Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword Catch-All

spider_j wrote:

Does anyone else find that the adventure pack, even maxed out, is annoyingly small? I have 2 bottles, 2 heart medals (seems daft not to use them) a rupee medal (I need to get rid of that, since there is nothing left to buy), a bug medal, a bomb expansion, and an arrow expansion in mine, but I have multiples of each medal, a few more bottles, other expansions and so on. It would be nice to be able to carry more bottles, at least.

Yeah this is frustrating me. I have all 5 bottles now. And I have to carry a shield. So that only leaves me 2 spots. And there are 2 life medals for extra hearts.

So I either play with less hearts to carry some extra arrows or bombs, or whatever... or I go with one less bottle?

I'm really not sure why the shield is in that. It should be equipped in your inventory or something. Even if I don't want my shield out to protect it from breaking, I just have to not swing the nunchuck. I don't need to unequip it with -. Baffling decisions.

I was really enjoying having 35 arrows instead of 20. It makes so many of the trash mobs trivial, hate to give it up for a fairy/potion.

I actually like that they make you make choices about what you want to carry and re-equip depending on what you're doing.

ClockworkHouse wrote:

I actually like that they make you make choices about what you want to carry and re-equip depending on what you're doing.

This. A supervisor at the Big N warehouse and I were talking about this, and we figured that Nintendo is slowly easing Zelda into a more RPG standpoint. That way people will be more used to the idea of customizing equipment when they put Zelda on the WiiU.

Yeah, me too. I have yet to use a potion -- I've died a couple of times, but usually at a boss to learn its pattern, and a quick reload gets me through relatively unscathed. I travel with one: a "+" version of the shield-fixing thing (though I hardly even use a shield, to be honest).

So it took me two hours just to get from the beginning of the really open part of the desert world (right where your beetle gets upgraded) to the first room in the mine. And I haven't even reached the temple yet. Sheesh.

EDIT: or maybe the mine is the dungeon at this point in the story?

Minarchist wrote:

Yeah, me too. I have yet to use a potion -- I've died a couple of times, but usually at a boss to learn its pattern, and a quick reload gets me through relatively unscathed. I travel with one: a "+" version of the shield-fixing thing (though I hardly even use a shield, to be honest).

Funny, I haven't died at all, but I've used a few potions and one fairy while learning boss patterns. I just really hate reloading from a save.

So it took me two hours just to get from the beginning of the really open part of the desert world (right where your beetle gets upgraded) to the first room in the mine. And I haven't even reached the temple yet. Sheesh.

EDIT: or maybe the mine is the dungeon at this point in the story?

The Lanayru Mining Facility is the dungeon. You can tell it's a dungeon if there's an animation of Link putting on his brave face before he walks in. I actually really like that getting into the dungeons is often as long and complex of a process as getting through the dungeons themselves. I'm reminded of Majora's Mask and the lengthy overworld quests you had to do to access the next dungeon. It brings a lot of life to the world.

I mostly finished the desert temple last night; I played through everything up until the boss. It took me a few hours, and it's my favorite of the (three) temples I've played so far. They made good use of their mechanics and the new upgrade item. This Zelda is definitely getting better as it goes along.

The desert is huge. Took my girlfriend easily over 2 hours to make her way to the dungeon.

Actually getting to the dungeons feels like it takes a lot longer than previous games.

ClockworkHouse wrote:

Funny, I haven't died at all, but I've used a few potions and one fairy while learning boss patterns. I just really hate reloading from a save.

I'm just a hoarder. It often takes me the same amount of time to get the boss a second time as it would to pop a potion and finish the job the first time (although the earth temple boss was so obvious I barely took a scratch on him the first time -- wait wait don't tell me, I got bombs so I'm going to have to throw them into a boss' mouth? How original). I'd rather re-watch a brief cut-scene than burn a potion and have to re-purchase and upgrade it again. The fact that you have to open a radial menu then drink the potions in real-time in this game doesn't help.

The Lanayru Mining Facility is the dungeon. You can tell it's a dungeon if there's an animation of Link putting on his brave face before he walks in. I actually really like that getting into the dungeons is often as long and complex of a process as getting through the dungeons themselves. I'm reminded of Majora's Mask and the lengthy overworld quests you had to do to access the next dungeon. It brings a lot of life to the world.

I mostly finished the desert temple last night; I played through everything up until the boss. It took me a few hours, and it's my favorite of the (three) temples I've played so far. They made good use of their mechanics and the new upgrade item. This Zelda is definitely getting better as it goes along.

No doubt, I love the "outdoor" dungeon mechanics leading up to the real deals themselves, perhaps moreso than the dungeons.

I'm kinda done with flying the beetle around, though. It's a fun little thing to do, but it slows the pacing of the game down, especially when there are 3-4 electro-spitting enemies in the sand you need to take out before you can even start with the puzzle mechanics. I think that's why getting through the desert region took so long. Cool idea, but too slow after a while.

ClockworkHouse wrote:

You can tell it's a dungeon if there's an animation of Link putting on his brave face before he walks in.

Also, you can't use your dowsing ability inside dungeons.

