Skyward Sword Disappointing????

[thefloydios]

I guess I should apologize for putting this off track. I don't know how me praising LOZ and ALTTP in comparison to the modern games can lead to three consecutive posts saying something about OOT fanboys are hating on SS but whatever. I'm sorry but I just feel that the overall direction of the series is misguided in the linearity vs. nonlinearity aspect and this holds SS back from being as good as it could have been. I probably should have saved this for another discussion, but it does explain why Skyward Sword disappointed me.

In response to your counterargument about the difficulty of the puzzles I agree. The longest anything stumped me was 3 minutes in the Earth Temple figuring out I had to bomb the wall to proceed. I never looked at a guide during my first playthrough, and I felt that the overall difficulty of the puzzles was very low. Even Twilight Princess, which is one of my least favorite Zelda games, had me confused at a couple of points so I think the puzzles were more challenging in that game.

Also in response to what Atheistbigred said. It's incredibly easy for Skyward Sword or any game ever made for that matter to be disappointing. My expectations simply weren't met. The game is a 9.5 in my book but I wanted a 10. I really just want a perfect Zelda game and we've been getting nothing but very good ones since ALTTP IMO. Some are closer to perfection than others IMO but that doesn't really matter. Since nonlinearity really matters to me it's just very obvious what the game could have done differently for me. If the game was slightly tweaked then I probably would have played through it five or six times by now instead of being midway through my third playthrough. It being linear (and needlessly so at several points) severely hurt the replay value for me.

thats ok man. its not your fault about the oot argument. and i agree about alttp, its also my favourite game in the series. I have to get around to playing ocarina of time for vc. i want to know what all the hype is about.

 

[MW7]

thats ok man. its not your fault about the oot argument. and i agree about alttp, its also my favourite game in the series. I have to get around to playing ocarina of time for vc. i want to know what all the hype is about.

ALTTP is not quite my favorite (I just really love MM- there are a lot of weird quirks about that game that definitely aren't for everyone but are perfect for me) but I have nothing but respect for that game. Considering the time it was released it was basically everything I could ask for and way more. There are a few things in the later games in the series that are absent or not as prominent like really engaging sidequests, but it's the only game in the series that truly met every one of my expectations. I never really fully appreciated how great the game was until recently too. It was the seventh game in the series for me so it somehow met and exceeded all my expectations despite my playing games that were a decade more advanced technologically before it. I played it right after Wind Waker was released and noticed several things that still haven't been matched in the series yet. It's amazing to me that 20 years after its release it still has the most dungeons and items of any game in the series (I'm not 100% sure about the items but it definitely is at least near the top). Not to mention subjectively there are things that I don't think have been matched yet like overworld design or dungeon design.

 

[Heroofwolves]

I dont normally do this very often, not ussually the sort to get into these types of disscussions. I will say this, however. I loved Skyward Sword, but I was mainly trying to play for fun not thinking "what score would I give this game", I did not let the "flaws" get in the way of me liking the game. I thaught it was one of the most fun zelda games to date, but that is just me. I feel their is a fine line at tiems between what is a flaw,a nmd what is personal prefernace. I will admint it, there are games thta I do not like all that much, but I understand that they are quality games. One of these is Bioshock, which I liked but it didnt blow me away for some reson. I do not, however feel it is overate din the slightest, I more than understand why so many people like it so much, and it deserves credit where credit is due. Many of the thigns that I did not liek about the game are not actuall flaws, and many players liekd those thigns. I thaught all in all, Skyward Sword gave me everything I wanted in a game, superb level desighn( I dont personally care wheather or not its linear per se), a thrilling new control scheme, some very memorable charecters, nice music, great storyline(for nintendo), and a beutiful timeless art style. Now is the game perfect, no, but no game truly is. I for one enjoyed the dowsing, others dont, thats fine but for me it just felt cool ya know? I did not like being told that I picked somehting up everytime I did it, nor was I thrilled that it was text only(could be considered a preferance), and there were a few othe rcinks here and there. But honeslty, few other games for me felt so genuine and cool. I really think that it deserves agnawledment for the hard work that went into making it, as making a game like this is no easy task. I also feel it really is the players choice at tiems how they want to progress through the game. Dowsing is not entirely neccessary, nor are shiekah stones. I woudl also say that I found runnign around the forest randomly more fun than ever before, esspeccially with the new beetle, you gotta admit that is a really cool item. There really are many other little touches as well that I notice the mroe I play that make me aprpeciate the game even more. I would also liek to add that I feel it is a blessing( or privilage if you prefer non-secular terms) to play these games. There are so many people out there who can not afford or even begin to play games like this. I feel this is one of many things thta is taken for granted. Thats just me though. I thaught the game was great, I liked it alot, and I hope they make more. I have sort of agnawledged the fact that my ideal zelda game will enver be made, and that sometimes I just ahve to be willing to accept a "good enough" scenario. I hope this has given a new sort of perspective on this, maybie it hasnt. I knwo that soem, or many will disagree with what I have posted but I felt compelled to say it. Now good night everyone, tommoro is a new day

 

[Akuhime-sama]

The only thing so far that I don't like about the game is the fact they didn't stick to Zelda traditional features.
Like how you don't start out with 3 hearts anymore, and that shields can break.

I'm not a fan of the new features they added.
And I'm starting to get sick of the stamina meater. FAST.
I also dislike how A-button roll is not present.
To roll, you have to dash... I personally dislike that a lot.

Oh! And another Zelda standard that they left out was the ability to lock on and shoot auto-style with the slingshot. That kinda annoyed me when I found out I couldn't hit those freaking Guays that poop on me Dx
(that's actually kinda funny in a way)

But anyway, as for everything else, it seems okay.
I haven't gotten out of the Faron Woods yet though. ._.

 

[thefloydios]

I dont normally do this very often, not ussually the sort to get into these types of disscussions. I will say this, however. I loved Skyward Sword, but I was mainly trying to play for fun not thinking "what score would I give this game", I did not let the "flaws" get in the way of me liking the game. I thaught it was one of the most fun zelda games to date, but that is just me. I feel their is a fine line at tiems between what is a flaw,a nmd what is personal prefernace. I will admint it, there are games thta I do not like all that much, but I understand that they are quality games. One of these is Bioshock, which I liked but it didnt blow me away for some reson. I do not, however feel it is overate din the slightest, I more than understand why so many people like it so much, and it deserves credit where credit is due. Many of the thigns that I did not liek about the game are not actuall flaws, and many players liekd those thigns. I thaught all in all, Skyward Sword gave me everything I wanted in a game, superb level desighn( I dont personally care wheather or not its linear per se), a thrilling new control scheme, some very memorable charecters, nice music, great storyline(for nintendo), and a beutiful timeless art style. Now is the game perfect, no, but no game truly is. I for one enjoyed the dowsing, others dont, thats fine but for me it just felt cool ya know? I did not like being told that I picked somehting up everytime I did it, nor was I thrilled that it was text only(could be considered a preferance), and there were a few othe rcinks here and there. But honeslty, few other games for me felt so genuine and cool. I really think that it deserves agnawledment for the hard work that went into making it, as making a game like this is no easy task. I also feel it really is the players choice at tiems how they want to progress through the game. Dowsing is not entirely neccessary, nor are shiekah stones. I woudl also say that I found runnign around the forest randomly more fun than ever before, esspeccially with the new beetle, you gotta admit that is a really cool item. There really are many other little touches as well that I notice the mroe I play that make me aprpeciate the game even more. I would also liek to add that I feel it is a blessing( or privilage if you prefer non-secular terms) to play these games. There are so many people out there who can not afford or even begin to play games like this. I feel this is one of many things thta is taken for granted. Thats just me though. I thaught the game was great, I liked it alot, and I hope they make more. I have sort of agnawledged the fact that my ideal zelda game will enver be made, and that sometimes I just ahve to be willing to accept a "good enough" scenario. I hope this has given a new sort of perspective on this, maybie it hasnt. I knwo that soem, or many will disagree with what I have posted but I felt compelled to say it. Now good night everyone, tommoro is a new day

I appreciate the comment. your very optimistic, enjoy the games you like!

