Skyward Sword: The Worst 3D Zelda Title

[Shadao]

I believe this topic title should be changed into Skyward Sword Disappointment or something like it instead of Worst 3D title. If anyone else sees this title, they'll assume you are hating Skyward Sword in a bias way. It seems more like you're just disappointed rather than full on hate. But there others who like Skyward Sword and saying Skyward Sowrd The Worst 3D Zelda Title is flame-bait to them and bound to attract huge backlash.

 

[4815162342]

I believe this topic title should be changed into Skyward Sword Disappointment or something like it instead of Worst 3D title. If anyone else sees this title, they'll assume you are hating Skyward Sword in a bias way. It seems more like you're just disappointed rather than full on hate. But there others who like Skyward Sword and saying Skyward Sowrd The Worst 3D Zelda Title is flame-bait to them and bound to attract huge backlash.

I agree with your analysis (although I do believe that Skyward Sword was the worst 3D Zelda title) - however I am new on the forums and have no idea how to change the title.

 

[JuicieJ]

I have nothing wrong with the "three dungeons - plot twist - more dungeons" pattern, it just all comes back to expectation management. I read many articles prior to the release of Skyward Sword that stated the formula would be changed, and I expected something different. But as a whole, I found the game to be one of the most predictable of the series. And in terms of depth I found it to be nowhere as deep as Majora's Mask. That game just had so much to do in it, but with so little time...

The formula they were talking about was the dungeon-world-dungeon style, not their plot style. Now I can understand why you were disappointed. You were expecting the wrong thing.

To be completely honest, I am not 100% complete with the game, but I have done many sidequests - I have the every gratitude crystal, upgraded everything, gotten every heart piece - and while I admit that there are probably still things to do, my total play time will not be anywhere close to 50 or 100 hours. And this again comes down to expectation management.

If you're saying this, then there's no way you're anywhere near 100%. 50 hours is the bare minimum this game should take, even for a hardcore fan.

What it really boils down to is the fact that I wanted Skyward Sword to be my favorite Zelda game of all time, and I found that it did not meet my expectations, which I admit I may have set too high.

Well, that's where you went wrong. You can't want something like that. It'll disappoint every time. It was nothing about setting expectations. It was wanting too much out of it. (Yes, those are two different things.)

And I'm entirely biased, but so is everyone. I (the 1%) am biased against the game, and the other 99% is biased for the game.

I'm not biased on either side. There are plenty of things that I think should/could have been done that weren't, but I don't bring them up when talking about how good the game is. I save those for my personal opinions on the game. A game's greatness and one's opinions on what should have happened are on total opposite sides of the spectrum, and I'm not sure if you understand that concept down to its root.

 

[robdraggoo]

I share alot of the dissapiontments that were mentioned. I am still enjoying this game more than any other I have played this year. Probably in the last 2 years. I for one am kind of glad of the way its formated. I am getting older and dont have as much time to devote to a game in single sittings like I used to. So 2 hour or less dungeons. no sweat. I can do that. Also I havent had to use a guide at all really in this game. Which I have always had to go to a guide to get some help once in a while. This is a bad thing but for me its a good thing.

 

[MW7]

In no way has my opinion of the game been damaged by the overly-critical reviews, if anything, my opinion has been damaged by the reviews that deemed Skyward Sword the perfect and greatest Zelda game. It's all about expectation management. If I read a review from IGN that states "Skyward Sword is the greatest Zelda Game ever created", my expectations are pretty high. And when it find that it's not perfect, I'm frankly going to be a little upset. I'm also offended that you think I'm only doing this for attention by giving Skyward Sword a less than perfect review. I'm simply voicing my opinion about I game that I had hoped to be far better than it was.

So basically the problem you see is that everyone around you seems to be yelling "10,10,10" when you are thinking it's somewhere between 9-9.5? I kind of get that too. I mean Skyward Sword is definitely the best game I've played in a long time, but to say unequivocally that it's the greatest zelda ever upon its release seems a little rash to say the least IMO. I think you should keep in mind that the game is brand new so people's opinions are still not fully formed, and also critics are never completely right.

I admit I chose poor words when describing the story of Skyward Sword - I was unfairly harsh on an element of the game that I had no reason to be unfairly harsh on. However, it wasn't the best story. It was a solid story that tied up many loose ends in the series, but I felt that it had a high level of predictability. Three dungeons, plot twist, more dungeons, final boss - that same pattern had been used in Ocarina of Time, Wind Waker, and Twilight Princess.

Actually that pattern goes back to ALLTP in 1991 so it's 20 years old. It's not necessarily a bad thing though, but it honestly surprised me since I was expecting them to switch things up. The story was best told in a Zelda game yet IMO, but I really just don't care that much about the story of games in the first place- to me it's just something that gets in the way of gameplay.

Have we been playing the same Zelda games fro the past decade? From Ocarina of Time - the Fire Temple, the Shadow Temple, and the Spirit Temple were three beautifully designed levels that were so well-designed I can remember every nook and cranny of them. The Snowhead Temple, the Great Bay Temple, and the Stone Tower Temple - all works of art in my book. Those were temples that made me think, and each of them took far longer than any temple from Skyward Sword - each of which I could knock out between 30 and 45 minutes, which was disappointing compared to previous games' dungeons.

I do agree that Skyward Sword had fantastic boss after fantastic boss. I thought Nintendo really knocked the ball out of the park on that one.

This the first thing that I'm going to disagree with you on. Yes the previous Zelda games had dungeons that should be considered art, but Skyward Sword had dungeons that were at least comparable and IMO even more creative. I didn't notice a difference in the length of dungeons really at all with the exception of Sky Keep. Stone Tower Temple is still the greatest Zelda dungeon, but the collection of dungeons in Skyward Sword were pretty awesome as well.

I disagree with you on this point - Skyloft was relatively empty compared to the urban areas in every other previous game. The fact that it did not have a lot to it really hurt the entire Skyward Sword game because it was the only urban area in the whole game. Had they added another urban area or made Skyloft more intricate I would've been happier on this issue.

I'd say it goes Clock Town>Skyloft>Windfall>Castle Town>Market. The main cities in OOT and TP just disguised immersion by having tons of flat characters that didn't do much at all. Windfall, Skyloft, and Clock Town all made huge efforts to make the characters feel real. IMO Clock Town distances the rest with its level of detail and development, but Skyloft was better than Windfall. I do agree that at least one more true town would have been very welcome.

I know that everyone has their own opinion, but I can't see why so many people are calling Skyward Sword one of Nintendo's finest works. When compared to any other game in it's series, Skyward Sword doesn't look that good.

Because it is one of Nintendo's finest works, that's nearly a certifiable fact. It's received high critical reception and is the fastest selling Zelda game ever. I agree that immediately declaring it the greatest Zelda or greatest game ever is rash, but it being one of Nintendo's finest works is a fact.

Personally my updated favorite Zelda list upon completing Skyward Sword looks like this:
1. Majora's Mask
2. Ocarina of Time
3. Skyward Sword
4. Legend of Zelda
5. Wind Waker/ALTTP/Link's Awakening

 

[JuicieJ]

Something else I want to say involving disappointments and actual greatness. If there are any two people who should be disappointed with Skyward Sword, it's me and Axle. Reason being we thought for sure the enemy was going to be the Dark Tribe. That sounds selfish, but it's more than that due to the fact that this was the perfect time to bring them in and have the Interloper War brought about. But it didn't go down like that. There are a few other disappointments, but that's the biggest one, and is really something worth mentioning. Even so, I still believe Skyward Sword is the best Zelda yet. I don't know about Axle, he hasn't finished the game, but I know about me, and I say it's the best. That should really show the difference between personal disappointments and actual let-downs of a game.

 

[4815162342]

The formula they were talking about was the dungeon-world-dungeon style, not their plot style. Now I can understand why you were disappointed. You were expecting the wrong thing.

If you're saying this, then there's no way you're anywhere near 100%. 50 hours is the bare minimum this game should take, even for a hardcore fan.

Well, that's where you went wrong. You can't want something like that. It'll disappoint every time. It was nothing about setting expectations. It was wanting too much out of it. (Yes, those are two different things.)

I'm not biased on either side. There are plenty of things that I think should/could have been done that weren't, but I don't bring them up when talking about how good the game is. I save those for my personal opinions on the game. A game's greatness and one's opinions on what should have happened are on total opposite sides of the spectrum, and I'm not sure if you understand that concept down to its root.

