Skyward Sword first impressions

[hisak]

Halfway through the third dungeon now. This entire area is just hitting my sweet spot so well. Combining my favorite Zelda biome with the greatest gimmick the team has come up with in years? Yes please. There's not a whole lot I can say about something so great.

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Fujibayashi is really putting his Oracle of Ages roots to good use.

[hupla]

Wait you LIKE sand in videogames?


Shameful.

[hisak]

Not sand, but deserts.

The cutscene with GROOSE after the third dungeon? Best cutscene in zelda history.

This is factually correct. I have a feeling I know where they're headed with Groose...

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This may be my favorite Zelda dungeon ever.

And in possibly replacing Stone Tower Temple in that regard, it continued its legacy with a disappointing boss!

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That was a much more fitting boss fight! The Imprisoned seemed a lot bigger in the trailer, but it still made for a pretty satisfying boss. I wasn't big on the mini-fetch quest that followed (even though I loved the robot NPC!), but the game made up for it with the great Thunderhead sequence and the Silent Realm, which I still haven't completed. The final tear didn't show up on the map and wasn't giving off a beacon, so I don't know what's up with that.

Anyway I'm LOVING the game right now, much more than I thought I would be after the first dungeon.

And let's see Impa and Ghirahim in Smash Bros. 4.

[hupla]

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Scrapper is indeed an awesome little robot dude! I loved his interactions with Fi :3

I wasnt as in love with the third dungeon as Hisak was but it was decently cool and I liked how you where always coming back to the main room to progress. The boss was lame,I was playing with my friends over and they where all disappointed with it

The imprisoned looks a lot better without legs, but I wouldn't be surprised if I fight him later in the game.

Just entered the fourth dungeon. Will play it tomorrow.

[hisak]

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The boss was lame,I was playing with my friends over and they where all disappointed with it

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I was really excited for the boss because I hadn't seen any footage of a sand boss and I couldn't wait to see how they would incorporate the time gimmick into a boss fight. I'm probably judging too much from its presence in the first demo, but it feels like it was designed far before the dungeon. I wish they had taken the Armogohma route and redesigned it to better fit the dungeon it was in.

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This game feels like it's structured an awfully lot like The Wind Waker. Two initial dungeons, followed by a technology-themed third dungeon that's accompanied by a plot twist, then an overworld boss and a directive to power up your sword.

I do like how this game has treated the Plot Coupon aspect in a different way than other Zelda games. The first dungeons are mostly separated from this trope, mostly revolving around trailing Zelda as she goes on her adventure, and then the second half, which so far seems more traditional from a Zelda standpoint, at least pretends to be meaningful to the character of Link in addition to giving a "you need to go here and here and here to proceed" justification.

[hupla]

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If you didn't answer with "Am I late?" You are awful.
Really feel you with the scorpion hisak. When I saw him I wondered how he has changed since E3 and kept expecting David Bowie to show up and power him up, the fight could have been saved if he had some sort of second form.

Whats funny though is the entire temple I was saying "Man I hope when I make this room go into the past-future a mama scorpion of these babies shows up. Guess I got my wish

[hisak]

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To be fair, I did like how the Sand Bellows was used in the fight. It was mean of them to make such a big deal out of the sand being drained.

I honestly don't remember what I said to Impa.

Also how great was Link's reaction to catching the harp?

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Any chance I can get a hint related to the Farore trial? I don't want to spend a bunch of my playtime tomorrow looking for the last tear.

[hupla]

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I bet you once you go back into the trial you'll have no problems Im sure you just went past a tear without noticing and didnt go explore enough. But here is a pro tip

When you get all the tears you need to return to the start of the trial anyways, so skip some tears in the first area and go explore a bit, there is a log you can push to making travelling and back tracking easier and 90 seconds is a lot of time so dont fear looking around.

[hisak]

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I've failed enough times that Fi marked the locations of the tears on my map, but I've gotten fourteen tears a few times and there's no fifteenth tear marked on the map or giving off a beacon that I can see.

[hupla]

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Stop being bad at videogames.

Did you get the one behind the fenced of area at the very back wall where you first start? Its at a kinda porch like area is the best way I can describe it.

[hisak]

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Is it around where the bird statue that overlooks the rest of the forest (right near the exit to the Deep Woods) is in the "regular" world?

