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I’m on the final dungeon of Skyward Sword, and rather than spend time collecting treasure and upgrading equipment, I’m doing my best to reach the credits and finally end this game. I had no idea after hearing so much praise for it that I would be so frustrated while playing it. The only game in the past year that has tested my patience as much as Skyward Sword is Dark Souls, except Zelda doesn’t offer any relief from the frustration. While ripe with many enjoyable experiences, there are some annoying elements of Skyward Sword that almost completely ruin the experience.
I couldn’t quite figure out why these things annoy me so much in this game compared to other Zelda games, as many of these things are Zelda staples. I believe the main reason is that before playing Zelda I had finished all of the other Game of the Year nominees, and going from playing those games to Zelda feels like a step backwards. Without going too far into Zelda’s design, I’ll just look at the ways Nintendo patronizes the player, which is really what got to me.
Low Health Beeping: Everyone knows this one. Long before Navi started nagging players, they were constantly subjected to a beeping sound to signify that they were low on health. This might have been the only solution to conveying low health a few decades ago, but they’re way past due on finding a less hair-pulling method of conveying this. They actually make it worse in this game by having your companion chime in when you’re low on health, and she has her own annoying beeping sound. That’s right, you get DOUBLE BEEPING when you’re low on health.
I was slightly annoyed when playing Modern Warfare 3’s campaign to find out that in addition to having your screen turn red when you’re injured, they constantly flash the text “You are injured. Get to Cover”, as if I didn’t already know that. Several levels later however they stopped flashing the text, assuming that I had learned the signs of low health by then. Nintendo however, seems to never assume that you have properly learned something. Dowsing: You use dowsing in this game to find important objects, and every time you need to find a story item you are prompted to use dowsing by a flashing icon on the screen accompanied by another annoying beeping sound. Until you actually use dowsing, the beeping will not go away, as the game is sure that you haven’t figured out by the 10th time just how to use this mechanic.
There is one area that the player keeps returning to, that instructs them to backtrack to other places in the game to retrieve objects, so they pester you to use dowsing every time you go here and learn of a new important object; the problem here however is that dowsing is only useful when searching for nearby objects in the same area, and the objects they send you to search for are in completely different parts of the world. They end up pestering you constantly to use something that is COMPLETELY USELESS until you actually get to the right area, and you don’t need dowsing to find the right area because they tell you where to go and mark it with a colorful beacon. Once you get to the right area, then is the proper time to use dowsing, but the player probably already used it long ago to stop the game from beeping, meaning the game won’t remind them when they ACTUALLY NEED REMINDING.
New Items: Usually when you receive a new item you’ll have to read a description of it, however Nintendo’s definition of “new” here is somewhat interesting. When you encounter a new item you will have to pause to read its description, and from that point on you won’t see the description pop up when you encounter the item again. However once you quit your game and later load your save to continue, every item you encounter will be considered “new”, so you will have to pause and reread descriptions for items you already own if you encounter them again. I’ve caught about 50 blessed butterflies right now--they’re everywhere--and every time I catch one after loading my game I have to watch that text pop up and see the same animation of it being placed in my inventory that I’ve seen dozens of times already. HOW IS IT THAT THE GAME WON’T ASSUME THAT I KNOW WHAT A BUTTERFLY IS AFTER CATCHING 50 OF THEM!?!?
Fi: *sigh* I don’t know Nintendo, why do you do this to me. When I played Spirit Tracks, my companion was Zelda, and she proved to be a helpful and entertaining companion; describing her as “annoying” never even crossed my mind. Then you gave us Fi, who, like many of the annoying mechanics described above, simply assumes that the player has no idea what’s happening in the game. I don’t need to go too deep what makes her annoying, as I’m sure most people know by now, but she will insist on giving you advice when absolutely anything notable happens to the player in the game.
Kelly Turnbull's comic from thepunchlineismachismo.com illustrates this annoyance almost too perfectly.
There is, surprisingly, an exception to this. At one point the player acquires an item that lets them safely pass through an area where they would normally take damage. When I entered the area with the item equipped, I saw my character pause for a second and noticed that the item flashed briefly, and then the game continued. This lasted maybe 2-3 seconds, involved no reading or outbursts from Fi, and successfully conveyed important information to me in a non-annoying manner. I was amazed. I had no idea that Nintendo actually possessed the ability to subtly explain something to me, meaning that they simply chose not to for the majority of the game.
