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You heard me gosh darned right, folks! It's OKAY! Just fine!

It used to be kinda popular to dunk on Skyward Sword, and I totally get it. It had a lot of baggage to deal with, and it simply avoided the responsibilities it was probably supposed to uphold. In an age dominated by the advent of open world experiences, it seems a bit ridiculous that Skyward Sword was decidedly to be the most linear and segmented Zelda game of them all. But as usual, when there's a great shift within the core philosophy of a game series, the context is glossed over whenever it's discussed in a critical light. For you see, this railroady world design that gives the player exploration in bite-sized chunks actually works well with the other pretty controversial part of this game: the motion controls!

My first experience with this game came right after playing Ocarina of Time for the x-th time that week, so going in I had foolishly assumed I could speed through the beginning sections of Skyward Sword in one sitting, like I usually do with other games of a similar nature. So after a three-hour session of waggling and getting acquainted with the unorthodox control scheme, my arms turned into pudding, and I had to put everything down to relax and unwind. The individual arm movements you make to swing your sword, to aim, to dash and to douse weren't the issue, but it was the frequency with which they had to be used. And this is precisely why the game is meant to be enjoyed in short bursts. And besides, even if you plan on playing for longer, Fi is there to give you a tutorial on how to stop playing the game every hour or so.

Speaking of which, let's talk about Fi for a moment. I think she's annoying, but you already knew that. Even when you play the game in short bursts like I said, she still interrupts gameplay quite frequently to point out things you already know, or that you could've discovered on your own, if only the devs let you use things like the first-person mode, which in my opinion is the best it's ever been in the series. I found myself using it just to walk around and get a closer look at the sharp-looking environments, or to look into tiny crevices in walls that were lovingly crafted to snoop around in, where older installments would use low-res textures. Getting back on track. Her interruptions are not just common place wherever you go, but also unhelpful. I simply did not need her to say anything she ever said, but when it would've been useful she stays silent.

Here's another, more insidious side effect of treating the player like an idiot: When you ask nothing of the player and do all the thinking, all the observing for them, they will stop thinking and observing. Once you start giving me a tutorial on everything, you can never stop, because then I'll be waiting for the next tutorial in vain, rather than stopping to think what I might do next. It's kind of important to recognize this and point it out, because, while newer games are better about this, there will be a time again when AAA devs will try and fail to pander to the most casual audiences possible and give you tutorials on how to move an analog stick. And when that time comes, people will inevitably say "Gosh, remember when we had manuals, where you could just read all the controls instead of being forced into a tutorial?". And uhh... I think I forgot where I was going with this. Anyway!

I want to end this on a positive note. Skyward Sword, for all its flaws, still is the best looking game on the Wii bar none. The combat, while simplistic, feels great. It's blazingly fast, and I had boatloads of fun tearing through hordes of Bokoblins! Link is as acrobatic as ever, able to sprint faster than any other could dodge roll before, and able to kick up ledges and short walls with ease. While it was incredibly difficult to get a good grasp on it at first, after the first few areas I could run and jump all over the place without a sweat.
And catching bugs was fun! I caught so many bugs. Gosh, they should've just made a whole game about catching them. Link's Bug Catching Training.