A Link Between Worlds: Sahasrahla

Unlike A Link to the Past, Sahasrahla hasn’t left the village and is still in his home. When Link brings him up to speed on everything that’s happened, Sahasrahla deduces that Yuga is after descendants of the Seven Sages, which would include Seres. Another descendant of the Sages is Osfala, Sahasrahla’s pupil, whom he sent to investigate Yuga’s presence near the Eastern Palace and sends Link to warn Osfala. As Link leaves Kakariko Village, there’s a cutscene where a witch – Maple? – flies overhead. Also, Gulley’s mother is concerned for him, figuring he’s off playing but there are monsters in the area. (Gulley’s fine, hanging out with the animals in the grove where Flute Boy used to play.)

As Link approaches the Eastern Palace, he finds a crystal switch puzzle blocking the way, with pillars hinting that the item to use to solve it is the bow. Nearby, Ravio’s placed a couple of signs advertising for adventurers to come visit him to get items. Link returns home to see what Ravio’s up to. Ravio had been planning to open a store in the area, but got scared off by monsters. He remembers the pillars, and when Link identifies the symbol that was on them, Ravio lends him a Bow. Normally he’d charge a rental fee, but this one’s free until Link dies.

From the way the Eastern Palace is set up, there seem to be some key differences in how dungeon items work in this game:

• Rather than finding the item in the dungeon, Link needs to rent it from Ravio to enter the dungeon. Otherwise, though, it’s similar: the item is useful for puzzles and defeating the dungeon boss.
• Rather than arrows for the Bow, and presumably similar restrictions, Link has a single Energy Meter that using items consumes. It regenerates on its own, but sometimes Link can find a refill to speed things up.
• Dying apparently means Ravio takes his items back, making continuing a little painful. Fortunately, rupees are very plentiful. (Or, of course, you could just not die.)
• Specific to the bow: When Link pulls back an arrow, he’s locked in to firing the way he was facing but can move. I’m not sure how I feel about this; I think I’d rather be able to aim when I end up facing 45° off where I want to be.

Osfala’s still outside the Eastern Palace, and mistakes Link for Yuga at first. Link catches him up on everything that’s going on, but Osfala’s unconcerned about Yuga. He figures he’s as powerful as the Sages, and he has a Sand Rod (with Ravio’s tag, so apparently it’s a rental, too), so he thinks he’s invulnerable. He heads into the Palace; Link saves at the nearby statue and follows him.

I’m not very far into the game yet – I’ve barely gotten started – but I’m continually impressed by how they’ve taken the familiar world of A Link to the Past and created something that feels the same but different. The layout of the Eastern Palace is virtually nothing like the layout of the one from A Link to the Past, but the inspiration is obvious. It’s not just the tiles and enemies and music – they really captured the way A Link to the Past felt. (Four Swords Adventures had the look, but even without the multiplayer aspect of the game, felt very different.) The big difference this game has is that within the same floor there are puzzles involving multiple floor levels; no doubt meant to show off the 3DS’ signature feature, but it’s perfectly playable without it [1]. (I only have a 2DS.) There’s also a miniboss fight – four Armos, a cute nod to the dungeon boss of the original. Finally, in addition to not having a treasure item, the map’s functionality is there from the beginning; the player just needs a Compass and Big Key.

This time, the dungeon boss is a rematch against Yuga. As Link walks in, Osfala has lost the fight and is being tormented by Yuga’s magic before being turned into a painting. Yuga recognizes Link, and even though he’s not inclined to fight, decides it’s probably easier to get Link out of the way now. Yuga tries to fire beams from the walls, but Link can stun him with arrows, putting a stop to it. Yuga’s other trick is to merge into the wall, then move about before popping out, but all Link has to do is follow. Halfway through, Yuga stomps a few times, but I didn’t notice any difference between before and after. Realizing he can’t beat Link the way he’s going, he zaps Link, turning him into a graffiti-picture, and makes off with Osfala, saying he also wants Zelda for his collection.

Once Yuga’s gone, Ravio’s bracelet activates, allowing Link to get out of the wall. With the bracelet activated, Link can merge in and out of walls at will (although being merged requires energy), and Link uses this ability to go back to the dungeon entrance after collecting the heart container. Along the way, there are treasures to collect, and where there are rupees painted on the wall, Link picks them up as he walks over them.

Link meets Sahasrahla outside the palace, and Sahasrahla’s distressed over Osfala being taken. He then turns his worry to Zelda when a loud noise interrupts him. Sahasrahla can see something’s going on at the castle, so he and Link go there to find the place completely sealed off. Sahasrahla says Link needs the Master Sword – but one of the Pendants of Virtue is sealed inside the castle. Except, as expected, Zelda’s charm turns out to be the Pendant of Courage. Sahasrahla marks the locations of the other two pendants on Link’s map: Power is in the Tower of Hera again, but Wisdom has moved to the House of Gales, where the Pond of Happiness was.

Next: Three key items.

[1] [Gratuitous grumbling about Skyward Sword.]

A Link Between Worlds: Sanctuary and Zelda

There’s been an outbreak of vandalism: someone’s painted pictures of soldiers on the walls of Hyrule Castle. The captain’s not at the castle; the guard at the gate suggests going to Sanctuary to see him. Outside of Sanctuary, the priest’s daughter, Seres, is talking with Dampé. Seres greets Link and goes inside to get the captain for him. While they wait, Dampé suggests Seres is the real reason the captain comes to Sanctuary so much. He moves on to noting that the castle graffiti are signs of trouble, but is interrupted when Seres screams from inside and the door slams shut. Dampé remembers hearing the priest talk about a secret passage under the graveyard leading to Sanctuary, and asks Link to find it. At Dampé’s encouragement, Link equips the sword, figuring the captain won’t care if he borrows it.

The correct grave isn’t hard to find: it’s set apart from the others with stones and trees. In the first room of the passage, there’s a treasure chest with a lamp, and torches on either side of the door that need to be lit to open the way forward. The rest of the passage is the standard tutorial dungeon – find a key, open a door, fight Poes to open the way forward, pull a switch to open the way to Sanctuary. (For those who remember the last door before Sanctuary from A Link to the Past, the correct switch is on the other side.)

