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[The Satellite]

Progress? Little over halfway through, more or less. Beat the third dungeon and unlocked the last area of the overworld.

[The Satellite]

Spirit Tracks

 

So for the first time since Majora's Mask, we have a game that directly follows the last game in the series and uses the same engine. Only real difference is that Spirit Tracks is a few generations after Phantom Hourglass, but still a direct continuation of that plotline and on the DS. I was honestly kind of baffled at this; I mean, sure, no matter your opinion on Ocarina of Time or Majora's Mask, it's pretty clear both games are very popular in the Zelda community, while neither DS game is. Phantom Hourglass had a mostly lukewarm reception, so immediately churning out a sequel in the same style two years later was a bit curious.

 

And then there was the train. Yes, trains. We all saw it, and many of us were dumbfounded. Some still were outright angry, fearing that this sudden addition of highly-advanced technology—at least, for the Zelda series—spelled doom for the future of the series. I wasn't quite in that boat, at least I don't recall that I was, but it was definitely a bit of a turnoff for me. So much so that I ignored the game on initial release, and didn't pick it up until some time after release when it was at a discount.

 

So this game was an attempt at taking the engine of Phantom Hourglass and touching it up a bit. Did they succeed? Well let me just talk about the new shake-up first: The train. Basically, the game's overworld is the same as Phantom Hourglass', except instead of an ocean, you have rails, and instead of islands, you have stations. Does it work? Well, rest assured that the train controls and usage is not as awful as one might expect. In fact, it actually handles quite well. But therein lies a new issue: Restriction. You're confined to set paths. You can navigate the rails on your own whim, but it still restricts your travel avenues. Spirit Tracks presents you with arguably the largest overworld in the series, but do you get to explore it? No, you don't. You're stuck on that train, and the stations you can stop at really don't offer much in the way of exploration at all. There are a couple of exceptions, but even these aren't that large or interesting. I'd argue there was tons more exploratory freedom in Phantom Hourglass. There's a method of fast travel, but it's not as efficient as I'd like it to be. The tradeoff? We get a hell of an awesome overworld theme while on the train. I'm also still not convinced it fits in with the theme of Zelda, though I do like the story reasoning for the tracks' existence.

 

As far as the engine itself, it's pretty much the same as Phantom Hourglass', but with some noticeable improvements; it seems to run much smoother, for instance, and is a bit more responsive. My one issue (and I seem to be one of the few with this issue) is the new method of rolling: In its predecessor, you drew small circles to roll. In Spirit Tracks, you tap the screen twice. I honestly preferred the drawing circles, which gave me less issue, whereas Link has accidentally rolled for me several times because I'm trying to tap a moving enemy to attack and Link ended up rolling into it instead. Didn't have that issue in Phantom Hourglass; any accidental rolls were done in safe conditions, and those were few. But for the most part, Spirit Tracks does do a good job at streamlining the engine.

 

Now, let's get into the thick of the story. As it turns out, Link and Tetra's quest from the end of The Wind Waker to find a new land to be Hyrule succeeded, giving birth to New Hyrule. As it turns out, the new world had been locked in a war between the Spirits of Good and the Demon King Malladus. The Demon King was sealed away beneath the surface, the "Spirit Tracks" being the chains that bound him, and the Tower of Spirits in the center of the world acting as the lock. Princess Zelda, apparently an orphan, is still the royal figure of Hyrule, but has an adviser in the short Chancellor Cole, with a fashion statement of having two top hats on his head. Link is an engineer, living with the one and only Niko, only now elderly, and training under former guard Alfonzo, clearly a descendant of Gonzo. Niko is still fond of his paper cutouts, as the game once again begins with the land's backstory told through these. Early on, Link and Alfonzo take Zelda to the Tower of Spirits, where Chancellor Cole reveals his master scheme: That his hats were the perfect way to cover his demon horns. No wait, that's not it... it's to resurrect the Demon King Malladus, for... reasons unknown, but I'll ignore that. He's working alongside Byrne, a former servant of the spirits, who believes that the Demon King Malladus can grant him greater power than the spirits. Cole separates Zelda's spirit from her body, as her body is what he deems to be the "perfect vessel" for the Demon King's resurrection. The Tower of Spirits breaks apart, the pieces floating in the air, and the servant of the spirits, or Lokomo, inside the tower, Anjean, tells Link and Zelda that they must restore the Spirit Tracks if they want to keep Malladus sealed. This means locating the rail charts in the Tower of Spirits, finding the other Lokomos to restore tracks to the temples, and restore the Force Gems in the temples to restore more tracks and part of the Tower of Spirits.

