Skyward Sword SS. Why So Much Hate?

[JuicieJ]

I was talking about how annoying it is to deal with shopkeepers in this game, even with characters that I want to sell things to. Frankly this was supposed to be a new thread I wanted to start.

I would have understood if you had said they talk too much, but you made it sound like it was a hassle dealing with the shopping in the first place, as in the purchases and sales were frustrating to make... which isn't true due to the game's excellent economy system. Which, by the way, actually shocked me, given how literally every Zelda game before (that used rupees) had a terrible economy system.

 

[Salem]

I would have understood if you had said they talk too much, but you made it sound like it was a hassle dealing with the shopping in the first place, as in the purchases and sales were frustrating to make... which isn't true due to the game's excellent economy system. Which, by the way, actually shocked me, given how literally every Zelda game before (that used rupees) had a terrible economy system.

I guess I noticed it more here, since i used the shops more often than older 3D Zelda games.

It is annoying with shopkeepers because they never shut up. annoying with characters like Stritch because I can only sell a certain quantity at a time, the game doesn't tell me how much I have of that item while I'm talking to him, I have to exit the conversation and pause the game every time, which admittedly isn't a big deal, but why even have this stupid issue in the game? I was thinking of the little things that irked me about the game and this is one of the things I came up with.

 

[JuicieJ]

Yeah, they're pretty wordy. And say the exact same things every time you buy/sell something. Every. Time. @_@

 

[Ventus]

Here are some thoughts. Rip them apart as you see fit :yes:

The Best
The introduction. As much as it is utterly meaningless in the grand scheme of things, the introduction to the game (meaning from Skyloft to first touch down on the Surface) was simply the best part of the game. It was human. Character interaction was on MM level. And the scenario was just good stuff. :yes:

Le Good
1) Motion control application. This was actually a good thing. Skyward Sword was the Wii's swan song so to speak, in that it was a final message to the world before the Wii died. And boy, SS showcased the Wii's capabilities. The movements for the blade were fluid. Shield bashing almost felt natural (except that it was too...sensitive?). Slashing was great fun.

2) Art style. It's nowhere near my favorite, but it definitely fit the game. It breathed life where TP wouldn't have, but kept things proportional so as to not be a TWW.

3) The items are useful.

Le Bad
1) Both overworlds. Let's start with the Sky.
‎‎‎‎‎‎​‎​‎​       ‎​ 1a)The Sky is terrible for one sole reason: it lacks substance. Neato it's a hub world. But yknow what? That doesn't mean it can be empty af. "B-but Hyrule Field!" No. Hardware limitations save HF from being terrible by default; it's only with ‎‎‎‎‎‎​‎​‎​       ‎​ the hardware specifications we have now that we can say Hyrule Field is bad. Trust me, no one was beating on HF back in the day.
‎‎‎‎‎‎​‎​‎​       ‎​ ...anyway, the Sky could've been glorious had it a few key things: 1) enemies. 2) more sidequests and 3) more minigames. :I

‎‎‎‎‎‎​‎​‎​       ‎​ 1b) The Surface is bad because it's a linear obstacle course. For what it is, it works pretty damn well. But for what it was trying to be...damn was it ever bad. Firstly, you just don't blend dungeon elements into an overworld. Why are things gradually unlocked? Why are we forced down linear chutes? That's ridiculous. Did we unlock stuff in OoT? Sure we did. But those times are up.

2) The items are few. I don't care how useful the items are. I'd rather have TP type items than SS' items. Don't get me wrong, it's always better to have useful items rather than useless items. But, would you rather one great item or multiple decent items? That's what I'm saying SS' item repertoire is. Smaller yet better. I want bigger yet better, or bigger yet good.

3) The combat is atrocious. Let me ask you an things. What good is defense without following up? What good is more health if you still get destroyed?

SUPER DUPER EDIT: Groose is part of "The Best". He was true character development; he even had a transition. He's perfect.

 

[DarkestLink]

Wait, wait, wait...SS had a full hour of cutscenes?

 

[Salem]

Wait, wait, wait...SS had a full hour of cutscenes?

More than 100 minutes apparently.

