The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD

 Switch
User Score
7.3

Mixed or average reviews- based on 700 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 467 out of 700
  2. Mixed: 104 out of 700
  3. Negative: 129 out of 700
Buy Now
Buy on

Review this game

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  1. NinnyMugginz
    Jan 29, 2022
    10
    Maybe the 10 offsets the people giving this a 0 for silly reasons. I especially don’t understand people that dock points for price point, for many people like myself, this was my first chance to play skyward sword as I’m not a huge motion control fan aka the wii. I respect it and the original skyward sword’s popularity, just not for me.

    The stylization of skyward sword is wonderful, the    Maybe the 10 offsets the people giving this a 0 for silly reasons. I especially don’t understand people that dock points for price point, for many people like myself, this was my first chance to play skyward sword as I’m not a huge motion control fan aka the wii. I respect it and the original skyward sword’s popularity, just not for me.

    The stylization of skyward sword is wonderful, the characters are unique and in Zelda fashion. The story, cinematics, and what I thought was as the first real glimpse at romance between link and Zelda was cute. I truly enjoyed and had a great experience overall.

    My only major complaint, which did take a few hours of gameplay to finally become used to, the action controls. I do wish it was standard hack n slash like most Zeldas. The directional attack using R is a cool way to mirror the original’s combat style, but I would have loved an option to rework the mechanics for standard buttons for slicing. You eventually become used it, and it did grow on me, but being able to switch would be amazing.    … Expand
  2. FanFreak777
    Jan 29, 2022
    10
    The game has been improved graphically and it shows a lot, especially for those of us who played it in 2011. Like all Zelda games, it's a must-buy whether you're a fan of the saga or even more so if you've never played it.
  3. thryce3
    Jan 23, 2022
    9
    I played (and loved) the original when it came out 10 years ago so I'm in the sweet spot of having nostalgia and being far enough removed that it's still fresh. I had forgotten just how clever some of the level design is and how it's reused and repurposed at different times. It looks as beautiful as I remember. The dreamy watercolor aesthetic just works and doesn't look aged at all withI played (and loved) the original when it came out 10 years ago so I'm in the sweet spot of having nostalgia and being far enough removed that it's still fresh. I had forgotten just how clever some of the level design is and how it's reused and repurposed at different times. It looks as beautiful as I remember. The dreamy watercolor aesthetic just works and doesn't look aged at all with the slight HD upgrade. Of course the music is amazing as ever.
    When I played the original, I thought the motion controls were really innovative if not entirely necessary. It was certainly the best use of the technology in a big budget conventional style game. That said, no one (myself included) was disappointed that the trend didn't continue. When I started HD, I went back and forth with the control scheme, but fairly quickly settled into button control for the majority. The motion controls work well for combat, but it gets tiring pretty quick. Not that it's physically demanding, but when you want to unwind with a video game, you don't want sit in a certain position and always worry about your hands. The button controls give the same effect of directional swinging and let you sit back and relax. I would actually like to see them implemented in a future game.
    Having the control option easily makes this the best version of and already great game. Oddly enough, it makes me understand the frustration many had with the original. It would be cool if they could have a third hybrid option where only combat is motion control. Flying and using the beetle were always clunky on the Wii. Skyward Sword has all the things that make Zelda great: Story, characters, gameplay, dungeons and some terrific boss fights. There's no excuse now to not play this game.    … Expand
  4. Spagh8tti
    Jan 21, 2022
    7
    There are some things I like, such as the atmosphere, the characters... I guess, but there are also some things I really don't like about this game, one of them being the thing that ruins this game for me, the controls, the motion controls make this game tedious and I also really don't like the button controls either, having to do the same boss 3 different times all of them being prettyThere are some things I like, such as the atmosphere, the characters... I guess, but there are also some things I really don't like about this game, one of them being the thing that ruins this game for me, the controls, the motion controls make this game tedious and I also really don't like the button controls either, having to do the same boss 3 different times all of them being pretty much the same thing is also pretty lame, there are other things I like and things I don't but I don't really feel like writing them out, the game is OK.… Expand
  5. swerzylicious
    Jan 11, 2022
    8
    Все хорошее, что было в игре, испорчено водным уровнем с неудобным управлением, где нужно собирать всякую фигню. И финальным боссом, который как бы говорит «ты старался зря, вся твоя прокачка меча ничего не значит, ты просто червь».Все хорошее, что было в игре, испорчено водным уровнем с неудобным управлением, где нужно собирать всякую фигню. И финальным боссом, который как бы говорит «ты старался зря, вся твоя прокачка меча ничего не значит, ты просто червь».
  6. njanjayrp
    Dec 31, 2021
    0
    Absolute piece of garbage. The game’s controls are very clunky and messed up. This time around they decided to make Link re-do stuff like mad and that includes repeating super annoying boss battles until
    You literally want to smash your controller because most of the time you are going to end up in lava as the game simply did not undergo any quality assurance. The more you play the more    Absolute piece of garbage. The game’s controls are very clunky and messed up. This time around they decided to make Link re-do stuff like mad and that includes repeating super annoying boss battles until
    You literally want to smash your controller because most of the time you are going to end up in lava as the game simply did not undergo any quality assurance. The more you play the more frustrating it gets not because of the difficulty l, but due to the fact that the game is simply bad. Don’t be fooled there are really good Zelda games out there, Skyward Sword simply isn’t one.    … Expand
  7. SamL01
    Dec 14, 2021
    10
    Great game! I didn’t play the original but I think this is a great Zelda game

