Skyward Sword tries many new things, and succeeds at most. However, there are some bumps in this (really long) road.
Graphics: I really enjoyed the graphics a lot. It's kind of a blend between Twilight Princess and Wind Waker, but manages to look unique as WW did when it was first released. There are tons of bright colors used that are very appealing to the eyes, and the artistic design of the characters, enemies, etc. is also very good. The enemies are pretty cartoony looking, but they still look great, and some of the humans look like caricatures as well. However, this game is not going for a realistic look and as such it succeeds at achieving what it set out to do. The environments look great, the character models are charming, everything about the game looks good. Sure, it may not be the strongest technical game, but the strong visual style more than makes up for it. 9/ 10
Sound: The sound effects are what we have all come to expect from the series. Link's battle cries, the sound of enemies, it's all here. The music is mostly new, and sounds pretty good. There isn't a ton of new music, but what's here is well done. The soaring orchestrated track that plays when you're flying around the clouds, the carefree music that plays on Skyloft, everything sounds very good. The only problem is that it doesn't stand up very well to the rest of the series. That's not to say the music is bad by any means, but you won't find yourself humming many tunes from this game the way you will with tracks like Gerudo Valley or the Dark World. There is one track, though, that is destined to be among the all-time greats of the series, and that is Ballad of the Goddess. Overall, while it may not stand up as well to other games in the series, SS has some great music. 8/ 10
Story: The story of Skyward Sword is pretty unique to the series. For one, Hyrule is virtually nonexistent. I don't believe it's ever mentioned once. Two, Zelda isn't a Princess, and Link is a student at the Knight Academy on the floating island of Skyloft. Three, Ganon is not really mentioned. The game explains a lot of backstory from the other games, such as the origin of the Master Sword and Ganon. There are also some really cool references to other games, such as how Link rides the Red Bird traditionally seen on the Hylian Shield in games like Ocarina of Time. It starts out with Link losing his Loftwing (giant birds that Knights and Knights in training fly) the day of a big competition that will determine who will be able to perform in some tradition. It turns out that a jerk named Groose, the typical High School Bully character, has hidden Link's Loftwing. Of course, Link finds it anyways, wins the competition and soon after, Zelda is kidnapped. However, from there, the story takes a few interesting turns, such as how Zelda is saved by a certain character who will remain nameless. She plays a much larger role in the story this time around, and it's more than just a "save the princess" kind of thing. There are a lot of cool characters, one of whom is the main villain, Girahim. He is a pretty unique character, and it's somewhat unfortunate that he is absent for a better part of the game. However, for the parts he's in, he really shines. Overall, the story is quite enjoyable, and explains a lot of things in the series in some cool ways. 8/ 10
Gameplay: I'll get my gripes out of the way first. This game, as the tag line said, tries a lot of new things, while still maintaining the basic Zelda formula. I'll talk about the things I didn't really like first.
For one, the overworld… it feels like a missed opportunity. It's a world in the sky, you fly around in it, and there are about 5 interesting places to go. It's very disappointing. Most of the islands are minigames, or lead to sidequests, but I really wish the world was more like traditional Zelda. Instead, there is one hub, Skyloft, and then the floating islands. Underneath the clouds, you eventually gain access to three different regions on the surface, a forest, volcano and desert. These are fairly linear places, which is also disappointing. Sure, there are some hidden caves and stuff to find, but, overall, the lack of exploration that is present in other Zeldas is not as prevalent in this one. This is probably the most disappointing aspect of the game. However, everything you need, all the shops and stuff is on Skyloft, giving this game an almost ARPG feel. Don't worry, though, it's still Zelda.
Second, some of the in between dungeon tasks feel like padding. This has always been a common element in Zelda games. Between each dungeon, there was some sort of story related task to do, but in the other games, they felt pretty natural, for the most part. And the majority of the ones in this game feel natural, but some of them are just blatant excuses to extend the game. Near the end of the game, you must go and perform different tasks in all three Provinces. Two of the three are pretty fun, but one of them is just an overlong fetch task. (There is also a game breaking glitch near the end of the game that can be pretty easily fixed, but it's kind of scary to think about, since it happens so late in the game, and if it happens, you can't finish the game.)
