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Spoiler Fetchquests?

MW7

Joined
Jun 22, 2011
Location
Ohio
I've read my fair share of reviews of Skyward Sword, and I can understand most of the praises and criticisms of the game except for one in particular. What are people referring to when they say "Skyward Sword had too many fetchquests?" My issue is isn't every Zelda game a quest made up of hundreds of fetch quests? I mean even dungeons are technically fetch quests since you are there to get something whether it be a piece of the triforce, a medallion, etc. Also traversing dungeons it's get a key so that you can open a door and repeat. So what I assume people are talking about are instances in which you literally have no obstacles in your way and have to go and get something. I looked up the definition at gaming.wikia.org and it said "delivering an item from one place to another" is a fetchquest. That makes sense, but I don't know where people are drawing the line.

So basically what are the "fetchquests" in Skyward Sword if any? The only ones in the main quest I can think of are returning the stone tablets to the Goddess Statue to open up provinces, getting the propeller for the windmill, the old Kikwi telling you to go to the viewing platform to learn the symbol of Faron, returning to the Isle of Songs after dungeons 4 and 5 to learn a song, getting the Water Dragon's basin to enter the Fire Sanctuary (this one had a point though because it leads to the escort mission on Eldin), having to go get pumpkin soup before you see Levias, and maybe getting the Life Tree Fruit for the Thunder Dragon (this one isn't an explicit go here get this quest since you have to figure it out). This isn't a ton of stuff IMO and maybe adds up to 15 minutes of your life wasted.

One professional reviewer gave the game a 6/10 and claimed that over half of his 47 hours of game time were spent on fetch quests (http://www.gamecritics.com/richard-naik/the-legend-of-zelda-skyward-sword-review). I mean technically he's right because you spend the whole game going to get things, but he draws the line with anything outside of a dungeon is a fetchquest and I don't think that's fair. For instance he said the Silent Realms were fetchquests- this I totally don't understand because you have pressure on you the whole time, and it's not nearly as simple as say getting a Triforce Chart in Wind Waker decyphered and then sailing out to pick it up (IMO they should have just put pieces of the Triforce where the charts were in Wind Waker). Also one thing I would say was a major fetchquest was the Gratitude Crystals because retrieving the chests was challenge-free, but at least this quest was entirely optional.

So basically what do you think is a fetchquest? Did Skyward Sword have any?
 
Joined
Dec 21, 2011
To me a fetchquest is more of a tedious, simple process to progress through the game. For instance, retrieving the propeller to put on the windmill is a fetchquest because it requires little effort and attention to the game other than going and getting it, and most people would agree it was a tedious obnoxious process. Going through a dungeon to obtain those stone tablets are not fetchquest because they require more skill and attention to the game such as puzzle solving and combat, and they also unravel key plot concepts that are crucial to the development of the story. Now this description may still be vague but it's the best way that I can explain what a fetch quest is, or atleast what it is to me.

Skyward Sword overall was a great game and I never really thought to myself "wow, so many freakin' tedious fetchquest grrrr!" To me the game suffered more with several small nitpicky things that come together to make it a real drawback for me to enjoy the game.

To answer your question simply, no, I did not think Skyward Sword suffered from too many fetchquests although it did have some.
 

MW7

Joined
Jun 22, 2011
Location
Ohio
To me a fetchquest is more of a tedious, simple process to progress through the game. For instance, retrieving the propeller to put on the windmill is a fetchquest because it requires little effort and attention to the game other than going and getting it, and most people would agree it was a tedious obnoxious process. Going through a dungeon to obtain those stone tablets are not fetchquest because they require more skill and attention to the game such as puzzle solving and combat, and they also unravel key plot concepts that are crucial to the development of the story. Now this description may still be vague but it's the best way that I can explain what a fetch quest is, or atleast what it is to me.

Skyward Sword overall was a great game and I never really thought to myself "wow, so many freakin' tedious fetchquest grrrr!" To me the game suffered more with several small nitpicky things that come together to make it a real drawback for me to enjoy the game.

To answer your question simply, no, I did not think Skyward Sword suffered from too many fetchquests although it did have some.

Thanks, I thought I wasn't going insane. I had some complaints with the game, but I definitely never thought to myself "wow, another fetchquest" which apparently this reviewer I found said was most of his experience of the game. I mean now on my third playthrough I notice a couple of things that are pointless, but they blended in on my first playthrough.
 
Skyward Sword certainly did not have too many fetch quests and any it had were rather engaging. The Gratitude Crystal Quest was especially rewarding.

And yes, there did seem to be more fetch quests during the second half of the game than the first. But I kept moving forward with the thought that another amazing boss was just around the corner since those things were not only large in scope and grandeur but provided a legitimate challenge and were extremely well designed more so than in other recent installments.

