The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

[Kelthaz]

All excellent points. There are some parts of it that I think haven't aged well, but overall I think it holds up pretty nicely. The reason why I love it so much was I had never been so invested in a game before or after it. The initial experience that I had playing Ocarina of Time has never been matched with any video game since. Some have come close, though.

Well I grew up on the NES titles, so by the time Ocarina of Time came out Zelda was old hat for me. I think I would have been more impressed with OOT if I wasn't already so familiar with the Zelda formula.

I'm replaying it on the 3DS and I do agree with the Hyrule Field point you brought up. One thing about it that I don't like (and even other Zeldas) is that Hyrule is a very lonely place. You almost never saw anybody anywhere -- especially in the field. The only person you'd run into was that jogger who you traded the rabbit ears to.

That's what I loved about Majora's Mask. Every single person in that game had their own life and they didn't sit in one spot repeating "Welcome to Corneria" over and over again. Termina was small, but it felt like a real, living, breathing world and that isn't something I've seen replicated in any other game. Majora's Mask doesn't get enough love.

 

[Amasov]

All excellent points. There are some parts of it that I think haven't aged well, but overall I think it holds up pretty nicely. The reason why I love it so much was I had never been so invested in a game before or after it. The initial experience that I had playing Ocarina of Time has never been matched with any video game since. Some have come close, though.

Well I grew up on the NES titles, so by the time Ocarina of Time came out Zelda was old hat for me. I think I would have been more impressed with OOT if I wasn't already so familiar with the Zelda formula.

I'm replaying it on the 3DS and I do agree with the Hyrule Field point you brought up. One thing about it that I don't like (and even other Zeldas) is that Hyrule is a very lonely place. You almost never saw anybody anywhere -- especially in the field. The only person you'd run into was that jogger who you traded the rabbit ears to.

That's what I loved about Majora's Mask. Every single person in that game had their own life and they didn't sit in one spot repeating "Welcome to Corneria" over and over again. Termina was small, but it felt like a real, living, breathing world and that isn't something I've seen replicated in any other game. Majora's Mask doesn't get enough love.

Majora's Mask sure doesn't get enough love. It's forever in the shadow of Ocarina of Time and it's every bit as good and technologically superior to it in every way possible. Here's hoping Nintendo comes around to give us a Majora's Mask 3DS remake.

 

[Chris3123]

Got it for Christmas and played it for 2 and a half hours today. I've only just gotten down to the surface but the game seems pretty good so far.

 

[Amasov]

I'm about 25 hours in, and having mostly a blast. The dungeons and puzzles are fantastic, and I'm just now starting to really get the feel for the sword controls. The new items are really cool, and new mechanics for simple things like bombs are great too.

One huge complaint I have is the CONSTANT "Hey Master, GO DO THIS!" when you already know exactly what you're supposed to do. Fi is like Navi on steroids, making the game feel extremely linear (which it is, obviously, but they didn't need to make it so blatant.)

Overall though, great game! I almost wish they wouldn't have put Twilight Princess out on the Wii, then I wouldn't be waggling the Wiimote like an idiot so much. They should have saved motion controls for a game designed for them.

One of the biggest problems for me is when Fi states the obvious to you. When you're down to two-three hearts, she tells you that you might want to refill your hearts.

Yes. Thanks, Fi. Thanks.

I can understand that for the first hour or so, but she says it all the way up to the end.

I don't know if she's as bad as Navi was, but she is definitely far more useless. She is absolutely no help whatsoever.

 

[Brendan Moody]

One of the biggest problems for me is when Fi states the obvious to you. When you're down to two-three hearts, she tells you that you might want to refill your hearts.

Yes. Thanks, Fi. Thanks.

Exactly. Did they think the urgent beeping when the heart meter gets low wasn't enough, that we needed another sound and another image to draw our attention to it?

And on the rare occasions when you might actually want a hint about a specific puzzle, she has nothing useful to say.

A great game overall, anyway, even if I wasn't as wowed by it as some of the professional reviewers were. Motion controls and the more compressed world and dungeon maps aside, it's the same basic formula as the other 3D Zeldas, and while it probably plays as well as any of the others, it's still the fifth game with that formula. It also felt in a few places like the designers were so devoted to making the game long they threw in some repetitive challenges just to pad it out.

The swordplay is incredibly responsive and satisfying, though.

 

[Samurai8472]

I finished the game a few weeks ago. I wish the finale boss Demise would have been tougher though.

Once you figure out the pattern you can finish him in 3 minutes.

 

[Brendan Moody]

I was a little underwhelmed by the final boss too. I didn't even really work out the pattern, just got close enough to fake it. I was totally expecting a final, harder phase to that fight; instead it just ended. I had more trouble with the boss right before that.

 

[D Man]

...it's still the fifth game with that formula. It also felt in a few places like the designers were so devoted to making the game long they threw in some repetitive challenges just to pad it out.

The swordplay is incredibly responsive and satisfying, though.

That's my review in a nutshell, here at the end of the game. Twilight Princess managed a bigger world (or at least it seemed bigger) and more dungeons, Wind Waker managed a unique style, Majora's Mask was just plain unique period, and Ocarina invented it all. Other than the mostly fantastic new controls and a few dungeon puzzles and boss battles that really felt NEW, this was not a 10/10 like IGN and others seemed to think.

Zelda will always be my favorite franchise, but I've recently been playing FFXII for the first time, a game from 5 years ago, and it's remarkable how deep it is. I know it's a different style of game, but I just wish Nintendo would throw everything into the ring and do something amazing with their flagship franchise, finally going beyond what Ocarina did back in 1998. Z-Targeting isn't revolutionary any more, as cool as 1:1 sword and whip controls are.

P.S. I can't believe I ever played a Zelda game without double clawshots.

 

[Amasov]

One of the biggest problems for me is when Fi states the obvious to you. When you're down to two-three hearts, she tells you that you might want to refill your hearts.

Yes. Thanks, Fi. Thanks.

Exactly. Did they think the urgent beeping when the heart meter gets low wasn't enough, that we needed another sound and another image to draw our attention to it?

And on the rare occasions when you might actually want a hint about a specific puzzle, she has nothing useful to say.

A great game overall, anyway, even if I wasn't as wowed by it as some of the professional reviewers were. Motion controls and the more compressed world and dungeon maps aside, it's the same basic formula as the other 3D Zeldas, and while it probably plays as well as any of the others, it's still the fifth game with that formula. It also felt in a few places like the designers were so devoted to making the game long they threw in some repetitive challenges just to pad it out.

The swordplay is incredibly responsive and satisfying, though.

What about when she says, "There is a 90% chance you will find what are looking for in this location." You know that whatever it is you're looking for, it's going to be there. I'd be floored if the game threw me for a curve-ball and the 10% chances of it not being there were true.

Look, we know it's there, just say 100%, Fi. Dammit. And is it just me or does Fi's voice just sound like a much deeper Midna, from Twilight Princess? Whatever language she is speaking it sounds EXACTLY the same.

Oh, and I forgot to throw it out there last night, how do you guys feel about Nintendo revealing the Zelda timeline? I'll be honest, it's one of those things that I didn't feel needed explaining. It was obvious to me what games fit together.

http://www.destructoid.com/the-official-legend-of-zelda-timeline-revealed-218437.phtml