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

krYlon

Member
Haven't played it, but how would you compare the joyous feeling of the game to Galaxy? That game gave me major butterflies, especially at the start.

I don't know I think it's more the characters and gameworld rather than the gameplay itself that makes me smile.

It has a real oddball sense of humour, sometimes reminds me a bit of the Monkey Island games (though obviously the writing isn't as sophisticated).

And I just love the artstyle, especially the impressionistic effect in the background. So beautiful.

The gameplay is more cerebral, less joyous than galaxy.
 

Mael

Member
I would say spoilers abound but I particularly wouldn't say crazy spoilers about the story. For all those who had gripes about McShea and his review on GS, Magrino did say they were going to have a Zelda podcast explaining the review and talking about the game so here you go. Like I said, listeners beware of spoilers, though they seem to be pretty low.

http://www.gamespot.com/events/the-hotspot/story.html?sid=6346422&tag=topslot;title;4

again? Didn't they do that already? Like we need any explanation from a bad player doing a shitty review.
 

eshwaaz

Member
I feel like I have absolutely no idea how I will respond to this game (waiting until Xmas to play). Opinions are all over the place, both in reviews and in the impressions on GAF.

I enjoy the Zelda series, though I certainly wouldn't call myself a hardcore fan. I really enjoyed Wind Waker, but stopped playing Twilight Princess some 15 hours in as I found it quite dull and surprisingly soulless.
 

krYlon

Member
I feel like I have absolutely no idea how I will respond to this game (waiting until Xmas to play). Opinions are all over the place, both in reviews and in the impressions on GAF.

I enjoy the Zelda series, though I certainly wouldn't call myself a hardcore fan. I really enjoyed Wind Waker, but stopped playing Twilight Princess some 15 hours in as I found it quite dull and surprisingly soulless.

Play it with an open mind and without expectations of what Zelda should be then I'm sure you'll like it.

Especially if you want something with soul and more like Wind Waker than Twilight Princess (I found TP quite soulless too).
 

Xane

Member
Play it with an open mind and without expectations of what Zelda should be then I'm sure you'll like it.

Especially if you want something with soul and more like Wind Waker than Twilight Princess (I found TP quite soulless too).
This, there's nothing better than starting a new game with zero expectations and you'll get surprised along the way.
That way, I got to enjoy everything in SS, even the most tedious tasks as mentioned by other players.
 

Anth0ny

Member
Play it with an open mind and without expectations of what Zelda should be then I'm sure you'll like it.

Especially if you want something with soul and more like Wind Waker than Twilight Princess (I found TP quite soulless too).

I sure wish I was capable of doing this.

But I ain't.
 

Guevara

Member
The first 9 hours are better than the first 9 hours of Twilight Princess in my opinion. That's a great thing. I just can't get over how much the motion controls kill my enjoyment. I'm playing pacifist Link as much as possible to avoid the dodgy controls.
 

guek

Banned
The first 9 hours are better than the first 9 hours of Twilight Princess in my opinion. That's a great thing. I just can't get over how much the motion controls kill my enjoyment. I'm playing pacifist Link as much as possible to avoid the dodgy controls.

Controls work fine. Either learn to play better or reduce possible interference

edit: sorry, that came out more asshole-ish than intended. I'm just tired -_-;;
 

Britprog

Member
Yeah, Super Mario Galaxy may have elicited actual giggles from me while playing. (Hopefully no one heard me.) Skyward Sword is definitely a charmer, though.
Reading your post reminded of the joy of my first play through Galaxy, I constantly had a smile on my face (Apart from some the later challenges).

If there was a machine that could delete my memories of Galaxy, so I could experience it again I would use it in an instance!!

I'm at the
last sacred tear challenge on skyloft
, I actual enjoy the challenge of them, and am at a loss of why people are complaining about them.

The thing that pissed me off was
flooded faron woods
. I did not believe that they were asking me to do that BS. However I didn’t mind
going back to the 1st dungeon to get the sacred waterfor the dragon

I really would have preferred if they went with the IR pointer instead of the motion + I had some issues with the centreing on some weapons, I think I hold the wiimote slightly tilted so it did throw me off sometimes.

I replayed TP recently and it took me ages to get used to the buttons on SS, I hated the fact that you select weapons with B and then use them with A and then put them away again with B.

