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[Forkball]

I am someone who really enjoys Skyward Sword, but my complaints would be...

-Limited exploration. The hubs have some secrets but overall are linear. There is nothing worth a damn in the sky at all.
-Silent Realms were fine... for one time. After that it was tedious and nerve-wracking.
-BOKOBLINS EVERYWHERE
-Story just jumbles up the Zelda lore even more.

Still better than Wind Waker

 

[Like the hat?]

Only bad thing about it was finding those tadpole things.

 

[Yarbskoo]

-Silent Realms were fine... for one time. After that it was tedious and nerve-wracking.

I think everything in the game was fine the first time.

Third and fourth, not so much.

 

[TylerDurden4321]

I never made it past the tutorial or what felt like the tutorial.
Had the game for several weeks.

 

[ffdgh]

Hate the Silent Realm
Hate 'The Imprisoned' fights
Hate those damn tadpoles

Other than that, I thought it was a really good Zelda game. Definitely enjoyed it better than Windwaker.

Oh yeah Silent Realms...almost forgot about those. Never again along with that "silent" water puddles.

 

[Celine]

-Swinging a sword to swing a sword requires learning and a steady hand, and most people would prefer to hit a button.
-removed all pretense of open world elements in a series that has a lot of open world elements
-the entire game is designed as if it were dungeons, with even the field areas being linear and puzzle based

It's not a suprise why people dislike it, it's design priorities are different than any other zelda. It's entirely puzzle and action focused, and to a lot of people the action itself was a pain in the ass.

Yeah, that's my main complain along with the padding/repetition.

There is other areas were the SS improved the Zelda formula though like the upgrade system that made the economy in a Zelda game finally work (in many Zelda rupies are uselless most of the times).

Oh yeah Silent Realms...almost forgot about those. Never again along with that "silent" water puddles.

Silent Realm concept was good however it was a mistake to repeat them 4/5 times as it was pattern for each area in the game.
The game pacing suffered due to them (how many and how predictably they were).

 

[Nocturnowl]

I'll defend Silent Realms till the death friends, but it does in turn remind me that Link's newfangled stamina system was truly half arsed, felt so damn dated.

 

[Pyrokai]

I'm hoping that they will have SSHD on Switch that addresses she of the complaints without drastically changing the game.

I loved and and have been wanting to repay it for a while now. The switch offers a perfect opportunity to revisit it, v especially if the Joy-Cons offer the same Wii-like motion controls.

 

[Ganondorfo]

There is nothing wrong with Skyward Sword, its a great Zelda game. I do understand that Zelda fans are always harsh on even "good" games in their franchise if they dont live up to the masterful Link to the Past/Ocarina of Time/Majoras Mask/Links Awakening entries.

Still its a good game, offcourse people will be more critical to Skyward Sword the moment Breath of the Wild is released.

 

[Peltz]

SS is just a little too linear for me. Most Zelda games are, but many times you're given the illusion of choice/sequence breaking. For example, in OoT, when I was stuck in the Forest Temple, I did other things like figure out how to get my Goron Tunic, figured out how to get Epona, and completed Gerudo Fortress. So the game seemed like I could do anything even though I really couldn't. I feel like SS didn't have much of that. Just go here, then there, the back here type of stuff.

But gaddamn was it a great game! I'm gonna replay on hero mode soon. I have to buy a new Wiimote though.

You can absolutely tackle some of the dungeons out of order in some Zelda games, and OOT is one of them. It's not an illusion.

 

[Llyrwenne]

I don't think Skyward Sword is a bad game, but I feel there are many things that drag it down to the point that this was the first Zelda game I just dropped halfway through and haven't picked back up.

Though I just want to dedicate some space to addressing something you brought up in the OP; the 'rebuttal' video to complaints about motion control.

I played this game and I struggled with the motion controls at the time; they too often just did not do what I wanted or did it inaccurately enough that it effected gameplay. I had to re-calibrate frequently, but the accuracy of the controls would still degrade quickly each time. I tried various distances / standing / sitting / moving the sensor bar, but nothing improved the accuracy of the controls in any significant way. I tried to make it work, but it just too frequently did not through no fault of my own. That is part of my experience and I will judge the game for that.