Link’s arrived in Sanctuary to find the priest and Seres confronting an intruder, who identifies himself as Yuga. Yuga has come to Sanctuary looking for perfection, which he sees in Seres. He gets creepy, asking her, “How can you stand being so lovely, surrounded by these filthy fools?” He zaps her with his wand, turning her into a painting, which he admires, thinking “Her Grace will be most pleased” with it. At this point, the priest and Yuga both notice Link, and the priest tells Link to run, while Yuga taunts Link to come at him. Link does, but Yuga merges into the wall, and Link knocks himself dizzy charging into it. (The guard captain seems to have been turned into a graffiti painting on the west wall.) Yuga taunts Link and the priest before strolling out, kicking Link out of his way as he goes, singing along with the game’s music.

Link blacks out, and as he comes to back in his house, a guy dressed as a giant pink bunny sticks his view, causing Link to start and fall out of bed. The bunny doesn’t wait for Link to get up before launching into his introduction. He’s Ravio, a traveling merchant (accompanied by a little bird thing), and he found Link alone in Sanctuary and brought him to this “empty” house to recover. Link explains what happened at Sanctuary, and Ravio tells him to report it to the castle. Before Link leaves, Ravio asks if he can stay for a couple days, and Link agrees. Ravio gives Link a bracelet in exchange; it’s old and apparently smells like a wet dog, but Ravio insists Link take and wear it.

The guard at the castle doesn’t take Link seriously, but Impa comes out of the castle, drawn by the shouting, and upon hearing the story, invites Link in. While Impa goes to announce Link’s arrival to Zelda, Link looks at the gallery of art, depicting the history of the Triforce as recounted in the prologue. Once Link’s looked at all the paintings, Impa comes back to say Zelda’s ready for him. Zelda’s been having the same dream as Link. Link tells Zelda what happened at Sanctuary, and she asks Impa for help. The next story beat is familiar from A Link to the Past, and that game’s Cukemen can sing along: .“Tra, la, la, look for Sahasrahla…” She gives Link a charm, thinking Link will need it. The charm is a pendant, and given that it’s Zelda giving it, I would think it’s the Pendant of Wisdom, but it’s green and has Farore’s mark on it, so it must be the Pendant of Courage [1].

Link goes to Kakariko Village to look for Sahasrahla. South of the village, Link meets Cucco Girl, who has a minigame for Link to play: standing in a pen and dodging the Cuccos that fly in from all directions. There are three levels of difficulty, and winning each one unlocks the next. The third level awards a heart piece for winning and unlocks an endless mode. In town, Gramps helps Link set up the game’s StreetPass system, which lets players trade Shadow Links to battle for prizes. I don’t get many StreetPass connections, so I only get the random Shadow Links generated every few hours, so I don’t know if I’m going to pursue this or not. (Right now I’m leaving the DS on while I’m at work/sleeping to generate them.) Finally, Link can buy a bottle from a merchant in town, and with the bottle, Bee Guy, a guy dressed like a bee, gives Link a Bug-Catching Net to catch bees for him. He’ll buy bees for 50 rupees, but has his heart set on a Golden Bee. Guess I’ll keep an eye out for one, but in the meantime, catching bees is easy and lucrative (if a little annoying, since Link only has the one bottle right now).

Next: The first dungeon, and three new mechanics that feel like this game’s signature.

[1] In A Link to the Past, the Pendants of Power and Wisdom had their colors reversed from the standard colors, but that was before the standard was established, it was fixed in the GBA remake, and they wouldn’t mix up the goddesses’ symbols. I think.

A Link Between Worlds: Introduction and Story

This game and Breath of the Wild were the two I was most looking forward to when I started this project. (Ocarina of Time would have been third; it might have gone higher except it was so close to the beginning.) A sequel to / reimagining of A Link to the Past [1], one of my favorite games of all time [2] that I know inside and out? Hell yeah! And now, twenty months later or so, here I am at last.

As always, here’s what I’ve picked up about this game:

• It’s a sequel to A Link to the Past, and the world is similar. It’s set long after, with a different Link.
• Instead of the Dark World, the dual-world aspect will involve Lorule, Hyrule’s mirror universe counterpart.
• This is the last game [3] to have characters in Hyrule Warriors:
• Ravio (“Traveling Merchant”), a “totally normal, not-suspicious” merchant who has an arsenal of items (hammer, bow, bombs, ice rod) that he uses in combat. For some reason, he wears a pink… pink bunny… oh…
• Yuga (“Sorcerer of Lorule”), the (visible?) bad guy. At first, I thought he was a gender-flipped, Lorulean Ganon/Agahnim, but no, not gender-flipped, he's a man. He’s obsessed with beauty, but wears clown pants.
• It’s less linear than other games. I'm not entirely sure how, but I guess I'll find out.

Story

“There is a legend oft told within Hyrule Kingdom. It is the legend of the Triforce, once kept within Hyrule itself. Said to be a gift of the gods, the Triforce could grant a wish of all those who touched it. So of course, many wanted to get their hands on it. Wars were fought for the Triforce. The royal family summoned the Seven Sages, who sealed the Triforce in the Sacred Realm. But a thief of notorious repute broke into the Sacred Realm and claimed the Triforce. With its power, he became the Demon King Ganon, who sought to dominate all Hyrule. But just as Ganon had the kingdom in his evil clutches… a legendary hero answered the call of Hyrule’s princess. And this hero, wielding the Master Sword, took up a quest to challenge Ganon’s might. He joined with the descendants of the Seven Sages to seal the Demon King in darkness. The Triforce was divided into three – its tempting power out of any one person’s reach. One part stayed with the royal family, while another slipped into Ganon’s possession. Legend says the third part found its home in the heart of the hero eternal… And while legends come to us from the distant past, others have yet to be written…”

Hrm. The backstory described here sounds more like Ocarina of Time than A Link to the Past (Ganon takes Hyrule, but is sealed away vs. Ganon tries to take Hyrule but is sealed away by the Knights of Hyrule, without a Hero, then the Hero comes and kills him before he can do anything). Instead of a sequel, maybe it’s a new timeline’s – say, what would have happened after Ocarina if Adult Link had stuck around – version of A Link to the Past. It does explain how and why the Triforce was moved to the Sacred Realm after Skyward Sword, although it wasn’t hard to guess. This being the first game after Hyrule Historia mapped everything onto an official timeline, I think it’s safe to say they don’t really care about it. (I suppose it could also be that Ocarina of Time, the Imprisoning War, and A Link to the Past have merged into a single legend, although that wouldn’t explain how Ganon is alive and has the Triforce of Power.)

