I'm working my way through the The Legend of Zelda series, trying to get caught up. I started by revisiting the ones I'd played before, and have moved onto playing games that are new to me.
(I'm not affiliated with Nintendo. The Legend of Zelda and all associated intellectual property are theirs.)
Table of contents after the jump.
Thursday, December 31, 2020
Monday, October 26, 2020
Breath of the Wild: Horseplay
Immediately south of the Dueling Peaks region, the Bridge of Hylia stretches south across Lake Hylia in the Lake region. Farosh, the yellow-green electric dragon, flies over the lake at night, meaning Link now has places to farm bits of all three dragons. The tower is to the west of the road leading south from the bridge; the surrounding area is patrolled by tough monsters, but the climb is fairly easy. A journal with hints to the locations of six more DLC items is in a ruined shack surrounded by the smaller lake to Lake Hylia’s northeast. Three of the items can be found in the Lake region: the lobster shirt Link wore at the start of Wind Waker (gives resistance to heat), Ravio’s bunny hood (increases sideways climbing speed), and armor reminiscent of Phantom Ganon (Ocarina of Time-style; part of a set, no bonus for a single piece).
The first major landmark Link comes across is the Highland Stable. This stable has a group of mounted Bokoblins harassing travelers; Link deals with them on his way in, and there was a sidequest for it, but it’s already done, so he can skip to the reward. A man at the stable challenges Link to ride his obstacle course, and rewards for beating the times are a bridle and saddle set. As with the racing games in Ocarina and Majora’s Mask [1], most of the trouble with the obstacle course is controlling the beast. I suppose there are times when you want to direct the horse’s view separately from Link’s, but for racing that’s definitely not the case. I don’t know that there’s a one-size-fits-all solution to the horse controls, but these are not fun. Also, horses have been given some basic intelligence, which is generally nice, except that having a mind of their own sometimes means they go off and do things you don’t want them to. (Also, the age-old problem of running straight at a barrier and the horse refusing to jump it for no apparent reason never went away.)
The shrine near the stable is Ka’o Makagh (“Metal Doors Open the Way”). The puzzles start with simply opening metal doors using Magnesis, but the real challenge comes when it’s time to navigate the higher level of the shrine, where the interesting stuff is up even higher with no way up. The shrine’s name points to using one of the doors as a bridge, but as with so many puzzles with the solution of “blow something up,” if you don’t spot the thing you need to blow up (the wall one of the doors is hinged too), it is very frustrating, although running around screaming does help blow some of that off.
The stable has hints toward another set of horse gear. Only the saddle is in this area, in an area far more interesting for what else is there. It looks like a Great Fairy Fountain, only Malanya, the fairy (or god, as they call themself) here, offers a different service – reviving dead horses. I didn’t know they could die. And Malanya looks like Bongo Bongo with a horse head mask. It’s a creepy effect. (As with the Great Fairy Fountains, the music changes once Malanya is offered rupees – only here, Epona’s Song [2] is laid over the Great Fairy’s theme.) The saddle Link can find lets him summon his horse, but Epona can’t use it.
Off in the other direction from Malanya, there’s the Mounted Archery Camp. One of the guys there runs a mounted archery minigame and as much as I want to run screaming and say pancake that, it has a set of horse gear for getting the high scores, so… yeah, I’m in. Here’s where Link being able to look separately from Epona is useful, but Epona’s not on rails and can be spooked, so you can’t ignore her, either. I don’t know if this is really harder than the mounted archery game in Ocarina, but it has two big strikes against it. First, you don’t get provided a bow and arrows, so you have to use your own, and it counts against your bow’s durability. (I quickly said “Okay, but then I’m only saving if I get a winning score.”) Second, starting the game has too many prompts. (“Do you want to play? Do you need to buy arrows? Will you pay the entry fee? Do you need me to explain the rules? Shall I repeat all th... oh, wait, I’m just an archery game host, not an overtalkative owl.”)
I quickly hit on two things that made my score better: using a multishot bow and bomb arrows so close counts better. After several runs of being stuck in the mid-teens, I decided if people swear by using tilt controls to aim, maybe I could give it a shot. My third run ended when I fired a volley straight into Epona’s head. I went to play again and discovered I no longer had a horse. I guess they can die. Back to thumbstick aiming. What finally broke me through was switching from Epona to a different, slower horse (a striking black horse with white mane and tail I captured near Hyrule Castle). This gave me more time to aim while still getting me to the last set of targets with just enough time to shoot them.
Next: My Korok dedication is seriously tested.
[1] I’m not sure if horse controls in Twilight Princess were better or they just recognized the limitations better and didn’t make a minigame that exposed them.
[2] Malanya… Malon… I just got that…
The first major landmark Link comes across is the Highland Stable. This stable has a group of mounted Bokoblins harassing travelers; Link deals with them on his way in, and there was a sidequest for it, but it’s already done, so he can skip to the reward. A man at the stable challenges Link to ride his obstacle course, and rewards for beating the times are a bridle and saddle set. As with the racing games in Ocarina and Majora’s Mask [1], most of the trouble with the obstacle course is controlling the beast. I suppose there are times when you want to direct the horse’s view separately from Link’s, but for racing that’s definitely not the case. I don’t know that there’s a one-size-fits-all solution to the horse controls, but these are not fun. Also, horses have been given some basic intelligence, which is generally nice, except that having a mind of their own sometimes means they go off and do things you don’t want them to. (Also, the age-old problem of running straight at a barrier and the horse refusing to jump it for no apparent reason never went away.)
The shrine near the stable is Ka’o Makagh (“Metal Doors Open the Way”). The puzzles start with simply opening metal doors using Magnesis, but the real challenge comes when it’s time to navigate the higher level of the shrine, where the interesting stuff is up even higher with no way up. The shrine’s name points to using one of the doors as a bridge, but as with so many puzzles with the solution of “blow something up,” if you don’t spot the thing you need to blow up (the wall one of the doors is hinged too), it is very frustrating, although running around screaming does help blow some of that off.
The stable has hints toward another set of horse gear. Only the saddle is in this area, in an area far more interesting for what else is there. It looks like a Great Fairy Fountain, only Malanya, the fairy (or god, as they call themself) here, offers a different service – reviving dead horses. I didn’t know they could die. And Malanya looks like Bongo Bongo with a horse head mask. It’s a creepy effect. (As with the Great Fairy Fountains, the music changes once Malanya is offered rupees – only here, Epona’s Song [2] is laid over the Great Fairy’s theme.) The saddle Link can find lets him summon his horse, but Epona can’t use it.
Off in the other direction from Malanya, there’s the Mounted Archery Camp. One of the guys there runs a mounted archery minigame and as much as I want to run screaming and say pancake that, it has a set of horse gear for getting the high scores, so… yeah, I’m in. Here’s where Link being able to look separately from Epona is useful, but Epona’s not on rails and can be spooked, so you can’t ignore her, either. I don’t know if this is really harder than the mounted archery game in Ocarina, but it has two big strikes against it. First, you don’t get provided a bow and arrows, so you have to use your own, and it counts against your bow’s durability. (I quickly said “Okay, but then I’m only saving if I get a winning score.”) Second, starting the game has too many prompts. (“Do you want to play? Do you need to buy arrows? Will you pay the entry fee? Do you need me to explain the rules? Shall I repeat all th... oh, wait, I’m just an archery game host, not an overtalkative owl.”)
I quickly hit on two things that made my score better: using a multishot bow and bomb arrows so close counts better. After several runs of being stuck in the mid-teens, I decided if people swear by using tilt controls to aim, maybe I could give it a shot. My third run ended when I fired a volley straight into Epona’s head. I went to play again and discovered I no longer had a horse. I guess they can die. Back to thumbstick aiming. What finally broke me through was switching from Epona to a different, slower horse (a striking black horse with white mane and tail I captured near Hyrule Castle). This gave me more time to aim while still getting me to the last set of targets with just enough time to shoot them.
Next: My Korok dedication is seriously tested.
[1] I’m not sure if horse controls in Twilight Princess were better or they just recognized the limitations better and didn’t make a minigame that exposed them.
[2] Malanya… Malon… I just got that…
Friday, October 23, 2020
Breath of the Wild: Central Roundup
Near the western edge of the central area, there’s a second stable, Outskirt Stable, with its normal assortment of sidequests. One is to find a horse like the one Zelda rode, but that requires crossing the bridge to the next area west, so I’ll wait on that until I go that way. The other two can be done now: a stablehand is hungry and wants gourmet meat, and a woman wants to meet the Legendary Hero who she’ll recognize because he has the Master Sword. The reward for the latter is a Star Fragment, so that’s nice (although camping for Star Fragments is something to do those rare times I have to wait for the Master Sword to recharge its batteries).
The shrine near the stable is Rota Ooh (“Passing of the Gates”). The shrine’s core trick is kind of sort of like a Divine Beast; there’s a switch that rotates the central block 90 degrees when hit. The two main things Link needs to do to advance to the end require manipulating that block – first tossing an orb into a basket to be flung into its socket, then riding an updraft through a hole in the block and shooting the switch in midair to get a landing spot that leads to the shrine monk and Spirit Orb.
There are three Minor Test of Strength shrines in the area (Dah Kaso, Katah Chuki, Noya Neha) – two in the shadow of Hyrule Castle, one under a bridge that leads to the Gerudo lands. This seems really weird to me. All the guidance Link gets is “Don’t start in the center, go east.” The omnipresent Guardians and black and blue Hinox in the area, plus the Lynel in the Coliseum Ruins, say, “Go away, noob. Come back when you can run with us.” And then there’s these shrines, which have tougher versions throughout the game, but these three fights a decently-equipped Link can win by sneezing a little too hard.
The final shrine in the area is Kaam Ya’tak Shrine (“Trial of Power”), between the tower and the Coliseum. This shrine is a long winding corridor mixing together various tricks with Stasis and Magnesis (Bombs can be used to blow open a wall for a chest; they couldn’t work Cryonis in), Guardian fights, and even a motion control apparatus (groan). The trickiest puzzle is not the motion controls, but a rolling ball that Link needs to flip into the air onto a see-saw that needs to be Stasised to avoid dropping the ball into the abyss. It ends with sending Link flying and paragliding down to the platform with the shrine monk, which also affords a good overview of the path Link took.
There’s a bunch of Koroks in the area – nothing entirely new, but there’s one point where Link has to find a nearby Rusty Shield (assuming he’s not carrying his own around… hey, it could happen) for an offering. The Koroks here aren’t quite enough for Link to unlock everything, but I’ve only got one empty slot left for a shield [1] that doesn’t really seem that important now that I have the Hylian Shield. Still, I wouldn’t have Stasised that ball up the hill if I weren’t absolutely determined to get them all, so… like with Ocarina of Time’s Skulltulas and Twilight Princess’ Poe souls, I guess useful rewards cut off at a certain point and the final reward is basically there to let you know you can stop.
There are three memories to be found in the area: the first two and last from Zelda’s pictures. The first one depicts a ceremony where Zelda blesses Link and the Master Sword. (“Whether skyward bound, adrift in time, or steeped in the glowing embers of twilight, the sacred blade is forever bound to the soul of the Hero.” I’ve kind of embraced the timeline merge theory, but leaving out references to Wind Waker and the Triforce of the Godses feels like a suggestion we’re in the child timeline… although strictly speaking, that timeline’s version of the Hero of Time never used the Master Sword…) Zelda doesn’t seem into it, which bums Daruk out. Revali doesn’t seem to think much of Link, and Urbosa says Link’s bonding with the sword reminds Zelda that she hasn’t awakened her power yet.
In the second memory, Zelda talks about Daruk’s progress with Rudania and how far they have to go with unlocking the abilities of the Divine Beasts. She asks Link about his mastery of the Master Sword, and specifically if he can hear the ancient voice inside it. (Incidentally, I unlocked this memory shortly after completing the final Trial of the Sword and hearing Fi’s chime.) The final memory happens after things have gone south – the Guardians and Divine Beasts are corrupted by Ganon, and Hyrule Castle is lost. Link and Zelda flee on foot until the weight of everything catches up to her and she collapses. These three memories pretty much settle that I’m not a fan of Zelda’s voice acting. Everyone else is fine, but… having an American actress do a British accent was probably not the best choice.
Next: The series' horse controls have never been great. My general dislike of motion controls has made me never try using them for aiming. Say, I've got a really bad idea.
[1] Bows top out one slot short of a full page; if weapons and the Master Sword are any indication, the last slot is for the Bow of Ganon-Killing.
The shrine near the stable is Rota Ooh (“Passing of the Gates”). The shrine’s core trick is kind of sort of like a Divine Beast; there’s a switch that rotates the central block 90 degrees when hit. The two main things Link needs to do to advance to the end require manipulating that block – first tossing an orb into a basket to be flung into its socket, then riding an updraft through a hole in the block and shooting the switch in midair to get a landing spot that leads to the shrine monk and Spirit Orb.
There are three Minor Test of Strength shrines in the area (Dah Kaso, Katah Chuki, Noya Neha) – two in the shadow of Hyrule Castle, one under a bridge that leads to the Gerudo lands. This seems really weird to me. All the guidance Link gets is “Don’t start in the center, go east.” The omnipresent Guardians and black and blue Hinox in the area, plus the Lynel in the Coliseum Ruins, say, “Go away, noob. Come back when you can run with us.” And then there’s these shrines, which have tougher versions throughout the game, but these three fights a decently-equipped Link can win by sneezing a little too hard.
The final shrine in the area is Kaam Ya’tak Shrine (“Trial of Power”), between the tower and the Coliseum. This shrine is a long winding corridor mixing together various tricks with Stasis and Magnesis (Bombs can be used to blow open a wall for a chest; they couldn’t work Cryonis in), Guardian fights, and even a motion control apparatus (groan). The trickiest puzzle is not the motion controls, but a rolling ball that Link needs to flip into the air onto a see-saw that needs to be Stasised to avoid dropping the ball into the abyss. It ends with sending Link flying and paragliding down to the platform with the shrine monk, which also affords a good overview of the path Link took.
There’s a bunch of Koroks in the area – nothing entirely new, but there’s one point where Link has to find a nearby Rusty Shield (assuming he’s not carrying his own around… hey, it could happen) for an offering. The Koroks here aren’t quite enough for Link to unlock everything, but I’ve only got one empty slot left for a shield [1] that doesn’t really seem that important now that I have the Hylian Shield. Still, I wouldn’t have Stasised that ball up the hill if I weren’t absolutely determined to get them all, so… like with Ocarina of Time’s Skulltulas and Twilight Princess’ Poe souls, I guess useful rewards cut off at a certain point and the final reward is basically there to let you know you can stop.
There are three memories to be found in the area: the first two and last from Zelda’s pictures. The first one depicts a ceremony where Zelda blesses Link and the Master Sword. (“Whether skyward bound, adrift in time, or steeped in the glowing embers of twilight, the sacred blade is forever bound to the soul of the Hero.” I’ve kind of embraced the timeline merge theory, but leaving out references to Wind Waker and the Triforce of the Godses feels like a suggestion we’re in the child timeline… although strictly speaking, that timeline’s version of the Hero of Time never used the Master Sword…) Zelda doesn’t seem into it, which bums Daruk out. Revali doesn’t seem to think much of Link, and Urbosa says Link’s bonding with the sword reminds Zelda that she hasn’t awakened her power yet.
In the second memory, Zelda talks about Daruk’s progress with Rudania and how far they have to go with unlocking the abilities of the Divine Beasts. She asks Link about his mastery of the Master Sword, and specifically if he can hear the ancient voice inside it. (Incidentally, I unlocked this memory shortly after completing the final Trial of the Sword and hearing Fi’s chime.) The final memory happens after things have gone south – the Guardians and Divine Beasts are corrupted by Ganon, and Hyrule Castle is lost. Link and Zelda flee on foot until the weight of everything catches up to her and she collapses. These three memories pretty much settle that I’m not a fan of Zelda’s voice acting. Everyone else is fine, but… having an American actress do a British accent was probably not the best choice.
Next: The series' horse controls have never been great. My general dislike of motion controls has made me never try using them for aiming. Say, I've got a really bad idea.
[1] Bows top out one slot short of a full page; if weapons and the Master Sword are any indication, the last slot is for the Bow of Ganon-Killing.
Wednesday, October 21, 2020
Breath of the Wild: Item Collection
At this point, I’ve fully explored northern and eastern Hyrule, leaving the west (where the last two Divine Beasts are), center, and south. My original plan was to save the center for last so I could do Hyrule Castle alongside it, but after getting a couple of the DLC items (Korok Mask and Travel Medallion) and liking how incredibly useful they are, I looked at the quest log entries for the rest of them and decided to start clearing them out. Adding to this is the fact that with enemies spawning at max level, pretty much everywhere I’d go would be the same level of difficulty, and I don’t really fear Lynels or Guardians [1] anymore.
The first stop is the tower, which is easy to spot from the Great Plateau Tower. It’s surrounded by Guardians, but otherwise an easy climb. The second stop is the Ancient Ruins where Link first touched down from the Great Plateau; there’s a journal hidden by Misko who stole eight priceless relics from Hyrule Castle and hid them all over the area. The eight items are Majora’s Mask, the piece of the Fused Shadow Midna wore as a helmet, Tingle’s clothes, and a set of armor resembling Phantom Zelda from Spirit Tracks. Getting them all requires a tour of Central Hyrule. The fun one is the Coliseum Ruins where Link gets to have an imaginary gladiator match with a Lynel.
The armor items are mostly redundant with other items I’ve got (the Phantom set boots attack like the Fierce Deity, the Tingle set boosts night speed like the Stealth set and makes you look like fscking Tingle, Midna’s helmet gives Guardian resistance like the Ancient set). Majora’s Mask, on the other hand, is like combining Kilton’s Bokoblin, Moblin, and Lizalfos Masks (the latter newly added after clearing Rudania) into a single mask – plus it keeps Lynels at bay for a little while, simultaneously solving the sole difficulty I was still having (getting close without the Lynel pulling out its bow) and adding a bit of hilarity as the Lynel stares down Majora’s Masked Link down before the magic wears off. (And there’s plenty of time between the magic wearing off to switch to the Fierce Deity Mask, pull out a bow, shoot the Lynel in the face, and hop on its back and get some free hits in.) And that’s the bonus, on top of being able to ignore enemies I don’t want to fight – including the Stal- versions. Seriously, Majora’s Mask by itself is worth the $20 I paid for the DLC.
After some careful consideration, I decided I would go to Hyrule Castle to try to find the royal recipes and a royal guard weapon. (I forgot about the royal guard armor, though.) Following a tip from someone else wanting to explore the castle for treasure, I snuck in through the docks in the north rather than brave the main gate. Along the way into the castle, Link can light a giant torch to unearth Saas Ko’sah Shrine, which is A Major Test of Strength with no permanent pillars to hide behind when the Guardian does its spinning charge attack, but there are blocks in the floor Link can Magnesis up to use instead.
The path Link took into the castle leads straight to the Library, where the recipe books are. For the weapon, I went back to another entrance I saw gliding into the docks and wound up in the castle’s dungeons and took a spear off a Moblin. The more interesting discovery in the dungeon was a cell that, upon entry, Link is locked in and to get back out has to defeat a Stalnox. In addition to reopening the cell door, defeating the Stalnox spawns a treasure chest with a Hylian Shield that, while not unbreakable like the one in Skyward Sword… is pretty much unbreakable. The rewards for cooking the meals and showing off the spear totaled 500 rupees, and Link can sell royal guard weapons in exchange for gems.
Next: The first and last photograph memories.
[1] Guardians were the final straw on me using Wolf Link. You can tell him “stay,” and he will, but he understands it as “wait while I go and kill these guys,” not “this guy will kill you if you’re there when we fight, so stay here and let me handle it.” Guardians don’t understand “HEY! Shoot me, not the wolf!” And Wolf Link just can’t get the hang of shield bashing Guardian lasers back at them.
The first stop is the tower, which is easy to spot from the Great Plateau Tower. It’s surrounded by Guardians, but otherwise an easy climb. The second stop is the Ancient Ruins where Link first touched down from the Great Plateau; there’s a journal hidden by Misko who stole eight priceless relics from Hyrule Castle and hid them all over the area. The eight items are Majora’s Mask, the piece of the Fused Shadow Midna wore as a helmet, Tingle’s clothes, and a set of armor resembling Phantom Zelda from Spirit Tracks. Getting them all requires a tour of Central Hyrule. The fun one is the Coliseum Ruins where Link gets to have an imaginary gladiator match with a Lynel.
The armor items are mostly redundant with other items I’ve got (the Phantom set boots attack like the Fierce Deity, the Tingle set boosts night speed like the Stealth set and makes you look like fscking Tingle, Midna’s helmet gives Guardian resistance like the Ancient set). Majora’s Mask, on the other hand, is like combining Kilton’s Bokoblin, Moblin, and Lizalfos Masks (the latter newly added after clearing Rudania) into a single mask – plus it keeps Lynels at bay for a little while, simultaneously solving the sole difficulty I was still having (getting close without the Lynel pulling out its bow) and adding a bit of hilarity as the Lynel stares down Majora’s Masked Link down before the magic wears off. (And there’s plenty of time between the magic wearing off to switch to the Fierce Deity Mask, pull out a bow, shoot the Lynel in the face, and hop on its back and get some free hits in.) And that’s the bonus, on top of being able to ignore enemies I don’t want to fight – including the Stal- versions. Seriously, Majora’s Mask by itself is worth the $20 I paid for the DLC.
After some careful consideration, I decided I would go to Hyrule Castle to try to find the royal recipes and a royal guard weapon. (I forgot about the royal guard armor, though.) Following a tip from someone else wanting to explore the castle for treasure, I snuck in through the docks in the north rather than brave the main gate. Along the way into the castle, Link can light a giant torch to unearth Saas Ko’sah Shrine, which is A Major Test of Strength with no permanent pillars to hide behind when the Guardian does its spinning charge attack, but there are blocks in the floor Link can Magnesis up to use instead.
The path Link took into the castle leads straight to the Library, where the recipe books are. For the weapon, I went back to another entrance I saw gliding into the docks and wound up in the castle’s dungeons and took a spear off a Moblin. The more interesting discovery in the dungeon was a cell that, upon entry, Link is locked in and to get back out has to defeat a Stalnox. In addition to reopening the cell door, defeating the Stalnox spawns a treasure chest with a Hylian Shield that, while not unbreakable like the one in Skyward Sword… is pretty much unbreakable. The rewards for cooking the meals and showing off the spear totaled 500 rupees, and Link can sell royal guard weapons in exchange for gems.
Next: The first and last photograph memories.
[1] Guardians were the final straw on me using Wolf Link. You can tell him “stay,” and he will, but he understands it as “wait while I go and kill these guys,” not “this guy will kill you if you’re there when we fight, so stay here and let me handle it.” Guardians don’t understand “HEY! Shoot me, not the wolf!” And Wolf Link just can’t get the hang of shield bashing Guardian lasers back at them.
Monday, October 19, 2020
Breath of the Wild: Eldin Roundup
There are three sidequests left in and around Goron City. A Gerudo merchant is looking to buy 10 chunks of amber, and pays more than Link can get selling them to a shop. A Goron taking a hot bath talks about a treasure he hid that turns out to be a Drillshaft weapons that’s good for smashing ore. Finally, a Goron’s been asked to defeat all the Igneo Taluses around the region and there’s one he can’t get. Once Link takes care of it, the Goron asks to buy the achievement for 100 rupees and I mean, sure, I’ll take the rupees, but it’s really not that hard to kill an Igneo Talus and the only thing harder about this one is it’s harder to get to for Link whose fireproof status has stronger limits than the Gorons’.
There’s a mine cart in the city, and Link can hop in, drop (round) bombs in the basket at the rear (the first one has to be kicked in; Newton’s first law pushes the rest in while the cart is moving), and detonate them to ride to Shora Hah Shrine. The challenge is called Blue Flame, and requires passing the fire from a torch at the beginning to a bunch of torches, along the way dealing with inconvenient waterspouts, having to move pieces with Magnesis, and little Guardians to fight. The final part reminds me of getting into the Shadow Temple in Ocarina of Time, only there’s no Din’s Fire, so Link has to stand in the circle of torches and use a spin attack with the lit torch to light them all at once. (If he misses one, waterspouts come on and put the torches out.)
Off the road between Goron City and Death Mountain, there’s Daqa Koh Shrine (“Stalled Flight”). The challenge here is simple: there’s a big stone block on a section of floor that periodically jumps up, sending the stone block upward and its electric generator connects with something on the ceiling to open the gate. So Link needs to get sent in the air along with the block, paraglide to land on it, Stasis it to stay in place, and paraglide through the gate before it opens. Back near the Foothill Stable, Link can find Sah Dahaj Shrine (“Power of Fire”), which is another “burn everything to clear the path” shrine.
In the northwest corner of Eldin, there’s a shrine on a pillar that a trio of Gorons has adopted as their training ground. The leader’s blocking the entrance (and sneaking around him isn’t an option), so the only way in is to play their minigame, which leads me to the surprised revelation that there haven’t been just a whole lot of minigames in this game. I found one in Hateno Village to shoot deer for rupees, and now this one, and that’s it. The goal of this game is to climb the pillar in three minutes and collect 100 rupees along the way. The time limit’s generous, rupees plentiful, and there are lots of places to rest and recover stamina, so it’s pretty hard to fail. Link completes the challenge, enters Gorae Torr’s blessing shrine, and collects his spirit orb.
The final shrine in the area requires tracking down a Goron who’s gone to Gorko’s Tunnel, and the hardest part of the whole bit is finding the place. Link does eventually find it, and the missing Goron, who’s passed out from hunger, so Link needs to get a rock roast from the bottom of the hill and carry it back up while enemies along the way hassle him (and if he drops the roast, it’ll like roll all the way down the hill into the lava). The roast brings the Goron back to life and he uncovers Kayra Mah Shrine. The challenge is called Greedy Hill, and also involves running up a hill while obstacles – in this case balls rolling down – try to send Link back down. There are rupees to tempt Link, and I actually got a fair few. (I tried coming back for more, but they don’t respawn. Never waited out a Blood Moon to see if they’ll respawn then.)
At this point, we’re probably out of wholly new tricks to find Koroks. There’s some variation like moving a rock to match other rocks in the area, but everything is at least reminiscent of other ways. Near one of the Koroks, there’s another memory location, and they’re still novel enough for me that I see the glowing spot and wonder what the heck it is. This one is a flashback to Zelda (not Mipha?) patching Link up after a fight against a crapton of monsters, including multiple white Lynels. The music associated with the Blood Moons plays as Zelda notes that the monster attacks are increasing in both frequency and intensity [1], which suggests Ganon may be about ready to return.
(Around this time is when I did the second Trial of the Sword.)
Next: It doesn’t let you drop the moon on your enemies. It may be even better than that.
[1] Incidentally, in the game, as Link defeats more and more monsters, the ones he’ll face get stronger as well. Around this time is when I got that maxed out, with every monster in the game set to its maximum difficulty. This meant silver damage-sponge enemies where in just about every enemy group, and all Lynels with a few special exceptions were silver as well. I was already less than enamored with this game’s combat system (Lynels and “Test of Strength” guardians are fun to fight and that’s about it – and silver Lynels are honestly pushing it), and having those enemies everywhere didn’t help matters.
There’s a mine cart in the city, and Link can hop in, drop (round) bombs in the basket at the rear (the first one has to be kicked in; Newton’s first law pushes the rest in while the cart is moving), and detonate them to ride to Shora Hah Shrine. The challenge is called Blue Flame, and requires passing the fire from a torch at the beginning to a bunch of torches, along the way dealing with inconvenient waterspouts, having to move pieces with Magnesis, and little Guardians to fight. The final part reminds me of getting into the Shadow Temple in Ocarina of Time, only there’s no Din’s Fire, so Link has to stand in the circle of torches and use a spin attack with the lit torch to light them all at once. (If he misses one, waterspouts come on and put the torches out.)
Off the road between Goron City and Death Mountain, there’s Daqa Koh Shrine (“Stalled Flight”). The challenge here is simple: there’s a big stone block on a section of floor that periodically jumps up, sending the stone block upward and its electric generator connects with something on the ceiling to open the gate. So Link needs to get sent in the air along with the block, paraglide to land on it, Stasis it to stay in place, and paraglide through the gate before it opens. Back near the Foothill Stable, Link can find Sah Dahaj Shrine (“Power of Fire”), which is another “burn everything to clear the path” shrine.
In the northwest corner of Eldin, there’s a shrine on a pillar that a trio of Gorons has adopted as their training ground. The leader’s blocking the entrance (and sneaking around him isn’t an option), so the only way in is to play their minigame, which leads me to the surprised revelation that there haven’t been just a whole lot of minigames in this game. I found one in Hateno Village to shoot deer for rupees, and now this one, and that’s it. The goal of this game is to climb the pillar in three minutes and collect 100 rupees along the way. The time limit’s generous, rupees plentiful, and there are lots of places to rest and recover stamina, so it’s pretty hard to fail. Link completes the challenge, enters Gorae Torr’s blessing shrine, and collects his spirit orb.
The final shrine in the area requires tracking down a Goron who’s gone to Gorko’s Tunnel, and the hardest part of the whole bit is finding the place. Link does eventually find it, and the missing Goron, who’s passed out from hunger, so Link needs to get a rock roast from the bottom of the hill and carry it back up while enemies along the way hassle him (and if he drops the roast, it’ll like roll all the way down the hill into the lava). The roast brings the Goron back to life and he uncovers Kayra Mah Shrine. The challenge is called Greedy Hill, and also involves running up a hill while obstacles – in this case balls rolling down – try to send Link back down. There are rupees to tempt Link, and I actually got a fair few. (I tried coming back for more, but they don’t respawn. Never waited out a Blood Moon to see if they’ll respawn then.)
At this point, we’re probably out of wholly new tricks to find Koroks. There’s some variation like moving a rock to match other rocks in the area, but everything is at least reminiscent of other ways. Near one of the Koroks, there’s another memory location, and they’re still novel enough for me that I see the glowing spot and wonder what the heck it is. This one is a flashback to Zelda (not Mipha?) patching Link up after a fight against a crapton of monsters, including multiple white Lynels. The music associated with the Blood Moons plays as Zelda notes that the monster attacks are increasing in both frequency and intensity [1], which suggests Ganon may be about ready to return.
(Around this time is when I did the second Trial of the Sword.)
Next: It doesn’t let you drop the moon on your enemies. It may be even better than that.
[1] Incidentally, in the game, as Link defeats more and more monsters, the ones he’ll face get stronger as well. Around this time is when I got that maxed out, with every monster in the game set to its maximum difficulty. This meant silver damage-sponge enemies where in just about every enemy group, and all Lynels with a few special exceptions were silver as well. I was already less than enamored with this game’s combat system (Lynels and “Test of Strength” guardians are fun to fight and that’s about it – and silver Lynels are honestly pushing it), and having those enemies everywhere didn’t help matters.
Monday, October 5, 2020
Breath of the Wild: Divine Beast Vah Rudania
To continue the main quest, Link meets with the Goron boss, Bludo, who complains about Rudania stomping about on Death Mountain making its eruptions worse. The Gorons periodically drive it off by shooting it with cannons, but it always comes back, and Bludo’s back pain is flaring up. His assistant, Yunobo, went to get painkillers, but hasn’t come back. So Link heads out looking for Yunobo; in Abandoned North Mine is a series of lava islands; the lava creates lots of updrafts to allow Link to glide between the islands. The area is overrun by fire Lizalfos; between the Flamebreaker Armor negating their breath weapon and “fire creature + ice arrow = one-shot kill,” it’s really easy. Yunobo (“Goron Youth”) is in a storeroom that’s been blocked by a rockslide; Link clears the way with a cannon and approaches. After a short panic thinking Link’s another monster come for him, Yunobo relaxes and returns to Bludo, telling Link to do the same.
Bludo gives Link three more Fireproof Elixirs and directs Link’s attention to a statue of Daruk, which causes Link to remember riding on Rudania with Daruk, who used a protective ability when rocks fell from Death Mountain. In addition to giving the Champions a moment to shine, these flashbacks also showcase the ability Link gets by finishing the Divine Beast; Mipha healing, Daruk protecting. Yunobo, Daruk’s descendant, used a similar ability when Link cleared the rockslide, and wears a bandana similar to Daruk’s (but smaller). When they drive off Rudania together, they use Yunobo as the cannonball, using Daruk’s Protection to protect himself from Newton’s Third Law. But the painkillers haven’t quite kicked in fully yet, so Bludo’s not able to go deal with Rudania yet.
Along the way to catch up with Yunobo, Link encounters some of Death Mountain’s versions of Octoroks, who shield themselves from pretty much any form of attack. However, they’re constantly sucking up anything they can, and will suck up a bomb, and just like Dodongos, their insides aren’t as tough. (Also, if Link feeds them rusted weapons, they’ll clean them and spit back out good ones.) Link catches up to Yunobo, who’s gotten himself surrounded by monsters. After Link deals with the monsters, the two come up with the idea of going after Rudania themselves, with a demonstration of Yunobo’s cannonball powers to begin.
As Link and Yunobo reach Death Mountain, the Divine Beast lets out a bunch of Sentries (flying Guardians, not as mobile as the normal flying guardians). This starts what’s meant to be a stealth section, with Link and Yunobo sneaking past the Sentries, but it’s really not that hard to kill them with a bunch of arrows and ignore the stealth part. There are three cannons on the approach, and each one drives Rudania higher on the mountain until it jumps into the caldera. Link dives in.
Ruta in Zora’s Domain is the easiest of the four Divine Beasts to get to, and despite the open-world design, there is some encouragement to go that way first, but there’s no way of knowing for sure which one they’ll do first, so we get the same tutorial guidance (get the map, activate terminals, go for the boss) as if it’s our first. Until Link gets the map, the first rooms are dark, which only highlights the Malice Eyes more. The Divine Beast control Link gets is the ability to turn Rudania on its side, changing the orientation of rooms. One of the terminals is hidden behind a wall of flame; the intended solution is to get a block and position it so Link is able to sneak by, but the Flamebreaker Armor lets Link just walk on through.
The boss is Fireblight Ganon (“Scourge of Divine Beast Vah Rudania”). He throws fireballs at Link, but they bounce off the Flamebreaker Armor. Its other attacks are sword slashes that I found easy to perfect dodge/flurry rush, so the first phase of the battle went by quickly. At the start of the second phase, it sets fire to its sword and surrounds itself with a flame shield. At first, it imitates the Death Mountain Octoroks, and the solution is the same: feed it a bomb. This knocks down the flame shield, and the rest of the fight’s the same as the first phase. (Also, this time I had the presence of mind to take its picture.)
Once Link takes control of Rudania, Daruk (“Goron Champion”) appears to him. He’s considerably more upbeat than Mipha was, although he feels the need to apologize to Link for losing to Fireblight Ganon. He gives Link Daruk’s Protection, which will absorb damage from up to three attacks (and deflect Guardian lasers) before needing to recharge. After moving Rudania into place, Daruk cheerfully notes that Hyrule doesn’t look too bad after everything that happened 100 years before, and he looks down and sees Yunobo, which reassures him that the Gorons are still going strong. Yunobo sees Daruk’s ghost and happily waves to him. Yunobo’s waiting for Link back in Goron City, and brings him to Bluto for a reward. That reward is Daruk’s weapon, a giant stone sword that is excellent for crushing the ore weak spot on Taluses.
Next: Wait, there are minigames?
Bludo gives Link three more Fireproof Elixirs and directs Link’s attention to a statue of Daruk, which causes Link to remember riding on Rudania with Daruk, who used a protective ability when rocks fell from Death Mountain. In addition to giving the Champions a moment to shine, these flashbacks also showcase the ability Link gets by finishing the Divine Beast; Mipha healing, Daruk protecting. Yunobo, Daruk’s descendant, used a similar ability when Link cleared the rockslide, and wears a bandana similar to Daruk’s (but smaller). When they drive off Rudania together, they use Yunobo as the cannonball, using Daruk’s Protection to protect himself from Newton’s Third Law. But the painkillers haven’t quite kicked in fully yet, so Bludo’s not able to go deal with Rudania yet.
Along the way to catch up with Yunobo, Link encounters some of Death Mountain’s versions of Octoroks, who shield themselves from pretty much any form of attack. However, they’re constantly sucking up anything they can, and will suck up a bomb, and just like Dodongos, their insides aren’t as tough. (Also, if Link feeds them rusted weapons, they’ll clean them and spit back out good ones.) Link catches up to Yunobo, who’s gotten himself surrounded by monsters. After Link deals with the monsters, the two come up with the idea of going after Rudania themselves, with a demonstration of Yunobo’s cannonball powers to begin.
As Link and Yunobo reach Death Mountain, the Divine Beast lets out a bunch of Sentries (flying Guardians, not as mobile as the normal flying guardians). This starts what’s meant to be a stealth section, with Link and Yunobo sneaking past the Sentries, but it’s really not that hard to kill them with a bunch of arrows and ignore the stealth part. There are three cannons on the approach, and each one drives Rudania higher on the mountain until it jumps into the caldera. Link dives in.
Ruta in Zora’s Domain is the easiest of the four Divine Beasts to get to, and despite the open-world design, there is some encouragement to go that way first, but there’s no way of knowing for sure which one they’ll do first, so we get the same tutorial guidance (get the map, activate terminals, go for the boss) as if it’s our first. Until Link gets the map, the first rooms are dark, which only highlights the Malice Eyes more. The Divine Beast control Link gets is the ability to turn Rudania on its side, changing the orientation of rooms. One of the terminals is hidden behind a wall of flame; the intended solution is to get a block and position it so Link is able to sneak by, but the Flamebreaker Armor lets Link just walk on through.
The boss is Fireblight Ganon (“Scourge of Divine Beast Vah Rudania”). He throws fireballs at Link, but they bounce off the Flamebreaker Armor. Its other attacks are sword slashes that I found easy to perfect dodge/flurry rush, so the first phase of the battle went by quickly. At the start of the second phase, it sets fire to its sword and surrounds itself with a flame shield. At first, it imitates the Death Mountain Octoroks, and the solution is the same: feed it a bomb. This knocks down the flame shield, and the rest of the fight’s the same as the first phase. (Also, this time I had the presence of mind to take its picture.)
