Gaming Zero Punctuation: Skyward Sword

Guild McCommunist

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You can view it here.

Despite all the "haters" of Yahtzee around here, he still makes funny and rather "sad but true" video reviews. His most recent one Zelda is a bit off the beaten path from most critics to say the list. Here's a list of his criticisms:
  1. Despite graphical changes, Zelda games have essentially been the same for the last 15 years.
  2. Recent Nintendo games like Kirby's Epic Yarn and New Super Mario Bros. Wii have mostly avoided motion controls while Skyward Sword "bashes you over the head with the Wiimote and say 'REMEMBER THIS!'" (It was a funny quote)
  3. Almost every enemy in the game has a directional blocking ability...
  4. Which would be fine if it weren't for the control delay, which often leads you hitting an enemy's defenses (which end up punishing you in turn).
  5. Flying controls are horrid
  6. Zelda has a personality but little of it
  7. Not related to Skyward Sword, but generally Zelda has no personality and is already a princess or loses all personality when she discovers she's a princess
  8. How come Skyloft is conceals the ground below in great clouds but when you're on the surface it's bright as day with clear skies around? Not a criticism really, just more of a funny plot hole
  9. Fi is a terrible assist character. She points out the obvious in "spurious rigor" constantly, and the slow text speed makes it worse.
  10. The harp sections are uninteresting and boring, involving little more than just waving your hand.
  11. Wind Waker had a large, open world to explore, while Skyward Sword is a lot smaller. Skyloft is basically the main island where you shop and tons of floating rocks with nothing but chests that you have to go to the "underworld" areas to open.
  12. Additionally, these can only be opened by going to the "designated questing areas", so exploration is basically gone. And there's only three of them.
  13. All the characters seem uninterested in the plot of the game.
  14. They copy/paste the same boss fight three times. Additionally, two of the dungeons end with the same boss fight that doesn't even involve using the item(s) you've just obtained.
  15. The pirate ship area, however, is good.
  16. Overall: Skyward Sword is the worst Zelda game he's ever played in comparison.
So, do you think these are valid criticisms?

EDIT: Oh yeah, what I think:
  1. Mostly agree, but Skyward Sword offered some ideas that were off the beaten path. Not always good ideas but ideas nonetheless.
  2. Really true. Most Nintendo first parties for the Wii that are good are considered good because they don't shove motion controls down your throat. Super Mario Galaxy, Epic Yarn, DKCR, NSMB Wii (if you liked it), etc. Oddly some of my favorite motion games (that are remembered in part for their motion) are third parties (MadWorld, Red Steel 2, etc).
  3. Agreed. It's kinda the same trick except they just make them faster or punish you for fucking up in different ways later on.
  4. I was wondering why some combat was such shit.
  5. OH MY GOD YES.
  6. Welcome to Zelda games.
  7. Welcome to every Zelda character... Outside of Midna arguably. Never got far enough in Wind Waker to judge "pirate Zelda"
  8. Heh, I always though about that.
  9. OH MY GOD YES
  10. I hate the harp sections so fucking much. Almost makes the flute sections in Spirit Tracks look good. But that was arguably the worst fucking thing I've seen in a Zelda game since "Excuse me princess" so harp playing is just shit, not the collective of all the shits in the universe that the flute was.
  11. Quite true. The world feels boring and just like an inconvenient hub. Occasionally I'd fly around and get some chests but in the end the rewards didn't feel satisfying.
  12. I did find that repetition annoying. It's odd, that games like Metroid, Castlevania, Cave Story, etc all feature backtracking to a heavy degree but are rather awesome because of it. But when it's in a Zelda game it feels really lazy and boring. Maybe it's a double standard but it's what struck me.
  13. Welcome to Zelda games.
  14. I did find some boss recycling to be rather dull, especially that big ass scorpion thing which is honestly the easiest boss I ever squared off with. Seriously, I never got hit by him.
  15. I wasn't a fan. There were other areas but I didn't like the "time stone" puzzles in it and the boss in the end was annoying rather than fun. Still cool though.
  16. Wouldn't say it's the worst but it doesn't top Twilight Princess for me.
 

