Nintendo is being called out for its latest anti-consumer move by locking an in-game mechanic behind purchasing an expensive amiibo. The company plans on releasing a new amiibo for the upcoming The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD. However this toy, unlike others that simply provide buffs and non-gameplay-altering changes, will prevent players from fast-travelling in the game if they don’t own it. Yes, you read that correctly. The Zelda and Loftwing amiibo provides players with the ability to quickly travel to the skies, even from inside dungeons.
Keep in mind that the original release of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword was criticised for its lack of fast travel so this additional feature is fantastic news. However, gamers are a bit upset about the fact that in order to unlock this much-needed ability, they will need to fork out money to buy the amiibo.
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In the trailer below, you can get a glimpse of the fast travel feature in The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD. The amiibo looks awesome for starters. The trailer also details how without the amiibo, players will have to find a fast-travel station in order to travel to the sky. However, if they have the amiibo and place it on the controller, they are able to get whisked away at any moment and from any location. When players use the amiibo again, they are then teleported back to the last spot they were originally at.
Users have taken to Twitter to complain about the paywall feature. Many of them saying that the game should have included this in the first place. Seen as it was a missing feature in the original Wii game.
ah great, a great quality of life feature hidden behind a paywall
— Joseph Ceretor @Life is Strange 2 (@JCeretor) May 19, 2021
Other users are defending Nintendo saying that they can still fast travel using the statues. However, keep in mind that you will still need to find these statues which are not located everywhere and restricted in dungeons. When you fast travel using a statue, you also return back to that point. The amiibo lets users go back and forth from any location.
We are going to have to wait and see how this plays out when the game launches on 16 July 2021.
