No longer Tri-Forced into using Motion Controls.
Skyward Sword is one of the few Legend of Zelda games I never got around to actually completing. I recall only playing the initial area and then never picking it up again. This wasn’t because of anything the game did visually, or where its story was heading, but in the motion controls that I just wasn’t gravitating to. I was never really a fan of what the Wii or WiiU did with motion controls apart from a few brief examples of where the tech had interesting promise and was hopeful that one day, somehow, Skyward Sword would be playable without them. Thankfully, that wait is over as Skyward Sword HD has hit the Nintendo Switch, for better and worse.
Now, ever since its announcement, many were not too keen on the full Nintendo price given to this remaster, convinced that not enough had been done to the game to warrant said value. That, and many were hoping for Wind Waker and/or Twilight Princess to join in the announcement, especially since it's the 35th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda series. Regardless, there has been a decent amount of work done here that does warrant some portion of the asking price, but I do agree, more of the game could have been remade or reworked in some way, whether it’s more detail given to the environments, drastically better textures, or even including full voice-work to the game to make it feel like a more worthwhile purchase. Now, that said, Skyward Sword is certainly a memorable experience for sure, being the last of the standard structured Zelda games before Breath of the Wild would dramatically change the series going forward. It's also here where you see many of the ideas that would eventually shape Breath of the Wild into what it was, as well as being the starting point for the game's official canon; essentially telling the first Legend of Zelda story. It’s also worth point out that Breath of the Wild II, or whatever it ends up being called, has Link once again returning to the sky, making the release of this HD remaster even more interesting.
It’s safe to say that Skyward Sword has not been looked back on too fondly, largely because of the clunky and often unresponsive motion controls that varied from user to user. Even with the Wii-Motion Plus adapter, Skyward Sword’s controls were interesting enough, but their inconsistent functionality made the game inaccessible to many, myself included as apart from a few rare games on the console, I wasn’t that keen on what the Wii and WiiU often did with motion controls as a whole. And, as you explore and dig deeper into Skyward Sword’s mechanics, you can see the required use of this type of control system everywhere, so adapting it for a controller was always going to be a challenge. Skyward Sword and all its puzzles and combat challenges are designed around swinging a sword horizontally, vertically, diagonally, or in a circle, and this is true of many of its items as well. To address this via a button-only setup, Nintendo has you flicking the right stick to mimic those sword swings, and this varies in its effectiveness based on how fast and deliberate your flicks are. Flick the stick up, and Link will swing from the ground upwards, and flick left, and Link will swing from the right to slash to the left. It takes a while for your brain to want to think of up as down and right as left, but once you get a handle on it, it starts to make sense, even if your brain wants it the other way around. While this does work to a certain degree, its execution is anywhere from perfect and is often too inconsistent.
Added to this remaster is the ability for full camera control while running around, something that wasn’t possible on the original. For those playing with buttons, you’ll hold down the L button to perform this alongside the right analog stick, allowing you to move the camera around Link as he runs. Now that said, I wish you have full camera control solely on the right stick with the L button being the trigger for using your sword, essentially swapping how it is now. Oddly, there is a delay in being able to use the sword upon releasing the L button, something that led to taking many unfortunate hits, especially as you try to run while moving the camera to get under a certain boss running up a spiral incline. This led to Link just standing around, and the flicking of the right stick too fast can cause Link to not slash but instead just waggle his sword around. This unresponsiveness happens frequently when you either attack too fast or use it in combination with the camera control. The sword slashes via the analog stick work best when you are locked on and are slow and deliberate in your motions, even if at times the bosses and encounters don’t allow for that pacing. Had the team figured out a better way to make the sword swings far more responsive than Link wanting to waggle it every time I needed to attack fast, then this would be one of the best Zelda games ever made without question; it’s just that good, or rather, it’s something that you can see be realized here, even if the game just falls short of it.
