The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

[Marcello]

The Skulltula were absolute bastards in SS.

[canderson]

So, did you guys prefer the SIlent Realms, or the tear collecting from Twilight Princess?

[speedfreak]

So, did you guys prefer the SIlent Realms, or the tear collecting from Twilight Princess?

[Phantomime]

Silent realm was fun. Searching for the bugs wasn't. Silent Realm got just so OH GOD OH GOD THEY SEE ME THEY'RE AWAKE RUN RUN RUN all the time. That was incredibly fun to feel.

Edited December 10, 2011 by Santamime

[Soniman]

Man all I see is hate for TP everywhere I go, it makes me extremely discouraged from playing it (I got the game along with Skyward Sword yesterday).

[Old dead account]

Man all I see is hate for TP everywhere I go, it makes me extremely discouraged from playing it (I got the game along with Skyward Sword yesterday).

It's a great game, really. I don't think you'll be disappointed with it. Aside from later bosses.

[Octarine]

I went into Twilight Princess with fairly low expectations after all of the bad press it's gotten and I was pleasantly surprised. It's definitely got some flaws and it's far from my favourite game in the series, but it's still pretty solid. I'd personally put it on par with Wind Waker; it never reaches the heights of Wind Waker's best moments and it's certainly not as pretty, but I'm one of those people who just could not stand having to play a song every time I wanted to turn my damn boat, so it evens out.

...I've only played the Gamecube version, though, so I can't vouch for the Wii version's controls. Dunno if that makes a difference.

Edited December 12, 2011 by New Year's Oct

[Ekaje]

The motion controls are bearable for me in TP. The aiming is actually better than with a stick compared to OOT and WW, but the swordplay is just mindless shaking. It didn't bother me too much, but I can see how people got annoyed with how pointless it was.

[Conando]

TP is still a great game, it's just not the greatest Zelda game. When you don't count the CDI games, that's hardly a bad thing. Not being of the greatest of an amazing game series is still pretty damn great.

[lounge]

I went into Twilight Princess with fairly low expectations after all of the bad press it's gotten

What bad press?? The game is surprisingly one of the highest rated games out there, both from fan reviews and critics. I always thought I was in the minority that was disappointed in it.

[Marcello]

I loved TP the first time around, but the second time I thought it got much more boring. That never happened with any other Zelda to me. I've played most of them at least 5 times and I always loved it.

[canderson]

Man all I see is hate for TP everywhere I go, it makes me extremely discouraged from playing it (I got the game along with Skyward Sword yesterday).

Guess what will happen 5 years from now. Everyone will start hating on SKyward Sword and start praising the new Zelda game. This is going to be Zelda's cycle. XD

=D

I also don't recall TP getting this much hate when it come out. It was the complete opposite.

Edited December 12, 2011 by canderson

[Solid SOAP]

Twilight Princess was okay, which was simply unacceptable after all the hype the game got. Everything about it was simply... okay. It isn't a bad game by any means, it's just that a lot of the experience was rehashed from previous games, and the new stuff wasn't all that spectacular.

[JezMM]

I do find it kind of ironic in the end how in opposite land I am about all this. I found TP DID live up to the hype, even if it had a weak first few hours.

If anything I found Skyward Sword absoloutely did not live up to the hype. It has a strong first hour thanks to the intensely good story and characterisation and then just plods along at a very average pace for the rest. The Imprisoned fights were exciting, but that's about it.

[speedfreak]

I wasn't let down by TP either. I thought it was great. Had some of the best dungeons and boss fights of the entire series. After SS it has the best combat. It allowed you to do those cool QTE finishing moves from WW any time you wanted. Midna is the best sidekick. We went through the god damn Temple of Time as a dungeon! Cave of Ordeals was wonderful! Epic as fuck multi final boss battle. I could keep going on.

Sure the beginning was boring, and the wolf was meh, but other then those tiny problems I don't get the hate.

