Skyward Sword Gripes: The Enemies

It has been a few months since Skyward Sword released, and by now most core Zelda fans have gotten a chance to play through the game, probably multiple times. Skyward Sword certainly is one of the best Nintendo Wii games on the market and some would argue it is the best that the Zelda series has to offer. Skyward Sword was a mixed bag for me. It had some of the best moments I can ever remember in a Zelda game, but it also had so many flaws that were so easy to point out. Its exact positioning hasn’t quite settled into my Top Zelda Games, but over the next several weeks, I plan on chatting about some of the gripes I had with the game, along with things I really enjoyed.

In the weeks and months leading up to Skyward Sword, Nintendo was releasing tons of screenshots, videos, and information about the game. One of the key points that they were constantly pushing to the fans, was the idea of how different the combat system was. In fact, they referred to every enemy being somewhat like a puzzle of their own. No longer could you just waggle away or just press the ‘A’ button over and over. Instead, you’ll have to tactically swing your sword to hit the enemies in their precise weak spots in order to harm them.

The first enemies I encountered were in the Waterfall Cave of Skyloft. Simple Keese and Green Chuchu were found, but they were able to be defeated with just random sword slashes. It wasn’t until the encounter with Deku Baba in the Sealed Grounds that the motion controls were really put to test. Instead of randomly slashing your sword, you had to make precise directional cuts to harm them. This was quickly elaborated on when Link first encountered the Quadro Baba, where the enemy split open in multiple directions.

These early enemies were fantastic and this was just the start of it. While confusing at first, I thought battling the Bokoblin was fun, and the Stalfos mini-boss fight was a great use of the motion controls. This expanded nicely with the Lizalfos in the Earth Temple and the Technoblin in the Lanayru region.

Through the first one third of the game, I could honestly say that I really enjoyed the enemies. Additionally, they did something Zelda games rarely do, it gave me a challenge while fighting the most basic of enemies. I struggled figuring out the right tactic in spinning a Skulltula or hitting a Technoblin without getting shocked by electricity. Heck, I even died during my first encounter with a Lizalfos in the Earth Temple. Granted, these enemies were difficult at first, only because I was unfamiliar with how to defeat them. After learning the tricks and their proper weaknesses, I could run through dozens of them without taking a heart of damage. That’s how Zelda games should be though. Enemies and bosses that aren’t obnoxiously hard, but difficult enough that it will give you quite a challenge the first time through.

So things were going great as I made my way through Skyward Sword, but it was the later two-thirds of the game, where the enemies took a significant dip. Once you went through the three regions the first time around, the enemies did slightly change, but was it really significant? There were very few brand new enemies, and in fact after the Ancient Cistern, there wasn’t a single brand new enemy in the entire game. None. Not a single one. We did get Dark versions of the Keese, Spume, and Lizalfos, but were those really significant enemies? As I mentioned earlier, once I figured out how to defeat a single Lizalfos without taking damage, a Dark Lizalfos was no big deal at all. Not only was it not much of a challenge, but well, it wasn’t even a fun battle.

Making your way through the later dungeons and the Song of the Hero quest, you encountered the same enemies over and over. More deku babas, bokoblins, keese, chus, but nothing at all that was new. Heck even in the final dungeon of Sky Keep, there wasn’t a single brand new enemy at all. Believe it or not, this is something that is rather unique to Skyward Sword. Look back to the original Zelda titles for the NES and you’ll find that several enemies were not only found late in the quest, but some were exclusively found in the final dungeon. Patra and the Lanmola fit this criteria in the original Legend of Zelda. Then of course, who can forget the Fokka, one of several enemies from Adventure of Link found exclusively in the Great Palace.

It wasn’t just the classics either, this has happened in virtually every single Zelda game not named Skyward Sword. In Ocarina of Time we fought Dead Hand and Iron Knuckles very late in the quest. Even in more recent games like Spirit Tracks, there were some brand new enemies found late in the game within the Sand Temple.

With Skyward Sword, it seemed the early enemies were meant to get the gamer use to the motion controls. We learned how to make directional swipes with the sword, how to time our strikes, and discover enemy weaknesses. With each new enemy early on, it seemed a slightly different tactic had to be used and all of these various tactics allowed your character to grow stronger throughout the quest. Again, this is what Zelda should be like. The problem, these new strengths were never put to use… at all. I think the one possible exception might be against the Stalmaster mini-boss, but then again, that was not even at the halfway point of the game, and again, it was just an ‘upgrade’ over a previous enemy.

Skyward Sword failed to deliver on offering progressively more difficult enemies throughout the quest. This is a shock since virtually every single Zelda game in the past has done this, and has done it remarkably well. With five years of development time and the motion controls being the essential feature in Skyward Sword, I think they needed to do more with the enemies. Does this make it a bad game? No, not by a long shot, but it’s a small hindrance in the quest, and something they should have done better.

So what are your thoughts? Is this something you think is a minor knock on Skyward Sword? Did you consciously notice a lack of enemy progression? Or perhaps you completely disagree and think the enemies were in Skyward Sword were done just right. Let us know by posting in the comments below.

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