• Welcome to ZD Forums! You must create an account and log in to see and participate in the Shoutbox chat on this main index page.

SSHD After going through a recent playthrough of Skyward Sword, I realized something...

Skyward Sword HD

RamboBambiBambo

RamboBambiBamboBingoBongoBoiyo
Joined
Oct 19, 2021
Location
The Silent Realm
Gender
Male
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.

Take away the motion controls and lower the graphical qualities and what do you have?

A Nintendo 64 game !

During my most recent playthrough, it suddenly clicked in my head one of the main reasons I like this game more than most other people. It has a sort of nostalgia appeal that brings to mind Banjo-Kazooie, Donkey Kong 64, and Super Mario 64.
Allow me to explain.

The game is divided into essentially five separate regions. Faron, Eldin, Lanaryu, The Sky, and most importantly - The Hub.
Like in the old Nintendo 64 games, you had a goofy Hub area that made little to no sense and had a sort of childish level of creativity to it. I mean, take a look at Princess Peach's Castle in Mario 64. Realistically, you cannot jump into paintings to warp to wacky worlds of platforming fun. Donkey Kong 64 takes place on an island the shape of DK's head and has many strange types of locations within it. Banjo Kazooie has a massive inter-connected canyon-like Hub.

Furthermore, whenever you obtain new items in the game, the Hub world also expands further. You gain access to more items and locations and the Hub slowly evolves as the story progresses.

I honestly wish more games followed this sort of formula.
A central Hub that players will always return to between chapters and excursions into the regions that are tied to the hub itself in some manner.
The Lego Videogames
DK64
The Super Mario 3D titles
The Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (okay, that one is a bit of a stretch of the formula somewhat).

Central Hub videogames tend to be a bit more enticing because you return to the Hub after each level and know you are getting closer to a side-goal with every chapter.
It adds something enticing to each return and the anticipation of possibly now having a reward for just wandering around what amounts to your character's playground to find something new to unlock and obtain.

Anyone else agree with this?
Should we have more Zelda games with central hubs?
Or just more games with central hubs in general?
 

Turo602

Vocare Ad Pugnam
Joined
Jul 31, 2010
Location
Gotham City
I think that was precisely the problem Nintendo had with Skyward Sword. It's really no different than previous 3D Zelda games, only difference being that Skyward Sword relegated all of its village type areas into one central hub in the sky. But its design and progression was very Ocarina of Time/N64. They hadn't really bothered doing it any differently because it was a successful formula until they decided they no longer need to abide to the development standards/traditions of N64 game design which is how we got Breath of the Wild.

I personally enjoyed Skyward Sword more than most people but I still don't really know how I'd rank it amongst my favorites. It's a very novel experience with the motion controls which I had no issue with, but it's not something the series needs to revisit, much like the touch controls of Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks. It's fine for what it is, but because it's such a novel game, I don't really hold it to the same standards as the others.
 

Uwu_Oocoo2

Joy is in video games and colored pencils
ZD Legend
Forum Volunteer
Thinking about it this way it actually kinda fits. One of my (many) complaints about SS was that all the areas outside of Skyloft just felt like dungeons in and of themselves. It was annoying to have to do a dungeon to reach a dungeon. But it's probably more accurate to a level format. It's like in DK64, where you have each of the areas you can go to and each one has different things you can unlock when you come back later in the game. Same as Mario 64. Basically each outer area and dungeon are their own levels, and sometimes throughout the game there are new levels with new challenges in that same area. Doesn't make it any less frustrating but it's an interesting thought.
 
The areas not being connected is my biggest problem with Skyward Sword's overworld. I think it playing more like a dungeon was fine, and I actually enjoyed that aspect of trying to figure out how to get to a dungeon. I think A Link Between Worlds did the whole segmented overworld idea a lot better by having Hyrule be a connected overworld and Lorule be segmented. That made for an interesting puzzle when switching between the two worlds: How to find the right place in Hyrule to enter the next dungeon in Lorule.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Top Bottom