The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

[Himu]

PLEASE fix the hud, Nintendo. TP wii's hud was horrendous but this is just as bad.

[Raban]

startselect (and I guess this goes to anyone too), I'm just curious what type of changes you were expecting for this game? Were you expecting a different story? A different lead villain? A new non-Hyrule locale? (I guess the latter two would fall under story as well). Significantly different gameplay?

I wasn't expecting anything that Nintendo didn't flat out say to expect. They said they were doing something totally new, and it felt like they were going to reboot the franchise. This is not that.

I didn't go in with my own expectations because unlike Himu, my love for Zelda ran out soon after I beat Wind Waker. I just don't care for the series anymore. It's hard for me to remember what it felt like when a Zelda would be unveiled and I'd be shitting my pants in excitement.

[Himu]

One thing to note is the environment and world. You know how Mario Galaxy has you flying through space and shit? My hope is that the sky setting and flight travel (which is obvious based on the end of the trailer and what Aonuma has said in interviews) will give Zelda what space and gravity did to Mario. Change up the flow, don't include Ganon or Zelda, and you've got me satisfied.

[Himu]

Official artwork:





Goddamit they're not getting rid of those shitty cargo pants are they?

[Raban]

Here's GameTrailers' walkthrough of the demo. It isn't nearly as bad as Miyamoto made it look, but it still looks so uninspired and boring. I used to look up to the art and style of Zelda games. They used to be my inspiration :'(

Part 1: http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-2010-zelda-skyward/101652
Part 2: http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-2010-zelda-skyward/101655
Part 3: http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-2010-zelda-skyward/101657

[Barry Egan]

How are cargo pants worse than ballerina tights?  At least he can jam a boomarang or some pixie dust in his pockets with cargo pants.

[Himu]

How are cargo pants worse than ballerina tights?  At least he can jam a boomarang or some pixie dust in his pockets with cargo pants.

I like my men wearing tights obviously

[Himu]

shit hot

[TakingBackSunday]

game is going to be awesome.

[Himu]

This:



Is Zelda personified.

[Tristam]

Pros:

+Zelda team is attempting to address the biggest problems in Zelda: structure (too old) and combat (too old, boring, and easy).
+Cel-shading
+Colorful (see Himu's post above; WAY different than TP's palette)
+New items look cool.
+Even more interactive environment than past Zelda games--see how in the trailer Link fired an arrow to pin a falling heart against a fencepost.

Cons:
-Those trees are fugly.
-Not a fan of the enemy designs. Seriously, compare the moblins here to the moblins in WW. The latter are far, far superior.
-Graphics do need to be tightened up generally. I like that Zelda team is going for a watercolor look, but I'm sure they can do better than that. Good idea for a visual style but pretty poor execution so far. I remember reading that the game's watercolor effect is supposed to be more exaggerated the further you are away from an object, which is why--I'm guessing--the background in Himu's pic is all blotted. They should, however, consider exaggerating it even more because it's not clear whether the background is intentionally blurry or actually shitty.

[demi]

what exactly is zelda personified about that pic? looks like ass.

[Himu]

what exactly is zelda personified about that pic? looks like ass.

You must be joking.

Adventure.

On top of a giant cliff, with a big waterfall and volcano over yonder? Shit hot.

Go back to your railroad "rpg" otherwise known as FF13

[demi]

What adventure? Looks like a bitmap wall

Xenoblade has more "adventure" than this

[Himu]

I agree, based on footage we have seen

[TakingBackSunday]

xenoblade looked like absolute shit last year.

[demi]

> implying wii games dont look like shit

[TakingBackSunday]

as in uninspired.

[Raban]

as in uninspired.

What the fuck are you talking about?

[Phoenix Dark]

I'm watching the Nintendo conference and wow, Zelda looks bad

[Himu]

Okay, finished watching a shit ton of cam footage:

+ art style looks shit hot, looks  a lot better after watching the crappy Nintendo demonstration.