Starting the game, Link dreams that he’s facing a giant shadowy monster with glowing red eyes. Then a pounding sound is heard, which turns out to be Link’s friend Gulley coming to wake him up. Finding that Link’s in his start-of-game slumber, Gulley shouts to wake him. Once Link’s awake, Gulley goes outside to wait for him. (Link has Majora’s Mask on his wall!) Link follows, and Gulley says his father is mad that Link’s overslept again. (Link’s an apprentice blacksmith, and Gulley’s father is the master.) Before they can go too far, Gulley points to the weather vane, which serves a similar purpose to the Bird Statues from Skyward Sword – save points. (He excuses his fourth wall-breaking mention of saving the same way the kids in Link’s Awakening did: “I’m just a kid. Nobody tells me anything.”) Link follows Gulley to the blacksmith’s house – the same house used by the twin blacksmiths in A Link to the Past. Inside [4], Link finds the blacksmith talking to the guard captain, discussing captain’s shield. The captain leaves, with some words for Link about being late, before the blacksmith blows up at Link for being late. Before Link can start work, the blacksmith’s wife notices the captain left his sword. The blacksmith gives Link a reprieve and an errand: take the sword to the captain, who’s probably at Hyrule Castle.

Next: “Why do you wear that stupid bunny suit?” “Why are you wearing that stupid man suit?”

[1] In Japan, it’s even called Triforce of the Gods 2.
[2] A few years ago I listed ten games which defined my taste in gaming, and A Link to the Past was one of them. Although I now like Majora’s Mask and Twilight Princess better, I think I would keep A Link to the Past in its place on the list, similar to how Knights of the Old Republic and Mass Effect are on with only an honorable mention for my favorite BioWare game, Jade Empire.
[3] Not counting Link and Zelda's Breath of the Wild-inspired costumes in the Switch version.
[4] The hardest thing to get used to in this game is it being so much the familiar A Link to the Past but needing to press A to open doors.

Majora's Mask: 3D Bosses

All four dungeon bosses in Majora’s Mask 3D have received changes. Each now has an eye, usually somewhere that eyes aren’t normally found, that serves as a weak spot. Goht’s is on its back, and the fight is basically the same aside from this addition. When Goht’s toppled, the eye pops out for Link to attack the eye to deal further damage. Sometimes the eye lands within reach for Goron Link to punch it, but sometimes it’s out of reach, so Link needs to shoot it with arrows.

Odolwa’s eye is right behind its head, so first Link needs to bring him down to be able to hit it. The easiest way is to use Deku Link, launch from the flowers around the arena, and hit the eye with a Deku Nut. This is a nice new addition – Goron and Zora Link had contributions to make to Goht and Gyorg, but Deku Link didn’t really have much to do in this fight in the N64 version. (There was one Deku Flower that could be used to damage Odolwa, but it was much harder than just wading in and hacking it to death.) Other ways of bringing Odolwa down are to shoot it with an arrow or to hack at it knees with the sword.

Gyorg’s eye is in its mouth, and when it’s stunned, it floats to the surface with the eye exposed, so Link doesn’t need to dive in after it, deal as much damage as he can, then try to escape before getting eaten. However, since this deemphasizes Zora Link, there’s a second phase to the fight where Gyorg destroys the platform in the center of the arena, forcing Link to battle it underwater. This also adds mines on chains underwater, so the trick becomes to break the chains of a mine near Gyorg, then get it to suck the mine in. This stuns Gyorg, causing the eye to pop out so Link can zap it with the electric barrier.

The most changed boss, however, is Twinmold. In the original, the two worms jumped around the area while Link put on the Giant’s Mask and hacked them to death. Now, Link doesn’t get the Giant’s Mask before the fight. The blue worm has eyes along its body for Link to shoot out, and when they’re gone, collapses to the ground with a giant eye falling out of its mouth. Meanwhile, the red worm flies overhead, strafing Link. When Link takes out the blue worm, a treasure chest appears in the center of the arena with the Giant’s Mask. Giant Link doesn’t have a sword, instead, he beats the red worm into submission, picks it up by the tail, spins it around, and slams the eye into the ground. This is a much-improved fight over the N64 version.

When I played the N64 version, I beat Majora’s Mask by using the Fierce Deity Mask, which was fun, but a bit too easy – lock on, spam attacks, watch it transform into a supposedly tougher form, repeat until it dies. I had always intended to go back and fight it fairly, but never did, so when I tackled this version, I figured it was as good a time as any. At the start of the fight, the four boss remains leave Link and are mounted on the wall. In the first phase of the fight, the mask spins around the room, and Link can stun it with a spin attack just as it passes overhead. After enough of this, it switches tactics: the four boss remains are animated, and Majora’s Mask starts using a laser attack. Link can reflect the laser attack to kill the boss remains and damage Majora’s Mask.

After enough damage, the mask sprouts arms, legs, and a tiny head and becomes Majora’s Incarnation. This form runs and dances around the room and Link can stun it with his sword or arrows. About the only challenge here is that the boss is fast and hard to hit. Once Link has hit it enough, it transforms into Majora’s Wrath: beefing up its limbs, replacing the tiny head with a full-sized one, and growing tentacles from the ends of its arms. This form tries to whip Link constantly with its tentacles, and the shield really isn’t that useful in blocking them. The strategy remains the same: stun it with arrows, get close, and stab until it runs off.

Ultimately, unlike Ocarina of Time where I generally like the remake better than the original, I’m decidedly more mixed on Majora’s Mask. Enough is clearly better – graphics, controls, saving – that I think, like Ocarina, this is the version I’ll come back to. Unless, of course, they decide to make an HD version for the Switch that combines the best parts of both versions.

