Tons of details from the first Zelda: Skyward Sword review
The Official Magazine has published the first Zelda: Skyward Sword review about a month before the game launches around the world. As previously reported, they awarded the game a 98% score along with a “Gold Award”.
Wondering what the magazine said about the title? Fortunately, we have a ton of details from the review, which was surprisingly devoid of spoilers.
You can find the information after the break.
– Hasn’t fallen short on its promises
– Constantly surprising adventure
– Progresses at breakneck pace
– Unexpected and original locations
– Breathtaking, inspiring vistas
– Charming, funny, and memorable characters
– “an absolute masterpiece from start to finish, entirely deserving of our gushing praise and unbridled hyperbole, and a contender for the crown of best game on Wii.”
– Most enemies require a degree of forethought before attacking
– Catching bugs more difficult than you think
– Wildly flailing the net will scare the bugs away, so you’ll need to time your movements carefully
– “Some old items make a reappearance, such as your slingshot and bow, though by the game’s close your inventory will be largely made up of strange and funky new gadgets.”
– Game races from new location to new location
– You’ll get showered with new toys that use MotionPlus in interesting ways before throwing you into situations in which they’re mixed up with old mechanics you thought you’d mastered in previous areas in the game, creating new puzzles and challenges
– Some locations “are utterly un-Zelda like”
– The game “tirelessly works to surprise you, and it never fails to do just that”
– It seems that the dungeons are shorter than normal (can’t confirm this yet)
– Game looks the most impressive while you’re riding your Loftwing, “with the full brunt of the game’s painterly, impressionist art style stretching out from the warm, pinkish, bubbling clouds below to the daubed, dark green hues of distant sky islands. It’s an animated, flowing watercolor, the effect both cleverly masking the limitations of the Wii’s draw distance while simultaneously and effortlessly pleasing the eyeballs.”
– One of the best-looking Wii games
– Can upgrade the dowsing ability so that it’ll lead you towards hearts, treasures, and more
– Fi is non-intrusive
– Fi’s hints are craftily worded so that you’ll still have to come up with answers on your own
– ONM describes Fi as “a charming character”, “vastly intelligent, calculating, verbose and incongruosly ‘digital’ sounding.”
– The game’s inhabitants “give Skyward Sword’s world real flavor and texture.”
– Plot itself is straightforward
– Skyward Sword has a lot of heart, brains
– The game features an intelligent and captivating adventure that will always maintain your attention
– “Skyward Sword stands as an ode to a series that has endured all of recent gaming history. It marks the dizzying pinnacle of both the Zelda series and motion-controlled gaming itself. It’s a huge accomplishment that, even by Nintendo’s own record, stands out as one of their finest.”
– Second opinion: “You can tell Nintendo have spent many years honing this to near-perfection. More than worth the wait”
