So now we are on a new adventure again. For the next few titles in the series; we'll be departing from the television screen and focusing on the hand-held systems. This title, much like its predecesor on the hand-held system; is not set in Hyrule. Instead, we are invited to the land of Holodrum; where the power of seasons holds predomination over the land's welfare. A major difference one can note from the very beginning between Holodrum and Koholint is that Koholint stood alone; Holodrum is linked to Hyrule (as the NPCs of the land know of Hyrule and its mythos, which are strangely linked to Holodrum as well.) This makes the transition easier, and as we already know Hyrule is real, as Holodrum is linked to it we know that we aren't in a situation similar to Koholint right off the bat. That's good news, especially know where that plot lead.
Either way; this is also the first hand-held game made for the GBC; meaning that its graphics are much better than that of Awakening. Aside from being pretty to look at, it's schematics are very similar to that of its predescesor though it adds in things from Ocarina of Time (such as multiple menu screens and more items, as well as lengthier side-quests and a more involved plot.)
This game has been called the more action-oriented of the two, and as we go through we shall discover its unique plot.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Stone Tower
This dungeon is highly original; perhaps the most original Zelda dungeon I have played. While most dungeons require you to enter once and fully explore from there; this dungeon requires you to enter and exit, and by flipping the temple, you change its structure and the puzzles within for yourself so that you can fully explore its depths. An interesting change.
Another interesting change is that the prize of this temple are the Light Arrows. Granted, this is the last of the arrow set we've gotten and the entire game's dungeon prize set has revolved around the bow (hmm...) but we still have plenty that we need to do in Termina, and the Light Arrows just make things easier to do; so they've gained a lot of use in all reality (in contrast to prior titles with Silver/Light Arrows in which they were your prize just before the final battle, so that was your only use for them.)
One of the interesting things about this temple is that while the others focused on the use of one of Link's forms in order to get around, as this is the last temple before our final showdown; you have to make skillful use of all of your forms and instead of a song which allows you to access the temple itself, this song does that but in a different way: the Elegy of Emptiness, instead of just opening a door, allows Link to make copies of himself which allows for more complex switch puzzles. Granted, this is the only way to open the door to the Stone Tower but it is a rather unique presentation of a transportation song.
The King of Ikana has bid us to rid the evil from the Stone Tower, as the reason they are cursed is all in there. Wow, the Skull Kid has really brought a lot of evil upon this land, I wonder what his beef is (I actually don't, but I won't spoil it yet.) We even get to have a showdown with the King, which is cool...good guys fighting each other, that never happens in a Zelda game!
Either way, after exploring this temple thoroughly and getting an awesome upgrade (the strongest sword in the game) we encounter Twinmold, an evil pair of sand worms? Okay, that sounds kind of Final Fantasy to me! Either way, we become a giant to face them (we may as well, as this is the only room in the game the mask works in. I understand that based on the programming, but on a pragmatic stance it isn't explained, which leaves me feeling empty.) This is the easiest boss in the game. As you go through the game, the bosses actually start with the most difficult and end with the easiest, but this can be blamed on preparedness, experience and stamina. However, were I to face Twinmold as a three-heart weakling, I'd still have better luck than I did against Odwala as the same. Admittedly, simply because of the concept of the arena he's in, Gyorg is the hardest of the four underbosses.
However, all that being said, we've now freed all four giants...we just have to collect a few random heart pieces and then we'll be taking care of that moon that's about to crash into Termina! (That thanks to the Song of Time, we've avoided that occurence several times now...yay!)
Another interesting change is that the prize of this temple are the Light Arrows. Granted, this is the last of the arrow set we've gotten and the entire game's dungeon prize set has revolved around the bow (hmm...) but we still have plenty that we need to do in Termina, and the Light Arrows just make things easier to do; so they've gained a lot of use in all reality (in contrast to prior titles with Silver/Light Arrows in which they were your prize just before the final battle, so that was your only use for them.)
One of the interesting things about this temple is that while the others focused on the use of one of Link's forms in order to get around, as this is the last temple before our final showdown; you have to make skillful use of all of your forms and instead of a song which allows you to access the temple itself, this song does that but in a different way: the Elegy of Emptiness, instead of just opening a door, allows Link to make copies of himself which allows for more complex switch puzzles. Granted, this is the only way to open the door to the Stone Tower but it is a rather unique presentation of a transportation song.
The King of Ikana has bid us to rid the evil from the Stone Tower, as the reason they are cursed is all in there. Wow, the Skull Kid has really brought a lot of evil upon this land, I wonder what his beef is (I actually don't, but I won't spoil it yet.) We even get to have a showdown with the King, which is cool...good guys fighting each other, that never happens in a Zelda game!
