Skyward Sword
- Thread starter Yahtzee Croshaw
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Or it could be the other reviewers are just telling people what they want to hear, not what they should.Nate-ndo said:
Try telling someone a hyped game on Amazon is less than amazing and, despite having valid points, it'll still be savaged by fanboys, just as Yahtzee has pointed out here.
Ben Croshaw presents himself as a cynic who has almost as much interest in what people think as he does trying to saw off his left arm with his other arm. There'd be nothing ironic about him not bothering to read his response to the obnoxious sorts of human refuse that scream at him for daring not to like something they do; him explaining his position isn't going to sway the kind of person who behaves in such a way. There are people who agree with him or at least see it from his point of view, sure, but I'm going to doubt he had a problem with those.totally heterosexual said:
You could say this article is akin to being the sole survivor of a ship wreck and yelling "I MADE IT" at the top of your lungs while in the middle of nowhere; it's an act the actor knows has no actual purpose and won't accomplish anything, but it made them feel better. For the time being, anyway.
Now, this? This is ironic.reachforthesky said:
I just had an epiphany.
My friend owns SS. While at his house two weeks ago I asked him how the controls were. His response was that they were great. He then played a bit while we were waiting for a third person. I watched how he used the controls. What jumped out to me was that all his wiimote motions were slight, minimal, and barely noticable. At the time, I thought that was weird but couldn't put my finger on why. It finally hit me as to what it was.
Every commercial for the wii, every show or movie that has someone playing a wii, every trade show convention that someone is onstage playing a wii shows them making broad, sweeping motions with the wiimote.
Now setting aside the argument on whether or not the controls are responsive enough, if the way my friend was playing is the right way to play (slight, minimal movements), then Nintendo dropped the ball on educating its target user base.
Think about it: there's never been a commercial controller like the wiimote (that I know of). So buyers had to be taught how to use it. How did they learn? By watching the commercials and game demos, both which showed broad movements.
So if the problem people have is that they are being to spastic, that's not really their fault-they're simply doing what they've been taught.
My friend owns SS. While at his house two weeks ago I asked him how the controls were. His response was that they were great. He then played a bit while we were waiting for a third person. I watched how he used the controls. What jumped out to me was that all his wiimote motions were slight, minimal, and barely noticable. At the time, I thought that was weird but couldn't put my finger on why. It finally hit me as to what it was.
Every commercial for the wii, every show or movie that has someone playing a wii, every trade show convention that someone is onstage playing a wii shows them making broad, sweeping motions with the wiimote.
Now setting aside the argument on whether or not the controls are responsive enough, if the way my friend was playing is the right way to play (slight, minimal movements), then Nintendo dropped the ball on educating its target user base.
Think about it: there's never been a commercial controller like the wiimote (that I know of). So buyers had to be taught how to use it. How did they learn? By watching the commercials and game demos, both which showed broad movements.
So if the problem people have is that they are being to spastic, that's not really their fault-they're simply doing what they've been taught.
Seems to me you are overanalizing mate, it's exactly the same ordeal anybody getting into gaming through a normal pad has to go through, you actually have to relearn the interface now instead of just basing it on all your knowledge of gaming. That is the reason why a lot of people are initially all inclined to just say "if only I had a normal controller", it's what they know and by golly, it's the best thing ever.bjj hero said:
Also, I'm amazed at how some people go to the lengths of insinuating that nobody dares give their real opinion about the game except manly ol Yatzhee when the own review of Skyward sword in the escapist was full of praise, and I'd dare say the escapist is considered a worthy source in here.
I refer you to a post I made on the original video. Namely:Kaitengiri said:
"I swing my Wiimote and I get blocked. Link's arm ricochets. Mine doesn't. Mine keeps going. So I have to move my arm back to the starting position before I can re-position my arm for try #2. In doing so, I end up swinging the sword again from the wrong location.
REPEAT.
The flying controls are painful. In the default hand position, it's very difficult to tilt down enough to dive. Wrists don't bend that way. The same goes for bomb rolling. If I want to roll a bomb, I have to move my hand position, point the Wiimote down, then flick and hope the system actually registers it as a flick, not an "I'm returning to neutral position", as it often does.
