Skyward Sword first impressions

[hisak]

Finished the sixth dungeon and played a bit beyond that.

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The last room in Fire Sanctuary was really interesting. You're forced to make a leap of faith to one of two paths, but I'm a bit unclear as to how the whole thing worked. After this path brought me back to the last room, I tried jumping to the other path, but the platform never appeared. Do I'm wondering if there's another path here that you can only take once, or if there isn't a path at all. Either way, it was a lot of fun, even if I don't remember exactly what it involved.

Second Ghirahim fight was satisfying, even if it was awfully similar to the first fight. I found myself enjoying his dialogue even more this time. I also appreciate how he doesn't react very much to being hit by your sword, unlike every other enemy in the game (besides Moblins).

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So the second Imprisoned fight...Yeah. Definitely the most trouble I've had with a boss in this game. Maybe I'm imagining things, but it seems like he was either walking much more quickly this time or had a bigger attack radius around his feet. It took me three times to finally bring him down. Groose's role in this fight was a lot of fun, but I thought it was a bit of a waste not to design special bombs for the Groosenator. Oh well.

So Zelda is the reincarnation of a goddess named Hylia (hey!) and she's putting herself into a slumber until Link saves the world. As a Zelda fan (even as one who doesn't care about the timeline, which was revealed today!) I enjoyed this, but I can see where somebody who wasn't a fan would be bored to tears by this long stretch of dialogue. It's also not something that I would want voice-acted. Anyway, Link has a hilarious O_O expression on his face during this entire cutscene and we learn that Groose is going to plant the Deku Tree! So I loved it.

As an aside: This is yet another Zelda game to tease us by showing us only a glimpse of a world that we'll never get to explore. Ocarina of Time had the Sacred Realm, The Wind Waker had sunken Hyrule, Twilight Princess had the Twilight Realm, and now Skyward Sword has ancient Hyrule. It stirs up a frustrating amount of curiosity, and I really hope that someday we'll get to explore one of these worlds (may I suggest a spin-off by Retro Studios?).

Seems like I have another Triforce hunt in front of me before I reach the final area of the game, but it's getting off to a much better start than Wind Waker's. Right now I'm getting ready for what I hope is a boss battle in the Thunderhead, but who knows?

[hupla]

I know

[Hyruleansoldier]

As promised, here are my impressions of my second playthrough of SS.  Quite some things stood out for me, and I would like to share my thoughts once again.  After that I’ll also share my findings about Hero Mode, so anyone wanting to avoid or specifically read that can do that.

1)   At the start of the game, getting Mia safely off the roof seems to be optional. If you don’t do it and proceed to talk with Zelda & her dad (Loftwing event), instructor Horwell will not allow you to climb the wall to proceed to the roof (because he expects you to track down your bird). I doubt you can still rescue Mia after all this since after the ceremony Zelda is MIA and it’ll be nighttime, so again, I doubt that the next day you can still save Mia. It probably doesn’t matter. Instructor Horwell said to let the Headmaster know Mia’s been retrieved after you decline to rescue her, so it’s likely he planned to do it himself instead or ask someone else. His dialogue is also different after the meeting with Zelda & the Headmaster: if you rescued Mia and ask about delaying the Wing Ceremony he will reply: “I still owe you for helping me out earlier.” Btw: if you did rescue her you DO get to climb the wall to reach the roof at this point [going off to search for your Loftwing].

2)   NPC vibes: the two Academy instructors remind me of the Rito postmen from TWW. Probably that whole “I’m a public official” type of aura.
I had a similar feeling with Pipit, as a non-gay version of TP’s Purlo. His hand gestures! Although his speech didn’t correspond with Pipit’s.
Probably more with nighttime Beedle… Funny how he speaks all eloquent-like when you talk to him at night on his island.

3)   Character development: Fledge starts out as a weakling, can’t even pick up a barrel, and let’s himself get pushed around, but later in the game he starts doing pushups more vigorously (you give him 2 Stamina Potions), and eventually he’ll be able to do like 3976 pushups or whatever number it was, and toss pumpkins high in the air for you.
NOTE: He first asks you for Stamina Potions when you’ve activated the Lanayru region hole in the clouds, but the potion lady doesn’t SELL them until AFTER you’ve beaten the Lanayru Mining Facility.  
It’s almost as frustrating as not being able to help out Dodoh (Fun Fun Island) with his party wheel right away (you first need to fix Scrapper and the windmill).

4)   Groose probably has the most character development of all. He starts out being all selfish and his infatuation with Zelda blinds him. He resents Link for having been friends with Zelda since childhood and of course he’s pissed Link didn’t save her when she fell.  His attitude completely changes when he flies down after Link (behind the Sealed Grounds temple). He basically acts like a baboon with his grunts and questions about the surface. And then the cutscene with the hermit, and of course the Imprisoned. After that he truly realizes Link has to be the hero, and he is mad at himself for failing to accomplish anything. You find him slapping the wall outside the temple. But later in the game he picks himself up and works on the catapult and tracks, and perfects this for the 3rd encounter with the Imprisoned. And then near the end of the game (and in the end credits) he seems all carefree and self-absorbed again (“The legend of Groose”, which made me think back of when he wanted to call the surface “Grooseland” ), yet he’s truly been changed by all the events, and discovered his own worth, how to care for others (he actually seemed to care more for the hermit (“grannie”) than Link (although of course Link doesn’t speak), and of course Zelda.
And of course we must all agree “Groose’s theme” is amazing, and brings to mind the frivolous Pirate Ship themes from TWW, with several different renderings (e.g. when he’s  describing the world of the surface).

5)   When Zelda & the Headmaster discuss your missing Loftwing, you see in the distance to the left the entrance to the Waterfall Cave.  It’s something that doesn’t register as a hint the first time, since it’s just background while they’re talking.

6)   Fun Skyloft expressions: “Where in the clouds is that Fledge boy?”  This one I like especially since it also makes sense literally
“… feather  or not…”  [Instructor Horwell thinking he’s clever]
7)   Skyloft has existed for thousands of years.  Just pointing that out for people thinking timeline-related stuff.

8)   On the blackboard in the classroom (bottom right) you’ll find an arrow pointing up with a heart right on top. The arrow head is like a triangle – the way you are supposed to draw it on a Goddess Wall (although there you’re supposed to draw it horizontally, not pointing up). It might be a reference to the drawing, or just one of those little easter eggs.

9)   In the restroom (toilet) I didn’t notice before you can check the broom and sink: “Clean hands are happy hands”. In the 1F corridor there’s also another saying written about keeping your room and the hall tidy: “Cleanliness is next to knightliness”.

10)   Kukiel’s mom early in the game talks to you about Kukiel always running off: “I guess she’ll never learn unless she runs into trouble one day”. Don’t you love this foresight kind of statement? ;-)

11)   At the start of the Wing Ceremony: “This is the 25th anniversary of our fine institution”. Intertextual references ftw!

12)   When Link does his “Item Get” routine when receiving the Sailcloth, Zelda says: “Quit goofing around, Link”.  And of course there’s that notorious moment where you get the harp: “.. But now is not the time to examine it.”

13)   Fi’s face closely resembles that of the Fairy Queen in TWW. And like the headmaster says, it was most likely a conscious decision to make her “youthful in appearance yet wise beyond measure”. I liked that concept very much in TWW, where you saw the small child-like Fairy Queen holding a small puppet of the tall, grownup woman version of the Great Fairies.

