Skyward Sword The Sky, the Equivalent of the Great Sea? I Don't Think So.

[Spiritual Mask Salesman]

How many of you remember back to 2011, more specifically the months before Skyward Sword was released. If you can remember back then and kept up with Zelda Dungeon you probably remember all the hype SS was getting. Some people thought the Sky in SS would turn out like the Great sea from Wind Waker. The thing is, I look back now and I realise the sky turned out nothing like the great sea, the two can't even be compared. The great sea was big and vast, sure in the original WW travel was slow, but the Islands made up for it by each having a unique theme and interesting things to do on them. The Sky in Skyward Sword lacked things to do, and was a major dissapointment.

The sky fixed the traveling problem but the Islands were just boring. I actually took the time to anaylse each section of the sky. In total there are 46 floating objects, that's counting Skyloft. There are 7 islands with names, Skyloft, the isles of songs, pumpkin landing, fun fun island, bamboo island, bug rock, and beedle's island. There are another 11 islands with no names, and they practically serves just as areas that house Goddess Chests. They had nothing else to do besides open a Goddess chest, cut grass and leave. So in total there are 18 Island available to land on. Though there is another 28 floating objects, and they are just rocks! Well 12 of them are those speed boost rocks, but still, it shames me to say there are more floating rocks than Islands in SS.

I could go on listing things the Islands could have had in the sky to be more interesting, but in reality the game is out, there is no going back. Everytime I replay SS I have to deal with 29 floating objects which are a waste of space. The sky from SS cannot come close to the great sea from wind waker.

 

[Justac00lguy]

I think the series likes to play on familiarities just so you know you're playing a Zelda game, or to create the illusion that games are connected - movie prequels do this a lot. It's exactly like how Skyward Sword related to Twilight Princess: Dragons-Light Spirits, Silent Realm-Twilight Realm etc. The Sky is another example of this except this time relating to the Great Sea in TWWHD.

To be honest, I don't think it's any mystery that the Sky was one of the poor aspects of the game and, what I thought, was a giant missed opportunity. Skyward Sword wasn't an interconnected world, it was segregated which is quite different to other games in the series. So the Sky was the only area where you could freely roam as you would in a semi-open world game. The lack of places to go and things to do really made this open area extremely lacklustre especially considering that it was one of the only open areas that you're given complete freedom to explore.

 

[Random Person]

Points were said that I agree with. The only point I disagree with is that SS fixed the "traveling problem." Even with those small speed boosts, getting from point A to B is tedious without warp points especially considering the lack of distractions on the way. WW gave you enemies to defeat, treasure to find, and things that could easily make you diverge from your path just because.

 

[Jamie]

It was certainly a wasted opportunity. I felt like having a bird and a vast sky was a great idea but when I am only actually flying for 10 seconds at a time, well, it seemed like a big waste.

 

[JuicieJ]

The Great Sea's islands aren't much better. Sure, they have their own identity, and believe me, I love that about them, but the a lot of them are no bigger than a large house, and once you've gotten what's on them, there's no need to return ever again. That in tandem with the insanely long travel time and pathetic amount of empty space makes it an exponentially more tedious chore than traversing the Sky.

It's also not like the Sky is the only part of SS's overworld -- it's just half of it. Were that the case, yeah, it'd be far, FAR worse... but it's not.

 

[Deleted member 14134]

Hopefully Zelda U fixes this problem by having more collectibles and caves/mini dungeons which are smaller complex puzzles that have a reward at the end. Filling the over world with worth while secrets is something Zelda U needs desperately.

Both the Sky and the Sea were dull, broke up gameplay with empty travel sequences instead of warp zones.

 

[mαrkαsscoρ]

at least you can leave link sailing the sea for a bit
in the sky,you have be there the entire time holding up your arm

 

[JuicieJ]

at least you can leave link sailing the sea for a bit
in the sky,you have be there the entire time holding up your arm

Wait, so you're saying that being able to leave the room while your character is traveling across the overworld (without worry that something will happen, at that)... is better than having to actually be there taking part in the travel?

Why? That's like saying it's better for a game to play itself than for you to be the one playing it. I get that you're probably saying it's nice that you don't have to be there during the tedium of sailing the Great Sea, but the fact that you DON'T is proof of just how bad it is.

