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brightknightie) wrote2026-03-08 06:13 pm
brightknightie) wrote2026-03-08 06:13 pm
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PSA: solution for a known issue in Skyward Sword (Lanayru Desert) on Switch & Switch 2
I'm playing The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (HD) on Switch 2, docked, with a Pro Controller. Last night, I ran into an "I must be doing this wrong" frustration that turned out to be a known glitch, apparently affecting most folks playing without the motion controls for which the game was originally designed on the Wii. The most accessible advice on the internet is to "just" switch over to joy cons, turn on motion controls, calibrate, complete the puzzle, switch back to the pro controller, and switch back to button controls. ;-) Happily, I found an alternative tip -- to "flick" the right stick in a certain way -- and it worked!
I'd like to share, in case this helps anyone else: TLDR: In Skyward Sword's Lanayru Desert, if the second (fire) dial in the Power Generator won't turn far enough with button controls, flick the "R" stick straight from the top left to the bottom right.
Details:
This is for the Power Generator puzzle, the red "x" on your map of Lanayru Desert, which raises the entrance to the Lanayru Mining Facility.
After you've activated the three remote power nodes, plus the timeshift stone closest to the generator, Link needs to stab his sword into the "keyhole" and set the three dials, one at a time, to coordinates on the dial that correspond to the locations of the remote power nodes. The first, water, works as it should. The third, electricity, works easily, too, if you can get to it.
But the second, fire, suffers the glitch. Without motion controls, the dial "sticks" at the "3 o'clock" position and refuses to turn further to the "4 o'clock" position, no matter how many times you try, no matter how carefully or at what angle. Every time you follow the on-screen instructions to press down the "R" stick, instead of the fire dial pushing into place, the water dial comes out of its place and so does Link's sword.
Solution: Instead of turning the "R" stick (Link's sword) in a circular motion, as Link would actually rotate his sword, and as you did for the first dial and will do for the third dial, you flick the "R" stick straight diagonally to the "4 o'clock" position. It's the "R" stick direction that's properly used for a top-left-to-bottom-right sword slash in this game. Somehow, that flick unsticks the game and gets the middle dial into place. Yay! (It took me three tries.)
The possibility that I'm doing something wrong in a game is always first and foremost. :-) In this case, though, it's an actual known imperfection in an otherwise very impressive port.
I'd like to share, in case this helps anyone else: TLDR: In Skyward Sword's Lanayru Desert, if the second (fire) dial in the Power Generator won't turn far enough with button controls, flick the "R" stick straight from the top left to the bottom right.
Details:
This is for the Power Generator puzzle, the red "x" on your map of Lanayru Desert, which raises the entrance to the Lanayru Mining Facility.
After you've activated the three remote power nodes, plus the timeshift stone closest to the generator, Link needs to stab his sword into the "keyhole" and set the three dials, one at a time, to coordinates on the dial that correspond to the locations of the remote power nodes. The first, water, works as it should. The third, electricity, works easily, too, if you can get to it.
But the second, fire, suffers the glitch. Without motion controls, the dial "sticks" at the "3 o'clock" position and refuses to turn further to the "4 o'clock" position, no matter how many times you try, no matter how carefully or at what angle. Every time you follow the on-screen instructions to press down the "R" stick, instead of the fire dial pushing into place, the water dial comes out of its place and so does Link's sword.
Solution: Instead of turning the "R" stick (Link's sword) in a circular motion, as Link would actually rotate his sword, and as you did for the first dial and will do for the third dial, you flick the "R" stick straight diagonally to the "4 o'clock" position. It's the "R" stick direction that's properly used for a top-left-to-bottom-right sword slash in this game. Somehow, that flick unsticks the game and gets the middle dial into place. Yay! (It took me three tries.)
The possibility that I'm doing something wrong in a game is always first and foremost. :-) In this case, though, it's an actual known imperfection in an otherwise very impressive port.