The First Review For The Legend Of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD Is Now In

Famitsu? Means zilchu!

Man I can't wait for your review on this game. And super excited to receive my copy Friday!

Since Nintendo Life gave the original on Wii a 10 this should get a 1080p.😁

Also, if Nintendo release a HD version of 1080 they could call it 1080p.
If only.😠

aaaand I shall now slowly disappear back into the shadows.

"Is it any good?"
Considering it is a remaster with a lot of QoL improvements of a game that got very got reviews I'd assume so

Famitsu doesn't count

I hope Alex is reviewing this given how he's not finished it before

Not really a ‘review’ if it’s Famitsu is it? More like an advertisement.

It’s not aged that well though, went back to the Wii version at the weekend and the environments are so sparse.

Yikes. Cant wait for people to pretend that they don't care about the review. Lol

It's famitsu, they're the most arbitrary reviewers I've ever seen. I trust them as much as those 3 minute reviews on youtube.

I can’t see how this could get a poor review anywhere without it being sour grapes. It was reviewed so highly in the first place, and then this time around they’ve ticked practically every tweak people wanted as QoL updates… it has to still be 9’s and 10’s (or equivalents thereof) from the majority of sites and publications.

@citizenerased they do. All the way up to 40.

@Bentendo1609 Not necessarily. Gaming has come a long-way in 10 years and what may have been a good or innovative game in 2011 doesn't always hold true in 2021.

@Ajent Yeah, their reviews are like reading the back of a game box. They usually just list the features, lol

"Is it any good?"

They're rarely good and even more rarely aim to be.

...Oh, never mind, you meant the game there.

It's so weird to see how the Wii version got 93% on Metacritic. Every time the game comes up in discussion, even with diehard Zelda fans, everyone is disappointed and annoyed by the slow start, Fi, the restrictive structure, forced motion controls. It really felt like the death of the franchise, like everyone was so tired of the drawn out old formula. Yet the metascore makes it look like it was universally liked.

The fact that A Link Between Worlds and Breath of Wild threw the classic formula out of the window shows that Skyward Sword really was a dead end for the franchise...

I have it preordered and will give it another chance, but I am honestly more curious how it feels to play the game after Breath of the Wild instead of actually interested in the game itself.

It’s a ten year old game and they’re charging more for it than they did in 2011. I think I’ll pass.

Graphically it looks terrible when compared to BOTW. Heck Link’s Awakening looks better than this. First Zelda in a long time that I have no interest in

@HefHughner There's many like me who miss the smaller, tighter Zelda games and found some of the features in BOTW like collapsible weapons and cooking recipes to be utterly tedious.

I understand Skyward Sword is unusually linear by 3D Zelda standards but I'd absolutely love a new game in the size and style of Ocarina of Time, Majoras Mask or Wind Waker. I hope they haven't given up this style entirely in favour of massive open world games. Skyward Sword sales and reception will somewhat show if there's a market for it.

@Bentendo1609 go back and play C64 games that got Zzap Sizzlers back in the later 80s, they are terrible to play nowadays.

34/40 from famitsu is a VERY low score for a Zelda title..im concerned now.

@Nin10dood come back!! Don’t disappear! We need more 1080 love around here

I trust famitsu about as much as the British government ie about as far as I can throw them!

For what I know and after playing the original game, it seems to be that a 8.5 is totally deserved.
A pity this website doesn't include decimals... I guess it will get an undeserved 9 instead.

Really looking forward to receiving my copy on Friday and here's hoping for a HD remake of OoT in the not too distant future..... Like Christmas 2021!!??

@Rob3008 The remasters of Ocarina, Majora, Twilight, Wind Waker, all still reviewed well.

Button controls.
10/10

I've got my copy with the steelbook on its way from game

I think button controls will make it far more enjoyable for many of us! I am going to get this when its on sale or second hand though.

