Skyward Sword, thoughts so far?

[KDub]

It is stated in game that the knights are around more for tradition than anything else.

[Gamerforlife]

Man, this game has slow pacing. Waaaay too much dialog. Yeah, yeah, destiny, chosen one, blah, blah, blah. I get it. Zelda is special and I have to go find and save her, blah, blah, blah. It's pretty much the same crap story in every single Zelda game. I don't care. I wish they'd do something different with this franchise. How bout a Zelda game where an adult Link starts the game and fights his way out of captivity from some dungeon and surfaces in a post-apocalyptic world where Zelda is dead and Ganon has taken over. Then Link opens his mouth and, gasp, he has a voice and a personality. We then find out that Link failed to defeat Ganon and turns out, he wasn't the chosen one after all. What does he do now?

Also, the camera sucks. The problem with not having a traditional controller with two analog sticks is not having a right stick to freely move the camera around whenever you want. Having to hit the Z button to center the camera or hold the C button to lock Link in place just so you can freely move the camera around is stupid. This really makes Skyward Sword feel like an outdated N64 game.

Also, from what I've seen so far this game could have easily worked on a controller. Problem is, the Wii doesn't have a good controller. If it had a controller with more buttons on it like the PS 3 or 360, I'm pretty sure they could have made everything work without need of motion control. The Wii really is one big gimmick machine. Games with motion control, just so Nintendo can say that their games have motion control.

I'll admit though, it was sort of cool how I actually had to physically simulate the motions of pulling the magic sword out of the stone and raising my Wii remote up into the air like He-Man to charge it up is kind of cool. It still all feels very gimmicky though, and aside from moments like these, I really would rather just run through the game with a damn controller.

So far, I still hate the flying. It just doesn't feel right. I hate that stupid, flick the Wii remote to raise your elevation nonsense.

I will give the game props for one thing though, the NPCs. I thoroughly enjoyed my first visit to the Bazaar. Those shop owners had way more personality than I expected and made shopping more than your typical ho hum experience like it is in other games. The one guy who is constantly hovering over you and then turns and sulks when you leave his store without buying anything is hilarious. That is the funniest shop owner I've ever seen in a game. So kudos to Nntendo for that. I also loved how that cat creature followed me around the village, constantly meowing for my attention. I really do appreiciate that kind of attention to detail in a game. Other than that though, this feels like standard issue Zelda, just with gimmicky motion control

[pepharytheworm]

"Why can't an apple be a squash?" "Apples are okay but I am tired of them tasting like apples."

You want an apple you get an apple, you want a squash you get a squash. If you want variety in your apples there are plenty you can choose; granny smith, golden delicious, macintosh, red, fuji, ect......... They may taste slightly different but the core is still the same.

If an apple tastes and feels like a squash is it still an apple?

[Ziggy]

Problem is, the Wii doesn't have a good controller.

Oh, but it does! The Classic Controller Pro! It's extremely similar to the Playstation controller. It doesn't have the L3 and R3 joystick click buttons, but other than that it has the same amount of buttons as a Playstation controller and they're almost identically placed. I even find it a little more comfortable than a Playstation controller. Too bad they don't wanna support it more, they accidentally came up with a great controller.

[vgmastercleveland]

The overall game has been good, yes slow paced, but good after you get into the silent realm. I really dont like that there is not an option for using the classic controller pro. The motion control just pisses me off, especially when swimming. I always have to recalibrate. l will continue to play through it of course, since I am still a Zelda fan.

[KDub]

I never once had to re calibrate my WiiMote while playing. I don't get why so many people have this issue.

[equalsign]

I never once had to re calibrate my WiiMote while playing. I don't get why so many people have this issue.

Yeah. I'm wondering if they're talking about the "Down on the D-pad" thing or a full recalibration. There's never a reason you should have to do the latter unless you let the controller auto shutdown (I think).

[Zing]

There are some oddities with the controls:

- The "centre" appears to be determined by the direction of the remote when you enter the first person mode. If I happen to be pointing the remote up when I enter it, it thinks up is the centre.

- I have had my nunchuck get "stuck" many times. I have the individual motion plus attachments, so maybe there is something going on there, but the connections are all tight. I end up having to disconnect and reconnect the nunchuck.

- When you enter first-person mode for any reason, it aligns your view with the current camera viewpoint, not Link's. For example, if you have Link facing the screen and press C, the first-person viewpoint has you looking at what is behind Link. This has annoyed me many times. I am expecting the viewpoint to be where Link is looking, not the camera.

[GryeDor]

Figured I'd throw in my first thoughts.

I'm an avid Zelda fan and have been since buying my NES. Since them I've played almost every Zelda game, and finished every console installment yet (minus the CDI and still working on the handhelds).

Overall, I'm enjoying it and I'm glad to have a new Zelda. Right now I'm working my way to the third temple.

A few hot-topics...

1. Graphics and Art Style. I really like them! In Zelda terms, it feels like a nice medium between Wind Waker and Twilight Princess. I can see why people don't like them though, especially when we see Link from certain angles - he's a pretty weird looking dude, for sure. The backgrounds and areas are beautiful to look at, albeit obviously behind what 360 and PS3 graphics are doing. I don't see this as a bad thing. Nintendo has stuck with a more non-realistic, cartoony art palette and it appeals to me much moreso than the ultra-realistic route other modern games have taken.

2. Motion Controls. Yes, I wish they offered classic or Gamecube controller support, but I'm getting accustomed to the motion controls and only find them a hindrance in a few areas. The menus (like in a few conversations or at the save-statues) can be really frustrating. First person views can be really frustrating. Flying the bird can be really frustrating. It's imperfect, but it's good for what it is. I'd rather be playing with a normal controller though.

3. Difficulty. I hope I'm not alone in this, but so far, the game has been really easy. There's been a few difficult points, but that has largely been because of poor camera angles or figuring out what the hell the game thinks I'm doing with my remote than anything else. This game is too easy! I think the biggest reason is....

4. The Sword-Lady. Yeah, the flying chick that lives in your sword. Every time there's some semblance of challenge, like a confusing puzzle or you're told to find something with no real clues as to where to go, whats-her-face chimes in with, "You need to go here", or "I've added a Dowsing option for you to find that thing", or "You're not dowsing, you know how to dowse, right? Can I show you how to dowse again?" NO! Let me explore and figure this out on my own! This goes hand-in-hand with the horrid tutorial business. I don't mind doing a tutorial, but I felt like this was handled poorly, plus it took me almost 2 hours to get through it all and get into the actual game... that's absurd!

Even still, even with these gripes, I'm really enjoying the experience and I appreciate the emphasis of adventuring in and exploring the larger Over-World and Skyloft areas and the emphasis of puzzles and combat in the dungeons so far. I'm excited to continue playing and getting the full experience!

[vgmastercleveland]

I never once had to re calibrate my WiiMote while playing. I don't get why so many people have this issue.

Yeah. I'm wondering if they're talking about the "Down on the D-pad" thing or a full recalibration. There's never a reason you should have to do the latter unless you let the controller auto shutdown (I think).

Yeah, I was talking about the down on the d-pad thing. I don't ever have to do a full recalibration.
And, I too have noticed that the center is where the remote is pointing when entering first person, but I have a habit of pointing the remote away from the screen.