Iceweasel
Smash Ace
- Joined
- Jan 19, 2015
- Messages
- 855
I wanted to like Skyward Sword. I can't remember ever being so hyped for a game to come out. The dungeons were amazing as always. Some of the areas, like Lanayru Desert, had a really cool gameplay mechanics. There's a lot of fun callbacks (call forwards?) to previous (future? Zelda Timeline, everyone!) games. However, the motion controls had horrendous lag, it's nearly impossible to not know where to go next, and the lore implications make me want to pretend SS never happened. Bosses, for the most part, stick strictly to the Zelda formula. There's no real danger of running out of supplies, so you don't need to stock up on arrows/bombs/potions or worry if you go into a dungeon or boss fight without them (though this is more of a Zelda problem in general than a SS problem). The Beetle almost always lists one direction or another. If you recalibrate before you use it, it still does it, just slightly less. The cursor's reliance on motion rather than an IR pointer means that you'll have to recenter it almost every time before you can actually aim at something on the screen.
There's an overall feeling of being railroaded. This is really apparent with the Beetle. In areas where the designers want you to use it, it can fly practically indefinitely. If you're in an area where the designers want you to solve the problem another way, the Beetle either has a very short leash or its flight time suddenly runs out as you get close to the forbidden area. It really gets on my nerves because it's just flat-out poor game design. Either you don't give the player such a versatile, useful item or you design the game while remembering that the player has such a versatile, useful item.
There's an overall feeling of padding. There's always some reason you can't go straight to the next objective. This is especially bizarre since the designers took great pains to make sure you can go near any wilderness area you want at any time. You want to go into that giant swirling cloud? You need to make this beacon shoot light into it. Oh, you can't do that yet, you need to go repair it! The part fell to the earth a long time ago. Okay, cool, that must be what that weird thing on Eldin was, I'll just go there. Oh, I can't put this in my pack like the hundreds of rupees I'm carrying around, arrows, bombs, bugs, and these Lizalfos tails. I have to get an extinct flower to oil a robot to carry it up. No, I can't just go ask a water dragon whose life I saved to sing for me. I have to collect tadpoles first. No, I can't go to the next fire temple, even though I'm pretty sure where it is, I have to do a stealth section first. Every time the plot makes you go to the Sealed Grounds, you need to fight the same guy. Padding is ever-present in Skyward Sword.
I think I mentioned lore problems earlier. This game's lore is completely ****ed. Or rather, it's ****ed up the other games' lore. Nowhere are Din, Nayru, or Farore mentioned anywhere in the game. People won't shut up about Hylia. Hylia is never mentioned or alluded to anywhere else in the series (except Hyrule Warriors, which isn't canon). If Hyrule's cosmology was presented more like a multiple-choice past, where each game's people believe slightly different things based on which legends were in vogue at the time, I could see this as working. However, keeping it consistent since the third game and suddenly changing it 10 games later is a blatant retcon. The Triforce is completely disrespected. It's a plot coupon and nothing more. You don't get any new abilities, nor does it give you any power-up at all. You just get it out of an inexplicable treasure chest (why would the golden goddesses put their sacred power in an unlocked chest?) in the wrong location (the Silent Realm as opposed to the Sacred Realm). Remember Wind Waker? When the three Triforce pieces were assembled, and whoever made their wish determined the fate of the world? That's respect. The Triforce of Power alone grants immortality, and Ganondorf used it to strengthen his magic significantly. That's the power of the gods. This is just a disgrace.
Speaking of Ganondorf, oh WOW was he treated badly here. He's no longer a thief who, through cunning and greed, stole the power of the gods. No, he's the result of a curse by his knockoff. Remember the rage about the Zant fakeout? TP had this great, imposing, cool new villain... Then Ganondorf said "lol nope its me gaiz". Everyone was annoyed, and rightly so. Zant was incredibly threatening and there was no setup at all besides Midna saying "This magic is a bit different than what Twili normally use". Now, imagine if you do the Zant fakeout again, but take away the setup altogether and do it one of the most iconic villains in gaming. You think Smash disrespected Ganondorf by making him a Captain Falcon clone? Imagine a canon game completely trivializing him. At least his Smash moveset vaguely reflects him in the games - He's not very quick, but hes insanely powerful. Skyward Sword turns him into a complete joke.
