I never owned the original Skyward Sword game. Go ahead, call me a fake Zelda fan. I can take it (I think).

In my defense, my brother took the Wii with him when he left the house, and I was pretty poor. But that didn’t stop my friend from lording it over me that he owned the game with the included soundtrack on CD. I was beyond jealous, and very annoyed.

I did get to play the game a bit here and there with a different (and nicer) friend, but I never got to beat it. I’ve listened to the soundtrack countless times, yet those end credits elude me. So while seemingly everyone on social media was mad that Skyward Sword was getting a remake, I was actually really excited. Finally my chance!

However… *long sigh* after playing it for approximately 3 hours, my initial buzz quickly turned to frustration as I tried to make my way through the story.

Can we first talk about the absolute worst part of this game, which was also one of the worst parts of the original? You guessed it: the controls.

What the heck is going on with those?? They make absolutely no sense. There’s no button to get your sword out, you just move the right joystick. But if you want to look around, you have to hold down ‘L’ while moving the right joystick. So you can’t look around while using your sword?

Okay.

And if you want to use another weapon (like the slingshot), you have to go through a whole process just to get it out. Plus no ability to jump whenever you want to. This is tedious.

You could assign other weapons to different buttons in Twilight Princess. You could also look around with ease. It seems a little odd to me that an older game would be more user-friendly.

Yeah, I get it. It wasn’t originally made for buttons-only. But they definitely could have assigned the controls better. I find myself playing the game in short chunks because I get too frustrated to continue.

I tried playing with just motion-controls, and I actually found the experience more enjoyable, which is something I never thought I’d say.

I like to think that I’m usually pretty good at taking down enemies as Link, whether they be Lynels, or Dark Beasts, or, of course, Ganon himself. But I’m struggling to defeat even the simplest creatures in Skyward Sword, thanks to these wonky controls.

Enough of the negatives. How about some positives?

One major change in the HD version is a toned-down Fi. Instead of Fi constantly reminding you of her presence in the form of “helpful hints,” you can just ignore her when she wants to talk. It’s great. (Now, if we were talking about Twilight Princess’ Midna, then heck yeah. Interrupt me all day long. Midna had a great personality. Fi is, well, you know.)

The graphics are also a major upgrade. Skyward Sword is definitely not my favorite art style, but it does have its charms, and now in HD, it’s growing on me even more.

And lastly, the music. Obviously. Skyward Sword has an incredible soundtrack. There are no misses. It’s one of the best in the series– arguably in the top 3. (I ranked the best Zelda songs a few days ago, so be sure to check that out after reading this.)

How can you hear “Message From the Goddess” and not have an emotional reaction? Or “Fi’s Farewell?” It’s just not possible.

I’m looking forward to finally getting my chance to finish The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword once and for all, even if it might take me a while to do so. As with anything in life, a change can take a while to adjust to. I’m sure I’ll get the hang of the controls soon enough, and hopefully make it past those skulltulas in the Forest Temple.

Wish me luck.

Images taken from The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD.