The Legend of Zelda Series [Archive] - Eyes on Final Fantasy Forums

Wolf Kanno

01-22-2016, 09:30 AM

Update time!

I've decided that my lack of skill is my greatest enemy in Zelda II. I seem to like blocking punches with Link's face instead of the shield and I have a hard time getting the timing right for aerial assaults which makes the bosses a real tough fight. Rather cruel of the game to not only make the healing spell the third spell you obtain in the game but also one of the more costly abilities, still I'm grateful to have it. I really wish the game didn't start me back at Zelda's Palace when I need to continue. If there was ever a game that needed save points, it was this one. Hell, the game could do me a favor by just copying its predecessor and simply let me continue from the start of the dungeon. This one will be a slow grind it seems.

I've also come to my first major gripe with Majora's Mask. It's actually the same gripe I have with Skyward Sword: There is no simple way to do anything in this game. Pretty much double screwed myself, I finished the first dungeon and collected all of the fairy parts but I didn't know where the fairy shrine was, so I figured I would finish up the Missing Deku Princess story while I still had time (I was on the Third Day) before checking the restored swamp for that fairy shrine. Game is like, hey Mr. Butler wants to award you with an item. Cool, go to meet him, he makes me chase him through a stupid maze where getting hit with traps forces me to redo the whole maze from the beginning. I really hated doing this thing in OoT but whatever, it's probably not that long... turns out I am wrong. I screw up so much I have to reset the timeline with an hour left on the clock because I did not want to redo the whole dungeon again from scratch. Come back to find out that resetting time, also resets the fairies in the dungeon, so I basically have to redo the dungeon again anyway just to get the fairies again and open up the stupid maze race with the Butler. I just saved his smurfing kingdom, don't make me work for your damn prize (which was frankly not quite worth the aggravation) but its a bit annoying how bomb bags and masks cycle with you but some things don't... With that said, the story line is cute and I look forward to the rest of the game now that I have a better idea that getting every item in this game is likely going to require a fetch quest and probably some asinine puzzle or test of skill. Whatever, it's Zelda and I love it all the same.

Omni-Odin

01-22-2016, 02:27 PM

I've got a sig on my Zelda account for this. I love OoT and TP the most. The only games I haven't played are the Oracle games. Want to, just can't find them for cheap enough (I'm a hard copy kind of person). This is actually a series where I don't have a worst game, just least favorite. I'm a fan of MM, but just not to the point others are. I loathe time mechanics in everything, but the story was good enough and game was fun enough to look past that.

OoT=TP>WW>ALttP>ALBW>SS=MC>MM>Others

So much to love about Zelda. I'm just sad I don't think I'll be able to continue the series. I've blown money on a PS4 and Xbox1 and don't think I'll be able to afford a WiiU, no matter how good the new game looks.

Depression Moon

01-22-2016, 03:40 PM

I've only played Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask and a good chunk of Oracle of Seasons. I started Oracle of Seasons last year, but quit it when I got stuck trying to figure out how to get to the next dungeon and found out that I needed to collect three shapes that were scattered across the map and required a lot of season changing to get to. smurf that!

I don't understand the mind of the person who designed that.

Fynn

01-22-2016, 03:50 PM

Boy, would you love The Wind Waker then XD

Wolf Kanno

01-25-2016, 05:41 AM

I'm down to the last three dungeons in Link's Awakening and I'm honestly not sure where any of them are. I'm sure one is up in Tal Tal Mt. but I don't seem to know how to reach where I need to be. My only hint is to track down a frog in a location I don't remember even seeing before. Guess I'll be wandering for a bit on this one.

In Majora's Mask, I've learned that this one quest I'm trying to complete is pretty much not going to happen until I get Epona back. I've also figured that this will not happen until get further in the plot so I'm working in Snowhead with the Gorons. I have the mask and been meaning to unfreeze and follow the old Goron but alas, my free time is rare lately, so I probably won't be able to put any time into this until tomorrow night. Taking a break from Zelda II for the sake of my nerves. Trying very hard not to to break out Link to the Past or Twilight Princess.

For more conversation: What is your top five favorite dungeons in the Zelda series? Also who is Link's best companion character?

Fynn

01-25-2016, 06:06 AM

Midna is the best companion character, hands down.

Is have to think about the dungeon thing, but I'm pretty sure my number 1 is the Great Cistern from SS

theundeadhero

01-25-2016, 06:25 AM

The 4th level of the 2nd quest on the original NES Zelda. That dungeon was insane, with its hidden one-way walls, tough enemies, and careful bomb management to ensure you could even kill the last boss.

Labella

01-25-2016, 08:15 AM

I can't think of one I love most out of all the games UGH so I'll try to name my favorites from each game:

LttP: The ones I remember best are in this entry (probs cuz its my fave) Palace of Darkness hands down. Fkng LOVED the end boss def one of my fave bosses in the entire series. Well ALL the end bosses in LttP were so much damn fun to fight save for the Desert palace sand serpents (or wateva they were) stay still fkers xD
OoT: Water Temple n Shadow Temple for the music <3
TP: Arbiter's Ground, creepy n foreboding

I cant remember the rest plus its rather difficult to narrow em to down to 5 (for me nyway). I'm always excited to take on ALL the dungeons in Zelda games, challenging or not.

As for Link's best companion character Btch plz -NO CONTEST (https://49.media.tumblr.com/8d412ce2c729c0cab26657f6eeb9ba0e/tumblr_nbg1z1XFGc1rf0hsxo1_500.gif)-

Bubba

01-25-2016, 08:25 AM

Midna is the best companion character, hands down.

Agreed, Midna was my favourite too. She was just fantastically bonkers.

Favourite dungeons? I thought Inside Jabu Jabu's Belly was a pretty unique one. All the ones in ALTTP were brilliantly designed but my favourite from that? The dark world dungeon in Kakariko Town. You'd be at the bosses chamber within two minutes but there would be no boss. You then need to work who the hell the boss was, where they were and how to get them to reveal themselves. It was fantastic dungeon design.

Wolf Kanno

01-27-2016, 04:55 AM

Found the Face Shrine in Link's Awakening and got a rude welcome from the game bringing back Wizzrobes who look suspiciously a lot like FF Black Mages in this game. I'm actually somewhat stuck in this temple as I can't seem to make headway anywhere and I can't find any keys. I bummed around and picked up the Frog Song and figured out where both the last two dungeons are but I still need to find a few more Seashells to get the sword upgrade. I'm also debating on whether I should do the optional Color Dungeon.

In Zelda II, I made some better headway in the second palace and I feel I found most of the keys. Still looking for the palace treasure and the boss but got curb stomped by the new Iron Knuckles this dungeon introduced.

In MM, I acquired the Goron Lullaby and acquired three new masks (Kero, Bunny, and the Eagle) and I'm close to just getting ready to tackle Snowhead so I can move on with the story because I need to get access to Romani Ranch if I want to advance some more.

theundeadhero

01-27-2016, 05:08 AM

Wolf Kanno

01-27-2016, 05:14 AM

I may be wrong, but I seem to remember two rooms with bricks falling from the sky forming a wall in Zelda II before the treasure room. You can attack the bricks to clear a path, or run over the top of them as long as you're making sure not to get hit by the falling ones.

I passed the first room with that trap but got creamed by the Red Iron Knuckle right after it due to low health and being on my last life. I really suck at fighting them.

theundeadhero

01-27-2016, 05:35 AM

Wolf Kanno

01-27-2016, 05:40 AM

Del Murder had the right idea. Downthrust is your friend. I don't remember if you have it yet or not, but if not you can hold the down button in midair and strike lower than a normal mid-air attack. Line that up with his head.

I haven't learned it yet. I need to find the guy who teaches it but I'm trying to restrict my access to guides.

theundeadhero

01-27-2016, 05:45 AM

I haven't played the game in over 20 years, but I remember a surprising amount about it. I'll make sure not to spoil anything unless it's a direct question from now on.

Wolf Kanno

01-27-2016, 05:51 AM

I haven't played the game in over 20 years, but I remember a surprising amount about it. I'll make sure not to spoil anything unless it's a direct question from now on.

Yeah no worries man, advise is welcome in this thread, part of why I made it besides to discuss the franchise.

Wolf Kanno

01-29-2016, 03:24 AM

Update time!

I finally finished the Face Shrine in Link's Awakening. I got stuck because I didn't realize I could use the upgraded Strength Bracer to throw objects into the doors to open them and was losing my mind trying to figure out how to advance. So I'm hoping to wander around and find four more seashells so I can finally upgrade the sword. Then I'll tackle Eagle Tower (already revived the rooster) and Turtle Rock.

In Majora's Mask, I'm attempting Snowhead and have found myself in a similar predicament as I did in LA. Basically I'm having issues figuring out how to advance further into the dungeon because I need a heat source to melt all the damn ice blocking my way. That or I need Link to learn how to jump higher...

In Zelda II, I've decided I'm going after the Hammer instead of finishing up the second Palace. I feel having the Downthrust will greatly improve my survival rate against the Iron Knuckles in the dungeon.

So two more questions for the rest of you: Which game had your favorite final battle against Ganondorf/Ganon? My other question is rank the Zelda games you've played from least favorite to favorite.

Bubba

01-29-2016, 10:05 AM

Twilight Princess was the most memorable for me. The variety was fantastic. Fighting Zelda's puppet, then beast Ganon, then it cuts to a brilliant battle on horseback before the final swordfight showdown. Perfect.

Oof, list of Zeldas worst to best? Tough one... I'll go with

Zelda II
Phantom Hourglass
Skyward Sword
Legend of Zelda
Links Awakening
Ocarina of Time
Twilight Princess
A Link Between Worlds
A Link to the Past

I have to say, the only game I really didn't enjoy was Zelda II. I respect you for persevering with it, WK! I think all the others are excellent games, even the ones near the top.

Fynn

01-29-2016, 10:14 AM

I actually think the final battle in Wind Waker was the most memorable one. For a cute and cartoony game like that, it was pretty smurfing brutal. But yeah, TP's was awesome too.

So, from least favorite to favorite, it would have to be...

Zelda II
The Legend of Zelda
Ocarina of Time
Minish Cap
Majora's Mask
Wind Waker
Link's Awakening
Skyward Sword
A Link Between Worlds
Twilight Princess
A Link to the Past

And yeah, Zelda II was the biggest test of patience I've ever endured. I used to be a super patient man, like you could literally never make me angry. As you can see, this has changed. All thanks to Zelda II.

Old Manus

01-29-2016, 10:29 AM

Fynn

01-29-2016, 10:36 AM

A link to the past is a good starting point, I think. And if you'd rather start with the 3D ones, then probably Ocarina of Tike. They do have stories, even if they're not terribly robust. Though it's interesting since the later games try to make sense of the lore and tie all the others more together. Skyward Sword, for example, is the prequel to all the Zelda games, so it won't really mean much to you until you play the others. Though a lot of them follow the same basic formula of get some stuff to get the master sword -> plot twist -> some more dungeons, they're still really fun to play and solving puzzles in the dungeons is really the main draw of the series.

Bubba

01-29-2016, 10:55 AM

It's similar to Mario in that the story doesn't change massively from game to game. That still doesn't mean it isn't enjoyable. Zelda's are never massively plot-heavy, it's more about the gameplay and the experience.

I agree completely with Fynn that you should download A Link to the Past for a 2D Zelda and go with Ocarina of Time for a 3D one. I do prefer Twilight Princess as a 3D game but it's a very slow first couple of hours and may put you off.

Crop

01-29-2016, 12:30 PM

I've only ever played A Link to the Past for the SNES and I loved it. I think if I ever bought another Nintendo console, Zelda would be the first series I checked out.

Wolf Kanno

01-29-2016, 06:31 PM

Update Time:

Link's Awakening - Same as last time.

Majora's Mask - Finally took down Snowhead and got all the damn fairires. The fairy collecting quest is bringing back flashbacks of AC, and not the good kind. Other than that, the boss was pretty easy considering how much of a bitch it was to get to him. Grabbed the Big Bomb Bag from the Deku sales man, but I had to restart the cycle so it will be awhile before I can get the powder keg and start the Goron Races/Romani Ranch segment. I'm still debating whether the Time Loop aspect of the game is either brilliant or a total pain in the ass.

Zelda II - After several failed attempts, I finally got the Hammer and an extra magic and Heart container. I also gained two levels wandering around death mountain and got the fairy spell. With all this, I was able to finally reach the boss of palace 2 and was quickly killed using my last life. I do feel like I'm getting better but it's a slow process, like Demon's Souls and what not. I'll admit that getting so many items in one go was pretty exhilarating and softened my feelings towards the game a little.

theundeadhero

01-29-2016, 07:15 PM

That maze of caves to get the hammer was one of the most dreaded places in the game when I was a kid.

Wolf Kanno

01-31-2016, 04:55 PM

Update Time!

Zelda II - Completed second Palace, currently combing the graveyard for the entrance to the third palace.

Link's Awakening - Got the L2 Sword and finally reached Eagle Tower. I can honestly say that LA is my favorite of the three games so far because it hits that perfect balance of being challenging without being frustrating.

Majora's Mask - Got the Gilded Sword after having to redo the Goron Races and Snowhead boss fight because I ran out of time the first time to have it forged. Screwed up the Romani Ranch Alien Quest so I'll have to do it the next time around so I spent my time getting the Zora Mask and using it to reach some treasures that have eluded me. I've decided that the Time Travel mechanic is a cool idea but I'm not enjoying the execution because it preys too much on my completionist OCD. I'm really starting to hate redoing quests and having to wait around for arbitrary times to do them again each cycle, especially when I learn down the road I'm missing an item I need to finish it.

I Took the Red Pill

01-31-2016, 05:40 PM

Okay guys real talk

I've never played a Zelda game in my life (apart from playing the first one for about 10 minutes once a long time ago and not understanding it), and know absolutely nothing about it apart from it involving some elf guy. I have recently taken a mate's Wii off his hands for a tenner and now own my first ever Nintendo console. Now may finally be the time to try this game that everyone seems to rave about. I have some questions:

1. Which one should I play
2. Is the game going to keep my interest (ie. does it have some kind of plot as we're on like the 30th iteration of Mario now and it's still the same game)
3. Can/should I get the older ones on the Virtual Console

Thank you for your cooperation.Ocarina of Time has definitely aged better than most N64 games but I really can't see a single reason to recommend it over a newer Zelda game. I'd recommend starting with Twilight Princess for 3D, it's one of my favorite games of all time. Either that or Windwaker. Two very different games; a decent idea might be to watch 5 or 10 minutes of gameplay from each game on Youtube and decide which grabs you more. Skyward Sword is fairly lame and poorly put together imo, so I'm going to recommend against that, though it seems to be a pretty divisive game among fans so my opinion is certainly not law.

The stories in Zelda games are nothing special usually, but as a Twilight Princess fanboy I'll say that I enjoyed its plot the most.

Wolf Kanno

02-04-2016, 10:07 AM

Update Time!

Zelda II - still trying to find the third Palace, getting my ass handed to me in random encounters in the graveyard because the enemies drain XP in addition to damaging me, so I'm kind of stuck there.

Majora's Mask - Saved the cows from Them, beat the Gormani Bros. in a race, restored the spirit of the Circus Ringmaster, saved the Milk delivery, and now I'm back to the new cycle. I am very happy to know the hookshot is the next major item I'm getting cause it's always been my favorite tool and lord knows it's going to make traversing the world easier. Guess it's time to fight some pirates and save a Zora Rock Band.

Link's Awakening - Finished, the final boss was surprisingly mean with his various forms, but you'll be happy to know I fought him fairly despite knowing the Boomerang absolutely destroys him. Great ending with some really twisted puzzles and dungeons. My only regret is that I didn't play this game sooner. Really somber and bittersweet ending when you think about it. The Wand is a bit overpowered though. I also did decide to do the Color Dungeon which was deceptively easy with the only section giving me a hard time were the color floor rooms that change color when you step on them. You almost think there is a puzzle in these rooms but you would be wrong. I chose the Red Tunic (Doubles your Attack power) but I still had some issues facing off against DeathI/Nightmare. Game had a pretty good story considering the series is still light on plot. You can definitely see how this game is the missing link (pun not intended) between LttP's and OoT design. I may have to re-evaluate my ranking of the series now.

Bubba

02-04-2016, 11:22 AM

Wolf Kanno

02-05-2016, 03:21 AM

Good effort playing three of these at one time, WK! I'm not sure I could concentrate on more than one at a time due to the similar plots they all have.

I should probably dust off my copy of Links Awakening actually. It's sat in my GB Advance case and hasn't been touched in years. Maybe when I finish FFII on my Vita I'll have that as my new commuting game.

Well it helps I'm playing the entries that are all pretty radically different from each other. From a gameplay standpoint Link's Adventure is the closest to traditional, though Majora's Mask isn't a huge leap from it in itself but the time travel mechanic does change how you approach the game and give it a new spin. So it's actually like playing three different games to be honest. Like playing FFTactics, a numbered entry, and TheaterRhythm, yeah they're all Final Fantasy but they each have a different feel and playstyle.

Funny enough, Ganon isn't really in any of these games. You see him if you die in Zelda II but there is no real villain and the plot is about reviving an older Zelda by finding the Triforce of Courage. Link's Awakening and Majora's Mask don't even take place in Hyrule and Zelda and Ganon get passing mentions with Link being the sole star. Granted both games certainly feel like "leftover" titles (This isn't a bad thing) basically feeling like games that utilized ideas that got cut from Link to the Past and Ocarina of Time, but they are pretty solid titles overall. I'm thinking of adding Four Sword Adventure into the mix to fill the hole left in my handheld department.

Wolf Kanno

02-06-2016, 08:44 AM

Update Time!

Didn't get really far last night.

Zelda II - Found the Island Palace, royally got my ass handed to me in the third or fourth room. Decided I needed a less stessful evening and shelved it for another night.

Majora's Mask - Houston we've obtained the Hookshot! Aaaannnd It's not as cool as other Zelda games due to being a bit more limited when it works. I also reached Spectacle Rock but can't seem to beat the Sea Snakes cause the Zora form doesn't seem as useful as you would think. I did use it to beat the first Gold Skulltala house in the Swamp. I'll probably tackle the one in the Great Bay next cycle. I need that Wallet upgrade so I can finally purchase the All-Night Mask. Still kind of trying to figure out what I need to do in the Great Bay. I know I'm looking for Zora Eggs but the pirates seem to have lost them too. I also visited the Ikana Canyon but can't progress further because I don't have the Ice Arrows yet I think? I also got the Captain's Mask finally. I beat this guy before but couldn't acquire his Mask cause I didn't have the hookshot yet. Couldn't get the treasure under the graveyard due to running out of time.

Four Swords - Finished the Trial Zone and in the Sea of Trees area. Game is pretty simple and you can tell it's just an add-on party game. My only real beef is that there doesn't seem to be a way to save unless you clear a zone I assume, so I progressed pretty far in the area but will have to start from square one cause I couldn't save and the 3DS doesn't have a Quick Save feature for this game like it did for my other downloaded games. With that said, this game looks to be really short overall.

Anyway, all of this is going to have to be on hold for awhile because my co-worker got a new copy of Wind Waker and lent it to me, and lo and behold this one works. Since I'm obligated to give it back soon, I will be focusing all my efforts on this game from now on. I'm happy I'll finally be able to say I've played all of the mainline Zelda games as well with this entry.

Wolf Kanno

02-08-2016, 09:46 AM

Update Time!

Well the copy had some issues as well but I think it's fixed now...

Zelda II - Still trapped in the Island Palace. Debating about abusing the the Fairy Spell to cheese my way through it. :shifty:

Four Swords - Sea of Trees cleared. Game is nice if you need mindless entertainment but definetly a party game that I wish I could play with someone...

Majora's Mask - Still clueless on how to help the Zoras. Trying my hand with the new Skulltala dungeon but this one is a bit tricker than the last one... Just realized I can also finally finish the Kaifei quest now that I have access to Epona.

Spirit Tracks - Forgot I had this game so I started it up. Really cute so far. I love using the Stylus to control the train and the stylus controls are a big improvement over Phantom Hourglass. I really like this Zelda as well. Just got my ass handed to me by the bad guys and saw Spirit Tower is destroyed. Zelda's body has been carried away and I woke up in the castle...

Wind Waker - So this game also had a bad habit of crashing so I originally got all the way up to Dragon Roost Island before the game crashed and I learned far too late that I never saved... Which is why I prefer save points over "save anywhere" options because they tend to remind me to save. Anyway, restarted the game and caught up to where I left off and even finished the first real dungeon to obtain my first Plot Coupon. So far I really love how expressive Link is in this game and I'm still a bit amazed by how fluid the animation is. I have a sneaking suspension that going back to TP or SS is going to feel a bit like a downgrade despite the more intricate character design. I love how the game uses music and sound to help clue you in on enemies and when to attack, I tend to do better with audio cues than visual ones hanks to years of Rhythm games. I also feel like this Link is tied with SS Link for being just a cosmic butt monkey. Guy cannot catch a break and this still just feeds into my fan theory that Link being cursed to be the hero for screwing up badly. Also Tingle's design is a lot more appealing in this game than his nightmare fuel design from Majora's Mask. So far a really fun game and I can't wait to play more when I get some free time.

Fynn

02-08-2016, 10:55 AM

This may sound weird, but I actually love Tingle so much

Sephiroth

02-08-2016, 11:57 AM

I am currently on my first Twilight Princess playthrough. When a game begins and is already on the road of being better than a Link to the Past for me, it must be a very good game.

Fynn

02-08-2016, 12:03 PM

Twilight Princess is a really good game. One of the last games that actually made me feel something. And the soundtrack is probably the best in the series.

Galuf

02-08-2016, 12:43 PM

yep im with Fynn, TP is awesome. the dungeons feel more Ambient and its still challenging too

Wolf Kanno

02-09-2016, 09:27 AM

Update Time!

Most of the games haven't been touched except for two.

Spirit Tracks - Didn't get terribly far, obtained the first Railway map to the first plot coupon area. I love the fact that the little escort Princess Zelda tutorial at the beginning of the game gets twisted around later when it's revealed that Zelda will be doing this for Link for the rest of the game. I have to say, this may be my favorite incarnation of Zelda in the series. While she's a bit more gender-stereotype than her ancestor from WW, it really works for character and story. For those wondering what I mean, this game is kind of a giant lampshade hanging by Nintendo about how utterly useless Zelda is for most of the series. She literally has a line where she tells Link to go ahead without her and she'll wait for him to do the heavy lifting while she waits, "because that is apparently a tradition among princesses" and then she is utterly dumbfounded when one of the Sages tells her that she should actually be the one to help Link when the situation shows he can't do this quest on his own. Honestly she's really fun to watch and easily one of the most animated incarnations of her. The first time she possesses one of the Phantom Knight Armour is hilarious.

Wind Waker - Okay, discovered my first real beef with this game that doesn't involve the disc being a bit damage so it randomly crashes when I transition from indoor to outdoor locations. This game is surprisingly linear and one of the first entries to blatanly railroad you. Granted the series has been somewhat linear since Ocarina of Time and the series always has a way of forcing you to go the way it wants you to but this is the first time where you honestly have the means to go where you want and the game will stop everything to tell you to go to the next designated area. I'm on the open sea and if I travel too far off course, my ship will stop everything and tell me to get back on course before turning around. Kind of surprised me, but it's not quite as aggravating as Skyward Sword's "Go here, but not until I tell you it's time and not before I make you do a few stupid things to amuse me before that" nonsense.

I've just reached the Great Deku Tree and I kind of really like how the game actually plays around with the idea of their actually being a Link people remember before this (though still just in legend format) and how no one really expects this Link to actually do anything remarkable. He hasn't yet been designated as some Hero of Prophecy like most of the Link's and instead has a bit more of a personal reason for his quest that doesn't involve Zelda or saving Hyrule.

The game is also a bit more platform heavy than I would care for but I'll get over it. I just arrived in the Forbidden Woods. I also now have two bottles which might be a record for just casually acquiring them as opposed to the hurdles usually thrown in your way to get them in earlier titles. I'm still trying to figure out why I need six of these things in Majora's Mask...

I've also decided, after looking at the timeline, that for all the praise and fan admiration the Hero of Time incarnation of Link gets, he's the one who really drops the ball as Ganondorf/Ganon pretty much walks away from their battle to terrorize Hyrule regardless of what he does. It's the later incarnations of Link(LoZ, WW, and TP) that finally put him down for good. So he basically just delays the inevitable instead of finishing the job...

For fun topics:
Which incarnation of Zelda is your favorite?
Which incarnation of Link is your favorite?

Fynn

02-09-2016, 09:49 AM

Skyward Sword Zelda is definitely the best. I mean she is so CUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUTE :flirt:

http://www.nintendojo.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/zelda-skyward-sword_xq4n2.T1280-640x360.jpg

Plus, the relationship she has with Link is just amazing. You can really feel how much they care for each other since the beginning.

Special mention goes to Hilda from A Linkt Between Worlds.

http://www.zeldadungeon.net/wiki/images/8/84/Hilda.completestaff.png

Apart from her being an awesome character, I never knew I needed a black-haired Zelda so much until I saw her. She's like, Evanescence Zelda.

As for favorite Link.

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/8d/78/50/8d7850f7ca19ea7ba987e75ef2a0fed3.jpg

HE CARRIES PUPPIES AROUND LIKE THEY'RE LITTLE BABIES I CAAAAAAAAAAAAN'T!!!!! :omgomg:

But really, he changes into a badass wolf, which is always amazing, you can tell he loves animals with how he treats those dogs and Epona, plus he has the best hair. He's an adorable muffin that I just can't get enough of :love:

Ayen

02-10-2016, 02:08 AM

My favorite incarnations are from the same game. Ocarina of Time for character, Twilight Princess for character design.

Wolf Kanno

02-13-2016, 08:27 PM

Update time!

Seems like a while since I've done one of these. I've been pretty busy but needed some Zelda to calm me down and keep me sane.

Spirit Tracks - This slowed to a crawl due to technical limitations. I should have seen this coming as I had a similar problem with Phantom Hourglass. The game uses the Mic/blow effect more substantially than most DS titles and while the 3DS does have a Mic function, I get the impression it wasn't the highest priority for the new system as it never seems as user friendly as the original DS one. So now that's I've uncovered and recharged my DS, the game has been going by smoothly.

I really like the use of the Mic for the Pan Flute sections and I've finished the Forest Temple rather quickly, only to discover this game pulls the same stunt as PH did and now I have to go back to the Spirit Tower to unlock the next section of the game. The dungeon isn't annoying but it's padding nonetheless. I was also going to make a comment on WW about how straightforward and easy the dungeons and puzzles have been in the game but now that I've had a chance to seriously get into this game, WW might as well be Dark Souls. The dungeon was really simple and the game kind of holds your hand through the puzzles which was a bit disheartening. The boss was also incredibly easy to beat (had more problems with the Mini-Boss) with a pretty simple pattern and use of the dungeon tool.

With all that said, I did die. During the train section, which has easily been one of the more interesting new additions to this game. It's especially interesting to play this while also doing WW with the boat mechanic. The game is fun and charming but it's also reminding me of playing through PH, which was fun and novel as well but overall a pretty forgettable experience since the game lacked any real challenge.

Wind Waker - Seeing how this is borrowed, I've been putting more time into this one. Finally uncovered the whole map which was unnecessarily tedious and I've dealt with both the Forest Haven, acquiring Bombs, the Tower of the Gods (seriously, am I the only person who thinks Link is being cursed?! Either that or the Goddesses are just real dicks) got the Master Sword, finally rescued my sister and met Ganon only to learn (surprise surprise) that I need to collect some more plot coupons before I can really challenge Ganon.

Story-wise, I'm really digging what WW is doing here. Despite the cheerful design and color-scheme, WW is a pretty somber story. There is a real sense that Ganondorf can't really be defeated and that many of the important figures of the world are either praying the Hero of Time will return or that the current Link may have a slim chance to stop him before his powers fully recover. I really like how this Link can't quite catch a break, despite every accomplishment he's made so far in the story, the guy gets no respect from anyone and he's treated as an after thought in comparison to the hero of legend. It's a really cool dynamic as often the Zelda titles are so far apart that the various Link's roles are often forgotten in the legend or been corrupted. So to have a story where a previous Link is still fondly remembered is a really cool angle for the story. A Link Between Worlds had touches of this in it's story as well though it had more to do with a past Hyrule Link compared to Lorule's plight.

On the gameplay side, I'm a bit conflicted. I've decided that despite not being as cool as the hookshot, I do like the grappling hook once I figured out the odds and ends with it. The game's large map and myriad of little islands gives the impression that the devs were really trying to recreate the feel of the older top-down Zelda games as opposed to the afterthought overworld maps of OoT and MM. The issue here is that sailing around is a bit tedious and time consuming. I'm already dreading the idea of scouring the map for the Trifoce shards. I'm happy I finally got the WW song for the teleporting cyclones but I still feel like it won't be enough. I already find the treasure map element of the game to be a cute if flawed idea since it again just feels like unnecessary padding. Yes, kind citizen that I just helped, give me a treasure map instead of the heart piece it leads me to so I can tack on another fifteen minutes to the game clock, not like I don't have better things to do with my time.

For now, I plan on finishing up some quests in Windfall Island and then I'm tackling the Fire Mountain and Ice Ring dungeons so I can acquire the items there to make traversing this game a bit easier. The game has been a real treat, but the criticisms I've heard about it are certainly bearing truth.

Questions for the thread:

Favorite incarnation of Ganondorf/Ganon?
Favorite Major villain that isn't Ganon/Ganondorf?
Favorite NPC?

Ayen

02-13-2016, 11:56 PM

Ocarina of Time
Veran
SARIA! I'LL COME BACK FOR YOU SARIA!

Fynn

02-14-2016, 12:08 AM

http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/ab148/VanitusSpriter/Ganon_Render.png

Not sure if he counts
http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/zelda/images/d/d7/Ghirahim_Artwork.png/revision/latest?cb=20110608165337

If Girahim doesn't count, then definitely

http://images7.alphacoders.com/531/531827.jpg

Aaaaand

http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/zelda/images/e/e8/Tingle_The_Wind_Waker_HD.png/revision/latest?cb=20140105171956&path-prefix=es

Depression Moon

02-14-2016, 02:02 AM

I just lost about two hours of gameplay time in Ocarina of Time. I loaded up my save from beating the first dungeon and wandered Hyrule Field, then went to Hyrule Castle Town, talked to all the NPCs, did the shooting gallery, went to the Temple of Time, talked to Zelda, went to Lon Lon ranch, Kakariko, learned the Sun's Song, got my second bottle and then went back to Kokiri Forest where I came to the two Skull Kids where I had to copy their songs. I got frustrated that I couldn't remember the whole thing to get the Heat Piece so I zipped back quick to get a pencil and paper with the controller still in my hand, my system shook slightly, and then my game froze.

....

