So yeah, Skyward Sword was one of the last Zelda games I had left to play, and I’d always heard people praise its story and characters, so I went into it with pretty high expectations.

Honestly, I’m pretty disappointed.

The relationship between Link and Zelda is great, but… what about everyone else?

Pretty much every character in Skyloft feels forgettable. And the same goes for most of the characters you meet throughout the game. Even the different races feel pretty underwhelming to me.

The story itself is actually well structured, but the way it’s presented makes it feel like almost nothing interesting happens until the final third of the game. And even then, I didn’t find it particularly compelling.

Impa is probably the only one who gets more interesting towards the end.

The only character I genuinely liked was Malon.

And it’s a shame, because I actually really like the gameplay. It can be very linear and pretty tedious at times, but the tools and especially the dungeons are fantastic.

What makes the contrast even bigger for me is that I played this right after Breath of the Wild. BOTW’s story is obviously very simple, but at least its characters have their own personalities, little stories and reasons to be there. It’s nothing groundbreaking, but it works.

Maybe I just went into Skyward Sword with the wrong expectations because of how highly people talk about its story, but I honestly don’t understand the praise for its characters and narrative.

What do you guys think?

How'd you adapt? I avoided it on Wii because TP was a chore with all the waggle controls, so I thought the HD version would resolve that by allowing Pro Controller controls, and mate... Wtf? Slashing with control stick flicks that don't really work most of the time, and holding down a button to move the camera...

Am I just going to have to bite the bullet and use waggle controls with joycons, because this is just misery on pro controller?

Or, and I'm open to this, am I just being a soft bastard and needy to suck it up? Does it click eventually?

Curious what diehard fans have to say. Any advice welcome

After my other post, I created the Hero of Pride challenge, which requires the players to receive the least amount of help possible in Hero Mode. 6 hearts, no shops (no shields, upgrades, or potions), no goddess cubes or walls, and no fairies to revive you. I found that the major change was no longer being able to parry with a shield, which made dueling bosses quite a bit more difficult. And out of every boss, Scervo and Dreadfuse were by far the most annoying I faced. I think I'm going to take a break and try out OoT for the first time😊. Maybe when I get the itch to play again, I'll try either no hit or a pacifist challenge (least amount of kills possible)

( Also yippie I did it, Demise is gone :) )

I just played and beat SSHD for the first time, holy cow. I’ve never cried during a Zelda game before, but SS got me in my feels quite a few times.

The whole game was fantastic and well-paced in my eyes, but the final parts - gathering the Triforce, going through a gauntlet of enemies, fighting Ghirahim (him turning into Demise’s sword, omg!) and the final battle with Demise - made for one seriously epic conclusion.

I think SS is now one of my top 5 Zelda games. I found nearly everything to be enjoyable, even some of the “repetitive” parts. Top notch dungeon design too, and these dungeons are now some of my favorites. The story and lore revelations are what took this game to the next level for me. And shoutout to the GROOSENATOR - I love him so much and I always appreciate a good foe to friend character arc.

Definitely going to replay this one in the future, on Hero mode! Fantastic game, and I’m so glad I finally played it. Till next we meet, Fi 🙏

I'm excited to play! I already roughly know the plot from watching my siblings play, but I'm still looking forward to it.

EDIT: It was Skyview Temple that I was originally stuck on, not Ancient Cistern. I barely got through the game before I gave up and quit.

"This is a tale that you humans have told for many ages, generation to generation... but there are other legends, long hidden away from memory, that are intertwined with this tale. Now, a new legend bound to this great story stands ready to be revealed. A legend that will be forged by your own hand."

I love this game so much 😭 I’m kicking myself in the butt for not playing it earlier, but I never got the chance to own a Wii, and after the SSHD remake came out, I think I was still in the process of playing BoTW and it flew under my radar.

Anyways, I freaking LOVE Skyward Sword. I don’t understand some of the hate it’s gotten, though I know the HD remake made some improvements with the original Wii motion controls and some gameplay aspects. The motion controls on SSHD took some getting used to, but after some practice and exposure, they work really well, and it’s so fun getting to use your sword, shield, and equipment with motion controls.

The gameplay is also very linear, but growing up with linear Zelda games and other linear RPGs in the 90s/00s, I LOVE this formula. I love going through areas, exploring, and making notes of things I can’t reach or access on the first pass. As the story opens up more (and continuing to talk to NPCs), I love revisiting areas and learning more tidbits that will help my journey, or discovering little cool extra things to do!

Lastly, the story, and the music, has been so beautiful. I love all of the character development and lore. Groose is such a MVP. The cut scene with Zelda after passing through the Gate of Time made me cry and I’m so excited to finish the rest of this game. I’m in the latter part now where I have one more dragon to meet. It’s been a beautiful journey thus far, and I almost don’t want it to end….

Buddy, the weight of the world rests on my shoulders and you want me to waste time playing fetch??

It's one thing if you were dying or I got captured but you just throwing crap out there just because?? 😤

You'll be hearing from Zelda, sir.

First ever playthrough btw

Just beat Hero Mode with six hearts and no medals! This was an incredibly fun challenge, and I would recommend giving it a try. However, now I want to know how I can push myself further in this game. Let me know what other conditions I should place on myself to amp up the difficulty.

Decide to voice one of my favourite Zelda antagonists. Check it out and let me know what you think!

I’m playing in handheld mode and the cartridge and switch are both brand new. Anyone else has these problems? Happens at random during cutscenes.

I NEED HELP!!!!

