The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
IGN Rating: 10
System: Wii
Release Year: 2011


When reviewing a video game it is common to break it down into various categories and rate the game both in individual categories and as a whole. When I review the individual categories for Skyward Sword, I would consider it to be the best Zelda game created. The Legend of Zelda series is an iconic game series featuring protagonist Link trying to save the land of Hyrule and princess Zelda from the evil Gannon. The stories typically feature Link trying to return the omnipotent Triforce back to Zelda's royal family in order to bring peace back to Hyrule. The Zelda series is right up there with Mario in terms of video game importance in my book, so picking the best game out of the series is like picking the best player on the Dream Team or voting for Playmate of the Year - there's some stiff competition and a lot of great entities to choose from.

There is no question Skyward Sword has the best game play of the franchise. I've always thought of motion controls as somewhat of a fad - good for non-serious games like Wii Sports but not so good for "real" games. I have since changed my mind. The 1:1 sword movements with the Wii Motion Plus on this game are amazing. You actually have to swing your controller in certain directions in order to attack enemies, depending on how they are blocking. It adds tremendous depth to the game play and eliminates "button mashing." Sometimes I wish I could just press a button to do simple things but when fighting enemies the game play is just awesome. I never want to go back to the old way of doing things. My only complaint here are that you frequently have to recalibrate the controller, which is only a button press, but does get annoying.

The series is known for it's ornate temples that Link must conquer in order to progress through the game. The temples require intelligent problem solving skills and feature unique and interesting themes. Skyward Sword probably has the best temples of the series, especially in the second half of the game. They are unique and just awesome to play through. The Sandship and the Ancient Cistern were a couple of my favorites.

The graphics are the best the series has seen as well. At first I wasn't a big fan of the Japanese anime-style graphics, but they quickly grew on me and I think they suit the series well. The game is fantasy based so I think graphics that are too realistic would be goofy, and yet a normal cartoon appearance would be too childish. I just wish Nintendo would catch up to where the rest of the video game industry was over 5 years ago and go hi-def. I'd love to see this series in 1080p.

As with everything else in the series, the games feature a fantastic soundtrack. Overall I don't think the music in Skyward Sword is as good as previous games, but it still has some great songs and kudos to Nintendo for finally utilizing an orchestra to perform in the game.

In general I'm not a big fan of action-adventure, fantasy, role-playing games or titles such as The Lord of the Rings, so it is somewhat unusual for me to like the Zelda series in the first place. It has a huge nostalgia factor with my childhood, starting with the great SNES title A Link to the Past from 1992, and I've been hooked on the series since. Many, including myself, regarded 1998's Ocarina of Time to be the best video game ever created. In my opinion, Ocarina held the designation of the best Zelda game until 2006 when Twilight Princess was released. Maybe it was because it was originally released for the Game Cube, or maybe it was because I wasn't really playing games at the time of its release (I was busy with med school at the time.), but I always felt like Twilight Princess flew under the radar. It definitely did not get the attention Ocarina received, and yet I felt like it was better than Ocarina.

To me, Twilight Princess was like Ocarina on steroids. It contained Hyrule and all of the familiar places from Ocarina and A Link to the Past, but everything was bigger and more grand. It also had several new places to explore. The story was intriguing, unique, and dark. The music was the best the series has seen, even still, in my opinion. And even in their infancy, the Wii motion controls worked really well for the game.

The problem that I have with Skyward Sword is that a lot of this nostalgia is gone. There is no Hyrule. Instead you live on some random island in the sky, and instead of traveling by horse, you fly around on birds. It's really random and honestly I don't care for it at all. There are no fields or lands to explore really, instead you just fly directly to the locations you need to be. Skyrim this game is not.

Speaking of the locations, they feel "man made" to me in this game. They feel like obstacle courses created specifically for adventure. After playing games like Skyrim and the desert stages in Uncharted 3, some of these locations are somewhat disappointing. I think some of this is due to the limitations of the Wii, but it is tough traveling back to 2002 when I'm playing games in 2012. And you return to the same locations over and over again in this game, so you spend a ton of time in each location. I would love to see this series in high-def and have a bit more of an open-world, more realistic feel.

One of the reasons why you return to the same locations over and over again is because the game has a number of find and retrieve portions which to me serve no purpose other than to be annoying and take up time in-between the temples, which as mentioned above is where all of the fun is located. And while we're on the topic of annoying, I have no idea why Nintendo thought it would be a good idea to remind me of the obvious every time the obvious occurred. I do not need to be interrupted and told every time my hearts are low. I know they are low because (1) there is a heart meter on the screen, (2) the game already beeps at me when I'm low on hearts, and (3) I am likely getting my ass kicked in a battle at the time. Making me interrupt the game so that I can be notified of all of this is really just pointless.

I know this post was super long and likely doesn't excite the interests of most of the readers. However, it took me 45 hours to beat this game and it is one of my favorite game series of all time, and there are only a couple of games per decade released in this series, so I thought it deserved a large post. Don't get me wrong with some of my complaints. Skyward Sword is the best game made for the Wii and probably the best game of the Zelda franchise. For me, however, it is a game where the total does not equal the sum of the individual parts. For as great as the game is, I miss Hyrule and the familiar locations and themes that I am used to. I realize that Nintendo can't keep making the same game and so changes have to be made, and to be fair, most of my complaints are minor compared to all of the pros offered in the game. However, if I had to pick which game I thought was best, I would still pick Twilight Princess. To make sure I am remembering correctly, I have started replaying Twilight Princess. I beat the game in 2009, which is the last time I've played it. I'm an hour in currently and I miss the Wii Motion Plus already. Final verdict on this debate to come in a few months when I finish Twilight Princess for the second time.