Impressions: Hands-on with The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Link’s surroundings appear to be captured in a wider angle of view than in Twilight Princess, with better coverage for incoming enemies in Link’s peripheral vision. But what really took my breath away was the depth and draw distance of the backgrounds, and the pseudo-hand painted style for landscapes and objects in the distance. Trees and mountains in the background have a mottled paintbrush-like texture that very subtly blends out to fully-rendered models as Link approaches them closer. The transition is very smooth and I couldn’t pick whether it was a model swap or a well-tooled filter effect.

With controls in hand, the combat is sensibly straightforward. A quick waggle of the Remote and Link has his sword out – give the Nunchuk a shake and he’s wielding a shield. The first enemy I faced off against was the Deku Baba-like flower monster with the double-opening mouth. I had to remember that I was wielding a MotionPlus-enabled control and that a lazy fling of the Remote just wasn’t enough. As seen at the press event, Link can only damage the Baba by slashing along the direction its mouth opens along – either vertically or horizontally. Facing off against the new Deku Baba was easy but the slight moment required to decide whether a vertical or horizontal slash was required is enough to keep players on their toes, and the extra amount of attentiveness required means that Skyward Sword’s combat will be a much more engaging experience.

There was one part of Miyamoto’s presentation where he seemed to unnecessarily struggle. The Deku Scrub monster that shoots out Deku Nuts seemed to prove a bit of a bother for Miyamoto but the moment I encountered one for the first time, I instinctively thrust up my shield with the Nunchuck and deflected the Deku Nut at just the right time to knock out the enemy. The shield works just fine and is a vital tool when facing off against more complex enemies such as the Bokoblins. The Bokoblins actively defend themselves and are opportunistic attackers; landing a blow isn’t so easy as a properly-oriented directional attack is required. There isn’t much time between the Bokoblin telegraphing his attack and making the move, so a quick dodge or shield block is required. After only a few minutes into the game, I was just about to cut down a Deku Baba when I was jumped by a pair of Bokoblins. The surprise attack combined with the threat of the stationary Baba meant that I took a few hits to Link’s health before I adapted my stance and returned a few blows.

Gamers who’ve played Wii Sports Resort will adapt very quickly to the new aiming system for ranged weapons such as the Slingshot and Bow. Holding the Wii Remote in a vertical position and making subtle movements is remarkably accurate and the bow and arrow system plays very close to that in Wii Sports Resort.

The combat I got to experience in the demo culminated in a final encounter against a giant enemy scorpion (it’s still funny, alright!). It was here that all of the skills expected of the player after faring off against weaker enemies would come to the fore. Accurately positioned attacks and ultra-quick reflexes were vital as Link needed to slash across the scorpion’s pincers at just the right time and angle. Dish out enough damage to each pincer, and they would blow up, leaving the scorpion defenceless. To finish him off required forward-thrusting jabs, an act requiring a level of accuracy otherwise not possible without MotionPlus. As far as bosses go, the scorpion wasn’t too complex, and didn’t require any weapon-switching to defeat, yet it was an ideal showcase for the demo that drew upon all of the sword-based attacks at Link’s disposal.

Much of what has been described certainly isn’t new for the action-gaming genre. The point however, is that the combat in Skyward Sword requires a level of attentiveness and quick adaptability from the player much higher than any other action game on Wii. Games like MadWorld hinted at what was possible, but with MotionPlus being such a vital component of the new Zelda experience, it means that Skyward Sword will have the deepest combat system yet realised on the Wii.

As for the overall narrative structure and flow of the game, it’s unclear what kind of game we will get with Skyward Sword. Many of the established tropes typical of the Zelda franchise still remain: a quick-loading navigational menu to select and arm different weapons, and another menu for managing and using potions. The majority of weapons and items available to Link aren’t new to the series, but there’s certain to be a bunch of new toys built around MotionPlus functionality.

The sound design is probably the least evolved aspect of Skyward Sword. When Link unlocks a certain area, the same melody chimes in that we’ve heard in every 3D Zelda to date. Link’s grunts and yelps as he attacks and gets attacked are a little bit too familiar as well. There are no signs yet of whether Skyward Sword will feature audio dialogue for the first time or whether we will again be subject to text-only conversations. I would have loved to be able to pick out the music over the massive crowds gathered around the booth, but alas the noise was too much.

As a demonstration of what we can expect from Skyward Sword, the E3 demo unit was heavily geared to showing off what is undoubtedly the game’s strength: combat. The area chosen for the demo was certainly suitable, an appealing showcase full of vibrant colour with a nice depth to the environs, and enough variety to give an idea of what to expect from the final game. Admittedly, compared to playable versions of top-tier Nintendo franchises like Metroid and Kirby, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is probably the least evolved and still plays very close to the formula established in Ocarina of Time back in 1998. The line for Zelda was the second longest at E3, right behind the one for 3DS, and those who played it came away solidly impressed. I’d like to see a bit more variety in gameplay in the full version but everything else displayed was brilliant. The visual style pops and the combat delivers in ways that we are yet to fully appreciate. It’s still a long wait for the next Zelda, and now that I’ve had a taste, the wait only feels all the more unbearable.