I would have preferred select with B use with B and put them away with A, but then it would mean it take longer to change weapons then.

I didn’t have any problems with Fi, just flat out ignored her most of the time.

One thing Nintendo need to sort out is the new pick up bug/item text that pops up every time to start a from save point. The Kotaku review picked up on it and it drove me nuts. Seriously, the amount times I am mid fight and pick a skull and it pauses and give a bunch of text and then opens the inventory screen to show its gone in!!! ARGHHHHHHH
 

The Hermit

Member
I smiled more during Galaxy. Skyward Sword is more wonder and awe.

While I still haven't finished SS, I have to agree with this statement. I had a retarded smile in my face while playing Galaxy the entire time. While this game had me like :O most of the times... but there are some drawbacks (I´ll post after I finish it, still on the
6th
dungeon)
 

Davey Cakes

Member
Is it just me or do peoples' responses to the outlier review scores seem even sillier now?

I mean, christ, I know that it's hard to want to agree with the press (or even just listen to them), but there are many more 9/10s, 10/10's, and 5/5's to go by than there are 65/100's and 7.5/10's, you know? The Gamespot review didn't create much of a stir but it had people thinking it offered the only honest non-bloated score out there.

Seeing more positive scores roll in from sources like Widescreen Warrior, Examiner, Piki Geek, Hooked Gamers, etc. makes me think that the initial high scores weren't a fluke. Nintendo knocked it out of the park with their new Zelda game, and people are loving it, despite its potential flaws and detractors.
 

AzaK

Member
Just came out yesterday here where I live. Played 4 hours so far and I'm fucking loving it.

The only control issue that I'd consider a bug (I'm still trying to work out if there's a solution) is with dowsing target selection. It seems like after selecting an item it auto-recentres. So when you actually move the remote back to the centre, the controls are offcentre (Link's sword is on the side, not centred). This means after changing target I ALWAYS have to go back and C-centre again.

Anyone have this issue and have a solution for it?
 

Red

Member
Just came out yesterday here where I live. Played 4 hours so far and I'm fucking loving it.

The only control issue that I'd consider a bug (I'm still trying to work out if there's a solution) is with dowsing target selection. It seems like after selecting an item it auto-recentres. So when you actually move the remote back to the centre, the controls are offcentre (Link's sword is one the side, not centre).

Anyone have this issue and have a solution for it?
Press down on the d pad? I haven't run into this problem.
 

SovanJedi

provides useful feedback
Mario Galaxy is more grin ear-to-ear joy from every hop, skip, leap, soar and tunnel movement through the game. Skyward Sword is more smug when you figure out how to get past that baddy's impenetrable defences, or figure out how to complete the puzzle in this room, or help this poor person out with their precarious position that you've seen for a few hours now but haven't been able to solve until now. They really pulled out the stops when it comes to filling this game end to end with satisfying puzzle-solving elements like that. I'm enjoying it loads...


...


...why oh why must my Wii break now and not play anything?! WHY NINTENDO?!? WHY HALFWAY THROUGH ZELDA OF ALL GAMES?!?!?! ARRRRRRRRGHHH!!!

*Cries into his Ribena*
 

AzaK

Member
Press down on the d pad? I haven't run into this problem.

You have to go into Look mode to use the dpad centreing. That is what I do now to correct it, but it just seems wrong to have to do it every time I change dowsing target. It's such a glaring issue to me that I can't see there not being a solution somewhere that's automatic. I haven't tried selecting a new target with the analog stick instead of the remote so not sure if that would work.
 

jesusraz

Member
Sorry, personal stuff meant I missed the embargo date last Friday...so, here's my better-late-than-never review for Cubed3:

The beauty of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is that it extracts the key core elements that make the series so impressive in the first place and brings along a large dose of familiarity, but then goes on to mix in a whole host of newly-styled dungeons, brand new puzzles that appeal to a broad audience, as well as superb 1:1 sword control that actually needs to be mastered for progression rather than being added as a gimmick or just for show and a twist on the normal storyline. Nintendo has taken on-board the feedback from fans and critics alike following Twilight Princess’ release and used it to create one of the best Zelda games ever, if not the best.
- 10/10

Full review can be read here.
 

AzaK

Member
The first 9 hours are better than the first 9 hours of Twilight Princess in my opinion. That's a great thing. I just can't get over how much the motion controls kill my enjoyment. I'm playing pacifist Link as much as possible to avoid the dodgy controls.