Majora's Mask: 3D Update

Unlike Ocarina of Time, which was mostly a port with a few new things, there are significant changes made for the 3DS version of Majora’s Mask. Some of these are straight improvements: saving at owl statues is now a full save rather than a suspend save, and there are extra quill statues added for save points without adding more quick travel points. (Sadly, they removed the automatic save when restarting with the Song of Time, and moved the respawn point away from the Clock Town owl statue.) The Song of Double Time lets Link skip forward to a certain hour, not just the next dawn/dusk. The Bombers’ Notebook is expanded, with notes on just about everything. Shiro, the wounded soldier who gives Link the Stone Mask, is moved to the Pirates’ Fortress, where the Stone Mask is most useful. There’s a Sheikah Stone in the Clock Tower for hints. Tatl doesn’t wonder why Link forgot how to fight enemies that were in Ocarina of Time.

Some rewards are rejiggered: Koumé’s archery game awards a bottle, with the heart piece moved to the third night in the graveyard, and two Great Fairies are reversed so Link gets the upgraded magic meter before the upgraded spin attack. Because the Circus Leader’s Mask was only really useful in the N64 version for a prerequisite to earning it (wearing it makes the Gorman Brothers not attack Cremia’s wagon, but it can only be given by Gorman in the Milk Bar), there’s a new quest: wearing it and talking to a drunk Gorman makes him ask Link to go to the Gorman Brothers for a special milk delivery, and Link gets to keep the bottle.

There are two big changes I have mixed feelings about. Zora Link’s default swim speed was slowed down; this means it has greater control (yay!) but going fast requires using the electric field, which drains magic. This basically means that for times where going fast is a requirement (racing the Beaver Brothers), I made sure to have Chateau Romani’s bonus active. The Gyorg trial on the moon was also redesigned to have Link strike a crystal switch and swim to get through the gate it opened in time, also requiring a perfectly-timed jump out of the water. I thought once I finished it maybe I’d hate it even more than the Goron rolling trial, but no, that one is even worse than I remember.

The Inverted Song of Time doesn’t slow things down quite as much; while the only time I felt a time crunch it was self-imposed by continuing to push forward after I met each previous goal for the cycle, there were times I had to start a new cycle that I got through in a single cycle in the N64 version. (I didn’t make it through Snowhead Temple in time to get the Gilded Sword the same cycle, and didn’t have time to round up frogs after completing Great Bay Temple.) I didn’t do a “help as many people as you can” cycle before going to the Moon this time; when I was planning to, I figured I could cut out the Spider Houses and maybe a few small things and still get it in.

One new feature of the 3DS version is there are two fishing holes added, one in the swamp and one in Great Bay. Each one has a dozen types of fish, some that only appear under certain circumstances or can only be caught while wearing a particular mask, and “boss” fish, and… I spent a couple hours trying and started to wonder what the point of it all was. As far as I can tell, there’s none. For a while I thought I would come back and give it a try. Then, two months later and still no more interested, but needing the DS to play A Link Between Worlds, I finally gave up on the idea, came back, and left the fishing behind and finished the game. (This is also when I scrapped any plans of a final cycle. It also has me seriously reconsidering if I’m going to bother with fishing when I do Twilight Princess HD.) The worst part is some of the minigames’ rewards changed from 50 rupees to Fishing Hole Passes – theoretically, an equivalent exchange, since admission costs 50 rupees otherwise, but even if I cared about fishing, it’s not like scrounging up the rupees is in any way difficult. (The Takkuri drops 200 rupees, is easy to kill with Fire Arrows, and spawns near a zone transition so it can easily be respawned.)

Minigames already feel a bit out of place in this game – if the moon’s going to crash into Termina, what does it matter if you have a perfect score in all the shooting galleries? (Incidentally, I didn’t hate the shooting galleries as much this time.) Adding fishing – an activity that is 90% waiting around for something to happen – feels really out of place.

Next: Three (and a half?) revamped boss fights, plus one that I never went back and did properly.

Skyward Sword: Demise

Before Link enters the portal to fight Demise, Fi warns him there’s “a 0% chance” of him returning unless he wins the battle. Yeah, that’s how boss fights have worked for a long time now. Link and Big Ugly enter, only one can leave. Not sure why it should be any different for this final boss. Anyway, Link confirms that he’s ready to fight Demise, and Fi wishes him luck in the battle before Link walks through the portal. The pocket dimension where Link and Demise will fight has the ground covered in a thin layer of water and a skyscape all around. Demise says the reason it’s so pleasant is he’s happy to see Link has the courage to fight and wants to give Link a nice tomb. He asks Link to keep it interesting, and says Link can take comfort in knowing his friends are next when he dies.

For the actual fight, the skies turn gray and stormy. The first phase of the fight is a straight-up sword duel; Link can get through Demise’s defense with a long enough string of attacks, or dodge Demise’s attacks and counterattack. After a lot of hits, Demise is knocked on his back, but in a cutscene where he quickly recovers to his feet. Lightning starts striking all around, and Demise charges his sword for a Skyward Strike. This is Link’s cue to do the same, and he has a very short window to hit Demise before Demise attacks; if Link’s fast enough the two attacks will cancel, otherwise, Demise gets a hit in. A Skyward Strike stuns Demise so Link can score a few more hits, and eventually, Demise is knocked on his back so Link can finish him. (He’ll dodge the first time.) As Link jumps for the Fatal Blow, lightning strikes his sword, empowering it to mortally wound Demise. Demise staggers to his feet and raises his sword, only to lose his strength and ends up planting it in the ground before it disappears. (Bye, Ghirahim.) With his final breaths, he curses future generations of Links and Zeldas to have to fight a reincarnation of himself, and he laughs as the darkness takes him. Link raises the Master Sword to absorb what remains of Demise’s spirit.

