The tunnel leading into the Lakebed Temple – before the location title pops up, even – has Shell Blades and Baris, two enemies that have historically favored the hookshot as a means of elimination. There are little targets all over the place inside the dungeon, as well as Helmasaurs (which should be the ideal target to practice the back slice on, but the bastards move too fast; by time Link’s rolling around behind them, they’ve turned to block). I put none of this together, nor the fact that the Water Temple in Ocarina dropped the Longshot, so I was pleasantly surprised when the dungeon’s treasure turned out to be the latest hookshot variant, the Clawshot. (And even then, I fought a couple Helmasaurs before remembering the “hookshot their masks off” trick.) In addition to its obvious functions, it can hold on to the ceiling while Link dangles and let Link skip some tedious climbing by grappling straight to the top of vine walls.
The central room of the dungeon has two main levels and a giant staircase that can be spun around. The goal of the dungeon is to raise the water level to the point where Link can swim to the platform on the central column with the boss door. There are two sets of water gates to open, one to the east, one to the west. The central room has the map and Ooccoo (how’d she get into an underwater temple?), the east side has the miniboss who drops the Clawshot, and the west side has the compass and big key. The water puzzles are thankfully not nearly as hard as they’ve been in, say, Ocarina or Oracle of Ages. The only really bad sequence is remembering there was a chest way up one of the ramps that got turned into a waterslide that he can maybe get to now with the Clawshot. Link has to use the iron boots to make his way up the ramp/slide, and it’s a long fscking way to go at iron boot speed. He can speed it up a little by walking on the ledge and Clawshotting, but it’s still rough. Oh, and that chest had rupees, which I couldn’t take because my wallet was full. (There are two heart pieces in the dungeon, but they come rather late.)
The miniboss fight appears to be empty aside from a few small enemies that fall to the floor. Midna has a bad feeling about it (her words, not mine) and encourages Link to look around; he spots Deku Toad against the ceiling. (Very reminiscent of the start of the Gohma fight in Ocarina.) Deku Toad is a giant bloated toad that carries the proud Legend of Zelda tradition of “boss-type creature with a bajillion eyes” (Patra, Arrghus, Vitreous, Wart). The "eyes" are actually eggs that hatch when Deku Toad shakes them loose, and Link needs to destroy all of them. Once that’s done, Deku Toad jumps up and tries to land on Link; if it fails, it belly-flops with its tongue lolling out in an obvious invitation to whack it with the sword. In its death throes, it coughs up a treasure chest with the Clawshot. The music for this fight is oddly comical, and I swear I hear the first few notes of Ballad of the Wind Fish in there.
The final boss fight takes place entirely underwater, which I believe is a first for the series. At first the boss resembles Morpha – a tube with an eye floating in it. Then it pokes its mouth out, surrounded by a lot of other tentacles, so, not quite the same, although its name is similar: Morpheel. (“Twilit Aquatic”? I get that they have the whole “twilit” thing going like Majora’s Mask had “masked,” but this is the best they could do?) There are two phases to this fight: First, the eye rolls around between tentacles, and Link can Clawshot it out and whack it a few times. After enough of this, Morpheel emerges from the ground in full, revealing itself to be a giant sea worm/serpent/eel, with the eye nestled on its back. So Link needs to take the iron boots off, and Clawshot to the eye to land on Morpheel’s back and strike at the eye some more. Like Diababa and Fyrus, this is an easy but very dynamic and fun fight.
Midna claims the last Fused Shadow, and says she’s ready to prove Zant’s power a false one. She tells Link not to resent her for dragging him all over Hyrule, but also apologizes for it. When Link’s ready to go, she teleports him outside.
Next: Link and Midna confront… no, wait. In Twilight Hyrule, villain confronts you!
Monday, April 29, 2019
Friday, April 26, 2019
Twilight Princess: Lanayru Province Minigames
Still at Hyrule Castle, the Gorons have stopped selling their hot spring water – both because it’s not needed anymore with the river running again, and because the bridge being out means they can’t get it to town. This is too bad, because there’s another Goron who wants the spring water to give him strength to break through a rock, but that’s not happening yet. Before leaving town, there’s a few last things for Link to find or see. There’s a pair of ladybugs floating around the outlying areas of the town. There are a bunch of cats hanging out in an alley, and Link can pick them up and cuddle them and this is the best thing ever. At Telma’s bar, a few people – possibly the friends she mentioned – are hanging out while she’s still in Kakariko, but they don’t seem too receptive to Link.
North of Hyrule Castle Town, there’s a mountain pathway leading to Zora’s Domain – no more Kargaroc rides, thank you. Link’s first stop is the Zora throne room, where the giant rock he and Midna dropped to break the ice is still sitting there, underwater. The Zoras say they’ve seen eyes inside, and looking at it, yep, they’re there. There’s an unfortunate Goron trapped inside the rock, so when Link blows it up with a water bomb, he gets free and rewards Link with a second Bomb Bag, this one filled with normal bombs. Although… as I recall from Majora’s Mask, Gorons and swimming are not a good combination. He may be out of the rock, but there’s still the matter of getting to land. A male dragonfly can be caught in this area, and its female counterpart is in the river area.
The main attraction in the area are two minigames. The fishing hole is run by Hena, and judging by the pictures on her wall, she’s related to Iza (the woman who runs the boat rental) and the guy back in Ordon who sells lantern oil, but she has a simpler hairstyle. I didn’t think to bring any bait, but that’s okay, there’s a couple good things to catch that don’t need it. Out on the lake, Link can spot a heart piece, cast at it, and reel it in. Walking around the lake, there’s a little side area with a warning not to throw trash in it, and Link can cast into it and catch himself a bottle. This brings to mind something I thought of when Link got a bottle full of dog food in Minish Cap: does he ever wash these bottles between uses? In this game, I’ve had milk, oil, bee larvae, fairies, and ChuChu jelly in the bottles, plus whatever this bottle was once used to store (plus lake water). That’s going to be a disgusting mix of residues. (Sorry, I can’t unthink it, so now you’re stuck with it too.)