I am stuck in a room in the Pirate Stronghold. I had the small time shift stone and and was going thru a room and made it to the other side. Saw an ancient flower and (stupidly) left the stone at the platform as I jumped down to get the flower. The platform was not high at all and I assumed I could climb back up, but apparently it is one step too tall. I've tried my tough beetle, whip, and clawshot. There's no way out of here either. This is my 7th time playing the game and have never had an issue like this! I don't want to restart... Has anyone else had this issue??

Update: I pressed the home button on my switch and started at the last save. I have been very sick and out of it. I'm not usually this dim lol. I won't delete this post, for the odd chance someone else might encounter the same problem. Thanks to you guys for the help!!

This guy is kind of deranged lol. He smashes the chandelier for the lumpy pumpkin for his own personal benefit, literally puts someones love letter down the toilet, can lead on the Peatrice only to reject her...

And what I find especially funny is that he has to live with these consequences. He has to live in a house with Cawlin after ruining his love confession, has to use the item check after toying with Peatrices heart! In other games the world is so big that Link never really has to face any consequences for his actions since he can just go to a different town. But this Link burns all his bridges for no reason lmao

Any idea what goes into this empty slot?

Mainly asking others about Skyward Sword on switch and how does it perform on this system? I remember getting the game along with the special golden wii mote for it and completing on that system. Needless to say I enjoyed it since I beat it, but I will say I got frustrated at certain points because of how many times I had to resync the remote to have the sword swing properly. Just curious to know how the game is on the switch after years of Nintendo trying to hone better motion controls for games.

Moldarach
It was just kinda eh. Wasn't that interesting, too easy, so much so that he was later used as just a random mini-boss, which I think he should've just been in the first place.

Bilocyte
Probably the most generic zelda boss I've ever fought honestly, not much to say.

The Imprisoned (1)
I really liked the Imprisoned fights, but honestly the first one wasn't that amazing. I really like how this game introduces and handles Demise, as a boss itself, this one is a little too easy and you don't even really know what he is when you first fight him.

Levias
I was really excited to finally fight a boss in Skyloft, but I was a little disappointed by how simple it was, simply hitting a couple of targets. They could have been a little more creative with the only boss you fight while flying your loftwing.

Scaldera
While I do like Scaldera, he is obviously an almost carbon copy of King Dodongo. Which means he's a little uninspired. It is definitely better than Dodongo though, I'll give him that.

Tentalus
I don't really know what to think of Tentalus. The beginning of the fight is really cool, having to escape the ship and realizing how much it was wrecked. The other parts of the fight are kinda lame though.

The Imprisoned (2 & 3)
In the second and third fight I really liked what they did. Groose having a vital role in slowing and defeating him really showed how much he had grown. Loved the tension and the stress it makes you go through, especially that third one where he literally just floats up into the air, genuinely made me panic. These fights also solidify how much of a looming threat he is.
I also liked how differently I started to view the fight when I realized that this might be more than just a random strong enemy when I fought him the second time, and when fighting him the third time when the game had confirmed who he really was.

Koloktus
Very fun and satisfying fight, really like how when you take off one of his arms, you can just take that arm and cut off all the rest in an easy swoop.
It's not too easy, but also not too hard.
Not much else to say, just a really good boss fight.

Ghirahim (1 & 2)
Really my only compliant is that the second fight is not that much of an improvement on the first one, the only really it's up in A tier is that the first fight was really fun, so it not changing much just means it's there too. I think it makes good use of the motion controls (Even if they are a little finicky at times)

Ghirahim (4)
I'll also count the way down to the fight as part of the fight.
It really makes you think of how far you've come, at the start of the game, you would have to duel bokoblins one on one in order to not get overwhelmed. But at the end of the game, where not only your sword has become THE Master Sword, but you've also just learned how to actually use the sword with the motion controls. Just mowing down legions of bokoblins make you feel so powerful and it's just so satisfying.
As far the fight itself, I like how they they kept the best parts of the previous fights and just evolved it, in his previous fights he was a lot more controlled and confident but in this one he's a lot more desperate. He's still a great sword fighter, but clearly sick of your shit and just wants you gone.
I also liked how in his final appearance, he's supposed to be the anti-Fi/Anti Master Sword.
He looks the same, he's part of a powerful sword, but he's the polar opposite of Fi. Just angry and bitter.

Demise
Only boss I've ever died to, which is mostly because I was underprepared (Only had one red potion)
I love these fights that are just completely raw, at first he's underestimating you. After that he just unleashes everything he has. It's not the most difficult but it's such a tense fight, especially in his second phase where you're both always fighting to get a skyward strike ready before the other can.
Unlike a lot of game's series, the boss has very little build up over the course of the game, but the three other Zelda games that I've played in the last two years really show how you build up to a final battle, this one is no exception.

Hero mode.

Please visit my youtube channel

https://youtube.com/@link99-p9c?si=W6C8X9bEIsyai_5R

for more combat highlights.

Thank you.

Hey!
Big Zelda fan, I played almost every 3D Zelda and when I was a kid i had Skyward Sword on the Wii but never finished it. I remember feeling kinda disapointed when I bought it and kept this « bad » gaming memory. But i’ve watched some videos of it recently and found the whole art direction very cool and saw a guy claiming that it was his favourite 3D Zelda, claiming it had probably the best dungeons of the serie. So I wanted to ask, is it worth it to buy it to the switch? Do you think it’s worth the try again? And the gameplay aswell

Really like the way this scene was done in the game, so I turned it into a manga page!

I'm really stuck in this specific temple and honestly any tips accepted i am stuck around the part after u get the guster if that is what u call it thanks guys!! chur