If you don't account for lore, Skyward Sword is a pretty mediocre game. The dungeons are well-designed, and there's a lot of neat gameplay elements thrown around, but it often falls flat in execution. In a meta example, it's like the Tentalus boss battle. Going into it, it looks like it's going to be amazing - But when you actually get out of the ship and see what the boss (game) really is and what you do, it's a major letdown. If you do take lore into account, it's simply rage inducing, because it's not content to **** up its own lore, but to destroy the lore of the entire series.
There's an overall feeling of being railroaded. This is really apparent with the Beetle. In areas where the designers want you to use it, it can fly practically indefinitely. If you're in an area where the designers want you to solve the problem another way, the Beetle either has a very short leash or its flight time suddenly runs out as you get close to the forbidden area. It really gets on my nerves because it's just flat-out poor game design. Either you don't give the player such a versatile, useful item or you design the game while remembering that the player has such a versatile, useful item.
There's an overall feeling of padding. There's always some reason you can't go straight to the next objective. This is especially bizarre since the designers took great pains to make sure you can go near any wilderness area you want at any time. You want to go into that giant swirling cloud? You need to make this beacon shoot light into it. Oh, you can't do that yet, you need to go repair it! The part fell to the earth a long time ago. Okay, cool, that must be what that weird thing on Eldin was, I'll just go there. Oh, I can't put this in my pack like the hundreds of rupees I'm carrying around, arrows, bombs, bugs, and these Lizalfos tails. I have to get an extinct flower to oil a robot to carry it up. No, I can't just go ask a water dragon whose life I saved to sing for me. I have to collect tadpoles first. No, I can't go to the next fire temple, even though I'm pretty sure where it is, I have to do a stealth section first. Every time the plot makes you go to the Sealed Grounds, you need to fight the same guy. Padding is ever-present in Skyward Sword.
I think I mentioned lore problems earlier. This game's lore is completely ****ed. Or rather, it's ****ed up the other games' lore. Nowhere are Din, Nayru, or Farore mentioned anywhere in the game. People won't shut up about Hylia. Hylia is never mentioned or alluded to anywhere else in the series (except Hyrule Warriors, which isn't canon). If Hyrule's cosmology was presented more like a multiple-choice past, where each game's people believe slightly different things based on which legends were in vogue at the time, I could see this as working. However, keeping it consistent since the third game and suddenly changing it 10 games later is a blatant retcon. The Triforce is completely disrespected. It's a plot coupon and nothing more. You don't get any new abilities, nor does it give you any power-up at all. You just get it out of an inexplicable treasure chest (why would the golden goddesses put their sacred power in an unlocked chest?) in the wrong location (the Silent Realm as opposed to the Sacred Realm). Remember Wind Waker? When the three Triforce pieces were assembled, and whoever made their wish determined the fate of the world? That's respect. The Triforce of Power alone grants immortality, and Ganondorf used it to strengthen his magic significantly. That's the power of the gods. This is just a disgrace.
Speaking of Ganondorf, oh WOW was he treated badly here. He's no longer a thief who, through cunning and greed, stole the power of the gods. No, he's the result of a curse by his knockoff. Remember the rage about the Zant fakeout? TP had this great, imposing, cool new villain... Then Ganondorf said "lol nope its me gaiz". Everyone was annoyed, and rightly so. Zant was incredibly threatening and there was no setup at all besides Midna saying "This magic is a bit different than what Twili normally use". Now, imagine if you do the Zant fakeout again, but take away the setup altogether and do it one of the most iconic villains in gaming. You think Smash disrespected Ganondorf by making him a Captain Falcon clone? Imagine a canon game completely trivializing him. At least his Smash moveset vaguely reflects him in the games - He's not very quick, but hes insanely powerful. Skyward Sword turns him into a complete joke.
If you don't account for lore, Skyward Sword is a pretty mediocre game. The dungeons are well-designed, and there's a lot of neat gameplay elements thrown around, but it often falls flat in execution. In a meta example, it's like the Tentalus boss battle. Going into it, it looks like it's going to be amazing - But when you actually get out of the ship and see what the boss (game) really is and what you do, it's a major letdown. If you do take lore into account, it's simply rage inducing, because it's not content to **** up its own lore, but to destroy the lore of the entire series.
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