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NWR Interactive => TalkBack => Topic started by: John Rairdin on July 16, 2021, 08:05:14 AM

Title: A Defense of the Imprisoned Boss Fights in Skyward Sword
Post by: John Rairdin on July 16, 2021, 08:05:14 AM

John digs into one of the most debated parts of The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword that isn't the controls.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/video/57824/a-defense-of-the-imprisoned-boss-fights-in-skyward-sword

While we can debate the effectiveness of the Imprisoned boss fights in The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, I think there is an argument to be made for them as an interesting storytelling tool.

Title: Re: A Defense of the Imprisoned Boss Fights in Skyward Sword
Post by: PogueSquadron on July 16, 2021, 12:15:08 PM
The Imprisoned stuff (as well as a lot of SS) actually does something well that I think it shares with Wind Waker. There's this whole idea that all of the regular people are just living their lives without a care in the world. Yet, there's something bubbling under the surface that's just inevitably going to come to some kind of head. This makes the player feel kind of empowered, because we know what's REALLY going on, like we're keeping some kind of secret with the game itself, and it puts us in an elite group that really understands the danger lurking beneath the surface. The Imprisoned, as mentioned in the video, is just a sinking ship, while Link attempts to plug the holes in the boat before it fills with water. It's one of the many things across Skyward Sword and Wind Waker that help the player feel like we're just on another level compared to the commoners in the game worlds. Come to think of it, this is also a theme in Link's Awakening. Zelda is always at its best when it creates a sense of peril for the world at large. Sometimes, the denizens of Hyrule know that their world is in peril, and that there lives aren't really great. In others, like SS, WW, and LA, the people are super oblivious to everything, putting Link in the same role as the Men in Black- protecting regular people from the scum of the universe because he's "in the know" and the only one capable of doing the job.
Title: Re: A Defense of the Imprisoned Boss Fights in Skyward Sword
Post by: pokepal148 on July 17, 2021, 10:53:14 AM
I don't think the imprisoned would get anywhere near as much **** as it does if Skyward Sword itself weren't so eager to reuse content. As is though, it's essentially become the poster child for a much larger problem with the game which is how padded the game is and how much it reuses content, to the point where it feels like the game just doesn't respect the players time.

There are a billion small examples of padding in Skyward Sword, even early on. I was watching Matt's stream on the NWR twitch channel where he basically scaled the entirety of the Elden volcano only to have to come back down the mountain to search for pieces of this key. There is nothing in the level design that changed, it's just now you have to retraverse this incredibly linear mountain again when the game could have easily been designed to allow the player to get both the pieces of the key and get up the mountain in a single go.

Of course it would be easier to appreciate the cool story stuff with the imprisoned if he was actually a fun fight.