+ combat looks to have been improved, the fight against the stalfo in the GT footage looked good because you had to block n shit and trade blows. It wasn't just lock on -> overhead slice -> one hit kill like in recent 3d zelda's. shame on the waggle.

+ seems the like link's awakening in that the dungeon is tied into the over world. For instance, the forest area looks like an overworld area, not a traditional Zelda dungeon. I like this as it could be an interesting change to the formula.

- still looks pretty bland and uninspired. Link fighting a giant scorpion on a grassy plain full of mushrooms!!!! zzz Compare with the first boss in OoT, or WW's demo area where you fight a giant fire boss while flying across the room, hanging on to a dragon's tail or what the fuck ever, or TP's BADASS demo area boss. That shit is epic and tense and awesome. This fight against the scorpion is shit boring.

- Miyamoto needs to realize that controls are not the problem with Zelda and controls will not make Zelda feel fresh. I hate motion controls so I'm going to have a bit trouble accepting this, but I'll probably feel better once it's in my hands. Still, I prefer a laid back approach. TP was laid back and comfortable as fuck. It had motion controls but didn't rely on motion controls. People who like waggle probably don't give a shit though.

- a big part of the reason zelda feels stale now is because we've seen it all, done it all. See a torch? Light it! See that big box over there? Push it on top of a switch! See a crack in a wall? Throw a bomb! I'm not asking for a complete renovation, but the demo didn't really show that it wasn't the same ol' shit. Then again, we still know nothing about the structure, story or flow so it's still up in the air.

- zero puzzles shown. This is worrisome.

[Bildi]

It seems they threw out the best thing from TP (pointer controls) and went crazy on the waggle shit, including the most annoying waggle move ever - shield bash.  I just want to sit on my fat ass and relax while playing Zelda dammit.

I'll be there day one like the sucker I am.

[Himu]

Shield bash sucked

[SantaC]

"Much of the staff of Spirit Tracks is working on Skyward Sword."

Get SantaC up in this shit, it's over

wwwwooooooowwww

For fucks sake! Fire Aunoma's sorry ass before Zelda's importance is no more than a fart in space. The guy is a moron and can't see quality even if his life depended on it.

[magus]

Shield bash sucked

everytime i thrusted in the plane game of wii resorts it would never register,so the fact that they are asking me to do a thrusting motion with the nunchuck is... 

[SantaC]

Shield bash sucked

everytime i thrusted in the plane game of wii resorts it would never register,so the fact that they are asking me to do a thrusting motion with the nunchuck is... 

they should just focus on the game design and skip this control bs

[Raban]

Shield bash sucked

everytime i thrusted in the plane game of wii resorts it would never register,so the fact that they are asking me to do a thrusting motion with the nunchuck is... 

they just focus on the game design and skip this control bs

Right, like that'll happen. The whole point of the Wii is to downplay game design with gimmicky, distracting controls.

[SantaC]

Shield bash sucked

everytime i thrusted in the plane game of wii resorts it would never register,so the fact that they are asking me to do a thrusting motion with the nunchuck is... 

they just focus on the game design and skip this control bs

Right, like that'll happen. The whole point of the Wii is to downplay game design with gimmicky, distracting controls.

it is sad that even miyamoto think this is the way to go. Someone has brainwashed nintendo (or the entire industry)

[Himu]

I bet it was miyamoto who came up with 1:1 wsr controls to begin with and not Aonuma.

[SantaC]

I bet it was miyamoto who came up with 1:1 wsr controls to begin with and not Aonuma.

I dunno, they both seem pretty clueless at this point. Remember the interview back in 2004 when Aonuma told Miyamoto that he was out of ideas for Zelda prior to TP?

