- The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD Review
- Zelda: Skyward Sword HD Nintendo Switch Review – Is It Worth It?
- IGN Reviews – Zelda: Skyward Sword Game Review
- The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD – Before You Buy
- The Best Worst Zelda | The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD REVIEW
- I CHANGED my Opinion on Skyward Sword HD for Nintendo Switch
- Skyward Sword HD is Fantastic
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD Review
after rolling credits on the legend of,zelda skyward sword hd on nintendo,switch,i feel really good about my decision to,spend 50 plus hours revisiting the zelda,universes origin story,warts and all divisive as it is much of,what made it great has aged quite well,especially in light of the quality of,life improvements and,updated graphics on the other hand the,gimmicky wii,era motion control mechanics are still,constantly right up in your face,and the new thumbstick based alternative,isnt a lot better,but with so much to do and a lot to love,skyward swords journey down memory lane,has kept me smiling the whole way,through,ive always considered the minimalist,visual style of skyward sword to be one,of the best in the series,and the 1080p 60fps upgrade makes the,already,lovable world of giant birds and creepy,mole people,all the more beautiful its still not as,detailed,as breath of the wild but its a massive,improvement over the 480p,30fps wii version sailing the open,desert as a time traveling pirate is,bewitchingly beautiful,and the expressions on characters faces,managed to convey a ton of emotion,every character is extremely memorable,whether its a heavy hitter like zelda,whos more emotional and humanized than,shes ever been,or the goofy cast of side characters,like groose,the dumb jock with a heart of gold,setting the stage for the events of,every story that comes after it and,creating an origin for the iconic master,sword,are already impressive feats on their,own the fact that nintendo pulled it off,without voice acting,and created such an all-star cast in the,process,makes me wonder what faustian bargain,was struck to make that supernatural,feat,possible following the typical dungeon,delving formula,you spend most of your time in skyward,sword hd exploring colorful areas,collecting nifty new gadgets,and solving straightforward puzzles as,you slice your way through all kinds of,cartoonish monsters,unique to skyward sword is that the four,main hub worlds are reused heavily as,you retrace your steps in your quest to,save zelda,gaining access to new parts of the world,as you obtain new gear,the lack of variety is a little,disappointing but its not as,repetitious as it sounds,because world events sometimes change,the landscapes over time,and hidden areas reveal themselves,during return visits,of course dungeons have always been the,real meat and potatoes of pre-breath of,the wild zelda games,and skyward sword mostly delivers in,that regard,there are some absolutely fantastic,highlights,like the time-shifting pirate-themed,sand dungeons,as well as others that are fairly,forgettable like the by the numbers,farron woods areas that i feel like ive,played a hundred times already across,the series,thats not to say that any of the,dungeons are actively not fun to play,its more that you can only solve a,puzzle whose solution is shoot an arrow,at an eyeball so many times before,youre like,okay can we get to the boss now please,[Music],unfortunately the boss fights are a,little hit or miss as well with repeated,encounters throughout that are only,slightly,modified variations each time and become,monotonous,a few are super generic like the giant,scorpion with eyeballs on his claws that,could be used as a stock photo labeled,boss encounter that said without,spoiling anything i can say that there,are a few really stellar boss fights in,the back half of the adventure,[Music],when it debuted in 2011 there was a lot,of discussion around skyward swords,heavy use of motion controls,and now with the remaster offering both,motion based and thumb stick controlled,options,that debate seems primed to reignite,you can disable them but even if you do,nearly every battle and puzzle,incorporates the direction,in which you swing links trusty blade,and youre often asked to draw a symbol,on a wall,or some other task that was clearly,built with the wii remote in mind,using motion controls on a docked switch,skyward sword feels very much on par,with the original version for better,and for worse swinging your detached,joy-con around at an enemy can be a lot,of fun,but when it occasionally doesnt detect,your movement correctly its just,frustrating and unpleasant,[Music],personally i dont care for motion,controls generally,so i initially turned them off,disappointingly the replacement is,every bit as much of a pain in the neck,and doesnt really solve their,reliability problem,for one you actually have to quickly,flick the stick around for a swing to,register,moving it slowly just pulls back your,sword because i couldnt take the time,to line up those inputs this means a,fair amount of the time they didnt go,where i had intended,its also unintuitively laid out leading,me to accidentally swinging the wrong,way in the heat of battle,i ended up going back to motion controls,which made me sad,aside from these major changes theres,also a bunch of little,quality of life stuff that wasnt in the,original like skippable dialogue and,cutscenes,auto saves tutorials at the beginning,that are now optional,and no more repeated item explanations,every single time you pick something up,these are great changes that genuinely,add up to make a noticeably smoother,experience,although there is one bizarre one in,their midst,the not insignificant ability to,instantly return to the sky at any time,is inexplicably locked behind owning a,specific,amiibo why because nintendo thats why,skyward sword remains as charming as,ever even if its still,also dominated by clunky controls and,odd gimmicks that are exactly as weird,as you remember them,the characters and story have aged like,fine wine,the quality of life improvements help,alleviate some of the wee,era wonkiness and the improved graphics,and performance,make this version look and play better,than ever,unsolved control issues aside this,airborne adventure is everything you,might expect it to be,for better or worse and playing through,it again had me grinning ear to ear,until the very end,for more check out the first minutes of,gameplay and our guide to how skyward,sword works without motion controls,and for everything else stick with ign
Zelda: Skyward Sword HD Nintendo Switch Review – Is It Worth It?