I don't think SS was disappointing either. I loved it. However after the 5 year long ass wait for SS I have to say I expected more. Only 7 dungeons and of those only dungeons 3-5 are near as good as the ones in TP. Plus why two fire temples? :/ Way less boss fights then TP. The side quests were better then the ones in TP (except SS had no cave of ordeals > ) yet most of them seemed like fetch quest busy work and didn't come anywhere near the glory of MM.

Edited December 13, 2011 by speedfreak

[canderson]

I guess I should try the N64 games. You guys bring up Majora's Mask alot.

I haven't played that or Ocarina of Time. Not sure if I want to waste my money on the Virtual Console.

[Nix]

Twilight Princess just struck all the wrong cords with me.

-The dungeon design was bad and evoked little to no thought out of me with their puzzles. They weren't challenging at all and were a complete chore to get through.

-The bosses for the dungeons, while do have a more grand and "epic" flair to them in their design, are either piss easy, a complete drag, or both.

-Hyrule was just so dull and boring this time around, it may be big, but goddamn there's nothing to do and its color palette didn't help much either.

-Link's arsenal of items and weapons weren't fun to mess around with at all.

-I hate the wolf and everything it stands for. I might not hate it so much if you could actually unlock some new abilities and upgrade them, but nope. I barely made it through the Arbiter's Grounds because of how tedious it became to switch between Link's normal and wolf form constantly. Also bug collecting as the wolf, ughn.

-I got the Wii version, so I had to deal with the constant waggle and that stupid noise that emits from the Wii Remote. When I turn off the Wii Remote's sound I get a not as annoying but still odd sounding swing that still got on my nerves.

-ROAL GOAL, SHITTY MOTION CONTROLS, ALL OF MY HATE.

I think the only thing I actually liked about it was the fishing, really. Everything else I disliked quite a bit. I haven't picked up Skyward Sword yet, but I do appreciate all the color the game has. It's refreshing in a way.

Majora's Mask and Wind Waker are the bee's knees though.

[Ebby]

Twilight Princess changed my life. No really. I just played it as a request and I fell in love. I've been through most of the game at least 12 times and fully beaten it a good four times. What did I not like? It was easy. Super easy. And, after I saw some beta footage I was a little let down... still I think its a great game! A Link to the Past will always be my favorite though. It has a special place in my heart.

Personally, Wind Waker and Spirit Tracks have got to be the worst in the series.

Wind Waker was the biggest Zelda let down ever for me. It was tedious sailing around by boat, trying to remember the various islands, CONSTANTLY changing the wind, and the dungeons were quite average. Normally in these games there's one dungeon that does it for me. Ocarina of Time had the Forest Temple (it was genius!!), Twilight Princess had the Goron Mines (anti-gravity!!), Skyward Sword had that Mining Facility (I loved the present/past gimmick!), Majora's Mask was just interesting all around, but Wind Waker... nothing pulled me in. Nothing sold me. Yes Toon Link, you are freaking adorable and your game is visually pleasing but it's so damn boring. I actually quit somewhere near the end. I tried to play it again and it's just not for me.

Oh... and the Wind Temple sucked. Hard.

As for Spirit Tracks... Link on a train. Not the best vehicle for engaging gameplay. Especially with a mediocre item selection and sub par dungeons. Phantom Hourglass was great... I'm not sure what happened. It's the same formula but it just falls really short in Spirit Tracks.

Skyward Sword was 75 dollars and 60 hours well spent. In terms of sword fighting I had a blast! As much as I like repeatedly pressing the action button to attack, actually thinking about how to attack my enemies was very rewarding. I was apprehensive because I never played with such motion heavy controls, but it always worked and never once did I say, "Man... where's a regular controller when you want one?"

The dungeons were just as enjoyable, and never did I find one to be a bore! I was stumped by puzzles, killed by midbosses, and the water dungeon DID NOT SUCK. I felt that this game had a bit of all the other games and I really liked that factor.

