Skyward Sword Skyward Sword is the Best Zelda Game of All Time: Agree or Disagree

[g-whiz]

Why would your opinion bother me?

I have no idea but I posted my original comment 3 days ago and we've been talking about it ever since...

 

[Ocarina_Player]

Maybe because it was an interesting comment? XD Chill bro.

 

[Random Person]

Yeah I know that but the way the guy was talking it was like he was trying to say that the game should have had direct ties to OoT like the temple of time should have been made to look exactly like the one in OoT, things like that, I don't know, maybe I just misunderstood him.

And I must agree with the original poster. SS continually advertised itself as a prequel to OoT, as well as the entire Zelda series. The fact that it reference the other games very little was very disappointing to many. I think the only reason this is allowed a pass is because, like I said before, Zelda has this tradition of segmenting their games. If this were done in some other series, many others would complain about it too. Can you imagine if something like Star Wars I through III didn't have ties like Darth Vader's betrayal, Luke's birth, and the rise of the Empire, but instead told a story no one had ever heard about and only breifly mentioned some details from the original trilogy? It'd receive even more criticism than it already gets.


Still, it's kind of hard to blame Nintendo when TP receives so much grief for being too much like a sequel to OoT. They made TP do its job and got flack for it, so its only natural that SS would go back to Zelda tradition and not be connected. Still, I think it would've been a much better game if Nintendo had went with the traditional prequel instead of a story no one could relate the rest of the series with.

 

[CraptainFalcon]

It's not that bad, dude. XD

To you it wasn't but to ME. IT WAS A PIECE OF ****. It was so disappointing.

People just don't seem to understand that *cough* JuiceJ *cough*.

 

[mαrkαsscoρ]

Okay, there are very few direct sequels in Zelda. There's LoZ and LA, OoT and MM, and WW and PH. Otherwise everything is very much it's own story with allusions or references to other games, some more than others.

The point of SS was to establish why it is always Link and Zelda who are born to deal with evil and why that evil keeps recurring. It did that. It explained the connections Hylians have to the gods, the creation of the Master Sword and why Link always has to get it, why Zelda has powers and there is always a strong connection between her and Link. There are so few direct references to other games because NONE of that stuff happened yet. What you do know is that the Ocarina of Time is made from timeshift stone, Zelda's harp and Sheik's harp bear a striking resemblance (something the game creators deliberately point out), and that Link pissed off the greatest evil the world had ever known and vowed to try and destroy him for all eternity.

What more did you want?

my problem w/ skyward sword being a prequel is that it created more questions than answers,such as:
-the freaking robots
-this 4th goddess that virtually nobody remembers in the future
-skyloft post-game
-loftwings post-game
-that giant tub of sand being an ocean once w/ robot pirates.......what?
-mogmas & kikwis post-game
-the province names never coming up again until some random point in the future [tp]
-the rest of the shiekah

 

[g-whiz]

my problem w/ skyward sword being a prequel is that it created more questions than answers,such as:
-the freaking robots
-this 4th goddess that virtually nobody remembers in the future
-skyloft post-game
-loftwings post-game
-that giant tub of sand being an ocean once w/ robot pirates.......what?
-mogmas & kikwis post-game
-the province names never coming up again until some random point in the future [tp]
-the rest of the shiekah

Why Bokoblins went dormant until TP...

 

[Ocarina_Player]

But that kind of inconsistency is seen throughout the Zelda series. I don't see why SS should be judged more harshly for inconsistency than the others.

 

[g-whiz]

Two reasons.

1-It was supposed to be a landmark, 25th anniversary game. So much so that they even nodded to that in the game at the Wing Ceremony. Even if they don't usually connect a whole lot, they should connect the landmark games.

2-THIS game connected less than the other ones I've played. At least the modern ones. Like I said, I haven't played them all but in MM, it was the same Link as OoT. I've already pointed out the connection points (which I don't think were excessive) between OoT and TP. The biggest problem with SS was that it felt like the programmers had to remind themselves occasionally that it WAS a Zelda game and throw a bone to the long time fans to keep us happy.

 

[Ocarina_Player]

I think you're missing the point. This wasn't a connecting game, this was an origin game. The whole point of it was to establish why Link and Zelda have to do what they do. Everything that makes the later games hasn't even happened yet so what were they supposed to connect to?

 

[g-whiz]

That's where we have to agree to disagree because we're starting to talk in circles now.

You say an origin doesn't have to connect to the rest of the series much. I say it should connect more than the other games connect to each other.

 

[Random Person]

But that kind of inconsistency is seen throughout the Zelda series. I don't see why SS should be judged more harshly for inconsistency than the others.

Two reasons.

1-It was supposed to be a landmark, 25th anniversary game. So much so that they even nodded to that in the game at the Wing Ceremony. Even if they don't usually connect a whole lot, they should connect the landmark games.

2-THIS game connected less than the other ones I've played. At least the modern ones. Like I said, I haven't played them all but in MM, it was the same Link as OoT. I've already pointed out the connection points (which I don't think were excessive) between OoT and TP. The biggest problem with SS was that it felt like the programmers had to remind themselves occasionally that it WAS a Zelda game and throw a bone to the long time fans to keep us happy.

