The Legend of Zelda series is one of gaming's greatest mainstays, and aside from a couple infamous Philips CD-i titles, has been a remarkable series in terms of consistent quality. For the most part, this may be due to the series' fairly strict adherence to a set formula. Each Zelda game shares a core narrative and general gameplay design, and while these basic ideas are expanded upon and explored differently with each ensuing title, Nintendo has essentially been following the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" rule for the past quarter-century. Before its release, Skyward Sword had been touted as a completely new direction for the series.
There is some truth to that claim, as Skyward Sword's overall structure and heavy reliance on motion controls give it a decidedly different feel from its predecessors, but the game still carries on plenty of past traditions. The end result of these simulatenous moves toward change and preservation of past mechanics and tropes is somewhat mixed. In my mind Skyward Sword stands with the likes of Bully and the first Assassin's Creed as a truly flawed masterpiece. The game has some pretty fundamental narrative and design flaws, but the overall experience is compelling enough that it remains a blast despite its missteps.
The first of these major flaws lies within Skyward Sword's narrative. While its story gets off on the right foot thanks to some great characterization (particularly in Zelda's case), the game comes close to dropping its driving plot all together throughout the game's middle stretch. The proceedings do pick up once again in the game's final hours, but it's a shame that the interesting world-building done in the game's opening moments is barely touched on again for so long. Even though the game starts with a lot of promise, the action is scarcely elevated from the usual Triforce-hunting, evil-vanquishing adventures we're all used to.
Luckily, while the main plot lacks interesting characters and events, side missions and some of the world's more minor denizens are very charming. Skyward Sword is the first Zelda game with proper side quests beyond mini-games and scattered collectibles, and these small diversions add a lot of life to the game's small collection of environments. Moments like an encounter with a sociable, but misunderstood demon, and deciding what to do with a classmate's letter add some memorable moments to the game's mostly sparse narrative.
In terms of basic gameplay, Skyward Sword sticks closely to the blueprint layed out by past Zelda titles. The player is almost constantly faced with a gauntlet of enemies, environmental puzzles, boss fights and platforming sections that have to be navigated through using the proper move or tool (which is usually an item from Link's ever-expanding collection of gadgets).
The most commonly used item is undoubtedly Link's sword. Thanks to tricky enemies and responsive, nearly 1:1 motion controls courtesy of the WiiMotion Plus attachment, swordplay is a blast in Skyward Sword. Enemies will be a lot smarter about defending themselves than they've been in the past, so the key to most combat encounters is catching an enemy off-guard and moving in for the kill. Occassionally, battles against stronger enemies will require such a constant barrage of attacks that you'll have to resort to mindlessly waving the Wiimote, and sometimes you'll need to recalibrate your controller if you exaggerate your motions too much, but on the whole, the basic combat is superb.
Aside from your sword, nearly every item in Link's arsenal benefits from compelling motion control. The newest item, a flying mechanical beetle controll entirely with the Wii remote, is one of the most useful, fun to use item in the game. The almost-too-accurate bow and arrow, as well as the awesome grappling hook are other highlights. It's a shame that a game that so effortlessly integrates items that show off the Wii's accuracy in motion controls came so late in its life-cycle.
In terms of its overall design, Skyward Sword is indeed quite different from past Zelda games. The areas you're dropped into are fairly open-ended, but there isn't much to do in them besides collect hidden treasures or materials for crafting, and none of the game's four main zones connect seamlessly. For the most part, your journey is as straightforward as it gets, and you constantly know where to go next.
Luckily, the openness and wonder of past Zelda titles isn't sacrificed for nothing. The game boasts the most consistent and prevalent set of challenges this series has yet seen. Puzzle-solving, and major enemy encounters are no longer strictly limited to dungeons, as the outdoor environments leading up to them are just as well-designed. In one particularly brilliant instance, you'll have to navigate your way around a ruin, solving some pretty devious puzzles and navigating your way through quicksand in order to even unearth the next temple.
At first this pacing is blissful. It plays like a pure distillation of the Zelda series' finest mechanics and does well to get rid of any filler. However, around the twenty hour mark, the game seems to try as hard as it can to stretch out its running time far longer than it should. Soon you'll be backtracking through zones you've previously visited with sloppily designed objectives. I consider some of these moments to be the most egregious examples of padding and backtracking I've ever encountered in a game. In the game's absolute worst moment, you're forced to leave the zone you're in while in the midst of solving a puzzle in order to get an item which will allow you to proceed (which is, of course, in an entirely different area). Then, once you retrieve the item, you must, for no apparent reason, make your way back to the spot you need to get to on foot (even though you would normally be able to fast-travel there), completeing a ridiculously unnecessary escort mission along the way. Now, this is the worst instance in the entire game, but there are plenty of scenarios that are similarly forced. As a 25 hour game, Skyward Sword is superb, but once you add in the 10-15 hours of hugely unnecessary backtracking, the game is considerably less impressive.
Fortunately, the game's dungeons are pretty great overall. Aside from one overly-simple dungeon later in the game, the dungeons have great layouts, fun boss battles and a smooth difficulty curve. The game's desert dungeons which revolve around manipulating time altering artifacts are downright genius, and the game's Sandship level ranks as one of the most mind-bending and unique dungeons in the series' history.
In terms of production values, Skyward Sword is excellent. The graphics are absolutely incredible, and well surpass the Wii's limited graphical capabilities by focusing on gorgeous art. It easily ranks among the likes of Super Mario Galaxy as one of the Wii's best-looking titles.
The sound department is also great. Sound design is great thanks to great effects, and the series' trademark jingles that are no doubt burned into the reward center of any Zelda fan's brain. The score is awesome as well. Nintendo seems to have stuck to the more quirky, avant-garde music displayed in Super Mario Galaxy 2 rather than the usual Zelda orchestration, but the result is equally as effective as it was in the plumbers last intergalactic adventure. Another one of the series' returning quirks is the lack of voice-acting. At this point, you've either accepted it, or dislike it, but it's simply a fact of life as far as the Zelda series is concerned. While I personally have no problem with it, I did notice that Link had a ton of implied dialog, which leaves me to wonder why he's still a mute.
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is, in many ways, a brilliant game. The excellent pacing displayed through the games first two-thirds or so is a welcome change from the series usual formula, and slick motion controls really do their part to elevate the basic gameplay. What's more, the game has excellent production values, and features some worthwhile side content. However, the game has two fairly major flaws. The first is that the story never takes off in the way it should until the game's final few minutes, and the game generally lacks the epic feel and importance that it strives for. Secondly, the game features an unbearable amount of backtracking once you start approaching the endgame content, and this padding serves to damage the experience greatly. However, Skyward Sword's strengths shine brightly through all its unnecessary clutter, and is ultimately another great entry in the flagship series, and is without a doubt one of the Wii's few recent must-play titles.
PROS:
+Excellent motion controls
+Great graphics and sound
+Compelling side content
+Great dungeons
+The game's new overall design is great at first...
CONS:
-...But eventually leads to forced, unrewarding back-tracking
-The narrative never reaches the heights it wants to
-There are few minor control issues
-Some people still may find the lack of voice acting off-putting