Author Topic: IMPRESSIONS: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword  (Read 11338 times)

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Offline NWR_Neal

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IMPRESSIONS: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
« on: June 15, 2010, 03:35:19 PM »
Legend of Zelda meets Wii Sports Resort.
 http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/impressionsArt.cfm?artid=23285

 Following Nintendo's E3 2010 press conference, I got a chance to play the latest Legend of Zelda game, subtitled Skyward Sword. The graphical presentation, which isn't final, reminded me of a cross between Wind Waker and Twilight Princess. It's rough, but the watercolor presentation is nice. Unfortunately, the watercolor presentation is not final, and the graphics presented at E3 2010 are merely a rough draft.    


The sword controls like the sword in Wii Sports Resort, and it uses MotionPlus. You move it around in 1-to-1 movements, and a lot of the enemies are defeated by slashing the sword in specific directions. There were Deku Babas that had to be sliced horizontally or vertically, and a Stalfos that wielded two swords that you had to attack when there was an opening.    


Electronic Entertainment Expo 2010:

   


You can also perform a spin attack by doing what the representative referred to as a "dance move." You basically cross the Wii Remote and Nunchuk. It sounds weird, but it works well. You can perform other similar moves as well.    


Link also wields a shield, which is controlled by the Nunchuk. You raise it to defend, and thrust it forward to deflect projectiles from enemies, such as Deku Scrubs that fire off seeds at you. You have to time the thrust to deflect it back at them.    


There's also a cadre of weapons to wield. The bow is basically archery from Wii Sports Resort, and despite the interference that ruined it during the press conference, it worked just as well as it does in Resort. The bombs also feature a Resort influence, as you can bowl them towards enemies or obstacles. Conversely, you can lob them. I had trouble getting the game to differentiate between the two in my playtime. There is a whip that uses the MotionPlus in a whipping motion. It's cool, but it has a limited effect on enemies and seems to only be used to get faraway items or possibly switches. The weirdest weapon is the little bug that you send around to scout areas and pick up items. However, there wasn't much use for him in the demo.    


Skyward Sword looks to be on the right track. The demo seems to be more of a proof of concept, as there was no hint to any kind of game structure, but it was fun and the new controls are great in my opinion. It feels a little weird to control Link in such a new manner, but it still feels like Zelda, and it could be a potential evolution in the franchise.    


   

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Offline Ian Sane

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Re: IMPRESSIONS: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
« Reply #1 on: June 15, 2010, 03:04:12 PM »
How do you actually move Link around?  It didn't seem obvious in the demo.

Offline Halbred

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Re: IMPRESSIONS: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
« Reply #2 on: June 15, 2010, 03:15:57 PM »
I assume you use the control stick.

Neal, does it feel like Twilight Princess with actual motion control, or is this going to be a whole different animal?
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Offline BeautifulShy

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Re: IMPRESSIONS: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
« Reply #3 on: June 15, 2010, 03:34:14 PM »
Ah good to see that the interference was just a problem in the demo.
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Offline TJ Spyke

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Re: IMPRESSIONS: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
« Reply #4 on: June 15, 2010, 04:22:05 PM »
Do you have video footage of this demo?

I hope they improve the archery because that was one of the few parts of Wii Sports Resort that I didn't like.
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Offline NWR_insanolord

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Re: IMPRESSIONS: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
« Reply #5 on: June 15, 2010, 04:24:41 PM »
They're going to have to change it a bit, unless they expect people to switch the controllers around to the opposite hands every time they use the bow.
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Offline Ian Sane

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Re: IMPRESSIONS: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
« Reply #6 on: June 15, 2010, 04:28:41 PM »
Quote
I assume you use the control stick.

So would I but it didn't look like that was what Shiggy was doing.  It looked like he pulled back on the controller to stop Link.
 
Does anyone wonder if the "technical difficulties" was that the whole thing was just a video and that Miyamoto sucked at "lip syncing"?  Maybe they had difficulty getting it to work with the big presentation screen so they faked it instead.