However I am still doing my own Zelda anniversary celebration as Nintendo disappointed on that!!! Played through Link to the past, Link between worlds, Ocarina of time and Majora's Mask already this summer and now BOTW for 100% completion..... I hate Korok seeds lol

@Nin10dood Ha! 1080! Roadhouse!

I'm actually kinda maybe thinkin about getting it, despite my issues with it. They've really made some quality changes

@Clyde_Radcliffe Yeah, I totally get that. I also have very very fond memories of Minish Cap and think it would awesome if we could still get those classic, smaller Zeldas as an addition to the open AAA-level BOTW 2. Skyward Sword though is both huge and painfully linear. That is part of the problem.

I am pretty sure this style of Zelda gamedesign will have its big comeback after Breath of Wild 3, haha, when everyone is tired of the openness.

@DiamondJim I cant say I agree. Botw has too much technical issues such as pop in, aliasing, low resolution, and low framerate. The game is VERY blurry and I personally think the world terrain models look like clay or wet clay when it rains.

@Rob3008 Unlike games like Skyrim, Skyward Sword's mechanics have not been built upon too much in the last 10 years since gaming went away from motion controls. So it should do fine in terms of reviews as long as the improvements are good enough. Also, its innovations should not be overlooked even if it has aged.

I'd expect it to get around a 90 Metacritic score.

Let the biased reviews come. It will not hurt the sales. Look at Mario golf. Critics mean nothing. They give a messy buggy game like death stranding and racket and clunk 9s and 10s and not far superior games like Mario golf. Smart fans and real gamers know and buy a great game when they see one.

Yeah Famitsu has not been a reliable source for fifteen plus years. I mean according to them this Zelda game is about as good as Sonic forces...

once again its Famitsu, wake up nitendo life they are a complete and utter joke , would get a better reviews from my dog than this joke of a site, just do us all a favour and stop with these "review" articles from this site

will wait for some real reviews

I liked the fighting motion controls. Bowling bombs was fun.

But I gave up at a minecart jumping sequence. I failed so much. It felt like it would not recognise my jumps and I eventually had enough.

I hope parts like that are kinder but I'm not paying £50. Maybe when its around £30.

I instead just rebought Wind Waker HD sealed for £35 on ebay instead. I always loved that one and am happy for my first replay in years.

@HefHughner I wonder if Metroid Dread being a big hit could lead to more non-remake 2D Zelda games.

@Bentendo1609 the only thing that could hurt it is how annoying resetting the gyro positioning is. Switch lacks a ir blaster so it will loose positioning as you play, it should be easily reset with a button press though (I think) but it is the biggest problem with porting this game.

@The_Pixel_King We are talking about the worlds 2nd most respected gaming publication after EDGE Magazine.

@RadioHedgeFund

been a long, long time since Famitsu have been respected.

just a pale shadow of what they once where just have to look at how poor there reviews are, as mentioned you get more info of the back of the box!

Is it any good? Like you guys don't know!

@Nin10dood I'd play 1080° peegrees all day any day. Maybe just never call it pee grease again...

As for Skyward Sword, of course it's good. It was the game that made reviewers say "better than OoT, never want to play without motion again,...", but improved upon.

Definitely looking forward to this myself but I wonder what the new fans of the series will think. I just hope sells aren't a flash in the pan kind of thing, as I'd love to see HD versions of the 3DS N64 remakes.

@HamatoYoshi
Sadly that's not a case of aging badly - that aspect of it was bad even when when the game was new.

I know Famitsu have a bad rep, but I do like their idea of having four different reviewers. I remember Mean Machines often used to have a second reviewer on their reviews and I always appreciated having two opinions about a game, especially if they differed.

I would imagine it would be both cost and time prohibitive for Western gaming sites to have two or more reviewers on every game, particularly during the Christmas release period where covering all the games coming out is hard enough with just one reviewer per game!

@michellelynn0976 Must clearly be trolling because Death Stranding and R&C are not buggy at all.

Quality of Life. They have done enough to let it play on the Switch, given it a makeover and removed some otherwise annoying features.

