As with Ages, playing a Linked Game of Seasons has ten secrets to deliver to characters in Ages for rewards. The assorted rewards are mostly the same as going the other way, except for the two rings which are different.
The first secret comes early, after Link first meets the Maku Tree. The secret is for one of the mischievous fairies in Labrynna, who reward Link with a heart container – which would be great to have early in Seasons, but it takes a while before the Hall of Secrets opens up and Link can talk to Farore to get his rewards transferred over.
After completing the second dungeon, a fairy appears in a cave nearby with a secret for Tingle. The reward for this secret is a seed satchel upgrade. Also, Holly’s house has a visitor, who wants to pass a secret to the authors of her favorite book, who live in Symmetry Village. The reward for this one is the ring box upgrade.
After completing the third dungeon, a boy appears near the guy playing the Song of Storms with a secret for his mentor on Rolling Ridge. To get the reward for this secret, Link has to complete a game of Target Carts, and for some reason I had to do it twice because the first time didn’t take. The reward is bombchus. Also, a woman appears in the home of the floodgate keeper with a secret for her daughter, Mamamu Yan. Her daughter’s lost her dog, so Link has to chase it down and bring it back to her for the Snowshoe Ring, which lets Link walk over ice without slipping.
A moblin who remains at the ruined keep after Link chases the Great Moblin out has a secret for the tokay. The secret lets the tokay who runs the museum where the “throw meat to the passing tokay” game was in the past start running the game in the present, and to earn the reward – a bomb bag upgrade – Link has to master the game once again.
After Link cures Biggoron’s cold, Link meets a goron with a secret for the gorons on Rolling Ridge. The reward, of course, is Biggoron’s Sword, but before Link can be trusted with it, he’s got to demonstrate proficiency with it by scoring high enough at the Goron Shooting Gallery. This game was already something of a headache, and having to play it again with the slow-swinging Biggoron’s Sword was not great.
After fully unlocking the power of the Rod of Seasons, a Subrosian appears near where Link got a Bomb Flower with a secret for Mayor Plen of Lynna City. The reward for passing this secret is the Spin Ring, allowing Link to do a double spin attack.
After Link helps the pirates and their ship is anchored allowing access to the cemetery, a ghost sets up living in the house north of the ship. He used to work for the library in Labrynna, and has a secret to tell to a librarian there. The reward for this secret is the shield upgrade.
The final secret comes from a zora in the Hero’s Cave to pass along to the King Zora. It doesn’t require anything acquired later than the third dungeon to get to that zora, but if you’re expecting “Hero’s Cave = late game content,” you’ll miss him until much later in the game. The reward for the secret is the sword upgrade, which of course is nice to have as soon as possible.
Returning the the main game, after Onox is defeated, the ending sequence kicks in as Twinrova kidnaps Zelda to kick off the final battle. From this point forward, it’s the same as the final portion of Linked Ages, except Holodrum’s Maku Tree doesn’t get jealous when Zelda kisses Link. The scenes and images that play over the closing credits are identical, with the only credit difference being there’s no Hero’s Secret given this time; this time, it’s truly over.
Overall, I think I did well to start with Seasons rather than Ages; about the only thing that’s truly missed doing Seasons first is the revelation about Ambi’s relationship with the pirate captain, and that’s fairly minor. Either way, they’re good games, and a very satisfying experience.
Showing posts with label Oracle of Seasons. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Oracle of Seasons. Show all posts
Thursday, November 22, 2018
Tuesday, November 20, 2018
Oracle of Seasons: Linked Game Diffferences
In an unlinked game, there was no reason to suspect that Din’s troupe was anything but what they said they were, except that the troupe’s cook was named Impa, a familiar name for anyone familiar with the backstory of the NES games and/or Ocarina of Time [1]. With Link’s heroics in Labrynna known to them, however, they reveal to him that they’re all undercover Knights of Hyrule, which only further confirms that Link should have been a lot more suspicious when he met Impa in Labrynna and she didn’t recognize him (because Veran was in the driver’s seat). Oh, well, just by showing up in Holodrum and getting knocked out on entry, he’s borked their plan to spirit Din to safety, and gives Onox time to act, so he messed up both places before getting to fix the problems he caused [2].
Ambi makes a number of appearances, having been sent to the future to explore Holodrum. The most significant of these comes after Link helps the pirates get their ship back, and Ambi comes in to reveal that the lover she wanted to lead back to her was the pirate captain. They have a bittersweet reunion, acknowledging their feelings for one another, but that the captain won’t be content to stay with her if it means giving up sailing. Of course, the pirates still get seasick and park their ship to make a convenient bridge for Link, so he’s got some time to spend with her while getting ready to truly set sail again.
After two dungeons, Impa comes to Link as he heads north from Horon Village, saying that Zelda has come to Holodrum without any guards. They split up to look for her, and Link’s the one to find her, and of course she’s managed to land herself in trouble. She’s being accosted by the moblins; as they’re demanding her valuables, the Great Moblin will recognize Link and have the moblins attack him. He doesn’t stick around for actual confrontation, and four moblins vs. Link just isn’t a very fair fight. The Great Moblin comes back to express his annoyance, then flees for his keep, and Zelda thanks Link for rescuing her. Impa, having apparently given up her search so quickly, shows up to express her relief that Zelda’s safe now. Overall, this sequence is a lot less memorable and fun than playing Donkey Kong with Vire.
Although Vire doesn’t get to participate in the Zelda-in-distress sequence, he does make an appearance before his dungeon. He’s apparently moved the first two of the gems Link will eventually need to reach the sixth dungeon; it’s not a big deal with the map, but it adds a little extra flavor to the hunt for the gems.
The Hero’s Cave has been reworked from the place for Link to get his sword in the early game to, like in linked Ages, a series of puzzles. The puzzles don’t get as tricky as they did in Ages – there’s nothing as frustrating as the lava bed/rolling block puzzle, or as completely out of left field as using the Cane of Somaria to cover the one space Link can’t walk over. In exchange, combat plays a larger role. The combat ranges from trivial to tricky (fighting a bunch of waterborne enemies with only a few places to stand in the room – WTB bombos medallion) to challenging to a gauntlet of enemies covering the full spectrum of challenge (eight different enemies, summoned in groups of four).
That’s not to say there aren’t any puzzles, or the ones that are there are all easy. There’s a group of six switch blocks moving back and forth, and Link needs to turn all of them red at the same time, which is much harder than it sounds. One puzzle, which is intended to involve threading a tight path with the magic boomerang controls, is only saved from being hair-pulling by a couple of alternate solutions the developers either overlooked or decided would be unfair to take out – the boomerang can be thrown above the path but hit the switch block on the return arc, or Link can chuck a bombchu at it and let that take care of it, which is as far as I’ve been able to determine, the only use for bombchus in either game. (Unless you want to drop one on Toilet Hand Guy for fun.)
The final puzzle is rather inspired: there are eight treasure chests in a room and Link needs to open them in the correct order. Rather than guessing, the trick is to imagine the room as a miniature map of Holodrum and the chests as the eight dungeon entrances, and opening the chests in the order of the dungeons. Link’s reward is the opposite of the reward for the Ages Hero’s Cave: a ring that greatly boosts his sword damage, but also increases the damage he takes. Not as useful, although possibly interesting for challenge runs. And, hey, it’s the sixty-fourth ring (after ticking off the secrets, which I’ll cover in the next post), so I’m not going to complain too much.
Next: Why do they call them secrets if they want you to tell them to someone else?
[1] Or Hyrule Warriors, but that wouldn’t come out for another few years.
[2] Mostly? There’s never any indication that the Temple of Seasons gets to return to the surface from Subrosia.
Ambi makes a number of appearances, having been sent to the future to explore Holodrum. The most significant of these comes after Link helps the pirates get their ship back, and Ambi comes in to reveal that the lover she wanted to lead back to her was the pirate captain. They have a bittersweet reunion, acknowledging their feelings for one another, but that the captain won’t be content to stay with her if it means giving up sailing. Of course, the pirates still get seasick and park their ship to make a convenient bridge for Link, so he’s got some time to spend with her while getting ready to truly set sail again.
After two dungeons, Impa comes to Link as he heads north from Horon Village, saying that Zelda has come to Holodrum without any guards. They split up to look for her, and Link’s the one to find her, and of course she’s managed to land herself in trouble. She’s being accosted by the moblins; as they’re demanding her valuables, the Great Moblin will recognize Link and have the moblins attack him. He doesn’t stick around for actual confrontation, and four moblins vs. Link just isn’t a very fair fight. The Great Moblin comes back to express his annoyance, then flees for his keep, and Zelda thanks Link for rescuing her. Impa, having apparently given up her search so quickly, shows up to express her relief that Zelda’s safe now. Overall, this sequence is a lot less memorable and fun than playing Donkey Kong with Vire.
Although Vire doesn’t get to participate in the Zelda-in-distress sequence, he does make an appearance before his dungeon. He’s apparently moved the first two of the gems Link will eventually need to reach the sixth dungeon; it’s not a big deal with the map, but it adds a little extra flavor to the hunt for the gems.
The Hero’s Cave has been reworked from the place for Link to get his sword in the early game to, like in linked Ages, a series of puzzles. The puzzles don’t get as tricky as they did in Ages – there’s nothing as frustrating as the lava bed/rolling block puzzle, or as completely out of left field as using the Cane of Somaria to cover the one space Link can’t walk over. In exchange, combat plays a larger role. The combat ranges from trivial to tricky (fighting a bunch of waterborne enemies with only a few places to stand in the room – WTB bombos medallion) to challenging to a gauntlet of enemies covering the full spectrum of challenge (eight different enemies, summoned in groups of four).
That’s not to say there aren’t any puzzles, or the ones that are there are all easy. There’s a group of six switch blocks moving back and forth, and Link needs to turn all of them red at the same time, which is much harder than it sounds. One puzzle, which is intended to involve threading a tight path with the magic boomerang controls, is only saved from being hair-pulling by a couple of alternate solutions the developers either overlooked or decided would be unfair to take out – the boomerang can be thrown above the path but hit the switch block on the return arc, or Link can chuck a bombchu at it and let that take care of it, which is as far as I’ve been able to determine, the only use for bombchus in either game. (Unless you want to drop one on Toilet Hand Guy for fun.)
The final puzzle is rather inspired: there are eight treasure chests in a room and Link needs to open them in the correct order. Rather than guessing, the trick is to imagine the room as a miniature map of Holodrum and the chests as the eight dungeon entrances, and opening the chests in the order of the dungeons. Link’s reward is the opposite of the reward for the Ages Hero’s Cave: a ring that greatly boosts his sword damage, but also increases the damage he takes. Not as useful, although possibly interesting for challenge runs. And, hey, it’s the sixty-fourth ring (after ticking off the secrets, which I’ll cover in the next post), so I’m not going to complain too much.
Next: Why do they call them secrets if they want you to tell them to someone else?
[1] Or Hyrule Warriors, but that wouldn’t come out for another few years.
[2] Mostly? There’s never any indication that the Temple of Seasons gets to return to the surface from Subrosia.