 

Back to the gameplay. Once you set off, you navigate to a sanctuary, where a Lokomo waits to perform a duet with you using the Spirit Flute, the latest instrument in the series. These duets are fairly simple if you have a shred of musical talent, and the flute is played by position the pipe (it's a pan flute) in the middle of the screen and blowing into the microphone. These duets energize a few more rails that will get you to the temple. If we can go back to the Spirit Flute, I do like this instrument, but I feel it had wasted potential. There were only one or two nice-sounding flute songs you could play any time, while others were... functional, I guess. The Song of Awakening (not the Majora's Mask one) is only two notes, and it's only used to wake up Gossip Stones. For that matter, that's a very annoying method of waking up Gossip Stones; what was wrong with hitting them with your sword? Meh... but I digress.

 

Spirit Tracks reuses some items from Phantom Hourglass, such as boomerang, bow, and bombs, but those are series staples. But we're given new items: Whirlwind, whip, and Sand Wand. these items are new and interesting, and open up some creative puzzle ideas. Whirlwind is used by aiming the item at an enemy or item and blowing into the microphone; a gust is then blown across the screen, carrying items over pits, bombs into enemies that shoot them, or stunning enemies. The whip allowed you to activate certain switches, remove shields from enemies, or swing across gaps. The Sand Wand could be used on any area of sand, creating pillars of sand you can stand on for navigating puzzles. Just like Phantom Hourglass, these new items are quite awesome, and open up some great puzzle opportunities.

 

But... I honestly have to say the game just isn't that challenging. Real challenge doesn't come until later in the game, but even then it's overcome with a bit of clever thinking. There are five dungeons in the game, as well as the Tower of Spirits, which is functionally similar to the Temple of the Ocean King in that it requires return visits for unlocking sections of the overworld, but with the added luxury of not having to redo earlier sections. But like the rest of the game, it doesn't get challenging until later on, and the last visit, I find, is just incredibly tedious. Yes, I eventually found the Tower of Spirits, despite its "vast improvements" over Temple of the Ocean King, more tedious than Temple of the Ocean King.

 

Oh, but we also get the added luxury of Zelda joining along as a partner this time. You're introduced early on to the partner system in an early "sneak out of Hyrule Castle" segment, where Link distracts guards while Zelda sneaks out. You draw a line for Zelda to follow, and Link takes care of the rest, or can call her to follow him instead of her taking her own path. Later on, the role is switched: Zelda, in spirit form, can possess Phantoms, which open up new challenges and she ends up doing the distracting so Link can sneak around. The puzzles do occasionally make you scratch your head before going "Eureka," but sometimes switching between characters and having to draw a path in real-time can be a bit irritating. Still, it's a neat system, just not without its kinks.

 

What Spirit Tracks does manage to do is paint a better atmosphere. Visually, it's not quite as repetitive as Phantom Hourglass; instead of recycling dungeon walls, each dungeon has its own unique set of architecture, even if it does still have the same sort of empty feeling as Phantom Hourglass. However, the game seems to know that many of its Phantom Hourglass character models just looked odd and switched up its character models a bit to better fit in this quite-limited visual style, and it works much better that way, so that's a plus. A definite plus is the boost in the soundtrack category, which is empty no more, as the songs are actually well-composed and there's a bigger selection. It's not among the best soundtracks in the series, but it's a much-welcome improvement over Phantom Hourglass' relative emptiness apart from a few great themes. And that definitely isn't to say there aren't some damn fine songs in the soundtrack, because there are.

