How Zelda: Skyward Sword HD Can Make Fi Less Annoying On Switch
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD is Nintendo's chance to improve on the shortcomings of one of its most divisive 3D Zelda games. The HD rerelease will include a button-only control scheme option, which is great for the many players who disliked the motion controls of the original. However, one of fans' other most common complaints was how intrusive companion character Fi could be during gameplay. Nintendo hasn't yet mentioned plans to make Fi less annoying in Skyward Sword HD, but doing so is essential for the rerelease.
Prior to Breath of the Wild, most Zelda games gave Link a partner character to travel alongside him during his quest. While some of these characters, like Twilight Princess' Midna, quickly became fan favorites, Skyward Sword's Fi is one of the most controversial of the bunch. Created by the Goddess Hylia, Fi resides within the Goddess Sword. Her main purpose is to assist Link throughout his quest to protect the land, the Triforce, and the Goddess herself.
Zelda's partner characters have always been a mixed bag, but they've never been quite as obnoxious as Fi. Navi was once the target of countless memes for how annoying she could be, always yelling at the player to listen to her advice, but Fi does the same thing far more frequently. Fi reminds players when their controller batteries are running low or when they're low on health, and she sometimes even gives away the solution to a puzzle. This, coupled with her robotic personality, ended up making many fans find her more annoying than even Ocarina of Time's infamous fairy.
She is an integral portion of the game's story, so Fi can't be cut out without dramatically changing the game. Instead, Nintendo should make Fi function similarly to the codec calls from Metal Gear Solid. These also interrupt players with abrupt NPC dialogue and hints, but they allow people who were genuinely stuck the option to ask where they need to do next. MGS codec calls are particularly beneficial for discovering the weaknesses of various boss encounters, which would translate well to Skyward Sword HD's boss battles.
Skyward Sword does lets players ask Fi for assistance, but she should be updated so that most of the interruptions are optional in the same way. This way, players who want assistance can get it, and those who wish to discover the answers on their own can easily ignore Fi. Fi's random intrusions relating to the already obvious low health and battery life indicators, on the other hand, can be scrapped entirely, since they accomplish little more than insulting the intelligence of the player.
In the original Skyward Sword, Fi is only a pain. But making her less annoying should be one of the easier fixes Nintendo needs to implement for The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD before it releases on the Switch later this year.
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