Then there's the harp. I swear I must've played the harp performance about THIRTY times. Every time I started, my hand's position was in a different place... and no matter how carefully I moved my Wiimote, Link's hand would always slide half-way back in the other direction. To clarify:
I swing right -> Link strums right
I hold my arm steady and still at the right -> Link starts strumming BACK TO THE LEFT.
My arm hasn't moved. AT ALL.
How am I supposed to control a game accurately when the controls don't respond to my inputs? It's like playing DDR with a steering wheel!
Oh yes, and the recalibration. EVERY TIME I use a B-button item (that blowing vase thing, the slingshot, flying scarab thing, etc.), when I press the B-button, the controls orient by where my Wiimote was pointing when I pressed the button... which often means Link's going to be spinning around in circles until I press Down on the D-Pad.
Would ANY of this happen on a traditional controller?
NO. And that's why motion controls SUCK. The End."
Actually, that's not a fetch quest. That's grinding. A fetch quest IS:
That. Go there, grab that, and bring it here. I'll give you some sort of compensation for doing so. A fetch quest: defined. How you've gotten it confused with grinding for loot drops is beyond me.
Yes it is. It's arbitrarily extending the length of a quest by adding busywork to it. Busywork, might I add, that adds no depth or comparable reward to the quest. Take the Hero's song bit where you have to swim around for the notes. Why? I've got the fully powered up Master Sword already. Why do I have to prove myself AGAIN? It's not like I had to find lost items. The Water Dragon specifically scatters the notes ON PURPOSE just to waste your time. PADDING. Because the game has nothing else to do but make you faff about, to borrow a phrase...
Nope. See above. Drastic change? Yes. New baddies? No. New areas? No. This game is an exercise in retreading.
Utterly useless that it is... Oh, I'm not saying it's not functional. It is. I just don't need it. Anyone with a brain shouldn't need it. I've only used it... maybe twice? First out of curiosity... again because I accidentally hit the C button.
Having to hike all the way back to another area for one minor item that I won't ever use again IS padding. It adds no fun to the game. Most egregiously, if I come across an item I know I'm going to need later, I often CAN'T pick it up until the game tells me I have to go ALL THE WAY BACK to pick it up ONLY when the game decides it's time. See the party wheel, the crystal ball, the rattle, etc. And there's no fast travel. If I want to go to another area, I can't just walk there. Nooooo. I have to get to a bird statue, Return to Sky, Yes I'm sure, wait through the same animation every time, waggle waggle waggle to flap/dive/flap, jump into the colored light, yes, I know I can choose my landing area, Fi, Thank you, sit through the falling animation, walk to the item, Yes Fi, call the robot, dialogue dialogue, walk back to a bird statue, Return to Sky, Yes I'm sure, wait through the same animation every time, waggle waggle waggle to flap/dive/flap, jump into the colored light, yes, I know I can choose my landing area, Fi, Thank you, sit through the falling animation, walk to the area I left five minutes ago, and complete the quest. No reward beyond being allowed to continue going forward.
You'll notice I copy/pasted half of that. That's why it's called padding. Because it's the same thing over and over again for no adequate reason.
I just love this quote. It's ridiculous and nonsensical. Zelda is abound... with what? As? That doesn't follow "abound". And the game is masterful at putting you at the beginning of mazes? Woo-hoo! What a triumph! They can put you at "START". How clever of them!
Are you still defending Zelda? So it's masterfully linear... which is a negative holdover... from another unrelated genre? Whaaa?
I don't know anyone who's made this complaint. Really. Who are you arguing against here? Yourself, apparently...
Ok, I've been nice about this so far, but GRAMMAR. Are you six years old? Do you know what a run-on sentence is? Jesus...
Anyway: So it's a rare moment when she interrupts... except when it happens entering a new area? So either you're admitting that it happens a lot or that there aren't that many new areas. Either way, your statement is backfiring again.
Fi is a horrible, unnecessary character. She adds nothing to the game. In fact, the game would be VASTLY improved if she were removed. Instead of her doing the exposition when you get a new powerup (that I always ignore anyway), just have some mystical voice of the sacred flame or whatever do the explaining. Let the rest of the game do the explaining naturally through character dialogue... WHICH IT DOES ANYWAY. Fi just REPEATS everything you just heard. She provides NO new information.