14)   Headmaster about Link’s tunic: “It’s as though you were born to wear it”. => Another reference to Link being the destined Hero.

15)   There’s some funny dialogue when the first time you meet the Fortune Teller you keep refusing to have your fortune read =D

16)   Fi’s rumors are mostly genuinely helpful, and apparently I didn’t read a couple of them the first time cause she tells you that the most efficient way to cut grass is charge up a Skyward Strike and then hold your sword horizontally to side-slash and have an entire wide range of grass be cut down with one sword beam. Amazing!  I’ve also been using such strikes more and more in combat, since they are very handy for all types of Bokoblins and Jelly Blob monsters. And of course crows.

17)   The Kikwi Elder explains the use of the Slingshot, but his dialogue is different when you had already managed to let down the swinging vine next to him (by using your sword).

18)   I like how SS is the first Zelda game where it’s NOT obvious which walls you can bomb.  There’s at least 4 I can think of on Eldin Volcano, and I only found them later in the game when I started really paying close attention to the map (watch for small indents – and only then did I really notice a crack in the wall).  Nice job.  Some spots would have made a good hiding place for a Piece of Heart

19)   - Why does Ghirahim when you first meet him (boss room) have his sword disintegrate? It might not mean anything, possibly just his way of stashing it (since he didn’t pull it out for real until you dealt him some damage).
-   Ghirahim: “We plucked her majesty from…” => royal plural “we” is funny.
-   Ghirahim: “I prefer my full title, LORD Ghirahim.  But I’m not fussy”.  HAHA, oh yes you are. ^^
20)   What’s the use of mushroom’s Glittering Spores? In one of the first sidequests you have that girl heal her bird with them, but what are the effects of these mushroom spores on other things? It’s supposed to do something… Has anyone found something out about this?  Maybe it heals a broke sign, hahaha.   One of the Gossip Statues tells you they can be used on Bugs and Monsters…

21)   In the Earth Temple, the room with the 2 Lizalfos (to retrieve the Bomb Bag) was a nice throwback to OoT’s Dodongo’s Cavern (although I wish the room had been bigger).  Also, SS is the first 3D Zelda since OoT to have Bombs be the dungeon item (and it’s also in the 2nd dungeon like in OoT’s Dodongo’s Cavern).  That’s the kind of winks that are cool. They’re not unimaginative ripoffs, but they create a nice link with several of the other games (without things becoming too predictable). There’s plenty of other good examples.

22)   Also in the Earth Temple, I love how the “killer boulder” (after opening the chest with the golden key thing) ended up being the dungeon’s boss!

23)   There’s Skydiving critters at some island to the SW (with the crater-like opening to fall in). They’re also above the Lumpy Pumpkin and Bamboo Island.

24)   Impa is rude to Link the first time you meet her. “You were late. You failed. If I didn’t arrive when I did, Zelda would have been at the mercy of the monsters” (I paraphrased).
She does let you know something vital (which you don’t fully realize the first time): “Only when you pass the trials will you be of use to Zelda”.  This is spoken at the Earth Spring, so before you enter Lanayru or learn about the trials at the Isle of Songs!

25)   The chest with the Blue Feather on top of the Lanayru Mining Facility structure (exterior) isn’t there yet the first time. (Only after learning the song to the first trial, or possibly only after beating the 4th dungeon?)

26)   Moldarach may be an easy boss, the battle music is epic, and the boss room is cool too. Reminded me of ST’s Tower of Spirits (with the tracks leading in different directions).  Also, the big hall with the robot statues (leading to the Temple of Time) is a gorgeous place.

27)   Impa’s fight with Ghirahim is epic. She totally shields his brutal slashes. Suffice it to say this is the most epic Impa we’ve ever seen (or we’ll ever see, probably). Mad props.

28)   I think it’s cool how the symbolyou have to draw to re-seal the Imprisoned becomes more complicated each time you do it. It makes sense, since he puts up more of a fight each time.

29)   Scrapper: “I extend my reluctant thanks to you in a gesture of obligatory gratitude”. Dear Mother of Contradictions…  I love the mouth he has on him, and his devotion to Mistress Fi :D

30)   I encourage everyone to use Z-target and use Fi to get info about all the NPC’s! You find out names for the characters whose names are never used elsewhere in the game, together with a small bio of said character. More dialogue than on the TWW figurines

31)   I saw a Takkuri bird in the sky!  It’s dark blue and was carrying a Red Rupee!

32)   There’s 2 sidequests where you can choose the outcome. The most well-known is Cawlin’s Letter: if you deliver it to Karane, she’ll insist it came from Pipit and they’ll start dating, and Cawlin will get a broken heart.  But if you give his love letter to the hand of the ghost girl in the restroom, the ghost will haunt Cawlin every night (her hand creepily caressing his face in his sleep, stating her love for him is eternal: “My love, I will always be at your side”). That’s seriously creepy, especially since Cawlin hates you for it: he knows he has nightmares every night =O  But you get the 5 Gratitude Crystals from the ghost, since she found someone to love XD

33)   The other sidequest is Peatrice (the Item Check girl): if you keep denying that you like her in any way, she’ll take the hint and sob, calling you a heart-breaker.  Her dad then gives you 5 Gratitude Crystals since he’s happy his girl is no longer infatuated with some nameless guy, and when you visit him at Bamboo Island he’ll say “Let’s celebrate by butcherin’ some bamboo” instead of “Let’s blow off steam by butcherin’ some bamboo” (cause he’s frustrated someone’s after his daughter).
Each time you visit the Item Check girl after this she’ll refer to herself as “the woman who got over her broken heart and is getting prettier by the day”. And: “You can come by anytime you need to remind yourself about how beautiful I am”. And: “You just came for my sparkling personality, huh? I figured you couldn’t stop thinking about me.”  I guess now I’ll also find out what she has to say to you when you’ve completely filled up the Item Storage.

I must say these 2 sidequests have quite the opposite outcomes, and seem to revolve around heartbreaks.  I prefer not breaking Peatrice’s heart, but when it comes to Cawlin I’d rather he realize him and Karane would never work out than be haunted by a creepy lady ghost for eternity XD  
Also, it’s fitting that in my Hero Mode run (no hearts), these two couples are not formed

34)   I like how at the Isle of Songs, the intended messages from the goddess (plus the song you will be taught) depends on the strength of your sword.  And how there’s 3 different statues (appearing from different spots) to get triggered.

35)   I found a Goddess Plume on a tree in Farore’s Silent Realm!    Usually most places that can have an Amber Relic appear there can also have it be a Goddess Plume, but I hadn’t found one in this way.

36)   I thought it was neat how the red Parella (the leader) was basically the key to the hall where the Water Dragon resides (and the other Parella live).

37)   How does the dragon even fit in such a small basin? XD  It’s the Deku Princess in a bottle all over again! =P

38)   It’s funny how when you sit on a stump (or chair), Link nods off and almost falls over, and then wakes up again XD

39)   Skyview Temple has new stuff all around, also in the rooms you can skip to get to the Boss Room.  There’s several diggable spots with red rupees, and some extra spiders and those 3-headed Hydra monsters.


