Tri Force Heroes: Riverside

Madame Couture recognizes the Lady’s Glasses in Link’s possession, and now that Link has proven himself, she tells him the full story of the witch, starting with the fact that she’s her older sister. Their people have powers to create magical outfits. Couture feels bad about helping hunt down her sister, but something has to be done after what she did to Princess Styla. But she’s come up with an alternate plan: create a facsimile of The Lady’s outfit, and whoever wears it will be able to break the curse on Styla, without needing to defeat The Lady herself. Also in town, a street merchant has set up selling random treasure items. The next area is the Riverside, and the first level is the Secret Fortress. The name suggests a watery area, which is borne out not just by the terrain, but by the item in that level: the Water Rod. (I don’t think we’ve had Water Rods before. Fire, ice, sand, and tornado… but not water.) It creates a pillar of water that the Links can ride to reach higher places without Toteming, and the first stage has a bunch of cliffs to navigate, and some enemies near the end on high platforms to fight, to get familiar with its use. The pattern I noted in the Woodlands doesn’t hold here: the second stage is combat-free, with puzzles on chaining pillars together and using the water to extinguish fire. The third stage has a tricky puzzle involving moving fast enough with the pillars and a bomb to break a wall, and the final stage has enemies hovering over water or standing on island pillars that require the Water Rod to get to. Next up is the Abyss of Agony. One Link gets a bow here, the other two stick with their Water Rods. The main new obstacle in this area is rapids which can sweep the Links along, including right off a cliff, if they fall in. The second stage here is the simple combat encounter stage, and – as is typical for these encounters – it won’t activate until all three Links are in the combat area, and it took me forever to figure out what I needed to do. I was constantly exploring with one, and then two Links, but there was nothing that seemed to require the full Totem, so I never felt the need to try bringing all three down… I was stuck for quite a while. Octoroks are among the enemies here, looking more like the terrestrial version but aquatic. The third stage has a long climb up cliffs to the gate, aided by platforms controlled by wheels that can be spun by the Water Rod’s pillar of water. The final stage has another Giant Buzz Blob, with three differences from the first one: it has four stages instead of three, requiring the Links to raise themselves up to hit the weak point for the final stage; it goes underwater between stages and must be forced to surface with the Water Rod; and it has three feet instead of four, so its electric attack goes out in a Y instead of an X. The Cove of Transition has another new item; as is traditional, the water level has a Hookshot variant, this time the Gripshot. As the first Hookshot or variant to appear in a multiplayer Zelda game, the Gripshot embraces that novelty and can pull the Link to another Link/Doppel. The second stage has a combat area with water going up and down. In the third stage, using the Gripshot to guide a raft around returns (with one Link having to stand in as a guidepost). The final stage features Gyorms, shelled enemies that need to be pulled out of their shells to be vulnerable to the sword (and quickly get back in, which is frustrating for a single-player campaign). The Water Temple gives two Gripshots and one Water Rod and reintroduces the familiar element of using the Gripshot to spin wheels to raise/lower the water level. The second stage features combat in an area with few places to stand, and here came the ultimate frustration with the shared life bar and the heads-up messages every time something happens: When the Links get down to three or fewer (out of a base nine) hearts, messages start scrolling across the screen warning you you’re in the danger zone YES I KNOW I can hear it beeping and am keeping a close eye on my life bar I DO NOT WANT OR NEED THESE at least it’s better than Fi at least it’s better than Fi at least it’s better than Fi… Sorry. I’m fine now. The third stage is mostly a puzzle involving getting to a raft, then using that raft to bring the key to the door. Then the final stage has the area boss, Arrghus. The first part of this fight is the same as always: Link pulls the eyes that circle Arrghus off with the Gripshot and whacks them with his sword. When all the eyes are gone, the water drains and the Links go to the bottom of the area. Pulling the second ring of eyes requires a full Totem, which leaves little time for a Link to jump off the Totem so they can attack the eye. It’s easier to wait for Arrghus to send one out to attack, pull it closer with the Gripshot or stun it with the Water Wand, and attack. The last phase is the easiest: Arrghus’ core body has an eye, and Gripshotting it stuns it, allowing many free shots before it recovers. Next: Ground she’s moving under me / Tidal waves out on the sea…