In my initial impressions of the Switch version, I attributed the game’s rigidity and slow start to it being the Zelda game for the Wii, the console that expanded Nintendo’s audience and introduced a generation of people to video games. Playing it in 2021, knowing that Breath of the Wild has revitalized the series’ sense of exploration, it’s easier to appreciate what Skyward Sword does well without the weight of the series’ future hanging on it. It felt like the Zelda that people had grown up on had disappeared, and this new version was here to stay. The last Zelda game before Skyward Sword was Spirit Tracks, a portable entry that was even more, well, on rails. The way Skyward Sword funnels you from objective to objective, with exploration as an afterthought, felt like the series abandoning what had made it special. But it was much more disappointing in 2011. That’s the flow for most of Skyward Sword, and realizing how rigid it will be is disappointing. I could clearly see the points where the game wanted me to come back later, once I had more tools like this at my disposal. I solved a few puzzles, unlocked a few shortcuts, then solved slightly more complex puzzles inside the first dungeon. In Faron Woods, I met a character who sent me along a straightforward path to activate some Goddess Cubes so I could go get the corresponding chest later highlighted on my map.
Skyward Sword’s three major locales - Faron Woods, Eldin Volcano, and Lanayru Desert - are more levels than areas to explore. Instead of exploring and finding secrets, you’re funneled from section to section, especially in the game’s opening hours. In 2011, some Zelda fans saw Skyward Sword as a clear-cut case for how the series had lost its way But as the games entered the 3D space with Ocarina of Time and focused more on grandiose stories and setpiece dungeons, that sense of discovery seemed to take a back seat, with Skyward Sword breaking the series’ focus on exploration altogether.
Zelda games had always been about exploring a world that seemed massive, about uncovering little nooks and caves without being told to. In 2011, some Zelda fans saw Skyward Sword as the most clear-cut case yet for how the series had lost its way. But it also shows now, as it did when it first came out, how rewarding some traditions can be to uphold, and it makes a concerted effort to introduce them to more people, even as it showcases why Zelda had to move on from them. When it released in 2011, it both felt like it was abandoning what made the Zelda series great while holding on too dearly to traditions from later entries in the series. The Skyward Sword remaster finds the same sense of purpose in tradition as its characters do. Skyward Sword HD proves we didn’t need a generation of motion controls
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