E3: The Legend of Zelda: The Skyward Sword

Reggie Fils-Aime kicked off Nintendo’s show with the main thing everyone wanted to see: Zelda on Wii. Arriving in 2011, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword looked absolutely gorgeous. The video began with a number of Link incarnations spanning the years before settling on the new Link. Falling between the super cartoony look of Wind Waker and the more realistic depiction found in Twilight Sword, new Link is accurately proportioned but remains bright and colorful.

The biggest revelation about Skyward Sword would have to be its use of Wii Motion-Plus. After taking stage with a clever video segment, Shigeru Miyamoto set forth demonstrating the new Zelda in action. Like Twilight Princess the Wiimote itself is used for sword play, but the main new difference is the Nunchuck’s new usage as your shield control. Miyamoto demoed Link’s ability to deflect enemy attacks and even send projectiles back where they came from. He then went on to show several items including a new whip and a beetle that Link can pilot to explore areas or retrieve objects with. There were a few technical issues when Miyamoto broke out the bow and arrow, but he assured the crowd when they got their hands on the demo they’d see it was a fluke. Overall the game looked very pretty and delivered on the trademark Zelda charm.