Skyward Sword Blade Journal, Day 9

SPOILER WARNING: END OF GAME, ENDING SPOILERS, DO NOT READ UNLESS YOU'VE BEATEN SKYWARD SWORD


So, that's it. I've beaten the game. Or at least half of it. Thanks for the anonymous tip in the comments to copy my savegame right before the final boss.

Well, the Sky Keep dungeon was totally awesome. It was smart, offered the right amount of challenge, got some good fights, it was non-linear (or at least it made me think that I have full freedom, still good enough) and you collect all three parts of the Triforce - something, which you've never done in the entire series. Surely one epic dungeon, it's without a doubt the best dungeon of the game and maybe one of my favorite dungeons in the entire Zelda series. It's the complete opposite of what the game showed so far, dungeon-wise. The only downside was that it reused old settings, that felt cheap in a way and reminded me of the game's bad dungeons like the Lanayru Mining Facility, ugh. But at least two of the rooms were placed in the "underground" setting, probably the coolest dungeon setting in the game. The game actually gave me a shock for the first time I obtained a Triforce, because it was located in the Silent Realm. But it was always just a room... though it would have been nice if the Triforces were actually guarded. Nothing big, maybe just a hallway full of those knights, where you have to dash to the Triforce. But better not, of course you want to enjoy the epic moment of obtaining Triforce.

Talking about the Silent Realm, in my search for the final two Pieces of Heart I also tried the Silent Realm Speed Run. Though so far I've only got the best time for the forest, I got raped multiple times in Eldin (usually in the beginning with the slope full of Sentrys) and Skyloft. I never even dared to try the desert. Well, that's something for later, it appears that you only get rare treasures for your efforts. The final two Pieces of Heart were given by the rare Gorons. One from demonstrating those sky walls in front of the archeologist (probably could have done that way earlier, I just happened to notice that now that you had to return to this area more often) and one from the Rickety Coaster minigame. The latter was a pain in the ass, this was the only time in the game where I would have preferred traditional controls. The motion controls for the mine cart are broken, it happened often to me that Link would turn in the wrong direction... But it appears that it's exactly like I said, the 19th and 20th Heart Containers are made by the two Life Medals. So, if you want all 20 Heart Containers, you have to sacrifice two spaces of your Adventure Pouch. That or it always looks like you haven't fully completed the game. I think that this is a weird design choice. But it's also somehow interesting. No matter what I now got 100% of all the sidequests, I think. Oh, wait... I'm actually missing something. Fi unlocked four more spots for dowsing abilities. I got treasure dowsing, Gratitude Crystals and Goddess Cubes. But what's the fourth one used for? (Updated: It's Rupee dowsing...)

As much as I was satisfied by the final dungeon, I was satisfied by the final boss fights, both Ghirahim and Demise. Those were very tough and challenging sword battles. Maybe a little bit too tough, you practically weren't prepared at all. But that's the rest of the game's fault for not throwing enough tough enemies at you. You were thrown in cold water with these fights, but I enjoyed the challenge. And there wasn't any bullshit. Just sword duels, the way I like it. Normally a final boss fight would utilize as many gimmicks as possible, but not even the Skyward Strike was needed. It was all about blades clashing at each other. And I love that.

The Ghirahim fight starts with this awesome sequence, where you run down the Sealed Grounds and fight against tons of enemies. Sooo much fun. I wasn't exactly sure, if there was some time limit (like at the same point in the Minish Cap), so I basically run from one green fruit to the next, only fighting the door guards. But I've never seen so many enemies at the screen AT ONCE in any game, let alone a Zelda game. I can't believe that this is actually a Wii game - that is something that striked me multiple times during the game, they really, really pushed the Wii to its outer limits, it's incredible. The system is five years old and was technically already completely outdated on its release. Yet this game looks as good as any other current game, just not in HD. But on my small tube the game looks awesome, I can tell you.

