*** Nintendo Switch ***

I’ve been playing the Skyward Sword “remake”. I desperately wanted to play a Zelda and I never got on with Skyward Sword at the time, so it was a bit of a punt.

My feelings about it are overwhelmingly negative. There is some core Zelda-game goodness in there which is always enjoyable (dungeons, collecting items etc) but it’s hard to even know where to begin with my criticisms.

The whole set up of the game feels excruciating and forced. Stale. Going through the motions, but bloated. The art style is generic - this must surely be the least charming Zelda game. The overworld area you fly through is so devoid of life and boring to look at compared to Windwaker. Why are there so many ‘forced fun’ fetch quests to advance. Why doesn’t Zelda take 1 minute to explain to you what’s going on when you meet. Why are the first two mini-hub areas (forest and volcano) so boring (admittedly the third mine area is good and the mine bit in particular is great). Why is Skyloft island so empty of things to do compared to Windfall island. It’s like all of the areas are physically ‘bigger’ with nothing there.

But nothing compares to the controls and how the game mechanics are based around them. Oh my ****ing god. Figuring out a specific way of swinging your sword and hitting an enemy is simply not fun. It’s just not. It makes minor enemies frustrating and a chore. The motion controls are imperfect and the mechanic of having to move your sword to a direction before you swing feels more difficult than it would be to fight the enemies in real life (and it feels even more counter intuitive using button controls). Because I can never tell whether I’m doing things properly or whether my swings aren’t registering, I lose my patience and I’m never convinced that I’ve actually ‘earned’ defeating an enemy. It’s so ungratifying.

This is by far the worst Zelda game.

In someways, I’m grateful for skyward sword, because it’s probably what ended up giving us Breath of the Wild.
 
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Nitefly said:
I’ve been playing the Skyward Sword “remake”. I desperately wanted to play a Zelda and I never got on with Skyward Sword at the time, so it was a bit of a punt.

My feelings about it are overwhelmingly negative. There is some core Zelda-game goodness in there which is always enjoyable (dungeons, collecting items etc) but it’s hard to even know where to begin with my criticisms.

The whole set up of the game feels excruciating and forced. Stale. Going through the motions, but bloated. The art style is generic - this must surely be the least charming Zelda game. The overworld area you fly through is so devoid of life and boring to look at compared to Windwaker. Why are there so many ‘forced fun’ fetch quests to advance. Why doesn’t Zelda take 1 minute to explain to you what’s going on when you meet. Why are the first two mini-hub areas (forest and volcano) so boring (admittedly the third mine area is good and the mine bit in particular is great). Why is Skyloft island so empty of things to do compared to Windfall island. It’s like all of the areas are physically ‘bigger’ with nothing there.

But nothing compares to the controls and how the game mechanics are based around them. Oh my ****ing god. Figuring out a specific way of swinging your sword and hitting an enemy is simply not fun. It’s just not. It makes minor enemies frustrating and a chore. The motion controls are imperfect and the mechanic of having to move your sword to a direction before you swing feels more difficult than it would be to fight the enemies in real life (and it feels even more counter intuitive using button controls). Because I can never tell whether I’m doing things properly or whether my swings aren’t registering, I lose my patience and I’m never convinced that I’ve actually ‘earned’ defeating an enemy. It’s so ungratifying.

This is by far the worst Zelda game.

In someways, I’m grateful for skyward sword, because it’s probably what ended up giving us Breath of the Wild.
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You would have known this if you had looked up the Wii reviews, I also said in this thread that it’s objectively a bad game.
 
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Kreeeee said:
You would have known this if you had looked up the GameCube reviews, I also said in this thread that it’s objectively a bad game.
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As above I presume you meant the wii, but yeah I did play it on the wii at the time and never completed it. I wanted to give it a chance again. I’m still enjoying aspects of it but it’s such a staggering ‘dropping of the ball’.

That said, I had somewhat mixed views of Twighlight Princess too… even at the time I felt that had ‘filler/bloat’. But Skyward Sword is next level.

Edit: hold on…

Kreeeee said:
Twilight Princess, Skyward Sword and particularly A Link Between Worlds were all great in my opinion.

The DS games and Wind Waker were a bit crap.
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Kreeeee said:
It's one of the worst Zelda games, and one of the few that I didn't complete alongside the terrible DS ones.
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Maybe in the former post you had Skyward Sword and Wind Waker mixed up? :p

I like Wind Waker, particularly the exploring, save that it’s too short / easy.
 
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Wind Waker has to be my favourite, though the sailing to collect things can get a bit tedious towards the end. Still got my copy of Skyward Sword sealed, when I get round to it I'll go in with an open mind and give both control schemes a go but suspect that I'll settle on controller. I won't battle through to complete it though - if it's not for me I'll accept that it's just one of those blips in an otherwise fantastic series and hope for Wind Waker to make its way to Switch sooner rather than later.
 
I've not even started Skyward Sword HD yet.

Started to replay Wind Waker HD on the Wii U and not finished Twilight Princess HD also. Might also go back and play Ocarina of Time soon as have the version released for the Gamecube with Wind Waker.
 
petridish said:
Wind Waker has to be my favourite, though the sailing to collect things can get a bit tedious towards the end. Still got my copy of Skyward Sword sealed, when I get round to it I'll go in with an open mind and give both control schemes a go but suspect that I'll settle on controller. I won't battle through to complete it though - if it's not for me I'll accept that it's just one of those blips in an otherwise fantastic series and hope for Wind Waker to make its way to Switch sooner rather than later.
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The button control scheme is worse than the motion controls. For example, to swing your sword from left to right, you have to move the analogue stick left and then right… You don’t just press it to the right (which is what your video game instincts will be telling you). I get that they are just mapping the motion controls out but it is horribly counter-intuitive and will go against all of your acquired button pressing logic.

