All,
Welcome back to my running tabulation of spoiler-free Skyward Sword impressions, and thanks for following my coverage. At this point, I’ve played through the third dungeon, and as of today this information has been cleared for posting. In just the same fashion as my first, this article will aim to provide an honest source of reactions to the game as I progress. Hopefully in doing so I’ll be able to temper your expectations, whet your appetite, and answer a few broad questions about the game’s design all at once—without ruining the game for you.
So, let’s dive right in. I forgot to mention something of significant criticality in my first reactions/preview article two days ago: I love the running mechanic. The sheer freedom of being able to finally move at an expedited pace without having to resort to exploitation of the rolling mechanic is a huge improvement in my opinion, and it serves to make the considerably larger environments more digestible. I’m not quite sure how previous Zelda games ever got along without it.
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In fact, this improvement heads a list of numerous refinements which I believe help to make Skyward Sword one of the smoothest-operating 3-D Zelda titles to date. Consider: while climbing, whether on a ladder or a vine-draped wall, you can now “leap” your way along to expedite that process as well. Many small ledges don’t require a hang-then-pull-yourself-up moment, but instead Link simply hops up them athletically.
Even fast-travelling has been, for the most part, improved. Whilst in past games you had a small number of areas to which you could warp using an instrument of some sort, this time, you’re able to visit any bird statue throughout the environments to warp back to the sky, and upon descending through a hole in the clouds, you’re given your choice between previously-visited bird statues to immediately zoom to. You’re still made to fly between town and these cloud openings, but that procedure generally takes less than a minute to complete, and flying’s sort of fun anyway (plus, the music is fantastic).
Of course, many of these conveniences are tactfully mitigated through the use of limiting mechanics, such as the widely-discussed Stamina Meter, which drains while climbing, pushing, running, leaping, or performing power swipes with your sword (either horizontally or vertically rotating). It’s a cool all-inclusive way of ensuring you can’t abuse these new abilities with reckless abandon.
The entire game, in fact, is more complex than previous Zeldas. It’s sort of a pervasive theme throughout the adventure: regardless of your take on the difficulty (which I personally find to be just right up until this point), it feels like a Zelda for the hardcore. These added complexities, along with the deepened combat (primarily thanks to the angled sword swiping mechanics), make for a much more robust adventure feeling. As many have stated, it feels more like an RPG, and that sensation also extends into the various side-quests strewn throughout Link’s world.
The Lanayru Desert area, where some pretty cool novel mechanics are introduced.
How about the actual difficulty? I’ve already touched on this, but to update my reactions, I’ll go on the record saying that while the game isn’t NES hard (and it really shouldn’t be), it certainly seems to be well-balanced in this regard. There are situations where you will see the Game Over screen (I think my count was around four or five at this point), but you aren’t likely to see it more than once in the same place. Is that a bad thing? For an adventure game, I personally think it’s good. It’s challenging enough to conquer you at times, but perseverance prevails, and then you’re met with the next mental challenge in exchange.
And the mental challenges are frequent. The intra-dungeon content is massive in Skyward Sword, and plenty of it consists of tricky moments, even if they aren’t as heavily-concentrated as they are in the typical dungeon. The dungeons, on the other hand, aren’t so much small hallways leading through mazelike structures as they are massive arenas lined with platforms and other hidden elements throughout. The developers clearly wanted to exploit the game engine’s draw distance, as you can look from one end of any of these massive areas and see all the way to the other, albeit with “fuzzy” depth-of-field watercolor blurring effect applied. It really provides a sense of grand scope, and this first becomes particularly evident in none other than the third dungeon (which I’m allowed to talk about today).
Zelda or Metroid Prime?
Again, I won’t go into specifics so as not to spoil anything, but the third dungeon is when you really begin to appreciate the unique sort of Zelda experience that this game is serving up. The environments are sometimes something you might have expected rather out of Metroid Prime as opposed to a Zelda game. Not only is it considerably tougher and lengthier than the first two, but its design is quite unorthodox, and the puzzles are something entirely new to the series. Block pushing is relegated to the purpose of clearing ladders to create shortcuts between areas of the dungeon; nearly everything else consists of new concepts.
Even the content leading up to the third dungeon is unique, though at this point in the game, significant backtracking begins to rear its head. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking on this subject, however, to try and work out whether or not this bothers me, and I’m beginning to think it really doesn’t. To paraphrase fellow editor Eric Layman, I don’t mind backtracking if I enjoy the game’s world. Not to mention the fact that literally every Zelda game before this one has been at least partially defined by so-called backtracking. It’s really just a matter of exploring the world around you to reach new places.
Moreover, in this instance, the mysteries unveiled throughout the course of the task are intriguing and… well, mysterious. The enigmatic aspect of the environments and the history woven throughout them expands the depth of their appeal, even in such situations as a barren desert wasteland (which, believe me, you’ll be spending plenty of time exploring). And besides, as I mentioned in my last preview, the dowsing feature is actually helpful in keeping you from wandering too far off track in your search.
More desert wasteland.
If you’ve been spoiling things for yourself, you’ve already seen the item you find in the third dungeon. It’s a cool addition to the series that has actually been in one previous game, and it works well here. As usual, boss fights generally require some use of the treasure found in that boss’s dungeon, although don’t worry: it isn’t always terribly obvious at which point that occurs. With the third boss now thrown into the mix, I can safely say that I am enjoying Skyward Sword’s boss battles. They’re somewhat challenging, but never annoyingly so thus far. I know many people were hoping for some sort of unconquerable beasts to be included, but as far as the main game up until this point is concerned, I’d consider this well-balanced.
I’ve said that a lot, haven’t I? Indeed, balance is something I think Skyward Sword gets right so far. It paces itself in such a way that you’re ready for the next dungeon by the time you reach it, and accordingly, the dungeons are creative, sprawling behemoths that demand your attention and respect. Its art style is perfect for the platform and the franchise, a logical fusion between Wind Waker and Twilight Princess.
And some folks were asking about whether or not Fi provides unwanted advice often—the answer, thankfully, is no. She will often reiterate important points you’ve just learned, but beyond that, she generally stays out of the way. Would it make you feel better if I told you that on multiple occasions I’ve actually called for her assistance voluntarily? This isn’t Navi we’re talking about here.
One final thing to note about what’s happening in the game right now: more and more side quests are beginning to open up to me, and I’m beginning to worry about getting through enough of the game to complete my review on time. I’m really enjoying it so far, however, and I only hope it continues to surprise me going forward.
In case you haven’t already, be sure to check out our exclusive direct-feed videos from the game. More are being added every day irregularly, and I’ll continue to do so right up until my review is posted next week. Also, don’t miss our podcast (posted today), which features a solid 40 minutes of spoiler-free Skyward Sword discussion, based on my experiences up through the first three dungeons in the game!
Thanks again for following my coverage, and stay tuned for much more. Be sure to leave me any questions in the comments below!