Friday, October 5, 2018
Oracle of Seasons: The End
Onox’s Castle
As Link approaches Onox’s Castle for the final showdown, the hooded figure from before confronts him to laugh at the futility of his efforts. Then the figure transforms into two witches – Koume and Kotake – Twinrova. They say the Flame of Destruction will soon be lit, and then they’ll perform a ritual to bring “the Evil King” back to “spread darkness across the land.” With some evil laughter, they fly off, and Link’s contacted by the Maku Tree, who’s worried about what Twinrova’s threats mean, but there’s nothing to do about that just yet. Link decides to focus on the threat at hand, Onox, and deal with Twinrova afterward.
Onox’s Castle is a fairly short dungeon: there are three rooms in a row to the north where he has to defeat all the enemies for the northern exit to lead to the next room. The first is filled with wizzrobes, the second darknuts and floormasters, and the third features another appearance by Facade. If he ever goes left or right, he finds himself in a room with a spinning tiles floor trap. There’s a chance to get fairies in these rooms, but entering resets his forward progress, so it’s basically only worth it if he does really badly at one of the fights and desperately needs a little extra health. After one final room, he comes to the final confrontation with Onox.
Onox is a giant soldier in golden armor, who attacks with the second biggest flail I’ve ever seen. He also sometimes jumps causing rocks to fall from the ceiling. After a few hits, he brings out Din in crystal to protect him; if Link hits the crystal with his sword, he’s electrocuted. Now, one of Link’s rings makes him immune to electricity damage, so he can hack away with impunity… but I didn’t bring it [1], so I have to do it the hard way. And this adds a pretty fun twist to the fight: Link has to bat the Din crystal away from Onox with the Rod of Seasons (not an obvious trick!) and then quickly hit Onox before she floats back over. After enough hits, Onox is seemingly defeated, but then the floor starts collapsing and Link eventually falls through.
Onox returns to confront Link, before assuming his true form of a dark dragon, whose weak spot is a crystal on his forehead. The crystal is immune to ranged attacks, so Link needs to dodge his attacks, jump on the hands (feet? paws?) when he has a chance, and hit the crystal with his sword. (Yes, just like the Wolf Sigma fight from Mega Man X. Capcom’s influence, I see you.) Once defeated again, Onox says that he accomplished enough for Twinrova’s aims, even if he lost in the end, and he dies. Din is freed from her crystal prison, and the seasons return to normal across Holodrum. The two set out to return to Horon Village, but Twinrova’s watching and says basically the same thing Onox did.
One World Saved, One to Go
As the credits roll, scenes from Horon Village play: Link and Din’s return, Maple crashing into the Maku Tree, Link and Din going to tell Impa the good news, and the Triforce mark appearing on Link’s hand. After they finish, a code appears… more on that in a minute. Returning to the game after the credits and talking to Din again, she says that Impa received a letter from Labrynna saying things weren’t well there, and left, setting the sequel hook for Oracle of Ages. The code that appeared after the credits can be used to start a “linked game” which starts with Twinrova already known as the mastermind and will resolve the story of their plot to revive Ganon. There’s one more code available right now from the red snake in Vasu’s (the ring merchant) shop, which lets all the unlocked rings transfer over by talking to same NPC in Ages. Farore, the Oracle of Secrets whose own game got cancelled because the logistics of linking three games was too complicated, has set up a little area in the Maku Tree where both codes are stored in a book, along with some blank spots. Hrm.
So, Oracle of Seasons was pretty fun. Hard, in a way thing’s haven’t been for a while, but fun. The reworkings of all the original game’s dungeon bosses were fun to see, and Twinrova as the mastermind was a cool and unexpected twist. Looking forward to seeing how this all plays out in part 2.
[1] I will when I come back on a linked game from Ages.
As Link approaches Onox’s Castle for the final showdown, the hooded figure from before confronts him to laugh at the futility of his efforts. Then the figure transforms into two witches – Koume and Kotake – Twinrova. They say the Flame of Destruction will soon be lit, and then they’ll perform a ritual to bring “the Evil King” back to “spread darkness across the land.” With some evil laughter, they fly off, and Link’s contacted by the Maku Tree, who’s worried about what Twinrova’s threats mean, but there’s nothing to do about that just yet. Link decides to focus on the threat at hand, Onox, and deal with Twinrova afterward.
Onox’s Castle is a fairly short dungeon: there are three rooms in a row to the north where he has to defeat all the enemies for the northern exit to lead to the next room. The first is filled with wizzrobes, the second darknuts and floormasters, and the third features another appearance by Facade. If he ever goes left or right, he finds himself in a room with a spinning tiles floor trap. There’s a chance to get fairies in these rooms, but entering resets his forward progress, so it’s basically only worth it if he does really badly at one of the fights and desperately needs a little extra health. After one final room, he comes to the final confrontation with Onox.
Onox is a giant soldier in golden armor, who attacks with the second biggest flail I’ve ever seen. He also sometimes jumps causing rocks to fall from the ceiling. After a few hits, he brings out Din in crystal to protect him; if Link hits the crystal with his sword, he’s electrocuted. Now, one of Link’s rings makes him immune to electricity damage, so he can hack away with impunity… but I didn’t bring it [1], so I have to do it the hard way. And this adds a pretty fun twist to the fight: Link has to bat the Din crystal away from Onox with the Rod of Seasons (not an obvious trick!) and then quickly hit Onox before she floats back over. After enough hits, Onox is seemingly defeated, but then the floor starts collapsing and Link eventually falls through.
Onox returns to confront Link, before assuming his true form of a dark dragon, whose weak spot is a crystal on his forehead. The crystal is immune to ranged attacks, so Link needs to dodge his attacks, jump on the hands (feet? paws?) when he has a chance, and hit the crystal with his sword. (Yes, just like the Wolf Sigma fight from Mega Man X. Capcom’s influence, I see you.) Once defeated again, Onox says that he accomplished enough for Twinrova’s aims, even if he lost in the end, and he dies. Din is freed from her crystal prison, and the seasons return to normal across Holodrum. The two set out to return to Horon Village, but Twinrova’s watching and says basically the same thing Onox did.
One World Saved, One to Go
As the credits roll, scenes from Horon Village play: Link and Din’s return, Maple crashing into the Maku Tree, Link and Din going to tell Impa the good news, and the Triforce mark appearing on Link’s hand. After they finish, a code appears… more on that in a minute. Returning to the game after the credits and talking to Din again, she says that Impa received a letter from Labrynna saying things weren’t well there, and left, setting the sequel hook for Oracle of Ages. The code that appeared after the credits can be used to start a “linked game” which starts with Twinrova already known as the mastermind and will resolve the story of their plot to revive Ganon. There’s one more code available right now from the red snake in Vasu’s (the ring merchant) shop, which lets all the unlocked rings transfer over by talking to same NPC in Ages. Farore, the Oracle of Secrets whose own game got cancelled because the logistics of linking three games was too complicated, has set up a little area in the Maku Tree where both codes are stored in a book, along with some blank spots. Hrm.
So, Oracle of Seasons was pretty fun. Hard, in a way thing’s haven’t been for a while, but fun. The reworkings of all the original game’s dungeon bosses were fun to see, and Twinrova as the mastermind was a cool and unexpected twist. Looking forward to seeing how this all plays out in part 2.
[1] I will when I come back on a linked game from Ages.
Wednesday, October 3, 2018
Oracle of Seasons: Explorer's Crypt and Sword & Shield Maze
Explorer’s Crypt
En route to the graveyard dungeon, Link can find the last of the golden beasts in spring, a golden darknut. With that victory, Link returns to the old man who gave him the quest in the first place for his reward: a ring, which appraises to the red ring, which doubles sword damage. At this point my ring box was pretty well set: the red joy ring for double rupees, the L2 heart ring for emergency health recovery, and the green ring which increases sword damage and decreases enemy damage for boss fights.
The dungeon in the graveyard is the Explorer’s Crypt, and has some challenging puzzles. Notably, there are rooms where if all the lights go out, Link is taken back to the start of the dungeon. He can stop the trap by defeating a poe in a nearby room. The two poes turn out to be the dungeon’s miniboss, where in addition to attacking Link, they try to blow out the torches around the room. Link has to avoid the attacks, keep the torches lit, and fight back against them. It’s a lot to deal with, at least until one of the two is defeated and Link can focus on the remaining one. The treasure is the roc’s cape, an upgraded jumping item that lets Link glide short distances. Of course, the jumping puzzles make the holes Link needs to cross correspondingly bigger.
The dungeon boss is Gleeok, completing the reimaginings of the original game’s dungeon bosses. It’s only got two heads, but the heads will try to reattach themselves once Link’s knocked them off, only failing if Link’s hacked off the other head first. Once both heads are gone, Gleeok starts hopping around the room, so Link needs to use the roc’s cape to float to avoid being stunned when it lands. All in all, it’s a lot simpler than the dungeon’s miniboss. The seventh essence is the Seed of Life, and the Maku Tree can’t tell where the final essence is.
Before leaving the graveyard area, there’s a heart piece Link can get now that he has the roc’s cape. Now, despite the Maku Tree’s lack of helpful information, the last essence is probably in that large unexplored area in the north where the Temple of Seasons used to be. There are a couple portals to Subrosia in the area. At the first, Link finds a cave where a Subrosian is tossing things into a volcano trying to get it to erupt. Always the helpful one, Link tosses in a bomb, which does the trick, altering the terrain back on Holodrum’s surface. En route to the second portal, Link can find the final heart piece. Going back to Subrosia through the second portal, Link finds the final dungeon hidden in a volcano.
Sword & Shield Maze
The dungeon’s called the Sword & Shield Maze after its map design, but it could just as easily be the Fire & Ice Maze for its terrain. Link has to walk over ice, jump over lava, fight fire keese, and memorably, near the end of the dungeon, toss ice crystals through holes to the basement to freeze the lava to give him a path to the final boss. The miniboss, called Frypolar, also ties into the fire and ice theme, transforming between a giant fireball and a giant snowball. The snowball is vulnerable to ember seeds, although each time it’s hit by one it transforms back to the fireball, making for a long fight.
The treasure is an upgrade for the slingshot, allowing it to split its shot into three, with some puzzles requiring the triple shot to activate groups of statues or light groups of torches quickly. The final boss is the only unique dungeon boss in the game, Medusa Head (AKA Medelock). Medusa Head has a petrification attack derived from its namesake, plus fireballs and optic laser beams. It’s vulnerable to being stunned with Pegasus seeds (heh), then whacked with the sword. After it’s down, Link can claim the final Essence of Nature, Changing Seasons. That’s an odd one, given how much the seasons have been fluctuating already. But anyway, he now has the full set, and the Maku Tree summons him to give him a huge Maku Seed, which will let him breach the magical barrier around Onox’s Castle.
Onox calls Link out from a distance, saying that even with the huge Maku Seed, he’s still no match for him. He invites Link to a final confrontation, should Link wish to prove him wrong.
Next: The mastermind revealed.
En route to the graveyard dungeon, Link can find the last of the golden beasts in spring, a golden darknut. With that victory, Link returns to the old man who gave him the quest in the first place for his reward: a ring, which appraises to the red ring, which doubles sword damage. At this point my ring box was pretty well set: the red joy ring for double rupees, the L2 heart ring for emergency health recovery, and the green ring which increases sword damage and decreases enemy damage for boss fights.