Minarchist wrote:

I'm kinda done with flying the beetle around, though. It's a fun little thing to do, but it slows the pacing of the game down, especially when there are 3-4 electro-spitting enemies in the sand you need to take out before you can even start with the puzzle mechanics. I think that's why getting through the desert region took so long. Cool idea, but too slow after a while.

Go back to skyloft and upgrade your beetle in the market. It has a speed boost that does wonders.

Minarchist wrote:

I'm kinda done with flying the beetle around, though. It's a fun little thing to do, but it slows the pacing of the game down, especially when there are 3-4 electro-spitting enemies in the sand you need to take out before you can even start with the puzzle mechanics. I think that's why getting through the desert region took so long. Cool idea, but too slow after a while.

I enjoyed it. It was a little slow (although you can upgrade the beetle in Skyloft to make it fly faster), but I enjoyed flying it around. You do use it in the dungeon, but not to the same extent.

Stele wrote:
ClockworkHouse wrote:

You can tell it's a dungeon if there's an animation of Link putting on his brave face before he walks in.

Also, you can't use your dowsing ability inside dungeons. ;)

You use it outside of the dungeons?

I would, but I spent all my materials upgrading your mom!

ClockworkHouse wrote:
Stele wrote:
ClockworkHouse wrote:

You can tell it's a dungeon if there's an animation of Link putting on his brave face before he walks in.

Also, you can't use your dowsing ability inside dungeons. ;)

You use it outside of the dungeons? ;)

Uh yeah once you can search for goddess cubes, it's pretty useful. But you know what I meant. Inside a dungeon there is no dowsing option, just a first-person look with C. So when someone was questioning if they were in a dungeon, there you go, easy way to see.

You get to dowse for goddess cubes? Now that's a useful feature.

Stele wrote:

Also, you can't use your dowsing ability inside dungeons. ;)

I told you to go before we got in the car!

Dowsing for cubes is not as useful as it sounds. It seems to be a bit glitchy. Several times, it has pointed me at the door to another area, and when I go through...nothing, no pings on the dowsing. Go back, and it sends me off in another direction entirely. Sometimes, when there are 2 or more cubes in an area, it can send you running around endlessly.

That said, it was invaluable during the

Spoiler:

flooded forest fish finding funfest

I seem to have moaned a lot in this thread. This is my undisputed game of the year!

Working on that possibly bugged quest tonight. Did it in the order given, so shouldn't have any problems. But I did make a backup of my saves to SD before I started, and will keep those a few days until I know I'm through.

Also, once again they make the main areas feel like more dungeons. Technically I've only done 6 dungeons at this point. But it honestly feels like 9, or maybe 12. It's quite enjoyable the way they change things up so far.

I went for the desert portion before the earth last night, but had already done the forest. Looked around online, and while Nintendo's phrasing is less than succinct, it's been confirmed the bug only occurs if the desert is the first place you go in the song quest, and talk to the Goron twice. Still, I find it very hard to believe the fine folks over in Japan, or the Treehouse, missed such any easy bug. It was the same situation for Other M, wasn't it? Just a progression bug? From a gamer perspective, how is a progression bug not one of the easiest to encounter, and therefore fix? No one's perfect, yadda yadda, but these are laughable mistakes imo. Especially from the best polishers in the industry.

Commenting on the trials: I don't like them and found little joy in them until I decided to forgo even trying anymore challenges; and instead, just watch a video of them being done. Trying to recall what the person did right, and even fixing mistakes they made, was a process more engaging than listen to Fi and constantly worry about an instant fail section.

So far the second forest dungeon is the highlight of the game for me. I love dungeons that are one big puzzle, the desert, but I felt like most of the ancient runes were, at the least, fairly well implemented. Also, it was quite refreshing to finally have a challenging boss since Ghirahim. I'm actually looking forward to the next dungeon, which I can't say the rest of the game's made me feel except for the methodical beginning.

I blew through (get it? blew threw? eh...) the first Desert temple (the mines) last night, and wound up staying up far later than I'd planned, wrapping up a bit after midnight. That place was deceptively large. You get to the far end of the big room next to the boss door and still have quite a bit of work to get the boss key...anyway, I headed out to the old lady and went through that sequence, which is what took so long (I was just expecting a speech). Kinda disappointed I didn't get a heart container for that.

It bothers me that the simple use of the harp and making the tones it does is completely and utterly impossible.

100% done with heart pieces, gratitude, hylian shield, everything. 47 hours. Now I just have the last dungeon to do.

I picked up this game and Uncharted 3 today. I played an hour of Uncharted 3 and then started playing this. I haven't felt like going back to Uncharted because this game is reminding me of why I started playing video games in the first place. So far, I'm really enjoying what they've done with it and getting a chance to play a Zelda game again.

Woo, got the game for my birthday yesterday. Have only managed to meet Fi and pick up the sword so far. It is already obvious they put more into the characters in this game than any previous one.

And done!

Last save was 49:25, so just a bit under 50 hours for 100% game.

Last boss fight:

Spoiler:

Well last 2 boss fights. First the swarm of enemies just getting to Girahim was fun!