The third is your sidekick. In previous games, you had Navi (who up until this point was considered the most annoying one), Tatl (a pretty well developed character who has a lot of personality), the King of Red Lions (see tatl's description) and Midna. (See Tatl's description.) In this one, you have Fi, a spirit who lives in your sword since first three hours of the game. She is just wooden. She has absolutely no personality, and the most helpful she ever is is telling you obvious things. ("Master, the switch opened the door. There is an 80% chance you must go through it to continue.") She serves very little purpose to the story, aside from a few different elements, and she never tells you anything whenever you really need help. Nintendo could have done such a better job with her, but she just falls flat as a character, and gameplay helper.
The fourth thing I didn't really care for was the Harp. A little less than halfway through the game, you gain access to a harp that is supposed to serve as this game's instrument. However, it is useless outside of things related to the story and a minigame. Like, literally useless. The most you can do is strum it to make Gossip Stones appear, but aside from that, its only purpose is to mess around with. Admittedly, it sounds pretty cool, but I feel like it was just thrown in there for kicks and giggles. All you ever do with it is strum it away or to you depending on the way a circle of light is moving. It's so utterly simplistic, I feel it should have just been left out, truth be told.
Now onto the good things this game does.
The level design is among the best in the series. The dungeons are fairly big, and offer a stiff but fair challenge. Some of the puzzles are really tricky, and others are absolutely mind bending. There are also some pretty cool and unique settings for them, such as a pirate ship in the middle of the desert (yeah, you might think to yourself "how is that even possible?" It's explained pretty well in the game.) or a dungeon that can be altered manually. (You switch around the rooms in order to gain access to them.) They are rarely frustrating (although they can be at times because of the amount of running around you must do) and are satisfying to beat. And they are all punctuated with a pretty great boss battle. What is slightly disappointing is that two of the boss battles are repeated; one of them is one you must fight in a more powerful form, and one of them was just thrown into one part of the overworld just because. However, the bosses are still fun to fight, and you must constantly remain on your toes. That is one thing I really like about this game; you need to be constantly alert, otherwise you will die pretty quick. It's not too tough of a game, but if you don't adapt to the right strategy, you won't last long, which is more than you can say for Wind Waker and Twilight Princess. There is another boss battle that is repeated as well, but, like one of them, it is more powerful and different every time. I don't know if it was entirely necessary to repeat them, but two of the three repeated bosses are pretty fun to fight. Anyways, the items you get in these dungeons are also put to pretty good use, and are also put to good use throughout the overworld.
The motion controls are also worth mentioning. For the most part, they work pretty well. They do take some getting used to, but after you do, they become second nature and work pretty well. I never had any major problems with them.
Another thing the game does well is accessing your inventory. In previous Zeldas, you had to pause the game to switch items. In this one, there is a quick access item wheel so you can easily equip whatever item you need, from your weapons, or your Adventure Pack.
That is one new feature that I really like the idea of. The Adventure pack is a set of slots for you to place support items in, like Medallions or Potions. I'll elaborate. You have 4 slots to start out with, and can buy more from Beedle's shop. (Which is an amusing floating house thing.) You can store four types of items in it. One is an Empty Bottle. Like in previous games, this allows you to store liquids of all kinds, the most useful of which are the potions. There are four (?) to find/ buy in the game, and it's only required you have one to beat the story. The second of item is your Shield. In this game, there are four different kinds of shields, each with strengths and weaknesses. The Wooden shield allows you to defends against electricity, but can burn up pretty easily. The Metal shield defends against fire, but can't absorb electrical damage. The Goddess shield is immune to both, but has less Stamina. The fourth shield is basically the best, can't break and is immune to everything. Yeah, the shields in this game can break, which is why you need to carefully time your blocks so that you can avoid damage to both you and your shield. The third type of item are Medallions. New to this game, these supply you with an upgrade of some sort. For instance, a Heart Medallion allows you to find more hearts. A bug medallion allows you to see bugs on the map. The fourth type of item is ammo upgrades. You can carry things such as Quivers, extra bomb bags, etc. all of which can be upgraded. The Adventure Pack is a really neat new feature, as it requires you to carefully plan what you think you may need and strategize as such.
There is also an all new Upgrade system in place. You find both treasures and bugs, and you can use these to upgrade items and potions. This offers a really nice sense of progression; these items you find have a purpose, and aren't just something to collect. It's not an original idea, but it translates well into the Zelda universe. It can be addicting to hunt for treasures and bugs.
The game also gives you good reasons to spend your money. Not only is there an almost constant supply of new items to buy from Beedle (I ran out before the last dungeon) but buying potions is almost a necessity, unless you have mastered the game. You'll only ever really need Heart and Shield potions, but they are still immensely helpful. You will find many rupees over the course of the game, and chances are you won't stop spending until you beat the game. This is a nice change from other games, where there came a certain point where you would find rupees just to have them.
The game also features a Stamina bar, a green circle that is used for things like sprinting, and spin attacks. This is a nice new feature, because you can now run pretty fast which allows for quicker traversal of terrain.
The game also does a pretty good job of keeping you focused on getting the next item by way of sidequests and Goddess Cubes. The sidequests are plentiful in this game, and have some very enticing rewards, like Heart Pieces and Gratitude Crystals. These are things that you can find or get from sidequests and bring to a certain character who, after certain intervals of crystals, will give you unique items. The Goddess Cubes are cubes on the surface world that, when hit with a Skyward strike, will open up a previously locked chest in the sky, and you go find the chest to obtain whatever it is. This is a pretty compelling way to keep the player interested. I was always interested to see what new item would be available to me. These are also hid around the game world, so you will often have to come back to an area to use an item you didn't have before. The sidequests themselves are also fun, because, to me, they expand on the story, and offer more rewards.
Four different times in the game, you will need to do a Trial. These are stealth- esque segments that have you running around an area collecting Tears of Light to open the way to a dungeon. When you grab a Tear, you are immune to the Guardians for 90 seconds. However, you need to watch out for these ghost like creatures that wander around with lamps; wander into their light, and the Guardians activate. One hit from them, and you need to restart the trial. These Trials, especially the last one, deliver some pretty high intensity moments. You need to carefully move and plan which Tears you will get, so that you have the best chance of obtaining all of them. These aren't too tough, and can be overcome with some trial and error. Overall I really enjoyed this part of the game. It can get frustrating if you almost have every Tear of Light, but like I said, trial and error is your friend.
Overall, Skyward Sword tries many new things while keeping the same old Zelda formula, and, for the most part, it pays off. Despite some flaws, this is a very fun to play Zelda game. (And the motion controls are pretty well done, with a few exceptions.) 9/ 10
The big question is whether or not Skyward Sword is worth your time and money. It is more linear than previous games, the overworld is pretty disappointing in that it feels mostly empty, and some of the tasks feel like filler. The music isn't as good as other music in the series, as well. (Not to say it's bad by any means.) However, there are some wonderful new changes and additions, one of the most notable being the Upgrade system. As you upgrade a pretty large amount of items (including your sword through story sequences) there is a great sense of progression. You feel like a much more powerful Link than in the game's (admittedly slow) beginning. On top of that, the level design is superb, with some of the best dungeon designs in the series, and the graphics and story are quite enjoyable. I would say play this game if you're interested in Zelda and have never played before; it offers a decent challenge while still being fair for most players, and it just might make you want to play the rest of the games in the series. If you're a series vet and are interested in this game, it's worth it. You'll appreciate the many changes and additions. (An improved boss rush mode from Spirit tracks makes an appearance.) If you feel like the changes and things in this game aren't for you, well, they probably aren't. If you had no prior interest in the series, this will most likely to little to change your mind.
So long, and thanks for reading!