EGS Review - Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

                
 This column is focused on more contemporary reviews. We'll start things out with a game that's just about a year old, LOZ: Skyward Sword. This game divided critics and fans alike with its idiosyncratic controls and rebooting of virtually every aspect to LOZ gameplay. 'Skyward Sword' might just represent the riskiest maneuver Nintendo has made with a legacy franchise in the last decade. Was it worth it? 







                            THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: SKYWARD SWORD REVIEW 
                                                                           by 
                                                                     JORIN LEE

Take it from me: Video Games and albums are bizarrely similar to obsess over and analyze. This should sound familiar: your favorite band hits a stride, they make one or two mind blowing innovate albums that have you swearing oaths of fealty to their family names. Then the inevitable stasis comes: they stall, release two or three subpar albums, then flounder over a new direction. If they’re prolific or talented enough, the band may find another niche or sound that suits them. If they’re greedy enough, they’ll stoop to any depth hustling capital out of fan’s nostalgia for their 2 minutes of relevancy (reunion tours anyone?).
    To stay with music analogies, Nintendo are the videogame equivalent of the Rolling Stones: they’re a dinosaur brand who, in their old age, have gotten in the terrible habit of repeating themselves with endless rehashes. For those familiar with the Stones, you’ll understand my meaning when I say the idea of Nintendo releasing a fresh, exciting title seems as likely as England’s biggest hitmakers releasing an avant-garde drug rock album in their 70s. In a word, unlikely.
    Well, don’t discount Grandpa - even if his colonoscopy bag smells funny, he’s Jimi Hendrix on the axe. And he still has a few surprises tucked into his Depends. 




Nintendo more or less wrote the book on solid game design; with Skyward Sword they abstract principles from the classics of yesteryear to expand foundations into new iterations. Skyward Sword also reclaims the Wii’s potential for gimmick free gameplay. It expands the Zelda series into a more robust sandbox game than its initial dabblings with sandbox elements (i.e. Wind Waker). 

In more ways than one, Skyward Sword accomplishes the impossible: it makes the Wii fun, it centralizes motion control, it successfully pulls off sandbox-ing of the LOZ series. Despite some minor annoyances, Skyward Sword is definitely worth your time if you like single player action-RPGs, stylistic anime, and sandbox games like Fallout or Grand Theft Auto.

-LEGACY/ EXPECTATIONS-

To say Nintendo struck gold with Ocarina of Time (1997) epitomizes understatement. 

That game took Mario 64’s advancements and recontextualized them beyond Peach’s Castle into a massive environment, a kingdom brimming with culture and vibrancy. For my generation, Ocarina of Time was the introduction to 3D open world game design: personally, it was the first time a game experience represented something for me beyond a mere succession of goals or levels. Ocarina of Time immerses players in its lore, its energy: the way the game integrates different art styles, play styles, geography, and weapon/environment design remains incredibly unique for its era.
    Since then, Nintendo have yet to unite the 7 Kingdoms under the LOZ banner twice: critics were divided over the three preceding console Zeldas, charging they were either too tedious, cartoonish, or revivalist as the case may be. I enjoyed Wind Waker better than any Zelda, but many gamers were turned off by WW’s subversion of the traditionally darker LOZ style. And all of the Zeldas since Ocarina of Time have tried recapitulating that title’s strengths, to little avail. As with all Nintendo franchises, they continued the bad habit of recycling environments, featuring relatively low difficulty, and providing repetitive boss battles.

The first Legend of Zelda game was released 25 years before Skyward Sword: if Nintendo plans on having the LOZ brand remain successful, beloved, and relevant, this new Wii iteration of the series needs to represent a major zeitgeist shift, from everything from game design to setting.

-GAMEPLAY-

And that it does: Skyward Sword updates everything captivating about older Zeldas for modern times, in a way that’s both amazingly fun, familiar, and fresh. Founded on motion control, this new game effectively reinvents the Zelda image with one deft swipe of the Wiimote. With this new method of controlling Link centering all of Skyward Sword’s design, every element of classic LOZ gameplay has been retooled, predicated on the sharper precision to every one of Link’s actions. 

As an example, take that icon of Zelda weapons, the bombflower: you don’t just lob bombs anymore with the careless tap of A. Now you have the choice of three separate stances for bomb deployment, with each one featuring separate interfaces for positioning your toss, or vault, or bowl as the situation demands. 

And that’s just one example of the variations provided here: the developers came up with as many different controller ideas as possible, and worked every single one into gameplay.

