Island and Skylands

[Shadsie]

I am loathe to make a "complaint" thread, because I dislike those, but this is one, in part.

I loved Skyward Sword - so I am not complaining about the game as a whole, it's just that, thinking about it, there is one thing that bothered me a lot, in comparsion to a specific other game. For all of the cool little things this game shared with The Wind Waker, I wish Skyward Sword had kept the "spirit of the islands" from Wind Waker, and it didn't.

What I mean is, Skyward's Swords "island-system" was all about finding Goddess Cubes on the Surface, striking them, then finding little treasure chests with gooodies on the islands in the sky. The "island system" in The Wind Waker was all about sailing to the various little islands and the islands had various puzzles before you got your goodies. In WW, you had to "bomb this," "shoot an arrow here," "Use your hammer to pound down the stake and hurry and get to the other end of the island before time's up and the flames circle the chest again," or just fighting a gauntlet of enemies.

In other words, the random islands in Wind Waker made you work for your gifts. They gave you fun little puzzles and were generally vibrant and fulll of life. By contrast, the sky-islands in SS were barren rocks with just a little grass or moss, maybe some iron bars or some odd way to get to a chest, but some of the skylands had two-three chests each.

I found Wind Waker's islands a lot more fun - and they gave me a feel of the world having life and the possibility of people living and exploring away from the main hubs. Skyward Sword just has Skyloft and the Lumpy Pumpkin (?) as "main hubs" and the rest just felt like a desert in the sky.

Wind Waker gave you fun, island-specific puzzles... and even the occasional traveling merchant for one of the trading quests. Skyward gave you... "Here's a chest." I understand that most of the action in SS was meant to take place on the surface, but if the Sky (where the Hylians actually had lived for generations) had more tricks and general life to it, I think it would have improved the game. It's like, Nintendo carried over so much good from previous games in the series but one of the *best* aspects of Wind Waker was ignored, or at least not implemented as well as it was in that game.

 

[Ventus]

If you put it in perspective, the Sky was a relatively chill area, bar the Thunderhead. I don't think it reasonable for the islands in the sky to host rewards that you have to work for -- the humans essentially inhabit the sky since Hylia shot them up, so why would they even need puzzles to protect their goods (also keep in mind the sky barrier exists, perpetually keeping them from harm). For the islands to contain puzzles within them would call for one of three things in my opinion:

- The Sky being populated by enemies, and the sky barrier being broken (then again, Sky Keep has enemies! What's the deal there?)
- Humans creating minigames just for the hell of it
- The Knight Academy creating situations to allow the Knights to gain further experience

I mean, I understand the feeling of emptiness; it's apparent the Sky-Islands had a distinct lack of things to do bar opening that chest you just noticed, which is the complete opposite to The Wind Waker's outings. However, I just don't see a reason for the Sky TO have anything particularly challenging as it is the Kirby Super Star rest room of Skyward Sword.

 

[A Link In Time]

The desolation of Skyward Sword's islands is a legitimate concern but from a narrative standpoint Nintendo padded itself very well with a similar explanation present as for the landmasses below the clouds-Hylia allocated the people away from the monsters in the safe hub of Skyloft, also a very non-conspicuous spot for the Sky Keep supplement serving as a hiding place for the Triforce from the forces of evil.

Skyward Sword endeavored to blend the best of The Wind Waker's witty cartoon style with Twilight Princess's grittiness, lending elements more than merely graphics from both titles. A unique transportation system was in place with the Loftwings whereas a differing perspective on the mundane was provided via dowsing, the natural successor to Twilight Princess's wolf senses. Of course elements were lost in transition as Skyward Sword framed its own identity with a plethora of new features.

I always deemed the Goddess Cubes to be a side quest of secondary importance in comparison to the Gratitude Crystal scavenger hunt. Skyward Sword is a very vibrant game owing to its impressionist art style; Skyloft and its citizenry serve to bring the lighter side of this spectrum into full visibility. Skyloft is happy-go-lucky hub world, helping its inhabitants felt natural. Moreover, assisting a demon for once served as an unequivocally unique experience.