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Fi is fucking useless, but I guess Nintendo knows little kids will be playing this game so that's the reason for Fi

Well Midna did provide useful info and was a generally interesting character. There's also like a hint system (those stupid stones you can smack, including the one in Skyloft which is basically just Super Guide as well as the fortune teller to some extent). At least give kids a funny or goofy character that's more tolerable than talking to your calculator watch.
 
D

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I agree. But I wouldn't say it's the worst Zelda game I've ever played, because I never actually played it.
But it's not the best Zelda game I've played.
I liked how Link actually had a life in this game before becoming a hero.
The fact Link started out in an academy reminded me of Pokémon Ranger: Shadows of Almia, which was a game I liked a lot, but this is unrelated.
I liked how Link's classmates would show up at some points in the game. It gave some kind of personality to those characters, y'know?

Also, two other things I thought were nice (Don't open the spoiler if you haven't played the game yet and don't want to be spoiled.)
Groose. At first, he was a douchebag, the stereotypical one that picks on the main character and such.
But then he became one of the coolest characters in a Zelda game after he saw Link beat The Imprisoned at the Sealed Temple.

Also, I thought Demise was better than Ganon/Ganondorf. He actually seems and feels like the kind of antagonist that would be feared, unlike Ganondorf who just stood here playing Tennis with Link.

I like motion controls, but when they're not correctly implemented... I like less.
However, I probably am biaised on this one, since the WiiMote kept getting messed up. I'll have to see if my friend was the only one with that problem before stating an actual opinion.
The stamina gauge added some kind of 'difficulty' to the game that wasn't present in the previous games.

Item customization was something that wasn't really needed in Zelda games, but I like it, though I wouldn't be able to say exactly why.
Maybe I just liked the fact that you could enhance your current weapons and items by gathering various materials instead of just finding a better, enhanced version in a chest somewhere.
Also, the fact they stopped re-using the Hylian shield. I have nothing against the Hylian shield, but having different kind of shields instead of re-using the same shield that was used in most previous installments brings a little variety to the game that wasn't present in the earlier games.

(As you can tell, I like change.)

Despite that, Majora's Mask stays the best Zelda game for me, with Skyward Sword lagging behind in the second place.
You will say I can't know since I've never played it; But I've seen almost the entire game, since I was there the whole time my friend was playing it.
And I liked pretty much everything. Except flying controls. Those seemed awful when I was watching my friend play the game.

Also, I'm pretty sure this was a problem relative to the fact he was using a WiiMote with a Wii Motion + instead of a WiiMote+, but after a while, the WiiMote always had some tendency, as if it got 'uncalibrated' somehow. (Link was holding his sword backwards when the WiiMote was pointed at the screen and the bird-whose-name-I-forgot wouldn't obey and would turn right instead of going straight forward.)

Anyway... To actually answer the question, yes, these are valid criticisms, because a good part of them point out his own opinion on the game.
We can't blame him for disliking a certain element of the game or a certain gameplay element, because everyone has different tastes when it comes to video games.

(Finishing line: I found Fi to actually be useful compared to Midna and Navi, to be honest. Thought sometimes what she said was firetrucking obvious.)
 

Guild McCommunist

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Yahtzee the troll ?

Irony.

I enjoy his videos and he's very talented. They are more so for laughs but anyone whose not jaded can easily agree with most of his criticisms in games. Trust me, he's torn apart games I loved but I never felt enraged or disagreeing with him. He's a good writer and a funny guy in general, worthy of praise and admiration.
 