And now for all impressions specifically about Hero Mode! [/b]

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40)   When you first leave the Knight Academy, Instructor Horwell talks to you from the 2nd floor like before, but he now says: “Good morning, Link. I’m impressed with your decision to test your resolve in Hero Mode!”  And then when he explains about Z-targeting: “You’re looking at me like you know this already.  In Hero Mode you’ll lose hearts twice as fast so it’s doubly important to know how to effectively Z-target.”

41)   No hearts anywhere sucks ass, especially since the first Heart Medal can only be obtained after beating the Lanayru Mining Facility!  And even then, it only makes SOME heart flowers bloom, not all, and the hearts drop rate is the same to when you’re playing a normal game (but without equipping a Heart Medal). So it’s not like you’ll find THAT many hearts.

42)   Of course you keep all your Bugs and Treasures, so I got a Revitalizing Potion ++ (to automatically fix the shield when it breaks + restore 8 hearts, two helpings). I actually didn’t even need it, but I did always walk around with a spare shield, thinking it’d be cheaper to fix 2 perused shields for 10 rupees each, than to buy and upgrade a new potion.  Although I did need my other 2 bottles for a fairy + heart potion. (You only get 10 hearts around the time you get to the Lanayru Mining Facility so upgraded Heart Potions aren’t really necessary yet, but the two helpings part of course IS handy).

43)   Upgrading all Shields, Seed Satchels, Bomb Bags, Quivers and other items as soon as you get them is SWEET.  I already had 12 upgraded Large Seed Satchels before climbing Eldin Volcano, and 12 Large Bomb Bags before getting into Lanayru Desert.  Yes, I also need my Hero Mode file to be perfect (maxed out Item Check slots).

44)   Where did you get the rupees to make all this possible?  99 of each bug and treasure helps.  There’s many I sold a few dozen of, for the simple fact that by playing through the game you automatically gather loot, even without the Treasure Medals, and even though you need many Amber Relics for the Bomb Bags and such, you still need to allow for first picking some fresh ones up.  There’s no point in keeping 99 of each if you know you’re going to get several of them in the game before you need that material to upgrade something. This is very true for the Goddess Plume, selling for 100 rupees a piece, and also some Lizard Tails, Feathers, Monster Claws, Jelly Blobs, Ancient Flowers…

45)   Same with the bugs: some of them are ridiculously easy to catch several dozen off in a short time.  The best for cash (40 rupees) are Faron Grasshoppers and Eldin Rollers.  Once you get the Giant Wallet you could even sell ALL of them for 4000 rupees, though then of course you’d need to spend an hour or so catching enough of them again.  But it’s still very profitable, and there’s of course Strich’s Bug Catching game where you get 5 rare bugs every time, speeding up the collecting.  So by selling the right things at times where I knew I would definitely get maxed out, I got to invest the rupees properly, and also not risk running around with a maxed out wallet, cause that sucks even more.  In a future playthrough I’ll have to just invest in Seed Satchels / Bomb Bags / Quivers  again.

46)    Having at least two of these bags is always handy for combat-heavy parts (dungeons and places where it’s hard to restock your ammo).

47)   Since you have access to so many rupees early on, you’ll get a full 8 pouch items bag very quickly (the 8th slot is in a treasure chest activated from a Goddess Cube, in Faron I think).  You don’t even need 8 slots so early, even in Hero Mode, since you’ll be running around with 3 bottles max until very late into the game, and until you get the Heart Medal (post-Lanayru) or second Life Medal (post-Skipper’s Retreat), you’ll just be carrying a spare shield or Seed Satchel / Bomb Bag.  Although the Treasure Medal can be acquired after the 2nd dungeon already (Goddess Cube), so that’s always handy, although there’s almost no need for treasure farming in the first half of the game.   Although after getting the Bow, I’m gonna have a hard time getting all 12 Large Quivers fast (too many of the same materials needed so will definitely need to farm Bokoblins).

48)   Instructor Owlan gives you a Wooden Shield (after Zelda falls to the surface and you went to claim the Goddess Sword) – I’m positive you just had to buy your own in the normal game.

49)   Minigame highscores from your original file are remembered!  I did the Bamboo chopping again (Clean Cut), and he stated that my highscore was 46.  I’m hoping your Boss Rush and Trial times are also remembered! (It’s quite likely since you’ll also get to fight Demise in Boss Rush before reaching the end of the game).

50)   Total Play Time is also cumulative: I’m over 160 hours now, since it counted up from my 145 hours original file. The cool thing to do will be to keep starting a new playthrough from the last version of the save file so eventually it’ll amount to 999 hours =D  Crazy, but not so silly since that’ll only mean playing it a dozen more times. I’ll get back to you on this in a decade

51)   Fi’s “Battle Performance” statistics carry over, too! This includes both the number of enemies you beat and how good your performance with them is.

52)   The Kikwi hermit (sleeping at the op of the Great Tree) has different dialogue. When he asks you “have we met before?” (and you say Yes), he says: “Ah, you’re playing in Hero Mode. That explains it. In that case, you don’t need me blabbing on about what you need to do, do you?”  I like that kind of stuff, lol.  It’s also more relevant because you really do need to talk to this character to be able to proceed with drawing the circle on the door leading to Lake Floria.

53)   I almost forgot to mention the most obvious impression: just how HARD is the Hero Mode?  Well, taking 2 hearts damage for almost everything is rough, especially since it takes a while until you get a comfortable amount of Heart Containers.  At any given time you’re only 2 or 3 hits away from a Game Over!   This happened to me twice, although I always save religiously before combat situations.  A Skultulla and Beamos have caused me to die.  Both quite relentless, I must say.

54)   BOSSES: I got lucky with Ghirahim, getting many hits in, especially with his fast barges. No guarantee you’ll get him before he gets you.  Scaldera proved to be relatively easy since I had 40 bombs at my disposal (2 Large Bags), so I kept chucking them so he wouldn’t be able to run me over or spit fireballs.  Moldarach isn’t that hard to begin with, but I kept some distance so one backflip would save me from his claw or tail swipe (if you’re too close a backflip doesn’t always guarantee safety!).  The Imprisoned may not take many hits the first time, but I forgot how annoying the energy circle around his toes became when you needed to hit all of his front toes a second and third time.  Fortunately I had used a Stamina Potion just before the battle – which I wouldn’t want to do without (not even in normal mode). If he gets back up before you can drive the spike in its head, you’re screwed.

55)   Failing to use the Sailcloth can also result in the loss of 4 hearts, so better don’t be feelin’ too invincible out there.  That would be a crappy way to die.

56)   Suddenly you start to appreciate those little stools and stumps you find on the surface. I didn’t even realize their use in my first playthrough (except for the obvious chairs & benches). You then realize that in some areas you can really travel a long time before you reach any viable means of healing.  Getting to a Bird Statue and flying back to Skyloft would also work, I guess, but if you’re down to 1 or 2 hearts that means even those Sky Oktoroks could do you in.  Their spit out rocks are amazingly accurate (they home in on you basically).


SPOILERS for late in the game discoveries!


57)   Just throwing it out there: there’s 5 different wallets in this game!  And that’s not counting the 3 Extra Wallets you can buy from Beedle. It goes Small, Medium, Big, Giant, and Tycoon.

58)   I also like how there’s 7 prizes to get from Batreaux – making all the sidequests even more rewarding!   And nicely mixing up a Wallet with another reward.  Always something new!

