In the original game, there were two extra abilities in Four Swords for the player to unlock. The first is shooting sword beams, which is unlocked by getting the Master Sword in A Link to the Past. The second move is more complicated: the player needs to collect 10 Medals of Courage to unlock a special quest in A Link to the Past, then complete that quest, which unlocks the hurricane spin (an extended spin attack) for both games. Without A Link to the Past, the Anniversary Edition needed new ways to unlock these, so it added two extra areas. Each one has a silver, gold, and hero’s door, although the second and third doors are unlocked by completing the previous levels. Each door has three levels – fixed design rather than random – with no bosses.
Realm of Memories
After defeating Vaati once, the Realm of Memories is unlocked. This has three levels, each inspired by previous Zelda games, with the artwork and music to match. They’re a bit harder than the base game, but not too bad. This section is really quite fun, seeing how the old games were reinterpreted to fit with Four Swords’ design.
The first level is based on A Link to the Past. Its first two stages are outside Hyrule Castle and then inside, and the third stage is based on the Lost Woods. The second level is based on Link’s Awakening, with stages set in Gaponga Swamp, Tail Cave, and Tal Tal Heights. Everything here is grayscale except the Links and rupees. Finally, the third level is based on the original game. The stages are the area around the starting point, the Lost Woods and graveyard area, and the first quest first dungeon (“Eagle”). Completing all three levels unlocks the sword beams.
Hero’s Trial
The second and harder bonus area is the Hero’s Trial, unlocked by collecting a total of 30,000 rupees (it took me getting through Vaati’s Palace gold door plus the entire Realm of Memories to get there) or five medals of courage. They’re based on areas from the base game, with each of the three levels having two stages based on one of the three starter areas and then one based on Vaati’s Palace. These stages are hard, like original game second quest dungeon hard.
And just like those dungeons, they throw tons of enemies at Link. Even fairly simple enemies like stalfos become difficult when they’re throwing bones at Link from ten different directions at once. Those ambushes usually have one or two harder enemies in the mix just to make it worse. And then there’s the times the game throws a bunch of tough enemies – darknuts, wizzrobes, moblins – at the Links and says “good luck.” Fortunately, the game throws lots of rupees out in these stages so resurrecting Links is easy to do at first, although by the end of the the last stage when it costs 500 rupees each time, it can get nerve-wracking, especially since dying without enough rupees means having to do the entire level over again. There’s an option to reset a stage that I never looked at outside of the Hero’s Trial, but it comes in handy here.
The first level has stages in the Sea of Trees, and this is the easiest by far. The second has stages in Talus Cave, which are brutal with all the icy areas; already tough fights are not any easier when you don’t have anywhere to stand. The last door is Death Mountain with lots of lava platforming. Then the Vaati’s Palace areas like combining fans with tough fights so it’s hard to find a place to stand. Completing all three levels unlocks the hurricane spin.
Final Thoughts
So, that’s Four Swords. It’s fun for a while, but quickly gets repetitive – especially the Hero’s Trial, where I ended up having to repeat stages because they were kicking my ass. It’s by far the weakest of the nine I’ve played, but considering it’s only ever been a) a bonus game included with a re-release of A Link to the Past and b) a free download, that’s kind of to be expected. (Also, it was intended for multiplayer, so single playering it may not be the best experience.) I’m glad I played it, although if I hadn’t found a way, this would be the one to skip.
Showing posts with label Four Swords. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Four Swords. Show all posts
Monday, November 12, 2018
Friday, November 9, 2018
Four Swords: The Bosses
The Key Bosses
The only thing that’s the same between playthroughs in the base game of Four Swords is the four level bosses. Each boss has multiple phases, at least one per boss with some multiplayer aspect to it.
The boss of the Sea of Trees is Big Manhandla. Big Manhandla starts with three flowers orbiting its body; each time they open up, they’re colored after one of the Links and can only be damaged by the corresponding player. After all the flowers are defeated, the core body spawns a head that chase the Links around and spit rocks at them, and two levers. Once both levers are pulled out, a final flower appears over the core body, and the Link(s) whose color(s) match the colors on the central flower have to come at it and thwack it until the central flower disappears or the boss dies. Later versions (going for gold/hero’s keys) add an intermediate phase, with two heads and two levers, and each lever opening a head until it’s destroyed.
