The Whip Sucks... >.>

[Deeds]

I found the whip pretty dull as well, because of the lack of things that are actually useful for it you take time using it for pointless things, like pulling a switch which you can easily just run up the wall and pull. You use the whip, because you can, and there's nothing else it can do, other than annoying monsters by brushing their armour, haha. There is no puzzle that the whip is really involved in, this means when using the whip, you don't really have to think, it's just so basic. Oh well.

 

[blubb]

It's dumbfounding that it isn't. How do you seriously take a successful item from a game, one that people liked, and then go "let's remove almost everything it could do and then just not have it be used anywhere else in the game"?

Honestly, that's exactly how I felt about the clawshots in this game. Twilight Princess at least had some interesting puzzles with them because you could extend them to lower yourself, plus you had to be quick with falling targets, although that almost never was a challenge thanks to Z-targeting. In SS they were only used to traverse some canyons and go to higher ledges. You couldn't even grab things with it.

 

[ZeldaFan11]

I really dont like the whip either, they could have done alot more with it. its just like the grappling hook in WW except alot duller. plus the grappling hook had way more abillitys than the whip.

 

[DeletedUser9]

But it didn't... How could you not like being Indiana Jones?

Indiana Jones did a lot more with his whip and used it far more often. He used the whip for a ton of things, all the time, but in Skyward Sword, again, you can only use it for things you did before and swinging. Imagine if Indiana Jones did nothing with his whip except swing from stuff and then stupid stuff like grab things from across the room. With his whip. -.-

Honestly, that's exactly how I felt about the clawshots in this game. Twilight Princess at least had some interesting puzzles with them because you could extend them to lower yourself, plus you had to be quick with falling targets, although that almost never was a challenge thanks to Z-targeting. In SS they were only used to traverse some canyons and go to higher ledges. You couldn't even grab things with it.

I suppose you have a point, but I think that the majority of what was done in Twilight Princess is still done here. As you said, the falling platforms were easy to deal with, so I never regarded them as any different from normal Clawshot targets. The Hookshot was always about one thing, grappling to far-off objects. The Double Clawshot only ever expanded this, and Twilight Princess went somewhere between them. If it had just been the normal Hookshot, I'm not sure you'd be complaining, is the thing.

I do think though that Skyward Sword shouldn't have had both items. The whip's swinging should have replaced the Clawshot concept, IMO. Kinda like how I don't think The Wind Waker should have had the Grappling Hook and the Hookshot.

I really dont like the whip either, they could have done alot more with it. its just like the grappling hook in WW except alot duller. plus the grappling hook had way more abillitys than the whip.

To be fair, I think the whip in Skyward Sword can technically do slightly more than the Grappling Hook in The Wind Waker, more in terms of what things it can do. When it comes down to how much you do it, though, TWW had SS beat. I just wish they'd added that frequency of use and some of the other functionalities of the Grappling Hook to the Whip.

 

[Ventus]

When I said swinging puzzles, I meant along the lines of the ones the game actually has. They were fun, but there were almost none of them. Regardless, your statements about it being "a whip, not a rope", don't mean much. There's no logical reason to say that a whip doesn't have the durability of a rope or a chain, especially in a fantasy game where the whip already does something impossible with its strange sticky orb. Zelda games have always prioritized gameplay concept over realism, so I don't know why you're bringing this up. The whip could have easily had some more Grappling Hook-like application, like allowing you to climb up it.

Again, realism is put aside for good gameplay, even in Skyward Sword, and that's how it should be. Something should never be realistic if it isn't fun. I don't understand how Link wouldn't be able to climb the whip anyway. Whips seem to be pretty durable constructions to me; made of leather, designed to deliver impact with momentum (whips can strip flesh). Are your statements about whip durability based on anything you've read?

I'm also confused about your statements about the whip as a weapon. Whips can be used to do serious damage in real life, and their actual purpose is to cause pain or impact. They're arguably far more designed to be weapons than say a Boomerang is, which is a toy in real life. In addition, I just gave you a list of alternative applications of the whip in combat. o_0

It's the sticky orb that does all of that, not the rope itself. That's practical, realistic application right there [we just don't know the mechanics or the howto behind the orb's ability to do what it does].

