Zelda Skyward Sword HD (July 16th 2021)

[Wraith]

i said i was going to buy it, until the day of, when i thought about actually spending 60 dollars on this when i have an entire backlog of unplayed stuff sitting in front of me as i type this, and decided not to

it'll be there next time i have play money i guess

[VO.SUPER]

19 minutes ago, JezMM said:

Only skimmed the footage but I'm glad they're FINALLY doing tutorials where the instructions for simple inputs like moving the camera are given on-screen, during gameplay, without pausing said gameplay.  It's only been the standard in most games for a decade or two, lol.

Hearing that motion controls are all or nothing though and you have to use them for flight/swimming if you want to use them for the sword is a huge bummer though.

In a surprise to myself, because honestly I thought there was a fair chance of me backpedalling after the amiibo annoyance and buy it anyway... there's still just not enough going on here to justify paying for it over again, so I'm sitting this out for now. I look forward to giving this game the second chance I was sort of looking forward to with this remake in 10 years time or so when it's in truly bargain bin territory (so, y'know, 10% off on the eShop).

I will say at least. Apparently switching from button to motion is seamless. 

Doesn't justify not being able to mix and match, but still, maybe its just a bit more tolerable. 

[KHCast]

So the loftwing kinda controls like shit motion control wise holy hell. I’ve tried everything, but the thing inevitably goes off on its own, turns around, randomly descended no matter what I do even when I recalibrate.:/

[VO.SUPER]

5 hours ago, KHCast said:

So the loftwing kinda controls like shit motion control wise holy hell. I’ve tried everything, but the thing inevitably goes off on its own, turns around, randomly descended no matter what I do even when I recalibrate.:/

The way to properly ascend is to flick the controller really fast. Just in case you don't know. People seem to get confused by that and the game doesn't explain it super well.

Something else that may help is holding the joycon like a paper airplane. I've heard that described as an effective method to controlling it well.

[Soniman]

And there's me who did my time and absolutely refuses to touch the Loftwing with motion controls again and it's a god send, it feels so much better 

[JezMM]

11 hours ago, VisionaryofSUPER said:

I will say at least. Apparently switching from button to motion is seamless. 

Doesn't justify not being able to mix and match, but still, maybe its just a bit more tolerable. 

Oh, is it literally just a button-press then?  Anything that requires opening a menu every time you dive into water/go to the sky is too intrusive.

[Sonikko]

I'm actually team motion controls, having a game like Skyward Sword on Switch makes me wish we had something that used motion this extensively again.

It's fun to me, might not be for everyone but I think there definitely is potential.

[Blue Blood]

On 7/17/2021 at 10:04 AM, JezMM said:

Oh, is it literally just a button-press then?  Anything that requires opening a menu every time you dive into water/go to the sky is too intrusive.

It's not just a button press. You have to go into the menu and turn off motion control. I think it's like 3 button presses? The only exception is if you switch from the Joy-Con to the Pro Controller or vice-versa. I've been doing this because, surprisingly, I'm not getting on with the motion controls.

I seriously loved the motion controls of the original. But for whatever reason, I'm finding them incredibly cumbersome and difficult here. I'm still only at the Skyview Temple and haven't even gotten the Beetle yet, but I just can't play this game for very long because of how frustrating it is. I've taken to switching to my Pro Controller whenever I need to fight a Skulltula because Link never seems to jab with his sword when I want him to, usually swinging instead. And it's proving really difficult to get those eyeball things in the temple to follow the sword too. I'm just fed up at this point.

[VO.SUPER]

Just got the game in the mail. Let's fire up this bad boy and see how long I can last.

 

57 minutes ago, Blue Blood said:

It's not just a button press. You have to go into the menu and turn off motion control. I think it's like 3 button presses? The only exception is if you switch from the Joy-Con to the Pro Controller or vice-versa. I've been doing this because, surprisingly, I'm not getting on with the motion controls.

