The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is an Action-adventure game developed by Nintendo and published by Nintendo in 2011 for the Wii.

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Overall 9.4    Graphics 9.5    Sound 9.5    Addictive 6.8    Story 9    Depth 8.5    Difficulty 5.3


Skyward Sword...   gamerforlifefor..
Back in 2011, Nintendo celebrated The Legend of Zelda franchise's 25th anniversary by releasing The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword on the Wii. The game relied solely on the Wii's motion controls, which were always unreliable to say the least. Did this game get motion controls right, or did it suffer as a result? I'll give you my take by making this review. Graphics: 9/10 Skyward Sword is definitely one of the better looking games on the Wii. Unlike Twilight Princess which had a more realistic look to it than other games in the series, Skyward Sword had a less realistic look to it. Certainly not to the extent of Wind Waker of course, but somewhere in between that and TP. The game also appears to have a cel-shaded look somewhat similar to that found in Breath of the Wild. The many environments as well as the characters themselves are designed to best of the Wii's capabilities. It's not the most visually stunning game on the system, but the graphics are more than worthy of a 9 at least. Sound: 10/10 Legend Of Zelda games are for the most part well-known for having fantastic soundtracks, and Skyward Sword is no exception. In fact, I'd say that this game has one of if not the best soundtrack in the entire series! It has amazing boss themes such as the Koloktos theme, as well as one of the most epic final boss themes I've ever heard! Aside from Xenoblade Chronicles and Super Smash Bros Brawl, there aren't many Wii soundtracks that can compete with the music found in Skyward Sword. This soundtrack is more than deserving of a 10. Addictiveness: 1/10 Skyward Sword may have great visuals and music, but it has what I would consider to be the worst controls in the entire series (not including the CDI games). Unlike it's predecessor Twilight Princess, Skyward Sword is only playable using motion controls. The problem with motion controls is they're extremely unreliable. They make even the most basic of actions feel like a chore sometimes. For example, holding the wii remote up is supposed to allow you to charge up a skyward strike. Sometimes it'll work right, and then other times Link's arm will go down before the charging process is complete. Another example is boss keys, which in this game are basically puzzle pieces. You have to spin around the puzzle piece at the door until you find match them together. Pretty much every time, I'd eventually have an issue where the piece wouldn't move the way I was moving my wii remote. There's also a beetle item in the game that requires you to steer it using... you guessed it, MOTION CONTROLS! Nothing works the way it's supposed to a lot of times, resulting in an extremely dissatisfying experience. A game can have great visuals, music and a memorable storyline, but if the controls don't work right, especially in a game like this, it ruins the entire experience. Along with the control issues, the stamina gauge was introduced in Skyward Sword. Unlike it's successor Breath of the Wild, the stamina gauge didn't feel like it belonged at all. All it really did in Skyward Sword was make an already tedious game more tedious. Any action you make lowers the stamina gauge, and the game punishes you if you let the stamina gauge deplete all the way. The only ways to refill the gauge are to reach green fruits on the ground or to stop your action completely. The only purpose the stamina gauge had here was to hinder your progress. The controls are terrible and the stamina gauge sucks, but at least this game has some memorable boss battles, such as Koloktos. Most of the boss fights are fun, but there are a couple of bosses you have to battle multiple times in the game, which gets pretty repetitive. I've played games with repetitive boss fights before and still enjoyed them, but when there's issues with the controls along with repetitive boss fights, the game's no longer enjoyable. I've played a ton of Zelda games over the years, this is the first time aside from Zelda II that I've had an issue with the controls in this series. (Never played the CDI games though. It ruins the experience for me, which is why I'm giving the addictiveness a 1. Story: 10/10 Skyward Sword may have had serious gameplay issues, but to it's credit, it had one of the more memorable storylines and cast of characters in the entire series. Without going into major spoiler territory, the game starts off on an floating island in the sky called Skyloft. There, Skyward Sword's incarnation of Link is trying to become a knight by completing the Wing Ceremony. A couple of bullies led by Groose try to get in Link's way, but ultimately Link prevails, and gets some alone time with Zelda. Later, Link and Zelda are on their Loftwings flying through the sky when suddenly a tornado comes out of nowhere and knocks Zelda off her Loftwing, causing her to fall to the land below. From there, Link must travel to the land below the clouds to rescue Zelda. The plot only gets better from there, and you encounter some of the most memorable characters the series has had to offer including Groose and Ghirahim. Overall, the storyline for Skyward Sword is easily one of the best seen in the series. I'm giving the story a 10. Depth: 7/10 Skyward Sword is a fairly long game, which can take anywhere between 40-60 hours to complete. While there is plenty to do in this game, it's length is a bit inflated due to the poorly implemented stamina gauge, lengthy tutorial, and sloppy motion controls. There's plenty of sidequests, dungeons, and boss fights to complete (even though some bosses are super repetitive). There's a solid amount of content in this game, enough for me to give the depth a 7. Difficulty: 4/10 Most of Skyward Sword's difficulty comes from the awful and extremely inconsistent motion controls. Most of the bosses in this game are fairly easy to beat. The dungeons aren't super difficult either, you certainly won't be finding any water temple levels of difficulty here, that's for sure. I'd say that Skyward Sword is one of the easiest Zelda games out there, if regular controls would've been implemented instead of motion controls only. I'm giving the difficulty a 4. Overall Score: 6.5/10 The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword has become known as the most divisive game in the series, and it's easy to see why. With great visuals, a fantastic soundtrack, as well as a great story and memorable soundtrack; I can see why some people love this game. On the other hand, the controls are unreliable and buggy to say the least. Nintendo only has themselves to blame for that though since they decided to make literally the entire game be played using only motion controls. That combined with some repetitive boss fights keep me from ever playing this title again until hopefully an HD remake comes out that doesn't rely on motion controls. It's a shame really, it wouldn't be such a divisive game for fans if it hadn't been for the awful controls. Heck, it would've been one of my favorite games in the series. Instead, it's one of my least favorites. Overall, I'm giving Skyward Sword a 6.5 out of 10.
  Graphics 9   Sound 10   Addictive 1   Story 10   Depth 7   Difficulty 4
      Review Rating: 4.5/5     Submitted: 03-31-19     Review Replies: 1