We must also realize the hype put behind this game. I stayed as far away from any SS news I could because I didn't want it to be spoiled, and even I knew that it was hyping itself up as the prequel. Twilight Princess was a sequel to OoT and didn't have that hype backing it up, and yet it still felt like a sequel. WW is a sequel to OoT, with a similar situation...

Zelda has given us a history of games with SOME connection without hyping them up as being connected. (Not as much as they should, mind you, but they still gave us some) SS was a game that hyped itself up to be a prequel, which by definition, should give us connections. That would make people expect MORE connections and yet SS actually gave us less. It feels very much like a bait and switch. Even if you want to say that Zelda does not usually connect its games as much as it should, its atleast admittable that SS connects even less than they did while hyping itself up as a prequel.

 

[mαrkαsscoρ]

But that kind of inconsistency is seen throughout the Zelda series. I don't see why SS should be judged more harshly for inconsistency than the others.

it was emphasized as being the prequel,more so than any other zelda game,i would think it would do its best to tie in things w/o adding anything unnecessary or extra that would warrant its own.....freaking robots??

 

[JuicieJ]

Even if you want to say that Zelda does not usually connect its games as much as it should, its atleast admittable that SS connects even less than they did while hyping itself up as a prequel.

I don't see how it it "connects even less" than any other game. There were lots of allusions and nods to things across the series, some stated, others there to piece together. If anything, I noticed these things more than any prior game aside from The Wind Waker.

 

[BoxTar]

Take the words of the Gaijin Goombah, because he has a very good point:

In my opinon, there is no BEST Zelda game. There isn't. Because Zelda games are constantly doing new things. I would say, yeah, you can have favorites, but yeah, there is no such thing as a best Zelda game. That is impossible.

I believe that can apply universally to most "this Zelda game is da best evah" threads. "Best", in my opinion, is a word thrown around a bit too much these days, when we should really be saying "favorite". Its like comparing apples to oranges, in a way.

Anyways, my opinion on Skyward Sword: it is not my favorite. In fact, it is probably one of my least favorites. Its not the graphics, which are freaking gorgeous, I don't care what anyone says about those. People b*tched about Wind Waker's graphics and now look at it. Got a goddang HD remake.

My issue was, as many people have probably said, motion controls. I hate them. They made playing certain sections, such as swimming sections, very awkward and even painful at times. I may have been doing it wrong, but not everyone can get in the right position. Story was alright, nothing too amazing. Some of the items were pretty cool, like the whip. It just didn't WOW me like I was hoping it was. I'm not even comparing it to old Zeldas, really, just as a game itself. It was just...ok.

Also, I should end on this quote, cuz god diggitey damn is it true:

I guess what it all comes down to is...we as gamers...we enjoy rending games limb from limb like it was a drug.

Everyone is guilty of this in some way, with some games. Is it something to be ashamed of? That's not my judgement call, really. I believe we should all just have a level head when comparing our favorite games in a series, franchise, or as a whole

 

[r2d93]

Let me start off by saying that you make some very valid points. Everything you said about Zelda and the sense of incentive and wanting to find her because we've built a connection are completely true in my opinion.

The game had fantastic story and storytelling (the pacing was good), the aesthetics of the game were stellar with a captivating art style and a gorgeous orchestrated soundtrack, the dungeons, bosses and items were fun and creative and gave a great sense of involvement to the game.

However there were three main problematic flaws in the game.

1. The sky. It was far too empty and dull. People often say this about TP's hyrule field, but the field had a great sense of exploration and it was packed with little secrets. Some people say this about WW's great sea even though it's also full of exploration and discovery. Yet SS's sky did not have the proper balance of content and exploration that these other two had. The sky was a decent size area filled with large rocks, a few small buildings, and a tiny number of things to do. You could go to the lumpy pumpkin, ply the bamboo game, play on fun fun island, or go to the song of isles. But frankly there was little sense of discovery and a lack of fun time wasting content that an area like such should have.

2. The over world. the over world took linearity to a whole new meaning. Not in the way that you must do things in a certain order, but in the way that the areas were physically linear and restricting. The three main provinces were not connected in any good way forcing the player to return to the sky and fall down a different hole if they wished to enter a different province. The areas feel like they are designed in specific linear levels in which after you complete one section of an area, there is no purpose or drive to return to that section and backtrack. Everything is laid out in a specific order so that the "over world" feels like a large tedious dungeon section that was put outside of a dungeon. Zelda is an adventure game not a game for completing a checklist of things in big constricted room-like areas.

3. The gameplay pacing. Unlike the story pacing which was even and complete, the gameplay pacing was warped. Everything took too long. Wether it be finding your bird in Skyloft, or flying to a different province, or even getting to a dungeon, everything took too long. The over world made traveling feel like a complete chore due to the linearity. Making it through an area or activity to get to a new dungeon became so discouraging that after completing the task or traversing the area, you almost felt like you didn't want to enter the dungeon because you've already done so much work to get there. This made me physically less excited to play the game again which is NOT something that a video game should do.

Though In all fairness I have only played the game twice. I feel I should be cutting the game some more slack, so I am planning on playing through again soon to evaluate if the things I dislike are actually relevant or even there. But for now, I can say with certainty, it is not the best Zelda game at all, nor is it even one of my favorites