The gauntlet of literally hundreds of enemies near the end of skyward sword is still one of the most badass and epic things in any Zelda game imo

ah yes the classic “unpopular zelda game starts getting love a little while after it comes out” moment … it’s so funny that this continues to happen with the series 😂😂

The way the music in Skyward Sword swells is just breath taking

These retrospectives/essays are CRIMINALLY underrated I've been binging them the past few days definitely deserves three times the attention they're getting

Skyward Sword is kind of one of those guilty pleasure games for me, where I just absolutely adore it despite all it's many, many flaws. Most of the other 3d Zelda's are stronger in a lot of ways, but the music, story, and overall vibe of this game always sticks with me. And it makes me happy that Botw and Totk have allowed many of us to appreciate the heavily linear design of old. Another banger retrospective man, always really appreciate your content on this series!

I've come around on Skyward Sword over time. It's full of creative ideas and it's by far the most unique entry in the series. I would even go as far as saying that its highs demonstrate the peak of linear design in video games. But there's no denying its failures, which are plentiful. I agree with just about everything you said, and it was super interesting to hear your personal history with the game. Congrats on all the new viewers coming in through the Zelda videos, and good luck making the BOTW one!

I can't help but revisit this video-game every year, as it was my first real gaming experience and holds a special place in my heart.

I remember the backlash SS got after it came out. I chalked it up to the internet mob feeding off of each other. I played through the full game when it came out, and I really enjoyed it, but unlike other 3D Zelda games, I didn't replay it a bunch because apart from certain moments, it didn't compel me to come back to it. I recently started playing it again after 12 years and I've gotta say, it held up.

I’m glad more people have been coming around for skyward sword! I have loved it since it came out, it’s actually my favorite zelda game! I love being brought through such an intimate story and meeting amazing and memorable characters!

Skyward sword was one of my first Zelda games To this day is my favourite Zelda game Always replay it a few times a year The parts I love the most is the look of the world, the story, making the master sword and the bosses especially Girahim and demise It had issues on the Wii but anyone who did have issues with it should try the switch version Motion controls vastly better and the actual controller version is still very good

You have far too few subscribers! I hope your channel takes off more, you deserve it!

Skyward Sword Wii was my first traditional Zelda game so I bawled like a baby when Fi was laid to rest. The words she says to you the player, not Link, YOU, cut deep every time I hear them. The music is a beautiful combination of bittersweet goodbyes and heartfelt joy for the one character that invokes so much emotion from me. Fi can be annoying sometimes, but I was just happy that I wasn’t alone on my adventure. I love Skyward Sword and Fi is one of my favorite Zelda companions up there with Midna, who also made me cry like a baby.

For me this was also the last good Zelda game, yes botw and totk are great but they're not real zelda games, they dont have a story you mostly run around doing whatever you want, there's no lingering threat hanging over you, and you can go be the final boss whenever you feel like it. Skyward Sword is an amazing game and I feel like its a good send off for the series. For me Zelda died on the Wii

I’ve always loved Skyward Sword, but then exploration isn’t what really drew me to classic 3D Zelda. I always had the most fun with the dungeons, and imo Skyward Sword has some great ones In my ideal timeline Nintendo will continue making both OoT-style and BotW-style Zelda games, I love them both for vastly different reasons

I finished SS HD yesterday, after giving up in Lanayru in 2011. Thanks for the retrospect :D

This channel def deserves more recognition! Very well made in depth videos. Absolutely love Skyward Sword

It's a shame that the last traditional 3D Zelda game ended up being so underwhelming. I love this game but it's far from the best Zelda game. If Skyward Sword had come off better, Nintendo may not be as Hell-bent on leaving Zelda's legacy in the past.

5:08 Fuck it still gives me chills

i had no idea this game was disliked and the controls hated until years later. Really glad you mentioned about younger people potentially falling in with popular opinion. It seems so common now.

