There are too many things said about games like these. Divisive games like these. On one hand, praise can be doled out by the paragraph, focusing on what is immaculate in design and flawless in execution, and on the other hand, chagrin can be just as equally forceful and, really, warranted. Unfortunately, duality exists, and must be reconciled. But, which is right? Too often, the sides at war assume that there must be a victor, a loser, and a defined line of good and bad. There’s a battle for a cognizant understanding of every facet of a game’s shortcomings when, in hindsight, the only battle is to try and understand why the battle matters.
Skyward Sword is, perhaps, the most polarizing game from the Zelda series, much to the relief of The Wind Waker from a decade ago. And, much like The Wind Waker, the divide is clear. However, the divide is much more broad in terms of issues and more specific in terms of each player’s perception of said issues; unlike The Wind Waker’s art design, Skyward Sword has an amalgam of elements that hurt the overall experience. Those will be examined. In great detail. This likely will be the most lengthy and weighty review I will ever do, and is the most I’ve ever dissected a game. Please, be warned. Skyward Sword has earned the effort, on both good and bad accounts. The most apt description of the game would be the image of a bird in a glass house, flying to what it assumes to be new heights, only to be brought back down to earth by the realities of disappointment and lost potential. But those heights, though. Do they mean anything?
Skyward Sword begins with a cutscene describing a battle that occurred long before the present day, with Hylia, A.K.A. The Goddess, protecting the humans by lifting them on an island into the clouds, hereby known as Skyloft. Skyloft is immediately full of potential as a unique hub to the series. It’s not solely mountains, caves, or lakes, and it allows for exploration through both height and distance. And, to a degree, the game accomplishes this mission. The main sky island contains most of the required shops and stops Link needs to upgrade weapons and items, while other smaller islands with sidequests and minigames. The specifics will come later, but it’s a welcome, albeit unfulfilled, promise towards unique exploration in the series.
The opening cutscene sets up the atmosphere well. With multiple panning shots of the island, the player sees a central tent, a few large, important-looking buildings, a few smaller houses on the edge of the island, and, most noticeably, a statue looming above the entire island. None of these things are expressly labeled in the scene, but the statue looms large. It can reasonably be assumed that the statue is of great importance, much akin to the Rio de Janeiro statue of Jesus, and the search for why it exists and is meaningful is an important one for the player. In a world almost defined by its lore at this juncture, adding to a player’s desire for explanation aids in the introduction of a new setting and story.
We are then introduced to Link who is, once again, having a dream about evil. A massive grey-scaled creature with rows upon rows of teeth threatens to swallow him whole when, calling from above, a mysterious purple-and-blue figure tells Link that it is time for him to awaken and fulfill his destiny. Then, Link is truly awakened by a Loftwing, the birds seen prevalently earlier, who gives him a letter from Zelda. The letter immediately contrasts this Zelda to the one in Twilight Princess and other games; she’s a person this time around. There’s no real relational reason to save the kingdom in the former game because the princess is a bland rice cake; here, Zelda is first and foremost a friend. Granted, the Non-Hyrule setting with no kingdom to rule helps this fact, but it still focusses the quest. The letter tells Link to meet her at the Goddess Statue, which sets Link in motion.
Much like Twilight Princess, though, Skyward Sword begins with a slew of tutorial tasks, ranging from familiar autojump and ledge-climbing to new dash and vine-shimmying mechanics. For the new ones, the tutorials can be appreciated, as first-time players aren’t used to these actions, especially a Link who can move quickly without the annoying rolling and yelling. The dash mechanic is a welcome change, even with the stamina meter it forces to drain. It requires some strategy during certain bosses and obstacles, as Link must conserve his energy for the long fights, which can be grating at times but is a good addition. In general, however, this introduction is annoyingly overlong, because we don’t as players need to be stopped to read instructions on how to push a box or lift a barrel. It’s a new game, yes, but the actions have been done plenty of times, and doesn’t need multiple interruptions to describe.
So after that little excursion (and saving a cat from the roof of the Knight Academy… for whatever reason), Link can meet Zelda, who is singing a song. Cutscenes follow, which is either very good or very bad, depending on your viewpoint. I would say it’s slightly more bad than good, but still the good can’t be ignored. It takes Skyward Sword a very, very long time to give control and freedom to the player to explore the world and advance the game. But, it does set up the impetus for Link’s entire quest. He loves Zelda, and she him, and it feels genuine. Unfortunately, the bad is very prevalent, as something I like to call “Skyloft High” drones on, with Groose, Link’s bully, engaging in childish arguments about who’d win a race and how Link is “pathetic,” ending with Link trying to find his Loftwing, which Groose and others hid. It’s a detraction from what would have been a decent introductory moment were it more focused. Had it been simply Link and Zelda spending time together, as they say they did, and then tragedy striking, it would have served the pacing better. As is, though, the setting is decent enough to want to explore further, but the game prods the player in a set direction and prevents the player to form any organic connections to the world. Maybe it rewards patience, but it’s a bother.