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Hells Malice

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  1. How long did it take him to figure that one out? Every 2D and every 3D zelda game has been very similar. Not really worth pointing out.
  2. It's a Wii game, of course it uses motion controls. They added a lot of depth to the typical "slash till shit drops" formula, at least.
  3. \/
  4. Dude needs a new Wiimote. I don't have control delay and i'm using a controller i've had since launch.
  5. I agree with this.
  6. Typical
  7. I never much paid attention to the characters to be honest. I play a lot of games for the story and characters, Zelda isn't one of them.
  8. I noticed that too and thought it was funny.
  9. No assist character is EVER useful. They're to help the 5 year olds playing. I like Fi in general though. Nothin' wrong with her. She does exactly what the other assists did. The slow text is annoying.
  10. Agreed
  11. This I agree with. I can't stand the new style of Zelda with such boring fucking worlds. It drives me nuts. Wind Waker was alright, but they're seriously getting lazy with it.
  12. no comment
  13. Never noticed
  14. No real comment
  15. Indeed
  16. No room to comment as it's his opinion.
I wouldn't by any stretch call Skyward Sword bad. It's a game, and it has flaws. No game is perfect and that's where Yahtzee thrives. I didn't enjoy it as much as Ocarina of Time or Majora's Mask, though that's a pretty unfair comparison. I enjoyed it way more than Twilight Princess though. Twilight Princess was fun and interesting, and I loved the atmosphere, but it didn't feel like a Zelda game at all. Even with all the changes, Skyward Sword managed to keep me reminded that it was a Zelda game.
 
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Wizerzak

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Wow, if his main point is about them all being them same then I'd love to see this 'Yahtzee's' review on Call of Duty. :P

Edit: Also, 1.5k posts!
 

Hyro-Sama

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In all honestly, if you can't operate the flying controls you're mentally handicapped. I could operate them just fine when I started the game.
 

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In all honestly, if you can't operate the flying controls you're mentally handicapped. I could operate them just fine the first time.

They're functional but still terrible and its inexcusable to choose them over an analog stick. It made a basic part of the game a nuisance.
 
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Valwin

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Lest do this


  1. Despite graphical changes, Zelda games have essentially been the same for the last 15 years.

You could say that by every game out today from FF to Pokemon
  1. Recent Nintendo games like Kirby's Epic Yarn and New Super Mario Bros. Wii have mostly avoided motion controls while Skyward Sword "bashes you over the head with the Wiimote and say 'REMEMBER THIS!'"
So?
  1. Almost every enemy in the game has a directional blocking ability...
meh
  1. Which would be fine if it weren't for the control delay, which often leads you hitting an enemy's defenses (which end up punishing you in turn).
Learn to play the game ?
  1. Flying controls are horrid
BS they work fine motion + works great
  1. Zelda has a personality but little of it
in TP she have the personality of motor oil so yea a am with you there but in this game i feel that she does have a personality
  1. Not related to Skyward Sword, but generally Zelda has no personality and is already a princess or loses all personality when she discovers she's a princess
in this game she does but yea in the other she dint have any
  1. How come Skyloft is conceals the ground below in great clouds but when you're on the surface it's bright as day with clear skies around? Not a criticism really, just more of a funny plot hole
The Goddess put skylof in a space of it own you cant see it from the ground is like a poket in the space time
  1. Fi is a terrible assist character. She points out the obvious in "spurious rigor" constantly, and the slow text speed makes it worse.
ye
  1. The harp sections are uninteresting and boring, involving little more than just waving your hand.
They seen ok you just not into it
  1. Wind Waker had a large, open world to explore, while Skyward Sword is a lot smaller. Skyloft is basically the main island where you shop and tons of floating rocks with nothing but
So this is not WW is SS
  1. chests that you have to go to the "underworld" areas to open.
so your lazy ?
  1. Additionally, these can only be opened by going to the "designated questing areas", so exploration is basically gone. And there's only three of them.
meh
  1. All the characters seem uninterested in the plot of the game.
depends do you mean the people of skylof ? i think in the game none tell them about the world below i think the would panic ect
  1. They copy/paste the same boss fight three times. Additionally, two of the dungeons end with the same boss fight that doesn't even involve using the item(s) you've just obtained.
So ? i seen many other games do this
  1. The pirate ship area, however, is good.
Nice say something is nice so people will think your serious
  1. Overall: Skyward Sword is the worst Zelda game he's ever played in comparison.
overall you dint play the game because if not you would see if the best Zelda ever made if not a a close 2nd cuz WW still damn good




So, do you think these are valid criticisms?