I seriously loved the motion controls of the original. But for whatever reason, I'm finding them incredibly cumbersome and difficult here. I'm still only at the Skyview Temple and haven't even gotten the Beetle yet, but I just can't play this game for very long because of how frustrating it is. I've taken to switching to my Pro Controller whenever I need to fight a Skulltula because Link never seems to jab with his sword when I want him to, usually swinging instead. And it's proving really difficult to get those eyeball things in the temple to follow the sword too. I'm just fed up at this point.

It's probably calibration issues. Everyone seems to be having them, and I guess when it comes to the more precise movements like the stab and rotating your sword you need to do the recalibrating. Of course it could just be buggered for you. In that case just stick with buttons.

[JezMM]

3 hours ago, Blue Blood said:

It's not just a button press. You have to go into the menu and turn off motion control. I think it's like 3 button presses? The only exception is if you switch from the Joy-Con to the Pro Controller or vice-versa. I've been doing this because, surprisingly, I'm not getting on with the motion controls.

I seriously loved the motion controls of the original. But for whatever reason, I'm finding them incredibly cumbersome and difficult here. I'm still only at the Skyview Temple and haven't even gotten the Beetle yet, but I just can't play this game for very long because of how frustrating it is. I've taken to switching to my Pro Controller whenever I need to fight a Skulltula because Link never seems to jab with his sword when I want him to, usually swinging instead. And it's proving really difficult to get those eyeball things in the temple to follow the sword too. I'm just fed up at this point.

Figured a button-press would've been a strange choice - yeah that's a bit too much to do every time you enter a flying/swimming segment if you want motion sword/weapon/aiming but stick controls for character movement (you know, that thing that they felt the stick was perfectly servicable for any time Link isn't in the air or under the water).

Latter half of your post is interesting though, because the motion control in Galaxy is definitely a little iffy too - I feel like it might be something to do with how these motions were designed with the Wiimote's shape in mind, and what was comfortable and worked well there does not go so well with the small, light, less chunky joycons.

Obviously the programming behind it in all cases has been calibrated for the joycons, not suggesting they just slapped the old input behaviour onto a new controller and didn't bother to rework it, but I feel there's something about their shape that just makes the feeling be a bit "off" for doing stuff other than short bursts of gyro aiming and such.

It might be entirely in my head, but that doesn't actually make it less real if it causes a disconnect between player input and game output.

[Sonikko]

Weird, it has been the opposite experience for me. I really struggled with the motion controls on Wii but I'm having a good time on Switch.

I do recalibrate veeery often though, but I prefer being able to do that on my own so I'm always sure the calibration is fine, rather than having the game do it automatically who knows when exactly.

It's just a button press and it's seamless, so it doesn't really bother me tbh

[Sonicka]

3 hours ago, Sonikko said:

Weird, it has been the opposite experience for me. I really struggled with the motion controls on Wii but I'm having a good time on Switch.

I do recalibrate veeery often though, but I prefer being able to do that on my own so I'm always sure the calibration is fine, rather than having the game do it automatically who knows when exactly.

It's just a button press and it's seamless, so it doesn't really bother me tbh

A one press solution to re-centre/re-calerbrate really helps the experience - same as in the Wii version, so I'm glad that feature has been left intact here.

Laying the Joycon down or relying on the controllers own tricks is rarely an enjoyable time. 

[VO.SUPER]

So, just beat Skyview Temple. I remember this whole part taking longer when I played back '11. I gotta say, coming back to motion controls, I'm surprised how much I love them. If only my Joycon weren't such hot messes, but I guess I'll just send them off to Nintendo for repair and do Eldin with button controls. It'll be an interesting experience.

Overall, this focus on puzzles is just so... smooth to me, the fact the outside areas are mini-dungeons leading up to the larger ones feels so good. It's just puzzle after puzzle. Also since the areas are so small, I just don't douse anymore; there's only so much room compared to something like Breath of the Wild for me to get lost, and I'm inquisitive as is. I look forward to more.

But yeah, it's like three menus to get to the motion control switching. I mean, yeah it's pretty quick, but still inconvenient.