I said I was going to wait to save until after I got Saria's Song...

Wolf Kanno

02-15-2016, 09:18 AM

It's crunch time for Wind Waker so I'm pouring all my energy into finishing it soon. Just completed the Earth Temple and awakened the Earth Sage, time to tackle the Wind Temple next. The Earth Temple was a pretty cool undead temple with clever uses of the light puzzles from OoT. Lots of setup, but I'm digging the partnering aspect of the temple and understand a bit better why the cooperative Link games seem to pop up more in this timeline.

Sadly, I don't think I'll be able to collect all the heart containers as I'm not really in the mood to go after all my treasure maps to find the ones I've missed and second, I heard about the "save the tree" quest, and that just sounds like a nightmare. I've decided that the Deku Leaf is my favorite Item in the game, it's just so damn convenient.

Wolf Kanno

02-17-2016, 09:34 AM

Update Time!

Finished the Wind Temple and it may join the ranks of one of my least favorite dungeons in the series. Of anything, it's made me learn that I tend to dread multi-floor fungeons where the objective is to reach a "top" so you can crash down to a specific "bottom". I'm looking at you Ice Dungeon from LttP and Fire Temple from OoT.

Anyway, it's done and now I'm off to seek out the Triforce of Courage, by which I mean the maps to find them but also need to be translated by Tingle... Yeah, I can honestly say that nothing says slap in the face like the Treasure Map system in this game. No, adventurer, I'm not going to give you Rupees or a Heart Container, I'm giving you a treasure map so you can spend more time looking for it. It's like the designers were going out of their way to pad this game out. Guess too many fans whined about how their Action-Adventure-RPG-Hybrid Toaster game was too short and wasn't competing well with the 60+ hour JRPGs of the day. :roll2

Anyway, I've already acquired five of the Triforce maps and even got my first shard. I just acquired the Ghost Ship map so I can find the ship and actually get the Triforce map on it. and with the Hookshot, I can get the few I'm missing. I kind of want to go back to Windhill Island and finish some quests there but I don't really know if I have the time and I may have to look up some of the answers because a few of them are perplexing me a bit.

Fynn

02-17-2016, 09:37 AM

Oh God the Triforce Pieces :roll2:

Wolf Kanno

02-18-2016, 06:25 PM

Update Time!

Spirit Tracks - Got the map for the Snow Hills region. Kind of sad the Phantom Zelda aspect of the game seems to be relegated to just the Spirit Tower. Before I move onto the next region though, I need to upgrade my Train, so I'm taking Alanzo back to Link's hometown. I am also surprised to learn that Link's old man roommate Niko, is actually the same Niko from Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass. Dude lived to be over a hundred.

Wind Waker - Finally collected all of the Triforce maps and shards, felt like there was some missed opportunity with the Ghost Ship, which is probably why a Ghost Ship features prominently in Phantom Hourglass. I got to Ganon's Tower and had my Mega Man moment of the Boss Rush. I love how the game chose like three of my least favorite puzzle ideas from previous dungeons to do the rooms. In that way, the game really does remind me of Ocarina of Time. I opened the portal back to the surface and I'm kind of stuck so I saved. I'm sure actually going back to the game when it's not almost 3am over here will allow me to see the easy solution to the problem. This part has definitely been the low point of an otherwise pretty solid game.

Wolf Kanno

02-19-2016, 09:27 AM

Update Time!

Wind Waker - Done and done. I'll need to return this to my friend soon so I can't complete everything I wanted (not to mention some things are too late/not worth it. Pretty fun game with a cool story, art direction, and music. The dungeons were interesting if a bit simple compared to the crap Majora's Mask and the 2D Zelda games throw at you. In fact the game overall was easier than other Zelda games (since when did enemies grow so weak they take a fourth of a heart piece?!) but I did really enjoy the final confrontation with Ganondorf. Tetra was an interesting, if a bit underwhelming take on Zelda (poor girl can't catch a break) and I was a bit sad her role and her crew didn't pop up more in the story. Overall, it was a fun game, but I still stand by my assessment that Twilight Princess is the best of the 3D entries.

Now that this is over, I can return to the other Zelda titles.

Majora's Mask - Finally figured out what I was doing wrong with the Zora quest. A) I need to actually read the characters directions on how to use the Zora Mask so he doesn't suck. B) Understand that despite the fugly N64 graphics this game has, that I should be more careful when looking around and not mistake entrance ways as just part of the scenery. I didn't get much done, but I did upgrade my wallet to the Giant's version and obtained the Stone Mask. I'm also close to getting the All-Night Mask. Afterwards, I plan on doing the Kafei Quest to completion now that I can get to the Mask Thief's lair a bit easier.

One of the interesting things about going back to MM after playing WW was certain things I took for granted and proof of why the N64 controller kind of sucked. Having a controllable, mostly full rotational camera to look around is a godsend. I've been playing WW so hard lately that it's been difficult translating back to MM's controls because I used the camera extensively to get the right angle in these games. Also money, while money has always had limited use in the series, it's a bit weird how Rupees practically fell from the sky and I was losing dough from having small wallets in WW; but due to the groundhog day loop and just the fact money doesn't appear under almost every blade of grass, money is a bit hard to come by in MM. Especially annoying because it's actually useful here seeing how I have to play all the damn carnival games to get the upgrades for the bomb bag and Quiver. Also, I feel like Blue Potions are not going to be terribly useful seeing how it's kind of a pain in the ass to get them since one requires me to actually hoof it to a specific location and the other is stuck behind a quest that locks it into a Day 2 or 3 use.

In other Zelda related news, I picked up the manga adaption of A Link to the Past by Cyborg 009 creator, Shotaro Ishinomori. This is a bit significant for me because this was the comic showed in Nintendo Power around the time of the game's release and I still imagine this version while playing through the game. Oddly enough, the manga adaption is actually a bit more depressing and less fairy tale than the actual game. It does an interesting job of creating a nice bond between Zelda and Link and it actually may have led to some of the inspiration for later Zelda elements. Like the cheesy U.S. cartoon series, Link acquires a Fairy as a personal friend that journeys with him over the course of the story. The moon in the dark world has a face (that's melting off) which Majora's Mask used, and Link doesn't transform into a cute bunny in the Dark World, he never fully transforms but it's apparent his form is actually that of a wolf...

Anyway, it's a pretty good read even if the art style is distinctly 60s anime retro and the artwork presents Hyrule closer to an actual medieval setting as opposed to the more eccentric variation the games often feature. It even adds a character to the story that's not in the game or world, but he surprisingly works better than the chick who appeared in the more recent manga adaption.

Wolf Kanno

06-19-2016, 06:18 PM

Well Breath of the Wild has me back in a Zelda mood, so now that I finished Mass Effect 3, I've unhooked the PS3 and brought the Wii back in to finish up some Zelda goodness.

Update Time!

Zelda 2 - Tried to get a bit farther in the Island Temple, lots of nasty enemies in this one and Iron Knuckles are still the bane of my existence, especially now that they are more prominent. I at least obtained two keys before I was unceremoniously killed off. Good times...

Majora's Mask - Thank goodness, I finally got all the stupid Zora Eggs. Got really annoyed when it turned out I needed that sea horse to reach Pinnacle Rock, and so I had to hoof it back to the Pirate;s Den to take a picture, only for him to hate the picture. I am so happy I got the Stone Mask, made this section a breeze, but I still had to slow down time to get everything done. Got the Zora song for the Great Bay Dungeon and reset the timer since it was Day 3 by this point. Hopefully I can get through this dungeon without too many issues.

Wolf Kanno

06-21-2016, 07:57 PM

Update Time:

Legend of Zelda: Four Sword Adventure - Finished. The game is surprisingly short and I'm still a bit miffed it's counted as part of the series proper since nothing interesting happens in it. Not a bad game but like all the Multi-Link games, it's best played with friends than as a solo experience. Vaati was a joke of a final boss. There is a new dungeon that unlocks after you beat the story proper but I'm not terribly interested in tackling at the moment.

Zelda 2 - Still trying to complete the Island Temple and I finally got introduced to the infamous Blue Iron Knuckles who have ridiculous health, cheating A.I. in terms of defending themselves, and they have Link's Beam Sword in addition to the standard Iron Knuckle better reach. Not a fun time. I don't really feel like grinding anymore in this game but I may have to. In good news, I did obtain the Raft from the palace, so all I need to do is reach the boss and beat them to finish the dungeon.

Majora's Mask - Great Bay Temple can kiss my ass. Its not hard per se, it's just tedious to get around in and it took me a moment to realize how I should be using the Ice Arrows in this dungeon. The Zora Swimming mechanics are not that great, and while he's a better fighter then the other Masks, I'll take regular Link thank you. I was pretty happy to see the mini-boss was the return of the Boss of LttP's Water Temple. Other than that, I simply ran out of time, and I'm finding it harder to find all the damn fairies within the dungeon. It is moments like this that make me hate the time limit mechanic in this game.

Link to the Past - Got nostalgic for this game after discussing it with a friend. I have blown through most of it in a day, I'm currently at the point I simply need to tackle Misery Mire and Turtle Rock. I'm only missing one item that is not obtained in a dungeon (Cane of Byrna) and I only need three more heart pieces to get the last hidden Heart Container. Been having a blast with this game.

Ayen

06-23-2016, 07:14 AM

I needed to share this:

http://i.imgur.com/WvpSLXj.jpg

Made me lol. Also this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mdQdYtEybg

Wolf Kanno

06-23-2016, 10:05 AM

Zelda 2 - Finally reached the boss of the Island Palace, who is a douche for being two bosses in one. He starts the fight running back and forth on the screen riding a horse and only the horse can be damaged. Once the horse is down, you fight him. He's basically a souped up Blue Iron Knuckle and he can back out of the screen but still attack you off screen with his sword beams. A quick death later, I decided to grind another level.

Majora's Mask - Took down the Ocean Bay Temple, slightly annoyed I had to look up how to reach one lousy treasure chest to get the last fairy in the dungeon. Even more annoyed when I discovered how stupidly easy the solution was... Anyway, the boss of this temple was much more challenging than the previous two bosses. Made me a bit happy I had the foresight to leave the dungeon and turn in the fairies for the double defense bonus. I've decided I'm lacking in hearts for this game as I'm close to the end and I still don't even have half the hearts in the game. So I'll be spending my next playthrough gaining more hearts pieces and doing the Kafei quest.