Amazing!   supernerd117
Link's back, and in better form than ever!  Review below.Nintendo spent a full 5 years putting this game together, so expectations were high.  Some criticized the art style, which seemed to be a cross between the dark, realistic graphics of Twilight Princess and the toony, cel-shaded graphics of The Wind Waker.  Others wondered whether the promise of better motion controls than seen in any game before was too good to be true.  I myself doubted that the game would be as epic as Nintendo claimed it would be.  Those doubts are gone now.  The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is an absolute masterpiece.  I will divide the rest of my review into sections.Controls:The controls take some getting used to, but they work great.  You move using the nunchuck, and dash with the A button (more on this later).  The C button is mapped to the camera, and Z is to lock on.  B accesses the items you have a the moment, and you select on by pointing at the screen.  1 is used to check your gear, and 2 is for help if you have questions about the controls, etc.  The greatest innovation is the swinging of the sword, though.  You swing your sword with the Wii remote, and Link follows the input exactly.  It feels amazing, and contributes fantastically to the combat situations.  Also, holding your Wii remote up vertically powers up your sword, making you feel like a boss if you so choose.Graphics:Some will love it, others will hate it, but it works well.  The bright use of color and well designed environments lend themselves to the joy you'll experience while playing the game.  The graphics are not as realistic as those in Twilight Princess, and more so than the Wind Waker (of course), but if you loved either game, you shouldn't find anything to hate here.  The rush of the wind as you fly through the air couples with the sound effects brilliantly.  You could lose so much of your life just looking at the game and listening to the music.Sound:Koji Kondo once again took the helm composing the music, and the result is amazing, in particular the boss battle music and the music while flying.  Music also takes front-and-center in the game once again by way of a harp, which is played to unlock further sections in the game, or just to find secrets.Addictiveness/Depth:Although the game might give you less time in a 100% playthrough than say, Ocarina of Time, the game really sucks you in in just about every way.  As mentioned, the graphics are amazing, and this couples with the sound and gameplay that cannot be described as anything less than superb.  Also, when the game is completed, the game gives you an option to return to play in "Hero Mode", where you take double damage and find the items you had in your previous playthrough earlier in the game.  Many sidequests add even more replayability.Story:I gave this a 9 since it is more than a cut above previous titles in the series, yet voice acting would have been nice.  The story, although not complex, is genuinely moving, and you come to care about all the characters over the course of the game.  In certain cutscenes, Link will be able to choose between more than one response, giving a bit of flair to them.  Zelda in particular is depicted as a strong-willed young woman who comes to learn of her role and the sorrow that comes with it over the course of the game.  Link comes to bond with Zelda more deeply than in any other Zelda game.Difficulty:The controls are fantastic, and in general, a Zelda player should still have a little trouble getting through the game, due to some fantastic puzzles.  It's a bit of a challenge learning how to take down each enemy, but overall, it's not too difficult.Overall:This game is full of absolute win.  Rent it first, and you more than likely will want to buy it.
  Graphics 10   Sound 10   Addictive 10   Story 9   Depth 9   Difficulty 6
      Review Rating: 3.5/5     Submitted: 07-04-13     Updated: 07-04-13     Review Replies: 1


