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The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Gripping Link

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Review Look who it is. Just when you thought that the dust-gathering ornament you used to call a Nintendo games console was in permanent retirement, back it bounds. Why? Because there’s a new Legend of Zelda in town - a game most will have played before in one guise or another, and one that Nintendo always finds a way to freshen up.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Lock-dressed monster

Where Link to the Past had its world-swapping; Ocarina of Time had its... well, ocarina; Wind Waker its cell-shaded high seas; and Twilight Princess its lashings of lycanthropy, Skyward Sword's main additives are a sword with nearly, but not quite, one-to-one control and the introduction of Link as master of the skies.

Skyward Sword opens in Skyloft, situated far above an impenetrable blanket of cloud which for eons has served as barrier between those above and what lies below. Exactly what that might be is largely forgotten by the Skyloftians, a people happy to live their lives above the clouds, travelling through their sun-kissed floating world atop giant birds.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Riding a bird

Skyloft serves as a hub from which Link will eventually be granted access to the long forgotten surface. Though that’s not to say that Skyloft isn’t without its own secrets, indeed you’re free to explore the floating islands at your leisure. Its inhabitants, a mixture of the odd and downright bizarre, tasking Link with errands, so adding to the already hefty 35 hours play time as they do.

Exploring Skyloft does, however, reveal the shortcomings of the Wii’s graphical prowess.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Don't speak to a horny clown

Nintendo has gone to great lengths to disguise the fact that the Wii is a geriatric, standard definition console where possible but, creative and colourful though the gaming world is, there’s too much blurring of the horizon and low res textures on show for comfort. Indeed, you’ll find yourself wondering how amazing Zelda might appear in HD.

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Wiiiiiii

I bought a Wii yesterday just so I could play this. No idea what I will do with the Wii once I finish it.

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Correct!

I'm 46, so the need to be considered "grown up" is not something I've contemplated for a couple of decades. The use of the phrase "grown up console" intimates that the poster has yet to get by that phase of their life.

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I have been a fan of the Zelda games for a long time, but I have no fingers on my right hand and, from what I have seen, I don't think I'm going to be able to play this comfortably, if at all. The ability to fall back to a Gamecube controller would have been appreciated. I got through Twilight Princess by tying the nun chuck and the Wii remote together, just shaking the whole thing was enough to trigger the sword on screen, but it was not ideal or particularly comfortable. (I know there was a Gamecube version available, but it would have been nice to have the option to use the Gamecube controller in the Wii version too).

I was annoyed even further by the fact that I emailed Nintendo to ask if there were any other control schemes that would better suit me (I stated clearly my issue was that I cannot hold the nun chuck and the Wii remote at the same time) and I (eventually) got a copied and pasted response about how Wii Motion Plus was more accurate than the Wii Controller alone, and suggesting I try Wii Sports Resort to get a feel for how it works...

I'm disappointed and I won't be buying it.

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