Zero Punctuation: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword Pages PREV 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 NEXT | |
Yahtzee should play it on hard mode. | |
Also, allow me to address "meaningless bias": he's already stated that he feels that gaming technology already works the way it is, and unless you're going full Holodeck then having to move your own body around too much in a game is only going to make it less immersive. Honestly, I have to agree, especially since there's a lot of games for the Wii where not having to waggle to "melee attack" etc. would actually make the game much better. What's more, even with more accurate motion control, there's still the problem of bouncing off a wall or an enemy's armour: Link flinches back, but your arm keeps going. Also, don't act like he only bashes Zelda. He bashes everyone. And in most cases he's not even bashing as much as you think he is:
If you really can't handle having your favourite game ever held under the crucible for any amount of time by anyone at all, it's time to disconnect your router, throw it in a river and keep obliviously playing your games in a way that means nobody's opinions can affect your experience. | |
I was also wary of the lack of an "open-world" feel to the game. Then again I'm one of the people who actually didn't mind, and even sort of enjoyed the Great Sea in Windwaker. | |
After reading a lot of replies and the like, restated arguements and inevitable ends, I feel I have to put forth my opinion (warning, subject to interpretation) I love the living crap out of Skyward Sword, I took off with a standie from GameStop (because they let me) and now use it as a games shelf, and I have even shared the other two saves with my best friends to watch them play and either laugh at their antics or remember the cool stuff they find or how to kill stuff in fun ways. I also liked the Yahtzee review of it, was quite funny and the only pester I have is that it could have prodded more at certain aspects, side quests, minor characters(GROOSE!), the fact that the Headmaster of the knight academy was perfectly cool with letting the lazy kid in class save his daughter, and by extention the world. I still got quite a few laughs out of his perspective, which I did share with friends as we played much to their humor. I don't think it was a bad video, or video game. I still like Yahtzee's wedding-crash style of reviewing, and think that people who take him too seriously really ought to ponder why they feel this way as if it cheapens their gaming experience. He doesn't sit in your house ruining it for you while you play, does he? (this does not apply to the nameless faceless chums of his who he 'sometimes' plays with, sorry guys) EDIT: By no means is this ment to bait or flame on anyone elses opinion of anything, just my opinion, subject to interpretation. | |
I figured after playing Majora's mask, playing all the other Zelda games would feel draining (there has to be a better term to describe it). Still, I would like to play this game eventually. | |
I'm getting "Server Error" whenever I try to watch this one. Anyone know how I can resolve it? (looking through the this thread it looks like it's working for everyone else) | |
In the case of Skyward Sword, he's correct. I'm playing the game right now and I'm agreeing with every thing he's saying. Do you want to go point-by-point? Well, there we go. So where was he wrong? I don't agree with Yahtzee every time - his Valkyria Chronicles review made it obvious he didn't finish the game and his Bionic Commando Rearmed review he didn't even get past the first stage because there wasn't a jump button - but with this game, he's spot on.
You don't get around much, then.
Sessler's Soapbox. Feedback podcast. Your argument is invalid. It could not be any less valid.
Hyperbole! Is that your own personal Godwin? I don't like O'Reilly either, but Yahtzee and Sessler are not even remotely analogous.
Ooh! Ooh! Let me! I swing my Wiimote and I get blocked. Link's arm ricochets. Mine doesn't. Mine keeps going. So I have to move my arm back to the starting position before I can re-position my arm for try #2. In doing so, I end up swinging the sword again from the wrong location. REPEAT. The flying controls are painful. In the default hand position, it's very difficult to tilt down enough to dive. Wrists don't bend that way. The same goes for bomb rolling. If I want to roll a bomb, I have to move my hand position, point the Wiimote down, then flick and hope the system actually registers it as a flick, not an "I'm returning to neutral position", as it often does. Then there's the harp. I swear I must've played the harp performance about THIRTY times. Every time I started, my hand's position was in a different place... and no matter how carefully I moved my Wiimote, Link's hand would always slide half-way back in the other direction. To clarify: I swing right -> Link strums right How am I supposed to control a game accurately when the controls don't respond to my inputs? It's like playing DDR with a steering wheel! Oh yes, and the recalibration. EVERY TIME I use a B-button item (that blowing vase thing, the slingshot, flying scarab thing, etc.), when I press the B-button, the controls orient by where my Wiimote was pointing when I pressed the button... which often means Link's going to be spinning around in circles until I press Down on the D-Pad. Let's not forget that 20% or more of the screen is taken up by reminders of what the various buttons do. There's a HUGE Wiimote shaped overlay taking up the right hand side of the screen. Pathetic. Would ANY of this happen on a traditional controller? NO. And that's why motion controls SUCK. The End. | |
I love when people quote this line like it's some kind of actual defense against criticism of his reviews. Even though it's not. Of course opinions are subjective. But if you disagree with someone's point of view, and especially disagree with their arguments against something you enjoy, you are within your right to object to them and provide counterarguments. That doesn't make you a fanboi, it makes you rational. Yahtzee is not some sort of Greek deity who will smite you for disagreeing, nor is he immune to criticism of HIS criticisms. Yet whenever someone objects to Yahtzee (especially on points where he is factually incorrect), people rush to pull this line out of the Gospel According To Yahtzee as some sort of half-hearted defense of the guy, as if to say "well it's just his opinion so that means you can't criticize it for being wrong!". Yes, we can, especially if his opinion is based on blatant bias and misinformation. If he's wrong (and he is), people should be more than happy to point out what he's said that is incorrect. In this review he claims that the game is identical to OoT or TP, which is factually incorrect. I had a friend play the game and he noted at least ten major mechanical changes not featured in other Zelda games (not even getting into story or gameplay). The changes are measurable and significant enough that they definitely surpass any reasonable threshold. The only sort of person who would claim it's "the same" as OoT or TP without a huge sarcastic grin on their face has obviously never played any of the three. They definitely adjust their formula more considerably than, say, most modern FPS games do. He's a critic and a harsh one at that. He should be prepared to accept criticism in return when he makes flawed and heavily biased arguments. Claiming that "it's just my opinion, why would it bother you so much unless you doubt your own enjoyment of the game lol?" is not a rational, mature defense of valid criticisms against you. It's the kind of defense an internet troll would use to claim that he's not really trolling. And to pull out one of his own lines, he doesn't need you defending him from us anyways. He's a big boy. So stop throwing out this nonsense like it's some kind of divine canon. Let him explain his points in a mature fashion in the next EP, or at least be willing to discuss the validity of the counterarguments against him. And for the love of all that is sacred, don't just pin everyone who disagrees with him as a fanboi. That's the most irrational defense you can possibly use and it doesn't get us anywhere. | |
Played it. Though it was much better than Twilight* Princess in terms of design, pacing, and characters. (at least this iteration won't spawn hoards of furry-Midna porn. *shudders*) Gameplay is...basically the same, minus Fur-Mode. However, I did enjoy musing about Skyward Sword's bizarre graphical glitches. No, it wasn't the TV. This occurred on both Widescreen, HD, and regular definition (between changing modes, TVs, and even trying it on different Wiis. Another friend had the same problem, using my Wii to boot). So I could only conclude that this was the game pushing the poor Wii to its absolute processing limit. Then again, this game is running graphics tech from 2001. As for Yahtzee's "review", well...what is there to discuss? He didn't really "review" anything about the game; he just bitched about how waggle-controls suck, and that it's Zelda. (and in 5 years time, "twilight" went from being one of my favorite words, to one of my most hated) | |
My experience of the game has been great so far ¬_¬ | |
We're not defending him, he can do it himself if he feels like it. We're just using the quote to underscore how distressed fanboys get when a guy reviews a game. We quote this and laugh at you, that's all. | |
You can get rid of that in the interface options. | |
Well, looks like Yahtzee is not to be taken seriously as usual. I think I'm done with the series. Mostly due to the Escapist's new website layouts but also because watching a guy who's contractually obliged to find fault in games nitpick a different game every week is getting a bit old. | |
You know , because a zelda game is the worst of the bunch doesn't automatically make it a bad game . It could just be less good than the others ( which is subjective , i'm not saying it is or isn't) but still be good OT: yahtzee has balls of steel to critisize a zelda game , and i love him for it. | |
