The Sky lacked substance, but flying itself was a genuine joy once you got the hang of it. I think most of fans agree with that statement. There seem to be two possible problems, but I really think that fixing either one of them would have sufficed:
- The Sky was too devoid of activities and locations.
- The Sky wasn't large enough.
I don't really care much about how large the Sky is, but about the amount of content contained in it. If the same density of sidequests and secrets in the Sky, except it was a bit larger, I would have been completely content. I think the amount of "substance" for any volume of game space was acceptable, because the sky is a vast, open expanse like The Wind Waker's ocean. Typically it shouldn't be overcrowded with floating islands and the like because by definition, it's mostly open space.
If the Sky overworld remained the same size but was instead crammed with more venues to visit and things to do, I wouldn't complain because at least you can spend a good portion of your time digging your heels into the sidequests and exploring. It would be much appreciated if Nintendo stuck in a few more overworld hubs in the Sky, though. Skyloft sure was nifty and felt more like an actual civilization than any hub before it but didn't have as many objectives and goodies to collect as, say, Clock Town. It simply didn't meet my expectations because it is the only large and hospitable safe haven in the Sky and, as such, could have been executed on a grander scale.
The Wind Waker's Dragon Roost Island, Outset Island and Windfall Island were all decent hubs in and of themselves. I would have liked to see two or more of them in Skyward Sword. Otherwise, I think the Sky gets a lot more flak than it deserves because it's
supposed to be empty and is great for calming your nerves after spending so much time in the condensed overworld below. As for Loftwings, those things kick ***, period. The whole ceremonial process for becoming a Knight and each individual having their own, unique Loftwing reminded me of the concept of bonding between the Na'vi and mountain banshee in the movie "Avatar".