That once he plants his feet, it's safest to try to go for the jewel on the belt, although not essential, it just seemed to work more

Those are some fine impressions Mr Khan - I agree with most of them.

I think the swordplay really is one of the strongest aspects of the game. It simplifies the control scheme (through the concept of direct manipulation) without removing the depth of the combat mechanics themselves. It also made for a for more direct connection with Link as an avatar, which is (for a lack of a better term) immersive, to say the least. (I should note that I never cared about motion controls in any other game.)

I also believe one of the most overlooked innovations of Skyward Sword is the Bird Statue save points. They not only serve a structurally delimitative function, but are also helpful tools in terms of pacing, difficulty curve, and fast-travel mechanics. This design scheme is particularly useful in the dungeons, and represents one other way in which the boundaries of the dungeons/overworld are subverted, yet maintained. It is "dense" economic design at its finest.

In fact, Skyward Sword actually helped me realize that "density" is one of the primary things I look for in a good game - that is why I do not care for games like Skyrim (which is extremely limited in terms of meaningful content, not to mention polish).

I felt the game's weaknesses were centered around certain minigames. The cart-riding and harp-playing were the worst offenders - the latter seemed to suffer from the same issues as the flute in Spirit Tracks in that it was intriguing in concept, but terribly implemented in practice - but in general the sidequests did not live up to the standards of the main game.

Still, such blemishes does little to nothing to lessen my enjoyment of the game as such. I have found that the best games are often far from perfect, technically. My subjective appreciation is based on other things, such as ambition, creativity, and a subversion of dogma. Skyward Sword, I believe, shows proof of all of these things.

I just beat it recently, and while I wouldn't give it a "10" (keep in mind there's only about five games in history that I would), it certainly deserves no lower than a "9". I was very satisfied with it and I really enjoyed the story and the ending, as well as the majority of the puzzles.

Having to revisit areas over and over got a bit tedious, and was disappointing simply because of the lack of variety in the places you go. However, many of the revisits proved to be very fun experiences (the Sandship, for example), and only a few parts of the game felt like unnecessary fetch-quests.

The idea of Hylia and Demise essentially being immortal gods that are reincarnated again and again as Zelda and Ganon(dorf) and the spirit of the hero who intervenes in the endless cycle was a great way to set the timeline; I really liked that.

The music was among the best the series has to offer, both in orchestral quality and score. And while the graphics weren't amazing, I still really liked the style; if only it ran in 720p with improved textures it would've looked fantastic.

The combat was good; I loved how you had to strike certain ways in order to prevail, but it was still less than perfect. There were times I'd want to strike from one direction, but moving my hand to position my sword for said strike would first cause a strike from the other direction, punishing me in certain battles. Also, while the motion was great for combat for the most part, not having a button sword attack for something simple like, say, grass cutting, was sorely missed.

I definitely like the original Zelda and A Link to the Past the best, and probably like Ocarina and Majora better than Skyward as well, but I'd likely put it next (kinda hard to judge right now as I'm still riding the high).

Also, I really enjoyed Ghirahim as the antagonist (that dance he does at the end around Zelda's body had me cracking up!), and I loved the final battle with Akuma... err... Demise.