Still Annoying, Still Great
When The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is working right, it is a terrific game. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that I've had a type of fun playing this game that I haven't had playing games since I was a little kid.
The problem is, that sometimes Zelda still thinks I'm a little kid, which can be rather frustrating, since babying the player really isn't a fundamental part of Zelda. I'm an old man now (by Internet standards, at least), but I was a single-digit kid when the first Zelda came out. Yet I still managed to beat the game. It wasn't easy by any means, and I had a collective of fellow kids to call upon if I got stuck. The difficulty didn't make me hate the game, it didn't make me feel bad about myself. It felt good to solve the puzzle that was the original Legend of Zelda. I didn't need to be told what an item was the 90th time I picked one up, I didn't need to be admonished to take a break, and I didn't need a constant refresher as to what a door and a key were. I don't know why Nintendo thinks I need these things now. It makes me feel needlessly talked down to. I also don't need the droning tutorial at the start of the game to teach me basic interactions with the world. Why can't the game just trust me?
Despite the patronizing moments, though, overall, I thought the game was certainly the most challenging Zelda in quite a while. Some of that challenge was due to the motion controls, but for the most part that was a good thing. Sword combat was the most satisfying it's been since Ocarina and as annoyed as I was when a monster blocked my swing (or later shocked me), it taught me to get better. More than one of the dungeons would fall on a "best dungeons in a Zelda game" list if such a thing existed. I particularly loved the first desert temple and the final dungeon.
With that said, there are parts of the game that unfortunately drag. Some of this was due to the fact that there was some repetition, but that isn't the only culprit, since some of the most fun I had was when I got to go back to a familiar area to the Goddess challenges, or open up a dungeon that I couldn't before, or battled a boss who was quite different each time you faced him. The problem is that some of this repetition just felt like padding. In particular the last quest felt unnecessary, as did fighting a certain boss who is only slightly different each time you face him.
Also, pretty much since Majora's Mask each Zelda game has contained some sort of mini game that I just hated, but had to do if I wanted the heart piece. This game had a couple of these, and both due to the motion controls: the diving game was pretty bad because the controls still aren't exactly one to one, but this game was a joy compared to the harp playing mini-game, which might be one of the worst things Nintendo has ever made, period. It is total garbage. For previous Zelda games I would have considered bringing such a thing up to be nitpicking, but these ended up being moments of great frustration that stand out in a game that is overall quite fun.
I almost feel kind of silly talking about the story of a Zelda game, since most of the games are hitting similar beats, but I think they managed to tweak it enough in Skyward Sword to make it feel almost new again. It doesn't hurt that there is an omission of an element found in nearly all Zelda games, which in it of itself causes things to be different. That isn't the only thing though, as the dynamic between Link and Zelda has been shifted just enough to make their interactions fresh. And, of course, the ending manages to have both sweet and sad moments that make you feel like your time in the game was well invested.
And that is how I ultimately feel. Despite wanting to throw the Wi-Mote out the window a few times, despite saying "ah fuck this game" on multiple occasions, I still am glad I played it; not only is this game motion control at its finest (which unfortunately isn't saying much), but is somewhere near the top of the chart of Zelda games. If they could just treat the player like a big boy I would recommend this game to everyone.l