Offline Pale

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Re: IMPRESSIONS: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
« Reply #7 on: June 15, 2010, 05:01:46 PM »
My gut tells me that there were lights on the ceiling that the Wii remote was thinking was the sensor bar.  So when he put the remote vertical to shoot the bow, teh game thought it was still facing the screen.  Or something.

I'm just guessing though.
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Offline mantidor

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Re: IMPRESSIONS: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
« Reply #8 on: June 15, 2010, 05:24:03 PM »
does it have left handed option?
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Offline Shecky

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Re: IMPRESSIONS: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
« Reply #9 on: June 16, 2010, 09:30:40 PM »
You can sprint!  About time! :)

I hope they have two options for aiming.  I get that with Motion+ you can use the remote as essentially a free floating mouse, but pointing to aim worked really well for TP on Wii and might be a better option if your seated.  The mouse concept will work well too if the developers can get the plane of movement correct.  Looks like they map down on the d-pad to center during the bow, so that should be good enough to fix flinches

Offline gbuell

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Re: IMPRESSIONS: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
« Reply #10 on: June 17, 2010, 04:16:18 AM »
Quote
I assume you use the control stick.

So would I but it didn't look like that was what Shiggy was doing.  It looked like he pulled back on the controller to stop Link.
 
Does anyone wonder if the "technical difficulties" was that the whole thing was just a video and that Miyamoto sucked at "lip syncing"?  Maybe they had difficulty getting it to work with the big presentation screen so they faked it instead.

They wouldn't have faked that horrible spinning camera during the bow and arrow stuff. That would be insane.
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Offline KDR_11k

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Re: IMPRESSIONS: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
« Reply #11 on: June 17, 2010, 04:58:07 AM »
Quote
I assume you use the control stick.

So would I but it didn't look like that was what Shiggy was doing.  It looked like he pulled back on the controller to stop Link.

I'm pretty sure I saw him use the analog stick on the nunchuk. If he was moving the whole controller around at the same time that's probably just his hyperkinetic self.

Offline Shecky

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Re: IMPRESSIONS: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
« Reply #12 on: June 17, 2010, 08:01:29 AM »
Quote
I assume you use the control stick.

So would I but it didn't look like that was what Shiggy was doing.  It looked like he pulled back on the controller to stop Link.

I'm pretty sure I saw him use the analog stick on the nunchuk. If he was moving the whole controller around at the same time that's probably just his hyperkinetic self.

If you watch the presentation at e3.nintendo.com you can see points in which the stick is clearly used control links movement.

Offline Mesu

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Re: IMPRESSIONS: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
« Reply #13 on: June 17, 2010, 09:44:43 PM »
does it have left handed option?

They don't intend to put a left handed option in the game:

Quote from: Eiji Aonuma
  It's interesting because people say "all you have to do is switch it." But in reality, it's really hard. You have to change all the models -- you have to make two of everything. So really you're making two complete games, one left-handed version and one right-handed version. We just can't do that. For Twilight Princess, what we did was just create a mirror -- we flipped everything. And if that worked I guess we could do it that way, but again having to create two games is not something we want to do. We just hope that people will play it right-handed.

http://wii.ign.com/articles/109/1099184p2.html

Offline mantidor

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Re: IMPRESSIONS: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
« Reply #14 on: June 18, 2010, 12:54:52 AM »
yeah I read about it, f!ck you Nintendo I want you to die now. This and the 3DS crap is unacceptable.
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Offline NWR_Neal

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Re: IMPRESSIONS: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
« Reply #15 on: June 18, 2010, 01:23:17 AM »
To be fair, I played the game more as a lefty and had no issues. Nintendo might not champion it, but you can play it as a lefty.
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Offline Mop it up

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Re: IMPRESSIONS: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
« Reply #16 on: June 18, 2010, 03:48:46 AM »
I wonder if this might be tough to play without a left-handed option. In Twilight Princess it didn't matter which hand you used, because quick flicks were all that were needed to swing the sword. I guess I'll have to wait and see.

