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.]