hello there lovely pea polite alex from,nintendo live here,and today were reviewing for you the,legend of zelda skyward sword hd,on the nintendo switch this review was,originally written by the stupendous pj,oreilly,and has been adapted for video by me but,anyway thats more than enough waffling,lets dive right into things,[Music],so,returning to the legend of zelda skyward,sword some 10 whole years down the line,from its original release,you may be expecting as we certainly,were to be greeted by a core game that,unavoidably,naturally just beginning to show its age,a little bit at least in some regards,it stands to reason i mean this is an,entry in nintendos storied franchise,thats had its detractors from the,get-go criticized for its sometimes,unreliable motion controls its fractured,overworld,intrusive sidekick pacing and some,late-game repetition,surely by now these issues these rough,edges if you like have been exacerbated,and even added to by the natural,progression of time,well whether or not any of that might,have been the case seems quite besides,the point now,with this hd remaster nintendo has taken,its gust bellows to a layer of jank that,in hindsight,stood between players and the true,promise the full potential,of this masterpiece the raft of tweaks,changes and updates drip fed to us over,the months leading up to the legend of,zelda skyward sword hds release,may not have seemed all that exciting on,paper and i personally,am guilty of saying that they didnt,seem all that exciting,on paper but together they give the,underlying game here a whole,new lease of life this hd remaster feels,like how we were meant to originally,experience this adventure,the connection between this games world,and the player is now unimpeded,so lets start things off with those,technical changes the motion controls,here such a divisive element of the,original release of the game,now perform so much closer to the way,that we dreamed they might back in 2011.,tight responsive and absolutely up to,the task in even the most frantic of mob,battles and boss fights,they may not quite manage the flawless,one-to-one swordplay that was touted,back in the day but boy,blimey do they come close engaging in,combat feels natural and fluid your,sword swipes and shield actions,responding accurately to your commands,and enabling you to properly relax to,feel confident that the inputs you make,whilst playing with motion controls,will now translate onto the screen as,you would expect we were impressed with,this games combat back in 2011 but,there was no doubt that it could prove,hugely frustrating,when a thrust or cut failed at some,critical moment,when your shield refused to parry an,attack or a sky would strike refused to,charge,all of these issues are for the most,part absolutely,gone like proper vanished in terms of,the all-new button controls although,they dont quite match up to the feeling,of immersion that you get from swinging,and flicking your joy-con about as you,batter the goblins and slice and dice,deku babas,they still feel remarkably good and,enables switch light and portable,players,to fully enjoy this experience in,handheld mode as one would expect,controlling your sword by flicking the,right stick works wonderfully well here,and in situations where your sword,skills are really put to the test such,as those exacting face-offs against,girohim,they prove to be accurate and responsive,enough to avoid almost,any frustrations theres still the odd,time where a slash doesnt quite line,itself up where you need to thrust a,second time to get the required response,but in comparison to the original games,motion controls the difference in,precision,is truly noticeable there has been one,trade-off with this handheld control,scheme however,and thats in regards to controlling the,in-game camera as were sure you already,know you now have full,control over the games camera in this,hd remaster when using motion controls,the right stick granting you total,freedom over where you choose to look,a huge change that makes everything,about this game feels,so much more modern and free-flowing,however when youre using the button,control mode youre gonna need to hold,down the left bumper,in order to access the full camera,control on the right stick or youll,just be slashing its not a huge issue,and we got used to holding in the left,bumper when we needed to and letting go,to engaging combat when necessary,but its undoubtedly slightly inferior,to the total freedom of the motion,control setup,it also caused us to spend a lot of time,unsheathing our sword by accident,until we actually got the hang of it the,swathe of quality of life changes that,have been introduced here combined with,these revamped controls for a much more,modern feeling,streamlined and enjoyable experience the,new auto save feature that records your,progress on the fly the introduction of,multiple save slots,removal of repetitive item descriptions,ability to skip cut scenes and speed up,text,nothing here is groundbreaking by any,stretch its all stuff that perhaps,should have been included from the,get-go,but it is nonetheless transformative to,the flow of this 10 year old game,of course the biggest change in terms of,quality of life has to do with the,streamlining of your communications with,fee