Either way, after exploring this temple thoroughly and getting an awesome upgrade (the strongest sword in the game) we encounter Twinmold, an evil pair of sand worms? Okay, that sounds kind of Final Fantasy to me! Either way, we become a giant to face them (we may as well, as this is the only room in the game the mask works in. I understand that based on the programming, but on a pragmatic stance it isn't explained, which leaves me feeling empty.) This is the easiest boss in the game. As you go through the game, the bosses actually start with the most difficult and end with the easiest, but this can be blamed on preparedness, experience and stamina. However, were I to face Twinmold as a three-heart weakling, I'd still have better luck than I did against Odwala as the same. Admittedly, simply because of the concept of the arena he's in, Gyorg is the hardest of the four underbosses.
However, all that being said, we've now freed all four giants...we just have to collect a few random heart pieces and then we'll be taking care of that moon that's about to crash into Termina! (That thanks to the Song of Time, we've avoided that occurence several times now...yay!)
Sunday, October 31, 2010
To Ikana!
This is the first time, I have ever made it this far in the game because the game frankly irritated me with its difficulty level to this point that I never cared up to this point. But following the deeper storyline this time; Ikana is definitely the coolest places in the game and if they had wanted to improve this game any, you would have freed Ikana from its curse earlier in the game than the other areas which involved some quite stereotypical missions (rescuing a princess, thawing a landscape and avenging a lost musical soul).
Ikana Valley is where the game truly takes its own, unique form and makes Majora's Mask as its stand in its own light, independent of Ocarina of Time, without too much frustration. Although the puzzle factor in this part of the game is still high (this whole game is centered around puzzle rather than action) it is fun to unravel the mysteries in this valley and learn about a lost kingdom within the game itself, adding more flavor to what is beyond Hyrule; this kingdom even sounds like a cool kingdom to base a whole independent Zelda in.
You start out not having any way in until you can best the Gorman brothers at racing (these two idiots look like Ingo from Ocarina of Time and act like him too...not a good synergy). Either way, this mask makes us look like a ninja and makes ninja warrior appear to do battle with us, and give us hints along our way in this last leg of our journey. They are mostly pretty cryptic, but they all point towards the fact that something happened to Ikana, though it was once a great nation, it seems...but a curse (via the Majora's Mask) has made all who enter this kingdom riddled with death.
This game gets very emotional, and it's very good in that regard; it makes you the player react not only to what is happening to Link, but to what is happening around him. I love this part of the game, I wish there was a way to skip a lot of the other stuff to get here earlier.
Either way; now that we have access to Ikana we can also complete the longest side-quest in the game; which is highly evocative but highly irritating in its timing and length. Everything has a certain time of day by which it must be completed, the whole thing takes a three-day cycle, and it has two rewards: but you can only get one of the rewards per setting, meaning you have to do this lengthy exchange twice! This is where we reunite Anju, the inkeeper, and Kafei, her fiance cursed to look like a boy. Though physically incompatible, their love overcomes all, sending a strong emotional undertone throughout the game which prevades the darkness of the overall plot. Lovely!
Ikana Valley is where the game truly takes its own, unique form and makes Majora's Mask as its stand in its own light, independent of Ocarina of Time, without too much frustration. Although the puzzle factor in this part of the game is still high (this whole game is centered around puzzle rather than action) it is fun to unravel the mysteries in this valley and learn about a lost kingdom within the game itself, adding more flavor to what is beyond Hyrule; this kingdom even sounds like a cool kingdom to base a whole independent Zelda in.
You start out not having any way in until you can best the Gorman brothers at racing (these two idiots look like Ingo from Ocarina of Time and act like him too...not a good synergy). Either way, this mask makes us look like a ninja and makes ninja warrior appear to do battle with us, and give us hints along our way in this last leg of our journey. They are mostly pretty cryptic, but they all point towards the fact that something happened to Ikana, though it was once a great nation, it seems...but a curse (via the Majora's Mask) has made all who enter this kingdom riddled with death.
This game gets very emotional, and it's very good in that regard; it makes you the player react not only to what is happening to Link, but to what is happening around him. I love this part of the game, I wish there was a way to skip a lot of the other stuff to get here earlier.
Either way; now that we have access to Ikana we can also complete the longest side-quest in the game; which is highly evocative but highly irritating in its timing and length. Everything has a certain time of day by which it must be completed, the whole thing takes a three-day cycle, and it has two rewards: but you can only get one of the rewards per setting, meaning you have to do this lengthy exchange twice! This is where we reunite Anju, the inkeeper, and Kafei, her fiance cursed to look like a boy. Though physically incompatible, their love overcomes all, sending a strong emotional undertone throughout the game which prevades the darkness of the overall plot. Lovely!