 5 = Medium Wallet (500)
10 = Piece of Heart
30 = Big Wallet (1000) AND the chest with the Cursed Medal!
40 = 300 rupees
50 = Giant Wallet (5000)
70 = 2 X 300 rupees
80 = Tycoon Wallet (9000) + he becomes human and all monsters disappear from Skyloft (including the Waterfall Cave and the evil tantrums of the Remlits).

59)   Though Headmaster Gaebora’s dialogue is mostly the same, when he says, about Zelda (early in the event where they established Link’s Loftwing is gone) that “It’s almost as though you become a completely different person when you worry about Link”.  I definitely caught on to Zelda’s insistence on Link winning the ceremony, but near the end of the game you realize this was because she was driven by the Goddess in her urging Link to fulfill his heroic destiny. So her dad’s remark about “becoming a completely different person” is spot on, and a great reference to read so early in the game.

60)   The second time around you fully understand why the hermit at the Sealed Grounds (aka Impa) knows all the things she knows. And Impa even anticipated this since at the Temple of Time, BEFORE going through the gate, she tells you to go talk to “the woman at Sealed Grounds”. She knows her own path well – she anticipated she would always watch over the Sealed Grounds and its link to the Goddess (or perhaps she had a private chat with the old hermit Impa giving her younger self some pointers). What’s not to love about time travel related (almost) paradoxes?

61)   And a final thought: Fi is to the Goddess as Ghirahim is to Demise.  Both are born from the sword. I wonder if Hylia and Demise knew about each other: creating something out of their sword to help them with their destiny.  Fi is destined to help the Hero fulfil his destiny, and Ghirahim is (part of?) Demise’s sword, with an agenda to do everything in his power to thwart the Goddess and aim to resurrect Demise (in whatever era).
Ghirahim is the Dark Link version of Fi.

That’s all for now.  I’ll continue playing on Friday, and hope to have beaten the game by New Year’s.  I’ll see when I get around to posting my impressions about the second half of the game!


@Hisak: Oh you’ll be in for a treat for everything after the 6th dungeon

[hisak]

@Hisak: Oh you’ll be in for a treat for everything after the 6th dungeon

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Right now I'm doing the Zelda equivalent of a Mario Galaxy Purple Coin mission and it's not very fun. The flooded woods are kind of cool to explore though!

The boss fights before this were great. A Phantom Ganon clone on the back of the Wind Fish? Yes please. I was annoyed when the Imprisoned broke free AGAIN, but they actually surprised me by doing really cool things with the fight. It was a bit easier than the last fight, but the second Imprisoned fight gave me more problems than any recent Zelda boss so I was okay with it.

[Rew]

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61)   And a final thought: Fi is to the Goddess as Ghirahim is to Demise.  Both are born from the sword. I wonder if Hylia and Demise knew about each other: creating something out of their sword to help them with their destiny.  Fi is destined to help the Hero fulfil his destiny, and Ghirahim is (part of?) Demise’s sword, with an agenda to do everything in his power to thwart the Goddess and aim to resurrect Demise (in whatever era).
Ghirahim is the Dark Link version of Fi.

Well, I heard that in a recent interview, it was confirmed:

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Hylia created both Fi and the Master Sword patterned after Demise's sword and Ghirahim.

I forgot where I read that, however. D=

[hisak]

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Two parts of the Song of the Hero have been obtained! I only had a few more Tadtones to collect so that wasn't too painful.

I loved the Eldin revisit. There were some stealth elements, which has never been the high point of any Zelda game, but it made up for this with really cool puzzles. It reminded me a lot of Oracle of Ages' Crescent Island, which was one of the most memorable parts of that game for me.

And at this point, it looks like I'll be forced to take another brief break from the game as I visit relatives for Christmas. I'll be able to return to the game on the 28th.

[hisak]

I finished the game and wrote a review of it. You should read it and comment on it because it would be the nice thing to do.

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Welly welly welly welly welly welly well. That certainly was a Zelda game. A very good Zelda game in fact, even though certain points often made me wonder what the development team was thinking. Let’s get right to it!

The Introduction

Skyward Sword starts off like most Zelda games since Link’s Awakening, with an introduction to the world and a process that eases you into the game’s mechanics. Lots of games do this, so it’s not necessarily a bad thing. Every 3D Mario game and every recent Metroid has spent some time introducing the player, and I haven’t had any problem with it. Then I played Skyward Sword and it took me over forty minutes before I even had a sword in my hand! Thankfully, the game was never this slow again, but it’s going to be a big stumbling block when I eventually play Hero Mode. Twilight Princess had this problem too, but I even find myself preferring that game’s intro—at least the fishing and cradle-retrieving is immediately followed by an escape sequence and a great sense of peril. The first hour and a half of this game is really unfortunate and easily the worst part of Skyward Sword.

Verdict: C-

The Overworld

More than anything else in the game, the overworld design in Skyward Sword gave me hope for the series’ future. What was once a collection of fancy hallways to the next dungeon is now a series of open expanses. Your progression through these areas is still somewhat strictly guided, but I found myself not minding as I learned what was ahead. The shift in the design mentality of the overworld is so drastic that I find it hard not to laugh whenever I see a review that tries to claim that Skyward Sword is only the fourth rehash of Ocarina of Time.

For what it represents for the series and my excitement to see where it goes with the next game, this gets an A-. However, the execution was a bit uneven, so I’m going to review each of the areas of the overworld individually.

Faron Woods is definitely the most convincing forest that has been in a 3D Zelda game. Unfortunately, it falls short in two major ways: outside of the Great Tree (which was really cool), the level design is all very basic, and it’s also home to numerous tedious fetch quests. Why the Zelda team continues to fall back on this nasty habit is a mystery to me, and it’s even more mysterious when you consider that it’s barely a problem at all in the other areas of the game. There’s also a lake area that houses the fourth dungeon, but it goes by so quickly and it’s never revisited, so I have neither memories nor an opinion of it. Faron Province gets a C+ from me.

Arriving at Eldin Volcano is when the game finally picks up for me. There is a fetch quest in this area, but it comprises so little of the adventuring that I wasn’t bothered. Between sliding around caves and descents and storming enemy camps, I enjoyed my time here a lot. The enjoyment to be gained from the return visits probably depends a lot on the player: I found the escort to be a chore and the Metroidian micro-adventure to be a delight, but I can see where somebody would find the experience to be reversed. I’m giving it a B+.

And then there’s Lanayru Province, which gets elevated so much by its brilliant gimmick that it barely seems fair to compare it to the other areas, if only the other areas didn’t keep interrupting my time there. But this area doesn’t just contentedly sit and admire its gimmick—it continuously shoves new ideas toward you at a pace rivaled only by the Mario Galaxy games. You liked hitting switches to send pockets of land back in time? Well now they’re on a mine cart and you need to clear their path while dealing with enemies that they’re bringing back to life. You enjoyed turning a desert into an ocean? Well, you’ll probably enjoy this roller coaster and two great mini-dungeons that we had left over! I was so impressed during every minute that I spent here. A.

So the Zelda team finally figured it out and got rid of everything that was ever wrong with 3D Zelda overworlds! No more Hyrule Field! Well…not quite. Unfortunately, the sky might as well be a reskinned version of the Fields of old, with Skyloft standing in for Kakariko Village or Clock Town, the Lumpy Pumpkin playing the role of Lon Lon Ranch, and the Thunderhead occasionally doing a skilled Bridge of Eldin impression. As great as the bird controls were, I can’t give my full approval to the most unambitious and small-C conservative part of the overworld. C.

