Skyward Sword is Good Actually

Should you get the Skyward Sword HD remake?

I don’t know.

I want to, but I don't know if I can justify paying $80 for a game I already own. Skyward Sword was my first Zelda game, and so it holds a special place in my heart, but I don’t know that I can go back to it, especially after Breath of the Wild. But let's get into some of the specifics.

Graphics - It honestly doesn’t look that different to me. I forget sometimes that the Wii was in 480p, which sounds archaic by today’s standards. But the remake also doesn't look that different because Skyward Sword has this stylized, cell shaded art style, so graphically it kinda holds up. Or more accurately, the game doesn't look that different when scaled up to 1080p. But I’m so used to the Breath of the Wild art style, which I think looks much better, that by comparison Skyward Sword looks kinda ugly to me. In comparison, look how much more of an improvement Wind Waker HD is, and that game also has similar stylized graphics.

Controls - Having the option to turn off motion control is a huge improvement. They claim that the Switch will have more accurate motion control, which I hope it does, but even if it is problematic, having the option to switch to button controls is a huge advantage, especially for pacing. I'm wondering how stabs will work, which is one of the main attacks that I often had trouble getting to work properly in the original. If there's an easy fix for that, that could be a game changer.

I also had a problem with having to slash right to left, but your sword is currently on the left, so when you try to move it over to the right, Link slashes left to right. If there is an easy fix for that as well, that could be a huge improvement.

Pacing - So there’s some major pacing issues with Skyward Sword. You have to revisit a lot of the same areas multiple times, even fighting the same bosses over and over. But there's also a lot of little pacing issues that could easily be fixed, which would greatly improve the experience overall. Questions is, will they?

Whenever you get an item for crafting, you get this long ass cutscene that shows you where the item is in your inventory. Not that bad initially, but it happens the first time you get an item, for every item, and it resets every time you load the game. Compared to BOTW's 1 second long jingle when you get a new item, it's way too long and tedious, and completely unnecessary. If they get rid of that, that would be a big improvement and help with the pacing.

There's also a lot of annoying moments with Fi. I like the concept of the character, but there's a lot of times where she just tells you where to go, right after being told by someone else. Her most annoying moments for me was every time she would tell me that the Wii remote batteries were low. I also used these third party rechargeable batteries, so I think it triggered Fi's message more often than it was supposed to appear, because I would get the low battery message, then play for another like 2 hours with no issues. So if they get rid of that, again, huge improvement on the overall experience.

So what would make Skyward Sword worth re-experiencing? Or maybe what makes Skyward Sword worth experiencing at all? Which leads me to the big question: What is Skyward Sword about? Story wise, most Zelda games are pretty similar; you have to rescue the princess and save the world. But what are the games about thematically? Ocarina of Time is about growing up. Majora’s Mask is about death and grief. Breath of the Wild is about the joy of exploration.

I think Skyward Sword is about becoming a hero.

Skyward Sword really makes you feel like a hero. I know that kind of sentiment is more of a meme, so before you click away, hear me out. The motion control is actually brilliant. Having a sword puts you in the role of adventurer. More so than any other game. Most of the time the motion control is nearly 1 to 1. Now obviously it’s not perfect. Like I said, I always had trouble getting the stab to work, and sometimes it would register a slash, when I intended to just move the sword to the other side. You could argue that this kind of inaccuracy is like if one of the buttons on a controller sometimes didn’t work, but that’s not really giving enough credit to what Skyward Sword is trying to accomplish. It's attempting a one-to-one sword fighting experience, years before VR would really take off, where every enemy feels like an important encounter. And yes, it is frustrating when it doesn’t work, but that frustration makes it even more satisfying when it does. You feel like a fucking champion when you manage to pull off a win in this game. In a way, it's actually a good thing that this game can be extremely frustrating. All the struggles, all the failures, all the blood, sweat, and tears make it all the more satisfying when you do pull off a win. It makes you feel like a real hero, who really went through hell to succeed. Link didn’t win that sword fight, you did. It’s why the characters are so engaging in this game. Link doesn’t care about Zelda, you care about Zelda. So when she does eventually get kidnapped, you bet your ass you’re going to do everything it takes to save her. And when you do save the day, it’s not Link that did that, it’s you. You went through all that hard work. You fought the stupid Imprisoned boss 3 times. You did the annoying sacred realm missions. You got all the dumb sword upgrades. You became a hero.

The final boss isn't some gimmick monster that you have to learn the attack pattern of and attack its glowing eye three times with the item you got in that dungeon. It's just a strait up sword fight, and it's fucking hard. Twilight Princess had a similar final boss fight, that being just a strait up sword fight, which can be cool if you engage in the game's combat system, but you can also just cheese it and dodge to the side and hit, for the whole fight. Skyward Sword; no such cheese. You just have to get good at sword fighting.

Now, my experience with Skyward Sword will likely not be exactly the same as yours. I was also 14 when I played the game, and had not played any other Zelda games, or even that many games in general outside of LEGO Star Wars and Pokemon. So this game blew my little teenage mind, and made me feel like a badass when I finally beat it. But I don't know that even I can go back to it. It's now 10 years later, and I have since played many games including the majority of the Zelda series. Games like Breath of the Wild that vastly improve upon mechanics established in Skyward Sword. SS may have introduced some good ideas, like the stamina wheel, but BOTW perfected them. It also took a bunch of ideas from throughout the series, like stealing weapons from enemies from Wind Waker, or nonlinear dungeons and exploration from the first game. BOTW combines them all together into one of the best games of the series, and my personal favourite. So can I go back to an inferior game just to try to recapture some nostalgia? I don't know. I would love to return to Skyloft and recapture the magic that I experienced the first time around. But I don't know if that's enough to justify spending $80. Plus, what happens if I do buy it, and it simply isn't as good as I remember? As curious as I am, I think I am going to hold off on this one. I think my main interest in this remake comes from still needing something to hold me over until BOTW 2, since I didn't enjoy Age of Calamity as much as wanted to. But if anyone wants to send me $80 to buy the game, I promise I will make a video about it. In the meantime, I think I will save my money for something else.

I'll probably get that Hyrule Warriors DLC though, because I'm a sucker.