 

[Deleted member 14134]

Wait, so you're saying that being able to leave the room while your character is traveling across the overworld (without worry that something will happen, at that)... is better than having to actually be there taking part in the travel?

Why? That's like saying it's better for a game to play itself than for you to be the one playing it. I get that you're probably saying it's nice that you don't have to be there during the tedium of sailing the Great Sea, but the fact that you DON'T is proof of just how bad it is.

It's like cruise control man, no one wants to hold the gas down for whole 5 hour trip.

 

[JuicieJ]

It's like cruise control man, no one wants to hold the gas down for whole 5 hour trip.

Far from the same thing, as what you're describing is a convenience for real life. This is an issue of game design -- you shouldn't be capable of literally not playing a game while progress is being made.

 

[Deleted member 14134]

Far from the same thing, as what you're describing is a convenience for real life. This is an issue of game design -- you shouldn't be capable of literally not playing a game while progress is being made.

Agreed, which is why I couldn't get into wind waker as much as other Zelda's I felt that the empty ocean broke up the action too much. Still, my point was that if that segments there (which it shouldn't be) it's nicer not to have to hold its hand and just point it in the right direction, go make a sandwich and arrive at your destination by the time you're done.

 

[Spiritual Mask Salesman]

Agreed, which is why I couldn't get into wind waker as much as other Zelda's I felt that the empty ocean broke up the action too much. Still, my point was that if that segments there (which it shouldn't be) it's nicer not to have to hold its hand and just point it in the right direction, go make a sandwich and arrive at your destination by the time you're done.

I actually tried that before, but when I came back I had passed up the place I wanted to go.

So another question for you all, do you think Zelda Wii U can benefit from the developers studing the faults in the Sky and Great Sea?

 

[Iridescence]

3D Zelda has always had a problem with overworlds, particularly, Hyrule Field, or its equivalent.

Ocarina's Hyrule Field was barren.
Majora's Mask's Termina Field was barren
Wind Waker's Great Sea was barren.
Twilight Princess' Hyrule Field was super-barren.
Skyward Sword's Sky was barren.

 

[Random Person]

It's like cruise control man, no one wants to hold the gas down for whole 5 hour trip.

Actually, I think the point of the sea is being missed here. No one was supposed to sale for a long time without doing something unless they wanted to. In between destinations there are islands to explore, enemies to avoid or fight, treasure to gain, platforms and submarines to invade, and other sorts of things. The problem here is the concept of Dominant Strategy. If your goal is just to get from point A to point B, you're going to do that using the easiest strategy. If, however, your goal is to explore and get as many goodies as possible, you will take advantage of this vast ocean. The game allows you to choose whether to take it easy and just enjoy the scenery Shadow of the Colossus style, or diverge from your path when you see something interesting and your inner Zelda exploring nature compels you to check it out. Quite frankly, if the sea had more than it offered, I feel it would be too compact and dissolve from that open exploration that other Zelda games haven't captured as well. Emptiness is bad for exploration, but so is excessive rewarding. I realize that not everyone likes to put relaxation and playing together, but it is a thing and Wind Waker's ocean executed it rather well without forcing the player to experience it.

The difference between this and the sky is that the sky tried to force you to be engaged throughout your trips. This isn't so bad and is done in most Zelda games, but for SS the "engagement" was tedious and not at all exciting. If I have to choose between an area that allows me to choose whether or not to be engaged and an area that forces me to be engaged but makes it boring, I'll choose the Great Sea.

 

[mαrkαsscoρ]

Wait, so you're saying that being able to leave the room while your character is traveling across the overworld (without worry that something will happen, at that)... is better than having to actually be there taking part in the travel?

Why? That's like saying it's better for a game to play itself than for you to be the one playing it. I get that you're probably saying it's nice that you don't have to be there during the tedium of sailing the Great Sea, but the fact that you DON'T is proof of just how bad it is.

i think i actually feel asleep one time when sailing the sea when it was late at night
I CAN'T DO THE SAME W/ SKYWARD SWORD

...yeah maybe that isn't much of a good thing