TGO Daily | Thursday July 15, 2021 | Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD Review Roundup
In the news: A review roundup for Skyward Sword, Google Stadia is shaking up its system some, and NBA 2K22 receives a release date.
TGO Daily | Thursday July 15, 2021
✏️ From the Author
The finale of Loki was posted to Disney+ yesterday, and we just finished watching it!
I highly recommend the show if you’re a fan of all the Marvel stuff. They’ve been killing it on Disney+ so far.
Until next time,
Brandon
Review Roundup: Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD
The remake of Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is officially coming out on the Nintendo Switch on Friday. The reviews have started to pour in on first impressions of the game, so let’s take a look at what critics are saying.
The remake puts us back in the boots as Link, as he travels between worlds above the clouds as he searches for Zelda. Skyward Sword is the very first game on the official timeline, set in a time generations before the Kingdom of Hyrule is even created.
The game is currently sitting at an 83/100, with 88% of critics recommending it on OpenCritic. Let’s go over the pros and cons that critics observed.
Pros:
There is an incredible amount of praise from critics in regards to the dungeons. The depth of them, the look, and the puzzles/challenges were a big talking point with most critics.
There was also praise for some smaller, but noticeable, changes. One being the ability to summon your talking sword, Fi, for help when you’re stuck and also the sword interrupting you less. No ‘hey, listen!’ this time! The ability to skip cutscenes now was another small, but appreciated, change.
Cons:
While some critics appreciated being able to play the game without motion controls, there were some who didn’t like the camera controls with the controller. To move the camera is ZL (as attacking is via the right thumbstick) and to free-aim is L+right thumbstick. Because of this, some critics found the controls a bit befuddling to use.
Some critics also found the main storyline linear. With the areas between the dungeons feeling empty and sometimes repetitive.
Overall, the game seems like a faithful remake of one of the more underdog Zelda titles. Josh West of GamesRadar sums up the game rather well:
“Skyward Sword HD gives one of the most misunderstood Legend of Zelda games a second chance. It's an under-appreciated gem, one that finds the space to really breathe with a more reliable and relaxing method of control embedded within it. Skyward Sword has its fair share of problems, but it makes up for many of them in moments of true brilliance and defiance against established series conventions. Say what you will about Skyward Sword, but it's good to be out on an authored adventure with Link again – saving Hyrule one inventive dungeon and challenging boss battle at a time.”
Google Stadia Giving Developers Pay Based on Playtime
During the Stadia Keynote at the Google for Games Developer Summit, Google announced new initiatives they say are aimed at “maximizing the return” game developers see from their Stadia titles.
One initiative, starting this month, has Google pledging 70% of Stadia Pro’s revenue to game developers that offer their games up as freebies on Stadia Pro. The pay is specifically based on sessions played by a player. Google defines this as a player logging in once per day - meaning if a player plays the game five times over the course of two days, it counts as two sessions. This would then mean developers would receive larger payouts from players who log in multiple days at a time.
The other big initiative is Google adding ‘Click-to-Play’ affiliate links to games. With this, when a free trial user use the affiliate link to switch to a Pro user, Google pledges to pay $10 per player that uses the link to the developer. The caveat to this payout is the developer will need to generate $500 USD in usage of the link before it’ll start to pay out. This change won’t happen until the first half of 2022.
Brandon’s Thoughts: Google’s idea here is simple enough and makes sense - they’re trying to generate more revenue through the Stadia Pro subscription, and they do this through incentivizing players and devs with these methods. The more devs they get to agree to put their game for free on Pro, the more likely they are to get subscribers due to a more robust library of games.
The problem comes with how a session pays out. A wonderful narrative game like What Remains of Edith Finch would get little to no payout in this type of service, as the game is short enough to beaten in a day or two. This could encourage devs to create a reason to log in daily to their game, which means games as a live-service or with bloated daily challenges/rewards are more likely to payout more - which in turn may lead to a less diverse library of games on the service.
NBA 2K22 Receives Release Date
The latest NBA title will be arriving on September 10, 2021, with the standard edition of the game priced at $59.99 USD for PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC, and $69.99 USD for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. In a similar fashion to the upcoming FIFA 22, you’ll need to get a special edition in order to play the game on both previous and new gen of consoles.
With the multiple editions of the game, each one will have its own unique cover art depicting a different basketball player. One notably featuring Candace Parker, the first female to ever be featured on an NBA 2K title cover.
2K stated that in the coming weeks we’ll see first-look at actual game features. They also said that the title will include, “[The] best-in-class visual presentation and player AI, historic teams, and a wide variety of hoops experiences.”
🔦 Article Spotlight
Museum obtains rare demo of id Software’s Super Mario Bros. 3 PC port | Ars Technica
An interesting article on the finding of an old, and rare, demo of Super Mario Bros 3. It’s interesting to see the difference in the demo and, frankly, just seeing how old it looks really gives you a nostalgia kick.
💡 Read More
Battlefield 2042 PC and console cross-play detailed. PC, PS 5 and Xbox Series X/S owners will all be able to play together, with the option to opt-out of mixing PC and console groups.
Tactical FPS World War 3 returns with a development update. While we still don’t have a release date for the shooter, Farm 51 discusses some of the improvements they’re making.
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Thanks for the read <3