Skyward Sword doesn't get better the second time. It's just plain not that great of a Zelda game. Gotta face the facts! They need to hand it off to Retro to bring the magic back to Zelda. The harder EAD tries, the worse that series gets.

+1

Finally a bit of honesty. It IS soulless, that's the best way to describe it. There is just something lacking in SS.

It is the Mario Sunshine of Zelda games - I thought that was strangely soulless as well and can't remember completing it.

You're on to something. I felt the same about Mario Sunshine as I do of SS. The lack of soul prevented me from pushing on through the tedious bits. I didn't finish either game. The third time I quit for good and traded SS in. Although I was about 75% through the game, it just couldn't keep my interest anymore to put up with all the minor annoyances.

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Zelda 1 is the only Zelda game I played that I thought was truly bad. I don't know why so many people think this one is better than Zelda 2; it's like people who insisted that Phantasy Star 2 was better than Final Fantasy 4. Zelda 2 is so much richer in every single way (instead of no towns you have about a dozen towns, more dungeons, way more secrets), not frustratingly difficult to the point of feeling broken - and Zelda 2 is actually rewarding to play through; rather than feeling like a virtual torture.

Don't get me wrong, I understand the breakthrough that Zelda 1 was. As a game though, it's the one Zelda adventure I won't even consider revisiting for more than 15 minutes; and that's just to remind me why I shouldn't play the game.

you know i just can't comprehend the sunshine comparison. But, i haven't liked a mario since super mario land. (except for new smb wii). but i feel JUMPIN maybe on to something. I disagree with zelda 2 being better than zelda 1, but i think honestly my reasoning has more to do with this thread than SS being "souless". The only reason i dislike zelda 2 was the gameplay. I thought the music was good, the story was standard, but i just felt it was one of the worst sidescrollers i ever played. That was just me. I'm really glad other people enjoy it. Not every game in a series is for everyone (as i've mentioned before. But anyway, i digress. I feel like the gameplay in skyward sword is turning many of you away from the game more than the other elements much the way zelda 2 's gameplay did for me. And i assure you guys i am being quite honest. I'm never grabbed into a zelda game the way many of you describe. The start of every zelda leaves me feeling skeptical, but by the time i beat it it's my new favorite single player game of all time. I actually think each zelda (main entry) get's better. I really thought TP was going to be lame (cmon, a werewolf really?), but then i beat it and i was like "this is the best zelda yet!" after i was done with skyward sword i said the same thing. Honestly. Now that's not to say the game is perfect. I have my criticisms too, but i think that's enough for now. If you guys want to hear'em i'd be glad to share. It definately wasn't the "10" many critics game it.

crystalchild, those dorkly videos are AWESOME.

I liked Mario Sunshine, too.

Probably stated it before but I was one of those guys that started playing it and hated it. I got to where I was looking for that Kikwi in the woods. This was even before the first dungeon. The graphics were sucking. The controls were shit. The story was lame. The world was linear. I found that Kikwi, turned the Wii off, and didn't even bother to save my progress. I forced myself to play it and I fell in love.

It still had a lot of problems. Game was too easy, secrets were easy to figure out, Fi was sucking the life out of me, but somehow, I got sucked in. Boss fights suddenly became awesome, graphics suddenly grew on me, music was great, story was really good, and the controls went from being shitty to being amazing--the star of the show.

That was my experience, though. I understand that people may not convert. I hope you can still become engaged despite the games many flaws.

It really depends from which angle you look at the game. If you are new to Zelda or compare the game to other "good" games out there you will most likely focus on its strengths and consider it a good game.

If, on the other hand, you still remember how each Zelda game used to push the whole adventure genre forward in the past you will likely be disappointed. Skyward Sword actually feels like a step down from Twilight Princess in some ways (lack of overworld, not as epic, less actual Zelda-ish stuff (even the Zora's are gone...) ). I'd even argue it doesn't look better than Twilight Princess.

I remember when Twilight Princess was released people complained about stuff that felt out of place in a 2006 game. And here we are in 2012 and Skyward Sword didn't fix a single complaint that was made back then. It even did some things worse.

Games Reviewers can be so out of touch with gamers.