I apologize in advance if this isn't kosher, but I see nothing about "ask me" topics in the rules, so...
I did a couple Q&A features on Zelda Informer, but I understand that not everyone in the world views that site, and I'd like to make sure the masses are as informed as possible, so... Please feel free to shoot me any questions you have about anything related to playing the Skyward Sword demo and I'll do my best to answer. Bear in mind that demo play sessions were limited to 10 minutes at a time and my plays were mostly focused on content, not testing out every minute detail of the controls. (I only spent about 30 seconds with Bombs and not much longer with the Slingshot, for example.) I'll also field story-related questions as long as they're prompted by something I could possibly have learned enough about at E3 to either confirm or speculate on.
My first question actually is about the trailer (sorry for going off-topic). Some have been saying around here that a nintendo rep stated that the game starts out as a dream, much like OoT, and that the scene with the whale is most likely part of this dream since Zelda isn't dressed the same as she was in the tornado scene. Did you hear anything about this?
And to get back on-topic, tell us about the fatigue meter. Will it make block-puzzles unbearably annoying? Many are concerned that the meter is overused.
@JuicieJ:
Depends what you mean by "interesting." I'll try to cover two different angles.
Honestly my favorite thing about the demo was that you can fight most enemies in multiple ways, some more effective than others. You can fight Deku Babas with your sword
or you can toss Bombs at them, which they'll greedily eat, causing them to unwittingly explode
you can try to use directional attacks against the Stalfos while it's blocking, or you can just wait for it to drop its guard and attack. I already expected this and knew it would be a great addition, but I was still impressed. The combat feels like a hybrid of Zelda II's sparring with the emphasis on direction and timing and Twilight Princess with the addition of Z-targeting and special sword techniques.
But if you're talking "interesting" as in "caught my interest," it was the graphics. You can't really see this in a lot of the screenshots and internet feed videos but the "painting" effect is really really neat. You can see what look like little paint dab touches in a lot of the environments. Really makes the game feel like some kind of fantastic storybook tale, but with a less "childish" and more "serious" or "swashbuckling" sort of feel. A lot of the older official art for the series tried to come of as paintings, so this feels like an excellent fit for the series.
@Locke:
I didn't hear anything about a dream sequence, although if previous Zelda games are any indication then Link's probably going to start off asleep in this game, so I wouldn't be surprised. When looking at the "whale" scene together with the scene of Zelda getting swept away by the tornado it's really hard to say if they're part of the same consistent scene or two different ones. They seem to flow together nicely in the trailer, but that could just be a narrative effect, y'know? But yeah, I didn't hear anything directly about the trailer footage from reps, just about the things we see in the demo.
As for the stamina meter: I think it's probably the biggest piece of winsauce that typical "hardcore" adventure games could possibly have given the series. I'm suspecting some complex climbing sections, since the stamina runs down while you're moving up vines, as well as a lot of suspenseful moments involving the dashing mechanics, particularly in the
Siren World sections where you have to keep away from the realm's guardians.
I also love how the "cheap" moves like the Spin Attack also drain the meter - I think a lot of people overlook this in the Jimmy Fallon show footage. Had he not killed the Stalfos with that last Spin Attack, he would have been a sitting duck since his meter had just fully run out.
It didn't really bother me during the block puzzle, though. It starts refilling as soon as you let go of the block, so more than likely by the time you move around it to push it from another side it'll be mostly full again anyway. So don't worry. That said, they HAVE to have added the feature to block-pushing for SOME reason; we just haven't figured it out yet.
@Vault Boy
The Shield Meter is used with all three shields seen in the demo: the Wooden Shield, Iron Shield, and Hylian Shield. It is a different color and length depending on which shield you're using, and the color seems to correspond to the material the shield is composed of (brown for wooden, grey for iron, blue for Hylian). I'm getting the impression that like in previous games different materials can better withstand different types of attacks (although we didn't get any direct confirmation of this in the demo since most enemies use physical attacks). A Wooden Shield will probably burn against fire, for example, while the Iron and Hylian Shields can withstand it. I'm getting the impression that Hylian Shields can only be broken by magic attacks since its meter is blue and glows with some kind of magical aura. A Nintendo rep suggested that we'll encounter attacks that will break it later in the game, but to talk about them would be a spoiler.
Every time a shield is hit by an attack it's vulnerable against, the meter depletes. The amount it goes down seems to correlate to the strength of the attack, but honestly I didn't get too experimental so I can't say this for sure. After the meter is empty, the shield breaks, and you'll have to purchase a new one. The Hylian Shield didn't take any damage from any of the attacks we faced in the demo (probably because none of them were magical attacks), but the other ones wore down from most physical attacks.
I'm curious if there'll be "better" versions of the Wooden and Iron Shields later on (ones that have longer meters, for example), since I'd think that as the game went on you'd want your backup shields to be better. Otherwise I'd think the shield meters would all be the same length, but with varying levels of damage taken. Can't say for sure though.
Define "designing Ghirahim". Do you mean the character or the boss fight? If the former, then my answer is pretty much "it was only a matter of time before Zelda saw a really campy antagonist."