The story chops right along with Link and Zelda searching for the Loftwing, wherein Zelda mentions hearing a faint voice, much like Link had in his dream, and wanting to visit “Foreshadowing Land.” Link finds the Loftwing no less than 15 seconds after this exchange, goes out to test the bird a bit, then is immediately thrust into the race mentioned earlier. The Loftwing controls with Wiimote tilt controls, where tilting directs the bird, A charges it forward, and B slows it down, which I rarely used. It works okay, all things considered, but it can be uncomfortable when flying from one end of the sky to another. Too much tilt of the wrist for too long makes the old sailing days feel like a happy memory.
After the race, Link and Zelda participate in a ceremony on top of the Goddess Statue, which does express some self-awareness from the Zelda development team. Zelda gives Link the Sailcloth, essentially a parachute should Link fall from great heights. In this exchange, and as music builds, there’s that little jingle as Link poses with the Sailcloth above his head, as he has with so many other items over the years. Zelda rebukes Link for doing so, reminding him that it’s a serious ceremony. It’s humorous to see this self-awareness, but it’s also like a bad comedian admitting his jokes are bad. You just wish the whole thing would end rather than letting the self-deprecation continue. After Link jumps off of the statue to complete the ceremony, Zelda asks if he and she could spend the afternoon flying around Skyloft, which, of course, he agrees to. Then, tragedy strikes: a massive dark tornado appears, sucking Zelda below and sending Link hurling towards Skyloft unconscious. While recovering, he dreams of Zelda, falling into the scaled creature’s gaping mouth, at which point he is startled awake. Gaepora, Zelda’s father, awaits Link to make sure he was recovering and to ask what had happened. As Gaepora leaves, Link hears the faint call of the figure he heard in his first dream. With this, he is sure to scout the situation out.
Outside his door, the figure hovers above him, quietly and calmly leading him out of the Knight Academy, around the Goddess Statue’s island, and behind the statue itself. A doorway appears and opens, leading Link into the inner chamber hidden within the statue. Here, Link sees a humble teal-hilted sword set in a stand. It’s here where the mysterious figure gains a name.
“According to your social customs, I should provide you with my personal designation. Fi is the name I was given. I was created for a single purpose, long before the recorded memory of your people. I must aid you in fulfilling the great destiny that is your burden to carry.”
Fi, the mostly-faceless and emotionless character, introduces herself as Link’s companion. And, in this initial introduction, everything about it works well. There’s mystique about her, a shroud over why this figure has just now become a part of the plight. Here, she simply states the circumstances of her arrival, provides Link with the knowledge that Zelda is alive, and that removing the sword would be the first step in getting her back. With this, Link grabs the sword, lifts it skyward, and the title is achieved.
Gaepora enters the chamber, surprised and in awe that the legends of Skyloft were coming to pass before his very eyes. He speaks with Link about the legends, quoting from generations past, as Fi scolds the verbal tradition and corrects the time-altered legend. After this new translation, Link receives a large stone tablet that, when placed into a pedestal within the chamber, lights and opens a portal to the world below. Once these things transpire, Link and Gaepora share some words.
One of my favorite parts about how some cutscenes work is the ability to select Link’s response; he rarely gets any input on conversations and these choices allow the player to have some say on the story and thus the character. Although he is still an empty vessel, a few of the inputs feel important. My favorite, when Gaepora summarizes the legend and pleading for Link to make the legends true, Link can reply, “It’s so much…” It’s always been important to me that the hero doesn’t just easily jump into the fight without trepidation. Wind Waker does this well, where the reasons Link goes on the quest are well established. Dude loves his sister, ignoring the dangers because of that love. Here, Link is genuinely worried about Zelda. Everything about this moment is great. The music punctuates the journey’s forthcoming weight, passing the brief few moments of calm before the storm. And Fi’s presence is both concise and informative. No complaints about her or the moment.
But, you just HAD to ruin her, didn’t you? You couldn’t let at least a few solitary moments pass without destroying the build-up?
Okay, I’m going to lay it out flat. Fi sucks. From the end of that introduction to the final boss, Fi is a nuisance that has no equal, and is culpable for nearly 80% of Skyward Sword’s basic, fundamental problems. Throughout this review, rants about how detrimental she is to enjoying the game will occur. As such, I will define quite clearly why her existence is the worst thing to happen to the Zelda series since Wind Waker’s Triforce Quest.
