Oh, Skyward sword. We love you, we hate you. Some of us praise your every feature, while others nitpick at the smallest details and complain on an on. Personally, I loved the game. Everything about it was cool, new, and exciting. The motion controls were great as well. However, you did have some problems. I’m just here to present both sides and give my opinion. First of all, though: I’m not factoring Breath of the Wild in here. It’s too good.

Story

For those of you who don’t know, Skyward Sword came out in 2011 as the 16th Legend of Zelda Game. It follows Link, as always, but it’s a little different this time. Link is in training at the Knight Academy in Skyloft, a world composed of a main island in the sky as well as dozens of smaller ones. The people up there trace their history to the surface below, which they actually can’t see (see below) but think might exist.

In ancient times, legend has it that a huge war erupted between the Goddess and demons that razed the land. Finally, the Goddess prevailed, but to protect the race of Humans, she sends their island into the sky. Hundreds of years later, humans in Skyloft have all but forgotten their roots, and are contented to live up here, isolated. However, a threat arises, Zelda goes missing, and Link has to go find her. One problem, though. He needs to go down to the surface where she fell to, and it’s otherwise impossible to get through the cloud barrier.

End

Lucky for link, Fi, a spirit inhabiting the Master Sword, shows up to give him guidance. He learns that Zelda has gone to the surface to begin a process of destroying a great evil, Demise, and he needs to meet up with her. After many trials and temples, you finally meet up with Zelda: only to learn that Lord Ghirahim, a servant to Demise, is waiting for you.

Why the Story was Good

The story for the game is one of the better story’s across all the games, and the game is mostly story driven. Also, Link and Zelda’s connection is unique: the two are both citizens of the same class and have known each other since childhood. They are good friends, and it really makes you want to save Zelda because Link really does. In addition, the very story-driven game makes it more engaging.

Complaints about the Game

Here are several of the biggest complaints about the game:

Too Linear

First of all, people have said that the game was too linear. Take, for example, the overworlds of Skyward Sword and one of Ocarina of Time. The Ocarina of Time field is large and open to many different paths and cities: it feels huge. However, a Skyward Sword example of the same size seems smaller because you really just follow one or two paths until you reach the end.

Gallery • 4 Photos

Photo Courtesy of Zelda Gampedia

As you can see, this is part of the open world in Ocarina of time: lots of room to run around. You can choose where to go.

I can see what critics of the game are talking about, because sometimes the game can feel like one big level. Sometimes, I was just frustrated and playing only to get to the nest point in the story. Then again, you are always discovering new areas so the game is new and genuinely exciting to explore. In addition, you can always blow of some steam by blowing up some Bokoblins in the Lanayru Sand Sea with a cannon, fly around Skyloft and play some mini-games or check out some small islands. And as someone who has played through Ocarina of time, it’s way more fun to fly around in the sky then run across a mostly flat landscape.

Motion Controls

Okay, anyone who has ever played Skyward Sword has heard this one before. Skyward Sword was the first game to introduce 1 to 1 motion controls (meaning Link’s arm exactly follows yours), and it opened up a huge range of new enemies and bosses (imagine having to slice sideways twice to cut the bottom from a towering enemy, then stabbing forward to break its eye). However, many people complained that the motion controls constantly needed re-calibrating. That’s true: you do need to re-calibrate several times every once and a while, but it’s a small price to pay for the awesome bosses that you get. Honestly, I think that people who complain might just be too lazy to stand up and play the game. Here is a very short demonstration of how they work.

http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXk95ZXjBMM

Repetition

One of the big things that puts the game out of the “fun” for many people is the repetition. Over the course of the game, you revisit several areas multiple times. This can be tedious, and 2 of the major bosses on the game you fight 3 times each. This made the game bad for many people. However, the bosses that are repeated over and over always change. I will say I really did not enjoy the second battle of the Imprisoned (see above) because it just felt like a repetition of the first one with just one more difficulty thrown in that made it frustrating. However, the 3rd battle introduced a hero you never saw coming to help save the day. That made the battle fun, interesting, and rewarding.

There is also a feature where if you go back to the Desert Dragon near the end of the game, you can re-fight all the bosses. This is decently fun for a while even after you’ve finished the story. In addition, you can get one of the best items in the game through this function.

In addition, the other main boss, Lord Ghirahim, is one of my favorite characters in the game. He adds a ton of new stuff in the second and mostly third battle with him. Also, the dungeons you had to repeat had shortcuts for the earlier parts that let you skip right to the new (although repeating one of the dungeons EXACTLY the same really bothered me). Anyway, it didn’t ruin the game for me in any way, but I will say that I might not have finished the game if not for the amazing story.

Music

If there is one thing on one argues about with this game is the soundtrack. Oh, man. I can’t even describe the amazingness of it. As the first Zelda game to have a fully orchestrated soundtrack down to the last song, it shines so, so far above every other game. Ah. I can’t even describe how good the music is. It’s not just one track, either. It’s all of them. Man. You just have to listen to it, maybe play the game to understand. In fact, the soundtrack is under the next paragraph.

Conclusion

So there you have it. Skyward Sword was not a perfect game. There are many who hated it, but it is one of the best games in the series in my opinion. I think it was better than Ocarina of Time because it was just generally more fun. I would really recommend it to anyone with a Wii or a good emulator, and the soundtrack is shockingly beautiful. Just check it out. If you’re one of those who played the game and loved it, good for you. If you’re one who hates the game, too bad. I don’t feel like there’s much to hate. Skyward Sword is just a beautiful game. In fact, that’s the best way to describe it. From it’s amazing graphics to its great story and awe-inspiring soundtrack, that’s the best word here: beautiful.

PS: If you want some good tracks from this soundtrack, check out times (3:17) , (18:29) , (46:59) , (1:22:39) , (1:38:54) , one of my favorites–> (1:56:21) , bit experimental –> (4:28:25). However, there are great songs throughout!