Thursday, October 28, 2010
The Mystery of Great Bay
So the next stop on our journey is the western section of Termina, which is a giant ocean surrounded by elegant seashore. This can only mean one thing: a water-based dungeon. Celebrate, right? Well, not really. Here we meet the Gerudo, who are portrayed in Termina as nothing but ruthless pirates. They were much cooler in Ocarina of Time when they had an entire civilization built around history and culture; these Gerudo are nothing but bandits. Either way, on the beech we meet the dying Mikau, a zora guitarrist who needs us to complete what he could not in life. It seems that his girlfriend's eggs were stolen by these pirates and that they are quintessential for without them, she has lost her ability to speak. So a little sleuthing around (made far easier by a mask in this game that makes it so others don't notice you) and we are taught the next song in the game. We also get to meet Mikau's gang, and by far, Zora Link is the coolest form that he gets: he's strong, he's tall, and he's the easiest on the eyes too, to be a bit shallow. What sucks about Zora Link is swimming...swimming is hard.
So all that aside, we explore a bit more for some more items and stuff and then we'll head into the temple. This temple is, by far, the hardest of the game, accompanied by the hardest boss battle you have to deal with to boot. You have to do a lot of backtracking, and to make it worse, the temple's hub room isn't all that easy to understand with hallways going this-way and that, often leading you to frustration. The goal of the temple is simple: adjust the water flow as you go so that you can access each area of the dungeon, one at a time. This is harder than it sounds, though.
Did I also mention that Gyorg is an absolute terror? This beastly fish fights you underwater and if you go down to the depths to fight him, you're a goner. He does an insane amount of damage, and he seems to be able to snag you in those jaws of his more often than seems necessary. The goal is to stun the boss, then wreak havok on him. Well, easy enough, except that to dive down to him, strike him, and then swim the hell away before he gets to chomp down on your flesh is the difficult part. Luckily the boss doesn't have an overabundance of stamina and he quickly surrenders his remains and a heart container. The seas are cleared, and we're on our way!
So all that aside, we explore a bit more for some more items and stuff and then we'll head into the temple. This temple is, by far, the hardest of the game, accompanied by the hardest boss battle you have to deal with to boot. You have to do a lot of backtracking, and to make it worse, the temple's hub room isn't all that easy to understand with hallways going this-way and that, often leading you to frustration. The goal of the temple is simple: adjust the water flow as you go so that you can access each area of the dungeon, one at a time. This is harder than it sounds, though.
Did I also mention that Gyorg is an absolute terror? This beastly fish fights you underwater and if you go down to the depths to fight him, you're a goner. He does an insane amount of damage, and he seems to be able to snag you in those jaws of his more often than seems necessary. The goal is to stun the boss, then wreak havok on him. Well, easy enough, except that to dive down to him, strike him, and then swim the hell away before he gets to chomp down on your flesh is the difficult part. Luckily the boss doesn't have an overabundance of stamina and he quickly surrenders his remains and a heart container. The seas are cleared, and we're on our way!
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Snowfall
The snowfall temple is one of the more interesting of this game's dungeons. Situated within the great mountain that the Goron race calls home (recall the fire temple, anyone) this temple is encased in ice. Apparently the goron race doesn't like ice, so this is the form of malice that has decided to befall them. Either way, up here in the mountains we assume our second transformation: the goron. This form is by far the strongest fighter if not the clumsiest looking. It's difficult to control goron link as he rolls around, but this gets easier.
The most important thing is after the temple's boss, a giant mechanical goat (ghot, lol) is defeated, the winter outside thaws and we have access to the entire mountain which allows us to sharpen our sword to the gilded sword which tremendously will help from here on out (this sword is unbreakable, transcends time/space and contains three times the attack power and twice the reach of the kokori sword which was just as lame as it was in Ocarina of Time. Link is now capable of surviving.)
The most important thing is after the temple's boss, a giant mechanical goat (ghot, lol) is defeated, the winter outside thaws and we have access to the entire mountain which allows us to sharpen our sword to the gilded sword which tremendously will help from here on out (this sword is unbreakable, transcends time/space and contains three times the attack power and twice the reach of the kokori sword which was just as lame as it was in Ocarina of Time. Link is now capable of surviving.)
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Woodfall Temple
All right, here we go. This is the game's first dungeon, and right away the difficulty level of this game becomes apparent. Granted, this is no Link's Adventure but it certainly ranks up there with it. Not only are you now timed (you can't take your time thinking on puzzles or trying to subdue the boss) but the puzzles are difficult right from the very beginning. While this dungeon is relatively short, there's a lot to do: we have to collect a bunch of stray fairies in order to gain more power, gain a new weapon (we get the Hero's Bow right away in this game, a definite plus) and unlock the mysteries one by one of the Woodfall Temple without falling victim to the poison water.
Puzzles now make use of masks as well as standard items in order to solve them, so it really takes some brain power to wrap yourself around this game. However, it is a fun new dimension as Link takes on new forms.
This boss, however (Odwala) is an extreme annoyance. He's virtually invincible and a powerful summoner with a longsword. Someone was feeling sadistic at Nintendo. Not only that, but Tatl all but tells you that you'll be dead if you get too close...which is the only way you're going to injure the thing. Go figure. As with virtually every dungeon in the series, you use the item you found within to combat the boss, and this is no different: arrows work from a safe distance to stun him so you can get in close with sword strikes. However, this boss makes a clear statement: action isn't lacking in this game either, you will be entertained.
After we're done with this yahoo, we find the Deku Princess who is another snot (there is a theme with princesses in the series, too, right? I guess like bride's maids to a bride, these princesses make Zelda seem all the more graceful and wise...although Zelda isn't in this title except for in a flashback in the very beginning.) Oh well, we cart her off (using a bottle, hehe, that's a bit unrealistic but at the same time, explains things a bit better than the girl simply following Link when she really can't) and she gives her father hell for making a rash decision in labeling her companion monkey a kidnapper. Whoo, another crisis averted!
Puzzles now make use of masks as well as standard items in order to solve them, so it really takes some brain power to wrap yourself around this game. However, it is a fun new dimension as Link takes on new forms.
This boss, however (Odwala) is an extreme annoyance. He's virtually invincible and a powerful summoner with a longsword. Someone was feeling sadistic at Nintendo. Not only that, but Tatl all but tells you that you'll be dead if you get too close...which is the only way you're going to injure the thing. Go figure. As with virtually every dungeon in the series, you use the item you found within to combat the boss, and this is no different: arrows work from a safe distance to stun him so you can get in close with sword strikes. However, this boss makes a clear statement: action isn't lacking in this game either, you will be entertained.
After we're done with this yahoo, we find the Deku Princess who is another snot (there is a theme with princesses in the series, too, right? I guess like bride's maids to a bride, these princesses make Zelda seem all the more graceful and wise...although Zelda isn't in this title except for in a flashback in the very beginning.) Oh well, we cart her off (using a bottle, hehe, that's a bit unrealistic but at the same time, explains things a bit better than the girl simply following Link when she really can't) and she gives her father hell for making a rash decision in labeling her companion monkey a kidnapper. Whoo, another crisis averted!
Monday, October 18, 2010
The Swamp
So you'd think that at this point this game starts to do something to drag you into it. Not really...only little tiny pieces of the plot have been exposed thus far (while in Ocarina of Time, the plot was thrown in your face from the beginning and never left you alone thereafter.) We journey into the woods (something I've noticed is that the Zelda series likes to put a woodland theme around its first dungeon.) These woods surround a swamp which has been polluted by some evil spirit...hmm, sound familiar? Sounds like what Ganondorf did to Hyrule, the Skull Kid is trying to do to Termina. Except that you get a nice, teary scene on your way that shows you that the Skull Kid himself wasn't a bad guy...just a trickster of sorts who was turned into the menacing villain you met in the Lost Woods.
Here, you find that the Deku (lovely creatures they are) are in charge of this region of Termina and they don't like the other races at all (what a coincidence, none of the humans in Termina like them either! Karma sucks, don't it.) So anyway, we have to pull a stunt similar to that in Ocarina of Time: we have to sneak through the palace garden a few times in order to find out that the Deku Princess and a young monkey went into the Woodfall temple to find out what was going on and the Princess was captured by an evil monster who lives inside. So now we know our mission...let's to it! Just have to sneak around again and through the woods to find that temple that only the Deku are allowed into...strange times we're living in!
Here, you find that the Deku (lovely creatures they are) are in charge of this region of Termina and they don't like the other races at all (what a coincidence, none of the humans in Termina like them either! Karma sucks, don't it.) So anyway, we have to pull a stunt similar to that in Ocarina of Time: we have to sneak through the palace garden a few times in order to find out that the Deku Princess and a young monkey went into the Woodfall temple to find out what was going on and the Princess was captured by an evil monster who lives inside. So now we know our mission...let's to it! Just have to sneak around again and through the woods to find that temple that only the Deku are allowed into...strange times we're living in!
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