It’s finally here, The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword HD. I borrowed the original Wii release from a friend but never got to finish it. A couple of years ago I bought it for my collection but didn’t get around to it so I loaned out the game to my friends. Something about coming full circle. Storytime over let’s get into why you read this review in the first place, is The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword HD worth it?
Where the story begins
Skyward Sword HD is at the start of the Zelda timeline, which plays part in the story. The story is a bit of a departure from the games before. You don’t start off in Hyrule but instead in on a floating rock named Skyloft. Skyloft was created by the goddess to protect the people from evil. Together with the Loftwings, they live in harmony. After the annual ceremony, Link and Zelda fly on their Loftwings until a mysterious storm caused Zelda to disappear. Link is the chosen one to save her and bring peace to the world again. The game tells the origin story of the Master Sword and shines new light on the games that come chronically after. It starts off slow with a lot of cutscenes and tutorials but pacing will pick up after. The characters are all memorable and charming. Especially the relationship between Zelda and Link.
Gameplay
Skyward Sword got a lot of criticism when it was released in 2011 because of its unprecise motion controls, more on this later. Skyward Sword is built on the pre Breath of the Wild design philosophy. This means the game has real fully fletched temples, puzzles, bosses and a more linear story and game progression. Skyward Sword is the most linear game in the series to date. The upside however to this is that the game has the most well-developed storytelling and characters that the series ever had. The cutscenes are amazing but sadly lack voice acting.
While the story, temples and bosses are the best we have seen in the series, there are slow, tedious, filler-like moments that set back the overall experience. The biggest of them being the plethora of fetch quests and the empty skies of Skyloft that connects the areas together. The overall gameplay can be hit or miss depending on your preference. The game is totally different from Breath of the Wild, so if you only played that one, it’s no guarantee you’ll enjoy this one.
Improvements and upgrades
Visuals
The Wii definitely wasn’t the best looking console with 30fps and 480p resolution. Back then it wasn’t as noticeable because we played on a smaller TV with the pixels closer to each other. Playing Wii on a current TV will shock you. Comparing the Wii to the HD version is night and day. Skyward Sword still looks good on the Wii due to the oil painting art style but suffers from a lot of jagged, pixilated edges everywhere especially noticeable with faraway objects.
These problems are gone with the HD remaster, now sporting 1080p at 60fps both in handheld as docked, a more acceptable standard for current console video games. The models and some textures are not updated. From the low poly count making things more boxy and repeating texture work, it makes the game feel aged but then what do you expect of a 10-year-old game.
Motion Controls
The entire game of Skyward Sword is focused on motion controls. Directional slices to hit enemies through their guard, aiming your bow and arrow, you name it. Like mentioned the motion controls of the original were hit or miss and not precise enough. The motion controls have been tweaked the work on Switch to perfection. On the Wii, it happened occasionally that your movement would not translate to the correct sword movement. This is no longer the case with way more precise recognition of your motions. I rarely had problems with it not swiping in the right direction.
Because the Switch doesn’t have a sensor bar like the Wii, the motion controls need to be recentered quite often. This is done by pointing the Joy-Con at the screen and pressing Y. This is especially noticeable with the pointer controls which are almost always off centre and is the biggest complaint I have about the game. You get used to recentering after a while but I hope they find a solution for this problem. I fear however that they can’t patch it out because it’s a hardware limitation, but who knows.
Button controls
Nintendo has listened to the fans 10 years ago who complained about the motion controls and responded with the button controls. This is great for those who own a Switch lite or have no excess to Joy-Cons as well as those opting for a more classic/standard Zelda experience. Since the game is built around motion controls a whole new control scheme has been made. The right control stick controls the sword swinging. Pulling the stick left will make the sword swing left, pulling it up will make it go up and so on for all the directions.
This system might look a bit complex but it works excellent and is just as precise as its motion control counterpart. They have created a clever solution for all the controls which makes the game really enjoyable with button controls as well. I however felt like the motion controls are the better way to control the game since it makes me feel more satisfied and emerged but this comes down to personal preference because they are both good options with their own downsides.
Free Camera
A new addition is the free camera control. In the original game, you could press Z on the nunchuck to reposition the camera. This new free camera is controlled with the right stick when using motion controls and sets the game in line with other games in the franchise. This however comes with a bit of a caveat. If you play with button controls this stick has been taking by the new slashing system already. The workaround to this is that the camera is now controlled by pressing the left bumper and then moving the right stick. This is definitely a compromise to the fully free camera mode that feels much more natural and free-flowing. Regardless of playstyle, this change is a welcome one.
Other Quality of Life (QoL) changes
Although not the most groundbreaking improvements like the controls and visuals some other improvements are made. The game has multiple save slots as well as an autosave function. The autosave is definitely helpful in case you forgot to save.
Your spirit companion guide Fi has also been streamlined. She will no longer bother you with guidance, tips or hints whenever she wants. Now you can call on her guidance. Items will only give the description text box the first time being picked up. Cutscenes and dialogue can be skipped entirely and dialogues can be fast-forwarded. Load times are also decreased drastically almost instantly loading now. These changes speed up the gameplay and make the overall experience more enjoyable.
The Zelda and Loftwing Amiibo looks beautiful but is surrounded by controversy. Tapping the Amiibo will let Link travel between Skyloft and the Surface from anywhere on the map. There is no other way to do this within the game. The HD remaster has done so much for the pacing of the game, why not make this useful function available for everyone. 
Conclusion
Skyward Sword HD follows the classic pre Breath of the Wild formula, so don’t expect a fast open world. The game is still beautifully crafted from its story, characters, dungeons, clever motion-based combat and amazing music. The differences between the versions make the overall experience heaps better than the original release. The game still looks good due to its oil painting art style however some parts like models and repeated textures show its age. A lot of pacing problems have been fixed but despite its changes, Skyward Sword HD is still really linear and has the same tedious sections that slow the overall pacing. Besides the changes, no additional content is added. For players who already played the game before the full-priced HD remaster might not be worth it. For a collector, fan or new player, Skyward Sword HD will be an enjoyable experience and is definitely worth picking up.