Aelic7
The Young Drifter
- Joined
- Jun 16, 2010
Yeah, this is very, very late, but I felt like I needed to write this anyway.
I’ll start off by saying this: Skyward Sword did a lot of things RIGHT. The story was great, the character design was excellent, the graphics were stunning, the dungeon design was wonderful, and the controls were spot-on.
However, there are many glaring flaws in the game that I feel compelled to point out, a few of which not many people are letting on.
1. The Overworld
This one is the most often criticized, but I still feel it’s necessary to point out. While I don’t mind the linear feel of Skyward Sword, I’m very disappointed that there was hardly any exploration beyond where the main story took you. The sky was empty and barren; there were almost no extra islands to explore like in Wind Waker. The land below wasn’t much better; the only “extras” were found in tiny caves sealed by bombable walls and the occasional Goddess Cube. Exploration has been a key part of every Zelda game to date, but Skyward Sword strips it away, something I find very, very disappointing.
2. The Enemy design
The WiiMotionPlus was a fantastic addition to Skyward Sword. Everything controlled smooth as butter and there were very few flaws from a technical standpoint. However, I found the enemy design to be very lacking. For one, the enemies barely evolve from the beginning to the end of the game. The Bokoblins are some of the first enemies you encounter, yet by the end of the game they barely ever changed at all (there were some differently colored ones and there were the Technoblins, but that was it). This made combat somewhat boring after a while, because during the last half of the game there were hardly any new enemies to be found. Another thing I was disappointed in was the lack of inclusion of items into combat. Almost every single enemy in the game could be defeated by using the sword alone, and defeating enemies usually only consisted of slashing where they weren’t guarding. This was fun at first, but again, it got tiresome later in the game. Why couldn’t more of the enemies require you to use a variety of items to defeat? That would have freshened up the gameplay and given more usage to some of the items (the Whip and the Gust Bellows, anyone?). It would have been nice to see Hidden Skills, too, like in Twilight Princess, which gave a few more options in taking down baddies.
3. Fi and the tutorials
What can I say that already hasn’t been said? The amount of handholding in this supposedly “hardcore” game is mind-boggling. Seriously, I don’t need to know how many Amber Relics I have whenever I collect one, and I can tell when my hearts are low. Nintendo…no want.
4. Hit or miss bosses
Skyward Sword had some great bosses, Koloktos and the Ghirahim fights being my favorites. However, there were a couple that were just so poorly designed that I was baffled. The first one is Tentalus. After all the buildup before you fight him, the entire boss is just a sheer letdown. Not only does he look like he came out of Monsters, Inc., but the strategy to defeat him is nonsensically easy. Seriously, his weak point couldn’t have been more obvious unless he had a sign on his eye that said ‘SHOOT ME WITH AN ARROW!’ Also, why does he even have a second phase when the strategy is the exact same thing? Going back to the handholding thing, I don’t understand why Nintendo needs to highlight all the weak points of the bosses (the larger ones, anyway) like the players are incompetent. The second boss was the final boss. I won’t spoil it, but to me it was pathetically easy. All it is is shield bash, swing, shield bash, swing, repeat. The second phase is even easier—skyward strike, then slash away. And why does it take 2+ tries to land the ending blow? Maybe I’m nitpicking, but there seemed to be so many poor design choices in some of these bosses that they just leave me bewildered.
5. The music
Oh, man. I was SO looking forward to this soundtrack. After hearing Mario Galaxy and Galaxy 2’s amazing soundtracks, I couldn’t wait to see what orchestrated music could do for Zelda. Needless to say, when I heard the songs in the game, I was severely let down. The tracks don’t have the unique and memorable melodies that make Zelda songs spectacular (like Gerudo Valley, Lost Woods, the Great Sea, etc.). It seems like the composers relied too much on the full orchestration effect and forsook creating, good, memorable tunes. The songs themselves aren’t bad, but they don’t stick in your head like other Zelda songs do. Also, the main theme was, to say the least, unemotional. Yes, it was wonderfully orchestrated, but at its core, it’s literally a song played backwards. It’s a nice easter egg, but it lacks any feeling and again, memorability.
All in all, I feel like Skyward Sword took steps forward with many of its elements; however, I think it took too many steps back due to some very poor design choices. I’m hoping the next Zelda improves on these things and continues to implement the great elements of its predecessors.
Those are my thoughts on the shortcomings of Skyward Sword. Keep in mind that everything I’ve said is purely my opinion; if you disagree or would like to say your opinion, please do so.
