RipTen Review: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Ever since Nintendo unveiled the Wii’s unique motion sensitive controller in 2005 everyone was thinking about one thing, a Zelda title that featured amazing motion controlled sword fighting. Well my friends, the Zelda title we dreamed about six years ago is finally here.
For the few that may be completely unfamiliar, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is yet another entry in the highly successful Legend of Zelda series. Zelda titles, including Skyward Sword, take place in a fantasy world and are action adventure games that contain light roleplaying elements. Although action adventure may be their genre, Zelda titles typically feature a mix of other genres in the form of mini games and revolve heavily around critical thinking and environmental puzzles.
(Note: The plot elements mentioned below are intentionally vague and only go into the first hour of the game. No spoilers!)
Story plays a major role in Skyward Sword and it is said that this entry in the series takes place before every other title in the Zelda timeline. The opening cinematic tells of a tale that took place many generations ago. One day the land cracked open and evil forces came from deep within the ground. These evil forces began to destroy the land and kill those who inhabited it. These evil forces were attacking the earth to try to take an ultimate power that was being held and protected by a goddess that lived amongst the people.
The goddess, wanting to protect the humans, sent the pieces of land they were on up above the clouds where they would be safe. This goddess then fought the evil forces with the land dwellers that remained and was successful in driving them back… and sealed the evil away. The humans, however, remained in the sky and after thousands of years most don’t even think a surface world ever existed.
The story now starts off with the game’s protagonist, Link, in modern day oversleeping when he is supposed to be up for an important ceremony. Link attends a school above the clouds and is training to be a Knight. If Link is able to pass his test he will become a knight and a member of the senior class. He is also fortunate because he has obtained a rare Crimson Loftwing. Loftwings are giant birds that people above the clouds use to get to and from the various islands in the sky. Loftwings choose the humans they want to be with at a young age and many had thought the Crimson Loftwings have ceased to exist. Not this one.
The test Link takes involves proving mastery over his Loftwing above the other students in his class, and needless to say our hero prevails! However, during his victory celebration flight with his longtime childhood friend Zelda, a black tornado knocks her down and she falls to the surface while Link is knocked unconscious. Link awakens in his room at night and explains to Zelda’s father what had happened.
While trying to sleep it all off, Link wakes up agai and sees a strange girl floating in his room. He follows her around their sky island, known as Sky Loft, and discovers a magical sword. This strange woman, known as Fi, says she is there to guide the chosen hero through his destined quest and that Link must accept his fate and take the sword to become the chosen hero. Additionally Fi says she can help Link find Zelda. Link chooses to take the sword and Fi guides him to the mysterious surface below, which is a whole new world for Link.
Fi acts as the in game guide, much like Navi in Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and ends up living in Link’s sword throughout the adventure.
While I won’t go into many more story related details I will say the following. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword has references to many of the other Zelda titles and will give fans of the series much to discuss in the way of lore and the overall legend. There are many cool moments and Zelda fans can’t afford to miss out on this epic tale. But I’ve only just begun.
The graphical style in The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is a nice blend of the cel shading graphics found in the Wind Waker mixed in with the style of Twilight Princess. While the game isn’t HD (because the Wii isn’t) it didn’t really matter to me. The game truly is beautiful regardless.
Skyward Sword also shares much in common with past 3D Zelda games in terms of gameplay, such as Z Targeting, but also does many new things that may change the franchise forever. For starters, Link now has a stamina gage. When Link runs, initiated by the player holding the A button, this gauge will deplete. Additionally a big chunk of this gauge will be taken off if Link’s signature spin attack is used, so spin attack spamming is now obsolete.
If the stamina gauge is depleted fully, Link’s movement will decrease dramatically until it refills. Additionally, he will be unable to attack or block, thus becoming extremely vulnerable to attacks. While running Link is also now able to run up and over walls if they’re low enough. It may not sound like much, but doing so is extremely useful and in some cases required.
