The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword review

Exceptional

by stefarusso

When the motion controls work they make for great combat. The world is nice and the final boss is peak

when iw as 12 or whatever i looped that cutscene at the end of the desert temple over and over again because i thought it was cool as hell and you know what? i was right

As long as the motion controls work they make for very interesting gameplay and combat

Great dungeons and interesting mechanics, tied together with a charming art style that holds up well to this day. The main problems are that it may get boring going back and forth between the same set pieces, an empty open hub world, and controls that can be extremely stubborn and annoying at times.

Underrated

Yeah, I'm done with this game even on a second try. Ridiculous padding, over-acted and overly-expository plot that simply retells the basic Zelda myth except now drawn out with anime tropes thrown in for good measure, horribly empty overworld with equally horrible navigational controls, a hint system that's both unavoidable and condescending to the point of ruining puzzles, broken pointer controls - controls that already worked great in the previous entry - broken combat that even if it had worked properly still would have generated an over-reliance on gimmicky combat encounters, overly generous health and saves (likely because of the broken combat), useless crafting and stamina systems, dungeons and world design so linear they make Twilight Princess look like The Count of Monte Cristo, unimaginative bosses that you fight multiple times, so much of that fucking beetle item. There's just no reason to play this game whether it's tied to the Zelda brand or not.

A Zelda game that mostly works, but has a boatload of flaws. The split, disconnected world leaves a lot to be desired in the worldbuilding and story department, while some of the motion control additions seem forced and detrimental to gameplay.