The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD Review: ‘Still the odd one out’

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD Review for Nintendo Switch

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is one of the least lauded main entries of the franchise. It just didn’t resonate with fans the way A Link to the Past or Ocarina of Time do. Other Zelda titles, like Wind Waker, have had the same issues in the past. However, unlike that game, which is now rated among the franchise’s best, Skyward Sword is still an odd one out.

For whatever reason, Nintendo decided to go with The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD to celebrate the series’ 35th anniversary. I dabbled in this game the first time it was released, but it didn’t hold my attention to the end. When Skyward Sword HD was announced, I was curious if the game had aged well. After all, even the earliest Zelda titles (except for Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link, which was always bad) are still a blast to dive into.

Set your expectations less than sky high

Skyward Sword HD is an enhanced port, so make sure to set expectations accordingly. Unfortunately, some of the graphics remain relatively low-res, even for the Switch, and aside from the quality of life improvements it’s the same game. After playing, Breath of the Wild, the game that revitalized the franchise, $60 for a bare bone remaster of one of the least-liked Zelda game is a tough sell.

The most significant change that comes with Skyward Sword HD is the addition of gamepad controls. This is great since waggling the Wiimote for 30 hours is a bit tiring. However, these new controls aren’t without issue. The sword is controlled via the right stick, which works well for the most part. However, you can now also move the camera. Since there are only two sticks, you have to hold R while moving the right joystick to change your viewpoint. This is irritating because you spend way more of your time in-game exploring than you do using the sword. I would have liked to have had the option to choose between holding R to use the blade or the camera, but it, unfortunately, doesn’t exist.

Fi, the talking sword that accompanies Link on his journey, has also been toned down a lot in the remaster. In the original, she badgered players with unskippable “advice” continually. Now, most of her messages are optional and tied to down on the d-pad. It was great not having swathes of the game ruined due to Fi’s constant handholding, and just this tiny change made Skyward Sword much more enjoyable.

Better off catching your breath

Skyward Sword’s biggest issue is that Breath of the Wild came out. Almost every part of Breath of the Wild’s map held adventure and secrets, and the movement was so dynamic that even relatively empty spots kept you busy climbing and gliding. The experience also felt rather lean. Breath of the Wild bounced you from one dungeon to another fairly rapidly, and traversing and exploring the land in between filled in the gaps. Unfortunately, Skyward Sword’s pacing isn’t anywhere as fluid as that.

The overworld in Skyward Sword, the sky, is just not fun to traverse. You have a bird you can use to fly from floating island to floating island. It’s similar to Wind Waker in that there are swathes of emptiness, but there’s not a lot to see. To make up for this, the areas in the land below are more substantial, but all this is wasted on fetch quests along a linear path leading to the next dungeon.

The dungeon designs in Skyward Sword are excellent, but by the time you “kill # enemies,” “find x creature,” or “collect # items,” you don’t really feel like going through a whole dungeon. I get that the devs were going for something different here, but it makes the game’s high points a bit dull.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD Review: Is it worth playing?

If you missed Skyward Sword the first time around, it’s definitely worth picking this up. It’s one of my least favorite Zelda titles, but it’s still a good game. You could hack about eight hours off of it, and it’d be all the better for it, but the quality of life improvements help make the repetitive parts less tedious.

Those that played the game when it was first released on Wii aren’t missing a ton if they skip this one. There’s no new content, just tweaks here and there. However, those who loved it will find this is the best way to play it now.