As for Iza, talking to her triggers a shadow being fight, opening up a portal so Wolf Link can warp up here. (Kargaroc rides officially closed.) Link’s proven useful to her so far, so she asks him to help out a little more. A large rock has blocked off her boats from the river, so she gives Link a bomb bag, and he blows up the rock using bomb arrows. There are more rocks along the river, so Link gets a trip in a rowboat, and the thing is a monster to control. Once he’s cleared the river, he gets to keep the bomb bag, and Iza’s opened up her archery minigame. Float down the river, shooting pots, and trying not to crash the fscking rowboat. I typically don’t do well at archery games, but the archery part here isn’t bad – it’s the boat. Crashing the boat loses a point, and there’s only so many points Link can afford to lose. The reward for this is doubling the capacity of all the bomb bags – so Link could theoretically have up to 180 bombs (or 90 water bombs). The huge capacity is balanced out by each bag being used for a different kind of bomb – and Barnes had a third spot on the sales rack, so there’ll likely be another kind (Bombchus?) later, meaning one for each bag.
In Lake Hylia, at the top of the cannon ride there’s a guy who runs a Cucco glider minigame. The goal is to land a bunch of stacked platforms on the lake. The top platform barely has space for its treasure chest (with 100 rupees) and spins, making landing on it pretty tough. Link can jump down to each lower platform and clean up the rewards, which include another heart piece. There’s also another series of caverns in the area, and I kind of regret tackling it now because I filled up Link’s wallet about halfway through. But there’s a heart piece at the end, Link left the rupees he couldn’t use behind, and there were a few floating lanterns – which I’m guessing is related to the Poe Link killed earlier, but Link can’t fight the Poes as a human. So I’ll be coming back, and can hopefully get some of the rupees I left behind then.
Finally, there’s no delaying it anymore. Link sinks to the bottom of the lake and uses a couple water bombs to open the entrance to the next temple.
Next: Well hey, the iron boots are now a normal inventory item, so there’s that.
North of Hyrule Castle Town, there’s a mountain pathway leading to Zora’s Domain – no more Kargaroc rides, thank you. Link’s first stop is the Zora throne room, where the giant rock he and Midna dropped to break the ice is still sitting there, underwater. The Zoras say they’ve seen eyes inside, and looking at it, yep, they’re there. There’s an unfortunate Goron trapped inside the rock, so when Link blows it up with a water bomb, he gets free and rewards Link with a second Bomb Bag, this one filled with normal bombs. Although… as I recall from Majora’s Mask, Gorons and swimming are not a good combination. He may be out of the rock, but there’s still the matter of getting to land. A male dragonfly can be caught in this area, and its female counterpart is in the river area.
The main attraction in the area are two minigames. The fishing hole is run by Hena, and judging by the pictures on her wall, she’s related to Iza (the woman who runs the boat rental) and the guy back in Ordon who sells lantern oil, but she has a simpler hairstyle. I didn’t think to bring any bait, but that’s okay, there’s a couple good things to catch that don’t need it. Out on the lake, Link can spot a heart piece, cast at it, and reel it in. Walking around the lake, there’s a little side area with a warning not to throw trash in it, and Link can cast into it and catch himself a bottle. This brings to mind something I thought of when Link got a bottle full of dog food in Minish Cap: does he ever wash these bottles between uses? In this game, I’ve had milk, oil, bee larvae, fairies, and ChuChu jelly in the bottles, plus whatever this bottle was once used to store (plus lake water). That’s going to be a disgusting mix of residues. (Sorry, I can’t unthink it, so now you’re stuck with it too.)
As for Iza, talking to her triggers a shadow being fight, opening up a portal so Wolf Link can warp up here. (Kargaroc rides officially closed.) Link’s proven useful to her so far, so she asks him to help out a little more. A large rock has blocked off her boats from the river, so she gives Link a bomb bag, and he blows up the rock using bomb arrows. There are more rocks along the river, so Link gets a trip in a rowboat, and the thing is a monster to control. Once he’s cleared the river, he gets to keep the bomb bag, and Iza’s opened up her archery minigame. Float down the river, shooting pots, and trying not to crash the fscking rowboat. I typically don’t do well at archery games, but the archery part here isn’t bad – it’s the boat. Crashing the boat loses a point, and there’s only so many points Link can afford to lose. The reward for this is doubling the capacity of all the bomb bags – so Link could theoretically have up to 180 bombs (or 90 water bombs). The huge capacity is balanced out by each bag being used for a different kind of bomb – and Barnes had a third spot on the sales rack, so there’ll likely be another kind (Bombchus?) later, meaning one for each bag.
In Lake Hylia, at the top of the cannon ride there’s a guy who runs a Cucco glider minigame. The goal is to land a bunch of stacked platforms on the lake. The top platform barely has space for its treasure chest (with 100 rupees) and spins, making landing on it pretty tough. Link can jump down to each lower platform and clean up the rewards, which include another heart piece. There’s also another series of caverns in the area, and I kind of regret tackling it now because I filled up Link’s wallet about halfway through. But there’s a heart piece at the end, Link left the rupees he couldn’t use behind, and there were a few floating lanterns – which I’m guessing is related to the Poe Link killed earlier, but Link can’t fight the Poes as a human. So I’ll be coming back, and can hopefully get some of the rupees I left behind then.
Finally, there’s no delaying it anymore. Link sinks to the bottom of the lake and uses a couple water bombs to open the entrance to the next temple.
Next: Well hey, the iron boots are now a normal inventory item, so there’s that.
Wednesday, April 24, 2019
Twilight Princess: Back to Kakariko Village
With the Bridge of Eldin out of service, the only way from Hyrule Castle Town to Kakariko Village is the long way over the Great Bridge of Hylia. That bridge is blocked by our old friend, King Bulblin (Goblinicus maximus). After being out-jousted by Link last time, he’s upgraded his gear: he now has big ACME Shields on either arm. Unfortunately for him, Link (Sagittarius equitatus) has also upgraded his gear, and an arrow can easily pass between the shields. After taking a couple shots, King Bulblin is once again sent flying off the bridge while Link sticks his head in the frame and says, “Beep beep!” Or maybe I just imagined that last part [1]. King Bulblin loses a key as he goes flying, and Link catches it. That key opens a couple gates along the way, which will make both this trip and future trips easier.