You’re either an idiot, or a genius: This is something that confused the heck out of me. The puzzles don’t feel condescending at all, they offer a very respectable challenge. There were more than a few moments where I was stumped on how to proceed and enjoyed working my way towards finding a solution. But then how is it that these puzzles can be this difficult if the game is simultaneously assuming that I’m incapable of doing simple things myself. The game is assuming I’m two different people, one who enjoys solving mental challenges on their own, and one who needs help doing everything else. Here’s some of the things the game expects from you:
Assumes that you can:
Work through difficult puzzles
Find new ways of utilizing the environment
Analyze enemies to find non-conventional methods of attacking them
Assumes that you cannot:
Remember what a butterfly is.
Understand important events without Fi's help
Recognize that a small number of hearts, along with a flashing heart icon, and your character flashing red, are signifiers that you are low on health.
Get tired of beeping sounds
So this game is pretty much terrible--well, actually--I guess it’s not. The motion controls works at least most of the time, the story is interesting, and the level designs are fantastic. I’m just saddened that I was unable to enjoy most of the game because it tried way too hard to always help me instead of letting me do things on my own. I’m sure I could nitpick about how there’s no way to skip text, dialogue choices are meaningless, and you’re no longer able to save anywhere in the world, but what I’ll always remember are the many times the game pulled me out of the experience to help me enjoy the experience. Nintendo should be able to teach players about the game without nagging them constantly; if you can’t trust the player to play the game without always needing to remind them on how to play it, then you haven’t really taught them anything.
Good article! I'm going to (dis)agree with you on all of the following points:
1. Health Beeping.
You're right. It's annoying. But you know what would be even less enjoyable? Being caught up in a boss fight and failing to notice I might die in the next hit because I'm busy trying to hit the boss. I think you make an invalid comparison when you compare a regenerative health system with a persistent health system, because when you're low on hearts in Skyward Sword, that is going to remain true until you do something about it. What's more, there aren't even consistent checkpoints in the game (you're told to save early and often when you see bird statues) so that one time you forget to check your health before losing all of your hearts in one go may cost you more than a few minutes of annoyance. Erring on the side of caution here was a good move in my book. Just think about Hero Mode, where bosses do double damage. Or Normal Mode, for a player who can barely keep track of the attack pattern of their current opponent.
2. Dowsing
Fi makes a point of telling you where you need to go as well, but in some cases the location you seek (from side quests, for instance) is wonderfully nondescript and dowsing will at least give you a general direction to search for. I admit that dowsing felt a bit like a tired and overused mechanic rather early into the game, so being reminded to dowse for just about everything got a little tiresome, but I don't think there's a strong position to argue that players shouldn't have been notified to try dowsing immediately after learning a new target.
3. Fi
I blatantly ignored Fi. It turns out she'll go away if you leave her alone. A lot is going on here, because Nintendo wanted to make the game such that "casual" gamers might be able to avoid frustration while more experienced Zelda purists wouldn't find themselves force-fed hints. I don't know if they made the right choice but Fi never really got in the way.
4. Idiot/Genius Dichotomy
I'm glad you found the puzzles satisfying! I didn't, and I still find Ocarina of Time to have more challenging puzzles. The game is also loaded with hints on what to do, how to do it, and has videos to help you if you're still stuck. I don't think the game assumes you can work your way through a puzzle at all. Or figure out how to fight enemies--Fi will tell you if you ask her. So I'd say Nintendo tried very hard to make it so that a player who didn't know what was going on had ample opportunity to find out before dying for it. I never made use of the opportunities, but I think you're mistaken if you thought the game pulled all the stops in the puzzle aspect.
Of course, this is your opinion, and it's really helpful in my quest to figure out why the game was so polarizing among critics. Thanks!
Thanks for the reply. It looks like we experienced the game somewhat differently, here's how I viewed some of those elements.
1. Personally, I thought the character flashing red, the flashing heart animation, and the small number of hearts displayed was enough of a notification. I can understand if it's actually not, and if those would go unnoticed during intense combat. I know that being annoying is sometimes the only sure way to ensure that the player is aware of something, and I certainly wasn't around for their playtesting so I have no idea if any other methods had been tried and failed. Still.....
2. My main issue with being reminded to always Dowse, was when I was in the Isle of Songs. I would learn of something new in one of the three areas, and the dowsing indicator would go off. If you actually use Dowsing in the Isle of Songs, it just points to the exit. Use it outside the Isle, and it just tells you to head out of the thunderhead. It's more or less only useful in the actual area where the item resides, and you can always ask Fi if you forget which specific area that is. So the pattern was, Go to Isle -> Learn of new object -> Game tells me to use Dowse -> Dowse tells me to leave the Isle -> Nothing of value was gained :)
3. I don't mind being able to consult Fi, but most of the situations shown in the comic happens regardless of whether the player asks for Fi's help or not. I always felt like she was interrupting my game.
