It's likely that the Nintendo Switch will see an HD remaster of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword at some point. The graphics of the original Wii game would only need some upscaling to look great in HD, as proven by most screenshots in this post, while the Joy-Cons of the Switch are predestined to bring back the motion controls of this Zelda title. It's also the only 3D Zelda game before Breath of the Wild, which hasn't been remastered yet. So, Skyward Sword HD on Switch seems like a safe bet.
Like with all the previous remastered versions of 3D Zelda games - Ocarina of Time 3D, Majora's Mask 3D, The Wind Waker HD and Twilight Princess HD - there are various things that Nintendo could add or improve. And in this post we will talk about what could be done with a potential Skyward Sword HD.
A big complaint about the game was the high linearity and the segmentation of the overworld. These complaints even led to the open world development of Breath of the Wild, which became a massive success for the franchise. But this puts a new version of Skyward Sword HD in a bad place on the Switch, because the game represents the exact opposite of Breath of the Wild, where this is a major design flaw that can't really be fixed without completely changing the game... Besides this, there's still room for improvement, however, so let's go through the list:
Reduced Motion Controls
The most common request about a potential re-release of Skyward Sword is offering an optional control scheme that works with a Pro Controller and wouldn't require any motion controls. But seeing how the entire Wii game was built with motion controls in mind, this doesn't feel likely at first. Especially the combat would be tricky, where you often have to slash in the right direction.
While the same input could be achieved with directions on analog sticks, it probably wouldn't feel right. But even ARMS, a game that fully utilizes the Joy-Cons, offers Pro Controller support, where Nintendo might simply want all of their games to playable in docked and handheld mode alike. So, it's still likely that Skyward Sword might offer some simplified button controls, where you only use motion controls for aiming, but not for swinging the sword.
In the very least they could tone down the usage of motion controls a bit. The worst offender was probably the swimming, where there's no good reason, why Link shouldn't be controlled with an analog stick in that case. The Rickety Coaster would be another example, where alternatively you should be able to steer the mine-carts with your analog stick. And of course the flying itself could be done via analog stick and button input as well. Both should work here, so the player can simply use, what is preferred. Don't force motion controls on everything.
While the same input could be achieved with directions on analog sticks, it probably wouldn't feel right. But even ARMS, a game that fully utilizes the Joy-Cons, offers Pro Controller support, where Nintendo might simply want all of their games to playable in docked and handheld mode alike. So, it's still likely that Skyward Sword might offer some simplified button controls, where you only use motion controls for aiming, but not for swinging the sword.
In the very least they could tone down the usage of motion controls a bit. The worst offender was probably the swimming, where there's no good reason, why Link shouldn't be controlled with an analog stick in that case. The Rickety Coaster would be another example, where alternatively you should be able to steer the mine-carts with your analog stick. And of course the flying itself could be done via analog stick and button input as well. Both should work here, so the player can simply use, what is preferred. Don't force motion controls on everything.
Fix the Recurring Treasure and Insect Messages
This was probably one of the most annoying issues with the original Wii game. Whenever you boot the game, it would reset the explanations for all treasures and insects. So, when you pick something up again, it shows you the message another time and it even goes into the collection screen, where you have to watch how the item's counter increments. Slowly. For every single treasure and insect in the game.
Afterwards it remembers what treasures and insects you have found, until you shut off or reset the game. This would even lead to people letting the game run, even when they weren't playing, just to avoid this annoyance for when they returned to the game later in the day.
Twilight Princess actually had a similar issue with its higher valued Rupees, but they fixed this with Twilight Princess HD on the Wii U. And it's quite likely that they would fix this problem in a Skyward Sword HD as well. They might even want to do this for treasures found in treasure chests to speed things up even more.
Afterwards it remembers what treasures and insects you have found, until you shut off or reset the game. This would even lead to people letting the game run, even when they weren't playing, just to avoid this annoyance for when they returned to the game later in the day.
Twilight Princess actually had a similar issue with its higher valued Rupees, but they fixed this with Twilight Princess HD on the Wii U. And it's quite likely that they would fix this problem in a Skyward Sword HD as well. They might even want to do this for treasures found in treasure chests to speed things up even more.