Other motions like throwing a bomb, controlling your mobile little beetle, and using your shield all work great, and in fact, they work better here than via the motion controls. I made a comment on Twitter that the worst parts of the motion controls are better with buttons, and the worst parts of the buttons are best with motion controls, and this partially holds true. However, I feel that the sword-swinging is better in some ways via motion controls, but since the Switch and its Joycon’s don’t rely on a sensor bar, I had to constantly resync my Joycons with the Y button almost any time I wanted to try out the motion controls. Now, when they are synced up correctly, they work, and rather well, but in an hour and a half of playing with motion controls, I had to re-sync over a dozen times, eventually giving up on motion controls and never looking back.
For movement, combat, and the use of certain items, finding the control method that works for you will depend on how comfortable you are with each setup, or if you are forced to use buttons if you are an owner of the Switch Lite or wanting to play the game entirely portable. Using the button controls, I found flying around the open sky to be significantly better, and performing the special attacks Link can do; a horizontal spinning slash and vertical jumping slice, to be more responsive than using the Joycons via motion controls. Nearly every puzzle or challenge is meant to have you swing your sword to match the direction indicated, such as enemies who have directional lines or readable gaps of weaknesses in their design, to bombs that either need to be thrown or rolled under a lower arch. You’ll also have a bow, slingshot, and other items such as a whip, hook shot, or the gust bellows that lets Link shoot out a concentrated burst of air, and while many of these work great with the buttons, the bow and slingshot are certainly easier to aim with motion controls, provided again, that you are synced up and it’s working. Again, it’s finding what works for you, and frankly, 98% of my time with the game was buttons-only as while the motion controls are questionably better here than they were before, I still found myself preferring the button format due to it feeling more natural.
Other changes made to the remaster are a few quality of life updates that are certainly welcomed. Link won’t get the same alert message when he’s picked up the same item for the 30th time, and Fi, your spirit companion in the game, has been toned down a bit from offering too much advice, even if I feel she still dumbs down a lot of the challenges at hand with constant tips on the most obvious of things., such as I don’t know, telling me there are strong enemies ahead when one of them is literally 7 feet from me. Other notable improvements are vastly improved visuals in regards to the texture quality, resolution, and framerate, a new auto-save function, a more streamlined opening chapter, the ability to speed through conversations and cutscenes, and so much more. Many of these new features not only make the game look better but play better as well, reducing many of the annoyances players had the first time around.
When it comes to Skyward Sword as a Zelda game, especially being the last of the 3D framework adventures started with Ocarina of Time, it shines due to some clever level layouts, and some of the most enjoyable dungeons of the series. One of my biggest faults with Breath of the Wild was that none of the Divine Beasts or dungeon-structured locations featured unique themes that I loved about the series, thus blending together in a drab sameness that I wasn’t enjoying. Here, the Dungeons not only feel different from the next, but they thrive in looking dramatically different from one another. The game does a great job at utilizing small spaces to the benefit of the items you collect, making each location packed full of secrets that you’ll often need to revisit once you’ve unlocked a new item or two. I was constantly impressed with returning to old areas to find them opening up to explore deeper within them, often including multiple areas and dungeons that always felt rewarding in their discovery. Now, that said, there are a few times where you’re tasked with entering the spirit realm of a few areas, collecting special items while stealthily navigating around enemies that can kill you in one single shot. While these scenarios are ok enough, this could have been something to trim a bit as some of the clunky controls can often have you getting caught far too easily.
While the game only features four overall zones to explore, these areas consistently open up to offer more diverse locations to visit, dungeons to explore, and various mini-games such as mine-sweeper, and a game show inspired event where you’ll fall from the sky and hope to land on a designated prize tile. While the explorable zones on the surface are vast in their variety, the open sky above is just lacking in things to do. While you’ll find Goddess Cubes on the surface that unlock chests above, there isn’t much to do above the clouds, making for a very bland and often tiring flight through not much of anything. Had Loftwing’s speed seen a boost or something to address the slow flying speed, this could have aided in making it a more enjoyable part of the journey. While Skyloft itself is a small explorable location with a few stores to purchase items from, it’s also a host to several side quests that are pretty enjoyable to take part in, allowing you to traverse your floating home in the sky either during the day or at night.
