Zero Punctuation: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

[Baresark]

Wow, I see lots of warnings, very strange.

I can agree with Yahtzee on this one. I like the game overall, but he inclusion of only motion controls is freakin' stupid. So stupid in fact, I have three friends who won't be playing this game because of them. Good job Nintendo. And it is the same game again and again (though this is only a problem if you have an aversion to a company or game franchise). I personally find the way they are using the same areas again smart and intelligent design. Metroid is famous for this and I see no problem with it.

Here is how my relationship works with Nintendo. Nintendo makes a series of smart intelligent decision (completely random luck according to Leonard Mlodinow, though he has convinced me), I defend them against haters for the good things they do, then they stab me in the face by doing something ridiculously stupid, like mandatory motion controls on their most popular franchise.

Because HOW DARE YOU MAKE ME ACTUALLY HAVE TO MOVE ANY PART OF MY BODY OTHER THAN MY THUMBS. MOTION CONTROLS AUTOMATICALLY RUIN A GAME BECAUSE I DON'T LIKE MOVING MY LAZY ASS!

LoL, I love the game. I think it's stupid they don't want to play the game because of them because it's a genuinely good game. But, I can also see their point to it. I'll put it like this. I am good friends with a guy who cannot play an FPS without a "south paw" control scheme. Third person he doesn't need it, but first person game he feels he "needs" that particular control scheme. I feel he misses out, but the fact is, he would not enjoy the experience without them.

 

[Jyggalag]

I always thought Phantom Hourglass was the worst Zelda game ever made. This review confuses me even further because all my friends say that this game is great, even though they were expecting it to be shit.

That doesn't help, now I have to play the game from beginning to end to truly know it's worth.

 

[itsmeyouidiot]

Look guys, I'm sorry for causing a huge flame war, okay?

But seeing so many people disliking a game series that I've always cherished and likely always will upsets me on some very basic level.

I can't be comfortable knowing that there are people who dislike this game. I have to change their mind, and if I can't, then it will usually get violent pretty quickly.

This is especially true if the person doing the disliking is a prominent critic, because then other people will act under the delusion that being a critic makes your opinion more valid, and they'll be quick to follow with cries of "me too!" and "I agree!" and I want to stop that from happening. Violently, if necessary.

So, yeah, I'm sorry. I guess I'll go hang out somewhere else.

 

[Hal10k]

I used to care about what Yahtzee's opinion on a game is, but then I took....

....NO. No, I'm not gonna do it.

*deep breath*

Funny video as always. But once more he proves why people watch him for comedy's sake and not for an actual review on a game. He emphasizes that point especially well with today's video, by saying that "Zelda is always the same game over and over" while proceeding to complain and make sarcastic remarks around the fact that it does things differently. It was certainly funny to hear your bits, but it doesn't make me take you even the least bit seriously.

What's sad though? Some people will judge the game on your review, and others will judge it based on the high Metacritic score and universal acclaim it's getting....there's almost no middle ground with this title. So let's see, I can either take your opinion on it, when you're a self-admitted Nintendo hater who tends to especially hate the Zelda and Mario titles for not being some world-transcending deep involved storyline of a game....or I can take the obviously-biased-but-at-least-generally-informative 40+ opinions of the reviews on sites like Metacritic who have labeled the game as one of the best in the franchise and possibly the best title on the Wii to date.

Yeah....I know opinions and reviews are subjective and your mileage may vary, but sometimes I wish there were some people with at least a little objectivity in the review world.

Yeah, the people who dislike the game are probably a vocal minority, but that doesn't mean "objectivity" factors into their opinion any more than it does for the people who disliked Skyrim or MW3. Being in the minority does not make your opinion invalid or unworthy of regard. Also, he was criticizing the things that worked a little bit differently for SS (god, that's an unfortunate acronym) because he saw them as superficial changes that did nothing to alter the formula. He was using them to make the point that the games have been using more-or-less the same structure since OoT, with different things changed as window dressings.

Well, everyone has different opinions and are entitled to them.

That doesn't mean opinions can't be wrong. Opinion is partially rooted in fact, and people will often base their opinions off of faulty logic or incomplete information.

That's a rather tenuous argument to make for entertainment. Whether or not somebody considers a piece of entertainment to be "good" depends entirely on whether or not they enjoyed it while experiencing it and/or in retrospect. That's it. Sure, a guy insulting the game without even playing it has a less than reliable opinion, but if somebody sits down with a game for an extended amount of time, plays it until he has completed it (inasmuch as a game can be completed), and genuinely did not enjoy the experience- no matter how many other people did- then they simply have a differing opinion, not one rooted in faulty logic.

 

[Cain_Zeros]

I completely agree about the flying controls, but not much else. Admittedly I didn't get all that far, and I haven't played very many Zelda games, but still...

 

[Andy of Comix Inc]

I just hate the Zelda series in general for the reasons Yahtzee stated. I'll never understand how Call of Duty gets berated for being iterative (the very reason I've boycotted the series, they're all increasingly worse CoD4s), but Nintendo's series all get a free ride. The only truly bold Nintendo series is Kirby, everything else is rinse and repeat. But, at least, say, the Mario formula works with the whole same-as-last-time-but-more-of-it stuff. Mario Galaxy 2 was just "more of the same" and it was brilliant for it. But Zelda's formula makes more-of-the-same-but-slightly-different... they're like MMO expansions, that's what they are. More dungeons. More NPCs. More Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

 

[Torrasque]

I'll agree with the little things you found annoying with the game, but I won't agree with your general dislike of the game.
I loved Skyward Sword and can't wait to play it again on hard mode (lent it to my brother to beat).
I didn't find the sword laggy at all and really enjoy the sword combat; it is genuinely hard, and not "THESE CONTROLS ARE FUCKING STUPID" hard. It is nice to have a game with motion controls that actually work, that isn't Metroid Prime 3.
Flight never bothered me, but turning was a bit sluggish.
Yes you get the same items as every other zelda game (I lol'd when you get both clawshots at the same time), but thats because it just makes sense. Whenever I started a new dungeon, I'd try to guess what the item of the dungeon would be, and was right most of the time (forgot the whip existed though).