Five unnecessary, game-interrupting seconds. EVERY TIME.
Because you can just hit A and *poof* there goes the text with Navi. It doesn't gradually scroll across the screen at glacial speed like it does with Fi.
Except he hit the nail on the head with this one. You can't write off his points because you can overlook them or because you don't want to acknowledge them. He's not raging at Zelda without warrant. He's giving it the thrashing it DESERVES. This game is just not very good. Get over it. If you can and you still enjoy it, more power to you.
First of all, "childish antiques"? Ha.
Second, he didn't turn it into a debate: the fanboys (and girls, as the case may be) did. He gave Skyward Sword no special treatment and treated it the same as every other game he reviews. And that'll always set off the fanboys...
That's just not true. You know how I know? I felt the same way about Skyward Sword five hours in. And I paid full price for the game. I have nothing to gain from "hating on" the game. I expected a joyous romp through Hyrule... instead, I got this bland, samey mess. Go ahead and disagree with Yahtzee if you feel you must... but don't call him a liar. You've not disproved a single one of his points. You attempted to spin them in a more positive light, yes... but you've not proven he fabricated their existence. Your entire post, like Skyward Sword, has been a massive waste of time for everyone who has had to slog their way through it. And also like Skyward Sword, it could've been done better and shorter, too...
I guess that explains why I never had any issues with the controls while other people did.Mahoshonen said:
So aside from the grieving about motion controls, many of the other points make sense. I don't think they're enough to say the game is bad; I actually quite liked Skyward Sword. But to be honest either Yahtzee has some sort of neuromuscular disorder in everything except his thumbs, or his Wii isn't set up correctly, or he's just being a curmudgeon to the point that one should not take his reviews on the matter seriously.
So first off, I didn't have a delay issue. At all. The controls did work perfectly for me, even the stabbing. Part of this might be that I figured out which movements correctly corresponded with which attacks.
Why are you moving your arm back to correspond with the ricochet? Why not just proceed to slice the other direction? And if you're referring to the electroshock guys, why don't you... don't know, move your arm to the position that he's blocking, then just wait till he moves his arm to a different position before striking?
But Yahtzee asked someone to defend something such as getting the robot to fill the Frog Mouth with water. And the answer to that is breaking the setting of the game up a bit. You've spent a decent amount of time up to that point doing a Hero's Trial, going through the fire area, and then figuring out and presumably looking around a new section. Take 10 minutes out of your time to go back to a familiar place was their solution.
The thing is that many people didn't find a problem with THIS specific activity, or similar ones. I think part of this might be that it accomplished what it set out to do. For others it was a pain in the neck because of a delay in immediate gratification (i.e. going into the dungeon). I'm more of the former on this specific example.
I suspect the Tadtones and the Hero's Trials are of similar reasoning, but for me those went overboard.
I sort of look at him the same way I look at Robert Christgau: You look at relevant criticisms that he points out, but ignore much of the rest, mostly because the reviews are often rife with subjective criticisms that must supplement his tastes and no others.
Well, except motion controls. I never had problems with them and prefer them in many instances (Twilight Princess included). Then again, I don't waggle my wrist and move my entire forearm.
[/quote]OuroborosChoked said:
So first off, I didn't have a delay issue. At all. The controls did work perfectly for me, even the stabbing. Part of this might be that I figured out which movements correctly corresponded with which attacks.
Why are you moving your arm back to correspond with the ricochet? Why not just proceed to slice the other direction? And if you're referring to the electroshock guys, why don't you... don't know, move your arm to the position that he's blocking, then just wait till he moves his arm to a different position before striking?
Don't bend your wrist. Move your forearm downward. If you have a space issue and are sitting on a couch, move yourself to the edge of the seat so you provide yourself with enough space to do so. The problem here appears to be less a controller response problem and more the player having to figure out the correct timing and motion to make the correct action. Critics are more inclined to blame the game for this; others are more inclined to blame the player.
