4/5 ★ – Empyrean's review of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD.

Back in 2011, Skyward Sword was the game that made me give up on Nintendo. I’d had enough of their gimmicks and couldn’t abide the focus on motion controls, and so Twilight Princess became the last Zelda I played for over 15 years. So now, with the HD release removing motion controls, running at a crisp 60fps, and nerfing Fi, was it worth the wait? Well, not really… but it was certainly a more positive experience than if I’d played it on release. In stark contrast to Twilight Princess, which was a game of peaks and valleys (literally), Skyward Sword is just *fine*. I don’t have any strong feelings either way. It does some things well, some things poorly, but for the most part everything is just more on the positive side of okay. There’s almost always a balance to everything. Some examples: The Sky sucks, most people would agree, but it’s also small and quick/easy to get around (which was not the case with WW & TP). The stamina gauge seems unnecessary, but it also makes for the fastest playing Zelda ever and it’s honestly pretty manageable (but a shame there’s no way to upgrade it). This is handily the best Zelda+Link relationship we’ve gotten in a 3D title, but because only 2D entries are allowed to break from tradition she has to be sidelined for 80% of the game again. Have we learnt nothing from Wind Waker? So yeah, that’s Skyward Sword. Likely the last traditional 3D Zelda we’ll ever get. Whilst that is a sad thought, the formula is absolutely at its breaking point at this stage. I’m one more title *where you have to collect three things then the story grinds to a halt whilst you power up your sword* away from madness. For better or worse, I can only hope Breath of the Wild onwards breathes some new life into this dusty old tunic. Edit: it should be noted that I’ve played every single Zelda game this year so I may just be an emotionless husk and this is actually great.