The dungeon in the graveyard is the Explorer’s Crypt, and has some challenging puzzles. Notably, there are rooms where if all the lights go out, Link is taken back to the start of the dungeon. He can stop the trap by defeating a poe in a nearby room. The two poes turn out to be the dungeon’s miniboss, where in addition to attacking Link, they try to blow out the torches around the room. Link has to avoid the attacks, keep the torches lit, and fight back against them. It’s a lot to deal with, at least until one of the two is defeated and Link can focus on the remaining one. The treasure is the roc’s cape, an upgraded jumping item that lets Link glide short distances. Of course, the jumping puzzles make the holes Link needs to cross correspondingly bigger.
The dungeon boss is Gleeok, completing the reimaginings of the original game’s dungeon bosses. It’s only got two heads, but the heads will try to reattach themselves once Link’s knocked them off, only failing if Link’s hacked off the other head first. Once both heads are gone, Gleeok starts hopping around the room, so Link needs to use the roc’s cape to float to avoid being stunned when it lands. All in all, it’s a lot simpler than the dungeon’s miniboss. The seventh essence is the Seed of Life, and the Maku Tree can’t tell where the final essence is.
Before leaving the graveyard area, there’s a heart piece Link can get now that he has the roc’s cape. Now, despite the Maku Tree’s lack of helpful information, the last essence is probably in that large unexplored area in the north where the Temple of Seasons used to be. There are a couple portals to Subrosia in the area. At the first, Link finds a cave where a Subrosian is tossing things into a volcano trying to get it to erupt. Always the helpful one, Link tosses in a bomb, which does the trick, altering the terrain back on Holodrum’s surface. En route to the second portal, Link can find the final heart piece. Going back to Subrosia through the second portal, Link finds the final dungeon hidden in a volcano.
Sword & Shield Maze
The dungeon’s called the Sword & Shield Maze after its map design, but it could just as easily be the Fire & Ice Maze for its terrain. Link has to walk over ice, jump over lava, fight fire keese, and memorably, near the end of the dungeon, toss ice crystals through holes to the basement to freeze the lava to give him a path to the final boss. The miniboss, called Frypolar, also ties into the fire and ice theme, transforming between a giant fireball and a giant snowball. The snowball is vulnerable to ember seeds, although each time it’s hit by one it transforms back to the fireball, making for a long fight.
The treasure is an upgrade for the slingshot, allowing it to split its shot into three, with some puzzles requiring the triple shot to activate groups of statues or light groups of torches quickly. The final boss is the only unique dungeon boss in the game, Medusa Head (AKA Medelock). Medusa Head has a petrification attack derived from its namesake, plus fireballs and optic laser beams. It’s vulnerable to being stunned with Pegasus seeds (heh), then whacked with the sword. After it’s down, Link can claim the final Essence of Nature, Changing Seasons. That’s an odd one, given how much the seasons have been fluctuating already. But anyway, he now has the full set, and the Maku Tree summons him to give him a huge Maku Seed, which will let him breach the magical barrier around Onox’s Castle.
Onox calls Link out from a distance, saying that even with the huge Maku Seed, he’s still no match for him. He invites Link to a final confrontation, should Link wish to prove him wrong.
Next: The mastermind revealed.
Monday, October 1, 2018
Oracle of Seasons: Ancient Ruins
Upgrading Sword and Shield
Just because Link has the power to summon all four seasons doesn’t mean he’s done with Subrosia just yet. There are two special ores he can get to now with the magnetic gloves, which he can then take to the Great Furnace. There, the workers melt and fuse the two into hard ore, using a process that apparently calls for the three of them to line up and dance. Then, Link goes to the Smithy, where the master smith takes interest in upgrading Link’s shield to the iron shield. Back on the surface, Link can find an old man who, now that Link has five Essences, will give him the round jewel, completing the set. The jewels can be placed into sockets of a wall, allowing Link access to the Tarm Ruins.
As Link progresses through the ruins, he’ll find the third golden beast, a lynel. There are a couple of Deku scrubs in the area, too; one fights Link, the other wants to hear a melody on the phonograph. Both give Link directions through the Lost Woods area that’s just ahead. Passing through the Woods requires going in a proper set of directions, while manipulating the seasons between each move. The phonograph scrub’s directions lead Link to a grove where the second sword, the Noble Sword, rests. The second set leads him through the Woods. Along the path through the rest of the ruins is another gale seed tree, so Link can warp here freely should he need to.
Ancient Ruins
As Link approaches the ruins, a hooded figure appears and taunts him that stopping Onox won’t be enough. They also mention a plan to revive the Evil King. So there it is, some mastermind has concocted a plan to bring Ganon back after his defeat in A Link to the Past, and what Onox is doing in Holodrum and whatever’s going on in Oracle of Seasons are a part of it. There’s more to uncover, like who the hooded figure is and how to stop Ganon’s resurrection, but for now, it’s a big piece of the puzzle.
The tower requires a lot of travel between floors, with hidden staircases, pits to fall down, and trampolines to bounce up on. The most memorable puzzle is a trap that causes the walls to close in on Link; if he doesn't navigate the rest of the hallway's spikes and bats in time, he'll be crushed, resulting in an instant game over. The treasure is a boomerang upgrade, which travels farther and faster and gives the player more control over its arc; Zelda boomerangs have already pretty well established they’re immune to real physics, so this one just pushes it a little further. (Hey, it’s magic.) The miniboss is Vire, which is a boss version of the already annoying Link’s Awakening version. It’s very good at staying out of Link’s reach, and unusually for any boss, complains each time it’s hit. When it’s hit enough, it retreats, leaving a couple bats behind for Link to kill.
The final boss is Manhandla, whose reimagining here seems to be the basis for the Hyrule Warriors version. Its four mouths need to be killed with the boomerang, which reveals the core to be a giant buzz blob. So the core needs to be attacked with the boomerang as well, and after a few hits, it opens up to reveal the heart of the monster, which is vulnerable to the sword. Victory lets Link claim the sixth Essence of Nature, Blowing Wind. According to the Maku Tree, the next Essence is in a graveyard to the west. [1]
A Pirate’s Undeath for Me
The way to the graveyard is blocked by a broken bridge, so Link needs to find a way to repair it. Off to the east of Horon Village, there’s a desert side area with a skeleton pirate hanging out at the gate, talking about his quest to find the captain’s bell. The rest of the pirates are down in Subrosia – Link’s come across the house near their sunken ship during his travels there. Now that Link’s collected six of the Essences of Nature, the captain decides he’s a competent adventurer and asks him to help find the bell. On the upper floor, one of the pirates is working on remembering a sequence, which turns out to be the order Link needs to press the buttons on the desert gates.
Inside the desert, Link finds the other half of the pirates’ ship, with the ghost of one of the pirates who died looking for the bell. His skull’s out in the desert, and once Link finds it, will help him find the bell (if Link can put aside nonconstructive urges like tormenting the skull by throwing it into water or quicksand pits). The two find the bell, the skull departs for the afterlife, and Link takes it back to the captain, who isn’t satisfied because the bell’s all rusty. Fortunately, the Subrosian smith takes an interest in the bell and restores it. Once that’s done, the captain’s ready to set sail, although his crew’s gotten a bit too used to being on land after so long and get seasick. He yells at them for it, only for the sickness to hit him, so they park the ship while they get used to sailing. Conveniently, they park right where Link needs a bridge to reach the graveyard.
Next: The last two essences.
[1] I rewrote the intro to this section after replaying the dungeon and discovering the original opening was inaccurate and I left out one of the most memorable bits. The sentence I removed was "There’s not much to talk about in the dungeon, which is a straight climb up the tower."
Just because Link has the power to summon all four seasons doesn’t mean he’s done with Subrosia just yet. There are two special ores he can get to now with the magnetic gloves, which he can then take to the Great Furnace. There, the workers melt and fuse the two into hard ore, using a process that apparently calls for the three of them to line up and dance. Then, Link goes to the Smithy, where the master smith takes interest in upgrading Link’s shield to the iron shield. Back on the surface, Link can find an old man who, now that Link has five Essences, will give him the round jewel, completing the set. The jewels can be placed into sockets of a wall, allowing Link access to the Tarm Ruins.
As Link progresses through the ruins, he’ll find the third golden beast, a lynel. There are a couple of Deku scrubs in the area, too; one fights Link, the other wants to hear a melody on the phonograph. Both give Link directions through the Lost Woods area that’s just ahead. Passing through the Woods requires going in a proper set of directions, while manipulating the seasons between each move. The phonograph scrub’s directions lead Link to a grove where the second sword, the Noble Sword, rests. The second set leads him through the Woods. Along the path through the rest of the ruins is another gale seed tree, so Link can warp here freely should he need to.
Ancient Ruins
As Link approaches the ruins, a hooded figure appears and taunts him that stopping Onox won’t be enough. They also mention a plan to revive the Evil King. So there it is, some mastermind has concocted a plan to bring Ganon back after his defeat in A Link to the Past, and what Onox is doing in Holodrum and whatever’s going on in Oracle of Seasons are a part of it. There’s more to uncover, like who the hooded figure is and how to stop Ganon’s resurrection, but for now, it’s a big piece of the puzzle.
The tower requires a lot of travel between floors, with hidden staircases, pits to fall down, and trampolines to bounce up on. The most memorable puzzle is a trap that causes the walls to close in on Link; if he doesn't navigate the rest of the hallway's spikes and bats in time, he'll be crushed, resulting in an instant game over. The treasure is a boomerang upgrade, which travels farther and faster and gives the player more control over its arc; Zelda boomerangs have already pretty well established they’re immune to real physics, so this one just pushes it a little further. (Hey, it’s magic.) The miniboss is Vire, which is a boss version of the already annoying Link’s Awakening version. It’s very good at staying out of Link’s reach, and unusually for any boss, complains each time it’s hit. When it’s hit enough, it retreats, leaving a couple bats behind for Link to kill.
The final boss is Manhandla, whose reimagining here seems to be the basis for the Hyrule Warriors version. Its four mouths need to be killed with the boomerang, which reveals the core to be a giant buzz blob. So the core needs to be attacked with the boomerang as well, and after a few hits, it opens up to reveal the heart of the monster, which is vulnerable to the sword. Victory lets Link claim the sixth Essence of Nature, Blowing Wind. According to the Maku Tree, the next Essence is in a graveyard to the west. [1]
A Pirate’s Undeath for Me
The way to the graveyard is blocked by a broken bridge, so Link needs to find a way to repair it. Off to the east of Horon Village, there’s a desert side area with a skeleton pirate hanging out at the gate, talking about his quest to find the captain’s bell. The rest of the pirates are down in Subrosia – Link’s come across the house near their sunken ship during his travels there. Now that Link’s collected six of the Essences of Nature, the captain decides he’s a competent adventurer and asks him to help find the bell. On the upper floor, one of the pirates is working on remembering a sequence, which turns out to be the order Link needs to press the buttons on the desert gates.