It working perfectly fine at all times for you does not take away that it might not have for others through no fault of their own. Just because it was not part of your experience does not mean others cannot criticize the game for it.

But honestly, the motion controls are far from the only problem I had with the game. Dowsing was pointless and boring filler, Fi was an absolutely dreadful companion, the story just did not grab me ( Let's get Zelda! She's not here... Let's go somewhere else! She's not here either... Let's go somewhere else again! She's not here either... ), Skyloft felt completely isolated and separate from the rest of the game ( Link's actions in the game / on the surface do not exist to the people of Skyloft and it never felt like Skyloft was in any kind of significant danger because its people were completely unaware of anything ), the game being broken up in separate, more linear than expected areas took away a lot of the exploring element, the Stamina system felt arbitrary and didn't really add to the game in a meaningful way, the Imprisoned, backtracking...

I still don't feel it is a bad game, but it just... lost my interest. It's a game. It has good elements and bad elements. It just has nothing to hold my interest, nothing to pull me back in, nothing surprising or interesting. It's bland.

Now, people may personally disagree with all this, but it would be appreciated if some people wouldn't deflect criticism like this by claiming it's 'just the Zelda cycle harhar' or by telling me that the motion controls were perfect and it's all just my fault.

 

[Bouniter]

I played a little of the game with a friend (he played most of it because the controls were awful and I didn't have the patience for it), but even then I didn't enjoy it and would consider it the worst 3d Zelda entry by a large margin.

Its easier to note what's good than what's bad:

The art style
That one mine cart time travel section

That's it, I would have found it literally unplayable game play wise and story wise had I had to do it myself.

Spoiler

I also hate knowing that Fi is in the master sword... guess it makes smacking it against walls more satisfying.

My friend enjoyed it though...

Edit: Oh I liked being able to roll bombs

Spoiler

Your game is bad when this is a highlight

 

[zoukka]

Handholding
Annoying sidekick that never ever shuts up
Trillion popups that disrupt your play
Linearity
Empty overworld

 

[semiconscious]

Motion controls.

&, unfortunately, the game can't ever be remastered because of this...

 

[gafneo]

You fight the impriosoned too many times, it holds your hand way too much and the overworld sucks. I like the story focus, combat and controls as well as the art style and dungeon design.

Don't you realize that even with the handholding, people are still having a hard time with the controls? There is legit no way Nintendo could have pleased everyone. The imprisoned moments is such a nitpick arguement. That was a small checkpoint area that granted access to new areas. Most games have routine sections. At least it wasn't an Ubisoft run to guy, listen to dull conversation, get invisible item, return item, 40 hrs later still repeating.

 

[Jack The Nipper]

I never played it and I really like Zelda games. The broken motion controls simply made me give up completly. I hated then so much I sold my wii long before Zelda came out. First console I had ever sold. I needed the money beyond desperately but knowing ss had motion controls completely made me mostly ignore it.

I'm now back in the Nintendo train with Zelda and switch.

I sold it long before motion plus to be fair but I still wouldn't want it in any action game. I barely know what type of game ss is. I saw a few early videos that looked dean and painfully slow but I can't tell you what Type of game it is. Which seems really strange. As I typically know about most games out there. Still not sure if I'll ever play it, losing motion controls would increase the chance however

 

[Xater]

The pacing is insufferable. It makes Twilight Princess seem like a focused romp for fuck's sake.

That and the motion controls.

Also that almost never ending tutorial at the start is just infuriating.

 

[Skittzo0413]

If I had to find one thing that was actually wrong with this game, I'd honestly single out the diagonal sword slash motion. You had to move your hand diagonally without rotating your wrist, which is a very awkward and robotic motion. Once you get used to it it works 100% of the time but it's just a very unnatural motion when pretty much every other motion in the game is quite natural.

That was the only aspect of the motion controls which bothered me in the least bit.

 

[synce]

You can't say "Hey I'm going to relax with some Skyward Sword." If I'm coming home from work the last thing I want to do is swing my arms around. Same goes for late night gaming. It's virtually unplayable and I'm just hoping someone can at least make a Dolphin mod to remove the motion controls.