    The controls are unusual but personally I find it a fun way of playing the game (using a pro controller) The music is excellent! The story is enjoyable and the scenery is classic Zelda style, if you haven’t played it then give it a go!
  8. mr-ruukasu
    Dec 5, 2021
    6
    Nice beginning, then after completing all dungeons you backtrack to them again and again, story drags for too long, you doing the same things, but in different places. Flying mechanic could be used more, not just for going from place to place. There is no real challenge, bosses are easy and other enemies non-existent. Some puzzles are nice, some just over complicated. Controls are ok, butNice beginning, then after completing all dungeons you backtrack to them again and again, story drags for too long, you doing the same things, but in different places. Flying mechanic could be used more, not just for going from place to place. There is no real challenge, bosses are easy and other enemies non-existent. Some puzzles are nice, some just over complicated. Controls are ok, but not great (played on lite). Music is great, like in every Zelda game. Overall you can skip this one and just watch youtube movie to know the story.… Expand
  9. Jose0812
    Dec 3, 2021
    0
    Porqueria de juego y plataforma Denotando una vez más que Nintendo es una compañía aferrada a sus tiempo de gloria en los 90’s sacando contenido para niños de 5 años a lo mucho y siento que me paso en el rango de edades.
  10. Fido
    Nov 26, 2021
    0
    This game is joke, controls awful, i can't play this without hurting my hands or my devices. Level design i o primitive linear claustrophobic behind only first good location sky town, where game is start. Farther you go - more and more primitive and ugly location designs you'l see.
  11. Stupidzelda
    Nov 23, 2021
    0
    This game is so stupid.My bf prefers to play Zelda than to spend time together.Please delete it and save my relationship.He actually became a zombie and he became so dump.Also the graphics are very ugly.You should fire your 3D artist. Have a nice day.
  12. ReaperOfCrows
    Nov 21, 2021
    0
    It's almost impossible to believe this game came from the same studio as Breath of the Wild, and the older Zelda games. It's the absolute opposite in terms of quality and breadth of content. All this talk about how Skyward Sword HD fixes everything and makes it a truly amazing game is mind-blowing, almost as much as this game getting good critical reviews even on the original version!

    -    It's almost impossible to believe this game came from the same studio as Breath of the Wild, and the older Zelda games. It's the absolute opposite in terms of quality and breadth of content. All this talk about how Skyward Sword HD fixes everything and makes it a truly amazing game is mind-blowing, almost as much as this game getting good critical reviews even on the original version!

    - Yes, the motion controls are terrible. I played maybe half way through the game with them before switching to a pro controller. There's a novelty to them, a small spark of joy from mimicking the action in the game, that quickly wears off after doing the same action 2 or 3 times. The sheer unwieldy inaccuracy of them is such a slight against every minute of gameplay it's crazy to think they thought this is how they should ship the game. The fervor around motion controls must have been so high during this time in the studio.

    - The motion controls are only a small fraction of the problems this game has though. And the alternate controls, while better, are still clunky enough to put them below any of the other games in the series.

    - Backtracking, padding, and repetition. Backtracking, padding, and repetition. Backtracking. Padding. Repetition. AHHHH! There are three small zones to explore in the entire game basically. And you explore not once, not twice, not three times, but four times! At least! They shuffle some rocks around and say, "Hey! Doesn't this feel like a whole new area?" No. No it doesn't. You fight the same main boss at least three times, in the same arena, only getting another annoying gimmick each time. And spinning your stick around to perform an action is cute the first 5 times. But it just makes every movement through the world tedious after 20 hours.

    - The **** underwater stuff, especially the tadpole minigame, is just the valley of bad game design. Everyone has always hated underwater levels, so they decided to make one of the biggest most tedious ones possible for their game. Why?

    This whole experience has made me wonder if reviewers actually played through the game, or just wrote a review based on what they thought fans wanted hear about a Zelda title. I'm just dumbfounded.    … Expand
  13. Aldro
    Nov 17, 2021
    0
    El juego esta diseñado para jugarlo con controles con sensores de movimiento. Jugando asi los controles son muy imprecisos y resulta muy frustrante jugar asi. Los controles con el mando convencional estan fatal adaptados. Es muy incomodo el manejo de la camara o el uso de los diferentes objetos. Muchas veces para sacar el arma tenia que aporrear varias veces el Joystick R y acababaEl juego esta diseñado para jugarlo con controles con sensores de movimiento. Jugando asi los controles son muy imprecisos y resulta muy frustrante jugar asi. Los controles con el mando convencional estan fatal adaptados. Es muy incomodo el manejo de la camara o el uso de los diferentes objetos. Muchas veces para sacar el arma tenia que aporrear varias veces el Joystick R y acababa recibiendo daño porque Link no atacaba. Con el uso de los objetos pasa igual. Me he pasado el juego entero y me sigue pareciendo incomodisimos los controles. La historia es aburrido y sencilla. Los enemigos son pocos y se repiten mucho. Los escenarios son pocos y la historia te obliga a pasar por los mismos sitios una y otra vez. Las misiones secundarias son aburridas. El juego es largo porque has de ir a los mismos escenarios 3 veces. El peor zelda que he jugado. Me ha resultado una tortura larga y horrible acabado. Le doy un 0 porque no se puede dar negativo. Porque costando esto 60 euros me parece una estafa.… Expand
  14. JoeyPL5
    Nov 16, 2021
    8
    It's sad how a really charming game with a beautiful soundtrack, incredibly memorable story moments, and unbelievable dungeons had to drag on so long with actual tedious garbage that made me feel like Nintendo doesn't respect my time.
  15. di_sanchezs
    Nov 14, 2021
    10
    Excelente
    Una mejora correcta respecto al de wii. Podria si haber sido mas economico
  16. bhappenstance
    Nov 12, 2021
    2
    One's enjoyment of SS is almost entirely dependent on how well you adapt to the motion controls. The JoyCons may be a slight improvement over the Wii controllers, but they still constantly slip out of synch with the screen, making it all the more difficult to make precision swings. This becomes an increasingly aggravating burden as the game proceeds. In other words, the controls justOne's enjoyment of SS is almost entirely dependent on how well you adapt to the motion controls. The JoyCons may be a slight improvement over the Wii controllers, but they still constantly slip out of synch with the screen, making it all the more difficult to make precision swings. This becomes an increasingly aggravating burden as the game proceeds. In other words, the controls just *don't* really work. And if the controls don't work, nothing else really matters.… Expand
  17. greenwood101
    Nov 10, 2021
    10
    Goated!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  18. Rick_Opinion
    Nov 8, 2021
    8
    El juego es bueno y tiene cosas que me agradaron mucho, como la historia y el Gameplay.
    Pero A MI, hay veces donde el juego se me hacía tedioso (como en el rastreador)

    Y en cuanto al Remaster en si, da la talla.
    Todo a 1080p, arreglaron algunos modelos de personajes, aunque tampoco es que sea el Remaster con la mejora más grande, pero está Bien
  19. matthewissound
    Nov 7, 2021
    3
    I'm not a longtime Zelda fan. I beat Link to the Past, Link's Awakening, and Breath of the Wild; I thought maybe this franchise couldn't lose. I read the reviews and thought "surely the motion controls aren't that bad." This game sucks. They went *all* in on motion control; every puzzle, every boss fight, every tool is about motion control. It would be one thing if they worked well, butI'm not a longtime Zelda fan. I beat Link to the Past, Link's Awakening, and Breath of the Wild; I thought maybe this franchise couldn't lose. I read the reviews and thought "surely the motion controls aren't that bad." This game sucks. They went *all* in on motion control; every puzzle, every boss fight, every tool is about motion control. It would be one thing if they worked well, but maybe 30% of the time the controls do what I was trying to do with them. It's so frustrating to know what you need to do, to try what you need to do, and have the game do something else entirely. If this had been my introduction to the Zelda franchise, I'd never play one of their games again.

    To be fair, I'm not going to give it 0. It's a nice world and a lot of what made Breath of the Wild cool is there. But this is the failed game that helped them learn their lesson for BotW. Would not recommend.    … Expand
  20. tgk333
    Nov 7, 2021
    0
    It legitimately makes me feel sick just thinking about it.
    I don't think i've had a more frustrating gaming experience in my life.
    And the frustration continues... seeing people talk about it being "the best in the series" makes me want to burn myself alive.
  21. Piperosvalencac
    Nov 6, 2021
    10
    Great port, great memories =) if you never played this game before, go! controls feel so good, FPS and graphics improve a lot too
  22. Johnny_evil2101
    Oct 27, 2021
    0
    10 years later, a full prize remaster. Still no left handed motion controls.
  23. luisflopez
    Oct 25, 2021
    10
    I loved Skyward Sword back in its day. Going into this remaster after so much time, I was afraid I might finally see what everybody sees to keep calling this the worst 3D Zelda game. But nope, I still love it, maybe even more than before.

    1080p resolution, 60fps and the removal of excess explanations and interruptions make this a massive upgrade over the original Wii release. Seriously,    I loved Skyward Sword back in its day. Going into this remaster after so much time, I was afraid I might finally see what everybody sees to keep calling this the worst 3D Zelda game. But nope, I still love it, maybe even more than before.

    1080p resolution, 60fps and the removal of excess explanations and interruptions make this a massive upgrade over the original Wii release. Seriously, this remaster looks downright better than Breath of the Wild.

    As for the game itself, motion controls are creative, easy to pick up and fun (and people who complain about them probably aren't even capable of using a fork and a knife to eat), dungeons are brilliant, I seriously can't get enough of the art style, and the story is pretty enjoyable and provides some cool explanations on the series' lore. Skyward Sword is just plain fun, a lot of fun in fact. And this is clearly the superior way to experience it.

    Score: 9.5
    -    … Expand
  24. Diellm
    Oct 21, 2021
    3
    boring and with bad controls,empty game few enemies, very easy, boss fight mediocre
  25. mtkf
    Oct 18, 2021
    5
    Horrible controls! Even with the upgrades I could never get used to them by the time I finished the game. The story is okay, music is a bit bland for a Zelda game. The controls really ruin the game and I'm glad I finally finished it so I can resell it. Not worth $60.
  26. Coolpen6
    Oct 17, 2021
    2
    The awful controls and very slow opening killed the experience for me the button controls are not really used all that well and the first few hours are a complete bore with tons of tedious fetch quests and backtracking
  27. Yohny
    Oct 11, 2021
    9
    Great game, often undervalued. Gameplay wise it can't be compared to BOTW - but the storyline is possibly even better.
  28. Timeflies164
    Oct 10, 2021
    8
    They made some nice quality of life improvements to this game. This is a very good Zelda game!
  29. jaythph2021
    Oct 9, 2021
    9
    After you get used to them the controls are fine. My only problem with the game is the pacing -- it's not perfect. Other than that, Skyward Sword HD is SUCH an epic adventure. The dungeons are memorable. The story is at times quite touching. Visually it looks great. The music is top-tier, of course, as we have come to expect from Zelda titles. Overall, Skyward Sword HD, while not the bestAfter you get used to them the controls are fine. My only problem with the game is the pacing -- it's not perfect. Other than that, Skyward Sword HD is SUCH an epic adventure. The dungeons are memorable. The story is at times quite touching. Visually it looks great. The music is top-tier, of course, as we have come to expect from Zelda titles. Overall, Skyward Sword HD, while not the best Zelda game, is still a master class in RPG adventuring.… Expand
  30. sex69
    Oct 9, 2021
    10
    It's fun. Because the play time is very long, it is excellent as an open world RPG action game, and there are many various mini-games, so it is fun.
Page:

Awards & Rankings

56
#56 Best Switch Game of 2021
4
#4 Most Discussed Switch Game of 2021

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
81

Generally favorable reviews - based on 106 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 89 out of 106
  2. Mixed: 16 out of 106
  3. Negative: 1 out of 106
  1. Gamersky
    Dec 20, 2021
    77
    The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD on NS brought this once masterpiece back to the player's vision. However, its crappy control and a somewhat old-fashioned design make it seem less attractive nowadays.
    Read full review
  2. RPGamer
    Nov 22, 2021
    70
    Skyward Sword HD should be commended for its attempt to improve on the original. Having a new control scheme and making a good deal of Fi’s advice optional make it a more palatable experience. However, the game still suffers from pacing issues that made the original feel too bloated as well as a disappointing deemphasis on exploration. This remaster could have realistically improved upon a lot, yet it would still fall short compared to the series’ strongest entries. There is still enough for those looking for a more traditional 3D Zelda experience on the Switch provided they keep their expectations in check.
    Read full review
  3. JeuxActu
    Oct 16, 2021
    65
    Yes the picture is sharper, yes the game is smoother (60fps), yes there have been some improvements to make the adventure more enjoyable, but damn the gameplay has taken a hell of a beating in the back of the head. It was already painful in 2011, it is even more 10 years later, and it is not the tinkering in classic controls that will sublimate the gameplay of this Zelda : Skyward Sword HD.
    Read full review
See all critic reviews »