Fi’s most prevalent problem is interrupting the player to interject some not-so-helpful advice about the situation and what Link should do. Her first offense, for example, is stating that, since Link doesn’t have a shield, that Link should find a shield. As if we, without her help, would ignore the NPC and his speech bubble that gives Link a shield for merely talking to him. And, even if the player ignores the bubble, what difference does it make? It’s their choice to play the game with or without the shield, or at least it should be. Entering this review, I made it a mission to count how many of these interruptions occur. For future reference, an interruption, as I defined it, is any time Fi pops out of the sword, stops forward progress, speaks, and re-enters the sword. Cutscenes do not count, and player-triggered conversations do not count. Everything else is fair game. In part two, I will reveal this number, because it is truly inexcusable.
But these interruptions aren’t as crippling early on. It’s understandable that certain mechanics should be explained once or, if the player needs them to be, explained again. When Link, after all the preparations are made to fly to the land below, reaches the surface, Fi makes Link aware of an ability called dowsing, where the player can scan for an aura or specific item by pointing the Wii Remote at the screen. In the first playthrough, the importance of dowsing is important enough to ignore the constant barrage of reminders. However, this doesn’t excuse the fact they can’t be skipped. The problem would be fixed if, when on the screen HUD, a purple bar would light up if new dowsing targets were in range. This eliminates any back-and-forth the “Press C to begin dowsing” and the accompanying pointer motions from taking as long as they do.
Dowsing is our introduction to the actual world of the game, where Link is dropped into the Sealed Grounds within Faron Woods. A weathered building overlooks a craterous hole in the ground, where a small black pillar rests at the bottom. Before advancing, Link is directed to this pillar, as it ominously asks Link to hit it with a Skyward Strike, where holding the sword vertically for a second or so charges the sword and a swing releases an attacking beam. Link obliges, although in hindsight it may not have been a great idea, creating geysers that allow Link to float up the crater rather than walking the ramp around the entire hole. After this, the door to the old building, sealed off before hitting the spike, opens and Link enters.
Within, a mostly-empty corridor is filled with sunlight peering through the cracked roof, and a robed figure sits in front of a great cracked wall. When approached, the figure, an old woman hunched beneath a pointed red-capped robe, speaks to Link as the child of fate descended from the clouds, lavishing many a destiny-laden word upon him. Summarizing the history surrounding the place, Link has arrived at a temple built by the Goddess millennia ago and must now fulfill his part in a great destiny, even as an evil entity attempts to warp it.
As she pushes him towards beginning his journey, she provides Link with the ability to create beacons, which place markers in the outside world that pinpoint the location the player highlights on the map. Unfortunately, you cannot advance in the game without placing the beacon exactly on the “X.” So, if you didn’t want to use beacons, well, too bad. On the whole, beacons are incredibly helpful with many things in the game, primarily later sidequests and exploration quests. But, like dowsing earlier, the forced use (or highly prodded use) make the player want to be a bratty kid, screaming “Whatever, Dad!” Anyhow, with a few more words and the request for Link to take the contents of the treasure chest within the room (a bottle), Link can once again progress.
Once Link exits the temple, he enters Faron Woods, with Fi’s brilliant explaining that the woods “are home to plants and animals.” Now, this is said with less blunt verbage, but the central premise is the same, and brutally annoying. It’s very strange that the game feels it necessary to deliver information to the player that is so clearly visible, and to make sure the player uses the new mechanics presented five minutes prior. The contention here, in a nutshell, is that the player would use these mechanics if they, indeed, helped them. When a camper tries to stay warm in the woods at night, if they have a lighter or some skill with rocks, they’ll make a fire. There’s no need for them to be told to do so. Here, there’s no need to reinforce the concepts and information around them. It should be clear that it’ll help them, and the game should be able to let that alone suffice. If they fail to use what helps them, it’s on them, and that’s completely fine.
What makes this entire concept so painful is the next segment, where Link meets the Kikwi, half-penguin, half-bush creatures (and yeah, that’s likely the best way to describe them) that have been forced to hide from the Bokoblins pestering the woods. Surrounding one poor fellow are a few of these easily defeated monsters, at which point the Kikwi assumes Link is one of them and flees. At this point, Fi pops out again, reminding Link “Hey, you know, I sense Zelda’s Aura… Remember dowsing? Yeah, dowse some more.” Which Link can do, in this case, to find where the little bugger ran off to, convincing him that he won’t eat him and will help his friends. Once the Kikwi is calmed a smidge, he says that a female human was with the Kikwi elder and that finding him may help Link find the girl.
Again, not sure what this can be described as.