[Raban]

Shield bash sucked

everytime i thrusted in the plane game of wii resorts it would never register,so the fact that they are asking me to do a thrusting motion with the nunchuck is... 

they just focus on the game design and skip this control bs

Right, like that'll happen. The whole point of the Wii is to downplay game design with gimmicky, distracting controls.

it is sad that even miyamoto think this is the way to go. Someone has brainwashed nintendo (or the entire industry)

It isn't someone. It's the money. DS was a small but affordable risk, Nintendo took the chance, made tons of fucking money, realized gimmicky bullshit will move units, and ran with it. Sony and MS didn't believe it until the console named after a part of toddler vocabulary started outselling everything in sight, so they're playing catch-up.

EDIT: Removed unrelated flame-bait comment in the interest of dignity. Sleep-deprived. Solving that now.

[SantaC]

Shield bash sucked

everytime i thrusted in the plane game of wii resorts it would never register,so the fact that they are asking me to do a thrusting motion with the nunchuck is... 

they just focus on the game design and skip this control bs

Right, like that'll happen. The whole point of the Wii is to downplay game design with gimmicky, distracting controls.

it is sad that even miyamoto think this is the way to go. Someone has brainwashed nintendo (or the entire industry)

It isn't someone. It's the money. DS was a small but affordable risk, Nintendo took the chance, made tons of fucking money, realized gimmicky bullshit will move units, and ran with it. Sony and MS didn't believe it until the console named after a part of toddler vocabulary started outselling everything in sight, so they're playing catch-up.

Games as art my ass. It's a service. All that it ever was, all that it ever will be. Nintendo is living proof of this.

It is only half-true imo, because it was still the good old 1st party games that sold the most on the DS. NSMB, Pokemon, Mario 64, Mario Kart etc. These games had minimal touchscreen gimmicks.

[maxy]

Truer words have never been spoken.

It isn't someone. It's the money.

[SantaC]

Truer words have never been spoken.

It isn't someone. It's the money.

why is this game 2011 anyway?

[archie4208]

Truer words have never been spoken.

It isn't someone. It's the money.

why is this game 2011 anyway?

Perfection takes time.

[SantaC]

2011 means 5 years for a new console Zelda. Crazy shit. Wind Waker was 2003 and Twiblight Shitcess was 2006. 5 years is 2 and a half years times two... they could've done two console Zelda's in that time, jesus.

The Legend of Vuvuzelda: SS Gestapo better be as good as Super Mario Galaxy

wind waker was done in 2002.

[SantaC]

I was very excited for it after Majoras Mask

[maxy]

Zelda designer, Eiji Aonuma has revealed that he "gave up" on using Wii MotionPlus for Zelda: Skyward Sword - but Wii Sports Resort changed his mind.

Speaking in an online interview on Nintendo.com, Aonuma revealed that Wii Sports Resort had a "huge impact" on the new Zelda's development.

He said: "During development we saw Wii Sports Resort and that made a huge impact on the way that Motion Plus is used during our game.

"With Wii MotionPlus you would assume that being able to swing a sword around any way you please would be the way to go - and we tried it - but I didn't feel the effectiveness I was expecting.

"Before Wii Sports Resort was finished I told the staff we shouldn't use Wii MotionPlus in Skyward Sword," he added. "For a while we gave up on it."

[Himu]

So it was Aonuma. Fuck Aonuma.

[TakingBackSunday]

yeah, fuck aonuma for wanting to use a proven and cool way to play

[Himu]

Cool?

[Himu]

What's wrong with not liking motion controls? And why is it so hard to understand why someone wouldn't want to fling around a wiimote like a sword?

[Himu]

Uhhhhh, not all wii games use 1:1 controls

The best wii games use motion controls as a compliment. That's it. Shake the controller to do a spin in mario for instance. But you sure as fuck don't bob the wiimote up and down to jump in mario, because it doesn't sound or look fun. Neither does swinging your wiimote like a sword.

[Beezy]

What's wrong with not liking motion controls? And why is it so hard to understand why someone wouldn't want to fling around a wiimote like a sword?

Why is it hard to understand that you don't have to fling around a wiimote like a sword? You just have to flick your wrist. It's been like this for 3.5 years now. It's not a big deal and if it makes the fights more fun then I'm for it.