Link to the Past - Doing Misery Mire and came pretty damn close to finishing the dungeon but I was rushing through it and took too many unnecessary hits, resulting in me using up my fairies and getting killed off by the boss before I realized I had no more fairies. Oh well, the dungeon isn't terribly hard, at least not compared to the damn Ice Palace. I also picked up the Cane of Byrna, but I'm still missing three heart pieces.

Bubba

06-23-2016, 03:08 PM

Link to the Past - Doing Misery Mire and came pretty damn close to finishing the dungeon but I was rushing through it and took too many unnecessary hits, resulting in me using up my fairies and getting killed off by the boss before I realized I had no more fairies. Oh well, the dungeon isn't terribly hard, at least not compared to the damn Ice Palace. I also picked up the Cane of Byrna, but I'm still missing three heart pieces.

There's definitely a Heart piece in the Turtle Rock Dungeon, plus one just before it too. Also, I always miss the one halfway up Death Mountain too where you to jump off the cliff to a doorway.

Wolf Kanno

06-23-2016, 09:40 PM

Wolf Kanno

06-23-2016, 11:16 PM

Found the last two pieces. Besides Turtle Rock I was missing two really easy to get pieces from Karaikko Village. As usual, I was so focused trying to grab the hard ones (like the ones from the mini-games) that I missed the easier ones.

Anyway, took down Misery Mire and completed Turtle Rock, which is still one of the harder dungeons in this game. All that is left to do is upgrade the Sword and Arrows a final time, and then Ganon's Tower. I've decided I'm going to fight Ganon fairly this time around. No screwing with him with the Bug Net, no using the Magic Cape to no sell all of his attacks while I beat him to a bloody pulp, none of that.

Wolf Kanno

06-24-2016, 08:08 PM

Zelda II - Gained another level and got thrashed by the boss of the Island Palace again. My main issue is that I can't seem to reach him without being on my last life with little to no magic left. The biggest factor being that the area just before the boss involves breaking through some blocks to take one of three paths to his room. In each path is one or two Iron Knuckles. The correct path involves one with a Red and Blue Iron Knuckle that are separated by a wall. I only need to fight the red one, but the blue one has sword beams and can attack me through the wall. They work together as well, so the red tries to push me back to keep the Blue one on the screen so he can attack me, and his attacks destroy my health. Yet, I'd probably take just as much damage trying to kill the Blue one first. Did I mention that my sword beams can't hurt them so there is no way to snipe them?

Majora's Mask - Took a break from the main quest to finally complete the Kafei quest. Talk about leaving it to the last minute. The quest ends almost during the final hour of the three days. It was a cool story but way too time consuming at times. I still need to do it two more times to get the fifth bottle (which I'm debating about since I have four of them and they are rather useless in this game) and getting another of the masks. I only need three more masks to complete the requirement needed to get the Fierce Deity Mask.

Link to the Past - Done and done, honestly Ganon is nastier during the second phase of the fight where the Cape and Cane are useless because he starts turning invisible until you light the torches. The fight can be pretty frustrating, but not because Ganon can kill you easily, rather he tends to knock you off the platform and force you to fight him all over again, including his first phase where he's just teleporting and trying to hit you with his trident and fire keese. Still I beat him down without too much hassle, and soaked in the ending, remembering why this is one of my favorite entries in the series. I loved the Wishing Well to get Bomb and Arrow increases and the Gold and Silver Axe quest to get a lot of the upgrades in this game. The dungeons are all intricate and have at least one or two cool elements that keep them memorable and I enjoy the world and setting, even if its still pretty basic compared to how much the later entries expand on it. Its also interesting to not how this game introduces some legacy elements of the series, yet still holds onto elements from the early installments. The most obvious being how beating Ganon has reversed between LttP and OoT. In LttP, Link needs the Master Sword to stun Ganon, because like the first entry, only the Silver/Light arrows can actually harm him. In OoT and going forward, its the opposite with the Light Arrows needed to stun him because only the master sword can hurt him.

With LttP out of the way, I'm charging up my DS to get back to work on Spirit Tracks. I've come to the conclusion that the Missing Hero Timeline is the weakest game-wise of the split timeline, with the Fallen Hero Timeline having all of the best entries followed by the Child Timeline.

So which Timeline do you feel has the best collection of games?

Galuf

06-24-2016, 08:30 PM

OoT MM TP

Depression Moon

06-24-2016, 11:17 PM

Hmm. Maybe I should attempt to finish Oracle of Seasons.

Wolf Kanno

06-25-2016, 10:07 AM

Update Time!

Zelda II - Island Palace cleared, as I figured, just reaching the son of a bitch with an extra life was enough to finally overtake him. I was also a bit annoyed to discover that the level I gained in my last playthrough was lost because I didn't save when I thought I did. So I may grind another level or two before continuing on. Ran into Tektites and I don't think I've ever feared them as much as I do in this game. They're fast, hit hard, and only the spell that lets your sword shoot fire can actually hurt them.

Spirit Tracks - Forgot that I quit playing this after I finished a really annoying boss and was promptly killed shortly after before saving. So I beat him again to complete the second temple in the game. Basically this boss used both fire and ice magic, and the trick was to use the boomerang to grab one element and then hit him while he was trying to use the opposing element. He has several phases that are more and more annoying but the real issue with this fight is the controls. You have to draw a path for the boomerang to go with the bottom screen, but the fight doesn't pause to do this, to make matter worse, you have to use the bottom screen to do even simple things like swing your sword and move. So using the boomerang leaves me a sitting duck for his attacks. Two health potions later I beat him again, got some Bombs in a shop, and returned to the Spirit Tower to get the map of the next location.

Honestly, the Spirit Tower (where Princess Zelda actually does something) is the best part of the game. The puzzles are more ingenious and many of the games gimmicks actually come together really well. The normal dungeons are painfully easy. in comparison. This section involved lighting torches to light my path and ghost enemies that avoid the light. The Phantom Armors in this section have flaming swords, so finally acquiring one through Zelda makes her super useful and a torch that helps light up the maze of a dungeon with several pitfalls. It was rather satisfying to say the least.

Majora's Mask - Focused on getting masks and heart containers. I acquired the All Night Mask, Keaton Mask, Postman Hat, and the Gibdo Mask. I only need one more before I get the Fierce Diety Mask. I also only have two people left on the Bomber Notebook to complete, Kafei's Mother and the Old Lady at the Inn. Beyond that, I did make some strides in the next story section of Ikana Canyon, but I'm holding back until I finish up some more side quests before continuing on.

CimminyCricket

06-25-2016, 04:40 PM

Currently playing Ocarina of Time. This is the first time I've played it and so far it's actually a pretty fun game. I'm not a big fan of 3D Zelda titles (despite my favorite being Wind Waker), so it takes a little bit of getting used to.

A Link to the Past was the first one that I played, but I haven't played it in years.

For the longest Link's Awakening was my favorite (it's now been relegated to 2nd favorite, which still isn't bad) followed by the Oracle series.

Oracle of Seasons was the first one that I beat (with Link's Awakening following shortly thereafter). I own Oracle of Ages, but I haven't played it too much. They both pretty much just stay in their boxes at this point and I'm tempted to just get digital copies for my 3DS.

I've played Twilight Princess on the Gamecube, but when I went to play on the Wii (backwards campatibility for the win), my data got corrupted when I tried to go back on GC, so I never finished it.

Wolf Kanno

06-26-2016, 10:07 AM

Update Time!

Zelda II - Reached the next two towns, obtained the Reflect Spell by finding the kidnapped child and rescuing him from a Lizfos. Gained an extra level, but I'm having issues figuring out the requirement for the upward strike. I found the town the Knight who teaches it resides in, but I can't figure out what I need to do to get him to do so. I also found the next dungeon but I'm holding off for a moment.

Majora's Mask - Finished the Bomber's Notebook, obtained the last two bottles, gained an extra heart, finished the Deku Salesman trading quest and even toyed around in the abandoned Well, which seems to have something important in it and finally makes the bottles useful. Its a pretty clever mini-dungeon, Gibdos (they're like mummies) guard various doorways and a mask I have allows me to talk to them. In order to get them to open the door, I have to give them something like Deku Seeds, Fish, bugs, and hot spring water. Once they get what they want they open the door for me and I proceed to the next set. I'll tackle it more seriously in the next cycle. I'm not sure if I'm going to go for the remaining hearts, I'll see how the next boss battle goes but so far this might be the easiest Zelda game in terms of combat. Which makes the combat heavy and puzzle light Zelda II to feel like a huge contrast to this game which is definitely more puzzle focus.

Randy

06-26-2016, 10:07 AM

Currently playing Ocarina of Time. This is the first time I've played it

Play the 3DS version! Much superior.

CimminyCricket

06-26-2016, 05:25 PM

Currently playing Ocarina of Time. This is the first time I've played it

Play the 3DS version! Much superior.

That's the version I'm playing! I don't have time for a whole lot of non-mobile gaming, so when they release games for the PSVita and the 3DS I can't help but pick them up to play them.

Wolf Kanno

06-29-2016, 08:36 PM

Update Time!

Should have done this yesterday actually. ^^;

Zelda 2 - Finally obtained the Rising Strike attack. The trick was using the Jump spell to reach the rooftops and then I entered the Knights house like Santa Claus. I also explored a bit and found the next dungeon after the current one I'm suppose to be dealing with. Anyway, I died screwing around exploring and decided to cut my losses.

Majora's Mask - Took a bit of prep work byut the Mirror Shield is obtained. I also explored Ikana Castle and have a rough idea of what I need to do next which involves going back to town to get a Goron Big Bomb. I also completed another heart piece, so yay! Unfortunately, it got pretty late by this point so I saved with the owl and will try to complete the Ikana Castle portion in this cycle. I'm on the morning of Day 2.

Spirit Tracks - Got the map to the Ocean area, and encountered Linebeck III, grandson of Linebeck from Phantom Hourglass, and he's just as much of a self-centered ass as his ancestor. Anway, it turns out the bridge leading to the Ocean Zone is out, and Linebeck needs me to fetch the bridge builder I encountered back in the snow region. So I go pick him up, and this Train Otaku warned me that the carpenter is apparently a real stickler for proper procedure. Turns out that all of these train signs I've been blowing up with the cannon are meant to be guidelines on how to drive. So I'm going to have to follow all of them in order to get this guy to the proper place... So seeing how this will most likely be a headache, I saved and called it quits for the night.

While I intend for Skyward Sword to be my next game after Majora's Mask, part of me is thinking maybe I should play Twilight Princess again instead. :shifty:

Wolf Kanno

07-01-2016, 08:10 AM

Update Time!

