WeView Verdict: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

While I may hold the opinion that Skyward Sword is one of the best games of this generation, it seems that not everyone agrees. There were only five responses (and only one with a rating) this week but there still managed to be many varied opinions amongst the comments.

Alex only managed to play the game for “about an hour” which is surprising since he’s a massive Zelda fan like me. His reasoning for this was “the waggle controls”, adding in that he found it “frustrating”. It’s the only Zelda game he’s never finished (better than me, I’ve never even completed Majora’s Mask or Wind Waker) which is definitely saying something.

Alex wasn’t alone in his dislike of the motion controls, AshCarhart stated that it was the only thing that he didn’t see as an improvement, after the controls did a number on his wrist with Twilight Princess. He was more positive in general, though, stating that everything else was an improvement and if it weren’t for the controls “and nostalgia it would be a definite contender for my favorite in the series”.

Continuing on with the positivity, Dom El described Skyward Sword as “A fantastic and beautiful adventure that makes incredible use of Nintendo’s hardware” and put it “amongst the best Zelda games”, just trailing behind The Wind Waker as his favourite title. He finished his succinct review by stating that if you have the right hardware (a Wii, a Wii U or even a Wii Mini) then “you have to buy this game as it’s easily amongst the best Nintendo games ever made.”

Megamoppy had quite a bit to say about the game, highlighting the problems along with its merits. They said that they really enjoyed the game but there were a few discrepancies that meant it could never live up to Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask or The Wind Waker. No problems with the controls here – they “worked brilliantly 90% of the time” – and they praised the music and the “beautiful” art style.

The problems arose with the padding towards the end of the game, which Dan highlighted in his review. It “probably should have been ten hours longer” states Megamoppy, before stating that the NPCs in Skyloft are good but there simply aren’t enough people dotted around the world. This I’d agree with – it is a very “sparse and empty” environment compared to other games. They also said that the storyline was too simple even though “the beginning set it up beautifully”.

Finally, Megamoppy stated that the enemies weren’t varied enough. This all seemed a bit negative but a Buy It rating on the end reinforces the fact that “it is great” despite the negativity.

Everyone else forgot to add a rating on the end of their review but it was easy to see that the reaction was mostly positive. I wouldn’t say there were any Avoid It ratings in there, as Alex never really got enough time to experience the game. It seems like a unanimous Buy It then, with Eldave0 summing it up nicely:

An excellent adventure that pushed the Wii hardware so much I’m sure my console used to cry itself to sleep at nights. With brilliant pacing and plenty to do this is basically an essential purchase in my opinion.

So, yeah, go and buy it basically. Especially if you’re a fan of Zelda games.

Looking to the future, we have the poll for next week’s WeView. Tomorrow we’ll be covering Dante’s Inferno, as that topped last week’s poll. That, obviously, means it drops off the poll, as does The Amazing Spider-Man, as it came in last. Replacing them are Sleeping Dogs, a game that somehow hasn’t appeared for WeView yet, and Red Faction: Armageddon. As always the poll is open until the end of Sunday.

2 Comments

  1. If I ever pick up a Wii U I will buy this game with it. Can’t let this one slip through my fingers.

  2. I bought it recently, but as I’m still journeying through Twilight Princess on my adventure through the Wii catalogue, the only disc I’ve played is the music CD it came with.

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