Check out our interview video, first impressions, screenshots and artwork!
To wrap-up our week of previews/first impressions on the upcoming holiday Nintendo titles, today we are talking about The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword!
First off, we have our interview with David Young of Nintendo of America.
Next, we have Dpad Gamer's First Impressions after we both got our hands on the game.
The game I'm the most excited for this year is the new Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword coming to the Nintendo Wii. I managed to get my lucky hands on it and once I started the demo, I seriously didn't want to put it down.
The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword will officially be released on November 20th, 2011. It will fully utilized the Wii MotionPlus technology, synchronizing the player's movement with Link's actions in the game. This gives it a unique combat system I've ever played. There will be many different enemies that will require the player to think of a strategy on the spot. You will need to read the enemy's movements and counterstrike when the time's right. And the Wii MotionPlus will accurately translate your sword swings in whatever direction you move.
Link's new adventure will take place high in the sky in the world of Skyloft. This massive world will have many different dungeons, side quests, secrets, and cinematics that this new installment has been rumored to be a 50-100 hour game. I, for one, hope that's true (so long social life!). And in this game, your main way of transportation is in the form of a huge bird. Link can call upon his flying companion by whistling and travel through the sky and below the clouds.
More classic Zelda puzzle-solving makes a come back. Players will be facing many challenging obstacles and puzzles and even more in dungeons. What's also being brought over to this installment is the hint movies to help new players along the way. What's new is the weapons upgrade system. Players can gather materials that can be use to combine weapons, equipment, and items to improve their inventory. A new sword technique is used as a magical compass called dowsing, which helps players find points of interests using Link's sword.
The main storyline will focus on the origins of the Master Sword as well as a first rare look into the development of Link and Zelda's relationship. The game will be released in a standard and special edition. The special edition will include a gold-colored Wii Remote Plus Controller. It will also have a special music CD featuring orchestral arrangements of select songs that will be performed at The Legend of Zelda 25th Anniversary Symphony Concert.
In my demo session, I wanted to dive right in to the action and so I started in one of the early dungeons. The Nintendo rep guided me in how to use the sword. I was really surprised how smooth the actions I did translated so well through Link. No lagging or delays, what you do truly matches Link's actions. The spin attack is as simple as moving both controllers in the same direction. In my fight with the skulltula, I flipped it on its back, came close to it, and an action command come on screen. And it was over with a finishing blow.
I got to try the new Beetle weapon debuting in this game. It was simple to control and can it be use to collect items, scout an area, hit switches, or cut down objects. I also tried the bow and arrow and that was a bit more difficult to master. You have to point the control towards the center to align with the camera. I have very bad eye and hand coordination so the camera was way off. I definitely need practice. Latino Gamer tried the flying aspect of the game and it looked simple enough. You can move up or down, slow down or speed up while flying on your bird friend.
After my short time with it, I seriously feel November 20th is that much further off. I am dying to play this game again. And I am definitely recommending all other Zelda fans to pre-order the special edition version. For 20 dollars more, you get a controller and the CD. That is a very, very good deal, especially for those who, like me, don't have a Wii MotionPlus at this point. Skyward Sword is your new reason to love your Wii all over again. And be sure to make a lot of room in front of your TV because there will be a lot of sword-swinging fun this holiday season.
My biggest thanks to Nintendo for this rare opportunity!
If you missed the three trailers from a couple days back, go ahead and check them out here:http://www.latinogamer.com/2011/10/skyward-sword-trailers.html
Finally, here are some screenshots and game art for you all to enjoy.
