The first in this series is going to be one of the best games I played last year, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.
For the purposes of this discussion I want to mention things from all through the game, so I'm not going to protect anything as spoilers. Please be warned that this will spoil the game right through to the end.
It's now been a while since I finished playing Skyward Sword. I have a habit of being very slow when approaching games and often don't play them anywhere near the window where they come out. As such I'm fairly proud of myself for jumping on the Skyward Sword bandwagon and playing through the game as fast as time allowed.
Things I Liked
One of the aspects I liked the best about the game is how active it is. The inclusion of sprinting and the stamina meter makes the game feel a lot more alive and makes it more fun and exciting to go free running across the landscape. "Oh, I just need to hop up on to that ledge. I don't need to go through the climbing animation, with a little sprint, it's just a step right up." It is an easy way to make you feel like you have more control over Link and more abilities in the game. It is also nice that without using the sprint button Link still moves at a good pace so you don't feel like the sprint is the mandatory way of moving.
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| When in doubt a nice sprint through pub is enjoyable. (via GameFaqs) |
The other strength of the landscapes is the way you become familiar with them. While people have complained that the small number of environments is a sign of laziness on the part of Nintendo (or a sign of them running out of time), I think returning repeatedly to the same places breeds a familiarity that really enhances the world. Particularly the Trials of the Goddess forced you to learn the details of the areas and to become intimately familiar with them. That being said I remember fairly well the landscapes of most of the Zelda series so this may not be something that is a special feature of Skyward Sword.
The style of the game is also very good. While with Twilight Princess I found myself frequently irritated by the lower quality graphics and the textures, in Skyward Sword I never noticed these flaws, much in the same way Wind Waker looks far better and more timeless than the other 3D Zelda games. In particular making the world bright, colourful and slightly cartoony kept me from looking at the edges and thinking about why things looked the way they did. I also suspect that Nintendo did do a better job of graphics programming for Skyward Sword, but I didn't care either way.
The encounters outside of the temples were another high point in the game. While again these are not exactly novel to the Zelda series, they are given more time and effort than these types of areas have been in previous games and they broke up the learning the tool puzzles from the main dungeon/temple parts of the game. In particular the forrest area encounters were interesting and fun, while the ones for both the fire and sand areas tended to be a bit more tedious, but still not bad at all.
I liked the personality of Zelda in this game, and I liked that in this game Zelda did not spend the majority of the time kidnapped, even if she did have to spend a significant amount of time asleep. Having an active pre-existing relationship between Link and Zelda was also a nice touch rather than hunting for a mysterious princess.That being said however I also feel that there may have been a just as interesting (if not more so) version of this game where you follow Zelda instead of following Link. I think ideally in this case it would have been great to be able to play as both.
Upgrading your potions and equipment was a nice addition to the Zelda series and I like that the selection different equipment (especially shields) was important to surviving the different challenges of the game.
One of the things I felt quite strongly about is that the world, especially Skyloft is too small, especially if this is supposed to be the entire "human" population of the world. The town of Skyloft is great, but it's the only town in the over world and there are only a handful of people scattered over the rest of the space and most of them run mini-games. There's no explanation about where the knights live and there's no places where any of the characters come from. It's even mentioned how jealous some of the other knight cadets are of Zelda and Link growing up together in the "big city" near the academy, but there are no other towns where these people could possibly have come from. Did Groose live on an isolated rock until he was invited to the come to the academy? No wonder he's so unpleasant to link. "I didn't even have DIRT man!"
On a smaller scale I did not like the underground digging minigames where you had to crawl through a grid avoiding giant centipedes and pushing switches. These areas made you move too slowly, weren't interesting and really didn't measure up to the creativity expressed in the remainder of the game.