Inside the desert, Link finds the other half of the pirates’ ship, with the ghost of one of the pirates who died looking for the bell. His skull’s out in the desert, and once Link finds it, will help him find the bell (if Link can put aside nonconstructive urges like tormenting the skull by throwing it into water or quicksand pits). The two find the bell, the skull departs for the afterlife, and Link takes it back to the captain, who isn’t satisfied because the bell’s all rusty. Fortunately, the Subrosian smith takes an interest in the bell and restores it. Once that’s done, the captain’s ready to set sail, although his crew’s gotten a bit too used to being on land after so long and get seasick. He yells at them for it, only for the sickness to hit him, so they park the ship while they get used to sailing. Conveniently, they park right where Link needs a bridge to reach the graveyard.
Next: The last two essences.
[1] I rewrote the intro to this section after replaying the dungeon and discovering the original opening was inaccurate and I left out one of the most memorable bits. The sentence I removed was "There’s not much to talk about in the dungeon, which is a straight climb up the tower."
Friday, September 28, 2018
Oracle of Seasons: The Next Two Dungeons
Dancing Dragon Dungeon
With his new member’s card, Link can access the basement backroom of the Horon Village shop. There are a couple Gasha seeds for sale here, but the other two items are more interesting. First, there’s a seed satchel upgrade that lets Link carry up to 50 of each type of seed. Second, there’s a treasure map that marks four squares on the overworld. Before going exploring, though, with the basement’s inventory all sold, the shop owner’s set up a treasure chest game like the one in Ocarina of Time: choose the right chest of two, three times, to receive a ring, with an option to keep guessing for a chance at a better reward. This is a good place to fill in holes in the ring list, and get rings to unlock the “appraised 100 rings” ring.
Two of the treasure map squares can be visited now, where Link can acquire jewels: a square jewel in Spool Swamp in winter, and a pyramid jewel on Mt. Cucco [1]. With the power of autumn, Link can find the second golden beast, a moblin, in the Woods of Winter. Finally, there are two more heart pieces Link can get right now: one on an island surrounded by swirling water in Spool Swamp, and the other on Mt. Cucco near the entrance to the dungeon. Getting to Dancing Dragon Dungeon requires another cucco ride in winter, then changing the season to summer to climb the vines to the dungeon entrance.
It was hard not to notice Capcom’s logo alongside Nintendo’s on the opening screen, and this dungeon features a puzzle type straight out of one of their signature franchises: the Mega Man disappearing block jumping puzzle. Given my shaky mastery of the roc’s feather physics and timing (all too often, I try to jump too late and end up running out of platform), this was not a welcome sight. The mine carts return from the first dungeon, now complicated by having to manipulate switches to alter their paths. The treasure is a slingshot, Link’s ranged weapon for the game, which uses the same seeds Link carries for other uses. The ember seeds let Link light torches from a distance, and the scent seeds finally have a general use as cheep ammo.
The dungeon’s miniboss is Agunima, a wizard reminiscent of Agahnim. He spawns illusory doubles and, echoing Ganon’s final play from A Link to the Past, turns out the lights. Turning back on the lights reveals the real Agunima as the only one to cast a shadow, which, unlike Agahnim, can be attacked directly. With final bosses being recycled from the original game and Link having a ranged weapon now, it’s Gohma’s turn. Gohma’s been completely reimagined, starting with a giant claw that grabs and crushes Link. Once that’s gone, it’s a standard Gohma fight; it summons little enemies and its vulnerable spot is still the eye. Once it’s gone, Link can claim the fourth Essence of Nature, Soothing Rain.
The Maku Tree makes its customary contact, saying that the next dungeon is in Eyeglass Lake. There’s not a whole lot to do before going there, making it more likely I got the autumn upgrade for the Rod of Seasons early. In Horon Village, Bipin and Blossom’s son is having trouble sleeping, and Blossom asks for help. South of the village, there’s a torch Link can hit with an ember seed now that he has a slingshot, which creates a bridge to an island where the third jewel, this one X-shaped, can be claimed. The path to the next dungeon is blocked by the giant mushrooms, so making it autumn to be able to pick them up is needed.
Unicorn’s Cave
The dungeon is called Unicorn’s Cave, which strikes me as a better name for the one with Aquamentus as a boss, but I’m not in charge of naming things. Link gets the dungeon’s treasure, the magnetic gloves, fairly early on, which is important because a lot of puzzles use them. The gloves are basically a hookshot variant, only their polarity reverses so they can also push items away from Link (or Link away from a stationary object, like the big metal slabs I’ve seen in the overworld), and they can do their magic even when there’s an item between Link and what the magnet is pushing/pulling. This does come at the cost of being able to use them as a weapon, but that’s what the boomerang’s for.
The dungeon’s miniboss is Syger, a saber-toothed tiger that rolls around the dungeon and has a weak spot at the tip of its tail. That’s pretty much all there is to say about that, so it’s fittingly paired with a reimagining of the most forgettable boss from the first game, Digdogger. Digdogger’s lost its vulnerability to certain types of sound, but the key is still to use the dungeon’s treasure against him. Namely, there’s a big spiked ball Link needs to ram into the boss with the magnetic gloves (and stop before it hits Link, because it’ll hurt him, too). When Digdogger takes enough damage, it splits into a bunch of little eyeballs, which also need to be run over with the spiked ball. If Link doesn’t kill them all fast enough, the big form comes back, but the little ones stay defeated. After all the little ones are dead, Link claims the fifth Essence, Nurturing Warmth.
For the next Essence, the Maku Tree points Link toward ruins.
Next: Drink up, me hearties, yo ho!
[1] It didn’t occur to me until I saw the four jewels together on a wiki page, but they’re a sphere, a cube, a tetrahedron (pyramid), and an X. Which in two dimensions are circle, square, triangle, and X: the PlayStation symbols.
With his new member’s card, Link can access the basement backroom of the Horon Village shop. There are a couple Gasha seeds for sale here, but the other two items are more interesting. First, there’s a seed satchel upgrade that lets Link carry up to 50 of each type of seed. Second, there’s a treasure map that marks four squares on the overworld. Before going exploring, though, with the basement’s inventory all sold, the shop owner’s set up a treasure chest game like the one in Ocarina of Time: choose the right chest of two, three times, to receive a ring, with an option to keep guessing for a chance at a better reward. This is a good place to fill in holes in the ring list, and get rings to unlock the “appraised 100 rings” ring.
Two of the treasure map squares can be visited now, where Link can acquire jewels: a square jewel in Spool Swamp in winter, and a pyramid jewel on Mt. Cucco [1]. With the power of autumn, Link can find the second golden beast, a moblin, in the Woods of Winter. Finally, there are two more heart pieces Link can get right now: one on an island surrounded by swirling water in Spool Swamp, and the other on Mt. Cucco near the entrance to the dungeon. Getting to Dancing Dragon Dungeon requires another cucco ride in winter, then changing the season to summer to climb the vines to the dungeon entrance.
It was hard not to notice Capcom’s logo alongside Nintendo’s on the opening screen, and this dungeon features a puzzle type straight out of one of their signature franchises: the Mega Man disappearing block jumping puzzle. Given my shaky mastery of the roc’s feather physics and timing (all too often, I try to jump too late and end up running out of platform), this was not a welcome sight. The mine carts return from the first dungeon, now complicated by having to manipulate switches to alter their paths. The treasure is a slingshot, Link’s ranged weapon for the game, which uses the same seeds Link carries for other uses. The ember seeds let Link light torches from a distance, and the scent seeds finally have a general use as cheep ammo.
The dungeon’s miniboss is Agunima, a wizard reminiscent of Agahnim. He spawns illusory doubles and, echoing Ganon’s final play from A Link to the Past, turns out the lights. Turning back on the lights reveals the real Agunima as the only one to cast a shadow, which, unlike Agahnim, can be attacked directly. With final bosses being recycled from the original game and Link having a ranged weapon now, it’s Gohma’s turn. Gohma’s been completely reimagined, starting with a giant claw that grabs and crushes Link. Once that’s gone, it’s a standard Gohma fight; it summons little enemies and its vulnerable spot is still the eye. Once it’s gone, Link can claim the fourth Essence of Nature, Soothing Rain.
The Maku Tree makes its customary contact, saying that the next dungeon is in Eyeglass Lake. There’s not a whole lot to do before going there, making it more likely I got the autumn upgrade for the Rod of Seasons early. In Horon Village, Bipin and Blossom’s son is having trouble sleeping, and Blossom asks for help. South of the village, there’s a torch Link can hit with an ember seed now that he has a slingshot, which creates a bridge to an island where the third jewel, this one X-shaped, can be claimed. The path to the next dungeon is blocked by the giant mushrooms, so making it autumn to be able to pick them up is needed.
Unicorn’s Cave
The dungeon is called Unicorn’s Cave, which strikes me as a better name for the one with Aquamentus as a boss, but I’m not in charge of naming things. Link gets the dungeon’s treasure, the magnetic gloves, fairly early on, which is important because a lot of puzzles use them. The gloves are basically a hookshot variant, only their polarity reverses so they can also push items away from Link (or Link away from a stationary object, like the big metal slabs I’ve seen in the overworld), and they can do their magic even when there’s an item between Link and what the magnet is pushing/pulling. This does come at the cost of being able to use them as a weapon, but that’s what the boomerang’s for.
The dungeon’s miniboss is Syger, a saber-toothed tiger that rolls around the dungeon and has a weak spot at the tip of its tail. That’s pretty much all there is to say about that, so it’s fittingly paired with a reimagining of the most forgettable boss from the first game, Digdogger. Digdogger’s lost its vulnerability to certain types of sound, but the key is still to use the dungeon’s treasure against him. Namely, there’s a big spiked ball Link needs to ram into the boss with the magnetic gloves (and stop before it hits Link, because it’ll hurt him, too). When Digdogger takes enough damage, it splits into a bunch of little eyeballs, which also need to be run over with the spiked ball. If Link doesn’t kill them all fast enough, the big form comes back, but the little ones stay defeated. After all the little ones are dead, Link claims the fifth Essence, Nurturing Warmth.
For the next Essence, the Maku Tree points Link toward ruins.
Next: Drink up, me hearties, yo ho!
[1] It didn’t occur to me until I saw the four jewels together on a wiki page, but they’re a sphere, a cube, a tetrahedron (pyramid), and an X. Which in two dimensions are circle, square, triangle, and X: the PlayStation symbols.
Wednesday, September 26, 2018
Oracle of Seasons: Spring and Autumn
The Last Two Seasons
There’s a hidden underwater passage in the north part of the Sunken City, and passing through leads Link to the Mt. Cucco area. There, he finds another portal to Subrosia. Shortly after passing through, Link gets run over by a couple Subrosians and drops the roc’s feather. The Subrosians steal the feather and leave Link a worthless bit of ore. That’s not going to do, so Link has to chase the Subrosians to get it back. Of course, they’re perfectly happy with their end of the trade, so while they’re going to bury the feather, they’re not going to be inclined to give it back, which naturally leads to another stealth mission, this time with two people on the lookout. The treasure spot’s obvious, but they actually need to bury the feather and vamoose before Link can dig it up.
The other important thing to get while down here is the power of spring in the Rod of Seasons. That tower was walled off in the temple, so Link needs to finds a hidden passage to inside the walled-off area, where he meets the Spirit of Spring. Spring opens up the flower buds that will give Link a boost to the top of a nearby cliff.
