Date played: March 15th
Platform: Wii
Session fun rating: 8/10
I finally started playing Skyward Sword. I've wanted to play it for years, but never really got around to it. Besides, it was hard to find in the first place, and pretty expensive. I played through most of the intro. The game is set in Skyloft, a small village floating above the clouds. It's residents have never been on the surface below, in fact, they aren't even sure there is something below the clouds. Every adult in the village has a Loftwing, giant birds.
Link is an aspiring sky knight. To become an knight, he must win a Loftwing race against his peers. The winner also gets to perform a special ceremony with a student representing a goddess. The student this year is a young, beautiful girl named... Zelda. Unfortunately, Link's crimson Loftwing is missing...
There were many tutorials to complete. There are two major mechanics that I've never seen in other Zelda games. First, the obvious changes to sword combat. Skyward Sword is heavily focused on using the motion controls for combat. There are stabs, horizontal, diagonal and vertical slices, shield bashes, killing blows and spin attacks. All of them require different movements of the remote and nunchuk. It works rather well, but it might get tiresome if there is a lot of combat...
Secondly, there is a stamina meter that depletes when using certain actions. This includes some special sword attacks, climbing and holding on to ledges and rolling. Most importantly, it also manages the new dashing mechanic. It's a welcome addition and it feels pretty good so far.
I met Groose and his crew, fellow students who were to race against me. He is a pompous motherfucker that wants to be with Zelda and bullies Link a lot. After speaking to most of the villagers, I found out that Groose is the one who stole my Loftwing and imprisoned it in a cave. I had to go through the cave, where I had my first taste of combat. I fought only bats and weird, jiggly monsters, but already, I can see that motion control combat will be different than what I'm used to doing.
When I recovered Loftwing, I was given a tutorial on how to fly him. It controls pretty well overall and is fun. I then completed the race, where I had to catch another bird before my opponents, Quidditch style. I got to complete the ceremony with Zelda! This version of Zelda is really cool... She is strong, opinionated, but still very feminine. She also has a great look. She gave Link a sailcloth used to glide while in the air.
We went for a ride on our Lofwings when everything went wrong real fast. A giant black tornado sucked in Zelda and her bird and Link was knocked down back to Skyloft... While resting, Link had a dream where he had to go save Zelda. When he woke up, a weird, floating blue person appeared and led him to the statue of the Goddess.
Tons of "destiny, fate, etc" talk happened then, but I got a proper sword and must jump down to the surface to save Zelda! I explored the town a little bit but there wasn't much to find. I can't wait to see what I can find below the clouds!
Platform: Wii
Session fun rating: 8/10
I finally started playing Skyward Sword. I've wanted to play it for years, but never really got around to it. Besides, it was hard to find in the first place, and pretty expensive. I played through most of the intro. The game is set in Skyloft, a small village floating above the clouds. It's residents have never been on the surface below, in fact, they aren't even sure there is something below the clouds. Every adult in the village has a Loftwing, giant birds.
Link is an aspiring sky knight. To become an knight, he must win a Loftwing race against his peers. The winner also gets to perform a special ceremony with a student representing a goddess. The student this year is a young, beautiful girl named... Zelda. Unfortunately, Link's crimson Loftwing is missing...
 |
| Link and his Loftwing |
There were many tutorials to complete. There are two major mechanics that I've never seen in other Zelda games. First, the obvious changes to sword combat. Skyward Sword is heavily focused on using the motion controls for combat. There are stabs, horizontal, diagonal and vertical slices, shield bashes, killing blows and spin attacks. All of them require different movements of the remote and nunchuk. It works rather well, but it might get tiresome if there is a lot of combat...
Secondly, there is a stamina meter that depletes when using certain actions. This includes some special sword attacks, climbing and holding on to ledges and rolling. Most importantly, it also manages the new dashing mechanic. It's a welcome addition and it feels pretty good so far.
I met Groose and his crew, fellow students who were to race against me. He is a pompous motherfucker that wants to be with Zelda and bullies Link a lot. After speaking to most of the villagers, I found out that Groose is the one who stole my Loftwing and imprisoned it in a cave. I had to go through the cave, where I had my first taste of combat. I fought only bats and weird, jiggly monsters, but already, I can see that motion control combat will be different than what I'm used to doing.
When I recovered Loftwing, I was given a tutorial on how to fly him. It controls pretty well overall and is fun. I then completed the race, where I had to catch another bird before my opponents, Quidditch style. I got to complete the ceremony with Zelda! This version of Zelda is really cool... She is strong, opinionated, but still very feminine. She also has a great look. She gave Link a sailcloth used to glide while in the air.
We went for a ride on our Lofwings when everything went wrong real fast. A giant black tornado sucked in Zelda and her bird and Link was knocked down back to Skyloft... While resting, Link had a dream where he had to go save Zelda. When he woke up, a weird, floating blue person appeared and led him to the statue of the Goddess.
Tons of "destiny, fate, etc" talk happened then, but I got a proper sword and must jump down to the surface to save Zelda! I explored the town a little bit but there wasn't much to find. I can't wait to see what I can find below the clouds!