For the rest of the trip, Link is escorting the wagon with the woman from the bar, Ilia, and Ralis while Bulblin archers try to set it on fire. If they succeed, Link can put the fires out with his boomerang. That’s not the hard part. The problem is, there are Kargarocs flying overhead that cause the wagon to divert course if Link doesn’t take them out in time, and it took a frustratingly long time for me to connect the dots between them and the wagon going around in circles. Eventually, Link makes it to the village, where everyone’s safe. After looking after Ralis, Renado says he’ll be fine. Colin says he’ll stay with him until he wakes, and asks about Ilia’s condition. Renado confirms she’s lost her memory, but he’s confident she’ll get it back again somehow. Telma, the woman from the bar, introduces herself properly, and asks Link if he’d be interested in joining a group of people who are doing what they can to save Hyrule. Her bar’s the group’s headquarters, and she mentions that it has a secret passage to the castle.
As Telma heads off to talk to Renado, Rutela’s spirit appears to Link again. She leads him into the village graveyard and through a tunnel to where her people are buried. As she reaches her husband’s grave, she thanks him for all he’s done for Ralis and opens the grave, revealing the Zora Armor. It lets Link swim freely, but makes him vulnerable to fire and ice attacks. Finally, she tells Link to pass a message to Ralis if he gets a chance, telling him not to mourn her, that he must be brave now and lead the Zoras, and that she loves him. As Rutela disappears, Midna pops out, asking if Link’s forgotten the Fused Shadow. And just in case Link’s content with what he’s accomplished so far, she points out that Link hasn’t really done anything about the underlying problems that led to Hyrule being covered in shadow or the children being taken. It’s kind of a weird approach for her to take, since one of the reasons Link’s done all this was to get the item needed to get to the next dungeon.
As Link heads out of town, the postman catches up to him with a couple letters. One’s from Barnes, who’s already diversified his creations, and now sells bombs that work underwater. Link heads back to the bomb shop to check this out. Apparently the water bombs are incapable of coexisting inside the bomb bag with normal bombs, however, so Link first has to sell back all he has (at a separate counter spot, with Barnes pulling his welding mask down to talk to him there – it’s almost like he’s trying to disguise his identity, as if Link can’t see him pull down the mask and walk over) and then buy them. The second letter is from the Lanayru Tourism Association, advertising a couple minigames in the area: a fishing hole and an archery minigame.
On the way back to Lanayru’s area, Link can find four more insects: mantises by the Great Bridge, and butterflies near the entrance to Hyrule Castle Town. In town, there are two people Link needs to meet right now. The first is a man collecting rupees “for the sake of peace in Hyrule.” When Link donates to him, he says the spirit of love will descend upon Link. On the south road, Link finds Agitha’s Palace. Agitha calls herself the princess of the bug kingdom. She mistakes Link for a grasshopper (hey, that was Romani’s nickname for Link in Majora's Mask). She’s distressed because she’s invited a bunch of golden bugs to a ball, but they’ve gotten lost along the way [2]. When Link gives her the first insect, she rewards him with a wallet upgrade, doubling his capacity to 600 rupees. Afterward, she gives him 50 rupees for delivering each insect, unless it completes a pair, in which case she gives 100. And she says some truly bizarre things when given an insect. (“Li’l ant, li’l ant, I might mistake you for a grain and put you in my cereal…”) Link doesn’t give her all the bugs in one go, because why overfill his wallet, and as he leaves, she rather creepily informs him that she knows he still has some left. With the bugs, Link’s able to raise 1000 rupees to give to the collector, and after reaching that milestone, a heart piece comes to him out of the sky.
Next: Water dungeons tend to be so bad I’d rather play archery minigames than go to one.
[1] Road Runner jokes aside, the cutscenes at the start of this sequence are really well-done.
[2] Knowing the character from Hyrule Warriors, it’s no surprise she’s involved in this quest. The surprise is on Hyrule Warriors’ side; among Link, Impa, Sheik, Zelda, Ganon, Darunia, Ruto, Agitha, Midna, and Zant [3], Agitha’s clearly the odd choice.
[3] The original playable characters, minus an original character and two from Skyward Sword.
For the rest of the trip, Link is escorting the wagon with the woman from the bar, Ilia, and Ralis while Bulblin archers try to set it on fire. If they succeed, Link can put the fires out with his boomerang. That’s not the hard part. The problem is, there are Kargarocs flying overhead that cause the wagon to divert course if Link doesn’t take them out in time, and it took a frustratingly long time for me to connect the dots between them and the wagon going around in circles. Eventually, Link makes it to the village, where everyone’s safe. After looking after Ralis, Renado says he’ll be fine. Colin says he’ll stay with him until he wakes, and asks about Ilia’s condition. Renado confirms she’s lost her memory, but he’s confident she’ll get it back again somehow. Telma, the woman from the bar, introduces herself properly, and asks Link if he’d be interested in joining a group of people who are doing what they can to save Hyrule. Her bar’s the group’s headquarters, and she mentions that it has a secret passage to the castle.
As Telma heads off to talk to Renado, Rutela’s spirit appears to Link again. She leads him into the village graveyard and through a tunnel to where her people are buried. As she reaches her husband’s grave, she thanks him for all he’s done for Ralis and opens the grave, revealing the Zora Armor. It lets Link swim freely, but makes him vulnerable to fire and ice attacks. Finally, she tells Link to pass a message to Ralis if he gets a chance, telling him not to mourn her, that he must be brave now and lead the Zoras, and that she loves him. As Rutela disappears, Midna pops out, asking if Link’s forgotten the Fused Shadow. And just in case Link’s content with what he’s accomplished so far, she points out that Link hasn’t really done anything about the underlying problems that led to Hyrule being covered in shadow or the children being taken. It’s kind of a weird approach for her to take, since one of the reasons Link’s done all this was to get the item needed to get to the next dungeon.