Returning to Mt. Cucco, Link comes across Moosh for the encounter he’s meant to help with. Moosh wants bananas from the mountaintop, but since he and Link are bonded, there’s no actual need for Link to go get them. I did it anyway so I could play with this game’s Flying Cucco, who’s a lot more limited than the one in Link’s Awakening, but still quite fun. After he gets his coveted bananas, Moosh lends his flying abilities to help Link get the key to the next dungeon.
We’re not done with Subrosia yet, however. There’s another portal Link can get to at this point, in Eyeglass Lake near Horon Village, that takes him to eastern Subrosia. Here, Link can meet a Subrosian who collects signs and can somehow tell how many of them Link has destroyed. If Link talks to him after destroying 100 signs, the collector will do a fakeout like he reset the game, give Link a ring to mark him as a sign-destroyer (no powers, just another slot on the list filled), and tell him not to do it anymore. Heh.
Getting the power of Autumn requires another little bit of questing, and in hindsight, it probably was supposed to wait until after the next dungeon. First, Link needs a bomb flower, which he can find after navigating a bunch of lava islands in the southeast corner of the map. The bomb flower’s needed to clear the rocks blocking the way into the Autumn Tower, where Link meets the final spirit. Autumn fills pits with leaves, and turns the giant mushrooms ripe for picking lifted out of Link’s way. At last, the Rod of Seasons can go through the full set.
Wrapping Up the Trading Sequence
While still in Subrosia, Link can get two more things. First, the market is selling member’s cards to the Horon Village shop, which allows access to the backroom with valuable items, and then a treasure chest game that awards random rings. Second, Link can have the iron pot filled with lava soup, which is needed to continue the trading sequence.
Next to Mt. Cucco is Goron Mountain. The seasons have made the winter unusually cold, which is of course making the gorons miserable, especially Biggoron, who’s too big to come inside out of the cold. Biggoron gladly takes the lava soup Link has, which gets him over his cold, and gives him a Goron Vase. Also in the area is a goron who’ll give Link the second ring box, so he can carry three rings at once and swap between them. Finally, there’s a couple Gasha seed soil locations in this area, and one of them’s really good; I got a heart piece and some great rings from it.
Speaking of, a note about rings. A lot of them come from random sources, like Gasha nuts, dropped by Maple, or the treasure chest game. Some come from treasure chests, and others (like the sign ring mentioned earlier) are given almost as a proto-achievement system. I did a really poor job of tracking which rings came from which source; they all got jumbled when I went to appraise them anyway. I ended the game with over 40 rings, and since this is the first game of four, I’m not terribly worried about the holes in the list.
The last few legs of the trading sequence can be handled now. Ingo in the Sunken City collects vases, so he trades a fish for the goron vase. The fish goes to a man who’s been trying to lure his cat out of a tree; Link gets the megaphone the man had be futilely using. The megaphone can wake up Talon, who’s sleeping in a cave on Mt. Cucco and gives Link a mushroom for waking him. Syrup, Maple’s mentor in the Sunken City, needs the mushroom to make potions (so where have the ones Maple’s been dropping come from?), and trades a wooden bird for it. There’s a clockmaker in Horon Village who wants the bird to finish his clock, and trades engine grease for it. Finally, the engine grease goes to the guy playing the Song of Storms near the windmill, who gives Link his phonograph. That’s it for trades, although cashing in on it will have to wait.
Next: The dungeons say dragons and unicorns, but we’ve seen Aquamentus.
There’s a hidden underwater passage in the north part of the Sunken City, and passing through leads Link to the Mt. Cucco area. There, he finds another portal to Subrosia. Shortly after passing through, Link gets run over by a couple Subrosians and drops the roc’s feather. The Subrosians steal the feather and leave Link a worthless bit of ore. That’s not going to do, so Link has to chase the Subrosians to get it back. Of course, they’re perfectly happy with their end of the trade, so while they’re going to bury the feather, they’re not going to be inclined to give it back, which naturally leads to another stealth mission, this time with two people on the lookout. The treasure spot’s obvious, but they actually need to bury the feather and vamoose before Link can dig it up.
The other important thing to get while down here is the power of spring in the Rod of Seasons. That tower was walled off in the temple, so Link needs to finds a hidden passage to inside the walled-off area, where he meets the Spirit of Spring. Spring opens up the flower buds that will give Link a boost to the top of a nearby cliff.
Returning to Mt. Cucco, Link comes across Moosh for the encounter he’s meant to help with. Moosh wants bananas from the mountaintop, but since he and Link are bonded, there’s no actual need for Link to go get them. I did it anyway so I could play with this game’s Flying Cucco, who’s a lot more limited than the one in Link’s Awakening, but still quite fun. After he gets his coveted bananas, Moosh lends his flying abilities to help Link get the key to the next dungeon.
We’re not done with Subrosia yet, however. There’s another portal Link can get to at this point, in Eyeglass Lake near Horon Village, that takes him to eastern Subrosia. Here, Link can meet a Subrosian who collects signs and can somehow tell how many of them Link has destroyed. If Link talks to him after destroying 100 signs, the collector will do a fakeout like he reset the game, give Link a ring to mark him as a sign-destroyer (no powers, just another slot on the list filled), and tell him not to do it anymore. Heh.
Getting the power of Autumn requires another little bit of questing, and in hindsight, it probably was supposed to wait until after the next dungeon. First, Link needs a bomb flower, which he can find after navigating a bunch of lava islands in the southeast corner of the map. The bomb flower’s needed to clear the rocks blocking the way into the Autumn Tower, where Link meets the final spirit. Autumn fills pits with leaves, and turns the giant mushrooms ripe for picking lifted out of Link’s way. At last, the Rod of Seasons can go through the full set.
Wrapping Up the Trading Sequence
While still in Subrosia, Link can get two more things. First, the market is selling member’s cards to the Horon Village shop, which allows access to the backroom with valuable items, and then a treasure chest game that awards random rings. Second, Link can have the iron pot filled with lava soup, which is needed to continue the trading sequence.
Next to Mt. Cucco is Goron Mountain. The seasons have made the winter unusually cold, which is of course making the gorons miserable, especially Biggoron, who’s too big to come inside out of the cold. Biggoron gladly takes the lava soup Link has, which gets him over his cold, and gives him a Goron Vase. Also in the area is a goron who’ll give Link the second ring box, so he can carry three rings at once and swap between them. Finally, there’s a couple Gasha seed soil locations in this area, and one of them’s really good; I got a heart piece and some great rings from it.
Speaking of, a note about rings. A lot of them come from random sources, like Gasha nuts, dropped by Maple, or the treasure chest game. Some come from treasure chests, and others (like the sign ring mentioned earlier) are given almost as a proto-achievement system. I did a really poor job of tracking which rings came from which source; they all got jumbled when I went to appraise them anyway. I ended the game with over 40 rings, and since this is the first game of four, I’m not terribly worried about the holes in the list.
The last few legs of the trading sequence can be handled now. Ingo in the Sunken City collects vases, so he trades a fish for the goron vase. The fish goes to a man who’s been trying to lure his cat out of a tree; Link gets the megaphone the man had be futilely using. The megaphone can wake up Talon, who’s sleeping in a cave on Mt. Cucco and gives Link a mushroom for waking him. Syrup, Maple’s mentor in the Sunken City, needs the mushroom to make potions (so where have the ones Maple’s been dropping come from?), and trades a wooden bird for it. There’s a clockmaker in Horon Village who wants the bird to finish his clock, and trades engine grease for it. Finally, the engine grease goes to the guy playing the Song of Storms near the windmill, who gives Link his phonograph. That’s it for trades, although cashing in on it will have to wait.
Next: The dungeons say dragons and unicorns, but we’ve seen Aquamentus.
Monday, September 24, 2018
Oracle of Seasons: Poison Moth's Lair
Link returns to the surface, and goes back the way he came to find a tree stump to try out his new power. With the vines growing, Link can climb to where a secret is promised, and it seem Vasu has left his best customer a ring. Link digs it up and proceeds to the next dungeon.
Poison Moth’s Lair
Once again, it’s immediately obvious what the treasure’s going to be; this time, there are a lot of short gaps, which point to the roc’s feather. It is the treasure, and there’s a new puzzle component with it: Link can jump onto trampolines to bounce up to a higher level of the dungeon, and push them around so they’re where they need to be. Also, Link can push pots around instead of lifting and smashing them, which is needed for a “switch only stays down with a weight on it” puzzle that was infuriating until I accidentally pushed one of the pots and realized that’s what needs to be done. Shortly before the miniboss, an owl statue hints that it is invincible in water. It turns out to be Omuai/Calamareye, three squids that travel between a set of pools. The strategy is basically Morpha minus the hookshot: pick them up, take them out of their pools, and whack them till they die.
The dungeon’s boss is a returnee, not from the first game, but from A Link to the Past: Mothula. This version lacks the features that made the original frustrating; instead it tries to knock Link off the central platforms of its room into the room below to restart the fight. The strategy I found for the phase where Mothula’s flying around shooting fireballs is to stand on the central platforms and jump between them with each fireball, then repeatedly whack Mothula when it lands to catch its breath. It only takes a couple cycles to win, and then the way opens for Link to claim the third Essence, the Bright Sun.
The Maku Tree says the next goal should be a waterfall to the north.
The Sunken City
With the roc’s feather, Link can jump over some of the holes in the overworld. There’s a cave with a heart piece he can get to, and then it’s time to go exploring some more, eventually covering the northwest area of the map. The first section changes forms based on which animal companion Link got – the options are Ricky, Moosh, and one I’ll get to in a moment here. With Moosh, it becomes the Natzu Wasteland, and I’m starting to regret my choice because the long flying leaps over the big gaps are getting harder and harder to do. Of particular interest in this area is a Deku scrub who’ll refill Link’s entire seed bag just for dropping by, and the Moblin’s Keep to the east, where the Moblin King shoots bombs at a passing Link.
Once through the wasteland, Link and Moosh come to the Sunken City. All the water unnerves Moosh, who leaves Link to explore on his own. There are hints of a master diver who’s hidden his gear somewhere, but first, Link comes to another seed tree, which gives him gale seeds, which will teleport him to any other seed tree he’s visited. Finally, a useful quick travel item. Link also comes across a dodongo being bullied by some kids, and gets the kids to leave it alone. The dodongo, Dimitri, offers to help Link in return. His particular abilities are swimming and climbing waterfalls.
At the top of the Sunken City, Link finds the master diver, who offers Link a chance to become his pupil. First, of course, Link must pass a test: go to another cave and hit four statues in a single stroke. It seems impossible, but the solution is to push the statues together and hit them all with a spin attack. Link gets a plaque, which he takes back to the diver, and gets the flippers, finally gaining the ability to swim. Swimming gives access to the Moblin’s Keep, where Link can finally confront the Moblin King. The King throws bombs at Link, who can throw them back and occasionally catch the King in the blast. The whole thing feels like Wart from Super Mario Bros. 2. Eventually one of the bombs catches the entire bomb stash, defeating the King and wrecking the keep. Link claims his reward, another heart piece.