Button controls really change the game. I prefer them to motion

Resetting the motion controls a lot is annoying but honestly I prefer it to the long arduous process of recalibrating the Wii remote. The skyward strike never bloody worked for me, it was infuriating. Didn't matter how many times I calibrated the remote, his hand would stay straight up and it wouldn't charge

I've always loved this game for its characters and story ❤ I hope to one day see one last traditional-style Zelda game before I die

Just found your channel and finished watching all the zelda retrospectives. It was all really enjoyable, and I found many of your takes and perspectives unique and refreshing. Just wanted to say - keep it up man ! Looking forward to the rest

The quality and commentary of this video is insane! Im so upset to see how underrated you are!

I LOVED your last Skyward Sword video. It gave me a new outlook on the game, so I’m excited to hear what you have to say this time around!

i grew up loving this game as a kid and was shocked to get a little older and learn that everyone hated it. def can see its flaws now but it has a special place in my heart

This was great. Good job! Keep doing these!!

Love your Zelda videos man! Keep it up!

Hey I just realized how small your Chanel is compared to how good your videos are. Coming from a KZfaqr who has moved on from creating, your stuff is great! I’ve had at least one video reach 1mil views and several get several 100k, but your stuff is no doubt better and worth watching. Hang in there and reach out if you need anything or want any info. I love your channel!

This is the best channel I’ve found in a long time by far, keep it up man

As a story and as far as personalized Link and his story this is one of the better ones

Awesome video, definitely got a new subscriber. Time to binge the rest of your content now.

i like how link can look almost scared out of his mind in some scenes like when he finally gets to zelda i love how his face looks scared of what he is seeing rather then actually helping with the story )) granted a lot of faces can be like that ))

Yo you nailed the updated video, not sure what you exactly did but It for sure was an improvement

I’ve loved Skyward Sword from the first play through in 2011. I can’t understand how people had problems with the controls. Even now I play it every few weeks or so.

Skyward Sword always felt like the "Mario 3D World" of Zelda games where people didn't appreciate them at the time because they wanted the franchises to go in a different, more grandoise direction. Most of the design choices are easier to appreciate in hindsight now that both franchises have the big sandbox entries that people wanted.

Great video - thanks!

Yes! Been waiting for this! I'm very sick and sleep-deprived and should probably be in bed, but I'm absolutely watching this now!

Skyward sword is the last truly great Zelda game to me. Love it to pieces

I’m not much of a gamer, but grew up with Mario and Zelda so recently bought the Switch and played Skyward Sword without reading any reviews etc. I really enjoyed it.

This video for me was like hearing his version of the zelda circle

As a new zelda fan this actually kinda hit me real hard, cause like i played Botw for the first time like last year, because people said it was pretty cool and had the expereince of "i dont wanna play this i want to do something else", (probably because i went straight to god damn thunder blight gannon first without knowing). But then went back to it about 5 months later and went to a diffrent boss, defeating it and then botw as a whole. Later I was told Totk was coming out. After that i just sorta became a massive Zelda fan! Its barely been a year since i bought botw but, the amount of people, experiences and closeness ive gotten becoming a Zelda fan is amazing! (i did not get emotional during this video and totally didnt cry about how much slander people gave the motion controls of Skyward Sword since its in my top 5 favriote Zelda games /j the motion controls do suck but motion controls are HARD ok :) ).

Man seeing the E3 demo even after all these years still brings so much pain to my heart. Seeing my favorite franchise flounder around like that live was . . . rough XD. At the end of the day I still ended up liking the game, and has bits that I find truly excellent, but I think I still have to put it at the bottom of my 3D Zelda game rankings overall.

I just found your content and watched your old skyward sword review lol

LETS GOOOOO ANOTHER PG REVIEWS VIDEOOOO. I always loved skyward sword, genuinely a criminally underrated game.

Skyward Sword has amazing dungeons, music, characters, and lore. I wasn’t used to the controls at first but once I got used to them the game actually became really fun. The final boss fight was one of the best and the relationship between Link and Zelda made the story more meaningful.