LoZ skyward sword review   austipokedude
Legend of Zelda skyward was released on November 20 in the us to celebrates the legend of Zelda series 25 anniversary so lets get started
  Graphics 9   Sound 8   Addictive 8   Story 8   Depth 8   Difficulty 4
      Review Rating: 3.4/5     Submitted: 01-08-13     Review Replies: 3


A near perfect Legend   AuroVee
Skyward Sword, made to celebrate the 25th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda, and the first game to take place in the timeline, charts the journey of Link as he takes on his rated role in an attempt to stop Demise. And it is not without its flaws, but it almost is perfect.Graphics:The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword opts for a semi-realistic cell-shaded style for the graphics, which I feel serves as a great strength to the game, not just because of how it helps with the controls. And while I am here, I must mention that I love how, with the Pro option for the HUD, you're able to see the environments a lot better with less of the heads up display to distract you. It is nothing short of perfection, and so that is why it gets a perfect 10Sound:

Skyward Sword is the first Zelda game to be almost fully orchestrated, and the soundtrack... Well, I am listening to it as I'm writing this review to help me get into the mood. There are a great many songs - nearly a whole 200 of them - and there's not a lot that I can complain about them. Of course, the main theme - the Ballad of the Goddess - is actually a reversed version of Zelda's Lullaby from Ocarina of Time, which is a nice twist indeed. Some themes are remastered versions of old themes, but some of them really fit - for example, when I listen to Groose's Theme, I can already tell that he's possibly going to pick on Link - and end up with a taste of his own medicine from Zelda in return, accompanied with a nice song called Zelda's Intervention. And there's also the variants of his theme which play in different contexts.Another theme which deserves mention, is the theme of Fi - It too has some variants as well depending on the context of the situation. The same goes with the Bazaar, where the theme which plays changes depending on which shop you're visiting.The theme for the Sky is no Hyrule Field theme, but it does fit the flying which you can do there.And the dungeon themes all fit into the dungeon you're exploring.There are even more themes that I'd like to talk about, including the themes linked to Ghirahim, Beedle's Air Shop, the two different Lanayru Desert themes, and the harp themes - the latter I will get to later - but I possibly have rambled on long enough about the music. Suffice it to say, the music is nothing short of perfect, and so it gets a ten from me.Addictiveness and Depth:

This is a Zelda game we are talking about. It may be linear in nature, but the story - more on that later - and the side missions you can take on can make you want to return back to get more stuff, and hopefully 100% the game. And so I have to give it at least an 8 for addictiveness, and a 10 for Depth.Storyline:

Hoo boy, this might be another ramble, but I'll try to make it brief. The good news is that, because this takes place right at the start of the Zelda timeline, you don't need to know anything about prior games in order to understand it, even though knowing them helps to know some things which newcomers might miss out on the references.Basically, you play as Link, a knight in training in Skyloft who is a bit lazy and has a close friendship with the daughter of the headmaster, Zelda. Of course, this isn't unnoticed, mainly as there's a group of bullies, led by Groose, who try to make Link's life hell - partly because Groose is in love with Zelda, and has fantasies about her. This leads to them capturing the Crimson Loftwing in an attempt to make Link miss out on the Wing ceremony, just so that Groose can have some 'alone time's with Zelda. But with help, Link manages to save his Loftwing in time, and then proceeds to win the Wing Ceremony and become the only knight to progress to being a Senior.[spoiler]But then things happen, Zelda is brought to the surface by some unknown force, and Link has to follow, although not before collecting the Goddess Sword, which has a sentient being inside known as Fi. As Link gives chase, he meets a few important figures - including Ghirahim, who is in a way the Big Bad of the game, and Impa, who snarks at Link for being late to save Zelda - before events come to a head at the Temple of Time, which is not yet a temple. Zelda and Impa travel through a Time Gate, but not before Zelda gives Link the Goddess Harp - the instrument of this game - and then Impa destroys the gate so that Ghirahim can't follow.In order to follow himself, Link must power up the Goddess Sword, and once he does so, he learns that Zelda is the reincarnation of the Goddess Hylia - who was unable to defeat a great evil and was to weakened to fend them off again, so she made the Goddess Sword before reincarnating as a mortal so that she could find someone who could use the Triforce to wish for the destruction of said evil, as only mortals can use it. She grants her power to the Goddess Sword, turning it into the Master Sword, before sealing herself in a crystal to strength the seal on the imprisoned evil so that Link can return to Skyloft, find the Triforce, and use it to wish for said evil to be destroyed.This would be the end, but Ghirahim then kidnaps Zelda, intending to use her to reincarnate the human form of his master, the one who was sealed by Hylia all those years ago - Demise. Link defeats Ghirahim, but he is too late to stop Demise from being reincarnated - however, Link does best Demise in single combat, only for the demon to curse Link and Zelda to be haunted by his reincarnated rage - Ganondorf/Ganon - before his essence was sealed inside the Master Sword.[/spoiler]Sorry about the rambling about the plot, but I need to explain it, which is a nice twist on the usual plot, plus it helps to set up Ocarina of Time's story. As such, I have to give it a 9.Difficulty and Controls:Skyward Sword starts you off with six Heart Containers, rather than the normal three - but that doesn't mean it is easy. In fact, while the one-to-one sword combat works wonders, I do have some gripes about the controls. Mainly as when I played it, I had problems with the flying in the Sky Field.... And then there's the Harp, which instead of actually playing songs on, all you need to do is strum to a rythem. But I do like listening to the Harp songs.Another thing which I kinda find hard is the Silent Realms - which are kinda timed challenges with some elements of stealth. Which is a combination I don't really like a lot, even if the music when the guardians are asleep is serene and nice.But overall, the difficulty is a decent 7Final Verdict:Skyward​ Sword is not a perfect Zelda game - it's sequel, Breath of the Wild, is more perfect - but it is one of the great Wii games. As such, it earned a solid 9.4 out of 10.
  Graphics 10   Sound 10   Addictive 8   Story 9   Depth 10   Difficulty 7
      Review Rating: 3/5     Submitted: 04-20-17     Updated: 04-21-17     Review Replies: 2