10 Reasons Zelda: Skyward Sword Is WAY Better Than You Remember

Apologise to Fi, you ANIMALS.

Zelda skyward sword
Nintendo

Every franchise that's run as long as Zelda is going to accrue its fair share of black sheep. Not necessarily BAD games, just ones that people tend to agree aren't as good as the others.

So long as people remember the CD-I games, no one in their right mind would ever dare call Skyward Sword the WORST Zelda game, but as far as an entry from the mainline series goes? There seems to be this consensus that Skyward Sword is lacking or even straight up bad.

Why no one ever consults me before making decisions like this is beyond me, but whatever.

If you were on the internet for the first two or so years after this came out, you've probably heard every criticism launched at this game with the kind of Pavlovian repetition that's usually reserved for deep cover sleeper agents planted in the government.

Well, I'm here to tell you that this game deserves a serious reevaluation by the Zelda fandom. This game isn't just nowhere near as bad as so many declare, and instead, is easily one of the best Zelda games ever made.

10. It's Drop Dead Gorgeous

Zelda skyward sword
Nintendo

Let's get the most obvious point out of the way, this game is absolutely stunning. Easily one of the most graphically impressive games on the Nintendo Wii.

Not only do the textures pop, lacking any glitches of any kind in the game unless you go actively looking to break it, but the game is just flat out pleasing to the eye. Its painterly style, clearly inspired by art of the European impressionist era, give the world both a serenity and a surprising harshness when the darker forces at play in the story make their move.

The character designs are also top quality, with easily the prettiest Zelda after Breath Of The Wild's version of her, the most practical and realistic Link's clothes have ever looked, and thanks to the stylized graphics, designs that would otherwise be generic like that of Demise, are given this ethereal quality. Demise isn't that interesting a villain, but you BELIEVE he's a higher cosmic being from his design alone.

One thing you can never take away from this game is that it dazzled you at every turn.

Contributor
Contributor

John Tibbetts is a novelist in theory, a Whatculture contributor in practice, and a nerd all around who loves talking about movies, TV, anime, and video games more than he loves breathing. Which might be a problem in the long term, but eh, who can think that far ahead?