Nintendo Plugs Skyward Sword HD With "Elements" Later Adopted In Zelda: Breath Of The Wild

I enjoyed Skyward. Picked it up on Wii and as a VC title with the Wii U. Buying it a 3rd time for minimal enhancements at 60 bucks is... iffy... but I hope it finds new fans who didn't get to play it before

Very smart of them to tie Skyward Sowrd to Breath of the Wild. BOTW is almost a bigger name than Zelda now, it sold more than Skyward Sowrd, Twilight Princess and The Wind Waker combined.

This is a risky marketing strategy, people who's only experience of the franchise is BotW are going to have a shock going back to the more linear formula.

Metacritic is going to be interesting come release as I imagine this is going to be very divisive.

I wanted to care, but I don't. Maybe Twilight Princess and Windwaker are still incoming later this year as rumoured

This is 60 fps, lets me hope for 60 fps on WW and TP.

Skyward Sword is the best Dark Souls clone of all time!

It was a great game on the Wii. I'll definitely instabuy (And yes, had it as a wii vc download on the wii u as well!)

Is this new? I seem to remember Aonuma mentioning these similarities in the direct.

“We know you loved having a stamina gauge to manage!”

@Strumpf it's not smart at all. It's incredibly disengenuous of them to suggest that SS is anything like BotW. People are going to feel cheated when they play SS and realise that it is about as far from BotW as possible.

I am not a native speaker (so correct me if I'm wrong) but the title means Nintendo kind of backported features found in BotW to Skyward; the article is talking about something else - about how some of the BotW featured actually debuted in Skyward. Anyway, won't buy this game.

@Strumpf

This makes me wish BOTW hadn't been a Zelda title. It basically forces future Zelda titles to adopt the "open air" formula, and this old buck longs for the linear Zeldas of yore

Come one and all. You’re used to polished mechanics, come and see them in their original and rough state.

It’s nice that Skyward Sword is getting a rerelease and all but it would have been equally as nice if Nintendo had done an HD update compilation of every 2D Zelda using the sprite work from Cadence of Hyrule: Link to the Past, Minish Cap and the Oracle games on one cartridge.

Dangerous game they're playing there. I personally loved Skyward Sword, but let's remember that BotW was made as a direct response to the criticism they received for SS. Some comparisons apply, but they're quite different games in scope and gameplay.

Nintendo need to be careful going down this route... Skyward Sword is nothing like BotW, and drawing comparisons like this is only going to end up dissapointing people.

This is not to say Skyward Sword is a disappointing experience in itself (although few would argue it's quite a way off the best that the Zelda franchise has to offer), but anyone fortunate enough to be in a position where they are about to play it for the first time, but in the unfortunate position of expecting familiarity with BotW is on for a very rude awakening!

This is a poor comms strategy from Nintendo, and I'm both surprised and disappointed they've gone with it.

Both Skyward Sword and Dark Souls came out in 2011, within about a month of each other, and both have stamina gauges. (Dark Souls came out first.)

Thank you for reading this useless factoid.

NINJA APPROVED

Metacritic is going to be interesting come release as I imagine this is going to be very divisive.

I imagine you're right about that, Mr. Fuggles. OTOH, if they're going to be re-releasing other Zelda titles for the anniversary, they might think they can afford to take risks like that.
@Mr-Fuggles777

Is it 60fps confirmed?

Think I’m the only one who doesn’t get hyped over “HD remasters”. They could of went all out for the 35th anniversary and make a proper remake like RE-2 remake.

Told ya, all these "BotW clones" have been Skyward Sword clones all along. Including My Time At Portia which turned out to have a stamina wheel, too.😆

@nocdaes sane people will be expected to walk away from this strategy with a thrilling sense of legacy and evolution that built up to a milestone entry. Otherwise, it's like expecting FFIV battles to play like Paradigm Shift just because they pioneered the mechanic at the core of Paradigm Shift.

@Joekun yeah, I wondered why this was news worthy at this current time too

Also released with a beautiful golden wii remote and chuck plus Soundtrack CD. I still got mine and loved it at the time.

