Do You Think Skyward Sword Lived Up to the Hype, the Reviews, and Your Expectations?

[A Link In Time]

I'm going to quote a recent post of mine and use it as a reference:



Did Skyward Sword live up to the hype?

Definitely and utterly, no. It did not, to me. Skyward Sword was an okay game. It was average. I was excited to play it in the beginning, but that excitement later wore off. I still haven't finished it. It was not a horrible game overall; I did enjoy most parts of it. It didn't blow me away like most people expected it to/said it would. Nothing really stood out to me. As I said in my post quoted above, only a select couple of songs stood out to me. The story was average at best and not very unique. It's been done before. The graphics were pleasing to the eye, not quite beautiful but pulled off nicely. The media, naturally, does its best to hype up games in order to boost sales. In my opinion, Skyward Sword fell way short of that hype.

Did Skyward Sword live up to the reviews?

That depends on which reviews you're referring to. I believe it lived up to this review, which was a rather negative one, though I do agree with it. I do not believe Skyward Sword lived up to all the reviews that hailed it as the best Zelda game ever, nor the ones that praised it as "the beginning to a new era in gaming," for reasons listed above.

Did Skyward Sword live up to my expectations?

I honestly had very few expectations for this game. I did not want to get so worked up over it that I would be disappointed if it fell short. I really didn't pay attention to all the press it got, either. I stayed away from most Spoilers and just kept my eyes away from all the articles hyping SS. In the end, I think what I really had was hope for another Twilight Princess, my favorite Zelda game to this date. I had hoped for a game that would thoroughly engross me from the start, and SS was not a game that did so. Here is one excerpt that explains why I feel TP beats out SS:



Story is one of the biggest aspects in a game to me. My favorite game ever, Okami, has a fantastic, amazing story but has gameplay that leaves something to be desired. I'm honestly not sure which game was worse motions controls, Okami or Skyward Sword. However, Okami fully compensated for the shoddy controls with gorgeous locales, beautiful music, and a fantastic story with so many twists and turns and speculations, ups and downs and emotional moments, and comedy and liveliness. To me, Skyward Sword was not bad. But it was not fantastic, not like Okami or Twilight Princess. It was fun to play, but I won't spend a lot of time replaying it. I'm not sure when I'll even finish it, if ever.

Whether to not you personally enjoyed it doesn't determine Skyward Sword's influence. The most recent installment in the famed Zelda franchise truly is the beginning of a new era in gaming for no game heretofore has managed to accomplish the same with motion controls. Nintendo thus effectively beat its competitors in creating a truly blockbuster title that delivered.

And screw story. While important, it's whether or not the gameplay flows or is broken that should determine the majority of the score awarded to a given title. Although I haven't played it myself (though I intend to eventually) if you state that Okami was subpar in terms of gameplay, then getting through the game was truly tedious until an extensive and interesting cutscene or dialogue sequence was triggered. Skyward Sword has truly incredible controls if played in the correct conditions:

[video=youtube;QEge_2Vuft0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEge_2Vuft0[/video]

You're thoughts are respected and well defended, Nicole, but when you try to quantify aspects of the game, your argument comes out as ridiculous. If you give Skyward Sword such a low score what would you give shovelware like Amy? Let me guess: You never heard of it. A 0/10, then? Every piece of software deserves a raw score for the sheer amount of work put into its development and thus giving Skyward Sword anything less than a 7 is pure blasphemy as it's miles ahead of 90% of products in the industry. Either you have very high standards or you've always hated motion controls!

As far as the aformentioned story goes, Twilight Princess's may have been more suspenseful and thrilling but Ghirahim truly served his purpose throughout the game and came out as a better villain than Zant. Zant went from a mysterious persona at the start of Twilight Princess to a crazed childish maniac when encountered in the Palace of Twilight. Ghirahim transformed from a perverted pedophile to pure evil. Characters like Groose and Impa were also deeper than all of Twilight Princess's offerings except for Ganondorf and Midna. But don't get me wrong, I thought Twilight Princess was the better game as well.

Also, I wanted to say that Skyward Sword is in the same league as Okami and Twilight Princess as having some of the best boss battles in gaming history. :yes:

Thank you for your time.

