cripes, that's a first'. In a way, it all comes back to the lack of innovation - such a disappointment from the team that brought us Twilight Princess.

Sadly though, nice visuals isn't enough to rescue Skyward Sword. It lacks tension (combat is totally one-sided), set pieces (there are six whole bosses in the entire game), a gripping story (Zelda's kidnapped, you rescue Zelda, you fight Ghirahim), and any of the myriad different things that the game it principally tries to emulate (Ocarina of Time) was so famous for. What's worse though is that much of the game is filler - of the fourty hours, several are spent simply wandering in search of your next destination. So on reflection, it's not a bad game, but it's too samey and it's just not good enough. Unless you're a huge fan of Zelda, have a soft spot for simple, pretty adventures or you're simply a glutton for punishment, Skyward Sword really isn't worth the bother. Rent it for a weekend - that's all the time you'll need and all the entertainment you'll glean.

6/10

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DeathbyVolcano said:

Please tell me that above review is bullshit.

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Shiggy said:

Edited review from Eurogamer

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Shiggy said:

Edited review from Eurogamer

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Shiggy said:

I don't think so.

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Shiggy said:

Edited review from Eurogamer

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Pappasman said:

these fake reviews are hilarious.

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