Zelda 2 - Got quite a bit done actually. I attempted the fourth palace and while I died like a little bitch, I did manage to acquire the temples treasure, the Hover Boots that let me walk on certain plots of water. With them, I was able to acquire the third set of heart and magic containers, as well as another level!

Majora's Mask - Finished the Ikana Castle and attained the final song. I also activated the save point in front of entrance to the Stone Temple. The Ghost King was kind of a pain in the ass because his recovery rate from being hit with the sun is ridiculously fast, and I ended up beating him down by trading blows with jumping attacks instead. Really hated the controls for this fight as trying to get the right angle to hit the enemies with the mirror shield was a bit of a chore. Considering how this last song works, and the stuff I had to do to reach the entrance, I'm not really looking forward to this dungeon. Still, I only need the Giant's Mask to complete the collection so...

Spirit Tracks - Well, this little train escort mission actually turned out to be much easier than anticipated. The way it worked was that the passenger mood would change depending on your actions with the train, when you did something wrong their mood would get grimmer but doing good things improved it, so it was quite easy to keep him pretty happy once I reached the destination. Course Linebeck III is pretty much a lazy ass like his ancestor and loaded off the payment onto me. 5000 Rupees are owed and he has me now exploring Linebeck I's grave for a hidden treasure but its hard to get the hints correct since they involve precise movement and the Stylus controls are not always precise...

Bubba

07-01-2016, 09:28 AM

I still can't play Majora's Mask after watching the Ben Drowned creepy pasta.

It looks pretty slick on the 3DS but I... just can't.

Ayen

07-01-2016, 10:11 AM

I admit I skim a lot of stuff 'cause words. I'm going to focus on one thing at a time for simplicity.

Zelda 2 - Got quite a bit done actually. I attempted the fourth palace and while I died like a little bitch, I did manage to acquire the temples treasure, the Hover Boots that let me walk on certain plots of water. With them, I was able to acquire the third set of heart and magic containers, as well as another level!

Interesting. How did you get slaughtered in such a matter? Was it a problem on your part due to ignorance on how the palace and its enemies work, or a result of unfair difficulty on the part of the game design? How could either problem be resolved?

As for the Hover Boots, I love it. Whatever challenge you were faced with was worth it due to the rewards. I'm able to better appreciate these small things now. It's nice. What other ways have you found to utilize the Hover Boots within the game?

Wolf Kanno

07-01-2016, 10:40 AM

Fynn

07-01-2016, 10:58 AM

Uh, that Ben Drowned thing is way too overdone :roll2 Am I the only one who wasn't scared of it at all? Have I become immune to creepypasta?

Bubba

07-01-2016, 03:15 PM

Uh, that Ben Drowned thing is way too overdone :roll2 Am I the only one who wasn't scared of it at all? Have I become immune to creepypasta?

I thought it was really well done. I obviously knew straight away the whole thing was fake but it still didn't stop it from being creepy. I watched the whole thing in bed at night in the dark too which probably didn't help.

Even without that creepy pasta... Majora's Mask is still a creepy-ass game.

CimminyCricket

07-01-2016, 04:16 PM

Buh. I saw that long before I ever played Majora's Mask (which is something I still haven't done) and it is kind of creepy.

Pumpkin

07-01-2016, 04:56 PM

I thought it was scary, but I scare easily so

qwertysaur

07-01-2016, 07:20 PM

Replaying Wind Waker now. Just finished Earth Temple and about to start the wind temple.

Ayen

07-01-2016, 07:49 PM

Slaughter has more to do with my lack of skill with the games BS combat. The enemies are cheap but I have gotten better but dungeons are less puzzle and more gauntlet in this game. So I simply took way too much damage, lost some lives and I literally claimed the boots when the Blue Iron Knuckle I jumped past to get to it caught up with me.\

Most of the items in the game are fairly simple and many of them only work on the world map. The Hover Boots work on the map and you need them to reach the next palace. I also used them to reach one of the heart containers hidden in a hidden area of the ocean, but the shoes are fairly useless in all honesty. The candle has probably been the most useful since it will light up caves and let you actually see enemies in them.

A consequence of them experimenting, I suppose. I wonder if there's a way to improve this style of gameplay to make a Zelda IIish game that removes the disadvantages and creates an overall better product that has less people complaining, though most of their complaints stems from hindsight. Only way I see being able to perform better is to master the gauntlet so you can cut through enemies easier and have less setbacks.

Shame. I wonder what the Hover Boots could've done if you can use them inside an actual town or dungeon?

Uh, that Ben Drowned thing is way too overdone :roll2 Am I the only one who wasn't scared of it at all? Have I become immune to creepypasta?

My nephew is obsessed with all things creepypasta. It's good to have interests, of course, but overexposure can be a nuisance.

Wolf Kanno

07-03-2016, 09:22 AM

Uh, that Ben Drowned thing is way too overdone :roll2 Am I the only one who wasn't scared of it at all? Have I become immune to creepypasta?

It was pretty creepy until you get to the second part of the story where "Ben" or whatever it decided to call itself starting talking to him directly. As usual with horror, more is less.

Replaying Wind Waker now. Just finished Earth Temple and about to start the wind temple.

Good luck, the Wind Temple was probably the hardest dungeon for me. Which isn't saying much since WW is a bit on the easy side. I did love the Earth Temple though.

A consequence of them experimenting, I suppose. I wonder if there's a way to improve this style of gameplay to make a Zelda IIish game that removes the disadvantages and creates an overall better product that has less people complaining, though most of their complaints stems from hindsight. Only way I see being able to perform better is to master the gauntlet so you can cut through enemies easier and have less setbacks.

Shame. I wonder what the Hover Boots could've done if you can use them inside an actual town or dungeon?

Technically Skyward Sword is the compromise, that game also had a heavier focus on combat over the other elements but, still retained most of the Zelda elements we grew to love over the years.

Technically we have seen the Hover boots since then, with Ocarina of Time. ;)

**************************************************************************************************

Update Time!

Spirit Tracks - Not much has happened. I found Linebeck's treasure and paid off the Bridge Builder and so I can now go to the Ocean Realm. Instead I went back to Hyrule Castle because a Like Like ate my shield and it was the closest place that had one. Which does make me hope that like Wind Waker, this game will eventually introduce a form of quick travel. I also unlocked Linebeck III's shop, where I can trade collectible items for new parts for the Spirit Train which is quite neat and better handled than in Phantom Hourglass.

Zelda 2 - Maze Island Dungeon complete, actually I did it twice since I forgot to save after the first time. Probably the easiest dungeon in the game so far with the easiest boss of the bunch. The dungeon introduced Wizzrobes for crying out loud and they are jokes compared to their murderous incarnations from LoZ1 and Link's Awakening. The boss was basically a super Wizzrobe (though I like the fan theory that he's the sorcerer that tricked Zelda's brother into cursing her). Anyway, these guys are immune to everything except their own magic, you gain a spell called Reflect in the town before this dungeon, wasn't exactly rocket science. I still appreciate having a breather level considering how badly the last dungeon kicked my ass. It also helped the dungeon wasn't filled with Blue Iron Knuckles. Anyway, I attempted the Ocean Palace (no not THAT Ocean Palace) and I feel like I've finally ran into the first actual puzzle dungeon, as it is huge compared to the previous ones, and my hint is that one of the walls is an illusion. Despite making little headway into it, I was able to gain two more levels. I'm actually only three levels away from maxing out Link.

Majora's Mask - I really went back and forth with the Stone Tower Dungeon. It is certainly the hardest dungeon in terms of needing to use all the tools at your disposal, and its a twisted labyrinth as well. At first I really hated it, but now in hindsight, it might actually be my favorite dungeon from this game. It brought back the Light puzzles I enjoyed from the Spirit Temple in OoT and made them frustrating as hell, but once you get to the part where you turn the temple upside down, it actually became a really cool dungeon. The boss battle is probably the easiest of the bunch, though I enjoy the Godzilla mode. I've now collected all of the Masks which means I can obtain the Fierce Deity Mask and see what all the fuss is about. I'm still missing so many heart pieces but frankly, the game has yet to throw a boss battle at me that made me feel like I needed them. About the time I started to worry about it, I got the double defense perk from the Great Fairy so that nipped that issue. I also got the Great Fairy Sword, which is basically this game's version of the Big Goron Sword. I jumped into a new cycle but I plan on doing a boss rush mode and revisiting all the bosses in the course of the three days to try out the sword, then I'll deal with Majora on the 3rd day and wrap this game up.

I'm conflicted at the moment, part of me really wants to play Twilight Princess again because I love that game but, I was originally going to give Skyward Sword a second chance to see if a little time and lower expectations will improve my opinion on it. Opinions?

Also, for everyone else, what is your favorite dungeon in each Zelda game you've played?

Ayen

07-03-2016, 09:33 AM

A consequence of them experimenting, I suppose. I wonder if there's a way to improve this style of gameplay to make a Zelda IIish game that removes the disadvantages and creates an overall better product that has less people complaining, though most of their complaints stems from hindsight. Only way I see being able to perform better is to master the gauntlet so you can cut through enemies easier and have less setbacks.

Shame. I wonder what the Hover Boots could've done if you can use them inside an actual town or dungeon?

Technically Skyward Sword is the compromise, that game also had a heavier focus on combat over the other elements but, still retained most of the Zelda elements we grew to love over the years.

Technically we have seen the Hover boots since then, with Ocarina of Time. ;)

That would explain why so many people trout on Skyward Sword; it's reminding them of their negative feelings towards Zelda II. If I ever get my hands on a Wii I'm gonna have to check the game out. I do have Zelda II in my possession, so I can replay that some time in the future, too.

Oh, yeah. I forgot the Hover Boots were in OoT. I was thinking about what they would've been like in a 2D game.

Wolf Kanno

07-03-2016, 09:47 AM

They probably would be useful considering falling into pits is an actual instant kill in this game.

Skyward Sword has several issues, though I would agree that the combat focus of the game's design is the underlying problem, just as it is in Zelda II. Though lately, my opinion of Zelda II has been improving, especially as Spirit Tracks keeps reminding me why I didn't like Phantom Hourglass.

Ayen

07-03-2016, 09:50 AM

Man, I used to hate Zelda II, but now I'm considering giving it another go. I'm starting to understand why James Rolfe (The Angry Video Game Nerd) had the opinion of it he did, since he grew up with the game and played it before the gameplay of the original Zelda became the norm.