Skyward Sword is essentially the first story in the timeline to feature Link and Zelda. Instead of Zelda being an established princess, she’s here as Link’s childhood friend, engaged in an unspoken romance of sorts where Link is just clueless to her feelings. It’s refreshing to see this dynamic instead of Link just being the chosen hero to protect a princess that is all but a stranger to him. Here, we get the context as to why we should care about the both of them as a pair and it feels like something that should have been done years ago. I’ll also stress that this might be my favorite iteration of Zelda, which previously had been the one we were introduced to in Wind Waker. Here, she is just warm and caring, and her attitude and personality, even in the brief moments we get to spend with her, is infectious. Eventually, they get split up while out for a flight on their Loftwing, and destiny is thrust upon them as they find themselves charged with a preordained fate of saving the world from a threat from the past. Each of them has their set companions, with Link meeting up with a spirit named Fi once he plucks a sword from its resting place, and Zelda being rescued by, well.. you’ll have to find out for yourself.
We also have a few supporting characters as well, such as the popular Groose, a jock character whose development here is rather touching for a character I initially didn’t care anything for. Since Link once again doesn’t talk, much of the story is told to you via the other characters, most notable Fi who is the spirit that resides in Link’s Goddess Sword, a weapon that will eventually have a much deeper connection to Link and the future of the series. The story going forward is Link and Zelda attempting to stop a self-proclaimed Demon Lord named Ghirahim from resurrecting his old master, an evil force that was once defeated by the Goddess herself. Personally, while I loved the story in Wind Waker, and Twilight Princess, and especially that of the Breath of the Wild spin-off, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, the narrative here on how it all begins is just damn near perfect in so many ways. In fact, the conclusion is incredibly touching, extremely heartfelt, and made me tear up with how well-conceived one of its final moments was, albeit being predictable in one crucial reveal.
Link’s journey will take him away from his home in Skyloft, to the Faron Woods, the Eldin Volcano, and the Lanayru Desert, among other areas that exist inside those locations. You’ll have standard Zelda moments like using a bomb to blast open a wall or tracking down keys to open locked doors, but it’s the variety that each location packs in where it all comes together. I loved spinning the large spiders around to stab them in the underbelly, rolling atop a large ball over a bed of lava, to lugging around a time stone to manipulate the past and present as I would use it to solve puzzles. Then there is using the gust bellows to blow away sand piles, uncovering enemies or treasure, or cutting the vine-necks of a Deku Baba with your flying beetle, or even just cutting through the gaps in their mouth with a corresponding slice. One of my favorite bosses, a large black scorpion called Moldarach, moves his claws around to have you slash them at a certain angle that was just enjoyable in how simple it was without being too intense for moving the sticks frantically and simply having Link waggle his sword, which is why the Imprisoned fights are easily the worst encounters this game has on offer due to how poorly designed they are. While sure, I eventually found out about the way in which you can cheat those fights, I wasn’t made aware of this method until after I had completed the game. While many of the other bosses are sometimes simpler than what we’ve had in previous entries, due to them having to be largely one-note in regards to the implementation of motion controls, their presentation and design work here is superb and really stands out, especially the statue boss, Koloktos, who has such a great design with lobbing off his weapon arm and then taking their own sword and lopping off the rest.
