The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (ゼルダの伝説 スカイウォードソード, Zeruda no Densetsu: Sukaiwōdo Sōdo) is an action-adventure game for the Wii console and the sixteenth entry in the Legend of Zelda series. Nearly 5 years in development, the Skyward Sword departs from many of the traditional Zelda norms, featuring new controls, a new art style, and formula differences. Skyward Sword requires either the Wii MotionPlus add on or a Wii Remote Plus.

Skyward Sword heavily integrates the use of the Wii MotionPlus; swordplay, for instance, is integrated with the controller to a point where the player has one-to-one motion control over Link's sword and its attack directions. In contrast to earlier installments, battles do not focus solely on timing attacks, but also on their target, such as the direction in which enemies are hit. This also allows for the sword to be integrated into puzzles to a greater extent than in previous titles.

Wii MotionPlus
Skyward Sword requires the Wii MotionPlus add-on. Dolphin is currently not capable of emulating the Wii MotionPlus; the only way for official Dolphin builds to play this game is to use a real, physical Wii remote with Wii MotionPlus. See.


 * Recent Wii Remote Plus models do not pair with Dolphin when using the MS bluetooth stack, the default bluetooth stack on Windows. To pair these Wiimote Pluses with Dolphin under Windows requires the Toshiba Bluetooth Stack. See the Wii Remote Plus (RVL-CNT-01-TR) Connection Guide for instructions.


 * Unofficial builds with Wii MotionPlus emulation are available. However, they require highly complex configuration and constant adjustment; and even then they are extremely difficult to play, with many sections of the game impossible to clear. See the forum for details.

Crash on Silent Realm Trial
After, when entering one of the 3 trials in Zelda SS dolphin will crash. Using the OpenGL backend seems to prevent this from happening. See.

Wii Remote Calibration
The Wiimote will easily lose calibration during swordplay and other rapid movements. There is no true fix for this, but pressing Down on the Wiimote's Dpad will quickly calibrate it (preferably in a menu, but calling Fi will fix it as well). The Toshiba Stack has little if any problem with this issue, though it does occur when loading a save state in which the Wiimote's accelerometer/IR functions are used (e.g. saving a state while flying with the Beetle and loading it). See.

Banding
Banding may be present in shading on characters and surroundings. To fix it, turn on "Force Texture Filtering".

Half of Link
When some time stone effects are on screen and in the Pirate Stronghold, Link may appear cut in half, with the floor going through part of him as if he is sinking. This only occurs with EFB to Texture, so use EFB to Ram in those sections to avoid the problem. See.
 * If you are using any builds from to, use Direct3D9 to avoid this problem. If you are using any build prior to , Direct3D9 or OpenGL will work.

OpenGL SSAA
If using SSAA with OpenGL, either through Dolphin or an external system like the nvidia control panel, it will have severe graphics distortions. This only occurs when Format Changes are emulated, and this is forced in the GameINI, so the graphics will appeared glitched then go away upon opening graphics settings. You could alter the INI or use that trick to turn on "Ignore Format Changes" and get around it, but without format change emulation many objects, such as flowers, grass, banners, etc will never appear. Other forms of OpenGL anti-aliasing are unaffected. See.

OpenGL Horizontal Black Line
Black line appears when the Internal Resolution is set to "Auto (Window Size)" in OpenGL backend, appearing above the lower right quadrant of the screen. Use a D3D11, or OpenGL with other Internal Resolutions to avoid this problem. See.

Pellets/Arrows Aim
Enabling "Skip EFB Access from CPU" can prevent you from aiming properly.

Sword Missing
If "Cache Display Lists" is enabled, Link's sword's blade may disappear. Do not enable "Cache Display Lists" to prevent the problem from occurring.
 * If you want to use cache display lists, there is a method that allows it to be on while keeping the sword. First, make sure "Cache Display Lists" is not checked, then load the game. Pull out the sword, then go into the graphics options and enable the "Cache Display Lists". The sword will remain, even after putting away the sword or traveling to other areas. It appears to hold even after resetting emulation. It may however give out at some point, and require a repeat of this procedure.