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Nintendo Reinvents the Masterpiece
Gameplay. It is the most important aspect of any and all videogames. Underneath all the polygons, textures, lighting and Dolby Digital sound, there’s an element that is so utterly crucial that, no matter how good everything else is, it can make or break the overall enjoyment a player receives from a videogame. In today’s industry of cutting-edge HD graphics and advanced storytelling methods, this is an area of game design that is, unfortunately, too frequently neglected.
Thankfully, this is where The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword comes in and, much like its protagonist, the ever courageous Link, saves the day. Skyward Sword is an incredible game that delivers what most modern titles fail to: fun. For twenty-five years now, Nintendo has used this legendary franchise to push forward new and exciting experiences for us to enjoy. From traversing the massive overworld of Hyrule in the original Legend of Zelda on the NES back in 1986 to riding horseback across the beautiful Hyrule Field in 1998′s Ocarina of Time, Nintendo has always been a pioneer in fun. Luckily for Wii owners, they have gone and done it again.
Skyward Sword is a success for a number of reasons; however, its superb motion controls are its biggest achievement. This is a game that feels natural to play from start to finish. Moreover, Nintendo have made key updates to certain gameplay and storytelling elements, making this the freshest Zelda title since the much-revered Ocarina of Time. Unfortunately, Skyward Sword is still stuck in the past in a few places, which is incredibly frustrating when you take into account how long this game was in production. Nevertheless, if you’re looking for an unrivaled adventure experience on Wii that plays, looks and sounds great, then Skyward Sword is a must-have purchase.
The Legend Is Born
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The environments are incredibly large and brimming with life.
Skyward Sword takes The Legend of Zelda back to near the very beginning of the often confusing timeline and it’s a setting that is very unfamiliar to us. Link and Zelda live as knights in-training on a series of floating islands that they navigate through the use of giant guardian birds known as Loftwings. The people that live on this strange island have heard the legends of a vast land, hidden somewhere below the thick layers of cloud that hide this peaceful habitat from the reaches of evil.
Of course, as with any idyllic setting, something has to eventually go wrong, and it’s not long before Zelda is in danger. It is up to young Link, only a few hours into his newly appointed knighthood, to venture to the mysterious surface world below to find his life-long friend and carry out an epic quest that will transform the young man into a hero of legend. What waits below the clouds is a grand tale of hero-making, courage and adventure.
Skyward Sword’s story is a triumph for the Zelda series. Although the game still largely incorporates some of the same formulaic layout that most 3D Zelda games have, the story is far from the typical plot involving a green-garbed elf, a princess and an evil king vying for the ultimate power. Skyward Sword does away with a retelling of the same story and enlightens us with a grand tale of origins. Nintendo has crafted a new legend in the timeline, which titles such as Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess interconnect so seamlessly with. It’s not without its faults – there’s the odd thing here and there which doesn’t add up and some gameplay aspects actually limit the story (Spoiler: the creation of the Master Sword is far less epic than it could have been).
What is perhaps most striking about Skyward Sword’s story is how emotionally engaging and cinematic it is. The first few cutscenes are unlike anything we’ve seen in previous Zelda titles – Zelda herself really evokes a strong and confident personality, while Link’s expressions are more emotive. There is, as to be expected, no voice acting, yet the emotional portrayals of some of the key characters thankfully make up for this. It does feel dated, and while I’m in no way an advocate of Link ever speaking, games such as Half-Life 2 have proved how effective voice acting can be with a silent protagonist. When you take this into account, as well as all the incredibly epic moments that you witness throughout, not having something which could have superbly complemented the game’s impressive cinematic approach is somewhat disappointing.
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What was her name again?
With a new setting come new characters. Demon Lord Ghirahim, the game’s villain, is a creepy addition that really works with the sudden surge of personality that has been added to the series. He’s a character that wouldn’t have been out of place in Majora’s Mask, and your frequent encounters with him do help to establish something of an insight into his background, rather than simply knowing that he is evil.
Skyward Sword’s rather extensive supporting cast is disappointing, mainly because it is made up, for the most part, of uninteresting and forgettable NPCs. The character dialogue updates as your quest moves along, but it’s not particularly engaging. Whereas Zelda’s overt body language provides the player with a means to connect and a real motivation for playing through the main story, you’ll only care about Skyloft’s one-dimensional residents very briefly. Ironically, Link, despite his mute qualities, is one of the very few characters to show genuine concern for Zelda’s peril. While the franchise isn’t meant to be realistic by any stretch of the imagination, would such a close-knit community continue their daily lives almost as if nothing had ever happened?
Hyrule: A Beautiful Land Crafted by the Goddesses
Nintendo’s superb art direction has ensured the creation of a game world that, despite its HD-less qualities, captivates you with its incredible visual awe. The game’s graphics are a wonderful culmination of both Wind Waker‘s vibrant colours and personality and Twilight Princess’ realistic-looking characters and settings. An impressionist effect is incorporated into some of the game’s environments, making backgrounds look like glorious paintings. The distortion effect also helps Skyward Sword with its impressive, long draw distances that otherwise might have looked a bit bland or dated.
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Bombs are easy and fun to use.
There are two overworlds for Link to explore in Skyward Sword. The first is the one situated in the sky, in which you must rely on your Loftwing to get around. The centrepiece here is Skyloft, with many smaller islands for you to explore. There’s lots to do here, although some of the sidequests are a little on the uninspiring side, being nothing more than a standard affair of “collect this, find that”. In some instances you’ll have to travel between the sky and the surface to complete a task, and given how often you go back to virtually all the main areas, these quests can begin to feel a bit like filler.
The surface overworld is one of the best seen in a Zelda game. While it is divided up into three parts, meaning that you have to resort to travelling the skies to get between them, each area offers an engaging gameplay experience. Some of the game’s environments are huge. Lanayru Desert, for example, is not only populated with grand structures and large swathes of land to explore, but it’s also home to a variety of enemies. Unlike previous Zelda games where the infamous Hyrule Field merely served as a pretty distraction for you to gawp at while you made your way from one dungeon to the next, the surface areas in Skyward Sword are very much like miniature dungeons themselves.
Link is also far more athletic in this game. A dash function has been added, which allows you to briefly run up walls for those hard-to-reach places or run through treacherous quicksand. Oddly enough, it adds a limiting effect to the game, whereby you can’t hang from vines forever or perform a sword spin indefinitely, but this feels about right and adds a good amount of challenge to the game.
In fact, Skyward Sword is surprisingly difficult at times. In particular, the tough combat is what really makes it stand out from previous instalments. Even then, some puzzles will elude you for a short while, although this could be down to a pre-installed expectation for those that have played the Zelda series before. In many instances, the solutions to some puzzles are less obvious than you would expect.
As a result, the adventure in this game feels like a much more full-on, epic quest that never really lets up on the action. In fact, it’s something of an exhausting experience solving puzzles and battling your way through locales such as Faron Woods or Lanayru Desert, only to then enter a temple and play at the same level of intensity. Exploration is made simple thanks to the new dowsing ability. While the environments are fairly linear, you’ll often have to search for specific objects or areas within them. Dowsing helps to pinpoint the location, making the search less tedious, while still ensuring that you have to look for that hidden door or alternative way in.
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The temples have some really great gameplay moments.
Speaking of temples, these are among some of the best in a Zelda game to date. The puzzles are challenging and, in some instances, deviously mind-boggling. Gone are the tedious “light the torches” exercises and it’s very rare you’ll have to push a block onto a switch. Each dungeon design excels because it doesn’t centre purely around the use of an item you’ve discovered for the first time in that particular dungeon. You’ll constantly be switching between these, making each and every temple a varied, fun experience.
Unfortunately, Nintendo has been a bit lazy in places and this is noticeable mainly because it disrupts the otherwise great pacing of the game. You have to fight one boss multiple times, and by the third engagement it’s just boring. Furthermore, the game is padded out with unnecessary collect-a-thons. In particular, a slightly different take on the Tear Vessel task from Twilight Princess is back (now known as a trial), albeit in a vastly improved form thanks to many panic-induced moments caused by guardians that will chase you if they spot you. Despite this, why couldn’t there just be another dungeon? These trials help to undermine the otherwise great storyline (what is the point of carrying out four separate trials if they’re identical in all but location?). Skyward Sword may hit the thirty plus hours mark in terms of length but it could have easily been shorter and even more interesting at the same time.