which i nearly read out as wifi your,sword dwelling spirit,sidekick is an integral part of,proceedings but shes no longer,constantly harping on or appearing every,five minutes to give you a redundant,rundown of things you already know,in fact the whole fine mechanic is,almost elegant now,you can just call upon her only when,necessary with a quick push of the d-pad,for a hint objective update or enemy,description and youd never have to do,it you only do it if you want to,shes actually useful now and no longer,the incessant annoyance of old,alongside all the other changes weve,mentioned here it all adds up to a game,that feels as though its finally been,given the freedom to flow properly,no longer bogged down by control issues,constant interruptions or annoying,over-eager guides,however with all this doing so much to,positively affect the player experience,and the legend of zelda skyward sword hd,it definitely leaves quite a bad taste,in our mouth that the ability to jump,between skyloft and the surface,has infamously been locked behind the,official loftwing amiibo,when so much good work has been done to,improve the games pacing,it feels like a real misstep to lock,this one properly significant change to,the tempo of how you move around the,world,perhaps even the biggest change behind,what is essentially,a paywall away from this one issue,however this remaster really has taken a,10 year old game,and made it sing like never before we,havent even mentioned the jump from 30,to 60 frames a second yet,a shift that makes everything you do,feel so much more fluid,exacting and responsive gliding through,the air on your crimson loft wing,battling battalions of the goblin and,claw shotting whipping or swinging your,way around the intricately designed,dungeons,is now an absolute joy that silky smooth,frame rate joining forces with the new,and improved controls and refreshed,visuals,to deliver an experience on a technical,level that finally,absolutely does justice to the artistry,and ingenuity,of the game underneath indeed perhaps,the biggest surprise in returning to,this adventure 10 years on quite apart,from all the challenges nips and tucks,introduced in this hd remaster,is just how well the core gameplay the,story the dungeons the boss fights and,the puzzles,have stood the test of time it has its,minor issues absolutely,theres some unnecessary repetition of,one major face-off,perhaps a little too much retreading of,overly familiar territory in the,build-up to the gloriously intricate,final dungeon,and we could all have done without being,thrown into a search for flipping tad,tones so late in the game,but overall whats here is still an,absolute joy to
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IGN Reviews – Zelda: Skyward Sword Game Review
The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword sets a,new benchmark for Zelda for the Wii for,Nintendo and for modern gaming in,general with its charming visual style,remarkably intuitive motion controls and,bold gameplay design this latest entry,in the Zelda series is not only,hands-down the best game on Wii its the,greatest Selda game ever created knowing,the graphical limitations of its,Hardware Nintendo wisely chose a visual,style that combines the best of wind,wakers timeless charm and Twilight,Princess is darker sophistication the,result is a game that manages to be the,most modern evocative and cinematic,adventure in the zelda saga while still,suiting the gameplay perfectly Nintendo,has finally found a visual style that,embodies the Zelda franchise allowing,its colorful characters to flourish and,express the wide range of emotions the,plot demands the characters in Skyward,Sword are incredible ranging from O,decidedly more youthful and charming,Zelda to the creepy and flamboyant,villain gear hem the vast supporting,cast is equally quirky and over-the-top,ensuring your long-long Adventure is not,without memorable interaction this game,sets a new bar for Nintendos,storytelling abilities not only is this,a great Zelda story its actually a,fantastic cinematic experience despite,lacking voice acting some of the,cutscenes here are jaw-dropping both in,their ambition and execution with,Skyward Sword Nintendo is finally,willing to give its iconic saga and,origin story one that has the same,stakes as Lord of the Rings but on a,much more intimate and lonely scale,as strong as Eldas visuals are this,time around theyre almost an,afterthought compared to what Nintendo,is achieved in terms of control gameplay,and design motion control is the way of,the future for the Zelda series after,slashing enemies with one to one sword,movement I never want to go back,the added freedom of combat has resulted,in an equal amount of increased strategy,suddenly every fight with an enemy,becomes more like a chess game than a,simple button mashing exercise youll,have to carefully study your opponents,movement and defenses to find out how,and where you can attack enemies dont,just block your attacks they react and,they anticipate to say the,implementation of Wii MotionPlus changes,the Zelda series is a dramatic,understatement the usage of items in,weaponry this time around is also far,more thoughtful youll be using your,entire arsenal throughout the 4250 our,storyline perhaps even more