Cue another instance of Fi asking Link to dowse, and another search for a Kikwi. There are two camps as to this whole sequence’s main issue. One camp accepts that this is a First-Play game, focussed on getting the player through a single playthrough and only that; the other camp begrudges it for not letting the player go at their own pace in all playthroughs. I, with more than one playthrough under my belt, wholeheartedly agree with the second mentality. Although I understand the need for new players, both to the series and to the game itself, to understand how to progress, Fi does not trust the player nearly enough to find out how to for themselves. There’s a reason adventures shouldn’t be on someone else’s time constraints, and Skyward Sword feels like it is on Fi’s impatient schedule too often.
After searching for a bit, Link finds the Kikwi elder, a massive version of the little guy seen earlier. He mentions that he remembers a girl, but can’t really remember specifics because of his worries about his tribe’s whereabouts and that finding them will ease his worries and clear his memories. So, another hide-and-go-seek mission ensues. The same issues found earlier persist, with Fi mentioning every single Kikwi’s addition to the map, how many remain, and to continue dowsing for others. It’s a drag, and was lame this playthrough more than I remembered it being. Other than that, nothing too atrocious happens, and Link returns to the big guy and informs him his tribe is safe and sound.
He’s relieved and remembers that Zelda had gone deeper into the woods, telling Link an item he’d hidden in his back-pouch will help him find her. Yeah, it’s odd. Within is a slingshot, better known in the Zelda world as the bow and arrows for first graders. Their inclusion is slightly more bearable because of the time between getting the slingshot and the bow and arrow, which is far too short in Twilight Princess. The slingshot requires aiming at the screen and pressing A to shoot. Nothing too annoying in the motion control department, although I always seem to have a problem with putting it away by thinking to fire with B, as if I was in an archery minigame from games past. Who knows.
The slingshot allows Link to shoot down curled vines that grant access to the deeper parts of the woods, which leads him down the path towards the next temple. In the way, however, are balancing vines, where Link must stay upright on a tightrope and cross gaps. This is infuriating at times, and although it is seen earlier, is particularly annoying here, where barbs on the vines can explode and send Link falling. The motion control aspect is also awful, where, unlike Mario Galaxy’s rolling ball levels, the upright-to-maintain-balance stance does not always read correctly. Leaning is far too common and can occur when the player doesn’t even want to lean. Crossing these ropes is ruined by these issues.
Ahead of Link in this area of the woods is a Goron archaeologist Link saved earlier before dealing with all that dowsing nonsense. Nothing of note could be said about him previously, but now he has a useful lesson: Goddess Cubes. These grey blocks are scattered across the Surface and, when hit with a Skyward Strike, send a beacon to the clouds that opens a treasure chest in the Sky. These are filled with rewards that give Link rupees, treasures that help Link upgrade his shield or weapons, which is awesome, or badges that provide him with added heart spawns, rupees, and other treasures. Whenever Link returns to the sky, the map lights up with markings indicating where these treasures lie and, outside of some not being available the moment after they are unlocked due to lack of equipment, are a reason to explore the worlds in search for these cubes.
This discovery leads Link to the seemingly quaint first dungeon, which takes around three or so hours to reach, the second straight game which takes far too long to reach the first dungeon. Before this, however, Fi directs Link’s attention to the bird statue nearby, stating that they can send Link back to the Sky, as well as save the game. If Link wants to discover the treasures he unlocked, he can do so here, which is actually a nice gesture. But, not much else in the sky is truly worth discovering at this point, leading Link to search for a way to open the door (ANOTHER thing Fi had to tell Link to do), which he finds in the form of a pink crystal he can shoot with the slingshot, allowing him to enter the Skyview Temple.
Man, does it take forever to get to the first temple. Before even talking about the temple, a few things do stand out from the entire process it took to get here. It’s a fundamental shift from Zelda 1, where the dungeon would be accessible in minutes, which is well documented. Skyward Sword is more methodical in its approach to puzzles, and it tries to make the puzzles outside the temples as intricate as some of the temple’s own. And, in some later points in the game, this approach works and is welcome. The intro to this area, however, left me weary of the game, that after around 3 hours of plowing through the introduction to the game, I had neither made substantial progress nor learned anything important about the story, characters, or experienced any intricate gameplay. Outside of dowsing, which I over-learned.
The dungeon itself, though, is fairly straightforward, although a few of the puzzle elements are more complicated than other first-dungeon staples. Some require Link to swim under a ledge in order to hit a diamond switch underneath that raises the water slightly, allowing him to reach vines he could not before. Hidden areas like these are better than if every switch and target were in plain sight, and it’s one of the few times the goal isn’t blatantly obvious. Another challenge is an eyeball-spinning puzzle where Link’s sword must be spun to dizzy an eye to open a door, which isn’t challenging but is unique to Zelda with its motion controls. The other challenges revolve around the dungeon item, the Beetle, which is a motion-controlled flying item that can cut rope and spider webs, hit far-off switches, and damage certain enemies. The controls, for the most part, feel good, but calibration can ruin the tilt direction and ascending is difficult at times. But the Beetle works well and is one of the few items with true progression as the game progresses.