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I really hope Impa is involved with a boss fight later in the game, the way Zelda has been in the last two 3D Zelda final boss fights.

[hupla]

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I think so but the trial is honestly a blur to me since I was a little high when playing that part. I dont really know which ones you have collected and which specific one you haven't since im not the one playing your game so its hard to give advice for this part sorry

Impa is pretty cool even if she can be a bitch. Would love to have some cool fights with her!

Also  really enjoyed the puzzle inside the giant cloud thing to get to the song tower. Really clever.

[hisak]

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Yeah, the Thunderhead puzzle was great. It took me a few minutes before I figured out what everything did. I credit it to the appearance of the puzzle: everything looked like a really weird natural formation or some sort of alien artifact instead of a piece of a video game puzzle.

I haven't explored anything else in the Thunderhead because those freaky enemies scared me away. Is there any way to fight them off?

[hupla]

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I was just about to ask that! I have no idea! I tried boosting into them but they out thought me and I took damage. I saw a rainbow and an small Island but didnt investigate, hopefully I get a bird upgrade soon so I can go back there and check the place out.

[hisak]

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I just booked it straight to the Isle of Songs and then out of the Thunderhead so I didn't find out what happens if they hit you. Do they just damage you or do they knock you off of your bird like the tornadoes in the rest of the sky?

The whole area has a really neat unsettling feel. It reminds me a lot of Eastern SkyTown from Corruption. I'll stop being afraid of it eventually. I felt like I'd regressed ten years while traveling through it.

You need to go sleep in that shop, it will change the way you view beedle.

Forever

Is it related to Beedle's island? I visited it during the day when he wasn't there.

[hupla]

They just Damage you.

Yes it is and the conversation you have with him their kinda imploded my mind.

[hisak]

They just Damage you.

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Oh, I might go back there and explore then if that's all they do. One of the islands looked surprisingly big.

I was expecting the Thunderhead to just go away at some point in the game, but I like this idea a lot more. There wasn't a very threatening area of the game up to that point. I don't like the beam of light acting as an entrance to the area though. Maybe that'll change later in the game.

[Be_yourself]

well i'm a bit behind you guys, but i just finished the Second area and the pre-third dungeon area;

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I really liked the volcano section, there was lots of exploration and freedom.  At first i was a little annoyed that they made you find the pieces of the key one after the other. i didn't really see the point of that, it seemed to be needlessly limiting my freedom. however i may have been mistaken as in the third section i found i could find the energy "things" to open the mine in any order/ all at once. 

So far i don't really have any major concerns.  I do wish the Pre-level sections were not so linear, whilst sometimes there is a fair amount of freedom at others you seem to follow an obstacled pathway.  That said, it is only a minor gripe because the obstacles are rather well made and keep me stimulated and of course, there is some of both sorts of play. 
The other concern is that there isn't that many sidequests, i've explored skyloft a bit(but not extensivly) and only come across a couple.  Im sure there will be more as the game goes along but i was kinda hoping there would be a lot more.

Neither of those gripes really have me worried though, i'm quite happy with the game and i've only played a bit so its too early for me to really say they are concrete criticisms of the game.  I'm expecting things to open up and really get going once i beat the mines.  At this stage i think that this is the best Zelda since MM, and has the potential to be the best but i will reserve judgement on that for now.

[Ezlo's Apprentice]

Oh. Wow.

I am so in love with this game it would be perfectly within its rights to put in for a restraining order.

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The cutscene which comes after the sixth dungeon (well, one of, it's actually a pretty long sequence after that little adventure with a familiar boss battle for good measure) is one of my favourites in recent years and easily up there for the series' top five. Drama, mythology, romance and a few cheeky hints to the player that there's more to come.

And, boy, is there! As fetch quests go, the search for the Song of the Hero had the potential to be a pretty mundane trawl through all-too familiar territories. And yet Faron, Eldin and Lanayru are all seen anew.

The search through a flooded Faron Woods for the Tadtones was delightful, with yet another cute and quirky species to get used to. Giving Link the Samus treatment by stripping him of his inventory and putting him in a newly-fortified, volcanic Eldin was genius, and I was honestly a touch disappointed when the last batch of Link's missing items were all squeezed into one final chest. I wanted more!

That combined with Lanayru's trip around the gorge showed just how much they've got out of the smaller inventory with just about every item getting a good use. Even the catapult which you probably all abandoned once the bow was between your grubby mitts.