On the fench if i will repurchase as the 'button option' is my only real temptation. I hate motion controls and its the main reason i didn't replay SS again.

@JH64 Yep confirmed in a PR statement shortly after the direct.

I just hope there is some form of new content in this port, because I've played Skyward Sword through dozens of times and the new button control scheme isn't lighting my world on fire. Especially at a £20 higher cost than the original Wii version was.

I'm just glad people who couldn't get the hang of those motion controls will finally get to play this game and not want to throw it under a bus simply over the controls. It deserves better than that. It's one of the series best!

It is impressive what the Zelda team was able to achieve after making skyward sword. The franchise needed a shot in the arm and they delivered on that for enough of the fans and for new fans. Skyward Sword now stands as the vintage Zelda experience, only one game removed from a modern stance.

@echoplex They’re really desperate to try and sell people an overpriced wii port, with little to no visual upgrades.

Skyward Sword was a well made game but it was very linear and held your hand a lot. I did enjoy the motion controls at the time though. Apart from the horseback fights- that was infuriatingly poor with motion controls.

It is a quality game, but not ranked highly among Zelda titles.

Tone down Fi, add some quality of life improvments, and I might consider it. Otherwise, it'll be fine staying on Wii for me.

@LXP8 Thanks, that’s great news!
I hope the take some content out, many of the fetch quests are a grind!

Descending using the sailcloth? Some stretch considering it was basically the Deku Leaf from Wind Waker with less functionality. Even upgrading gear was in the 2D games... I love Skyward Sword but they're definitely being disingenuous with comments like these.

They're really desperate to sell this to the BOTW crowd, aren't they?

@echoplex @San_D Replace 'plug' with 'promote'.

Skyward Sword is a great game and I am definitely going to purchase it.

But the majority of sales will come from new fans who probably came in with BOTW. And they’ll need to set expectations. It’s Zelda, it’s wonderful, it’s unique, but different to the one they played before.

But honestly, I don’t think these comms are going to be a huge problem. Because the game is good.

It is the best Zelda. By far the best story in a Zelda game. The best antagonist, the best items, the best music. Of course there are a few complaints I have but the goods far outweigh the bads.

I am one of the new fans who came in with BotW. I've tried OoT 3D since, but I found it kinda uncomfortable on my original model from launch, and a small amount of ALTTP on NSO, but apart from that I'll be going into SS blind. I'm fortune to not expect BOTW0.5 tho

@JH64
I think they should keep all content but make the filler parts optional such as carrying the water basin

I'm really looking forward to playing this game without motion controls. Also, I remember the blue sidekick to be super obnoxious, I guess there won't be a way to mute it, right? :')

Skyward sword is super lineair, so this will be a gigantic shock for all the newcomers who come from botw and expect the same freedom.

@Kaori-chan Actually I hope BotW2 will be more linear again. My problem with big open world games (like BotW, but also Assassin's Creed and others) is that I tend to get lost really quickly in the world and usually stop playing after a few hours.

I'm okay with the world being open, but story progression (main quest) should be linear.

The amount of main quests in BotW is just tiny. It's clear the Great Plateau and then defeat Calamity Ganon. And okay, you could say that clearing the Divine Beasts is a part of it as well, but that isn't linear either.

However a formula that many of the big MMORPGs use, often have you going from region to region clearing each and so opening up the world to the player more slowly is a lot better.
BotW is the only single player Open World game that I actually have beaten (but not 100%).

Even if BOTW was your first zelda game surely nobody thinks it was always like that. I honestly think the more focused linear structure is better overall. Especially for zelda games. I for one get too distracted by all the side tracking to ever finish these open world games and with zelda you kinda want to get on with the story. I mean Ganon isn't going to defeat himself right?

How can you be the hero of hyrule if you're off lollygagging somewhere instead of ridding the land of evil?

@Mr-Fuggles777 If this wasn't a 10-year-old game with mountains of reviews, I'd agree. It's very easy to become informed about it, though.

Didn't Wind Waker introduce the sailcloth in the form of the Deku leaf?