Once Link takes control of Rudania, Daruk (“Goron Champion”) appears to him. He’s considerably more upbeat than Mipha was, although he feels the need to apologize to Link for losing to Fireblight Ganon. He gives Link Daruk’s Protection, which will absorb damage from up to three attacks (and deflect Guardian lasers) before needing to recharge. After moving Rudania into place, Daruk cheerfully notes that Hyrule doesn’t look too bad after everything that happened 100 years before, and he looks down and sees Yunobo, which reassures him that the Gorons are still going strong. Yunobo sees Daruk’s ghost and happily waves to him. Yunobo’s waiting for Link back in Goron City, and brings him to Bluto for a reward. That reward is Daruk’s weapon, a giant stone sword that is excellent for crushing the ore weak spot on Taluses.
Next: Wait, there are minigames?
Friday, September 25, 2020
Breath of the Wild: Eldin
There’s a pair of sisters who run around the woods near Hateno Village looking for truffles, and if Link gets close enough, they panic about nearby Bokoblins and Link has to rescue them. I am so thoroughly sick of the event that despite using Link’s house as a convenient place to do the amiibo shuffle, I avoid those woods so I don’t have to deal with it anymore. (If I hear them calling for help, I can’t just let them get beat up. [1]) Well, the sisters have found their way to the road leading into Eldin, and trouble isn’t far behind them. At least it’s a little different here.
The Foothills Stable is not far into Eldin, and for good reason. A woman sitting at the campfire outside says Link’s going to need special protection if he’s going up the volcano, and she’s not wrong. The temperature gauge goes to the max and catches on fire (looking at the Sheikah Slate map, where it usually displays the temperature it just displays an error message), and so will Link if he’s not protected. She sells him fireproof elixirs which will give him some time on the mountain. (Link can make them himself by catching either the lizards or butterflies on the mountain.)
Inside the stable, there’s a landscape painting with Death Mountain, the stable, and a shrine. If Link finds where the painting was made, he can find the shrine. Tah Muhl Shrine’s trial is Passing the Flame, which is all about burning things. (Except for one case where he needs to Magnesis a key over a gate.) The shrine near the stable for convenient fast travel is Mo’a Keet/Metal Makes a Path, where Link needs to go up slopes with boulders rolling down. One of the boulders is magnetic and can be used to, as the shrine title says, block the others and clear the way.
Eldin Tower is a long climb up the mountain; the actual tower has plentiful landings for Link to rest on, so it’s easier than getting there. There’s one more shrine on the path up the mountain, located in the middle of a lava lake: Qua Raym/A Balanced Approach, which has a couple balancing puzzles. The final test before Link reaches the first Goron mine is an Igneo Talus fight, which was easy in the Trial of the Sword and even easier now that Link has access to his normal weapons [2].
The Goron Southern Mine is notable for two reasons: First, there are not one, but two Gorons with “–son” names who agree to move to Tarrey Town. (After requesting and receiving more wood, Hudson next wants Link to recruit a Gerudo.) Second, Kima is leaving the mountains but wants Fireproof Lizards as a souvenir. When Link brings him enough, he gives Link the Flamebreaker Armor, which will protect Link from the fiery heat without need for an elixir.
At last, Link arrives at Goron City. Here, he can buy the other two pieces of the Flamebreaker Armor set (the helmet is a pricey 2,000 rupees). Beyond Goron City, the air gets even hotter and he needs either two pieces of the set or one plus an elixir to not burst into flames, so it’s good to have. When upgraded by the fairies, it makes Link completely immune to fire. Not only will he not burst into flames, Bokoblins attacking with burning sticks just do stick damage, Lizalfos fire breath is shrugged off, Link can hover around Dinraal without having to worry, and best/weirdest of all, any puzzle that requires finding a way through fire is utterly trivialized.
Goron City wouldn’t be complete without a shrine to fast travel back to, so there’s Shae Mo’sah/Swinging Flames. The shrine has a number of puzzles involving lanterns hanging from strings or chains, and Link’s supposed to shoot the string to knock the lantern down and/or shoot the lantern so it swings, all with the end goal of setting something on fire. In keeping with the game’s general philosophy, however, it doesn’t matter how the things get set on fire, so if Link is able to make fire himself, he can skip the whole “swinging flames” part of the shrine.
Next: Come see the Amazing Goron Cannonball!
[1] This mentality got me in so much trouble in City of Heroes. “I’m too low-level to save you!” was not in my vocabulary for a very long time. (I got “All that crap is gray to me, no XP” pretty fast, though.)
[2] Normal arrows catch fire in the Death Mountain heat. Bomb arrows explode on being drawn. I never checked how fire arrows behave because normal arrows that catch on fire are pretty much the same thing. Ice arrows are cold enough to still work as intended.
The Foothills Stable is not far into Eldin, and for good reason. A woman sitting at the campfire outside says Link’s going to need special protection if he’s going up the volcano, and she’s not wrong. The temperature gauge goes to the max and catches on fire (looking at the Sheikah Slate map, where it usually displays the temperature it just displays an error message), and so will Link if he’s not protected. She sells him fireproof elixirs which will give him some time on the mountain. (Link can make them himself by catching either the lizards or butterflies on the mountain.)
Inside the stable, there’s a landscape painting with Death Mountain, the stable, and a shrine. If Link finds where the painting was made, he can find the shrine. Tah Muhl Shrine’s trial is Passing the Flame, which is all about burning things. (Except for one case where he needs to Magnesis a key over a gate.) The shrine near the stable for convenient fast travel is Mo’a Keet/Metal Makes a Path, where Link needs to go up slopes with boulders rolling down. One of the boulders is magnetic and can be used to, as the shrine title says, block the others and clear the way.
Eldin Tower is a long climb up the mountain; the actual tower has plentiful landings for Link to rest on, so it’s easier than getting there. There’s one more shrine on the path up the mountain, located in the middle of a lava lake: Qua Raym/A Balanced Approach, which has a couple balancing puzzles. The final test before Link reaches the first Goron mine is an Igneo Talus fight, which was easy in the Trial of the Sword and even easier now that Link has access to his normal weapons [2].
The Goron Southern Mine is notable for two reasons: First, there are not one, but two Gorons with “–son” names who agree to move to Tarrey Town. (After requesting and receiving more wood, Hudson next wants Link to recruit a Gerudo.) Second, Kima is leaving the mountains but wants Fireproof Lizards as a souvenir. When Link brings him enough, he gives Link the Flamebreaker Armor, which will protect Link from the fiery heat without need for an elixir.
At last, Link arrives at Goron City. Here, he can buy the other two pieces of the Flamebreaker Armor set (the helmet is a pricey 2,000 rupees). Beyond Goron City, the air gets even hotter and he needs either two pieces of the set or one plus an elixir to not burst into flames, so it’s good to have. When upgraded by the fairies, it makes Link completely immune to fire. Not only will he not burst into flames, Bokoblins attacking with burning sticks just do stick damage, Lizalfos fire breath is shrugged off, Link can hover around Dinraal without having to worry, and best/weirdest of all, any puzzle that requires finding a way through fire is utterly trivialized.
Goron City wouldn’t be complete without a shrine to fast travel back to, so there’s Shae Mo’sah/Swinging Flames. The shrine has a number of puzzles involving lanterns hanging from strings or chains, and Link’s supposed to shoot the string to knock the lantern down and/or shoot the lantern so it swings, all with the end goal of setting something on fire. In keeping with the game’s general philosophy, however, it doesn’t matter how the things get set on fire, so if Link is able to make fire himself, he can skip the whole “swinging flames” part of the shrine.
Next: Come see the Amazing Goron Cannonball!
[1] This mentality got me in so much trouble in City of Heroes. “I’m too low-level to save you!” was not in my vocabulary for a very long time. (I got “All that crap is gray to me, no XP” pretty fast, though.)
[2] Normal arrows catch fire in the Death Mountain heat. Bomb arrows explode on being drawn. I never checked how fire arrows behave because normal arrows that catch on fire are pretty much the same thing. Ice arrows are cold enough to still work as intended.
Wednesday, September 23, 2020
Breath of the Wild: The Woodlands
There are two stables in the Woodlands: Woodland Stable to the east that Link visited on his first trip to the area, and Serenne Stable to the west. There’s not much left of interest at Woodland Stable, just a Skyward Sword fangirl who wants to see balloons lift a barrel into the sky. Link obliges with Octo Balloons and gets a Star Fragment [1] as thanks. At Serenne Stable, there are three people arguing about leviathan skeletons in the Eldin, Hebra, and Gerudo regions. They want to see pictures of the leviathans’ skulls, so Link volunteers to get them as he explores. This quest will take a while.
Near Serenne Stable, there are two shrines. The first is the one immediately nearby for quick travel, Monya Toma/Drawing Parabolas. This is a simple puzzle using launchers to send an orb into its socket; the two complications – one of the launchers rotates with a crystal switch, and there are crates in between it and the final objective – are easily understood and dealt with. The other shrine is technically in the next region over, but the Sheikah Sensor works across region boundaries… but the shrine is hidden in a cave, which is where the Sensor has trouble actually guiding Link/the player to the shrine. Once you see the wall, it’s obvious it needs a bomb, but until then it’s frustrating. Even though there’s no shrine quest, the shrine is hidden enough that it’s worth just being a blessing shrine (Maag No’rah).
Northwest of Serenne Stable is Tanagar Canyon, which is notable for two things. Dinraal flies down it, which means I can get a scale and go back and pay tribute at the Spring of Power. Befitting the “power” theme, the Tutsuwa Nima Shrine there is A Major Test of Strength, a fight against the toughest type of Shrine Guardian, and this one has the added complication of not having any pillars for Link to hide behind when the Guardian makes its spinning charge attack. To compensate, the floor is covered in water, so Link can use Cryonis to make his own pillar. [2]
At the northeast end of the canyon, Link can journey into the Forgotten Temple. The temple is littered with Guardians, and Link often has to face more than one at once. There was one other thing worth buying from “Cherry”: the Ancient Shield, which automatically reflects Guardians’ lasers back at them. It was a real timesaver on this journey. At the end of the temple, Link comes to a blessing shrine (Rona Kachta).
The final shrine is in the area of darkness; as Link approaches, the Spirit Monk challenges him to find the shrine in the dark. The way is indicated by a bunch of bird-shaped torches whose beaks point the way to the next waypoint. At the end, Link comes across an orb pedestal, and the orb is just a little farther along… on a Hinox’ necklace. I may not think much of Hinox fights – and despite the darkness, this one wasn’t any harder [2] – but I still said “holy shit” before pulling out the bow. Again, the challenge was getting to the shrine, so Ketoh Wawai Shrine is a blessing shrine.
There’s not much chance to use the Korok Mask in this region, which only has about thirty Koroks. Notables include lots of bombable walls and a half-underwater Magnesis puzzled. Lynels in this region get two new complications: first, the white-maned ones start appearing, and they get a new attack, where they roar and slam their weapon down, creating a giant shockwave. For a long time, I’d run from these, but I’ve learned to parry the shockwave which is ridiculous but great. Second, weapon variety expands to include giant clubs [3]. The clubs do huge damage, and send shockwaves which make dodging iffy (the charge slam attack can be dodged, if you sidestep to the Goldilocks range where you’re close enough that it counts as a dodge but far enough that the shockwave misses you during the charge). These Lynels also have two very similar attacks (a shockwave slam and a triple slam) that require different reactions and are hard to tell apart. Or, in short: My first encounter with a club Lynel was really not that different from my first encounter with a sword Lynel, and I had to get the hang of it all over again.
Next: “I'm programmed to understand over one hundred languages and dialects and in not one is the phrase ‘on fire’ positive when referring to a person!”
[1] Star Fragments are rare items used for upgrading armor. Link needs a lot of them, and they’re really rare, unless you’re willing to sit for (game) hours at night watching the sky for a shooting star that drops one, then running to claim it before it vanishes with the dawn.
[2] This was before I did the Trial of the Sword with the recreation of this fight, which was both harder (because I had to rely on the stuff that drops in the Trial) and easier (because I saw it coming as soon as the dark stages started and prepared accordingly).
[3] One with a spear appeared in Akkala, but it was not that different from the sword ones. It has a jump slam attack that the sword one does but only very rarely uses, and that’s about it for difference.
Near Serenne Stable, there are two shrines. The first is the one immediately nearby for quick travel, Monya Toma/Drawing Parabolas. This is a simple puzzle using launchers to send an orb into its socket; the two complications – one of the launchers rotates with a crystal switch, and there are crates in between it and the final objective – are easily understood and dealt with. The other shrine is technically in the next region over, but the Sheikah Sensor works across region boundaries… but the shrine is hidden in a cave, which is where the Sensor has trouble actually guiding Link/the player to the shrine. Once you see the wall, it’s obvious it needs a bomb, but until then it’s frustrating. Even though there’s no shrine quest, the shrine is hidden enough that it’s worth just being a blessing shrine (Maag No’rah).
Northwest of Serenne Stable is Tanagar Canyon, which is notable for two things. Dinraal flies down it, which means I can get a scale and go back and pay tribute at the Spring of Power. Befitting the “power” theme, the Tutsuwa Nima Shrine there is A Major Test of Strength, a fight against the toughest type of Shrine Guardian, and this one has the added complication of not having any pillars for Link to hide behind when the Guardian makes its spinning charge attack. To compensate, the floor is covered in water, so Link can use Cryonis to make his own pillar. [2]
At the northeast end of the canyon, Link can journey into the Forgotten Temple. The temple is littered with Guardians, and Link often has to face more than one at once. There was one other thing worth buying from “Cherry”: the Ancient Shield, which automatically reflects Guardians’ lasers back at them. It was a real timesaver on this journey. At the end of the temple, Link comes to a blessing shrine (Rona Kachta).
The final shrine is in the area of darkness; as Link approaches, the Spirit Monk challenges him to find the shrine in the dark. The way is indicated by a bunch of bird-shaped torches whose beaks point the way to the next waypoint. At the end, Link comes across an orb pedestal, and the orb is just a little farther along… on a Hinox’ necklace. I may not think much of Hinox fights – and despite the darkness, this one wasn’t any harder [2] – but I still said “holy shit” before pulling out the bow. Again, the challenge was getting to the shrine, so Ketoh Wawai Shrine is a blessing shrine.
There’s not much chance to use the Korok Mask in this region, which only has about thirty Koroks. Notables include lots of bombable walls and a half-underwater Magnesis puzzled. Lynels in this region get two new complications: first, the white-maned ones start appearing, and they get a new attack, where they roar and slam their weapon down, creating a giant shockwave. For a long time, I’d run from these, but I’ve learned to parry the shockwave which is ridiculous but great. Second, weapon variety expands to include giant clubs [3]. The clubs do huge damage, and send shockwaves which make dodging iffy (the charge slam attack can be dodged, if you sidestep to the Goldilocks range where you’re close enough that it counts as a dodge but far enough that the shockwave misses you during the charge). These Lynels also have two very similar attacks (a shockwave slam and a triple slam) that require different reactions and are hard to tell apart. Or, in short: My first encounter with a club Lynel was really not that different from my first encounter with a sword Lynel, and I had to get the hang of it all over again.
Next: “I'm programmed to understand over one hundred languages and dialects and in not one is the phrase ‘on fire’ positive when referring to a person!”
[1] Star Fragments are rare items used for upgrading armor. Link needs a lot of them, and they’re really rare, unless you’re willing to sit for (game) hours at night watching the sky for a shooting star that drops one, then running to claim it before it vanishes with the dawn.
[2] This was before I did the Trial of the Sword with the recreation of this fight, which was both harder (because I had to rely on the stuff that drops in the Trial) and easier (because I saw it coming as soon as the dark stages started and prepared accordingly).
[3] One with a spear appeared in Akkala, but it was not that different from the sword ones. It has a jump slam attack that the sword one does but only very rarely uses, and that’s about it for difference.
Monday, September 21, 2020
Breath of the Wild: Korok Forest
Woodland Tower is in the middle of a Hylian military installation that’s been overrun by monsters since the fall of Hyrule. It’s also in the middle of a swamp that will suck Link in if he steps in it, so it’s best that he doesn’t. Also, there’s a Fire Wizzrobe near the base of the Tower that drops the Fire Rod the weapon-loving kid in Hateno wanted to see. (Next on the list was Moblin Club, which was easy enough. Then Duplex Bow, which may take a while.) Looking around from the top of the tower, the first thing to draw my eye was that it’s probably close enough to Hyrule Castle to paraglide over [1]. The Lost Woods dominate the region, and there’s a dark area off to the north.
When I visited Korok Forest before, I didn’t stop to take in much of the scenery – Hestu, Master Sword, shrine so I can get back fast, and that’s it. This time, I stopped to have Link talk to the Koroks, who’ve got a small village running in and around the Deku Tree. They’re all so happy to be helping Link, it feels amazing. There’s one who set up a bed of leaves as an inn, only unlike the other inns throughout the world, this one doesn’t have a charge to stay. All of this reminds me that the Koroks used to be Kokiri [2], and Ocarina of Time Link grew up among the Kokiri and kept his house there even when he was an adult. Millennia later, Link and the Kokiri may be different, but he’s still got a home with them.
There are a few sidequests that the Kokiri have. One wants to see an ice rod (or the stronger version, blizzard rod). Another wants to see a picture of a Blupee, a glowing blue rabbit/owl thing that generates rupees when shot with an arrow; there are two Blupees Link can visit walking from the shrine above Kakariko Village to the nearby Great Fairy Fountain. Finally, there’s a Korok who asks riddles about things Link may have encountered in his travels: apple, pumpkin, Sunshroom, Voltfin Trout, and Lynel Hoof.
The main feature for Korok Forest is a trio of Shrine Quests, with an overarching quest. To get the annoying one out of the way, first is The Lost Pilgrimage: watch over a Korok as he travels to the shrine without being seen. The “without being seen” is tricky, and that’s ignoring the fact that the quest is designed to make you think you need to come out of hiding. My first instinct was to stick to the edges of the forest, only we’re in the Lost Woods, and going too far from the trail results in being lost. Otherwise it’s a matter of staying far enough back and out of line of sight, except for a wolf near the end of the run. The Korok won’t move while the wolf’s around, and I couldn’t figure any way to get the wolf to go away without shooting it, and that revealed Link to the Korok… but the wolf obeyed typical blood moon mechanics and didn’t respawn. Daag Chokah Shrine is a blessing shrine.
The Test of Wood gives Link a wooden sword, shield, and bow, and challenges him to make it through the gauntlet of enemies without breaking or swapping the weapons. Most dangerous is obviously the Fire Keese, but the hardest part for me was crossing a swamp because I’d forgotten about Cryonis and couldn’t find a way across without it. Again, Maag Halan Shrine is a blessing shrine. Link also gets to keep the sword/shield/bow, which aren’t really good but I can’t bear to throw them away or break them, so they’re hanging on the hooks in Link’s home.
Trial of Second Sight involves navigating the Lost Woods by looking for trees with iron in their mouths with the Magnesis power. Near the end it gets a little more creative, with Link needing to feed one of the trees a rusted shield, which spawns a chest that needs to be fed to the last tree to gain entrance to Kuhn Sidajj Shrine, a third blessing shrine.
Before leaving the Lost Woods, there’s one final thing to collect: In a tree near the path from the entrance to the Lost Woods to the Kokiri Forest, there’s a treasure chest with a mask that, when equipped, vibrates when Link’s near a hidden Korok. Makes finding the little guys much easier.