 

[unknown]

Okay my opinion is this: Shorter dungeons: not bad at all. The overworld had a very interesting format that made it somewhat dungeon-like.
Gameplay: Absolutely wonderful!
Puzzles: to some SS seemed challenging, but I didn't think that is was too challenging. I was pretty good for difficulty, but maybe harder would be nice. MM was better for difficulty.
Exploration: I thought that it was pretty good in this area. Not quite the huge overworld that was in other games, but it was dense compared to the others. If you look at how many things you could do, it was about the same, maybe a few less than others, but it was not short on content at all. I didn't see too much filler. A combination between TP's huge landscape and SS's more dense would make a pretty happy medium in my opinion.
Overall: SS is the best zelda to date, but it still is only setting up the wii U one to be the ultimate zelda (hopes).

 

[L.I.N.K.]

although i really loved skyward sword i have to say you raise a couple of good points, the exploration could be a lot better and the puzzle are pretty easy at times. but, the creativity and artistic quality of it were really great and the controls awesome, but it could be denser.

 

[unknown]

I have a hard time seeing SS be denser than it already was. It was a dense overworld packed with content.

 

[retro.love]

Okay, I really wanted to read through all the pages of this thread, but there's so much to read and I really want to voice my opinion before I continue reading.

First off, I would have to disagree with the OP and probably half of the opinions of some folk in this thread. I have not played ANY video game in such a long time. And since I only just last year got the Wii, I haven't gotten much time to spend with it or really play. I bought TP several months ago, but really didn't play it much...one reason being that I did not have my Wii at my house so I would only get to play once a week or bi-monthly. So it's only been in the last few months that I got back into playing video games in general. Then when I got Skyward Sword, and reading all the reviews and seeing the previews, I was super stoked to start playing!

So...IN MY OPINION, SS was an amazing game! I find myself fairly intelligent when it comes to puzzles cause I challenge myself every day mentally in some way. I love anything that keeps the brain constantly using what it's made to do. Also, because they say if you keep your mind working and learning new things, you're less likely to develop disorders like Alzheimer's and Dementia (it's in my family). Anyhow, that's aside from my point. I never found it too easy, in fact, like my other thread....I actually found it harder than TP which I'm currently playing. Yes, there were some of the obvious puzzles like...that wall is cracked, need to throw a bomb at it; use the dungeon item against the dungeon boss; oh this first big chest HAS to be the dungeon map. Okay, yes, those are some of the obvious things. But other than that, it kept me thinking. I loved and hated the sacred realms, for these reasons: I hated them because they were so intense and nerve-wracking when your time is running out before the guardians wake up; I love them because just of that fact! They kept me on my seat like you wouldn't believe. If I had a way to record me going through the Eldin sacred realm for the first time....it was CRAZY!!!

For the comments regarding the overworld, having to return to each region, and them not being connected. Okay let's look back to OoT and TP. THE AREAS ARE OBVIOUSLY CONNECTED!!!! However, because SS was supposed to be a prelude to the whole story....it was unknown!!! For all Link new, you had to return to the sky if you wanted to leave Faron Woods and go to Eldin, or to Lanayru, etc. Little did he know, they were all connected below by what is known as.....DA DA DA! HYRULE FIELD!!!! LOL!!!!

I have not played ALTTP, or any of the Nintendo DS Zelda games (cause I don't own a DS). I have yet to finish WW, I might stick it in one day....but I'm kind of disappointed in the graphics aspect (my opinion, maybe if I gave it a chance aside from the graphics, it seems to have a decent storyline. But overall, I think SS was one of the best Zelda games to date because of the fact it also put to use very well the Wii Motion Plus. It gave my arm a work out, and I myself enjoyed (as much as hated) fighting Koloktos because of getting to swing that huge sword at this mechanical beast! LOL! I enjoyed playing SS and do find myself playing it multiple times.

P.S. - Don't get yourselves all knotted up about it.....IT'S JUST A VIDEO GAME! LOL!!! It means nothing, it's created plainly for entertainment....if you don't enjoy it, then don't play it! LOL! Sorry, my ending rant

 

[masterbow]

i actually thought the same, they were kind of short but i took my time playing!

 

[Mr.Verto]

It was not dissapointing. It was satisfying.

In my humble opinion Skyward Sword was an amazing Zelda game, although as amazing as it was it couldve deliver a bit more. But if you notice a flaw to much you will forget about what is important, the game itself.

