Nintendo has admitted that, yes, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword has a game breaking bug. What is this bug and how can you avoid it? Warning: Spoilers.
The bug makes it impossible for players to complete the game’s “Song of the Hero” quest. The save file becomes corrupted meaning that players either have to use an earlier save file or start again.
As website Zelda Informer (via website CVG) pointed out, Nintendo is stating that the bug arises if players follow this sequence of events.
1. At the beginning of the quest, go to Lanayru Desert to retrieve the song of the Thunder Dragon.
2. In the Lanayru Mine, speak with Golo the Goron.
3. Complete the Thunder Dragon’s event, and receive his song.
4. Before heading to the forest or volcano regions, speak with Golo in the mine again.
5. At this point, the forest and volcano events will no longer occur, making it impossible to continue.
Okay, so that’s how you get the glitch. Now, here’s how Nintendo is telling players to avoid it:
Solutions:
• This issue WILL NOT OCCUR if the Fire and Water Dragon songs have already been collected before collecting the Thunder Dragon’s song. Talking to Golo in the Lanayru Caves will also NOT trigger this issue.
• If the game has been saved after completing the sequence of events, it will no longer be possible to proceed through the game on that save file. The only options at that point are to either start the game over or to use an earlier save file to continue.
So if you, or someone you know, are experiencing this bug, this should hopefully clear that glitch right up.
Be sure to check out Kotaku‘s review of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.
Nintendo Addresses the Skyward Sword Game-Breaking Song of the Hero Glitch [Zelda Informer via CVG]
OzHuski
Wednesday, December 7, 2011 at 8:09 PMThats a pretty fucked up bug! IM lucky enough to be past that point now and not have encountered it..
Its a damn great game, I hope Nintendo find a way to create a fix for it.
GoodOleTones
Wednesday, December 7, 2011 at 8:55 PMIm not at that point in the game yet, but im very close! So im glad I heard about this. Such a fantastic game though, I’d hate for something like this to spoil it
Vergas
Wednesday, December 7, 2011 at 9:00 PMOh hell.
I almost did that when I played through.
Mr Waffle
Wednesday, December 7, 2011 at 9:27 PMI blame Bethesda.. Even though it’s Nintendo’s fault, it’s obviously Bethesda’s fault.
Lobo
Wednesday, December 7, 2011 at 9:37 PMWatch while no one blames Ninty. Any other company would be crucified by now.
James
Wednesday, December 7, 2011 at 9:38 PMSo I suppose they will be pushing out an update over their online service any day, right?
james
Wednesday, December 7, 2011 at 9:47 PMLOL!
Kreedz86
Wednesday, December 7, 2011 at 10:02 PMThere goes Nintendo’s philosophy of releasing finished games, without having to rely on patches. Nice in theory, pretty horrible when stuff like this happens.
Edward
Thursday, December 8, 2011 at 1:37 AMhaving played a vast number of nintendo games over the years including every main pokemon game and most handheld zelda games for a massive massive number of hours, i can comfortably say that I’ve never had a bug/crash/other error that was not of my own & intentional doing.
this of course excludes the save-file error that red and blue get when they hit 150 hours.
PurpleStain
Wednesday, December 7, 2011 at 11:48 PMSo… I haven’t completed the Thunder Dragons quest thing… I don’t think… I’m up to where you’re inside the ship… So in other words, I’ve begun the thunder dragon’s whole deal thing I think… is my stuff still okay at this point in time?
Should I create an extra save file now, or have I doomed myself? :s
As you can see, I am confused.
GoodOleTones
Wednesday, December 7, 2011 at 11:52 PMHey we’re pretty much at the same point in the game!
Coulbe
Wednesday, December 7, 2011 at 11:53 PMSpoiler:
Pirate ship is still way early. Wait until you meet a giant fish in the sky before you have to worry about this bug. You’ll know you’re there when they actually tell you: Go find dragons.
PurpleStain
Thursday, December 8, 2011 at 12:15 AMHmm… thanks. Haha. Should my objective be “Never talk to Golo again”? Hahaha.
BR!AN
Thursday, December 8, 2011 at 1:36 PMGiant fish in the sky…
Yeah, it’s Zelda.
Will
Thursday, December 8, 2011 at 12:31 AMLol can’t they patch shit like that? You’know a basic bug fix.
Vergas
Thursday, December 8, 2011 at 1:22 AMHaha, Very Funny.
BR!AN
Thursday, December 8, 2011 at 1:34 PMI don’t have to worry, because I won’t get SS until Christmas, and by then, they would have fixed it! *bookmarks page*
Trael
Sunday, December 11, 2011 at 9:41 AMwow, that was close! I was originally planning on doing the Thunder Dragon stuff first…what a timely announcement!