The dark horse of Zelda games is now available on the Nintendo Switch and it is a triumph. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword did the impossible. It turned one of the worst Zelda games I’ve ever played into a must play experience. The Nintendo Switch version of the game turns the old game on its head and improves on the game in every way making a worth while experience for both new and old players.
I love this game and in hindsight it paved the way for Breath of the Wild.
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword has you playing as Link in one of the earliest Zelda stories out there. It also introduces gameplay controls not seen in any other Zelda games and features a lot of new controls and gimmicks later used in Breath Of The Wild (The best Zelda game of all time). Without Skyward Sword there is no Breath of the Wild and for that I think it’s existence.
The plot of Skyward Sword is basic enough, you’re on a quest to save your childhood friend Zelda. You’ll traverse floating worlds and all new environments to save the day. Zelda games have rarely featured much story and that’s ok. It’s the classic hero’s journey, played out in a fun addictive way.
What I Loved:
No motion controls (You can turn them on if you’d like, but they aren’t for me). Sure, you can try and swing your Joy-Cons but I find it much more fun and satisfying to use the controller’s button scheme for traversing and battling.
The Game looks great with all new improved HD visuals. Both docked and handheld mode look quite impressive.
Smooths over almost every rough part of the original Wii version.
Tutorials are now optional.
Reminds me how much I loved Breath of the Wild.
Side Quests give off incredibly useful items and power-ups and are fun.
Easily the best dungeons in the entire Zelda series. I took these for granted in my first playthrough.
Pro controller is the best way to play this game, hands down.
Liked:
Boss battles are good but can be incredibly challenging.
Fighting is much better, especially when your lazily lying in the couch. It’s still not perfect as they were made for motion controls but it is much more satisfying this go around.
The art of Paul Cézanne really makes this game stand out.
The new items like the Whip and Beetle and are ok but nothing more mainly due to the original way of welding them.
Disliked:
The story is incredibly forgettable despite telling the player how the Master Sword was originally forged.
Fi – she no longer interrupts the game 162 times and is mostly optional but she is still annoying. She actually has a purpose once or twice during the game.
Too much dialogue from side characters. The story isn’t deep enough to warrant alot of it.
Free look, you have to press the shoulder button as well as the right stick which works well when you remember to actually hit the shoulder button which just felt cumbersome.
