Yeah, you already knew that.....but I didn't.  I got the game the Wednesday after it came out and I fired it up.  I was quite disappointed.  The graphics looked worse than Twilight Princess.  The controls felt overly complicated.  The narrative was as slow as molasses.  I played the game for a few hours and never touched it again.

Well, my kid has been asking me to play it for weeks now.  I kept putting it off and putting it off.  I tried to distract her with games like Kirby's Epic Yarn, the Gunstringer, and Saints Row the Third (which she beat.  I'm a terrible father!).   Today, there was no saying no.  She wanted me to play it and I was out of excuses.  I put the game in my Wii.  She grabbed her teddy bears and something to drink and I let the torture begin.

Set the picture so that it took up maybe a third of my TV screen so that the shit graphics could be remotely tolerable.  Turned the music up.  It was pretty good, I guess.

I grumbled to myself,  "Goddam Wii.....fucking up my favorite franchise with this motion control crap.....goddam Kikwi.  I gotta find.....three of you.....got a slingshot.....combat isn't toooo bad.....this.....this....IS.....AWESOME!!"  And thus, the game clicked.  And now, a little bit into the first dungeon, it happened.  I got that old Zelda feeling back.  And yet, it feels so new.  So unfamiliar.  Wow.

And as of this typing, I even set the picture back to full screen.  Looking at it doesn't make me want to kill myself!  I thought Nintendo had messed up.  Looks like I was too quick to jump to conclusions.  Just thought I'd share.  And now, back to Zelda!!

This is similar to how I felt about the game. It took me about three hours to get into this game, but I'm enjoying it a lot now. I've not got that far yet though. I'm in the second dungeon atm.

I agree it's a good game and while the controls are usually fine they sometimes cause Link to walk in particular direction without using the Nunchuck. I may have given this game a 96% but it didn't quite deserve it. I guess it get's a 94% from me (much better than a lot of scores I've given to games).

I'm so glad you went back to it D21! I know you were struggling to find that Zelda magic at the beginning, so I guess I should thank your (awesome) daughter for bringing you back.

And yes, Kikwi's are ADORABLE! Kwee!

And let me just tell you D21... you're in for even more treats. I considered Skyview Temple pretty average compared to previous Zelda temples... but thing keep on improving. Your next stop is the Earth Temple, which is once again pretty standard for a Zelda temple (like that's really a bad thing haha).

But once you hit Lanayru Mining Facility. The game punches you in the face with its awesomeness.

I played until now 35 hours, very close to the end. I found an excellent game with no issues related to the supposed backtracking, an excellent use of the motion control, epic bosses and fantastic dungeons. In my opinion the game of the year. I love the stylish graphic and the general feeling and atmosphere, a game also better than OoT.

I love the Elder Kikwi's voice. All the time I'm hearing the little kikwis saying "kew kew* in their tiny high pitched voices.
Then the Elder comes along and it's like "KEWW KEWWW"
LOL

Aside from small issues like making the deal every time you get an item or bug the first time when you restart the game, it was epic all around.

And the game is still not so great until you touch Lanyru.
Then, it goes Skyward.

I agree 100% with that!