4. The reason I said Nintendo "assumes" you can do these things, is because they don't force Fi to explain them to you. There are some things that you are able to do without any explicit explanation from the game, and there are other things that will usually result in an explanation on what to do next. When you're unable to avoid an explanation, I said it was because the "assumes" you can't do it on your own. I don't mind when Mario Galaxy 2 or New Super Mario Bros. includes videos that show me how to complete a level, but since I have the option to not watch them I sometimes feel like they were included for someone else that isn't me. When I don't have that option and have to receive a hint, I feel like the game is trying to say something about me :)
I think I had all the same issues playing through Skyward that you did. Skyward was a game where you were perpetually in the tutorial level. While I loved the art and world of Skyward I finished the game feeling annoyed. I played the NES Zelda after beating skyward and I think I enjoyed the NES game more. Partly for nostalgic reasons, but mostly because I was free to experiment and explore on my own without fear of Fi or a tutorial message spoiling my discoveries
Some of these problems are the result of Nintendo's staunch insistence to avoid offering multiple difficulty modes. Zelda games have been pretty easy the last few years combat-wise, as well as very hand-holdy, and I think a lot of more experienced players would appreciate a "veteran mode" that ups the challenge and gets rid of some of the tutorials and tips. Unfortunately it doesn't seem that Nintendo care much for the needs of those players, which saddens me. Creating a game that appeals to everyone is a noble goal, but if your goal is also to cater to both brand-new players and those who have been playing for decades, I think you have to just admit that more options are the ideal choice.
I agree with your complaints, but I am enjoying the game despite the annoyances.
The worst offender is the new item complaint. And I would add to that the new conversation complaint. The game gives you no quick and easy way to skip a conversation that you may have had 10x over. If they at least gave you a way to skip new item descriptions and conversations it would go a long ways.
Great observation contrasting the interesting somewhat challenging puzzles with the excessive handholding Fi mechanic. My 10 yr old finds Fi annoying. My 5 yr old can't read.
At least this Zelda gives you a reason for gathering Rupees. There was little use for them in the last 2 Zelda games I played.
Seems weird these annoyances are in the game. But these types of annoyances if not the same ones have been in the previous Zelda games I have played on the Wii/GC. I can only guess that the Japanese do not find these as annoying? Or that Nintendo is cheap. And think that options to turn features off confuse customers and that is worse than annoying them.!?!?!?
Perhaps they always assume someone new could be playing the same saved game which actually is true since my kids and I are playing the same save. Still we all are annoyed every time we turn on the Wii and have to hear about the butterfly again and be taken to the "collection" screen.
I enjoy the game for the same reasons as you mentioned.
The Xzibit reference and the comic made my day. I agree. Twilight Princess had many of the same annoyances, and so did Ocarina of Time and A Link to the Past. Nintendo should address these points. They can do better.
Sometimes it feels like Zelda games are developed in a bubble and everyone on the team was forbidden from looking at any games developed in the last 10 years.
But if you think about it that way, then they made a really good game all things considered!
Seriously though, most of the stuff you cited as being frustrating is spot on.
I really don't have a problem with the beeping noise for low hearts. Yeah, it's supposed to be annoying, you're dying!
But, the butterfly thing drove me absolutely nuts. Luckily, there's a few codes in Ocarina for disabling things like that (you can turn the beeping off, too). Yeah, yeah, we shouldn't have to hack games to make them more enjoyable, but it's sort of what advanced users do.
The complaints seem to be less about the systems themselves and more about the frequency of alerts. I thought Fi's tips system kept out of your way unless you wanted it helped by dowsing that delivered "there's a mysterious cloud over death mountain" type direction without NPC conversation faffing.
On the subject of multiple difficulty levels. Considering they were keeping track of your record against each type of enemy, would have been interesting to see them tune the ability of each enemy to your current record. It could be the case as those bokoblin's were tough throughout the entire game, though easier better sword meant less hits.
1. Health Beeping.
You're right. It's annoying. But you know what would be even less enjoyable? Being caught up in a boss fight and failing to notice I might die in the next hit because I'm busy trying to hit the boss. I think you make an invalid comparison when you compare a regenerative health system with a persistent health system, because when you're low on hearts in Skyward Sword, that is going to remain true until you do something about it. What's more, there aren't even consistent checkpoints in the game (you're told to save early and often when you see bird statues) so that one time you forget to check your health before losing all of your hearts in one go may cost you more than a few minutes of annoyance. Erring on the side of caution here was a good move in my book. Just think about Hero Mode, where bosses do double damage. Or Normal Mode, for a player who can barely keep track of the attack pattern of their current opponent.