It turned out that Ghirahim is basically the Fi of some evil Master Sword. Nice twist, I didn't see this coming, but the game made the similarities obvious at the point. And fighting his final form was tough. I thought bringing two Heart Potions++ into the fight would be enough, but I was so wrong. I already accepted the fact that I had to start over, however, I could beat him with my last breath.

And Demise is actually a very nice guy. If he had fought me right there, he would have easily killed me. But instead he lets me save the game and fully regenerate. I used the opportunity to come prepared, it was time for a Pouch Change! Two Life Medals, three Heart Potions++ and my first Guardian Potion in the game, even the upgraded version that makes you invincible, combined with a Potion Medal to lengthen the effect. And my Hylian Shield of course. I think this was a 100% suitability rate for the fight. So, ultimately his kindness was Demise's demise.

The fight itself was epic. It was similar to the Ganondorf battle in Twilight Princess, my favorite fight in the game, only much tougher. But like with the Fishing Rod in Twilight Princess you could also use the Bug Catching Net to distract him! Hahahahaaa! This was even the first thing I tried! We made jokes about this long before the game was released and it's funny that this actually really worked. I loled so hard. But it was really tough and he would even pull out the electric sword joker. For the Technoblins I would usually use the Slingshot to stun them, so I didn't really have any good practice. But luckily I brought my Guardian Potion+! It's a cheap way to win, but he called it.

Yeah, and his hatred would later reincarnate to take the form of Ganondorf, we saw that coming, Nintendo spoiled this already miles away. Come to think of it, they even released an artwork of the final boss! They spoiled the entire game up to the final boss! The only thing I hadn't seen before was the Sky Keep.

Well, but I'm really happy with both the final dungeon and the final boss fights. The were epic, they were challenging and they were awesome! That's the way I like it! I will definitely practice both Ghirahim#3 and Demise later, Ghirahim was added to the Boss Challenge and you can always jump right into Demise.


And the conclusion of the story was nice. I was right about Impa, though it was obvious somehow. I loved the "Legend of Groose" joke, this could be a nice new Zelda spin off game. And I loved how this game sets everything in motion for future incarnations of Link and Zelda. It was touching to know that Fi's spirit basically always rested in the Master Sword in all the other Zelda games. Now when you pick up the Master Sword in Ocarina of Time you will definitely think of Fi. You might even miss her and wish that she would be with you instead of an annoying fairy. And unlike Midna it's entirely possible that she could return in a later game. "See you in another life, Master." (Loved that quote, it's so LOSTish)

However, it doesn't really fit. The resting place of the Master Sword looks more like the location in A Link to the Past. And the Temple of Time is a different location in this game, unless the Seal/Hylia Temple later becomes the new Temple of Time. After all it also got a time gate. But there's no Sacred Realm here. According to Ocarina of Time the Triforce was left in the Sacred Realm, but now it's out in the open, though it was hinted that they would hide it again somehow. I don't know, but I'm curious to see what timelime theorists will make out of this.

The credits were interesting, because they showed Zelda's side of the story. I always wondered "how the hell did she get through the temples?", well, it didn't really explain how she managed the Skyview Temple, but at least it showed her in peril at the Earth Temple. But it's better than the traditional "let's show all environments again"-part of the credits, which would follow. That part totally lagged. I don't know if this was on purpose or if my Wii finally gave in, but it only happened during these shots in the credits.

After beating the game, you can overwrite your savegame to access the "Hero Mode". I was actually totally hyped about this, "a 2nd Quest, yayyy", but according to GameFAQs the only difference is that you have double damage and that you won't find any hearts unless you use the Heart Medals. That's it? I mean this is better than nothing, but I was at least hoping for some stronger foes. Like more Stalfos. You rarely fight any Stalfos. I wasn't expecting a full fledged Master Quest, but would it have been so hard to add some more enemies in the dungeons? Come on... that's just disappointing. But I wanted to replay the game anyway, so here I go. And at least it let's you skip cutscenes now.

In case you wonder, it took me 71 hours to fully complete the game with all sidequests. Aimlessly running around included.

I will write a full review while replaying the game.