you DO realize that you start the game with SIX heart containers... right?

Yeah I'm not used to that yet, lol. xD

@Kid_A
I'm low on those ornamental skulls as well but I have plenty bee larvae. Just head to Faron Woods, knock down a bee hive and collect what it leaves behind.

Skyward Sword has the best Zelda items. I loved them all (except for the Slingshot).

Spoilers! sort of...

At first I disliked the mechanical Beetle, but it works better than the boomerang ever has in past 3D Zelda games. Then I was sad to get Claw Shots, until I discovered they work quite differently than Hook Shot usually does. I've never liked Hook Shot because it's flat out better than the boomerang, completely replacing it. In SS the Claw Shots don't effect enemies and won't pull treasure drops to you like the Whip does, so it's not the only item you'll need. The Whip doesn't replace the Beetle either (even though it's faster) because it's short range and harder to use. The Slingshot is the only item you won't need anymore later.

so i got to the part where the story gets good. 35+ hours in.

Couple of questions.

POTENTIAL SPOILERS
1. Is there a heart piece tied to that stupid song you help play along with in the pumpkin house. I'm telling you that is one song that you don't want to get stuck in your head. I've tried at least ten+ times to do the song and thought I had it once.

2. Is there also a heart piece tied to the chopping bamboo game and if there is how many chops do you need?

1. Yes. I could never really figure out the timing perfectly, but thankfully you don't need to do it perfect. The main thing you need to do is stop when their hands stop waving, and keep relatively in tempo. The guy will say, "Well I guess that was okay," and give you a heart piece anyway
2. Haven't got it yet, but I suspect so. I think he either tells you his high score (which is like 45 or something) or tells you your high score and tells you how many you have to get to win a prize. Or something. I'm kind of guessing on this one.

LE SPOILERS!!

There's no heart piece attached to the bamboo cutting game (thank god).

Well then maybe I did get the heart piece from that song then. As for the bamboo game my high is 33 and don't want to do it anymore LOL! Thanks for the info guys!

How many tries did it take everybody to get the heart piece on fun fun island? Took me about 20 tries and almost had it twice before that. One time I had it but missed the platform!

I beat skyward sword i wish i made a sepert file first before the end....

@Tech101
Dang! I was hoping I wouldn't have to return to Fun Fun Island after finding the guy's wheel. Oh well. I have a lot of rupees to burn anyway.

going to the final boss with only 3 hearts left and a fairy wasn't the best idea

Off to get the Triforce. Absolutely love the game! Played 35 hours and it still feels magical in Skyloft! Just spent about 4 hours finding Monster Horns, Claws, Ancient Flowers and Tumbleweed so that I could upgrade everything possible! Also managed to get 32 Gratitude Crystals in the space of 10 minutes when I actually gave it a try! I think I might try a few more sidequests for now, as it looks like I'm fairly near the end, and I want to explore the game as thoroughly as possible.

Going to the final boss with 3 hearts, no shield and no health refills whatsoever is an even worse idea. But you feel pretty dang awesome if you pull it off

_{I did that. I did. That's how I beat the boss. I was talking about me.}

I've realized that I probably don't have enough good reasons to justify enjoying this game less than any other Zelda ever. Sure, the early parts of the game aren't great but I can say that about many JRPGs. Sure the length of the game means more mediocre parts and annoying "oh we're traveling and doing nothing else of value for the 1000th time" moments (although the reusing of areas was brilliant and helped), but it's nowhere near as bad as open world games that I love. First time in Faron Woods, still sucks though.

@Kid_A,

I didn't think it was worth reviving the Coldplay thread to say this, but I just realized that if you take the lyrics of Up with the Birds in a literal sense (especially the second half), it describes Link's journey in Skyward Sword very accurately. If I knew anything about video editing I would make a Skyward Sword montage while Up with the Birds played.

I did that too, but I had a Guardian Potion+.

Been playing for hours finishing sidequests. Somehow relaxing.

Picked it up today. Can't say wether or not this is the Ocarina of Time beater yet.

Some of the motion controls work great, while others seem weird. I do not really get why you need to swing both the Nunchuck and the Wii Remote to the left to do the finishing blow attack. In all honesty, I can't imagine anybody finding this to work better than simply pressing A like in Twilight Princess. I still need to get used to finding all the equipment menus, too.

The sword combat in general is a lot of fun, though. You need to carefully observe your opponents actions before you can hit them. The days when you could simply mash a button of waggle your Wii Remote and kill 80% of the enemies with just that strategy are now over. It's all a lot more engaging. It just feels so epic to see Link mimic your every move on-screen. Especially the moment when you hold up the controller to call the power of the sky makes me feel like I am Link. Skyward Sword conveys an epic feeling here that Twilight Princess, with it's simple wrist movements, just couldn't. Would have liked if if Link could perform his attacks while running, though.

I'm not sure if I like the graphics. The characters look fantastic and the pointilistic blur effect is an interesting touch I really like. It works really well with the rich variety in colour I missed so much in Twilight Princess. From a technical standpoint, though, I am not really impressed after having played the visual blast that was Super Mario Galaxy. The art direction is kind of a compromise between Wind Waker and Twilight Princess. The result is that it's sometimes cartoony and sometimes not. I find it too inconsistent for a Zelda game to really work. A game like Wind Waker was unique in its art style and really made everything and everyone look like a Disney cartoon while being consistent at it. Skyward Sword, however, tries to much to appeal to fans of both the cartoony and the realistic style, instead of being really unique outside of the painting effect. Overall, one of the better-looking Wii games, nonetheless.

I like the more fragmented Metroid-esque world. It feels more compact than Twilight Princess, but it doesn't feel like Nintendo had to compromise anything when it comes to the open-ended feeling of that game. On the contrary: There seems to be a lot to do and see right from the start of the game. Dowsing and an excellent map system make finding your way easy while puzzles are more prominent on the overworld, making it more fun to explore it. Too bad you cannot fly your bird over the overworld, though. That could have been a match for Epona or the boat in Wind Waker. You are restricted to only the sky area.

I've played through the first temple now and while the temple itself was not the most impressive one I've seen so far, the boss and dungeon item were really cool. The Beetle is one of the best Zelda items ever, not just for being a remote-controlled insect full of win, but also because of they way MotionPlus handles its controls. A pure joy!

So far it seems to be a game full of cool new ideas. Being built completely for Wii, it seems to do the same for the 3D Zelda games as Phantom Hourglass did for the classic top-down versions: It makes use of the new possibilities of the hardware it's on to make an aging formula feel fresh again. This appears to be the game that we all wanted to see in 2006, but never came until now!

Got the game for Christmas today and...

Here's my so-far opinion of the new Zelda: Story is nice and engrossing, but the game starts out a little too slow for my taste. Five hours in and just now coming into the first dungeon. Also not in love with the wiggle-waggle controls even a little bit. They're definitely better than Twilight Princess' on the Wii, but only marginally. I miss buttons, having a less hurty wrist and being able to pull off moves 100% of the time instead of around 80. There are things I do like about it a lot but those are my gripes.

Things I like: The hub world, Skyloft. Lots to do there and on the other islands above the clouds as well. Makes for a nice escape from the main quest when you're feeling like doing something else for a while. The references to past games are sly and very appreciated also. The upgrade system for items is a slick and welcome addition to the Zelda formula too and the music thus far has been phenomenal. All in all, so far it's a good game that would be great if it controlled a little better for me.