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How does Zelda Skyward Sword have such high metacritic score?

Ten_Fold

Member
Zelda is my favorite video game series of all time, but I will say it’s the worse 3D Zelda imo. I think when a switch version finally comes it will be better. I hate the wii controls and I hate that I gotta keep fighting that same dumb monster over and over. The only thing I like in the game is dungeons, they are made pretty well. The overworld is like WW but in the sky, it’s not a bad game but it’s just the worse 3D Zelda to me.
 

Jeeves

Member
It had a nice art style if you overlook the monster designs. It had a very fun cast of characters. It had some of the most clever dungeons in the series (hello Ancient Cistern) and good overworld puzzles too. It had the most convincing motion controls this side of Wii Sports. It had really fun items. World design was awesome outside of the sky areas.

It was a better game than a lot of you make it out to be. It had its problems and I'd probably give it an 80-something if I had to score it, but yeah.
 
I didn't enjoy skyward sword much myself to be honest and had a hard time finishing it although I did get there.

I don't really think it was exactly bad though. It had some great moments and characters but I felt like the combination of SD graphics in 2011 combined with wii remote controls in 2011 (however well done) and me finally experiencing the phenomenon of "zelda fatigue" added together to me not enjoying the game. Someone coming at it from a different place might have had a lot more fun. So not truly bad in my opinion but a low point for Zelda nonetheless.
 

SinDelta

Member
7/10 is being generous.

The Good
  • Ancient Cistern was amazing, arguably one of the best temples in the entire series
  • Groose
  • Impa
  • That ancient mystic aura- ie ancient post apocalyptic ruins, the Sealed Temple, The Time Gates
  • Final Boss fight is epic
  • The music
  • Had Nintendo go with a polar opposite game philosophy resulting in BotW
  • The use of time, especially in the desert region
Neutral
  • Confirms Zelda as a whole is a post apocalyptic series (though Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Wind Waker all had their own apocalypses) . Ironically reinforced again with Hyrules destruction in BotW
  • Demise literally hijacking Ganon
  • Forging of the Master Sword
  • Hylia's reveal
  • There was already a prior Link, and this opens up the possibility of yet another prequel
The Bad
  • The Imprisoned. Come on. I could see one fight with it. Three?
  • Yeah, repeat boss fights, even a temple or two that felt like they lacked a proper themed boss
  • The Silent Realms. Let's combine the worst time and stealth mechanics of prior 3D Zelda games.
  • Fi. Could have been a far more interesting character. Made far more of a stark contrast after Midna. Although certain scenes in BotW could lead to potential stuff in BotW 2...
  • Not being a full set up for the lore in Ocarina of Time. The Seven Sages and their Temples, the Gerudo, Zora, Goron, Kokiri. (This is more something I was hoping for when it was revealed Skyward Sword was the first in the timeline, replacing Minish Cap.)
  • The Sky overworld is underwhelming
  • Squid Boss looked like she should have been in Monsters Inc. Pixar art style was a extremely jarring contrast to the game
  • Addition of stamina meter, removal of magic
  • It had three interesting regions then it made you revisit each one again. Normally this would not be a bad thing, but a lot of that revisiting involved quests that felt more like padding then actual quests
 
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SegaShack

Member
I loved Zelda up until TP and this game ruined it for me. The pacing of both those titles sucked so bad. It takes hours just to get started in the game. I love how the early Zelda games just put you into the action.

TP and SS had you wasting time wandering around your village for hours.
 

yurqqa

Member
It’s a frigging amazing video game, that’s why. I think it is underrated actually.

In fact, I think if it wasn’t a Zelda game, it would be more highly regarded today. It’s a bold, original and innovative video game.

I totally agree. It’ a great game that is very inventive with gameplay mechanics.
if it had a different theme and name, it would’ve been a cult classic.

Great thing about Nintendo is that it reinvents it’s franchises and not just milk it until it’s dry.
But many people are just too conservative. And even for these people Nintendo has a Link Between Worlds and Link’s Awakening.

So go and play those games instead if you can’t appreciate people tryingto do something new.
 

SinDelta

Member
I thought I was the only one that despised the silent realm. I would have been ok with it if they only did it once or twice. Didn't you have to do it 4 times? (I was dreading it by the end.)
Yes. Three trials, and a final one.

Major reason I've only played the game once.
 