 

[Irishmile]

I actually thought it was a lot better then I was anticipating.. Twilight Princess lowered my expectations if I am honest.. Skyward Sword feels like Nintendo is moving in the right direction again.

 

[A Link In Time]

I actually thought it was a lot better then I was anticipating.. Twilight Princess lowered my expectations if I am honest.. Skyward Sword feels like Nintendo is moving in the right direction again.

May I ask what aspects of Twilight Princess irked you and how Skyward Sword amended those wrongs?

 

[Irishmile]

Yeah sure... I do not think that TP necessarily irked me.. I just feel that SS matches the serious but lightheartedness of earlier games... Colorful like Link to the past and Wind Waker.. but deep like Ocarina and Majora... all while staying true to what started it all LoZ... TP while enjoyable and a great game I felt it tried too hard to compete with muddy brown games that are popular now ... when it needn't do so. Its Zelda.. other games should copy it.

So in short TP was a fun game I really like it.. just not as much.... get what I am trying to say?

 

[A Link In Time]

Yeah sure... I do not think that TP necessarily irked me.. I just feel that SS matches the serious but lightheartedness of earlier games... Colorful like Link to the past and Wind Waker.. but deep like Ocarina and Majora... all while staying true to what started it all LoZ... TP while enjoyable and a great game I felt it tried too hard to compete with muddy brown games that are popular now ... when it needn't do so. Its Zelda.. other games should copy it.

So in short TP was a fun game I really like it.. just not as much.... get what I am trying to say?

Yes, I do. I actually thought what you stated applied to Skyward Sword more. Skyward Sword was trying too hard to be an RPG with the upgrade system some of the character designs in Skyloft felt unnatural for the series. Skyward Sword also promised a break from the traditional Zelda formula and failed to deliver entirely. Dungeons remained similar to as they had always been and it was clear when the player entered a dungeon although the overworld was filled with more traps and enemies than usual. In that respect. Skyward Sword did not live up to my expectations though in other areas such as boss battles, Skyward Sword felt unmatched by not only other games in the franchise but gaming in general.

 

[DeletedUser9]

Kinda hard for me to answer the poll, considering that it was one of my favorite games this year, but it didn't live up to my expectations. Satisfying expectations and being a favorite game are not the same, particularly if your expectations are lofty. I expected Skyward Sword to be my favorite Zelda game, which is true, but I also expected it to be an objectively better game than it is, so it failed to fully meet my expectations.

Yes, I do. I actually thought what you stated applied to Skyward Sword more. Skyward Sword was trying too hard to be an RPG with the upgrade system some of the character designs in Skyloft felt unnatural for the series. Skyward Sword also promised a break from the traditional Zelda formula and failed to deliver entirely. Dungeons remained similar to as they had always been and it was clear when the player entered a dungeon although the overworld was filled with more traps and enemies than usual. In that respect. Skyward Sword did not live up to my expectations though in other areas such as boss battles, Skyward Sword felt unmatched by not only other games in the franchise but gaming in general.

Your post confuses me greatly. You state that Skyward Sword tried too hard to be an RPG and that its designs felt unnatural to the series, yet you complain about it not differing enough from the rest of the series... While you probably didn't intend it, those statement conflict.

As for my thoughts... I don't see how Skyward Sword attempting to emulate RPG games is a bad thing. Like it or not, that element has been at the core of the series for a long time. Zelda 2 had heavy RPG elements, and that was on the NES. The Oracle games also had a lot of RPG elements in their expansive Ring system of stat-boosting accessories. RPG elements are a part of the series' history. Even if it wasn't, I don't see how implementing a new feature is a bad thing, especially since that seems to be what you wanted. I also don't get the statement about Skyloft's characters. They feel like pretty standard issue characters for a Zelda game to me. Are you sure you're not just expecting them to be identical to the cast of another game? Of course they differ; Skyward Sword is a new game.

I don't think it failed to deliver a break at all. It certainly didn't deliver the break I had expected, I agree with you there, but you simply can't say that it didn't differ in any way at all, because it did in numerous areas. I also agree with you about the dungeons... AFTER the Lanayru Mining Facility. Late-game dungeons were pretty standard affair for Zelda, but the first three were unique in their own ways.

