Skyward Sword Review

An in-depth review of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword for the Wii. This video contains spoilers for the entire game.

[VictorFrst]

It's a testament to how well crafted your reviews are that I just sat through all five of the Zelda reviews back to back.







And it's 2 am.







And I've seen them before.

[aaaer]

There is one mechanic that you didn't mention which I thought was actually quite clever, namely the implementation of how various shields' designs actually make them useful for different scenarios like how the wooden shield will burn in fire but will absorb electricity, and how the iron shield will be immune to flames but will conduct electricity and injure yourself. Likewise, because the shield is wood, it is able to catch arrows being fired at you so that you can then use it. I honestly thought that these small touches were actually really great.

[CrashDunning]

"I should have got you last time. I'd love to get you this time. But I'll get you next

I died xD

[setteplays]

How...
How the blacksmith need such items to do an upgrade if the Skyloft people never knew about the world below, where such items are found?

[SidneyBloom]

"Controls should be an invisible part of the experience". Now I want to see a Star Fox Zero review in this channel.

[thegooseinator]

Even though I don't think it's terrible, it is absolutely hilarious to me that this game got not only great but perfect or near perfect reviews across the board despite the fact that it has so many glaring, game-ruining issues. It's like the reviewers didn't even bother to play the game.

[k-leb]

16:13
"I really think Nintendo needs some kind of design document just containing all the tiny improvements they've made to the series over the years so they're not permanently lost."

I just had to highlight this because it's such a good idea, and yet it seems like something video game developers would rarely follow.

[Crichjo]

These are the best reviews of Zelda I have seen. You are not blinded by obvious fanboy bias, but also not overly critical. You clearly state what is wrong with the game, whilst also stating what is great about it. I completely agree about Skyward Sword. It does some things really well, but there are so many issues with it, that makes it one of the worst Zelda games yet.

[Isntthisalreadytaken]

25:00 "I spent the entire thing waiting for the game to start"

Oh my god, this is EXACTLY how I felt.

[linkenski]

Thank you for pointing out how incredibly redundant the timeline is. It made sense in Wind Waker because it was really important to the story, and obviously OoT ties into MM and TP has vague references, but there's just not much consistency, and all the "logistics" aside, what's the point even?

IMO the timeline limits the newer games more than it makes them benefit.

[Graphomite]

_"The game gets worse as it goes on."_

My sentiments exactly. Halfway through the game, I was playing just for the commitment of finishing. And out of curiosity as to how the story would end...namely, Ganondorf's aforementioned "backstory, " which wound up being a wholly disappointing, underwhelming device. By the end of the game, the entire premise of the "prequel" storyline felt like a cheap sales pitch.

[GigaMan]

I gotta say. This game has the best and worst boss fights in Zelda history. Koloktos (Ancient Cistern boss) is the best, and the Imprisoned fights are the worst.

[nealkelly]

It's pretty bizarre how Nintendo forgets to add improvements from previous games in the series. This analysis is excellent, they should be taking notes from these criticisms, but of course they probably don't know about these videos.

[triplebog]

minish cap was a little short.... heh... heh....

[Maximus_-qczt]

8 years later and your series of reviews still hold up. Thank you for giving us such amazing content.

[wreathrappo]

The sword fighting in Wii Sports Resort was done slightly better than Skyward Sword. Attacks and blocks were only vertical or horizontal. This simplicity allowed for more accuracy and depth.

[GlassMufasa]

This review is fantastic. It really helps me articulate exactly why I didn't enjoy playing it.

[doxasophosmoros]

i'm obsessed with this guy's zelda reviews. After watching it alot, it's basically my background noise while i work... dunno why, it's just nice to have clear sound and not have someone trying to be funny in a loud way, no stupid laughing, moronic conversations, dumb jokes or bad sound effects which jolt me and break my concentration or piss me off.
The tone & speed is energizing yet it's also calming to hear his voice. Also love the information all packed in. No breaks so it flows well.

[MagmarFire]

After watching Sequelitis, it's great to see a brutally-honest critique of Skyward Sword that isn't just mindless raging and bashing for the sake of desperately getting a few more laughs. Most of your points are completely justified and backed up by good reasons why you think they are what you think they are and by proposing a solution to rectify the problems you found.

Well, most of them I find to be justified. I *strongly* disagree with the statement that story should just "be a nice little thing" to urge the player along in a Zelda game, as the narrative is, I find to be the main reason I love the series so much--which is also why I disagree with your point about the story points not having a great impact (Zelda being the goddess reborn I actually found to completely shake my foundation of what I thought of the entire series' lore in a good way). However, it's fueled by a matter of taste. Regardless of how much I love the game, there's no doubt you hit its faults squarely on the head.

[tuncqboi]

This review aged well. Now with botw, Nintendo actually shook things up. Link doesn’t wear a hat!