As we all know, the Zelda team isn’t afraid for its games to sporadically shed its action-adventure/pseudo-RPG tunic for another genre. We’ve had racing minigames, sports simulations, and fishing. But, despite the occasional UFO attack, there’s one genre that I never expected it to tackle successfully…

The Silent Realm

Horror. Yet, despite my misgivings when I heard about this feature, the goddess(es)’ trials gave me more thrills than any other game on the Wii. They brilliantly lead you into a sense of security that almost convinces me that these trials are boring, and the next moment you’ve awakened the fury of half-a-dozen gods and you’re running for your life, desperately seeking the next tear. Fetch questing has never been so exciting. A-

The Dungeons

The unevenness that was present in the overworld is also a problem in the dungeons, although fetch questing is thankfully never an issue. I went over my opinions of most of the dungeons earlier in this thread, so I won’t go into too much detail. Overall, I pretty much felt the same way about the dungeons as I did about their surrounding areas (besides Ancient Cistern, which was head-and-shoulders above anything else in Faron Province, despite its rather conservative level design). Sky Keep was a really neat take on the template that 3D Zelda games often use for their final areas. Twilight Princess was definitely more consistent in this area, but I’d put my top two Skyward dungeons over anything in Twilight Princess.

Skyview Temple: B-
Earth Temple: A-
Lanayru Mining Facility: A+
Ancient Cistern: B
Sandship: A
Fire Sanctuary: B+
Sky Keep: A

The Bosses

I’ve spoken a lot about unevenness in this review, but, lazy Mining Facility boss aside, this was probably the most consistent aspect of Skyward Sword. I loved riding minecart roller coasters and sliding down volcano descents, but three years from now, I expect that the first things to come to mind will be escaping a sinking pirate ship to fight a kraken, and cowering at the sight of an ancient automaton’s giant swords, or lifting the Master Sword to the sky to finally harness the power of lightning, the element that caused me most grief during the game. Verdict: A-

The Story

I honestly don’t have much to say about the story of this game. It worked really well for me as a Zelda fan, and Ghirahim and Groose are two of my favorite characters in any video game. There’s still some unanswered questions, as always (so who were Nayru, Farore, and Din?). I’m interested in seeing where the series goes from here in terms of story: will it be as fan- and mythology-oriented as Skyward Sword, or will it be a more standalone story? And the ending seems to indicate that we’ll be seeing Ganon again at some point. Verdict: Pretty good

So that’s Skyward Sword. Is it as good as the Mario Galaxy games? Nope. Is it the best Zelda game ever? No. But am I disappointed with it? Not at all. The amount of determination that the Zelda team has shown in pushing the gameplay and level design forward while still staying true to series traditions is admirable, and I can’t wait to see where it goes in its next adventure, whether it’s in 3D or 1080p.

Final Verdict: Somewhere between Majora’s Mask and Twilight Princess, Somewhere between Super Mario Galaxy and World of Goo.

[Hyruleansoldier]

Nice writeup!

I don't usually stop to realize how long it takes until you have a sword and start heading out into an actual combat situation.  The way I see it, everything you get before that is sweet time you're not likely to experience again.  

TP's 3 (scripted) days before you head out on your adventure for real feels like a lot longer setup than SS's bird retrieval - after the Wing Ceremony you have only to go get the sword, shield and basically you're on your way.  In TP the action and story only really picks up when you get into the Twilight Realm, although there's the Hyrule Castle prison escape first so it still takes quite a while until you beat some Twilight monsters' ass.  So to me things felt slower in TP.  Longer peaceful story stuff too.

In MM you start with a sword and shield right away, you get dropped mid-action, and though you can't make a game lose points over that, for some games it's a missed opportunity.  I'm glad TP and SS take some time to really get going.  It's important to set up the story, environment, controls too - I don't mind pretending to be a noob.  That early game atmosphere is always unique, and I often find that once you get into the predictable rhythm of area + dungeon + sidequest + new area and dungeon the game often rolls by a bit too fast.  Some fetch quests and unpredictable detours / plot twists are nearly always a good thing.  Zelda games aren't like the NSMB games where it's just one stage after another and you don't usually look back.

* They did a great job on the (surface) overworld imo, and I do wonder what that will mean for future Zelda games.  In their eternal quest for balance, I think SS has been the biggest step since TWW (which was a step too far in a certain direction).  

* When it comes to the sky, SS definitely learned a lot from past mistakes.  Unlike in TWW, I rarely felt annoyed at the travelling distance between islands.   There aren't 49 treasure chests (+ 3 rupee chests per 49 squares) either - I think there's about 26 Goddess Cubes in the game, corresponding to only a dozen islands (with two or three exceptions, they all have 2 treasure chests on them).

* I agree about Lake Floria.  I liked how they avoided a more obvious Lake Hylia.  Some underwater caves leading to the dragon was cool, though there was no point in revisiting the caves before the Water Dragon's hall.  Unless you forgot to pick up the treasure chest or goddess cube.

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What do you mean?  The 3 goddesses created everything, but then left.  Hylia was only brought in later as more of a guardian deity, actually being involved in the world (not called Hyrule yet).  She's not on the same level as the 3 creation goddesses - this seems to be a misconception on the internet and I'll be damned if people start digging up that Tetraforce theory again.  Hylia is not the same kind of God as the 3 creation goddesses, but still more powerful than the guardian deities (the Dragons and Light Spirits and in other games the Deku Tree, Jabun, Valoo...)  It's not all that complicated, just a hierarchy.

* I haven't heard many people talk about the music - I'll assume most people think it's all fine or more than fine.  Finally orchestrated, and I can't say any themes (except the Lanayru Mining Facility) really annoyed or let me down (I got a little creeped out by that one, it was fast, repetitive, agitating), but it worked together with the slightly different facility theme (when activating a Timeshift stone).  

* Lanayru Mining Facility is also one of my favorite dungeons, though Sky Keep and the Sandship are still above it, though mostly for their originality/ concept than length - those two were shorter than the others.   Ancient Cistern and the others I'm not sure how to rate them.  I can't call any of them bad, but then I wasn't really too displeased with most TP dungeons either.  Even the last  two were okay in my books.  Though the SS dungeons are still better mostly.  (But Arbiter's Grounds will still trump some).

I think some of the things that SS totally excels at and will probably remain unbeatable, is its use of the Timeshift stones, the fabulous characters that are Groose, Ghirahim and Scrapper (comic relief!), the implications of the story (Hylia, Zelda, Demise, Ganon, Hyrule), and let's not forget this is only game where

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Link not only collects ALL pieces of the Triforce, but also uses it.  In LoZ you collect the Triforce of Wisdom, and steal the one of Power from Ganon.  In AoL you claim the Triforce of Courage, and then make a wish with the complete Triforce (closest thing to SS), and in ALttP Link also wishes on it but he doesn't technically own it, just finds it sitting there after Ganon dies.

Oh and the bugs / treasures / upgrading system.  10 different upgradable items, usually twice, and then 5 different potions also upgradable (with most of them it's quite handy to do so).  Didn't use them that much the first time, but since I plan to only be playing Hero Mode files, they're quite necessary, and keeping all your bugs and treasures from last time makes replaying a very cool experience since you can always upgrade items and bomb bags etc. as soon as you get them.  And potions with the maximum effect.  So failure is less likely, though the double damage definitely test your skills better.  It's a very worthy second quest.