Shame they could not fix the most annoying feature, the cash grab price. But in all honesty they have not brought this game back for us original gamers, its for the newer gamers who see the game as a new game.

Oh, the Famitsu score.......

Honestly, this was always my least favorite Zelda. The one review I had to tip my hat to was Gamespot’s. They basically said “if this didn’t have the name Zelda attached to it, it’d be seen as just an average, run-of-the-mill adventure game” before giving it a 7.5.

It isn’t a bad game, at all, but it certainly isn’t on the same level as Wind Waker, Ocarina, or Breath of the Wild.

I've got the Amiibo on the way but cancelled my pre order for the game as I'm going to wait for a price drop.

It's a remake of a game that was good in the first place and it's been updated to be even better than before. Like duh of course it's good! Oh and besides that it's a zelda game. Have you ever heard of a zelda game that got bad reviews? I sure haven't and I've been around for every single one of them. Played them all too.

Maybe you don't like a certain one as much as another but a bad poorly made zelda game? There is no such thing. Also the CDi ones don't count so don't use that for an example.

@BanjoPickles 100% agree. I've just read IGN's old review from 2011 and it is the most biased article I've ever read, it's actually embarrassing to read. And I am a genuine, massive, Zelda fan.

@RetroGamer07 At least that was funny in retrospect!

Dammit, I hated this game back on the Wii but all these 'qualities of life' seems to make it bearable... No, no I must resist! I must!

@frabbit Just checked the IGN review and saw this wonderful caption: Fi+is+a+masterful+companion+and+a+brilliant+addition+to+the+Zelda+franchise.

@RupeeClock I'm guessing it will be a 7/10

@Zeldafan79 Legend of Zelda Triforce Heroes?

i consider Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword the weakest 3D Legend of Zelda, no QOL is gonna change how badly the game is.

@Clyde_Radcliffe my hope is that they had so much work with creating the engine with all its interconnected systems and the big open world that they simply ran out of time and couldn't make proper dungeons for BotW. So with the sequel they now can focus fully on level design and create a big open world And big, complex dungeons, so we get the best of both worlds.

@Joriss haha, a belter indeed!

@RetroGamer07 Too much sky confirmed.

@jrt87 Skyward Sword is my favorite Zelda game, but I can still recognize its many flaws. It is definitely not a 10/10 game. But sometimes reviewers get caught in the general hype. They also often don't fully recognize the more tedious aspects of a game because they have to rush through it in a few days to finish the review in time.

My goto example for this is Bioshock Infinite, which had a great introduction, but after that was just terribly disappointing for me. But it got 10/10s everywhere. Only some time after its release more and more articles were showing up that discussed its flaws and shortcomings.

@frabbit

Exactly! I love almost every Zelda, save for the DS games, and Skyward Sword. I remember buying it, after reading all of the perfect scores, and scratching my head.

Breath of the Wild felt like a 10/10 game. It felt fresh, and it sucked me in like few other games have. Honestly, it felt like the closest thing to the first Zelda since.....the first Zelda. Here’s a big open world. Go explore it! It gave me those same vibes.

Skyward Sword is a well-made game, but nothing about it felt inspired. Honestly, though, I was okay with it because Nintendo’s track record with the franchise has been nothing short of amazing, considering how long it has been around. Has there really been a bad mainline Zelda game? People will say Zelda II, but I personally love it. It’s also a well-designed game.

@countzero

I felt that way about the entire Bioshock trilogy. It has a great story, has atmosphere for miles, but the gameplay always felt off to me.

I remember when the original version came out, I was more of a regular on IGN at the time. Other users were assuming Audrey Drake (who used to work at IGN but now works in the Nintendo Treehouse) was going to review the game and automatically give it a 10/10 because she was a huge fan of Nintendo. Ultimately, it wasn't her who reviewed the game, but the game still got 10/10 regardless.

