This week Nintendo is bringing great news: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD now has a handy fast travel feature to streamline the journey between the land and the sky. It’s also bringing bad news: the feature requires the Zelda and Loftwing amiibo figure, sold separately for $34.95.
In the amiibo trailer revealed on Wednesday, Link is seen opening up a menu and using the amiibo to initiate fast travel into the sky from a random field.
This feature previously relied on the hero visiting specific locations to travel into the sky, and made players work for their chance to escape. Now, all it’ll take is the tap of an amiibo and you’ll be soaring high away from dungeons, fields and cities.
In the grand scheme of things, it’s not a huge deal. Fast travel from anywhere didn’t exist in the original game, and it was still a perfectly well-rounded game. But it does make the action a whole lot simpler and is a ‘quality of life’ feature that could make the game easier and more accessible for all players. If they’re willing to fork out for the accessory, that is.
When you’re already paying upwards of $70 for a copy of Skyward Sword, it’s a bit of a bummer to see a major feature being hidden by a physical paywall — and a fairly expensive one, at that.
Given backlash to this decision, it could be this is tweaked or changed for the final release, but for now you’ll need the amiibo if you want to fast travel from anywhere in the game.
Where to buy the Zelda and Loftwing amiibo figure in Australia
If you really, really want to unlock fast travel in Skyward Sword HD you’ll need to fork out for the Zelda and Loftwing amiibo figure. It’s a pretty amiibo regardless of its functionality, and if you do want to pick it up there’s a few options.
Here’s every major retailer you can currently pre-order the amiibo from:
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD releases alongside the Zelda and Loftwing amiibo on July 16.
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