Legend of Zelda The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword - NO SPOILERS, USE THE SPOILER THREAD PLEASE

[etecoon]

I somewhat disagree with what you're saying etecoon. You have to remember that while the gameplay wasn't exactly the best (very easy, overll + sailing), it had the best storyline IMO of any of the 3D Zeldas. The cel-shading just adds to the experience.

I'd disagree with this too, really the only place the story stands out to me is the ending. ganon's roof and on, probably the best ending in the whole series. but the rest of the game is very typical of a zelda game as far as story IMO

 

[Klaw]

I like the graphics. Bright and charming, but the characters not as ugly as windwaker

 

[TheBuzzSaw]

I will admit that the wonky proportions bothered me much more than the cel-shading did. If people weren't shaped so stupidly, I might've liked WW more.

 

[Luigitoilet]

Man, now that I think about it, imagine WW with a TP texture-hack.

That would be terrifying!

 

[Spire]

I will admit that the wonky proportions bothered me much more than the cel-shading did. If people weren't shaped so stupidly, I might've liked WW more.

They were cartoon characters. Really, just think of it all as a cartoon.

 

[TheBuzzSaw]

They were cartoon characters. Really, just think of it all as a cartoon.

That ruins it for me. Take any awesome series you love and "just think of it as a cartoon".

 

[Luigitoilet]

That ruins it for me. Take any awesome series you love and "just think of it as a cartoon".

 

[GwJ]

Well that's not very fair. Those aren't able to be un-cartoony.

 

[Luigitoilet]

(ok, you got me with Link's Awakening but my point stands otherwise)

 

[Spire]

So I came down with a sinus infection over the past week. For Christmas I got quite a number of old games so I spent one of my sick days playing through Spyro the Dragon, which I 100% completed in under 7 hours. However, the game had this certain whimsical medieval-fantasy feel to it; very aloft and cloud-like. I could not help but notice the keen similarity that its art style shares with Skyward Sword. To that extent, my love for both the original Spyro and Skyward Sword's art style rose.

If any of you have the means of doing so, I would heavily suggest playing through the original Spyro with Skyward Sword's art style in mind.

 

[GwJ]

Spyro 1 is in my top games of all time list.

 

[Spire]

Same here. I hadn't played it in years, so it was really, really good doing so.

 

[GwJ]

I wish for once we had a Zelda game that felt less.....cheerful. TP was the most cheerful uncheerful game I've ever played. Seriously. I don't mean like dark and sinister, I want a the Link character to feel like he's the last thing that's going to stop the world from destruction. I want the game to make us feel like we have a responsibility. I mean, for crying out loud, I'm the hero that's going to save the world, but you see me literally rolling around in the grass.

But, I also want a mysterious aura around it. I don't want us to have a big backstory or anything. I want the game to have some serious mysteries around it from the get-go and unfold them at the end.

I guess I'm speaking from my desire of a true sequel to Jade Cocoon. I miss that game.

 

[Luigitoilet]

So, more like every other fantasy video game?

 

[GwJ]

Yeah, but not as.......bad.

Again this is just my desire for a game like Jade Cocoon.

 

[Spire]

I wish for once we had a Zelda game that felt less.....cheerful. TP was the most cheerful uncheerful game I've ever played. Seriously. I don't mean like dark and sinister, I want a the Link character to feel like he's the last thing that's going to stop the world from destruction. I want the game to make us feel like we have a responsibility. I mean, for crying out loud, I'm the hero that's going to save the world, but you see me literally rolling around in the grass.

But, I also want a mysterious aura around it. I don't want us to have a big backstory or anything. I want the game to have some serious mysteries around it from the get-go and unfold them at the end.

I guess I'm speaking from my desire of a true sequel to Jade Cocoon. I miss that game.

This is why Shadow of the Colossus is the best Zelda game that people aren't aware that they're playing.

