Review | The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

It took five years, a cycle that wound from boffo sales through to abject ridicule, but the Nintendo Wii has finally proved its worth; The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword singlehandedly vindicates the company’s iffy motion-control strategy. You might well feel cheated having waited so long for the console to get where it was going but once you walk away from Link’s latest adventure that aura of disappointment that has dogged the Wii from day one will have been dispelled for good.

Considering Nintendo’s headline plumber has found his way into such a wide and varied array of games I think it’s fair to say that the Zelda titles have become the company’s purest hallmark. A legacy like that is a double-edged sword – you have expectations piled a mile high but there’s also a passionate built-in fan base and a template for success that’s proved itself time and again. Team Zelda has, at very least, hit the sweet spot with each incarnation – everything you expect plus just enough freshness to keep fans intrigued – but with Skyward Sword they’ve knocked it right out of the park.

For those concerned with chronology this newest incarnation of Link is the earliest to date, his quest is a sprawling epic that sews the seeds for many elements of the older games. This version of our hero comes from a city in the clouds known as Skyloft, a peaceful floating land elevated above troubled Hyrule by the creator Godess to keep a hugely powerful artefact safe. Needless to say by the time Link, and his best buddy Zelda, come of age the woes of the land below manage to find their way to the city in the clouds.

When Zelda disappears into demon-infested Hyrule under mysterious conditions Link naturally finds himself trailing her, guided by powerful unseen forces to fulfil his heroic destiny. Yes, it’s the same story every Zelda game tells and once again it’s told in a unique enough fashion not to be stale – but this time it’s different. The story is larger, grander and more essential than the series has attempted before.

That’s basically Skyward Sword’s leitmotif; just like the old games, but better. And when those old games are consistently counted among the greatest ever made you know something special must be happening. The story is wonderful, to be sure, but had the game not stepped courageously outside the series’ accepted fundamentals we might have simply had a great game on our hands, rather than one of the greats.

The basic action-adventure gameplay of the core Zelda games hasn’t changed significantly since Link first went 3D in the days of Nintendo 64. His first foray on the Wii, Twilight Princess, included the obligatory motion controls but there was nothing in the amusing gimmick that affected things fundamentally. Thanks to the 1:1 motion control of the MotionPlus accessory, however, Skyward Sword is a whole different beast.

Ever since the Wii concept first surfaced the idea of motion-controlled combat was an exciting tease but neither hardware nor software ever made good on the promise. Even as Sony and Microsoft jumped into the game with more sophisticated motion controllers there never seemed to be any evidence that such carry on would ever surpass traditional button tapping as the most satisfying gameplay style. Skyward Sword is the first game to truly challenge that truism.

There’s no point in describing the affects of the pitch-perfect sword fighting system; it’s exactly what you imagined motion controlled games would be like before you got let down by actually playing them. There’s few feelings in the gaming world that are quite as rewarding as having sparred to a standstill with an enemy and finally understanding its weakness to gain the upper hand. It’s a mix of cerebral puzzling and physical execution that currently has no rival, a buzz that makes simply pushing buttons already feel archaic.

With a combat system that good the game likely could have coasted along into critical success without much further effort if it weren’t for the expectations attached to the Zelda name. Knowing the fans wouldn’t be happy with simply reinventing the action gameplay wheel, the developers have gone and created some of the most cleverly designed overworld and dungeon elements the series has yet seen. Furthermore they have ditched the segmented nature of the two and stitched them together, unifying the navigation, puzzling and combat sections in an exceptionally rewarding fashion.

As per usual, gamers will need to learn to use Link’s full array of gadgets and weapons – with the likes of a remote flying beetle and whip among the new additions – to traverse the cunningly nefarious temples and dungeons. Other new tweaks, like a stamina wheel that dictates how long Link can sprint for and an item upgrade system, add additional considerations to the already robust lateral thinking workouts.

On the production side things are as you would expect – predictable in the most comfortable way. Recycled sound effects are soothingly familiar and the orchestral scores still amongst the most memorable of any videogame. There’s no getting around the Wii’s power limitations but in respecting those limits the creators have put together a visually arresting world without overtaxing the hardware. Nintendo has always stood ready to prove raw power comes a distant second to artistic vision and Skyward Sword is a veritable master class in that concept.

Only the most stubborn of traditionalists will be able to muster more than a niggling criticism of this watershed title. Whether or not it came too late in the Wii’s lifecycle shouldn’t concern anyone but the shareholders – what matters is it’s here now and the gaming world is much the better for it.   [9.5]