No cuz Yahtzee is know for his trolls
 

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Despite graphical changes, Zelda games have essentially been the same for the last 15 years. Really? Are you sure? Check your games again, please!
  1. Recent Nintendo games like Kirby's Epic Yarn and New Super Mario Bros. Wii have mostly avoided motion controls while Skyward Sword "bashes you over the head with the Wiimote and say 'REMEMBER THIS!'" (It was a funny quote) Well, duh, the Wiimote was made for motion controls. So, don't go whining just cause you don't like it's true purpose.
  2. Almost every enemy in the game has a directional blocking ability... Which makes the game more challenging and fun. Stop playing games on very easy, please!
  3. Which would be fine if it weren't for the control delay, which often leads you hitting an enemy's defenses (which end up punishing you in turn). Ditto what I said above, challenging and fun!
  4. Flying controls are horrid Wrong they're totally awesome, and really fun.
  5. Zelda has a personality but little of it Zelda has quite the personality. Compared to the other games, this one shows a really cool Zelda, therefore making her one of my favorites in Skyward Sword. Even with her little screen time, Zelda's personality is still great.
  6. Not related to Skyward Sword, but generally Zelda has no personality and is already a princess or loses all personality when she discovers she's a princess Yeah, so, does that mean that giving her a personality is wrong? I don't think so...
  7. How come Skyloft is conceals the ground below in great clouds but when you're on the surface it's bright as day with clear skies around? Not a criticism really, just more of a funny plot hole Never noticed, and, I don't think it bothers anyone. Also, you might want to consider that, even if the sky is cloudy on Earth, from outer space it seems normal. So, probably Skyloft is at a really high altitude.
  8. Fi is a terrible assist character. She points out the obvious in "spurious rigor" constantly, and the slow text speed makes it worse. Fi is the best partner in a Zelda game. I just love her. Her voice, her personality... her dancing. She's just great. And, not exactly useless. And she's not annoying like Navi.
  9. The harp sections are uninteresting and boring, involving little more than just waving your hand. If Fi would sing every time I would play that harp, I'd play Skyward Sword just for that. Uninteresting and boring? I'd like to see you trying to recreate playing a harp with a Wiimote in your hand.
  10. Wind Waker had a large, open world to explore, while Skyward Sword is a lot smaller. Skyloft is basically the main island where you shop and tons of floating rocks with nothing but chests that you have to go to the "underworld" areas to open. Be glad those rocks even exist. You don't see them every day, not in real life, nor in Zelda games. And, if you think about it, Skyward Swords Skyloft (including Thunderhead) plus Overworld is still bigger than the Wind Waker world.
  11. Additionally, these can only be opened by going to the "designated questing areas", so exploration is basically gone. And there's only three of them. You still have to search for the goddess cubes, so, that's exploration. And those 3 areas are immense, so...
  12. All the characters seem uninterested in the plot of the game. Not all, but, good point. Not that it matter, the characters that should be interested are there and make a great story. Including Groose.
  13. They copy/paste the same boss fight three times. Additionally, two of the dungeons end with the same boss fight that doesn't even involve using the item(s) you've just obtained. The I... hows that called, or Girahim. No matter, Girahim is awesome, I'd fight him for ever and ever. Just cause he's awesome!
  14. The pirate ship area, however, is good. Short though, but indeed, good.
  15. Overall: Skyward Sword is the worst Zelda game he's ever played in comparison. Overall, although I haven't finished it yet, Skyward Sword is the best Zelda game I've played.
My thoughts, in bold. So, yeah, I totally disagree. Trolls can keep on trolling, but facts are facts.
 

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Groose. At first, he was a douchebag, the stereotypical one that picks on the main character and such.
But then he became one of the coolest characters in a Zelda game after he saw Link beat The Imprisoned at the Sealed Temple.