Fi is up there with Midna and Ghost Zelda for me when it comes to companions in this series. I love her so much, just as much as I love Skyward Sword. I was baffled when I found out nearly five years after its release that Skyward Sword was a thing. I immediately got to playing it once I knew, and every second was a blast for me because even the tedious moments became full of joy. It helped that I was thinking of my dad the whole time. He introduced me to Zelda and played every game with me when I was a kid. He didn't have much time to spend with my mom and I back then because of his job, but he tried and it really made an impact on the kinds of games I love today. Anyways. I wonder how Tears of the Kingdom will be treated in this Zelda cycle. I did like it, but it really missed the mark on the story aspect, and that's the main reason why I wanted to play it. The emotional beats hit hard but not hard enough due to the ghost of a story the game had. I did love the gameplay and the music actually made me cry at points from the nostalgia, but otherwise ToTK was a miss for me. I hope Nintendo takes notes while we're out here discussing the other games, they really dropped the ball and they need to figure out what we think makes a good Zelda game. Also, I'm of the opinion that both open-world and linear game structures have their place in the Zelda series. I want the next Zelda game to take more of a Wind Waker approach to game design and make an open world with a set, linear path to go if you're playing the story. Like something in-between BoTW/ToTK and Wind Waker. And I think that fusion would actually work enough to keep the feeling of Zelda alive without relying solely on nostalgia to tell a story and without giving the player too much/too little freedom.

First time I played skyward sword was on switch and I LOVED it - I can’t understand the hate. Aside from the controls being a pain at times (swimming, flying) I found it so enjoyable. I’m playing it a second time through after 100% TOTK and find I’m having more fun with it. I think I’m burnt out on “open world” games though since I started playing them consistently In 2017.

Skyward sword was my first and still my favorite zelda game. My favorite part about gaming is art direction and deep, character driven lore. It's the game that made me fall in love with series.

This became my favorite zelda

Playing it on the switch for the first time, it was a great experience and I loved it. Doesn't take away my love for botw

"And then there's people like me who appreciate all styles of Zelda because we're better than everybody else" Perfectly said

i don't think I'll ever love a game like I've loved ss. i grew up with it, and when the hd version was announced i cried while on call with my friends, the video is now lost but god I've never been happier for a remaster ever. I've now played it about 5ish times, i know, excessive, but it's just everything i could have wanted from a zelda game.

If skyward sword kept its story, art style, items, dungeons, music, and everything else that was so great about it but added Breath of the Wild’s freedom it would be the best Zelda game. Skyward Sword’s flaws unfortunately hold it back from being a perfect game, but it’s still one of my favorites for all the things it does right.

So, my personal story with Skyward Sword. I had bought it when it came out for the Wii and I never finished it. I was so fed up with Fi CONSTANTLY telling me what a blue rupee or a monster item did after turning the game off and turning it back on. I didn't hate the game, I actually liked it, but Fi took all the enjoyment out of the game for me because it treated me like I was stupid. It also didn't help that the controls were frustrating and I had to constantly recalibrate. Few days ago I tried playing Tears of the Kingdom and just couldn't get into it, it just didn't feel like Zelda to me. I had heard that Skyward Sword HD had some quality of life upgrades, so I bought it. They removed Fi's CONSTANT reminders and with the option to not use motion controls, I'm loving the game so much more than I did before. It used to be the only Zelda game I've never finished, but that slot is being taken by Tears of the Kingdom now. I hope Nintendo will move back to linear style games. With the past two games, the world is just too large with so little story to hold it together along with no feeling of progression. Why can't we have dungeons with rewards? Let the rewards be some item that helps make traversal easier, an unbreakable weapon that was owned by a past hero or an armor set in a dungeon that is a callback to that hero. Being given EVERYTHING I need to beat the game at the beginning just kills my interest in exploring. I can't get excited for a new weapon because it's going to break. What I'd prefer, give us a weapon that we have to search for that doesn't break, but instead have it be really weak and that we'd have to upgrade it through a questline or something. Hell, do that with the Master Sword as well. What was so cool about Zelda is you would get attached to your tools and weapons, I miss that. Reward us for exploring and putting in effort outside of a heartpiece or stamina bar.