 

[MomoQca]

I enjoyed it overall. The only thing that really annoyed me was fighting the Imprisoned many times and the somewhat repetitive dungeon themes *looks at Fire Sanctuary and Earth Temple...*

 

[JeffZero]

I love this game. A flawed gem. I love the characters, I love the controls, I even enjoy the dungeons (and unlike most Zelda fans, I don't really play the series for its dungeons). I think WW and TP have a richer atmosphere, but SS has a good one -- up there with OoT, if not quite at that level. Most of all, I love how Skyward Sword genuinely tried at story. It stumbled along the way, but it was something to behold.

I also have a sneaking suspicion that some (certainly not all) of Skyward Sword's less enthralled players will come around to it in a big way if and when Breath of the Wild does little, if anything, in a cinematic and character-rich style. All these Japanese studios lately are taking cues from their original release and you hear BOTW's team talking about the original Zelda all the time... All well and good, but I reckon some fans are going to wind up realizing how much they miss the cast interactions and cutscene enthusiasm of the past few entries.

 

[Stallion Dan]

Ruined by motion control gimmicks. Twilight Princess used Wiimote far better.

 

[TheMoon]

&, unfortunately, the game can't ever be remastered because of this...

I see you haven't heard of the Switch

You can't say "Hey I'm going to relax with some Skyward Sword." If I'm coming home from work the last thing I want to do is swing my arms around. Same goes for late night gaming. It's virtually unplayable and I'm just hoping someone can at least make a Dolphin mod to remove the motion controls.

The most tired argument about motion controls. There is no "swinging your arms around" in this game. You move your wrist. That's it.

 

[Jack The Nipper]

Ruined by motion control gimmicks. Twilight Princess used Wiimote far better.

That was just waggle in place of a button. Man, I hated it so much.

 

[JeffZero]

As a swordsman in my own right -- which I know sounds absurd, but it's technically true -- I prefer SS motion controls by a comfortable margin, specifically for the combat. It isn't perfect, or anywhere near perfect, but it is the only game I've played that delivers anything on that level.

I could do without the motion controls in other areas of the game, but I don't hate them.

Also, I totally swing my arms around while playing this game, and sometimes I'll even stand up. I'm a nut. My ex would shake her head. But you don't need any of that. You can move your wrist and you'd be more than fine.

 

[Zips]

When talking about games, people seem to love hyperbole. It's nice that some of the responses here are reasonably calm and clearly the person's own feelings about particular aspects of the game.

I felt it was a good game, with more lively and expressive main characters than most if not all other Zelda games. Zelda, Impa, Groose, and Girahim had their own personalities and were interesting. Girahim in particular was probably the most interesting non-Ganon villain of any of the Zelda games so far from those I can think of, to the point of being more interesting than the final boss, Demise. Fi was the weakest of them all, and could be somewhat bothersome. The ending where it seemed they wanted you to feel some emotion for her fell flat because it had not established that relationship well.

I had few problems with the controls, and think they are a point of the game that proved hugely divisive. It seems like a great many people had trouble with them, which would impact their enjoyment of the whole game.

Skyloft was the most developed main city since Majora's Mask, but was the only real point of interest in the game that was not a dungeon/dungeon-esque field. That left the game world (and especially the sky) feeling empty and limited.

Some things were overused, which I think is a fault Nintendo seems to make across games. The battles against Demise's...blob...form were the worst offender at happening something like 3 or 4 times by the end of the game. The silent realm is another commonly mentioned one. I think you have to do that 3 times? I didn't mind that as much because the guardians made it more interesting and each time was a different area, but it is clearly a 'here's the same idea but just different locale' kind of thing that starts to wear a bit.

Music was great. I still listen to some of the songs from time to time. There were some great ideas like the time stones and dungeons. Bosses were fun. Again, Girahim was a highlight for me.

Overall - some good/great things in the game, some not-so-good or even bad things in the game, but a good game +/- depending on how much the negatives and positives impacted you.

 

[Dangansona]

Had they:

- Trimmed down the padding
- Not had repeating boss fights, or at the very least not annoying ones
- Not had Fi

I think it would've been an ace game. It particularly shines in the dungeons, where the Sandship is the closest thing we've gotten to a 2D style dungeon in a 3D Zelda.

There are the things, in addition to the controls, that make it hard for me to finish this game. I actually love the intro to the game like always.

 

[Zakalwe]

It started off well, charming and breezy, but it soon began to feel repetitive and slightly sterile. I just lost focus a few hours in and never found the desire to return.

