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Decision: Is Skyward Sword the Best Zelda Game on the Market?

Braivety

FPT | Breb
Joined
Nov 28, 2011
Location
Maricopa, Arizona
Gender
Boi
Well i like the motion controls. i think they make the game more real. and you need actuall skill to be good. Plus, i think SS is the best game on the market.
 

guapo2003

The incomparable legend
Joined
Dec 19, 2011
Location
Temple of Light
Even though it's a good Zelda game, definitely not the best. I would honestly go for either Ocarina of Time, or Majora's Mask.
 

Ventus

Mad haters lmao
Joined
May 26, 2010
Location
Akkala
Gender
Hylian Champion
[all my opinion]
Nope, Skyward Swrd is more or less (in my opinion) a subpar Zelda just like Twilight Princess. The game isn't as...groundbreaking as any previous Zelda game or any GAME for that matter...Skyward hasn't tread any real new waters. WM+ swordplay? Wii Sports Resort. Sprinting? Any game on the market. Some semblance of a good story? Didn't happen. Fetchquests, not enough variation, AI is absolutely terrible, what the flaming firetruck is Hero Mode, etc. etc. etc. Nintendo spent a lot of time with Skyward Sword, but they had their priorities all jacked. Their goal was to beat Ocarina of Time, which they failed miserably at doing. They did a lot of things: new art direction, animations, good mouth movements, 1:1 swordplay [it is actually 1:1.5 but w/e], and so on...but they failed in nearly every department (gameplay..swordplay, rather, was SS' strongest point, but unfortunately it can't be used to the greatest extent because all enemies in this game are a joke). Everyone heralded the story to be absolutely amazing...but it just wasn't. It was just another hero story [yknow, like ALL Zelda games], but the thing that distinguishes SS from other Zeldas is that there are few if any characters that mean anything story-wise. The sky was terrible, little to no variation between the overworld (except the obvious scenery change), blah blah blah. Little to no replayability, and you cannot switch dungeon orders.The gameplay was top notch, and although I disliked the item selection and usage, I will not deny that SS did it right. The characters, as I said, mean nothing at all to the plot. There are like 4 good characters: Zelda, Link, Groose, and Old Woman, and two bad characters: Ghirahim/Debbie and Final Boss. Fi is, more or less, a joke of a character in place for...no reason at all. She has no character development. She's like the Sheva of the Zelda series: just there for the sake of being there.

Compare SS with Zelda Gaiden...Majora's Mask. MM managed to reuse I'm guessing 99% of OoT's textures and what not...but that game was absolutely amazing. Great story, atmosphere, while combat is more of the same we definitely got the best personalities the series has ever seen. The best part? Majora's Mask was never made with the intent of pwnzoring OoT. No, it was just a side story accompanying OoT, and the game itself says Link was simply going out on a secret and personal journey. IT DID EVERYTHING IT SET OUT TO DO.

In my opinion Skyward Sword could most definitely be the best VIDEO GAME on the market, but no where near the best ZELDA game. It lacks basic fundamentals in order to be a good Zelda game.

[/all my opinion]
 
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MW7

Joined
Jun 22, 2011
Location
Ohio
It'll probably be some time before some people consider this game as one of their favourite.
My opinion is the contrary. I feel like a ton of people jumped on the "greatest Zelda ever" bandwagon within a month of release, and now that number seems to already be diminishing. I can't substantiate this claim at all but the amount of negative responses to Skyward Sword aren't as rare now at least in my experience. This is what happened with Twilight Princess as well- many people heralded it as the greatest until the next thing came along. Skyward Sword is a great game, but IMO there's no way it's going to have as much popular support as the greatest Zelda game once the next game comes along.

And this is a major reason why I feel like Skyward Sword won't commonly be heralded as the greatest Zelda game with time.
Little to no replayability
 
Joined
Dec 29, 2011
[all my opinion]
Nope, Skyward Swrd is more or less (in my opinion) a subpar Zelda just like Twilight Princess. The game isn't as...groundbreaking as any previous Zelda game or any GAME for that matter...Skyward hasn't tread any real new waters. WM+ swordplay? Wii Sports Resort. Sprinting? Any game on the market. Some semblance of a good story? Didn't happen. Fetchquests, not enough variation, AI is absolutely terrible, what the flaming firetruck is Hero Mode, etc. etc. etc. Nintendo spent a lot of time with Skyward Sword, but they had their priorities all jacked. Their goal was to beat Ocarina of Time, which they failed miserably at doing. They did a lot of things: new art direction, animations, good mouth movements, 1:1 swordplay [it is actually 1:1.5 but w/e], and so on...but they failed in nearly every department (gameplay..swordplay, rather, was SS' strongest point, but unfortunately it can't be used to the greatest extent because all enemies in this game are a joke). Everyone heralded the story to be absolutely amazing...but it just wasn't. It was just another hero story [yknow, like ALL Zelda games], but the thing that distinguishes SS from other Zeldas is that there are few if any characters that mean anything story-wise. The sky was terrible, little to no variation between the overworld (except the obvious scenery change), blah blah blah. Little to no replayability, and you cannot switch dungeon orders.The gameplay was top notch, and although I disliked the item selection and usage, I will not deny that SS did it right. The characters, as I said, mean nothing at all to the plot. There are like 4 good characters: Zelda, Link, Groose, and Old Woman, and two bad characters: Ghirahim/Debbie and Final Boss. Fi is, more or less, a joke of a character in place for...no reason at all. She has no character development. She's like the Sheva of the Zelda series: just there for the sake of being there.