[Soniman]

I've been playing this game pretty much exclusively with button controls (not even because I especially dislike the motion controls because I definitely don't) but I went back to motion for one occasion and it was the Koloktos fight and to my glee it's STILL just as lit as I remember, coming after my favorite dungeon in the game and it's just a awesome experience, only wish he was a little harder. 

Then I went back into the water, remember the horror of motion control swimming and immediately switched back lmao 

 

[VO.SUPER]

I have been playing purely motion all the way up to Lanaryu. It's honestly been a blast. Though to mitigate the pressure on my wrist, I just go at my whole arm. But since the joycon are so light compared to the Wiimote, it doesn't feel like such a pain to use my whole arm.

I've become accustomed to just resetting gyro subconciously before using an item, so I have not minded that.

I also really have been enjoying the sword combat. Figuring out the regular bokoblins makes slaying them just so smooth.

But the thing I've enjoyed the most coming back to SS? It's been this overworld, and the way it all feels like just one long dungeon. I never feel like I'm doing nothing, because it's just one puzzle to the next back to back. I really do love it. But because of the small size of these areas, I've had a hell of a time just exploring, I don't even dowse. It's just easier for me to run around and find these things naturally.

Still though, gotta see how it goes on.

[VO.SUPER]

Beat the Ancient Cistern.

Shit still slaps man. After all these years and everything about that dungeon (except the tablets that give away puzzles) slaps.

Koloktos is still one of my favorite Zelda bosses. May not be difficult, but its such a satisfying fight.

 

[KHCast]

I’m not about to go “game journalism bad luuul” because of this, but uhhh… yeah I don’t agree with this 

 

 

 

 

[VO.SUPER]

Beat the game. I gotta say, mechanically, the final few hours of the game is some of THE BEST Zelda endgame material I've ever experienced. I only put it slightly below Twilight Princess' castle storming just because of how elements build upon each other in the context of the story.

Ghirahim's penultimate fight slaps Zant to the ground though.

2 hours ago, KHCast said:

I’m not about to go “game journalism bad luuul” because of this, but uhhh… yeah I don’t agree with this

Blech. Final Fantasy 7 remake is a creative remake/retconning of original events out of reverence to the original game while still trying to reinterpret and expand those original ideas. (Even then, we are still getting a traditional remake sometime this year.)

What this person is suggesting is to strip Skyward Sword's identity and ignoring the importance of the decisions made at the time. And I have no patience for that.

[Wraith]

the way this article is phrased, it sounds like they think most of the game is fine and they just want the directional sword stuff removed entirely. that's not the type of change that would warrant a full remake.

Like, what are you changing aside from those quirks? The story is good, but I don't consider it a standout narrative in the series. The dungeon design is excellent, but I don't actually see the point in a remake if the plan is to keep most of that the same. The remakes he references change the level design of the games they're based on pretty fucking drastically.

I don't really like the focus on motion controls or directional sword swings either, but the 4 previous games are there if I want a traditional experience.

[Soniman]

Beat the game also. Glad to know I still enjoyed it just much as when I first played it 10 years ago, even more so with a good chunk of its time wasting elements removed. 

My play time clocked in at about 30 hours and really I think my only problem was that it didn't need to be and some fetch quests are just not interesting and could've been cut (like the entire "song of the hero" segment and anything having to do with the water dragon and her fucking bathtub), sky is also boring as hell still but at least it's not a pain to navigate with normal controls.

Other than that though I had a stellar time with it, great story, great dungeons, great graphics, some fun likable characters. Was just nice going back to a traditional Zelda again as the series continues to evolve with the BOTW formula.

[Tailikku]

man, it looks like I'm the third person to say that I've also beaten it. In fact, I had to spell out Demise's dying dialogue to my sister who is also a Zelda fan: He's the reason why Ganon/dorf's around

[Empire88]

Honestly SS was probably my least favorite Zelda game when it came out (it was still a great game! Just liked it less), but I have been considering grabbing this to reexperinece a traditional Zelda experience. 