Skyward Sword is almost the antithesis of BOTW and all the better for it. The whole game is basically one big Zelda dungeon from start to finish rather than the exploratory world we know and love. It has a unique place in the series. BOTW was celebrated for being different from its predecessors and so should Skyward Sword.

Now, if they could somehow blend together the exploration from BOTW together with the dungeons from Skyward Sword you’d have the ultimate game.

I was very happy about these elements coming to their right in Breath of the Wild, as they honestly felt tacked on and even a bit obtrusive at times in Skyward Sword.

@Octane Skyward Sword HD and if other traditional 3D Zelda games come then those too will probably decide the fate of 3D Zelda games in general. If they sell nowhere near as well as BotW then all future 3D Zelda games will probably go the BotW route.

@Grumblevolcano No, they won't. And that's a stupid way of measuring popularity since those are expensive ports of old games and not even new games. Nintendo isn't that stupid.

Yhea... I wish the big and lively world started here too! xD

Nintendo sounds a little desperate here. Unfortunately it seems many of the features I disliked most from BOTW originated from this game (stamina meter, recipes, tedious upgrading...) so I will probably pass on it.

Also Wind Waker introduced paragliding before Skyward Sword so what is Nintendo going on about?

@Grumblevolcano I'm not sure botw 2 won't be a return to classic Zelda. If I were in charge I'd want breath of the wild, but with OOT dungeons. Maybe this game will be the hybrid I crave seeing it's a new game in the same world!

Just thinking.......the Wii u never really had its own Zelda game. I’ve excluded Botw because it’s released after console had been superseded and probably developed behind the scenes on NX Dev kits anyway. ..... Could be wrong tho.

Botw2 will be the 20th Zelda title in the timeline.

Not buying for $60. Pretty firm on that, even if this would be my first dip. And yes I'm a bit of a hypocrite because I'll buy NieR Replicant for $60 in March.

I'll buy it once it's not full priced anymore. So that may take a while. I'm really not happy with the pricing of this game, regardless of how good it may be. The only reason they're justifying full price is because a lot of fans will buy it anyway.

If I wanna play it I'll just boot it up on my Wii or Wii U for now. It's a good game but come on Nintendo.

Still waiting for Nintendo to announce Ocarina/Majora and Wind Waker.

@Medic_Alert I dunno I remember getting Skyward Sword and Xenoblade for Xmas in 2012 and not touching Xenoblade for months as I 100%ed Skyward Sword.

All this talk of breaking from tradition is kind of rubbish because really the only games to ever break free from the ‘Zelda’ mould have been Skyward Sword and Breath of the Wild. Every other Zelda has rigidly stuck to the same very high quality template.

Twilight Princess might have stuck to the same template as Ocarina but it was one hell of a game.

Skyward Sword was almost Diablo in its structure: one central village with a few ancillary areas that linked together the dungeons. I was expecting Wind Waker in the sky but we got something different.

It had also been 5 years since Twilight Princess. Anything would have done!

I agree with others here. To try to sell the game by connecting one gameplay element to BotW seems a little desperate. Watching the direct I was unimpressed by the visuals of Skyward Sword. Part of me wants the game, but full price is too high.

Can we take the rupee cut scene out this time? Man that got old.

This is just kinda silly. Skyward Sword and BOTW are two entirely different games. These elements don't really make them similar at all. Someone who has played BOTW and loved the openness and everything is in for a rude awakening if they think that SS is anything like BOTW.

This is definitely going to be interesting...how far can Nintendo use BotW as a vehicle to sell something that is a very different game?

Pretty much all the two games have in common is a) the name "Zelda" and ... that's about it. Obviously there is a whole lot more gameplay than in other games, but if you liked the open world of BotW, I'm not sure what your reaction to the very linear format (and relatively empty spaces) of Skyward Sword will be.

And for the record, the first "paraglider" was the Deku Leaf in Wind Waker! Ahem...

If they end up porting Wind Waker, do you think they’ll market it as “the game that introduced the koroks you loved finding in Breath of the Wild”?

To me, the main advantage of Skyward Sword compared to BOTW is the probably dungeon design and music. That’s what I would use to sell people on it.

