Link's sword movements are mapped to the direction the Wii Remote is flicked by the player, and other moves include a forward thrust and a stab. įighting enemies, which appear in both the overworld and dungeons, relies on Link's use of his sword and shield. Standard navigation takes place from a third-person perspective, while the Dowsing search function switches to a first-person view: Dowsing scans an area for a selected object, with new Dowsing objectives appearing depending on the game context. When depleted entirely, Link's movement speed is reduced and he is left vulnerable until the meter refills. Link can sprint for short distances but sprinting and other actions such as climbing and carrying heavy objects are limited by a stamina meter, which recharges after a few seconds when not performing actions that drain it, the stamina gauge will actually drain at half speed when it is less than 1/4 full, but it refills at a constant rate. The Nunchuk is also used to make Link perform a forward roll. Jumping across gaps and scaling ledges happen automatically.
The greater majority of gameplay mechanics revolve around the use of motion controls: these include camera controls with the Nunchuk and general hotkey actions and movement linked to the Wii Remote. Link is controlled using the Wii Remote and Nunchuk, and the Wii MotionPlus peripheral is required to play.
E SWORD HD SERIES
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is an action-adventure game in which players take on the role of series protagonist Link through a series of monster-populated overworlds and navigating dungeons featuring puzzles and bosses. The game's visuals were inspired by artists such as Paul Cézanne, while its controls were tailored exclusively for the Wii MotionPlus. Link flies on his Loftwing bird through the sky. A high-definition remaster of the game, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD, was co-developed by Tantalus Media and released for the Nintendo Switch in July 2021. It was later re-released digitally for the Wii U eShop in September 2016 to commemorate the series's 30th anniversary. The game was a critical and commercial success, receiving perfect scores from multiple journalistic sites, winning and receiving nominations for numerous industry and journalist awards, and selling over three million copies worldwide. It was the first Zelda game to use a live orchestra for the majority of its tracks, with music composed by a team led by Hajime Wakai and supervised by Koji Kondo.įirst revealed in 2009, it was initially planned for release in 2010 before it ended up being delayed to 2011 to further refine and expand it. The implementation of Wii MotionPlus proved problematic for the developers, to the point where it was nearly discarded. The art style was influenced by the work of impressionist and post-impressionist painters, including Paul Cézanne. Many aspects of the game's overworld and gameplay were designed to streamline and populate the experience for players.
Multiple earlier Zelda games influenced the developers, including Twilight Princess, Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask. Link, resident of a floating town called Skyloft, heads on a quest to rescue his childhood friend Zelda after she is kidnapped and brought to the Surface, an abandoned land below the clouds.ĭevelopment lasted around five years, beginning after the release of Twilight Princess in 2006. Skyward Sword is the first game in the Zelda timeline detailing the origins of the Master Sword, a recurring weapon within the series. The mechanics and combat, the latter focusing on attacking and blocking with sword and shield, are reliant on the Wii MotionPlus peripheral. Taking the role of series protagonist Link, players navigate the floating island of Skyloft and the land below it, completing quests that advance the story and solving environmental and dungeon-based puzzles. The sixteenth mainline entry in The Legend of Zelda series. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is a 2011 action-adventure game developed and published by Nintendo for the Wii.