@Loopah said:

@kingjulesxii: You are 100% dead on about the pacing and the annoyance of backtracking. It's really getting to me having to venture back to these places 3-4 times doing just 'oh, one more thing'.

The final three revisitings of the areas in on par with the Triforce fetch quest in Wind Waker, IMHO. I might be exaggerating a bit, but it honestly feels just as dreadful. I hope the ending delivers.

@kingjulesxii: You are 100% dead on about the pacing and the annoyance of backtracking. It's really getting to me having to venture back to these places 3-4 times doing just 'oh, one more thing'.

I love the controls so far, and I have no complaints whatsoever.

Sure, you have to recenter the reticle occasionally. It's inevitable and I don't expect the technology to be perfect. What makes it more than bearable is the fact that recentering is as simple as pressing downwards on the D-pad. It's an elegant solution to an expected problem, and it works flawlessly. A hell of a lot better than pointing directly at a screen, at least.

My biggest complaint is pacing. The revisiting of areas really irritates me, and I feel like the game's length is artificially extended by 10-15 hours with fetch quests/backtracking. Finding those fish-notes made me want to strangle myself.

I find the controls fine, I think the sword fighting works and does what you ask of it 95% of the time. The up slash and the down slash seem to be the two it confuses the most. I have no idea how much more of the game there is, but i'm 20 hours in and I assume just about to fight the fourth temple boss. All of the controls that annoy me are related to the balancing on ropes...sometimes it works fine, other times I feel like i'm stuck in one spot, and the Harp which just doesn't register. All of the aiming stuff works fine, I think I have had to re-center the camera like 10 times in 20 hours. The bird controls work brilliantly.

About 50% of the enemies can be beaten with excessive waggle... Thats kinds area dependant though.

@takashichea: One nice and big difference you'll find between this game and Twilight Princess is that you can't just flail the controller around and hope to get through this game without lots of troubles. The MotionPlus WiiMote really goes a long way with giving you more control with the sword hand.

I'm not sure the replay value yet, because I haven't finished the game, but the side quests and collectables are turning out to be a lot of fun if that is your type of thing.

@groin: Funny enough, I had read Patrick's review note about this part of the game right before I did it in my game, so I was kind of dreading finding this and seeing how bad it actually was. It wasn't as bad as I was bracing myself for, but that was mostly because I'd figured there would be a time limit or something. Regardless.. the swimming controls in the game really leave something to be desired.

I haven't bought the game, but I think these wii games need an option for gamecube controls or the other traditional controller. (Trying to look up the game about its replay value. Every I beat a Zelda game, I don't find the need to replay it except for Majora's Mask.)I spent my time in Twilight princess just waving the wii mote like a madman, so I could have the same experience in this game.

@oraknabo: Regarding your complaint on the re-centering of the controller. While it is annoying, I would much rather have it be this way where I don't have to constantly have my WiiMote pointed at the screen, then have it like it was in Twilight Princess (without MotionPlus) where you always had to have the WiiMote pointed directly at the screen.

The fetch quest that involves swimming almost made me quit playing. That water dragon is an asshole.

As much as I am a fan of Nintendo in general, I was never sold on motion controls being the savior of the industry. While I think Skyward Sword Mario Kart & Metroid Prime 3 make great use of motion control, I'd still rather play with a traditional controller any day.

Honestly though, my only real complaint about Skyward Sword has been how often I have to recenter or recalibrate the controller. Other than that, the combat is totally unique and I might be a little disappointed if the next Zelda game didn't have something similar.

You are nearing the end. Maybe about 3-5ish hours depending on how long the next dungeon will take you. Also I like the motion controls a lot, and I like how they changed up the endgame sequence to more than just going back to a place, digging something up, and going to a new place. It is more about going to that place, changing things about it, and adding new gameplay to those areas you recognize.

@Legend: Well I just completed the silent realm trials and now I'm going through and getting each of the pieces of the last song. Finished Faron Woods, now I'm onto the Lanayru area's song piece.

I agree with you that the game starts to fell repetitive in the last 15 hours or so, and I feel the same about motion controls. I think you still have about 10 hours to go before you beat the game if you just started doing the silent realm trials.

I've spent another 20 hours with Zelda since my last post and I'm still going strong! The game definitely seems to be winding down, however, it does seem to be getting a little bit more repetitive than I would like or expect. At this point in the game I'm going back to the 3 main areas for the 3rd time now. Each time I have a new objective, yet still going back to the same place. Sure, there is a slightly new appearance to the place or a new part of the map to explore, but it feels a little too repetitive for a Zelda game.

There have been a few parts of the game that have been quite frustrating as far as the controls go. Either the game is being a little bit too relentless with the positioning of the controller swipes or the controls are forcing me to twist my wrist like I'm the girl from Exorcist or something. The culmination of both of these issues has my wrist feeling sore. I have never been a fan of the motion control idea and I still am not. It still has not revolutionized gaming like it was promised. Show me a game where the motion controls give me a better play experience than regular analog sticks and I'll reconsider. However, so far, every time a hear about a great game on the Wii, I shudder to think that I'll have to play through it with motion controls (unless your Xenoblade Chronicles, and not have a single bit of motion controlling in the game... thank you!).

Anyways, I'm 40+ hours in with the end of the main story in sight, yet still plenty of side things to do. I'm not sure exactly how much of the side quests I'll finish out before beating the game, but it will definitely be a few. I really enjoy seeking out those purple treasure chests and opening them in the sky for some reason. It's a great feeling getting to see what is inside the random chest. I presume my next post will be about the game as a whole and it's ending.

So... motion controls for Skyward Sword.. love or hate?