Let’s Play Skyward Sword (Part 1) – The Greatest Moment In Zelda Ever

Disclaimer: I will be putting spoilers past the breaks of these articles. These are for people who have played certain parts of the games to come discuss things with me, so don’t click if you haven’t played it yet!

So, it’s pretty safe to say that the majority of you are playing Skyward Sword right now, or if not, you will be playing it very shortly. Since I think we’re all really excited and just looking for a place to gush about how good (or bad, I guess) the game is, I figured I would start a collective playthrough/talk about the game that all of us can get in on and… uh… stuff. I’m not going to go for a really professional tone as I do with many articles; instead I’ll just be talking honestly and candidly, so forgive any weird statements. Here’s the deal:

The Low Down:
– No spoilers beyond the point of the game we’re discussing are allowed.
– Every time a new discussion is posted, it will deal with a new part of the game.
– If you are behind on the playthrough, let me know and we can slow it down to fit as many people’s needs as possible.
– This is sort of like a collective “review” of the game.

This week’s section is going to deal with the first ~2 hours of the game. Hit the break to see exactly what that means.

(This post will deal with the beginning of the game, ending with when you pull the sword from the pedestal)

The opening cutscene played, and I was covered in goosebumps head to toe. I literally had forgotten what it was like to be sucked into a Zelda game since it had been nearly five years since I beat Twilight Princess, and the textual style mixed with the epochal music couldn’t be described as anything less than magical. Combine that with the knowledge that I was about to be donning my green tunic and taking flight through the skies of Hyrule (?), and I was about as excited as a guy can be for something.

My general impression of everything that happens before the game started was incredibly positive. I loved the music, the art style, and the dialogue, but something seemed different about it. Compared to Zelda games before, there was a level of cinematic mastery that we hadn’t seen in Twilight Princess or prior. It was incredible, and yet, nostalgic all at the same time. If I learned anything from the first two hours of the game, it’s that I was about to do something really f*cking fantastic. I wasn’t quite sure what it was, but the low rumble of excitement had me nearly bursting while I wandered the sidewalks and pathways through Skyloft.

Though, I suppose if you’re reading this you probably already played it, haven’t you? There’s no point in me going over boring story details and stuff then, let’s just skip to all of my favorite parts and least favorite parts, then we can discuss them together in the comments. Here are the specific positive things:

The Visuals: Stunning as they may look in videos, there really is not quite anything like actually wandering through Skyloft yourself. My favorite example of this is at night when you’re first chasing down that girl Fi and you look up at the stars to see a beautifully painted moon and clouds that look so fantastical and distant it’s as if you will never make it there. I’ve got goosebumps just thinking about it.

The Music: I know we all expected the music of Skyward Sword to be good, but I never knew just how much mastery they’d have over a full orchestra. The highlight of this was the song that plays while you chase Fi- a beautiful and somber piano/panflute sort of melody that had me totally entranced. This is the point where I said “This could be the best game of all time.”

Groose: God I love Groose. He’s a total asshole, but him- alongside the other characters in Skyloft- are so wonderfully animated (in the personality sense) that I know I won’t forget them soon. A complete step up from Twilight Princess.

First Getting The Sword: You are going to hear me saying this a lot, but the controls in Skyward Sword are the best action adventure controls I have ever laid my hands on. Better than Twilight Princess, better than Oblivion, better than any game I have ever played. I never ever want to even think about playing a sword fighting game without this control scheme ever again. It’s the feeling you had as a kid when you picked up a stick and ran around fighting imaginary enemies in a field- you are totally entranced in this other world, and simply swinging the sword is fun. I know when I sit down to play it again tonight, I’m going to spend a while just wandering around hitting stuff with it because it’s so fun.

Getting Your Loftwing Back/Flying for the First Time: I had flown in Skyward Sword. I did it as far back as in June at E3, but when you have the whole control scheme in context in becomes ten times better. They did an amazing job of making you long for the sky when you couldn’t have it, and even though you were only deprived for an hour or so, the feeling of getting on that Loftwing and soaring around was absolutely magnificent. A true high point for the game so far, and honestly, it’s up there as another great moment for Zelda.

Chasing Fi: The atmospheres in Zelda games are amazing. Every single one is great and brings you to a totally new place, but when Fi first shows up and you chase her into the night, the art style really shows its stuff. This whole sequence- from music to combats (HOLY SH*T YOU HAVE TO FIGHT THAT CAT THING) to graphics- was incredible. Definitely another high point.

Getting the Real Sword: I said to some friends earlier today that the first two hours of Skyward Sword has one of the best moments I can recall in a Zelda game, period. This is what I’m talking about. After the amazing sequence where you chase down Fi, physically pulling the sword out of its pedestal and holding it above my head made me feel like nothing else has. Goosebumps shot through my body (as they are right now) and when I realized I was truly controlling Link like never before, I felt more at one with my character than I ever have in any game before. Period. Motion controls prove to me that they can add to the immersive aspect of a game, and truly, I never want to go back.

Now, despite all of these great things, there was one thing that I initially disliked about the controls (I’ve since gotten used to it and moved on), but that was that when you push ‘C’ to look from first person, it faces the direction that the third person camera was facing, rather than facing the direction Link’s character model is facing. I’m used to it being the latter, so yea, it did take me a quick minute to get over that hump. Still, everything aside from this was flawless and truly magical.

I’m really looking forward to getting onto the next section of the game! What parts did you guys like/dislike?