important,than the game changing alterations to,control are the significant revisions,Nintendo has made to Zelda structure,design and pacing there are still,dungeons in this game but theyre not,preceded by 15 minutes of meandering,through nondescript countryside,now challenges that used to be contained,in entirely in giant enemy layers are,spread into the forests and deserts,preceding them the entirety of Links,journey is now packed with obstacles and,enemies keeping the energy high with,little time to breathe the game is,constantly challenging you to solve,fairly devious problems and negotiate,deadly traps and all of that is before,you even enter what would typically be,classified as a dungeon Nintendo also,manages to pack a great deal of content,into a very small area taking a page,from the Metroid series and running with,it most areas in Skyward Sword need,repeat visits not just to find extras,but to actually accomplish significant,tasks in the overall narrative,whats more seemingly simple areas in a,forest or mountain will eventually,reveal fast new areas and even temples,that you never knew were there its a,remarkably fresh approach for the series,as youre rarely doing the same thing,twice in a territory,calling skyward sword the best dissolve,the game of all time is a mighty big,thing to say were talking about one of,the most influential and iconic,franchises in the history of gaming a,series that has a standard all to its,own because its games are traditionally,so stellar but this adventure has it all,its graphics are the best weve ever,seen on Wii with memorable characters,and great storytelling in the gameplay,Department Skyward Sword is an,incredible shift in control and combat,with level design that is stunning in,its elegance its not enough to say this,is the best Zelda game of all time,this redefines the implementation of,motion controls proving that the right,application can make a difference this,is the first game in wheeze lifespan 2,completely and thoroughly proved that,Nintendo is right that non-traditional,controls can forever change how we want,to play games for anyone not typically,interested in nintendo games or simply,not familiar with them this is an,adventure for the ages with incredible,combat and a powerfully moving story,Zelda has once again proven why it,remains one of the most important,franchises in this industry
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The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD – Before You Buy
– [Jake] Hey, and were back,with another episode of “Before You Buy”,,that show where we give you some straight up gameplay,and our first impressions of the latest games releasing.,As usual, its me, your pal, Jake.,And today were talking about “The Legend of Zelda:,Skyward Sword” HD.,This is just gonna be a quickie one today.,You probably just want the gist of it.,So, this is a newly re-released,and slightly updated version of “Skyward Sword”,,which was originally released on the Nintendo Wii in 2011.,So its on Switch now,,and, long story short, its pretty much what youd expect.,Is it worth the full price Nintendo is asking?,Well, thats up to you.,Lets talk about some of this stuff.,Now, right off the bat the most interesting thing,is that “Skyward Sword”,seems to mostly hold up pretty well.,The story, presentation, and general pacing,of the game all still feels really solid in 2021.,Its worth noting that everybody has like,,a favorite Zelda game and a least favorite Zelda game.,I remember, to be honest, not being too crazy,about this one in 2011, but after revisiting it now?,I dont know if Im just desperate for more Zelda,or whatever, but this is a much more interesting game,than I remember.,It starts pretty slow, but as it goes,,its a pretty compelling Zelda adventure.,Now, in this one, youre, of course, Link,,significant to the timeline of Links,if you wanna look into it.,And you are living in a small village,,floating high above the clouds.,You live in this culture that respects an ancient deity,and traditions, and every citizen is bonded,with a massive bird called a Loftwing.,You quickly learn the ins and outs of the village,and the culture, and of course,,theres a young girl named Zelda,that you have a strong bond with.,The surface world below the clouds,is a complete mystery to these people.,That is, of course, until Zelda disappears,,and after being chosen by a magical sword,with an attached talking spirit,,you set out to the surface world to save her.,From there, things very quickly change,and escalate in ways that Im not gonna spoil,,but, in terms of villains and stuff,,man, this game is firing on all cylinders.,And just along the way, as it goes with like,,regular traditional Zelda archetypes,,what it does to shake things up is nice to see.,Now, the game is centered around the town in the sky,and other floating islands and,,venturing out on your bird and flying down,and loading into one of three kind of overworld areas,that have dungeons and stuff to do in them.,As you progress, you can also get some objectives,within the town and within the lower areas,to get access to more stuff,,most notably because you can upgrade some of your items,back in the town as long as you have the right resources,and its handled pretty satisfyingly well.,Very