[Big Tater]

*tires to scroll down without being spoiled*

i'm at the beginning of the second dungeon. i don't really like the volcano thing, but that's just how i am. i hate the lava. i'm using a walk through, because there is no way i could do all this on my own. the first boss, demon lord ghirihaim or whatever, was hard. i could do this first part with no damage but after that i got like a million game overs.

overall, i really like this game. i'm excited to progress and to find out who the main boss is!

[Rew]

*tires to scroll down without being spoiled*

i'm at the beginning of the second dungeon. i don't really like the volcano thing, but that's just how i am. i hate the lava. i'm using a walk through, because there is no way i could do all this on my own. the first boss, demon lord ghirihaim or whatever, was hard. i could do this first part with no damage but after that i got like a million game overs.

overall, i really like this game. i'm excited to progress and to find out who the main boss is!

You should totally have HS do a Skype walkthrough for you whenever you play.

[Big Tater]

haha i do! he's very helpful

[Hyruleansoldier]

Here are my final impressions of my second playthrough of SS (my first Hero Mode file).  

1)   Is the Goddess Harp the same as the Harp of Ages in OoA?

2)   You can use Glittering Spores from mushrooms on Hearts  or Rupees  to change them. Hearts (but not heart flowers!) turn into Fairies. Rupees turn into different valued rupees, even a Rupoor.  This makes Glittering Spores a handy thing to keep around, on Hero Mode especially, since you get to keep 5  Glittering Spores In one bottle, so that’s good for 5 Fairies. But of course you need to have a Heart Medal  first (Goddess Cubes in Lanayru), otherwise your spores won’t get any use.

Using Glittering Spores on some of the smaller enemies makes them dizzy. So far it seems to work on Bokoblins, Octorocks and Baba plants.

It also works on bugs – I assume it paralyzes them for a short while. Haven’t tested that yet.

3)   The 4 extra dowsing targets can be unlocked thusly:
-   Goddess Cubes: by talking to Gordo (next to Eldin’s “Volcano Entry” Bird Statue, or later in the game near Sealed Grounds I guess, but after the Sandship this is where he is so you should get yourself to Eldin anyways).
-   Rupees: talk to the second Mogma in the extensive cave, the portion with all the fire-breathing creatures in those wholes. There’s a bombable wall nearby, too.
-   Treasure: just propose to upgrade an item at Gondo’s (Scrap Shop), you don’t need to actually pay for it, just cancel, and you’ll get to dowse for Treasure. (I already have everything upgraded after the Sandship).
-   Gratitude Crystals: After speaking with Batreaux (I don’t think you need to have just given him more Gratitude Crystals, but at this point in the game you probably got more than enough for the next threshold anyways).

4)   Peater  (the Item Check girl’s dad and “owner” of Bamboo Island) used to be Mr. Popular. A former knight, handsome, good with the ladies. He’s basically an old and fat version of Link, and that’s exactly why he’s so protective of his daughter and doesn’t want Link to pay too much attention to her.

5)   Getting Skipper’s Sea Chart back was a nice homage to PH. You really do need it to complete your map, and one of the posters in Skipper’s house reads: “Dear dad, good luck at work, vrrm!” and another one is about Skipper’s Crew being happy to have him as their captain.
Furthermore, if you sit on the stool before you opened the chest with the Sea Chart, Fi tells you “I suggest waiting to take a rest until you’ve found the sea chart”.  Really?  You’re gonna act like Midna?  Interestingly, when you sit down again after claiming it she points to the roof, and tells you about “a bug infestation on the roof”.  You can actually clawshot onto the ceiling, though it doesn’t seem to have a purpose. You need to go outside and climb his house to find 2 Sand Cicada on the wall.

6)   The Pirate Stronghold (exterior) is the best place to farm for Monster Claws from all the Keese flying around the teeth of the big mouth thing. They’re not there anymore after you open it, though.

7)   The Great Tree is the best spot for just Amber Relics – there’s often 2 of them in the 1st and 3rd niche very close to the “Great Tree” Bird Statue. Very fast way of getting a lot, since you can just go inside the tree to reset them.

8)   How did I find the Sandship on this run? I literally bumped into it. I was like: “Why am I not moving? I’m accelerating and steering forward…”   Btw, for whoever said they didn’t realize right away the Sandship was a genuine dungeon, the “Link enters dungeon” theme did play when entering the ship.  But it’s the only dungeon that doesn’t have Link dramatically descend down some stairs into the dungeon – an homage to the original LoZ.

Speaking of homage, check out this list of 10 ways how SS pays homage to the first LoZ!

9)   Fi says she admires Scervo (the pirate robot’s) tenacity for surviving all those years. This is true, since you fight him in the present, not in the past!

10)   The fact the key to the machine room on the Sandship is called the “Squid Carving”, one should have seen the attack coming almost!

11)   I explored the entire Sandship after beating it, and ALL the monsters are gone, except for 10 TechnoBlins in the brig, who incidentally you can all kill (using Skyward Strike sword beams). They do respawn when you enter the room again, though.

But it’s cool since there’s a great many robots around now, in most of the ship’s rooms, not just on the mast (all lined up). They all have something different to say, too, like it’s now their mission to reunite with their former crew mates!  Yet another thing that makes this SS’s best dungeon (and one of the most original Zelda dungeons ever).

12)   I do like Fi’s analysis of your current pouch items. There’s a lot of permutations, so a lot of things she gets to say about it, also given the fact that many situations are different. Usually you only get 95% when there’s no enemies around whatsoever – I don’t remember what my highest percentage is in most other situations.

13)   Fun fact: using the Gust Bellows on rupees makes them spin like crazy!

14)   Shield Moblins slowly back away when you throw a bomb near them.  This is funny to watch on those watchtower bridges, since they usually end up getting hit anyway cause they’re so slow ^^

15)   I discovered you can actually clawshot onto the Great Tree, which is a great time saver if you’re in Faron, trying to get all the Goddess Cubes on the tree branches. There’s 3 of them, and it would suck to have to dive back from the bottom and work your way back up, or faster but still not fast enough to go back to the sky and descend onto the Great Tree.  There’s vines you can clawshot onto (near where you claimed the Heart Piece). You have to dispose of some spiders and then climb up and you’re there. Of course if you already have the Clawshot you can use them to get to one of the Goddess Cubes, but for all 3 of them you can just jump from different spots on the Great Tree.

16)   A horde of Cursed Bokoblins does stay (and respawn) at the underground portion of the Ancient Cistern (in the room where the water geyser goes up).  They take more than 10 hits, so I don’t think it’s the fastest way to get Evil Crystals.  Cursed/ Dark Keese would work, but I prefer Clean Cut, since you can beat that under a minute.

17)   In Clean Cut the highest possible score is 64, since only 6 bits seem to be devoted to keeping the score of this game.  64 = 2^6, so if you were to achieve a score of 61, he would tell you your score was 1, and you wouldn’t get any prize, lol.  I’m referring to this YouTube video.

18)   For Pumpkin Pull you can get a score of 1050, by unleashing an arrow as soon as you see Fledge move his arms.  Aim close to him like in this YouTube video.

19)   In the Silent Realms, those flying guardians fly through walls, which can throw you for a loop!