Skipping Cutscenes from the Start
Apropos speeding things up, this is would be another simple fix to improve the game quite a bit: you should be able to skip the cutscenes in Normal Mode like you can in Hero Mode. With the remaster there certainly will be some fans who've already beaten the Wii version before and don't need to see the story sequences again. They should also let you skip cutscenes, which weren't skippable before.
Alternatively they could also give you access to Hero Mode right from the start. However, Hero Mode in Skyward Sword works more like a "New Game+" and they might keep it this way.
In addition, skipping through text should become much faster.
Alternatively they could also give you access to Hero Mode right from the start. However, Hero Mode in Skyward Sword works more like a "New Game+" and they might keep it this way.
In addition, skipping through text should become much faster.
Improve the Bird Statues
Skyward Sword essentially replaced a convenient warp system, where you can warp at any time on the overworld to any warp point on the map, with its flying mechanic. To switch between locations you actually have to visit the next Bird Statue, go back to the sky, drop back down to the overworld and then select the Bird Statue, where you want to be... It's inconvenient, especially when compared to the extensive and simple warp system in Breath of the Wild.
In the very least, you should be able to switch between Bird Statues within the same area without going back to the sky. Ideally you also could leave an area for "warping" at any time. Since most overworld parts are open, your Loftwing could simply pick you up at any time...
In the very least, you should be able to switch between Bird Statues within the same area without going back to the sky. Ideally you also could leave an area for "warping" at any time. Since most overworld parts are open, your Loftwing could simply pick you up at any time...
Seamless Skyloft
On the Wii switching between the sky and Skyloft required some loading from the disc. So, whenever you were flying, you weren't really seeing the real Skyloft, just a reduced dummy, where you land in designated spots after dropping down over the village.
On the Switch it should technically be possible to seamlessly switch between Skyloft and the sky at any time, as if Skyloft was any other island in the sky. And this would add a lot to the immersion.
On the Switch it should technically be possible to seamlessly switch between Skyloft and the sky at any time, as if Skyloft was any other island in the sky. And this would add a lot to the immersion.
Trial Cave
Skyward Sword has a Hero Mode and Skyward Sword also has the Lightning Round, where you can replay bosses and Silent Realms. What the game doesn't have is a trial cave (survival dungeon), which became a staple in the series as well. The Den of Trials in Tri Force Heroes, the Cave of Shadows in Twilight Princess HD or the Trial of the Sword in Breath of the Wild – Nintendo kept adding such trial caves as DLC / add-on features to the last three Zelda releases. And they might as well keep doing this with Skyward Sword HD.
It would be an interesting challenge, because fighting foes with directional sword inputs can be a tough job. Fighting waves of enemies is also something that the game doesn't really offer outside of the Lightning Round, where you can fight all bosses in a row. You get a taste for it in parts of the Sky Keep, but a trial cave would become much more intense.
They could let us access such a dungeon at the Isle of Songs in the Thunderhead, where you could enter it in a similar style to the Silent Realms or the Trial of the Sword in Breath of the Wild. The difference would be that you keep your Master Sword and all your equipment in here.
By putting you in some "spiritual trial", they could combine assets of all the existing areas. They could even use this to re-create that Moldarach battle in a forest cave:
This was part of the E3 2010 demo, where the overworld of Faron Woods in itself was supposed to be a dungeon. Nintendo dropped this idea, after adding temple-like dungeons, and Moldarach became exclusive to the Lanayru Desert. In such a trial everything would be possible, however, so we could go back to this scenario, where Link fights the giant scorpion in a different place.
It would be an interesting challenge, because fighting foes with directional sword inputs can be a tough job. Fighting waves of enemies is also something that the game doesn't really offer outside of the Lightning Round, where you can fight all bosses in a row. You get a taste for it in parts of the Sky Keep, but a trial cave would become much more intense.
They could let us access such a dungeon at the Isle of Songs in the Thunderhead, where you could enter it in a similar style to the Silent Realms or the Trial of the Sword in Breath of the Wild. The difference would be that you keep your Master Sword and all your equipment in here.