quickly in this, youre gonna learn,that you should upgrade your shield.,Now, this is a more traditional Zelda,than “Breath of the Wild”, obviously.,Youre finding stuff in chests.,Youre looking for the key to the door.,Youre fighting a traditional mid-boss.,Youre getting a new gadget that makes your life easier.,It opens up a new area.,But even still within this formula,,this is kind of standard old Zelda formula,,it does experiment here and there,,and its fun to experience it.,Now, the biggest experiment, of course,,is the motion controls.,This was, you know, being a straight up Wii game,,it was very Wii designed with many enemies,and things requiring like a specific, directional slice.,You wave your Wii remote in the direction,to slice a certain way mixed in,with the standard Zelda-style Z lock on and stuff.,You can still play this way,,and its a bit smoother by using your joy cons,,like you would a Wii-mote Nunchuk setup thing.,On the flip side though,,you can also play with them additional control scheme now,,which is at least very nice,for people who dont want or cannot do motion controls.,The design of the game remains the same,,so your sword swings need to be directional.,So that works by flicking the right joystick,in different directions.,The camera control is then instead locked,to holding the L bumper,and then moving it around with that right joystick.,Now, this is not a perfect fix, at least for me personally,,in terms of feel.,When Nintendo first announced and demonstrated this option,,it made sense and I was happy, but in practice,,it still just doesnt feel quite right for me.,The swings always end up being kind of awkward looking,and sometimes finicky.,Now, even if Im technically fully in control,,I know what Im doing as a player,,the way Link sometimes flails around,makes it look like Im bad at the game.,Its all passable. You can get by.,But its just awkward.,It actually made me appreciate the motion control setup,a bit more, even if Im not a big fan of that either.,Im glad there are options though, either way,,just because choice is always better.,But I think overall, the combat and control stuff,is just an imperfection.,Now with what they tried to do, of course,,its way more interesting to have a control,like this than instead of just a press the button,to swing a sword,,but its not going to be everybodys favorite thing.,Personally, I also just found it a bit annoying,to control either way.,Its a decent negative for me,in a sea of otherwise positives.,And again, its gonna be down to personal preference.,Also, I can knock the controls as much as I want,,but the mechanic where you raise your sword,up to the sky to charge it for a special attack,just still feels really damn cool and satisfying,,and makes putting up with some of the BS,kind of worth it sometimes.,The only other place that feels its age sometimes,is like, the actual environment design.,Im not talking visually,,but just the way theyre laid out.,Some of them feel a little lifeless,or a little weirdly open.,That was of course,,because of the technical limitations of the time.,Still, otherwise, in terms of new stuff,,there are some small quality of life updates,,like more skippable cut scenes; auto saving;,less annoying pop-up dialog constantly,from like items and from Fi, the sword character.,And of course, higher resolution graphics.,I think this art style really lends itself well,to this upgrade.,Some surface textures are muddy and blurry,,but it kind of blends in,with the games simplistic environment art style.,Its like, impressionist, watercolor painting style.,So, it didnt bother me.,Thats not me like trying to find an excuse,to make up for the bad textures here and there.,I actually just think some of it,you can kind of overlook just because of the style.,You know what I mean?,And thats a small thing. Everything else looks great.,Characters look nice.,Colors are overall just downright insane and vibrant.,And overall, the game looks decent.,You kind of probably know what youre getting into here.,Its not much, its not the biggest upgrade.,The bigger thing I really enjoyed,was just the constant 60 FPS.,Thats very nice to have here.,Now, like I said, the adventure is more enjoyable,than I remember, but the thing I think,really makes this game worth it, is the music.,It truly is like some of the absolute freaking best.,Every Zelda game has its bangers,,and I think “Skyward Sword” just has a really good,overall through-line with its score,that makes it feel really unique and stands out,amongst all the other games,if you stack them up all together.,I believe it was performed,by the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra,,which is just a cool thing.,And as much as it might feel weird to see Link,riding around on a weird bird at first,,once you get into it,,this is just a Zelda as Zelda game.,And thats a good thing.,Theres not much more to this one, really.,Its pretty straightforward.,And I dont really need to waste your time.,”Skyward Sword”, once it gets going,,there really is some memorable side characters,,some big moments, and some good classic Zelda-style gameplay,with a couple of new spins.,You may have loved it when it first release
The Best Worst Zelda | The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD REVIEW
Hello my heroic and perfectly calibrated friends.,Arlo here, and today we’ve got an extra spicy review.,An extra saucy review.,An extra chunky salsa and sour cream and uh…a side of chips?,What are we talking about?,It’s Skyward Sword HD!,Over the years and especially since the remaster’s announcement, I have been outspoken in my,opinions on Skyward Sword.,When I first played the game way back in 2011, I absolutely loved it.,It was epic, it added so much to the series, the motion controls made it really immersive…,I had some problems with the story, but overall it was just great.,But then, a few years later, I picked the game up again and had a very different experience.,Most of its novelties had worn off, and its many issues now seemed much bigger and uglier.,By the time I got to the end I realized I really didn’t like Skyward Sword that much,after all.,The hype had to wear off for me to realize how much that hype had been affecting my opinion,the first time around.,So when Nintendo announced that Skyward Sword HD was coming to Switch, my first reaction,(as you might have seen) was one of annoyance.,I really did NOT want to have to play Skyward Sword again.,And I easily could have skipped reviewing the game if I wanted to.,But after learning about all the new enhancements and quality of life features, I knew I had,to give the game another go.,Because even after my unpleasant second playthrough, I knew that it had a lot going for it.,It was just dragged down by a lot of garbage.,Would I be able to appreciate the game more if some of that garbage was cleaned up a bit?,Well, that’s why we’re here today.,To answer the question: Is Skyward Sword HD a legendary first chapter in the beloved series…or,does it feel more like a wild Groose chase?,Let’s find out.,WOOSH!,First things first, let’s talk about the gameplay.,Like I said, I loved the motion controls when the game first came out.,Motion aiming is something I love even to this day, and it felt great to finally have,a Zelda where you could swing your controller in different directions and have that translate,into the game.,And with this remaster, the motion controls have been tightened up a bit.,The swordplay feels more responsive and accurate, and you no longer have to recalibrate the,controller by placing it down on a flat surface for a few seconds.,The thing about motion controls though, is that beyond gyro aiming, I’m just kind of,done with them.,So this time around I went with stick and button controls, and I’ve got to say, for,the most part they work great.,I mean we all spent years wondering if Skyward Sword on a normal controller was possible.,This was a game entirely built around the Wii remote!,Could it be done???,And then Nintendo just kind of did it and it’s fine.,Flicking the right stick to control the sword feels fine.,There is a bit more of a delay between the movement and the action onscreen than there,is with motion controls though, which is unfortunate.,And sometimes when you’re trying to act quickly, that’s when the game decides to,stop responding properly.,But that’s kind of a problem with the controls at a deeper level, really.,It doesn’t matter which control scheme you’re using; the very nature of these actions being,mapped to big gestures means the game can’t trigger an action until it’s reasonably,certain that’s the action you’re TRYING to trigger.,This leads to a certain sluggish quality that I can work through, but never goes away entirely.,And that’s definitely something I hold against the game, though it’s true that the system,does open up some interesting gameplay opportunities.,(More on that later though.),I was very happy to find that even when using a controller, aiming with both the right stick,and gyro are available in tandem.,It’s a system that should just be standard across all games and platforms, if you ask,me (as long as it’s optional, of course).,Moving with just one or the other comes with limitations, but using the stick for broad,movements and gyro for finer aiming feels great.,And I’m EXTREMELY pleased that actions such as swimming and flying can now be controlled,traditionally as well.,Unfortunately though, if you’re using motion controls for the sword, you’re also locked,into the old way of swimming and flying by pointing and tilting and flicking the controller.,Even if I wanted motion for the sword, I would not want that other stuff; even in the original,game it never felt right to me; it’s super awkward and uncomfortable.,While I enjoy the new stick and button controls, they do come with a few other drawbacks.,What once were simple gestures have now been assigned button combinations, and they take,some getting used to.,Even by the end of the game I found myself instinctually hitting ZL to bring out my shield,instead of clicking in the left stick.,Using ZR with the right stick in order to either throw or roll bombs works on paper,but feels a bit fiddly in action.,If there’s another problem I have with either control scheme though, it’s how items work.,Over the course of many Zelda games over many decades, the system of assigning items to,buttons, then pressing and holding those buttons to use or ready those items immediately has,been drilled into me.,If your bow is set to X, then it doesn’t matter what you’re