[Himu]

I'm going by what was shown in the demos. Do you really think you do all those movements with just the flick of the wrist? No. Was miyamoto just flicking his wrist? No. How was he holding the shield? Was he just flicking his wrist?

Mmmmmmm. No.

[bachikarn]

So it was Aonuma. Fuck Aonuma.

In the video they are referencing, Aonuma said that Miyamoto was the once who convinced him to bring back the one-to-one control.

Also, I'm pretty sure you can just flick your wrist for the sword. In the round table yesterday, Miyamoto pretty much said that, but said it wouldn't be as much "fun." That is why he was doing the exaggerated motions on stage. Fuck the bow-and-arrow waggle control though.

[Himu]

Okay, you can flick? What about shield? I saw people playing the demo doing exaggerated movements with the shield.

[cool breeze]

people playing wii sports lunge around the room too.  I don't think it would require such a huge push.

as for the sword, you don't need to make full arm slashes.  you don't need to in WSR and even RS2 let you adjust how sensitive it is.

[Beezy]

Okay, you can flick? What about shield? I saw people playing the demo doing exaggerated movements with the shield.

If it's like other Wii games, you only have to move it a few inches. It doesn't matter how far you move it, you just have to do the motion quick enough for it to register.

[SantaC]

Don't want to sound like a broken record but hitting "A" for slashing sword worked for years.

This

the motion controls did nothing for me

[Himu]

http://wii.ign.com/dor/objects/872155/the-legend-of-zelda-skyward-sword/videos/e310_zelda_gmp_swordplay_061510.html

lookin good

TSA at gaf quelled my fears. He says the controls are WAY better than TP's and I LOVED TP's motion controls. Really relaxing and fun and unobtrusive. This is the first footage I've seen that looks relaxing and comfortable and the player didn't do overly elaborate movements.

[SantaC]

http://wii.ign.com/dor/objects/872155/the-legend-of-zelda-skyward-sword/videos/e310_zelda_gmp_swordplay_061510.html

lookin good

TSA at gaf quelled my fears. He says the controls are WAY better than TP's and I LOVED TP's motion controls. Really relaxing and fun and unobtrusive. This is the first footage I've seen that looks relaxing and comfortable and the player didn't do overly elaborate movements.

that's fine and all, but it is the game design that need an overhaul. I want to do dungeons in random order, optional dungeons etc

[Himu]

We don't know a thing about the formula or flow so you need to chill. Plus, they revealed a shit load of items for the beginning of a Zelda game in this demo. How many items were there? And there's maybe just 4 or so more item slots? This is GOOD NEWS. This tells me that possibly - based off the demo - you start out with the majority of your items you'll need to beat the game from the outset. Less items, but the items mean that much more.

It's a theory, but it goes with what Nintendo has said about the game.

[Barry Egan]

I liked how Aonuma mentioned that TPs overworld was too expansive, and that they set out to boil Zelda down and make the game world more dense in Skyward Sword.

[Himu]

Majora's Mask

Where'd Aonuma say that

[Beezy]

I liked how Aonuma mentioned that TPs overworld was too expansive, and that they set out to boil Zelda down and make the game world more dense in Skyward Sword.

I hope he also realizes that TP's sidequests had shitty payoffs that made them seem worthless after doing them.

[Himu]

I hope people bring up the shitty CAVES WITH A BUNCH OF SHITTY RUPEES

I also noticed there doesn't seem to be a wallet in the demo. He goes past 100.

[Barry Egan]

Where'd Aonuma say that

#t=58s

[Yeti]

There need to be way better rewards for sidequests. There is no point doing them when the only reward is more rupees that you can't spend on anything because there's only ever 5 things in the shops that you find cutting grass and killing enemies anyways.

[SantaC]

There need to be way better rewards for sidequests. There is no point doing them when the only reward is more rupees that you can't spend on anything because there's only ever 5 things in the shops that you find cutting grass and killing enemies anyways.

exactly. The last zelda game with good sidequests was majoras mask.