This does wonders for freshening up one of the traditional Zelda style’s weakest aspects, its repetitious controls. Those old models of everything from boss fights to dungeon crawling have been rendered obsolete with this spiffy new motion precision mechanic. By keeping the Wiimote as the game’s lynchpin, the designers force themselves to build around it. This effectively forces the designers out of the Zelda ‘box’, as it were. These cutting edge motion sensor controls never feel like a gimmick, in the way many Wii titles that avoid or barely feature the motion dynamic do. Even if I had to occasionally recalibrate for precision, the motion controls work smoothly. For all intents and purposes, Nintendo delivers a creative, yet practical, execution of the motion mechanic in Skyward Sword.



The developers of this game made room for different play styles, personalities, and strategy types.

 In the story, this equivocates with Link having access to dialog options of differing attitude. In gameplay, this gets displayed particularly clearly in the dungeons. There, several different strategies work to achieve the same goal. [SPOILER - ON EQUIPMENT]For example, many dungeons present the player with a switch on some remote section of the map. You can try shooting your slingshot, or flinging your Scarab, or using your Whip or Bow and Arrow. More than one might work: so if you favor your Bow or your Clawshots or whatever, you can still progress the same as players who are more versatile.

That being said, at its core this game has all the necessary adornments of a well designed Nintendo classic. Dungeons still progress with that kind of crescendoing rhythmic quality. Surveying environments with patience remains key to progression. The difficulty curve starts as forgiving, and then builds to extremely challenging by the game’s conclusion. Skyward Sword, like many Nintendo classics, is segmented quite well: you don’t get all there is to the game by simply playing its intro, and it doesn’t perfunctorily march you from one dungeon to the next like the worst Zeldas often do. These essential elements are kept in play, just as Skyward Sword brings a few new ideas to the Zelda franchise.

For example: though the game is split into two planes, secret Goddess Cubes on the surface unlock valuable treasure within islands in the sky. Though initially disappointed at this structure (one town, many floating empty isles), I came to realize that a huge theme of Skyward Sword is that Skyloft represents the only remnants of human society. How would that still hold if the sky was brimming with aerial metropolises? And anyway, each chunk of floating landmass feels wild and untamed, precisely due to this lack of humans. Exploring them becomes more interesting, because you feel as though/ know Link is the first of his kind to see any of the world with his own two eyes. 

And while on the topic of exploration, this game is full of collectables - more so than any Zelda game. And they actually greatly benefit the player who takes the time to find them all, as any collectibles in a game with RPG/ sandbox elements should. All of the sidequesting helps get Link stronger and otherwise more equipped to dungeon crawl, because you get more than just rupees for your hard work. Your reward for exploration and side-questing ranges from increased holding capacity to treasures like the Heart or Loot Medal, which increase the instances of treasure/hearts found in dungeons. You can also unlock more locations, meet characters you wouldn’t otherwise, and see more of the game’s locations. In short, sidequesting is highly rewarding, and it functions as sidequests ought to - it distracts and calms you down in between the stressful dungeon crusades.

No review of a LOZ game would be complete without a rundown of the temple design. As any LOZ veteran knows, the quality of dungeon design usually stands as the main element that makes or breaks a Zelda title. Majora’s Mask, for example, featured a solid plot and setting but notoriously annoying dungeons. Subsequently, Majora stands as one of the franchise’s most divisive iterations.

Well, Skyward Sword features solid temples that often play as the ideal Zelda dungeon should. As in, clear pacing, clarity as to what to do next, memorable weapons and Boss fights. A few, like the Cistern Temple about 40% of the way through the main plot, were designed as subtle nods to past Zelda dungeons. In that Temple (no spoilers), there are multiple floors that you navigate by manipulating the amount of water in the chamber (Water Temple, OOT). The same dungeon features plumes of water that you ride to higher vantage points (Wind Waker did this with wind jets).  

Skyward Sword never shies away from subtly referencing past Zeldas: but unlike Twilight Princess, which featured so many repeated ideas from past Zeldas it lacked a unique identity, Skyward Sword stands out as its own particular Zelda. It doesn’t play like the Developers became overloaded with the expectation of churning out another Blockbuster Zelda, in the way Twilight kind of did for me. There’s an exuberant confidence to Skyward Sword; that and charm out the ying yang. I would compare it to the bright colorfulness of a Hayao Miyazaki movie.

There are little to no bugs, broken quests, or inconsistencies to the terrain. In fact, every solitary area in Skyward Sword emanates with the hard work of its creators. Minute details down to the rugs never repeating, sounds that correspond to Link’s actions that come out of the Wiimote, or including a flushable bathroom and shower to the Skyloft Knight Academy, are just the minute tip of the iceberg to Skyward Sword’s attention to set and setting.

