Skyward Sword HD is the perfect Zelda game to remaster — here why
Skyward Sword HD is the perfect Zelda game to remaster — here why
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword Hard disk was arguably the biggest announcement to come out of February'due south Nintendo Directly. Sure, we saw Splatoon 3 and Mario Golf: Super Rush, just let's face it: This month marks The Legend of Zelda's 35th anniversary, and the people want more Zelda. Since we didn't become any news most Breath of the Wild 2, Skyward Sword Hard disk is the next all-time thing — and if fans aren't thrilled by this news, then I'd like to argue that they should be.
Over the past few days, both the Tom's Guide team and Twitter have been abuzz nigh Nintendo deciding to remaster such an underwhelming entry in the storied Fable of Zelda serial. But ever since I offset played it, Skyward Sword has been one of my favorite titles in the franchise. While the criticisms oft leveled at the game are more fair, Skyward Sword had more than enough inventive features to counterbalance them. And, furthermore, the Switch re-release will gear up what was arguably Skyward Sword's biggest problem.
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Improve than y'all remember
First off, there'south no way to know how many people dearest Skyward Sword and how many people hate it. Just hop onto social media or a gaming forum, and you'll observe that the game has plenty of detractors. Our own news post on Skyward Sword Hard disk drive's declaration chosen the game "divisive." Why, exactly, was Skyward Sword so controversial?
At the risk of reopening an old argument, I'm not entirely sure information technology was controversial at all. According to Metacritic, the game'due south review scores averaged to 93 out of 100 amidst critics, and 8.1 out of 10 among fans.
Metacritic is not the be-all, stop-all of gaming soapbox, but information technology does provide us 2 useful snapshots. First: When the game showtime came out, people by and large loved it, as evidenced past the review scores. Second: While praise for the game has cooled over time, fans still generally similar it, every bit evidenced by the user scores.
Skyward Sword won end-of-twelvemonth awards from more than a dozen publications and became the fastest-selling game in the Zelda franchise. At least 4 unlike major publications cite information technology as one of the best Wii games e'er released, and I concord. (The rest of the Tom'south Guide crew had a more mixed stance, and so take that for what information technology's worth.)
In other words: If Skyward Sword wasn't your jam, that'southward fine. Merely the people who have been loudly declaring the game'southward various inadequacies for the past x years may not stand for the majority stance. And if that's the case, then it's merely natural that a huge contingent of fans would be very excited to replay this game — particularly since it's about to get a huge upgrade that goes well beyond graphics.
Skyward Sword's biggest problem
To lay my cards out on the table, I adored Skyward Sword. It'due south not my very favorite Zelda game, but information technology'due south hands in my top five. I liked information technology amend than the experimental Majora'southward Mask, the sometimes-aimless Air current Waker, or the formulaic Twilight Princess. Skyward Sword not only gave us a beautiful world, a novel mode to travel, and some of the nigh exciting boss fights in the series; information technology likewise delved into the origins of the unabridged Zelda mythos. Rather than just another "rescue Zelda; fight Ganon" laundry list, we learned about how these characters originated, and why they're destined to come across over again and once more.
(Fi was also a mannerly and bloodshot sidekick, and I won't hear a word otherwise.)
Yous know that it's coming from a identify of respect, then, when I say that the controls nearly ruined the unabridged game for me. For those who don't remember, Skyward Sword was a trial balloon for hardware chosen the Wii Motion Plus: an add-on for the Wii remote that made motility controls more accurate. To pull an example right from the Zelda series: In Twilight Princess, the Wii remote could interpret you swinging the remote as you swinging a sword. In Skyward Sword, the Wii remote could interpret which direction you wanted to swing from.
In theory, this could have made for a very accurate swordfighting sim. But in practice, it had two problems. First, even the vaunted Wii Motility Plus was not quite robust enough to accurately rails directionality for every stroke in a 40-hour adventure. I'll never forget almost getting clobbered by the last dominate because a pivotal attack requires y'all to hold your sword straight up, and the Wii Motion Plus insisted that I was holding it slightly to the side. If your game requires precision, your hardware has to be able to deliver information technology.
The second, and somewhat larger, problem is that Zelda has never really been a combat-centric series. That may sound odd, because the prominent sword iconography in virtually every game. But combat in Zelda is near always a means to an finish; something to pass the time every bit you travel or deal with puzzles. Even the dominate fights rarely require demanding sword skills, opting instead to highlight whichever object you lot've collected in the most recent dungeon.
As such, hitching Skyward Sword'due south railroad vehicle to exacting motion-control swordplay was arguably a mistake on at least two levels. That's why I was and so pleased when I heard that Skyward Sword would permit players opt to use standard controls instead. To choose a sword stroke'southward directionality, players will merely use the right analog stick.
(Using the right analog stick for sword combat is a dicey proffer, but non totally unworkable. Star Wars: Obi-Wan did it well; Too Human did it poorly. Nosotros'll see where Skyward Sword ends upward.)
Of course, if you want to give the motion controls a become, you lot can simply use the Joy-Cons. Hopefully, they'll be more accurate than the Wii Motion Plus was. But if they're not, giving players a backup pick is an incredibly welcome improver. I wish nosotros'd had this choice x years ago.
Skyward Sword outlook
Naturally, nosotros can't say whether Skyward Sword HD will be practiced until it arrives on July xvi. Only we can say, at least, that the core game may be improve than you remember, and that Nintendo has (theoretically) fabricated a very smart upgrade to the game's core control scheme. The new controls alone may make the game worth revisiting. Either control scheme will piece of work with the stylish Skyward Sword Joy-Cons — assuming you tin can find a pair.
Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/news/skyward-sword-hd-switch
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