I would heartily recommend Skyward Sword to anybody who hasn't played it before. I would add the caveat that it's (I think) the weakest 3-D Zelda, which is to say it's still a great time just a bit more flawed than the other entries.

I won't be picking this up, mind. I played through it twice back in the day and I'm just not into it enough to pay full price for it again.

I missed out on it so definitely picking it up

I always thought the Deku Leaf was the precursor to the sail cloth?

I tried to play this yesterday having got it on ebay but couldn't find a place to put the cd into my Switch. Can anybody help me please?

Nintendo KNOWS what Breath of the Wild fans think. Always waiting for BotW 2 and only BotW 2, no remakes, no spin-offs, no re-releases. I am very glad that they are trying their best to convince those players to expand their horizons and actually play other Zelda games.

So just a restatement of what Aonuma said in the direct, nice!

@Strumpf that's like saying Odyssey is a bigger name than Mario because it sold so well on Switch.

It may be the best selling, arguably the best Zelda game but The game title is still Legend of ZELDA. So no BOTW is not a bigger name than Zelda.

@dugan Nintendo are trying to hide the fact this is a bare bones port with an easy to implement stamina bar, I would argue they actually already had it in the game code on Wii as one of many tests when making the game.

I am disgusted by the amount of Nintendo fanboys here willing to give Nintendo 60 bucks for shovelware ports.

@My_ultimate_is_ready Well, especially if you've been following the emulation scene. Not much of a reason to keep rebuying the same game.

I literally just went back and played through and beat skyward sword on Wii and then they announced this HD version. That's a little annoying, I would have rather played through the new version, but I definitely not getting it now since I just finished it. This is why I'm not playing through metroid prime trilogy even though I really want to revisit it - fingers crossed there's gotta be a remake on the horizon.

They mentioned this in the direct, so yeah. At one point this was news.

Prior to the switch I had never finished a Zelda game, botw really grabbed me and I have played it through multiple times now. Its what opened me up to trying link's awakening which i finished too and has sparked an interest in the older games, so maybe it isn't such a bad strategy. I'm really waiting for Wind Waker HD to get released 🤞but I'll probably break down and grab skyward sword at some point.

To be fair, the tension between "open Zelda" and "linear Zelda" has been going on since A Link to the Past streamlined the original Legend of Zelda. It's a pendulum the franchise has always been on.

I see this as the complete opposite.

This is Nintendo warning people who played BOTW as their first Zelda game that previous games in the serious were very different so they are not disappointed.

Poor Skyward Sword-era Link. His face can't not look like some sort of blow-up doll with those oddly detailed lips.

@Classic603 no issue with the open air idea but it needs proper dungeons and non-destructable weapons. I really couldn't get on with Botw for the weapons in particular.

Skyward Sword is probably the one Zelda game that Id consider rebuying as it was a great game, I loved the backstory it provided and the gameplay. To me it was slightly let down by the Wii's graphical capabilities as some scenes were terribly jagged.

Some seriously out-there comments here, first I have heard of Skyward Sword being "shovelware;" it is the one post-Ocarina Zelda game that was in particular need of a port of this nature. I understand the sentiment, you would prefer a new game rather than a port, but let's be reasonable here.

I imagine this marketing literature is based on what Aonuma said, which is true, the function of the Breath of the Wild paraglider is inspired by the sailcloth in Skyward Sword. It does warrant mentioning that the Skyward Sword item was certainly inspired to some degree by the Deku Leaf in the Wind Waker, which I'm sure was inspired in some way by the use of Deku Flowers in Majora's Mask, which surely takes from earlier Zelda games as well. This is the beauty of the Legend of Zelda, constantly reiterating in creative ways.

Thing is, I don't care for the addition of a stamina gauge or upgrading gear. In fact, I have come to really dislike crafting systems in general. Didn't Wind Waker have the Deku Leaf for floating/descending?

To me they are saying 'this is where some of our bad mechanics started'.

Make no mistake though, I know most people welcome these additions so no need for everyone to tell me that they disagree with me. I already know.

@Medic_Alert No, it was the motion controls that kept me from getting too far into it. I loved Ocarina of Time, Wind Waker and Twilight Princess. Can't get into Majora's Mask, even though I have tried.