Whips aren't as durable as you think. Yes, they sting and basically rape things that they touch (read several books about people being punished by a whip for whatever 'crime' they committed), but they're also very thin things capable of being ripped apart with a very small amount of effort [this guy has done it before, on accident]. Admittedly, I can see them being put to good use against a Bokoblin or a Keese, but against any other enemy? Moblins look to be very bulky; bulked up people aren't hurt by a simple flick of a whip no matter how much momentum has been built up. It'd take multiple whippings in real life for something like a moblin to feel the sting, and several more in that same spot for real damage to be dealt. Of course, since we're dealing with TLOZ, that would be toned down quite a bit, but even then I can't see the whip as a real weapon. It could snatch enemies' weapons away, but that's about it considering the enemies I've seen in Skyward Sword.

 

[blubb]

I suppose you have a point, but I think that the majority of what was done in Twilight Princess is still done here. As you said, the falling platforms were easy to deal with, so I never regarded them as any different from normal Clawshot targets. The Hookshot was always about one thing, grappling to far-off objects. The Double Clawshot only ever expanded this, and Twilight Princess went somewhere between them. If it had just been the normal Hookshot, I'm not sure you'd be complaining, is the thing.

Guess I should've explained that better. Well, with the original hookshot, you could grapple on to a big variety of objects, like most wooden things. This opened up shortcuts in previous areas and made many puzzles possible. Twilight Princess took that away (you now could only hit targets and vines) but at least had some puzzles with the extension. And sometimes you could at least go different ways, I think one lead to a heart piece in the Sky City.
In SS, all the double clawshot does is zig-zagging linearly from one target to the next one, which seemed quite pointless to me. And using the single one was restricted to reaching higher ledges with mega-obvious targets. And yeah, of course it being the double clawshots gave me some expectations, maybe I would've been less disappointed had I never played TP.
And again, I can't understand why you can't grab objects like rupees, heart pieces and treasures which are out of your reach with it anymore. In some situations it's just too slow to dig out the beetle before some of those disappear. Using the clawshot for that would've been an elegant alternative to the beetle.
Just imagine following example situation: You defeat an enemy, but he falls down to a lower ledge and drops something rare which you just need for something, let's say a Golden Skull. You don't want to jump down to get it because that would mean lots of backtracking but you can't use the beetle either because you can't send it off downwards or upwards in sharp angles so you'd have to first fly it forwards, make a turn, and then fly it back while during all that going as low as possible. By the time you've reached the location of the object, it has already disappeared. Now wouldn't the clawshot be the perfect object for that? Simply point it downwards and grab your stuff.

 

[ZeldasLullaby]

It had soooo much potencial, especially with motion plus!

 

[ZeldaPlayer]

It is kind of a shame that they under utilized the whip in Skyward Sword. It is an item that really has a lot of potential. I liked a lot of the suggestions of ways they could of implemented it more that you suggested, Axle. I tried using the whip to steal things from enemies but I could never get it to work. *shrugs*

 

[nitzan]

I don't think you should compare the whip in skyward sword to the whip in spirit tracks. not because of the "the whip in ST can bite" argument, that's silly, but because in ST the whip replaces the hookshot\clawshots, and most of it's uses were to get to far off places, and in skyward sword, you have the clawshots for these stuff.
I do agree that the whip is the most useless item in skyward sword (though it's still used more then the spinner or dominion rod in TP) and maybe they should have changed it or make a completely different item.

 

[everettkagan]

I really like the whip. It stuns almost everybody and i like the motion controls that it comes with. I also like with enemys, like the boss in the ancient cistern(maybe spoiler) when you need to use the whip to cut off his arms or those pheonix-type birds that you need to bring down to you with your whip so you can beat him up with your sword. I honestly think the whip is so much more fun to use than the gust bellows, even though the whip may serve as less of a purpose.

 

[Fig]

I personally agree with Axle. The whip did more in Spirit Tracks. But at the same time, the whip wasn't that useless. It saved me a lot of time with switches rather than running up against the wall and pulling them.

 

[DeletedUser9]

It's the sticky orb that does all of that, not the rope itself. That's practical, realistic application right there [we just don't know the mechanics or the howto behind the orb's ability to do what it does].