As Link heads out of town, the postman catches up to him with a couple letters. One’s from Barnes, who’s already diversified his creations, and now sells bombs that work underwater. Link heads back to the bomb shop to check this out. Apparently the water bombs are incapable of coexisting inside the bomb bag with normal bombs, however, so Link first has to sell back all he has (at a separate counter spot, with Barnes pulling his welding mask down to talk to him there – it’s almost like he’s trying to disguise his identity, as if Link can’t see him pull down the mask and walk over) and then buy them. The second letter is from the Lanayru Tourism Association, advertising a couple minigames in the area: a fishing hole and an archery minigame.
On the way back to Lanayru’s area, Link can find four more insects: mantises by the Great Bridge, and butterflies near the entrance to Hyrule Castle Town. In town, there are two people Link needs to meet right now. The first is a man collecting rupees “for the sake of peace in Hyrule.” When Link donates to him, he says the spirit of love will descend upon Link. On the south road, Link finds Agitha’s Palace. Agitha calls herself the princess of the bug kingdom. She mistakes Link for a grasshopper (hey, that was Romani’s nickname for Link in Majora's Mask). She’s distressed because she’s invited a bunch of golden bugs to a ball, but they’ve gotten lost along the way [2]. When Link gives her the first insect, she rewards him with a wallet upgrade, doubling his capacity to 600 rupees. Afterward, she gives him 50 rupees for delivering each insect, unless it completes a pair, in which case she gives 100. And she says some truly bizarre things when given an insect. (“Li’l ant, li’l ant, I might mistake you for a grain and put you in my cereal…”) Link doesn’t give her all the bugs in one go, because why overfill his wallet, and as he leaves, she rather creepily informs him that she knows he still has some left. With the bugs, Link’s able to raise 1000 rupees to give to the collector, and after reaching that milestone, a heart piece comes to him out of the sky.
Next: Water dungeons tend to be so bad I’d rather play archery minigames than go to one.
[1] Road Runner jokes aside, the cutscenes at the start of this sequence are really well-done.
[2] Knowing the character from Hyrule Warriors, it’s no surprise she’s involved in this quest. The surprise is on Hyrule Warriors’ side; among Link, Impa, Sheik, Zelda, Ganon, Darunia, Ruto, Agitha, Midna, and Zant [3], Agitha’s clearly the odd choice.
[3] The original playable characters, minus an original character and two from Skyward Sword.
Monday, April 22, 2019
Twilight Princess: Lanayru
Lanayru, the last of the spirits to still be cursed, greets Link as he enters its spring, congratulating him on making it this far. The Tears of Light situation is well-known by now, so it gives Link the Vessel of Light and sends him on his way. Lanayru’s lands are considerably vaster than the other two spirits, and Link needs to travel all over to find all the Tears. There are only four at Lake Hylia – and along the way, there’s another shadow being fight. Midna points out the grass the Bokoblin used to call the giant Kargaroc, and at her suggestion, Link howls the same melody to summon it back. There are four shadow insects along the ride to Zora’s Domain. One more can be found near the boat rental shack, and another Howling Stone is nearby, this one singing the Requiem of Spirit and placing a golden wolf near the entrance to Hyrule Castle Town. This comes in useful because it also calls attention to a shadow insect in town for Link to come grab, with one more shadow being fight outside of town.
There are five up in Zora’s Domain; after collecting them, Midna points out that there’s still one missing. A quick look at the map shows it back at Lake Hylia, so they warp over. Immediately after arrival, a cutscene hints at where it is, and once Link swims over, the last insect pops out of the water. It’s still invisible without wolf senses, but the energy crackling around it indicates it’s massive. That’s confirmed when Link activates his wolf senses: the thing’s bigger than Midna. The miniboss fight has two phases: first, it buzzes at Link, and Link can jump at it when he gets a chance. After a while, it floats helplessly on its back, and Link needs to destroy its six appendages. They respawn too fast for Link to destroy them one-by-one, but Midna’s black circle attack works wonderfully.
As Lanayru reforms, Midna departs, reminding Link to be sure to get the last Fused Shadow. Lanayru’s form is some kind of sea serpent. It says the Fused Shadow is underwater in Lake Hylia. But before he goes after this, there’s something Link should know. Link has a vision while Lanayru narrates the history of the Fused Shadow: it was the artifact of a group of people who tried to use magic to conquer the Sacred Realm. Eventually, the goddesses had enough of this and had the light spirits intervene, breaking the Fused Shadow into pieces. It warns Link not to let himself be corrupted by the power of the Fused Shadow.
The vision was filled with strange and disturbing images: Link and Ilia with all-white eyes, a bunch of Shadow Links (one of which transformed into a normalish Link with the white eyes), and a bunch of upside-down creepily laughing Ilias. I’m not quite sure I entirely understood it, but I think I hit the main points. There’s one thing that I do know about it: when the Fused Shadow was broken into pieces, there were four of them, not three. However, that may not be a problem, because a couple of the pieces looked a lot like Midna’s headgear.
Getting from Lake Hylia to the higher ground where the bridge is requires Link to talk to the guy who spotted the Bokoblin earlier. He’s got a giant circus cannon that sends Link flying; he lands on the deck of a house with similar circus music playing. Midna reminds him of Queen Rutela’s quest, and promise to give him something that might let him actually visit the Lakebed Temple. Heading into Hyrule Castle Town, Link takes a moment to talk with the golden wolf, which opens up another sequence where the undead warrior teaches a skill. The skill this time is the Back Slice, in which Link rolls around behind the enemy and stabs it in the back. This is apparently useful for armored foes, so I fully expect Darknuts and/or Iron Knuckles to show up soon.
At Telma’s Bar, the town doctor decides he can’t help the Zora and storms out. Ilia tries to get him to stay, but he’s gone. She notices Link, but has no reaction to seeing him again, to Link’s dismay and confusion. The woman suggests taking the Zora to Renado, who might be able to do something. The soldiers in the bar say the journey’s dangerous, but are all excited about escorting them to the village, screaming and waving their spears – they remind me of Tusken Raiders. When the woman mentions dangerous beasts on the road, the soldiers fall silent, and when she turns to look at them again, only one is left, and he runs off. She curses their cowardice, but recognizes that Link’s still there and willing to help. She also recognizes that Link knows Ilia, and explains that she’s having memory problems.
Next: …this is whom Hyrule Warriors gave a roster spot to?