Talus Cave has Dera Zol, which starts the battle encased in ice. Much like Goht, we can’t just take a giant hammer to it and call it a win; the Links need to break the ice so Dera Zol can escape and then kill it properly. The first phases of the fight involve charging into it to force it back into the ice wall to refreeze it, then attacking it while frozen. Later versions add extra phases where it uses illusions, with multiple fake versions appearing, or it being invisible to all but one player. After enough times, it’ll be reduced to a smaller creature surrounded by four orbs. One orb corresponds to each Link, with each player only getting to see one orb’s color that’s not their own color. In multiplayer, players need to tell each other which orbs they can safely attack; in single-player, the player needs to see which orb corresponds to the other Link, then switch over to the other Link and attack that orb.
Gouen (AKA Great Flame), the boss of Death Mountain, is a little critter that surrounds itself by a lot of fireballs. It shoots colored attacks at the Links, and the Link corresponding to an attack’s color can volley it around with sword or shield. If the volleyed attack hits Gouen, it splits into the fireballs, one of which contains the core critter. After the core critter is damaged enough, it can’t protect itself with fireballs anymore, and it dies after the attacks are volleyed enough and hit him. This is a tough fight in single-player, because it’s a fire boss, and a Link who gets set on fire can’t do anything but run around the arena until the fire goes out. (Stop, drop, and roll, Link! Stop, drop, and roll!) As far as I can tell, this one doesn’t get any harder/more complicated as the Links go for better keys, which is just as well because it’s annoying enough already.
Vaati
Finally, the Links reach Vaati, who’s surprised they managed to make it all the way to him, but then he recognizes the Four Sword. His first phase is simple: he flies to the top of a tornado, and the Links can throw bombs in to explode as they reach the top of the funnel. Each bomb brings him a little closer to the ground, and when he’s finally down, he can be attacked. He’s seemingly defeated, but when the Links try to leave the area, he resurfaces, explaining that it wasn’t going to be that easy, of course. He has three different modes here. First, he’ll do like Gouen and throw colored attacks that the Links need to volley back into him. Second, he’ll spawn several balls that rotate around him and can be batted into him. In the third form, he displays a colored weak point, spins around the arena, and then his weak point opens up again and the Links can destroy it. Once he’s beaten again, the Four Sword seals him up again.
Zelda floats down, and ever the observant one, takes a moment to realize she has two (or more) rescuers instead of just one. As soon as she wonders how to get Link back to normal, they merge, and Zelda explains that since they no longer need it, the Four Sword’s power has faded. They leave to return the sword to the shrine. Over the credits, there’s a minigame with rupees and chests continually spawning around a platform and the Links running around gathering them. Afterward, Zelda and Link stand at the Four Sword’s shrine, where the sword and Vaati are safely sealed away, and turn and walk away.
Next: A couple of extra game modes from the Anniversary Edition.
The only thing that’s the same between playthroughs in the base game of Four Swords is the four level bosses. Each boss has multiple phases, at least one per boss with some multiplayer aspect to it.
The boss of the Sea of Trees is Big Manhandla. Big Manhandla starts with three flowers orbiting its body; each time they open up, they’re colored after one of the Links and can only be damaged by the corresponding player. After all the flowers are defeated, the core body spawns a head that chase the Links around and spit rocks at them, and two levers. Once both levers are pulled out, a final flower appears over the core body, and the Link(s) whose color(s) match the colors on the central flower have to come at it and thwack it until the central flower disappears or the boss dies. Later versions (going for gold/hero’s keys) add an intermediate phase, with two heads and two levers, and each lever opening a head until it’s destroyed.
Talus Cave has Dera Zol, which starts the battle encased in ice. Much like Goht, we can’t just take a giant hammer to it and call it a win; the Links need to break the ice so Dera Zol can escape and then kill it properly. The first phases of the fight involve charging into it to force it back into the ice wall to refreeze it, then attacking it while frozen. Later versions add extra phases where it uses illusions, with multiple fake versions appearing, or it being invisible to all but one player. After enough times, it’ll be reduced to a smaller creature surrounded by four orbs. One orb corresponds to each Link, with each player only getting to see one orb’s color that’s not their own color. In multiplayer, players need to tell each other which orbs they can safely attack; in single-player, the player needs to see which orb corresponds to the other Link, then switch over to the other Link and attack that orb.