[Note: Around this time is when I did the first Trial of the Sword.]
Next: The Guardian Gauntlet.
[1] One thing I like to do in sandbox games is save for the night and then run around doing things not caring how badly I wreck the game and/or get killed because none of it counts. Given the proximity to Hyrule Castle, around this time I made a run at it, defeated a Lynel, and actually made it to where Link fights the final boss, cheesed the first two Blight Ganons with Lynel Bow salvos of Bomb Arrows, and got fried by Thunderblight Ganon who used a shield.
[2] At least, according to Wind Waker, which also had Rito as evolved Zoras and now we’ve got both, so who knows. Although there are regions in the Lost Woods named for Saria and Mido [3], so probably.
[3] Saria got a lake. Mido got a swamp. Heh.
When I visited Korok Forest before, I didn’t stop to take in much of the scenery – Hestu, Master Sword, shrine so I can get back fast, and that’s it. This time, I stopped to have Link talk to the Koroks, who’ve got a small village running in and around the Deku Tree. They’re all so happy to be helping Link, it feels amazing. There’s one who set up a bed of leaves as an inn, only unlike the other inns throughout the world, this one doesn’t have a charge to stay. All of this reminds me that the Koroks used to be Kokiri [2], and Ocarina of Time Link grew up among the Kokiri and kept his house there even when he was an adult. Millennia later, Link and the Kokiri may be different, but he’s still got a home with them.
There are a few sidequests that the Kokiri have. One wants to see an ice rod (or the stronger version, blizzard rod). Another wants to see a picture of a Blupee, a glowing blue rabbit/owl thing that generates rupees when shot with an arrow; there are two Blupees Link can visit walking from the shrine above Kakariko Village to the nearby Great Fairy Fountain. Finally, there’s a Korok who asks riddles about things Link may have encountered in his travels: apple, pumpkin, Sunshroom, Voltfin Trout, and Lynel Hoof.
The main feature for Korok Forest is a trio of Shrine Quests, with an overarching quest. To get the annoying one out of the way, first is The Lost Pilgrimage: watch over a Korok as he travels to the shrine without being seen. The “without being seen” is tricky, and that’s ignoring the fact that the quest is designed to make you think you need to come out of hiding. My first instinct was to stick to the edges of the forest, only we’re in the Lost Woods, and going too far from the trail results in being lost. Otherwise it’s a matter of staying far enough back and out of line of sight, except for a wolf near the end of the run. The Korok won’t move while the wolf’s around, and I couldn’t figure any way to get the wolf to go away without shooting it, and that revealed Link to the Korok… but the wolf obeyed typical blood moon mechanics and didn’t respawn. Daag Chokah Shrine is a blessing shrine.
The Test of Wood gives Link a wooden sword, shield, and bow, and challenges him to make it through the gauntlet of enemies without breaking or swapping the weapons. Most dangerous is obviously the Fire Keese, but the hardest part for me was crossing a swamp because I’d forgotten about Cryonis and couldn’t find a way across without it. Again, Maag Halan Shrine is a blessing shrine. Link also gets to keep the sword/shield/bow, which aren’t really good but I can’t bear to throw them away or break them, so they’re hanging on the hooks in Link’s home.
Trial of Second Sight involves navigating the Lost Woods by looking for trees with iron in their mouths with the Magnesis power. Near the end it gets a little more creative, with Link needing to feed one of the trees a rusted shield, which spawns a chest that needs to be fed to the last tree to gain entrance to Kuhn Sidajj Shrine, a third blessing shrine.
Before leaving the Lost Woods, there’s one final thing to collect: In a tree near the path from the entrance to the Lost Woods to the Kokiri Forest, there’s a treasure chest with a mask that, when equipped, vibrates when Link’s near a hidden Korok. Makes finding the little guys much easier.
[Note: Around this time is when I did the first Trial of the Sword.]
Next: The Guardian Gauntlet.
[1] One thing I like to do in sandbox games is save for the night and then run around doing things not caring how badly I wreck the game and/or get killed because none of it counts. Given the proximity to Hyrule Castle, around this time I made a run at it, defeated a Lynel, and actually made it to where Link fights the final boss, cheesed the first two Blight Ganons with Lynel Bow salvos of Bomb Arrows, and got fried by Thunderblight Ganon who used a shield.
[2] At least, according to Wind Waker, which also had Rito as evolved Zoras and now we’ve got both, so who knows. Although there are regions in the Lost Woods named for Saria and Mido [3], so probably.
[3] Saria got a lake. Mido got a swamp. Heh.
Friday, September 18, 2020
Breath of the Wild: Akkala Roundup
There are four shrines left in Akkala; however, I can’t do one of them just yet. At the east stable, Link hears about the Shrine of Power to the west, and heading out there, the Goddess Statue asks for Dinraal’s Scale. Dinraal, of course but unfortunately, is the red dragon, not the green one I’ve seen flying around Lake Hylia; I’ve got no idea where Dinraal’s stomping grounds are. The quest log is no help on the matter, in fact, it goes me one better and wonders “Who or what is Dinraal?” I assume I’ll see Dinraal flying around Death Mountain somewhere and that’ll settle the matter, but for now the quest has to go on the back burner. In the meantime, there’s a sparkly area in the Spring of Power, which turns out to be the trigger for another memory. Zelda stands in the spring while Link stands watch nearby, trying to awaken her power, and grows increasingly frustrated as it’s not working.
Far to the northeast, past Robbie’s lab, there’s an island with a shrine. The shrine’s monk challenges Link to find him. The shrine’s easily visible paragliding in, but the wall leading to it can’t be climbed. Outside of the central area of the island is a giant maze for Link to navigate his way through. It’s possible for Link to get cute and climb to the top of the walls and try to get close to the shrine that way, but the skies have the flying guardians as a deterrent. The shrine (Tu Ka’loh) is a blessing shrine that gives a Barbarian Helmet that’s functionally equivalent to the Fierce Deity Mask (attack power boost, reduced charge attack stamina cost set bonus once I find the other two pieces).
Once the shrine is done, there’s a hole nearby Link can drop into to find a guardian graveyard. However, opening the chest in the middle reveals that a few of the guardians aren’t entirely dead and Link suddenly finds himself targeted by four guardian death lasers; I’m good at parrying, but I have limits, and this is past them. That chest has a Diamond Circlet that is mostly equivalent to the Ancient Armor helmet (no set bonus, looks much less ridiculous). There’s another chest in the guardian graveyard with the real prize for the whole island adventure: the Travel Medallion, which lets Link create his own fast-travel point. This is great for many things; for one, if it starts raining I can drop the travel point, go to Hateno Village to sleep, and warp back and see if the rain’s let up. (Doesn’t work while climbing.) Or, if I find Stalnox bones, like in this area, I can drop the gate and come back at night to fight the Stalnox.
The other interesting feature on the Akkala map is Rist Peninsula, which is a spiral. Sure enough, it turns out to be another shrine quest challenge: carry an orb from the start of the spiral to the end. Of course, it’s not that simple – there are monsters all along the path, including some tough Moblins and Lizalfos. (You can skip most of them by using Cryonis to get the orb across the water. I tend to forget I even have Cryonis.) At the end is another blessing shrine, Ritaag Zumo.
The final shrine is in the southeast, and even with the Sheikah Sensor pinging its little heart out, the hardest part is finding the place. It’s buried on a cliffside behind a bunch of rocks. Ke’nai Shakah Shrine is A Modest Test of Strength, which by now is easy (the guardian usually dies to archery the first time it uses its sweeping laser) [1].
There are fifty Korok Seeds in Akkala, but no new tricks for getting them. However, one stands out above the rest: Link has to move a rock from one hill to a hole on a nearby hill. The best way – the only way I found that comes close to working – is to Stasis the rock and whack it and hope it goes the right direction and keep trying. This is ridiculous, and extremely frustrating to use weapon durability trying to get. Oh, and there’s a Lynel in the area. Seriously, I’d rather do the motion control minigolf shrine a dozen times than this ever again.
Next: Feels like home.
[1] This has been corrected from the original version, which accidentally got Ke’nai Shakah Shrine confused with Tutsuwa Nima, the shrine in the Spring of Power.
Far to the northeast, past Robbie’s lab, there’s an island with a shrine. The shrine’s monk challenges Link to find him. The shrine’s easily visible paragliding in, but the wall leading to it can’t be climbed. Outside of the central area of the island is a giant maze for Link to navigate his way through. It’s possible for Link to get cute and climb to the top of the walls and try to get close to the shrine that way, but the skies have the flying guardians as a deterrent. The shrine (Tu Ka’loh) is a blessing shrine that gives a Barbarian Helmet that’s functionally equivalent to the Fierce Deity Mask (attack power boost, reduced charge attack stamina cost set bonus once I find the other two pieces).
Once the shrine is done, there’s a hole nearby Link can drop into to find a guardian graveyard. However, opening the chest in the middle reveals that a few of the guardians aren’t entirely dead and Link suddenly finds himself targeted by four guardian death lasers; I’m good at parrying, but I have limits, and this is past them. That chest has a Diamond Circlet that is mostly equivalent to the Ancient Armor helmet (no set bonus, looks much less ridiculous). There’s another chest in the guardian graveyard with the real prize for the whole island adventure: the Travel Medallion, which lets Link create his own fast-travel point. This is great for many things; for one, if it starts raining I can drop the travel point, go to Hateno Village to sleep, and warp back and see if the rain’s let up. (Doesn’t work while climbing.) Or, if I find Stalnox bones, like in this area, I can drop the gate and come back at night to fight the Stalnox.
The other interesting feature on the Akkala map is Rist Peninsula, which is a spiral. Sure enough, it turns out to be another shrine quest challenge: carry an orb from the start of the spiral to the end. Of course, it’s not that simple – there are monsters all along the path, including some tough Moblins and Lizalfos. (You can skip most of them by using Cryonis to get the orb across the water. I tend to forget I even have Cryonis.) At the end is another blessing shrine, Ritaag Zumo.
The final shrine is in the southeast, and even with the Sheikah Sensor pinging its little heart out, the hardest part is finding the place. It’s buried on a cliffside behind a bunch of rocks. Ke’nai Shakah Shrine is A Modest Test of Strength, which by now is easy (the guardian usually dies to archery the first time it uses its sweeping laser) [1].
There are fifty Korok Seeds in Akkala, but no new tricks for getting them. However, one stands out above the rest: Link has to move a rock from one hill to a hole on a nearby hill. The best way – the only way I found that comes close to working – is to Stasis the rock and whack it and hope it goes the right direction and keep trying. This is ridiculous, and extremely frustrating to use weapon durability trying to get. Oh, and there’s a Lynel in the area. Seriously, I’d rather do the motion control minigolf shrine a dozen times than this ever again.
Next: Feels like home.
[1] This has been corrected from the original version, which accidentally got Ke’nai Shakah Shrine confused with Tutsuwa Nima, the shrine in the Spring of Power.
Wednesday, September 16, 2020
Breath of the Wild: Robbie
The main attraction of the Akkala region is the third of the Sheikah who came up with the idea of dropping Link in the Shrine of Resurrection and preparing to help him when he woke up, Robbie. His tech lab is at the end of the road, near the far northeast corner of the region (Impa got to stay in Kakariko, and Purah settled in Hateno, leaving Robbie to go to the boonies). Like St. Thomas, Robbie refuses to be sure this guy with a Sheikah Slate and the Master Sword who braved Akkala to make it all the way out here is Link until he inspects the wounds from the first fight against Calamity Ganon, which requires Link to take off his clothes. After that’s done, he introduces himself properly, every now and then striking a pose while a guitar sting plays.
Then there’s a second problem; as with Purah’s lab, the ancient furnace powering the lab has gone out and Link needs to bring the fire back. It’s a little more complicated this time, as the path isn’t as easy and Hateno was all civilized while the areas around Robbie’s lab are monster-ridden. It’s possible to juggle a lit torch and an actual weapon, but much easier to clear the path of anything that might pester Link on the return journey before lighting the torch and hope the blood moon doesn’t pop up before he finishes. (I was sure I was due. I was wrong.) There was one part, near the end of the trip, where there was a tree fallen across the path that Link needed to climb over on his way out. Climbing means stowing weapons, which would extinguish the torch. There’s no way around without swimming. I’m not sure if there’s an intended solution here or what it is, but I was able to chuck the lit torch over the tree and it stayed lit while Link climbed over.
In addition to a teleport gate, Link’s efforts have brought the ancient oven “Cherry” inside the lab to life. Robbie gives Link three more Ancient Arrows. Outside the Trial of the Sword, these are the ultimate item that’s so powerful I’d rather save wastefully than use wastefully. (Furthering this status, if used on anything but a Guardian, everything it would have dropped is destroyed with it; this is why I fought the first Lynel in the Trial – I wanted its bow.) I figure I’ll use them when I go to Hyrule Castle, which is sure to be crawling with Guardians.
Link can purchase more ancient arrows and a bunch of other weapons and armor built with similar tech (not as devastatingly gamebreaking, but from “Cherry.” Aside from Ancient Arrows, the two things I found most worth the cost (both in rupees and guardian bits) are Ancient Bows that have a long range and the Ancient Armor set that looks ridiculous (especially the helmet) but provides a defense bonus against guardians and, once upgraded twice, improves the damage Link does with the Ancient weapons.
Robbie’s wife gives Link a shrine quest. Atop a pillar on one of the eye islands (eye-lands?) in Skull Lake (not the one with Kilton, she says) is a shrine. There are two main challenges getting there. First, the path I took led through Rok Woods which is absolutely teeming with Octoroks and in a game where I hate just about every enemy that’s not a Lynel or “Test of Strength” shrine Guardian, Octoroks manage to be the absolute fscking worst [1]. They only pop out of hiding to spit rocks at Link and are right back in immediately after, have incredibly good range and aim, and are relentlessly persistent. Those quarter-heart hits aren’t too bad at first, but they quickly add up, especially when there’s a bunch of them in the same area. Oh, and the only thing they drop that’s worth anything is the Octo Balloons, and there’s only so many of those I need.
The second challenge is climbing to the top. After getting the Master Sword, I traded a few hearts for stamina, and I was amazed at how big a difference having even a little over the base wheel made, but it wasn’t nearly enough to make this climb without stamina-restoring food, which I had thankfully replenished. The reward for all this is Zuna Kai Shrine, a blessing shrine with no further challenge.
Next: Amazingly, the motion control minigolf shrine wasn’t my least pleasant encounter with golf in Akkala.
[1] Closest rivals: Wolves. Good at recognizing the guy with the sword is probably going to hurt someone. Not so good at realizing the guy with the sword is probably more concerned with the giant fire-breathing lion centaur thing with the big smashy stick than a few wild dogs. Bloody excellent at timing their lunges at the guy with the sword to be right when he needs to focus on not getting hit in the face by the giant fire-breathing lion centaur thing’s big smashy stick. I see wolves, I automatically shoot one, then the rest run off and leave me alone.
Then there’s a second problem; as with Purah’s lab, the ancient furnace powering the lab has gone out and Link needs to bring the fire back. It’s a little more complicated this time, as the path isn’t as easy and Hateno was all civilized while the areas around Robbie’s lab are monster-ridden. It’s possible to juggle a lit torch and an actual weapon, but much easier to clear the path of anything that might pester Link on the return journey before lighting the torch and hope the blood moon doesn’t pop up before he finishes. (I was sure I was due. I was wrong.) There was one part, near the end of the trip, where there was a tree fallen across the path that Link needed to climb over on his way out. Climbing means stowing weapons, which would extinguish the torch. There’s no way around without swimming. I’m not sure if there’s an intended solution here or what it is, but I was able to chuck the lit torch over the tree and it stayed lit while Link climbed over.
In addition to a teleport gate, Link’s efforts have brought the ancient oven “Cherry” inside the lab to life. Robbie gives Link three more Ancient Arrows. Outside the Trial of the Sword, these are the ultimate item that’s so powerful I’d rather save wastefully than use wastefully. (Furthering this status, if used on anything but a Guardian, everything it would have dropped is destroyed with it; this is why I fought the first Lynel in the Trial – I wanted its bow.) I figure I’ll use them when I go to Hyrule Castle, which is sure to be crawling with Guardians.
Link can purchase more ancient arrows and a bunch of other weapons and armor built with similar tech (not as devastatingly gamebreaking, but from “Cherry.” Aside from Ancient Arrows, the two things I found most worth the cost (both in rupees and guardian bits) are Ancient Bows that have a long range and the Ancient Armor set that looks ridiculous (especially the helmet) but provides a defense bonus against guardians and, once upgraded twice, improves the damage Link does with the Ancient weapons.
Robbie’s wife gives Link a shrine quest. Atop a pillar on one of the eye islands (eye-lands?) in Skull Lake (not the one with Kilton, she says) is a shrine. There are two main challenges getting there. First, the path I took led through Rok Woods which is absolutely teeming with Octoroks and in a game where I hate just about every enemy that’s not a Lynel or “Test of Strength” shrine Guardian, Octoroks manage to be the absolute fscking worst [1]. They only pop out of hiding to spit rocks at Link and are right back in immediately after, have incredibly good range and aim, and are relentlessly persistent. Those quarter-heart hits aren’t too bad at first, but they quickly add up, especially when there’s a bunch of them in the same area. Oh, and the only thing they drop that’s worth anything is the Octo Balloons, and there’s only so many of those I need.
The second challenge is climbing to the top. After getting the Master Sword, I traded a few hearts for stamina, and I was amazed at how big a difference having even a little over the base wheel made, but it wasn’t nearly enough to make this climb without stamina-restoring food, which I had thankfully replenished. The reward for all this is Zuna Kai Shrine, a blessing shrine with no further challenge.
Next: Amazingly, the motion control minigolf shrine wasn’t my least pleasant encounter with golf in Akkala.
[1] Closest rivals: Wolves. Good at recognizing the guy with the sword is probably going to hurt someone. Not so good at realizing the guy with the sword is probably more concerned with the giant fire-breathing lion centaur thing with the big smashy stick than a few wild dogs. Bloody excellent at timing their lunges at the guy with the sword to be right when he needs to focus on not getting hit in the face by the giant fire-breathing lion centaur thing’s big smashy stick. I see wolves, I automatically shoot one, then the rest run off and leave me alone.
Monday, September 14, 2020
Breath of the Wild: Akkala
Northeast Hyrule is divided into three regions. From west to east, there’s the Woodlands, where the prevalent feature is the Lost Woods (and Korok Forest). Next is the region containing Death Mountain and Divine Beast Vah Rudania, probably properly called Eldin. In the far northeast, there’s Akkala, which is pointed to by two quests Link has (the one with Hudson leaving Hateno to build something else, and seeking out Purah’s associate Robbie). I decided at this point I would clear out this area of the map, starting with Akkala. A lot of places in the area are named for places/people from Link’s Awakening (Ulria and Ulri (Ulrira), Ukuku, Kaepora (technically the owl in Awakening wasn’t Kaepora Gaebora, but whatever), Torin (Tarin), Kanalet, Malin (Marin and Malon)).