There are five up in Zora’s Domain; after collecting them, Midna points out that there’s still one missing. A quick look at the map shows it back at Lake Hylia, so they warp over. Immediately after arrival, a cutscene hints at where it is, and once Link swims over, the last insect pops out of the water. It’s still invisible without wolf senses, but the energy crackling around it indicates it’s massive. That’s confirmed when Link activates his wolf senses: the thing’s bigger than Midna. The miniboss fight has two phases: first, it buzzes at Link, and Link can jump at it when he gets a chance. After a while, it floats helplessly on its back, and Link needs to destroy its six appendages. They respawn too fast for Link to destroy them one-by-one, but Midna’s black circle attack works wonderfully.
As Lanayru reforms, Midna departs, reminding Link to be sure to get the last Fused Shadow. Lanayru’s form is some kind of sea serpent. It says the Fused Shadow is underwater in Lake Hylia. But before he goes after this, there’s something Link should know. Link has a vision while Lanayru narrates the history of the Fused Shadow: it was the artifact of a group of people who tried to use magic to conquer the Sacred Realm. Eventually, the goddesses had enough of this and had the light spirits intervene, breaking the Fused Shadow into pieces. It warns Link not to let himself be corrupted by the power of the Fused Shadow.
The vision was filled with strange and disturbing images: Link and Ilia with all-white eyes, a bunch of Shadow Links (one of which transformed into a normalish Link with the white eyes), and a bunch of upside-down creepily laughing Ilias. I’m not quite sure I entirely understood it, but I think I hit the main points. There’s one thing that I do know about it: when the Fused Shadow was broken into pieces, there were four of them, not three. However, that may not be a problem, because a couple of the pieces looked a lot like Midna’s headgear.
Getting from Lake Hylia to the higher ground where the bridge is requires Link to talk to the guy who spotted the Bokoblin earlier. He’s got a giant circus cannon that sends Link flying; he lands on the deck of a house with similar circus music playing. Midna reminds him of Queen Rutela’s quest, and promise to give him something that might let him actually visit the Lakebed Temple. Heading into Hyrule Castle Town, Link takes a moment to talk with the golden wolf, which opens up another sequence where the undead warrior teaches a skill. The skill this time is the Back Slice, in which Link rolls around behind the enemy and stabs it in the back. This is apparently useful for armored foes, so I fully expect Darknuts and/or Iron Knuckles to show up soon.
At Telma’s Bar, the town doctor decides he can’t help the Zora and storms out. Ilia tries to get him to stay, but he’s gone. She notices Link, but has no reaction to seeing him again, to Link’s dismay and confusion. The woman suggests taking the Zora to Renado, who might be able to do something. The soldiers in the bar say the journey’s dangerous, but are all excited about escorting them to the village, screaming and waving their spears – they remind me of Tusken Raiders. When the woman mentions dangerous beasts on the road, the soldiers fall silent, and when she turns to look at them again, only one is left, and he runs off. She curses their cowardice, but recognizes that Link’s still there and willing to help. She also recognizes that Link knows Ilia, and explains that she’s having memory problems.
Next: …this is whom Hyrule Warriors gave a roster spot to?
Friday, April 19, 2019
Twilight Princess: Zora's Domain
The big concern in Hyrule Castle Town is that Lake Hylia has gone dry, so water’s become scarce. There are a couple Gorons selling hot spring water, but that’s a stopgap solution at best. That’s one more thing to look into, but chances are it’s related to why contact with Lanayru’s been cut off. There’s also a group of cats hanging out in an alley; they’re suspicious of someone, but I couldn’t figure out whom.
Lake Hylia is west of Castle Town. As Link comes to the Great Bridge of Hylia across the lake, the camera shows just how dire the situation is: the lakebed is vast, and the lake itself would more properly be called a pool, or possibly a puddle. Link crosses the bridge, which is covered in a black substance that Midna notes smells funny. As Link stops to take a good whiff himself, a Shadow Bokoblin shoots flaming arrows at both ends of the line of the black substance, and whatever it is, it’s flammable. Going forward or back isn’t an option, so Link decides to take his chances going over the side. Fortunately, what’s left of the puddle is deep enough to break the fall.
There are a few Zoras standing around the remnants of the lake, and they know the problem is with the river flowing from Zora’s Domain. But they can’t get there to check it out – even walking’s ruled out. There’s also a man who relocated his business to the lakeside, but now there’s no water so the whole thing was pointless. In his mutterings, he looks up toward Zora’s Domain, and to the spirit’s cave, and then he notes a Shadow Bokoblin and starts cowering.
As Link approaches the Bokoblin, it picks up a piece of hawk grass and blows on it, calling a giant Shadow Kargaroc. This starts a miniboss fight with the Bokoblin shooting arrows at Link, but occasionally brings the Kargaroc close enough for Link to jump at it. Eventually the Bokoblin gets thrown, so Link’s able to finish it off. Midna gets a great idea: she jumps on the Kargaroc’s back and makes it accept her as a rider, then swoops up Link in its talons and fly him upriver. This sets up a sequence of navigating the Kargaroc through a fairly narrow canyon, dodging Bokoblin archers and crumbling rock structures. When it arrives at the source of the river, it drops Link off and flies away as Midna jumps off.
Midna notes that it’s getting cold, and a woman who runs a nearby boat rental shop – who’s got the same afro as the guy who runs the lantern shop in Ordona – agrees with her. The river’s dry this far up, and as Link and Midna enter Zora’s Domain, they see why: the area is frozen. After a series of jumps, they arrive in the throne room to find three shadow beings wandering around. Killing them opens a portal, as always, and Midna suggests heading out of the Twilight for a while. She also sees where all the Zoras have gone: they’re frozen in the ice below. Midna’s uncharacteristically concerned about helping thaw out the Zoras, and again repeats the suggestion to head into the world to find a solution.
