Skyward Verdict

Given that I've just completed the most recent instalment of the Legend of Zelda series, Skyward Sword, and given that I'm a games design student, I thought I would express my thoughts on the game as a whole, and break it down into sections. I'll be considering a number of different questions from a Games Design student's point of view:

 How good was the level design? 

      Were the puzzles challenging?

          Did the mechanics work well? 

                 Were the characters well thought out? 

                         Was the story well written? 

                                  Better designed than previous instalments?

I'll try to keep it as concise as possible, don't you worry. 

ALSO,  SPOILER ALERT. DON'T READ IF YOU DON'T WANT ANYTHING GIVEN AWAY. 

FIRSTLY, I'm a big Legend of Zelda fan, and the excitement I felt when I heard of the new game last year was immense. About time, I thought, and in the end I was not disappointed. Granted, Skyward Sword took a bit of getting used to. The graphics are somewhere in between the likes of Twilight Princess and Wind Waker, which ultimately makes some characters in particular look too cartoon-like compared to others, let's say Fledge compared against Link. The controls are very different, of course, to Twilight Princess if you played that on the Gamecube - yet make more sense when it comes down to it. Once again, though, you have Link the main hero and Zelda, around whom the story revolves. Zelda goes missing from Skyloft to the surface world, and you must find her. Here the story begins, and onwards the plot unfolds and thickens. 

LEVEL design was one of the best things about this instalment. Whereas older instalments were designed with a much more typical structure (Ocarina of Time: run from Temple to Temple collecting medallions), Skyward Sword was designed with much more variety. Each dungeon was a unique location despite the fact there was only Faron Woods, Eldin Volcano and Lanaryu Desert to visit on the surface world. My favourite was the ship. Clever idea, using 'timeshift stones/orbs' to solve puzzles, and it played out like a ship, right down the boss of the 'dungeon'. So maybe you have to revisit each location about three times, but each visit is completely different. Take Eldin Volcano: upon your third return, the volcano erupts and your taken prisoner by the Bokoblins, with most of your equipment stolen. You have to get it all back. 

I was so impressed with the diversity of the level design in this game, from the Fire Sanctuary to the Ship to the Sky Keep. 

PUZZLES in the game were most certainly challenging. While some were similar to those of other instalments, there were definitely new and more difficult puzzles. Using 'timeshift stones' in the Lanaryu Mining Facility was definitely one that makes you think. Of course, there is the usual, like getting across chasms with the claw-shot. The whole idea of puzzles is to challenge the player and add meaning, particularly in a quest game like LoZ. Everything you do is for reason. You don't just hit a switch to open a door. You hit a switch because you need to activate something that will point you to another puzzle to open a door. It was good to see more innovative puzzles in this instalment. Collecting the Tadtones was perhaps one of the most enjoyable for me. 

THEN comes the mechanics. This game probably has the best mechanics out of all of them. The fact that you can upgrade weapons using treasures is a great way to make players explore the world, because you have to find the treasures. The same applies to enhancing potions for better effects. The beetle is a good weapon, allowing you to scout and look around a large area, and to reach far off objects. Although the bow is a recurring item, the mechanics are definitely more interesting - to shoot the bow you actually have to aim with the remote, draw back the nun-chuck as if drawing the string, hold down C and then let go to hit your target. I had great fun with that. A new mechanic is being able to burrow underground with 'Mogma Digging Mitts'. As a summary of mechanics, they are far more interactive from the players point of view (using the wii remote) and Link's point of view (exploration, talking to NPC's in the game. Well designed mechanics. 

YES, the characters were definitely intriguing. By collecting gratitude crystals, you were encouraged to interact with the NPC's to get them. You learned things about people you wouldn't have thought. And one of the biggest character developments is Groose, another student of the Knight Academy who hates Link and has a crush on Zelda. In the end, he grows out of his childish bullying to help the hero, but all the while his feelings for Zelda are real. There are definitely some funny moments with Groose. Another character development is between Cawlin, Karane and Pipit - basically the hero plays matchmaker in a love triangle. In the meantime you learn that Pipit has a bit of a temper.... Even Link seems to have more expression to him in this game, and you see the relationship between him and Zelda later on in the game. Although character design in places is questionable, they all have heart and personality. 

THE story. Now that was a story, in my opinion. This game shows that games and narratives  can work together, as is debated in the book Quests, which I'm currently reading. Skyward Sword is basically the origin story to most other instalments, if not all. The game plays out how the Master Sword came to exist, the rising of the first Hero, the relevance of the green tunic and Zelda's true nature, and basically leads to the becoming of Hyrule. Link embarks on a journey to save Zelda and the world from being consumed by the Demon King. As you progress, you pursue Zelda and enhance the Skyward Sword with the powers of the Goddesses. The whole story is deep, thoughtful and emotional (for me, especially the moment where they are briefly united), and having played through this, everything else makes sense. It all fits together. 

IN a nutshell, yes, Skyward Sword is definitely the best designed game in my opinion. Although it gets a bit repetitive going back to the same places, it never feels the same when you go back each time. And the amount of bosses it feels like you have to battle is crazy - like the Imprisoned. Three times?! Come on! I hated that battle each time. However Skyward Sword is the best game in the series, with the most heart and importance to it.

I could have rambled for much longer, but I certainly made the effort to keep it as compact and easy to read as possible. 

And that's me done trying to apply my experience of Games Design to a game I absolutely loved. If you read to this point, I commend you, and I hope you visit my blog again.

Nachos
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