But if you're talking about the boss fight... Hard to say. It's definitely a far cry from the usual "hit weak spot, then slash like crazy" formula seen in previous games. I'd liken it more to the "try to get close enough to strike...and hope you don't miss/get blocked" strategy from games like LttP. You can actually defeat Ghirahim by just trying to get close enough and swinging when you do - that's how I beat him when I played because that's how the fight seemed to be structured (besides, I'd always wanted to see a boss like that in a 3D Zelda, and the closest we'd gotten before was TP's Ganondorf duel). But from what I've heard and seen from others, there are also exploits you can use to leave him vulnerable in some way. In that sense, I'd say it's hard to design a boss where there actually are key strategies you can use but that can also be defeated using more old-fashioned means.
Now that I know that the Zelda design team actually CAN bosses with have "weaknesses" that you don't NEED to take advantage of to win, I'm really excited to see what the other bosses will be like.
From what I've seen so far, the Bow looks like it's harder to use than in previous Zeldas. It also takes a while to load up before firing an arrow. It looks like rapid-firing with the Bow is impossible now. So, if you tried to use the Bow, what are your thoughts on it? Did it take a step up from Twilight Princess, or did it just get more tedious to use?
Also, I've heard that the Fungal Spores you can collect by slashing mushrooms are supposed to heal a bit of Link's health, like the Bee Larvae in Twilight Princess. Is this true, or are the Spores just another trade item?
One last question (for now XD). Can you run while slashing your sword like you could in Twilight Princess?
Thank you in advance for taking the time to answer these questions!
1) It's definitely different, but I wouldn't call it a step up or a step down. It's been further diversified from other items since now it takes longer to load and you can no longer use it cheaply by Z-targeting, so its clearly designed to be used mostly as a long-range weapon. If enemies get too close, switch to your sword. Otherwise it's mostly a matter of more closely emulating the feel of a real bow, and it definitely achieved this. It controls just fine, although I had some trouble the first time I tried the game because I was standing much closer to the screen than I was used to which I think impacted the sensitivity. There weren't too many opportunities to test how the bow will be used in the game - you never needed it once in the demo; it's obviously not an item you "should" have at that point - so I can't say for sure whether it's been improved in gameplay.
2) I didn't witness anyone get or use the Fungal Spores firsthand, but the word going around the show floor was indeed that they were a potion of sorts. But consider this unconfirmed until you play the Sky Temple for yourself.
3) Again, not something I witnessed or tried myself, but I'm about 90% sure you can't.
Sword: Works extremely well, but you really do have to give your swings some flourish. I never once felt like the combat was a bunch of cheap "motion puzzles" as some people seem to have interpreted it; it's basically what Adventure of Link would be like if made in 3D. Easily the most satisfying Zelda combat out of any of the 3D games, since AT THE VERY LEAST you have to make sure you've properly angled your attack in addition to timing it right and looking for openings. Because enemies are constantly guarding and shifting their defensive stances battles seem less like scripted patterned sequences. I will be upset if they switch over to the Wii U tablet and abandon this Motion Plus setup for the next Zelda game; it's THAT good.
Shield: Only has two real positions- raised and lowered. Each time your guard is broken you have to raise your shield again. None of this auto-shield stuff like what we saw in Twilight Princess. Putting up the shield is a snap but takes getting used to since we've never had to do it this way before.
Slingshot: If you found the IR pointer functions in TP usable, you'll find that the Slingshot has essentially zero learning curve.
Bow: Is pretty much exactly like it is in Wii Sports Resort. I can't say for sure but I think that how close you stand to the screen impacts pointer sensitivity (I do not have Motion Plus at home, though, so I can't say for sure), which gave me some trouble at E3 since I was closer than I normally am at home, but in your own controlled setting I imagine there'd be no adjustment issues.
Bombs: Didn't play with these much, but it seems like throwing them is a largely automated process, with your Motion Plus gestures only controlling HOW you throw it. Overhand swings will cause you to toss it in the traditional fashion, underhand will cause you to roll it like a bowling ball. Not much to go wrong here.
Flight/Beetle: Clearly adapted from the flight controls introduced in Twilight Princess, although with Motion Plus it relies less on the pointer and makes better use of the gyroscope, so it's more accurate. Can be a little finicky if you're like me and you don't have a steady hand, or if you don't orient it properly when you launch the Beetle, but otherwise I think it worked just fine.
Calibration: The only calibration issues I ever had while playing were with the Beetle, but I think this is because the device was not calibrated properly between my play and the previous play. It does not appear that you'll need to set down the Wii Remote to calibrate at any time after you start playing (although it looks like you'll need to do so BEFORE judging by the demo). If anything seems to be off, you can quickly re-calibrate by bringing up any item or feature that uses the pointer and pressing Down on the D-pad while pointing at the center of the screen. You may be able to do this in the pause or map menus also (which will be better if you're in the heat of battle or something), but I didn't get a chance to try out either to make sure. I never had to do this during gameplay, though, aside from that issue I mentioned before (which, again, was a matter of the controller not being calibrated correctly in the FIRST PLACE, not a problem with the controller getting confused while I was playing).
