Skyward Sword Skyward Sword's Flaws (in My Opinion)

[Aelic7]

Yeah, this is very, very late, but I felt like I needed to write this anyway.
I’ll start off by saying this: Skyward Sword did a lot of things RIGHT. The story was great, the character design was excellent, the graphics were stunning, the dungeon design was wonderful, and the controls were spot-on.
However, there are many glaring flaws in the game that I feel compelled to point out, a few of which not many people are letting on.

1. The Overworld
This one is the most often criticized, but I still feel it’s necessary to point out. While I don’t mind the linear feel of Skyward Sword, I’m very disappointed that there was hardly any exploration beyond where the main story took you. The sky was empty and barren; there were almost no extra islands to explore like in Wind Waker. The land below wasn’t much better; the only “extras” were found in tiny caves sealed by bombable walls and the occasional Goddess Cube. Exploration has been a key part of every Zelda game to date, but Skyward Sword strips it away, something I find very, very disappointing.

2. The Enemy design
The WiiMotionPlus was a fantastic addition to Skyward Sword. Everything controlled smooth as butter and there were very few flaws from a technical standpoint. However, I found the enemy design to be very lacking. For one, the enemies barely evolve from the beginning to the end of the game. The Bokoblins are some of the first enemies you encounter, yet by the end of the game they barely ever changed at all (there were some differently colored ones and there were the Technoblins, but that was it). This made combat somewhat boring after a while, because during the last half of the game there were hardly any new enemies to be found. Another thing I was disappointed in was the lack of inclusion of items into combat. Almost every single enemy in the game could be defeated by using the sword alone, and defeating enemies usually only consisted of slashing where they weren’t guarding. This was fun at first, but again, it got tiresome later in the game. Why couldn’t more of the enemies require you to use a variety of items to defeat? That would have freshened up the gameplay and given more usage to some of the items (the Whip and the Gust Bellows, anyone?). It would have been nice to see Hidden Skills, too, like in Twilight Princess, which gave a few more options in taking down baddies.

3. Fi and the tutorials
What can I say that already hasn’t been said? The amount of handholding in this supposedly “hardcore” game is mind-boggling. Seriously, I don’t need to know how many Amber Relics I have whenever I collect one, and I can tell when my hearts are low. Nintendo…no want.

4. Hit or miss bosses
Skyward Sword had some great bosses, Koloktos and the Ghirahim fights being my favorites. However, there were a couple that were just so poorly designed that I was baffled. The first one is Tentalus. After all the buildup before you fight him, the entire boss is just a sheer letdown. Not only does he look like he came out of Monsters, Inc., but the strategy to defeat him is nonsensically easy. Seriously, his weak point couldn’t have been more obvious unless he had a sign on his eye that said ‘SHOOT ME WITH AN ARROW!’ Also, why does he even have a second phase when the strategy is the exact same thing? Going back to the handholding thing, I don’t understand why Nintendo needs to highlight all the weak points of the bosses (the larger ones, anyway) like the players are incompetent. The second boss was the final boss. I won’t spoil it, but to me it was pathetically easy. All it is is shield bash, swing, shield bash, swing, repeat. The second phase is even easier—skyward strike, then slash away. And why does it take 2+ tries to land the ending blow? Maybe I’m nitpicking, but there seemed to be so many poor design choices in some of these bosses that they just leave me bewildered.

5. The music
Oh, man. I was SO looking forward to this soundtrack. After hearing Mario Galaxy and Galaxy 2’s amazing soundtracks, I couldn’t wait to see what orchestrated music could do for Zelda. Needless to say, when I heard the songs in the game, I was severely let down. The tracks don’t have the unique and memorable melodies that make Zelda songs spectacular (like Gerudo Valley, Lost Woods, the Great Sea, etc.). It seems like the composers relied too much on the full orchestration effect and forsook creating, good, memorable tunes. The songs themselves aren’t bad, but they don’t stick in your head like other Zelda songs do. Also, the main theme was, to say the least, unemotional. Yes, it was wonderfully orchestrated, but at its core, it’s literally a song played backwards. It’s a nice easter egg, but it lacks any feeling and again, memorability.

All in all, I feel like Skyward Sword took steps forward with many of its elements; however, I think it took too many steps back due to some very poor design choices. I’m hoping the next Zelda improves on these things and continues to implement the great elements of its predecessors.

