The bottom line is Eiji Anouma and Hidemaro Fujibayashi couldn't direct a decent Zelda game to save their lives.
Skyward Sword is absolute 110% proof positive that for the Zelda series to get back on track and "be all it can be" to borrow the old army slogan its going to need its original creators who understand it like no one else on this earth to re-unite and write and direct it, those creators of course being Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka, Miyamoto who was influenced in the series creation by the Tom Cruise movie "Legend" and his own childhood experiences and Mr. Tezuka being a fan of Tolkien and Lord Of The Rings as per his inspiration in the creation of the Zelda series.
Lastly the series perhaps even more than needing its two original creators to return needs one of its most talented writers to return that of course being Yoshiaki Koizumi who was on the writing team for both Link To The Past and Ocarina Of Time the two best games as of yet in the Zelda series.
Zelda must return to it's midieval sword and sorcery roots that are combined with a whimsical light hearted overall feel of heroism, destiny and high adventure for the series to once again thrive, ever since Eiji Anouma took it down the path of weirdness with the awful and inappropriate for the series Majora's Mask (which was a different game entirely that simply featured Link) the series has been sliding downhill straight into the gutter of mediocrity.
Nintendo simply needs to learn to create a compelling Hyrule again and stop with the gimmick ripoff worlds of Kevin Costner's Water World ala The Wind Waker, or the Star Wars Bespin/Avatar ripoff world of Skyloft and sit down and figure out how to make a huge world of Hyrule filled with things to do in it, a world which features plenty of trees, green grass, beautiful streams and lakes and plenty of hidden Zelda Hylian lore. As a Zelda fan I am interested in Hyrule's story NOT that of a gimmick world or an alternate weirdo world like Majora's Mask's Termina but HYRULE.
To get to my review of this present game in the series...
Skyward Sword deceptively starts out strong, finally Link and Zelda are to have some depth added to their characters via the featuring of anything resembling an actual coherent story being put into place for once namely its a love story featuring the two beloved Zelda characters the kind of which fans have been begging the out of touch Nintendo company to create for years since the opportunity was quite clearly missed with Ocarina Of Time's story and ending.
Many fans of that game wanted to see Link and Zelda become romantically involved and even dare I say kiss eachother at it's ending.
Well that was a missed opportunity in a sea of Nintendo's missed opportunities due to Nintendo being so thoroughly arrogant, set in their ways and completely out of touch with their fanbase.
Anyway once Skyward Sword gets going you have to go rescue your bird known as a "Loftwing" from a pack of bullies and the overall beginning feel of the game due to it's highschool type of setting somewhat is reminiscent of Rockstar's game "Bully" though this being Nintendo and being yet another step back for the Zelda series down the kiddy route ala Wind Waker don't expect much juvenile hijinks or entertainment of the riske sort that would put a little spark into the otherwise dull school environment of Skyloft.
Such would remove the game's kiddy "E for everyone" rating and make it less palatable for the soccer moms, toddlers and the senior citizen set who comprise Nintendo's apparent chosen demographic for this game.
Collectibles- gold remote is nice and had a new grainy feel when I first began using it, as for the 25th anniversary Zelda symphony CD? *Gag* I thought the music orchestrated sounded like garbage.
Controls- horrible and in need of constant recalibration and re-centering though if you listen to the lies of the Nintendo fanboy reviewers and Nintendo shills across the web the controls are put across as though they are god's gift to gaming.
*Blech!*
Bomb bowling is probably the worst and most wonky of the controls. Sword controls you can usually waggle your way to victory on just about every enemy save for the man eating plants so they're not a game breaker but their lack of cohesion is unsettling since Nintendo is widely claimed by it's fanbase to be the greatest gaming company of all time with the best controls and focus on quality of all gaming companies ever. Well perhaps they were at one time but if one is honest while playing this game one can see that Nintendo has quite clearly lost it's touch in this regard or at least with this particular game series of theirs.
The gadgets and system for utilizing them are probably the only bright spot here along with the Beetle which compared to the rest of the system seems to control near flawlessly.
Linearity- perhaps the single worst encompassing overall problem with this game is its linearity which is to say its point A to point B nature. Zelda games should be as non linear as possible like the very first entry in the series on the NES and to a lesser extent Ocarina Of Time. Zelda games should ideally be a total sandbox world that lets you take on whatever dungeon you want to finish first at any time and explore all areas in the world that you want at any time as they should all immediately be open for doing that. In Skyward Sword you have to open up each new area in fixed linear succession. This was really a huge step backwards for the Zelda series and puts it on par with other sub par shovelware games.
Graphics- a step back from Twilight Princess's more mature and dark style down the kiddy Disney route of Wind Waker (yet again) and aside from the game's art style the graphical quality is simply so poor in overrall quality when compared to titles in the same genre on superior consoles such as Skyrim you could almost believe you were playing an N64 game its so bad. The game has a very washed out look overall. That said at least Link and Zelda are dressed nicely for this one featuring perhaps Link's best pre-green tunic costume in a Zelda game to date.
