Skyward Sword is a prequel to the entire Zelda series and while the story isn’t too dissimilar to the storylines of the other games (Zelda is kidnapped, Link must travel around Hyrule searching for items in order to help find her and prevent evil rising) there are still a lot of reasons to buy this game
Firstly, in this game, Link lives in a village on a floating island in the sky (Skyloft) and, as such, to travel to other areas (also in the sky) he must ride on a giant flying bird. Of course, beneath the sky, there is also the usual Hyrule, but it’s segmented into three sections (unfortunately), but there is still a substantial amount of flying involved. Flying is, for the most part, fun, but can occasionally feel a little bit boring when you have a long distance to travel and you’re just flying through empty air.
Secondly, I think that the game puts quite a twist on the usual “go to one place, do it’s temple, repeat’ style of the other games. Sometimes you’re in the middle of one of the dungeons and you don’t even realise it! You also actually have to go back into a past dungeon in order to do something in there that you couldn’t do originally. Plus, there are these bits inside something called the Silent Realm which I think are really, really good, but, I wouldn’t like to spoil this for you.
However, there is one new feature which I don’t find particularly enjoyable. There are a number of times where you have to do specific movements with the Wii Remote in order to succeed in sword fights. It’s always quite clear what movement you have to do, so I do the correct thing, but it’s all very silly and often thinks I’m doing something else entirely. This can be very frustrating at times and would be avoided entirely if you used buttons. Having said that, there are other puzzles which involve motion controls which I really quite enjoyed (certain locks for example).
In conclusion, this game adds to and improves on the features of some of the past Zelda games, but also has a couple of downsides. The graphics are rather nice (a mix of Twilight Princess and Wind Waker style) which makes for some nice looking environments to explore. Also, as a final note, I think the relationship between Link and Zelda in this game is better than it has been in any other games, I know people like to ‘ship’ (as they say) this couple, but this is the first time I’ve believed they might have romantic inclinations towards each other and the game, in general, might be the most emotional in the Zelda world.
Rating: 9.2/10
For the main details of the game, read the review of the original here. Now, I will be talking specifically about the changes to the game for its 3DS remake. I’ll go over the changes which are good, and those which are bad.
Good Changes:
Bad Changes:
Another change is that there is a Sheikah Stone in the game now. The Sheikah Stone will pretty much tell you how to solve every puzzle in every dungeon. You don’t HAVE to speak to him, but it’s there if you need it. I’m kind of neutral about this change. I never used it myself; I don’t think the game is hard enough to warrant it. It might be very useful for some people though.
On the whole, this is, I think, just a tiny bit better than the original, but there are barely any changes: 9.6/10
5. The Exploration of the Philosophic Realm
This story features my Victorian adventurer Edward Harker. Here he takes a trip to Greece and finds something rather philosophically interesting.
Words: 4,028 Pages: 6
4. Fire
Featuring my two teenage characters Jane Dawson and Steve Gunner. There is a little bit of jealousy at a school event involving a boy named Jack which then escalates, to say the least.
Words: 1,018 Pages: 2
3. Let’s Talk
Featuring my two time travellers, Bernard Adams Dobson who’s bad (and who you might remember) and Gordon Orson Dobson who’s good (who you also might remember). Basically, the pair of them are trapped in a room together for a short period of time with no explanation and so find themselves with nothing to do but to talk to one another.
Words: 1,325 Pages: 4
2. The Second Coming
Featuring my journalist character Jessica Andrews. In this story she comes across a man claiming to be Jesus Christ reborn.
Words: 1, 813 Pages: 4
1. Clothes
Featuring Gordon and Bernard again! In this story, Bernard breaks into a leisure centre.
Words: 1, 564 Pages: 3
(All of these stories could easily be rated at PG, or 12 at the highest. Just a warning though, in the story ‘Fire’ there is a single instance of bad language. I may not swear, but that doesn’t mean my characters don’t!)
I don’t believe I’ve ever mentioned Lofty on here before. Lofty is an interesting person who can often be found strolling around Corsham and who is often under the influence of alcohol. It’s always a pleasure to bump into him and have a small chat. Unfortunately, I don’t know his real name, but Lofty, his nickname, is what I’ve heard him called the most. One day, I, along with my friends Ben and Dalfino, happened to bump into him.
Dalfino, as regular readers of my blog will probably know, is quite a musical person, and at the time he was learning to play the violin. The three of us were sitting on a bench and Dalfino decided he would get out his instrument. Seeing the instrument, Ben decided to take it and see whether he’d secretly been an expert violinist all his life without knowing. Just as Ben had the violin in his hands, Lofty approached us and started talking.
Now, Lofty can be hard to understand at times, so I can’t know exactly what he said, but the first thing he spoke about was his father who was a beekeeper or something similar. Lofty often talks about bees and beekeeping and I’m pretty sure he’s always talking about his father.
Anywho, once Lofty had finished regaling us with tales of his past, his attention was drawn to the violin.
“Oh, so you play music do you?” he asked, in his slurred way.
“Nah,” said Ben, “this is Dalfino’s. I can’t play at all.”
“Oh, he’s just being modest,” said Dalfino, a hilarious prank brewing in his mind, “Ben’s a really good violinist. He’s performed in front of large audiences loads of times. He’s even been in Carnegie Hall.”
“Oh! Well, play me a tune then!” said Lofty.
“But I really can’t!” said Ben, laughing a lot.
“Oh, come on, I’ll give you money!” Lofty pulled a pound coin out of his pocket.
Ben, not wanting to distress Lofty, tried to play. Unfortunately, he just made a horrible noise, it sounded like he was hurting the poor violin.
“Alright, alright,” said Lofty. “That’s enough of this. Don’t be silly play a proper tune!”
Ben tried again, and failed. Lofty was beginning to become unhappy about not getting to see a performance.
Dalfino, who had been enjoying the chaos caused by his prank, decided now to step in “Nah, really he’s never played before,” he said. “The violin is mine and I’ve only had one lesson, so I can’t play either.”
“Come on, please, somebody just play something for me!”
Nervously, Dalfino played the only tune he knew, which was a very basic one indeed.
“I guess that’ll do,” said Lofty; he gave Dalfino the pound and then left, only mildly musically fulfilled. And so, with that, Dalfino had moved from a mere amateur musician to somebody who actually earned money from his work.
