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Is Skyward Sword HD a good Zelda game?

ChoosableOne

ChoosableAll
I've been trying this game on the Wii, but due to shoulder pain, I won't be able to continue further. Also, I had to struggle for about 2 minutes to jump on a rope; the controls aren't tight enough. Were the negative reviews about this game due to the Wii controls? Do you think it became a good Zelda game once this issue was resolved for the Switch? Should I buy it for the Switch?
 

JimmyF

Member
The controls are pretty good and the dungeons are well designed. However the pacing, anything between dungeons is an absolute slog and terribly designed. The repeated boss fights and that stupid water dragon with its horrible quests is were I considered giving up on the game. The worst out of the 3D Zelda games. The switch can be played without motion controls, however using the stick for sword attacks feels odd but it works.

Oh and Fi I forgot about her, the most annoying companion there is. I actually used gecko codes back in the day to make her shut up, that's how bad she is. The devs really went out of their way to annoy the player as much as possible.
 
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Kataploom

Gold Member
Hell yes... Until you have to fight with your sword and pray to god it doesn't get in your way too much
 

Robb

Gold Member
It has some of my favorite dungeons in the entire franchise, a great OST and fun characters.

That said it’s probably my least favorite 3D Zelda. Although I never had any issues with the controls personally. My main complaints are the extreme handholding, Fi being annoying, poor pacing and repeated boss battles.
 

Kikorin

Member
Yes. I didn't loved it much on Wii back then, but I played it again on Switch (pretty much all in portable without motion controls) and I completely changed my mind.
 

GigaBowser

The bear of bad news
crud compared to TOTK Im sorry my friends

Screenshot-2024-03-23-034333.png


Screenshot-2024-03-23-034429.png
 

Rockondevil

Member
I enjoyed it at the time. Haven’t played it since. I remember the dungeons being good, which I can’t say for more recent games.
 

CS Lurker

Member
I only played it on Switch. I would say there were more things I liked than not. About the things I didn't like, some of them are because the technology used (the idea is great, but we needed motion controls on the same level we find on todays VR headsets to make it work properly, because most of the time it was me fighting against the controllers -- and I hated it even more playing with motion off), while others come from very stupid game design decisions; It seems they were trying hard to make it a horrible game, Jesus...
 

Hohenheim

Member
I've bounced of this twice. First on the Wii and second on the Switch remaster.
The remaster is a lot better, since you don't need to rely on those awful wii-motes, but it's still some gimmicks that destroys it. And the game feels.. well, sub par compared to the classics before and after it.
 

GametimeUK

Member
Amazing dungeons, nice visuals and music you can vibe to. The world itself is a bit streamlined, but I still love it. Yes, it's a great Zelda game. I very much enjoyed my time with it.

Never spent much time with it on Wii, but I loved the Switch version. I played using motion controls, but it was decent in handheld mode. I prefer motion though.
 

AV

We ain't outta here in ten minutes, we won't need no rocket to fly through space
Worst 3D Zelda by some margin, but still a good game.

There's better shit to play if you aren't set on beating all Zelda games.
 

BlackTron

Member
Despite loving the dungeons and even the controls, I burned out on finishing it on Wii despite making it 80% there. It showed me where my endurance line for flaws I can tolerate to play a Zelda actually is. If your only issue is the controls, you're doing great.
 

Shut0wen

Member
I played the hd on release and played the game on the wii 2 years before, game is 100% better with motion controls on the switch then on wii, especially considering you sit on your fat arse and enjoy it
 

Ceadeus

Gold Member
Not the best Zelda but a good one. And a good Zelda is better than most games. You can expect nice soundtrack, characters and world to explore. It's a very cheerful game you can't miss it if you like Zelda.
 

nkarafo

Member
I only played the original so i'm not sure if the HD version improves on anything other than graphics.

I remember the dungeons being very good but the rest of the game and it's overworld was pretty average.
 

Fbh

Member
It's fun but nothing great. A solid 7.5/10 game.
It has a few good dungeons (the last one in particular) and the motion controls work pretty well. Not that I'd want most games to use these types of controls, but it gives it a unique feeling and serves as a sort of change of pace from regular controllers for a while.
They didn't do a whole lot to the visuals but it still looks nice at a higher resolution and runs at a salid 60fps, they also made Fi way less annoying and added the option for "normal" controls.

But a lot of the dungeons are just ok, the boss battles are mostly forgettable (specially that one you have to do like 4 times) and several parts just feel like bloat/filler to pad out the runtime.
 

BossLackey

Gold Member
I played like 15 hours of it and got was waiting for the fun to kick in.

I tried it when it first came out, and again when it came to Switch.

I don't get it.
 
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Astral Dog

Member
Don't listen to the naysayers its a great game, just go without expecting your typical Zelda, it has its own unique quirks in the gameplay design,combat and narrative also the art is pretty cool

I haven't tried the standard controls so can't comment on those though,but they should work
 
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I've been trying this game on the Wii, but due to shoulder pain, I won't be able to continue further. Also, I had to struggle for about 2 minutes to jump on a rope; the controls aren't tight enough. Were the negative reviews about this game due to the Wii controls? Do you think it became a good Zelda game once this issue was resolved for the Switch? Should I buy it for the Switch?
I like it! It was about 35 hours long.

The pacing problem is that they force you to revisit old areas and they go hard to re-use those maps to do like collectibles and shit like that.

Not my favorite 3D Zelda, but if you want to scratch the Zelda itch I think it gets the job done.

I’d say it’s a 7.5/10 all said and done, which is low for a Zelda game.
 

clem84

Gold Member
When Aonuma was done with SS he said motion controls are "here to stay. We are not going back to traditional controls", or something along those lines. Funny how that played out.
 

Heimdall_Xtreme

Jim Ryan Fanclub's #1 Member
Wii was a terrible console... I never played it, but Nintendo Wii didn't even work for that, what a disappointment... It's one of the few Zelda games that I don't feel like playing.
 

Heimdall_Xtreme

Jim Ryan Fanclub's #1 Member
The worst Zelda since Majora's Mask. Bought it twice, both times I fell off due to sheer boredom.
Majora mask was great, I liked it more than Ocarina of time... But I always see Majora mask as an Expansion... Not as a complete game, as a complement to Ocarina of time it is great.

The same as Tears of the Kingdom as an expansion it is great.
 

Xellos

Member
The dungeons and characters are some of the best in the series, and the motion controls are pretty good if you like that sort of thing. The 'overworld' sections are just puzzles and challenges leading up to dungeons; there's not much to explore. Some of those sequences are pretty cool, but areas are reused multiple times and it does get kind of repetitive towards the end.
 

RoadHazard

Gold Member
Skyward Sword is a good game, but a bad Zelda game. It's INCREDIBLY linear, there's no connected world, no land area outside the "levels" to explore. Not what Zelda should be. But not a bad game.
 
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