Akkala was one of the last holdouts for Hyrule in the face of the Great Calamity, but unlike Hateno, it did eventually fall. Its tower is the most daunting one yet. Guardians patrol the skies of the mountain the tower sits one, and the other enemies along the way aren’t much easier (although, by this point, enemy scaling was starting to kick in from the game assuming if I’ve killed all those Lynels I won’t sweat a few silver Bokos). The base of the tower itself is covered in Malice sludge; when Link arrives, there’s no way up the tower. As far as I could find, there was one single eye in the whole mess and killing it only took enough sludge to free a single beam that Link could Magnesis into a bridge allowing him to reach above the rest of the sludge and climb.
My belief that Akkala is meant as a late-game area is further reinforced when Link catches up with Hudson on a small mesa in the center of the region. Hudson’s decided to build a new village, Tarrey Town, but first he needs more wood, then he wants a Goron to come help deal with rocks and ores. And in keeping with the theme naming for the other carpenters in his company, the Goron’s name should end in -son. Eldin’s a little ways down my list, so this one gets put in the same category as the weapon kid from Hateno.
Just a little south of the future Tarrey Town, Link can find his second Great Fairy, Mija, who takes 500 rupees to awaken. With two fairies awakened, Link can upgrade his armor a second time, and most full sets of armor have a set bonus associated with them. The Climber’s and Zora sets reduce the stamina drain from jumping while climbing or dashing while swimming, respectively. The Stealth set increases Link’s movement speed at night. From amiibo, the Twilight Princess-esque set grants extra damage with Master Sword beams, and the Fierce Deity set reduces the stamina required for a charged attack.
The main part of the area has the road fork after crossing the bridge, then the two paths reunite in the northeast. There are two stables in the area, one near the fork, one near the junction. The southwest stable has an involved quest involving an entomophobe trying to get her dragonfly-loving sister a birthday present. Yeah, guess who gets to round up three types of dragonflies, one of which only comes out in the rain and screw that somewhere Beedle sells all the needed dragonflies and that’s good enough.
Each stable has an associated shrine, and both are Apparatus/motion control shrines. Ze Kasho isn’t so bad, with a couple party favor tilt the balls/tiles to where you need them puzzles separated by a laser hallway with rotating floor tiles that can block the lasers. In Katosa Aug, the apparatus controls a giant hammer that needs to whack an orb into a socket. The only one that’s required to complete the shrine is an easy straight shot; even being bad with the controls (I tried to move the controller horizontally rather than tilting) I got it quickly. The second puzzle is only required for a treasure chest and requires making a bank shot with an incline. Oh, and you can’t trust gravity and inevitability; if you cancel out of the apparatus before the orb settles into the socket, the orb disappears and you have to make the shot again. In addition to being able to rest easy, the prize is a Great Frostblade.
Throughout the region, there is talk about a guy named Kilton who runs a shop at Skull Lake in the region’s northwest corner at night. One traveler who keeps getting accosted wants to find his shop, a soldier at the northwest soldier wants a picture of him because he thinks the whole thing sounds shady. Link finds Kilton on one of the skull’s eye islands and he’s Tingle’s goth cousin or something. Unlike Tingle who was fairy-obsessed, Kilton’s obsessed with monsters. He buys monster parts for store credit, and sells masks that make Link blend in with Bokoblins or Moblins, plus a couple mostly useless weapons and monster extract that adds a bit of unpredictability to cooking. After Link meets him for the first time there, Kilton starts taking his shop and appearing near other settlements throughout Hyrule at night.
Next: “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands…”
Akkala was one of the last holdouts for Hyrule in the face of the Great Calamity, but unlike Hateno, it did eventually fall. Its tower is the most daunting one yet. Guardians patrol the skies of the mountain the tower sits one, and the other enemies along the way aren’t much easier (although, by this point, enemy scaling was starting to kick in from the game assuming if I’ve killed all those Lynels I won’t sweat a few silver Bokos). The base of the tower itself is covered in Malice sludge; when Link arrives, there’s no way up the tower. As far as I could find, there was one single eye in the whole mess and killing it only took enough sludge to free a single beam that Link could Magnesis into a bridge allowing him to reach above the rest of the sludge and climb.
My belief that Akkala is meant as a late-game area is further reinforced when Link catches up with Hudson on a small mesa in the center of the region. Hudson’s decided to build a new village, Tarrey Town, but first he needs more wood, then he wants a Goron to come help deal with rocks and ores. And in keeping with the theme naming for the other carpenters in his company, the Goron’s name should end in -son. Eldin’s a little ways down my list, so this one gets put in the same category as the weapon kid from Hateno.
Just a little south of the future Tarrey Town, Link can find his second Great Fairy, Mija, who takes 500 rupees to awaken. With two fairies awakened, Link can upgrade his armor a second time, and most full sets of armor have a set bonus associated with them. The Climber’s and Zora sets reduce the stamina drain from jumping while climbing or dashing while swimming, respectively. The Stealth set increases Link’s movement speed at night. From amiibo, the Twilight Princess-esque set grants extra damage with Master Sword beams, and the Fierce Deity set reduces the stamina required for a charged attack.
The main part of the area has the road fork after crossing the bridge, then the two paths reunite in the northeast. There are two stables in the area, one near the fork, one near the junction. The southwest stable has an involved quest involving an entomophobe trying to get her dragonfly-loving sister a birthday present. Yeah, guess who gets to round up three types of dragonflies, one of which only comes out in the rain and screw that somewhere Beedle sells all the needed dragonflies and that’s good enough.
Each stable has an associated shrine, and both are Apparatus/motion control shrines. Ze Kasho isn’t so bad, with a couple party favor tilt the balls/tiles to where you need them puzzles separated by a laser hallway with rotating floor tiles that can block the lasers. In Katosa Aug, the apparatus controls a giant hammer that needs to whack an orb into a socket. The only one that’s required to complete the shrine is an easy straight shot; even being bad with the controls (I tried to move the controller horizontally rather than tilting) I got it quickly. The second puzzle is only required for a treasure chest and requires making a bank shot with an incline. Oh, and you can’t trust gravity and inevitability; if you cancel out of the apparatus before the orb settles into the socket, the orb disappears and you have to make the shot again. In addition to being able to rest easy, the prize is a Great Frostblade.
Throughout the region, there is talk about a guy named Kilton who runs a shop at Skull Lake in the region’s northwest corner at night. One traveler who keeps getting accosted wants to find his shop, a soldier at the northwest soldier wants a picture of him because he thinks the whole thing sounds shady. Link finds Kilton on one of the skull’s eye islands and he’s Tingle’s goth cousin or something. Unlike Tingle who was fairy-obsessed, Kilton’s obsessed with monsters. He buys monster parts for store credit, and sells masks that make Link blend in with Bokoblins or Moblins, plus a couple mostly useless weapons and monster extract that adds a bit of unpredictability to cooking. After Link meets him for the first time there, Kilton starts taking his shop and appearing near other settlements throughout Hyrule at night.
Next: “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands…”
Friday, September 11, 2020
Breath of the Wild: Trial of the Sword
When Link leaves the forest, a voice speaks to him, “Chosen one… The hero called Link… The time has come. You are now ready to test the limits of your courage. At the place where you reunited with the Master Sword, the sacred Korok Forest… Go there and heed the Great Deku Tree’s words. Do so, and a glorious trial will be bestowed upon you.” The Deku Tree explains the rules for the trials that will fully unlock the Master Sword.
The Trial of the Sword is the game’s challenge dungeon; there are three distinct sets of challenges. Each set is further divided into groups of themed fights, ending with a major encounter and separated by recovery floors with treasure chests, fairies, food to find, and a cooking pot [1]. Rather than throwing Link into battle right away, he’s usually away from combat so the player can scout, determine a strategy, and use stealth for the approach. Oh, and Link loses access to his inventory; he has to get by with just the Sheikah Slate, paraglider, and what he can find. However, any bonuses he had before entering carry over, so there’s no reason not to come in with a bunch of temporary hearts and either a defense or attack bonus. Unlike other challenge dungeons, Link can teleport out whenever he wants, but there’s no rewards for anything other than full completion (and doesn’t get to keep anything he picked up during the trial).
(One final note: I didn’t start these immediately, nor do them all at once, but it’s easier to group them together and get it out of the way. I’ll note when I came back to do them as I get there.)
The beginning trials have two sets of battles. The first pits Link against Bokoblins, Moblins, and ChuChus in a forested area. This is all pretty easy and I was paranoid about running out of weapons so I used bombs to blow everything up. The final encounter is a Stone Talus; a far cry from that first one on the Plateau where I didn’t know what to do. The second set is in a swampy area with electric enemies (including a Wizzrobe) and Lizalfos in the mix. This ends with a Hinox battle, and limiting things so Link can’t get far away did add a little bit of challenge (fighting fair is for suckers, but sometimes you’ve got to). Completion gives the Master Sword an extra ten points of damage in its half-powered state.
The intermediate trials begin with battles in an indoor area with constant updrafts. The intended idea seems to be to use the updrafts to enter freefall archery slow time and rain arrows on the Bokoblins, or you could be me and save arrows for when you really need them and finish the trial with a few dozen left over. This set ends with a single Guardian battle. The second set takes place in a dark forest; Link can only see what’s illuminated by fire until the floor is cleared, at which point light returns. The final two levels of this set pit Link against another Guardian (easy), then a Hinox (with a safe place to stand for archery, making this one easier than the one in the beginning trials). The final set is back to shrines, with all Guardian enemies, so getting the hang of the Test of Strength shrines was useful here. The Master Sword once again adds ten points of damage for general use.
The advanced trials have four sets. The first takes place in a dead forest, amidst a thunderstorm, against skeletal and electric enemies. There’s lots of metal weapons here, but the thunderstorm makes even approaching them dangerous. I used bombs to get through the non-boss sections, and kind of regretted not using the skeletal arms to destroy heads, since I was going to throw them away after I got out of the storm anyway. The boss for this section is, of course, a Stalnox. The second set takes place in a volcano where Link needs to wear the armor he got on the recovery floor not to burst into flames. This builds to a fight with an Igneo Talus, a Talus made of volcanic rock that’s basically on fire; cold damage simultaneously stuns it and extinguishes the flames so Link can climb up and whack the weak point, making it easier than a normal Talus. Next up, naturally, are frigid levels (and Link doesn’t get cold protection gear, so he has to use cold protection food or fire elemental weapons). These end with a Frost Talus (the inverse of the Igneo Talus), and finally a Lynel.
Throughout the advanced trials, Link has a few opportunities to pick up Ancient Arrows, which kill most enemies in one hit (Guardians take three if Link doesn’t hit their emitter/eye, but the Lynel’s bow can offset that by shooting three arrows at once). The final set of trials gives Link lots of Guardian targets for these arrows, first six stationary ones, then a mobile one, then a flying one, then three Guardians (mobile, flying, and a turret guardian). Finally, Link comes against another Lynel (and it felt great to charge straight at it and shoot it with my last Ancient Arrow), another turret guardian, and eight mounted Bokoblins.
Seven monks greet Link at the end of the trial, proclaiming him worthy of the full power of the Master Sword before fading out. The Master Sword now deals full damage (with explosive-sounding strikes) at all times. It will still run out of power eventually and need to recharge, but I’ve gone whole long sessions without it getting close (of course, I’ve come to prefer using bows). As Link returns to the forest, the Master Sword makes the familiar chime associated with Fi.
Next: Vacation’s over, and oh boy is it ever.
[1] In the advanced trial, I was so determined to get every drop out of Link’s scavenged materials that I was chopping trees into bundles of wood that I cooked for rock-hard food that restores a single hit point.
The Trial of the Sword is the game’s challenge dungeon; there are three distinct sets of challenges. Each set is further divided into groups of themed fights, ending with a major encounter and separated by recovery floors with treasure chests, fairies, food to find, and a cooking pot [1]. Rather than throwing Link into battle right away, he’s usually away from combat so the player can scout, determine a strategy, and use stealth for the approach. Oh, and Link loses access to his inventory; he has to get by with just the Sheikah Slate, paraglider, and what he can find. However, any bonuses he had before entering carry over, so there’s no reason not to come in with a bunch of temporary hearts and either a defense or attack bonus. Unlike other challenge dungeons, Link can teleport out whenever he wants, but there’s no rewards for anything other than full completion (and doesn’t get to keep anything he picked up during the trial).
(One final note: I didn’t start these immediately, nor do them all at once, but it’s easier to group them together and get it out of the way. I’ll note when I came back to do them as I get there.)
The beginning trials have two sets of battles. The first pits Link against Bokoblins, Moblins, and ChuChus in a forested area. This is all pretty easy and I was paranoid about running out of weapons so I used bombs to blow everything up. The final encounter is a Stone Talus; a far cry from that first one on the Plateau where I didn’t know what to do. The second set is in a swampy area with electric enemies (including a Wizzrobe) and Lizalfos in the mix. This ends with a Hinox battle, and limiting things so Link can’t get far away did add a little bit of challenge (fighting fair is for suckers, but sometimes you’ve got to). Completion gives the Master Sword an extra ten points of damage in its half-powered state.
The intermediate trials begin with battles in an indoor area with constant updrafts. The intended idea seems to be to use the updrafts to enter freefall archery slow time and rain arrows on the Bokoblins, or you could be me and save arrows for when you really need them and finish the trial with a few dozen left over. This set ends with a single Guardian battle. The second set takes place in a dark forest; Link can only see what’s illuminated by fire until the floor is cleared, at which point light returns. The final two levels of this set pit Link against another Guardian (easy), then a Hinox (with a safe place to stand for archery, making this one easier than the one in the beginning trials). The final set is back to shrines, with all Guardian enemies, so getting the hang of the Test of Strength shrines was useful here. The Master Sword once again adds ten points of damage for general use.
The advanced trials have four sets. The first takes place in a dead forest, amidst a thunderstorm, against skeletal and electric enemies. There’s lots of metal weapons here, but the thunderstorm makes even approaching them dangerous. I used bombs to get through the non-boss sections, and kind of regretted not using the skeletal arms to destroy heads, since I was going to throw them away after I got out of the storm anyway. The boss for this section is, of course, a Stalnox. The second set takes place in a volcano where Link needs to wear the armor he got on the recovery floor not to burst into flames. This builds to a fight with an Igneo Talus, a Talus made of volcanic rock that’s basically on fire; cold damage simultaneously stuns it and extinguishes the flames so Link can climb up and whack the weak point, making it easier than a normal Talus. Next up, naturally, are frigid levels (and Link doesn’t get cold protection gear, so he has to use cold protection food or fire elemental weapons). These end with a Frost Talus (the inverse of the Igneo Talus), and finally a Lynel.
Throughout the advanced trials, Link has a few opportunities to pick up Ancient Arrows, which kill most enemies in one hit (Guardians take three if Link doesn’t hit their emitter/eye, but the Lynel’s bow can offset that by shooting three arrows at once). The final set of trials gives Link lots of Guardian targets for these arrows, first six stationary ones, then a mobile one, then a flying one, then three Guardians (mobile, flying, and a turret guardian). Finally, Link comes against another Lynel (and it felt great to charge straight at it and shoot it with my last Ancient Arrow), another turret guardian, and eight mounted Bokoblins.
Seven monks greet Link at the end of the trial, proclaiming him worthy of the full power of the Master Sword before fading out. The Master Sword now deals full damage (with explosive-sounding strikes) at all times. It will still run out of power eventually and need to recharge, but I’ve gone whole long sessions without it getting close (of course, I’ve come to prefer using bows). As Link returns to the forest, the Master Sword makes the familiar chime associated with Fi.
Next: Vacation’s over, and oh boy is it ever.
[1] In the advanced trial, I was so determined to get every drop out of Link’s scavenged materials that I was chopping trees into bundles of wood that I cooked for rock-hard food that restores a single hit point.
Wednesday, September 9, 2020
Breath of the Wild: Lanayru Roundup
There were two other shrines I flagged on Link’s river journey. First up, in Lake Hylia, there’s Ya Naga/Shatter the Heavens. The title is evocative, and this time looking at the ceiling is the way: there are a bunch of breakable blocks up there, bomb arrow, boom, done. (I love bomb arrows, but they’re so rare compared to the other kinds that I’m always hesitant to use them. This game has a lot of that. Stupid durability mechanic.) To get Link up, there’s a giant stone block that Link can roll a bomb under; blowing the bomb up sends the block skyward, and Link has a chance to paraglide to a chest before running over to the monk. Second, there’s a shrine hidden in the Crenel Hills, Namika Ozz/A Modest Test of Strength; smash the Guardian, claim the Spirit Orb.
With business in Lanayru mostly concluded, it’s time to look around for things of interest. There’s another Korok that requires shield surfing to reach the circle before the timer expires, and this time there are NPCs nearby who’ll explain it so I was just ahead of my time earlier. There are balloons and acorns that need to be shot for seeds, not located by pinwheels but just out in the world. Some rocks with Koroks are hidden under piles of leaves that need to be blown away or behind bombable rocks. There are about 60 in the area, all told. Also, Hinox have tougher variants, although really, they’re not any more of a threat, they just take more shots to kill. The blue Lynel is a bit harder, wielding more powerful weapons and using its flame breath attack from the beginning.
There are three more shrines in the area. First, Rucco Maag/Five Flames has a central block over a pool with five torches and a faucet that’s constantly running water. The challenge is to rotate the block so that all five torches are lit; the crystal switches Link uses to rotate the central block are on their own rotating block, and I never got a good grip on what I was doing. I mostly spun it willy-nilly until I got a lit torch on top, the faucet in the water, and was able to spin the remaining four faces until all were lit.
North of the east side of the region, there’s a chain of four islands named for Tingle and his… fellows. These islands are patrolled by flying Guardians. Avoiding the flying Guardians isn’t too hard; they have an illuminated area where they’re looking, so if you’re aware of them, you can stay out of it. Fighting them is annoying because the recoil from firing the laser knocks them out of position so the return volley hits their chassis instead of their eye, and it takes forever to make them die. On Tingel [sic] Island, there’s a slab covering a hole leading to the Kah Mael Shrine/Drop and Rise. The shrine is much easier than getting to and finding it, just a simple balance puzzle that sends Link flying to the end.
Kass brought his accordion and is hanging out in the southwest part of the area, a windy bay with lots of rocks. “He breaks the rocks that serve to bind, above the tempestuous bay. On wings of cloth and wood entwined, he lands on the altar to open the way.” Plain enough: blow up rocks to create a wind tunnel, then ride the wind on the paraglider to the altar. The only challenge is there are four sets of rocks that have to be blown up; without all four, the wind’s not strong enough to carry Link all the way to his destination. Shai Yota’s shrine is a simple blessing shrine.
And there was one final shrine I did during this part of the game. From the northern edges of Lanayru, Link can see the Dah Hesho Shrine and paraglide over to it. It’s another A Minor Test of Strength, a simple fight against a weak guardian. Completing that shrine marks 36 completed shrines for Link. Converting all those to hearts, plus the three starting hearts and one Link picked up in Vah Ruta, gives 13 hearts, which is just enough for Link to successfully claim the Master Sword. The music kicks in once Link has it free, and although the game hasn’t done the Item Get! thing, it’s too iconic to the Master Sword not to do it now, so he hold the sword over his head.
