Nintendo Fans Hate New The Legend Of Zelda: Skyward Sword Toy
Nintendo promised to celebrate The Legend of Zelda in style in 2021, and with The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD coming out to honour the franchise's 35th anniversary, we're off to a "flying" start. The beloved 2011 game is being brought over from the Wii and given a remastered revamp for the Nintendo Switch. Although there's sure to be a lot of love for Skyward Sword HD, fans are less than impressed by the upcoming release of a tie-in amiibo.
For those asking what on Earth an amiibo is, they're Nintendo's way of getting players to part with their cash and have something that actually has some in-game functionality. Amiibos are adorable statuettes, that when tapped with a specific game, can add characters, abilities, or bonuses to your game. Everything from Detective Pikachu to Dark Souls has compatible amiibos, with even The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess having its own amiibos. Unfortunately, the latest release is accused of locking gamers behind a paywall.
Why do fans hate The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword toy?
As the glossy trailer above shows, the use of the Zelda and Loftwing amiibo allows you to quickly traverse between the ground and sky. In the game's original release, you had to head to specific points of the map to switch between the two domains. Better yet, you can even soar above the clouds when Link is inside a dungeon. It's a pretty handy feature that should completely change the way you play Skyward Sword. The problem is, not everyone will be able to make use of this.
Instead of instant sky to ground travel being a standardised function, it's only available to those who buy the Zelda and Loftwing amiibo. It didn't take players long to pick up on this annoying flaw and share their anger on social media. One disgruntled gamer wrote, "The amiibo is beautiful and a nice addition to the Zelda collection, but this really should have been a normal feature of the remaster. Even if you own the amiibo, this will be highly unpractical. What are you doing, Nintendo?" Another added, "So you are really hiding a QoL function behind a amiibo? Just how greedy can you get @NintendoEurope".
Namely, there are complaints that Nintendo has once again seen the dollar signs in its eyes and not thought about what fans actually want. While Skyward Sword has the potential to be a massive hit for the Switch - in the vein of Super Mario 3D All-Stars - the game's campaign isn't off to a great start. The Skyward Sword-themed Joy-Cons have gone down a storm, but the amiibo has been much less of a success.
In terms of Zelda releases this year, there have also been complaints Skyward Sword HD simply isn't enough. We've all heard the persistent rumours of a "classics" collection that could bring fan-favourites Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask to a new generation, but at the time of writing, it hasn't been confirmed. Added to this, there are still questions about where Breath of the Wild 2 is. With E3 just around the corner, expect Nintendo to have a big presence at the expo and hopefully deliver us some more good Zelda news. In the meantime, it's up to you to decide if you want to shell out on the Skyward Sword amiibo or be stuck on the ground when the game releases.
Images via Nintendo