The temple boss is our introduction to the main antagonist, Ghirahim, or, as he would like to be called, “Lord Ghirahim.” His introduction, like Fi’s, is very well done. Flamboyant to the point of eccentricity, Ghirahim seems more concerned with breaking Link down than defeating him; his disappearing acts and general creepyness seek to weaken Link’s resolve, and it’s a welcome change from Ganon’s imposing demeanor. The fight with him, though, is lackluster. There’s nothing that makes it more than a simple sword fight, where Link slices in the right direction and slices away when Ghirahim is vulnerable after blocking his charge attack to defeat him. After a few successful slashes, he is vanquished and disappears.
Link had been told earlier that Zelda had gone ahead to fulfill her part of the destiny; here, we are given more context. At the end of the temple is a sacred spring with a smaller form of the Goddess Statue seen in Skyloft, where Zelda had been praying not minutes earlier. Another instance of “Oops, juuuust missed her,” but it serves the purpose that Zelda isn’t simply sitting around waiting for Link this time, like she has before. Fi recites a message the Goddess gave her to aid the hero in his quest, which is choreographed to a dance that is quite a new backdrop to text-only directions previously seen. These tell Link to return to the Sky and prepare to find the other spring in the Eldin region. After this information is presented to Link, Fi re-enters the sword and warps Link out of the temple.
Curious thing here, though. At the end of cutscenes where Fi presents dialogue, she re-enters the sword, just as one would expect. However, once reassigned control of the game out of the cutscene, Fi re-appears to reiterate the very instructions given from the cutscene. There’s a few excuses for this, and none of them work. The first is that the temple ends with a save and quit, which one could assume a player could use and not return to the game for a long time. The second is that the appearance gives specific instruction that would ruin the gravitas of the cutscene. Either way, having her appear, disappear, reappear, and disappear again makes no logical sense. Either have her remain out of the sword in the scene, or trust the player to seek out help when they need it. Don’t waste the time deciding to go outside or stay inside. Pick a spot.
The return to Skyloft allows for a brief description of two Skyloft staples, those being the Bazaar and treasures. The Bazaar is a central shop where all of the shops reside underneath a larger tent. This is one of the best improvements Skyward Sword makes over the other games in the series. In Ocarina, for example, there was no real need to enter the shops in Hyrule Castle Town. I’ve never bought a potion in Ocarina, ever. Part of this is because the load time entering and exiting the shop isn’t worth the potion as opposed to a load-less fairy. Here, all of the shops existing in the same area is brilliant. Want to fix your battered shield? Do it here. Want to move items to and from your inventory? Do it here. The only exception to this is Beetle’s Airship, which sells higher-end items, a Bug Net, and a heart piece later in the game, but there’s no back and forth seen previously. Centralizing the shops works quite well.
The shield upgrades and fixing, among other things, is also a good addition, although it comes with a terrifying side effect. The game allows Link to, after collecting a set number of specific treasures, to upgrade his weapons and improve his shield’s durability. With a few rupees and these treasures, Link’s Beetle, for example, can be upgraded to fly faster or withstand more damage from enemies. This allows the treasures to be more useful than Joy Pendants and the like, because they improve Link’s combat and make marginal changes to his skill set. The bad news, however, is how the treasures are presented.
Here’s a real-world example. I’m a big fan of Starburst. There’s Red, Yellow, Orange, and Pink in a normal pack. Say I give you a red Starburst. This means you have one. Tough math, I know. Every subsequent red Starburst I give you in the same day is simply put in your hand without me telling you that it’s a Red Starburst, since you can obviously tell that it is what it is. Fast forward a day. I give you a red Starburst, that you’ve seen plenty of times before. I still tell you that it’s a red Starburst.
This seems redundant, does it not? That’s exactly how treasures operate. Every new treasure opens a display of Link’s treasure inventory, as well as how many of each treasure he has. In the course of a few hours, this can take a bit of time, but at the beginning of the game, as these treasures are new, there’s no real fuss. However, when the game reboots, the display does as well, as if the player had never seen the items before. It takes around half an hour, I estimate, through the course of a complete run to get in and out of the display, which is unforgivable. There’s no reason to be told that a red is a red every time after the player restarts the game.
Gondo the Shopkeep allows Link, for example, to improve the spread of the slingshot for a small fee and some spare trinkets Link discovers during his adventures.