Why not think of the Ocarina of Time remakes as heavily emphasized expansions? Ocarina of Time gives you a hookshot. then Twilight Princess gives you another one. Majora's mask had identical mechanics and just focused on giving you lots of fun things to play with. then Wind Waker and Twilight Princess came along and expanded it more, literally. Giving it more color and more space and giving the game world a pleasant sense of bigness and significance. | |
Why not think of the Ocarina of Time remakes as heavily emphasized expansions? Ocarina of Time gives you a hookshot. then Twilight Princess gives you another one. Majora's mask had identical mechanics and just focused on giving you lots of fun things to play with. then Wind Waker and Twilight Princess came along and expanded it more, literally. Giving it more color and more space and giving the game world a pleasant sense of bigness and significance. | |
Why not think of the Ocarina of Time remakes as heavily emphasized expansions? Ocarina of Time gives you a hookshot. then Twilight Princess gives you another one. Majora's mask had identical mechanics and just focused on giving you lots of fun things to play with. then Wind Waker and Twilight Princess came along and expanded it more, literally. Giving it more color and more space and giving the game world a pleasant sense of bigness and significance. | |
Woo! MegaTen reference! I love how people argue. Like opinion was objective fact, and there's anything to be gained from complaining. | |
Your username is awesome, and I am stealing this rather accurate analogy. I can't really comment on the accuracy of the review, I haven't bothered picking up any Wii Zelda games particularly because motion controls do NOT do swordplay very well despite what all the Wii devs seem to think. | |
Yahtzee once again does a Nintendo review that is repetitive and boring due to me knowing the punchlines of every. Single. Joke. This is why he should just skip Nintendo/motion-control games. It's hard to be amused when we know what he's going to say. | |
Lol. Gotta laugh at comments like this. I mean, of all the things you could point out, the one thing that bugs you is a lack of voice acting? Heh. In any event, I usually take Yahtzee's comments with a whole bucket of salt, but I have to say, for once I agree with him. And that's despite being a huge Zelda fan. What I've personally witnessed is basically from Wind-waker onwards they've become ever better at polishing the little details - Character animations, art design, character interactions (such as it is), and so on... Yet taken as a whole the games keep seeming more and more like they're being padded for time. The things that used to occupy most of your time in older games have been cut back, and in their place there's more and more stalling. Like... Finding the tears in Twilight Princess. Or now, in Skyward Sword, finding the bits that unlock each dungeon. I mean, in the older games you might need to figure out some kind of puzzle or a get hold of a specific item to get into a dungeon. Now? You apparently need to find the 5 keys that unlock the place. They might look different from dungeon to dungeon, but the way you find them is much the same. It's not just that they are repeating gameplay from older games, they've developed an approach to the game design that is formulaic, and repeats over and over in a rather obvious manner even within an individual game itself. And it just screams of a dev team going "How can we make this take longer?" without actually making the effort to be creative about it. | |
Minor point, but it surprised me when I found it in the options... You can turn off the overlay. One turns off most of it, but leaves a few control reminders onscreen, the other turns off everything except the health and stamina bar. Just thought you might like to know that, since, you know, you seem to imply that it's annoying having half the screen occupied by a Wiimote shaped graphic. | |
My only real criticism of Skyward Sword is sluggish and "slow" feeling controls. Like a lot of Zelda veterans I've gotten used to swordfighting with incredible speed. But then again in this game, the enemies can actually defend so slow swinging does help a lot. Since you have to be very precise. | |
Some things in the review I agreed with and some I did not, I wouldn't say its the worst game, but its definitely not the best. The new items were good and added some interesting game play, yes the motion controls screw you over at certain points but at least it's trying something new with the controls and available technology. Yes the only Zelda I have seen in the series with a personality worth mentioning is in OOT (seriously she doesn't have many appearances but she actually makes an impression, especially as Sheik. One thing I did not like about the review is the comparison to all the other games in the series, i.e. "the world did not seem as large as wind waker" (yes I know that wasn't the exact line)I always go in to a Zelda game expecting at least one new thing and Nintendo always pull through. Yes I am probably biased as Zelda is one of my favourite series, but I'm pretty sure yahtzee said something a while back about not being a fan of Zelda/Nintendo/motion controls so could be the same scenario. Bloody hell I don't think I have ever written so much about what is effectively a bit of fun ever. | |
I think ZP or Jim needs to do a segment on whats considered good innovation. A lot of people on these forums seem to think innovation is just some new type of hardware. The game mechanics in Pikmin or the new art style in Wind Waker were all just as innovative as Skyward Sword, but in their own way. That being said, there's still good and bad innovation and I still think Skyward Sword did a piss poor job at it. The only new mechanic is accurate sword swinging, everything else was already done (and done better) in the other Zelda games. I know I'm late to reply, but I didn't want you to be left hanging on that. | |
