How long is The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD's tutorial?
With an average playthrough time of 30-50 hours, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD is not a short game. However, as much as the Legend of Zelda franchise is beloved, one of its core features has long remained one of the most vexing topics in all of gaming — its long, obtrusive and simply downright boring opening tutorials.
Thankfully, it appears Nintendo has heard the calls of just how maddening the mundane, unskippable pieces of dialogue are after listing "refinements to player tutorials and general guidance throughout the adventure" as a one of the 2021 HD remake's various quality-of-life enhancements.
Some changes have been made to the opening hours of The Legend of #Zelda: #SkywardSwordHD to make for a smoother play experience, and to get you on your grand adventure to the surface world sooner! Here’s one example where mandatory advice from Horwell has been adjusted.
— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) July 11, 2021
How Long is The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD's Tutorial?
As such, with The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD, it appears players will be able to spend a lot less time hearing advice from Horwell about Z-locking, sprinting and the stamina gauge, and more time actually exploring the mysterious land below Skyloft.
With the truncated — and at times omitted altogether — tutorials, shorter loading times and skippable cutscenes, it's safe to say that completing Skyward Sword's tutorial is much faster to accomplish on the Switch compared to the Wii.
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD's tutorial can be completed in about 15 minutes, compared to the original's tutorial on the Wii which takes nearly three times longer to complete at around 50 minutes, as shown by Nintendo Life.
Whether you're a member of the speedrunning community, or someone who simply has wanted to see Link throw himself off of the Skyloft island as quickly as possible after all these years, this change is obviously a great move from Nintendo.