Back in the temple, Impa congratulates Link before drawing his attention to Groose and Zelda standing behind him. Zelda says it’s finally over and breaks down in tears of relief. Groose walks away, congratulating them on their role in The Legend of Groose. (He says it’s a joke, but Groose has been more important than some Zeldas…) He says its time to go back, but there are a couple farewells first. First, Fi says it’s time for her to rest and leads him to a pedestal prepared to hold the Master Sword until Ocarina of Time. Link places the sword in the pedestal, and as he walks away, Fi speaks to him from the sword and appears one last time, saying that she enjoyed their time together, and thanking him for it. Meanwhile, Impa refuses to come back with them, saying her duty keeps her in the past: someone needs to watch the Master Sword, the gate, and the Triforce. Zelda finally accepts this and gives Impa one of her bracelets as a keepsake, and Impa promises they’ll meet again.

The gate fades behind Link, Zelda, and Groose as they return to their own time. The old woman’s standing there, wearing Zelda’s bracelet on her wrist. Impa reminds Zelda of her promise, before fading into light, her duty finally completed. The game closes with a shot of the Master Sword as light strikes it and the gates behind it (leading to the room where Zelda slept) open.

Over the credits, we start with key scenes from Zelda’s story that Link wasn’t present for: waking up near the Sealed Temple and talking to (old) Impa, at the Skyview Spring, being captured and rescued at the Earth Temple, arriving at the Temple of Time, and arriving at the past Temple of Hylia. Then it switches to pans over various key locations from the game (with the Isle of the Goddess still in the scenes in Skyloft), ending with a focus on the Triforce on the Statue of the Goddess in its new location.

The post-credits scene shows Gaepora, Cawlin, and Strich coming to the surface for reunions. Later, Link and Zelda watch from the Statue of the Goddess as Groose and his friends return to the sky. Zelda says she wants to stay on the surface and asks Link what he wants to do, and the camera pans to their Loftwings returning to the sky, riderless.

(After the end, there’s a prompt to restart in Hero Mode. If you say yes, it asks if you really want to lose all your progress. If you say no, it asks if you really want to quit without saving. I get there’s not a whole lot of point to saving after the final boss is beaten, but the way the options are presented here is… silly. I have no desire to replay this game (and Link’s Awakening soured me on Hero Mode), so I left it saved before Demise.)

I don’t think, at this point, it will come as a surprise that I didn’t like Skyward Sword much. I keep asking myself if I can really put it below Four Swords in my rankings. There were good things: I liked Ghirahim, Groose was well-written, the birth of the Master Sword was a good scene, and the farewells to Fi and Impa in the end were touching. The Ancient Cistern was a good dungeon, and the Lanayru Sand Sea section was mostly solid as well. But so much else didn’t click. I can’t imagine a version of the game without motion controls, but I also can’t imagine what would make me want to replay it with them.

Skyward Sword: The Ritual

Groose just about breaks into tears when he sees that, at long last, Zelda’s alright. He grabs Link by the shoulders to shake him one more time and runs up to give the old woman a hug. As he turns back to Link and Zelda, there’s an explosion at their feet, knocking them down and conveniently leaving Link too woozy to fight back for the rest of the cutscene. Ghirahim steps out from behind a pillar and takes Zelda, planning to go back into the past and revive Demise there. Groose tries to stand in Ghirahim’s way, and only gets knocked out the way and his hair mocked for his trouble. Ghirahim makes his final taunts and heads through the gate to begin his ritual. Once he’s able to stand again, Link follows Ghirahim through the gate; Impa didn’t fare any better, but tells Link Ghirahim’s gone out the front door.

As Link leaves the temple, Ghirahim summons fences so Link can’t take the direct route down. He dances around Zelda’s unconscious body for a bit, (badly) singing his theme music, before starting to use his magic on Zelda while Link watches rather than start running. Ghirahim summons a bunch of minions and sends them on a suicide charge against Link. Most of the Bokoblins are little more than speed bumps (I wonder if someone at Koei Tecmo saw this and got ideas); some carry bombs, which is really not all that great an idea since Link is smart enough to jump out of the way but none of the Bokoblins are. Along the way, Link has miniboss fights against Moblins, Blue Bokoblins, Bokoblins with horns that summon allies, and Stalfos. When Link reaches the bottom, Ghirahim surrounds himself with a barrier and summons one final wave of Bokoblins.

Once they’re all dead, Ghirahim is frustrated Link made it through the horde so fast. He knows he’s made a mistake toying with Link in their past duels, and he’s not going to repeat it this time. He’s not playfully bantering with Link, not promising to only beat him within an inch of his life. The form he takes reveals that the skin on his hands from the last fight is in fact all over his body, he clanks with every step, and at one point he turns into a demonic sword. He raises himself and Link on a platform, planning to beat Link bloody then toss him to his death.

For the first phase of the fight, Ghirahim’s attacking Link with his fists and feet and absorbing his attacks with his arms. These attacks drive Ghirahim to the edge of the platform, and as he teeters, Link can deliver another blow to send him falling. Ghirahim summons another platform so he doesn’t fall all the way, but still lands painfully, giving Link a chance to jump down with a Fatal Blow. As the fight goes on, he holds his hands up to block attacks from certain directions, which calls back to when he was toying with Link and doesn’t seem like a particularly smart strategy, but whatever. After three Fatal Blows, Ghirahim lets the platform fall to the ground, and staggers to his feet, revealing the repeated strikes have torn a hole in his chest, revealing a glowing orange gem heart.

The next phase is the obligatory final boss Dead Man’s Volley sequence: Ghirahim sends a spinning beam toward Link, Link knocks it back a few times, Ghirahim gets stunned, Link pokes the gem with sword thrusts. After Link’s done enough damage here, Ghirahim pulls out a giant sword; when Link attacks, Ghirahim blocks, but a chunk of the sword is chopped away if Link attacks from the right direction. If Link does enough damage to the sword in time, Ghirahim’s left vulnerable for more pokes to the heart.