@USWITCH64 lol I think you purchased the Wii disc which is not compatible with the Switch. The Switch doesn't use cds

@Nintendontyouknow ok that makes sense as have been trying for hours to jam the disc in the Dock with no results. They should make this more obvious

@Nintendontyouknow On a similar note, I have been told if you file down 3ds cards to the same size as Switch games they will play on the switch. I am busy filing down 3ds ocarina of time so I hope it works.

@USWITCH64 er no I don't think that will work either

@Medic_Alert That and we were in an open world game phase.

@Nintendontyouknow Buggar

@HeadPirate Uh no, it's Nintendo being desperate by tryin to tie the BOTW to Skyward Sword.

rolls eyes I understand what he meant, but that was perhaps not the best idea.

The return of the stamina gauge killed my enthusiasm for Breath and no, I still don't like it.

Also, does Aunoma know that upgrading gear goes all the way back to ALTTP? Don't take credit for game mechanics you didn't work on in this series hmm.

@Lord BotW is a WiiU game (as much as Pikmin 3, Mario Kart 8, Tropical Freeze, ...). It was developed as one for many years and the Switch version was only developed in parallel at the end. Also the removal of all GamePad elements was a pure marketing driven one at the end of development. By the way the WiiU sales of BotW were not bad at all: 1.6 millions (Better than Twilight Princess's GameCube version.)

@piecez Horseback fights in SS? I believe you mean TP.

Never played the wii zelda games as I hated the motion controls so may buy it when its on sale. Motion controls suck hard apart from wii sports

@RadioHedgeFund Gee, its not as if open-world and proper dungeons have never been done before. Ever heard of The Legend of Zelda and A Link Between Worlds?

It was OLD already when it came out back day.

It had some mechanisms that were leftovers of a past era of games.
Even though it is a REALLY good game... Not giving it a second playthrough. I 'll pass. But if someone hadn't played it on its time. ITS TIME. <3

@Tempestryke This is a fair point. The heart and soul of Zelda has always been in exploration. It had "open world" in its blood before "open world" was a concept. By returning to that sense of freedom, the series isn't necessarily getting rid of what makes the Ocarina Of Time formula appealing, it's expanding on it; allowing you to access the game in your own way at any time, which is something Ocarina itself does towards the end with the Spirit and Shadow Temples (it's possible to complete either one in any order).

@Tempestryke ha, you’re right, I was thinking of tp with the horseback fights. That was traumatic

Looking forward to this!

@Tempestryke What are you on about? My original point was that Skyward Sword is essentially one big dungeon with multiple levels and one village as the rest point, like the original Diablo. That’s pretty original for a Zelda title.

Breath of the Wild is open world in the modern sense like GTA or Assassins Creed. The Overworld in Zelda 1 is basically the map on super Mario bros but with a few enemies in it and Link Between Worlds is only innovative in that you can do the dungeons in any order which kind of spoils the dungeons because you already know the answers to the puzzles. It is a brilliant game though. I would argue the use of 3D and depth is a much bigger innovation. It’s one of the best uses of 3D on the 3DS just as Skyward Sword was justification for the Motion+ adaptor. It adds a lot to the game.

Phew, and there's me thinking they are going to add stamina bar and crafting to skyward sword, thanks goodness they originally didn't, and thanks god they won't think about it this time either.

@Henmii they what it should be, amen to that 🤣🤣

If the weapons can wear out and break, I hope this game bombs so that "feature" will fade into obscurity.

@the4seer I don’t remember the crashing (maybe an NTSC issue?) but I do remember being able to do the dungeons in any order, even the second time around. I also remember the innovative controls, the novel characters rather than the same old Ganon and great story.

I really enjoyed Link Between Worlds but I found buying the items a bit of a chore. I quite like the mystery of what item I get in a dungeon. It lends the game an air of mystery. Tackling the dungeons in any order each time you play doesn’t really change the game that much. There are maybe a couple of bosses that are easier with some items that others but it doesn’t really affect the outcome at all.

'Button only' is the reason I am getting this game. I never even tried to play the Wii version after giving up on Twilight Princess. I hated those forced gimmicks.

