Skyward Sword: Masterpiece or Tripe?

[Freedan]

You didn't think trekking across the desert and coming upon the Bokoblin camp was cool? I mean, it takes a while to get anywhere since you don't have your horse, but I thought it was a lot of fun.

The pacing breaks a little there, yeah, but that's the nature of exploration. In those moments, the pacing is controlled by you.

The bolded part: yes, finding the camp was cool.

The underlined part is the problem. The fact that it takes a while to trudge across the desert (you don't get a faster method of transportation - the boars - until you get to the other side) was the part I meant to highlight. We were talking about wasting time for no good reason.

Also:

but I thought it was a lot of fun.

There's an interesting sentiment.

[tay120n64]

but I thought it was a lot of fun.

There's an interesting sentiment.

It was a point I knew I couldn't win.

Pacing which is done via open space (like in Twilight Princess and Wind Waker) is a very subjective sort of pacing. I like it, and it is most certainly better than pacing via fetch quests (like in Minish Cap and Skyward), but I can't really justify it or, at the very least, do not have the means to at the moment without bullshitting.

And the fact that you couldn't use Epona in the desert and you didn't get the Horse Whistle until you didn't need it anymore was ALSO bullshit.

The way I see it, if you look for flaws in a game, you'll find them. I get the idea that you spent a lot of effort on looking for flaws. That's hardly a healthy way to approach a game. If my assumption is wrong, I apologize.

It's more like I hated the control scheme so much, I couldn't help but be in a bad mood through the whole game. A similar thing happened with Minish Cap and Wind Waker, which I have since replayed and enjoyed. In fact, after I got over how padded and easy Minish Cap was, I was able to enjoy the refinements it made over A Link to the Past's gameplay. Even with Wind Waker, once I was no longer annoyed by the sailing I found a rich and beautiful game that I forgot was there when I finished the game. The problem with Skyward Sword is much like my problem with the two DS titles in that I am not sure I want to play them again, because it was such a hassle to play them once. Even Spirit Tracks, which I REALLY enjoyed, I have not been able to return to because now that I've finished the game I can't motivate myself to play a game with a control scheme I dislike.

When I eventually do return to Skyward Sword I should be over my bitchiness concerning motion tech, but we'll see when that happens if all I can see is the pretty locales, combat depth, and beautiful music, or if all I notice is the immense padding, backtracking, and lack of exploration.


INCIDENTALLY, you guys should check this out. It's a roundtable discussion of Skyward Sword's strengths and weaknesses. I listened to it earlier and rather enjoyed it:

http://www.gonzoplanet.com/2012/01/26/d ... zo-gaming/

[Capitan Failure]

I tried really hard to like it, I really did.

After my fourth attempt at enjoying the game, and spending more time readjusting my wii mote every 15 seconds, and taking Aleve to fight the carpel tunnel the controls gave me, I gave up.

When I read the articles that nintendo was ignoring overwhelming fan anger at motion controls that most dont want, I was like "Long time fan, Out"

With the death of Final Fantasy recently, and now Zelda is officially dead... whats next?

[Freedan]

I never understood the problem people were having with readjusting their controllers so often. It was never an issue for me.

[Flamez]

With the death of Final Fantasy recently, and now Zelda is officially dead... whats next?

I wouldnt say Zelda is dead; Nintendo is pretty good for listening to fan feed back, and with thw overall Wii U design I would expect the next Zelda to have a more traditional control method.

[EverPhoenix]

I have yet to finish Skyward Sword. I'll get to it... eventually

[Freedan]

With the death of Final Fantasy recently, and now Zelda is officially dead... whats next?

I wouldnt say Zelda is dead; Nintendo is pretty good for listening to fan feed back, and with thw overall Wii U design I would expect the next Zelda to have a more traditional control method.

The thing I find about Zelda games is that they (like all of Nintendo's first party titles, I guess) are made specifically for the system they're on, not just a "traditional" game with a system's features shoehorned in.

PH and ST were made with the DS' features in mind, and using the touch screen / two screens became second nature quickly. SS was built from the ground up for the Wii, and the motion controls were very intuitive (I thought). Regardless of whether one is a fan of motion controls or not, I think most people could at least agree that they were done well for a game built around them.

A Zelda game for the WiiU will no doubt make very extensive use of the tablet controller's features, and Nintendo has a pretty good history of incorporating new features in to their games pretty well. I'm optimistic; I just hope there's more unique, diverse areas to explore (SS' biggest problem to me... I could live with the filler).

[Capitan Failure]

Regardless of whether one is a fan of motion controls or not, I think most people could at least agree that they were done well for a game built around them.

Thats the problem.

Throw in cheap waggle technology and attract a few people into that.

Adamantly refuse to include a non motion control choice (like Wii Classic Controller or Gamecube) and you alienate decades of fanbase.

I dont know how long youve been playing, but Im nearing the new 20 (30) and I have been playing since the 80s, and I loved every console title release with a passion until Twilight Princess. I started to lose faith then, played SS and lost more, then I read an interview article with Miyamoto in response to fans like me who hate motion control and he basically said "screw you, waggle is here to stay" and that put the nail in the coffin of my fandomness.

[Fazermint]

The motion control was very well implemented. I don't know if it's lack or coordination on your part or simply hating because it's cool, but this is bullshit.

[Freedan]

Regardless of whether one is a fan of motion controls or not, I think most people could at least agree that they were done well for a game built around them.

Thats the problem.

Throw in cheap waggle technology and attract a few people into that.

Adamantly refuse to include a non motion control choice (like Wii Classic Controller or Gamecube) and you alienate decades of fanbase.

I dont know how long youve been playing, but Im nearing the new 20 (30) and I have been playing since the 80s, and I loved every console title release with a passion until Twilight Princess. I started to lose faith then, played SS and lost more, then I read an interview article with Miyamoto in response to fans like me who hate motion control and he basically said "screw you, waggle is here to stay" and that put the nail in the coffin of my fandomness.

I've been playing since the '80s as well, but I don't mind change. It's not for everyone, but I liked the Wii (the term "waggle" is thrown around far too often with regards to the console), and I'm optimistic about the WiiU. If companies don't try anything new, we'll be playing the same (albeit better-looking) games 20 years from now.

Considering how many times Nintendo said "Skyward Sword is being made with the WiiMotion+ in mind", I don't know why people are so surprised that a game built on motion control doesn't have conventional control schemes.

[Fazermint]

I've been playing since the '80s as well, but I don't mind change. It's not for everyone, but I liked the Wii (the term "waggle" is thrown around far too often with regards to the console), and I'm optimistic about the WiiU. If companies don't try anything new, we'll be playing the same (albeit better-looking) games 20 years from now.

Considering how many times Nintendo said "Skyward Sword is being made with the WiiMotion+ in mind", I don't know why people are so surprised that a game built on motion control doesn't have conventional control schemes.

I approve of this post.

[tay120n64]

I didn't really have much problem with having to reset the controller often, and it was often very responsive. The control scheme was implemented well, I just had a lot of trouble with it and ended up not liking it at all.

While the series as a whole has declined since Minish Cap/Twilight Princess, the games have still all been extremely high quality, and I'm confident they will remain good. Honestly, as long as the series can move away from linearity and abundant fetch-questing, I won't mind the motion controls too much.