 

[MonkeyFightSquad]

I thought Skyward Sword was in my top three favorite zelda games.the motion controls were awesome.better than twilight princess by a longshot

 

[Chibiyu]

I will start off by saying this: I loved playing SS through the first time and I couldn't wait to 100% it. And I was estatic when I found that I could play it again, in a "harder" mode, but that wore off as soon as I got to the Eldin Volcano. I didn't play directly after I beat the game, I let it all soak in and gave myself some time for it to feel new. But I never got that new feeling. SS failed to hold my attention in the second run through. I beat it, fairly quickly might I add, but I didn't have even half of the fun I had in the first run through. And this has never happened to me in a Zelda, or any video game, before. I still love playing MM, OoT and TP over and over, but I haven't touched SS since I 100%'d Hero Mode.

Personally, I did like the shorter dungeons, but the bosses always left me feeling hollow, asking myself "That's it?" In the second time, I found myself wishing for harder enemies, for more challenges - things that I was too in the moment to care for when I first played. When I first played, I was yelling at the TV in excitement, not even noticing the lack of difficulty as I barrelled through everything. Maybe it's just me and my photographic memory talking, but this game lacked so much in the difficulty level.

The Monsters:
I won't go too in depth as to not spoil anything. But did anyone else get annoyed by their easily read battle stradgey? I know the game focuses on the motion-controls, but I would have been more than content to just have to use them extensively for Ghirahim fights and not the random Bokoblins. I got bored with the shield bash technique and the slash them into oblivion technique fairly quickly. I wanted something more TP-esque or OoT oriented, were I was kept on my toes for the lesser monsters just as much as I was for Boss battles.

The Exploration:
I'm the exploring type, but I did like this layout better than TP and Oot. I liked how quick it was to get to places instead of charging across a field and playing the Sun Song every three seconds haha. I only wish that there had been more secrets in the Sky to find and more secrets down below - like the hidden caves in TP.

The Final Boss:
I can beat him in 2 minutes flat. I beat him in 7 minutes my first run through (I was really bad at timing lol), 4 on the second, and 2 my third. My record is 1:57. I felt so empty at the end of this incredibly short battle. You can use the same technique the whole time to beat him - the lightning doesn't matter! And it was so short - only two phases - and this really threw me. I didn't want TP length, but I wanted something longer than this. It was an epic battle, and still is, but that doens't make up for the easy fight sequence.

I did love SS and I still do like it, but I will not play it over and over like I do my other games. I don't care for the graphics, I loved the storyline, and I adored the characters...minus Fi(Master, your wii batteries are low), but the gameplay was not my favorite. All in all, my first 100% run took 48 hours. My Hero Mode (100%) took 24 hours. Altougth I have a photographic memory, that doesn't stop me from enjoying a game, I just need to put a month between my first and second play through, which I did.

Overall, yes, I was highly disappointed in this game and I seriously hope that the next one will be better in the sense of harder bosses, harder puzzles, and nonrepitive/readable monsters.

 

[LinkFan101]

Skyward sword was a fun game, and im going to sum up what the problem is: wayyyyyy to easy (i beat the game around 30 some hours), no confounding puzzles or dungeons, empty explorations. I felt that many of the concepts of gaming in skyward sword were quite brilliant, but its like they came up with a brilliant idea and after going halfway through a region or dungeon, they cut it short and stopped. When i even think about a zelda game, the first thing that co mes to my mind is a long dungeon filled with many HARD puzzles, large areas, variety of enemies, interesting secrets and concepts you can find by just wandering around or exploring, and harder bosses. Dungeons is SS were just too short, too easy and more or less empty. They didnt have any spots where you just sit there and actually didnt know what to do like you might have done in MM or OOT. Also, it kinda pissed me off how they practicaly gave you step by step instructions throughout the entire game of what you need to do and how you need to do it. The overworld was small, they should have included either more regions on land, more and larger islands in the sky, larger and more complex dungeons, fun and longer sidequests even after you beat the main storyline, and more people or something like marketown/goron city etc. There are alot of good things about the game dont get me wrong, its just that they made it too easy too fast. The biggest thing that actually made me mad was how easy demise was to beat......they made it sound like he was sooooooo amazing and strong that it would take a long time to beat him or youd have to fight different phases of him to beat him, but it took me a total of 3 freaking minutes to beat the guy, and it never took me longer than an hour to beat the hardest dungeon in the game, i beat the whole game like 25 hours faster than what reviews said the average playtime should be to beat it. On a final note, the overworld was too bright and happy, i liked how in OOT, MM, TP the overworld had combinations of a dark theme, and a more happy or bright theme.
ps: hero mode was also too easy...

