I'm not so enthusiast with Skyward Sword. I have read some positive critics, but also very bad. I hav'ent played yet, and for a good reason : the game seem to lacks everything I like in a Zelda.
First, the gameplay, with the WiiMotion Plus, is really precise. That could be a good point, but it is too precise. Each fight is a frustating challenge, because players have to do the right thing at the right time by moving their arms. That can be fun at first, but with time, I understand why everyone avoid monsters instead of fighting them. :/ And not only during fight : shaking the Wiimote to fly, seriously, is it enjoyable !? >< Every objects need a movement to be used, cut the grass has become painful. Oo Wiimote is a great concept, but… Be forced to use it all the time is clearly annoying. Because it is too imprecise ! Not the technology : the player. Push buttons or stick quickly and exactly on the right way, it's tricky, but doable. But an exact move, it's terrible. >< I don't want Wiimote or Kinect or any motion-stuff to replace buttons and controllers : games aren't simulations !
And another point about gameplay : the game is adapted to it. Because it take a long time to do something with the WM+, the player doesn't have to use it in a stress situation (fight, time challenge, etc). Shoot quickly with the a bow ? Over !
But that's not the reason I don't believe this game is better than Ocarina of Time, or the brilliant Wind Waker and Majora's Mask, or even Twilight Princess.
It has good puzzles. But a bad level-design. Especially for a Zelda. The developers said, I remember, that they wanted the player to not see the difference between dungeon and over-world. Well, that's a complete success : apparently, the entire game seem to be a huge dungeons ! Corridors, rooms, zones… The feeling of freedom and huge spaces is quite absent. There isn't even a cycle Day/Night ! Oh, there is a night, but it happen only if we sleep.
Though, sunsets were very immersive in the other 3D Zelda games !
However, there is the sky. That may be the only place were the player is free. But only the main island seems to be interesting. :/ That's few. In Wind waker, there was also one island very lively, but all the sea were interesting to explore !
In short, according to players I know that have finished the game, in SS, there is the sky and the main island with interesting characters, and the "Earth" which isn't made to be explored, and where there isn't unforgivable characters (just random PNJ).
The game design is also divided in quests that match a precise schema. It's sad when you can see the mechanics of a game so easily. That completely destroys the immersion ! Apparently, the adventure is divided in quests divided in hardships divided in puzzles. A little bit repetitive ("please find 3 objects", or "please do 3 times that thing").
But the aspect that push me to hate that game, it's the assistance ! Oo It was ridiculous in Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks ("Looks, that's a key, you can use it to open doors"). The player was always considered as an imbecile. And sadly, it's the same thing in SS. >< I hate assistance in modern video-games ! Cinematics to show you everything, clues repeated though it is putted in evidence from the beginning, directions given… The game is persuaded that the player doesn't have any brain. When you are in a situation, Fay describe it because you can't understand anything by yourself. When someone tell you something, Fay make a synthesis because you aren't able to memorize something. "Look, as you can clearly see, fire has disappeared !". That brake completely the rythm. When I see that such of thing, I just want to play, not to heard or read things that I already know ! Even if it's take 2 seconds, it's boring, because it happens to many often !
The most conclusive examples are the objects and the shops. Each time Link get an object after the console has been restarted, the game explain what is this object, and where it is in the inventory. And each time Link go to a shop, the sailer explain him what is that object, and that he can improve it in blablabla. That's long, boring, and impossible to skip ! >< I feel insulted when I see that in a game. :/
But it's though a good game. It's beautiful, dungeons are well done, and there are, after the first part, a nice amount of optional quests !
But it can't be a good Zelda. A Zelda need an adventure, a feeling of freedom, an impressive open world, emotions, immersion, exploration (real exploration, that's mean the player must be lost sometime), puzzles that require reflexion (and not just using the last object in mini-games)… Skyward Sword, like Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Track, seems to be a nice game, original, and beautiful. But a Zelda can't be just that !
I will purchase the game on Christmas. I know I will probably have a good time. But with all that I know about the game now, I know it won't be comparable to what I felt with every other Zelda, ever Twilight Princess (that was very linear and with an empty world, but a little bit impressive and with a huge field).