The solution to the Zoras’ problem is the big volcanic rock that nearly fell on Link when he was climbing Death Mountain. Midna brings it back to the Zora throne room, where the combination of heat and it falling onto the ice causes the river to start flowing again. As they prepare to leave the throne room, they’re stopped by the ghost of the Zora queen, Rutela, who thanks them for saving her people and restarting the river. (Midna, now that the Zoras are okay, deflects the praise.) When the twilight beings invaded, she was executed as a warning to the rest of the Zoras, but she sent her son, Ralis, to Hyrule Castle to warn Zelda about what was happening – he’s presumably the Zora Ilia was looking over. She asks Link – whom she recognizes as a transmogrified human - to help Ralis, and in exchange, she’ll give him something that will let him breathe underwater. (There are two call backs to Ocarina of Time here – three if you count her name being derived from Ruto’s – her necklace resembles the Zora’s Sapphire, and the music is the Serenade of Water.)
With the river restored, the journey back to the lake is much quicker and easier, although apparently the landing was rough. Link eventually recovers, and Midna points out that they managed to land right in front of the spirit’s cave.
Next: Hooray! We are spared an embarrassing and financially-debilitating lawsuit!
Lake Hylia is west of Castle Town. As Link comes to the Great Bridge of Hylia across the lake, the camera shows just how dire the situation is: the lakebed is vast, and the lake itself would more properly be called a pool, or possibly a puddle. Link crosses the bridge, which is covered in a black substance that Midna notes smells funny. As Link stops to take a good whiff himself, a Shadow Bokoblin shoots flaming arrows at both ends of the line of the black substance, and whatever it is, it’s flammable. Going forward or back isn’t an option, so Link decides to take his chances going over the side. Fortunately, what’s left of the puddle is deep enough to break the fall.
There are a few Zoras standing around the remnants of the lake, and they know the problem is with the river flowing from Zora’s Domain. But they can’t get there to check it out – even walking’s ruled out. There’s also a man who relocated his business to the lakeside, but now there’s no water so the whole thing was pointless. In his mutterings, he looks up toward Zora’s Domain, and to the spirit’s cave, and then he notes a Shadow Bokoblin and starts cowering.
As Link approaches the Bokoblin, it picks up a piece of hawk grass and blows on it, calling a giant Shadow Kargaroc. This starts a miniboss fight with the Bokoblin shooting arrows at Link, but occasionally brings the Kargaroc close enough for Link to jump at it. Eventually the Bokoblin gets thrown, so Link’s able to finish it off. Midna gets a great idea: she jumps on the Kargaroc’s back and makes it accept her as a rider, then swoops up Link in its talons and fly him upriver. This sets up a sequence of navigating the Kargaroc through a fairly narrow canyon, dodging Bokoblin archers and crumbling rock structures. When it arrives at the source of the river, it drops Link off and flies away as Midna jumps off.
Midna notes that it’s getting cold, and a woman who runs a nearby boat rental shop – who’s got the same afro as the guy who runs the lantern shop in Ordona – agrees with her. The river’s dry this far up, and as Link and Midna enter Zora’s Domain, they see why: the area is frozen. After a series of jumps, they arrive in the throne room to find three shadow beings wandering around. Killing them opens a portal, as always, and Midna suggests heading out of the Twilight for a while. She also sees where all the Zoras have gone: they’re frozen in the ice below. Midna’s uncharacteristically concerned about helping thaw out the Zoras, and again repeats the suggestion to head into the world to find a solution.
The solution to the Zoras’ problem is the big volcanic rock that nearly fell on Link when he was climbing Death Mountain. Midna brings it back to the Zora throne room, where the combination of heat and it falling onto the ice causes the river to start flowing again. As they prepare to leave the throne room, they’re stopped by the ghost of the Zora queen, Rutela, who thanks them for saving her people and restarting the river. (Midna, now that the Zoras are okay, deflects the praise.) When the twilight beings invaded, she was executed as a warning to the rest of the Zoras, but she sent her son, Ralis, to Hyrule Castle to warn Zelda about what was happening – he’s presumably the Zora Ilia was looking over. She asks Link – whom she recognizes as a transmogrified human - to help Ralis, and in exchange, she’ll give him something that will let him breathe underwater. (There are two call backs to Ocarina of Time here – three if you count her name being derived from Ruto’s – her necklace resembles the Zora’s Sapphire, and the music is the Serenade of Water.)
With the river restored, the journey back to the lake is much quicker and easier, although apparently the landing was rough. Link eventually recovers, and Midna points out that they managed to land right in front of the spirit’s cave.
Next: Hooray! We are spared an embarrassing and financially-debilitating lawsuit!
Wednesday, April 17, 2019
Twilight Princess: The Hunt for Ilia
Before heading off in search of Ilia, there’s stuff to do in and around Kakariko Village. With the Gorons playing nice again, Barnes is able to open his bomb shop again. He sells Link a starter set of a bomb bag and 30 bombs for 120 rupees – 10 bombs are 30 rupees, so it’s not a bad deal. There are apparently eventually going to be multiple types of bombs, as evidenced by him lamenting the destruction of his storage house and the empty spots on the store wall. Also, bomb arrows are an advertised feature of this game! Out in the village, Link can blow up a couple rocks to get heart pieces; one is sitting out in the open once the rock is gone and the other is in a chest in a pool in a cave.
Some Gorons are hanging out in town and, now that they’re friendly, offering to springboard Link to higher places without having to be beaten into submission first. (One of the Gorons mentions the town “meeting with a terrible fate” – I wonder if that’s a coincidence or an intentional nod to Majora’s Mask.) Way up above the town, Talo’s keeping watch over the town, and asks Link to show him how to use a bow. Link agrees and joins Malo down by Eldin’s spring for some target practice. Malo’s not sure Link knows how to use a bow, but sets up a couple targets for him to shoot. Then Talo challenges Link to hit a pole near his watchpost, and Link obliges. Talo’s thrilled, and Malo gives link a heart piece.
There are two more heart pieces Link can get before setting out to find Lanayru and/or Ilia. The first is up on Death Mountain, much easier to explore now that the Gorons are friendly and the rock showers have abated. The second is in a cave system across the bridge over Kakariko Gorge. This area is fairly vast and has a number of other interesting things, including a Yellow ChuChu, whose jelly can be used as lantern oil. The postman has three letters for Link: One from Ooccoo talking about how much fun their shared adventures are; one from Barnes explaining Bomb Arrows; and one from Malo advertising a special item. That item is the Hawkeye, a mask that works as a telescope and can be combined with the bow for sniping.