 

[Irishmile]

I see the points you are making.. I do not think that SS is perfect.. and I agree with some of your points.. I just feel its a step back towards where Zelda games should be going... I really look forward to what they do with the next Wii U game...

as for the Upgrading your gear parts I really liked it... to me it felt Zeldaish... It seemed very much nintendo.. collecting items (Animal Crossing etc) and upgrade your existing gear (Ocarina, fire and light arrows) It just took those things a few steps farther... I can see you're point maybe they were trying to be more modern RPG.. but I welcomed that part of the game.... Im complicated

 

[A Link In Time]

Your post confuses me greatly. You state that Skyward Sword tried too hard to be an RPG and that its designs felt unnatural to the series, yet you complain about it not differing enough from the rest of the series... While you probably didn't intend it, those statement conflict.

Skyward Sword attempted to be like other industry blockbusters and thus lost some of the essence that defines entries in the venerated series. Skyward Sword didn't need to take cues from the RPG genre. If you're going to include an upgrade system and deeper story, at least due it properly.

As for the other part, Skyward Sword promised to be a radical change in the pacing of Zelda games but the distinction between overworld and dungeon was as clear as ever and you could easily tell what was a dungeon and what not. :/

 

[zeldafreak101]

7.5/10 is my score on it for the following reasons.
-Motion controls( prefer buttons over motion)
-lack of exploration
-easy puzzles and dungeons
-lack of replay value

 

[DeletedUser9]

Skyward Sword attempted to be like other industry blockbusters and thus lost some of the essence that defines entries in the venerated series. Skyward Sword didn't need to take cues from the RPG genre. If you're going to include an upgrade system and deeper story, at least due it properly.

As for the other part, Skyward Sword promised to be a radical change in the pacing of Zelda games but the distinction between overworld and dungeon was as clear as ever and you could easily tell what was a dungeon and what not. :/

Zelda is a series that has refused to do anything but its own thing for a long time. This is essentially a running problem with Nintendo games in general, but it certainly applies to Zelda; they need to start recognizing when an idea is standard and crucial, even when it isn't their own. That's all they did with Skyward Sword. The implemented the upgrade system to a degree that it fit Zelda, and they expanded on the quality of the storytelling without changing the story formula. You're still asking them to change more while complaining that they changed too much. You can't argue both.

Skyward Sword never actually promised that. Miyamoto made like... one such statement, if I recall, and then he basically retracted it. The supposed "complete reinvention" of the series hasn't been a legitimate expectation for a long time.

 

[JuicieJ]

Zelda is a series that has refused to do anything but its own thing for a long time. This is essentially a running problem with Nintendo games in general, but it certainly applies to Zelda; they need to start recognizing when an idea is standard and crucial, even when it isn't their own. That's all they did with Skyward Sword. The implemented the upgrade system to a degree that it fit Zelda, and they expanded on the quality of the storytelling without changing the story formula. You're still asking them to change more while complaining that they changed too much. You can't argue both.

Skyward Sword never actually promised that. Miyamoto made like... one such statement, if I recall, and then he basically retracted it. The supposed "complete reinvention" of the series hasn't been a legitimate expectation for a long time.

You have to admit, though, SS borrowed a considerably more amount of ideas than previous titles did, and there were far more things in the game that weren't "traditional Zelda".

 

[DeletedUser9]

You have to admit, though, SS borrowed a considerably more amount of ideas than previous titles did, and there were far more things in the game that weren't "traditional Zelda".

Of course. That's basically my whole point. It strikes a literal balance between "oh I'm just another Zelda game" and "oh I'm not a Zelda game at all", and with ALIT complaining about either one being a bad thing, I would think he'd appreciate the balance. o_0

 

[JuicieJ]

Of course. That's basically my whole point. It strikes a literal balance between "oh I'm just another Zelda game" and "oh I'm not a Zelda game at all", and with ALIT complaining about either one being a bad thing, I would think he'd appreciate the balance. o_0

Ohhhhhhhhhhhh, ok. I didn't catch that properly, then. Mah bad.

