Link takes his new paraglider and zips down to Hyrule proper, only for me to realize that there are chunks of the Great Plateau I didn’t explore and exploration is sort of this game’s big selling point. Thankfully, quick travel back up to the tower still works, and Link sets out to see the sights before continuing his quest. At this point, I decided it was time to break out one of my amiibo, the Wolf Link/Midna one. This summons a Wolf Link companion for Link. He’s only got three hearts [1], but for the easy enemies on the Great Plateau, that’s more than enough. (I mean, Link only has four.) He starts barking when enemies are near, which is great when they’re trying to sneak up on Link, but… less great when Link’s trying to sneak up on them, although with Wolf Link to split attention from enemies, stealth isn’t really needed. He’s also a good hunter, able to take down wildlife for meat (which he’ll eat if needed to refill his hearts, nice) very well… maybe a little aggressive, but good.
There are at least a dozen Koroks on the Great Plateau. They’re hidden in various ways: there’s usually something in the world designed to draw the player’s attention, and Link needs to interact with it somehow to make the Korok appear. Examples include moving a metal plate with Magnesis to find a hidden rock the Korok’s hiding under, jumping into a circle of lilies, filling an incomplete circle of stones with a nearby stone, stepping on a flower and following it as it reappears a short distance away, or simply checking out a bunch of sparkles (usually in some hard-to-get place, like at the top of a spire on the Temple, under the bridge over the frigid river, or just somewhere one might not think to look like the pool Link was sleeping in). The first Korok Link finds mentions someone named Hestu and seems surprised Link can see them, and asks Link to give Hestu a Korok Seed. The rest just greet Link, give him the Seed, and say buh-bye.
Now… I am going to try to get all the Koroks. But there’s a metric pancaketon of them, and there’s not much variety, so rather than slog the commentary down with details on every single Korok in Greater Hyrule, I’ll leave that to GameFAQs [2] and just mention milestones, new ways they’re hidden, or ones that are otherwise notable. And, of course, I’ll bring up Hestu and whatever in-game rewards gathering the seeds brings.
The other cool thing to find on the Great Plateau is in the forest region to the north, where the quest for the shrines didn’t lead. As Link approaches a rock formation, it comes to life as a major enemy, the Great Plateau Stone Talus – it gets its name, location, and health bar displayed prominently on the screen. The vulnerable spot is easy enough to see: an ore outcropping on its head. Hitting it is another matter; the monster is surprisingly nimble for a walking pile of rocks but still hits exactly as hard as you would expect a walking pile of rocks to hit. Its main attack is to throw its arms at Link; when it runs out of arms it bends down and picks up new ones. (That is a supremely weird sentence, both in construction and the visuals it summons. It makes sense when actually fighting it, though.) If Link blows up one of the arms with a bomb, the Talus is stunned for a few seconds, giving Link a chance to climb up on its head. Once there, he can get a few whacks in on the weak spot before the Talus gets angry and starts bucking and Link is thrown. Sometimes chunks of amber or flint fly from the weak spot, and when the Talus is defeated it explodes into a bunch of chunks and I even got a ruby from the wreckage.
As I was wrapping up on the Great Plateau, red and black flakes started drifting through the air, the sky turned red, and a cutscene played. Zelda speaks to Link, “Be on your guard. Ganon’s power grows… it rises to its peak under the hour of the blood moon. By its glow, the aimless spirits of monsters slain in the name of the light return to flesh. Link… please be careful.” In the cutscene, the flakes formed into the resurrected monsters. I can’t figure any particular rhyme or reason to when blood moons happen, unless it’s like Java garbage collection and the game’s using too much memory keeping dead monsters dead so it flushes that data. The early signs of a blood moon are rather alarming, but a rather cool effect.
Done enough with the Great Plateau, Link heads to the eastern side and paraglides off, ready to continue the adventure.
Next: Stop the senseless killing, can’t you hear those roses cry…
[1] There’s a way to raise this by playing Twilight Princess HD, which I fully intend to do eventually.
[2] …well, I was going to link to a Korok Seed Guide on GameFAQs, but they don’t have one! (At least, not a standalone one that I could find.)
