Undeniably Brilliant
posted by Brock_Crock (GLENWOOD, NY) Dec 11, 2011
Member since Dec 2011
4
out of
5
gamers (80%) found this review helpful
The motion controls legitimately strengthen the core components of the game. Swordfighting is immensely entertaining, yet challenging to master (as the final boss would likely attest to). Item control is easy, intuitive, and increases in complexity as you play.
Stamina, sprinting, and basic parkour maneuvers add much-needed diversity in traversing Link's world. Certain sections of the game even demand you master these new elements as a way of avoiding confrontation with incredibly powerful enemies. The crafting system is simple but adds dimensions to item utility while not overpowering the natural progression of the game.
Level design is predictably excellent. Skyloft in particular is a wonderfully-realized gamespace staffed with charming personalities and stuffed with minigames and sidequests. Ground areas each have distinctive tones, though lack a sense of interconnectivity. A more tactile entry sequence into each area could perhaps remedy this problem, but considering the expert layout and prodigious content of the areas themselves, it's a fairly minor quibble. Think Link to the Past meets Super Mario Galaxy.
The narrative is unsurprising and plot-related dialogue tends to drag on near the very end, but the cinematography, animations, and character concepts are superb. You'll frequently find yourself engrossed in the story and your role as Link by these concepts alone. The humor is bombastic and self-aware; it'll coax at least a smile from even the most jaded gamer.
The visual design is fantastic. It is wonderfully evocative without relying on impeccable detail, much like the Impressionist movement that inspired it. This game in motion is a beautiful thing, regardless of the power of the hardware.
All dungeons are excellent, all bosses are fun, Hero Mode and Boss Rush are great additions. Fi is annoyingly pedantic to begin with, but becomes mercifully terse about 1/3 through the game (and her nugget of character development at the end is sweet).
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