After completing 75% of the (base) game, I was beginning to wonder if there were going to be any puzzles based on the colors of the Links. The Color Dungeon in the Link’s Awakening remake was redesigned to improve accessibility, so I thought that may be in play here. On the first screen of the Illusory Mansion’s first stage, that thought was proven incorrect. There are platforms throughout the stage that only the matching-color Link can stand on, and the challenge is getting all the Links across gaps, aided by each getting a Boomerang as the level’s item. The stages also introduces Poes, and the second stage features colored Poes who can only be damaged by the matching Link. The final two stages feature more complex colored platform puzzles and conclude with a battle against Prankster Poes. These enemies are incorporeal and only become corporeal when a sword attack passes through them or to grab a Link and throw him into a pit. These guys are annoying, but their whole gimmick feels like something a schoolyard bully would come up with, so they’re supposed to be.
Next up is Palace Noir. The first stage is completely dark except for the lanterns the Poes in the area carry, and the key puzzle involves lighting all the torches. One of these torches takes advantage of the multiplayer aspect in a diabolical way: one Link needs to throw a fireball, and the one with the Bow needs to shoot an arrow through it. (Item three, the Gust Jar, is needed to get the Links to where they can light the final torches.) Stage two has the Links working together to transport a key through the whole level [1]. Stage three has yet another Poe variant, Key Bandit Poes. There are three keys, each originally held by the Poes. When defeated, they drop the key, but will respawn, and any Key Bandit Poe without a key chases the Link with the key and steals it back if it can. The final lock requires toteming up to reach, which takes some planning. As a warmup to the boss fight, the Links have to trap three colored Poes who try to run away when a Link gets too close. After they’re dealt with, the boss, Grim Repoe (yes, seriously), comes out. It puts out the lights, so the Link with the Fire Gloves has to relight them. Then he needs to be stunned with the Gust Jar. As he takes damage, he floats higher and higher, requiring a Totem to stun.
Level 3 is the Lone Labyrinth, and its primary feature is temporary platforms. The items are the same as last time, only switching out the Bow for a Gripshot. The first stage has a torch and two switches that need to be hit in rapid order, requiring quick action not only to get them all taken care of, but also not fall into the pit when the platforms disappear. Stage 2 has more of the platforms, including a fight against colored Poes and Chasupas on a rotating set of them. The third stage is a longer set of more of the same, with the additional complication that lighting the torches to start the next set of platforms isn’t always trivial. The final stage features a fight against ReDeads, and here the fact that Doppels don’t take damage from enemies becomes almost gamebreaking; they also don’t get paralyzed. The easiest strategy is to abuse this: when a ReDead screams, switch to a different Link who’s unaffected.
The temple in the Ruins is the Grim Temple. In the first stage, after claiming the items (Boomerang, Gripshot, Fire Gloves), a battle in the dark begins. There are torches that can reduce the “in the dark” portion. The second stage has fights on the disappearing platforms, starting with colored Poes. The third stage has the colored platforms return amidst fights with Prankster Poes and ReDeads.
The boss of the area is Prismantus, a fidget spinner with colored glowing orbs at the ends of its arms and an eye in the center. Two hits to an orb from the appropriately-colored Link turns of the light, and when all three are out, the eye is vulnerable. In the first stage it spins around the area. In the second stage, it turns on its side to roll around the arena before perching on two arms. The ones on the ground are easy enough to hit, the one in the air (which will always be the last one active) requires a full Totem. In the third stage, it perches on a single arm and unleashes a Beamos-like laser attack. Again, hit the lights, Totem up to hit the high ones, pop the eye, finish. Prismantus is probably too easy a boss for the penultimate area, but it’s fun.
Next: It’s a multiplayer Zelda game, so that means the finale is in…
[1] There are Ghinis here, which I think marks the first time we’ve seen both Ghinis and Poes in the same game.