While I also enjoyed BoTW quite a bit and it is a phenomenal game in its own right, it also removed a lot of elements that I love Zelda for and feels almost like a different type of game. I couldn't help but feel like something was missing even if I had fun.

Anyhow, seeing a lot of people happy here replaying it makes me want to play it again and see if I will appreciate SS more a second time around. 

[KHCast]

So like @Wraith funnily enough, I’ve been finally sitting myself down to play through this game after having it on my shelf since release. Except I’m more or less a newbie to the game. I’ve played enough of it where I feel I can express how I feel about the game.

 

So first off, we have the motion control stuff, and let me just say, wasn’t a fan, especially when I want to play undocked. They just feel very choosy for when they want to actually work properly, especially with stuff like the loftwing. The gyro stuff just feels bad if you’re solely relying on it. I say solely because, gonna be honest, they aren’t terrible when I use a pro controller. Tbh, most of my time, as in 95% of the time, playing this has been using traditional controls. I initially felt that would feel weird for a game like skyward sword, but honestly, it feels pretty natural, and I have an easier time playing it. (Also, clearly some of the things you do in this game did not have this in mind, because certain sections and bosses and enemies become a fucking breeze with this control setup). Hell, even the gyro controls become a bit more bearable when using a controller, although I sometimes will turn it off for certain moments (like the fledge pumpkin mini game). So the controls when using a controller don’t bother me.

 

Now as for the game itself…I can see why people are mixed on this one. Holy shit, if I can sum up my thoughts on this game with two words: slow, and repetitive. Look I don’t mind backtracking as a concept, or going back and forth sometimes, but BotW just is very frustrating to do things in. Story stuff aside, there’s just a lot of things in the game that wear my patience down. The loftwing is fun, but but frequently needing to travel from one place to another using it gets tiring. Especially when you’re on one end of the sky and need to head somewhere else. It feels like a crap ton of padding to extend the play time.

Not as egregious, but still annoying are when you’re doing missions, and need to frequently sleep to get either day or night to do parts of the mission in question. 
 

Having to repeat certain temples, or return to certain locations multiple times throughout the story can certainly add some world building when done right, but in skyward sword, most of the time it just feels unnecessary and makes me tired of the locales.  I’m currently doing the sacred trials stuff and man, I’m not a fan of this stuff. When you get to the new areas sure it’s a breath of fresh air, but getting to that point is exhausting, and honestly this whole point of the story just feels boring.

 

Now credit where it’s due, I like some stuff about the game. I like most of the dungeons overall, I think they’re fun, and I enjoy most of the bosses, as easy as they are.  My favorite dungeons are the ones using the time shift gimmick. I also find myself really enjoying upgrading my equipment, it’s super satisfying, and certainly makes me feel ready to go into the next segment of the game. I almost always have the materials needed since I explore every crack of the locations I go to in the story. However I can see why it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. That also can be boring and repetitive especially if you’re missing a bunch of materials. The token coin things are an interesting idea, but I’d have honestly rather a perks system instead so they didn’t take up a inventory slot, but that’s just me.
 

Lastly, I enjoy the story, despite not really liking Fi herself, origin stories always catch my attention, and most of the characters I find charming and fun. Groose has a nice story arc with character growth, Zelda is super playful and sassy, and even Link is expressive and reactive to the situations he finds himself in. Not to the level of WW Link mind you, but he’s not a plank of wood so I appreciate him here
 

Little nitpicks: i thought I’d use beetles shop a lot more, as I remember always wanting stuff from him in WW, but honestly, aside from the adventurers kit thing, nothing he has really stood out. Maybe later on in the game he gets more interesting stuff who knows, but most of what he offers you can find in the chests around the sky.

 

This certainly feels a lot easier imo than most Zelda games, but at the same time it also feels unnecessarily padded and boring as a result. I don’t outright hate the game, but it’s a experience I think I’ll only play once and move on from. I barely even feel that compelled to try and get the hylian shield considering what I’ve heard you gotta do to get it. I might try and full complete this save file, idk, we’ll see how I feel once I beat the game