Now all I need is a de-Wii'd Metroid Prime 3 as well.

@DrDaisy
Shields are the only thing that can break, but you can repair them pretty easily and there is an unbreakable shield though you get it pretty late in the game.

@Classic603
You mean Zelda went back being like Zelda and that’s a bad thing for you?

@liveswired Uhhhh, Skyward Sword always had a stamina meter. They're not claiming that it's new for the HD version.

@Crono1973 They're not additions, regardless of how you feel about them they were all already in the game.

@SirPrimalform Sorry, let me clarify. I meant that I didn't like the addition of a stamina bar and crafting that wasn't in previous Zelda titles (Ocarina, Wind Waker, Twilight Princess).

I thought the chicken was the original glider?

@Crono1973 Gotcha. Yeah, I wasn't particularly a fan of them back then either. I didn't mind them too much but they didn't do much for me either.

@SalvorHardin The argument that BotW is somehow a return to the series roots has so many holes poked in it by now that I could use it as a colander.
BotW, no matter how good a game it is, is barely even the same genre as a Zelda game let alone having much in common with the series as a whole.

Skyward Sword had some good ideas. But the actual surface was boring. When I originally played it I kept thinking 'ok, now the games going to start' but it never did. To be fair the story was good, and the side quests in skyloft were also fun.

I beat Kolotos and didn't have the desire to carry on after. Its the only 3d zelda I've never beaten. I do think its a good game and I do want to pick it up again to finish it, but £50? This should be £20.

@SalvorHardin

I get the argument that BOTW has the most in common with the first game in the series, but if the other mainline Zeldas are all a different play style then it doesn't really fit. 2/19 or whatever it is now is a vast minority

@Shadowthrone Twilight Princess on the Wii was a Gamecube game with motion controls clumsily stitched onto it. It couldn't be further from Skyward Sword in that sense. Twilight Princess Wii was a gimmick, Skyward Sword was very much not. It's a pity your experience with TP put you off playing SS.

@Classic603
Zelda began as an open world game.

Nintendo sounding a tad try hard in plugging Skyward sword by appealing to botw.
Nonetheless, if it ends up working well with pro controller i may give it a try. Absolutely hated the motion controls for this game

@BrettAwesome

Yeah I get that, but in my other comment I pointed out that there are now 19(?) mainline Zelda titles. 2/19 is the vast minority in playstyle. I understand that MANY people love BOTW, but to me Zelda as a series is more like OoT, MM, WW, Skyward, etc.

Ocarina used to be my favorite in the series for YEARS. When I finally hunkered down and played and beat Twilight Princess on Wii U, it took the crown. That game was huge and happy and sad and... oh wow. Was a trip visiting temple of time again.

The deku leaf from Windwaker was more like the paraglider in BOTW than Skyward Sword's

@Classic603 I wouldn't be surprised to see nintendo do something different. Its nintendo and they'll do whatever they want tbh.

Sorry, i will pass. Tried Skyward Sword a couple of years ago ... meh. Wasn't really my game.

I just wish they would have ported Wind Waker again ... That is my fav. Zelda of all time, followed my Breath of the Wild and the 3rd Place goes to OOT.

Never liked the Top Down Zelda's. I dont like Zelda from NES oder SNES, so BoTW remains my only Zelda Game on Switch ...

But i am still hoping for a WW Port. If not, BotW 2 might be my next Zelda. Sorry Nintendo

The only exception: Minish Cap on GBA. I loved this game, but it was the only 2D/top down game i could enjoy.

@piecez I can't remember any horseback fights in Skyward Sword. Could you mention where you talk about, please?

@eRaz0r Loved WW. But I got to hate it after repeating around 5 times because of the "Looking for the Triforce shards anywhere in the big map" part.

Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword are my favorite ones after BOTW.

This all sounds good to be honest. I've never played this one, and am considering trying it out on Wii before this remastered version. One of the things I'm often finding to be the case with playing Wii games these days is that the controls can feel sort of dated.

