The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD is a great remake, enhancing Nintendo visuals and adding a lot of quality of life. The introduction of physical control is the best addition, providing a secondary option for those who hate speed control. With some of the best dungeons in the series, and a unique take on the battle, Skyward Sword HD Zelda is definitely a game for fans and switch owners.

Introduction

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD is a Nintendo Switch remaster of the Wii Classic, with which Nintendo enhances visuals, enhances quality of life and – most importantly – applies physical controls so you no longer have to move your arm like a sword.

I played Full Skyward Sword HD on the Nintendo Switch Lite to determine if the physical controls were up to scratch. I can be sure that they work very well, the right-sided analog stick proves to be a suitable option for waving around a Wii remote.

However, Nintendo has apparently been forced to make some compromises, involving the DNA of Skyward Sword in the speed control battle. Using the correct analog to mimic the movement of Link’s sword, moving the camera becomes even more painful. Also, the analog stick is not as precise as the speed control, which leads to some frustrating moments in the heat of battle.

Is Skyward Sword one of the best entries in The Legend of Zelda series? I won’t argue – but its unique take on battle and some outstanding puzzle-centric dungeons easily makes it a must-have game for Zelda fans and one of the best Nintendo Switch games available right now.

The story

• Skyward Sword still has one of the best Zelda stories
• Advanced graphics look fantastic
• Katsin and dialogue can now be avoided

Skyward Sword is a key story in the sequel to The Legend of Zelda series, which provides a backstory for Master Sword, Triforce and even Link and Gelder’s own choice.

This is a very slow and tedious start, as you explore the floating city of Skyloft and discover the close friendship of Link and Zelda. It is arguably the most character-driven Zelda game to date, despite its lack of voice acting, introducing a large cast of characters with distinct personalities. But with lots of catsin – especially in the beginning – the speed of the Skyward Sword can often slow down to the speed of a snail, which especially shakes the back of Breath of the Wild.

However, once the story progresses and Link can finally begin its adventure, the cutscenes become more cinematic and entertaining. The story has turned into an intriguing mystery, with many scattering on top of The Legend of Zelda Lore to please the veterans of the series. This is probably one of the best Gelder stories yet, although it is still very simple and predictable for the most part.

Nintendo has enhanced the visuals for this HD remaster and the improvements are significant. While the original was pixelated and rough around the edges, the new remaster looks gorgeous with more detail and vividness – you’ll forget how big the performance jump switch is on the Nintendo Wii.

The Skyward Sword isn’t as beautiful as Breath of the Wild, but I really enjoyed the cartoonish art style here, which is much more colorful and inviting than the Twilight Princess choice. Everything from the fiery red depths of a volcano to the lush green forest looks gorgeous.

The game now runs much smoother, significantly improving the combat scene with a stable 60fps performance. I never noticed any visible frame rate drop, even when there were forces of monsters charged at the link.

Nintendo has also introduced lots and lots of quality-life improvements for remasters. Fi is no longer chiming in to offer much less intrusive, tutorial and puzzle hints. For those who need help, there are tips on how to press a D-pad. You can also speed up the conversation and avoid cutsins, which will undoubtedly increase the speed of runners – or those who have limited time for lunch breaks.

There are, however, a few additional issues that Nintendo addresses. Quick-travel is still a pain, as you can only teleport to select locations, requiring a long and tedious track only to store medicine, repair your shield or go to the store to buy a new item. Worst of all, Nintendo has enabled quick-travel links without the need for many bird statues dotted around the map, but locked this feature behind an amoeba as a lazy cash transfer.

There are also plenty of open spaces, especially when your giant bird flies around the scattered floating island, which feels like a chore.

War

• Analog stick is a great option for speed control
• Sword swipes are not always 100% accurate
• Camera control is weak and frustrating

Despite the limitations on my Nintendo Switch playing Skyward Sword and physical control, it’s clear that this game is built around speed control. You can’t just hit the enemy wildly, because you need to swipe in certain directions to defeat almost every grant.

Nintendo cleverly signals the message for how to send enemies, because you must match the swings of your sword with the slits in the mouth of the piranha tree or the blocks of bokoblin. This gives the battle a distinctly puzzle-centric focus, requiring equal measurements of the brain and Brown to succeed unscathed.

For the HD remaster, Nintendo has enabled physical controls, which are essential if you want to play Nintendo Switch Lite or Handheld mode. Nintendo has achieved this by mapping the swing of the sword with the correct analog stick. It took me a long time to adjust to this approach, as the game demanded a strong flick instead of a gentle prod. But once I got into the swing of things, I really enjoyed this freshness of the sword game.

That said, there are still problems with this design. The switch light analog stick is not very precise, so I have often struggled to successfully pull the diagonal sword pieces. Just make one move wrong, and Link’s sword will jump off a slope and weaken him for a counter-attack, which is incredibly frustrating when faced with an intense boss.

Nintendo also had to compromise on camera control. Since the right analog stick is engaged in sword play, you cannot tilt the camera freely to observe your surroundings. You can resize the camera by pressing the left shoulder button, but the lack of precise control is not ideal.

Unfortunately, since I own a switch light I haven’t been able to test the Skyward Sword with speed control, but Nintendo has claimed that they will be “smoother” and “more intuitive” than the original version. If you plan on playing Skyward Sword with Motion Control, I recommend you check out the other reviews to make sure there are no major issues.

Puzzles and dungeons

• Skyward Sword contains some of the best dungeons and puzzles
• The three exploratory areas all feel very unique
• Traversal is a pain that lacks rapid travel improvement

Breath of the Wild is a fantastic game, but I have to admit that I really missed the intricate black holes of the previous The Legend of Zelda entries. This is an area where the Skyward Sword is at the top, as it features some of the best dungeons and puzzles the series has to offer.

Some of my highlights include a pirate ship and another water temple with a time-hopping mechanic and a reshaping design. Each of the seven dungeons was a joy to tackle, a perfect difficulty curve that constantly pushes your imagination with every gadget you receive.

Speaking of which, Skyward Sword has a great selection of items on offer, including remote-controlled flying beetles and ghost bellows, which can be used to repel enemies and push off hanging platforms.

Most of these items can even be improved by collecting various insects that roam the land. Collecting these awesome crawls is a bit of a chore, but increasing the strength of your bow and the durability of your shield is really satisfying.

The Skyward Sword also includes three major areas to explore: the Fern Woods, the Aldin Volcano, and the Lanayaru Desert, each offering dramatically different aesthetics, barriers, and enemy types.

The three regions may not sound like much, but these mini open-world locations will expand during your adventure, exposing choices of underwater caves and abandoned mines.

Unfortunately, this means that Skyward Sword has a lot of backtracking, especially in the second half of the game. Fast-travel limitations only make the process more tedious, as you must take frequent paths to reach your destination.

While most of the puzzles are fun to solve, I wasn’t so keen on some of the chosen purpose for which I had to collect several Arabs in a given time without disturbing the roaming guards. I further wish that Flying Mechanic had not been introduced, as it seemed to be included only to support the story without offering any enjoyable gameplay mechanics, which is strange because it is so highly featured in the beginning.

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