Also, I thought Demise was better than Ganon/Ganondorf. He actually seems and feels like the kind of antagonist that would be feared, unlike Ganondorf who just stood here playing Tennis with Link.

Groose is an annoying twat for little kids to learn morals from. Basically it's your typical nonexistent "bully" character who has a sudden change of heart because of flowers and kittens and fluffy shit like that. Really generic character. If you want a (mildly) interesting Zelda character you go with Midna. She basically went from selfish and uninvolved to rather selfless and caring. Pretty average in comparison to games with actual character development but good by Zelda standards.

How is Ganondorf not to be feared? He's not trying to be one of these "quirky" enemies who dances around and toys with you. He's meant to be fucking big and fucking bad. Master of Evil and shit like that. His "fear factor" comes from being almost godlike. Your showdown with him in Twilight Princess, for instance, was rather good, minus the "Zelda possession" and "WE RIDE AT DAWN" garbage. Facing him, some big ass demon hound thing, as a tiny little insignificant wolf was rather intimidating. Same with your final sword fight in the end. He's certainly better than Kefka's abortion in Skyward Sword.

No cuz Yahtzee is know for his trolls

Yahtzee is known for his keen eye in gaming, great humor, and fantastic writing abilities. Even "haters" can acknowledge that he makes quite the funny videos unless they're so braindead that they get offended at him taking a nice steamy shit on games you enjoy.
 

Guild McCommunist

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No cuz Yahtzee is know for his trolls

Yahtzee is known for his keen eye in gaming, great humor, and fantastic writing abilities. Even "haters" can acknowledge that he makes quite the funny videos unless they're so braindead that they get offended at him taking a nice steamy shit on games you enjoy.
 

Hyro-Sama

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In all honestly, if you can't operate the flying controls you're mentally handicapped. I could operate them just fine the first time.

They're functional but still terrible and its inexcusable to choose them over an analog stick. It made a basic part of the game a nuisance.

Well, you do have a point there. The motion is/was unnecessary. There should've be an option for Analog, Motion or Mixture.
 

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I'm up to the part where I need to point the two windmills at the tower in skyward sword.
It's my favorite zelda game and I think the motion controls are great, my only issue is the harp though, but hopefully I will get used to it.
I disagree with all these points but don't really feel like posting a detailed response to it.
 
D

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Groose is an annoying twat for little kids to learn morals from. Basically it's your typical nonexistent "bully" character who has a sudden change of heart because of flowers and kittens and fluffy shit like that. Really generic character. If you want a (mildly) interesting Zelda character you go with Midna. She basically went from selfish and uninvolved to rather selfless and caring. Pretty average in comparison to games with actual character development but good by Zelda standards.
Regardless of that, I still think Groose is a nice character.
I thought it was funny to see the generic bully's reaction to Link defeating The Imprisoned.

As for Demise, I guess I didn't explain my point of view properly.
Having something different than Ganondorf as a final boss was a good thing, IMO. I wouldn't have really cared if they kept Ganondorf as the final boss, but I like changes like that. Brings some variety.

Here's a quote from the game that I think is pretty great:
Extraordinary. You stand as a paragon of your kind, human. You fight like no human or demon I have ever known. Though this is not the end. My hate... never perishes. It is born anew in a cycle with no end! I will rise again. Those like you... Those who share the blood of the goddess and the spirit of the hero... They are eternally bound to this curse. An incarnation of my hatred shall ever follow your kind, dooming them to wander a blood-soaked sea of darkness for all time!

This quote makes me see Demise as a character that has absolutely nothing to lose.
You usually don't know what that kind of people are capable of doing.

But then I guess Ganondorf too has absolutely nothing to lose.

(Also, "An incarnation of my hatred" is Ganon.)
 

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I'm up to the part where I need to point the two windmills at the tower in skyward sword.
It's my favorite zelda game

Personally games I haven't even finished are my favorites too, especially when I'm like not even the halfway point.

(If memory serves me right)
Then I'll just have to see what I think of it when I finish it.
I remember the DS version of Kingdom Hearts, It was great while I was playing it but it was awful when I finished it :P
 

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