Near the first dungeon, there’s an old man who challenges Link to defeat four golden beasts throughout Holodrum. The first of these, an octorok in Spool Swamp that only spawns during summer, can be fought now.
Next: The Rod of Seasons reaches its full potential.
Poison Moth’s Lair
Once again, it’s immediately obvious what the treasure’s going to be; this time, there are a lot of short gaps, which point to the roc’s feather. It is the treasure, and there’s a new puzzle component with it: Link can jump onto trampolines to bounce up to a higher level of the dungeon, and push them around so they’re where they need to be. Also, Link can push pots around instead of lifting and smashing them, which is needed for a “switch only stays down with a weight on it” puzzle that was infuriating until I accidentally pushed one of the pots and realized that’s what needs to be done. Shortly before the miniboss, an owl statue hints that it is invincible in water. It turns out to be Omuai/Calamareye, three squids that travel between a set of pools. The strategy is basically Morpha minus the hookshot: pick them up, take them out of their pools, and whack them till they die.
The dungeon’s boss is a returnee, not from the first game, but from A Link to the Past: Mothula. This version lacks the features that made the original frustrating; instead it tries to knock Link off the central platforms of its room into the room below to restart the fight. The strategy I found for the phase where Mothula’s flying around shooting fireballs is to stand on the central platforms and jump between them with each fireball, then repeatedly whack Mothula when it lands to catch its breath. It only takes a couple cycles to win, and then the way opens for Link to claim the third Essence, the Bright Sun.
The Maku Tree says the next goal should be a waterfall to the north.
The Sunken City
With the roc’s feather, Link can jump over some of the holes in the overworld. There’s a cave with a heart piece he can get to, and then it’s time to go exploring some more, eventually covering the northwest area of the map. The first section changes forms based on which animal companion Link got – the options are Ricky, Moosh, and one I’ll get to in a moment here. With Moosh, it becomes the Natzu Wasteland, and I’m starting to regret my choice because the long flying leaps over the big gaps are getting harder and harder to do. Of particular interest in this area is a Deku scrub who’ll refill Link’s entire seed bag just for dropping by, and the Moblin’s Keep to the east, where the Moblin King shoots bombs at a passing Link.
Once through the wasteland, Link and Moosh come to the Sunken City. All the water unnerves Moosh, who leaves Link to explore on his own. There are hints of a master diver who’s hidden his gear somewhere, but first, Link comes to another seed tree, which gives him gale seeds, which will teleport him to any other seed tree he’s visited. Finally, a useful quick travel item. Link also comes across a dodongo being bullied by some kids, and gets the kids to leave it alone. The dodongo, Dimitri, offers to help Link in return. His particular abilities are swimming and climbing waterfalls.
At the top of the Sunken City, Link finds the master diver, who offers Link a chance to become his pupil. First, of course, Link must pass a test: go to another cave and hit four statues in a single stroke. It seems impossible, but the solution is to push the statues together and hit them all with a spin attack. Link gets a plaque, which he takes back to the diver, and gets the flippers, finally gaining the ability to swim. Swimming gives access to the Moblin’s Keep, where Link can finally confront the Moblin King. The King throws bombs at Link, who can throw them back and occasionally catch the King in the blast. The whole thing feels like Wart from Super Mario Bros. 2. Eventually one of the bombs catches the entire bomb stash, defeating the King and wrecking the keep. Link claims his reward, another heart piece.
Near the first dungeon, there’s an old man who challenges Link to defeat four golden beasts throughout Holodrum. The first of these, an octorok in Spool Swamp that only spawns during summer, can be fought now.
Next: The Rod of Seasons reaches its full potential.
Friday, September 21, 2018
Oracle of Seasons: Spool Swamp
In Horon Village, Link returns to Bipin and Blossom, who are worried because Bob is sick. Blossom asks Link for money to help pay for treatment, and Link gives her 150 rupees, which she’s grateful for. The shop’s updated its inventory and now sells a strange flute, which I’m sure will come in handy eventually. The way to the swamp lies to the north, so that’s the next direction.
To Spool Swamp, and Back to Subrosia
As Link travels, he comes across another seed tree with its own flavor of seeds. These are scent seeds, which can be used as bait. Over a bridge, Link finds a kangaroo named Ricky who offers to take Link to the swamp, only he lost his boxing gloves to Blaino. Blaino has a gym back across the bridge, and he challenges Link to a boxing match. Link wins, gets Ricky’s gloves back, and takes them back to Ricky, who gives him a ride. As they go, they come across a house whose inhabitant is struggling to deal with heat and wants the ghastly doll to send a chill down her spine; Link’s reward is an iron pot. Once Link’s past all the obstacles he needed Ricky for, Ricky leaves. Nearby, Link finds yet another seed tree; this one’s Pegasus seeds can be activated to give him a momentary speed boost.
The swamp is currently flooded, and the floodgate keeper has lost the key to the gate. Link hits a switch to drain the water around his house, and wouldn’t you know it, the key’s at the bottom of a pool in the house. Outside, the lowered water level has opened a cave full of puzzles that eventually leads to the other side of the swamp. There, Link finds the lock to open the floodgates, lowering the water level in the area. Sokra shows up and tells Link he needs a new season, so he needs to go back to Subrosia.
Down in the swamp area, Link comes across a bear being harassed by Moblins. Link drives the Moblins off, and the bear introduces itself to him as Moosh. The flute Link bought in Horon Village can be used to call Moosh, who’ll give Link rides. Moosh doesn’t like deep water, but can fly over holes and smash enemies with a jumping attack. Moosh takes Link across pits to another portal to Subrosia, which Link takes.
Dating Rosa
In the area of Subrosia Link finds himself in now, he finds the girl he followed to Subrosia to the first time. She’s lost her ribbon and while she wants to explore the “temple,” she can’t go out without it. The local merchant has a ribbon for sale, wanting to trade it for star-shaped ore. So, it’s time for Link to get out his shovel and start digging and he finds a chunk of star-shaped ore, takes it back to the merchant, and makes the trade. The merchant has some other interesting items: a heart piece, a bomb bag upgrade, rings, and Gasha seeds. I’ll clean him out of these before Link leaves. (Well, not the Gasha seeds, because those seem to restock.)
Rosa’s happy with the ribbon gift, and agrees to go on a date as thanks. She suggests visiting the “temple,” which is just fine with Link. Rosa has a key that can unlock doors in Subrosia, and so she and Link pass through a cave back to the area Link explored on his first visit, and back to the Temple, where she can open the door to the summer tower. Link and Rosa go to meet the Spirit of Summer, who imbues the Rod of Seasons with the power to summon summer, and explains that summer lowers water levels and causes vines to grow that Link can climb.
Before ending the date, Link takes Rosa dancing, only she doesn’t go in with him. Her loss, I guess. The dancing game gets a lot harder, quickly – it should be easy to just watch the guy, note the next three steps, and make those moves, but when Link’s along the bottom part of the circle and pressing right moves him left, mistakes are easy to make. Also, for some reason, I keep moving him one extra step at the end of a move, which means if he moves too soon/too late, he can run into the guy next to him, so an extra layer of precision is required after that mistake. After a long time, I finally got enough ore chunks to buy everything I wanted from the store, and that’s a good place to leave it for now.
Next: Jumping and swimming.
To Spool Swamp, and Back to Subrosia
As Link travels, he comes across another seed tree with its own flavor of seeds. These are scent seeds, which can be used as bait. Over a bridge, Link finds a kangaroo named Ricky who offers to take Link to the swamp, only he lost his boxing gloves to Blaino. Blaino has a gym back across the bridge, and he challenges Link to a boxing match. Link wins, gets Ricky’s gloves back, and takes them back to Ricky, who gives him a ride. As they go, they come across a house whose inhabitant is struggling to deal with heat and wants the ghastly doll to send a chill down her spine; Link’s reward is an iron pot. Once Link’s past all the obstacles he needed Ricky for, Ricky leaves. Nearby, Link finds yet another seed tree; this one’s Pegasus seeds can be activated to give him a momentary speed boost.
The swamp is currently flooded, and the floodgate keeper has lost the key to the gate. Link hits a switch to drain the water around his house, and wouldn’t you know it, the key’s at the bottom of a pool in the house. Outside, the lowered water level has opened a cave full of puzzles that eventually leads to the other side of the swamp. There, Link finds the lock to open the floodgates, lowering the water level in the area. Sokra shows up and tells Link he needs a new season, so he needs to go back to Subrosia.
Down in the swamp area, Link comes across a bear being harassed by Moblins. Link drives the Moblins off, and the bear introduces itself to him as Moosh. The flute Link bought in Horon Village can be used to call Moosh, who’ll give Link rides. Moosh doesn’t like deep water, but can fly over holes and smash enemies with a jumping attack. Moosh takes Link across pits to another portal to Subrosia, which Link takes.
Dating Rosa
In the area of Subrosia Link finds himself in now, he finds the girl he followed to Subrosia to the first time. She’s lost her ribbon and while she wants to explore the “temple,” she can’t go out without it. The local merchant has a ribbon for sale, wanting to trade it for star-shaped ore. So, it’s time for Link to get out his shovel and start digging and he finds a chunk of star-shaped ore, takes it back to the merchant, and makes the trade. The merchant has some other interesting items: a heart piece, a bomb bag upgrade, rings, and Gasha seeds. I’ll clean him out of these before Link leaves. (Well, not the Gasha seeds, because those seem to restock.)
Rosa’s happy with the ribbon gift, and agrees to go on a date as thanks. She suggests visiting the “temple,” which is just fine with Link. Rosa has a key that can unlock doors in Subrosia, and so she and Link pass through a cave back to the area Link explored on his first visit, and back to the Temple, where she can open the door to the summer tower. Link and Rosa go to meet the Spirit of Summer, who imbues the Rod of Seasons with the power to summon summer, and explains that summer lowers water levels and causes vines to grow that Link can climb.
Before ending the date, Link takes Rosa dancing, only she doesn’t go in with him. Her loss, I guess. The dancing game gets a lot harder, quickly – it should be easy to just watch the guy, note the next three steps, and make those moves, but when Link’s along the bottom part of the circle and pressing right moves him left, mistakes are easy to make. Also, for some reason, I keep moving him one extra step at the end of a move, which means if he moves too soon/too late, he can run into the guy next to him, so an extra layer of precision is required after that mistake. After a long time, I finally got enough ore chunks to buy everything I wanted from the store, and that’s a good place to leave it for now.
Next: Jumping and swimming.
Wednesday, September 19, 2018
Oracle of Seasons: The Rod of Seasons
Link finds his way to the Temple of Seasons, which has been buried in Subrosia. The seasons’ spirits greet him, tell him to get the Rod of Seasons from the temple, then visit each of them in their towers. In the main temple, Link gets the Rod of Seasons, which will give him the power to change seasons when it’s blessed by the season spirits. Only one of those spirits’ towers is currently accessible, the Spirit of Winter. As she blesses the rod, the Spirit explains the game mechanics of winter: waters freeze and snows pile up. As Link leaves the spirit’s tower, the Maku Tree contacts him to tell him that his next destination is woods in the east, near where he entered Subrosia.
