skyward sword

I love Zelda. Remember that as you read the following.

The next game in the Zelda series is called “Skyward Sword,” and will require usage of the Wii Motion Plus accessory. The timeframe for this game’s release is still a bit unclear as we’ve gone from expecting it at the end of this year to some time in 2011. And here’s what you’ll probably want to know about the game:

1. It works! The inclusion of the Wii Motion Plus has been a point of concern ever since the fact was revealed some time last year. Aside from Wii Sports Resort and Red Steel 2, using the Wii remote as a sword has been a rare occurrence. And, however fun it may be in those games, some level of awkwardness exists where one might be concerned if a whole game was based on that mechanic. People who’ve tried this new Zelda, however, are reporting that the sword does work, and seems like it could support the game rather well. Also, you move through the environment with the nunchuck’s analog stick (while the nunchuck itself acts as your shield). Here are a video of someone playing, so you can see for yourself. Notice how he needs to swing the sword a certain way in order to register a hit, and how throughout the course of the demo, he becomes more and more familiar with the fighting mechanics.

2. Story! At a developer round table after Nintendo’s press conference, and from various interviews, Aonuma and Miyamoto have revealed the setup to this game. Link is a boy from a land in the clouds called Skyloft. Everything is nice and peaceful there until, through a series of plot building events, he learns a land exists below his own and it is plagued by evil. The Skyward Sword itself interacts with Link in the form of the blue fairy-like girl from the initial concept art shown last year. At some point, that sword will become known as the Master Sword. Also, the land below is definitely Hyrule. Along this premise, we also know that there will be some manner of frequent travel between the two worlds. So. Sky people. Hyrule. The girl is a sword.

3. Style! When I first saw images of this game, my immediate thought was “Holy crap, Twilight Princess design with cel shading.” And, I was amazed. After all, cel shading can be used to make some beautiful things happen, as we have seen in Wind Waker and Okami. It turns out, however, that it wouldn’t be exactly accurate to call what Skyward Sword has “cel-shading.” The coloring style is meant more to be reminiscent of impressionist art, particularly Paul Cézanne. With that in mind, you’ll notice the screen shots actually have more of a watercolor-esque vibe. Apparently, they’re at a point in the development process where the graphics of the game are still being perfected, so perhaps this style will come out more in the final version. Also note that the trailer’s music may not reflect on that of the final game’s, as they’ve yet to compose a lot of it.

4. Items that take advantage of the Wii Motion Plus seem well crafted. The bow let’s you dictate how strongly your arrow will fly, and there’s some arc to the arrow’s trajectory. Yet, unlike Wii Sports Resort, where difficulty in aiming is part of the game, in Skyward Sword, you can use the remote to point directly at your target. Then there’s bombs, which you can bowl or throw through gestures. There’s a whip that sweeps across the screen as directed by the controller. There’s a new item - the beetle, which flies around and picks stuff up. I believe it detects tilt in order to move, but I could be wrong.

Screenshot gallery!
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Art gallery! - If you're looking for higher resolutions of these images, send me a private message. There is a decent sized image on this server if you go to the image page and click "Original."

And the trailer is after the jump.

I’m really having a hard time putting this information into words. There’s a lot here. I’m going to have to make specific articles for Zelda and 3DS later, so I’ll just go through each item as a list.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is cel-shaded, but in the style of Twilight Princess. Miyamoto demo’d the game live on stage (with some technical difficulties), but it looks like it’s integrated WiiMotion+ rather thoroughly. The Wiimote is your sword, then the nunchuck is your shield. It looks really nice, but I’m looking forward to hearing back about the demo’s on the show floor. Apparently, the sky is a key plot element (which reminds me of the sky people in Minish Cap). Also, it’s been delayed to 2011. And here's the trailer! And here's some gameplay!

Then there’s the 3DS, which looks rather amazing. They weren’t able to demo the technology on stage, so this is another thing where we’ll have to wait to hear some opinions. The top screen will be widescreen, with full 3D capabilities, while the bottom screen is still touch, but not 3D. There’s motion sensors and gyroscopes, and something called a “slide pad” that appears to be a flat analog stick. There’s two camera lenses on the back that allow you to take photos in 3D. You’ll be able to watch current movies made with 3D technology on the device, with Warner Bros, Disney, and Dreamworks as frontrunners in support of that. There’s a free service that connects the device to Nintendo’s servers while you’re not playing, regardless of the presence of a Wifi access point, and downloads new game content.

Kid Icarus: Uprising - after describing the 3DS’ various features, “Project Sora” was revealed to be a new Kid Icarus game. The trailer they showed had me convinced it was a Wii title - it just looked too pretty to be otherwise. Turns out, it’s for 3DS, and seems quite fun. I’ll post more on this later as well.

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