It means you're not holding your arm steady. I actually never had this problem happen to me. I don't know, it might be a lighting problem in your house or a motor control problem.
Where are your arms when you're using these items?
So I agree with this complaint. I think the absolute worst was the Tadtones section that you just described. And I really didn't care for the Hero's Trials. The thing is, these sections don't add much to the overall length of the game. Why there IS padding makes no sense.
But Yahtzee asked someone to defend something such as getting the robot to fill the Frog Mouth with water. And the answer to that is breaking the setting of the game up a bit. You've spent a decent amount of time up to that point doing a Hero's Trial, going through the fire area, and then figuring out and presumably looking around a new section. Take 10 minutes out of your time to go back to a familiar place was their solution.
The thing is that many people didn't find a problem with THIS specific activity, or similar ones. I think part of this might be that it accomplished what it set out to do. For others it was a pain in the neck because of a delay in immediate gratification (i.e. going into the dungeon). I'm more of the former on this specific example.
I suspect the Tadtones and the Hero's Trials are of similar reasoning, but for me those went overboard.
By your example and definition "sidequests" fall under the category of "padding."
I actually liked the linearity of it and removing that illusion. As much as we may want to believe games to be "open sandboxes," including something like Skyrim, there's still a linear course of events that must be accomplished in order to complete the game. Taking that away and making the staged areas more like large dungeons with multiple routes I would call a preference choice rather than an area of criticism.
Horrible character? That's a bit overstating it isn't it? Unnecessary? Yeah, I can agree with that. But she felt like a neutral character to me. Navi is the quintessential example of a BAD sidekick, in which she explains absolutely nothing. Fi is... sort of just there. She does give out hints and a small bit of analysis, but again, most of us don't need that, particularly if we've played enough games.
But it happens far more often than Fi bothering anyone. The slow scroll text IS a point of criticism, but Navi's constant interruptions are far worse than even Fi complaining about low health, which can be ignored anyway in the middle of things.
In Yahtzee's case, he's obviously pushing buttons to get people riled up. He knows what he's doing. In most cases, as much as he has the same criticism of Zelda games being the same thing, I'm inclined to think that he actually DOES like the game, which sort of levels at this "love it/hate it" dichotomy. But at the same time, this was a Zelda that he simply didn't like.
I sort of look at him the same way I look at Robert Christgau: You look at relevant criticisms that he points out, but ignore much of the rest, mostly because the reviews are often rife with subjective criticisms that must supplement his tastes and no others.
Well, except motion controls. I never had problems with them and prefer them in many instances (Twilight Princess included). Then again, I don't waggle my wrist and move my entire forearm.
i love Skyward Sword, it may not be my favorite game but it's certainly in the top 10
i dont see what all the fuss is about honestly. the controls work fine, at least for me, at best their precise controls that reward reflexes, at worst their just waggling, which i dont mind. they fail occasionally but nothing a quick recalibration doesnt fix. above all else the punishments for failure were never that immense, sure i tried swinging horizontally but ended up hitting an electrical stun gun, but i only lost one heart, and with a quick search around my hearts are back up again
as for the lack of more than three areas to explore, i honestly didnt mind. the traditional structure of Zelda games is to go to a new area, talk to a few people, and then tackle the local dungeon. but in Skyward Sword the lines were blurred, the way i saw it, the entirety of the surface was a dungeon, with puzzles to be solved, areas to explore, and treasures to find. sure other Zelda games had huge open maps but the space was an illusion. there was nothing, nothing to do in those huge sandboxes except kill monsters while on the way to the next enclosed area. especially in Wind Waker, where 90 percent of the map is just water, you spend most of your time sitting on your boat waiting for it to reach your destination. Skyward Sword has the sky area but if you spend more than 2 minutes flying to your destination, your playing it wrong.
and of course there is the tired old argument that all the games are basically alike. but in reality they arent, in every one of them the details are different. the hero has to save the princess, by collecting a list of objects, found in several dungeons across the land. from a story stand point, that is where the similarities end. every game has new puzzles, new obstacles. every Zelda game is basically a Reboot of the last one, all of them self contained stories, with gameplay that always brings something new to the table.
