A story and a tangible sense of place: "BOTW" is a monstrous game, filled with lore. There's a reason why Internet essayists, like the YouTube channel Zeltik, have created dozens of videos peering into the mysteries of a post-apocalypse Hyrule. The "Zonai Tribe" doesn't even factor into its main game, and is barely named, but seems to be central to the series history. "Skyward Sword" is far less subtle about its story, and many will miss it. While I personally appreciate a more mise-en-scène approach to video game storytelling, the characters and cinematic framing of "Skyward Sword" is undeniably charming.

"Skyward Sword" is, on the whole, clumsy and unstylish. For every one great design (several of the boss fights stand out in particular) there are 10 that feel like bargain bin imitations. But there are moments of real majesty and charm scattered throughout. If you squint, beyond the basic "hero saves world" narrative, "Skyward Sword" is a story about reclaiming nature and restoring peace; about revisiting and reconnecting with the past; it is about camaraderie -- and sealing away cursed spirits. After playing, I would catch myself humming along to themes from the game's score.

If you choose to play with motion controls, you mostly bypass these issues. When, I swapped from handheld to motion controls, I was overjoyed to find that the right joystick worked as I expected: move it, and the camera adjusts accordingly. That said, this configuration isn't without its own issues. The Joy Con controllers have a gyroscope that is extremely sensitive to movement. I played on the couch, and any time I entered a screen in which the Joy Con would manipulate a cursor on screen -- in a map or menu, for example -- the game would respond to any minor seating adjustments I had made by sending the cursor veering off-target.

This year marks the 35th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda, and Nintendo naturally has a few things planned. There's no word on the Breath of the Wild sequel yet, but Nintendo is releasing The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD for the Switch on July 16th. As the title gives away, it's been remastered in HD, and Nintendo has totally revamped the control scheme, as well. The original game was designed for the Wii and relied extensively on motion controls that Nintendo recreated with the Switch's Joy-Con controllers. But for those using a Switch Lite (or people who just don't want to deal with the finicky nature of motion control), Nintendo remapped the controls to the Switch's standard control scheme.