There’s an upgrade system that also helps to lengthen the game’s lasting appeal. Many items can be enhanced so that you receive better or longer-lasting performance from them. This is by no means necessary to complete the game, but completionists will enjoy exploring areas for a particular type of bug or material so that they can improve their equipment to the next level.
A Bad Hylian Workman Blames His Tools
The items themselves make inventive use of the MotionPlus technology. Nothing ever feels gimmicky. Drawing a bow is near enough a like-for-like mimic of the real activity, while guiding your Beetle through tight spaces is a doddle. There are some inventive secondary uses for these objects too. For example, by using the whip, you can steal collectable items from enemies, whereas the Beetle can be converted into a aerial bomber, which is always a handy thing to have. In fact, MotionPlus is what makes the items such a joy to use. It’s incredibly precise and at no point does it feel tacked on.
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MotionPlus allows you to do many cool things.
Combat is far more exhilarating than ever before. Again, MotionPlus grants you a ridiculously high level of precision. Standard enemies like Bokoblins will put up a solid resistance, blocking your every move, meaning you actually have to think about how you’re going to overcome your enemy. Enemy spiders, which initially seem tough, can, in fact, only be defeated by hitting a weak spot on their underside. So what’s Link to do? Perform a vertical slash upwards and flip them over. It’s these simple yet highly intuitive approaches to combat that make it so enjoyable.
Aimlessly shaking the Wiimote will achieve nothing – your strikes must be accurate. This can be troublesome in the heat of a frantic battle: your natural reaction is to try and swing as quickly as you can, whereas slower, considered slashes are what’s needed. And this is what sets Skyward Sword apart from the competition. It’s a game where you notice a drastic change in your combat ability as you play. In the first few hours, a single Lizalfo will be a struggle; by the end, you’ll feel like a master swordsman. It’s fascinating how you experience progression not only in the sense that Link’s weapons and maximum health improve; you personally feel so much more skilled by the time the credits roll.
To top it all off, Nintendo has provided an epic musical score that really heightens the overall atmosphere of the game. Beautiful, orchestrated music and classic tunes really heighten all the game’s most enthralling moments. Even the limited voice work is charming. Skyloft’s overworld theme is both bold and grand, although arguably, it isn’t as memorable as previous Zelda themes, such as The Great Sea from Wind Waker or Gerudo Valley from Ocarina of Time.
As has become tradition with The Legend of Zelda series, Link has a new musical instrument at his disposal: the harp. It isn’t as central to the plot as the ocarina or wind waker were, however, it’s easy enough to play and the songs are well-composed. These performances are portrayed in a way that is very reminiscent of both Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask, and they’re certainly among the most moments in the game.
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The core characters evoke so much emotion.
The Final Verdict
It is a terrible shame that Skyward Sword had to appear so late in the Wii’s life. There is no doubt about it; this is one of the greatest games ever made for Nintendo’s little machine. This is the first title to truly deliver a rich and engaging experience in terms of motion control. From breaking past a Stalfos’ defences to precisely rolling a bomb into a tight space, motion control is seamlessly integrated into the gameplay, bringing you far closer to the action that any traditional joypad ever could.
Furthermore, Skyward Sword’s gameplay and story elements have been progressed more considerably than ever before. The large, stunning environments not only captivate you with their impressionistic beauty, they also draw you in with devious puzzles, challenging combat and arduous landscapes for you to overcome. Despite suffering from the occasional dip in pacing with some outdated aspects, the overall quest is an intense journey that otherwise rarely lets up.
This is all complemented by Skyward Sword’s well-executed cinematic approach and epic soundtrack. Although the generic secondary characters still lack personality, the ones that matter actually exhibit plenty of emotion. There are plenty of moments throughout the main quest that are simply breathtaking.
Much like how Ocarina of Time created a powerful new legend that set the standard for every Zelda instalment that followed it up until now, Skyward Sword reinvigorates the franchise once more. If you have a Wii, then there’s simply no excuse not to purchase this game – it will restore even the most sceptical owner’s faith in the system. For over twenty-five years, Nintendo has been a pioneer in creating memorable, highly entertaining gameplay experiences. Skyward Sword is yet another incredible one of those titles that has been forged in the creative flames of this longstanding Japanese powerhouse’s brilliance.
Embrace this new adventure and wield your Wiimote like never before; The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is an epic gameplay experience that no one should miss out on.