but that's just my opinion, i still enjoyed Yatzhee's review of the game, as well as this. i just disagree with every part of it (except for Fi, i agree 100 percent about Fi)
i dont see what all the fuss is about honestly. the controls work fine, at least for me, at best their precise controls that reward reflexes, at worst their just waggling, which i dont mind. they fail occasionally but nothing a quick recalibration doesnt fix. above all else the punishments for failure were never that immense, sure i tried swinging horizontally but ended up hitting an electrical stun gun, but i only lost one heart, and with a quick search around my hearts are back up again
as for the lack of more than three areas to explore, i honestly didnt mind. the traditional structure of Zelda games is to go to a new area, talk to a few people, and then tackle the local dungeon. but in Skyward Sword the lines were blurred, the way i saw it, the entirety of the surface was a dungeon, with puzzles to be solved, areas to explore, and treasures to find. sure other Zelda games had huge open maps but the space was an illusion. there was nothing, nothing to do in those huge sandboxes except kill monsters while on the way to the next enclosed area. especially in Wind Waker, where 90 percent of the map is just water, you spend most of your time sitting on your boat waiting for it to reach your destination. Skyward Sword has the sky area but if you spend more than 2 minutes flying to your destination, your playing it wrong.
and of course there is the tired old argument that all the games are basically alike. but in reality they arent, in every one of them the details are different. the hero has to save the princess, by collecting a list of objects, found in several dungeons across the land. from a story stand point, that is where the similarities end. every game has new puzzles, new obstacles. every Zelda game is basically a Reboot of the last one, all of them self contained stories, with gameplay that always brings something new to the table.
but that's just my opinion, i still enjoyed Yatzhee's review of the game, as well as this. i just disagree with every part of it (except for Fi, i agree 100 percent about Fi)
I was never comparing it to a standard controller. All I said was that they worked great 90% of the time, which is pretty much unheard of for a Wii game. Even though they didn't work as well as they might have if we were using something other than a Wiimote, Skyward Sword is still some of the best and most fluid use of the Wiimote I've ever seen. And I think that's a positive.Crono1973 said:
Ok, well people who are complaining about the controls probably are comparing it to standard controllers and let's face it, the Wii Mote is inferior to standard controllers. Ever try playing with the sun shining in?DarthFennec said:
You've missed the point by a wide margin. My point is that it's impossible for the controls to work (as claimed by about 90% of reviews) and to also not work as claimed by the others. There are only two two explanations 1) one of the groups is lying (tinfoil hat) or 2) that they do work but some subset of players will fail at using them. It's perfectly reasonable to criticize the decision to use controls that some won't excel at, but to claim they don't work or are laggy is dishonest. There's no feasible explanation to how I (or IGN, or Edge, or Eurogamer, etc) played for 40 hours and believe the controls work if that is truly not the case.Mahoshonen said:
Does Yahtzee normally complain about dual analog controls for FPSes? Because if anything, THOSE are decidedly poor controls compared to keyboard and mouse or (funny enough) motion controls.
Just so we're clear, you're claiming that the vast majority of players and reviewers that said the controls worked adequately and as intended are confused and/or lying, correct? Cognitive dissonance is claiming that the controls didn't work, and none of us noticed but finished the game anyway even with broken controls. I suppose we willed the game into completion.Revolutionaryloser said:
Also, your post suggests that you think it's more believable that the controls are broken and 9/10 players simply didn't notice than it is that the controls are fine but 1/10 players sucked but would rather fault the game than themselves.
I'm not exactly sure "useful" as much as just simply "adopted as the norm."Revolutionaryloser said:
Dual analogs, particular for FPSes on consoles, are a terrible idea. Specifically the second analog. Evolution being dictated by quality alone would assume that someone would have come up with a better control scheme than that (such as using a trackball for the second analog).
The point here is that Yahtzee, for whatever complaints about motion controls, is less an issue of quality and more an issue of preference. If this was an issue of quality, I'm more inclined to see why he doesn't whine about every first person perspective game that uses dual analog sticks and make a sticking point about how that representation is utterly terrible. And in this case, there's a reason: people simply got used to the idea. But even if you get used to sleeping on a turd, it still means you're sleeping on a turd.
I don't waggle the controller like a maniac trying to get it to work for any Wii game. I didn't have to do that with Twilight Princess, and I sure didn't have to do it with Skyward Sword. I also didn't experience this "one second delay" that he's been complaining about. Then again, I was using a standard def TV, so maybe that had something to do with it.
And the reality of this is, how seriously do I take this guy, or is he just getting paid to be a whining wanker and found one pet peeve that he will never grow to accept?
I hate to say this, but Ben's credibility goes down a notch when his contemporary interests seem only casual GTA clones and mainstream FPS.
All's good and well with having a culture of graphic adventures, add in Sands of Time and Silent Hill 2 too, but that's his infancy where everything's always gold cast. From what he plays now, however, he wouldn't be a better connoisseur than most xbox live users afraid of anything but the main cashcow franchises.
Personally I believe that you've got to take a break from the onslaught of US gaming clones once in a while and take a dive in the japanese market. There's plenty of cloning in there too, on second thought
, but the batch's different at least. Shortcomings of recent Zeldas or JRPGs fall into context like that and broad generalizations lose meaning (so many jokes about JRPGs cliches, but no raised eyebrow for the western market being 90% about shooting people).
All's good and well with having a culture of graphic adventures, add in Sands of Time and Silent Hill 2 too, but that's his infancy where everything's always gold cast. From what he plays now, however, he wouldn't be a better connoisseur than most xbox live users afraid of anything but the main cashcow franchises.
Personally I believe that you've got to take a break from the onslaught of US gaming clones once in a while and take a dive in the japanese market. There's plenty of cloning in there too, on second thought
, but the batch's different at least. Shortcomings of recent Zeldas or JRPGs fall into context like that and broad generalizations lose meaning (so many jokes about JRPGs cliches, but no raised eyebrow for the western market being 90% about shooting people).Why would you do that instead of trying to slash from the opposite direction right away? Sure, you might get blocked, but it feels more natural.OuroborosChoked said:
You move your whole arm down, not the wrist. Jeez, that's just plain painful to think about.
Wait, did you actually move your arm across the T.V.? Why didn't you try strumming back and forth like you really would with a harp? Or were you too busy harping about learning a new control set to notice?
That doesn't work. I've tried it. The wheel just doesn't register the same motions.
So you knew what the cause of it was, pointing away from the screen. . .and you never once, not once in the whole 40-60 hours of gameplay, thought to point your wiimote at the screen FIRST?
I think that's why you just don't even want to try. See, the problem with motion controls is that they take a little bit of this magical thing called "effort" and "care". You may not be familiar with these notions from the confines of your happy place where you've adamantly locked yourself up in. Come, venture forth into the outside world with us. It's fun. I promise.
I like how you arbitrarily skipped over the one spot where I mentioned that calling these fetch quests was like calling Mario an RPG because technically you couldn't say I'm wrong under the same justification. That was my favorite part.
Oh no! A quest is arbitrarily extending the length of gameplay with actual WORK!? Why would I want this? Why can't the puzzle just be solved FOR me? Why do I have to PLAY the game? You know what else is bullshit in this game? DOORS. Why are all the damn doors locked. Why can't they just be UNLOCKED for me? I mean, it's just arbitrary and extending the length of gameplay superficially. Grrrr, Nintendo! How dare you make me solve things!
Metroid is an example of retreading. And I love every second of it because I get to find the things I missed out on earlier and I get new enemies and I have fun. What's your excuse?
Now WAIT just a sec-
. . .Then why are you even still talking about it?
You DO understand the point of padding is generally to add in meaningful game time, like five HOURS right? Anyone remember the upside down portion of Castlevania Symphony of the Night? Or even Castlevania 2 where you had to grind hearts to purchase equipment? Anyone?
I love how you misquoted me purposefully and then made a fuss about it. This is what I said.
I will however give to you the fact that it is indeed missing a comma due to a style I implemented explained a point further down.
Oh, wait, there was something else in there, wasn't there? Right right.
