3. Skyward Sword
Skyward Sword is the Zelda game I’ve had the strangest history with in the series. Back in 2011 I was beside myself with excitement for this game.
I’d sat out the entire Wii generation with the exception of Super Mario Galaxy (what a freakin’ game, am I right?) so in order to play Skyward Sword I borrowed a Wii from a friend, saved up for my copy and bought it day one with the intention of playing it through then returning said Wii.
I got as far as the first dungeon before throwing the game away in fury.
It had stupid motion controls that didn’t work, it was slow even by Zelda standards to get going and the simple fact is I’m really lazy.
Videogames facilitate my laziness, that’s one of the things I love the most about them. I get to lay there like the lazy bastard I am and simply by wiggling my thumbs a bit, I’m hijacking a car and running over old ladies or frolicking through space as a wee red plumber.
Little did I know at the time, however, that the motion bar on the Wii I’d borrowed was totally broken. This, coupled with the fact I had to STAND to play Zelda was enough for me to just let go of the whole idea, despite my undying love for the series. I just did not enjoy it.
Fast forward two years and I’ve bought myself a Wii U, played through Wind Waker yet again and afterwards found myself thinking ‘why not give Skyward Sword another chance?’ This turned out to be one of the best gaming decisions I’ve ever made. The Wii U’s upscaling breathes fresh life into the game, making it absolutely stunning to behold.
Compensating for the Wii’s rather limited draw distance, the developers had environments blur into an impressionist-looking landscape the further away from them you get and the result is simply gorgeous in HD. In playing with a functioning motion bar, the difference was night and day to what I experienced before.
Don’t get me wrong, the motion controls are by no means perfect. They still require quite a bit of patience on the part of the player and I can totally understand people having a problem with that. Games should be fun and easy and any difficulty they present should never be because of the controls not entirely working the way they should.
Personally though, the times where the golden beetle has just completely ignored my gestures and flown off in a totally random direction were worth pushing past to get further in the game.
Towards the end of the game I was totally used to the controls and I got a real kick out of using a lot of them. The bow in particular felt very cool to use, drawing the nunchuck back and loosing the arrow by taking your finger off the c button feels very cool and natural.
This is by far the prettiest of the Zelda games in my opinion, the environments are nothing short of breath-taking for the most part. The creativity in terms of environmental design that I felt was lacking in Twilight Princess is here in full force, whether that be Skyloft or any of the locations on the ground, they all have a great other-wordly feel to them.
The soundtrack is, as usual, on top form, easily one of the best scores in any videogame let alone the series specifically. From the soaring piece that plays as you take to the sky upon your bird pal, to the chilling, cold, slow rhythms of the Sacred Realm sections, the game is a treat to the ears as much as the eyes.
There is one thing about this game, however, that is a massive, massive pain to me throughout and that’s Fi. Fi is by far the most annoying character in Zelda for me, a series which has Tingle in it. Tingle is annoying in an endearing sort of way, Fi is just the worst.
Whenever Fi says something, she always prefaces it with something along the lines of ‘’I calculate an 80% probability that…’’ And I don’t know about you but all that says to me is that there’s a solid 20% chance she could be talking out her arse and you’ll have flown your loftwing miles only to find Beedle doing a poo.
As if they thought that wasn’t annoying enough the other tasks she’s given are to constantly harass you with things you already know, offer the worst advice ever and generally be the most tedious and grating character to appear in the series to date. I have to applaud them for creating a character that makes me long for Navi’s shrill ‘Hey, listen!’ Perhaps that was their plan all along.
If I’m talking about Skyward Sword, it would be a crime not to mention the incredible, flamboyant, suave badass that is Ghirahim.
Ghirahim is definitely my favourite Zelda villain. His cool, calm demeanour at many points in the game just breaks and he unleashes raw anger, and then slips right back into being calm, collected and down-right flirtatious. He manages to be really extremely hard not to admire while also being really intimidating in boss sections. I just about wet myself the first time I tried to swing my sword at him and he just caught it with his index and middle fingers and chuckled. He’s easily the most charismatic of the villains in the series for me and I can’t wait to play as him in Hyrule Warriors.
This game is one that I feel gives you only as much as you put into it. If you’re not willing to suffer occasional annoyance, I would sit this one out, but if you feel like you want to check it out or give it another try, get a hold of a Wii U and hook it up to a TV that’s at a level where you can sit comfortably and play it.
Don’t stand; your legs will probably get tired before you even start enjoying it or figuring out what you’re doing in a given dungeon.
All in all, I’m very happy I gave this game a second chance.
Burn in Hell Fi/10