However, I did find mini games to be pretty lackluster. Considering that this series can make fishing fun I expected more from bug catching, being shot out of a cannon, and slicing a tree. Stamina, upgrading items, and dowsing were unexpected, but not in a bad way.

Biggest disappointment?

The final boss has great presentation and does massive damage, but is EXTREMELY anti-climatic. =/

Good game? Yeah! Greatest Zelda ever? Hmm. that's up to you! It was worth my hard earned money and I can't wait to get my copy back so I can try Hero Mode.

Plus... it's BILLION times better than Wind Waker.

Edit:

I guess I should try the N64 games. You guys bring up Majora's Mask alot.

I haven't played that or Ocarina of Time. Not sure if I want to waste my money on the Virtual Console.

I think Ocarina of Time is a good game, but I don't love it like everyone else does. I don't call it the greatest game ever, but I just beat it this year. It's fun though and the music is downright phenomenal. Majora's Mask has the best plot in the series, if you ask me. The whole game is just so dark that it's hard to believe OoT came before it. If you can get used to the time travel, it's fine.

Majora has insane dungeons though. Snowhead and the Stone Tower drove me mad.

I think you should try both.

-Hyrule was just so dull and boring this time around, it may be big, but goddamn there's nothing to do and its color palette didn't help much either.

...wait, you mean Hyrule Field? There were so many holes, treasure chests, caves, and areas to bomb there! Not to mention monsters! I had to go through the game six times before I found everything.

Edited December 13, 2011 by eboni

[SenEDDtor Missile]

Plus... it's BILLION times better than Wind Waker.

Wind Waker is my favorite of the series...

Edited December 13, 2011 by Enigma2Me

[Soniman]

Eh, im one of those folks who actively enjoyed the Sailing in WW, it gave the world substance and depth in my opinion.

[Conando]

Wind Waker isn't my favorite either, it's great but, it just wasn't great enough to be considered the best of the series. I personally think Skyward Sword is better than Wind Waker too.

Edited December 13, 2011 by Kringle Of Fate

[speedfreak]

Wind Waker isn't my favorite either, it's great but, it just wasn't great enough to be considered the best of the series. I personally think Skyward Sword is better than Wind Waker too.

Agreed. I will say that I still think the world of WW looks the best, but I much prefer the more realistic character proportions of TP and SS though.

I can easily see why anyone would call either OOT, MM, WW, TP, or SS their favorite Zelda. They're all fantastic games and have their own strengths and weaknesses. What I don't get is how someone could think WW is a master piece while TP is shit, or vice versa.

[PSI Wind]

.........I found Wind Waker to be the best in the series until this game :C

[lounge]

I will say the Twilight Realm was breathtaking. I remember the first time I experienced that. It was so beautiful and atmospheric. I'd just waste so much time just looking up at the trees and everything.

I think if they at least made Link and Wolf Link's animations more fluid, the game would've been a little more enjoyable to me. Details like that can go a long way in improving the experience. Also, it would've been nice if they actually put some animated blood like they did in the N64 games when you'd attack enemies. Even Soul Calibur 2 had it. TP borrowed that WW slash which I always thought didn't fit with the art style. A lot of these little things just add up like I said.

Riding Epona was fantastic though, I'll give them that. They really nailed that feeling along with the horse combat. I think overall, TP didn't have enough of that fantasy/mystical feeling that all the previous games before it had. Places like Faron Woods and Twilight Realm captured that feeling. But many other places like Gerudo Desert, Snowpeak, Lake Hylia, Kakariko Village, Death Mt didn't. When people said they wanted a more realistic zelda, I think Nintendo took that request a little too literally.

[Octarine]

Twilight Princess' more realistic approach would definitely be a bad direction to take the whole series, but I can sort of appreciate it as a one-off. The art style's still not really my thing, but it's just so cool to me that the same series could give us both it and Wind Waker without either of them having to be a redheaded stepchild spinoff. There's nothing I love more than variety.