Zelda Skyward Sword is a game that looks for a Master. Do you have what it takes to be the Master though?
Before I even get started into the meat of this overall review I just want to say I'm very disappointed in how Gamespot handled their review on this game. I'm NOT going to go into a rant about this in my review because much of what I've said has already been repeated a thousand times over under "you know who's" review. But I just want to get this out before I go into my review that I've lost all faith in Gamespot's reviews. What transpired that day when I watched that video review was truly unforgiving and I just don't know what to say other than I believe Gamespot may have selected the wrong editor who rather preferred to play Call of Duty or Skyrim all day long? But then again, Gamespot in general has lost whatever remaining credibility they had left so whatever... *end rant*
The Zelda franchise has celebrated its 25th anniversary and what better way to top it off by releasing Zelda Skyward Sword to cormorant this wondrous event! But Zelda Skyward Sword was actually slated to come out a long time ago when the Wii was actually starting to come out with its real first party titles. This game was pushed back into development several times until we began to hear very little about it. It took nearly 3 years for Nintendo to finally unveil its gameplay footage which happened during E3 2010. We didn't even see the concept art until 2009! I'll never forget the day when I heard of its release date which took nearly the entire Wii's lifespan on the market to be announced! Finally my long wait for Skyward Sword was at its end and not a moment too soon because Shigeru Miyamoto planned its release to tie in with the Zelda franchises 25th anniversary celebration! Which means this game of course had a limited edition release that came with a Special Orchestra CD that features music from the symphony that played 8 songs from the Zelda series in celebration of the 25th anniversary! The music that was conducted by the symphony is just amazing by the way and it's worth owning if you are a true Zelda fan. And if that is not enough to please you then the limited edition also comes with a legendary Golden Wii Remote that is Motion Plus! Just owning the Golden Wii Remote alone is the greatest feeling in the world especially if you are a DIE HARD Zelda fanatic! Well, now that I've explained the benefits of purchasing this game the limited edition way let's get on with this review!
Storyline: Zelda Skyward Sword is in fact a prequel to the award winning Zelda Ocarina of Time. The storyline begins on a dark and fateful day long ago when the earth cracks open and monsters from the underworld come forth to wreak havoc upon the countless innocent people of the land! The monsters destroyed everything in their paths from burning the pristine forests to murdering countless people all in the hopes of obtaining the Ultimate Power that was handed down by the gods of old and was now protected by her grace the Goddess. The Ultimate Power granted the ability to make one's desires become reality such was the reason why the people of old wanted to entrust this sacred power to the Goddess. In order to protect this sacred power from falling into the possession of the swarms of monsters infesting the lands the Goddess gathered all of the surviving humans on an out cropping of land and moved it skyward beyond even the clouds and of course the hoards of monsters. With the people now safe from the monsters the Goddess joined forces with the land tribes and fought alongside them sealing the monsters away! The Ultimate Power was then safely hidden but its actual whereabouts were lost during the ages. The game begins with Link having a strange nightmare about him facing a large menacing monster with a mouth full razor sharp teeth and seeing a strange being that informs him of his destiny. He is then awakened by his childhood friend Zelda to attend the Wing Ceremony which is a tradition held in the floating land of Skyloft to make one become a knight. Link completes the ceremony after overcoming the attempts of Groose and his cronies to sabotage him. But then things suddenly go wrong during an emotional cinematic when Link stares at Zelda face to face while riding his bird. Zelda is taken away by a storm which sucks her down to the surface world where monsters are still apparently present. Later on he meets the mysterious Fi from his dream which is basically this Zelda titles equalivent to Navi but NEVER annoying but always firm and pretty straight forward with her help and advice. She will even inform you when the battery power in your Wii Remote is almost depleted. Fi is the spirit that resides within the Goddess Sword which will later become the epic Master Sword. Your first task in the game will involve you tracking down Zelda by the use of Fi's dowsing ability but I will explain that in the gameplay section as I've already typed too much in this section...
Gameplay: First and further most Zelda Skyward Sword makes 100% use of the Wii's Motion Plus controls. Everything you do in this game from slicing the various enemies, to using the various items in the inventory, to opening the boss doors, to even turning this game on to let it re-calibrate the motion control technology all revolves around the Wii's Motion Plus controls! Now, to some people who have claimed to have had problems with these motion controls I have single handily taken the time to master them! I haven't experienced any errors whatsoever in them other than the Skyward Strike which took practice to make perfect. You don't even have to stand up using the motion controls because one time I played a dungeon half asleep lying down on my side as I slashed my way through it. But anyway, Skyward Sword brings allot to the table when it comes to innovation and that is very much displayed in this latest edition to the Zelda franchise. Some of the innovation that you will see will be what I mention in this part of my review. What I will mention first is the Mechanical Flying Beetle which is like the coolest item in the game. Once you launch it you maneuver it with the Wii's Motion plus Controls only! This item alone is the most innovation I've seen used on an inventory item! But I could be wrong because then there's the Whip that uses the motion controls, the ability to finally have stamina to sprint, and of course the dowsing ability that makes even more use out of your sword. So you might say Skyward Sword like its name focuses on the sword and it does because much of this game is geared towards powering it up later down the road. The dowsing ability alone is what will get you to the pinnacle parts of this game which reminds me I need to make a section explaining more detail about the dowsing ability.
Dowsing Ability: This feature allows Fi to assign various objects, creatures, and even Zelda herself to be tracked down in radar like sense. The dowsing ability puts you in first person view as you try to follow the edge of your sword that emits a faster pulse the closer you get to an object. The first part of the game you are trying to track Zelda down which will lead you to 3 regions and completing 3 dungeons. In the overall course of the game you will be given different things to track down and one such task is tracking down all the Kiwis in the Forest region. As you get further in the game you will receive more things to add to the dowsing ability and one I will mention is the ability to track down Goddess Cubes. This is a huge asset if you love side questing around like I do because finding all the Goddess Cubes is fun and yet challenging all in the same.
Gameplay (Continued): Another thing I want to mention before I close the gameplay part of my review is of course the flying! I remember a certain editor saying that the flying was quote: "Slow so getting from one place to another isn't much fun." But the thing is what he failed to mention was the fact that you can use the these floating Goddess Rocks which contain these holes that turbo you across the over world so they weren't put there for decoration you know... When flying in the over world you also will have to skydive to the various locations below the clouds which give off 3 different colored beacons once you have completed your first few dungeons. There are save points scattered all throughout under clouds in each of the 3 regions so you don't ever have to worry about skydiving to one spot and be forced to trudge back to an area you've already explored. These save points also work as your means of getting back into the cloud over world so keep that in mind. And lastly, these save points can also be found in dungeons but don't think about skydiving to those lol because those can be used to warp out of dungeons!
Graphics: Zelda Skyward Sword is NOT Skyrim folks. Please don't get this game if you're expecting 1080p HD graphics. Zelda Skyward Sword uses a unique water color like effect with its art style. An example would be that everything in the distance behind you looks like a water color painting! You can notice this right away when you approach Skyloft from a distance or when you reach the peak of Eldin Volcano and view the mountain range. The visuals and colors are just amazing and they are definatly a breath of fresh air from all the shooters that pollute the gaming market. The characters are about as well animated as they were well drawn and developed. All of the characters in fact are unique with each of their own personalities and its fun to go into the Skyloft Bazaar just to see the different characters introduced to this series. The dungeons and bosses themselves also look amazing in this game and I believe they have single handily beaten Ocarina of Time out of the spotlight with their amazing designs! Skyward Sword just really does an amazing job at its visuals and this game is worth owning a Wii just to play it.
Value: This game was rumored to have a Heroes Mode. Well those rumors are indeed true because there is a Heroes Mode! After you beat the main quest you can play this game again on Hero's Mode! Of course Heroes Mode is more of a challenge and I've heard that in Heroes Mode there are some changes in a couple of the areas! What changes you ask? I am not sure as I've not started playing the Heroes' Mode yet. Zelda Skyward Sword though packs allot of content and I'm sure this will keep me busy yet again. I'll leave the Heroes Mode for someone else to explain as I've already explained enough about this game.
Overall: It took me roughly 60 hours to even reach the last part of this game! After I ran out of things to do I just said what the hell and decided to just complete the rest of this game! When I finally beat the game I had nearly 70 hours! This Zelda title took me the longest to beat out of every Zelda game I've ever played! Twilight Princess was knocked off its record by 20 hours! Skyward Sword is one epic adventure worth embarking on! It also marks the beginning of a new era for the Zelda franchise! And through my experience playing this game I can clearly say it isn't a 7.5 game or adventure for that matter. In fact Zelda Skyward Sword is a game that looks for a Master. Do you have what it takes to be the Master though? The only way to find that out is to get the game and see if you are the Master.
Uh...Link will win. This review was brought to you by Wolflink001.