 

Basically, when it comes down to Phantom Hourglass versus Spirit Tracks, I'd argue that Phantom Hourglass had better freedom of exploration and better challenge, while Spirit Tracks nails the atmosphere and ambiance, visually and musically. Between the two games, which one is your favorite comes down to your own preference, whether you prefer challenging gameplay or a memorable atmosphere. For me, it's the former, so I think overall, Phantom Hourglass is still the better game, despite Spirit Tracks' improvements in other areas. But Spirit Tracks definitely did bring improvements and new things to the table, so can't disrespect it for that.

 

A few last thoughts, hrm... Well, the main obstacle in the overworld are invincible bomb trains; they're one hit kills, you can't kill them, and you have to navigate your way around them. This is nervewracking, and I don't like them. There's only one segment in the game where you can kill them, and it's before the final boss and not even on the overworld. I'm okay with a little navigational challenge but their existence is just a pain in my ass. Related to the trains, the fetch quests with the train can be quite annoying too; at one point, you're required to find ice so you can proceed in the Goron village, but to do that, you have to find the Anouki who makes it, and you must transport him to a new spot so he can make it, then you have to leave that spot and come back so he'll have some ready, then you have to get it to the Goron Village with enough left before it melts to use it. Oh, and you have to navigate a lengthy maze of bomb trains. Fun. Not really. There are a couple of obtuse solutions to puzzles as well, but eh, I'm kind of used to these by now.

 

As far as the story goes, it's a good story. I personally don't feel it's a great story, but it's good. Byrne has his fans, but I honestly feel like there wasn't a lot there for me to really like him or his turnaround. It almost felt rushed, and something about his design just seems a little bland. He was handled less spectacularly than Linebeck, in my opinion. Cole was a rather charming little villain, who got his comeuppance in the end. The fight with Malladus... Well, chasing the Demon Train was fun, but the next three phases had their various levels of annoyance. The fight on top of the train was more of a sequence than a fight, but a fitting one, though damn those electric ghost rats. Protecting Zelda while she charged up was a low and annoying point of the series, especially since the controls liked to be iffy on me when I had to slash myself instead of targeting, and spin attacking didn't always hit the fourth meteor when Malladus shot four at a time. The actual final battle part was okay, with one epic and pounding final boss theme to go with it. It's a satisfying ending. Oh, and the rest of the bosses are okay I guess, but I feel Phantom Hourglass' were a touch better.

 

So, that concludes the DS Zelda games. I'll be honest with you, I hope this gameplay style is one they abandon, and they just stick to traditional gameplay styles from here on out. That's not to say they can't innovate, they can just do that in other areas, but while the style was a fun little diversion, I can't say I'm fond enough of it to want to give it another shot, at least not any time in the near future; two DS titles in a row was pushing it as it was. And it's not really the controls so much as the disjointed overworld with a restricted method of exploration. Well, that's too much of a generalization, because that would kind of apply to Skyward Sword too, but we'll get to that. And I can't really find a way to rationalize my thoughts in word form right now, so I'll stop trying, but hopefully you guys know what I mean. But hey, the games were still fun. Not among the best in the series by any stretch, but still earning a spot in the series. Give them a shot, and if you do like them, then, hey, good for you. If not, well, that's fine too. Now, it's time to leave these games behind, and jump into something much larger...

[kurt91]

I preferred Spirit Tracks over Phantom Hourglass, myself. I liked the little jokes, like how it's a "family tradition" for Zelda to wait for Link to do all the work, and I enjoyed seeing her freak out over losing her body and what the villains were going to do with it. I know how for the most part, it was just Zelda taking the role that's been taken by Ezlo, Navi, Midna, etc., but I still liked how it was a change of pace that she didn't just sit around and wait for Link to do his thing.

 

I really don't remember much of this game, it's been so long since I had played it. I do remember enjoying the boss fights, and the ideas behind the new items were fun as always, but I still didn't like the way the game's world was built around the control scheme. I don't really have much to say that I hadn't already covered when you did Phantom Hourglass, actually. The bomb trains left me rather upset when I first found out about them (I have issues with any kind of helplessness in video games. I prefer to have at least some form of self defense, even if it's just stun-and-run.), but to be honest, I don't think I actually came close to encountering one throughout the entire game. It all felt like since the trains were the big gimmick to this game, they were going to block off the short routes and make you spend as much time as they could on the damned things.