What is it about the controls that you think are bad? Apart from one issue to do with dowsing, they are pretty much spot on. Combat is WAY better now that motion actually affects your attacks.

Is it more of a preference thing or do you think they are broken (Not working as intended)?
 

jesusraz

Member
This game is not nearly as controversial among reviewers at it is among this forum.
That won't stop it from potentially becoming controversial further down the line, á la Twilight Princess. Remember how nearly all and sundry poured the love over it, and yet now several people have back-tracked saying it's over-rated?

Skyward Sword is the first Zelda since Majora's Mask to really gel right with me. That's excluding the portable efforts, by the way, in case you were wondering.
 

Cygnus X-1

Member
Sorry, personal stuff meant I missed the embargo date last Friday...so, here's my better-late-than-never review for Cubed3:



Full review can be read here.

I was waiting for your review. Thanks.

That won't stop it from potentially becoming controversial further down the line, á la Twilight Princess. Remember how nearly all and sundry poured the love over it, and yet now several people have back-tracked saying it's over-rated?

Skyward Sword is the first Zelda since Majora's Mask to really gel right with me. That's excluding the portable efforts, by the way, in case you were wondering.

Twilight Princess was boring. Skyward Sword is not at all! For me, this is a huge improvement! And yeah: I really feel that great feeling I had while playing with Majora's Mask.
 

jesusraz

Member
Thanks :)

...and yeah, loved SS to bits. I thought the pacing was spot on as well, with barely any moments of downtime or boring sections where you end up wandering around aimlessly. The story was drip-fed nicely and the objectives drew players deeper into the adventure in a magically subtle manner.
 
I kinda hate the AV Club review. If the controls were as bad as they make them out to be, the game shouldn't be an A. Furthermore, the controls aren't 100% perfect, but waggling? Come on guys.
 

Kai Dracon

Writing a dinosaur space opera symphony
Given how universal the press praise for SS is, but how it isn't the kind of "cool AAA game for big boy bros" title that tends to get free passes this generation,

I almost have to wonder if reviewers are enchanted by actually sitting down to PLAY a Wii game that's actually good for a change. There's so many sentiments of "this is what the Wii was meant to be" that it seems the game is washing away the years of cynicism and hip dismissal from many eyes.

We've seen many really good Wii games come, go, and hardly be noticed by anyone, because, yuk yuk, who plays Wii? Zelda is something that's really hard to ignore though.
 

jesusraz

Member
I kinda hate the AV Club review. If the controls were as bad as they make them out to be, the game shouldn't be an A. Furthermore, the controls aren't 100% perfect, but waggling? Come on guys.
What I find interesting is that I had no problems with the controls at all, yet others are grumbling about them. Who is right and who is wrong? Could it simply be that certain folk just aren't able to get used to the sensitivity of MotionPlus?

EDIT:

We've seen many really good Wii games come, go, and hardly be noticed by anyone, because, yuk yuk, who plays Wii? Zelda is something that's really hard to ignore though.
Certainly not the case for me. I think this is possibly the fourth Wii game to get a full score from me, with Xenoblade, SMG2 and Sin & Punishment 2 being the others. There are some amazing titles for the system and far too many reviewers seem to ignore that fact.
 
What I find interesting is that I had no problems with the controls at all, yet others are grumbling about them. Who is right and who is wrong? Could it simply be that certain folk just aren't able to get used to the sensitivity of MotionPlus?

Eh, no-one is going to be 'right' about this. What's correct is that the controls aren't perfect, to put it simply. The terminology in that review is definitely incorrect, however. Waggling is useless in this game.
 

Cygnus X-1

Member
What I find interesting is that I had no problems with the controls at all, yet others are grumbling about them. Who is right and who is wrong? Could it simply be that certain folk just aren't able to get used to the sensitivity of MotionPlus?

Controls work incredibly well. It's not something that should be debated between detractors and supporters.
I suspect that some people just played the game exactly like classic games, i.e. pushing buttons fast like crazy. Of course Wii Motion Plus is going to show some defects (recalibration especially) if one swings the controller like a fool.
 

marc^o^

Nintendo's Pro Bono PR Firm
Latest big review is in, from my personal favorite site: GameRevolution. It's an A :)
Link to the awesome review
+ Best Zelda game yet
+ …and the best story, too
+ Terrific, fitting art style
+ Great balance between sky and surface exploration
+ Motion controls work great for everything
- …once you get used to the constant calibration
+ Far deeper, tougher combat than any other Zelda
+ Great boss fights with just the right level of challenge

That's just the second A he has given in 2 years.
 

jesusraz

Member
Thanks. Good reading.