With the bombs, Link can open a passageway between the Kakariko Gorge area and the Bridge of Eldin area. This time he’s not chasing around a Bulblin on a boar, so he’s a bit freer to explore. There are two golden grasshoppers running around the field and a bomb/jumping puzzle near the path to Kakariko Village that leads to a heart piece. On either side of the bridge itself, Link catches a phasmid, bringing the bug total up to 10. As Link blows the boulders leading to the next section of Hyrule Field, a portal opens up over the bridge, steals a chunk out of it, and drops a set of shadow beings down. This is the first time Link’s had to fight them in human form, meaning he doesn’t have Midna helping coordinate simultaneous attacks, but spin attacks have been part of the toolkit for so long it’s easy to know what to do.
At the end of the path is a curtain of twilight, and Midna notes that the quest is nearing the end. She pulls Link through to the other side (Link has to leave Epona behind), and he becomes the wolf one more time. The transformation’s becoming easier; this one seems almost instantaneous. After a short run, Link finds Ilia’s purse and gets her scent from it. Link flashes back to the scene with Ilia at Ordon’s spring, and Midna teases him about his reaction. As they come to an open part of the field, Hyrule Castle stands in full view before them, and Midna says they’re back where they started and things are about to get harder.
Ilia’s path leads Link on a long run through two sections of field and finally into Hyrule Castle Town. Then it leads to a medical clinic, and then Telma’s Bar, where Link finds her with an older woman looking over an injured or sick Zora. The woman says she’s sent for a doctor, and wonders if what happened to the Zora is related to something soldiers are discussing elsewhere in the bar. Meanwhile, Midna’s only concern is teasing Link about being so close to reuniting with Ilia, only she can’t see him and even if she could… well, Wolf Link hasn’t exactly gotten the warmest reception from people.
Meanwhile, the soldiers the woman mentioned are discussing a problem with the spirit in Lake Hylia, and he points to the map for the location. So Link has his next destination.
Next: Frozen fish.
Some Gorons are hanging out in town and, now that they’re friendly, offering to springboard Link to higher places without having to be beaten into submission first. (One of the Gorons mentions the town “meeting with a terrible fate” – I wonder if that’s a coincidence or an intentional nod to Majora’s Mask.) Way up above the town, Talo’s keeping watch over the town, and asks Link to show him how to use a bow. Link agrees and joins Malo down by Eldin’s spring for some target practice. Malo’s not sure Link knows how to use a bow, but sets up a couple targets for him to shoot. Then Talo challenges Link to hit a pole near his watchpost, and Link obliges. Talo’s thrilled, and Malo gives link a heart piece.
There are two more heart pieces Link can get before setting out to find Lanayru and/or Ilia. The first is up on Death Mountain, much easier to explore now that the Gorons are friendly and the rock showers have abated. The second is in a cave system across the bridge over Kakariko Gorge. This area is fairly vast and has a number of other interesting things, including a Yellow ChuChu, whose jelly can be used as lantern oil. The postman has three letters for Link: One from Ooccoo talking about how much fun their shared adventures are; one from Barnes explaining Bomb Arrows; and one from Malo advertising a special item. That item is the Hawkeye, a mask that works as a telescope and can be combined with the bow for sniping.
With the bombs, Link can open a passageway between the Kakariko Gorge area and the Bridge of Eldin area. This time he’s not chasing around a Bulblin on a boar, so he’s a bit freer to explore. There are two golden grasshoppers running around the field and a bomb/jumping puzzle near the path to Kakariko Village that leads to a heart piece. On either side of the bridge itself, Link catches a phasmid, bringing the bug total up to 10. As Link blows the boulders leading to the next section of Hyrule Field, a portal opens up over the bridge, steals a chunk out of it, and drops a set of shadow beings down. This is the first time Link’s had to fight them in human form, meaning he doesn’t have Midna helping coordinate simultaneous attacks, but spin attacks have been part of the toolkit for so long it’s easy to know what to do.
At the end of the path is a curtain of twilight, and Midna notes that the quest is nearing the end. She pulls Link through to the other side (Link has to leave Epona behind), and he becomes the wolf one more time. The transformation’s becoming easier; this one seems almost instantaneous. After a short run, Link finds Ilia’s purse and gets her scent from it. Link flashes back to the scene with Ilia at Ordon’s spring, and Midna teases him about his reaction. As they come to an open part of the field, Hyrule Castle stands in full view before them, and Midna says they’re back where they started and things are about to get harder.
Ilia’s path leads Link on a long run through two sections of field and finally into Hyrule Castle Town. Then it leads to a medical clinic, and then Telma’s Bar, where Link finds her with an older woman looking over an injured or sick Zora. The woman says she’s sent for a doctor, and wonders if what happened to the Zora is related to something soldiers are discussing elsewhere in the bar. Meanwhile, Midna’s only concern is teasing Link about being so close to reuniting with Ilia, only she can’t see him and even if she could… well, Wolf Link hasn’t exactly gotten the warmest reception from people.
Meanwhile, the soldiers the woman mentioned are discussing a problem with the spirit in Lake Hylia, and he points to the map for the location. So Link has his next destination.
Next: Frozen fish.
Monday, April 15, 2019
Twilight Princess: Goron Mines
The Goron Mines are the game’s fire dungeon [1], with everything that goes with that. The first section involves platforming over lava, there’s flame spouts Link has to be careful to not walk/jump into, and a lot of fiery enemies. Thinking back to Ocarina of Time, wooden shields and fire are a bad mix (and I feel bad enough about stealing Jaggle’s [2] shield – getting it destroyed and having to replace it with a generic wooden shield probably isn’t for the best), so… a careful Link could probably get through without the Hylian shield, but piece of mind is worth the rupees. The other core mechanic of the dungeon is far more interesting: there are magnetic surfaces Link can walk on with the Iron Boots. This lets him walk on ceilings or walls, or cling to platforms that flip over and wait for them to rotate back.
