After the disappointment that was The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, it seemed that the magic of The Legend of Zelda franchise had been lost. Gone were the vibrant and youthful adventures we loved, replaced with an awkward attempt at darkness and realism. With the release of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Nintendo aims to go back to the franchise’s roots and recapture the magic that was lost back in 2006. After delving deep into Link’s latest adventure, I can say with confidence that anything lost has been returned; better than ever.
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is, chronologically speaking, a prequel to The Legend of Zelda: Orcarina of Time and tells the origins of the Master Sword and Ganandorf. In this adventure, Link takes off from Skyloft and travels to the world below to give chase to the apple of his eye, Princess Zelda. Apart from serving as an introduction to key portions of the franchise, the game presents a familiar story of saving a princess in need. In this way, Skyward Sword, like most games in The Legend of Zelda series, is its own entity. The game shares many common elements of other games in the franchise, but provides its own take on concepts and adds a huge amount of brand new ideas.
The most prominent of these new ideas is the addition of true motion controls. Fighting enemies with 1:1 control of Link’s sword is something fans have been fantasizing about for years. To Skyward Sword’s benefit, the motion controls are precise and intuitive. The new control scheme is simple enough that anyone can pick up and begin besting Moblins, while veterans will have to remain focused on every attack even on their second or third playthrough. The challenge provided is one of the keys to the success of the new control scheme. As mentioned, combat is no longer z-targeting followed by one button press. Now, players must face every enemy head-on, watch their defensive position, and then instantly plan and execute their attack. Sure, you can wave the remote and usually defeat enemies in earlier areas, but to master the game, concentration and skill are a necessity.
Apart from combat, the game also offers some cool motion-controlled tidbits. Players will have to balance Link with the Wii Remote while walking tight ropes, spin the Wii Remote to solve boss-door puzzles in dungeons, and drop it down to their side, then flick to bowl bombs. All-in-all the new re-worked motion controls are a great addition to the franchise that will hopefully remain in Link’s future console adventures. While the controls can be troublesome if you aren’t playing in a large enough space, they are a great innovation that was necessary for the franchise to remain fresh.
While controlling Link through his latest adventure, you will surely notice how colourful the world is in Skyward Sword. With a visual style that combines all of the last Zelda console games, including the cell-shaded Wind Waker, it was pretty much guaranteed to appease all fans in this department. Unsurprisingly, the visuals are fantastic, despite the lack of power provided by the Wii. What did surprise me though while playing Skyward Sword was the audio. Of course the lack of voice-acting was no surprise, but the soundtrack throughout the game had me amazed. The soundtrack to Skyward Sword is one of the best in the series since Orcarina of Time. While none of the songs will likely have same longevity as songs from Orcarina of Time, they are so unique and wonderful in their own way that I hope they at least get some recognition among the die-hard Zelda crowd.
With such beautiful environments and music, it is understandable that gamers want to be lost in Skyloft and the world below for hours. Luckily, Skyward Sword offers an incredible amount of fresh gameplay to keep gamers going for 50 – 100 hours in their first playthrough. With decisions to make, areas to explore, and side-quests to complete, the majority of players will be giving their Wii more play time than ever before.
After 50 hours of exploration, I can safely say that The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is one of the Wii’s best games. With a new, more challenging approach to the Zelda franchise that doesn’t forget its roots, Skyward Sword accomplishes what most games on any platform aspire to. If there is one Wii game that deserves your attention this year, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is it.
Score: 9.5/10