As for that review you linked to, that reviewer is not objective at all. Saying that Skyward Sword's only pro was Koloktos, the boss of the Ancient Cistern, is just plain ignorant. Every boss battle was amazing and Hero Mode was another great incentive to prod forward. That also axes out other achievements such as those in innovative controls and an orchestrated soundtrack. It's a shame to see such an ambitious undertaking hammered on all sides. I suppose this is in part due to negative public opinion regarding the Wii as a "core" console.
 

Ronin

There you are! You monsters!
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Joined
Feb 8, 2011
Location
Alrest
Skyward Sword did have quite a few, but they weren't any sort of hindrance to me. In a game such as SS, where you could use dowsing when looking for certain objects, they're a worthy addition and pastime to use. There was no fault in including them, save for them becoming mundane to any number of players. But most of the fetchquests aren't mandatory. Anyone can opt to go in search of a targeted necessity for one of the characters, or not, with the exception of one time, from what I remember, and as you'd already mentioned:
Carrying the water basic to get into the Fire Sanctuary.

That is, if you mean locating the item through dowsing and then fetching Scrapper to convey it to the desired area. The other sequences are just part of the game. Gathering the notes for a certain song isn't a "fetchquest" in my book; it's just a mechanic of the story. Same with pursuing Zelda. and intending to "fetch" her back to Skyloft. Yes, if we were to define it in that way then all Zelda games would have many fetchquests, because there are always items that need obtaining. Fused shadows, Sacred Orbs, Boss Masks...these're but a few, yet they are, again, essential in completing the story. By my own definition I'd classify a fetchquest as having to retrieve an object for somebody. Hope that makes sense. :)
 
Joined
Apr 10, 2012
To me a fetchquest is more of a tedious, simple process to progress through the game. For instance, retrieving the propeller to put on the windmill is a fetchquest because it requires little effort and attention to the game other than going and getting it, and most people would agree it was a tedious obnoxious process. Going through a dungeon to obtain those stone tablets are not fetchquest because they require more skill and attention to the game such as puzzle solving and combat, and they also unravel key plot concepts that are crucial to the development of the story. Now this description may still be vague but it's the best way that I can explain what a fetch quest is, or atleast what it is to me.

Skyward Sword overall was a great game and I never really thought to myself "wow, so many freakin' tedious fetchquest grrrr!" To me the game suffered more with several small nitpicky things that come together to make it a real drawback for me to enjoy the game.

To answer your question simply, no, I did not think Skyward Sword suffered from too many fetchquests although it did have some.

You can sort of say the say the same thing for the windmill. retrieving it was relevant to the plot because it opened the path to the thunderhead and to the Isles of songs. But what did you think of going back to skyview to get the water for the dragon?
 

GoldenGengle64

A v ^ A v ^
Joined
Nov 10, 2011
Location
Wisconsin, United States
To me, its series of actions to obtain something in a game and usually has little to no connection with the game's main storyline (think Biggoron Sword in OoT). Personally, I don't mind fetchquests. I think they enhance the story and make the world within the game a little more lifelike. A player can learn more about the NPCs and the surroundings, thus making them feel a little more connected to the game.
 
Joined
Apr 8, 2012
The only ones i would really consider fetch quests are all the times the people of Skyloft make you go beneath the clouds to retrieve any of their lost or broken items. Such as the windmill propeller, the game wheel, and a new glass ball. And i found those very tedious, but there weren't that many of them throughout the game.
 
Joined
Apr 10, 2012
For me, the only real fetch quest in the game was retrieving the propeller which I liked. It was fun exploring the area for it,, well at least to me. There was also the water quest which was easy. Other than that, the rest were just side missions which I liked because of the exploring.
 

unknown

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Joined
Sep 17, 2011
Location
Sacred Grove
I don't have the same definition of a fetch quest as people who complain about skyward sword being just a bunch of fetchquests. Just because you know your objective doesn't make it a fetch quest. A fetch quest is like when you do something and somebody tells you to go across the world to get an item, and 98% of the time you spend on it is just traveling.
 
Joined
Dec 29, 2011
I don't really get the whole fetchquests thing. I liked doing stuff like retrieving the windmill. That was fun. Those things worked so well with the game, so it never occurred to me that they were fetchquests. In fact, every Zelda game has something like that, and they never bothered me. I don't want just straight up dungeons and nothing else between. That would be really cut and dry.
 
D

dotngtrtech

Guest
I'd consider the tadtones collecting a fethquest. The whole entire song of the Hero section is basically a grouping of three fetch quests. One of them was pretty cool (the stealth mission getting your items back), but the tadtones was stupid and slowed the game down. I think the biggest hangup with it as well as that it happens at the tail end of the game.

- Dave
 
Joined
Apr 10, 2012
I'd consider the tadtones collecting a fethquest. The whole entire song of the Hero section is basically a grouping of three fetch quests. One of them was pretty cool (the stealth mission getting your items back), but the tadtones was stupid and slowed the game down. I think the biggest hangup with it as well as that it happens at the tail end of the game.

- Dave


Why does everyone complain about this quest. It's easy and it doesn't even take that much time. It was also relaxing. Can you please tell me what was so bad about this quest.
 

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