JucieJ, I think you have my issue pretty well summed up. I set the bar far too high for Skyward Sword, so it's my own fault that I'm not loving it. However, I still disagree with you on the opinion/bias argument. I believe that a game is considered "great" if everyone has a high opinion of it. How else could greatness be determined other than the opinion of the masses? And you have to be biased somehow, bias only means that you have an opinion about something. Based on your arguments countering my arguments, It's pretty clear that you're biased towards Skyward Sword. Because you think that it's one of the finest Zelda games insinuates a certain level of bias. And when you talk about how good a game is, you are including some level of bias in your opinionated analysis. There is no way that one could describe how good a game is without including bias.

 

[Ventus]

Twilight Princess as a whole seems to be retconned by Skyward Sword, as TP was already a weak game by fan reception. Actually, if you analyze things, Skyward Sword really is just a better version of TP.

The letdowns people have are perfect examples as let downs of a game. Skyward Sword for a fact had character development, but it was confined to two, three people at best. Everyone else started to glow, but got cut at the best part (most of Skyloft is utterly unimportant). Skyward Sword [to be edited]

 

[4815162342]

This the first thing that I'm going to disagree with you on. Yes the previous Zelda games had dungeons that should be considered art, but Skyward Sword had dungeons that were at least comparable and IMO even more creative. I didn't notice a difference in the length of dungeons really at all with the exception of Sky Keep. Stone Tower Temple is still the greatest Zelda dungeon, but the collection of dungeons in Skyward Sword were pretty awesome as well.

The only two innovative and clever dungeons that stick out as the cream of the crop from Skyward Sword were without a doubt Ancient Cistern and Sand Ship; however I don't think they compare well to previous dungeons in the series. My favorite dungeons being Stone Tower Temple, Great Bay Temple, Spirit Temple, Shadow Temple, Arbiter's Grounds, and City in the Sky - those dungeons were either challenging, fun, or both, and I feel that Ancient Cistern and Sand Ship were on a lower level than many of those.

I'd say it goes Clock Town>Skyloft>Windfall>Castle Town>Market. The main cities in OOT and TP just disguised immersion by having tons of flat characters that didn't do much at all. Windfall, Skyloft, and Clock Town all made huge efforts to make the characters feel real. IMO Clock Town distances the rest with its level of detail and development, but Skyloft was better than Windfall. I do agree that at least one more true town would have been very welcome.

Because it is one of Nintendo's finest works, that's nearly a certifiable fact. It's received high critical reception and is the fastest selling Zelda game ever. I agree that immediately declaring it the greatest Zelda or greatest game ever is rash, but it being one of Nintendo's finest works is a fact.

Couldn't agree with you more here. Clock Town, (along with Rogueport from Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door if you've ever played that) will go down as one of the most intricate, advanced, and detailed towns in video game history.

And I think a lot of reviewers and gamers - myself included - were quick to call Skyward Sword the greatest Zelda game ever right after putting the disc in, without fully analyzing the game and comparing it to previous installments.

 

[Ventus]

And I think a lot of reviewers and gamers - myself included - were quick to call Skyward Sword the greatest Zelda game ever right after putting the disc in, without fully analyzing the game and comparing it to previous installments.

That's actually what happened with every single Zelda game to date after Ocarina of Time. Because it's new, and has the title "The Legend of Zelda", everyone expects it to be the best ever, flawless. Take a look at Twilight Princess. On first reaction, ZOMG HE'S A WOLF!!EON111!!, but as you get deeper into the game, you realize that Hyrule Field is too barren, that the game is too bland...then you get into the more critical flaws of the game. Same thing with Skyward Sword - because it's new and has the title "Legend of Zelda", it's automatically the best thing ever. I do agree that the art style is the best thus far, and the gameplay is the best thus far, but everyone is heralding it as the best ever without looking at anything other than art and gameplay. The story I found was particularly weak. It ended EXACTLY how Twilight Princess ended, which was weak in my opinion. The characters were incredibly unimportant save a few, just like Twilight Princess. Overall, SS is just TP version 2.

Anyway, SS missed out on quite a bit that it should've had. The first playthrough is mindbombing awesome, but subsequent playthroughs really make you think about it. Anyone who has just 100 percented the game will say it's the best. But anyone who continues to play the game will see that characters were particularly flawed and useless, that areas truly were barren, and the game could've used a lot more challenge among other things.

