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Skyward Sword review thread [Newest Reviews - Cubed3 10/10, GC: A, AusGamers: 7/10]

guek

Banned
How is ALTTP a 6?? I can sort of imagine what possible major objections could be made against the other zeldas but ALTTP is fairly solid all around...
 

AniHawk

Member
guek said:
How is ALTTP a 6?? I can sort of imagine what possible major objections could be made against the other zeldas but ALTTP is fairly solid all around...
because anything above a five is something i enjoyed. i was just bored by large sections of it.
 

alcabcucu

Member
Massa said:
So reviewers should conform to the norm and write the same review as everyone else, or else they're just creating controversy for hits?

Please stop this. It's embarrassing.

I truly don't understand how could you deduce that from my words. I think that controversy is good, and I enjoy reading opinions different to mine. In fact, I even agree with some of the statements in Gamespot analysis. But please, respect my opinion. I think the reviewer got the controls of this game all wrong, as I try to explain, being as respectful as I can be, in previous posts.

Vice said:
It may be because Zelda is a giant franchise that matters to nearly anyone who cares about gaming.

I agree. But I also think the analysis brought attention to many players that usually do not read that web. At least that's what I think!

BR
 

spekkeh

Banned
guek said:
How is ALTTP a 6?? I can sort of imagine what possible major objections could be made against the other zeldas but ALTTP is fairly solid all around...
That's actually my main objection to alttp too; it's fairly solid all around.
 

marc^o^

Nintendo's Pro Bono PR Firm
Cool, another perfect score then.

So far, out of 38 reviewers:
16 gave it a 10/10
11 gave it a score >9/10
6 gave it a 9/10
5 gave it a score below 9/10 (13%)

I'm waiting for Gamerevolution.com review, I usually like their tests.
 
D

Deleted member 30609

Unconfirmed Member
AniHawk said:
because anything above a five is something i enjoyed. i was just bored by large sections of it.
I feel like subscribing to a review score system that the majority of your audience don't understand, that requires extra-justification -- mathematically/logically sound or not -- is just counter-intuitive. It not only defeats the purpose of a simple numbered score, but it actively creates confusion. You're a slave to your audience, I suppose. Well, I mean, the number is, theoretically, only there for the audience anyway, so why make the one bit of a review that's not for you aggressively all about you?
 
Just wanted to say I was able to pick up the game a few days ago and it's brilliant.

The controls take a few minutes to get used to, but are extremely precise once you do. The trick is to only tilt the wiimote from the same spot while aiming/etc, not both move and tilt(which habitually you want to do). And to use the down dpad quick reset-center often whenever you need to.

The cinematics are wonderful! So classy and lively. The music overlays it perfectly and sets the mood in each scene. I'm loving the characters and the vibrant environments as well. And the graphics are amazingly crisp and clean.

This is one of the best zeldas I've played and I've beaten them all. I need to get further than the 2nd dungeon though :D lol.

9.5-10/10 from me so far!
 

Cygnus X-1

Member
Massa said:
Gamespot is never in a rush to release their reviews and people always come up with conspiracies to explain it. It never ceases to amaze me.

Though it was a quite big mistake to imply the IR device with the presumed problems given by Wii Motion Plus. One person can suppose the writer was in a hurry.
 

jarosh

Member
FunkyMunkey said:
This is one of the best zeldas I've played and I've beaten them all
9.5-10/10 from me so far!
FunkyMunkey said:
I need to get further than the 2nd dungeon though
aXbwf.jpg
 

Tuck

Member
AniHawk said:
i did rate the zelda games on the anihawk scale. people thought i was kidding.

Legend of Zelda - 6
Adventure of Link - 4
A Link to the Past - 6
Link's Awakening - 8
Ocarina of Time - 6
Majora's Mask - 7
oracle of ages - 7
oracle of seasons - 3
Four Swords - 7
The Wind Waker - 6
The Minish Cap - 8
Twilight Princess - 9
Phantom Hourglass - 2
Spirit Tracks - 7

i was a kid/teenager when i last played the oracle games, loz, and alttp though.

=|
 

GWX

Member
Smellycat said:
Do you guys think that Gamespot actually waited until most publications released their review scores to see how low the scores would go? And once they saw that the lowest score was basically an 8, they decided to go lower to stand out?

Imagine if that actually happened, haha

I would have been perfectly fine with the review if Gamespot released it on the 11th, at the same time as the other publications. But delaying the review by 3 or 4 days doesn't really help them.