Yes, Zelda IS deceptively creative at placing you at the beginning of long winding labyrinths without most people noticing. I've noticed often that people praise A Link to the Past for being so exploration based, but if you start up a game, you'll notice that it's actually just a really long linear path that has many branching elements in it that gives the illusion of freedom where there is none. Take for example the middle of the game, the start of the Dark World section. You start on top of the Pyramid of Power and must explore from there. If you go north, you'll find your path is blocked by a giant rock, and a hookshot puzzle. If you go to the south, your path is blocked by the mallet pegs that prevent you from traveling to the next area. So your ONLY option is to go up to the East Palace counterpart and solve the dungeon. When you get out, the area to the South is open up to you, but Kakariko is blocked off, and so is the desert, so you only have the option of exploring the area around your house, the lake, and of course, going to the next dungeon, cause dungeon 5 in the lake is off limits, and most people on their first try probably haven't found the flippers yet. Then when you beat THAT dungeon and get the hookshot, your choices no include solving the hookshot puzzle, you can not jettison yourself across the formerly inaccessible hookshot puzzle and continue on to. . .the Lost woods and Kakariko village. And at that point, you have the ability to do a minor sequence break by skipping the Lost Woods and going straight for dungeon 4, but then what's the point? All you've done is skipped ONE dungeon. And you might be able to grab the flute and skip over dungeon five, but all you've done is a minor sequence break because once you get to Kakariko village, every area save death mountain is explored. Twice.
Really, it's not so much different from Skyward Sword, because you're exploring areas to find dungeons and items, but the difference is, they separated the areas cleanly so now you can't spend 10 hours. . .oh, wait, I already MADE this metaphor. Wow, looks like everything kinda makes sense doesn't it?
In the words of Geese, "PREDICTABRE"
Sorry, I ACTUALLY meant that the word "Linear" is a hold over from gaming critic's arsenal of made up marketing buzz words on loan from the FPS industry, not that ZELDA is bad for being linear. Because honestly, it isn't. Some of the best games are completely one direction, no branching at all. Some gameplay design is actually created around the idea of a player pushing through from one direction and one direction only. It's actually pretty masterful when witnessed in action. Example: Castlevania III, Mega Man X, Contra 3, etc.
Metaphor isn't your strong suit, is it?
Okay, I apologize deeply for this. See, when I wrote this, I decided to do it in Zero punctuation style and try to make as many sentences run on as long as I possibly could without anybody noticing or being none-the-wise. But sadly, I cannot compete with Yahtzee as I'm sure his punctuation-deleting skills are so far advanced he doesn't even capitalize or use apostrophes, and that has nothing to do with run on sentences!
I'll leave the clever grammar and snarky wit to the professional from now on, I promise! And I might be willing to cut Yahtzee a little bit of slack too.
Oh, she does talk often, but what I meant with the entering room comment is that she often only pops up when you're otherwise not engaged with the game, like when you enter a room and there's that cutscene where it pans over the entire room? Or at the end of conversations with other characters. And yeah, she repeats other people's conversations. . .in summery. And then she adds new info on top of that. It rarely even takes more than one text box, maybe even two, to summarize everything.
Oh no, 2, 3 more text boxes, one a summery and two are new info about abilities I've just gained, on top of a dialogue heavy game in the middle of a cutscene with a character whom I've been talking with? What. Ever. Shall. I. Do.
You literally don't even stop moving. Not only is that statement a lie, it also shows that you're stretching for things.
I actually meant that Fi is a gentle sounding tone that can be quite easily ignored especially if you turn off the visual for the wiimote symbol on the gamescreen. Navi makes loud annoying sounds that force your attention to her, has a BIG flashing button, and literally kidnaps your C^ button, which you use to look around the room with and is actually a big fucking deal considering, and essentially forces you, at some point in time, to listen to her.
I can ignore Fi if I want to because I don't have to press her button except when absolutely necessary.
No, he didn't. All he did was take some MINOR and NONEXISTENT grievances with the game, then exaggerated them for a very poor comedic effect. I mean, look, there's problems with the game that CAN'T be overlooked. Real legitimate problems in design choice on the creators part and should be improved upon in sequels and even other games. For example:
--The Bird never gets a name, and in fact, and entire early portion of the story is devoted to the game telling you how special this bird is. The central mechanic for which this game is named after all stems from the bird and the theme of the sky and flying, but it plays such a minor part once you get to the land that it's completely forgotten about and ignored in favor for the story of genesis in the land of Hyrule. The only reason the bird was special and marked as such was to shoehorn in the design of the Hylian Shield as a sort of beginning tale.
--Half of the items are never utilized properly in a setting I've come to expect from a Zelda game and it's a huge issue. The whip is never used outside of the dungeon it's found except in one or two minor puzzles designed to make you remember it was "there", and doesn't even stun enemies, let alone do any damage to them. It could have been combined with the Clawshots and made one GOOD item instead of one mediocre item and one "I WISH THIS WAS SO MUCH BETTER" item. The same problem was had all over as the only useful items were the bombs and arrows. There was no need for the slingshot except as a tool for situations revolving around "I don't wanna give the players the bow and arrows yet cause it's too powerful. . .but I really want a ranged-attack weapon puzzle here. So let's give them this." Everything was designed around the Sword play which made for a fun time, yeah, but the items could have all just been upgrades in power and nobody would have noticed.
--Time traveling plots confuse and confound many players and upset an already delicate timeline issue within the series, and doesn't established set rules, as for some reason, this game wasn't using the 4th and 5th dimensions like the timeline of Ocarina of Time was using.
--Two of the hearts were only obtainable by holding onto items, which creates a very poorly executed illusion of "Power for trading something useful" (in this case, pouch slots).
--The end game felt like it was going to continue on more, but by the time I got there, all the sidequests were done, and I felt like there was so much more that could have been done with that. They left a lot of potential space unused in the endgame, and so many more things could have been created and resolved by the time I started the last temple to the Point of No Return before the last boss.
Really, I mean, this is all off the top of my head, and I'd easily give this game an A grade.
But this review?
--"Oh, I hate the controls, so therefore they suck."
--"Man, I hate having to read in this game."
--"What? Why do I have to PLAY this game? This sucks."
--"Aw, c'mon, man, I NEED those precious five minutes back! ARGH!"
I don't mind critizism to my new favorite game, but at least come up with something that actually have value other then telling the creators of the game "I don't want to have to apply myself to anything".
Obviously, I refer to the the classic masterpieces of youth, such as "Scribble-on-the-fridge" -Age 3, and other such works as "Other scribble marking a slight increase in the hand-eye-coordination skill" -Age 3 again.
If by same treatment, you mean how he didn't even try playing the game and just nitpicked at anything that caught his immediate eye, then yes, probably. If you mean that he applied himself and tried his best to match what the game was expecting out of him, then I have some bad news for you.
Well excuuuuuuuse me, princess.
I really don't get the craze over Zelda either. I grew up when Ocarina of Time came out and I watched my cousin play it and I tried and got decently far and honestly I wasn't enjoying any of it. To this very day I hear fans say how amazing it is, I just don't see it.
You're a hero questing to save the world, okay great, but take one look at the residents of Hyrule and tell me they're worth saving in the game. They're all goofy, mindless or just plain dumb besides Malon (farm girl), and a few select others. The world isn't WORTH saving, I wanted to see the lands cleansed, take the farm girl join Gannon and rule. Even at the time I felt no connection with the game.
Twilight Princess was a WHOLE different story, the characters had feelings, had character and you felt connected and real progress in Link becoming stronger and Midna just being a good support character.
Other Zelda games besides TP I just never got behind, I hear lots of praise, I played them when they came out and just, nothing. Though Windwaker did have a really pretty style to it.
You're a hero questing to save the world, okay great, but take one look at the residents of Hyrule and tell me they're worth saving in the game. They're all goofy, mindless or just plain dumb besides Malon (farm girl), and a few select others. The world isn't WORTH saving, I wanted to see the lands cleansed, take the farm girl join Gannon and rule. Even at the time I felt no connection with the game.
Twilight Princess was a WHOLE different story, the characters had feelings, had character and you felt connected and real progress in Link becoming stronger and Midna just being a good support character.
Other Zelda games besides TP I just never got behind, I hear lots of praise, I played them when they came out and just, nothing. Though Windwaker did have a really pretty style to it.