Gouen (AKA Great Flame), the boss of Death Mountain, is a little critter that surrounds itself by a lot of fireballs. It shoots colored attacks at the Links, and the Link corresponding to an attack’s color can volley it around with sword or shield. If the volleyed attack hits Gouen, it splits into the fireballs, one of which contains the core critter. After the core critter is damaged enough, it can’t protect itself with fireballs anymore, and it dies after the attacks are volleyed enough and hit him. This is a tough fight in single-player, because it’s a fire boss, and a Link who gets set on fire can’t do anything but run around the arena until the fire goes out. (Stop, drop, and roll, Link! Stop, drop, and roll!) As far as I can tell, this one doesn’t get any harder/more complicated as the Links go for better keys, which is just as well because it’s annoying enough already.
Vaati
Finally, the Links reach Vaati, who’s surprised they managed to make it all the way to him, but then he recognizes the Four Sword. His first phase is simple: he flies to the top of a tornado, and the Links can throw bombs in to explode as they reach the top of the funnel. Each bomb brings him a little closer to the ground, and when he’s finally down, he can be attacked. He’s seemingly defeated, but when the Links try to leave the area, he resurfaces, explaining that it wasn’t going to be that easy, of course. He has three different modes here. First, he’ll do like Gouen and throw colored attacks that the Links need to volley back into him. Second, he’ll spawn several balls that rotate around him and can be batted into him. In the third form, he displays a colored weak point, spins around the arena, and then his weak point opens up again and the Links can destroy it. Once he’s beaten again, the Four Sword seals him up again.
Zelda floats down, and ever the observant one, takes a moment to realize she has two (or more) rescuers instead of just one. As soon as she wonders how to get Link back to normal, they merge, and Zelda explains that since they no longer need it, the Four Sword’s power has faded. They leave to return the sword to the shrine. Over the credits, there’s a minigame with rupees and chests continually spawning around a platform and the Links running around gathering them. Afterward, Zelda and Link stand at the Four Sword’s shrine, where the sword and Vaati are safely sealed away, and turn and walk away.
Next: A couple of extra game modes from the Anniversary Edition.
Wednesday, November 7, 2018
Four Swords: Introduction and Story
Four Swords is an additional game originally included with the GBA remake of A Link to the Past. The original game was multiplayer only – it will let a solo player view the opening cutscene, but no more. I was able to get a setup working where I could play the game, but there are bits where both players need to perform an action together, and those, while not impossible, were too frustrating to do on a regular basis, especially when it was something that was required to defeat enemies. Fortunately, in 2011 they released the Anniversary Edition which had a single-player mode, and that’s the version I’m playing here.
The Story
Over time, the trend in the Zelda games has generally been toward more story; Four Swords completely reverses that trend. If you look at what’s in the game and the manual, Four Swords may actually have the least story of any Zelda game thus far, except maybe the very first one. The manual introduces the villain, Vaati, a wind sorcerer who had a thing for kidnapping young women. He was eventually defeated when a boy came to fight him, and the rumor was that the boy’s sword split him into four copies to fight Vaati. Vaati’s spirit was sealed inside the sword, which was named the Four Sword in honor of its powers.
The game itself features an opening cutscene that starts with Zelda and Link approaching the Four Sword to check the seal. The seal is already broken, and Vaati, who resembles the DethI shadow nightmare from Link’s Awakening, grabs Zelda, knocks Link out, and flies off to his palace. When Link wakes, he’s greeted by a group of fairies, who encourage him to take the Four Sword and prove his worth to the fairies who can help him find Vaati’s palace. Link takes the Four Sword out of its pedestal, splits into four (colored differently so players can tell each other apart), and the Links march off to save Zelda.
It’s Dangerous to Go Alone…
Four Swords gameplay is both cooperative and competitive. The Links have to work together to overcome puzzles, sometimes standing on switches, sometimes pulling levers simultaneously, and in what feels like it should be the game’s signature mechanic, one Link sometimes has to toss the other over a gap, and then the second Link finds a way to get the first across. There are some enemies that need to be literally pulled apart by two Links pulling in opposite directions. Meanwhile, they’re collecting rupees, and if one Link dies, the rupees needed to resurrect him come from the communal pool. However, after each level is completed, the Link who collected the most rupees in the level is awarded a Medal of Courage; once a save file has enough of them, it can access a special quest in A Link to the Past. There are other new tricks involving rupees – enemies that will steal rupees from a Link, and black rupees that cause the Link who touches them to drop 80 rupees on the ground.