Those are my thoughts on the shortcomings of Skyward Sword. Keep in mind that everything I’ve said is purely my opinion; if you disagree or would like to say your opinion, please do so.

 

[Ventus]

And why does it take 2+ tries to land the ending blow?

The final boss made it clear with his awesome getting up that he was down, but not out. I don't care about that particular bit about the final boss.

Otherwise, I fully agree with your posts. The game wasn't a horrid video game, but it just didn't live up to the Zelda name for me. WM+ don't get me wrong, it's a great feature but the game was incredibly barebones because of it. Yes, I advocate a Zelda where items are very few and far between, but the way enemies were presented in the game relied on eight directions - not using different types of moves.

Eh, it's part of the family-friendly casual vibe I guess. Can't complain too much.

 

[JuicieJ]

I'll throw my two cents in.

Overworld: Agree... to an extent. Exploration has been poor for modern Zelda in general. It's not just Skyward Sword

Enemy design: Disagree. Enemies were fantastic as ever, having improved AI, increased depth, and a 1 heart damage ratio.

Fi and the tutorials: Agree, but not with the hand-holding. Stating things we already knew and giving us tutorials through gameplay rather than rudimentary tasks isn't hand-holding, especially the latter. The former is just annoying design. Big difference.

Hit or miss bosses: I guess... sort of. The vast majority of the bosses were utterly fantastic, easily the best in the series, but Tentalus... yeah, that was a step back to the GameCube boss level, i.e. lackluster quality.

The music: Heavily disagree. Skyward Sword's music is definitely more atmospheric, but the memorability was not gone at all. Songs were generally longer and more complex, which made them harder to MEMORIZE right off the bat, but that doesn't equal low memorability. It's like Progressive Rock. The songs are hard to memorize, but they have amazing quality (if the band is good, of course), and once you memorize them, you'll never forget them. You have them down pat. Skyward Sword has one of the best soundtracks in video game history, up there with the likes of Metroid Prime, the Kingdom Hearts series, Donkey Kong Country 2, the Galaxy games, Mega Man Zero, etc., and easily the best in the series, even over Spirit Tracks'.

 

[DarkestLink]

I agree except with the bosses. And as for music, I wasn't expecting much anyway...it's orchestrated, which I don't think works as well for games as MIDI...

 

[Ventus]

I agree except with the bosses. And as for music, I wasn't expecting much anyway...it's orchestrated, which I don't think works as well for games as MIDI...

Why do you ay orchestrated doesn't work as well for games as MIDI does? Surely you notice the huge boost in quality?

 

[DarkestLink]

Why do you ay orchestrated doesn't work as well for games as MIDI does? Surely you notice the huge boost in quality?

The quality, while I'm sure has increased, is unnoticeable, is harder to implement in the game, and chokes creativity.

 

[JuicieJ]

The quality, while I'm sure has increased, is unnoticeable, is harder to implement in the game, and chokes creativity.

...Right, that explains why games like Super Mario Galaxy, Kingdom Hearts, Journey, and, yes, Skyward Sword have incredible soundtracks with achingly beautiful compositions and loads of heart and soul.

Surely you're aware live instruments have people playing them, unlike MIDI. Computers can't match the effort of a human.

 

[Ventus]

The quality, while I'm sure has increased, is unnoticeable, is harder to implement in the game, and chokes creativity.

The quality is NOT unnoticeable, is NOT harder to implement ingame, and it does NOT choke creativity. A few examples does not kill an idea altogether. Yeah, Skyward Swords execution of orchestrated music was...not the greatest...but orchestrated music as a whole has this beauty to it that simply does not come iwth MIDI music. If you take time (and have a sensitive ear) to listen to a lot of tracks, MIDI and orchestrated, the music makes you feel the music for orchestration simply by the tunes, but with MIDI music it's more like you are transporting yourself somewhere to get an understanding of the music.

Yes, that made very little if any sense...but the gist is that orchestration has a beauty to it that MIDI does not possess. It isn't easily understood, but again sometimes it just requires a sensitive ear.

 

[DarkestLink]

Well not much to argue at this point, but I should point out that I thought SMG's soundtrack was substandard at best. I feel games like OoT easily outstrip it with its MIDI.