It's a wildly original game, and the pinnacle of motion control complexity at the time it came out. Its about on par with Half Life Alyx. From a pure game play standpoint (the part that matters) its incredible. Original puzzles, combat and items. The level design and dungeon design is amazing. The bosses are also great.

The score is accurate. Sometimes journalists do get it right. When you look at the big picture of games coming out, its easily among the best ever made.

A lot of people claim they want originality until it makes them try something new.
 
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The game probably could've shaved off a solid 15 hours of fluff from the main quest. The first 5-6 hours were painful and a lot of the things that were required (silent realms, the fetch quest about 60% in where you revisit the old areas) would've been way better as side quests.

Overall I think it probably has the best dungeons in a 3D Zelda and it's probably the only Zelda game that made me care about it's story and character.

Oh yeah, dowsing was retarded too
 
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Yoshi

Headmaster of Console Warrior Jugendstrafanstalt
It is the best Zelda game, you do not fight the same boss four times (he looks the same, but he plays differently), maximum is fighting the same boss twice (scorpion boss). The overworld is incredible with its density, clever puzzle design and compact structure, dungeons are among the best in the series and the motion controls work superb.

I would rate it better than the Metascore average.
 
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Zannegan

Member
I didn't like how linear and handholdy it was, which us what made BotW such a breath of fresh air. It absolutely achieved what it set out to do though.

The visuals nailed that painterly midpoint between cartoony WW and a more realistic TP for the first time. The combat, while furstrating if you hate motion controls, was fresh and engaging. The story expanded the mythos more than any game to date, and made Zelda an actual character again. The dungeons are some of the best and most creative in the series (that time/desert dungeon at least). And the music is my favorite in the series.

For all that, the frustrating and unnecessary hand holding still puts it in the 8 range for me today, but with all the changes it was making, and especially in the context of its day, I can see where all the 9s and 10s are coming from. *shrug*
 

kiphalfton

Member
There's a lot of Zelda games people don't talk about... Like ever.

Phantom hourglass, spirit tracks, four swords adventure, skyward sword, monish cap.
 

Beer Baelly

Al Pachinko, Konami President
I dont know how but I finsihed it and Fi never really bothered me but I fuckin hated the motion controls. Worst 3D Zelda for sure. It did made me appreciate TP a lot more.
 
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cireza

Banned
How do you make a good game ?
-> remove motion control
-> remove 60 hours tutorial

At least they got this right for BotW (well almost, they still managed to put a few motion controlled shrines lol).
 
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It's objectively better than most of the series. The main reason it gets so much hate is that people had to actually buy a Wii to play it
 

SantaC

Member
It is the best Zelda game, you do not fight the same boss four times (he looks the same, but he plays differently), maximum is fighting the same boss twice (scorpion boss). The overworld is incredible with its density, clever puzzle design and compact structure, dungeons are among the best in the series and the motion controls work superb.

I would rate it better than the Metascore average.
Overworld incredible? Lol it barely has an overworld.

Motion controls superb? Sure if you dont have standards.
 

Neff

Member
It is the best Zelda game

I wouldn't go so far as best, but it's a corking adventure and insanely underrated. It's certainly not without its problems (shut up Fi), but at its best, it represents some of the greatest moments of the entire series. I'd rank it higher than any other 3D Zelda with the exception of OoT and BotW.
 
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Because it's a good game? not sure what are you talking about, but maybe i enjoyed it because i'm not a huge Zelda fan, i only played this and Twilight Princess
Knowing you, loving An Angry Lesbian Part 2, of course you love bad ga
There's a lot of Zelda games people don't talk about... Like ever.

Phantom hourglass, spirit tracks, four swords adventure, skyward sword, monish cap.
I actually liked Four Swords Adventure! The only thing that held it back, was having to find a GBA to GC link, which was limited. It deserves another chance, IMO.
 
I really liked the game. Its biggest faults are the unreliable motion controls and some of the filler/repeat content. I know a lot of people dislike the emphasis on story, but I feel it's important for a game called The Legend of Zelda. I hope they can fuse some of the best elements of Skyward Sword with Breath of the Wild in the future.
 

Hulk_Smash

Banned
I feel the same about Twilight Princess. Easy 5/10 for me.

Pros about Skyward Sword:
1. Best Dungeon in any 3D Zelda (final dungeon).
2. Art style was awesome.
3. Best villain that’s not Ganon (Girahim).
4. Time travel as a game mechanic.
5. Motion controls made boss fights better.
6. Best story in any Zelda game to date. Yes, better than MM.
7. Best Beedle.

