I can only speak for myself, but I absolutely loved Skyward Sword. I think that the presentation is behind the curve in some respects, but the gameplay is far above the curve in many respects. The level design in Skyward Sword is simply head and shoulders above anything else coming out on consoles these days. Play through some of Skyrim's dungeons, some of Arkham City's environments, and then play some through Skyward's dungeons. Zelda's level design puts most other games to shame (of course, I'm not saying that those games don't have other advantages). I thought the motion controls were incredible, and the score was superb.

Strange as it may seem, I also really enjoyed the story. It may not be the deepest experience out there, but it's simplicity and sincerity is a welcome change compared to other games out there.

It seems to me that people just weren't prepared to judge this game based on it's own merits. Some people wanted a super hardcore game that didn't cater at all to newcomers like Dark Souls. Others wanted a game with top notch production values and the cinematic quality of Uncharted. Others wanted a crazy in depth roleplaying experience like Skyrim, and many people wanted the vast overworlds of Wind Waker and Twilight Princess. I don't think all that many people came into Skyward Sword with a completely open mind, which is contributing to their disappointment.

I just read an interesting article. It said that the fans demand a Lego Legend of Zelda. I never played a Lego game but the critic scores are always somewhere in the high 70s. But I would consider to buy this, because its Zelda and if they make it just like the original games in Lego look why not? And as long as its better then Windwaker and Skyword Sword.

ok, enough is enough with the only 3 areas thing. I'm pretty sure the scale in this game is the biggest to date(3d). The only reason it doesn't feel that way is because A) there isn't a big open field or ocean to travel through to show of the vastness of the world, and B) There are only 3 entrances. If you really look at it there is a forrest section in both old and new, a volcano section in both old an new, a water section one in old and one 2-piece in the SS, a dessert section in both old an new and a town with a hidden temple in some old and SS. When you consider each branches off into some section that make up a mining facility, a dessert sea and later on one of these sections becomes a enemy camp that you must sneak through and an entire sky domain (even if the parts are greater than it sum) i'd say there a damn large world with plenty of variety in skyward sword. Another reason i think it doesn't seem like alot is you don't have to cirlce back through every area to get somewhere. Alot of times after you passed an area and find a statue, you won't ever have to see that area again. I really think that if you were riding a horse from one end of the surface to the other, it would take 1.5x maybe even 2x as long as twilight princess and that's thinking of it with all the levels cleared into an oot/tp like field. One last thing, i don't remember an ice section so i guess the old ones have that over it.

oh yeah, in regards to puzzling: my favorite part of a zelda is getting stuck. There is nothing more gratifying than finding a worthy mental challenge. I'd say coming to the realization of "i'm stuck" is even more exciting than finally solving the puzzle days/weeks later. I think it would be nice if later zeldas go rid of the tip statue, or added a difficulty option to disable it. I found myself being lazy twice and using it. The third time i used it i really would have taken up to a week to solve the puzzle. Such a good one. Most people probably got it right away, but i did not and i wish i wouldn't have been in a rush to progress the story. it was growing the tree if anyone is curious. Most the time in a zelda the answer is in the same physical realm of the puzzle when the puzzle progresses the story. such a good puzzle!

After windwaker was out, zelda fans claims it's shit and majora mask/ocarina of time was better. Then twilight princess release and fans start to say it's bad and windwaker is the best zelda. Last it's skyward sword that get release and now twilight princess is great and the last one bad. Can't wait for zelda wii u to release so people will start to saySS is the best one.

I found the Mario 64 camera worked very well for me (not needing my involvement much by nearly always being in the right place). I would not consider Sunshine's version of this to be a "fix".  I doubt people liked controlling the camera themselves because in Galaxy we were back to our semi automatic camera, which was nearly always in the right place - while being adjustable if necessary. 

I also think the abscence of a lot of key characters was disappointing in Sunshine, with all the water squirting it felt out of place in the mario series (kind of like SMB2 on nes) because the gameplay mechanic had changed.

Sunshine was an oddly soulless game, it felt garish and weirdly Westernised. Needless to say I was disappointed that the Cube never got a proper Mario sequel, but I was massively relieved when I played Galaxy - that, imo, was a real mario game with enough new to make it feel fresh and enough familiarity to feel the nostalgia. 

It's obviously all personal taste, but I felt that Sunshine was a turd on the Mario timeline, just as SS is a turd on the Zelda timeline. Oddly, most gamers I speak to IRL seem to agree with this - yet come to the forums and it's all varied opinion.

I bet there's someone out there who thinks Rise of the Robots on megadrive was better than SF2 turbo on the snes.

Back to Skyward Sword - I will hold my hands up and say 'Yes, I would MUCH rather have played something more akin to Oot or TP, overall I prefer that style and enjoyed those games a lot more'.

I hear what your saying but I do not think Nintendo wants that since they are catering to the "wide" crowd. Its very difficult to develop a game to please core and casuals. Better yet, what do you think were the intentions for Skyward Sword?

I just opened up the second dungeon before I had to go to school and stop playing so I haven't gone far enough to speak yet but this made me really laugh "Everytime i am low on Hearts, not only does the game make the traditional beep-sound, the Wii Remote Beeps too - Link Flashes, and That Girls stupid Face is highlighted. (to tell me that it would be an idea to restock on said hearts.) How retarded to they think i am?"!
So far, my only complaints are the easy combat (typical of the franchise apart from the first 2 games) and the fact that so far, the illusion of a seamlessly connected world that I get in other Zelda games isn't here because up to the point where I am (hopefully not throughout the entire game), I can't get from one region to the other (below the clouds) on foot. Phi could use more personality but she is super useful (feels like a Zanpakutou), even to a fault because she was probably designed to help people who have never played an adventure game before.
So far, almost everything else beats Twilight Princess. No more rupee chests scattered everywhere. Now its bugs and other stuff that I can actually use to upgrade my gear, the dash button makes movement feel better, the motion controls definitely feel natural, but as I said earlier, I got into the second dungeon. I haven't seen much of the game yet.

Koloktos was head-and-shoulders the most fun boss of that game, and i would argue one of the best bosses of 3D Zelda history.

You wanna talk epic, wait until you have to collect the song of the hero. You actually have to swim around collecting tadpoles..I mean tadtones. Awesome, absolutely awesome.

But on a serious note, the game was a total mixed bag for me. Nothing felt coherent, the story was way to much of a distraction and broke up what little action there was to begin with and overall felt tedious. Honestly after OoT, Zelda has fell off big time. I think the reason is because OoT had nothing to build upon except for the NES/SNES games. For me OoT is to Alttp what Metroid Prime is to SM.

In any case, SS was lame. There were some moments that were awesome, boss battles were for the most part excellent, but most things leading up to those excellent moments were some of the most excrutiatingly frustrating to get to. Been there done that, this pony needs a return to form. Cut the creativity crap and bring Zelda back from the brink of obscurity.