The flying aspect of the game was also a bit of a disappointment. In Wind Waker the sailing portions felt active and like you were always working towards a goal. In Skyward sword the flying is largely uninteresting and there aren't many points were you get to practice your skills or get any benefit other than getting where you were going. The different control systems for falling (tilt) and flying (control stick) was also difficult to navigate and annoying. It would have been really nice to have some jump-off-the-bird-do-something-awesome-then-hop-back-on-the-bird moments (see the Saints Row III airplane bit, but with Zelda).
For a Zelda game I also thought that the music was weaker than it might have been. That's not to say that it doesn't fit or isn't good, but I don't remember it. Unlike Link to the Past or Ocarina of Time the melodies aren't that memorable. The strength of symphonic recording shouldn't overpower the music memory of the game.
Finally I was disappointed with the Hero Mode, although possibly not fairly. I only played it for about 45 minutes. I found that there was very little from the game to admit that you had already played, knew how things worked and knew where the plot was going. Getting the option to skip cut scenes doesn't really make you feel like you're being rewarded for having made it through the game once already. In addition you got very little extra from the game, extra challenge alone is fine, but having some extra experiences would be nice as well. I guess I was hoping for something more like a New Game+ mode rather than a Challenge Mode, but I really would have like something more from Hero Mode.
Another aspect that might have made the game more interesting is focus more on the gear load out aspect. It has a minor effect in carrying potions medals, and consumables for your ranged weapons, and in choosing the right shield for the right environment but you still cary all the tools at the same time regardless of the kind of thing you're doing. It might be interesting to have different kinds of load outs for underwater missions or dangerous climate missions (more than just extra earrings).
As I mentioned earlier, one of the things I like most about this game was how familiar it made you with the land. This is definitely one the things I'd try to focus on especially in a story driven game. Making the landscape as much as a character as the people you meet in your journey is important seems to be one of the ways to really make the game memorable and visceral.
I also really enjoyed the different types of equipment and think that it would be another good concept to include in a game. While one of the things I want to avoid in an ARPG style of game is the 'bring the right tool to solve the puzzle' sections, allowing players to set their own equipment and style is an important way to allow them to invest in the game and feel attached to their character and their decisions.
I really enjoyed Skyward Sword and played nearly 60 hours of it. While it may lag a bit in spots I found that the game was pretty compelling and I was sad when it ended.
Looking at the future of the series, with either an HD Zelda or a new Link to the Past style game, I think there are a couple of things that would be good to see (or not see). The first is a really live world, where you find towns throughout the world with interesting active residents who don't even necessarily need you to solve their problems. The second is an active Zelda, the series has been moving this way, but it would be nice to see them stretch and put Zelda in a position of power and authority. The third is that it doesn't need voice acting especially for Link. There may be a way to do it without it being weird, but in it isn't necessary for a Zelda game.
The encounters outside of the temples were another high point in the game. While again these are not exactly novel to the Zelda series, they are given more time and effort than these types of areas have been in previous games and they broke up the learning the tool puzzles from the main dungeon/temple parts of the game. In particular the forrest area encounters were interesting and fun, while the ones for both the fire and sand areas tended to be a bit more tedious, but still not bad at all.
I liked the personality of Zelda in this game, and I liked that in this game Zelda did not spend the majority of the time kidnapped, even if she did have to spend a significant amount of time asleep. Having an active pre-existing relationship between Link and Zelda was also a nice touch rather than hunting for a mysterious princess.That being said however I also feel that there may have been a just as interesting (if not more so) version of this game where you follow Zelda instead of following Link. I think ideally in this case it would have been great to be able to play as both.
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| Having more fun than Link? (via GameFaqs) |
Things I Didn't Like
One of the things I felt quite strongly about is that the world, especially Skyloft is too small, especially if this is supposed to be the entire "human" population of the world. The town of Skyloft is great, but it's the only town in the over world and there are only a handful of people scattered over the rest of the space and most of them run mini-games. There's no explanation about where the knights live and there's no places where any of the characters come from. It's even mentioned how jealous some of the other knight cadets are of Zelda and Link growing up together in the "big city" near the academy, but there are no other towns where these people could possibly have come from. Did Groose live on an isolated rock until he was invited to the come to the academy? No wonder he's so unpleasant to link. "I didn't even have DIRT man!"
On a smaller scale I did not like the underground digging minigames where you had to crawl through a grid avoiding giant centipedes and pushing switches. These areas made you move too slowly, weren't interesting and really didn't measure up to the creativity expressed in the remainder of the game.
The flying aspect of the game was also a bit of a disappointment. In Wind Waker the sailing portions felt active and like you were always working towards a goal. In Skyward sword the flying is largely uninteresting and there aren't many points were you get to practice your skills or get any benefit other than getting where you were going. The different control systems for falling (tilt) and flying (control stick) was also difficult to navigate and annoying. It would have been really nice to have some jump-off-the-bird-do-something-awesome-then-hop-back-on-the-bird moments (see the Saints Row III airplane bit, but with Zelda).
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| Groose says "Hi!" (via GameFaqs) |
For a Zelda game I also thought that the music was weaker than it might have been. That's not to say that it doesn't fit or isn't good, but I don't remember it. Unlike Link to the Past or Ocarina of Time the melodies aren't that memorable. The strength of symphonic recording shouldn't overpower the music memory of the game.
Finally I was disappointed with the Hero Mode, although possibly not fairly. I only played it for about 45 minutes. I found that there was very little from the game to admit that you had already played, knew how things worked and knew where the plot was going. Getting the option to skip cut scenes doesn't really make you feel like you're being rewarded for having made it through the game once already. In addition you got very little extra from the game, extra challenge alone is fine, but having some extra experiences would be nice as well. I guess I was hoping for something more like a New Game+ mode rather than a Challenge Mode, but I really would have like something more from Hero Mode.
Things I Noticed
One aspect of the game which could have been made better was the collection of materials needed to upgrade the gear and the potions. There were points later in the game where I spent quite a bit of time wandering around certain areas of the game waiting for bugs or other materials to respawn so I could collect them. Having a scarce resourse is great and can make the game much more exciting, but for most video gamers there's no way they'll go into the final fight without all the advantages they might need (like powered up potions) if they can get them.Another aspect that might have made the game more interesting is focus more on the gear load out aspect. It has a minor effect in carrying potions medals, and consumables for your ranged weapons, and in choosing the right shield for the right environment but you still cary all the tools at the same time regardless of the kind of thing you're doing. It might be interesting to have different kinds of load outs for underwater missions or dangerous climate missions (more than just extra earrings).
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| Better bring my vacuum. (via GameFaqs) |
Things I'd Include in A Game
As I mentioned earlier, one of the things I like most about this game was how familiar it made you with the land. This is definitely one the things I'd try to focus on especially in a story driven game. Making the landscape as much as a character as the people you meet in your journey is important seems to be one of the ways to really make the game memorable and visceral.
I also really enjoyed the different types of equipment and think that it would be another good concept to include in a game. While one of the things I want to avoid in an ARPG style of game is the 'bring the right tool to solve the puzzle' sections, allowing players to set their own equipment and style is an important way to allow them to invest in the game and feel attached to their character and their decisions.
Final Thoughts
I really enjoyed Skyward Sword and played nearly 60 hours of it. While it may lag a bit in spots I found that the game was pretty compelling and I was sad when it ended.
Looking at the future of the series, with either an HD Zelda or a new Link to the Past style game, I think there are a couple of things that would be good to see (or not see). The first is a really live world, where you find towns throughout the world with interesting active residents who don't even necessarily need you to solve their problems. The second is an active Zelda, the series has been moving this way, but it would be nice to see them stretch and put Zelda in a position of power and authority. The third is that it doesn't need voice acting especially for Link. There may be a way to do it without it being weird, but in it isn't necessary for a Zelda game.
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| When in doubt fall on things. (via GameFaqs) |
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