 

[Ventus]

Well not much to argue at this point, but I should point out that I thought SMG's soundtrack was substandard at best. I feel games like OoT easily outstrip it with its MIDI.

Thanks to the latter's catchiness, eh? Well, the catchiness also depends on the listener; I can't say that the passive SS music was panned by all. For me, at least, I'd say SS' music needs to be more active...though I'm not all too sure how to explain that because I don't know music theory

 

[SpiritGerudo]

Okay, while we're one the topic of music, I'm not going to bother quoting anyone in particular.

The music in SS wasn't bad. The orchestration was beautiful, and it was noticeably higher quality. Still . . . they missed a huge opportunity. The music was still written like it was MIDI music. It was written like game music. If anyone else makes a habit out of listening to real orchestra music . . . like, all the time, . . . then you know what a real instrument can sound like compared to a CG instrument. MIDI instruments are just standard, typical portrayals of real instruments, and they can't capture the surprisingly wide range of sounds that real instruments can. When you write MIDI orchestra music for an orchestra without taking advantage of the fact that you have a ton of real instruments at your disposal-- like SS did-- they it really is a opportunity lost.

 

[DarkestLink]

Thanks to the latter's catchiness, eh? Well, the catchiness also depends on the listener; I can't say that the passive SS music was panned by all. For me, at least, I'd say SS' music needs to be more active...though I'm not all too sure how to explain that because I don't know music theory

Actually, catchiness isn't a big factor to me. I think Wind Waker had some of the catchiest music, but I also rank it among the lowest in terms of Zelda music.

 

[nsanesk8er16]

agree with pretty much everything this post says. honestly would've done a lot different with this game. for one i would've made it a direct sequel to twilight princess accept cranked the difficulty up to 11 or at least made it just as hard as majoras mask. second i would've made the overworld completely nonlinear and open with tons of sidequests, exploration, optional items, and tons of other things to do. skyward sword was a very hit or miss game especially during the time when skyrim was released which in my opinion blew skyward sword out of the water in every way.

 

[LittleGumball]

Am I the only one that actually liked the Skyward Sword music?

It doesn't matter that I could barely hear some of the music, what does matter is that what I did hear was beautiful. Have any of you ever heard trumpet vibrato? It's gorgeous.
And THAT is why human players are better than MIDI.

 

[Mellow Ezlo]

Am I the only one that actually liked the Skyward Sword music?

It doesn't matter that I could barely hear some of the music, what does matter is that what I did hear was beautiful. Have any of you ever heard trumpet vibrato? It's gorgeous.
And THAT is why human players are better than MIDI.

^Solid proof that the only way to criticize music is from an actual musician. I completely agree Gumball. It is true that the music sounded like it had MIDI inspiration, but you can still hear the difference between computer generated sounds and actual live instruments. I played as a percussionist in my city's orchestra for a year, so I know what orchestrated music should sound like, and SS definitely pulled it off. If it didn't sound like video game music, then it would not fit the game at all. I actually think the way the music is fits the game perfectly!

So, needless to say, I disagree with the music part. Skyward Sword had a truly grand soundtrack. In terms of catchiness of the songs, the soundtrack is not my favourite (title held by The Wind Waker), but in terms of instrumentation and overall sound, Skyward Sword takes the cake any day.

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The main flaw that Skyward Sword had, in my opinion, was the exploration. Not just in the sky, but on the surface as well. Exploration was limited on the surface; so limited, in fact, that we actually had to return to the sky in order to access the different regions. Kind of reminiscent of most 3D platformers, huh? I really do not want Zelda to become a level-based game like the Mario series. I like being able to just wander around and look for stuff, something Skyward Sword admittedly failed at. Yes, we had to search for the Goddess Cubes, but most of them were in plain sight. And the ones that weren't really weren't difficult to find. Then there's the boringness of looking for the corresponding Goddess Chests, most of which are just sitting there on a little rock in the sky. That is actually another complaint I have with the game, that of course being that the sky was too boring.

For something as expansive as the sky, the islands definitely should have been bigger. Each one should have had a puzzle on it in order to find the Goddess Chests, like that one island in the Thunderhead did. I mentioned the exact same thing in This Thread though, so I won't go into detail about it here.

So all in all, Skyward Sword's main flaw was its exploration. It excelled in many aspects in my opinion, but both sky and land-based exploration was a bit of a drawback for me.