-PACING/ SANDBOX ELEMENTS-

Another huge innovation to the Zelda tradition comes in the form of Skyward Sword’s irregular pacing. Of all the elements that every Zelda game repeats, almost to the point of religiosity, their stands this most unalterable formula: you unlock new areas, where you fart around in until unlocking its dungeon. Enduring the trials of that dungeon unlocks a new item, one that allows further exploration of both the dungeon and the world at large. The new weapon or item always plays a central role in that dungeon’s Boss fight. Once you beat the boss, you travel to the next area that will no doubt sport a radically different climate, never to return (unless the last level makes you repeat some element of each temple).  Skyward Sword scraps this for a new design that sounds terrible but executes surprisingly effectively: It has you return to areas.

Now, slow down. I don’t mean that you trudge through the same levels, with the same enemies: each area features closed-off locations unavailable on first run through, that open up once Link finds the necessary item for exploration. Each area also becomes overrun with stronger and stronger foes each time you are bade to return. This sounds like it would render Skyward Sword unplayably repetitive, but this couldn’t be further from the case. What this actually accomplishes is it makes each environment feel largely more immersive and dense.

In the older Zelda games, you knew at the end of a dungeon or area that, upon vanquishing its Boss, you would never need return. Unless we’re talking about Kakikiro village or some other such settlement, most Zelda dungeons/non-town areas provide little to no impetus to return. But with this new setup, revisiting locations gives that location more depth and meaning, not just story or immersion wise but gameplay wise, as well. You feel like the environment isn’t arbitrary, in the way other Zeldas standardize their dungeons to the point the player rarely interacts with the environment.

Contrast that with how, in Skyward Sword, massive portions of the map within the same, basic 3 zones, are entirely concealed until you need return. This not only grants Skyward Sword more of its sandbox elements, it furthers the game’s focus on deviating from the ceremonies of its predecessors. No longer does the Volcano contain the Fire Temple, the Lake contain the Water Temple, etc: the temples of Skyward Sword rarely theme around elements at all.

As a brief aside, this aspect to Skyward Sword drew its harshest criticism from reviewers, aside from the games hard-to-master controls. Yet the chorus of dissenters who criticized the game for repetition, for my money, must have never gotten to (MINOR SPOILER ALERT) the Sandsea: where Skyward Sword’s most original dungeon/area lies. That area’s ‘dungeon’ breaks so drastically from the traditional Zelda model, I went through the entire affair in complete disbelief. I kept expecting the ‘real’ temple to appear, considering how little the design of this area followed the formula of past Zeldas. 

Reading many reviews of Skyward Sword, I am overcome with unremitting cynicism. I lose faith that these reviewers and critics actually completed the game, a prerequisite for fairly judging any work in my opinion. Though games represent the largest time commitment of any visual medium, I would hope a professional or quasi-professional reviewer would at least complete 60%, or at least unlock all of the weapons and see all of the areas, before dismissing the game outright like Yahtzee, among other notable game reviewers, did.  

Modern games have a tendency of designing lovely backdrops that are far in the distance; they’re to be admired but not engaged. Skyward Sword doesn’t do this: it prioritizes environment interaction over pretty but untouchable vistas. 

Each area is chock full of bugs to catch, treasure to hunt, and hidden areas you won’t even know about for dozens of game hours hence. You don’t just pass through a new area in a mindless rush to the inevitable final dungeon, as in practically every Zelda. The new design necessitates that you interact with each dungeon area in the same way sandbox games have the player interact with towns: there’s more than just one quest relating to each area. As a result, every area feels more important; not only this, but also more three dimensional. Instead of having all the water creatures and enemies in the water domain etc, the creatures are far less segregated in Skyward Sword. The creature you met in the forest has no qualms with showing up in the desert, and so on. Thus, the game world feels more like a living entity, with a vibrant ecological community of characters that interact in the game’s diegesis.

Which is to say nothing of Skyward Sword’s art direction, as beautiful and unique as any Wii title since Okami. As you gain distance from something, the graphics begin to break the background into flecks of color, in reference to the Impressionist school of visual art of the 19th century. This has the effect of rendering the game lush and lysergically vibrant. The Sky world shines with a preternatural brightness, whereas the surface area glows in untamed verdant energy. I’d describe the game’s look and feel as Sgt. Pepper meets Ponyo. Both the dwellings and the dungeons exude cultural references to the East (the temples in particular really impress with their Chinese and Indian style edifices). The urns and some of the enemies show clear resemblance to Greek art, with a dabbling of Eastern European/ gypsy flavor thrown in for good measure.