Your statement would hold more validity if you didn't call skyward sword "the best game of 2011." Its saying things like that that label you a blind faith fanboy. but im not gonna nitpick because I hear ya giving something the worst game ever in a series is hard to hear. back to the real crux. To call a game that is essentially a dungeon crawler unique and different because it has different elements from the last is valid, but i would argue the dumbing down in general of the series. The games are short and as others have said "gimmicky" versus the more open games that have come out that offer vast areas of dungeon exploration with a whole medley of enemies to fight and bosses that will actually beat you if you are not ready, not based on difficulty but more along the lines of how you prepared for the battle. Your argument is logical but don't allow emotion to base your opinions. Its substance vs. proclivity/history not game mechanics/visuals vs. everything else. If we are not allowed to compare it to other games then yes it is innovative but you can't say its unique compared to other D&D games that came out this year. If you can't see that well then you are just a fanboy. | |
Don't let the door hit you on the way out. Awesome job guys, we almost went two pages before erupting into a debate! It's like a Roman Forum, if people were in force-fields and still threatening each other with knives. | |
The single thing that confused what I thought I was going to get with Skyward Sword was that long ago the developers mentioned that SS would have a world where you wouldn't really have just set dungeons to go through and beat and leave, but rather the world would be a place that you could go into some cave and find it was holding something you needed for somewhere else making the entire area into basically a dungeon itself. Where the feeling of being in the challenge area not to be so distinct. Well what we got was more like, annoying 'pre-dungeon' areas that make you wonder why your doing it if you can already tell where you need to go, and its just a mundane work through puzzle after puzzle to just get to the real 'game' feeling. I thought this Zelda was going to be more like, Metroid Prime in the sense of, heres a world, go crazy and find what you need to get where you haven't before and be surprised about what you run into and enjoy the fights you get trapped into. And honestly the motion controls just don't add anything you couldn't already do with a controller. So it feels like a nice proof of concept but not really have a purpose other than to tire your wrist and arm out depending on how much effort you put into your controlling. Does anyone feel the same? | |
*sigh* So is Nintendo releasing anything new that is a re-tread of their current franchises? As for the video, i can completely agree, personally for me it's just another zelda set in the sky, and its the same journey Link does in every game. It's mediocre, and I'm not saying that for wanting to troll, i honestly just don't believe it's that good as everyone thinks. and as for Nintendo, 2011 was a really crap year for the wii wasn't it? i mean seriously the Nintendo Wii is stagnate, this game was it's only compelling release, and if this sounds familiar it's because J sterling said it himself. i mean what other game has been released on the Nintendo wii that anyone can mention? if it took you more than 10 seconds then it proves the point. | |
Aw, I was hoping he'd talk a bit more about the silent realms. I would have loved to hear him shit all over that. I can see some (or even all) of the flaws Yahtzee points out. That still won't change how much I've enjoyed the game so far...Well, I'm just watching my bro play. One thing I've liked about the game, though, is that a lot of the items you get in the dungeons you don't just throw aside for the rest of the game. Like the beetle; you can upgrade it three times, and it's still a very useful item. And the slingshot isn't immediately replaced by the bow and arrow, and you upgrade that too. Although the parts to get TO the dungeon are fucking long. My brother tells me he likes it that way, since it's kind of like the outside area is part of the temple, and feels more immersed. I honestly would have preferred it how it was in the other games; you have to do one or two things for others, but it only takes about ten minutes, NOT A FUCKING HALF HOUR OF CLIMBING UP SOME MOUNTAIN OR SEARCHING FOR SOME SACRED WATER. | |
One thing that both annoys and amuses me with the review was that he complained the Zelda Formula was still being repeated and it was stale, and later mentioned the game 'broke the Zelda rule'. But again, it's his opinion, and it's his job. He doesn't let the rage about him get to him, why should the readers let his rage about their favourite games get to them? | |
You seem to be taking this very personally. You do know that you're allowed to like a game that Yahtzee doesn't like don't you? Conversely Yahtzee can (and should!) present his opinion of a game (Which, I remind you, that he does for the purposes of comedy rather than critical completeness.) without consulting yours. And that said; its a fucking game, dude!!! I'd hate to see how worked up you get about something that actually matters. | |
How is not liking something due to a personal reasoning being misinformed? If I say I dislike chocolate because it sticks to my tongue too much I would be at odds with the opinion of the vast majority of humanity; but it doesn't make me misinformed. It just means I don't like chocolate. A review is a subjective argument. Your call for objectivity in the review process is ridiculous. It brings to mind the idea of every reviewer checking with every other reviewer to make sure that all their reviews are "correct" or world where game reviews are merely dry summations of the storyline and game mechanics. | |
| Pages PREV 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 NEXT | |
Yah, I got to the bamboo cutting mini-game and was like "This is fun", but then the guy tells me "Oh, you'd do better if you had a longer sword", and all I could think is "OR YOU COULD LET ME STAND CLOSER TO THE BAMBOO IN THE FIRST PLACE, A*****E" Really though, so far I'm pretty well pleased with SS. Twilight Princess remains my favorite, though.