Finally, Link’s done enough damage to Ghirahim that Ghirahim can’t fight anymore. Ghirahim still doesn’t understand how Link’s able to beat him – “You think I can’t defeat you? You think I can’t win?? [1] Boy… what are you?” But his frustration turns to laughter as the seal starts glowing red; the ritual continued during the fight, and now it’s complete. The Imprisoned rises from the seal and devours Zelda’s spirit, transforming it into Demise’s true form (which resembles Oni from Street Fighter IV with dark hair – well, dark hair that becomes flaming hair when Demise powers up) while Ghirahim laughs. Demise draws the sword Ghirahim turned into earlier from Ghirahim’s body, then Ghirahim disappears into the sword – he’s Fi’s evil counterpart.

Link stands before Demise, ready to fight. Demise notes Link and Zelda, and sends Zelda’s body flying; Groose comes out of the temple in time to run and catch her as she lands. With her safe, Link turns back to Demise, who’s amused by Link’s courage and determination, saying the humans of his day didn’t have someone like that. He agrees to give Link a chance to battle him, and creates a portal to an extradimensional space and teleports through. Groose shouts down that there’s still hope for Zelda, as long as Link can defeat Demise fast enough. Fortunately, “fast enough” allows enough time for Link to return to Skyloft to heal and restock potions before coming back for the final confrontation.

Next: The beginning.

[1] Yeah, I’d say evidence for this is starting to stack up.

Skyward Sword: Sky Keep

The portal to the final Silent Realm is near the base of the Light Tower, so after uncovering it, Link calls Fi to perform the Song of the Hero together. As the final trial, it’s the toughest of the four trials, with lots of tricky Watchers. I failed this one more than the first three combined and learned that if you struggle with it, Fi will explain things that otherwise you have to work out yourself, like the two different types of Watchers (one floats and you’re fine as long as you don’t step in the light, the other’s closer to the ground and will notice if something happens near to them). The time I succeeded, I started out determined to get the Tears I hadn’t managed to get so they’d appear on the map so the next time would be easier, which meant the two close to the starting point I always saved for last so the walk out wouldn’t be so stressful were gone. Oh, well. (One more complaint before I move on from this section: every bloody time Link wakes up the Guardians, no matter if it’s from starting the trial, running out of time between Tears, getting caught by a Watcher, or stepping in the Waking Water, the cutscene of them waking up plays. I get it already: They’re awake, they’re coming, I need to get the next Tear pronto.)

The reward for completing this is the Stone of Trials, a giant red gem somehow meant to guide Link to the Triforce. Fi says it’s one of a pair, and by bringing them together the way should open. Over near the cave of trials, there’s a statue with an empty eye socket; the other has the second red gem. I’d seen this statue so many times thinking it was a Bird Statue [1]. Link places the Stone of Trials in the empty socket, and the statue spins about and spits a cannonball at the island with the Statue of the Goddess. Link stands there blinking for a second as nothing happens, but then Skyloft starts shaking as the statue island rearranges itself, and many rocks are knocked loose as a building emerges from its bottom. The statue shoots out several Clawshot targets to help Link reach the building, and Link zips over to enter the final dungeon. (Fi’s odds this place has the Triforce only go as high as 85%. I… what could the other 15% be? [2])

Sky Keep consists of eight rooms. The first room has the dungeon map, and the first of a few stations where Link can rearrange the rooms, sliding tile puzzle-style, to explore. The first set of three rooms draw from each region and their dungeons, which unfortunately highlights the fact that the game remixed the same three themes (forest/water, volcano, desert/electric/Timeshift). Sure, Ocarina had pairs of forest, fire, and water dungeons, but took vastly different approaches; I can’t imagine confusing Dodongo’s Cavern and the Fire Temple, and that’s the most similar pair. Here, the Sandship and Lanayru Mining Facility are about that different, the Ancient Cistern had the bit with the zombie Bokoblins that stands out, and the Earth Temple and Fire Sanctuary… one had tunneling, I guess.

The dungeon has a miniboss, Dreadfuse, which is basically Scervo only with electrified swords. After he’s defeated, the final three rooms each have one of the pieces of the Triforce, each with one final test before Link can enter the Silent Realm-esque area to claim them. Farore’s room has Link defeat a gauntlet of enemies (two moblins with reinforced shields, then two Stalfos while dealing with a bunch of Bokoblin archers, and then a Stalmaster with a bunch of zombie Bokoblins) to get the Triforce of Courage. Din’s room has a tricky puzzle of navigating down a river of lava to get the Triforce of Power (of the three, this is the one I have the hardest time connecting the challenge to its virtue). Nayru’s room has a desert/Timeshift puzzle to solve before Link gets the Triforce of Wisdom.

As Link leaves the Silent Realm for the last time, it takes on a golden hue. Link reappears on the Statue of the Goddess, with the Triforce drifting above him. At Fi’s prodding, Link wishes for Demise to be destroyed, and the bridge connecting the Isle of the Goddess to the rest of Skyloft breaks and the Isle begins falling to the surface. In the Sealed Grounds, the Imprisoned is breaking free of its seal again, only to be crushed by the Isle as it lands. Black vapors rise around the cracks, and Demise is no more. The quest finished, Link walks into the temple to greet Zelda as she emerges from her crystal.

Next: “You didn’t think it was gonna be that easy, did you?” “You know, for a second there… yeah, I kinda did.”

[1] I mean, it is a bird statue, but not a Bird Statue.

Skyward Sword: Loose Ends

The two Goddess Chests Link activated during the Song of the Hero arc are on an island deep in the Thunderhead. Link has to tunnel from the landing point; there are two exits, each by one of the chests. The rewards here are a Small Quiver and a fifth bottle. Back on Skyloft, Link upgrades the Small Quiver twice to a Large Quiver, and then because only upgrading one Seed Satchel and having more Seed Satchels than Bomb Bags/Quivers bugs me, I bought two more Bomb Bags and Quivers and upgraded everything. On the bright side, I had the rupees and most of the treasures already, and Blue Bird Feathers were the only ones that were hard to come by.

There are two sidequests in the sky to wrap up. First, Instructor Owlan is worried that he’s collected specimens of every plant species there is, and wants Link to keep an eye out for something special to add to his collection. Dowsing in Faron Woods, Link finds a Kikwi who doesn’t trust that the monsters are gone and wants to move somewhere peaceful. I’m not sure if plant creatures really count as plants, and neither is Owlan, but he’s certainly intrigued. On Pumpkin Landing, Kina doesn’t like plowing and wants someone to do it for her. Digging stuff up sounds like Mogma work, and sure enough, Link finds one who’s sick of the volcanic heat and wants to go somewhere cooler. He’s not thrilled about the idea of working in a garden, but seeing Kina, he decides he wants to impress her.

Both of these tasks give Link 5 Gratitude Crystals for completion, bringing his total to 80. Batreaux says that’s every Gratitude Crystal in the world, and whether that’s true or not, it’s enough for him to become human and start hanging out in the Bazaar by day without scaring everyone. The reward for completing the quest is a Tycoon Wallet [1], which holds up to 9000 rupees… nice, but rather useless, unless Link has to pay to get the Triforce again. As always, the real reward for this kind of thing is the satisfaction of having it done, and this was a lot less work than Skulltulas or Poe Souls.

Link returns to Lanayru, who’s got a new minigame for him: fighting the old bosses again. The full list is both versions of the Ghirahim fight, all three versions of the Imprisoned fight (ugh), Scaldera, Moldarach, Koloktos, and Tentalus. Levias/Bilocyte is left out. Link gets to choose his first opponent, but then Lanayru chooses (seemingly at random, but I’m not so sure). Oh, and to keep things interesting, Link’s Adventure Pouch is off-limits, except for an equipped shield, and he doesn’t get to heal between fights. (Even passive items don’t work here; it’s not like the Cursed Medal.) The ultimate reward Lanayru has to offer is a super-sturdy shield, so okay, let’s try this.

I started with Tentalus – easy enough, right? Well, for some reason, the Wiimote decided not to be my friend when it came to aiming at Tentalus’ eye during the first phase. The second Ghirahim fight was better, and the Imprisoned Mk. I went fast because the Master Sword destroys its toes in a single shot. I drew Scaldera for the fourth fight, which let me heal to full and smash the boss. The reward for defeating four bosses and stopping is a heart piece, and I debated whether to keep going because I had full hearts, so I was in as good shape as possible. I could stop now and get a heart piece for sure, or keep going, and risk losing to bullshit when I run up against the Imprisoned Mk. III. When I looked at it like that, I took the heart piece, completing Link’s life bar. (Although he’s two short for these runs, because Life Medals don’t work.)

Round two started with Tentalus again, which mostly went better – I’m pretty sure I hit the eye every chance I got. Then came both Ghirahim fights in order and the Imprisoned Mk. I to get back where I was. Scaldera was next, easy as ever, then the Imprisoned Mk. II (much easier when you jump on its head – no shockwaves, and it hasn’t developed the instant-bucking reflex yet) and Moldarach. The shield only requires defeating eight of the nine, so the final choice was between my favorite and least favorite bosses, so I was desperately cheering for Koloktos, and got him. The reward is the Hylian Shield – immune to burning and electricity, and doesn’t take damage. In other words, there’s no reason to use any other shield (although I’ve found exactly two reasons to use any shield, period: Octoroks and Sentrobes).

Lanayru also offers Link the chance to replay Silent Realms for rupees or treasure, which hell no. I’ve got a real one to do, and I’m sure that’ll be bad enough. Link makes a visit to the Bazaar to fix his Adventure Pouch loadout: Hylian Shield, five bottles of Heart Potion++, two Life Medals, and sets out for the trial.

Next: Zelda’s awakening.

[1] There’s a face on the wallet that resembles gold Jovani from Twilight Princess.

Skyward Sword: Fire and Thunder

Eldin Volcano is erupting as Link skydives into the area, making landing safely impossible. We don’t see him land, but apparently he got knocked out and grabbed by Bokoblins, along with being relieved most of his items. (He still has the harp and earrings, for sure.) As Link breaks the pots around his cell to get a few hearts, a Mogma digs into the cell to tell him his items are missing since the Master Sword being one of those items means Fi’s unavailable. Oh, sure, he’s not totally unhelpful: he grabbed Link’s Mogma Mitts, letting Link tunnel out of the cell. There’s a Sheikah Stone on the mountain since the one in Skyloft is unavailable; as Link explores further, the Mogma pops up to warn him not to get caught and mark the contents of the treasure chests on his map.

This opens up a long stealth segment; fortunately, the Bokoblins seem to have terrible eyesight and worse hearing. (So it’s better than escorting Scrapper.) Along the way, Link gets his items back one-by-one. They start out mostly useless for combat, but helpful for exploration: the Gust Bellows can blow away piles of volcanic ash blocking Link’s path, the Clawshots let him zip to Peahats and vines, and the Whip lets him create a Peahat to Clawshot too. The Slingshot is the first item with combat utility; it can stun patrolling enemies, giving Link a chance to pass by. Then Link gets bombs, although he really doesn’t need them because whenever he can use them, there’s a nearby Bomb Flower. In the hot caves at the summit, Link finds the Master Sword waiting for him, which lets him defeat the Bokoblins guarding his Adventure Pouch, Beetle, Bug Net, and Bow. There’s a Goddess Cube in the area Link couldn’t hit before, but now there are floating platforms to make the distance shorter (alternately, the fully-upgraded sword’s beams travel further). The platforms also lead Link to the door to where Eldin, the Fire Dragon, is. Eldin apologizes for the inconvenience the eruption causes and agrees to fix the volcano, and not without teaching Link his part of the Song of the Hero.

Unlike the other two areas, the desert isn’t experiencing a weather event limiting where Link can land. The Goron who was looking for the dragon isn’t in his cave anymore; he’d moved to a cliff near where Link first landed in the area with an update: there’s a passage too small for him to crawl through in the cave, but Link can fit through and pass to Lanayru Gorge. Fi pops out in her tour guide mode, although what she says Link’s known since his earliest adventures in the area. Up ahead, Link finds the Thunder Dragon – or its skeleton, although the ghostly light hasn’t completely gone out of its eyes.