doing, just press and,hold X to whip that bad boy out and draw it.,Skyward Sword however only allows you to use ZR for items, and only assign one item at,a time (which in itself is disappointing).,You have to pull out an item first before you can use it, because if you press and hold,the button, that’s how you open the item wheel.,And again, even by the end of the game I found myself getting this wrong, holding ZR and,expecting it to use my item instantly, fumbling with trying to pull out the right thing and,use it the right way.,Similarly, holding R brings up your secondary items such as bottles and shields, but these,are awkward because they all work differently.,You can equip and unequip your shields this way, and I can’t tell you how many times,I’ve tried to block an enemy without realizing I don’t have one equipped, because that’s,just not something I’ve usually had to deal with in Zelda.,But then if you grab a bottle, you’ve got to press A to use its contents, not R like,you would think.,It’s just a bit of a mess.,On the plus side though, it is pretty nice having a way to equip all this stuff without,needing to pause.,All your items are right there on their respective wheels, and once you get a feel for their,positions you can switch them out pretty quickly as long as you don’t fumble with that ZR,button.,It’s not perfect, but it makes the act of pausing and manually moving your items around,your buttons like in the older games sound very archaic.,Another drawback to stick and button controls is that you can only control the camera by,constantly holding the L button.,I understand that this was an awkward choice for them seeing as the right stick is otherwise,tied up with the sword, and I’m not exactly sure what a good alternative would be, but,I would have liked to have at least a couple other options to play with.,Using L to toggle between camera and sword would be nice to try.,As it is, it’s not TERRIBLY hard to get used to, but it does cause me some finger,cramping after long play sessions, especially when playing handheld.,On the subject of the camera though, if you can look past that little bit of awkwardness,,OH MY GOSH, THIS IS A GAME CHANGER.,What a free camera does for the raw, moment-to-moment enjoyability of the game goes far beyond what,I expected.,It’s a very puzzley, platformy game, where you’re constantly taking in your surroundings,and figuring out exactly how to get where you’re trying to go.,And as such, being able to move the camera around makes all that five times easier and,more comfortable.,That is an EXACT figure.,I did the math!!!,And on that same note, the improved presentation also does more for the game than I expec
I CHANGED my Opinion on Skyward Sword HD for Nintendo Switch
Skyward Sword HD is Fantastic
Yes, you read that title correctly: I am here to tell you today that Skyward Sword HD ,is a no nonsense upgrade to the original, that fixes almost every one of its barriers to entry. ,Let it be known that I really dont ask for much. ,If youll recall, a millennia ago in the year 2017, I had a few problems with Skyward Sword, ,so lets see how many of those complaints were addressed by HD. ,-Fis presence is reduced dramatically, meaning she only interrupts you when absolutely necessary ,for character interaction or plot progression. -When Fi does slink out of the goddess sword, ,you are now allowed to instantly fast forward text with the B button. You can do this with ,every NPC, and when you arent allowed to fast forward text, it means that: ,-Youre in a cutscene, which are now skippable. Paired with several skippable tutorials, ,this makes returning playthroughs much more palatable, reducing the length of the agonizing ,opening section especially. Even if youre here to re-experience the story like I am, ,there are several redundant scenes where Fi or another character explains something you ,already know, which can now be safely skipped if you, in fact, dont need that information. ,-All instances of motion controls can be turned off in favor of button controls. ,This means your sword swings, beetle chases, and loftwing excursions ,can be controlled in a way that doesnt prompt your wrist to fall off of your body. ,-The docked resolution has been upgraded to 1080p, and the framerate upgraded to 60fps. It ,looks and feels so much better that I dont think I can ever go back to the Wii version again. ,Other minor changes are present, but they arent really worth going over. Generally, this is what ,were working with, and pretty much every change is meaningful. Wind Waker and Twilight Princess ,flaws were not as obvious or systemic. The HD versions could do things like make sailing faster, ,cut down on the late game Triforce Quest, reduce the tears of light required in the wolf sections, ,stuff like that. While they were welcome changes, they dont fundamentally alter ,your entire playthrough, just segments of it. Skyward Sword HD has dramatically improved pacing ,due to these changes. NPCs that would interrupt you in the original are now made optional in ,most cases. You can skip getting the cat, you can skip talking to this kid about rolling into trees, ,and you can skip the sword tutorial. When you do talk to them, being able to instantly skip ,through their text is as refreshing as