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The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword - Deeper Hands On

Related Platforms:
  • Wii
By Marko Djordjevic, GameSpot, Posted Oct 7, 2011 1:00 pm GMT

We head deeper into the world of Skyward Sword.

In our previous coverage of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, we gave you a brief overview of some of Link's encounters during the first few hours of the game, specifically his time in Skyloft. After riding your loftwing to victory and spending time with the lovely Zelda, some crazy stuff happens. Obvious spoiler: Zelda disappears and Link must travel to the land below the sky to find her.

Link's Adventure moves forward.

Link's Adventure moves forward.

Link travels to the Sealed Grounds and the Farron Woods where he encounters a number of enemies and characters. On the hunt for Zelda, Link bumps into creatures called kikwis that initially think of him as a threat. Upon realizing that Link isn't hostile, they give him clues as to the whereabouts of Zelda. Here, you'll search around the area for other kikwis that have been hiding, and upon finding all three, the elder kikwi, Bucha, gives Link a boomerang and information as to where it saw Zelda go.

This leads Link to the first main dungeon in the game. The dungeon itself is fairly large and divided into two sections. The first part has you solving puzzles that open floodgates, which fill up the area with water and grant you access to a door leading to the next area. The puzzles themselves aren't too difficult and the enemy types will be instantly familiar to longtime fans of the series, but it still may take a bit of time to figure out how to proceed.

Upon opening all of the doors in the first area, Link moves onto a new section and more puzzles to solve. Here, his newly acquired beetle weapon, which flies in the sky and can reach impossible-to-get-to switches and items, aids Link in reaching higher ground. He then receives a vital piece that opens the final door. The key required to open the door is a puzzle itself where you have to manipulate it with the Wii Remote to fit into the door. Opening the door greets you with the game's first boss fight and probably the first area that may cause some visible frustration. This boss battle can be extremely easy or difficult, depending on if Link is smart enough to keep his shield in good standing. This enemy absolutely loves to throw darts, and its quick striking abilities can be extremely devastating and can kill Link without the aid of his shield or proper dodging. With the right timing and countering, Link should be able to dispose of this foe with only some minor scratches, and thankfully, the motion controls work well here. Link's ability to strike both vertically and horizontally is extremely important because his foes will position their swords in such a way as to protect themselves from one kind of strike but not another.

For a series like The Legend of Zelda, it can be quite a challenge to inform players without spoiling story elements. There is a lot of content that you will experience in the early parts of the game, and what we've mentioned here, as well as in our last preview, is just a fraction of what you can expect to encounter early on in the game. We've held back on a lot because there are certain elements that are better experienced firsthand rather than told about ahead of time.

This battle can be quite challenging without a shield.

This battle can be quite challenging without a shield.

While our adventure with Link went beyond this opening dungeon and even included some sidetracking, this is where we stop telling you of our direct experience. We'll still have more coverage in other forms, but for those anxiously awaiting Link's next adventure, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword hits the Nintendo Wii on November 20.

51 Comments

  • zachattack24

    Posted Nov 15, 2011 8:06 pm GMT

    @gillygill220 Actually he was he alternated hands in the first two games depending on which direction you were facing.

  • DS-man

    Posted Nov 2, 2011 12:04 pm GMT

    @xw1ng lol even though BF3 has been given a low rating by players, gamespot and other critics? XD BF3 is unbalanced whilst MW3 is spot in =P Look at the charts pal

  • Chrlywtrfall

    Posted Oct 30, 2011 8:33 pm GMT

    @xw1ng

    My suggestion: Wait. Buy Skyrim. Play nothing but that till January. Then, play Skyward Sword will February. Next, play Batman till March. Then, sell everything but your TV, your 360/ps3, and one controller. You will then be ready for Mass Effect 3. After that, no game will ever come close you making you happy. Time to get a new hobby. Maybe Archery?

    Oh, skip Assassins creed and every re-hashed military FPS. AC2 was the peak of that series and Battlefield? Madden players have more brains than the knuckledraggers that play that repetitive junk online.

