With the impending release of Skyward Sword HD, I figured I'd revisit the game that got me back into the series and turned me from a regular fan into a fan nerdy enough to start his own Zelda-related blog.
To explain why Skyward Sword holds such a special place in my heart, I need to share my history with the franchise first. My first exposure to Zelda was The Minish Cap, which my parents gave me alongside my red Gameboy Advance SP when I was 6. I played up until the first dungeon, got stuck inside (in the part where you run around inside the rotating barrel, specifically), and gave up pretty quickly.
Around two years later, I had convinced my uncle, who was a gamer and a huge Zelda fan, to help me finally get past the dungeon I had been stuck on for so long. After he gave me obnoxiously cryptic hints in true Zelda fan fashion, I was able to finish the dungeon, and ended up beating the game not too long after. This was around the time when I was also playing Wind Waker on my Gamecube alongside a bunch of friends at school, and despite getting stuck in the Wind Temple (that dungeon still gives me trouble to this day), I took great pride in being the second person in our friend group to be able to beat the game. Throughout the next few years, I played Twilight Princess (but got stuck on the Fire Temple and stopped playing) and Phantom Hourglass (beat it). I eagerly awaited the release of Spirit Tracks, got it for Christmas, and spent the remainder of winter break on the phone with my friend while we played through the game together. I enjoyed all of these games, and liked the Zelda series a good bit, but at the time I didn't have the means or much desire to go back and play some of the older games.
It was around this time that more of my friends were getting XBox 360s and starting to play a cool edgy grown-ups' game known as Call of Duty: Black Ops. After much effort convincing my mom that the violence wasn't that bad, she caved and I was able to start playing CoD with my friends. Despite some friends selling theirs, I held onto my Wii, and still came back to Super Mario Galaxy, Mario Kart, and Smash from time to time. However, sadly, I started falling behind on Zelda news, and found myself playing the Wii less and less.
Fast forward to November 20, 2011. I had convinced my mom to take me to the local Gamestop to pick up CoD: Modern Warfare 3, after hearing my friends talk about it for weeks in the locker room after swim practice. We walked into the store, and it just so happened that this very day happened to be the day Skyward Sword released, unbeknownst to me. My mom saw the game on display and said something along the lines of "I haven't seen you play Zelda in a while... do you want to get this one?" I shrugged, figured sure, why not, I'm not gonna turn down another video game. But my main focus was on going home and hopping on MW3.
Needless to say... I didn't play very much MW3. Within the first couple of hours of playing Skyward Sword, I had fallen in love with the town of Skyloft, the vibrant colors, the characters (*cough* Zelda *cough*), and the sense of freedom I felt flying on a Loftwing for the first time. By the time I finished the game, I was so enthralled with the series that it inspired me to go back and complete all the 3D titles (which, in turn, inspired me to complete all the 2D titles too). It was around this time that I also started getting involved in the online Zelda community, actively commenting on Zelda Dungeon and ultimately starting the blog you're reading now. It's safe to say this blog wouldn't exist if it weren't for Skyward Sword.
Anyway, enough about my personal relationship with the game - I think Skyward Sword is a great game in its own right, and I don't think it gets enough praise for the things it did right. People love to criticize the game, and while it does have its flaws, I think they are often blown far out of proportion, preventing people from seeing everything it did right.
For starters, the dungeon design is incredible. Zelda games rarely have any particularly bad dungeons, but this is one of the games where I can say each and every one of the dungeons actually impressed me with their design and atmosphere. Even the game's weaker dungeons (for me, the Earth Temple and Lanayru Mining Facility) are still enjoyable to play through and are full of unique concepts and clever puzzles that utilize Link's item set in creative ways. On the other end of the spectrum, dungeons like the Ancient Cistern and Sandship are by far and away some of the best dungeons the series has to offer. The heaven-hell aesthetic in the Ancient Cistern makes for a really neat atmosphere, and the way the Sandship creatively utilizes the timeshift stone mechanic had me shaking my head in disbelief a couple of times.
Next, we have the story. I firmly believe that Skyward Sword has the best writing and storyline in the entire series, by a long shot. When I first played it, I was genuinely worried about Zelda in the first hours of the game, and I remember feeling hurt and confused when she repeatedly ran off with Impa without any explanation. I loved the way Groose went from an antagonistic bully to a real friend to Link was heartwarming, while the goodbye scene with Fi at the end left me in tears. These emotional scenes are only made better by the amazing soundtrack -- which, I believe, was the first fully-orchestrated soundtrack in the series. The way the lore ties into the rest of the Zelda series was really neat, like taking part in the creation of the Master Sword and finally seeing where Ganon's reincarnation cycle started. This captivating and emotional story is something I really hope to see return in future Zelda games. (Looking at you, BotW 2.)
The art style is gorgeous, in my opinion. Despite being on the Wii, I think the watercolor-esque art style was great, and I'm really excited to see how it looks in HD. One of the areas I think the art style suits best is Faron Woods:
As for the world itself, it is quite linear, which is one of the bigger complaints I've heard about the game. I love exploration, but I think Skyward Sword's worlds are quite enjoyable too, as long as you don't go into it expecting vast, open fields like TP or BotW. When I first played Skyward Sword, I remember thinking that the environments themselves felt like extensions of the dungeons, and I enjoyed it. They're a bit more open than dungeons, but are still chock-full of puzzles and require you to complete certain tasks to progress. I didn't mind the linearity, because I felt like I was exploring outdoor pseudo-dungeons of sorts. The one thing I do wish was in the game was some interconnectivity between the 3 areas. The fact that you have to return to the sky to enter another area makes them feel more like disconnected levels, and I would have loved some secret routes leading from Lanayru Desert back to Faron Woods or Eldin Volcano to make it feel more like an interconnected world on the surface.
I don't want to talk about the motion control complaints too much, as that's something that will be largely irrelevant in the remake. I personally never had an issue with them, and I enjoyed the strategic combat they enabled and the other interesting uses scattered throughout the game. I'll likely be playing the remake with motion controls too, but luckily there's now an alternative option for the people who despise them.
All in all, Skyward Sword is a fantastic game, and it holds a very special place in my heart. I'm not a superstitious person, but it seemed like fate that the very day I happened to convince my mom to drive me to Gamestop to buy MW3 ten years ago just so happened to be the release date of Skyward Sword. Ever since then, I've kept a trend of buying every main-series title on its release day, and I don't plan on stopping anytime soon.
I'm hopeful that the re-release on the Switch will finally let it get the recognition it deserves. Given, it's nothing like Breath of the Wild, but that's fine - one of my favorite things about the Zelda series is that no two games feel the same. If you haven't played the game before, I'd highly recommend it - and if you have, I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Until next time!