I absolutely loved Skyward sword probably the best story in any Zelda game

Loved this series

I hope you do a 2D Zelda review series after you get through TotK. Highlighting underappreciated gems in long, analytical reviews like this is always fun, and I believe the handheld Zeldas are full of underappreciated gems

Really good video, it's kinda impressive how every 3D zelda game is so good despite having many flaws when you learn how many problems there are with the development of each. I disagree with one thing though, climbing the volcano was fun every time.

i passionately hate skyward sword,, but love watching retrospectives for some reason. haven't watched the whole video yet, but great work! nice to find this upload in my feed uwu

Baffling how this does not have more views

All I've known about Skyward Sword was people on the internet, people hating it over and over for years and thought i never let others form my opinions i always wondered why that was. I just finished the game recently and i just don't understand it, this is probably the peak of the OOT formula, it's so beautiful and it plays amazingly, im so confused on how people hated this game so much, if it wasn't for Majora's Mask it would be my favorite 3D Zelda

Dungeon designs and The origin story of Hyrule are the best parts of this game and makes it very special and enjoyable to me.

Your retrospective puts into words almost my exact feelings about the game. The only difference is that I also loved the game when it initially released. That being said, I completely agree with you on where Zelda goes from here. Though Breath of the Wild was necessary and very much welcome to evolve the series, there will always be room for more linear titles in the future just like how I feel there is still a future for more 2D titles. Going from a very linear story-heavy game like Skyward Sword to A Link Between Worlds, which still maintains a traditional Zelda structure but gives you the freedom to tackle dungeons and obtains items in any order, to BotW with complete freedom to do whatever you want kept this series so fresh to me after all these years. I love the variety and I feel like re-releasing SS in between BotW and TotK definitely helped in reducing the open-world fatigue I started to experience halfway through TotK.

I loved Skyward Sword, but I also agree with almost all the criticism it got. All the points are valid. UT has flaws. Does that make it a bad game? Of course not. But I would say, of at least the 3D titles, it is at the bottom of my list. There are several *aspects* of the game that are among my favorite things about the series, but on the whole, it wasn't my favorite. Then again, that's like saying "of these 10 delicious ice cream flavors, this one is my least favorite."

I’ve always loved skyward sword, I think my love for it has actually died down as the years go on. But I was disappointed when more people were hating on it, saying it was “the worst Zelda game ever” because I loved the story, and the motion controls worked for me. Honestly I was expecting the Zelda cycle to come sooner, but then BOTW and TOTK came out and the cycle broke. Even though it feels like it happened a lot slower (I’m sure it hasn’t), I’m glad people have been warming up to the game.

SS wasn't my first Zelda at all but I was still quite young when I played it; I've always been weirdly obsessed with it. I watched dozens of Lets Plays of it and consumed way more content about it than of TP or OoT (even though I played the latter around the same time). When I replayed it on Switch, I actually liked it more than the last time I had replayed it on Wii a few years prior. Idk I completely understand why many dont like it but I just love the game. Im also one of those who prefers the old Zelda formular over BotW and Totk though.

The final battle in SS was so good. I absolutely loved the look of demise and also juat flattening his minions on the way. So satisfying. Same as TOTK. That final battle was amazing, except the dragon form was almost as underwhelming as his beast for in BOTW. I dont know why they've been making his final form so pathetic lately. Hands down though, the best final fight was in TP. Battling the possessed Zelda, beast ganon, horseback ganon, and ganon on foot was just (chefs kiss)

The only emotional aspect to Fi's goodbye, for me, is that I'm saying goodbye to the master sword. Navi had more personality than Fi. Also I never understood why Fi, a computer program in a sword, danced so much in cutscenes to tell me messages that could have just been stone tablets appearing when I hit the symbols (isle of songs)

Skyward sword was my first Zelda game. Followed by OoT, TP, MM, WW, BotW, TotK from 2013-2023. SS is my favorite zelda story. I love the cinematics, i love that i was invested in what happens next. Botw and totk have been my favorite gameplay in the series bc they literally never get old, but i miss the cinematic in the moment story. I hate that the entire story of botw or totk is told in less than 20 cutscenes that all took place so many years ago, i struggle to see how its relevant. Ill miss that and i hope the next zelda entry has a story that really involves link instead of involving his ancestors.

