Topic: Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

There just doesn't seem to be anything special in Hero Mode compared to the Master Quest of Oot 3D

Well it just makes everything more balanced. The increased difficulty really forces you to use the upgrade system and potion-crafting, and every heart-piece counts. For me though, I'm enjoying it so much simply because I always enjoy the second playthrough more. I always rush through the first playthrough, then 100% the second. The fact that it's hero mode is mostly coincidence.

Has anyone else noticed how similar this is to Metroid Prime 3? Separated areas on the ground (planets) connected with portals in the sky (chart in your ship); revisiting them unlocks new areas when you have new abilities and items; very linear, but challenging puzzles and combat.

Anyway, the only thing I really don't like about it so far is the world feels pretty small in comparison to Twilight Princess — or even Ocarina of Time — and everything is a bit too separated. The motion controls are far from perfect too.
_{pleeeeease Wii Motion++ Nintendo.}

compared to literally every other Wii game they aren't

From what I've played so far I agree with pixelman. The controls are mainly the reason I dislike this game as of right now...

I love the motion controls, whenever I do get inaccuracies (which is not often) a simple re-calibration is the solution.

Why were there not more games like Skyward Sword?! That was probably one of the few games making great usage of the motion controls. If Sonic and the Black Knight motion or had stayed with basic controls instead of using tilt motion, it would have been the best game ever.

A lot of times it won't recognize what direction I'm swinging in (it's either the opposite direction or off by around 45 degrees). The problem is if you take your time and make a well-aimed, accurate slash, then the AI anticipates it and blocks you, and if you move fast then it becomes decalibrated quickly and you lose accuracy and get slaughtered. I've found that it's usually easiest to just flail at the baddies without Z-targetting or use your items to take them out painlessly.

Another thing that's driving me crazy is that 90% of the time I have to re-center the pointer on menus or when I'm using the slingshot and beetle. Couldn't they have used IR to do that automatically? It seems like it knows when I'm aiming forward when swimming and flying the beetle, so it's surely not impossible. idgi.

Anyway, finicky controls aside it's a fantastic game.

I agree with Pixelman. I've gotten out of the habit of Z-targetting and now I just run in flailing my sword like a mad man, works a treat. Do it slowly and it either doesn't register or it'll go off into the opposite direction, but thrusts have to be slow and precise otherwise it's a horizontal slash.

It's an amazing game but, dang, the controls can mess you up big time. Not to mention I hardly use my shield now, I forget that all I have to do is flick the nunchuk to raise it, but that's just too much effort, might as well flail, run, flail, run and repeat, saves me having to waste money on repairing my stinking shield.

All I have to say is USER ERROR! Goodbye! !

@xDemon720x That's another problem; the shields are so brittle that it doesn't make sense to use them. Seriously, they can easily break in a single fight. So I never end up using them except against those deku nut-shooting dudes.

And ofc by the time I could upgrade my iron shield I got to the desert place where it was useless. >_<

They only break when you suck at blocking If you use them properly they will rarely break.

That's what upgrades are for! Also you can use a potion to repair your shield. That said I never really had any problems with my shield usage!

@KaiserGX How can you suck at blocking? Blocking is blocking. I know a well-timed nut block against those deku dudes will magically not damage your shield, but against anything else it'll drastically deplete your shield meter.

@RogueBologna Yup, I got that. It seems like a single block will knock out about a third of the meter though (probably depends on the strength of the attack, but the strong attacks are what you WANT to block), so it's still not very useful.

@Tech101 I know, haha. You have to go a long time without the upgrades, though, depending on how lucky you are at finding the required items, so most of the time they're pretty much useless. In my experience at least. I used to carry a shield-restoring potion around, but I find fairies more useful.

That goes for ALL enemies. If you just hold your shield out letting it be attacked it will take damage. You need to bash it against their attacks. Also I used a Wooden Shield for the last boss for fun. I couldn't keep up though I missed twiced.

Ah, okay. I'll have to try that. :3

About Demise: At first I found him very hard and I died several times, because during the first fase I had much trouble landing a hit and during the second fase I didn't knew I had to raise my sword upwards. But when I learned the trick during the first fase, and discovered I had to raise my sword upward during the second fase, It was a pretty easy boss. I think the Ghirahim battles where better.

By the way: Am I the only one who found it very annoying and cheap that the little movies during the credits where sooo slow? Not the Zelda videos, those where cool. But the videos that show the different areas. There you see some slowdown. Was there not a single tester who noticed that this looks cheap?

Overall I liked Phantom hourglass, Spirit tracks and maybe even the little bit dissapointing Twilight princess more then Skyward sword. Though Skyward sword was still fun to play. I probably wait some time before I attempt Hero-mode. First I have to finish a lot of other games!

Waggle waggle waggle, just like in Twilight Princess!

That's not a fair comparison. Twilight Princess's "waggle" is almost as responsive as a button press. Skyward Sword is more like swinging one of these.

More like swinging one of these.