Public service announcement
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword contains a game-breaking bug that will make it impossible to continue the game. Making matters worse, this bug is 40 – 50 hours in. In this post, I’ll detail for you exactly how to trigger this bug, and, therefore, exactly how to avoid it. There will be a spoiler-free section first (I will give province names; this is very very basic information that shouldn’t be any kind of spoiler. If you’re worried, come back after like ten hours and read this then) that is somewhat vague (though I think it’ll be clear enough), and, after the jump, detailed descriptions of exactly what happens. Don’t read that part if you don’t want spoilers.
Spoiler-free description:
Late in the game, there is a bit where you’ll be sent back to three provinces to gather pieces of a thing. You can do the three provinces in any order, but I strongly recommend doing Lanayru Desert last if you wish to be sure you’ll avoid the bug. It positively will not trigger if you complete the other two areas first. If the bug does trigger, you will be unable to collect any pieces you don’t already have. Nintendo has confirmed there is no workaround; once this happens, you’ll have to start over. So do Lanayru last, and back up your save before even starting this sequence if you’re really paranoid.
More detailed description follows below. Stop reading now if you don’t want to hear any more names.
Spoilers! (You have been warned)
Late in the game you’ll be sent to learn the Song of the Hero by talking to the dragons who watch over the provinces. Each province has a quest you need to complete in order to get that fragment of the song. The bug happens after completing the quest in Lanayru Desert. Here is the exact sequence that causes the bug:
- Enter Lanayru Desert, talk to the mining Goron, and proceed through the Caves into Lanayru Gorge.
- Complete the Thunder Dragon quest and receive his fragment of the Song of the Hero.
- Go back to the entrance and speak to the mining Goron again before completing the quests in Faron Woods or Eldin Volcano.
- The quest events in Eldin and Faron now will not fire when landing in those zones, rendering the quests unplayable.
It is safe to do Lanayru first (if you want the shield or whatnot) as long as you do not talk to the mining Goron again until after completing the entire song.
