The Strat Man's Blog

Skyward Sword: Why Wii U Can't Come Soon Enough

So a couple of days ago I picked up Skyward Sword for a tidy £25 online at Gamestation. I'm always on the look out for great bargains at this time of year, but I was surprised to find a practically brand new title (certainly the Wii's biggest holiday game) for cheap. This is especially true considering first party Nintendo games hardly ever seem to drop much bellow the RRP. But I suppose this year is different, what with the Wii U on the horizon and the PS3/360 sporting so many massive games for this festive period. The last hurrah (I don't really recall a first hurrah) it would seem.

I definitely think I've played enough to form a coherent opinion of Skyward Sword. Granted, there's still a lot of playing time ahead (I'm only three dungeons in) but already the key points for me are very clear. Skyward Sword, in my eyes, is definitely a bit of a paradox. It does so many things so well, at times using these new items with Motion Plus is a huge joy, and entire afternoons will be lost playing through dungeons, at the right moments that Nintendo charm hits the spot like no other.

But for everything is does right, there are glaring errors that are impossible to discard. How on earth could Nintendo over-look the camera angle problem? For a game that's all about adventuring, exploring and water-paint vistas - it seems absurd that it often seems to fix itself so high above Link that you can't really see ahead properly. And the dialogue, at times, is so unimaginative and atmosphere killing - in this game more than ever, I feel like there's no subtlety. On a few occasions so far, after collecting an item, a stream of text has actually directly told me where to go next or what to do with it.

Overall, while I am persevering through these annoyances and definitely enjoying the game, I think the biggest nuisance and downfall of the game highlights some important things about Nintendo of recent times:

While Motion Plus has added great depth to swordplay, I have been infuriated controlling Link on occasion. Approaching an edge wanting him to drop only to find he leaps and vice-versa are amongst some of the most frequent issues I have. There's no denying that certain terrain causes major issues, unnecessary leaps into lava, camera spasms misdirecting rolled bombs - in general I've found a lack of precision. But really, I think what it is, is after so many years of majestically flying about with Etzio and the Prince of Persia with Sony and Microsoft's current systems - you come to expect that sort of ergonomic flowing control from everything, regardless of what hardware it is. When I was collecting one of the last keys for the Earth Temple around Eldin Volcano, it took me an hour to figure out how to get across that un-drawn bridge because after inspecting the small ridge to it's side, and not being able to vault onto it and have Link grab on - I concluded that I couldn't pass through that way and started backtracking. It did not occur to me that I had to stand at the edge, press A and then shimmy across - maybe last generation it would have. But not now. Which is exactly my point:

For all the innovations the Wii has provided for its core series, not being able to keep up with the more practical advancements of much better hardware has cost them dearly. To play Skyward Sword, not only do I have to lug a TV out the attic that isn't HD - I have to constantly remind myself it needs to played like a game of last generation. It needs extra patience because of less than seamless controls, you have to supress the disappointment of no voice-acting, and of an over-world that serves only as a gateway to what seems to be a disappointingly un-connected and small lower-world, the music quality.

And that to me underlines why Nintendo cannot get into the HD game soon enough. The Wii U will finally raise the general bar for Nintendo to the level of its competitors: as great as it has been to see Nintendo push their games in new ways on the Wii - I do firmly believe, with few exceptions, that being so caught up in innovative features has stifled the evolution of other really basic yet important aspects of these games.

So for now, I'm putting up with Skyward Sword's failings - because in the grand scheme of things it seems to be a fantastic game so far. If it had come out during the Wii's prime it probably would have been even better received. But if the next home console Zelda is as clunky, and wreaking of Gamecube-esque physics, controls and mentality - I am most definitely opting out of Nintendo and their core franchises. I am tired of hardware-based innovations, once upon a time Nintendo were good enough to achieve that through game ideas alone.

Anyway, have a very Merry Christmas everyone!