Speaking of mitts, aren't the Mogma Mitts a cracking piece of kit? Although the underground sections feel a bit dull and linear at times, I still hold out a little hope there is more to come before the game's end.

And that is where I'm headed. Probably tomorrow. With the Song of the Hero all together it looks as though I'm off for one last Silent Realm trial. In the sky? Surely not. By which I mean... This is gonna be awesome!!!!

Oh, and if anyone is looking to get more Dusk Emblems you can do so by simply failing the trial. Bit of a pain in the arse, but they all reload if you get caught. And if you want a lot, you'll make that sacrifice.

[Hyruleansoldier]

Still not in the 5th dungeon.  You can re-read my older posts for impressions of the first half of the game, there's some tips here and there

Also, check out Fi's rumors from time to time.  There's some really good intel in there sometimes.  She tells you the max number of rupees in the game, for one.

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You'll like it.  There's about 4 wallet upgrades, not including the 3 you can buy from Beedle.  Or two?  There's one in a chest somewhere.

- Someone said something about the number of sidequests: don't worry, there's plenty of them, just not all at once.  It's not MM proportions, but it's possible that by the end of the game every NPC in Skyloft has been involved in a sidequest in one way or another (group families together).  By my calculations there's at least 12 that get you Gratitude Crystals, but of course there's also NPC-related sidequests besides that, or stuff you can get cash from.

- There's (another) major Super Mario Sunshine moment in the game.  Those of you who've seen a certain place and have a certain item will smile.

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To be fair, I did like how the Sand Bellows was used in the fight. It was mean of them to make such a big deal out of the sand being drained.

I honestly don't remember what I said to Impa.

Also how great was Link's reaction to catching the harp?

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Any chance I can get a hint related to the Farore trial? I don't want to spend a bunch of my playtime tomorrow looking for the last tear.

It was great.  And to hupla: haha yeah that answer.

- Although about answers: I've found that often times two slightly different answers can still get you the same reply. Though I've only tested this a couple of times.  If a character wants to share his knowledge with you, you'll usually get it all no matter your answers.  

- The Faron trial wasn't too easy, the forest has many nooks and crannies and it's possible one was under something and the ray of light didn't extend through the roof.  I'm not sure.  But those ghosts can be relentless.

After seeing all of the crazy NPCs in this game I really wish we could have seen what Skyward Sword would have done with Tingle. Stupid Casamassina.

Tingle, well sorta...  

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There's a doll of him in a shelf SOMEWHERE.

- There IS a way to get inside Zelda's room.  And you'll also be able to see a certain character naked.

- You can run while crouching (in holes and such).  Apparently you can also access a hole underwater.

- The Gratitude Crystals look like SMG's star bits!  And there's many rewards for getting a lot - brings back memories of OoT's Gold Skultulla's (the fact you got something every 10 until you reached 50).  Similar deal here.

- TWW throwback: in Gear Peddler Rupin's house you can piss off his wife by

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breaking her antique.  There's different amounts of cash you need to pay depending on what you break.

- If there's some kind of seat close to a character, sit on it, sometimes you get dialogue from them and it'll be different than when you speak to them normally.

- Why are there 2 Heart Medals in the game?  Seems pointless to have more than one.

- You can use the Whip to steal Monster Horns from Bokoblins.  

- The best way to deal with the bigger varieties of Chu Blobs is to just throw a bomb their way.  They'll gobble it up or just be near it and explode.  No having to deal with smaller versions.

- Since I don't have to obsess about rupees at the moment, I'm finding the occasional Stamina Potion quite handy.  3 minutes of much slower stamina meter depletion are sweet.

- There's a chest in some island (not that far from the small island close to Fun Fun Island), where you have to fall inside a small crater.  If you steer a bit to the side you'll land on the ledge with a treasure chest.  

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Koloktos is AWESOME.  I needed my potions, too, damn.  Very satisfying to play with oversized weapons (giggity) - it brought to mind many sweet TWW battle moments.

- Where's the Rattle?  Do yourself a favor and watch the Hint Movie.  Sure there's a place you've never been to, but I still couldn't figure out how to get there.

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OMG mine cart rollercoaster!  And you can redo both halves a legit race (the times to get a good reward are steep, too!  But easy cash for just decent times.