[The Satellite]

It's funny how Zelda did have her moments as a "Yeah, dur, we knew that" helper, but no one seemed to mind as much because, well, she's Zelda, and she's doing something. Any other character we'd want to crucify them for. Well, sort of; she wasn't actually too annoying, even if she was someone else. So she was okay as a helper, I suppose, definitely far from the worst.

 

Funny, seems like no matter how much ahead of time I planned out my routes, I'd cut it too close too many times with a bomb train. Okay, so it's not that bad, seems like it was about even between avoiding them entirely or getting too close, but I still hate their existence for exactly the reason you mentioned: The feeling of helplessness. If we'd been granted some ability to destroy them, I'd be much more okay with them, but it's a similar feeling I get from Majora's Mask's clock honestly: It's there to add a hectic atmosphere, even if it can be far from a threat to you, but yet it still frustrates you to no end. Definitely not one of my favorite things of the Zelda series.

[DCEnygma]

I've never gotten to personally play the DS versions, but reading your write-up pretty much tells me what I need to know. I'd probably get pretty frustrated with them just because of how non-intuitive it feels moving with a touch screen. However, it's good that the game still provides some interesting and unique uses of the function. I have one issue however:

 

Oh, and the rest of the bosses are okay I guess, but I feel Phantom Hourglass' were a touch better.

 

An unrecognized pun. You should be ashamed of yourself. At least put a in there or something, man.

[Moonbread]

To the people that think trains are too advanced- they were invented before steam boats, precisely what Linebeck used 100 years prior.  The idea that over 100 years, a series isn't allowed to advance its technology, seems sort of ignorant, or at least anti-progress.  It's a realistic expectation of people who've had almost a century. (I say almost because there was that period of war with the spirits of good and Malladus and all and they couldn't exactly develop the tech during a war)  You don't have to like it, but I'd say maybe more for gameplay reasons- because you can't really say it's "unrealistic".  Frankly, I'm glad it dabbles from the renaissance and the (very early) industrial eras rather than continuing a stereotypical middle ages setting.

 

I do agree that both DS games have their own strengths and weaknesses- though put me in the tiny group who likes both games a lot.  I love Phantom Hourglass for the story, the randomly generated treasure and ship parts, and the Linebeck.  While I love Spirit Tracks for the music, the atmosphere, and the greater amount of side-quests.  Spirit Tracks has a lot more longevity to it that isn't just "go back and find treasure/ship parts".  Believe it or not, I actually don't mind the Temple of the Ocean King, though.  Trying to beat it with the hourglass full was never quite done though, got it at around 24:55-59 at best, which I guess could still be pretty impressive.

[The Satellite]

I tend to forget the whole evolution of the steam engine, and yeah, I actually did think to myself that Linebeck's boat was quite complex in Phantom Hourglass, so I don't really begrudge the technology. Except for the fact that it feels far too restricting gameplay-wise. That, and I still get the nagging sort of feeling that something about it feels out-of-place in a Zelda game, but hey, maybe that's once again just the restrictive gameplay.

 

An unrecognized pun. You should be ashamed of yourself. At least put a in there or something, man.

 

no

[Aevin]

Spirit Tracks is actually one of my favorites in the series.  Part of it probably has to do with nostalgia, since this was the first game I ever played entirely in Japanese (and still haven't played the English version), but there's a lot of things that appeal to me here. I loved the better atmosphere and music. I found the story more enjoyable and the gameplay interactions between Link and Zelda to be cool. Personally, I also thought the item use in Spirit Tracks was leagues above Phantom Hourglass. I never remember having so much fun with a Zelda boomerang as when I was playing with those fire and Ice torches or fighting the boss of the Snow Temple. The Fire Temple boss was also impressive on a truly epic scale, and the game kept giving when I thought I had almost completed it through things like the Sand Temple, Light Arrows and Lokomo Sword (I think that's what they called it ...). As someone who didn't enjoy PH as much, I was stunned at how much I enjoyed this one. I felt like they fixed every issue I had with PH and improved many other things I'd never even thought about.