Im not listing the cons because this thread is already negative and is bound to list them anyway. People just tend to forget why it got praise when it first came out.
 

zettacroix

Neo Member
The controls alone made me not like the game as much. It's not terribly bad, but I prefer almost every other zelda game over it.
 

WellSheet

Member
That’s the Nintendo Bump in action, baby!

...Though, don’t get me wrong...Zelda is an amazing series that deserve praise (in my opinion) and accolades (most releases)...but NONE besides LTTP and OoT deserve what they have in terms of worship and “numerical” score.

again - the numbers are arbitrary because you should go and forge your own opinion BLAH BLAH.
 

Riven326

Banned
I wanted to like it. But I hated the motion controls. I also wasn't a fan of playing a game in 480p on a 1080p tv. Nintendo is always behind the times. Their hardware is all gimmicks nowadays.

I would love to see hardware on the level of PS5 and XSX. A standard controller. No gimmicks. No bullshit. But I suspect those days are over.
 
The worst part is the story. It's horrible, unless you're 7 or 8 years. I stoped playing it beacause of that... and the rest. Loosing motion + every 5 minutes is not fun, dungeons were so bad design and... it has a story! 😱
 
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Ulysses 31

Member
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Moochi

Member
Pick any tv show you think is trash and google "show name rating". 99% of the time you will be infuriated with the results. I hate, hate, hated Marvel's Runaways. It's the worst thing since D.C.'s Swamp Thing tv show. Guess what? Both have rotten tomatoes and metacritic scores in the high 90s. Season 1 of these shows are bottom of the barrel, but the critics say they're the same caliber as Deadwood, Breaking Bad, and Black Sails. Firefly is in the low 80s.

You can do the same thing with videogames.

You can do the same thing with politics.

Don't rely on paid reviewers with an agenda. User scores are usually pretty accurate, but someday soon some Silicon Valley geek getting free cheese pizza from his favorite
congresswomen is going to figure out how to ruin that too, and then all we'll have is the forums until GPT-whatever starts faking legit user accounts, and then it'll be word of mouth only (but don't trust anyone who upspeaks--they're all chipped).
 

Hero_Select

Member
The game weirdly gets shit on a lot but it's a fantastic game.

It has a great story
Some of the best dungeons in the entire series
Kick-ass boss fights
Really fun motion controls

Where it disappoints is the sky not having many places to explore and fucking dowsing. Stupid dowsing.
 
Pick any tv show you think is trash and google "show name rating". 99% of the time you will be infuriated with the results. I hate, hate, hated Marvel's Runaways. It's the worst thing since D.C.'s Swamp Thing tv show. Guess what? Both have rotten tomatoes and metacritic scores in the high 90s. Season 1 of these shows are bottom of the barrel, but the critics say they're the same caliber as Deadwood, Breaking Bad, and Black Sails. Firefly is in the low 80s.

You can do the same thing with videogames.

You can do the same thing with politics.
I think you just stumbled upon something potentially great. Politician reviews. Yeah this guy only has a 6/10 lying to the media score but a solid 9/10 in taking lobbyist money.


Why does Wind Waker have such a high score, that's what I want to know.
Wind Waker is a great game but I think it's on the overrated side. I actually quit the game for a couple months when it first came out when I got to the triforce quest. The Wii U version makes that stuff better but I still don't get why people think it's the best in the series. Visually it's incredible but other than that it has kinda shitty dungeons, too few of them, sailing is boring and the pacing, like most 3d zelda games, is not good.
 

rubenburgt

Member
Yes, it's a terrible game, but calling it the worst Zelda game when we have Triforce Heroes and Phantom Hourglass just doesn't sound right if you'd ask me.

But yeah, I do agree that it doesn't deserve its current high metacritic score.
 

OldBoyGamer

Banned
Is the MC score exclusively for the Wii version or also the HD WiiU version?

I played the OG Wii version and just couldn’t play it. Thought it was very dull and hated the controls.

about 3/4years ago I played the WiiU version and loved it. Played to the end.
 

Thaedolus

Member
If you get past the stupid controls and hand holding tutorial bullshit it’s a pretty good game. The problem is there’s no way to get past the bullshit controls and hand holding bullshit
 
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