Daily Debate: Were The Three Fights Against The Imprisoned in Skyward Sword One Too Many?
Posted on April 19 2018 by Michaela El-Ters
In Skyward Sword, the threat of the Imprisoned being released is an important component of the story. With the Goddess’s seal beginning to wane, allowing darkness to swallow the Surface, part of Link’s quest is to prevent this evil from escaping. From a story perspective, this is a great way to create urgency and excitement. Unfortunately, gameplay wise, this came with the task of fighting off the Imprisoned multiple times throughout the game. While the three battles are varied from each other, allowing each fight to be interesting, the boss rush in Lanayru Desert creates the possibility of the Imprisoned fights being redone another three times. This means that The Imprisoned can be fought up to six times if you’re unlucky. Since the series is known for rehashing multiple fights with the same boss across multiple games rather than in a single installment, it made this gameplay and story decision odd, to say the least.
My question is, could the three times that the boss was fought be reduced to one? The Imprisoned doesn’t necessarily need to be fought back multiple times to get the point across. Maybe Link and Zelda could have joined forces and used sealing magic to keep the Imprisoned at bay for a longer period of time before it broke, or maybe given young Impa more screen time by having her assist him. But as it stands, the Imprisoned fights became tiresome for many fans, myself included. I never got really good at the motion controls, and the Imprisoned was a boss I wasn’t great at fighting effectively, making each battle ones that I dreaded. I appreciated what they added to the story, but I found myself wishing for a better way to convey the drama and urgency without needing to fight the same enemy over and over.
But what does everyone else think? Did you like the Imprisoned fights and the number of times it happened in Skyward Sword, or did it mar the experience for you? Let us know in the comments!
Michaela El-Ters is a Senior Editor for Zelda Dungeon. She is also an Senior Writer for Boss Rush Network, and writes blogs and streams games on Objection Network. Her favorite Zelda game changes with the seasons, but the series as a whole is near and dear to her heart.
