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Am I the Only One Who Truly Hated Skyward Sword?

T

TheEastWind

Guest
Personally, I knew the game would suck the moment I noticed you couldn't skip cutscenes anymore (like in Twilight Princess). It meant they either did not think of putting that feature in - so they didn't put much thought into the game - or they deliberately left it out to stretch the game by forcing people to watch the cutscenes. The second clue was the fact that only one item can be put on the controls at any time - down from three in OoT.

I've been enjoying the Zelda series ever since I was old enough to hold a controller, I've played through all but that TAoL and the DS ones (not buying a DS for two games only).

The previous games were captivating and made it impossible for me to turn off the console, I wanted to explore the whole world, find out more about the story, sequence break the dungeons... then SS came, and two painful hours into the game I put down the golden remote and haven't picked it up (for SS) ever since.

I'll grant there are some novel ideas, from what I've heard from people who actually played it to the end, like that boat in the Sand Sea etc. But ultimately the controls destroy most of the fun, Fi and the fetch quests put the final nails on the coffin. How people can enjoy being sent around to find the same items using a wishing rod made impossible to use by horrible controls is beyond me.

The game is littered with attempts to slow down play not by enticing story-lines, captivating surroundings or awesome fights, but by boring cutscenes, an annoying companion and horrible mechanics.

So I agree with the people who disliked the game. One can go about dissecting why all day long, and I'll readily admit there were some good ideas in that game, but in the end it was either done by people who knew nothing about what made the previous games great, or it was a cheap money-grab. Perhaps it was both.

I'm actually glad not to be the only one who thought the game was horrible.
 

DarkestLink

Darkest of all Dark Links
Joined
Oct 28, 2012
@TheEastWind

1) You can skip cutscenes.

2) Why would you want to skip cutscenes?
 

Ronin

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@TheEastWind

1) You can skip cutscenes.

[This is not an attack or an argument of any sort; I only want to bring a few points to mind]

Actually, he can't skip them voluntarily, at least not in the initial playthrough. It takes one run-through of the game in order to unlock Hero Mode, which comes after the game is beaten. I'm adding some emphasis to that point because there's no other way to attain HM; you'd have to play 50+ hours (if you're a leisurely player, like myself) to reach it. Additionally, the text moved at a snail's pace compared to the other games, so I couldn't quicken the scene's conclusion that way either. And personally, while I can understand why Nintendo would do that, it didn't improve my cutscene enjoyment very much.

2) Why would you want to skip cutscenes?

I could think of a variety of reasons, but I'll just go with the simple mention of their length. They were much longer than most cutscenes in Zelda games, and coupled with the instances I laid out above, they could very easily feel like an interruption. Twilight Princess's scenes were also pretty lengthy, but they could be skipped at will. Skyward Sword should have followed suit in that light, meaning that there couldn't be a sizeable pause between the gameplay points, especially with two or more playthroughs.
 
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Joined
Apr 22, 2012
Location
California
i was initially very disappointed with skyward sword as well. flying sucked, the overworld was crap, the game was built around over the top motion controls, it was linear as all hell, and it was crammed with so much unwelcome busy work that had no place in the series. however recently i for some reason decided to replay the entire game from start to finish and surprisingly the game grew on me and i feel that i had a much better experience the second time around than the first
 

DarkestLink

Darkest of all Dark Links
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Oct 28, 2012
[This is not an attack or an argument of any sort; I only want to bring a few points to mind]

Actually, he can't skip them voluntarily, at least not in the initial playthrough. It takes one run-through of the game in order to unlock Hero Mode, which comes after the game is beaten. I'm adding some emphasis to that point because there's no other way to attain HM; you'd have to play 50+ hours (if you're a leisurely player, like myself) to reach it. Additionally, the text moved at a snail's pace compared to the other games, so I couldn't quicken the scene's conclusion that way either. And personally, while I can understand why Nintendo would do that, it didn't improve my cutscene enjoyment very much.

One would assume that a normal playthrough is your first playthough and all others are Hero Mode. Nintendo can't have you skipping cut-scenes on the first playthough or you'll miss hints and important details that you'll need later.

As for the...the...the--50 hours? Are you sure you actually kept track of this? This game is shorter than Twilight Princess which is, typically, twelve hours. Did you 100% it without a guide before going to hero mode or something?