Honestly, I'd buy all the Zelda ports you can give. I'm buying the 3DS versions of Ocarina of time and Majora's Mask, because I'm impatient for a Switch port. I would still buy them for the switch though.
I heard Majora's Mask's boss fights were completely changed on the 3DS due to the limitations of the 3DS. I'd love the improved graphics ported to the Switch, but the boss fights to be restored or perhaps updated. An HD, "definite version" is a must for these two.
I still am waiting for the re-release of Golden Sun and Mario RPG to come to either the 3DS or Nintendo Switch. How these re-releases are exclusive on the Wii-U and Super Nintendo Classic is beyond me. Not porting them to the Switch, is telling me Nintendo is literally competing with itself. I'm not buying either as I have both a "New" 3DS and a Nintendo Switch.
Hopefully either Nintendo either learns from their mistakes with the 3DS family or a hardware shortage will have them replace the regular Switch with the Switch Pro. Its better to just have two models on the market than three. Perhaps latter we will get the Switch lite plus.

@Olmectron sorry I was mistaken, it was twilight princess I was thinking about with the horseback fights

Skyward Sword isn't like Breath of the Wild, so this is a risky move from Nintendo. If you've only played BotW, then you're in for a shock as Skyward Sword is more linier (set path near enough).

As someone who gave up on BOTW after about 30 hours, I can't wait to play a proper Zelda game again.

Won't be getting it, already tried it years ago and it's pretty much as bad as nearly every other Zelda game. Hoping they stick to the BotW formula permanently moving forward as that's a very distinct and clear evolution from the old Zelda formula.

@TheWingedAvenger I don't really understand how Skyward Sword compares to the most notorious feature of Dark Souls:Difficulty. Want to elaborate?

@BrettAwesome It began as an 8 bit game too. Wanna go back to that as well? I don't.

@echoplex People that like breath of the wild are going to be in for a rude awakening.

This marketing line is pretty gross, honestly. They're stretching so far to try to pretend SS is like BotW, they might actually hamper BotW2 sales when people say "oh, I like BotW, but I guess they're not all like that."

This sounds like one of those "but the consultant said this would be a good idea..." moments.

This is the only Zelda "home console" game that I have not played so I'm excited to finally give it a try. I think I skipped it back on the Wii/Wii U because I needed a break from Zelda games. I went through a time when I replayed some of the early classics (Legend of Zelda, A Link to the Past, Ocarina, Wind Waker) and I needed to play a completely different series so Skyward Sword got left behind.

I never actually finished Skyward Sword back on the Wii U so I'm looking forward to getting the Switch version. I already got the special Zelda Joy Con pre-ordered as they went up in Canada about a week ago at one of our retailers. Hopefully others will put theirs up so my friends can also pre-order them! They're really nice looking (from the pictures at least).

Wasn't skyward sword's main issues caused by the clunkiness of the wiimotion+? Otherwise the game was pretty good. The switch remotes are much more advanced and accurate, aren't they?

Other than the word "sail cloth", WIND WAKER was the first 3D Zelda game to slow your descent by parachute. It was a leaf, not a sail cloth. But it was the exact same function.
And every zelda game had upgraded gear. Even on the NES. This was just the first where you collected things to trade for things to make things to upgrade

@Solaine
A game's genre and inspiration are independent of its difficulty. So a game can be a souls-like without being hard. Cyber Shadow is a Ninja Gaiden clone, but it's much easier. Does that mean we can't call it a Ninja Gaiden clone? Of course not. Dark Souls isn't Dark Souls because it's hard. Otherwise, I could call Dark Souls a Ninja Gaiden clone.

Having said that, here's why Skyward Sword is just as much a Dark Souls clone as it is a Zelda game. Skyward Sword is a bit of a black sheep in the Zelda series because it's different. It's less exploratory, and it's full of long, frequent battles that take practice to overcome. Most Zelda games allow you to kill common foes in one or two hits, whereas Skyward Sword makes even common enemies a challenge that you have to take your time on. That's taken from Demon's Souls, which came out two years before Skyward Sword. And that's the distinguishing quality of the souls-like genre: it's an action adventure in which each fight is a serious challenge to contend with. Every battle is basically a long sword fight.