The single-player adaptation lets the player control two Links. One will either follow the one being actively controlled or stay put, as the player directs. When a puzzle requires both Links’ input, the inactive Link will automatically spring to action to fulfill his part. Some of the tricks which encourage multiplayer competition feel kind of ridiculous in single-player, but they’re still there. (Medals of Courage are not awarded in single-player play; there’s no A Link to the Past to link back to, and the new game mode they unlock in the Anniversary Edition can be unlocked by collecting enough rupees.)
At the start, there are four areas unlocked, starting with the Chambers of Insight which is a tutorial for the game, including the various items Link will need to complete his quest. Then there come the next three areas: Sea of Trees (forest), Talus Cave (ice), and Death Mountain (flame). Running through these areas involves playing three stages. The first two stages are randomly generated, which makes it hard to say too much about them. In the third stages, the Links fight a boss, then approach the fairy corresponding to the element, and if they earned enough rupees in the stage, get a key. There are three types of keys, which have to be earned in order and require an increasing number of rupees: 1,000 for a silver key, 3,000 for a golden key, and 5,000 for a Hero’s Key. Hero’s Keys are hard to come by in single-player (they basically require farming enemies that drop rupees), and even Golden Keys can be tough if the stages aren’t filled with rupees.
Next: Bosses and the end.
The Story
Over time, the trend in the Zelda games has generally been toward more story; Four Swords completely reverses that trend. If you look at what’s in the game and the manual, Four Swords may actually have the least story of any Zelda game thus far, except maybe the very first one. The manual introduces the villain, Vaati, a wind sorcerer who had a thing for kidnapping young women. He was eventually defeated when a boy came to fight him, and the rumor was that the boy’s sword split him into four copies to fight Vaati. Vaati’s spirit was sealed inside the sword, which was named the Four Sword in honor of its powers.
The game itself features an opening cutscene that starts with Zelda and Link approaching the Four Sword to check the seal. The seal is already broken, and Vaati, who resembles the DethI shadow nightmare from Link’s Awakening, grabs Zelda, knocks Link out, and flies off to his palace. When Link wakes, he’s greeted by a group of fairies, who encourage him to take the Four Sword and prove his worth to the fairies who can help him find Vaati’s palace. Link takes the Four Sword out of its pedestal, splits into four (colored differently so players can tell each other apart), and the Links march off to save Zelda.
It’s Dangerous to Go Alone…
Four Swords gameplay is both cooperative and competitive. The Links have to work together to overcome puzzles, sometimes standing on switches, sometimes pulling levers simultaneously, and in what feels like it should be the game’s signature mechanic, one Link sometimes has to toss the other over a gap, and then the second Link finds a way to get the first across. There are some enemies that need to be literally pulled apart by two Links pulling in opposite directions. Meanwhile, they’re collecting rupees, and if one Link dies, the rupees needed to resurrect him come from the communal pool. However, after each level is completed, the Link who collected the most rupees in the level is awarded a Medal of Courage; once a save file has enough of them, it can access a special quest in A Link to the Past. There are other new tricks involving rupees – enemies that will steal rupees from a Link, and black rupees that cause the Link who touches them to drop 80 rupees on the ground.
The single-player adaptation lets the player control two Links. One will either follow the one being actively controlled or stay put, as the player directs. When a puzzle requires both Links’ input, the inactive Link will automatically spring to action to fulfill his part. Some of the tricks which encourage multiplayer competition feel kind of ridiculous in single-player, but they’re still there. (Medals of Courage are not awarded in single-player play; there’s no A Link to the Past to link back to, and the new game mode they unlock in the Anniversary Edition can be unlocked by collecting enough rupees.)
At the start, there are four areas unlocked, starting with the Chambers of Insight which is a tutorial for the game, including the various items Link will need to complete his quest. Then there come the next three areas: Sea of Trees (forest), Talus Cave (ice), and Death Mountain (flame). Running through these areas involves playing three stages. The first two stages are randomly generated, which makes it hard to say too much about them. In the third stages, the Links fight a boss, then approach the fairy corresponding to the element, and if they earned enough rupees in the stage, get a key. There are three types of keys, which have to be earned in order and require an increasing number of rupees: 1,000 for a silver key, 3,000 for a golden key, and 5,000 for a Hero’s Key. Hero’s Keys are hard to come by in single-player (they basically require farming enemies that drop rupees), and even Golden Keys can be tough if the stages aren’t filled with rupees.
Next: Bosses and the end.
Monday, January 8, 2018
Four Swords: Table of Contents
An index of posts about The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords, the ninth game in the series.
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