A cutscene plays of Zelda returning the battered and chipped Master Sword to the pedestal after Link’s fall. She speaks to the sword, and tells the Deku Tree she heard a voice speaking from it, probably stating and restating the obvious until Zelda couldn’t wait to be rid of the thing. Zelda also has a message she wants to tell Link, but the Deku Tree tells her to tell him herself. Zelda agrees and places the sword back, leaving it with the classic shot of the sword in the forest illuminated by a sunbeam. Back in the present, Link swings the sword a few times before placing it in a sheath he apparently summoned. The Deku Tree tells Link that Zelda is still fighting in Hyrule Castle and (implicitly) asks him to help her. (He also heals Link for the damage he took claiming the sword.)
The Master Sword has its own special durability mechanic. Rather than being fragile and breaking, it requires energy to use, and when depleted it takes ten minutes to recharge. (Fi and batteries…) Also, except in Divine Beasts and Hyrule Castle or fighting Guardians, it only works at half power.
Next: They call it the Trial of the Sword, but they actually take it away.
With business in Lanayru mostly concluded, it’s time to look around for things of interest. There’s another Korok that requires shield surfing to reach the circle before the timer expires, and this time there are NPCs nearby who’ll explain it so I was just ahead of my time earlier. There are balloons and acorns that need to be shot for seeds, not located by pinwheels but just out in the world. Some rocks with Koroks are hidden under piles of leaves that need to be blown away or behind bombable rocks. There are about 60 in the area, all told. Also, Hinox have tougher variants, although really, they’re not any more of a threat, they just take more shots to kill. The blue Lynel is a bit harder, wielding more powerful weapons and using its flame breath attack from the beginning.
There are three more shrines in the area. First, Rucco Maag/Five Flames has a central block over a pool with five torches and a faucet that’s constantly running water. The challenge is to rotate the block so that all five torches are lit; the crystal switches Link uses to rotate the central block are on their own rotating block, and I never got a good grip on what I was doing. I mostly spun it willy-nilly until I got a lit torch on top, the faucet in the water, and was able to spin the remaining four faces until all were lit.
North of the east side of the region, there’s a chain of four islands named for Tingle and his… fellows. These islands are patrolled by flying Guardians. Avoiding the flying Guardians isn’t too hard; they have an illuminated area where they’re looking, so if you’re aware of them, you can stay out of it. Fighting them is annoying because the recoil from firing the laser knocks them out of position so the return volley hits their chassis instead of their eye, and it takes forever to make them die. On Tingel [sic] Island, there’s a slab covering a hole leading to the Kah Mael Shrine/Drop and Rise. The shrine is much easier than getting to and finding it, just a simple balance puzzle that sends Link flying to the end.
Kass brought his accordion and is hanging out in the southwest part of the area, a windy bay with lots of rocks. “He breaks the rocks that serve to bind, above the tempestuous bay. On wings of cloth and wood entwined, he lands on the altar to open the way.” Plain enough: blow up rocks to create a wind tunnel, then ride the wind on the paraglider to the altar. The only challenge is there are four sets of rocks that have to be blown up; without all four, the wind’s not strong enough to carry Link all the way to his destination. Shai Yota’s shrine is a simple blessing shrine.
And there was one final shrine I did during this part of the game. From the northern edges of Lanayru, Link can see the Dah Hesho Shrine and paraglide over to it. It’s another A Minor Test of Strength, a simple fight against a weak guardian. Completing that shrine marks 36 completed shrines for Link. Converting all those to hearts, plus the three starting hearts and one Link picked up in Vah Ruta, gives 13 hearts, which is just enough for Link to successfully claim the Master Sword. The music kicks in once Link has it free, and although the game hasn’t done the Item Get! thing, it’s too iconic to the Master Sword not to do it now, so he hold the sword over his head.
A cutscene plays of Zelda returning the battered and chipped Master Sword to the pedestal after Link’s fall. She speaks to the sword, and tells the Deku Tree she heard a voice speaking from it, probably stating and restating the obvious until Zelda couldn’t wait to be rid of the thing. Zelda also has a message she wants to tell Link, but the Deku Tree tells her to tell him herself. Zelda agrees and places the sword back, leaving it with the classic shot of the sword in the forest illuminated by a sunbeam. Back in the present, Link swings the sword a few times before placing it in a sheath he apparently summoned. The Deku Tree tells Link that Zelda is still fighting in Hyrule Castle and (implicitly) asks him to help her. (He also heals Link for the damage he took claiming the sword.)
The Master Sword has its own special durability mechanic. Rather than being fragile and breaking, it requires energy to use, and when depleted it takes ten minutes to recharge. (Fi and batteries…) Also, except in Divine Beasts and Hyrule Castle or fighting Guardians, it only works at half power.
Next: They call it the Trial of the Sword, but they actually take it away.
Monday, September 7, 2020
Breath of the Wild: Down the River
Now that the Divine Beast is protecting Zora’s Domain rather than flooding it, there are a whole bunch of sidequests Link can pick up. Some are quick – a Zora wants to watch Link dive into the water and swim up a waterfall, another asks Link to donate a few frogs for him to sell, and a third will trade diamonds for the luminous stones he needs. Two more are a little more involved: a guard wants a picture of the Lynel up on Ploymus Mountain to scare people into leaving it alone (thankfully, I had a Blood Moon shortly after finishing the dungeon), and another Zora asks Link to kill a nearby Hinox. Another quest asks Link to visit the historical monuments around Zora’s Domain and record what they say for posterity. Finally, there’s a shrine quest to recreate a ceremony in Mipha’s honor to open a blessing shrine (Dagah Keek). The chief reward for completing all the quests are two pieces of armor to complement the Zora Armor: one for returning with the Lynel picture, one in an underwater chest hinted at by one of the monuments.
There are two more quests that involve following the river downstream: for the first, Link follows – okay, escorts – a letter in a bottle to see who receives it. The recipient is on Mercay Island, and with Link’s help, decides to go to Zora’s Domain to meet his pen pal girlfriend. The other involves looking for a Zora’s missing wife, which means going way downriver, passing close to the castle and under the Bridge of Hylia to arrive at Hylia Island; she’s on a nearby island and returns home when she learns that her family’s looking for her.
That long journey downriver showed Link a fair bit of Hyrule, but the highlight was the Woodland Stable. As expected, there was a shrine nearby: Mirro Shaz/Tempered Power. The shrine gives Link a couple sledgehammers and orbs to send flying with Stasis into their sockets. The first one isn’t too bad, as long as you can figure how to shoot straight. The second also requires shooting straight, with no room for error as there are obstacles that will block a ball hit even slightly off-course. It’s technically not required to complete the shrine, but if I didn’t I wouldn’t have the little treasure chest icon on the map saying I got it, so, yeah, it is.
Woodlands seems like a likely place for the Korok Forest, so while Link was already here, I had him follow the road from the stable, and eventually the way got misty and the trees got creepy. This can only be the Lost Woods. Wander off into the mist, and eventually it gets overpowering and a Korok’s laugh fills the screen as Link returns to the latest checkpoint. At first, there are a bunch of lanterns, and the way the wind blows points toward the next lantern; Link can either follow the wind or just run between lanterns. Eventually, he comes to a clearing with two lanterns and a torch, but there are no more lanterns. After this, he has to use the torch and follow the wind.
Eventually, the fog lifts and Link comes to the Korok Forest. Straight ahead, illuminated by the sun shining through the trees, the Master Sword sits in its pedestal, showing no signs of the damage it has in the game’s logo. It’s too tempting not to try to claim it; as soon as Link touches it, he hears Zelda’s voice again telling him “You are our final hope. The fate of Hyrule rests with you.” At this, the Great Deku Tree wakes up and notices Link. He talks for a bit about who he is, who Link is, what the Master Sword is, then says that the Master Sword would test him if he attempted to claim it, and if he’s not strong enough, he would die. (This is adorably illustrated by a pair of Koroks standing over a twig. The one that tries to pull it gives up and keels over, to the other’s horror.) Trying to draw the sword drains Link’s life, and just before it would kill him, the Deku Tree intercedes to stop and heal him… but he warns him that he won’t be able to do it again.
The trip’s not a total waste, though. Hestu’s here, and finally doesn’t run off after Link trades in Korok seeds, so he can get a bunch of inventory slots now. There’s also a shrine here, Keo Ruug/Fateful Stars, so Link can warp back rather than having to go through the Lost Woods again. The Shrine has a totally not intuitive puzzle: there’s a grid of orb sockets, with the columns illustrated with a constellation and the rows marked by groups of lights. There’s also a plaque: “Look to the stars for guidance. The constellations are the key.” Finally, there’s a wall in the distance with a bunch of constellations, and Link has to place the four orbs in the sockets that correspond to how often each constellation appears on the distant wall. This opens the way to the monk, and there’s another wall with the same constellations, and arranging the orbs to match that wall gives Link a treasure chest. It’s easy enough when you figure it out, but I spent way too long thinking the constellations were part of the usual decor and scanning the ceiling hoping for a hint.
Next: They fly now?
There are two more quests that involve following the river downstream: for the first, Link follows – okay, escorts – a letter in a bottle to see who receives it. The recipient is on Mercay Island, and with Link’s help, decides to go to Zora’s Domain to meet his pen pal girlfriend. The other involves looking for a Zora’s missing wife, which means going way downriver, passing close to the castle and under the Bridge of Hylia to arrive at Hylia Island; she’s on a nearby island and returns home when she learns that her family’s looking for her.
That long journey downriver showed Link a fair bit of Hyrule, but the highlight was the Woodland Stable. As expected, there was a shrine nearby: Mirro Shaz/Tempered Power. The shrine gives Link a couple sledgehammers and orbs to send flying with Stasis into their sockets. The first one isn’t too bad, as long as you can figure how to shoot straight. The second also requires shooting straight, with no room for error as there are obstacles that will block a ball hit even slightly off-course. It’s technically not required to complete the shrine, but if I didn’t I wouldn’t have the little treasure chest icon on the map saying I got it, so, yeah, it is.
Woodlands seems like a likely place for the Korok Forest, so while Link was already here, I had him follow the road from the stable, and eventually the way got misty and the trees got creepy. This can only be the Lost Woods. Wander off into the mist, and eventually it gets overpowering and a Korok’s laugh fills the screen as Link returns to the latest checkpoint. At first, there are a bunch of lanterns, and the way the wind blows points toward the next lantern; Link can either follow the wind or just run between lanterns. Eventually, he comes to a clearing with two lanterns and a torch, but there are no more lanterns. After this, he has to use the torch and follow the wind.
Eventually, the fog lifts and Link comes to the Korok Forest. Straight ahead, illuminated by the sun shining through the trees, the Master Sword sits in its pedestal, showing no signs of the damage it has in the game’s logo. It’s too tempting not to try to claim it; as soon as Link touches it, he hears Zelda’s voice again telling him “You are our final hope. The fate of Hyrule rests with you.” At this, the Great Deku Tree wakes up and notices Link. He talks for a bit about who he is, who Link is, what the Master Sword is, then says that the Master Sword would test him if he attempted to claim it, and if he’s not strong enough, he would die. (This is adorably illustrated by a pair of Koroks standing over a twig. The one that tries to pull it gives up and keels over, to the other’s horror.) Trying to draw the sword drains Link’s life, and just before it would kill him, the Deku Tree intercedes to stop and heal him… but he warns him that he won’t be able to do it again.
The trip’s not a total waste, though. Hestu’s here, and finally doesn’t run off after Link trades in Korok seeds, so he can get a bunch of inventory slots now. There’s also a shrine here, Keo Ruug/Fateful Stars, so Link can warp back rather than having to go through the Lost Woods again. The Shrine has a totally not intuitive puzzle: there’s a grid of orb sockets, with the columns illustrated with a constellation and the rows marked by groups of lights. There’s also a plaque: “Look to the stars for guidance. The constellations are the key.” Finally, there’s a wall in the distance with a bunch of constellations, and Link has to place the four orbs in the sockets that correspond to how often each constellation appears on the distant wall. This opens the way to the monk, and there’s another wall with the same constellations, and arranging the orbs to match that wall gives Link a treasure chest. It’s easy enough when you figure it out, but I spent way too long thinking the constellations were part of the usual decor and scanning the ceiling hoping for a hint.
Next: They fly now?
Friday, September 4, 2020
Breath of the Wild: Divine Beast Vah Ruta
At some point, someone at Nintendo probably pitched the idea of the Sheikah Slate having a virtual assistant who would be Link’s advisor companion. (Purah would have had fun making it, I’m sure.) The Slate already seems to talk sometimes, like when interacting with the towers, and Fi was basically a virtual assistant. (And a disaster of an advisor companion, but that could be fixed with better writing.) Instead, they decided to have Link not have a companion, leaving him alone in his adventure for once, at least once he was off the Great Plateau where the Old Man was popping up every time Link blinked. (Well, for the actual adventuring part he’s alone. He’s got more help against Ganon than anyone except maybe Twilight Princess Link.)
But the first thing that happens in the Divine Beast is Mipha’s spirit speaks up: “You’re here. I must say… that I am so happy to see that this day has finally arrived. Now Ruta can be free of Ganon’s control. You’ll need a map to prevent you from getting lost. The Guidance Stone there contains the information that you will need.” Complete with a pan from the entrance to the Guidance Stone with the map, and are you kidding me? “Welcome to the dungeon. You’ll need a map. Here’s where to get it” is not an improvement on Link walks into the dungeon, solves a puzzle, and is rewarded with a map that will help him the rest of the way. And each time Link takes control of a terminal, Mipha chimes in to remind him how many he still has, in case he’s forgotten how to count, or, once he’s done, tell him to look for the main control unit.
There are pools of Malice throughout the dungeon, and most of them have eyes sticking out; shoot the eye, the pool disappears. Some also come with mouths that spit out cursed enemy skulls until the associated eye is destroyed. Taking out a couple Malice eyes, lifting a gate with Cryonis, and killing a mini-Guardian is all Link needs to do to clear the way to the map. The map highlights the terminals Link needs to take control back. Also, simply having the map allows Link to adjust the trunk’s position, which can be used for exploring the trunk or adjusting where it’s spraying water. There are ten total settings for the trunk’s position, and maybe half of them are useful; I’m not too sure what’s gained by the extra settings here. (On the other hand, unnecessarily complicated water dungeon mechanics are kind of a series trademark.) Also, the map is three-dimensional… or, since I’m looking at it on a TV, a two-dimensional representation of a three-dimensional map, which renders it not very useful.
The main control unit is near the entrance to the Divine Beast. Once Link tries to activate it, energy comes pouring out and forms into Waterblight Ganon (“Scourge of Divine Beast Vah Ruta”), the thing that killed Mipha, as she informs us, before going back into tutorial mode by helpfully noting that its giant spear has a long reach. The first phase consists of dodging spear attacks and counterattacking. Once the boss is down to 50%, it raises the water level so Link’s swimming and only has a few platforms to stand on. It uses the same ice block attacks that Ruta did outside, and also gains the Guardian Laser of Death attack. After it’s finally defeated, it writhes about for a bit before expoloding, and the first Divine Beast is cleared of Malice.
As Link finishes taking control of Ruta, Mipha (“Zora Champion”) appears to him to thank him for setting her spirit free. She gives him her healing power, which will kick in when he runs out of hearts to restore him to full health plus five bonus hearts, like a super-fairy. It takes a long time to recharge between uses, but with the bonus hearts, it’s basically all the healing I need unless a Lynel fight goes sideways. Link teleports out of the Divine Beast, leaving Mipha to once again control it to fight Ganon. Ruta moves from the lake to a nearby mountaintop with a view of Hyrule Castle and shoots a laser at it. Mipha looks toward Zora’s Domain and wonders how her father is doing, wishing she could see him again.
Link reappears in Zora’s Domain and goes to see the King. The King is grateful for everything he’s done, and even Muzu expresses appreciation and regrets how he treated Link before. The King has a gift for Link: Mipha’s trident. (It will break like other weapons in the game, but Link can come back to get a replacement made.) Sidon also gets his moment in the spotlight, which he uses to cheer Link’s accomplishments further. Finally, the King notes that Link is missing his own signature weapon.
Next: Well, then. Let’s go find it.
But the first thing that happens in the Divine Beast is Mipha’s spirit speaks up: “You’re here. I must say… that I am so happy to see that this day has finally arrived. Now Ruta can be free of Ganon’s control. You’ll need a map to prevent you from getting lost. The Guidance Stone there contains the information that you will need.” Complete with a pan from the entrance to the Guidance Stone with the map, and are you kidding me? “Welcome to the dungeon. You’ll need a map. Here’s where to get it” is not an improvement on Link walks into the dungeon, solves a puzzle, and is rewarded with a map that will help him the rest of the way. And each time Link takes control of a terminal, Mipha chimes in to remind him how many he still has, in case he’s forgotten how to count, or, once he’s done, tell him to look for the main control unit.
There are pools of Malice throughout the dungeon, and most of them have eyes sticking out; shoot the eye, the pool disappears. Some also come with mouths that spit out cursed enemy skulls until the associated eye is destroyed. Taking out a couple Malice eyes, lifting a gate with Cryonis, and killing a mini-Guardian is all Link needs to do to clear the way to the map. The map highlights the terminals Link needs to take control back. Also, simply having the map allows Link to adjust the trunk’s position, which can be used for exploring the trunk or adjusting where it’s spraying water. There are ten total settings for the trunk’s position, and maybe half of them are useful; I’m not too sure what’s gained by the extra settings here. (On the other hand, unnecessarily complicated water dungeon mechanics are kind of a series trademark.) Also, the map is three-dimensional… or, since I’m looking at it on a TV, a two-dimensional representation of a three-dimensional map, which renders it not very useful.
The main control unit is near the entrance to the Divine Beast. Once Link tries to activate it, energy comes pouring out and forms into Waterblight Ganon (“Scourge of Divine Beast Vah Ruta”), the thing that killed Mipha, as she informs us, before going back into tutorial mode by helpfully noting that its giant spear has a long reach. The first phase consists of dodging spear attacks and counterattacking. Once the boss is down to 50%, it raises the water level so Link’s swimming and only has a few platforms to stand on. It uses the same ice block attacks that Ruta did outside, and also gains the Guardian Laser of Death attack. After it’s finally defeated, it writhes about for a bit before expoloding, and the first Divine Beast is cleared of Malice.
As Link finishes taking control of Ruta, Mipha (“Zora Champion”) appears to him to thank him for setting her spirit free. She gives him her healing power, which will kick in when he runs out of hearts to restore him to full health plus five bonus hearts, like a super-fairy. It takes a long time to recharge between uses, but with the bonus hearts, it’s basically all the healing I need unless a Lynel fight goes sideways. Link teleports out of the Divine Beast, leaving Mipha to once again control it to fight Ganon. Ruta moves from the lake to a nearby mountaintop with a view of Hyrule Castle and shoots a laser at it. Mipha looks toward Zora’s Domain and wonders how her father is doing, wishing she could see him again.
Link reappears in Zora’s Domain and goes to see the King. The King is grateful for everything he’s done, and even Muzu expresses appreciation and regrets how he treated Link before. The King has a gift for Link: Mipha’s trident. (It will break like other weapons in the game, but Link can come back to get a replacement made.) Sidon also gets his moment in the spotlight, which he uses to cheer Link’s accomplishments further. Finally, the King notes that Link is missing his own signature weapon.
Next: Well, then. Let’s go find it.
