The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD is releasing this week on the Nintendo Switch, giving gamers the chance to embark on one of Link’s more divisive adventures in a remastered form. What better time than now to highlight five of the things that have got us hyped to play the game, then? Take a look at our reasons down below – hopefully, they’ll get you excited to play the game too.
– It’s a good starting point for The Legend of Zelda newbies
With the amount of games available in The Legend of Zelda series, it can be a little bit intimidating knowing where to start. Whilst they don’t necessarily follow a typical connected story path, they are all set in the universe and fit in within a wide (and sometimes disputed) timeline, after all.
Fortunately, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD just so happens to be the starting point of said timeline, with it introducing the lore for plenty of different themes of the series. It gives players an intriguing introduction to Link, Zelda, and the bond they share, whilst long-time series stalwarts such as the Master Sword and Ganon see their origins revealed too.
It’s also one of the more linear entries in the series, which might appeal more to players who have been left stressed out by the open nature of the other titles. Don’t get me wrong, it still offers an expansive world that encourages exploration, but it’s a lot clearer where you need to go and what you need to do. Of course, this may be seen as a flaw to some gamers, but for newcomers it helps establish the title as a great starting point.
– It has classic Zelda-style dungeons
One complaint that often hits the close-to-perfect The Legend of Zelda: Breath to the Wild is the fact that it lacks the traditional dungeons seen elsewhere in the series. Sure, there were Shrines, but they’re NOT the same.
Fortunately, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD is much more traditional in design, with it featuring a solid array of clever dungeons that will challenge both players’ combat skills and their puzzle-solving capabilities. Each brings with them unique items that tie into the puzzle-solving too, whilst the boss battles are epic showcases of the dynamic skillset of Link.
My favourite dungeon? It has got to be the Skyview Temple, though I’ve got a lot of love for the Ancient Cistern and it’s whipping antics too…
– You can play the game WITHOUT using motion controls
One of the biggest issues that fans had with The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword when it launched on the Nintendo Wii came with the game’s motion controls. It was a divisive feature, with some gamers loving their use and others complaining that they could be a little clunky. Either way, it was enough to put some players off, with the unique control scheme of the game not to everyone’s taste.
With The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD, gamers can look forward to playing the game with a more traditional control scheme… sort of. Rather than being mapped to the face buttons, sword swings are instead performed by shifting the right stick in the direction that you want to attack. It’s a simple but effective change, and one that I’m sure is going to please a lot of fans.
Personally, I never hated the motion controls, but I’m looking forward to playing the game this way. I mean, how else were we going to get to play it in handheld mode?
– It’s getting an array of improvements to make the game more enjoyable
Nintendo recently released a trailer that showcased some of the quality of life improvements coming to The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD – why don’t you take a look at that down below:
Things like streamlined item descriptions and skippable tutorials or dialogue may seem like small things, but they will go a LONG way in making The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD more enjoyable for players. Then you’ve got the improved 60fps frame rate which is a real treat, as well as the higher resolution which will make the whole game look a lot prettier.
Basically, this is more than a simple remaster. Nintendo have made a point of fixing a lot of the game’s existing issues, ensuring that The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD is the definitive way to experience the adventure. Find out more about the improvements in this post.
– It seems to have a full 3D camera (I think?)
Now this is an interesting addition that hasn’t really been confirmed, but hinted at in a video that Nintendo have recently released. I got the original information for this from VGC (you can check out the article through this link) where it seems to show that the player has full control of the camera in the game. Take a look down below:
As reported by Chris Scullion at VGC, Wii players couldn’t control the camera thanks to the fact that only one control stick was used when playing the game. You could snap the camera behind link by pressing the Z button, but it wasn’t as intuitive as having full control.
Now this isn’t a feature that has been promoted by Nintendo, but if players CAN fully control the camera, it’ll go a long way in making The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD more enjoyable to play. It will be way easier to navigate your surroundings, complete puzzles, and get a better look at any surrounding enemies, whilst it’ll also let players appreciate the beauty of the world a lot more. Like a lot of the aforementioned changes, it might seem like a small improvement – if it works well though, it could end up being one of the best changes made to the game.
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD is coming to the Nintendo Switch on July 16th 2021. Find out more on the official website through this link.