The other main way to upgrade Link’s inventory is through Gratitude Crystals, which look exactly like Star Bits. Borrowed assets aside, these Crystals are Link’s payment for completing side quests and helping various Skyloft citizens with random tasks. I don’t want to get too detailed in the sidequests in this review, because they are mostly run-of-the-mill, but completing these, as well as going outside at night and finding single crystals, allow Link to earn rewards from Batreaux, a bat-man hiding underneath Skyloft. He hopes to become human, and he says 80 crystals will do the trick. Incrementally, he gives Link rewards, mostly wallet upgrades, for finding these crystals.
After the necessary preparations are made in shops and in collecting items, and after Link places his new stone tablet into the inner chamber of the Goddess Statue, a light opens the portal to Eldin Volcano. On arrival, Link is confronted with Mogmas, essentially moles, who have been invaded by Bokoblins and other monsters. As Link traverses the area looking for a pathway up the mountain, he makes his first encounter with bombs, which can now be rolled with a flick of the Wii Remote much like Wii Bowling. This allows for Link to throw bombs through tunnels, killing enemies within or blowing up rocks that block the rest of the tunnel. Skyward Sword gives bombs a trajectory marker so that the player doesn’t second-guess where the bomb will land, and also allows Link to pick up bombs and place them in his pouch, rather than giving Link ten bombs when he only has room for one. It’s a nice deviation from the norm, but there are a few problems when the motion sense confuses the tilt of the remote and makes Link throw or roll the bomb when the player wants the opposite. But if the player is careful to point the remote downwards, the bomb rolling can be enjoyable. The Mogmas also give Link some digging mitts, which lets him dig. For now, there’s not much to these mitts and it’s an afterthought ability.
Trekking up the mountain is decent fun, especially when inside a mini-volcano where a few mazes allow Link to hone his bomb-rolling skills in some more complex ways. But there aren’t enough interesting things to be done with the mountain in general to make the journey memorable. The main task, for example, doesn’t make a great use of bombs; the Mogmas seen earlier are at the top of the mountain, and they whisper to each other that five key parts were hidden around the mountain. Some of the pieces are hidden behind bombable walls, which is good for the task set forth earlier, and it’s also beneficial that some keys are found without bombs. But the other key fragments are usually slide-down-the-mountain-and-dig-some, which doesn’t feel too special. It’s also a dowse-tacular, and if you don’t want to dowse, too bad. You’ll get pestered plenty for it.
After finding the pieces of key, Link enters Dodongo’s Cavern. Err.. Wait, wrong game..let me see here…Ahh! Here we are, “Earth Temple.” Okay. Link enters the Earth Temple. Odd, because it feels so familiar..
All kidding aside, this second dungeon does feel much like Ocarina’s sophomore dungeon, from the lava theme to the dragon motif seen in many places, including a dragon that opens its mouth (like the main Dodongo in Ocarina does) to “Raiders” a boulder down a pathway, attempting to kill Link. It too often feels like, outside of the few new mechanics each present, the lava dungeons in Skyward Sword are a retread of each other and of previous dungeons. The new mechanics here, though, revolve around Link standing on a marble ball and rolling it to cross lava, pushing levers and squashing some enemies with the ball. Despite the strangeness, it’s nice to travel through lava without raising platforms and crossing bridges constantly. The dungeon also makes use of the trusty Beetle, which keeps each item in Link’s inventory feeling useful and fresh, much unlike the slingshot and water bombs in the previous game.
One Fi gripe here, however, which on the surface may seem minor. Confronting Link early on is a Lizalfos, seen plenty of times in Zelda games. The new addition to the design is a plated armlet that blocks attacks. Fi, upon seeing this enemy, states that it is “an enemy with significant physical ability.” Now, my gripe resides in, again, trusting the player to make observations and react accordingly. It isn’t bad if the player gets routed for attacking too quickly, or for not examining the weak points of the enemy before planning an attack. Failure is a good thing; it’s what brings about progression. Here, Fi undercuts it by stating the enemy may be difficult, forcing the player to already assume it is and lessening what would have been a decent challenge. It’s like spoiling a surprise birthday party; it may still be fun, but it won’t have the same payoff as it would have had the surprise remained.
The temple ends with another run-in with Ghirahim, who gets a bit more characterization, which is very welcome. What’s most enjoyable about Ghirahim, as opposed to Ganon or Zant, is the ways in which he acts according to his personality, and not making the actions as a result of trying to create personality. Here, Ghirahim rages as he lost “the Girl.” Since there’s no voice acting, other methods must be used to exert rage, frustration, et cetra. Here (seen in the video below, about the :27 second mark) the game focuses on making the font size change with the level of rage, Ghirahim transforming from passive-aggressive to full-on outraged. It always makes me chuckle when I see him angry at good’s success, and it’s beneficial to see it align with his personality from the first dungeon and not tacked on for shock value.
The boss, Scaldera, is, fittingly, the big ball that Link avoided earlier. After Ghirahim leaves, the ball attempts to kill Link and, in failing to do so, opens to a spider-like creature with a single eye and a large mouth that spits fire and inhales projectiles, in this case, bombs. Um…King Dogongo? Is that you? Not much to be said about this boss’ design, and, outside of a sometimes-infuriating issue with the motion controls failing to hit the eyeball, which is often times protected with the creatures hardened-lava shell, the boss is straightforward and can be killed in less than three minutes. Again, if you’re lucky with the eye blocking thing. Link runs ahead to the next room to find Zelda and a black-garbed figure, briefly seen climbing the mountain ahead of Link earlier. A moment passes where Zelda attempts to meet Link, where Impa, as the figure is revealed to be, stops her from doing so. She reminds Zelda of her role in destiny, chides Link for being “late” (as if it were his fault Scaldera kept blocking the attacks because technology was behind the concept) and transports Zelda and herself to their next location. When the coast is clear, Fi translates the Goddess’ message like before, and enters, exits, and re-enters the sword, like before, and Link continues his quest. Like before.
The return to Skyloft mimics the earlier return; find stray Goddess Chests, buy items, and place the new tablet in the wall seen earlier. Unfortunately, there aren’t any bombable areas in Skyloft. The absence of caves likely adds to this problem, but it would have helped to have new places utilize new weapons and unlock new spoils. In any case, after preparations are made, the next portal of light leads to the best and worst biome of the game, Lanayru Desert.
I say it’s the worst area for one singular reason: quicksand sucks. In a game that should be a balance between exploration and combat, quicksand allows for neither. When traveling around the sands, there’s no way for the player to explore without getting constantly sucked under, and when fighting there aren’t any enemies that allow Link to fight them without running into the sand. The primary enemies, a electrical-shelled hermit crab and a bird that drops rocks on Link from high places, do not allow Link to stay in once place and, say, shoot with the bow and arrow. Both charge after Link, and neither allow Link to be anything but defensive, which does not work if Link must run to survive, as he will be running to more quicksand.
The entire area is not quicksand, however, and there is wonderment to behold, primarily in the form of Timeshift Stones. The most surprising element about Skyward Sword is that these stones are not seen as a central element to the rest of the game mechanically and thematically, as they are easily the highlight of the game from a gameplay standpoint. Timeshift Stones, when struck by sword or hit by a projectile, rapidly change the landscape from the present day into a past version of the land, transforming the deserts into a bustling mine, complete with carts and robots. The changes are a great argument for using this mechanic more than in one area of the game, where changing the times in Eldin, for example, would lead to different pathways supposedly brought about by the erosive nature of many lava streams down the mountainside. It’s a shame these stones are not used more often, as they are Skyward Sword’s freshest and most memorable mechanic.
Lanayru Gorge, as it is called, centers around changing the biome to unlock switches that, when activated, allows for a structure to be raised in the center of the quicksand that leads Link into the Mining Facility and into the blocked-off portion of the Gorge. The quicksand makes this task take a decent amount of time to complete, and the small segment of cart-riding earlier in the desert is only a distraction from the non-joy the quicksand brings. Outside of the times when the Timeshift Stones are activated, Lanayru is wildly disappointing.
Lanayru Mining Facility, however, is not a disappointment, as it explores the Timeshift Stone mechanic much further than the outer world did. The stones are sometimes far away, sometimes locked behind bars, and sometimes in moving carts, all of which allow for the puzzling to take the stage moreso than the combat. The futuristic look of the temple when the Stones are activated is also distinct and memorable. The temple isn’t perfect, with my least-favorite enemy, the Armos statues, being an incredibly annoying feature throughout. They are defeated by striking two weak points, one in-the-open stone and another tucked-away stone, with the latter being hit with a thrust of the sword. But for me, the stabbing motion never reads correctly and I fail nearly every time I attempt to kill the Armos. The mechanics should never be so in the way as to make the player slam the controller into a nearby couch or floor, both of which I’ve TOTALLY never done before. Riiight.
The item within, the Gust Bellows, is unique but highly specific-use. It essentially blows away dust and turns propellers. Nothing more, nothing less. The puzzles at the back half of the temple do use the item well enough, but it never pushes any boundaries. The dungeon boss, too, doesn’t require much from the item, where a giant scorpion must be uncovered from a sand pit and slashed at its weak points in the correct angle to be killed. Although the temple has weaker elements, the puzzles and the atmosphere the Timeshift Stones create, where the area changes from ancient to futuristic in five seconds, make it one of the more memorable parts of the game.