Compare SS with Zelda Gaiden...Majora's Mask. MM managed to reuse I'm guessing 99% of OoT's textures and what not...but that game was absolutely amazing. Great story, atmosphere, while combat is more of the same we definitely got the best personalities the series has ever seen. The best part? Majora's Mask was never made with the intent of pwnzoring OoT. No, it was just a side story accompanying OoT, and the game itself says Link was simply going out on a secret and personal journey. IT DID EVERYTHING IT SET OUT TO DO.

In my opinion Skyward Sword could most definitely be the best VIDEO GAME on the market, but no where near the best ZELDA game. It lacks basic fundamentals in order to be a good Zelda game.

[/all my opinion]



You know, you have so much hate for SS that I'm surprised you rank it so high after your top 2 favs. I've seen you bash on the game repeatedly on so many threads, and so passionately too. It sounded like it'd be your least favorite, but since you rank it as after MM, does that mean you hate even more every Zelda game that is not OoT and MM? I'm just curious, because if you hate SS that much, then you must REALLY hate all the other Zelda games too since you ranked them lower than SS. Which also means that since you don't think SS is a good Zelda game, then none of the other Zelda games (other then Oot/MM) are good Zelda games in your eyes. In which case, I'm wondering why you're still playing Zelda games.
 
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Joined
Mar 31, 2012
Location
USA :>
I agree with the person above me that "favorite" and "best" are not the same thing. That being said, Skyward Sword is my personal favorite, yes, but I do not think it is the best. I would certainly put Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask above it in that regard. I think Ocarina is ultimately probably the best since it is very well rounded with wide appeal. Of course, in my opinion Skyward Sword is still a really great game, but if I were recommending a Zelda game, say, to someone unfamiliar with the series, I would first recommend Ocarina of Time. :>
 

MW7

Joined
Jun 22, 2011
Location
Ohio
You know, you have so much hate for SS that I'm surprised you rank it so high after your top 2 favs. I've seen you bash on the game repeatedly on so many threads, and so passionately too. It sounded like it'd be your least favorite, but since you rank it as after MM, does that mean you hate even more every Zelda game that is not OoT and MM? I'm just curious, because if you hate SS that much, then you must REALLY hate all the other Zelda games too since you ranked them lower than SS. Which also means that since you don't think SS is a good Zelda game, then none of the other Zelda games (other then Oot/MM) are good Zelda games in your eyes. In which case, I'm wondering why you're still playing Zelda games.
Well I think I understand Vanitas a little bit, and I feel somewhat like he does (not as strongly or passionately though). I do know that Vanitas absolutely loves the Zelda series, and I think it's just painful for him to see the direction the series is going. The games are still good, but IMO the game designers really have their priorities all screwed up. I don't even agree with half the stuff Vanitas says about Skyward Sword, and it's still a massive disappointment for me. I can only imagine how he feels. Still Zelda is easily my favorite series even if I disagree with a lot of what the game designers are doing. I also have extremely high hopes again with the reports that the 3ds game will be like A Link to the Past. None of the 3d games has really reached the heights of gameplay that ALTTP did IMO, and I'm glad its legacy will return with a new game.
 
Joined
Dec 21, 2011
Well I think I understand Vanitas a little bit, and I feel somewhat like he does (not as strongly or passionately though). I do know that Vanitas absolutely loves the Zelda series, and I think it's just painful for him to see the direction the series is going. The games are still good, but IMO the game designers really have their priorities all screwed up. I don't even agree with half the stuff Vanitas says about Skyward Sword, and it's still a massive disappointment for me. I can only imagine how he feels. Still Zelda is easily my favorite series even if I disagree with a lot of what the game designers are doing. I also have extremely high hopes again with the reports that the 3ds game will be like A Link to the Past. None of the 3d games has really reached the heights of gameplay that ALTTP did IMO, and I'm glad its legacy will return with a new game.

I actually disagree that Zelda is going in the wrong direction. From Skyward Sword we saw obvious elements of RPG-ish characteristics, and I think that's what the series needs to turn to. I'm not saying the series should be a full-blown RPG (if Zelda ever gets a leveling-up system I quit), but RPG's have a lot of positive qualities that I think Zelda can benefit from such as upgrading systems, multiple storylines, mutliple endings, etc. These characteristics will add a ton of replayability to the game, increase the difficulty level, make the game more interactive, etc.

Skyward Sword was by no means a RPG, and IMO not the greatest Zelda ever made, however it did give me high hopes for Zelda in the future with its RPG elements.
 