As you progress through the story, you’ll unlock a variety of weapons and items that I’ve detailed somewhat so far. You’ll have Link’s standard sword which is your go-to weapon. You’ll have a variety of shields, though until you find the Hylian Shield, your defensive alternatives are breakable. Otherwise, you’ll find a slingshot and bow, each with bags and quivers to increase their capacity, which also holds true with bombs as well. You have a little beetle with pincers you can use to grab items and truck them around, such as dropping bombs into pots, or onto birds, if that’s your fancy. You have a whip to traverse large gaps or pull birds from the sky, a net to collect bugs, a gust bellow to push a flood of sand around, and a clawshot to latch onto faraway targets, catapulting you up to once out of reach platforms. Otherwise, you have the goddess harp to spin a melody, digging mitts to find treasures under the surface, or eventually dig into the ground and explore what is under said surface. You’ll have your set assortment of potions, which require a bottle, fairies to discover, rupees to collect, and a series of medals that affect how often you’ll find treasure, hearts, and more. Lastly, you can upgrade your various items through a crafting system where you’ll bring materials and rupees to an NPC in town, letting him improve them. This also holds true for potions as well, making them more potent in their use.
What many fans of Breath of the Wild may not know, especially if that was their introduction to the series, is that Skyward Sword walked so that Breath of the Wild could run, for well, as long as its stamina meter would allow anyway. There are so many nods here from the introduction of magical technology present in the world, to the dowsing ability Fi grants Link being oddly similar to that of the Sheikah Slate’s ability to track down any object, to even Fi herself aiding Zelda in a time of need, even if we don’t hear her other than the same sound she makes in Skyward Sword when she enters or exit’s Link’s sword. Other notable influences here are in the form of breakable equipment, the sailcloth eventually becoming the paraglider, to the very stamina meter that drove people nuts, that’s from Skyward Sword as well. While many will argue certain other similarities, especially in some of the temple ruins and remnants of the often mentioned ancient race that built Hyrule, there is no mistaking the importance that Skyward Sword offers the franchise’s roots and every game going forward on the timeline.
Another of the game’s pre-launch controversies is the Zelda and Loftwing Amiibo which allows users to fast travel back to the sky and then immediately back to that spot they left. While there are ways to “kind of” do this in-game via bird statues that you’ll find littered about, the ability to do this from anywhere and then get sent back to the exact spot you left is a game-changer. I was lucky enough to snag one and I have to say, it certainly aids you in needing to grab a few supplies and then get right into the thick of it without having to traverse half the map again and then fly back to the area above the clouds and fall back in. The ability to just zip up and then zip down is fantastic, it’s just a shame it’s locked behind a fairly expensive and hard-to-track-down plastic toy.
Skyward Sword is a very good-looking game for what it’s remastered from, keeping the almost painted texture look found in the original. The game runs 1080p when docked at 60fps, and 720p when portable. The game on the Wii originally ran at 480p 30fps, so this boosted resolution and framerate does make the motion controls much smoother when they work, and the gameplay overall better in every capacity. There is also a lot of improvements in clarity to the game without using anti-aliasing, in which Nintendo is sort of doing their own thing based on the architecture of the Switch itself. Even just flying into the city, you can see how more natural the fog can look instead of the grimey haze from the original. While I still wish more had been done here, especially since not every texture looks as good as the next, Skyward Sword is still a damn good-looking game for how old it truly is.
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword wasn’t a Zelda game I had ever planned on coming back to because of its unreliable motion controls. While I do feel they are better now, the adaptive button controls present in this version make the game more than playable, if still a bit clunky and inconsistent with the sword waggle and unresponsiveness after you let go of the L button. Still, what is here is a damn good Zelda game that sets the stage for the story in some interesting yet predictable ways. The bosses and challenges here are your typical Zelda fare and honestly, I’ve missed this formula despite the few improvements Breath of the Wild brought to the series. Still, I’ll take themed dungeons over the Divine Beasts any day of the week, and Skyward Sword has them in spades.
Developer - Nintendo. Publisher - Nintendo. Released - July 16th, 2021. Available On - Nintendo Switch/Lite Rated - (E 10+) Animated Blood, Comic Mischief, Fantasy Violence. Platform Reviewed - Nintendo Switch. Review Access - The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD was purchased by the reviewer.