It’s a shame, as aiming with the gyro controls on the pro controller is easier than using the joycon (which constantly has to be centred by pressing the y button before you do any gyro activity). Thrusting the sword (absolutely essential in SS) is easier on the pro-controller too. But with the pro controller you have to hold L to move the camera… Argh!!
 
Man.. not touched my Switch in a while apart from playing Hades on it. I feel first party games have been weak or just not something I am interested in. I am keeping my switch purely for BotW 2, Mario Kart 9, a new Mario Bros and maybe Metroid depending on how that pans out. Just taking ages.

With my Steam Deck arriving in December, I think I will end up selling my Switch in about 18 months time once I have played a few of the games mentioned above. My plan for the next Nintendo console is to buy it to play the must play games on it and sell it on right after, as there is just too much down time between big titles these days. Only so much Mario Kart one can play before getting bored. It did not help that it was the same Mario Kart game we already had on the Wii U. My favourite Mario Kart was on the Wii, had the best tracks imo.
 
TNA said:
Man.. not touched my Switch in a while apart from playing Hades on it. I feel first party games have been weak or just not something I am interested in. I am keeping my switch purely for BotW 2, Mario Kart 9, a new Mario Bros and maybe Metroid depending on how that pans out. Just taking ages.

With my Steam Deck arriving in December, I think I will end up selling my Switch in about 18 months time once I have played a few of the games mentioned above. My plan for the next Nintendo console is to buy it to play the must play games on it and sell it on right after, as there is just too much down time between big titles these days. Only so much Mario Kart one can play before getting bored. It did not help that it was the same Mario Kart game we already had on the Wii U. My favourite Mario Kart was on the Wii, had the best tracks imo.
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If game pass works well on the Steam Deck then my Switch will be purely for the 2-3 decent first party games released each year (except 2021, which has been a duff year).
 
The steam deck is tempting although for the price of it I would be tempted just to build a cheap SFF PC as the portability of the Switch is a bonus but I play 80%+ on the TV.

Fingers crossed next year will be better for Switch games.
 
Are we talking about the same Stream Deck that gamers / streamers use for recording with OBS on a PC? I have a Stream Deck and not sure what it's to do with the Nintendo Switch?

That aside, I have been playing on my Switch nearly every day since I got it 2nd hand last September. Had a blast on Zelda Link's Awakening, Super Mario Party, Mario Galaxy and 3D World (+Bowser's Fury).

Since May, I have been playing Mario Odyssey. What a game that is, and I was most touched by Pauline's song that she performs with her band in the Metro Kingdon as Mario plays out a set of retro Mario and Donkey Kong screens. I reached just over 300 power moons once I completed the main story and now I'm on 508 moons just trying to make the most of the game. I do have 3 amiibos though (Peach, Daisy and Rosalina), so I have been using those to track down moons that I was unsure of, but it's very satisfying getting the moons when I don't need any amiibo help.

Next up will be New Super Mario Bros. U which I will probably start playing in September.
 
Further to my recent moaning, I did actually finish off Skyward Sword (with my adventure clocking in at around ~31 hours). A fleshed out bullet point set of pros and cons is below.

Overall I'd give it a 6.75/10. I feel like a 6.5 is too harsh and a 7 is too forgiving!! :p

*****

Pros / Good Stuff:

Core Zelda gameplay is always a good starting point.

Game does get better after initial sluggish start (from entering the third 'desert' area).

Some interesting 'time-travel' mechanics (albeit only really in the third 'desert' area).

A few rewarding 'puzzles' that actually required a little bit of exploration / thought (although only really in the third 'desert area' / final dungeon).

.... the desert area as a whole is generally quite good!

Swordplay boss fights are enjoyable (subject to the below 'damage feedback' issue).

Some thematically interesting dungeons (Mining Facility / The Great Cistern / Pirate Ship / Sky Keep).

Trial sections OK in isolation (but suffer due to additional bloat).

Ghirahim character is wacky / fun.

Language and tone is occasionally sinister (more so than other Zelda games).

Cons / Bad Stuff:

Woeful over-design of game around motion controls. Until you adjust to the motion control requirements, even minor enemies are tedious.

Terrible story pacing. In respect of story, it's the most tedious stitched together sequence of 'MacGuffin hunts' with a plot that rarely ascends beyond 'stuff is bad, we will explain later but first go here....'

Likewise the gameplay is chock full of tedious, anti-fun 'overworld' fetch quests / MacGuffin hunts' for game progression.

Game is generally too linear. No real ability nor incentive to explore the wider overworld at your own pace.

Many dungeons are far too linear (this seems a problem with most 3D Zelda games tbh). What's wrong with the tried and tested 2D route of 'get several keys (all accessible from the off) -> new weapons -> remaining puzzles'? The dungeons might as well be rooms lined up in a straight line!

Empty, soulless hub world. Whole game feels threadbare and lifeless compared to Breath of the Wild / Majora's Mask etc.

Only the desert area is good / interesting. The forest and volcano areas are supremely generic, populated by irritating 'forced' inhabitants.

Swordplay battles blighted by lack of damage feedback. Am I doing it right?! Is this working?!

Fi is a terrible companion.

Other bosses suffer from 'hit me here' obviousness - meh.

Two fire temples. Why is once called the 'earth temple'?!

Repeating some boss fights (a pet peeve of mine) - ugh.

Absolutely embarrassing 'singing' in cutscenes (mostly from fi).

Sky Keep dungeon had a great idea, but could have been better realised (multi-floors, etc).
 
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