Offline Shorty McNostril

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Re: IMPRESSIONS: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
« Reply #17 on: June 18, 2010, 04:10:58 AM »
I'm a lefty.  But aside from Wii Sports, I have always played the games right handed.  I've never had any problems.  While I would appreciate a left handed option, I'm not overly concerned.  And if what he says is true, then I understand.  Unless they release 2 versions, left and right handed editions.  :P:
« Last Edit: June 18, 2010, 04:17:15 AM by Shorty McNostril »

Offline Mop it up

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Re: IMPRESSIONS: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
« Reply #18 on: June 18, 2010, 04:15:49 AM »
Pre-order bonus: The Legend of Zelda: Lefty's Revenge.

So this is why Zelda won't be ready this year...

Offline ThePerm

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Re: IMPRESSIONS: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
« Reply #19 on: June 18, 2010, 05:43:52 AM »
my left handedness has not limited me much in gaming, except making dual analog shooters awkward and difficult...
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Offline mantidor

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Re: IMPRESSIONS: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
« Reply #20 on: June 18, 2010, 11:17:39 AM »
To be fair, I played the game more as a lefty and had no issues. Nintendo might not champion it, but you can play it as a lefty.

So it's just a cosmetic thing, which is dissapointing. I, of course, prefer this than the game actually using M+ to its full potential , but rendering unplayable for left handers. Both options are less than ideal though, and it's sad they have broken tradition, if its just a cosmetic thing make people play with Link left-handed. It's not like it matters.

I'm just not that hyped about the game anymore, it certainly won't be a day one purchase, who knows how the other items are going to work, if the boomerang is anything like frisbee in wiisports resort it will be impossible for left handed players.
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Offline gbuell

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Re: IMPRESSIONS: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
« Reply #21 on: June 18, 2010, 04:29:43 PM »
To be fair, I played the game more as a lefty and had no issues. Nintendo might not champion it, but you can play it as a lefty.

So it's just a cosmetic thing, which is dissapointing. I, of course, prefer this than the game actually using M+ to its full potential , but rendering unplayable for left handers. Both options are less than ideal though, and it's sad they have broken tradition, if its just a cosmetic thing make people play with Link left-handed. It's not like it matters.

I'm just not that hyped about the game anymore, it certainly won't be a day one purchase, who knows how the other items are going to work, if the boomerang is anything like frisbee in wiisports resort it will be impossible for left handed players.

How is it "just a cosmetic thing"? The Wii has no way to know which hand you are holding the remote in, and if you swing it with your left hand, the motion will naturally be emulated using Link's right-handed model. What's the problem here?
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Offline UncleBob

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Re: IMPRESSIONS: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
« Reply #22 on: June 18, 2010, 04:33:54 PM »
What's with all you lefty freaks on here?  ;)
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Offline NWR_Neal

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Re: IMPRESSIONS: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
« Reply #23 on: June 18, 2010, 05:19:59 PM »
We're taking over, UncleBob.

I don't think there should be a whole lot of worry about it. I've run into only one problem with being a lefty Wii player. Whenever there are any Wii Remote/Nunchuk motions presented on screen. No More Heroes is this worst offender of that. As long as Zelda doesn't feature crap like that, there should be no reason why being a lefty is a detriment to playing the game.
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Offline EasyCure

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Re: IMPRESSIONS: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
« Reply #24 on: June 18, 2010, 06:05:19 PM »
I'm a lefty.  But aside from Wii Sports, I have always played the games right handed.  I've never had any problems.  While I would appreciate a left handed option, I'm not overly concerned.  And if what he says is true, then I understand.  Unless they release 2 versions, left and right handed editions.  :P:

All you lefties better crack out the Wii sports and start practicing righty!

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