The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is the upcoming sixteenth installment of the Legend of Zelda series, developed by Nintendo for the Wii. It is currently set to be released in November 20 for North America, and November 18 for Europe of 2011. The game was confirmed to be in the making as early as 2006, and basic information was provided at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in 2010.

The Wii MotionPlus is heavily integrated into the gameplay, which is based heavily on that of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, which was itself based on The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Skyward Sword utilizes graphics similar to, yet more heavily stylized than, the realistic palettes of Twilight Princess. The game's placement in the timeline has been confirmed to surpass Ocarina of Time, previously the chronologically oldest installment of the series.

Plot
Link is a youth born and raised in Skyloft, a land floating above the clouds. Link attends boarding school with Zelda, who is not a princess in this game, as well as a rival who has a crush on Zelda. An adept bird rider, Link wins a bird riding contest held during a festival celebration, and is to receive a prize from Zelda. The two embark on a flight trip; however, a giant tornado suddenly appears and takes Zelda. Link is given the task to rescue her; to aid him on his quest, the villagers provide him with green clothing and the titular Skyward Sword. The sword is "home" to a spirit named Fi who accompanies Link on his quest, providing him with sage advice and more.

Link travels to a world found beneath the clouds, and ventures to the Sky Temple where Zelda is supposedly kept prisoner. Here, he meets the Demon Lord Ghirahim, ruler of the chaotic surface world. His tribe also seeks Zelda, for reasons yet unknown. Thanks to the Skyward Sword, Link is able to defeat Ghirahim, who then makes his escape. Link continues his quest to save Zelda before she is found by Ghirahim's forces.

The Triforce will play some role in the game, though Eiji Aonuma has stated that it "sort of takes on a different meaning and plays a different role in the story". Ganondorf will not appear in Skyward Sword, but the game will touch on the subject of his appearance in Ocarina of Time.

Gameplay
Skyward Sword heavily integrates the use of the Wii MotionPlus; swordplay, for instance, is integrated with the controller to a point where the player has one-to-one motion control over Link's sword and the its attack directions. This allows for the sword to be integrated into puzzles to a greater extent than in previous titles; for instance, defeating a Deku Baba requires that Link deliver a vertical or horizontal sword strike depending on the position of the enemy's mouth.

Other items can also be controlled with the Wii MotionPlus such as bombs, a Slingshot, a Whip, and the new Beetle. Link will be able to upgrade his items using certain treasures or artifacts recovered by defeating enemies; these include his shield and Beetle, Additionally, Link will be able to use Zelda's harp, and playing the harp will involve use of Wii MotionPlus.

A stamina meter will allow for various actions such as sprinting. Unlike earlier installments, the consumption of potions occurs in real-time. The heads-up display will also be adjustable to some degree. Similarly to the Wii version of Twilight Princess, Link will be right-handed to accommodate the majority of gamers, as opposed to his usual left-handedness. It is currently unknown whether or not there will be an option to swap the dominant hand. To travel between the floating islands of Skyloft, Link rides a giant bird. These birds can be summoned from various docks placed around the floating islands. Anyone who jumps off one such dock will be caught in mid-air by a bird, which appear to be based heavily upon the real world Shoebill.

Music
At E3 2010, Shigeru Miyamoto confirmed that Skyward Sword will feature orchestrated music &mdash; a first in the series &mdash; similar to that featured in Super Mario Galaxy 2, and that people on the development team were "looking forward" to orchestrating the score. Eiji Aonuma has confirmed that the game will include both fully orchestrated music and synthesized music.

Development
Rumors of a Legend of Zelda game developed exclusively for the Wii began to arise shortly after the console's launch in 2006. During a private meeting at E3 2007, Eiji Aonuma stated that he would like Zelda Wii, as it was then codenamed, to have a whole new control base for the game and implement one-to-one swordplay. He also said that he would like to make the game to appeal both to the casual and the hardcore gamer. At E3 2008, Shigeru Miyamoto confirmed that the next Zelda game was in development, and later that year, it was reported that development was still in the planning stages, though further information would be revealed at E3 2009. Zelda Wii was absent from E3 2009, though Miyamoto said plans were for a 2010 release, and showcased concept art for the game featuring Link and a then-unknown character eventually revealed to be Fi. Miyamoto further said that plans were to incorporate Wii MotionPlus into gameplay elements such as swordplay and archery. Later that year, Miyamoto stated that the game would not be "that radically different" than past games in the series, despite saying that Twilight Princess would have been "without a doubt, the last Zelda game as you know it in its present form."

At E3 2010, the game's title was revealed along with a trailer showcasing its graphics and control system. Miyamoto revealed that Link's sword would be controlled using the Wii MotionPlus while the shield would be controlled by the Nunchuck. Miyamoto said that development would continue through 2010 for a 2011 release date. Aonuma stated that development on the game started right after The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass was finished and before development of The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks began, and that the game would be directed by Hidemaro Fujibayashi, who was the sub-director for Phantom Hourglass.

In the September 2010 issue of Nintendo Power, Eiji Anouma confirmed that Zelda would appear in the game, and that voice acting would not be present. In late January 2011, it was announced that the game was entering the final stages of completion and will be released after the release of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D.

Release
Skyward Sword is scheduled for release on November 18 and 20 in Europe and North America, respectively. North American limited-edition preorders bundles the game with a gold Wii Remote Plus crafted exclusively for the game. Every copy in the initial production for North America, limited edition or not, will also contain an audio CD of orchestral arrangements of The Legend of Zelda music from the 25th Anniversary Symphony.

Videos
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