Things I Wish I Knew Before Playing Skyward Sword
Well Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword officially releases in Australia today, after a very odd semi-release yesterday.
In case you weren’t up to date on that, retailers across the country were selling copies to people with preorders – but not to anyone without. However, some stores would allow you to walk in and preorder on the spot, then purchase the game.
Weird.
I ended up going to 3 different stores (I had no preorder) until eventually a nice man at Electronics Boutique George St sold me a copy without a preorder, which he informed me was the last copy he was selling for the day – win!
Side note: An unpleasant troll at JB Hi-Fi Galleries Victoria told me I could “wait until tomorrow”. Apparently he hadn’t considered the fact that I could just “take my business elsewhere”. If you see a fat asian dude with an ugly pony tail, let him know he cost JB Hi-Fi $120 worth of business yesterday.
Regardless, I did get my first exhilarating Skyward Sword experience last night, and it was pretty awesome. But looking back on it now, there are a small number of things (nowhere near the learning curve on Skyrim) that I kind of wish I knew before heading into this epic:
1. Slow and Steady
The first hour (two hours in my case, but maybe I’m just slow) of Skyward Sword plays out a bit like a PG Disney movie that has had a dash of Japan thrown in. It’s really enthralling and it's realistically kind of dull. It's very pretty and all that, and boy am I glad for new character models, but you will have to push yourself to get through it. Once you do though, the game is well worth the wait.
2. Clear Some Space
I’m pretty sure I came close to hitting both my girlfriend and my dog several times last night with the Wii remote. This isn't a game you have to play standing up, but equally you should have some freedom of movement with your arms. If you are sitting between two mates on a sofa, odds are they are both getting the odd slap in the face. Which isn’t really as funny as it sounds.
Ok, it’s pretty funny. While we’re on the topic…
3. So. Much. Motion Control.
I’ve often referred to Skyward Sword as the swan song for the Wii. What I didn’t realise is that I was correct on more levels than one.
Not only is this game beautifully designed and very engaging, but it uses every ounce of the Wii’s motion control potential. You are tilting, waving, shaking and stabbing the Wii remote very often, so get used to the idea that the buttons play second fiddle to motion control in certain parts of the game – and those parts crop up fairly often. Which brings me to my next point.
4. Do Some Stretches
When I went to bed last night, my right arm was hanging limply at my side in a state of misuse. And before someone makes a masturbation joke, yes it was because of how much I had been swinging that Wii remote around.
Some enemies, especially the first boss (at the end of the Skyview temple), require a lot of hacking and slashing – so much so that you might have to take a break which has nothing to do with Link’s stamina bar. In fact, I actually began to feel sorry for the little guy when I realised what all that swinging I had been putting him through does to a man’s arm at the end of the day. That being said, I can’t wait to get back into tonight.
Just don't be surprised if I end up looking like this.
5. Speed Vs. Accuracy
From all the Skyward Sword promotional videos I have seen, I knew that the accuracy of your sword strikes is important – after all, that's what the Wii Motion Plus is there for.
What I didn’t know, is that the speed of your strikes can be equally if not more important. I often found myself thinking “Oh they are blocking upwards, I’ll swipe across” only to have the enemy move where he was blocking before I got the strike off. Morale of the story: hit accurately but do so fast. Otherwise you will be back to the drawing board.
Once again, the first boss. The first boss.
I’m roughly 4 hours into Skyward Sword, and to be honest it’s pretty self-explanatory. But if I had prepared for more of a.. how do I say this.. Wii-experience before I got right into it, I may have stood more of a chance and there may have been less guttural growling and high-pitched swearing at my TV last night.
Will there be more of the same tonight? Probably. It can handle the abuse.