Joined
Dec 29, 2011
Well I think I understand Vanitas a little bit, and I feel somewhat like he does (not as strongly or passionately though). I do know that Vanitas absolutely loves the Zelda series, and I think it's just painful for him to see the direction the series is going. The games are still good, but IMO the game designers really have their priorities all screwed up. I don't even agree with half the stuff Vanitas says about Skyward Sword, and it's still a massive disappointment for me. I can only imagine how he feels. Still Zelda is easily my favorite series even if I disagree with a lot of what the game designers are doing. I also have extremely high hopes again with the reports that the 3ds game will be like A Link to the Past. None of the 3d games has really reached the heights of gameplay that ALTTP did IMO, and I'm glad its legacy will return with a new game.

My point though is that it seems strange to write so much hate for SS, and then rank it high as #2 and 3, which would mean there's even more hate for the games ranked below SS -- practically all Zelda games except for 2. I don't get the sense that he loves the series. I mean, if you hate the gameplay, AI, and story and characters so much (that's like almost everything), yet, you rank that game higher than the majority of other Zelda games, then there isn't much left to like about the games.


On a separate note, I believe that SS is headed in the right direction. SS's gameplay, story, characters were top notch and an improvement on all previous Zeldas, and the fun factor was the highest in that game. It evolved the series and kept the Zelda feel, and I would like the series to continue to evolve. I don't want clones like how OoT, WW, and TP were pretty similar to each other. SS is what I want in a Zelda game, and the series is progressing. The only disappointment I have is the harp.



As for ALttP - I seriously hope they come out with a 3DS version based on that.
 

MW7

Joined
Jun 22, 2011
Location
Ohio
My point though is that it seems strange to write so much hate for SS, and then rank it high as #2 and 3, which would mean there's even more hate for the games ranked below SS -- practically all Zelda games except for 2. I don't get the sense that he loves the series. I mean, if you hate the gameplay, AI, and story and characters so much (that's like almost everything), yet, you rank that game higher than the majority of other Zelda games, then there isn't much left to like about the games.
Oh yes I agree it's strange, but I do the same thing just to a much lesser extent. I think I've read Vanitas saying how the gameplay of Skyward Sword was amazing, and that this was why he still considered it a great video game. Personally this rationale makes sense to me because gameplay is such a ridiculously important part of video games. It's virtually the only element that's essential for a game to be a game. I know I'm different in that I care very little about story, graphics, music, etc., but from my perspective it's very possible for a person to complain about the things Vanitas is complaining about and still consider the game good overall.

For instance I'm starting to think that if I ever reviewed a game that I would weigh its gameplay at least 90% leaving 10% for everything else. So if a game nailed the gameplay it could still be great even if it whiffed on everything else. I don't think Skyward Sword had a bad story, graphics, or characters (among the many things said) like Vanitas does though. Almost all of my complaints are somehow gameplay related.

On a separate note, I believe that SS is headed in the right direction. SS's gameplay, story, characters were top notch and an improvement on all previous Zeldas, and the fun factor was the highest in that game. It evolved the series and kept the Zelda feel, and I would like the series to continue to evolve. I don't want clones like how OoT, WW, and TP were pretty similar to each other. SS is what I want in a Zelda game, and the series is progressing. The only disappointment I have is the harp.



As for ALttP - I seriously hope they come out with a 3DS version based on that.
I actually disagree that Zelda is going in the wrong direction. From Skyward Sword we saw obvious elements of RPG-ish characteristics, and I think that's what the series needs to turn to. I'm not saying the series should be a full-blown RPG (if Zelda ever gets a leveling-up system I quit), but RPG's have a lot of positive qualities that I think Zelda can benefit from such as upgrading systems, multiple storylines, mutliple endings, etc. These characteristics will add a ton of replayability to the game, increase the difficulty level, make the game more interactive, etc.

Skyward Sword was by no means a RPG, and IMO not the greatest Zelda ever made, however it did give me high hopes for Zelda in the future with its RPG elements.

Both you guys make excellent points. I would agree that there were several aspects in which Skyward Sword was promising. I loved the upgrade system and characters specifically a lot out of what you two mentioned. Another thing that Skyward Sword returned to that was almost entirely absent in Twlight Princess was the returning to parts of the world. I liked going to the provinces again to discover something new. I shouldn't have made it an all or nothing proposition of disagreeing with the game designers on pretty much everything because there were a ton of things that I either agreed with or had no problem with. It's just that there were tons of missed opportunities (Axle had an article a while back just about this), lacked options (can only skip cutscenes in one mode- why?; have to see a notification for treasures/bugs everytime you reset the game-why?; have to use motion controls for virtually everything including swimming; etc.), and for me most importantly they flushed away so much potential replay value by making the game more linear than necessary. IMO Skyward Sword is good for one amazing playthrough, and then it loses a ton of its value. I have been trying to pinpoint why I felt like my first playthrough of Skyward Sword was up there with any of the games, and then for instance why my sixth playthrough of ALTTP or my twentieth playthrough of OOT or even my second playthrough of Adventure of Link absolutely blew away my second playthrough of Skyward Sword.
 
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