Think of each colossus as a hybrid between dungeon and boss. It's practically as large as a small dungeon and being animated, serves as a boss. Because each is somewhat archaic in design—sporting stone masonry, fashioned with crenellations and the like—it is almost like a moving building. Plus, defeating each boss requires approaching and attacking them through a series of puzzles, from positioning yourself properly to grab on to climbing and maintaing balance, it's far less of an action-oriented fight, and more of a meditative experience. Zelda's core roots, its lean focus on the individual's experience in exploring a world and discovering how it works is highly pertinent throughout Shadow of the Colossus. You venture around the world on horseback, having to find the colossi yourself and upon doing so, must find a way to take them down with your gleaming sword.

Replace the main character with Link, the horse with Epona, and the sword with the Master Sword and you have one of the best Zelda games ever.

 

[GwJ]

Totally agree, SotC was such an amazing game.

 

[MuraRengan]

I've been wanting to play SotC for years. I really need to get my hands on a ps2

 

[etecoon]

if you do get a PS2 I also highly recommend ICO, a game by the same dev team that was also very good just didn't sell as much and is less known

I believe both of them are being rereleased on PS3 with improved graphics eventually if you have that

 

[GwJ]

Yea, they're being released on PS3.

 

[Luigitoilet]

ICO's a very different game from SotC. I wouldn't compare it to Zelda even though it's very good on its own merits.

I love SotC precisely because it showcases the same gameplay ethos as the original LoZ. You're set into a giant world with only a little backstory and set to your own devices and exploration. It never gets caught up in its narrative.

though, the story in SotC is actually very good and emotional. nothing in Zelda's lore has ever really made me feel like crying.

 

[etecoon]

I wouldn't say it's "very" different, a lot of what SotC gets credit for innovating in video games was done first in ICO. but they are different yes, SotC is definitely closer to being a zelda game. I wouldn't say it or anything in zelda ever made me feel like crying but I'm kind of weird, I can get emotional but I rarely cry at anything fictional unless it directly relates to my own life

 

[Luigitoilet]

Well, I wasn't actually in tears, but it did strike a chord with me in a way only a few games have done.

 

[GwJ]

I've had the same feeling Luigi has had. Here are some games that made me feel like that:

Shadow of the Colossus (PS2)
Jade Cocoon: Story of the Tamamayu (PS1)
Pokemon G/S/C (GBC) Specifically Cinnabar Island


That might be it.

 

[Anth0ny]

MGS3 ending was the closest ive come to bawwwwwwing from a game.

 

[Luigitoilet]

Agreed.

The games that have "touched me" in a way that's similar to a great book or movie:

MGS 3
SotC
Silent Hill 2

actually, now that I think of it, some parts of Majora's Mask were quite emotional too.

 

[Spire]

I was 9 when I played FF7. Aeris' death made me baww, but not initially. It was later on one night, I was trying to fall asleep and her theme was playing in my head, which subsequently replayed the scene; freakin' broke me right there. I can definitely say that the music was half of the cause. If it's not obvious, I think Nobuo Uematsu is an absolute genius.

I cannot think of any other games that have made me feel emotionally distrought right now.

 

[MuraRengan]

I get emotional about MM on a regular basis really. The only other game that has made me emotional is Fire Emblem, but it's in a more soap-operaish way.

 

[etecoon]

I was 9 when I played FF7. Aeris' death made me baww, but not initially. It was later on one night, I was trying to fall asleep and her theme was playing in my head, which subsequently replayed the scene; freakin' broke me right there. I can definitely say that the music was half of the cause. If it's not obvious, I think Nobuo Uematsu is an absolute genius.

I cannot think of any other games that have made me feel emotionally distrought right now.

truth. the music alone made it kind of sad for me, even though it's the unavoidable spoiler that like most people I already knew was going to happen, I'd consider myself somewhat apathetic about death, and she wasn't exactly my favorite character to begin with

I like this version of her theme most though

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zr0pNEnJ2dI

I LOVE that cheesy general MIDI bell patch, it's so bad and good at the same time lol. I actually like the primitive sounds used in a lot of old games, maybe not to be used all the time but I think low quality samples have their own charm. I actually think I prefer OoT/MM to WW/TP in this regard for the most part in fact because the gamecube games fall into this awkward middle ground where they're kind of high quality but still very very clearly synthetic

 

[Spire]

I actually think I prefer OoT/MM to WW/TP in this regard for the most part in fact because the gamecube games fall into this awkward middle ground where they're kind of high quality but still very very clearly synthetic

That's because you could just tell that OoT and MM were taking nigh full advantage of the N64 cartridge (MM went beyond that because it required the expansion pak), and WW/TP felt like they could have had so much more; WW needed more dungeon time and less overworld time and TP needed more content to fill the vastness of its land.