By putting you in some "spiritual trial", they could combine assets of all the existing areas. They could even use this to re-create that Moldarach battle in a forest cave:
This was part of the E3 2010 demo, where the overworld of Faron Woods in itself was supposed to be a dungeon. Nintendo dropped this idea, after adding temple-like dungeons, and Moldarach became exclusive to the Lanayru Desert. In such a trial everything would be possible, however, so we could go back to this scenario, where Link fights the giant scorpion in a different place.
Night Time Exploration
By now we should know that Nintendo doesn't really like adding new environments and dungeons to their remasters. There were the new Fishing Holes in Majora's Mask 3D and the Cave of Shadows in Twilight Princess HD, but that's really it. Most of the work usually goes in the new games, not the remasters.
But in case of Skyward Sword they could offer a whole new level of exploration to the game with one adjustment: just let us fly at night! The original game even teased the ability, because it shows you that the Knights of Skyloft can fly at night by equipping their Loftwings with headlights. So, quite some players assumed that they would get one of their own at some point in the game, which never happened. The game completely betrays your expectations here.
The HD remaster could fix that by "simply" letting the player go anywhere at night. They would have to change the sky and lighting for all the areas some of the dungeons, but this shouldn't be a massive effort. Of course revisiting all the areas without daylight alone probably wouldn't be all too interesting, so there needs to be an incentive to explore at night as well.
One thing that they could add everywhere at night are Poe Souls, similar to Twilight Princess. The difference would be that there's no time limit in hunting them, since the night wouldn't end, before you go back to a bed. The game even has a similar enemy in the Silent Realms already, which they could remodel and re-use for this purpose:
Collecting Poe Souls would result in some new late-game rewards. It could be new, powerful Medals, it could be access to the Trial Cave, it could be something new entirely. Alternatively, they could add special Goddess Cubes that only appear during the night.
The surface at night should also be a lot more dangerous. More enemies and tougher enemies running around, which you normally wouldn't find at day, like Stalfos. Especially the latter were way too rare in the actual game. And since you rarely ever meet any NPCs on the surface anyway, only few adjustments would have to be made to implement such a scenario.
To an extent this would even fix the issue, where the game lacks optional parts on the overworld. Exploring at night would be entirely optional and might even lead to a few surprises. Of course this would probably only be possible very late in the game, maybe even after completing the Song of the Hero, so it doesn't interfere with existing cutscenes and events. For this you would acquire a headlight item from Instructor Horwell some time after mastering the Spiral Charge, maybe even after completing the Gratitude Crystal quest, where things become safer at night on Skyloft.
Adding More Medals
But in case of Skyward Sword they could offer a whole new level of exploration to the game with one adjustment: just let us fly at night! The original game even teased the ability, because it shows you that the Knights of Skyloft can fly at night by equipping their Loftwings with headlights. So, quite some players assumed that they would get one of their own at some point in the game, which never happened. The game completely betrays your expectations here.
The HD remaster could fix that by "simply" letting the player go anywhere at night. They would have to change the sky and lighting for all the areas some of the dungeons, but this shouldn't be a massive effort. Of course revisiting all the areas without daylight alone probably wouldn't be all too interesting, so there needs to be an incentive to explore at night as well.
One thing that they could add everywhere at night are Poe Souls, similar to Twilight Princess. The difference would be that there's no time limit in hunting them, since the night wouldn't end, before you go back to a bed. The game even has a similar enemy in the Silent Realms already, which they could remodel and re-use for this purpose:
Collecting Poe Souls would result in some new late-game rewards. It could be new, powerful Medals, it could be access to the Trial Cave, it could be something new entirely. Alternatively, they could add special Goddess Cubes that only appear during the night.
The surface at night should also be a lot more dangerous. More enemies and tougher enemies running around, which you normally wouldn't find at day, like Stalfos. Especially the latter were way too rare in the actual game. And since you rarely ever meet any NPCs on the surface anyway, only few adjustments would have to be made to implement such a scenario.
