The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword Review

The combat idea is genuinely great and it is worth defending. Enemies here hold their guard in a specific orientation and you must cut along the open angle, which turns basic encounters into readable puzzles and makes the bokoblins the most interesting trash mobs the series has had. The dungeons are excellent, the Ancient Cistern in particular, and Groose is a better supporting character than the premise deserved. Everything around that fights it.

The motion controls need recalibration often enough to break the rhythm, Fi interrupts to explain what you already know, and the surface world is three regions you are sent back through three times each with a collectathon layered on top the second time. The sky is empty in a way that makes it a loading corridor rather than a place. The story is actually strong, giving the series an origin that reframes the whole timeline. A frustrating game with a great one inside it, and the later port that added button controls helps considerably.