 

[etecoon]

I think WW could have done fine if the dungeons and overworld that existed were just better. MM is my favorite game in the series and it focused even less on dungeons, but what was there was very good and the overworld offered more to do, it was a living breathing world where the NPCs literally had lives. maybe you can't accomplish that without the time system being reused but I think WW could have done better in its overworld in a lot of ways. if there's any balance problem IMO it's islands:ocean, there's just so much EMPTY space, most of the islands aren't very big, and I think they could have done more with other ships

TP to some extent is true, could've used a little more, but ultimately I think its biggest problems came from trying to be ocarina 2, and the things that it did change were things that I didn't agree with(no instrument, no magic...the oocca feel like shiggy is trolling us...)


while we're on the subject of music and dungeons...kind of anyway, anyone else feel like the dungeon music is a lot worse than it used to be? it's an oddly specific thing because I used to think just the whole soundtracks had gotten worse but really thinking about it, it's mostly just the dungeons. I think that's a lot of why they don't have as much atmosphere about them, especially in WW

 

[Spire]

I think dungeon music has become less thematic and more atmospheric. Seeing as how Zelda is a highly thematic series, it's become a detriment.

 

[etecoon]

I would disagree that it's become more atmospheric, I think it's become more minimal, but not really more atmospheric. the two aren't entirely synonymous, and I think OoT had the most atmospheric dungeon music. though I liked TP much more than WW in this regard, should probably wait for skyward sword before I declare it a trend

 

[Spire]

I would disagree that it's become more atmospheric, I think it's become more minimal, but not really more atmospheric. the two aren't entirely synonymous, and I think OoT had the most atmospheric dungeon music. though I liked TP much more than WW in this regard, should probably wait for skyward sword before I declare it a trend

You are correct, especially in regards to WW. OoT's dungeon music was both memorably thematic and immersively atmospheric. Forest Temple, Water Temple, and Spirit Temple had life-changing themes.

 

[Luigitoilet]

Well, with the advent of actual orchestrated music in Skyward Sword, I'm hoping it will encourage more "musical" pieces in the dungeons.

 

[Spire]

Man oh man. The music. I'm ten thousand times excited for it.

 

[Vigilante]

My biggest reservation is the controls. The game's setting is interesting, and the art isn,t really as bad as many seem to think. But motion controls don't work. And being left-handed and awkward with my right hand, this is very bothersome.

I think I'll skip this one out and have someone lend it to me.

 

[GwJ]

Yeah, the controls really are the only worries about. Semi 1:1 swordplay could be cool. It also couldn't.

 

[Luigitoilet]

It's not right to say "motion controls don't work". It depends on how well they're integrated into the game. I would say the motion controls in Wii Sports Resort and Tiger Woods work perfectly. So, I am not at all worried about Nintendo's biggest franchise (except Mario) messing up the controls. Especially at this point, where it seems the Wii Motion Plus is only worth owning for Skyward Sword.

 

[WaffleBlaster]

I think that while it will be hard for the folks at Nintendo to make viable, Zelda worthy motion controls, it's a safe bet that they will pull through. At first I though LoZSWS was a bit TOO ambitious, but I like how they are breathing new life into our beloved game/cult. I'm psyced and am almost positive(99.999999998% sure) that the same genious developers that brought us Ocarina and Twilight Princess will pull through, but there is a small fraction of my being, deep down, that feels that they might pull an Other M on us and dissapoint. *sigh* I pray that won't happen.