Sokra’s there to greet Link when he comes back to the surface. The first part of what he says is redundant with what Link was told in Subrosia about the Rod, but he does point Link to a stump where he can use the Rod to summon winter so he can freeze a lake and walk across. He also says there may be other entrances to Subrosia from the surface. Anyway, Link does as suggested, freezes the pond, and starts exploring to the north. There’s a heart piece in a cave in the area.
It doesn’t stay winter; eventually the season will change and Link has to find a new stump to jump on and use the Rod. This leads to one of the oddest encounters in the series thus far: shortly after changing to winter, Link finds a house whose entrance is blocked with snow, but he can go in through the chimney. I was all set to call it a Santa Claus impression, but after the house’s inhabitant, Holly, actually mistakes him for Santa, no sense being repetitive. She gives him a shovel so he can clear a path from her door. (Incidentally, I thought Goron Link from Majora’s Mask kind of looked like what someone with only the barest idea of what Santa looks like might come up with.)
The shovel’s needed further to clear a path through the snow to the next dungeon’s entrance. Along the way, Link finds a tree with mystery seeds and an owl statue nearby. If Link uses a seed on the statue, it tells him to do the same with other statues he may find. Also, at some point during this time, Link had a special encounter with Maple. The only item dropped was the Lon Lon Egg, which she claimed, giving Link a Ghastly Doll in return. And at last, Link comes to the entrance of the second dungeon, Snake’s Remains.
Snake’s Remains
The boss is the same as The Legend of Zelda’s second dungeon, and there are ropes, as the dungeon’s name hints, but otherwise there’s no real similarities between the two dungeons. There are a lot of pots near the entrance to the dungeon, marking this as the place with the lifting item, and sure enough, Link finds the power bracelet. (I understand why he can’t lift pots without an item – four buttons does not allow a whole lot of flexibility – but wow does it feel weird.) There are a couple rooms where Link needs to throw bombs to kill enemies; these rooms have flowers that regenerate quickly and have a good chance just in case he has trouble with accuracy, so that’s nice. The miniboss is Facade from Link’s Awakening, and despite the demotion, he’s tougher now because he constantly spews fireballs into the air.
Shortly before the boss, an owl statue hints that the boss’ weakness is its insides, followed by a feat of strength. Said boss, as I alluded to, is Dodongo. Again reimagined from all the previous versions, this Dodongo moves fairly slowly around the room, occasionally shooting fireballs at Link or charging. There’s a few seconds between it opening its mouth to shoot fireballs and when they actually come, and that’s Link’s chance to throw a bomb in. Like the dodongos from The Legend of Zelda, eating a bomb stuns it, and Link can then use the power bracelet to pick it up and throw it onto the spikes in the center of the room. After repeating this four times, Link is victorious and can claim the second Essence, the Gift of Time.
The Maku Tree again reaches out, strengthened again by the second Essence and now directing Link to the Spool Swamp to the west. As Link returns to Horon Village, he meets Maple again for their customary exchange of items and finds a fourth heart piece he can get now with the power bracelet.
Next: Link goes on a date.
Sokra’s there to greet Link when he comes back to the surface. The first part of what he says is redundant with what Link was told in Subrosia about the Rod, but he does point Link to a stump where he can use the Rod to summon winter so he can freeze a lake and walk across. He also says there may be other entrances to Subrosia from the surface. Anyway, Link does as suggested, freezes the pond, and starts exploring to the north. There’s a heart piece in a cave in the area.
It doesn’t stay winter; eventually the season will change and Link has to find a new stump to jump on and use the Rod. This leads to one of the oddest encounters in the series thus far: shortly after changing to winter, Link finds a house whose entrance is blocked with snow, but he can go in through the chimney. I was all set to call it a Santa Claus impression, but after the house’s inhabitant, Holly, actually mistakes him for Santa, no sense being repetitive. She gives him a shovel so he can clear a path from her door. (Incidentally, I thought Goron Link from Majora’s Mask kind of looked like what someone with only the barest idea of what Santa looks like might come up with.)
The shovel’s needed further to clear a path through the snow to the next dungeon’s entrance. Along the way, Link finds a tree with mystery seeds and an owl statue nearby. If Link uses a seed on the statue, it tells him to do the same with other statues he may find. Also, at some point during this time, Link had a special encounter with Maple. The only item dropped was the Lon Lon Egg, which she claimed, giving Link a Ghastly Doll in return. And at last, Link comes to the entrance of the second dungeon, Snake’s Remains.
Snake’s Remains
The boss is the same as The Legend of Zelda’s second dungeon, and there are ropes, as the dungeon’s name hints, but otherwise there’s no real similarities between the two dungeons. There are a lot of pots near the entrance to the dungeon, marking this as the place with the lifting item, and sure enough, Link finds the power bracelet. (I understand why he can’t lift pots without an item – four buttons does not allow a whole lot of flexibility – but wow does it feel weird.) There are a couple rooms where Link needs to throw bombs to kill enemies; these rooms have flowers that regenerate quickly and have a good chance just in case he has trouble with accuracy, so that’s nice. The miniboss is Facade from Link’s Awakening, and despite the demotion, he’s tougher now because he constantly spews fireballs into the air.
Shortly before the boss, an owl statue hints that the boss’ weakness is its insides, followed by a feat of strength. Said boss, as I alluded to, is Dodongo. Again reimagined from all the previous versions, this Dodongo moves fairly slowly around the room, occasionally shooting fireballs at Link or charging. There’s a few seconds between it opening its mouth to shoot fireballs and when they actually come, and that’s Link’s chance to throw a bomb in. Like the dodongos from The Legend of Zelda, eating a bomb stuns it, and Link can then use the power bracelet to pick it up and throw it onto the spikes in the center of the room. After repeating this four times, Link is victorious and can claim the second Essence, the Gift of Time.
The Maku Tree again reaches out, strengthened again by the second Essence and now directing Link to the Spool Swamp to the west. As Link returns to Horon Village, he meets Maple again for their customary exchange of items and finds a fourth heart piece he can get now with the power bracelet.
Next: Link goes on a date.
Monday, September 17, 2018
Oracle of Seasons: Memory Lane
Gnarled Root Dungeon
To the north of Horon Village, in a tree on an island, lies the first dungeon, Gnarled Root Dungeon. The entrance a more than a little reminiscent of the first dungeon entrance in the first game, and the similarities don’t stop there. The dungeon’s map is kind of eagle-y. Enemies spotted in the dungeon include old favorites like stalfos, keeses, and… well, they’re called floormasters because they come out of the floor, but they’re more like wallmasters. The treasure is under a room with a block diamond surrounded by blade traps, and the treasure room even looks like the ones from the first game. There’s even an old man who’s decided this hole is the perfect place to live who gives Link a hint on how to use the treasure! That treasure is a seed bag filled with ember seeds, which can light things on fire, including lighting torches. The dungeon’s miniboss is a pair of goriyas with linked health, which I was surprised to discover because it’s usually just good tactics to kill one before starting on the other, and whoops they both died. There’s a new feature introduced here: mine carts for Link to ride.
Completing the nod to the very first dungeon of the series, the dungeon’s boss is Aquamentus. It’s been slightly reimagined; it doesn’t just walk back and forth in a small path, it constantly moves forward until it reaches the wall and then returns to start, and sometimes it charges. There are no sword beams yet, and I didn’t test the basic shield against its beam attacks, but the basic strategy remains the same: don’t get hit, attack the head, hit it enough, and win. It’s still not hard, but the redesign makes it an effective first boss – bravo for that. Link moves to the last room, which has the first Essence of Nature, Fertile Soil.
The Maku Tree contacts Link, saying that the Fertile Soil is strengthening it, and pointing Link to visit the Temple of Seasons, where he’ll get a precious item. That’s not a tremendously useful hint, since the Temple of Seasons isn’t where it’s supposed to be and I’m not sure where that is anyway. Unsurprisingly, Link killed enough enemies in the dungeon to run into Maple when he comes out, and she’s apparently doing pretty well for herself because she’s upgraded her broomstick to a vacuum cleaner. Heh.
Finding Subrosia
Link returns to Horon Village, where he gets his rings appraised, including the Discovery Ring which seems to activate around soft soil patches. There’s a heart piece in the village that Link can get to now with the ember seeds. Also around the village, there’s a guy who looks like Mr. Write from Link’s Awakening, and his name is Dr. Left. He’s having trouble reading because his light is out, so Link uses an ember seed to light it, and is rewarded with his cuccodex. Finally, there’s a tree in the village that grows ember seeds. North of the village, Link finds this game’s version of Malon in her house, struggling to look after cuccos while Talon’s off climbing Mt. Cucco, and she gladly trades an egg for Dr. Left’s cuccodex. Aha, we’ve started the trading sequence. Maple said something about wanting a Lon Lon Egg, but there’s probably no hurry there, I’ll run into her before too long.
Now it’s back to the village to burn a trail to the east. Before Link can go, Sokra, a wandering prophet, approaches him to tell him that the spirits of the seasons are still in the Temple of Seasons, and that if Link can find the Temple, he should visit the seasons. As Link explores to the east, he sees a windmill with a guy playing the Song of Storms in front of it. He gets a break on his search for the Temple when a girl (you can tell because she’s got a ribbon on her head) enters the screen, talking about how “a ‘temple,’ like, fell into Subrosia!” Apparently, Subrosia is supposed to be a secret place, so you know what that means: stealth mission. It’s mostly fairly easy, except at one point she seems to exit the screen and then pops right back, so if you think “Oh, she’s gone, I can follow her now,” she’ll see you and you have to start all over.
Eventually, she enters a portal, and Link follows her through to Subrosia. The Subrosians all look like the girl, only wearing different color robes and no ribbons. Looking at character art, they’re apparently supposed to be wearing hoods and those spots on their face are their eyes – sorta like Jawas, if their eyes were huge. Looking at the in-game sprites, all I can see is Kenny from that one episode of South Park where he took a school picture with his parka on upside down so his butt showed through the hood.
Subrosia’s an interesting place, where they use a different currency than Holodrum and the people are apparently immune to fire because they take lava baths. Exploring Subrosia, Link comes across a Subrosian dance game, which he’s invited to join. It took me a while to figure out that the dance caller was calling three dance moves at a time, but once I got the hang of that, the game was pretty easy. The reward for the dancing game is the boomerang, which has come down to normal after its overpowered appearance in Link’s Awakening. It’s still useful, just more in line with its traditional power.
Next: Walking in a winter wonderland.
To the north of Horon Village, in a tree on an island, lies the first dungeon, Gnarled Root Dungeon. The entrance a more than a little reminiscent of the first dungeon entrance in the first game, and the similarities don’t stop there. The dungeon’s map is kind of eagle-y. Enemies spotted in the dungeon include old favorites like stalfos, keeses, and… well, they’re called floormasters because they come out of the floor, but they’re more like wallmasters. The treasure is under a room with a block diamond surrounded by blade traps, and the treasure room even looks like the ones from the first game. There’s even an old man who’s decided this hole is the perfect place to live who gives Link a hint on how to use the treasure! That treasure is a seed bag filled with ember seeds, which can light things on fire, including lighting torches. The dungeon’s miniboss is a pair of goriyas with linked health, which I was surprised to discover because it’s usually just good tactics to kill one before starting on the other, and whoops they both died. There’s a new feature introduced here: mine carts for Link to ride.
