[SupaNova]

I'm about 33 hours in now? I suspect I have at least ten hours or so left to go.

I agree that the puzzles have been a lot of fun in this game, but I actually haven't found Fi very annoying so far. Yes, she pops up frequently and occasionally has some dumb stuff to say (in the last dungeon she literally stopped everything to tell me that I was looking at a very large wall with chains across it , and it was probably locked tight. Seriously,), but most of her real hints have come across, to me, as pleasantly vague. The puzzles are standard Zelda fare- nothing too overly difficult, but it's been satisfying (and most of all fun!) to figure them out.

These next two paragraph might contain minor spoilers so read it at your own risk: You get clawshots later in the game. They're cool, but not nearly as versatile as past iterations have been. The one function they seem to have is to latch onto very specific targets. So far that's it. Which is okay with me, because you pick up a new item later too that utilizes the clawshot's grabbing ability, and it's a lot more fun to use anyway.

There's actually a speed upgrade for the Beetle. I haven't tried it out yet, but the option is there, so hopefully it'll give it a nice boost. And FUN FACT!: The beetle originally was going to be the boomerang. However, they never hit on a wiimote movment that mimicked throwing a boomerang in a way that didn't feel awkward, so they came up with the beetle instead.

As for the Loftwing, nah, there is definately a learning curve there, I had trouble at first too. Can't remember if they mention the flapping in the tutorial part. But now that I know what I'm doing, flying is a ton of fun.

[Ted Logan]

SPOILER ALERT

Okay...





Now I have a whip. I want to go back to Skyloft and use it to do funny things to unsuspecting Skylofters. But probably it just lets me swing from branches.

[Ted Logan]

34 hours in. Just got the 3rd flame.

[SupaNova]

Just nabbed the third flame myself. That added an interesting wrinkle to the Zelda mythology.

(well, to what little loosely connected mythology there is in the series.)

[Ted Logan]

Here was my reaction to the big Reveal after the 3rd flame:

"The Zelda people finally figured out how to tell a compelling story and give us characters we really care about!!"

[SupaNova]

Indeed, I was almost floored when the reveal was happening. Really? The Zelda people wrote this?

That was the first time Link has shown any kind of emotion ever.

[Ted Logan]

Finished a couple days ago. The last couple hours were very, very good.

One thing that bugged me was that the penultimate movement is more interesting than the final boss -


**MINOR SPOILER ALERT***









You have to fight HUGE waves of enemies while trying to get to the second-to-last boss, and then the second-to-last boss himself is pretty good. The final boss, on the other hand, is a very slow battle. Not much movement, not much strategy involved.







***END SPOILERS***

Anyway, it was an excellent entry in the Zelda series. One thing I'd like to see in future games is boss fights that require more than using the right tool, or learning a pattern. I died more often in this game (which is not to say I died very often) from regular enemies than bosses. The scarcity of hearts in the early parts of the game actually made it more interesting.

[SupaNova]

After something like an unintentional two month hiatus, I finally finished this game today. Fantastic entry in the serires, I really do believe Skyward Sword is easily the best game since the SNES / N64 days.

*SPOILERS!*
And I agree with Broccolifish, the final Gharahim fight was awesome and even almost made up for the fact that he looked like a misguided Lady Gaga impersonator for most of the game. The final boss was a little less exciting, but I enjoyed it. I'm glad they just built up Demise throughout the game and didn't properly introduce him until the finale. He had just enough screen time to be a badass without going over-the-top.

I liked that they didn't blantantly state the connection between Impa and the old woman until the ending. It was cool getting to figure that out by myself midway through, and Nintendo typically doesn't give players that opportunity. Also really liked how Groose came into play throughout the game. From the beginning, I was certain they were setting him up to be a precursor to Ganon, so I was plesantly surprised at how well they ended up utilizing his character.

The ending was very good too, I thought. A bit long-winded, but it buttoned everything up quite nicely. And I'm pretty sure that's the first time in the series they've hooked up Link and Zelda (or at least strongly hinted at it). I wonder what took them so long. Oh, and I died quite a few times in this game, which hasn't happened since Majora's Mask, so that was a big plus for me and I'm a tad bit unnerved about what awaits in this so-called "Hero Mode".

*SPOILERS ARE OVER!*

So anyway, I give Skyward Sword two big thumbs up. If you haven't played it yet, go forth and do so. You won't regret it.

[penguinofwar]

Too late to get in the Zelda game?

[Ted Logan]

Originally Posted by SupaNova

Oh, and I died quite a few times in this game, which hasn't happened since Majora's Mask, so that was a big plus for me and I'm a tad bit unnerved about what awaits in this so-called "Hero Mode".

THIS.