I could think of a variety of reasons, but I'll just go with the simple mention of their length. They were much longer than most cutscenes in Zelda games, and coupled with the instances I laid out above, they could very easily feel like an interruption. Twilight Princess's scenes were also pretty lengthy, but they could be skipped at will. Skyward Sword should have followed suit in that light, meaning that there couldn't be a sizeable pause between the gameplay points, especially with two or more playthroughs.

I'm still confused. Yes, they are lengthy...but so are dungeons. Actually, dungeons are far more lengthy. Why aren't you clamoring for Nintendo to let you skip dungeons at this rate? Were you just not into the story or thought they did a mediocre job with them?
 
Joined
Apr 10, 2012
I'm pretty sure u r. I don't know people who hate games like they hate people. But if ur the only one who was disappointing or didn't like the game? Nope. That's ur opinion. There were some flaws with it, but that's in every game. Even in Ocarina of Time which no one ever talks about.
 

Ventus

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At first glance, I truly enjoyed Skyward Sword. It was a breathtaking experience, filled with joy and other great emotions. Time went on and I've just stopped liking it, and now I actually hate the title for what it is. I don't want to go into why I hate the game; just suffice to say that I do and leave it at that.

One would assume that a normal playthrough is your first playthough and all others are Hero Mode. Nintendo can't have you skipping cut-scenes on the first playthough or you'll miss hints and important details that you'll need later.

For a new player, it is understandable why Nintendo wouldn't want to have the ability to skip cutscenes available. Like you stated, if a player were to skip some cutscenes, they might miss hints and/or important details they'll need later on. However, not everyone who plays Zelda is a complete novice to the series. They can think for themselves, with or without hand holding. Even those who ARE completely new to the Zelda series and its intricacies would like to do things on their own without reading a wall of text or viewing some contrived CGI beforehand. The Kingdom Hearts series bar 1 and Chain of Memories [note: Re:CoM also nailed the idea...but the original CoM didn't] nailed this ideal on the head since KH1Final Mix and has done so ever since; there is a "Skip Event" option when you press start, so you can skip scenes at your leisure. There's no reason for SS to nullify this option when every game (read: only three...but it was a trend that had its worth) since Twilight Princess has had it.
 

Kirino

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As for the...the...the--50 hours? Are you sure you actually kept track of this? This game is shorter than Twilight Princess which is, typically, twelve hours. Did you 100% it without a guide before going to hero mode or something?

Really? SS was way longer for me. And how did you manage to beat TP in 12 hours? Do you speedrun?
 

DarkestLink

Darkest of all Dark Links
Joined
Oct 28, 2012
Really? SS was way longer for me. And how did you manage to beat TP in 12 hours? Do you speedrun?

Not really. The only reason it even takes that long is because I tend to pause and leave the game on for awhile when I need to do something. I typically don't do sidequests unless they are in the area.

Completing the game 100% is quite doable in 10 hours. Doing a fun run of the main quest like I do can be done in 5 if you put an effort towards it.
 
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Mudora

Innocent but not fearful.
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Jul 27, 2012
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No, you're not the only one who disliked Skyward Sword. I recently got (forced) my older brother to finally play the game, and he wasn't too thrilled with it either. There were certain ideas that he admitted were cool, but on a whole, he didn't particularly enjoy it. I wouldn't say that he absolutely hates SS, though it definitely isn't his favorite Zelda game.
 

DarkestLink

Darkest of all Dark Links
Joined
Oct 28, 2012
The Twilight Princess Speed Run record is about 3 and a half hours. You're telling me you get 5 hours on a regular playthrough just for fun?

No. Like I previously said, it's about 10-14. It depends on how often I pause and multitask. If I just focused solely on the game with no distractions, I imagine it'd be around....8 hours, since I don't completely ignore sidequests.
 

Batman

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No, you're certainly not the ONLY one that dislikes Skyward Sword. I'm sure there are plenty of Zelda fans that were disappointed by it. I'm not one of them, but I'm sure they exist.
 
Joined
Nov 13, 2012
Skyward Sword disappointed me in numerous facets, but the game is a worthy addition to the Zelda library that I will enjoy re-playing down the road many times.
 

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