It felt very much like a filler episode in the franchise.

 

[Kssio_Aug]

There are two reasons why I have not played it for more than a hour:
1- Hate Wii Mote controls for Zelda.
2- Wii graphics on a HD TV is pretty damn bad.

Would gladly give it a new chance if they re-release in Nintendo Switch though.

 

[victreeb3l]

Best Zelda to date. Aside from the tad tone hunt things, I loved everything about the game. Some of the best art, music and level design in gaming.

 

[SuperSah]

It is the most boring Zelda game, hell, one of the most boring games I have ever played.

I forced myself to play, got halfway and gave up.

I loved its beautiful artstyle though.

 

[bachikarn]

Shield bash

 

[Ridley327]

I think that Skyward Sword's biggest issue was that it was a 20-25 hour long game that felt like it got stretched to 35-40 hours to stave off any potential criticism of not feeling big enough, or at least feel like it was smaller than its predecessor. With how they approached the design of the world, that meant there was a lot of repeated content, most notoriously implemented with the endgame that had two of its areas go through slight changes (Eldin Volcano... now with lava! Faron Woods... now with water!), and the one actual new area in Lanaryu Desert was very brief in comparison to the rest of the region. The challenges they added in the repeated content weren't the most interesting, though I did like the way they handled the momentum of recovering your items in Eldin Volcano to make it not as obvious that you're really solving one big chain of tiny puzzles. The Imprisoned goes without saying, too, though that at least had a few tricks you could pull off to expedite the process of defeating it each time.

It's a weird situation, since you can tell that a lot of the way the game is designed is to specifically address the pacing issues that everyone had with TP, but they wound up making different mistakes to wind up at a similar result.

 

[DNAbro]

Nothing, it's literally a perfect game.

 

[Arttemis]

The open world was made into linear segments, and that was fine, but you had to repeat each area after certain conditions, and that was so repetitive. The multiple teardrop scavenger searches were repetitive. The same boss three times. The waggle required for certain platforming elements. The very bland sky world.

Don't get me wrong, it's a fantastic game! Those are just the things wrong with it. It was a highly enjoyable experience, but not flawless (like OoT).

 

[KahooTs]

Very little wrong with the game. Motion control flying made the overworld a chore. Item pop ups every time you boot the game up again.

And the same problem as with every Zelda, the excellent combat mechanics are never pushed to their limits, you can never really sink your teeth right into it with the too short and too easy encounters. It's more frustrating with SS though because of how fantastic and unique the motion control combat is.

 

[Starsunder]

Off the top of my head:

- Linear as hell.
- Fi. Seriously, worst companion ever, both in personality and hand holding. Also, she just won't shut the fuck up
- not a fan of the controls. I didn't hate them like some did, but I vastly prefer standard controls with my Zelda games.
- while I liked the art style a good deal, some of the enemy designs just fell flat with me (imprisoned one especially).

Probably my least favorite console Zelda game, and in my top 3 disliked Zelda games, along with phantom hourglass and spirit tracks.

 

[Regiruler]

You guys know you could skip the toes of the imprisoned, right? It's still a mediocre boss but the repeated phase is painless once you have that down (and then all you need to do is hit him in the floating segment).

 

[Stallion Dan]

That was just waggle in place of a button. Man, I hated it so much.

It was precise and didn't desync. So 100℅ better.

Plus IR aiming was great, wtf at that SS method.

Also the bomb rolling/throwing in SS was a mess too.

 

[MrGoomba]

The lack of freedom to go to other places, always being directed by FI and a motion puzzle the entire game was kind of tiring. They were not kidding when saying the entire game was going to be a big dungeon.. It was a good and fun game and with great characters in the end but lacking exploration, not the best zelda but also not the worst.