It is true that recalibration is made constantly while playing. Every 15 minutes at least. Not so annoying, but it's definitely the only thing I can complain about regarding controls. Outside that, sword fighting is very addictive and precise.
Not in the slightest. I barely had to recalibrate at all. There was the odd moment where I'd be on a menu or map and the cursor wasn't exactly where I wanted it to be whilst I held the controller in a 'neutral' position, but other than that it was fine throughout.

This is what I don't get. I hear people moaning about not being able to use the throwing or bowling action very well...why? Wasn't an issue for me at all, even when just sat down playing it.
 
Certainly not the case for me. I think this is possibly the fourth Wii game to get a full score from me, with Xenoblade, SMG2 and Sin & Punishment 2 being the others. There are some amazing titles for the system and far too many reviewers seem to ignore that fact.

This is how I know you're a good person.
 

Papercuts

fired zero bullets in the orphanage.
What I find interesting is that I had no problems with the controls at all, yet others are grumbling about them. Who is right and who is wrong? Could it simply be that certain folk just aren't able to get used to the sensitivity of MotionPlus?

Motion controls are always going to be on a person to person basis of effectiveness. If you play a fighting game, a hadoken is always the same input. Down, downforward, forward is a static, unchanging move that is being inputted incorrectly if you can't get the move to work.

With motion controls, everything needs to be more broad. A thrust attack is done by jabbing the wiimote forward. It can't be TOO sensitive so it doesn't come out when you're just holding the controller and naturally move forward a bit, but it can't be too hard so that nobody can get it out unless they almost stab the TV screen. But making it broad opens up a can of worms when there's tons of overlap. Speaking of overlap, go back to the hadoken example. A shoryuken is forward, down, downforward. These overlap the same inputs, but are still different enough so that you can always get what you want. New players, however, have trouble with this. They may be moving forward, want to quickly do a fireball, and get the shoryuken instead. Eventually this becomes a science that you master, and you never input the wrong move, even under pressure.

Now, the thrust again. If you thrust at an angle, you're going to get a diagonal slash. When I do the thrust too fast, nothing comes out for some reason, or the thrust comes out when I pull back. Given the nature of the move, I WANT to do it fast, but the game doesn't accept that for whatever reason. I need to slow it down and be sure I'm going straight. Still, in pressure situations, it's hard to not do it fast, and if my hand is tilted I get the wrong move. It's harder to train yourself with these controls over a normal gamepad. I think a lot of people naturally hold the wiimote at a slight left angle, which actually means horizontal slashes MAY become diagonal. I say may because it is all in the way the game interprets the motion, it's no longer a static thing. The game needs to quickly accept a motion to not appear laggy, but it has to be accurate enough to not keep giving the wrong move.

On top of this, people's experiences are influenced by their setup. It doesn't matter what time of day it is when I'm playing street fighter, my fireball input is never going to change. But when your setup is right by a window that is letting in light, you can confuse what the game is looking at, and give you the wrong things. I play at night, and the swimming is the one input I really don't like in this game. Where I was normally sitting, there's a lamp nearby me. The swimming was just acting wonky as hell, always tilting in a direction I wasn't going, making it unenjoyable. I had to move and sit on my coffee table(which is not a comfortable way to play and hurts my back if I'm there for an extended time), but swimming now worked fine. I was doing the same exact motions, so I wasn't doing anything "wrong", it just was getting messed up by something. The lamp? Actually, no. I turned it off, moved back where I was, did the same inputs and swimming was still acting messed up. I don't know why.

Even FURTHER, there can be faulty equipment. Whether it's the sensor bar, the wii itself, or the controller. With a gamepad, it's obvious when it's broken or atleast getting there. You can feel the sticks getting lose, buttons stay pushed down, etc. With a wiimote the game is still going to be reading some sort of input, and it won't be nearly as obvious on a case to case basis.