 

[Sir Quaffler]

The problem with Wind Waker's islands wasn't the content on them, they were mildly entertaining - it's that they were just too damn far apart. Nintendo wanted to fix this by making the skylands closer together, but in doing so they made them more barren. That's a problem, to be sure, but given everything else SS has to offer I can excuse them for this. I was so preoccupied with gathering bugs and resources on the surface, helping Betreaux in his quest to become a human, etc, that I almost didn't notice how small the other islands were. Besides, most of my time in the sky outside of Skylof was spent at the Lumpy Pumpkin trying to get Kina to like me...


Also, Ventus, that reminds me - I actually made a post on the matter regarding Skyloft's nature - it's one of the first posts I made here. Lemme see if I can find it... Ah, there it is.
http://zeldadungeon.net/forum/f54/so-whats-deal-skykeep-anyway-33070.html

 

[Dragoncat]

Yeah...the sky was pretty empty. I find myself wondering what the knights were actually defending the land from, with not much else in sight. Maybe there's some sky pirates we don't know about?

 

[DarkestLink]

You make a fair point, but Wind Waker's system would have never worked in Skyward Sword. Wind Waker had a convenient chart to help you memorize all the islands. Each square had one island and nothing more. It was easy to chart out and remember.

Skyward Sword's islands were less structured and more natural. There was no way I was going to remember each and every little insignificant island and know if I had visited it or not.

 

[ZeldaTeacher]

For me personally, there is so much to do (in the way of sidequests and collections) that just finding the cubes then the chests is enough for me. It would make it a bit more challenging if you had to do something else to get to the chests, but I think it is okay to just get the cube, then the chest. The fact that the two things aren't in the same area means you have to do the work of actually going to the sky to get the stuff, and that is not always convenient to do right away.

 

[Atheistbigred]

As others I this thread have stated this is a valid and reasonable complaint. I too find the islands in Skyward Sword boring and irrelevent. There were like 3 islands where you had to work to get the goddess cube, but in comparison with the rest, they lacked.

In my humble opinion, Nintendo could've added more to each island. I for one loved the islands in windwaker. Each and every one of them had a mini dungeon feel to it. They could've added a challenge on each island but only with puzzles and little to no enemies. Otherwise it would throw the whole "isolated from the ground below thing" off. As it stands I am disappointed in the way they did the islands but I still somewhat like it.

 

[Ventus]

I also think the islands in Skyward Sword could've used more "umphf" -- more things to make them grander and actually worth the trouble of visiting. However, Ventus and A Link In Time both raised a great point: the islands themselves were closed off from any sort of danger, and the inhabitants of Skyloft were completely oblivious to the entire 'world' below. So, I'm sort of stuck in a rut. It makes sense for the islands to be dull and boring from a narrative point of view, but as a player of a video game I felt largely ignored and that the islands require some extra touch ups here and there.

 

[Shadsie]

I also think the islands in Skyward Sword could've used more "umphf" -- more things to make them grander and actually worth the trouble of visiting. However, Ventus and A Link In Time both raised a great point: the islands themselves were closed off from any sort of danger, and the inhabitants of Skyloft were completely oblivious to the entire 'world' below. So, I'm sort of stuck in a rut. It makes sense for the islands to be dull and boring from a narrative point of view, but as a player of a video game I felt largely ignored and that the islands require some extra touch ups here and there.

Maybe more islands with people living on them, at least? That could make sense from a narrative stance. I know the Lumpy Pumpkin/Pumpkin Landing served as the "farm" setting, but maybe some kind of a ranch-island (where do the people of Skyloft get leather for boots and belts)? Maybe a few more residential islands with cute mini games or little things you have to get past to get goodies...

Or just "natural obstacles." Skyloft might be "free from the dangers of the Surface" but it doesn't mean that nature isn't a brutal, indifferent thing. Octoroks spat stones at your Loftwing from some of the islands and are clearly a natural danger. I know the small monsters of Skyloft were attracted by Batreaux's demon-energies, but I seem to remember the octoroks still being there after finishing his quest. Things like rings of fire and freezing around treasures on some of the skylands could be seen as natural hazards that no other Skyloft Knights have ever bothered to challenge before you. There are plenty of ways to make the islands more adventurous like the ones in WW.