Didn't they delay the review because the reviewer was stuck in one dungeon? Pathetic.
 

Gigglepoo

Member
GWX said:
Didn't they delay the review because the reviewer was stuck in one dungeon? Pathetic.

We didn't "delay" the review at all. We always post our reviews after we finish a game. I just pointed out where I was in the game when I wrote my Review in Progress blog post.
 

alcabcucu

Member
Gigglepoo said:
We didn't "delay" the review at all. We always post our reviews after we finish a game. I just pointed out where I was in the game when I wrote my Review in Progress blog post.
It'd be nice if you could answer my message in previous page.
In any case, it's nice being able to talk to you about the control issues you mentioned in your analysis, so thank you in any case. I recommend you try the game again considering my explanations, and then come back to confirm if you still have the control issues you mentioned.

BR!

I copy and paste my previous messages!

Gigglepoo said:
Yes, but I (and I assume most people) still point at the screen when aiming at things. So it doesn't matter to the player if it uses IR or gyros.

alcabcucu said:
Well, I think that's a wrong assumption. I use the bow and the slingshot with the wiimote in vertical position. And when entering in first person view or using other items I FIRST point at the screen and THEN I press the B or the C buttons. The problem you mention is just solved by doing this. And you act this way when you realize how the aiming function works in the game. In fact, this is how the game works for obvious reasons, as I explain in a previous post. Not realizing about that, even when someone explains it to you is, in my humble opinion, plain stubborness.

BR!!

alcabcucu said:
Someone should explain Tom that Skyward Sword doesn't use the sensor bar to calibrate the wiimote. I think all his problems with the control are because of this.

Now, when you press the button to access the aiming function (entering in first person view or when using certain items) the game will consider you're pointing at the center of the screen, taking as reference the position of the wiimote when you pressed the button. So, if you press the button when your wiimote is pointing to the floor, the game will "think" the floor is the center of the screen.

Pressing the down arrow button will reset the central position, taking the position of the wiimote in that particular moment as reference, and giving the false impression that you need to recalibrate the wiimote all the time.

This is easily solved by pressing the "aiming" button (c or B -only with certain items-) RIGHT AFTER you aim at the center of the screen with your wiimote. Or just realizing you don't need to point at the screen for aiming purposes.

Why did Nintendo take this approach? Probably to give fast access to menus. Now you don't need to aim at the screen to move the cursor. With a simple and fast gesture you can choose the item you need in that particular moment. This allows to use the bow or the slingshot with the wiimote in vertical position, too (as in Wii Sports Resort).

So this is, in my opinion, the reason why Tom thought that the wiimote didn't work properly, as he even says that the infrared sensors are faulty. And they are not faulty, they simply aren't used.

As I said, someone should explain this to him. Maybe this is the reason he had issues with the wiimote, and could change his opinion about its controls.
 

Gigglepoo

Member
alcabcucu said:
It'd be nice if you could answer my message in previous page.
In any case, it's nice being able to talk to you about the control issues you mentioned in your analysis, so thank you in any case. I recommend you try the game again considering my explanations, and then come back to confirm if you still have the control issues you mentioned.

BR!

I copy and paste my previous messages!
I understand how the aiming works. That it's so easy to get out of allignment is a problem to me.
 

alcabcucu

Member
If you do what i say, I think you'll find out that you are not loosing any allignment.
Please check it out and confirm if the problem persists. If it does, I promise I won't say a word about this for any longer.

I know this because at first I had the same issues as you. They all went away when I realized about this.

Thanks again for answering.

BR
 
You guys are being ridiculous. He rated it a 7.5 and he sticks to it. I don't necessarily agree with Gigglepoo's explanation but I understand why he made it. Relax already.
 

alcabcucu

Member
DeaconKnowledge said:
You guys are being ridiculous. He rated it a 7.5 and he sticks to it. I don't necessarily agree with Gigglepoo's explanation but I understand why he made it. Relax already.

I'm very relaxed and, as I already pointed out, I'm not questioning the score of the game in Gamespot's analysis, but some statements about the controls.
I'm just trying to prove my point.

BR
 

Gigglepoo

Member
alcabcucu said:
If you do what i say, I think you'll find out that you are not loosing any allignment.
Please check it out and confirm if the problem persists. If it does, I promise I won't say a word about this for any longer.

Thanks again for answering.

BR
If you point exactly in the middle of the screen before tapping B every time you point during the course of this 50+ hour game, it works. If not, you have to recenter. Why does this tiny part of my review bother you so much? It's the least of this game's control problems.
 

Rich!

Member
Almost finished Skyward Sword...and I have to admit, I would give it a 7/10. Seriously.

My rankings:

God Tier
Ocarina of Time - 10/10
Link to the Past - 10/10

Incredible Tier
Majora's Mask - 9/10
Link's Awakening - 9/10

Awesome Tier
Wind Waker - 8/10
Oracle Games - 8/10
Twilight Princess Superior Gamecube Version - 8/10

Great Tier
Skyward Sword - 7/10
Zelda 1 and 2 - 7/10
Minish Cap - 7/10

(haven't played the DS titles).

Anyway. What I'm trying to say is that so far, something is missing. I think it might be the exploration. So far, Skyward Sword has been incredibly linear for me (literally, I haven't had a single moment to deviate from the path the game wants me to take) - which is fine, but Zelda (for me) is all about exploring. Discovering secrets. The puzzles are part of Zelda of course, but in Skyward Sword, it's fucking relentless. The entire overworld is a dungeon of sorts (not counting skyloft), and it doesn't let up for a second.

There's gotta be a balance. For me, I'm totally burnt out on puzzles. By the time I've got to the 5th dungeon, I'm thinking "oh jesus, I've just spent an hour figuring out how the hell to get through this canyon. Where's my chance to chill out!"

My other gripe is the music. It's forgettable. I can't remember a single theme apart from Zelda's theme, and the skyloft one, after 25 hours of play. It's dissapointing, especially compared to Xenoblade which was absolutely stuffed full of incredible music.

Obviously, this is all down to personal preference. But yeah, for me it's definitely a 7/10 so far. I do have to say the controls are great - no complaints apart from motherfucking bomb rolling. jesus christ
 

alcabcucu

Member
Gigglepoo said:
If you point exactly in the middle of the screen before tapping B every time you point during the course of this 50+ hour game, it works. If not, you have to recenter. Why does this tiny part of my review bother you so much? It's the least of this game's control problems.
Because if you admit this, I think you should correct the statement in your analysis in which you explain, using your own words and contradicting what you say now, what in fact is "the most troubling of" the control issues of the game.

Gamespot said:
Most troubling of all is how the aiming works. There are certain items that require you to aim at the screen. However, the calibration is frequently wrong, forcing you to tap down on the D-pad to recenter. This happens with alarming frequency, and when you find yourself in a heated battle looking directly at the ground, you'll curse the game for damning you with such a cumbersome control scheme.

BR.
 

Jocchan

Ὁ μεμβερος -ου
Gigglepoo said:
If you point exactly in the middle of the screen before tapping B every time you point during the course of this 50+ hour game, it works. If not, you have to recenter. Why does this tiny part of my review bother you so much? It's the least of this game's control problems.
Uhm, alignment to what exactly? It's not an IR pointer, so you're not aligning anything to the TV. Like, at all.
If anything, it's more akin to a mouse you move from a starting position set by pressing B or C, and the d-pad allows you to recenter the starting position (like recentering the mouse when you're close to the edges of your mouse pad). You're not meant to be pointing at the TV (not necessarily, at least), it's a completely different control system.
 

Gigglepoo

Member
alcabcucu said:
Because if you admit this, I think you should edit the statement in your analysis wich, using your own words is in fact "the most troubling of" the control issues of the game.



BR.
It's the most troubling because it could have been avoided. The other control elements are either related to technology (imprecise swinging) or stubborness (reusing Ocarina controls)
 

alcabcucu

Member
Giiglepoo said:
If you point exactly in the middle of the screen before tapping B every time you point during the course of this 50+ hour game, it works. If not, you have to recenter. Why does this tiny part of my review bother you so much? It's the least of this game's control problems.

Because if you admit this, I think you should correct the statement in your analysis in which you explain, using your own words and contradicting what you say now, what in fact is "the most troubling of" the control issues of the game.

Gamespot said:
Most troubling of all is how the aiming works. There are certain items that require you to aim at the screen. However, the calibration is frequently wrong, forcing you to tap down on the D-pad to recenter. This happens with alarming frequency, and when you find yourself in a heated battle looking directly at the ground, you'll curse the game for damning you with such a cumbersome control scheme.

