Nintendo (YouTube)

The preponderance of Skyward Sword references could also be Nintendo attempting to better fit Breath of the Wild into the Legend of Zelda timeline. Currently, BotW’s developers have said the game takes place after all the previous titles. However, they did not specify where exactly BotW falls in the three divergent timelines (Zelda lore is complicated okay). With all that Skyward Sword flavor, maybe Nintendo is more strongly confirming where BotW slots into Zelda’s timeline. It could even be a retcon, instead taking place sometime immediately before or after Skyward Sword itself.

Finally, in addition to Nintendo getting Skyward Sword chocolate in my Breath of the Wild peanut butter, there’s also the fact Nintendo’s re-releasing Skyward Sword itself. The HD remaster fixes a number of the original game’s issues. Players can now choose to play Skyward Sword without motion controls. And those who choose to keep them, can enjoy the improvements Nintendo’s made to the Joy-Cons. And while some fans are annoyed that fast travel is locked to the additional purchase of a special edition Amiibo, hopefully there are other quality of life improvements (like streamlining the tutorial experience) that will better endear fans to the original.

Frustrating controls aside, Skyward Sword is a great game. Its reputation as one of the worst Zelda’s is wholly undeserved. Ghirahim is an interesting enemy, there’s fabulous character progression in Groose, Skyward Sword’s bully-turned-indispensable-ally, and despite popular sentiment that Fi is annoying, I love her. I know BotW 2 probably won’t expressly relitigate Skyward Sword’s place in the Zelda series, but I hope that with all its flavor in BotW 2 and the imminent HD re-release, people will finally think more kindly of it.

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