The splitting of the game map into two distinct zones also sounds like a terrible idea on paper, but it’s executed brilliantly here. The upper world is more relaxed, featuring most of the game’s quest givers, shops, and reflective moments. The lower world contains the game’s various dungeons and surrounding terrain. Both are freely explorable, by which I mean I wasted endless hours surveying areas in both spheres for bugs or enemies or secrets. Unlike Grand Theft Auto IV’s person-less, activity-less Liberty City, the two domains of Skward Sword actually provide the player reasons to pursue side quests and other such distractions. 

Despite the immensity of content, nothing feels like filler. This game boasts both a fantastic story campaign and exceptionally fun non-essential tasks as well.

-STORY/ LORE-

Skyward Sword features, hands down, the best translations I’ve ever seen in a Japanese import from any developer. The localization preserves the nuances that are typically lost in translation; dialog provides not just plot, but also rich characterization. Take for example (spoiler) when Ghirahim relates to Link in a quiet murmur that, when he’s finished with Link, Link will have deafened himself from screaming. (SPOILER OVER) These kind of touches makes the storyline more compelling, narrative wise, than any Zelda other than Wind Waker (of course this is subjective), in quality and in depth.

The eponymous Maiden Zelda, in Skyward Sword, represents the strongest iteration of her character to date. Most Zeldas are resigned, docile things, who rely on Link to do all of the heavy lifting. This Zelda breaks from the traditional depiction of her character as a damsel in distress, locked away in a tower Rapunzel style. We’re told in the exposition that she has a knack for critical thinking and questioning what she’s given. She also watches Link’s back, ensuring he doesn’t dally or forget important things due to daydreaming.  Yes, Link in this game also sports a very unique character. His mind often wanders, we see that he’s an artist and sculptor who wants to be a Skyloft Knight but, because of his natural skill at piloting and swordplay, Link is lazy and inattentive.

And what Link develops into is ultimately up to you, as Skyward Sword features the first ever option of choosing Link’s response beyond accepting or passing up quests. For example (some minor SPOILERS) when my Link was told his destiny, I had the option of responding with confident gusto, resigned indifference, or wracked anxiety. I chose the anxiety, because I’m pretty lazy/inattentive myself, and if somebody laid on me what Link had placed on his shoulders I would be pretty anxious. This character choice added to the intrigue of the plot, as it recontextualized the whole story as a bildungsroman. Link’s highly expressive facial emotions only added emotional weight to the already solid storyline, that I played a part in shaping.

-COMPLAINTS-

All that in place, Skyward Sword does feature some irritating aspects. Many of the levels require Link to use items that you pilot with the Wiimote. I continued to encounter frustration with this mechanic, as I contorted my body to horrific proportions in efforts to correct my flying weapon’s trajectory. Sure, you can recalibrate at any time, but it was a consistent problem that recalibrating only mitigated momentarily. 

Skyward Sword straddles every play-style too broadly. I understand the impetus on Nintendo to design a game fit for all audiences, but Skyward Sword demonstrates how this ideal proves difficult to pull off. The game features way too much explanatory information, that usually seems redundant if you’re at all capable of looking around and critically thinking. This interference ranges from the slightly annoying (such as being told to climb blocks that lead to a platform where your friend is standing, even though they’re massive blocks impossible to miss) to the downright asinine (Link! Link! Your health is low. You’re blinking red and your vision is flashing red and there’s a beeping sound that’s going in time with the blinking, sad looking hearts on the top left of the screen, but in case that wasn’t clue enough, your health is real real low dawg!)

And Fi - Link’s sidekick - isn’t just annoying when she’s freaking out about your hearts. She constantly interjects the plot to spell everything out in absurdly simplistic terms. It diminishes one of Skyward Sword’s strongest elements, it’s plot, into appearing less confident that its story speaks for itself. Then again, Nintendo have always seemed overly concerned with players not understanding the basics of their own games. Even Navi in OOT would pipe up if Link’s health dipped below 3 hearts, and every NPC in that game would punctuate their statements every 3 minutes with the option of repeating their already very clear instructions. So clearly, this problem isn’t unique to Skyward Sword. And even with those issues, I really liked Fi as a sidekick. If you take the time to ask her advice in a new area, she often provides helpful information. Some people didn’t like her extremely computeristic demeanor, but I found it to be a refreshing change of tone from the various faerie companions of the previous games. 

These are minor blemishes on an otherwise satisfyingly dense, and aesthetically dazzling, video game. If you’re at all a fan of Zelda games, or if you’re just interested in seeing the motion control dynamic executed near-flawlessly in an action/adventure game, give this title a whirl. I’m still rooting through all of the side quests and exploration that Skyward Sword has to offer, which goes to show how high the playability and replayability of this title stands.