 

I can understand where you're coming from in most of your points, but the thing that I disagree with most is the usage of the train. It's true that you were bound to rails, but I found the implementation of the rail system to be an asset. It allowed for the larger overworld, in place of a big, empty sea which had only predefined destinations on it, anyway.  And the way the rail charts work, with many of them being secret, allowed for a greater sense of discovery for me. It was a delight to open up new stretches of tracks that contained shortcuts and sometimes entirely optional stations. I loved trying to find them all to connect the whole overworld. For me, riding a train over watertop rails in the Ocean Realm, (and then underwater!!!) was far more delightful than sailing a boat. A boat, is, after all, bound only to the ocean, whereas the train went into the ocean AND to several unique looking places on land.

 

Anyway, I really enjoyed this one and all it had to offer, but I'm definitely the type of gamer who appreciates music, atmosphere and story more than gameplay or challenge -- not that I believe Spirit Tracks was lacking those.

Edited by Aevin, 05 August 2013 - 04:52 PM.

[The Satellite]

It allowed for the larger overworld, in place of a big, empty sea which had only predefined destinations on it, anyway.

I dunno, I felt the train worked the exact same way, only this time on greater restrictions. True, it was neat and satisfying to see rails to new areas pop up, but getting there was still on that boring, restrictive track. Call me cynical, but I just didn't like feeling constricted like that.

[kurt91]

Regarding the size of the overworld, If you were to remove the trains and make it free-roaming, wouldn't it feel just as empty as Hyrule Field in OoT? I mean, the reason for Hyrule Field's emptiness was because of the limitations of the system, and the DS isn't all that much more powerful than the N64. Other than what you see directly from the train, wouldn't it all be just really big and empty for the same reasons?

 

Isn't there some sort of tool that lets you extract the models and areas from DS games? I know that it's possible to edit areas in an OoT ROM (and if not in OoT, I know for a definitive fact that it can be done in Super Mario 64), so it might be interesting to port this game's overworld over and explore it without the trains.

[Nicholas Steel]

Pretty much Zelda rationalizes the situation and works out what to do (She thinks her "working-out" aloud), while other helpers tend to believe they know what to do from the very beginning and just tell you what to do, or in the case of Skyward Sword, believes they know what to do and pointlessly state the mathematical probability of them being right.

 

I also felt the dungeons/puzzles were pretty darn easy with the Spirit Tower probably being the best part of the game.

 

I prefer double tapping for rolling, the other system may have been okay if you didn't have to slide the stylus near the edge of the display.

Edited by franpa, 06 August 2013 - 04:51 AM.

[The Satellite]

Regarding the size of the overworld, If you were to remove the trains and make it free-roaming, wouldn't it feel just as empty as Hyrule Field in OoT? I mean, the reason for Hyrule Field's emptiness was because of the limitations of the system, and the DS isn't all that much more powerful than the N64. Other than what you see directly from the train, wouldn't it all be just really big and empty for the same reasons?

Not necessarily. I'm imagining that they could have thrown in more navigational puzzles/checkpoints/objectives if they took out the train; the Lost Woods, for example, wouldn't just be a series of tunnels. Plus there'd probably be a better method of fast travel, and we could've gotten something else, like a horse, to navigate it.
 

I prefer double tapping for rolling, the other system may have been okay if you didn't have to slide the stylus near the edge of the display.

 

Eh, I suppose you have a point, but it's likely because if you tried closer to Link, the game may think you're trying to slash. But I had far more problems trying to tap, like losing momentum; it felt like I was moving slower when I tried tapping the screen.

[The Satellite]

Skyward Sword

 

Well. Zelda's come a long way by this point. Since 1986, fifteen different games in the series have been released, each with their own unique twists on the formula and additions to the series. No one would claim the series had hit a severe stumbling block in their success, though many were tired of the last two entries in the series, the DS iterations, and wanted something better. Cue the announcement of a new 3D Legend of Zelda for Wii, planning on taking full advantage of the motion controls of the console, particularly through use of the underused peripheral, the Wii Motion Plus.

 

Until the announcement, all we had was a single piece of artwork depicting a Twilight Princess style Link and a mysterious blue figure that shared many similarities with the Master Sword. Of course, many theories were launched about this figure, and people took the artwork's style to mean we would get another "realistic" Zelda game in the style of Twilight Princess. Finally, we got a look at the first trailer, and instead we got what appeared to be a blend of Twilight Princess' more "realistically-proportioned" models with a cel-shading effect not unlike The Wind Waker. The reaction seemed mixed, but I for one loved this new style, thinking it was pretty gorgeous. Indeed, it was "unique" in the sense that the intent was to make it seem more like an impressionist painting. I'll admit, it wasn't perfect, but I was and still am quite enamored by the art style.

 

While the game was meant to tread new territory, it also acted as a "celebration" for the series' 25th Anniversary. So what better way to celebrate it with a brand new game that was brand new and at the same time gave nods to many of the series' facets over the years? Many, if not all, of the previous Zelda games get nods in some way, and it's really neat to see all these little references. But how exactly does Skyward Sword move the series forward?

 

Let's start with the motion controls... I had a little bit of skepticism about whether or not they'd wear me out. Fortunately, they do not. Sure, you can use your whole arm to swing, or you can use your elbow, or even just your wrist. And the sword is very smooth, at least in my experience. I've heard complaints about not being able to stab or having a hard time with it, but I never had much issue with it. The game reads your motions very well and translates them into proper sword strikes. Where it gets a little iffy is that it sacrifices pointer aiming for 1:1 aiming, meaning that whatever direction you're pointing when you pull out an item is where the game feels you should point in that direction to center the reticle. Once you're used to it, it's actually a bit handy, or at least I thought so, because it meant I could just hold the Wiimote at my side or on my thigh and just tilt it to aim a weapon or steer the Beetle. Of course, you can recenter the reticle just by pointing the Wiimote directly at the TV and pressing down on the D-pad. It won't be a perfect pointer, but it'll be closer to that if people prefer that route.

 

The motion controls are generally pretty good in all respects, but I take issue with it in other areas... namely, whenever you're asked to draw or swim. Drawing is uncommon, and it's only required one time in the entire game, but the controls don't feel as tight and smooth here; instead they're clunky and awkward. Took me forever the first time I played to draw a simple CIRCLE. It really takes a lot of getting used to to use well. And swimming... ugh. It just doesn't feel right or accurate, and using a control stick would have been much more preferable to this. The new move is cool, but the controls for swimming are just really poorly implemented in my opinion.

 

Now, let's get on to the game itself. Chronologically, it's the first game in the series, so it deals with... Well, since it's still fairly recent, spoilers ahead, so you've been warned. Anyway, it shows a lot of origins, and not just about the Master Sword. It's a very, very story-driven game, and I'd call it only barely less cinematic than Twilight Princess, except... for some reason, the game doesn't have the ability to skip cutscenes. Either way, this is way before everything. Before Ganon, before the Master Sword, before Hyrule. People live in the sky, traveling around on the backs of birds called Loftwings, as the world below is ruled by monsters. I'm actually condensing the story this time, no need to spend tons of space talking about it all. Zelda is a childhood friend of Link's, but she's also, as she learns later, the reincarnation of an ancient goddess named Hylia, and Link is her chosen hero. Her memories are slowly reawakened as they recall the Demon King Demise, who wreaked havoc on the land and was sealed away, but threatens to break free again. With the guidance of the being Fi, who lives within the Goddess Sword, Link opens the way to the various areas of the surface, tempers the blade into the Master Sword, and defeats the monster Demise once and for all.

 

This game provides us with a pretty good driving story, great main characters, and a fascinating new pair of villains in Ghirahim and Demise. Well, "new," in the latter's case. Ghirahim, self-proclaimed Demon Lord, is a servant of the Demon King, a flamboyant and intriguing new character. Like Fi, he's actually the spirit of a sword that belongs to Demise, and who toils endlessly to resurrect his master. He's quite threatening, despite his appearance, and has some quite sinister—and humorous—lines. Zelda herself has quite a bit more character than most other entries, and then there's Groose... well, he's only the third in the latest line of "jerks who have a sudden golden heart," starting with Linebeck, but he's quite excellently developed, and he's the guy you start off hating and then later want to give a hug. Or a friendly pat on the back. He saves the day and even helps Link while fighting... I'll get to that awful, awful creation later. It may not have as large and memorable a cast as other games, but it's still a quite solid one.