Gigglepoo said:
It's the most troubling because it could have been avoided. The other control elements are either related to technology (imprecise swinging) or stubborness (reusing Ocarina controls)

Wrong. It is in fact avoided if you use the control in the proper way, as you point out in my first quote.
 

Gigglepoo

Member
alcabcucu said:
Wrong. It is in fact avoided if you use the control in the proper way.
Very few players (and no one I've talked to) will go the entire game without recentering once. Nintendo implemented a control scheme that is really easy to mess up and I called them out for it.
 

alcabcucu

Member
Gigglepoo said:
Very few players (and no one I've talked to) will go the entire game without recentering once. Nintendo implemented a control scheme that is really easy to mess up and I called them out for it.

Well, I won't continue pressing you with this subject. I just want to thank you for your patience, but please note I do not agree with you and that I think, considering what you have said during our conversation, that what you say in the analisys doesn't correspond to what you're saying here.

BR, and thanks again for answering my questions! ;)
 
richisawesome said:
Almost finished Skyward Sword...and I have to admit, I would give it a 7/10. Seriously.

My rankings:

God Tier
Ocarina of Time - 10/10
Link to the Past - 10/10

Incredible Tier
Majora's Mask - 9/10
Link's Awakening - 9/10

Awesome Tier
Wind Waker - 8/10
Oracle Games - 8/10
Twilight Princess Superior Gamecube Version - 8/10

Great Tier
Skyward Sword - 7/10
Zelda 1 and 2 - 7/10
Minish Cap - 7/10

(haven't played the DS titles).

Anyway. What I'm trying to say is that so far, something is missing. I think it might be the exploration. So far, Skyward Sword has been incredibly linear for me (literally, I haven't had a single moment to deviate from the path the game wants me to take) - which is fine, but Zelda (for me) is all about exploring. Discovering secrets. The puzzles are part of Zelda of course, but in Skyward Sword, it's fucking relentless. The entire overworld is a dungeon of sorts (not counting skyloft), and it doesn't let up for a second.

There's gotta be a balance. For me, I'm totally burnt out on puzzles. By the time I've got to the 5th dungeon, I'm thinking "oh jesus, I've just spent an hour figuring out how the hell to get through this canyon. Where's my chance to chill out!"

My other gripe is the music. It's forgettable. I can't remember a single theme apart from Zelda's theme, and the skyloft one, after 25 hours of play. It's dissapointing, especially compared to Xenoblade which was absolutely stuffed full of incredible music.

Obviously, this is all down to personal preference. But yeah, for me it's definitely a 7/10 so far. I do have to say the controls are great - no complaints apart from motherfucking bomb rolling. jesus christ

Well, that worries me a bit, because those rankings correlate with mine pretty well. I want it to be God Tier.

By the way, though, "Awesome" is better than "Incredible".
 
I wish people would stop looking at contrarian view points as sacrilage. It doesn't make a game any worse or better. Instead, it brings a new set of view points to the table that I think are desperately needed in this age of high end marketing and AAA or bust mentality.

Without criticism, you don't always find an easy path to innovation.
 
Jocchan said:
Uhm, alignment to what exactly? It's not an IR pointer, so you're not aligning anything to the TV. Like, at all.
If anything, it's more akin to a mouse you move from a starting position set by pressing B or C, and the d-pad allows you to recenter the starting position (like recentering the mouse when you're close to the edges of your mouse pad). You're not meant to be pointing at the TV (not necessarily, at least), it's a completely different control system.


Yeah once I got that(I couldn't really visualise how it would work until I played it) I liked it a lot(so far, at least) especially as I don't sit directly in front of my TV( more like 45-60 degrees).

There's gotta be a balance. For me, I'm totally burnt out on puzzles. By the time I've got to the 5th dungeon, I'm thinking "oh jesus, I've just spent an hour figuring out how the hell to get through this canyon. Where's my chance to chill out!"

If this is true I think this will have a serious shot at being my favourite Zelda game (I <3 Zelda puzzles).
 

Jocchan

Ὁ μεμβερος -ου
Gigglepoo said:
Very few players (and no one I've talked to) will go the entire game without recentering once. Nintendo implemented a control scheme that is really easy to mess up and I called them out for it.
To be honest, with the way the whole thing was worded, and the mentions of losing alignment with the TV when the TV screen is not even part of the equation, it seems more like a case of misunderstanding how the control scheme works, and "playing the game wrong" by trying to use it differently, perhaps out of habit with how IR aiming usually works. With this I'm not arguing about using a completely different system for aiming being a good or bad idea, in fact if such a misunderstanding ever occurred I'd tend to blame the game for not explaining clearly how it's supposed to work instead.