...Vanitas, this has nothing to do with what I was saying. I wasn't suggest that the rope does all that stuff, I'm saying the whip's construction (which includes the sticky orb) is a completely ridiculous concept that is not even possible with current technology (assuming it even was technology as opposed to magic). So clearly the item is already impossible, so how can you honestly say they shouldn't be able to do something else that is impossible (be durable enough to climb), especially since you already do have to swing and hang from it, which is just as impossible. Regardless, there's still no reason they couldn't have added it.

Whips aren't as durable as you think. Yes, they sting and basically rape things that they touch (read several books about people being punished by a whip for whatever 'crime' they committed), but they're also very thin things capable of being ripped apart with a very small amount of effort [this guy has done it before, on accident]. Admittedly, I can see them being put to good use against a Bokoblin or a Keese, but against any other enemy? Moblins look to be very bulky; bulked up people aren't hurt by a simple flick of a whip no matter how much momentum has been built up. It'd take multiple whippings in real life for something like a moblin to feel the sting, and several more in that same spot for real damage to be dealt. Of course, since we're dealing with TLOZ, that would be toned down quite a bit, but even then I can't see the whip as a real weapon. It could snatch enemies' weapons away, but that's about it considering the enemies I've seen in Skyward Sword.

...and that is all I was really suggesting, so now I'm really confused what your argument even is. I was suggesting it to be implemented as a harassment weapon, not a deadly damage-dealing device.

Guess I should've explained that better. Well, with the original hookshot, you could grapple on to a big variety of objects, like most wooden things. This opened up shortcuts in previous areas and made many puzzles possible. Twilight Princess took that away (you now could only hit targets and vines) but at least had some puzzles with the extension. And sometimes you could at least go different ways, I think one lead to a heart piece in the Sky City.
In SS, all the double clawshot does is zig-zagging linearly from one target to the next one, which seemed quite pointless to me. And using the single one was restricted to reaching higher ledges with mega-obvious targets. And yeah, of course it being the double clawshots gave me some expectations, maybe I would've been less disappointed had I never played TP.
And again, I can't understand why you can't grab objects like rupees, heart pieces and treasures which are out of your reach with it anymore. In some situations it's just too slow to dig out the beetle before some of those disappear. Using the clawshot for that would've been an elegant alternative to the beetle.
Just imagine following example situation: You defeat an enemy, but he falls down to a lower ledge and drops something rare which you just need for something, let's say a Golden Skull. You don't want to jump down to get it because that would mean lots of backtracking but you can't use the beetle either because you can't send it off downwards or upwards in sharp angles so you'd have to first fly it forwards, make a turn, and then fly it back while during all that going as low as possible. By the time you've reached the location of the object, it has already disappeared. Now wouldn't the clawshot be the perfect object for that? Simply point it downwards and grab your stuff.

I don't think you should compare the whip in skyward sword to the whip in spirit tracks. not because of the "the whip in ST can bite" argument, that's silly, but because in ST the whip replaces the hookshot\clawshots, and most of it's uses were to get to far off places, and in skyward sword, you have the clawshots for these stuff.
I do agree that the whip is the most useless item in skyward sword (though it's still used more then the spinner or dominion rod in TP) and maybe they should have changed it or make a completely different item.

I think that Blubb actually has a point, even if I don't fully agree with every point, and I think this relates to what you're saying, Nitzan. Skyward Sword should not have had both the Whip and the Clawshots. They fulfill the exact same purpose, which is transporting across gaps, and unlike in The Wind Waker where you acquire the Grappling Hook and the Hookshot at the beginning and end of the game, respectively (although I still had issues with this), you literally get the Clawshots right after the Whip, and the Whip is pretty much never used again for this outside of one room in the Sky Keep. This is ridiculous. The Whip could have and should have been a much more interesting item, and used for this purpose. Not the Clawshots. It seems like they gave all the Clawshots' other abilities (grabbing items) to the Whip, so it's even more confusing why both exist.

 

[yolink]

i wish they could have done more with the wipe.

 

[ncud]

The wip rocks and it is fun to attack random enemies with.

 

[TriFrog77]

I kept having "stupid" issues with the whip, you know, I get hit, try to use the whip, realize I pulled the sword out, but that was totally my fault. It was nice to see the whip come back though. Could have done without the blower coming back though, if I had to choose.