@TheWingedAvenger

Funny enough when I first played Dark Souls (I), after about a hundred hours I came to conclude that despite its terrifying reputation the game was really The Legend of Zelda. I think I thought it was specifically like a 3D version of the first one with a darker art style. You're just a guy with a sword and shield (if you so choose) adventuring and fighting bosses with little instruction. Odd characters periodically tell you cryptic things. But the gameplay itself isn't so far removed from any 3D Zelda to be as intimidating as folks find it. At least in the first game, using your shield is like 75% of the difficulty. If you approach it like Ocarina you'll be fine 95% of the time. The other 5% are those f-ing Wheel Skeletons.

@Deminox,

Yeah. The leaf was definitely paraglider prime and gliding in Majora's Mask as a deku was similar in feel. The main difference is that the paraglider isn't powered by mana and lasts a lot longer than its predecessors. I can see why they made the comparison but I agree that its not entirely unprecedented before Skyward.

@FaroreAbhorsen
Now that you've made me think about it, I have to admit that you're right about Dark Souls copying Zelda. While Skyward Sword definitely upped the ante with the complexity of its combat, making me think of Dark Souls, I failed to realize that Dark Souls itself had taken a lot from Ocarina of Time's combat, adding a bit of difficulty and not much else.

I dislike this ad campaign. It sounds like something American marketing would do: name drop something they know people like in the hopes that it'll transfer over. "You like BotW... did you know this game has a map and inventory too?". It shows a fundamental lack of awareness of why SKyward Sword is an essential play for anyone who likes the LORE of Zelda. It's the most important title to the actual legend of Zelda since Ocarina.

• Skyward Sword explains WHY this series is the legend of ZELDA specifically.
• Skyward Sword explains where Zelda's powers which she uses to fight Calamity Ganon for 100 years come from.
• Skyward Sword explains who speaks to Zelda in on of the last cutscenes you discover in the game.
• Skyward Sword explains why the history of the royal family of Hyrule is also the history of Calamity Ganon.
• No less than 3 locations in BotW are the ancient ruins of locations which only appear in Skyward Sword.
• Skyward Sword is the story of the legendary Sword the Seals the Darkness and the explanation for its power and the literal telling of the first darkness it sealed. If you care about the Master Sword--at all--Skyward Sword is essential.
• Skyward Sword is the story of the Goddess Hylia in whose name the Sheikah monks offer you their trials. She who imprisoned the demon in the statue. She who upgrades your stamina.
• Skyward Sword also showcases the advanced technological capabilities of the Hylians since the very beginning and that they aren't always a thatched barn society.

Basically, if you're a Zelda fan and you don't care about the origin of the Master Sword, the first Link, the first Zelda, the first Demon King, the cycle of reincarnation, the royal bloodline, the spirit of the hero, the Triforce, the Song of the Hero, the green tunic, Sheik's harp, the red bird on the Hylian shield, and you don't care at all about the forgotten temple, the springs of courage and power, why it's called Lake Hylia... then don't play or at least know the story of Skyward Sword. Also don't say you're really into the lore of the series. Those are the connections to Breath of the Wild Nintendo needs to be highlighting to get folks interested. I didn't watch the prequels because "Did you know Tie-Interceptor designs were pioneered by Jedi Starfighters in the clone wars?". I watch them because they're the origin story of the Galactic Empire and Darth Vader.

@Crono1973
Lame argument. Tech and gameplay is not the same.

@SirPrimalform Breath of the Wild is very much a Zelda game and very much like the the open ended nature of the first.

The formula was given a shake up.

@Dexeronstarsurge the switches toy cons certainly are not more accurate.

@Classic603 ironically, BotW is closer to the original NES games. But I get what you're pulling at.

@liveswired You can't simultaneously claim it's a true Zelda game and very much like the first one while also claiming it's a shake up. It's either one or the other (it's the latter, not the former).

@SirPrimalform LoZ Breath of the Wild is all and everything LoZ. It is both true and false, old and new, different yet the same, traditional and modern, the past and the present, it is the latter and the former.

@liveswired Yeah yeah, it's also the sound of one hand clapping and a box of chicken nuggets.