Final Girahim final fight was much better than the others. Easy enough to counter and figure out what to do. Although the sword chipping part took me a few tries. Instead of quickly chopping I had to slow it down, watch for him to rotate, and keep hitting opposite sides until I broke it.

Demise... well that was a more traditional fight. Swing, block, swing. Had trouble with the finishing move. As in, I pulled it off twice, but he got back up before I connected. 3rd time I hit it like the instant he hit the ground and got him.

A little disappointed I never got to use any arrows on the finals bosses. Seems like light arrows used to be a big part of the end of these games.

As for the story/ending/credits:

Spoiler:

So Demise is the spirit of evil? The Ganon that we fight in all the other games is the reincarnation of Demise? So this game was really the beginning of everything?

Cool credits seeing Zelda's journey through the early parts of the game.

A little disappointed on relationship follow-through for the final credits. Zelda says she wants to stay and asks Link what he will do? At least have him say he'll stay with her. Or have them kiss. Something. Such a great relationship budding into love was played up through all the early and mid game. Then no payoff. Very disappointing.

All in all a great game. Looking forward to the challenging Hero Mode sometime down the road. I don't think I can do 100 hours back to back, and the pile is calling me. But unlike Twilight Princess, and the 2 DS Zeldas, (so the last 3 games in the series) I can actually see myself replaying this one, and loving it. So I'd call that a win for Nintendo. Well done.

I've played maybe 10-15 hours of the game so far and am still loving it. My main complaint so far is that sometimes the motion controls can be difficult to get right, and it can get a little frustrating. Also, I keep having to re-center the controls. That's a very minor complaint. I may actually be enjoying this a little bit more than Skyrim mostly because of the maximum nostalgia factor.

I can't decide if I like Skyward Sword or Skyrim better, because they're such different experiences. On the one hand Skyrim has an insane amount of content. On the other, I got done with the main quest, the thieves' guild, and haven't really touched it in a week or two since.

In Skyward Sword I made a lot of progress today and last night. Got to the end of the 5th dungeon, where I got probably the lamest sword upgrade ever.

My only complaints are the lack of depth in the overworld stuff, and the friggin' harp controls.

Blind_Evil wrote:

I can't decide if I like Skyward Sword or Skyrim better, because they're such different experiences. On the one hand Skyrim has an insane amount of content. On the other, I got done with the main quest, the thieves' guild, and haven't really touched it in a week or two since.

In Skyward Sword I made a lot of progress today and last night. Got to the end of the 5th dungeon, where I got probably the lamest sword upgrade ever.

My only complaints are the lack of depth in the overworld stuff, and the friggin' harp controls.

Sorry, I wasn't trying to compare the games. I was just comparing my enjoyment of them.

One thing I can't wait to try is ripping the disc and trying it with the Dolphin emulator upscaled and anti-alliased. I need to get another DVD-ROM drive, though, because mine won't read the discs.

tuffalobuffalo wrote:

Sorry, I wasn't trying to compare the games. I was just comparing my enjoyment of them.

So was I

Stele wrote:

And done!

Last boss fight:

Spoiler:

Well last 2 boss fights. First the swarm of enemies just getting to Girahim was fun!

Demise... well that was a more traditional fight. Swing, block, swing. Had trouble with the finishing move. As in, I pulled it off twice, but he got back up before I connected. 3rd time I hit it like the instant he hit the ground and got him.
.

Spoiler:

Agreed on the swarm before the boss. It was a bit unexpected and very fun trek down the hill.

On Demise, I think it was scripted for him to get up twice before you can connect on the third. You know, the whole three times thing in Zelda. I know I triggered the animation pretty quickly all three times that I knocked him down.

I was not able to play a BUNCH this weekend, but I did get some time in. I just finally completed the 3rd Dungeon and received the Harp. I haven had to use it yet, due to saving and logging, however just the tutorial on how to use it was hard enough.

I have a feeling this is going to be tough for me, hehe.

I actually had no problem with the harp until the final time you had to use it. At that point I spent 10 minutes trying to get it to work right. Link would keep double-strumming when I hadn't changed directions. It just could not pick up the movements I was doing.

I even reset the game and re-calibrated the M+ and it still did it repeatedly. I was so angry I almost threw my wiimote, but then remembered it was the shiny gold one.

Finally it worked, but I don't really remember what I did differently. Maybe moved a little slower?

It was really the most frustrating part of the game for me, even more so than the Girahim fights. I didn't understand Girahim's patterns, but when I re-fought him in the boss rush I beat both 1-2 fights with him in under 2 minutes. Meant to thank you guys for the tips on that. But with the harp thing I knew what I was doing, I had done it on all the other harp parts before, and I was trying to do the exact same thing but the controller just wasn't responding properly.

RoyalApe wrote:
Spoiler:

Agreed on the swarm before the boss. It was a bit unexpected and very fun trek down the hill.

On Demise, I think it was scripted for him to get up twice before you can connect on the third. You know, the whole three times thing in Zelda. I know I triggered the animation pretty quickly all three times that I knocked him down.

Spoiler:

I agree on the scripting point. Third time was the charm for me too, and I'm certain that I should have hit the second time.