Psychotic

07-03-2016, 06:11 PM

I am now playing Ocarina of Time for the first time. Yes. Yes indeed. And it's a hell of a lot of fun.

theundeadhero

07-03-2016, 07:21 PM

As you continue in Zelda II each dungeon will become progressively more puzzle-like. Not much in the game is harder to kill in the game than blue knights, except bosses. Dungeons will be larger, with more mazes, including invisible holes in the floor, walk through walls, and other traps. You'll also have to use spells to travel through dungeons a little more frequently.

Ayen

07-03-2016, 10:15 PM

I am now playing Ocarina of Time for the first time. Yes. Yes indeed. And it's a hell of a lot of fun.

Lucky. I'd love to be able to play OoT for the first time again. I'll be interested in hearing your progress.

Wolf Kanno

07-04-2016, 04:38 AM

I am now playing Ocarina of Time for the first time. Yes. Yes indeed. And it's a hell of a lot of fun.

Sweet, feel free to use this thread to update your progress. I'm sure most of us can help you if you get stuck.

As you continue in Zelda II each dungeon will become progressively more puzzle-like. Not much in the game is harder to kill in the game than blue knights, except bosses. Dungeons will be larger, with more mazes, including invisible holes in the floor, walk through walls, and other traps. You'll also have to use spells to travel through dungeons a little more frequently.

I'm starting to see that with the Ocean Palace, I'm fine with this though, as it is the puzzle aspect of the dungeons I adore. Having the game become a bit trickier is a welcome change, especially since I'm winding down with Majora's Mask and Spirit Tracks is a bit lacking.

Wolf Kanno

07-05-2016, 10:41 AM

Update Time!

Meant to do this earlier today.

Spirit Tracks - Finally got some action going on here. So I went to the first twon in the Ocean Realm, which is run by some old psychic lade who asks you questions that you actually have to speak into the microphone to get anywhere with. The Sage I'm looking for wasn't in town so I head to his Sanctuary and solve a rather simple puzzle only to find a note and no sage. Turns out while I was solving his front door puzzle, the dude had skipped the island and went to the town. Found him, learned what I believe is the last song in the game and now I'm escorting him back to his Sanctuary when my Train gets attacked by pirates! I have to fend off the pirates and prevent them from carrying off the sage but I get screwed over because it eventually involves fighting a big guy, but turns out he's a distraction while smaller enemies (whom I would have noticed had I paid attention to the mini map) snuck up behind me and snatched the old man, prematurely ending my game. I saved but I'll be back to fend them off! :argh:

Zelda 2 - Lots of stuff here, I'm finding like most old school RPGs, the game gets easier the further in you go. Finished the Ocean Palace, though the boss was an ass. Used the flute to get rid of a monster blocking the path to the south, which I like to pretend was a Snorlax. I reached Kasotu, which is abandoned except for an old man and some invisible monsters. He sent me east, where I used the hammer to knock down a forest to find New Kasotu (yes I used a guide for this part) which was only really annoying because the random encounter rate in this area is huge, its hard to doge them, and they reset the map whenever I get in a fight. Anyway, I learned the "Spell" Spell, got the last Magic Container, Heart Container, and the Magic Key (thank god) then returned to Kasotu to learn the Thunder Spell giving me all the magic in the game. I gained one more level so I'll have maxed stats when I complete the Hidden Palace, and I did bum around the Hidden Palace before finally getting into too many fights with Blue Iron Knuckles. Still I'm happy that Link is strong enough to handle their blows better and kill them a bit quicker. After this Palace, I simply have the Valley of Death and the Great Palace to do before finishing the game. The end is near!

Majora's Mask - You know, every time I start to really like this game, it pulls some bullshit that makes me retract that sentiment. So, yesterday, I decided to do my final cycle and did a quick boss rush of all the dungeons, hoping it would kill enough time before my final showdown with Majora. All was going well until I got to the Stone Tower Temple and the game froze on me, forcing me to reset and wait until today to finish the game. Repeat my plan, no troubles this time, reached Majora, summoned the Giants got to the moon. Started trading the masks so I can get the Fierce Deity Mask. Everything was going rather smoothly until I started doing the mini-dungeon for the Stone Tower. I thought at first it was just going to be a mini-boss rush, which I was fine with until I reached a room giving me Bombchus but no means to reaching the door. I thought they wanted me to blow up the two Sheik Stones in the room with the Bombchu's but it turns out their is a crack slightly out of eye view on the wall I am suppose to blow up. Open it, shoot the eye behind it to create a ladder, and move into the next room. This room has a crack on the ceiling and I wasted all but one bombchu in the last room, I fire it off but it actually goes past the crack and explodes. Okay, fine, I'll just look around to see if there are more of the Bombchu. Nothing. I backtrack. Nothing. I leave the mini-dungeon and talk to the Moon Kid, hoping it will reset the dungeon like what normally happens. Nope. I try to use the Song of Soaring to leave the Moon and purchase some more Bombchus. Point of no return kid.

I've decided that I've come too far to be denied my beat down battle with Majora using the final mask, and I simply shut the game off and call it a night. I really hate how there is no way to save in this game without either resetting the days, or the simple Memo Save that forces you to turn off the game and gets erased as soon as you boot it back up. Should I mention that no dungeon up until now has ever required Bombchu puzzles? Only one of the annoying mini-games does, other than that, you'll never see them unless you buy them yourself in a shop because they are utterly useless in the game. So why would you make a puzzle utilizing an item that is very limited and nonrefillable so late in the game? Especially when nothing required to beat the game has asked you to do this up until this point? Yeah, smurf you Majora's Mask...

Wolf Kanno

07-06-2016, 08:40 AM

Update Time!

Spirit Tracks - I beat up those pesky pirates and even got a piece of gratitude in the form of a Force Gem for my trouble (now I know where the Gratitude Minigame from Skyward Sword originated) and then returned the sage to his Sanctuary. Afterwards, we had a quick jam session and I finally restored part of the Ocean Realm's tracks. Didn't have much time for the handheld, so that is as far as I got.

Zelda II - Explored the Hidden Temple some more and got frustrated enough to hunt down a map on my phone to figure things out. My only real progress for the evening was obtaining the Cross, the final item of the game other than the Triforce of Courage. Now I just need to make my way to the boss of the dungeon. I'm a bit annoyed that my least favorite boss in the game, Rebonack, has been turned into a mini-boss for this dungeon. To explain, Rebonack is basically a Blue Iron Knuckle who rides a horse and tries to charge you. The horse part is actually really easy to deal with but once it's gone, you have to fight a Blue Iron Knuckle who loves to back off the screen while still throwing sword beams at you...

Majora's Mask - Done and done. I got my Fierce Deity Mask, I made Majora my bitch and saw the ending. While I have some issues with some of the mechanics of the game, and I still feel the controls are a bit dated, overall, I really enjoyed Majora's Mask. The hardest boss for me in the game was either the Fish Boss from the Great Bay Temple since or the Skeleton King in Ikana Castle. Hardest dungeon was Great Bay for me, though my favorite was the Ikana Stone Tower Temple. My favorite Mask was either the Bunny Ears (doubles speed) or the Keaton Mask ( lets you talk to fox spirits and a favorite returning mask from OoT) my favorite sidequest was either sound testing the stage at the milk bar, and despite my issues with it, the battle against the aliens at Romani Ranch was pretty adorable. My favorite major Mask was probably the Goron, but my favorite major story was the Deku Princess and the Monkey.

Now that Majora's Mask is over, Skyward Sword is next.

theundeadhero

07-06-2016, 05:09 PM

15 years later and I still remember how annoying those knights were in two :p
I think I remember waiting on the left side of the screen and using my shield to block their throws until they got as far left as they were gonna get, then rushing to try and kill them before they backed off screen. It didn't always kill them in one go though, so sometimes it took multiple tries.

Wolf Kanno

07-07-2016, 08:44 AM

Update time!

Spirit Tracks - Not a whole lot.

Zelda 2 - Hidden Temple done. The boss wasn't even that bad and I didn't have to resort to a guide to find him. Unfortunately, I got creamed getting to him, even with the extra life I found, so my journey through the Valley of Death was pretty short lived. I'll do another attempt tomorrow.

Skyward Sword - Has it really been almost four years since I last played this? That was my first thought when I noticed my last file was December of 2012, the year the world didn't come to an end. I feel the biggest hurdle with this game, and one that is coming back to me all too painfully, is relearning how to play the game with the new motion controls. It is certainly a bit weird coming off of Majora's Mask to be playing this game, especially considering how much this game holds your hand compared to older entries. If its not the controls being readily available at all times, or when the game showing a line of sight for where your thrown items will land, then it is the fact the translucent Wii mote controller is permanently etched to the side of the screen, detailing what all the buttons do. No, this isn't the Zelda you played in middle school kids. I'm not even looking forward to dealing with low battery life in the Wii mote and Fi's incessant reminders to go along with it.

With that all said, the music is gorgeous and the color scheme is quite striking with the art style. Like Wind Waker, the game is just so vibrant. Anyway, Link has a bad dream that a black sandworm escaped from the surface, only to discover its actually Zelda's bird squawking at him to wake up so it can deliver a letter, which it sharply spits into his face before leaving. We've concluded that this Link will continue the time honored tradition established in Wind Waker, that Link will never gain respect until almost the end of the game. After a couple of tutorials to learn about the stamina gauge and how it now affects the new running mechanic as well as climbing, pushing, and carrying things, Link meets up with Zelda like he promised only for her to fret to her father about what would happen if Link fails the days ceremony for knighthood. Insisting he practives, Zelda pushed Link off the island despite his protests of not sensing his Loftwing. A few minutes later, Link's classic scream, and Zelda actually rescuing him for a change, Link now begins his journey to find his Loftwing in time for the ceremony. Link encounters Groose, the Biff Tannen of the Zelda Universe, and figures out quickly due to his not so subtlety, that Groose and his flunkies kidnapped the bird and hid it on the island. This required a sword, a quick tutorial for the new sword mechanic and then a quick romp through the most underwhelming mini-dungeon in the series. Zelda says some cryptic things about hearing voices, talks to Link about what the "world" beyond the island must be like and how she wants to see it (Marin from Link's Awakening may have a few words with her about not asking such questions). Afterwards we get a quick tutorial for the Loftwing controls and the game asked me to save before proceeding to the ceremony. I quit by this point, because I'm tired from a long day at work with poor sleep from the night before, and also because I'm dreading the sailcloth tutorial because it took me FUCKING FOREVER to get that right the first playthrough in, and if it took me ten minutes to figure out that I have to shake the Nunchuk part of the controller instead of the wii-mote in order to roll, despite the game telling me over and over to do this with the nuchuck silhouette glowing on screen with words "roll" written over it, then I'm definitely too tired to deal with that nonsense.