Am I a Zelda and Nintendo fanboy? You bet your tits. Does that effect my ability to judge a Zelda game or a Nintendo game fairly and unbiased? Not one bit. Skyward Sword is a lot of fun, and I highly suggest anyone that enjoys Zelda games or dungeon crawlers, to get it.

 

[Guffe]

I doubt there will be any game on the Wii Yahtzee will ever like....

 

[Shirokurou]

CDi Zelda review would make a great Xmass special...

 

[Necabo]

CDi Zelda review would make a great Xmass special...

If he's do that he'd have to give skyward sword a re-review; but then proclaiming it is the pinnacle of human achievement. (yeah...CDi-games were that bad)

 

[Scrustle]

I actually have to concede most of the criticisms made but that stuff about the sword fighting being unresponsive is just bull. It's not at all. If you are having trouble with it then you clearly aren't doing it right, and are just flailing around aimlessly. And of course all the enemies have directional blocking. That's the whole idea. It's making the combat far more strategic. You have to think about how you attack instead of just, oh I don't know, flailing around aimlessly. And who says that Zelda games are only allowed to be judged against Zelda games? I've never heard anyone say that. I guess you could say that for ages there wasn't really any other game to compare it to since no-one really tried to do a Zelda-like game up until recently. But now we have Darksiders and Okami, which are both brilliant games. They even do some things better than Zelda (shock horror!)

Obviously I'm a big Zelda fan, but I have to agree that from my experience of Skyward Sword it hasn't really turned out to be as amazing as people have made it out to be. It's great that they are changing up the formula, Zelda direly needed that. But I have to say I am finding a lot of things about Skyward Sword that annoy me. These things don't ruin the experience, but I've been finding myself really lacking the motivation to play it as much as previous Zelda games. I haven't got far on it yet. I did find the limited exploration disappointing, and also was kind of put off by how when you are in the sky the ground below is completely blocked by cloud, and yet if you go down there it's clear blue skies. The game has it's issues. I can't say it's the best Zelda game ever, but it's far from the worst. And seriously, that stuff about the unresponsive sword fighting is such a crock of shit.

 

[Samus Aran but a man]

I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who fucking hates Fi.

 

[Aureliano]

This takes me back. Yahtzee, you're awake again! And making insane and vaguely obscene references to things. How I've missed you.

 

[MercurySteam]

"I found a plot hole! NURSE!!!" Even funnier cause he shouts it like he's genuinely distressed.

 

[Samus Aran but a man]

did he say "the worst Zelda ever" or "the worst Zelda I've played" because there is A DIFFERENCE!!

 

[Shoggoth2588]

I tried a couple of store-demos for Skyward Sword and I absolutely hate the motion controls. The only reason I don't have Twilight Princess now is because by the time I got a GC the price for that version (new) somehow skyrocketed into the $80's. X-mas money will likely fix that though.

Anyway, great about the plot hole and as for the worst Zelda ever...I didn't care for the Train ones on the DS but then I never really gave them a big chance. I'm loving Minish Cap at the moment even though I'm stuck and it's reminding me of Link's Awakening. Link to the Past is still my #1 though with Zelda 2 being a close second.

 

[Mr Somewhere]

Well, a lot of the critism towards a new game usually has to do with it being either unrefined or unpolished or both, so I personally don't see anything wrong with each Zelda game essentially being a new iteration of the previous one, just like Mario.

Take that back. Mario is a very original game and apart of the odd stray in recent years they have all featured vastly diverse mechanics that exploit platforming in clever and unique ways.

...exactly the same way Zelda has, and yet people call that formulaic and boring.

The main series Mario games have always done more to revive the experience however, there's been a greater trend for experimentation in the Mario games. They were all great games, but, as much as I did enjoy Twilight Princess, I couldn't help but feel like the series was starting to drag.

That being said Skyward Sword completely revitalised the formula for me. The developers took a good look at flow problems with the previous series. The game is going to be divisive, but if the Zelda series is going to continue on the same path as the main Mario games, I'm on board for another few titles.

 

[Sexy Devil]

*deleted*

 

[Mr Somewhere]

I just hate the Zelda series in general for the reasons Yahtzee stated. I'll never understand how Call of Duty gets berated for being iterative (the very reason I've boycotted the series, they're all increasingly worse CoD4s), but Nintendo's series all get a free ride. The only truly bold Nintendo series is Kirby, everything else is rinse and repeat. But, at least, say, the Mario formula works with the whole same-as-last-time-but-more-of-it stuff. Mario Galaxy 2 was just "more of the same" and it was brilliant for it. But Zelda's formula makes more-of-the-same-but-slightly-different... they're like MMO expansions, that's what they are. More dungeons. More NPCs. More Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

That's what's so good about Skyward Sword, it isn't like the rest. The developers made a conscious decision to finally tinker with the formula. It's the most original Zelda since Majora's Mask, I would argue. Skyward Sword isn't a rehash, it's a fantastic tribute to the history of the series whilst doing its own thing. So, I'm looking forward to what the developers will do next.