20)   Why can Dusk Relics only be found in the Silent Realms? It’s an homage to TP!  Dusk means twilight, and the Silent Realms are basically SS’s version of TP’s Twilight Realm.  So there

21)   Fireshield Earrings put out the flames when you’re on fire, too.

22)   When sitting on the bench near the (originally broken) windmill, the camera zooms out and you get a nice view of Skyloft.

23)   Link actually never returns the water basin to the Water Dragon after using it to access the 6th dungeon. I was surprised she didn’t give you crap about that during the Song of the Hero quest.

24)   Scrapper’s comic relief continues: “I better get there before Master Shortpants!” (Which ironically screws you over since then you have to play “Protect the robot”).

25)   Speaking of which, those Dark Keese really annoyed me this time.  If you’re cursed you obviously can’t defend Scrapper, and those Keese really KO him quite fast >_<

26)   But he still gives you crap: “Hey! This isn’t the right way! Do you need to stop and ask for directions?”

27)   I like the Mogma Elder (Guld) theme  Although he gets a bit creepy towards Kina in that sidequest.

28)   Oh, Erla (the Kikwi from that other sidequest) gives you a Goddess Plume when you talk to him/her after Faron is deflooded again.

29)   In the 6th dungeon, I thought it was original to make Link crawl for his life to escape the underground lava flow.

30)   I liked the Spiral Charge training – fun theme and actually not as easy as it looked, though there were about 12 targets instead of the 10 you need to get.  Too bad you couldn’t do this again later as a minigame.

31)   The (Sealed Grounds) Hermit drove back the water with a simple spell – it’s still impressive to make such a large protective barrier around the entire woods area.

32)   I enjoyed the flooded woods theme – the maritime version of the Faron Woods theme.

33)   It seems that once you have 49 Tadtones, you get prompted to go talk to the Kikwi Elder and you get to dowse for the remaining Tadtones.  Seemed liked a weird number to me, but I counted it twice.  28 left cause there are 77 Tadtones in total, btw. Lucky number!  … Yeah okay.

34)   Those poisonous purple bubbles are EVIL on Hero Mode. Since you lose 2 hearts every second, you will usually never make it to the surface in time. I got several game overs. Next time: bring 2 bottles of Air Potion+ .  You just can’t make do with one, even with the Potion Medal

35)   Where is Kukiel’s dad late in the game? (But before you get all the Gratitude Crystals, cause then he’s on the platform with Kukiel looking at the place where the Isle of the Goddess used to be).

36)   I’m pretty sure they switched the Eldin and Lanayru Silent Realm + dungeon with flame around since having Eldin first would mess up the game’s pacing.  Getting from Faron’s Silent Realm into the Ancient Cistern takes quite some time too, just like it takes a long time to make all those stops before you can go and beat the Sandship.  The Eldin “protect the robot” event is pretty short and uneventful, and you need to go to the Water Dragon for that first, which would have seemed even more lame after you’d only just visited her to get access to the Ancient Cistern.

37)   Irony: During the Eldin Eruption Event, when you get your MS and thus Fi back, when you select Analysis she will comment on your Pouch Item selection like usual, even though your entire pouch is stolen. Funny inconsistency is funny.

38)   Eldin (the dragon) has a badass moustache, which is on fire on both ends.

39)   For some reason after the Eldin eruption event you have to play your harp again to make those gossip statues in those two similar caves on the mountain appear again. They have different dialogue, too. (You know, those caves you can only reach by jumping onto a floating rock platform flowing on the lava stream).


I don’t have another long list of finds specifically about Hero Mode like in my last post.

-   Skyward Strikes are your friend, especially the horizontal sword beams to mow down enemies and grass. Instantaneous charge for the True Master Sword is awesome too.

-   In the later part of the game it’s most the Eldin Eruption Event that’s annoying (if you get hit by the catapult once you have to go heal cause a second smacking would kill you)

-   The Boss Battle (Lightning Round) mode is especially hard to master on Hero Mode, even when you use a Guardian + Stamina Potion for your first battle (and hope the ones after that don’t take too long so you can benefit from the potions).  Running is only a factor in the Horde Battle, since you can skip most of the Bokoblins that way, and in the Imprisoned Battles I strongly recommend them too (though you don’t need upgraded potions for those battles). I will however try to get better at landing on his head so as to avoid the tedious (and often painful) “clipping” of his toenails. XD  I’ve been working on my times, but those speedrunners with the YouTube videos are crazy good.  There seem to be many ways to make the fights shorter.  Superior sword combos and exploiting bosses’ HP seems to ensure some damn steep times, like the 8 seconds for Ghirahim, and many others for around a minute, where most people take 3 or 4.  You should check out this site specifically for these speedruns (with several links to their YouTube videos).

Also I found this VERY detailed list on the best strategies to take on all of the bosses - good for anyone going for the complete 12-boss marathon.

And a list of when new sidequests are triggered (I don't think the actual sidequests are mentioned, but the points in the game are more accurate than other sites.)


I do have some more interesting thoughts about some aspects you only find out later in the game (or realize when you’ve already played the game).  
SPOILERS for late in the game discoveries below:

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40)   We know why Fi calls link “Master”, but it’s also a reference to the Master Sword and Link being the only one (the Hero) to wield the True Master Sword.

41)   Early in the game, that one old geezer (the one that stays at the Lumpy Pumpkin for the rest of the game – he’s actually the husband of the kitchen lady at the Knight Academy) Is standing next to that statue that’s missing the eye (Stone of Trials). He points out it’s old, has always been there, and is missing an eye. You forget about that stuff when you first play the game, but of course you know what the dealio is the second time!

42)   In the game’s intro the last line is “A legend that will be forged by your hand.”  This has more than one interpretation, and after finishing the game you will realize you can read this as: a /the legendary blade that will be forged /enhanced /tempered (the 3 flames) by your hand (the hand of Link, the Hero, of course).
Remember how Navi in the Temple of Time flew up to the Master Sword and called it “that legendary blade”?  Yep, that’s the reference that’s in here too.

43)   When Zelda was found by the hermit (Impa) at the Sealed Grounds, she helped her to remember her life and destiny as Hylia, the Goddess.  That was something I wondered the first time – how exactly her being the Goddess dawned upon her.

44)   Just before the final battle with Ghirahim, he says: “You stand before a demon… or weapon without mercy”, and you briefly see an image of Demise’s sword instead of Ghirahim as we know him

And that wraps up my second playthrough of SS (first one of Hero Mode).  From now on I will only be playing the Hero Mode, using the copied file to play another Hero Mode file, and after that saving over that file, and continuing thusly until I have a file that reads 999 hours total playing time ^__^

Of course all highscores (except for Pumpkin Pull) and enemy counts/ battle performance are carried over, and the bugs and treasure.  It’s not a big deal anymore if it’s not exactly 99 of each since you have plenty of time in one playthrough to accumulate many of each.  Since in my future playthroughs I won’t be obsessing over getting 12 of each Large Satchel / Bomb Bag / Quiver, I won’t be needing that many treasures anyway. And even on Hero Mode I didn’t end up using all that many potions. Just carrying some Heart Potions is fine, no need to upgrade them twice (Starry Fireflies are rare and annoying to catch). Perhaps a Guardian Potion here and there for some of the more combat-heavy parts – rupees aren’t hard to come by since you can sell excess bugs and treasure early on to always be able to buy and upgrade everything as soon as it comes out.  This for me is one of the things that will keep this game fun for all future playthroughs, and it’s also fun when beating highscores (especially for the Boss Battles) that you’re competing against your previous times each time you play it.

