Probably one of the bigger disappointments from the E3 2021 Nintendo Direct was Skyward Sword HD, because there really wasn't anything new here. They've simply reminded us that the game will be coming out next month, but they didn't even bother to play it during the "Treehouse: Live" segments.
With that, it's really just that. We're getting an HD remaster with upscaled graphics, a new button-only control scheme and a new teleportation system for which you need to buy an amiibo. Great... This is by far the most underwhelming of the Zelda 3D remasters yet, where this would be the first time we're not getting any new features, just optimizations...
Update: it's also the first time that we didn't get any new artwork. They are simply re-using everything from the Wii game here. Thanks to Ikhana Kingdom for pointing this out!
Here's what the previous remasters had to offer:
- Ocarina of Time 3D had a "Boss Challenge" mode and came with a mirrored variant of Master Quest.
- Majora's Mask 3D offered two new fishing ponds with 24 different fish to collect.
- The Wind Waker HD gave us an amazing selfie feature and the Tingle Bottles.
- Twilight Princess HD added the Cave of Shadows (also locked behind an amiibo) and let you collect new Miiverse stamps hidden all over the world.
And this was all on top of graphics that have been improved quite a bit, as well as optimizations to the inventories and other things. To be fair, there are probably some minor improvements and additions that we don't know about yet. The Wind Waker HD for example had five additional Treasure Charts to replace the missing Triforce Charts. And there could be something similar here. But it's probably best to expect nothing to not be disappointed any further...
The Nintendo Direct even made it sound like the new controls are for handheld mode only, but the official website states this differently:
Newly added button-only controls let you play your way—including in handheld mode and on the Nintendo Switch™ Lite system.
Still, we have yet to see the game actually being played with a Pro Controller, so we don't know for sure. But even if the new controls were exclusive to handheld mode, reviews would probably complain about this so much that Nintendo will patch this in. Shouldn't be hard to do.
Again, it would have been nice to have this shown during the Treehouse stream, where for some reason they couldn't be bothered with this, even though this gets released in a few weeks and should be ready. But this already shows what kind of product we're dealing with here, if Nintendo doesn't want to present it any further.
It feels like the main purpose of releasing Skyward Sword HD now is to make everyone appreciate how much better the sequel to Breath of the Wild will be with its own sky exploration. And as underwhelming as this remaster is, it really should have been bundled with The Wind Waker HD and Twilight Princess HD to make up for it.
This will definitely be a disappointment if there's no extra features at all.
ReplyDeleteI almost don't see the point of replaying it again on the Switch if it's the exact same game (..though I probably will because I can take better screenshots, and I'd like to see how the button-controls feel).
Also, no new official artwork? At least I haven't seen any. Both Twilight Princess HD and The Wind Waker HD got that.
So no 35th anniversary campaign, and SSHD is basically the same game.
Did they become lazy, or is this a result of the whole world situation where they decided to spend the time they had to focus on Mario's anniversary instead? Hm.
@Ikhana:
ReplyDeleteYou're right, there isn't even any new artwork this time. That's a good point, I didn't think of this for some reason.
It looks to me like this project was done in-house (like The Wind Waker HD), where the Zelda team is most likely too busy working on the BotW sequel to put any real effort into this. It was probably made by a hand full of people again...
I feel like pro controller support is inevitable, especially given that playing this game the "intended" way might not be such a pleasant experience given how widespread of a problem joycon drift is. I agree that if it's not there from the start it will be patched in like gamecube controller was for 3d All Stars.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete