Motion Controls
-
-
@Kernal Take this with a grain of salt because its been a long time. I genuinely didn't have a problem with Skyward Sword, I see videos of people just having nothing they do work but everything functioned seemingly fine for me. Since they did work for me it doesn't seem forced but I'm apparently the minority here.
Wii sports was a blast to play when it came out and I don't think that's forced since its concept itself is very motion control friendly. if your looking for like a serious gaming experience though I'd rather it just not be a thing.
-
@FroMan36 from what I remember with Skyward Sword, the controls were reliable about 90% of the time. It was just the 10% that they were annoying, and that the game didn't account for. They also worked better if you were making smaller movements, rather than larger ones. Someone getting more into the game, swinging the controller around wildly, is going to confuse it rather than a small, straight motion.
Wii Sports works well for what it is, but it's just extremely simple. The motion controls work well because they have to support a very simple concept. They showcase the potential of motion controls, but it really took until a game like Skyward Sword to actually put them into practice.
Speaking of Wii Sports, the Swordplay mode in Wii Sports Resort takes the concept of sword-centric combat with a Wii Remote and utilizes it well, maybe even better than Skyward Sword. Since the game treats most swings as either vertical or horizontal swings, there's much less room for error.
-
Nerrel, a really good video essayist, recently did a video on this very topic that I thought was really insightful and well-argued.
Generally speaking, the benefits of precise gyroscopic control tend to be overlooked in the face of more gimmicky "make a big exaggerated movement to do a thing on screen" controls, unfortunately.
I was one of the few who had no technical issues with Skyward Sword's controls, but I still would rather not see them return. It made a lot of fights feel kinda samey in that you just needed to figure out an angle and then attack with that angle. Except sometimes trying to reposition for that angle would trigger an attack because you were moving too quickly, because, well, you're in a fight! Not the greatest innovation Zelda has ever seen, that's for sure.
-
I really liked the bowshooting in Skyward Sword. That's all - I don't think there's anything more you could do with that gimmick. Which is a rather harsh statement, but despite having a great time on the Wii back in my childhood, I still get nightmares just thinking about the frantic sword motions I made in SS because it just did not respond properly.
-
wii sports resort
Well I mean that was about the only game where I could stand motion controls.
Occasionally I think I hate motion controls for the same reasons my older brother (who grew up on 2D games and the cusp of 3D gaming) can't stand triple AAA action games---not because of the gameplay quality, but because of how disorienting it is. I like having a controller, sitting on my plump well-toned ass and hitting buttons. Any motion control (Skyward Sword being the worst offender) requires me to flail around in an imprecise way to get a precise reaction and it just never seems to work fully to my satisfaction. In the heat of the moment I just get frustrated.
Motion controls are a good novelty but I can't stand them and I sincerely hope they die soon EXCEPT for sports games. I mean the bow game on Sports Resort was super responsive. I could literally play a whole 40 hour game that does nothing but use that bow concept. Very tight, very fun. Aside from that, I liked No More Heroes for using motion controls sparingly and without calling for the kind of precision that utterly screwed up my experience on Skyward Sword.
-
This is coming from a guy who was raised on motion controls so take it with a grain of salt.
Wii sports was a blast when it came out, but when I played it recently with a friend it just became a wagglefest.
Wii sports resort was better, even though the best strategy for the sword game was to find an opening and then waggle until the opponent died. Some of the other minigames were good, archery, table tennis, and bowling required actual thought. (at least as far as I remember)
Even though it isn't a deep experience, just shaking a controller as fast as you can in a Mario Party minigame can be really fun with some friends.
If I were to point to a game where motion controls actually feel good and benefit the game, it would have to be Beat Saber. It's a vr rhythm game in which you have to slice blocks in certain directions to the beat. It also has a big community constantly making new songs. The motion controls in it feel natural, not only because they are responsive, but because the best songs are designed to feel natural to play along to, kind of like some sort of dance.
So yeah, I think for modern day gaming the best place for motion controls to go is to vr. It can add to the immersion, and can be used in interesting ways. For console games, I think it is more on a game to game basis on how I feel.
-
I think that motion controls belong when games are based around them (and they function properly obviously), like in Punch Out for Wii, Wii Sports (resort), and so forth. But games like Pokemon Let's Go forcing you to "throw" the Pokeball every time you want to catch a Pokemon feels unnecessary to me.
-
Agreed with @Veegie—I didn't mind the controls for Skyward Sword and appreciated how it was a departure from the typical brand of wigglewaggle2win we were used to seeing, but it did subsequently make the boss battles feel more gimmicky in terms of identifying that correct angle and swing. Wouldn't be upset if we never saw it again.
Surprised I haven't seen WarioWare Smooth Moves mentioned here yet. Also, even though it had minimalist motion controls in comparison to all of the other games mentioned here, I appreciated tf out of No More Heroes if not for the controls to charge your beam katana. It was such a dumb gimmick that fit perfectly within the context of the over-the-top tone of the game.
Made playing in the living room of my house 10x riskier, but in retrospect I loved/hated every minute of it.
-
I always stand by the philosophy that what makes good motion controls is fairness above all else. Making computer controlled opponents or challenges for a player to overcome with motion controls I think is fundamentally unfair, there's nothing that can really change that. That's why multiplayer is the best environment to really judge motion controls.
My favorite example is COD4 Reflex for Wii, the only Wii/WiiU released COD game to force motion controls as the only available control method (no classic controller allowed) and it made for an absolutely incredible tactical experience completely different from what you got out of COD with a controller.
Shameless self plug, but I've shared my thoughts about this in video form not once but twice. Check it if you like my guys:
Call of Duty 4 Wii Reflex : The Best Motion Controls
Sky Rogue : Not the Best Motion Controls
-
Motion controls do have a place in gaming, but knowing how to use them effectively and when to pass on them is an important decision to make.
My personal favorite use of motion controls is in the Wii version of Resident Evil 4, which feels like one of the greatest control schemes I've ever used in a game. Aiming with the Wii remote, holding down B and shaking the remote to reload, and swinging the remote to use your knife felt buttery smooth and perfectly fit that game's stationary shooting mechanics. It really does feel like the game was tailor made to work with the Wii Remote and Nunchuck in mind from the beginning, despite originally releasing on the Gamecube.
I'm genuinely hoping the announced Switch port of RE4 retains the option to play this way using the Joycon in place of the Wii remote. The Switch ports of the RE Revelations games supported gyro aiming and felt great, so I'm really hoping they take advantage of that and let me have a comparable experience to what I felt they perfected on the Wii.