    If you follow this plan, you not only will be happier in 9 months, You'll be better looking and strong like me. Plus, you'll have more money for a sweet bow. Chicks dig archery.

  • xw1ng

    Posted Oct 26, 2011 12:22 am GMT

    i hate this year and this set of months. i have to go out and buy battlefield 3, uncharted 3, Batman arkham city, and Skyward sword all in about a month's time. then i have to figure out how to balance playing all of them. and then i have to get assassins creed revelations and transformers fall of cybertron. and i'll still be playing battlefield and zelda by that point so i have to figure out even more balancing issues. oh and i still have to set aside time to laugh and mock all the idiots who wasted money on modern warfare 3. i guess i'll have to find solace in the time i'm actually playing these fantastic games.

  • cbthedog

    Posted Oct 24, 2011 3:30 pm GMT

    CANT WAIT, just got Kirby's Return to Dream Land, gotta hit that up. This'll b Wii's last hurrah! I'm PUMPED!!!

  • Shadowmax889

    Posted Oct 24, 2011 2:49 pm GMT

    a 10/10 on edge magazine. This game smells GOTY

  • gillygill220

    Posted Oct 24, 2011 2:17 pm GMT

    This game is gonna be awesome...just one thing though...why is link right handed, he's always been a lefty!

  • LKPWarrior26

    Posted Oct 23, 2011 8:26 pm GMT

    Never been disappointed with a Zelda title in my life. I KNOW this one will not disappoint either! Day one buy for me!!!

  • Maurik03

    Posted Oct 21, 2011 10:24 am GMT

    its ZELDA, its never gonna be a bad game.
    cant wait to buy this game

  • 1337drawr

    Posted Oct 21, 2011 1:42 am GMT

    @ RPG_Fan_I_Am
    I wouldn't necessarily call it "deceiving", as Nintendo broke a contract they signed into. It is technically their fault for not exploring all avenues of the said agreement. Please do not view this as a fan-boy attack, as I value Nintendo as a gaming company as much as Microsoft and Sony. But when one party suddenly wants to change drastic features of a contract, a stale ending is a guarantee.

  • Son_Jazrin

    Posted Oct 20, 2011 6:34 am GMT

    At this point, I don't even care what it looks like, I'm just hoping the release date doesn't change again.

  • cjetter

    Posted Oct 19, 2011 8:49 am GMT

    I agree if you were to have a terrible game with good Graphics and an epic game with terrible graphics which would you chose. I don't know about you sonicXstatic but I would choose the Epic game

  • penpusher

    Posted Oct 17, 2011 1:37 pm GMT

    @sonicXstatic why does it need HD to make it a must buy?

  • Sleepyhun1

    Posted Oct 14, 2011 9:45 am GMT

    Why is nov 18 Friday, Why.....

  • Wolflink001

    Posted Oct 13, 2011 5:48 pm GMT

    Honestly can't wait for Skyward Sword! The more they unveil this game the more I have to turn away because I don't want the game being spoiled too much before I play it.

  • cjetter

    Posted Oct 13, 2011 7:44 am GMT

    @ RPG_Fan_I_Am

    I know about that i just wished sony and nintendo haden't both tried to cheat eachother

  • sonicXstatic

    Posted Oct 12, 2011 6:29 pm GMT

    @eyefrein: i'm just imagining this game with hd graphics. (Similar to Wii U's Zelda demo) that would make this game a must-buy!

  • Linkmaster2010

    Posted Oct 12, 2011 3:25 pm GMT

    Still can't wait for this. Only 5 more weeks!

  • RPG_Fan_I_Am

    Posted Oct 12, 2011 9:14 am GMT

    @cjetter
    After Sony deceived Nintendo back in like 91 or 92 or something, I doubt that. But in case you don't know what I'm talking about, considering most people don't know, Sony and Nintendo worked together to form a new console back then. It was supposed to be a disc add on for the super nintendo. Nintendo broke off the deal last minute though because They discovered that Sony had written in the original contract that they had all rights to all games released on the console. They rewrote the contract to give nintendo rights too, but then sony decided to drop the Snes add on last minute, change the name and betray Nintendo in return.

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