I think it's weird how the director made one of the most important games to the lore then with the next two games they said fuck the lore

Playing through all Zelda games first time. Only one I ever completed was the very first one. Got it with my Nintendo. Hand drew maps. I'm 43 so that's why. Never played another one because the stupid blue crab really made me upset. A friend convinced me to play them all and I just beat Skyward Sword. I have loved them all in their own way, and Skyward Sword is no exception. The scene setting is amazing. Link is soft. They are the first incarnations of these characters (to date). They have no muscle memory of any of the drama to come. Link is slow and worn out easily. He's a spoiled, lazy high school kid, completely unprepared for the real world. It has a Disney-esque overlay that really drives home the whole fairy tale narrative. The art style is very impressive. In playing the Wii version, so I'm saying all of this playing the original way. Sure, the motion controls are whack, and sometimes ventures into wiggity whack. But frustration is this franchise's overarching theme. You overcome it. Just like Link. I totally get how off-putting Fi can be. To me, she sounds like GLaDOS with a Navi personality (aka, non-existent).

Man skyward sword is amazing.

I still call her Fi (Fee) even though I know its pronounced Fi thanks to Hyrule Warriors.. but I can't help it 😅

My first experience with the game was a few years ago, on Dolphin. I had decided one day that I was bored and I wanted to try swinging a sword around. "I'll play it for a bit until I get bored," I though. One broken MotionPlus and a completed game later, and it's up there as one of my more favorite Zeldas. Maybe it's because I had come off of being somewhat disappointed by Breath of the Wild which, while a fine game, had a whole slew of flaws in its own right on top of not really scratching that Zelda "itch". In any case, I really enjoyed the game, flaws and all, so much that I ended up buying the Switch remaster and playing it again only a year and a half after the fact.

Great review. Skyward Sword is severely underapprecoated and I think a lot of people let their hopes for what it could be overshadow what it was. I never thought it was the 10 out of 10 game IGN gave it. But I also never thought it was as bad as the player reviews were at the time either. I always had fun with it and enjoyed seeing how the regions changes throughout the game. I do think they missed out on an opportunity to fill the sky with more things to do outside of Skyloft and connect the regions down below, implement a better fast travel, but those are mostly nitpicks. I think if they really remade it and added these things in, it would totally change how people view the game. That's what I believe

Every time a youtuber talks about the controls in skyward sword, an angel dies

When Skyward Sword first came out on the Wii, I couldn’t play it for more than a hour because of my disgust of motion controls. I will never get used to that control scheme. With the HD version supporting button controls however, I had a much better time and found the button combat fun, as it was like a faster version of Metal Gear Rising’s idea of multi-directional sword slashing. Still, I absolutely hate Link being right-handed in all of the ‘“recent” Zelda games.

The batteries in your wiimote are nearly depleted

Never understood why people didn't like this game. I was late to the party and played it for the first time with the HD version. It's rock solid IMO. Also it by far has the best music in any Zelda game.

Huh. I had the "I just don't want to play this anymore" experience with totk

Breath of the Wild is weird for me too. It has all these issues and problems, and there are things that I really almost hate about it. But I still love it so much. And it is the same for me with Skyward Sword. Just appreciate each title as it is and don't worry so much about what it is or could have been.

Honestly, skyward sword is one of my favorite zelda games ever. Don't get me wrong it definitely has it issues, but it's also got done amazing stuff too. I do wish for a return to form for the zelda series, but i also like what we have now, though i doubt that i will ever replay botw or totk.

I was a Zelda gamer from day 1, not saying that makes me an expert, just saying to show I've seen every release and every reception and honestly, I feel like too many casual Wii players picked up Skyward Sword without realizing what it was all about. It's not an easy accessible game like most Wii games were.