Throughout the dungeon, Link finds the three other Goron elders: Gor Amoto, Gor Ebizo, and… well, the third one didn’t say his name. They each give Link one third of the dungeon’s Big Key. They also entrust Link with the dungeon’s item, the Hero’s Bow, which belonged to a former hero (possibly the Hero of Time). However, the bow’s guard, Dangoro, doesn’t trust Link at first and turns into the miniboss fight. The fight takes place on an unstable magnetic platform floating in a bed of lava. Attacking Dangoro doesn’t do much good, because of his armor. However, when he prepares to attack Link, he leaves his belly open, so Link can get a few hits in and force Dangoro to roll into a ball, which Link can then throw into the lava. After three baths, Dangoro admits defeat, and allows Link to claim the bow if he promises to use it to help Darbus. There are also two heart pieces in this dungeon.
This dungeon introduced me to something new with Twilight Princess: If Link doesn’t have room in his wallet for a rupee he finds in a treasure chest, he puts it back. Discovering this quirk led me to try Ooccoo, and she’s even more useful than I hoped: She sends Link out with her son, Ooccoo Jr., and when Link’s ready to return to the dungeon, Ooccoo Jr. can bring him back from anywhere in the overworld. I didn’t find anything to spend rupees on, so I ended up having to leave a few chests behind. Ooccoo has one limitation that surprised me that shouldn’t have: When Link returns, it’s to the start of the room he left. So if you try it out after making your way through a big room and don’t even bother going through the next door and back… you get to do the whole room again.
As Link walks into the boss room, he finds Darbus in chains, still in the monstrous form the Fused Shadow turned him into: Fyrus. He’s asleep at first, but Link’s presence causes the gem on his helmet to light up, then he wakes up, catches fire (title: Twilit Igniter), and breaks free. About the hardest part of this fight is that Fyrus’ weak point is the helmet gem, but can’t be L-targeted, so Link’s got to hit it without help. Once it is hit, Fyrus stomps around the arena, trailing his leg chains behind him. Link can grab on, and wearing the iron boots to anchor him, cause him to fall over, bringing the gem in range of sword strikes. I’ve got no idea what kind of attacks Fyrus has because I never saw them.
As Link claims the second Fused Shadow, Midna decides she can be a little helpful and name the enemy: Zant. She says that as Link and Zant are now, Link wouldn’t stand a chance in a fight – but she doesn’t respect Zant. She’s not overly fond of Zelda, either, and wonders how the royal life is supposed to raise a ruler. Once Link grabs the heart piece, he and Midna warp back to Eldin’s spring, leaving a confused Darbus behind.
Eldin directs Link to the next nature spirit, Lanayru. (Goddess name #3, check.) It says that Link will find someone he’s looking for. If there’s any doubt who it meant, Renado and the kids come to see Link, and someone other than her father finally remembers Ilia exists. Colin says the monsters didn’t leave her when they left him, but he’s fine now, so Link can leave him and go find her. Renado promises to watch over the kids, and compares Link to the heroes of legend.
Next: Back into the twilight.
[1] Or at least the first one; it’s possible there’s another one.
[2] Talo and Malo’s father.
Throughout the dungeon, Link finds the three other Goron elders: Gor Amoto, Gor Ebizo, and… well, the third one didn’t say his name. They each give Link one third of the dungeon’s Big Key. They also entrust Link with the dungeon’s item, the Hero’s Bow, which belonged to a former hero (possibly the Hero of Time). However, the bow’s guard, Dangoro, doesn’t trust Link at first and turns into the miniboss fight. The fight takes place on an unstable magnetic platform floating in a bed of lava. Attacking Dangoro doesn’t do much good, because of his armor. However, when he prepares to attack Link, he leaves his belly open, so Link can get a few hits in and force Dangoro to roll into a ball, which Link can then throw into the lava. After three baths, Dangoro admits defeat, and allows Link to claim the bow if he promises to use it to help Darbus. There are also two heart pieces in this dungeon.
This dungeon introduced me to something new with Twilight Princess: If Link doesn’t have room in his wallet for a rupee he finds in a treasure chest, he puts it back. Discovering this quirk led me to try Ooccoo, and she’s even more useful than I hoped: She sends Link out with her son, Ooccoo Jr., and when Link’s ready to return to the dungeon, Ooccoo Jr. can bring him back from anywhere in the overworld. I didn’t find anything to spend rupees on, so I ended up having to leave a few chests behind. Ooccoo has one limitation that surprised me that shouldn’t have: When Link returns, it’s to the start of the room he left. So if you try it out after making your way through a big room and don’t even bother going through the next door and back… you get to do the whole room again.
As Link walks into the boss room, he finds Darbus in chains, still in the monstrous form the Fused Shadow turned him into: Fyrus. He’s asleep at first, but Link’s presence causes the gem on his helmet to light up, then he wakes up, catches fire (title: Twilit Igniter), and breaks free. About the hardest part of this fight is that Fyrus’ weak point is the helmet gem, but can’t be L-targeted, so Link’s got to hit it without help. Once it is hit, Fyrus stomps around the arena, trailing his leg chains behind him. Link can grab on, and wearing the iron boots to anchor him, cause him to fall over, bringing the gem in range of sword strikes. I’ve got no idea what kind of attacks Fyrus has because I never saw them.
As Link claims the second Fused Shadow, Midna decides she can be a little helpful and name the enemy: Zant. She says that as Link and Zant are now, Link wouldn’t stand a chance in a fight – but she doesn’t respect Zant. She’s not overly fond of Zelda, either, and wonders how the royal life is supposed to raise a ruler. Once Link grabs the heart piece, he and Midna warp back to Eldin’s spring, leaving a confused Darbus behind.
Eldin directs Link to the next nature spirit, Lanayru. (Goddess name #3, check.) It says that Link will find someone he’s looking for. If there’s any doubt who it meant, Renado and the kids come to see Link, and someone other than her father finally remembers Ilia exists. Colin says the monsters didn’t leave her when they left him, but he’s fine now, so Link can leave him and go find her. Renado promises to watch over the kids, and compares Link to the heroes of legend.
Next: Back into the twilight.
[1] Or at least the first one; it’s possible there’s another one.
[2] Talo and Malo’s father.
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