To an extent this would even fix the issue, where the game lacks optional parts on the overworld. Exploring at night would be entirely optional and might even lead to a few surprises. Of course this would probably only be possible very late in the game, maybe even after completing the Song of the Hero, so it doesn't interfere with existing cutscenes and events. For this you would acquire a headlight item from Instructor Horwell some time after mastering the Spiral Charge, maybe even after completing the Gratitude Crystal quest, where things become safer at night on Skyloft.
Adding More Medals
The Medals were a great feature, where you could place them in your Adventure Mode for some bonus abilities. But it felt vastly underdeveloped, because you could only find 10 Medals in the game in total with three of them being duplicates. It was quite disappointing.
Back in the day, this blog already provided a list of ideas for medals with many possible abilities based on the Rings from Oracle of Ages & Seasons or similar buffs in the series. They just could go wild here. There's no real limit to adding Medals in a remaster other than the space in the Item Check. But even that could be expanded accordingly.
New Medals could also be a reward for completing the new Trial Cave or hunting down Poe Souls / new Goddess Cubes at night.
With a total of 22 Zelda amiibo "available" (eight in the Zelda series, nine Breath of the Wild amiibo and five in the Super Smash Bros. series), it's quite likely that Skyward Sword HD will receive amiibo support, much like Twilight Princess HD. A Link amiibo based on Skyward Sword even exists already. They might also release some more amiibo based on the game: Link on his Loftwing, Zelda, Impa, Ghirahim or Demise seem like good candidates for new amiibo figurines.
The ingame support would most likely be as basic as in Twilight Princess HD. Refill your Arrows and Bombs with any Link amiibo, refill your hearts with any Zelda amiibo and increase the taken damage with any villain amiibo like Ganondorf. In addition the amiibo could drop goods like in Breath of the Wild, where you could get the various treasures and maybe even spawn insects. Some amiibo could also unlock (exclusive) Medals.
Probably the most important improvement that they could offer is an option to reduce or entirely turn off any Fi notifications. The game also shouldn't force you into Dowsing mode, any time you receive a new target.
...
There's 99% probability that a potential Skyward Sword HD could turn out to be quite alright, if Nintendo were to add some basic features and do some fine-tuning. Upscale the graphics, fix some issues, add more options, add amiibo support, add a trial cave dungeon, add new Medals and done is the next Zelda title on Switch. If Nintendo wants to go one step further, they could also let us explore the entire world at night for an actual new experience.
Source of HD screenshots
Back in the day, this blog already provided a list of ideas for medals with many possible abilities based on the Rings from Oracle of Ages & Seasons or similar buffs in the series. They just could go wild here. There's no real limit to adding Medals in a remaster other than the space in the Item Check. But even that could be expanded accordingly.
New Medals could also be a reward for completing the new Trial Cave or hunting down Poe Souls / new Goddess Cubes at night.
amiibo Support
With a total of 22 Zelda amiibo "available" (eight in the Zelda series, nine Breath of the Wild amiibo and five in the Super Smash Bros. series), it's quite likely that Skyward Sword HD will receive amiibo support, much like Twilight Princess HD. A Link amiibo based on Skyward Sword even exists already. They might also release some more amiibo based on the game: Link on his Loftwing, Zelda, Impa, Ghirahim or Demise seem like good candidates for new amiibo figurines.
The ingame support would most likely be as basic as in Twilight Princess HD. Refill your Arrows and Bombs with any Link amiibo, refill your hearts with any Zelda amiibo and increase the taken damage with any villain amiibo like Ganondorf. In addition the amiibo could drop goods like in Breath of the Wild, where you could get the various treasures and maybe even spawn insects. Some amiibo could also unlock (exclusive) Medals.
Turn off Fi
Probably the most important improvement that they could offer is an option to reduce or entirely turn off any Fi notifications. The game also shouldn't force you into Dowsing mode, any time you receive a new target.
...
Conclusion
There's 99% probability that a potential Skyward Sword HD could turn out to be quite alright, if Nintendo were to add some basic features and do some fine-tuning. Upscale the graphics, fix some issues, add more options, add amiibo support, add a trial cave dungeon, add new Medals and done is the next Zelda title on Switch. If Nintendo wants to go one step further, they could also let us explore the entire world at night for an actual new experience.
Source of HD screenshots
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