 

Now... Nintendo did a good job designing individual areas. The Faron Woods actually seem like woods, Eldin Volcano is treacherous and tricky to navigate, and the Lanayru Desert... more on that in a bit. Each area offers plenty of area to explore, as well as shortcuts to activate to allow faster navigation. They're almost like dungeons themselves in that regard, though not quite. Sure, there are only three areas to explore on the ground, but you return to them and are given more objectives, and discover new side areas as well. Sure, it operates on the same principles as the DS Zelda games, where you have to find a tablet that allows access to another part of the overworld, but this game does it far better, in my opinion. I just... kind of wished there was an easier fast travel between regions, rather than having to take to the skies again to find the next hole to the ground to fall into. That would have been much appreciated.

 

Speaking of air travel, this in theory works similarly to sailing in Wind Waker, where you have "islands" to go to via traveling on the bird. The bird could maybe go a tad faster, but the controls are pretty smooth for the bird. However... the open sky world is quite... empty. There are hardly any interesting locations, and ones with importance are really... tiny. Skyloft is the only really lively area; there's a pub on one island that you can return to for interesting things, but otherwise, it's really not worth the time to explore the overworld except for little extras, or hunting down chests activated by Goddess Cubes on the surface. So you won't be missing much at all if you skip out on exploring around. Sad too, because the flight is otherwise well handled.

 

But I didn't yet mention the dungeons in this game... There is not a single bad dungeon in this game. Sure, there are only six, and a final "dungeon" of sorts, but they are all excellent. They're not massive and sprawling like those of Twilight Princess, but they occupy your time greatly with challenges and puzzles. They incorporate some new features and challenges, and give you items with interesting puzzle opportunities. Oh, and these items don't get left by the wayside; each one of them still gets some use outside their dungeons. The best one is the Beetle, the new one, which can be used to collect items, snap ropes, or survey the area. Later, it gets upgraded with pincers that allow you to grab bombs and drop them on enemies or rock piles blocking your path. It continues to be useful, and it's one of my favorite items; I'd love to see it return.

 

Now... a new gimmick introduced in Lanayru Desert were the Timeshift Stones. These stones, when struck, extend a radius that engulfs the area and changes the time period. In the desert, things turn green and lively again, and it's used as the main theme of the third and fourth dungeons to great effect. This is a marvelous, wonderful new feature, one I'd like to see return but not overused. It definitely changed things up and made the game feel fresh. It's one of my favorite features of the series; heck, the best was the boat in the sand sea, where there would be water around you but sand outside. That was just pure beauty.

 

Bosses? Kind of mixed... The fights against Ghirahim are excellent challenges. The second level boss was neat, but kind of simple. The third boss was fine, but its reappearance later as a miniboss confirms my thoughts that it's... a bit lesser. There was an excellent ship-escape sequence leading into a... fairly standard boss with a Pixar monster but it was still fun. There's the fourth level boss, Koloktos, one of my favorite fights in the series, really fun, awesome music, great strategy. Then there's... The Imprisoned. You fight this thing three times, it's basically this giant, scaly... thing, that tries to climb its way up the spiral landing to the Sealed Temple to destroy it. You destroy its toes, jam the sealing spike into its head, repeat two more times. It appears again later, with arms, and tries to climb up sometimes while leaving shockwaves when it stomps. Third time, same deal, but it's actually a bit easier since you only have to deal with the regular strategy once, then the next two attacks are different and quite fun. Either way... this thing can go away.

 

The thing, however, was actually a deranged form of Demise, who, once he absorbed part of Zelda's spirit, took on a more humanoid form. Link challenges him to a swordfight, complete with a dark, twisted version of the Master Sword, and wins. This is a challenging fight, a really great final boss battle, and beatable with several different strategies. I like this. I just wish the accompanying music were more interesting and memorable.

 

Speaking of music, this game sports the first fully orchestrated soundtrack in the series. And it's beautiful, most of the time. There are some more forgettable themes, but the music is really atmospheric, really fitting in each area, and are usually good tunes. There are some standouts, and ones that are better the more you listen to them, and all-in-all, it's a pretty good soundtrack. I love listening to it.

