No, I don’t. The only possible exception would be from Nintendo-only sites, and even then I actually doubt it would have scored any less had it come out during a busier time. Most reviewers aren’t looking at it on “how does this compare to other game’s on this system” basis, but on a “how does this compare to the game’s I’ve played” basis, regardless of the time-frames involved.
I actually disagree. Twilight Princess was an abomination.
I might pick this one up. Though I’ll be playing on PC (1080p and AA baby!).
So far reviews have been favorable and I haven’t played a zelda game in years. Hopefully they nailed the motions controls this time.
A Wii emulator?
Yep dolphin.
Is the game out officially yet? I thought it wasn’t out til next week. I might stop by gamestop on the way home.
Duh, I guess it is, should read the whole thread.
Between this, Anno 2033, and Skyrim, I’m neglecting BF3 entirely too much.
Actually, it’s not, unless you live in Europe. It’s Nov 20th for North America, though you can get it one day early in New York City.
On a Sunday?
Doesn’t that break some sort of holy game dev commandment or something?
That’s when Nintendo usually releases their games.
They really are pretty good. They make combat a lot harder, but not in a frustrating i-know-what-i-should-be-doing-why-can’t-i-do-it way, more that you have to have better timing and direction. For example, using a shield isn’t just holding the Z button anymore, you have to thrust out the nunchuck to defend. It’s actually pretty intuitive and makes things like Deku Scrub’s more interesting.
I prefer the game direction in general too - I wasn’t a massive fan of Twilight Princess at all, I got so bored of it that I actually only finished the last two dungeons last week after having left them for about a year, just get in the mood for Skyward Sword. To me, this game feels more OoT in it’s temple & puzzle designs. YMMV obviously.
gameplay spoilers
[spoiler]
One thing I miss though is the lack of a big common area like Hyrule Field. I think that’s why I loved Ocarina of Time so much, I got stuck trying to get JabuJabu to open his damn mouth and went off wandering for a while - made my way to Gerudo Valley and there was some other stuff to do there. Now it was still a pretty linear game, but the sense of exploration was fantastic.
Skyward Sword though (so far anyway, I’m just gathering the things to unlock the volcano temple at the moment) doesn’t have that exploration sense. It’s just get another bit of stone tablet and another area is magically unlocked. And you’re just plonked down there, you don’t even get to journey between them. Kind of hope it changes later in the game but looks unlikely 
[/spoiler]
Oh right, was wondering why no one else on the SD seemed to be playing it yet:o
I read about this. What about getting hearts and the like? Are objects easier to find since exploration aspect is out toned down?
24 hours until I see what I think of this game… at least 50 more hours until I can rank it with other Zelda tittles. I’m worried I’m too lazy to work the sword for too long. Do people’s arms get tired?
Here’s a better question. Is motion control something you wish to see implemented in Zelda games from now on?
Same question I’ve always wondered, since I do not have a Wii or any motion control system. It seems oddly tiring, in the “my joints hurt” kind of way.
Mine didn’t anyway - you won’t be making massive swings or anything, it’s just timing and direction.
As for exploration
[spoiler] I’ve only finished two temples and am making my way to the third so far so I don’t know how much this will change, but so far for each area you get plonked down in a starting area and then have to work your way through 2/3 area’s to get to the temple, usually finding X number of mcguffin’s along the way in order to open the door.
Actual exploration is mainly limited to the Sky - it’s sort of like the islands in Phantom Hourglass, you can fly around on your bird and land on tiny little islands in the sky. There are little quests to do around Skyloft as well[/spoiler]
The temples so far have been really fun and some of the gadgets in this one are genius. I hope the flying beetle becomes a Zelda staple from now on, it is the handiest goddam thing ever
I’m taking one of many breaks from playing it… Man it gets off to a slow start. With all the dialog and story they fit into the game, along with me trying to follow the overwritten player’s guide boaght, I’ve only just reached the first Goddess Cube, (the one the goron is studying). I don’t really know how I feel about motion controls. I don’t know if I’m very good sword fighting/I DEFINITLY need to practice sword battling the early creatures I’ve encountered. I try to outsmart, but it usually takes a bunch of hits to finally land a blow. The motion plus does work well though, (precise enough). It can be tiresome.
I watched my son playing it yesterday. My two random thoughts:
The intro is ridiculously long. We were laughing that after an hour he still wasn’t on his first adventure yet.
I wish I could get away with graphics like that on the PS3 game I’m working on right now. Obvious tessellation, visible seams, hard loads – my life would be so much easier if I were allowed to ship something like that.
Am I the only one who liked the intro? I thought it was perfectly paced and really got me invested.
Anyway, by tessellation are you referring to the patterning of the background? If so, that’s intentional, it’s supposed to look like the brush strokes of an impressionist painting the farther back things get from the camera. If that’s not what you’re referring to, I’m not sure what you mean, since I always thought that graphics-wise tessellation was an algorithm for performance, not something visual. (And what are hard loads? I’ve only written 2D games… the only thing I can think of is loading all assets at scene transition rather than dynamically)
The low number of polygons in the assets. It’s not so much a criticism as jealousy. For example, I was looking at a pair of pliers on the shelf in someone’s house and it probably had about 50 polys total, with obvious facets. Man, I wish we could ship with low-res assets like that.
And, yes, I’m talking about the explicit loads at scene transitions. If we didn’t have to worry about streaming on the job I’m working on now, development would be a lot easier.
I’m liking it so-so so far. I’m not that far into it as I just arrived at the surface.
The into suffered from every damn character being overly verbose and repetitive. I could have rescued my bird and gotten on my way if everyone didn’t have to tell me their life’s story. I know they’re trying to build some repoire with the people and create a story with an intended pace but it just draaaags when you just want to be on your way.
The start was quite long - I didn’t mind it because I had a full day to play it so I got to finish a whole temple. But I can see how it would be annoying if you only have like an hour or so and don’t actually get to go on your actual adventure before you have to stop playing.
Agree on the long boring start, that could have been better. After that though, this game is, so far, amazing. Way better than Twilight Princess, and has none of that tedious boat riding that Wind Waker had.
Oh man, now I want to go home and play. >:(