Wednesday, September 2, 2020
Breath of the Wild: Zora's Domain
Link is well-known among the Zoras, who live a long time, which means more of the yes, Link’s really lost his memory dance. King Dorephan is particularly distressed to know Link doesn’t remember his daughter, Mipha, whom Link was particularly close with. One of the king’s advisors, Muzu, is against the idea of asking a Hylian for help, because he blames them for failing to stop the Great Calamity and Mipha’s death. His objections are mostly ignored, and Dorephan explains the problem: the Divine Beast Vah Ruta can create water, and has been doing so nonstop, filling a reservoir; if it continues, the reservoir will burst, and the floods will likely destroy Zora’s Domain and cause more damage downriver.
There’s a plan to stop the flooding –Ruta has orbs on its shoulders that are supposed to regulate the water flow, but they’re out of power. A Zora shot one with a Shock Arrow and it helped, but Zoras are too vulnerable to electricity to do that large-scale. Hence, they recruited a Hylian. This works nicely with what Link was already planning to do; stopping the rampage will make it easier to board the Divine Beast and rid it of Malice for good. As everyone’s on board with the plan, the king gives Link a set of Zora armor that will let him swim up waterfalls.
Well, almost everyone’s on board with the plan – Muzu balks at giving the armor, which was made by Mipha for the one she intended to marry, to Link. He storms out, and Sidon follows to try to talk to him, and the king sends Link. He finds Muzu and Sidon arguing in front of Mipha’s statue – Sidon says it was Link Mipha was in love with, which Muzu dismisses as preposterous. Hearing that and standing in front of the statue triggers a memory in Link – him and Mipha, sitting on the tip of Ruta’s trunk. Mipha heals a cut on Link’s elbow, and says she healed him the first time they met, and promises to always do so. She expresses hope that when Calamity Ganon is defeated, things can go back to normal. It’s hard to say from one cutscene, but she reminds me a lot of Saria.
When Link snaps back to the present, Muzu’s still skeptical that he actually remembers anything, but when Link puts the armor on, it at least convinces him that it was made for Link. He tells Link where to find shock arrows – on Shatterback Point of Ploymus Mountain, there’s a Lynel that shoots Shock Arrows, and for whatever reason [1] they don’t break apart like other Shock Arrows do [2][3]. One thing I forgot to mention about Lynels – they carry multishot bows and use elemental arrows and are ridiculously accurate with them; the basic idea seems to be to force Link to stay close enough that they stick with their melee attacks and charges rather than breaking out the bow. The trickiest part is approaching them at the start of combat – they can see Link from a fair way off, so my fights with them start by sneaking up until Link’s noticed then sprinting straight at them and hoping they start with their sword. Anyway, this one is supposed to be the introductory Lynel (it gets a cutscene the first time Link comes to visit) and more of an environmental hazard than something Link’s supposed to actually fight, but there’s nothing stopping a brave Link from giving it a try, and killing it is a sure way to get the arrows Link needs.
Link joins Sidon for the first phase of the plan to retake Ruta: Link rides on Sidon’s back as Sidon swims around Ruta. Ruta shoots ice blocks at Link that he can destroy with Cryonis. After a volley of ice blocks, Sidon rides close to Ruta so Link can catch one of the waterfalls, shoot up in the air, and shoot the orbs with shock arrows. Once all four orbs are active, Ruta stops shooting water into the air and the skies clear, Ruta rises a bit more out of the water, and Sidon drops Link off for phase two. There’s a Guidance Stone near where Link walked in, and linking it with the Sheikah Slate opens a travel gate so Link can teleport back if he needs to leave to restock. Or, say, now that the rain’s subsided, unlock the Lanayru Tower. The base of the tower’s guarded by enemies, but nothing too hard, and unlike the Hateno Tower, once Link starts the climb there’s no further obstacles, just a long way to go to the top.
Next: Well, I was somewhat mistaken when I said no dungeons.
[1] Said reason being so the player can take them here, of course.
[2] Or, for that matter, all arrows shot from a Lynel Bow when Link does it.
[3] I already had a fair collection of Shock Arrows from amiibo, but decided to do the quest normally. (Hey, Lynel-fighting practice.)
There’s a plan to stop the flooding –Ruta has orbs on its shoulders that are supposed to regulate the water flow, but they’re out of power. A Zora shot one with a Shock Arrow and it helped, but Zoras are too vulnerable to electricity to do that large-scale. Hence, they recruited a Hylian. This works nicely with what Link was already planning to do; stopping the rampage will make it easier to board the Divine Beast and rid it of Malice for good. As everyone’s on board with the plan, the king gives Link a set of Zora armor that will let him swim up waterfalls.
Well, almost everyone’s on board with the plan – Muzu balks at giving the armor, which was made by Mipha for the one she intended to marry, to Link. He storms out, and Sidon follows to try to talk to him, and the king sends Link. He finds Muzu and Sidon arguing in front of Mipha’s statue – Sidon says it was Link Mipha was in love with, which Muzu dismisses as preposterous. Hearing that and standing in front of the statue triggers a memory in Link – him and Mipha, sitting on the tip of Ruta’s trunk. Mipha heals a cut on Link’s elbow, and says she healed him the first time they met, and promises to always do so. She expresses hope that when Calamity Ganon is defeated, things can go back to normal. It’s hard to say from one cutscene, but she reminds me a lot of Saria.
When Link snaps back to the present, Muzu’s still skeptical that he actually remembers anything, but when Link puts the armor on, it at least convinces him that it was made for Link. He tells Link where to find shock arrows – on Shatterback Point of Ploymus Mountain, there’s a Lynel that shoots Shock Arrows, and for whatever reason [1] they don’t break apart like other Shock Arrows do [2][3]. One thing I forgot to mention about Lynels – they carry multishot bows and use elemental arrows and are ridiculously accurate with them; the basic idea seems to be to force Link to stay close enough that they stick with their melee attacks and charges rather than breaking out the bow. The trickiest part is approaching them at the start of combat – they can see Link from a fair way off, so my fights with them start by sneaking up until Link’s noticed then sprinting straight at them and hoping they start with their sword. Anyway, this one is supposed to be the introductory Lynel (it gets a cutscene the first time Link comes to visit) and more of an environmental hazard than something Link’s supposed to actually fight, but there’s nothing stopping a brave Link from giving it a try, and killing it is a sure way to get the arrows Link needs.
Link joins Sidon for the first phase of the plan to retake Ruta: Link rides on Sidon’s back as Sidon swims around Ruta. Ruta shoots ice blocks at Link that he can destroy with Cryonis. After a volley of ice blocks, Sidon rides close to Ruta so Link can catch one of the waterfalls, shoot up in the air, and shoot the orbs with shock arrows. Once all four orbs are active, Ruta stops shooting water into the air and the skies clear, Ruta rises a bit more out of the water, and Sidon drops Link off for phase two. There’s a Guidance Stone near where Link walked in, and linking it with the Sheikah Slate opens a travel gate so Link can teleport back if he needs to leave to restock. Or, say, now that the rain’s subsided, unlock the Lanayru Tower. The base of the tower’s guarded by enemies, but nothing too hard, and unlike the Hateno Tower, once Link starts the climb there’s no further obstacles, just a long way to go to the top.
Next: Well, I was somewhat mistaken when I said no dungeons.
[1] Said reason being so the player can take them here, of course.
[2] Or, for that matter, all arrows shot from a Lynel Bow when Link does it.
[3] I already had a fair collection of Shock Arrows from amiibo, but decided to do the quest normally. (Hey, Lynel-fighting practice.)
Monday, August 31, 2020
Breath of the Wild: Sidon
When Link went into Lanayru chasing shrines, he met a Zora who said the Zora Prince Sidon was looking for a Hylian near the Inogo Bridge, so I set that as the next destination. I decided to come into the region via roads, starting at Riverside Stable, crossing the Horwell and Eagus Bridges, and eventually coming to the Wetland Stable. There’s not much of interest here; behind the stable, Izra looks at a treasure chest in the river and wonders what’s inside. Link pulls it out with Magnesis and shows him the sword. The local Shrine, Kaya Wan Shrine/Shields from Water, is an advanced Cryonis tutorial. The “shields” part comes up with the little Guardians all over the place, but it’s not hard to just shoot them and move on.
The road to Inogo Bridge leads north, then east, through a group of places with names derived from The Minish Cap (Crenel Hills/Peak, Trilby Plain, Thims (almost “Smith” backward) Bridge). The final stretch is just north of the area Link had already visited. Just before the bridge, there’s another Shrine, Soh Kofi, which is A Minor Test of Strength; if I hadn’t explored so much of Hateno, this would have been the first Test of Strength shrine I found and an introduction to the concept. As it is, it’s kind of a letdown; the Guardian died during the first laser circle sweep phase.
As Link approaches the Inogo Bridge, Sidon (“Zora Prince”) calls to him from atop a pillar, and jumps down to meet him. He introduces himself to Link with an arm pump and a twinkly smile, and says he finds Link’s name familiar. He goes on to describe the problem facing the Zora: Divine Beast Vah Ruta is causing massive rainfall. This is also a problem for Link for all-too-familiar reasons – although it’s scripted and planned here, so for this one section I don’t mind it so much – Link can’t climb cliffs, so he has to follow the one road in, which is infested with monsters with electric attacks. But Sidon believes in Link and gives him an elixir to defend against electricity, then leaves to go scout ahead.
The region’s tower is just up the cliffs from the bridge, but the cliffs can’t be climbed, so Link’s got to continue the journey on mostly blind. The road is clear and well-defined, so it’s hard to get lost, and Sidon pops up every now and again to shout encouragement. At first it’s fairly easy, although Water Octoroks have become deadly accurate with their attacks; in previous games they were easy to ignore and kill, but here they’re a bloody menace. The electric attacks start after Link passes through a tunnel; he comes out into a Lizalfos camp filled with archers that rain shock arrows. I’d already decided archery was the best approach to combat, and it paid off here, sniping the Lizalfos between their shots. (They drop so many arrows, I came out ahead.) There are also Electric Keese (easily picked off when they’re hanging still; the bright yellow does not allow effective camouflage) and an Electric Wizzrobe (harder than the fire type, since there’s no way to one-shot them).
Finally, Link makes it to Zora’s Domain, and Sidon comes running to greet him. Sidon wants to take Link to meet the Zora King but Link has more pressing business. First, Zora’s Domain has a shrine, Ne’ez Yohma/Pushing Power. For the shrine, Link has to run up a slope with water constantly pouring down (fortunately, Link can do this in any footwear – probably barefoot, if he wants; no need for iron booting it up at a turtle’s pace) and – more dangerously – rocks rolling down, then release an orb and guide it to its pedestal at the bottom. There’s a graceful path it can be guided along using Cryonis… or you can do it the hard way like me and use Stasis to nudge it when it’s rolling the wrong way, particularly with a tough save at the end of the shrine where you have like a second to catch it before it rolls off into the abyss.
Every settlement (town or stable) Link has visited has had an inn, which offers Link two options for resting to regain health/advance time. The basic bed just refills all Link’s hearts and, since settlements have a shrine nearby Link can teleport to and he has a free bed back at his house in Hateno, is a waste of rupees. The nicer bed gives bonus hearts; in Zora’s Domain, the nicer bed is a water bed, with the humorous touch of hearing Link bouncing around on it during the blackout cutscene.
Next: Shocking the elephant.
The road to Inogo Bridge leads north, then east, through a group of places with names derived from The Minish Cap (Crenel Hills/Peak, Trilby Plain, Thims (almost “Smith” backward) Bridge). The final stretch is just north of the area Link had already visited. Just before the bridge, there’s another Shrine, Soh Kofi, which is A Minor Test of Strength; if I hadn’t explored so much of Hateno, this would have been the first Test of Strength shrine I found and an introduction to the concept. As it is, it’s kind of a letdown; the Guardian died during the first laser circle sweep phase.
As Link approaches the Inogo Bridge, Sidon (“Zora Prince”) calls to him from atop a pillar, and jumps down to meet him. He introduces himself to Link with an arm pump and a twinkly smile, and says he finds Link’s name familiar. He goes on to describe the problem facing the Zora: Divine Beast Vah Ruta is causing massive rainfall. This is also a problem for Link for all-too-familiar reasons – although it’s scripted and planned here, so for this one section I don’t mind it so much – Link can’t climb cliffs, so he has to follow the one road in, which is infested with monsters with electric attacks. But Sidon believes in Link and gives him an elixir to defend against electricity, then leaves to go scout ahead.
The region’s tower is just up the cliffs from the bridge, but the cliffs can’t be climbed, so Link’s got to continue the journey on mostly blind. The road is clear and well-defined, so it’s hard to get lost, and Sidon pops up every now and again to shout encouragement. At first it’s fairly easy, although Water Octoroks have become deadly accurate with their attacks; in previous games they were easy to ignore and kill, but here they’re a bloody menace. The electric attacks start after Link passes through a tunnel; he comes out into a Lizalfos camp filled with archers that rain shock arrows. I’d already decided archery was the best approach to combat, and it paid off here, sniping the Lizalfos between their shots. (They drop so many arrows, I came out ahead.) There are also Electric Keese (easily picked off when they’re hanging still; the bright yellow does not allow effective camouflage) and an Electric Wizzrobe (harder than the fire type, since there’s no way to one-shot them).
Finally, Link makes it to Zora’s Domain, and Sidon comes running to greet him. Sidon wants to take Link to meet the Zora King but Link has more pressing business. First, Zora’s Domain has a shrine, Ne’ez Yohma/Pushing Power. For the shrine, Link has to run up a slope with water constantly pouring down (fortunately, Link can do this in any footwear – probably barefoot, if he wants; no need for iron booting it up at a turtle’s pace) and – more dangerously – rocks rolling down, then release an orb and guide it to its pedestal at the bottom. There’s a graceful path it can be guided along using Cryonis… or you can do it the hard way like me and use Stasis to nudge it when it’s rolling the wrong way, particularly with a tough save at the end of the shrine where you have like a second to catch it before it rolls off into the abyss.
Every settlement (town or stable) Link has visited has had an inn, which offers Link two options for resting to regain health/advance time. The basic bed just refills all Link’s hearts and, since settlements have a shrine nearby Link can teleport to and he has a free bed back at his house in Hateno, is a waste of rupees. The nicer bed gives bonus hearts; in Zora’s Domain, the nicer bed is a water bed, with the humorous touch of hearing Link bouncing around on it during the blackout cutscene.
Next: Shocking the elephant.
Friday, August 28, 2020
Breath of the Wild: Mountain Shrines
There are two more quests in Hateno Village, both leading to shrines near Mt. Lanayru. First, Clavia points to three trees atop mountains that form a line on the map, and says she found a passage in a book that relates to them: “When the three summit trees become one, turn your back to them and head toward the sea. A trial encased in stone awaits you there.” She wants to find out what it means, but can’t leave her child behind to go off on a treasure hunt. Medda says that the Spring of Wisdom that Zelda visited is in the mountains and probably has a treasure. The cedar line is the easier of the two quests; extend the line to the shore, stand Link there, and walk west toward the trees. There’s a bombable wall there, with the Tahno O’ah shrine behind it. It’s a blessing shrine, with the third piece of the Climber’s Armor set.
The Spring of Wisdom is easy enough to find, but once there, the real fun starts. There’s a Malice-infected dragon [1] draped over the mountainside, and the Goddess Statue nearby tells Link the dragon is Naydra, who has looked over the shrine for ages but… became infected with Malice, and it’s up to Link to free it. There are eyes all over its body, and those are the archery targets. After Link takes out the first, Naydra flies off and Link has to give chase. This serves as a tutorial on riding updrafts to chase after Naydra and taking advantage of the slow time effect while shooting while airborne. I’ve been quite critical of the parts of the game that don’t work for me, so let’s say this: This part was exhilarating and showed off the fun of archery, the scenery around Mt. Lanayru, and (of course) the dragon.
Once the dragon is free, the Malice around it disappears and it returns to the spring, and Link is teleported back as well. The Goddess Statue thanks and congratulates Link, and tells him to shoot Naydra one last time to free its spirit. After Link does, Naydra flies off, dropping a scale in the process. Link takes the scale and drops it in the spring as an offering, opening the door to the Jitan Sa’mi Shrine. After all that, of course it’s simply a blessing shrine.
There are three more shrines to find in the area. One, Muwo Jeem, is technically in the next area to the south, just across the border, but the Sheikah Slate led me there. This is A Modest Test of Strength; similar to the other Test of Strength shrine I’ve done but significantly easier. Behind a waterfall near the road leading to where I’ve fought a Lynel, there’s the Dow Na’eh Shrine. This one, Three Boxes, has a simple test of finding three metal treasure chests and loading them (not necessarily with their contents) onto a floor switch; this gives Link the large metal block he needs to reach the monk.
The final shrine is another one Kass speaks of in song: “A beast that wears a crown of bone, / Prancing through the lush green. / Mount the beast upon its throne, / For only then the shrine is seen.” The crowned beast is a deer with big antlers, and the tricky part of the quest is sneaking up on it without spooking it – even the stealth armor and crouch-walking weren’t enough for me. Once Link finally mounts him and calms him, he leads him over to the pedestal near Kass, which opens the shrine (Mezza Lo/Ancient Trifecta). There are four platforms arranged in a cross and a fifth platform that moves between them; the one nearest the entrance has a crystal switch that moves the fifth platform. As Link goes around the cross, the next two platforms have a treasure chest and floor switch that need to be brought together to open the exit on the last platform.
While exploring the area, Link finds his first living Hinox. They’re asleep as Link approaches, and take a few moments to wake up, giving Link some time to prepare. If he hits them in the eye with an arrow, it stuns them. Starting from far enough away – and using the patented Obi-Wan Kenobi High Ground approach, if possible – they can usually be killed before they close the gap. The first one I fought I chainstunned. If Link’s bow’s good enough, he can kill them before they fully wake up. Basically, Hinox mean free gear and food; after their deadly upgrades in A Link Between Worlds and the bloody nuisance bosses in Tri Force Heroes, seeing them like this is kind of a letdown.
There are a bunch of Koroks in the area, and a couple new ways of catching them. Sometimes Link will find a trail of lights and leaves along with a clinking sound; when the trail comes close enough to Link (or if he chases and catches it), he can examine it to make a Korok appear. One is similar to something I’ve seen before, but more elaborate: There are a bunch of targets on a path, and when they’re all shot, Link can shoot the balloon that appears. There are stumps that, when Link stand on, create a nearby circle of lights that Link needs to reach before they go out. One of these pretty much requires something I wish the game had explained somewhere: Link can jump on his shield and go snowboarding, without a Yeti in sight. And finally, there are blocks of ice that, when melted down, reveal Koroks.
Next: An electrifying gauntlet.
[1] I’d actually seen a green dragon flying around the Bridge of Hylia while exploring Dueling Peaks, but didn’t comment on it at the time.
The Spring of Wisdom is easy enough to find, but once there, the real fun starts. There’s a Malice-infected dragon [1] draped over the mountainside, and the Goddess Statue nearby tells Link the dragon is Naydra, who has looked over the shrine for ages but… became infected with Malice, and it’s up to Link to free it. There are eyes all over its body, and those are the archery targets. After Link takes out the first, Naydra flies off and Link has to give chase. This serves as a tutorial on riding updrafts to chase after Naydra and taking advantage of the slow time effect while shooting while airborne. I’ve been quite critical of the parts of the game that don’t work for me, so let’s say this: This part was exhilarating and showed off the fun of archery, the scenery around Mt. Lanayru, and (of course) the dragon.
Once the dragon is free, the Malice around it disappears and it returns to the spring, and Link is teleported back as well. The Goddess Statue thanks and congratulates Link, and tells him to shoot Naydra one last time to free its spirit. After Link does, Naydra flies off, dropping a scale in the process. Link takes the scale and drops it in the spring as an offering, opening the door to the Jitan Sa’mi Shrine. After all that, of course it’s simply a blessing shrine.
There are three more shrines to find in the area. One, Muwo Jeem, is technically in the next area to the south, just across the border, but the Sheikah Slate led me there. This is A Modest Test of Strength; similar to the other Test of Strength shrine I’ve done but significantly easier. Behind a waterfall near the road leading to where I’ve fought a Lynel, there’s the Dow Na’eh Shrine. This one, Three Boxes, has a simple test of finding three metal treasure chests and loading them (not necessarily with their contents) onto a floor switch; this gives Link the large metal block he needs to reach the monk.
The final shrine is another one Kass speaks of in song: “A beast that wears a crown of bone, / Prancing through the lush green. / Mount the beast upon its throne, / For only then the shrine is seen.” The crowned beast is a deer with big antlers, and the tricky part of the quest is sneaking up on it without spooking it – even the stealth armor and crouch-walking weren’t enough for me. Once Link finally mounts him and calms him, he leads him over to the pedestal near Kass, which opens the shrine (Mezza Lo/Ancient Trifecta). There are four platforms arranged in a cross and a fifth platform that moves between them; the one nearest the entrance has a crystal switch that moves the fifth platform. As Link goes around the cross, the next two platforms have a treasure chest and floor switch that need to be brought together to open the exit on the last platform.
While exploring the area, Link finds his first living Hinox. They’re asleep as Link approaches, and take a few moments to wake up, giving Link some time to prepare. If he hits them in the eye with an arrow, it stuns them. Starting from far enough away – and using the patented Obi-Wan Kenobi High Ground approach, if possible – they can usually be killed before they close the gap. The first one I fought I chainstunned. If Link’s bow’s good enough, he can kill them before they fully wake up. Basically, Hinox mean free gear and food; after their deadly upgrades in A Link Between Worlds and the bloody nuisance bosses in Tri Force Heroes, seeing them like this is kind of a letdown.
There are a bunch of Koroks in the area, and a couple new ways of catching them. Sometimes Link will find a trail of lights and leaves along with a clinking sound; when the trail comes close enough to Link (or if he chases and catches it), he can examine it to make a Korok appear. One is similar to something I’ve seen before, but more elaborate: There are a bunch of targets on a path, and when they’re all shot, Link can shoot the balloon that appears. There are stumps that, when Link stand on, create a nearby circle of lights that Link needs to reach before they go out. One of these pretty much requires something I wish the game had explained somewhere: Link can jump on his shield and go snowboarding, without a Yeti in sight. And finally, there are blocks of ice that, when melted down, reveal Koroks.
Next: An electrifying gauntlet.
[1] I’d actually seen a green dragon flying around the Bridge of Hylia while exploring Dueling Peaks, but didn’t comment on it at the time.
Wednesday, August 26, 2020
Breath of the Wild: Hateno Roundup
Link is, once again, done with Kakariko for now, so it’s back to Hateno for more sidequests. First up, a kid named Teebo has an interesting discovery to share with Link, and leads Link to a statue similar to the Goddess Statues, only this one has horns. It’s got a “I have a quest, talk to me” speech bubble, and when Link talks to it, the spirit trapped inside steals one of Link’s heart containers (or, if he’s going all-in on stamina first [1][2], a stamina orb). When Link talks to it again, it can return it as either a heart container or stamina orb. Further uses of the Horned Statue involve rupees – selling gives 100 rupees per essence, and buying costs 120, making transfer cost an effective 20 rupees.
There’s another kid in the village whose late grandfather loved weapons and left descriptions behind, and the kid wants to see the described weapons. First up is an easy one: a Traveler’s Sword, plentiful on the Great Plateau. The kid gives Link 20 rupees for that, which is probably more than it’s worth. (Hard to tell, since this game won’t let you sell weapons. Pity, I’d prefer that to having to leave them behind.) Next up is a Fire Rod, and while I got a Meteor Rod from a Wizzrobe during my wanderings, it’s neither a horseshoe nor a hand grenade.
Next, Link gets involved in dating once again; Manny wants to get a gift for Prima, who works at the Hateno inn. When Link asks her what she wants, she says she wants a collection of 100 restless crickets. I’m not sure how sincere that dream is, but Manny takes it and… asks Link to get a starter set of 10. While wandering around collecting those, I ran into a Stone Talus, the Wizzrobe mentioned above, and a bunch of Pebblits, mini-Taluses. Pebblits are… cute and kind of pathetic; all Link needs to do to defeat them is pick them up and set them on their back, then they explode. Seriously. Manny pays 100 rupees for the cricket collection starter pack, so it was time well spent.
Outside of the village, a rancher named Koyin is having trouble with monsters coming up from the beach to steal her sheep. Link finds their camp; it’s six Bokoblins and a Moblin. Once they’re gone, there’s a chest in camp Link can open for a ruby, and the reward from Koyin is ten jars of milk.
While wandering the beaches, there were two interesting sights out at sea. First, on a tall island not far from shore, there’s a Rito playing the accordion. His name is Kass, and he’s a wandering bard with songs about various locations about Hyrule. He has one about the island he’s on and its surroundings: An ancient hero spoke these words: / “One day I’ll return to fight evil. / My cache is at 17 of 24, / This rock will point toward its retrieval.” I’m not quite sure of “17 of 24” means, but the island does seem to point to an underwater chest to the southeast containing a gold rupee, which completes the quest. Kass is surprised there was so little in the chest, but figures the ancient hero was richer in character. He doesn’t seem interested in a share of the reward.
Further out to sea – requiring me to find and figure out how to use a raft (use a Korok Leaf to blow wind into the sail) – there’s a shrine, Chaas Qeta/A Major Test of Strength. As the monk describes it, this is a simple combat trial: Link vs. a Guardian. This Guardian is armed with an axe, sword, and spear, and fighting it was where I started to get good at perfect dodging and Flurry Rushes. The axe is the hardest for me to perfect dodge – I usually jump way too soon. It has a second attack style where it spreads its weapons and turns into a whirling buzzsaw, but Link can make it hit a pillar, stunning it. As its health gets low, it jumps back and starts shooting a laser in circles around it, giving Link a chance to pepper it with arrows. When its health gets really low, it goes for the Guardian Death Laser – perfect guard, and wham, it’s done. The monk’s parting message is different here, too: “Your triumph over the test of strength subverts a prophecy of ruin. From the ashes of Hyrule, a hero rises.” A chest has the torso armor to match Link’s Climber’s Bandana.
Armed with the Guardian’s weapons and practice getting perfect dodging, I decided it was time for a rematch with the Lynel. It took some work to get the dodge timing down, and I had this problem where I’d press the thumbstick in to crouch rather than down to backflip away from its sword attacks – it works, but leaves Link a sitting duck, which is bad when it does three slashes in a row. Still, once I was able to beat it, walk away for a few hours, and come back and beat it twice in a row, I figured I had it down enough for now.
Next: Cyclopes, deer, and dragons.
[1] Which makes a certain kind of sense at this point… health-restoring food is plentiful, most attacks seem to deal token damage or fairy-time damage even with seven hearts, but there have been lots of things just out of reach with the base stamina wheel. I’m stubborn, old-fashioned, and well-stocked on Staminoka Bass enough to stick to hearts for now, but I see the appeal.
[2] I’m not sure, and I’m not resetting my save to check, but I think you need to get one or the other before Rhoam will give Link the paraglider.
There’s another kid in the village whose late grandfather loved weapons and left descriptions behind, and the kid wants to see the described weapons. First up is an easy one: a Traveler’s Sword, plentiful on the Great Plateau. The kid gives Link 20 rupees for that, which is probably more than it’s worth. (Hard to tell, since this game won’t let you sell weapons. Pity, I’d prefer that to having to leave them behind.) Next up is a Fire Rod, and while I got a Meteor Rod from a Wizzrobe during my wanderings, it’s neither a horseshoe nor a hand grenade.
Next, Link gets involved in dating once again; Manny wants to get a gift for Prima, who works at the Hateno inn. When Link asks her what she wants, she says she wants a collection of 100 restless crickets. I’m not sure how sincere that dream is, but Manny takes it and… asks Link to get a starter set of 10. While wandering around collecting those, I ran into a Stone Talus, the Wizzrobe mentioned above, and a bunch of Pebblits, mini-Taluses. Pebblits are… cute and kind of pathetic; all Link needs to do to defeat them is pick them up and set them on their back, then they explode. Seriously. Manny pays 100 rupees for the cricket collection starter pack, so it was time well spent.
Outside of the village, a rancher named Koyin is having trouble with monsters coming up from the beach to steal her sheep. Link finds their camp; it’s six Bokoblins and a Moblin. Once they’re gone, there’s a chest in camp Link can open for a ruby, and the reward from Koyin is ten jars of milk.
While wandering the beaches, there were two interesting sights out at sea. First, on a tall island not far from shore, there’s a Rito playing the accordion. His name is Kass, and he’s a wandering bard with songs about various locations about Hyrule. He has one about the island he’s on and its surroundings: An ancient hero spoke these words: / “One day I’ll return to fight evil. / My cache is at 17 of 24, / This rock will point toward its retrieval.” I’m not quite sure of “17 of 24” means, but the island does seem to point to an underwater chest to the southeast containing a gold rupee, which completes the quest. Kass is surprised there was so little in the chest, but figures the ancient hero was richer in character. He doesn’t seem interested in a share of the reward.
Further out to sea – requiring me to find and figure out how to use a raft (use a Korok Leaf to blow wind into the sail) – there’s a shrine, Chaas Qeta/A Major Test of Strength. As the monk describes it, this is a simple combat trial: Link vs. a Guardian. This Guardian is armed with an axe, sword, and spear, and fighting it was where I started to get good at perfect dodging and Flurry Rushes. The axe is the hardest for me to perfect dodge – I usually jump way too soon. It has a second attack style where it spreads its weapons and turns into a whirling buzzsaw, but Link can make it hit a pillar, stunning it. As its health gets low, it jumps back and starts shooting a laser in circles around it, giving Link a chance to pepper it with arrows. When its health gets really low, it goes for the Guardian Death Laser – perfect guard, and wham, it’s done. The monk’s parting message is different here, too: “Your triumph over the test of strength subverts a prophecy of ruin. From the ashes of Hyrule, a hero rises.” A chest has the torso armor to match Link’s Climber’s Bandana.
Armed with the Guardian’s weapons and practice getting perfect dodging, I decided it was time for a rematch with the Lynel. It took some work to get the dodge timing down, and I had this problem where I’d press the thumbstick in to crouch rather than down to backflip away from its sword attacks – it works, but leaves Link a sitting duck, which is bad when it does three slashes in a row. Still, once I was able to beat it, walk away for a few hours, and come back and beat it twice in a row, I figured I had it down enough for now.
Next: Cyclopes, deer, and dragons.
[1] Which makes a certain kind of sense at this point… health-restoring food is plentiful, most attacks seem to deal token damage or fairy-time damage even with seven hearts, but there have been lots of things just out of reach with the base stamina wheel. I’m stubborn, old-fashioned, and well-stocked on Staminoka Bass enough to stick to hearts for now, but I see the appeal.
[2] I’m not sure, and I’m not resetting my save to check, but I think you need to get one or the other before Rhoam will give Link the paraglider.
Monday, August 24, 2020
Breath of the Wild: Stolen Heirloom
Still in Kakariko Village, Lasli, the woman who advertises for the armor shop, spends her nights at home because it’s not safe out anymore. She particularly enjoyed catching fireflies, so Link releases a few of the ones he’s caught in her house, which lifts her spirits a little and she gives Link a purple rupee. (And, just like the apples and Korok bowls, Link can round up the fireflies before he leaves, with no reaction.)
One of Paya’s duties is caring for a large ball that’s been a Sheikah heirloom for some time. There’s a bit of text associated with it: “The hero, as chosen by the Sheikah heirloom, will be gifted the blessing of antiquity.” Paya, thinking Link is said hero, has been researching what it could mean, and decided it’s the key to opening a shrine. And before she could tell Link this, someone stole it. Paya’s shaken by this turn of events, and Impa asks Link to stay with her. Once Paya’s feeling better, Link begins investigating who in the village could have stolen the heirloom. Dorian, the guard on Impa’s house with the daughters, tells Link he’s seen suspicious movement from Lasli and Mellie (the woman with the plum garden). Link follows Lasli at night to a graveyard where someone she loved is buried; she’s annoyed he thought she could be the thief. (I didn’t follow Mellie, so I don’t know what she’s up to.)
Those aren’t the only people who behave suspiciously at night, however. Dorian himself sneaks off into the mountains, talking about how he has to do something. Link follows, and at the entrance to the shrine, witnesses a confrontation between Dorian and a Yiga Clan member, the one who stole the heirloom. Dorian himself is ex-Yiga, and apparently told the Yiga about the heirloom. The Yiga plans to kill off Dorian, but first intends to deal with Link, prompting a small boss fight. This is tougher than the Yiga Travelers Link encounters, and sadly, his cool-looking sword disappeared in the cutscene after Link defeats him. Dorian confesses the truth to Link, that he tried to leave the Yiga when he married a Sheikah woman, and they killed her for it and forced him to pass information to them. The Yiga didn’t get far with the heirloom, so Dorian gives it to Link; Link puts it in the pedestal, causing the shrine to emerge from the ground. As a final request, Dorian asks Link to keep his involvement a secret, promising to do better from now on.
The shrine – Lakna Rokee/Lakna Rokee’s Blessing – is different from the other ones Link has completed. The monk greets Link, “By entering this place, you’ve already proven your worth.” There’s nothing to it, just a chest with a Sheikah greatsword and the monk’s cubicle; the monk’s parting message is also a bit different: “You have done well to arrive at this shrine. A hero rises to right the wrongs of Hyrule.” Spirit Orb, monk dissolves, done.
While I was following Lasli, I’d seen a shrine off in the distance, and I decided to tackle it before I headed back to Hateno. The shrine’s in the next region up (Lanayru), on one of a group of islands named for people and places primarily from Phantom Hourglass (Linebeck, Zauz, Molida, Bannan), plus Goponga Swamp from Link’s Awakening. Both of which took place in completely different worlds. The monk’s name is Daka Tuss, and the trial is Sunken Scoop. There’s a pool of water with several balls floating on the surface, and a bowl that can be controlled via Magnesis on the bottom of the pool. The third element of the puzzle is a walled-off area with a basin for one of the balls, so Link needs to scoop a ball with the bowl and dump it in the walled area. Then there’s another version with another complication: a trap door on the walled area controlled by a floor switch in the pool that can only be pressed by the bowl. Set the ball on the trap door, press the switch, clear.
There was one other shrine I could make out from Daka Tuss Shrine, and that was Sheh Rata to the north. This shrine, like the Hateno Tower, is surrounded by brambles, so Link has to burn them away to go in. The puzzle inside (“Speed of Light”) has a wheel that, when spun, causes a mounted laser to sweep around the room, eventually hitting a crystal switch that raises/lowers the water level in the shrine. The second room has a floor switch that can only be pressed when the water’s low. I’ve seen several different solutions for it; what I did was probably the hardest way – spin the wheel, raise the water, spin the wheel, quickly swim across before the laser hits the crystal switch and the water goes back down.
Next: The Great Calamity may come, Hyrule may fall into ruin, but polka, apparently, will never die.
One of Paya’s duties is caring for a large ball that’s been a Sheikah heirloom for some time. There’s a bit of text associated with it: “The hero, as chosen by the Sheikah heirloom, will be gifted the blessing of antiquity.” Paya, thinking Link is said hero, has been researching what it could mean, and decided it’s the key to opening a shrine. And before she could tell Link this, someone stole it. Paya’s shaken by this turn of events, and Impa asks Link to stay with her. Once Paya’s feeling better, Link begins investigating who in the village could have stolen the heirloom. Dorian, the guard on Impa’s house with the daughters, tells Link he’s seen suspicious movement from Lasli and Mellie (the woman with the plum garden). Link follows Lasli at night to a graveyard where someone she loved is buried; she’s annoyed he thought she could be the thief. (I didn’t follow Mellie, so I don’t know what she’s up to.)
Those aren’t the only people who behave suspiciously at night, however. Dorian himself sneaks off into the mountains, talking about how he has to do something. Link follows, and at the entrance to the shrine, witnesses a confrontation between Dorian and a Yiga Clan member, the one who stole the heirloom. Dorian himself is ex-Yiga, and apparently told the Yiga about the heirloom. The Yiga plans to kill off Dorian, but first intends to deal with Link, prompting a small boss fight. This is tougher than the Yiga Travelers Link encounters, and sadly, his cool-looking sword disappeared in the cutscene after Link defeats him. Dorian confesses the truth to Link, that he tried to leave the Yiga when he married a Sheikah woman, and they killed her for it and forced him to pass information to them. The Yiga didn’t get far with the heirloom, so Dorian gives it to Link; Link puts it in the pedestal, causing the shrine to emerge from the ground. As a final request, Dorian asks Link to keep his involvement a secret, promising to do better from now on.
The shrine – Lakna Rokee/Lakna Rokee’s Blessing – is different from the other ones Link has completed. The monk greets Link, “By entering this place, you’ve already proven your worth.” There’s nothing to it, just a chest with a Sheikah greatsword and the monk’s cubicle; the monk’s parting message is also a bit different: “You have done well to arrive at this shrine. A hero rises to right the wrongs of Hyrule.” Spirit Orb, monk dissolves, done.
While I was following Lasli, I’d seen a shrine off in the distance, and I decided to tackle it before I headed back to Hateno. The shrine’s in the next region up (Lanayru), on one of a group of islands named for people and places primarily from Phantom Hourglass (Linebeck, Zauz, Molida, Bannan), plus Goponga Swamp from Link’s Awakening. Both of which took place in completely different worlds. The monk’s name is Daka Tuss, and the trial is Sunken Scoop. There’s a pool of water with several balls floating on the surface, and a bowl that can be controlled via Magnesis on the bottom of the pool. The third element of the puzzle is a walled-off area with a basin for one of the balls, so Link needs to scoop a ball with the bowl and dump it in the walled area. Then there’s another version with another complication: a trap door on the walled area controlled by a floor switch in the pool that can only be pressed by the bowl. Set the ball on the trap door, press the switch, clear.
There was one other shrine I could make out from Daka Tuss Shrine, and that was Sheh Rata to the north. This shrine, like the Hateno Tower, is surrounded by brambles, so Link has to burn them away to go in. The puzzle inside (“Speed of Light”) has a wheel that, when spun, causes a mounted laser to sweep around the room, eventually hitting a crystal switch that raises/lowers the water level in the shrine. The second room has a floor switch that can only be pressed when the water’s low. I’ve seen several different solutions for it; what I did was probably the hardest way – spin the wheel, raise the water, spin the wheel, quickly swim across before the laser hits the crystal switch and the water goes back down.
Next: The Great Calamity may come, Hyrule may fall into ruin, but polka, apparently, will never die.
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