 

[120v]

I think that Skyward Sword's biggest issue was that it was a 20-25 hour long game that felt like it got stretched to 35-40 hours to stave off any potential criticism of not feeling big enough, or at least feel like it was smaller than its predecessor. With how they approached the design of the world, that meant there was a lot of repeated content, most notoriously implemented with the endgame that had two of its areas go through slight changes (Eldin Volcano... now with lava! Faron Woods... now with water!), and the one actual new area in Lanaryu Desert was very brief in comparison to the rest of the region. The challenges they added in the repeated content weren't the most interesting, though I did like the way they handled the momentum of recovering your items in Eldin Volcano to make it not as obvious that you're really solving one big chain of tiny puzzles. The Imprisoned goes without saying, too, though that at least had a few tricks you could pull off to expedite the process of defeating it each time.

that's my contention with the game. feels like a 25 hr game and then nintendo hired a bunch of modders to fill in for the rest

with exception of the laranyu sections it just felt really cheap for a nintendo game

 

[semiconscious]

I see you haven't heard of the Switch

which will feature motion control? no, i guess i haven't ...

 

[8bit]

The control scheme. LINK IS LEFT HANDED GODDAMIT.

 

[Tricky I Shadow]

It has no proper day/night cycle. That alone makes the game a insta-fail.

Spoiler

Seriously though, WTF Nintendo?!

 

[RPGam3r]

which will feature motion control? no, i guess i haven't ...

Speculation that the Joy Cons have waggle functionality and the tip of the Switch unit is a sensor.

 

[MrSaturn99]

Currently replaying this and my thoughts are still the same as on release: very weak Zelda that relies far too much on padding and the like. It's a shame too since it has a great start in Skyloft--an improvement over TP's Ordon and its NPCs in general.

Fi's patronizing BS and the first two cookiecutter dungeons strike me as the worst aspects so far, although the sacred water fetch quest is currently a strong contender.

 

[Wireframe]

I despised that the lower world wasn't connected.

 

[Ninjimbo]

There's nothing really wrong with it. The game just gets shit on by impatient people. Skyward Sword is a near masterpiece and an absolute proof that motion controls were viable for a real 3D action game, but because most gamers on here tend to be curmudgeons that need things their way to have fun, you end up with a lot of hate. And since it was a late generation Wii game, not a lot of people got a chance to play it so the only voices talking about the game are the ones that felt burned. The game's reputation will remain poisoned for a long time unfortunately.

Although, the game received rave reviews when it came out. That goes to show you that fair minded people found a lot of enjoyment in it.

 

[Ridley327]

that's my contention with the game. feels like a 25 hr game and then nintendo hired a bunch of modders to fill in for the rest

with exception of the laranyu sections it just felt really cheap for a nintendo game

FWIW, I did replay it immediately on Hero mode, and with the knowledge of the first playthrough still fresh, I did manage to beat it right at the 25 hour mark with every upgrade, heart piece and even the Hylian Shield. It helped a lot to keep the the pacing at the ideal level that I think Nintendo was originally going for, now that I didn't need to "learn" as much as you would need to on your first playthrough.

Funny enough, one of my favorite moments in the game is a short bit of reused content:

Spoiler

the second Moldarach at the Shipyard was a unexpected and fun surprise.

 

[Betty]

Hey you picked up a common collectable!!! Let us tell you about it by pausing the gameplay and opening a text window!

This will be done with EVERY ITEM YOU FIND.

Don't worry though, it only happens when you find an item for the first time.

... until you turn off the console that is.

THEN YOU GET TO SEE THIS SCREEN OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN!!!

Remember Midna? Remember how intereting and full of character she was? She was a huge reason why I liked Twilight Princess.

Well Nintendo must think we hated Midna because here comes the most personality lacking partner in all of creation.

Those segments where you have to collects tears against extremely hostile enemies and most likely fail over and over in an obvious attempt by Nintendo to pad the game out when it didn't need it simply didn't belong in a Zelda game

And yes the Imprisoned as mentioned, a terrible boss that wasn't fun to fight once, so let's fight him multiple times why not

On top of all that
- the birds weren't fun to fly
- the overworld was the most barren and boring in any Zelda I've played
- the temple locations weren't varied enough
- I had to recalibrate my motion controls way too many times
- the sword fighting was a crapshoot, especially against other weapon wielding enemies.

And lastly.

It goes on for too fucking LONG!

I mean it didn't help that I played Ocrina of Time 3DS before this and clocked in just under 20 hours on that masterpiece.

But with Skyward Sword despite RUSHING towards the end of the game I was in excess of 50 hours playtime, and I honestly don't remember much about the story since it wasn't worth remembering.

Poorest 3D Zelda so far.