There’s a nearby locked door, with the key glinting on a butte nearby. Link grabs it with the Beetle and finds a Timeshift Stone mine. There’s a stone in a cart, and when activated, the robot says the stone was ready to be sent to the Thunder Dragon, and at that, the cart starts moving, starting an escort quest. The stone activates monsters that need to be defeated, platforms and areas that are sinksand in the past that need to be crossed, vines that need to be climbed, and Clawshot targets that need to be Clawshotted to before the cart moves too far. (Still better than escorting Scrapper.) At the end of the path, the Timeshift Stone brings the Thunder Dragon back to life, but he’s dying and far too weak to sing his part of the song. (He offers to rename Link LD-Link-16; Skyward Sword is the sixteenth game in the series canon [1].)

The Timeshift Stone lets Link reach a new area, where he finds a different Timeshift Stone. In the present, there was a withered tree in the area, but in the past, the robots were trying to grow a Life Tree to heal Lanaryu. Link takes the seedling, and whacks the Goddess Cube in the area. The tree won’t grow in the desert, but it might grow in the spot Groose pointed out in the Temple of Time. To accelerate the process, Link plants it in the past, meaning that in the present, it’s full grown and sprouted fruit. Link brings the fruit back to the desert and tosses to Lanayru, who is immediately healed by its effect. Grateful, he teaches Link the third part of the Song of the Hero. He also says he’s got an idea for something else he can do for Link, but that’ll have to wait till Link’s next visit.

With the dragons’ contributions complete, Link returns to Levias. Levias performs his part of the Song of the Hero, but the Item Get part is disrupted when the dragons fly up to sing the complete song together. This is… it’s not as disturbing as Twilight Princess’ Interlopers story, but that moment where Link reaches for the floating harp only to be interrupted by Fi floating upside-down in his face was… something. Levias says that the song is the key to a trial which will reveal the path to the Triforce. Another Silent Realm. Great.

Next: The farewell tour.

[1] Which excludes various things like the Game & Watch game, the Satellaview games, the Tingle games, and Link’s Crossbow Training.

Skyward Sword: Flooded Faron Woods

As Link drops into Faron Woods, Fi notes that most of the locations are inaccessible at the moment. Link can land near the Temple, and that’s it. When Link come to the front of the Temple, Groose runs up and says the Imprisoned is about to break free again, so maybe coming back to Faron Woods first wasn’t the greatest idea, because it doesn’t feel like that long since the last time Link fought him. This time, it’s grown a tail; I’m not sure that changes the battle too much. It’s still sending shockwaves with every step, and seems to recover from being hit by the Groosenator faster than before. Unlike previous battles where Link could jump on its head and drive the Sealing Spike in that way, if the Imprisoned isn’t stunned, it’ll shake Link off in about a second after he tries it.

The second phase of the fight is where the real fun begins. This time, the Imprisoned can fly. No problem, Groose can still stun it, and one shot sends it falling all the way down to the bottom of the Sealed Grounds and down so Link can drive the Sealing Spike in a second time. Unless it takes so long to use the Groosenator that the Imprisoned reaches the temple, this is the easiest of the three phases. For the third phase, the game has arbitrarily cut off Groose’s supply of bombs, and the Imprisoned’s still flying. Groose has an idea: Link can come to him, and he’ll shoot Link onto the Imprisoned’s head. (Flying seems to keep it from shaking him off.) This is the awful phase. Link’s starting from the bottom of the Sealed Grounds, and so Groose only has one shot at getting Link to where he needs to be. And the aiming controls are not precise enough this time; it’s too easy to go flying over the Imprisoned, or bounce off its side, with no time left to make it back to the top of the area. Watching videos, it looks like the way to do this is to take the Groosenator around the track until it’s shooting head-on, but I found another way. When the Imprisoned gets high enough, there’s a wind geyser at the bottom of the area that will send Link all the way to the top, and then it’s just a matter of using the falling controls to land on the Imprisoned’s head and hit the Spike. The Imprisoned is sealed back up, and Link completes the seal.

Reasons why I walked away at this point and didn’t come back for a week:

1. To begin with, the Imprisoned is a terrible boss. Whack toes, drive Spike into forehead, repeat as needed. Bleh.
2. So they take this terrible boss and you have to fight it three times.
3. The third time comes too soon after the second.
4. Motion control swordplay, both because moving my arm straight up and down should not produce diagonal strikes, and because when it fails me, I swing harder, and that makes my arm sore.
5. You get one shot at a critical part of the fight that is nothing you’ve ever had to do – at least with such accuracy – before.

Now it’s time to deal with the other problem: Faron Woods. The reason Link couldn’t skydive into the woods was because they’re flooded; the gate between the woods and the temple is closed and sealed, and opening it breaks the seal which is bad times all around. Enter the Groosenator again: Groose flings Link over the temple and gate into the flooded woods. (Skydiving in – no, we can’t do that. Being flung from a catapult – sure! Also… one of the statues, the one in the big central tree, isn’t underwater…) Bucha is near where Link lands, and says the water came from the base of the tree, so Link goes to investigate, and after he makes it out of the water, Faron sees him and comes to chat.

She’s the one who flooded the woods, in an effort to get rid of the monsters. She also knows why Link’s come, but she wants him to pass another test before she’ll teach him her part of the song. Look, ma’am. Do you see any other chosen heroes with swords blessed by the goddess showing up wanting to finish off Demise? No? Then why are you giving Link a hard time? But Link doesn’t actually get to say that, so test it is. Faron splits the melody into Tadtones (note-like tadpoles, cf. the hatched Zora eggs from Majora’s Mask), spreads them all over the forest, and Link has to collect them all. They’re split into seventeen groups, and once Link starts collecting a group, he has to collect the next one soon enough after the last or restart the whole group. It’s here that it’s possible to deplete the Oxygen Blue Citrus Thing if you’re not careful and/or run into one of the purple poisoned air bubbles, but it’s generally not too much of a concern. There’s a couple groups that are tricky to find: one in a cave that needs to be blown open with a Froak, one under a lilypad that needs to be jumped on and flipped over. Once Link has them all, he returns to Faron, who teaches him her part of the song, defloods the woods, and goes home. (Once she’s gone, the enemies don’t come back – great if you want to explore peacefully, not so good if you want treasures they drop.)

Next: And this was the dragon we knew where to find…