Last post I left off at the Lanayru Mining Facility and this is where I've learned to appreciate the new button-only controls a lot more. Well, in the original game this used to be one of the most frustrating parts of the game with using motion controls, mainly because I often had issues with landing those stabs in the eyes of the Beamos and Moldarach. But with the press of a button, or a stick in this case, it's easier than ever.
After the first two boss battles were really annoying, everything went quite well with fighting Moldarach, where I've stuck to the button-only controls ever since. I still accidentally swing diagonally instead of horizontally from time to time, but that's mainly because I'm not always holding the controller completely straight, where this also happens to be an issue in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. So, it's not the fault of the game, it's just me and those completely round control sticks.
I'm still not fighting those Technoblins in the rest of the desert normally, however. Either I use shield bashes, which are easier now, or I rush them when they have yet to pay attention. The Beamos, however, seem ridiculously fast with their lasers, where they often tend to hit me before I can even reach the pole. But all those electric enemies in Skyward Sword never have been any fun to begin with, because those stuns are just too punishing... In the least I'm usually getting clean cuts on those Beamos now, unless I'm swinging diagonally by accident again.
Speaking of clean cuts, the Clean Cut mini-game can also be cheesed heavily with these new controls, because you can do those flicks super fast. But you have to be careful not to trigger a Spin Attach by accident, where with motion controls this is probably still easier to do, because you can just quickly swing back and forth. In any case it can score you an early Evil Crystal to upgrade the Bug Net, before going into the Ancient Cistern, even though I hadn't bothered with that myself up until right before that dungeon.
Also, the Goddess's Harp works wonderfully with the button-only controls as well. This was another thing where I struggled with the motion controls on the Wii quite a bit, but following the "waves" with the analog stick works effortlessly. Kina was even very happy with my performance on first try, which is something. And the duets with Fi no problem at all.
However, it's weird how the Goddess's Harp is permanently assigned to the X-button now, because it feels like this should have been used for something else. But the game is really focused on using both of the analog sticks all the time, where the shoulder buttons are more important.
At this point in the game you also get to make a couple of choices with the side-quests, where now I did the opposite of last time: it's full love mode, where Pipit and Karane are a happy couple and Peatrice is all over Link. It's disgusting, but at least I have now all combinations at least once, together with all my save files on the Wii. And in Hero Mode I will probably do the opposite again, so I have all outcomes on the Nintendo Switch available.
But I've never been a fan of these choices in Hidemaro Fujibayashi's earlier Zelda games, even if they add to the replay value, but you'll never have a "definitive" save file thanks to them. So, it's probably a good thing that this got dropped with later Zelda games.
On a site note, when Pipit discovers the conversation between Cawlin and Karane, it plays the sound that they've later used in Breath of the Wild for when you are finished with cooking a meal. That was kind of funny.
Again, I can only repeat how beautiful Skyward Sword looks in HD, where there was even a visual update to one of the areas: the Thunderhead. There is now this heavy rain effect all over the place, where this was probably always supposed to be there, but couldn't be realized on the Wii. Maybe. It looks a little bit off, though.
Now, I like the second major part of the game somewhat more than the first, because it's more focused on exploring and finding your way forward in the familiar environments, as opposed to working your way through a mostly linear set of obstacles, like during your first visit to Eldin Volcano and Lanayru Desert. So, it's more on par with Faron Woods in the early game.
There is also a rich variety of different activities. Well, you always have to do one of the Silent Realms first, where even after ten years and practicing these trials quite extensively in the past in order to write Silent Realm guides, I still feel a little bit uneasy going into them. But for the most part they are not that difficult and I like the spooky atmosphere inside them.
Then you get a new item, which opens up a path somewhere else in the environment. In case of the Water Dragon's Scale this always used to be quite underwhelming, but at least the button-only underwater controls are now much more enjoyable and reliable. Still, the whole Lake Floria is quite disappointing by how small and linear it is, even after nearly ten years and despite looking really pretty in HD.
At the same time, I still think that revisting Skyview Temple in an altered state was an excellent idea, where it's a shame that this concept never has been explored again after all those years, unless you count the Drabland Challenges in Tri Force Heroes. But there is a lot of potential here, where I even hope that the sequel to Breath of the Wild might go more into such territories. After all, you will be re-exploring the same world again.
Anyway, while the Lanayru Desert was a slog on your first visit, now it's really the highlight of this part of the game. It already starts with getting the Double Clawshots, which is easily the most exciting item obtainment in the entire game. Already in the main area of the desert around the Lanayru Mining Facility there are a variety of targets, where you can get to treasure chests or Goddess Cubes. And there are multiple interesting points to use the Clawshots around Skyloft and Faron Woods as well. It's backtracking at its finest.
And as much as I love Breath of the Wild, this is something you don't get from a game of this giant scale. The focus there was solely on becoming stronger, where there was no real item-based progression, like in traditional Zelda and Metroid titles, since you get all major items on the Great Plateau.
To be fair, there isn't all that much item-based progression in Skyward Sword either, at least not in the traditional sense with the main items. The Double Clawshot might even be the exception here, where most of the other items in the game suffer the fates of their counterparts in Twilight Princess. The whip for example feels like an amazing addition during the Ancient Cistern, but after the dungeon its main use seems to be stealing the horns from Bokoblins. It's so important that Fi even still tells you about it.
Progression in Skyward Sword is overall a lot more scripted, where it relies on the Tablets in the early game and on your sword upgrades later on, which then lead to a new song at the Isle of Songs, which opens a Silent Realm, which gives you a new item, which lets you enter the next area with the dungeon, which lets you upgrade your sword again, until you finally have the Master Sword. It's quite repetitive, where the variety mainly stems from the new areas and the tasks there.
With that said, I'm off to what used to be my favorite of these additional areas: the Lanayru Sand Sea. Let's see how this holds up in HD... In the meantime, here are some sky kittens for your enjoyment:
No comments:
Post a Comment