Music- great in Skyloft and it's surrounding cloud island areas, and especially magnificent during the scene where you have to follow your guide "Fi" to retrieve the Goddess Sword but still overrall the music is ultimately very kiddy and Disney-esque which is a step back for the series akin to the abysmal Wind Waker offering.
The music in the three main worlds below the clouds is underwhelming to horrible especially in the volcano area and by horrible I mean simply inappropriate for the Zelda series, I can only describe the volcano area's music as goony stupid fratboy sounding music something that could've served well as the Grouse character's theme yet still not something you'd expect to or even want to hear in a game series that is supposed to be an epic midieval sword and sorcery adventure.
Game world- empty in the sky and constricted and boring down below the clouds, this is NOT Ocarina Of Time's Hyrule field that even though mostly empty itself still had far more charm and appeal than this game's three boring areas due to it's freedom and cohesiveness as one fixed and full land mass of game operating terrain for you to stomp over with your horse and explore till your heart's content. Skyward Sword's grass area by contrast simply feels boring, dull and constricting and the washed out graphics and ridiculous dumbed down kiddy yelping red colored enemies don't help matters either.
Boss Battles- amazing, probably among the very few good things about this overall underwelming Zelda game along with the Link and Zelda romance and a select few great music tracks.
Story- the Link and Zelda romance is great and long wished for by the fanbase but I don't appreciate Ganon not being in the game as it's final boss as I am a Zelda fan first and foremost and Ganon's story is intregal to the Zelda series in my opinion, I also don't appreciate Nintendo attempting to shove political correctness down my throat by featuring in Ganon's place an obvious flaming homosexual with a diamond in his ear named "Ghirahim" who confirms his particular alternative lifestyle by the suggestive grabbing of Link's "sword" during his boss battle and who sneaks up behind Link and waggles his tongue behind Link's ear in a very sexually suggestive manner for a game thats supposedly being marketed to everyone which means children as well as adults.
Characters- utterly forgetabble save for Grouse who much like Ghirahim (the openly flaming homosexual boss character) is shoved down our collective throats in one ridiculously kiddy scene after the next. Though perhaps the most detestably kiddy thing about this game other than its watered down washed out cartoony graphics are the despicably kiddy mother and father characters from the Bizarre the shop of the game's main hub area of Skyloft. The mother makes a ridiculously stupid and annoying near constant hand clapping and yells out "hey yo!" so much you'd think she was a Scott Hall fan of professional wrestling fame and his group the "New World Order" and the father is holding a baby on his back and making stupid and annoying sounds which I can only describe as sounding like a dying turkey might sound. He does this I believe out of a desire to amuse the baby on his back that is probably crying in the first place due to his father's stupid attempt at calming him down along with his mother's idiotic sound effects. So overall the scene in the Bizarre alone undoubtably confirms this games overwhelmingly kiddy nature. Its almost more disgustingly contemptably kiddy than The Wind Waker due to this utter stupidity going on in the Bizarre.
There is also the disturbingly disgusting aspect of she-male transgender characters being placed in the game and no I'm NOT joking here. The fortune teller has a grotesquely obese female body and is clearly a female but has a mustasche and the Pumpkin soup restaurant/bar owner appears to be dressed like a woman and has a woman's hairstyle but is also sporting a large mustache. Its thoroughly disgusting that Nintendo has rated this game E for everyone which means children can play it as well as adults when it features such strong political and social messages such as the approval of the homosexual lifestyle and transgender lifestyle choices. I wouldn't see the need to point this out to parents if this game were rated M for mature but it is not. Its rated E for everyone despite having these disturbing and seemingly politically motivated themes.
Enemies- most can be waggled through to victory, some can't, overall so-so, I'd prefer future Zelda games go darker with the enemies have more knights in armor to fight and do away with that idiotic piano music or whatever plays while you strike enemies that started with the awful Wind Waker title and carried over to Skyward Sword. Also Nintendo should get rid of the stupid cartoon purple smoke and lame explosion sound effect and either go the mature sword slashing creates blood from enemies route and clanking steel sound effects of sword on steel armor ala Bethesda's Skyrim or return to the sound effects of OOT and MM along with enemies simply evaporating and maybe leaving behind rupees and items as they did in those past games as well. The Wind Waker kiddyness and stupidity needs to be left behind for the Zelda series to progress and move forward. Also remove the stupid triangle among targeted enemies heads. Its unnecessary, kiddie and totally lame as is the accompanying sound effect. Try again Nintendo.
Overall score for this Zelda game in my view: 7.5
So its a semi-good game and worth at least one playthrough which is about all I think anyone will be able to stomach due to it's poor controls, boring feel, ugly eyesore washed out kiddie graphics and total linearity so feel free to rent or borrow this one if you're a casual gamer.
Hardcore Zelda fans will get this one regardless just to complete their Zelda library.
It is definitely NOT the best Zelda game ever made and certainly not an experience to rival or even top Ocarina Of Time, to borrow a quote of Obi Wan Kenobi "This is NOT the Zelda game you're looking for".
So indeed the Zelda series is sick and dying and only Shigeru Miyamoto, Takashi Tezuka and Yoshiaki Koizumi can save it.
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Very happy with the game. Everything included but wiimote is FILTHY and the box is VERY damaged. Worth 90-100 not 120
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