So nobody is "right or wrong" here. I'd like to think people having issues with the motions aren't lying, and it can be very frustrating when you are performing a thrust fine, the game just won't recognize it, you make a post about it and just get "you must suck". There's a lot of factors involved here, and while the game surely performs fine for many, there's also a fraction where the controls don't work nearly as effectively for a ton of potential reasons.
 

Cipherr

Member
That won't stop it from potentially becoming controversial further down the line, á la Twilight Princess. Remember how nearly all and sundry poured the love over it, and yet now several people have back-tracked saying it's over-rated?

Among reviewers? No I dont. You can kindly show me however, how nearly all reviewers backtracked on their scores for twilight princess. I wouldnt mind some links.

Dont confused message board posters with reviewers. I cant recall a single reviewer going and recanting their score. And even if there was one, it certainly wasnt nearly ALL of them.
 

jesusraz

Member
Among reviewers? No I dont. You can kindly show me however, how nearly all reviewers backtracked on their scores for twilight princess. I wouldnt mind some links.

Dont confused message board posters with reviewers. I cant recall a single reviewer going and recanting their score. And even if there was one, it certainly wasnt nearly ALL of them.
Fair point - it's more of an impression I get from people I speak to talking about Twilight Princess.

Adding to that, honestly I know if I had the time, I'd want to do another review of TP for Cubed3. I certainly do not agree with the 10 it was given years ago...
 
So what is the right way to defeat Bokoboblins or whatever they're called? I feel like the game is constantly punishing me because I can't figure this "puzzle" out.
 
So what is the right way to defeat Bokoboblins or whatever they're called? I feel like the game is constantly punishing me because I can't figure this "puzzle" out.

There are a few ways. You can raise your shield, which blocks their line of sight. Then just attack where their club isn't, and they won't block you like they normally would.

Otherwise, you can try attacking left, right, left, right quickly. Eventually they'll go down.
 
There are a few ways. You can raise your shield, which blocks their line of sight. Then just attack where their club isn't, and they won't block you like they normally would.

Otherwise, you can try attacking left, right, left, right quickly. Eventually they'll go down.

Is it wrong that I think this is just frustrating and not fun? I find myself simply getting exasperating during sword combat, and then I start flailing around a little more. Honestly my only complaint about the game.
 
Is it wrong that I think this is just frustrating and not fun? I find myself simply getting exasperating during sword combat, and then I start flailing around a little more. Honestly my only complaint about the game.

Think of it more like a puzzle; once you crack the code, combat becomes much less cumbersome. The only enemies you can really waggle at are the small stuff like bats. Once you figure out the larger enemies they go down pretty quickly.
 

Davey Cakes

Member
Exactly. One of the points known about Skyward Sword early on was that combat would be more strategic and puzzle-like, with the player having to figure out the correct approach.

It's not cumbersome, it's just a more sophisticated combat style. People who have trouble figuring it out are probably just more used to more lenient combat systems. SS takes some work to get used to but it's more rewarding in the end because encounters vary and require both physical and mental adjustment.

Or at least, that's just the way I see it.
 

marc^o^

Nintendo's Pro Bono PR Firm
Gamescatalyst: A
The series remains as relevant today as it has ever been; enhanced by new levels of athleticism granted its hero, joyous flying sections and the best gesture controls yet implemented in any game. While we can’t help but await a high definition Zelda with greedy anticipation, Skyward Sword manages to stand tall against anything available elsewhere, HD or not, and perhaps that’s the biggest complement we can pay Miyamoto and co.
 

Seik

Banned
I just finished the third temple...

God this game is good. I admit those dungeons are some of the best in the series.
 
3 hours into the game. That's long enough for me to realize that anyone who had serious issues with the controls is a certified artard.

Still waiting to see how this fits into the Zelda pantheon rankings, but it's definitely the freshest Zelda since OoT.
 

Celine

Member
There are a few ways. You can raise your shield, which blocks their line of sight. Then just attack where their club isn't, and they won't block you like they normally would.

Otherwise, you can try attacking left, right, left, right quickly. Eventually they'll go down.
Another way is to charge the "super move" ( don't know how it is called in english ), hit him just before you approach him and then when he is down use a finishing move.
Also it seems to me that if you rise your sword in a direction and wait ( feint ) and then you strike in the opposite ( perpendicular ) way they won't block you.

Combat in this Zelda reminds me of Adventure of Link and that's a good thing.
 
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