a glass of Baja Blast. The times where Fi ,does still come out to talk with you can be skimmed through in a couple of seconds. Truly ,think about the impact this has on the game. Where before, text boxes could only be slightly sped up, ,here you can essentially dismiss them entirely. Any dialogue interaction that isnt a cutscene ,can be forwarded through, and as I mentioned, cutscenes themselves can be skipped. ,What this means for the playthrough is that the player has absolute control over their experience, ,a theme that can be felt in every fiber of HDs being. Fi doesnt come out to insult your ,intelligence, telling you things you already know. Instead, you can rely on her when youre stuck: ,basically, she finally functions like all the other god damn companions. Though I personally ,still harbor a grudge for the weeks I had to endure her constant, torturous interruptions: ,I think her farewell scene at the end of the game hits a little harder now that I have the choice of ,viewing her less infuriating cutscenes. Spoilers for a nearly ten year old game, by the way. ,Button-only controls were something I was initially skeptical of, for the sword at ,least. There is virtually zero reason to have the loftwing controlled with motion, ,other than an apparent desire to give players early-onset arthritis. Finally being able to use ,the left stick to control things like the loftwing and beetle feel much more natural than locking ,them to motion. Sword controls, though, are a whole different beast. The entire game is built ,around a motion controlled sword, and I couldnt personally think of an intuitive way to bind them ,to the right analog stick. I used the button-only controls for basically my entire playthrough to ,test them out, and for the first hour or two I was having a difficult adjustment period. ,You have to flick the stick in the direction you want the sword to travel. ,Flicking down means the sword will slash down, flicking left means your sword will slash left, ,etc. Clicking in the stick will stab, and the spin attack is done by picking which direction you want ,to spin, starting a flick in that direction, quickly flicking in the opposite direction, ,and then flicking back to the one you started with. Very hard to explain with words, ,even harder to come to grips with and execute. My first encounter with Ghirahim was a nightmare. ,Here, youre supposed to hold your sword in a direction to bait his hand, and quickly move ,your sword in the opposite direction, so you can then swing back to hit his hand. Essentially, ,you would hold your hand to the right, then softly move your hand to the left enough that you ,can start a rightward swinging motion. Using the stick, you have to hold the sword to the right, ,and then flick the stick to the right, and I guess that was too much for my brain to ,handle as someone so used to the former method. I was not having a good time. ,The more I used it, though, the more it started to click. I stopped thinking about ,where my sword was in relation to my body, and simply started associating sword movements with ,different parts of the analog stick. At some point, the movements became so natural that ,I was able to play the game relaxed on my couch with my cat laying on my arm, ,something I would never have been able to do with the original. My second fight with Ghirahim, which ,is supposed to be much harder than the first, somehow went better than the first one, which just ,shows that a little time and investment with these new controls is worth it in the end. However, ,if you still want the Skyward Sword experience, as it were, you can turn on the motion controls. ,The problem with that, of course, is that turning on motion controls turns it on full stop, ,which doesnt make a lot of sense to me. Its easy enough to change on the fly, just pause the game, ,click the options menu, and toggle the control style. I just dont understand why the sword ,doesnt have its own toggle. If you want to play the game with a motion controlled sword, where the ,game is at its most immersive, I would argue, you also have to put up with the less immersive stuff ,like the loftwing being bound to the same option. I guess you can only ever expect the absolute ,bare minimum with Nintendo and options. Besides that, from what I was able to test, ,the motion controls function pretty much identically to the wiimote. You might have to ,center the gyro a little more often, but thats about the only game-related problem I ran into. ,Unfortunately, Nintendo have released this game on a system that uses the joy-cons, and so the ,right joy-con Ive been using for less than a year can be seen in my footage frequently drifting and ,disconnecting from my Switch. I wanted to use the joy-cons so I could effortlessly switch to motion ,controls whenever I wanted, but at some point the things were acting up so much that I just picked ,up my damn pro controller. Thanks, Nintendo. But hey, you can buy the new Skyward Sword joy-cons ,for over $100 from scalpers on eBay. Removing these barriers to entry leads to ,a play experience that is noticeably more fluid. Perhaps its the silky smooth 60fps talking here, ,but as someone whos played the Wii version several times, this playthrough has been ,remarkably fast-paced. Tur