Once completed, Link emerges at the Temple of Time, found at this blocked-off place in Lanayru, where Impa and Zelda are at the Gate of Time. Glances are exchanged when, uh-oh, Ghirahim spoils the fun. In this frenzied moment, Zelda tosses Link a harp, telling him that he’ll need it later, and Impa stalls Ghirahim from attacking Zelda until Link can distract him and let Impa and Zelda escape. Once done, another of my favorite little dialogue boxes appears, where I poke a little bit of fun at Impa’s earlier scolding with “Am I late?” It’s either passive-aggressive or lighthearted, but it’s good that my version of the hero can be joking while another version can be sternly accomplishing his goal. After this exchange, the two escape, the Temple of Time’s Gate is destroyed, and Ghirahim is livid, although he does not fight Link here, making empty threats like all villains do.After his ordeal in Lanayru, Link is instructed to return to the old lady in the Sealed Grounds, which begins what I consider to be the second most annoying element of Skyward Sword, The Imprisoned. The ominous voice from the pillar earlier is a giant monster creature of evil that wants to destroy the Sealed Temple and ruin the land once and for all. Go figure. It’s up to Link here (as Groose watches, who had followed Link to the surface in a strange mishap) to defeat the monster and reseal him into the pillar that was there previously.
This is the scary monster from Link’s dreams? It looks like a eyeless, scaly Kermit the Frog puppet. Come on guys, design your bosses better.
The main issue with this fight is how unvaried the creature’s attacks are. It’s simply poorly designed, with long noodle arms that are functionless and generic feet with toes that are to be swiftly sliced. There aren’t many ways the Imprisoned can attack Link, and not many ways for Link to return the favor. Simply slash the toes and avoid his stomping. The most annoying thing about the fight is how narrow the ramp is for it, as getting stomped not only injures you, but can also send you down the crater, making you run all the way back up to the fight. The first battle (yeah, there’s more and it’s unfortunate) is too simple to have any sort of dramatic weight and it’s over fairly quickly and is an overall waste of time.
The old woman, once the fight is done, describes how The Imprisoned is an ancient evil and the reason for Hylia’s war, that it can only be purged with a sacred power of the sword, and how Link must purify his sword and his soul in order to defeat evil. A concern here, though, is that the new Gate of Time is sitting here, and leads to multiple teases of progress, where Link begins to unsheathe his sword to progress, only to be told his sword is not powerful enough. This serves no purpose and sets up the next section of the game as “get through here for progress” rather than “the next place to find and do cool things.” It’s a poor handling of “3 Temples, then New Objective.”
Link returns to the Surface and must complete a riddle of sorts. The song Zelda sang at the introduction of the game is actually a map for the Hero to progress in his legend, and the next step in his journey requires him to point two windmills towards the central plaza tower. One is simple, where the Gust Bellows turns a propeller that turns the windmill in the right direction. The other one, however, has no propeller. This leads to the search for the propeller and the introduction of Scrapper. Scrapper is a robot much like the ones seen in Lanayru, but has the ability to fly beneath the surface and retrieve any lost items, in this case the missing propeller. Welcome back, dowsing, where Fi makes it a point to make sure the propeller is set as the dowsing target, even though keen adventurers will remember a propeller at the surface of Eldin Volcano next to one of those key pieces. But Scrapper is useful, albeit annoying later on, and isn’t an offensive addition, even providing Link a new nickname: Mister Shortpants. Which is kinda fun.
The two windmills open a new platform on the plaza tower where Link must play Zelda’s harp. The harp is such a lame instrument from a gameplay standpoint, where waggling the Wii Remote controls strums. There’s no skill or strategy to it, and it’s hard to know if the correct tempo is being used or if it even matters. Anyhow, the intended point is to waggle the remote in sync with a pulsating circle and, when completed, cues a sharp light piercing a far-off cloud-shrouded corner of the Sky. Link can fly to this area and enter the Thunderhead.
Within the Thunderhead is a large building known as the Isle of Songs, the only point of interest for now. Flying towards this island and engaging in a not-too-shabby puzzle involving rotating blocks to build a bridge to the isle itself lets Link enter the chamber. Playing the harp here will teach Link a new song that he eventually auto-plays, which defeats the purpose of “learning” a new song, but nevertheless, Fi’s dance number here is visually creative. With this learned, he may leave the Isle and is directed to search for an aura in Faron Woods.
Unfortunately, that aura is one you’ll have to search for as well. With how large this review is, I have to cut it in half at this juncture. Luckily, the bulk of the technical aspects have been dealt with early and the remainder is a more focused and flowing look into the back half of the game. A link below will take you to part two, where we dissect the ways in which Skyward Sword remains a decent experience, and the many ways it demolishes the soul of both the player and the series as a whole. I promise, there are some rants to be had. In any case, Part Two Awaits.
https://anewhighscore.wordpress.com/2014/11/20/the-legend-of-zelda-skyward-sword-review-part-2/
A New High Score 