 

The game has its low points... it can rely a little heavily on the fetch quests at times, the worst offender being the tadtone quest later on in the game. What's worse than swimming in this game? Swimming over the entire damn Faron Woods searching for little notes to fill up a song sheet. Terrible, awful quest, and it shouldn't exist. And Fi... you know, I don't quite hate her. Most of her dialogue is much in line with the type of character she's supposed to be, so I don't dislike her for that, though she does have her moments of "Gosh please shut up I know this." Still don't think she's as awful as Ezlo was. The one problem I have is how attached Link seems to be at the end and how emotional they made the farewell scene. It's a good scene... but it doesn't make sense because there are hardly any signs of a developing relationship between them during the game. She had a lot of potential, and much of it kind of... went to waste. And as far as further handholding, there should be a way to skip many of these "tutorials"; I even had the opportunity to decline explanations and was given them anyway, so what's the point of even having that option? And we should be able to skip talking to people who explain stuff we already know, especially if you're playing a second file. Oh, and you know how in Twilight Princess, if you turned the game off and back on and picked up a blue rupee or higher, it'd replay the message string? Similar problem here... not with rupees, but with collectible items. And brings up the collection screen to highlight the new acquisition. Quite annoying.

 

Game still has lots and lots of high points. Then comes the Silent Realm challenges... these interesting challenges seem to be a kind of reference to Twilight Princess' Tears of Light collection quests, with the added challenge of Guardians chasing you endlessly and you have to redo the trial if one hits you. That in and of itself is also a reference to Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks, and their Phantoms, only instead of safe zones, you're only safe if you collect a tear. And even then, only for ninety seconds. These are quite challenging, and I thought they were fun, locating all the tears and formulating the best strategy for getting them in a certain order and making sure there were easy ones left in case you triggered a Guardian, either by running out of time, touching waking water, or being spotted by a ghost with a lantern. Great segments, though can be intimidating as well.

 

As for items and abilities... well, I love the idea of storing bomb flowers in a bomb bag, though I suppose I don't see it returning soon since this seems to take place before manufactured bombs were made. The upgrade system for items is excellent and definitely should return in some fashion in the future, maybe even more fleshed out. The idea of breakable shields is also neat, and I would like to see that reapplied in the future as well. The Adventure Pouch was a great way to pick and choose what items to take on the quest with you, and I liked this system. There's also the new stamina meter... and I think it works well. Sometimes I wish it had a little bit of extra energy, or maybe a way to upgrade it, but for the most part, it worked. There were several neat ideas in this game I think should return, but I wouldn't be too bothered if they didn't.

 

Oh, and the saving is handled at bird statues, similarly to Majora's Mask, but better; they are plenty, and you can choose them to drop into any area in a region from the sky, making for faster travel. I much prefer being able to save anywhere, but at the very least they handled this system very well.

 

So, that's Skyward Sword. The latest Zelda title, but not for long. It does many great things, a few bad things, but proves the Zelda series still has plenty of life and room for great improvements. A Link Between Worlds may not continue any of these trends, due to its trying to stay faithful to A Link to the Past and add a few other spins within, but there's still room in future, completely original titles to develop these new ideas and throw in more new ones. And I for one look forward to the future of Zelda. Just as always, it's looking as bright as ever.

[Shane]

"Ghirahim is a servant of the Demon Lord, a flamboyant and intriguing new character. "

 

Ghirahim is the Demon Lord.

[kurt91]

I've never played this game, (don't have a MotionPlus) so I don't have anything to say about it. I do want to ask you something, though. I'm assuming that when "A Link Between Worlds" comes out, you'll do a review on it after playing it, but what about Wind Waker HD? Yeah, it's a remake, but they're changing some things around to fix problems people had with it before, and they're trying to fix the Triforce hunt. (YAY!!!) Do you think that if you play it, you'll do a review on it on whether the changes are enough to justify the remake?

 

EDIT: Also, do you realize that when you described the Silent Realm challenges, you pretty much described Pac-Man? Just replace Guardians with Ghosts, and Tears with Power Pellets.

Edited by kurt91, 24 August 2013 - 05:14 AM.