I’ll start off by saying this: Skyward Sword did a lot of things RIGHT. The story was great, the character design was excellent, the graphics were stunning, the dungeon design was wonderful, and the controls were spot-on.
However, there are many glaring flaws in the game that I feel compelled to point out, a few of which not many people are letting on.
1. The Overworld
This one is the most often criticized, but I still feel it’s necessary to point out. While I don’t mind the linear feel of Skyward Sword, I’m very disappointed that there was hardly any exploration beyond where the main story took you. The sky was empty and barren; there were almost no extra islands to explore like in Wind Waker. The land below wasn’t much better; the only “extras” were found in tiny caves sealed by bombable walls and the occasional Goddess Cube. Exploration has been a key part of every Zelda game to date, but Skyward Sword strips it away, something I find very, very disappointing.
2. The Enemy design
The WiiMotionPlus was a fantastic addition to Skyward Sword. Everything controlled smooth as butter and there were very few flaws from a technical standpoint. However, I found the enemy design to be very lacking. For one, the enemies barely evolve from the beginning to the end of the game. The Bokoblins are some of the first enemies you encounter, yet by the end of the game they barely ever changed at all (there were some differently colored ones and there were the Technoblins, but that was it). This made combat somewhat boring after a while, because during the last half of the game there were hardly any new enemies to be found. Another thing I was disappointed in was the lack of inclusion of items into combat. Almost every single enemy in the game could be defeated by using the sword alone, and defeating enemies usually only consisted of slashing where they weren’t guarding. This was fun at first, but again, it got tiresome later in the game. Why couldn’t more of the enemies require you to use a variety of items to defeat? That would have freshened up the gameplay and given more usage to some of the items (the Whip and the Gust Bellows, anyone?). It would have been nice to see Hidden Skills, too, like in Twilight Princess, which gave a few more options in taking down baddies.
3. Fi and the tutorials
What can I say that already hasn’t been said? The amount of handholding in this supposedly “hardcore” game is mind-boggling. Seriously, I don’t need to know how many Amber Relics I have whenever I collect one, and I can tell when my hearts are low. Nintendo…no want.
4. Hit or miss bosses
Skyward Sword had some great bosses, Koloktos and the Ghirahim fights being my favorites. However, there were a couple that were just so poorly designed that I was baffled. The first one is Tentalus. After all the buildup before you fight him, the entire boss is just a sheer letdown. Not only does he look like he came out of Monsters, Inc., but the strategy to defeat him is nonsensically easy. Seriously, his weak point couldn’t have been more obvious unless he had a sign on his eye that said ‘SHOOT ME WITH AN ARROW!’ Also, why does he even have a second phase when the strategy is the exact same thing? Going back to the handholding thing, I don’t understand why Nintendo needs to highlight all the weak points of the bosses (the larger ones, anyway) like the players are incompetent. The second boss was the final boss. I won’t spoil it, but to me it was pathetically easy. All it is is shield bash, swing, shield bash, swing, repeat. The second phase is even easier—skyward strike, then slash away. And why does it take 2+ tries to land the ending blow? Maybe I’m nitpicking, but there seemed to be so many poor design choices in some of these bosses that they just leave me bewildered.
5. The music
Oh, man. I was SO looking forward to this soundtrack. After hearing Mario Galaxy and Galaxy 2’s amazing soundtracks, I couldn’t wait to see what orchestrated music could do for Zelda. Needless to say, when I heard the songs in the game, I was severely let down. The tracks don’t have the unique and memorable melodies that make Zelda songs spectacular (like Gerudo Valley, Lost Woods, the Great Sea, etc.). It seems like the composers relied too much on the full orchestration effect and forsook creating, good, memorable tunes. The songs themselves aren’t bad, but they don’t stick in your head like other Zelda songs do. Also, the main theme was, to say the least, unemotional. Yes, it was wonderfully orchestrated, but at its core, it’s literally a song played backwards. It’s a nice easter egg, but it lacks any feeling and again, memorability.
All in all, I feel like Skyward Sword took steps forward with many of its elements; however, I think it took too many steps back due to some very poor design choices. I’m hoping the next Zelda improves on these things and continues to implement the great elements of its predecessors.
Those are my thoughts on the shortcomings of Skyward Sword. Keep in mind that everything I’ve said is purely my opinion; if you disagree or would like to say your opinion, please do so.