I will start off by saying this: I loved playing SS through the first time and I couldn't wait to 100% it. And I was estatic when I found that I could play it again, in a "harder" mode, but that wore off as soon as I got to the Eldin Volcano. I didn't play directly after I beat the game, I let it all soak in and gave myself some time for it to feel new. But I never got that new feeling. SS failed to hold my attention in the second run through. I beat it, fairly quickly might I add, but I didn't have even half of the fun I had in the first run through. And this has never happened to me in a Zelda, or any video game, before. I still love playing MM, OoT and TP over and over, but I haven't touched SS since I 100%'d Hero Mode.

Personally, I did like the shorter dungeons, but the bosses always left me feeling hollow, asking myself "That's it?" In the second time, I found myself wishing for harder enemies, for more challenges - things that I was too in the moment to care for when I first played. When I first played, I was yelling at the TV in excitement, not even noticing the lack of difficulty as I barrelled through everything. Maybe it's just me and my photographic memory talking, but this game lacked so much in the difficulty level.

The Monsters:
I won't go too in depth as to not spoil anything. But did anyone else get annoyed by their easily read battle stradgey? I know the game focuses on the motion-controls, but I would have been more than content to just have to use them extensively for Ghirahim fights and not the random Bokoblins. I got bored with the shield bash technique and the slash them into oblivion technique fairly quickly. I wanted something more TP-esque or OoT oriented, were I was kept on my toes for the lesser monsters just as much as I was for Boss battles.

The Exploration:
I'm the exploring type, but I did like this layout better than TP and Oot. I liked how quick it was to get to places instead of charging across a field and playing the Sun Song every three seconds haha. I only wish that there had been more secrets in the Sky to find and more secrets down below - like the hidden caves in TP.

The Final Boss:
I can beat him in 2 minutes flat. I beat him in 7 minutes my first run through (I was really bad at timing lol), 4 on the second, and 2 my third. My record is 1:57. I felt so empty at the end of this incredibly short battle. You can use the same technique the whole time to beat him - the lightning doesn't matter! And it was so short - only two phases - and this really threw me. I didn't want TP length, but I wanted something longer than this. It was an epic battle, and still is, but that doens't make up for the easy fight sequence.

I did love SS and I still do like it, but I will not play it over and over like I do my other games. I don't care for the graphics, I loved the storyline, and I adored the characters...minus Fi(Master, your wii batteries are low), but the gameplay was not my favorite. All in all, my first 100% run took 48 hours. My Hero Mode (100%) took 24 hours. Altougth I have a photographic memory, that doesn't stop me from enjoying a game, I just need to put a month between my first and second play through, which I did.

Overall, yes, I was highly disappointed in this game and I seriously hope that the next one will be better in the sense of harder bosses, harder puzzles, and nonrepitive/readable monsters.

I agree with how you feel almost dead-on with all of your ideas and perspectives, and like you i was overwhelmed with excitement my first time playing and what not, but it only took me 31 hours Haha, i think they need to focus on making the new zelda games more like MM, because in my opinion, that and OOT were by far the best games in every concept, TP was really good too, and i might sound like a nerd for saying this but i probably beat those games over 20 times each haha (because they are still reallllyyy fun after you beat them and you can go and mess around), and skyward sword i only played 3 times and got kinda bored, all i do now is walk around and try to find any secrets or something i missed the first two times.

 

[Wolf Sage]

This is something that I have come to learn over the years that helps [me]:

Never set your expectations too high; you'll almost always end up disappointed. There's nothing wrong with being excited for a new [Zelda] game, but take it from me: when you set your sights exceedingly high, disappointment is always sure to follow. :yes: