The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword has a gargantuan boss so big you strike its toes. How did it get in the game? Eiji Aonuma, producer, told Hidemaro Fujibayashi, director, to make a gigantic boss you have to fight alone.
Those vague instructions led to this fight (video here) where Link has to scale a spiral staircase and battle the boss at the top. The team wanted to create an open field, but a spiral area was designed so the camera would work properly. Want to go back down? There’s a way to do that. Shigeyuki Asuke explains you can jump down without taking damage by using the parachute. He also hints there is a "secret" at the top of the Sealed Grounds when Nintendo president Satoru Iwata asks what’s at the top of the staircase. Link will face this giant several times in Skyward Sword.
Zelda games typically have a forest to get lost in, but the development team designed the one in The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword in a different way. Instead of making an area where you get lost, they built the forest with three dimensional topography. Having vertical scale means players will be able to discover something new each time they visit the forest. Beacons are designed to help players travel. You can place these on the map to mark spots. Blue beacons shoot a beam of light in the sky you can see when moving the camera around. Iwata compared those to smoke signals.
In previous Zelda titles, players would find a tool in a dungeon and use it to solve puzzles in that area. Skyward Sword is a bit different because the game will have puzzles on the field. Players will also revisit dungeons (presumably with more items) and face new enemies. Link will also enter an area called the Silent Realm where he won’t have any items. The only thing he can do is dash by pressing A, which Fujibayashi likened to a game of tag.