 

[Ventus]

Also I gotta vent. The cutscenes were horrific for one thing only: Fi. Fi recaps everything that happened during the cutscene - as if you could skip them! You can't even skip cutscenes on a regular run. >_>'
'sides, with 100+ minutes of cutscenes, that's movie length. SS would've been better off as a movie. Or a new IP. :I

Regarding that, I'd also like to comment a lil' more on what I mean with Groose having a transition. Of the character roster, you basically have three main heroes: Link, Zelda, and Groose. Here's what goes down.

---

Link is some dozy kid who unwittingly gets the heart of his childhood friend. He gets bullied by Groose. By all means he's a dense kid, but not necessarily stupid. When Zelda gets whisked away by the tornado, he immediately becomes super serious. You know what, when he touches down on the ground...he immediately becomes super serious as well as a hero. Like really? :I

Zelda is some spunky kid who gets super special treatment by the Academy(thanks to being the daughter of the headmaster) as well as Groose (because she's supah fyne mmm qimme dat). She's best friends with Link. She also "saves" Link from being bullied, though Link never seems to notice (at least not with those facial expressions in cutscenes). When she gets whisked away by the tornado, she immediately loses her personality and becomes Hylia. Like really? :I

Groose however. Groose is a bully jerk trigga who gives super special treatment to Zelda AND Link. He wants Zelda and flippin' hates Link. When he touches down, he is just awed. He still hates Link, and he still wants to save Zelda. Even when he's helping out Link, he's showing off his big muscles and his "groosenator". Yes, he's less jerky to Link as time goes on, but he retains his personality regardless...even going so far as to retcon the entire series and say that SS was truly The Legend of Groose. Groose retains his personality although transitions into smaller hero. He's great. :I

(feel free to tear this post apart)

 

[DarkestLink]

Looked it up...and wow...tWW, TP, and SS have roughly 2 hours of cutscenes. I never noticed. To me it felt more like 15, 30, and 20 minutes respectively. XD

 

[Wolf Sage]

SS tried to do something different and was shot down because of it. Oh well.

 

[Salem]

Looked it up...and wow...tWW, TP, and SS have roughly 2 hours of cutscenes. I never noticed. To me it felt more like 15, 30, and 20 minutes respectively. XD

WHAT?????

Okay you got them from youtube, right?

 

[DarkestLink]

SS tried to do something different and was shot down because of it. Oh well.

Typical Zelda, really.

 

[Ventus]

SS tried to do something different and was shot down because of it. Oh well.

This is exactly it. It was different, not necessarily better or worse. A lot of unnecessary change was present in SS. Well, I wouldn't call them change so much as elements:

- massive linearity
- unlocking the overworld (literally, not just figuratively via items)
- Bill Fi, the super guide
- the complete dropping of the Intro (which was needless exposition in hindsight)
- the puzzlenemy

 

[Hoff123]

I don't like linearity, but for some weird reason I have always liked seeing a cave for example, and not being able to go there until I get a certain item(for example the hookshot).

(Going through a dungeon) "Oh, I got the hookshot, now I can finally visit that mysterious cave. WOHOOO!!!!".


Seems pretty contradictory, I know .

 

[DarkestLink]

WHAT?????

Okay you got them from youtube, right?

Oops sorry, I missed this. And yes, I checked Youtube playlists.

- massive linearity
- unlocking the overworld (literally, not just figuratively via items)
- the puzzlenemy

None of this is new. Linearity and puzzle enemies have been around since LA and OoT. Unlocking the world has been present since sometime between tWW and TP. And I'm not sure what you meant by "the complete dropping of the Intro". The M+, dungeon like overworld, and upgrades were new.

 

[JuicieJ]

Looked it up...and wow...tWW, TP, and SS have roughly 2 hours of cutscenes. I never noticed. To me it felt more like 15, 30, and 20 minutes respectively. XD

I actually realized I was incorrect on the amount after posting, but didn't care to correct it. Nintendo said SS has around 100 minutes of cutscenes prior to release, and when recalling that, "one hour" just came to my head for some reason. ¯\(°_o)/¯

...I highly doubt TWW and TP have the same amount, though.