I'm going to quote a recent post of mine and use it as a reference:



Did Skyward Sword live up to the hype?

Definitely and utterly, no. It did not, to me. Skyward Sword was an okay game. It was average. I was excited to play it in the beginning, but that excitement later wore off. I still haven't finished it. It was not a horrible game overall; I did enjoy most parts of it. It didn't blow me away like most people expected it to/said it would. Nothing really stood out to me. As I said in my post quoted above, only a select couple of songs stood out to me. The story was average at best and not very unique. It's been done before. The graphics were pleasing to the eye, not quite beautiful but pulled off nicely. The media, naturally, does its best to hype up games in order to boost sales. In my opinion, Skyward Sword fell way short of that hype.

Did Skyward Sword live up to the reviews?

That depends on which reviews you're referring to. I believe it lived up to this review, which was a rather negative one, though I do agree with it. I do not believe Skyward Sword lived up to all the reviews that hailed it as the best Zelda game ever, nor the ones that praised it as "the beginning to a new era in gaming," for reasons listed above.

Did Skyward Sword live up to my expectations?

I honestly had very few expectations for this game. I did not want to get so worked up over it that I would be disappointed if it fell short. I really didn't pay attention to all the press it got, either. I stayed away from most Spoilers and just kept my eyes away from all the articles hyping SS. In the end, I think what I really had was hope for another Twilight Princess, my favorite Zelda game to this date. I had hoped for a game that would thoroughly engross me from the start, and SS was not a game that did so. Here is one excerpt that explains why I feel TP beats out SS:



Story is one of the biggest aspects in a game to me. My favorite game ever, Okami, has a fantastic, amazing story but has gameplay that leaves something to be desired. I'm honestly not sure which game was worse motions controls, Okami or Skyward Sword. However, Okami fully compensated for the shoddy controls with gorgeous locales, beautiful music, and a fantastic story with so many twists and turns and speculations, ups and downs and emotional moments, and comedy and liveliness. To me, Skyward Sword was not bad. But it was not fantastic, not like Okami or Twilight Princess. It was fun to play, but I won't spend a lot of time replaying it. I'm not sure when I'll even finish it, if ever.

I have to agree with ALIT with his thoughts on yours. You're basing the game off of what you wanted it to be instead of what it is, which is taboo when talking about how good a game is. It's unfair for you to say SS didn't live up to the hype when you didn't get in on the hype by avoiding any information prior to release. That's what hype is. The buildup to the game via pre-release information. If you didn't get involved in the hype, you really have no right to say whether SS lived up to it or not. The things you're saying are perfectly fine when talking about opinions and what you like to have in games, but when critiquing a game, it's anything but fine.

 

[cucco002]

Oh yeah, it did!

This game gave me every kind of emotions, good emotions (even in my second playthrough I still feel chills in my spine, not to mention some tears that try to come out in that scene when, in no spoiler terms, get the TRUE Master Sword, you know what scene is that one) the story is great, the gameplay... oh the gameplay, easily the best controls in any Zelda, the best motion controls of any game and proved that Nintendo seriously knew what they were doing when they introduced them to gaming.

Before SS, I had my best/favorite game ever, this game was actually 5 games: AlttP, OoT, MM, WW and TP. But when I played through it, I was convinced it was not only get its own 1/6 of my top, SS was going to get over them, though at the end I decided to ask SS to share with the others, because I hate to think one game is better than the other when all of them are excellent, but each of them has their own special things.

P.S: I was fearing this thread for some time, because I was expecting some haters: I hate haters, and I fear that some of their hate can be contagious, because it has happened before; good to see I was wrong

 

[eggplante]

The way I knew Skyward Sword was the greatest Zelda game I'd ever played was because, as I played it, I felt what I felt when I played Ocarina of Time back in the late-90s. That sense of exploration, discovery for the very first time, trying to discover the world, seeing how things worked, where things were on the map, etc. Except with Skyward Sword, it was more intense somehow, and that is how I knew it would be my favourite game of all time!

Check out my review for it on my site, Eggplante.com! http://www.eggplante.com/2011/11/16/the-legend-of-zelda-skyward-sword/