Let me preface this post by making it very clear that I am hugely biased to Zelda. I'm not ashamed of it. The games have always been spectacular and extremely open ended and fun to play. This year is the 25th anniversary for Zelda games, and guess what, this year is my 25th anniversary of living! From this, I can deduce that this franchise and I were meant to be together... ok, enough of the worshipping. I'll quit now.

Moving on.. I pre-ordered this Skyward Sword at Best Buy online, so that I could pick it up at the store. I bypassed the whole 'midnight release' thing from GameStop for the sole reason that I'll be refusing to spend my money at GameStop anymore. I'm sure the situation there is public and apparent enough for me to not have to explain myself on that, but maybe I'll save that for a different post (if it's already not over done). I did get the Collector's Edition bundle pack which includes the special gold Wii Motion Plus controller (my first Motion plus WiiMote, love it!).

Considering my PS3 went out a few weeks ago, this was the perfect time to have a couple of Wii games to hold me over. I've been playing Xenoblade Chronicles for the last few weeks (imported it, GET IT NOW if you own a Wii and enjoy RPGs). I am putting that game on hold for the remainder of my time with Skyward Sword, and rightfully so. Skyward Sword has really been great so far. The new additions to the gameplay and dramatic sequences have really been great and have added a nice dynamic to a franchise that just continues to get better and fresh even after what... 15+ games? I've got to say my favorite new item so far (I'm just venturing in Faron Woods for the 2nd time), is the Flying Beetle. It's a blast to maneuver this thing, although writing this I just remembered that I upgraded it fully and haven't gotten a chance to try it out yet! If it wasn't so late I'd hop back on just to do that, but it'll have to wait.

Another sweet addition is the 'chat bubbles' that appear over NPCs heads when they have something new or pertinent to say. This helps a lot with starting and completing side missions. Speaking of side missions, they are still there and the same has in past games. Some give you items, others Rupees or hearts. Gratitude Crystals have been added and you can collect them for helping people out. I do have to say, having only seen one town so far and feeling like I'm at least half-way through the game is a little odd. Granted, there are tons of things to do and keep me busy, it just is a little odd to have only come across one town or 'NPC area' so far in the game.

So far, I've had a blast with the game. I've put roughly 21 hours into the game and am definitely taking my time. Every chance I've gotten so far to do a side quest or collection quest I've taken it. I've also spent a good amount of time exploring the Sky and collecting bugs. The game controls and feels great with the Wii Motion Plus controller as well. Aside from the game only having 1 town so far (maybe it only has 1 total?), the only other thing that has bothered me is that the first boss has litterally been leaps and bounds harder/more annoying than any of the other bosses so far... Frustrating..

Can't wait for more! How's your play experience going so far??

Let me preface this post by making it very clear that I am hugely biased to Zelda. I'm not ashamed of it. The games have always been spectacular and extremely open ended and fun to play. This year is the 25th anniversary for Zelda games, and guess what, this year is my 25th anniversary of living! From this, I can deduce that this franchise and I were meant to be together... ok, enough of the worshipping. I'll quit now.

Moving on.. I pre-ordered this Skyward Sword at Best Buy online, so that I could pick it up at the store. I bypassed the whole 'midnight release' thing from GameStop for the sole reason that I'll be refusing to spend my money at GameStop anymore. I'm sure the situation there is public and apparent enough for me to not have to explain myself on that, but maybe I'll save that for a different post (if it's already not over done). I did get the Collector's Edition bundle pack which includes the special gold Wii Motion Plus controller (my first Motion plus WiiMote, love it!).

Considering my PS3 went out a few weeks ago, this was the perfect time to have a couple of Wii games to hold me over. I've been playing Xenoblade Chronicles for the last few weeks (imported it, GET IT NOW if you own a Wii and enjoy RPGs). I am putting that game on hold for the remainder of my time with Skyward Sword, and rightfully so. Skyward Sword has really been great so far. The new additions to the gameplay and dramatic sequences have really been great and have added a nice dynamic to a franchise that just continues to get better and fresh even after what... 15+ games? I've got to say my favorite new item so far (I'm just venturing in Faron Woods for the 2nd time), is the Flying Beetle. It's a blast to maneuver this thing, although writing this I just remembered that I upgraded it fully and haven't gotten a chance to try it out yet! If it wasn't so late I'd hop back on just to do that, but it'll have to wait.

Another sweet addition is the 'chat bubbles' that appear over NPCs heads when they have something new or pertinent to say. This helps a lot with starting and completing side missions. Speaking of side missions, they are still there and the same has in past games. Some give you items, others Rupees or hearts. Gratitude Crystals have been added and you can collect them for helping people out. I do have to say, having only seen one town so far and feeling like I'm at least half-way through the game is a little odd. Granted, there are tons of things to do and keep me busy, it just is a little odd to have only come across one town or 'NPC area' so far in the game.

So far, I've had a blast with the game. I've put roughly 21 hours into the game and am definitely taking my time. Every chance I've gotten so far to do a side quest or collection quest I've taken it. I've also spent a good amount of time exploring the Sky and collecting bugs. The game controls and feels great with the Wii Motion Plus controller as well. Aside from the game only having 1 town so far (maybe it only has 1 total?), the only other thing that has bothered me is that the first boss has litterally been leaps and bounds harder/more annoying than any of the other bosses so far... Frustrating..

Can't wait for more! How's your play experience going so far??

It was important for the first boss to beat the waggle out of you.

I'm not ashamed to buy Zelda or any other Nintendo games even in this weird situation. When I went to get my pre-order prize for Donkey Kong Country at gamestop (the banana pouch), the female cashier just gave me a naughty smile. Immediately, I told her that I was buying for my little brother's birthday, and she told that I wanted the big banana to myself. The guys just chuckled behind me. That was my weirdest customer service for video games. She made my day for some odd reason. The gold controller sounds nice since I needed a 4th wiimote, but I was hesitant to buy Skyward Sword due to the replay value of its previous game. I already spent all of money on other games. (Poor college student here).