To sum up all things carried over into Hero Mode in one neat list:

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•   The slot in the file / quest selection screen will have the goddess insignia on it.

•   You can Skip almost all cinematic cutscenes.

•   Keep ALL bugs and treasures from previous adventure

•   Some characters will acknowledge that you're playing in Hero Mode as they speak with you*
* What they say to you will change telling you what has changed or allowing you to skip some explanations.

•   You lose hearts twice as fast as you normally do, for everything

•   All hint movies are unlocked and viewable from the start at the two Sheikah Stones

•   Maximum strength Skyward Strike always.
* Every Skyward Strike you perform will have the strength as if you had used the Master Sword, including the faster charge. After getting the actual Master Sword, charging is instantaneous.

•   Hearts and Heart Flowers no longer appear normally in the game*
Monsters, pots and other sources do not drop hearts anymore. You will have to heal by using potions, fairies, sleeping or sitting on chairs.

* Equipping a Heart Medal will provide a reduced  chance for Hearts and Heart Flowers of appearing.

•   Fi will remember how many of each type of monster you defeated from your previous adventure, and the corresponding battle performance rating.

•   Your highscores at Bamboo Island, Rickety Coaster, Bug Heaven and all Silent Realms and Boss Battle best times will remain from your previous adventure.

•   The Boss Rush challenge now includes the game's final battle, with Demise, in addition to the other eleven battles you could access in regular mode. You must have defeated the boss at least once before they are playable. By succeeding at a complete Boss Rush of all 12 bosses you get a whopping 9900 rupees.  Keep it a secret from everybody!

[GamePunk429]

Started playing it an haven't gotten very far into it (a little ways into the Faron woods). I have to say though I am not even remotely impressed at this point. The world and graphics are gorgeous, and I can see they are really working on story delivery. But I really hate the controls, I do not like the controls at all.

I hope it gets better as I continue through but at this time I am not impressed.

[hisak]

I can't say anything for you as far as the controls (I liked them but they never change), but the game's content improves a lot once you get out of Faron Province. Keep on going.

[GamePunk429]

I guess it could be because I am coming off of the absolutely stellar Xenoblade, which just completely absorbed me into the game. But I am struggling, but I am sure it will eventually pick up I just hope I start getting more attuned to the controls.

I think what makes it awkward a bit is the silent protagonist, especially with a game where I can see they are really pushing the storytelling and cinematic elements. To have a silent protagonist makes a lot of the scenes strange and I think really hurts the delivery of the story. I get the concept behind it as it is supposed to make the player feel more like he is taking over the character, but I believe at this point it is unnecessary. In Xenoblade Shulk the main character had a lot of dialogue and I still felt that I was absorbed in the story as the character.

[JordAnime]

I think what makes it awkward a bit is the silent protagonist, especially with a game where I can see they are really pushing the storytelling and cinematic elements.

You know what else did that?  Chrono Trigger.  Gonna call out Chrono Trigger for having a lot of story and a silent protagonist?  You know...all that story, and cutscenes, and characters....and still had a silent protagonist.  Also every other 3D Zelda game had a pretty good amount of cinematic action and story telling and still got by fine with the silent protagonist. 

The only thing I might complain about is the lack of voice acting, but Link just shouldn't speak.  It's like the unspoken rule. 

So far, I haven't talked to anyone that doesn't like the controls, so you're a real first there.  I thought they were the most awesome thing about the way the game has been changed.  It's the first time I've played a game at the beginning and felt like a total novice because I had to learn the controls in a real long time.  So if you don't like them, I guess you may not like the game.

[GamePunk429]

You know what else did that?  Chrono Trigger.  Gonna call out Chrono Trigger for having a lot of story and a silent protagonist?  You know...all that story, and cutscenes, and characters....and still had a silent protagonist.  Also every other 3D Zelda game had a pretty good amount of cinematic action and story telling and still got by fine with the silent protagonist. 

The only thing I might complain about is the lack of voice acting, but Link just shouldn't speak.  It's like the unspoken rule. 

So far, I haven't talked to anyone that doesn't like the controls, so you're a real first there.  I thought they were the most awesome thing about the way the game has been changed.  It's the first time I've played a game at the beginning and felt like a total novice because I had to learn the controls in a real long time.  So if you don't like them, I guess you may not like the game.

Chrono Trigger did have a silent protagonist, but at the time period when that game was made silent protagonists where pretty common. And games were in no way as cinematic then as they are now. Voice acting would have helped this game immensely, but I still don't see why there is an issue to have Link speak. I think if there was voice acting and he didn't speak it would be even more awkward. Seriously he doesn't have to have a ton of dialogue, but when people ask him a question and he doesn't say anything but they miraculously figure it out is just strange.

Yeah I currently do not like the controls and I also find the dowsing thing pretty lame. But I am not going to quite until I give it a good chance, I will keep posted on my impressions. Zelda is one of my all time favorite game series so I'm assuming that once I get a better hold o the controls I may like them more.

[JordAnime]

I never found myself dying for voice acting in any portion of Skyward Sword.  It's not like there's that much story or dialogue, without giving much away there's less going on in terms of dialogue sequences in Skyward Sword than there was in Twilight Princess. 

I think Nintendo is trying to keep Zelda ageless and assigning voices to the characters during big cinematic speeches would really hurt that feeling, especially if it doesn't turn out well, or even if it does, it would feel very different.  Remember when they did full voice acting in Mario Sunshine?  That was a disaster. 

Yes, the controls take getting used to, I did find them frustrating the first few hours myself, but as you progress through the game and look back, I think you'll find them to be seriously refreshing. 

[Witless]

Remember when they did full voice acting in Mario Sunshine?  That was a disaster. 

That's Nintendo's fault. At this day in age, it's common to invest in proper voice-actors. No matter how you spin it, it becomes more alive with voice-acting and cinematics.

As for the controls, they are new and you have to get used to them. I kind of hated them at first to, but I got used to them after the first temple. It also helps to play the game in a proper position, e.g. not laying down or something. Not that I'm implying you are playing the game that way, but I did and it wasn't succesfull, heh.

[Uber_Challenger]

I got SS for Christmas, but I haven't started playing it yet. I figure if I wait til this summer I can focus on school and finding a job, because once I get into a Zelda game, I get REALLY into it, and I have trouble concentrating on other things.

One thing I've noticed that I don't like....the ranking for SS at Gamerankings.com went down from being in the 94%'s to being just above 93%. Ocarina of Time is still at the top (albeit by a 50th of a percent!) with a 97.46%, TP for the GC has a 96%, and Wind Waker is in either the 94th or 95th percentile (can't remember off hand).

Heck, the latest review gave it a 6/10! I'm hearing almost nothing but rave reviews from everyone (including pretty much everybody on here). It doesn't make sense that it wouldn't at least get very close to OOT's rating.

And ALTTP's rating is ridiculous...it's like 92%?!?!?!? It's my favorite Zelda next to OOT and arguably the best contender to OOT (unless SS is as good as everyone says it is), so I don't get these ratings.

Again, although I love OOT, I'm actually wanting a game to finally surpass it, even if it's just slightly. Super Mario Galaxy got incredibly close, at a 97.46%. OOT is a masterpiece, but I feel like another Zelda should take the top spot for 13 years for a change.