 

[4815162342]

That's actually what happened with every single Zelda game to date after Ocarina of Time. Because it's new, and has the title "The Legend of Zelda", everyone expects it to be the best ever, flawless. Take a look at Twilight Princess. On first reaction, ZOMG HE'S A WOLF!!EON111!!, but as you get deeper into the game, you realize that Hyrule Field is too barren, that the game is too bland...then you get into the more critical flaws of the game. Same thing with Skyward Sword - because it's new and has the title "Legend of Zelda", it's automatically the best thing ever. I do agree that the art style is the best thus far, and the gameplay is the best thus far, but everyone is heralding it as the best ever without looking at anything other than art and gameplay. The story I found was particularly weak. It ended EXACTLY how Twilight Princess ended, which was weak in my opinion. The characters were incredibly unimportant save a few, just like Twilight Princess. Overall, SS is just TP version 2.

Anyway, SS missed out on quite a bit that it should've had. The first playthrough is mindbombing awesome, but subsequent playthroughs really make you think about it. Anyone who has just 100 percented the game will say it's the best. But anyone who continues to play the game will see that characters were particularly flawed and useless, that areas truly were barren, and the game could've used a lot more challenge among other things.

I actually didn't know that every Zelda game after Ocarina of Time was dubbed the greatest game of all time - The first Zelda game I played was Twilight Princess in 2008, so Skyward Sword was the first Zelda game that I played the day it came out. And I completely agree with your analysis comparing Skyward Sword to Twilight Princess. Regardless of the fact that my first playthrough was weaker than I would've expected, I can guarantee you I will play Skyward Sword again to see if I have a different reaction.

 

[TheOriginalHigh]

Honestly i think some people are disappointed with SS mainly because their tooooooo wrapped up in nostalgia. Ya ALLTP and OOT were good and they set the trends for future zelda games but in all honesty MM TWW, TP, MM, SS all surpass them! I think some fans need to stop comparing new Zelda installments to ocarina of time, it was amazing for its time but now we have so much better....Plus most of these complaints are mostly nitpicks. I mean complaining about no metropolis in SS? What game were you playing? Skyloft is a lot more intricate than market town (oot) windfall island (TWW) and castletown (TP) . Although i will admit skyloft wasnt as lively as ClockTown in majoras mask.

 

[4815162342]

Honestly i think some people are disappointed with SS mainly because their tooooooo wrapped up in nostalgia. Ya ALLTP and OOT were good and they set the trends for future zelda games but in all honesty MM TWW, TP, MM, SS all surpass them! I think some fans need to stop comparing new Zelda installments to ocarina of time, it was amazing for its time but now we have so much better....Plus most of these complaints are mostly nitpicks. I mean complaining about no metropolis in SS? What game were you playing? Skyloft is a lot more intricate than market town (oot) windfall island (TWW) and castletown (TP) . Although i will admit skyloft wasnt as lively as ClockTown in majoras mask.

I think it is necessary to compare new titles of any series to the greatest titles of the series - for Zelda I believe the greatest ones are Majora's Mask and Ocarina of Time. It is the only to improve the series - to best the best. Skyloft was less than one tenth the intricacy of Clocktown, and I felt that it was about the same level as Windfall Island. However, I will agree that it is more intricate than the market and castle town.

 

[Link8150]

It really comes down to opinions and personal preferences. I too have played through almost every Zelda game (I haven't played the Oracle games or FSA) multiple times, and Skyward Sword is still my favorite in the entire series with Majora's Mask very close behind. The gameplay is by far the best, in my opinion, considering how well they were able to utilize the Wii Motion Plus, the story is one of the best, as it explains the origins about many of the things in future Zelda titles, the boss fights are creative and amazing, almost every dungeon is fantastic with new and unique ideas, and I have never seen anywhere near as much character development in a Zelda title as I have in Skyward Sword.

 

[Ventus]

It isn't nostalgia, it's just the fact that things are missing. If we can achieve the "best game ever" with Ocarina of Time doing what it did, why would we ever do less than that? OoT abused the N64 to the max (besides the Expansion pack) to give us what it did: absolutely amazing-ness. Skyward Sword was amazing, but not absolute. I know for a fact that the characters could've been much better and much more involved than they were; SS is a Wii game not an N64 game.