Completing the nod to the very first dungeon of the series, the dungeon’s boss is Aquamentus. It’s been slightly reimagined; it doesn’t just walk back and forth in a small path, it constantly moves forward until it reaches the wall and then returns to start, and sometimes it charges. There are no sword beams yet, and I didn’t test the basic shield against its beam attacks, but the basic strategy remains the same: don’t get hit, attack the head, hit it enough, and win. It’s still not hard, but the redesign makes it an effective first boss – bravo for that. Link moves to the last room, which has the first Essence of Nature, Fertile Soil.
The Maku Tree contacts Link, saying that the Fertile Soil is strengthening it, and pointing Link to visit the Temple of Seasons, where he’ll get a precious item. That’s not a tremendously useful hint, since the Temple of Seasons isn’t where it’s supposed to be and I’m not sure where that is anyway. Unsurprisingly, Link killed enough enemies in the dungeon to run into Maple when he comes out, and she’s apparently doing pretty well for herself because she’s upgraded her broomstick to a vacuum cleaner. Heh.
Finding Subrosia
Link returns to Horon Village, where he gets his rings appraised, including the Discovery Ring which seems to activate around soft soil patches. There’s a heart piece in the village that Link can get to now with the ember seeds. Also around the village, there’s a guy who looks like Mr. Write from Link’s Awakening, and his name is Dr. Left. He’s having trouble reading because his light is out, so Link uses an ember seed to light it, and is rewarded with his cuccodex. Finally, there’s a tree in the village that grows ember seeds. North of the village, Link finds this game’s version of Malon in her house, struggling to look after cuccos while Talon’s off climbing Mt. Cucco, and she gladly trades an egg for Dr. Left’s cuccodex. Aha, we’ve started the trading sequence. Maple said something about wanting a Lon Lon Egg, but there’s probably no hurry there, I’ll run into her before too long.
Now it’s back to the village to burn a trail to the east. Before Link can go, Sokra, a wandering prophet, approaches him to tell him that the spirits of the seasons are still in the Temple of Seasons, and that if Link can find the Temple, he should visit the seasons. As Link explores to the east, he sees a windmill with a guy playing the Song of Storms in front of it. He gets a break on his search for the Temple when a girl (you can tell because she’s got a ribbon on her head) enters the screen, talking about how “a ‘temple,’ like, fell into Subrosia!” Apparently, Subrosia is supposed to be a secret place, so you know what that means: stealth mission. It’s mostly fairly easy, except at one point she seems to exit the screen and then pops right back, so if you think “Oh, she’s gone, I can follow her now,” she’ll see you and you have to start all over.
Eventually, she enters a portal, and Link follows her through to Subrosia. The Subrosians all look like the girl, only wearing different color robes and no ribbons. Looking at character art, they’re apparently supposed to be wearing hoods and those spots on their face are their eyes – sorta like Jawas, if their eyes were huge. Looking at the in-game sprites, all I can see is Kenny from that one episode of South Park where he took a school picture with his parka on upside down so his butt showed through the hood.
Subrosia’s an interesting place, where they use a different currency than Holodrum and the people are apparently immune to fire because they take lava baths. Exploring Subrosia, Link comes across a Subrosian dance game, which he’s invited to join. It took me a while to figure out that the dance caller was calling three dance moves at a time, but once I got the hang of that, the game was pretty easy. The reward for the dancing game is the boomerang, which has come down to normal after its overpowered appearance in Link’s Awakening. It’s still useful, just more in line with its traditional power.
Next: Walking in a winter wonderland.
Friday, September 14, 2018
Oracle of Seasons: Introduction and Story
Now I enter the Dark Ages, which I mean in the sense of “I know almost nothing about these next several games,” not “the next several games are bad.” (I mean, they might be.) When Twilight Princess came out, I thought it was the first new Zelda game since Majora’s Mask, although I was somewhat aware of the GBA A Link to the Past remake with Four Swords and I may have heard of Minish Cap.
So here’s what I know about Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages:
Two Games, One Overall Story
Let’s touch on that first point some more. From reading the manual and playing the game some, there a lot of references to sharing things between the two games using codes. Right now I’m kinda ignoring all this and focusing on a straight run through Oracle of Seasons, to be followed by connecting that with Oracle of Ages. Then, quite likely, Oracle of Ages followed by Seasons so I can see how they play out like that and, if necessary, wrap up collecting rings.
The Story, Such As It Is
I’m not going to judge it just yet – Link’s Awakening didn’t seem to have much of a story at first, but a memorable twist turned it into the most haunting story of the series so far, so maybe this will develop as well. Link rides to a chamber where Essence of the Triforce is, and is sent on a quest to Holodrum. He enters the world rather roughly and is nursed back to health by a dancer named Din. Link comes to and starts talking to Din’s friends, and after dancing a bit with Din, a tornado comes, knocks everyone out, and kidnaps Din in the name of someone named Onox. Din is the Oracle of Seasons, so Onox’s master plan is apparently to seal her in crystal, bury the Temple of Seasons, and cause Holodrum’s seasons to go wonky and kill everything.
After being knocked out a second time (by the tornado), Link meets Impa, who was Din’s troupe’s cook, except in a shocking twist, she’s actually Zelda’s nurse and came to Holodrum to bring Din to Hyrule before Onox could do his thing. Well, as we now know, that didn’t work out. So Link needs to go to Horon Village and talk with the Maku Tree. Before Link can do that, he needs a sword, which makes me question the Triforce’s foresight if it sent him here without one. There’s a cave south of the town where Link can get a sword, and that opens the way to meet to Maku Tree. The Tree tells Link where Onox has made his hideout (where the Temple of Seasons used to be, duh), and that he’ll need to gather the eight Essences of Nature, which will be needed to break Onox’s barrier so Link can confront him and save Holodrum. The Maku Tree gives Link the Gnarled Key, the key to the first dungeon.
Or, in short: World in peril, damsel in distress, eight plot coupons, big bad evil guy. It’s basically the first game, only the names and places have been changed.
Fun Around Horon Village
The core collectible in Oracle of Seasons (and Ages too, I think) is rings. Link gets his first ring and a ring box from the town jeweler, and it’s mostly there to introduce the concept of rings. There are a couple other rings for sale at a shop in town for 100 rupees each, which is a little pricy. However, with this game made with color in mind, farming rupees isn’t as tedious as it was in Link’s Awakening where they only ever dropped one at a time (there were more in some chests), and especially when every 30 enemies defeated causes a witch to spawn who’ll drop a lot of rupees (and sometimes other stuff, like rings or a potion or even a heart piece). And there’s one other source of rings: Link can plant Gasha trees, which will eventually grow Gasha nuts, which contain useful items including random rings. I was able to get, without spending too much time, the shield and bombs from the town shop, the two rings from the other shop, and six rings appraised (one was a duplicate, so it got sold for more than the appraisal cost). One of the rings turns out to double the value of rupees Link picks up, so if there’s a bow that requires 980 rupees or something, it’ll only take half as much farming to get.
There was one more interesting thing in town: a couple with a new baby they hadn’t come up with a name for. They ask Link to name it, which of course means it actually falls to the player. After considering all sorts of ridiculous names (“Biscuit” is too long for the field, sadly), I settled on my default name of Bob.
Next: One hell of a nostalgia trip.
So here’s what I know about Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages:
- They’re related games, meant to be played one right after the other with links between the two and a true final boss after the two are completed.
- They don’t take place in Hyrule.
- Even by Zelda timeline discussion standards, their place in the timeline is controversial.
- One game involves manipulating seasons, the other… time travel?
Two Games, One Overall Story
Let’s touch on that first point some more. From reading the manual and playing the game some, there a lot of references to sharing things between the two games using codes. Right now I’m kinda ignoring all this and focusing on a straight run through Oracle of Seasons, to be followed by connecting that with Oracle of Ages. Then, quite likely, Oracle of Ages followed by Seasons so I can see how they play out like that and, if necessary, wrap up collecting rings.
The Story, Such As It Is
I’m not going to judge it just yet – Link’s Awakening didn’t seem to have much of a story at first, but a memorable twist turned it into the most haunting story of the series so far, so maybe this will develop as well. Link rides to a chamber where Essence of the Triforce is, and is sent on a quest to Holodrum. He enters the world rather roughly and is nursed back to health by a dancer named Din. Link comes to and starts talking to Din’s friends, and after dancing a bit with Din, a tornado comes, knocks everyone out, and kidnaps Din in the name of someone named Onox. Din is the Oracle of Seasons, so Onox’s master plan is apparently to seal her in crystal, bury the Temple of Seasons, and cause Holodrum’s seasons to go wonky and kill everything.
After being knocked out a second time (by the tornado), Link meets Impa, who was Din’s troupe’s cook, except in a shocking twist, she’s actually Zelda’s nurse and came to Holodrum to bring Din to Hyrule before Onox could do his thing. Well, as we now know, that didn’t work out. So Link needs to go to Horon Village and talk with the Maku Tree. Before Link can do that, he needs a sword, which makes me question the Triforce’s foresight if it sent him here without one. There’s a cave south of the town where Link can get a sword, and that opens the way to meet to Maku Tree. The Tree tells Link where Onox has made his hideout (where the Temple of Seasons used to be, duh), and that he’ll need to gather the eight Essences of Nature, which will be needed to break Onox’s barrier so Link can confront him and save Holodrum. The Maku Tree gives Link the Gnarled Key, the key to the first dungeon.
Or, in short: World in peril, damsel in distress, eight plot coupons, big bad evil guy. It’s basically the first game, only the names and places have been changed.
Fun Around Horon Village
The core collectible in Oracle of Seasons (and Ages too, I think) is rings. Link gets his first ring and a ring box from the town jeweler, and it’s mostly there to introduce the concept of rings. There are a couple other rings for sale at a shop in town for 100 rupees each, which is a little pricy. However, with this game made with color in mind, farming rupees isn’t as tedious as it was in Link’s Awakening where they only ever dropped one at a time (there were more in some chests), and especially when every 30 enemies defeated causes a witch to spawn who’ll drop a lot of rupees (and sometimes other stuff, like rings or a potion or even a heart piece). And there’s one other source of rings: Link can plant Gasha trees, which will eventually grow Gasha nuts, which contain useful items including random rings. I was able to get, without spending too much time, the shield and bombs from the town shop, the two rings from the other shop, and six rings appraised (one was a duplicate, so it got sold for more than the appraisal cost). One of the rings turns out to double the value of rupees Link picks up, so if there’s a bow that requires 980 rupees or something, it’ll only take half as much farming to get.
There was one more interesting thing in town: a couple with a new baby they hadn’t come up with a name for. They ask Link to name it, which of course means it actually falls to the player. After considering all sorts of ridiculous names (“Biscuit” is too long for the field, sadly), I settled on my default name of Bob.
Next: One hell of a nostalgia trip.
Sunday, January 7, 2018
Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages: Table of Contents
An index of posts about The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons and The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages, the seventh and eighth games in the series.
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