Of course, the game probably doesn't deserve a 10/10, even with these QOL improvements, and I don't put much stock into IGN's reviews anymore, not since their review of "Man of Steel" (they gave it 9/10, but I was so frustrated and bored by that movie, I nearly walked out of the theater; "Superman Returns" was better than "Man of Steel," if you ask me).

@WallyWest Um yeah they are. Especially Death Stranding.

@Ajent Lets play the game, "is it better than sonic forces?"

@AstroTheGamosian Man of steel is a great superman movie

@luckiernut Sorry, but I have to disagree. It dragged on for way too long, especially in the third act. And it didn't have the heart that previous Superman films had.

TBH, I haven't been a big fan of the live-action DC movies as of late. Only Aquaman and Shazam! were the only DC movies that I liked or remotely tolerated so far.

@michellelynn0976 No um they not and unlike you i've played them and completed them, i even got the Platinum for DS and i had zero bugs getting there. Some advice if you want to be Mrs Nintendo fangirl and trash other consoles i suggest you don't just make up rubbish about them as it gives you zero weight.

Interestingly, the QoL improvements still don't make this game good for anyone except people with goos hand/eye coordination and a sense of space.

This is by far my favorite Zelda, but I also realize people's issues with the controls were due to a lack of understanding of how they were calibrated. Hell, it took me three playthroughs to completely understand the conditions in which it seemed the calibration broke. After finding that out, I stopped having calibration issues (no one's calibration breaks in the Wii game, as it turns out. People just naturally shift positions over time while playing). I never would have thought before this game that motion controls could be TOO accurate.

All I need is a Zelda 2 sequel. A Zelda 2....2 if you will.

@WallyWest Yes, in they do.

@WallyWest
Here. I guess you didn't see this.
https://youtu.be/FuIKrvQcDz4
Or this.
https://youtu.be/5tdkSLFc1SM

@michellelynn0976 So small bugs that nearly every game has? Fun fact Skyward Sword on Wii has a game ending bug. BotW crashed on me once so i guess its a broken mess right? Going by your comment history your clearly a fangirl of Nintendo or just a troll and don't actually other consoles so maybe its best you don't comment on things you know nothing about, Death Stranding is a very polished game end off.

@WallyWest small? Not being able to control the game properly isnt a little bug. It shows Sony doesn't care about quality as much anymore. Hey, they got people who make excuses for them, so they don't need to fix the problem.

@WallyWest No, Death Stranding has clunky controls and bad mechanics, and a clumsy structure. Kojima's worst game.

@michellelynn0976 Its small in that its very uncommon thing to happen. Hyrule Warriors AoC has a bad framerate so are you going to moan about Nintendo? Nah you love them too much to do that.

@WallyWest No, it happens a lot in those games Death Stranding and R&C. Move that goalpost huh?

@WallyWest Yeah they do. I even showed you the evidence, but you don't want to accept it. Oh well, that is on you, not me. And, you call me a fangirl? Geez

@michellelynn0976 Isolated rare instances what every single game has, you do realize BotW has bugs right? I even had crash once on me but its a rare thing like with R&C and DS. Bugs and glitches are in every game, the thing what matters is how bad they and how frequent they are and if you had played those games you would know they are pretty rare and most likely have been patched out by now.

@WallyWest False. Consumers are complaining about the bugs in Ratchet and Clank and Death Stranding. You keep moving one goal post after another and we know games have small bugs, but not ones that affect gameplay.

@michellelynn0976 Are they? Care to prove that because i haven't seen anything, i haven't moved any goalpost its you just ignoring the facts.

@WallyWest You are ignoring the facts. I gave you 2 videos to watch. Showing how many people are experiencing bugs. Especially DS. Oh yeah, Returnal too.

@michellelynn0976 and i could show you full playthroughs of no bugs. Yeah Returnal has issues i agree but they are being patched. Clearly you think every game should be bug despite that being near impossible.

@WallyWest I sent you six links to videos. OK, show me. I will watch. And no game is 100% but like it or not, Sony has been letting their quality slip.