2. Dowsing
Fi makes a point of telling you where you need to go as well, but in some cases the location you seek (from side quests, for instance) is wonderfully nondescript and dowsing will at least give you a general direction to search for. I admit that dowsing felt a bit like a tired and overused mechanic rather early into the game, so being reminded to dowse for just about everything got a little tiresome, but I don't think there's a strong position to argue that players shouldn't have been notified to try dowsing immediately after learning a new target.
3. Fi
I blatantly ignored Fi. It turns out she'll go away if you leave her alone. A lot is going on here, because Nintendo wanted to make the game such that "casual" gamers might be able to avoid frustration while more experienced Zelda purists wouldn't find themselves force-fed hints. I don't know if they made the right choice but Fi never really got in the way.
4. Idiot/Genius Dichotomy
I'm glad you found the puzzles satisfying! I didn't, and I still find Ocarina of Time to have more challenging puzzles. The game is also loaded with hints on what to do, how to do it, and has videos to help you if you're still stuck. I don't think the game assumes you can work your way through a puzzle at all. Or figure out how to fight enemies--Fi will tell you if you ask her. So I'd say Nintendo tried very hard to make it so that a player who didn't know what was going on had ample opportunity to find out before dying for it. I never made use of the opportunities, but I think you're mistaken if you thought the game pulled all the stops in the puzzle aspect.
Of course, this is your opinion, and it's really helpful in my quest to figure out why the game was so polarizing among critics. Thanks!
1. Personally, I thought the character flashing red, the flashing heart animation, and the small number of hearts displayed was enough of a notification. I can understand if it's actually not, and if those would go unnoticed during intense combat. I know that being annoying is sometimes the only sure way to ensure that the player is aware of something, and I certainly wasn't around for their playtesting so I have no idea if any other methods had been tried and failed. Still.....
2. My main issue with being reminded to always Dowse, was when I was in the Isle of Songs. I would learn of something new in one of the three areas, and the dowsing indicator would go off. If you actually use Dowsing in the Isle of Songs, it just points to the exit. Use it outside the Isle, and it just tells you to head out of the thunderhead. It's more or less only useful in the actual area where the item resides, and you can always ask Fi if you forget which specific area that is. So the pattern was, Go to Isle -> Learn of new object -> Game tells me to use Dowse -> Dowse tells me to leave the Isle -> Nothing of value was gained :)
3. I don't mind being able to consult Fi, but most of the situations shown in the comic happens regardless of whether the player asks for Fi's help or not. I always felt like she was interrupting my game.
4. The reason I said Nintendo "assumes" you can do these things, is because they don't force Fi to explain them to you. There are some things that you are able to do without any explicit explanation from the game, and there are other things that will usually result in an explanation on what to do next. When you're unable to avoid an explanation, I said it was because the "assumes" you can't do it on your own. I don't mind when Mario Galaxy 2 or New Super Mario Bros. includes videos that show me how to complete a level, but since I have the option to not watch them I sometimes feel like they were included for someone else that isn't me. When I don't have that option and have to receive a hint, I feel like the game is trying to say something about me :)
The worst offender is the new item complaint. And I would add to that the new conversation complaint. The game gives you no quick and easy way to skip a conversation that you may have had 10x over. If they at least gave you a way to skip new item descriptions and conversations it would go a long ways.
Great observation contrasting the interesting somewhat challenging puzzles with the excessive handholding Fi mechanic. My 10 yr old finds Fi annoying. My 5 yr old can't read.
At least this Zelda gives you a reason for gathering Rupees. There was little use for them in the last 2 Zelda games I played.
Seems weird these annoyances are in the game. But these types of annoyances if not the same ones have been in the previous Zelda games I have played on the Wii/GC. I can only guess that the Japanese do not find these as annoying? Or that Nintendo is cheap. And think that options to turn features off confuse customers and that is worse than annoying them.!?!?!?
Perhaps they always assume someone new could be playing the same saved game which actually is true since my kids and I are playing the same save. Still we all are annoyed every time we turn on the Wii and have to hear about the butterfly again and be taken to the "collection" screen.
I enjoy the game for the same reasons as you mentioned.
But if you think about it that way, then they made a really good game all things considered!
Seriously though, most of the stuff you cited as being frustrating is spot on.
But, the butterfly thing drove me absolutely nuts. Luckily, there's a few codes in Ocarina for disabling things like that (you can turn the beeping off, too). Yeah, yeah, we shouldn't have to hack games to make them more enjoyable, but it's sort of what advanced users do.
On the subject of multiple difficulty levels. Considering they were keeping track of your record against each type of enemy, would have been interesting to see them tune the ability of each enemy to your current record. It could be the case as those bokoblin's were tough throughout the entire game, though easier better sword meant less hits.