Skyward Sword is a prequel to all other Zelda titles in the timeline, so don’t expect Lon Lon Ranch or anything of that sort. Soon Link will find himself on the surface far below Skyloft, which is essentially the land of Hyrule. But more on that later, as the loftwing actually makes up very little of the game play in Skyward Sword. Almost immediately the cracks start to show, as controlling your loftwing is, of course, handled solely by way of the Wiimote’s motion controls. (see our review on Need for Speed: The Run).

It’s both absurd and exhilarating at the same time, giving me a brief moment of uninterrupted excitement. Just watching Zelda and Link dive off the cliffs of Skyloft and whistle for their loftwings as they freefall is so very un-Zelda-like. This is the one major addition that shakes up the aging Zelda formula and made me wonder if I was in a for a truly unique experience. Residents of Skyloft also have a giant winged bird, known as a loftwing, that is bonded directly with them and no one else. I can’t imagine what a lonely, existentialist nightmare that must be, given that Skyloft is about the size of a single city block in Los Angeles, but after meeting all of the NPCs I doubt any of them are intelligent enough to ponder such a thing. They live on a floating island called Skyloft, high above the clouds where most of the residents believe that there’s nothing else in the world besides them, and certainly nothing below. Perhaps beyond Link even, as she’s definitely the more fleshed-out of the two. In Skyward Sword, the princess Zelda is not the usual damsel in distress, but a main character on equal ground with the hero Link himself.

It’s this kind of blind arrogance that proves Nintendo executives operate within a bubble, while the fact that Skyward Sword suffers from many of the same shortcomings that befell Twilight Princess suggests that shortsightedness extends to their development teams as well. Meanwhile, Bethesda Softworks announced earlier in the week that rival action-RPG The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim has been awarded over 50 perfect reviews globally. Three top investment pros open up about what it takes to get your video game funded.

Skyward sword wii