Despite the Palace of Winds being Vaati’s palace, the statues are all of Ganon. This game has not handled having two villains particularly well. It feels like Vaati and Ganon are both here because it’s a Zelda game so we need Ganon, but it’s also a Four Swords game so we need Vaati, too. And, sure, someone had to be the mastermind behind the plot to free Vaati, and Ganon’s motivation for doing so (as a distraction while he gains power) makes sense, but the whole thing is a mess. And that’s not getting into how, despite the desert level basically spelling it out, no one seems to understand that Ganon’s the real bad guy here; it’s like they’re either being willfully obtuse or there’s some supernatural force keeping them from realizing it [1].
The puzzles in the dungeon have the “final level, final exam” feel to them. The second floor’s first room requires the Links to use four items (bow, boomerang, Pegasus Boots, and hammer) to find four Moon Pearls to create gates to four Dark World areas, each with a button that needs to be stepped on to open the way forward. There are a few new tricks here. Part of the bow puzzle requires a Link in the Dark World carrying a Link in the Light World and setting him on a button otherwise inaccessible in the Light World. Wallmasters show up for the first and only time, but they only haunt specific spaces and are pretty easy to avoid. For players who didn’t take the “use the hammer to reveal the path through the hidden spikes” path in the previous stage, that shows up here, too.
Vaati doesn’t have anything to say when the Links reach his lair. His fight has two stages. The first is very similar to how it was in Four Swords: he sits at the top of a giant whirlwind, and the Links pick up bombs and toss them into the whirlwind, timing them to explode when they reach Vaati. After three bombs, he dismisses the whirlwind and changes tactics, alternating between floating above the fight platform or on the subscreen below. When he’s above, the Links need to shoot themselves out of a cannon and then use the slam attacks to hit Vaati; below, they can chase him on ladders and score hits that way.
After Vaati’s defeated, the Links leave the Palace to reunite with Zelda. The Palace begins crumbling as it was constructed by Vaati’s magic and now Vaati’s gone. Ganon says that even though he hasn’t stolen all the power he’d hoped to, he still has enough to beat the Links, and his spirit leaves the Palace once they’re out and finds its own way down from the clouds. The Links and Zelda go into the Tower of Winds, which is also beginning to collapse, and so the Links need to escort Zelda through to the bottom. This sequence is infuriating because of how Zelda’s programmed. Unlike the Links, she won’t just walk off a ledge, and so needs to use ladders – slowly. If there’s no ladder, she’ll wait while the Links find the button to create one. No, picking her up to carry her isn’t an option. And when she has something to say, she stops until the Links go to where she is so she can say it. The last two of these valuable insights worth stopping to impart – both within sight of the exit – are “The exit’s not much farther!” and “The exit’s nearby! Hu-hurry!” [2] Right after she says the last line, the floor underneath her and the Links crumbles.
While the Links recover from their fall, Zelda sees the dark energy that is Ganon, although she has no idea who or what it is. She tries to seal him with her magic, but he’s too strong and imprisons her instead. Ganon takes proper form to fight the Links, who chase him around the area while he teleports. After they’ve weakened Ganon enough, Zelda is able to overcome her imprisonment; once free, she starts creating a ball of light that will defeat Ganon. The Links need to protect her from Ganon’s attacks while she creates the ball, then shoot it into him with arrows once it’s completed.
The maidens and Links work together to seal Ganon in the Four Sword, then take the sword back to its sanctuary, where it’s restored to its pedestal, and the Links turn back into one. The maidens encase the pedestal and sword in a glass pyramid, and then depart to resume protecting their assigned areas of Hyrule, and Link and Zelda walk away from the shrine together. Over the credits, the maidens continue their travels, and we see how defeating Vaati and Ganon has changed Hyrule for the better: corrupted areas like the Lost Woods and Swamp are back to their normal semi-healthy appearance, Frozen Hyrule has thawed out, the Village of the Blue Maiden is clear of the Dark World and the sandstorms have abated in the desert. We also see Tingle finding a growing stash of Force Gems, the Knights (or their ghosts, at least) back at Hyrule Castle, and Malon and Talon riding their horses.
Overall, I think Four Swords Adventures is a fun game, and a great improvement/refinement of Four Swords. Most of the stages are very well crafted, the bosses are usually fun, and the puzzles are quite inventive. The story is pretty thin, but it works well enough as long as the whole “If you’re going to forget about Ganon, what was the point of going to the desert anyway?” [3] thing doesn’t bother you too much. It’s not among my favorite games in the series, but that’s because that’s a very high bar, and I really did enjoy it a lot.
[1] Yes, Buffy fans, that’s the thing I have in mind.
[2] The actual lines from the game.
[3] I mean, aside from rescuing the maiden there.
