When Link went into Lanayru chasing shrines, he met a Zora who said the Zora Prince Sidon was looking for a Hylian near the Inogo Bridge, so I set that as the next destination. I decided to come into the region via roads, starting at Riverside Stable, crossing the Horwell and Eagus Bridges, and eventually coming to the Wetland Stable. There’s not much of interest here; behind the stable, Izra looks at a treasure chest in the river and wonders what’s inside. Link pulls it out with Magnesis and shows him the sword. The local Shrine, Kaya Wan Shrine/Shields from Water, is an advanced Cryonis tutorial. The “shields” part comes up with the little Guardians all over the place, but it’s not hard to just shoot them and move on.
The road to Inogo Bridge leads north, then east, through a group of places with names derived from The Minish Cap (Crenel Hills/Peak, Trilby Plain, Thims (almost “Smith” backward) Bridge). The final stretch is just north of the area Link had already visited. Just before the bridge, there’s another Shrine, Soh Kofi, which is A Minor Test of Strength; if I hadn’t explored so much of Hateno, this would have been the first Test of Strength shrine I found and an introduction to the concept. As it is, it’s kind of a letdown; the Guardian died during the first laser circle sweep phase.
As Link approaches the Inogo Bridge, Sidon (“Zora Prince”) calls to him from atop a pillar, and jumps down to meet him. He introduces himself to Link with an arm pump and a twinkly smile, and says he finds Link’s name familiar. He goes on to describe the problem facing the Zora: Divine Beast Vah Ruta is causing massive rainfall. This is also a problem for Link for all-too-familiar reasons – although it’s scripted and planned here, so for this one section I don’t mind it so much – Link can’t climb cliffs, so he has to follow the one road in, which is infested with monsters with electric attacks. But Sidon believes in Link and gives him an elixir to defend against electricity, then leaves to go scout ahead.
The region’s tower is just up the cliffs from the bridge, but the cliffs can’t be climbed, so Link’s got to continue the journey on mostly blind. The road is clear and well-defined, so it’s hard to get lost, and Sidon pops up every now and again to shout encouragement. At first it’s fairly easy, although Water Octoroks have become deadly accurate with their attacks; in previous games they were easy to ignore and kill, but here they’re a bloody menace. The electric attacks start after Link passes through a tunnel; he comes out into a Lizalfos camp filled with archers that rain shock arrows. I’d already decided archery was the best approach to combat, and it paid off here, sniping the Lizalfos between their shots. (They drop so many arrows, I came out ahead.) There are also Electric Keese (easily picked off when they’re hanging still; the bright yellow does not allow effective camouflage) and an Electric Wizzrobe (harder than the fire type, since there’s no way to one-shot them).
Finally, Link makes it to Zora’s Domain, and Sidon comes running to greet him. Sidon wants to take Link to meet the Zora King but Link has more pressing business. First, Zora’s Domain has a shrine, Ne’ez Yohma/Pushing Power. For the shrine, Link has to run up a slope with water constantly pouring down (fortunately, Link can do this in any footwear – probably barefoot, if he wants; no need for iron booting it up at a turtle’s pace) and – more dangerously – rocks rolling down, then release an orb and guide it to its pedestal at the bottom. There’s a graceful path it can be guided along using Cryonis… or you can do it the hard way like me and use Stasis to nudge it when it’s rolling the wrong way, particularly with a tough save at the end of the shrine where you have like a second to catch it before it rolls off into the abyss.
Every settlement (town or stable) Link has visited has had an inn, which offers Link two options for resting to regain health/advance time. The basic bed just refills all Link’s hearts and, since settlements have a shrine nearby Link can teleport to and he has a free bed back at his house in Hateno, is a waste of rupees. The nicer bed gives bonus hearts; in Zora’s Domain, the nicer bed is a water bed, with the humorous touch of hearing Link bouncing around on it during the blackout cutscene.
Next: Shocking the elephant.