I dismissed Skyward Sword when it first came out.. But looking back at its original release and taking into account the remaster improvements.. Its one of my favorites now. I have to give OOT to the crown because its just such a great balance of dungeons, world building, and exploration. But Skyward Sword is tied with MM as my second favorite. Then TP and WW competing for 4th, ALTTP in 6th, BotW in 7th, and Zelda I and II trailing way off at the end.

_Skyward Sword_ also should’ve been about founding Hyrule… like Link goes to the kingdoms of each different race (who are fully evolved, not silly “Parella” or “Kikwi” or whatever they’re called), and helps them out with some problem and in exchange enlists their help in fighting the Imprisoned or something, and then they all end up swearing fealty to Zelda at the end 🤷🏻‍♂️

Its nice to know im not the only one that thinks the Joy-con sucks trying to stab is so hard bcs the gyro is off time and time again.

Chainmail and sweatpants, the peak of fashion

Well I'll be a slime covered moblin, you're a great creator! I hope you blow up like you deserve, amazing video

I know it may not be a popular opinion, but i really thought that the trials were annoying (no its not because im an idiot with no time management dont say that!!) But i really enjoyed the story and thought it was up there in like top 5 stories of the zelda series so theres that, my wii controller never worked with it so i never got to finish it fully but i got to the skyloft trial and it was great until that point

I still have not picked it up after I fought through the whole game and against the motion controls… maybe in 5 years… only Zelda Game I haven’t finished

It feels like everytime I watch someone review or analyse a game and happen to hint at their age when said game came out I end up feeling like an old ass man. Lol "My dad drove me to Toys R Us and I bought it on Black Friday" and I'm sitting there thinking "Man... I was a few years out of highschool on my second job playing rent and taxes when Twilight Princess came out." I feel like an ancient relic.

For me, Skyward Sword is always the game where I had to fight the Imprisoned six times in order to finish the game after my first run ran into the progression-breaking bug and I had to restart from the beginning. If you think the game gets repetitive playing normally, try restarting just before the endgame...

Zelda is 1 video game I gotta love!!!

I wish Link’s involvement in the repeating Triforce paradigm had been his choice alone… like Good (Hylia) vs. Evil (Demise) were in an equally balanced, until Link chooses to join the fight for the side of Good and tip the scales 🤷🏻‍♂️

The way I feel, skyward sword is a game you look back on fondly, for the good moments and the great story. One of my favourite parts is the take on link and Zelda for this game. That being said, skyward sword isn’t just a story, it’s a game. Not only did I struggle to ever complete this game, I never feel the real urge to replay it. When I played this game, a lot of aspects started to feel like chores. They weren’t fun, just something I had to get done to progress. And the farther you get into the game, all of the sudden every part you get through leads you to the next chore. There’s almost no part to really look forward to. I hated visiting the same areas, the sky was bland, and when those enemies stole all my weapons, I was ready to just throw my hands up and give up not because it was difficult, but because it was not only annoying, but incredibly boring. I look back fondly on some of the best bosses, the pirate ship, the music, the story. But do I want to play the game? Not at all. The one time I tried to replay the game, I think I wasn’t even half way through before the repetitive and boring tasks (fight the imprisoned how many times?!) made me stop playing all together and I never completed the game again.

Skyward Sword: the best Zelda game I can't bring myself to want to play more than the one time 😂😢

based

Poppi is one of the better character xenoblade chronicles 2 her conversation with mythra is super cute and heart breaking because it comes up in the final chapter

The Wii didn't help matters for sales. While they sold a lot of hardware, people who played these kind of games likely didn't even bother because of the 'motion' craze of the late 2000s. SS would have likely been better received if you could use a standard controller, it's just that simple. Nintendo has proven over and over again that building a game with the console gimmick of the time isn't a very good idea. TP and SS suffered from some of the same issues because of the implementation of surrounding the game with the motion controls. BotW does it absolutely correct. Motion is there if you would like to use it, and gyro has proven to be a great controller feature along the lines of how rumble has become standard over the decades.