We may have been four years behind the Breath of the Wild curve, but we were primed and ready to go when Skyward Sword was released in HD for the Switch. Indeed, Demelza was up at midnight on release day, attempting to (successfully) obtain a pair of SSHD joy-cons and (unsuccessfully) purchase a Loftwing Amiibo, both of which we’d missed on preorder.
But we are Zelders, with things like family and work clamoring for attention, so we didn’t play until the day after release. We were ready to go that morning, though: joy-cons charged, check; larder stocked with snacks, check; and, of course, the ingredients for a new cocktail assembled, double check.
After Demelza finished carefully reviewing her pre-game checklist and admonitions – during which Itzal impatiently tapped his foot and looked over her shoulder where the console and big screen waited – we began our next adventure. And after seven hours of play (granted, with breaks for the aforementioned snacks and cocktails, meandering discussions about our dogs and the weather, and oh, yes, some tweeting), here are our overarching comments:
Overarching Comments
First of all, Skyward Sword, even in HD, is not Breath of the Wild. Nothing is Breath of the Wild, except, we hope, the coming sequel. But if you go into the game expecting (and accepting) that it’s not Breath of the Wild, Skyward Sword is a great deal of nostalgic fun.
Second – this comment falling in the camp of the Obvious, but still it must be noted – it’s a re-release. The original Skyward Sword for Wii came out in 2011. Indeed, we gave the original game a go back then, but as we were both in demanding jobs at the time, we didn’t get much past Go, and we are pretty certain we didn’t collect even 200 rupees.
Third, the game describes the origins of the Zelda-Link story, a starting point in the Hyrule chronology, if you will.
But before we get in over our heads (simmer down, Twitterverse!), we’ll admit right now that we understand – okay, we don’t really –that there are multiple timelines in the games, with adult Link and child Link and alternative realities and worlds and they all emerge and diverge during different (In Real Life) years from 1986 on, sometimes going backward or sideways, and BTW why does Link keep falling asleep through all this, and OMG, can’t there be a logical progression? Does this have to rival the search for the theory of everything?
But back to the subject at hand: this third point, the origins angle, is interesting, especially after completing BOTW. Here in Skyloft at the (caveated) beginning of time, it’s comforting to know that Zelda is still chastising Link and disappearing inexplicably; Link is still being jostled awake at every turn; simple Beedle still sells his wares; lovable Gorons remain, well, lovable, if rather dull; weapons still break – okay, that’s not so comforting – and, naturally, Link is still a hero, whether it’s rescuing what looks to be a cat or raising his sword against a Bokoblin.
Beneath that umbrella of overarching comments, we have some other observations.
Some Other Observations
There’s considerable exposition and world-building in Skyward Sword HD. Exposition occurs in all Zelda games, certainly – looking for the “skip cutscene” button, anyone? But there seems to be more than the usual amount in SSHD. Or perhaps, after BOTW, we are just eager to GET ON WITH THINGS, you know? However, as we understand it, Nintendo did clean up a few annoyances from the Wii version of the game, such as now having the ability to speed through repetitive dialogue and only “learning” about a given item the first time you get it. That makes the exposition tolerable.
Unfortunately, one of the would-be improvements, an Amiibo that enables rapid travel between Skyloft and the Surface, was not available to us, nor to many.
Unlike BOTW (we did note that it’s not BOTW, after all), one can’t go exploring hither and yon at will. Eventually, hither will come to a full stop, and yon won’t go on. The world doesn’t just open up to Link depending on whether he decides to go left or right at the fountain. We miss that open adventuring, we admit, for all we groused earlier about the lack of logical progressions generally.
Switching (no pun intended) gears, there’s some awfully suggestive dialogue in those scenes with Zelda, Groose, and Link. Post-race ritual with the maiden? Playing the Goddess? Hmmm.
And that Groose fellow is just asking to be the catalyst of the #metoo movement in Skyloft, and come to think of it, Zelda herself….well, let’s just say that it was Link doing all the blushing.
And now for some Zelder Tips
No doubt many younger players have either finished the game already or did not even deign to play it, being jaded by the old school story line and graphics. But for those of you neither jaded nor done, here are a couple of tips to get you started:
Zelder Tip #1: You’ll be tempted to begin the game using either a master controller or the joy-cons attached to a joy-con grip. Avoid the temptation. A controller set-up works fine early in the game, but once you need to execute diagonal slashes with your sword or glide this way or that on your Loftwing, you’ll wish you had separate controls in each hand. Learn to play one way from the beginning – using the joy-cons separately, one in each hand. (Editor’s note, much, much later: We now disagree with ourselves on this point. The stupid Spiral Charge Tutorial and the Great Spirit of the Skies Levias will do that to you.)
Zelder Tip #2: Prepare for some carpal tunnel twinges. You’re not thirty anymore.
Where’s the Canteen?
Many of our favorite screenshots from BOTW (some of which are featured on our website) are from the Noble Canteen in Gerudo. Accordingly, Demelza researched whether there was a canteen counterpart in SSHD. She was giddy with excitement over the discovery of the existence of the Lumpy Pumpkin, a rustic bar – um, somewhere. About every fifteen minutes, while we wasted time rescuing cat-like things and slashing at Deku Babas, Demelza would gently remind Itzal (an act which Itzal calls “whining”) about the importance and desirability of finding the Lumpy Pumpkin.
But since Itzal would not be swayed from his “eye on the prize” mentality, we will have to frequent Skyloft’s bar another day.
Fortunately, however, Itzal was willing to pause to craft a cocktail IRL, and we offer it to you here: the Vanilla Sky. We find it fitting – the sky, duh, obvious – but also the vanilla; here at the beginning of time, vanilla is…like a blank page. The test is about to begin.
Prepare to lift your pencils.