Disclaimer: I couldn't care less for review scores (in fact, it's the last thing I care about in a review), just pointing out what seems to be a factual inaccuracy. Nothing wrong in not liking how aiming is implemented, of course.
 
Gigglepoo said:
Very few players (and no one I've talked to) will go the entire game without recentering once. Nintendo implemented a control scheme that is really easy to mess up and I called them out for it.

well look who's putting his big boy pants on :p
 
Jocchan said:
With this I'm not arguing about using a completely different system for aiming being a good or bad idea, in fact if such a misunderstanding ever occurred I'd tend to blame the game for not explaining clearly how it's supposed to work instead.

I dunno, it seemed fairly clear to me(but then again I only got the game today)perhaps they should repeat the message 5-6 times, people like that sort of thing.
 

Jocchan

Ὁ μεμβερος -ου
Cerebral Assassin said:
I dunno, it seemed fairly clear to me(but then again I only got the game today)perhaps they should repeat the message 5-6 times, people like that sort of thing.
I meant the fact that you aren't supposed to be using the TV screen as reference. We are all used to IR pointing, so it feels natural to do so when there's a cursor on screen.
 

alcabcucu

Member
Jocchan said:
To be honest, with the way the whole thing was worded, and the mentions of losing alignment with the TV when the TV screen is not even part of the equation, it seems more like a case of misunderstanding how the control scheme works, and "playing the game wrong" by trying to use it differently, perhaps out of habit with how IR aiming usually works. With this I'm not arguing about using a completely different system for aiming being a good or bad idea, in fact if such a misunderstanding ever occurred I'd tend to blame the game for not explaining clearly how it's supposed to work instead.

Disclaimer: I couldn't care less for review scores (in fact, it's the last thing I care about in a review), just pointing out what seems to be a factual inaccuracy. Nothing wrong in not liking how aiming is implemented, of course.

I completely agree. The game doesn't explain itself properly. And in my opinion, that's the true issue here. Control issues disappeared as soon as I understood how the aiming function worked.

But it is a fact this is not a problem of some faulty controls, but a huge issue in the tutorial process.

BR.
 
Since the title of the thread has said 7.5 for a while now, some casual observers just scrolling through are going to assume the game sucks and is a disappointment. I'm not suggesting a course of action, just thinking about the potential ramifications.
 

SYNTAX182

Member
Nicktendo86 said:
Right, having played the game for three hours last night I can confidently say the gamespot review was just wrong. The controls are definitely not broken. They do take a bit of getting used to but not once did the sword not react as it was supposed to and I could take on a group of enemies with ease. The tutorial/opening is a bit long but not THAT bad and I have not smiled more at the first three hours of a Zelda game so much in years. So far, so good.

Dash Kappei said:
Right, having played the game for three hours last night I can confidently say the gamespot review was just wrong. The controls are definitely not broken. They do take a bit of getting used to but not once did the sword not react as it was supposed to and I could take on a group of enemies with ease. The tutorial/opening is a bit long but not THAT bad and I have not smiled more at the first three hours of a Zelda game so much in years. So far, so good.

Eh?
 
Jocchan said:
I meant the fact that you aren't supposed to be using the TV screen as reference. We are all used to IR pointing, so it feels natural to do so when there's a cursor on screen.

I suppose they could have been more explicit about it, but it clicked with me straight away( but then again I was questioning the removal of pointer controls before release so perhaps I was just paying closer attention to that particular pop-up).
 

BY2K

Membero Americo
How do you use the bow in Skyward Sword? Is it only like in Wii Sport Resort or can you also point like in Twilight Princess?
 

Dascu

Member
BY2K said:
How do you use the bow in Skyward Sword? Is it only like in Wii Sport Resort or can you also point like in Twilight Princess?
In the demo, you could just use the A button like in TP, or you could hold the C button and pull it back. Whichever option you prefer.
 

BY2K

Membero Americo
Dascu said:
In the demo, you could just use the A button like in TP, or you could hold the C button and pull it back. Whichever option you prefer.

That I know, but what about the full game?
 
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