Nintendo Power Does a MASSIVE Skyward Sword Blowout – So Many Spoilers! UPDATED: More Info and Pics!

Posted on September 28 2011 by Nathanial Rumphol-Janc

UPDATE: More scans have been posted! New info regarding Eldin Volcano, Ghirahim’s motives,

the Skyloft Bazaar

, and the mysterious woman from the recent trailer, as well as images!

I am absolutely floored by the information coming out of the latest Nintendo Power issue related to Skyward Sword – we learn tons of new details about characters from Skyloft, the ideas that drive the plot (including Ghirahim’s true goals), and the official name of the Skyward Sword. All the details I’ve spotted so far (working from some scattered 3DS photos of the article) are listed below:

The Skyward Sword’s official name is apparently the “Goddess Sword,” which is certainly a reference to the “goddess” connected to both Skyloft and Zelda and the “Goddess’s Song” we hear in most of the recent trailers. Link inherits it before gaining his hero’s garb.
Link has multiple premonitions involving the strange pointy-toothed creature seen gobbling Zelda up in the original E3 2011 trailer.
The red-headed rival seen antagonizing Link in Skyloft is named Groose. He has a major crush on Zelda. His lackeys are Cawlin and Stritch.
Zelda’s father is the headmaster of the Knights’ academy and is named “Gaepora.” An ancestor of Kaepora Gaebora, perhaps? Apparently his laugh sounds kind of owl-like.
Pipin is the island’s resident bird expert. There’s another character named Fledge who’s apparently something of a “wimp.”
Skyloft is apparently HUGE, with a full-blown residential quarter, the bazaar we’ve seen in other trailers, and the plaza areas we’ve gotten glimpses of which has the Goddess Statue at their center. There’s also a bath-house and even a toilet! The Bazaar also includes a fortune-teller, which some of you spotted in previous footage, a potion shop, and a place to store items that don’t fit in your inventory. Does this mean Link can only carry a few items at once?
Link and Zelda have a VERY trusting relationship. She wakes him up to show him her new dress at the beginning of the game and even shoves him off the edge of Skyloft playfully early on in the story to force him to practice flying!
Zelda is on the verge of telling Link something she’s been holding in for awhile when Ghirahim’s tornado appears. She falls to the surface, but Link’s Loftwing swoops down and saves him.
Phi’s name is ACTUALLY spelled “Fi,” suggesting it’s perhaps more musical than Greek as we first suspected.
Fi is a spirit created by the goddess to guide the hero. She appears in the wake of the attack on Skyloft and Link has to chase her down.
There is a day/night system in this game. You need to “go to bed” in-game to switch to nighttime – the article suggests that time will not flow “normally.” Enemies will appear in the sky at night, such as the usual bats and slimes and even demonic cat-like creatures.
Three interface/HUD options: Standard (E3 2010 demo), Light (E3 2011 demo), and Pro (practically invisible).
Like in Wind Waker, you can knock a lot of background objects over.
The treasure cubes we’ve seen in a recent Game Informer feature are called “Goddess Cubes,” and the sword beam is referred to as the “Skyward Strike.”
The Sheikah Stones from Ocarina of Time 3D return as this game’s hint system.
You DO have to save at the save statues, but you can start right back from that exact location. No more getting sent back to the beginning of an area!
From the sky, you can return to any activated Save Statue on the surface.
The second dungeon of the game is actually called the “Earth Temple.” Is the Sky-Earth-Water triumvirate from Wind Waker returning for this game?
Scaldera’s official name is the “Pyroclastic Fiend Spaldera.”

Ghirahim apparently seeks to resurrect his master, similar to Chancellor Cole from Spirit Tracks or Agahnim from A Link to the Past. (NOW CONFIRMED!) Nintendo Power thinks his master is somehow related to the black Fused Shadow-like behemoth.

Link has to raid a Bokoblin camp to rid Eldin Volcano of their presence once he arrives there. He’ll earn the Digging Gloves and Bomb Bag from the Mogma as thanks for his help.

Nintendo Power confirms that the Sheikah-like character from the recent trailer is very “ninja-like.”

Stay tuned. We’ll be updating this post as we learn more.

UPDATE: Screenshots of Nintendo Power‘s article added, courtesy of Vibed. See them below-

Please note that the text for entry #6 is on the last image, it was originally missing.