Fynn

07-07-2016, 08:48 AM

Ah, yes. The sailcloth. My brother almost died laughing after I made Link land face-first on the ground like 11 times or so.

Wolf Kanno

07-08-2016, 08:16 AM

Update Time!

Spirit Tracks - Ocean Temple, and my goodness is this temple a no-brainer, I'm not sure if Nintendo felt the Stylus controls would be too much and just scaled this game back (not that this helped against the boss of the Snow Temple) or if Nintendo was targeting this particular entry towards the kiddies but my goodness has this dungeon been a cakewalk. The Spirit Tower is a bit more challenging but it's a bit sad to see the main temples kind of lacking. Anyways, I just acquired the whip, which is easily my favorite sub-weapon so far since it's bringing back fond memories of the whip from Secret of Mana, shame what Skyward Sword did to it... I got bored and called it a night before finishing the temple though.

Zelda 2 - The Valley of Death lives up to its name apparently. Three attempts, and while I got further each time, I kept getting cheesed by the game. The enemies in this area are not particularly powerful, they just took a lot of lessons from the enemies of Classicvania titles. They don't murder you outright, they just love screwing up your jumps or send you recoiling off a ledge into lava, and in this game, it's instant death, with only three lives per attempt, and being forced to backtrack all the way back to the entrance from the starting area, this quickly eroded my patience. Thankfully, I learned that once I reach the Great Palace, the game will have me start from there from now on.

Skyward Sword - Got quite a bit done tonight: won the race, lost Zelda, gained the Goddess Sword, learned the Skyward Strike, got the classic outfit, sealed Demise, met the Old Woman, found all the Kikwi's and gained a slingshot, two bottles, a shield I quickly broke, and two fully drained rechargeable battery sets. I'm heading for the first temple but I'll probably make a quick trip to Skyloft to buy a new shield, and see if I can get an upgrade for it. I've gotten much better with the controls and didn't screw up the sailcloth or ceremonial race like the first time. I am quickly being reminded of why I don't like Fi though, in addition to telling you the obvious (thanks Captain Obvious) she's also incredibly long winded about everything. I mean every time she talks she pulls a percentage out of her cloak and blabs on for what feels like forever when it's pretty obvious what is going on. I did learn I can turn off the helper displays on the screen, so that was neat. I might see if I can get a Bug Net from Beedle if he's still flying his shop around.

The Legend of Zelda Cartoon - WELL EXCUUUUUUUSSSSEEE MEEEEEE PRINCESS! 13 episodes of a show I enjoyed as a kid, despite knowing even back then it was terrible. The plots were childish but I at least found them enjoyable in a B-Movie kind of way. Surprised how many shout outs there were to the classic games, though I'm equally surprised Impa is absent from the series. This might also have one of the better incarnations of Zelda in the franchise. Shame Link is kind of an arrogant doofus. I may have to track down Captain N so I can see the two other Zelda stories they featured in that, besides just watching how ridiculous that show was.

theundeadhero

07-08-2016, 08:35 AM

This is kinda spoilery for Zelda II if you don't feel like reading it, but mandatory for the Great Palace boss and I don't want you to get so frustrated you break things.

You need to save your magic instead of casting Life and whatnot to help get through the dungeon. In order to hurt the boss you have to cast Thunder at the start of the fight and it takes a lot of magic. You may be able to cast a Life spell during the fight afterwards. I don't remember if you have enough magic power left, but I want to say no. More importantly, with the remaining magic, you can cast reflect towards the end of the fight, instead of dodging all the damage while finishing it off. I remember there being a fairy in that maze of a dungeon to help you stay alive before a long elevator trip down, and that was always helpful, but I can't give you any clearer direction than that.

Wolf Kanno

07-11-2016, 03:41 AM

Update Time!

Zelda 2 - Died A LOT trying to reach the Great Palace. It's not even the enemies being tough, it's just cheap deaths with enemies knocking me into instant kill lava pits. I'll try again tonight.

Spirit Tracks - Ocean Palace complete. It honestly took longer to get to the dungeon than it did to complete it. The boss was actually fun though, even if the dungeon had too much backtracking. I just returned to the Spirit Tower, and will attempt to open up the final area, the Realm of Fire.

Skyward Sword - Reached the entrance to the Skyview Temple (Forest Temple) and decided to head back to Skyloft to pick up a shield, cash in on some Goddess Cube treasures and get a few nice upgrades. Also BUG CATCHING! Sadly, my biggest issue so far has been a technological one, Wii Motion Plus just eats through the battery life. I remember buying a rechargeable battery set pretty much for this game and Operation Rainfall titles, and so far this game is the worst when it comes to sucking up energy.

Bubba

07-11-2016, 02:09 PM

I have Zelda 2 downloaded on my Wii. I've always been tempted by it to see if it really is as bad as some people say. Your experiences are not convincing me to try it just yet!

Fynn

07-11-2016, 02:58 PM

I have Zelda 2 downloaded on my Wii. I've always been tempted by it to see if it really is as bad as some people say. Your experiences are not convincing me to try it just yet!

It's not. it's just designed to make you suffer.

theundeadhero

07-11-2016, 06:03 PM

Skyblade

07-11-2016, 06:29 PM

It's standard NES game style. Games didn't have a lot of memory so they made them hard with limited lives to increase "replayability". Surely it can't be too hard for you video game veterans if I could beat it when I was 10.

That's hardly the only aspect. There's also the limitations that the hardware puts on the consoles. There are a lot of things that the console could not do, and a lot of limitations that seem to artificially handicap the player. In Metroid, for example, the inability for Samus to shoot downward seems absolutely crippling by today's standard and the comparison to later games, but to younger players who haven't adapted to having more, it's not that much of a problem.

Limitations to controls, movements, enemy actions, etcetera. Everything adds up to something which lacks the refinement of modern gaming. That refinement naturally leads to a smoother play experience, while removing it leads to a rougher one.

Wolf Kanno

07-12-2016, 04:20 AM

I have Zelda 2 downloaded on my Wii. I've always been tempted by it to see if it really is as bad as some people say. Your experiences are not convincing me to try it just yet!

It's actually pretty fun, in a Dark Souls kind of way. What I don't usually mention is the sheer satisfaction you get for completing a dungeon or obtaining a new item or spell. Its definitely a game where you feel really rewarded when you make any kind of progress, no matter how small. While I've ranked it as my least favorite in the past, I'm now starting to feel that Phantom Hourglass deserves that title a bit more, this game has rose up in rank for me as I've been going through this playthrough.

Update Time!

Zelda 2 - Made it to the Great Palace, and was promptly killed for my endeavors, but I knew it was going to be a challenge. Sadly I was on my last life at the time and chose to save the game, only to discover that the whole "start at the Great Palace when you reach it" clause only applies to continues, so I now need to mentally prepare myself because I now know I need to tackle the Valley of Death and Great Palace in one setting. We'll see how that goes tonight.

Spirit Tracks - It confounds me how lopsided the difficulty of this game can be. I breezed through the Ocean Temple so fast I actually was getting pretty bored and bit insulted by how pathetically easy it all was. Now I'm back in the Spirit Tower trying to get access to the final realm and the puzzles in this place are significantly more difficult. I actually called it quits because I was getting a bit annoyed myself. The thing is, this has been going on the whole damn game. The Spirit Tower is always harder than the main temples, and it's giving me a Persona 3 vibe because the Full Moon missions were always easy, whereas Tartarus could often be more challenging.

Skyward Sword - Ah the benefit of understanding how the controls work and knowing the trick behind the puzzles. I remember my first time through the Skyview Temple being frustrating, largely because I was still trying to get used to the new controls and this dungeon was pretty much a test area to show you how the new controls change everything you knew about Zelda. This time around, the dungeon proved to be pretty easy and I actually whooped Giriham's ass with little trouble; which is nice, because he usually gave me the most problems in this game. So it's off to Eldin Volcano in my next outing.

Wolf Kanno

07-13-2016, 10:57 PM

Update Time!

Zelda 2 - Finished. After a few attempts I finally made my way to Thunderbird and thankfully took him down in my first attempt. Next up was the most famous part of Zelda 2, the final battle against Shadow Link, who actually goes down really easy if you know the trick. Sadly, reading up on Shadow Link a few years back for Ocarina of Time clued me into the cheap strategy to beat him because the designers purposely gave OoT S.Link a counter if you tried that trick on him in that game. Anyway, the game is done, I had a blast even if it took awhile to get the hang of everything and the frustration factor. I'm simply happy I finally conquered a game from my childhood that mocked me for so long. Good times.

Spirit Tracks - Things are finally getting interesting in this game. Turns out the Malladus (Main Villain) henchmen is one of the Lokomo and the former apprentice to my mentor character. They may have also just taken each other out for me. Fire Realm is unlocked but the Goron are having issues with the Volcano and need me to haul some ice over to them, so they hook me up with a special train cart for hauling supplies, which in turn has now opened up a whole set of sidequests I've been ignoring up until now. Once I get the route to the temple unlocked, I may take a break from the story to do some of these sidequests to better prepare myself because I vaguely remember Phantom Hourglass getting significantly harder in the final stretch of the game and I have a bad feeling this game won't be any different in that regard.

Skyward Sword - Unlocked Eldin Volcano, but got sidetracked hunting down a missing girl in the village and unlocking the Gratitude Crystal sidequest which I still find hilarious. Picked up an iron shield and took another step in my fave sidequest in the game: Romancing Peatrice the Item Check girl.:cool: I did make it to the Eldin Area and started going through the motions of reaching the Earth Temple but my batteries started to die and rather than scramble to get another set in, I used it as sign to quit for the evening, especially since I don't want to listen to Fi hounding me about it being 3a.m. and I should take a break. :roll2

theundeadhero

07-13-2016, 11:16 PM

Congrats on beating Zelda II. What was the trick? I just remember standing on the left of the screen and holding the down button while attacking.

Wolf Kanno

07-13-2016, 11:32 PM

Congrats on beating Zelda II. What was the trick? I just remember standing on the left of the screen and holding the down button while attacking.

That's the trick. He's a nightmare to fight if you try to face him fair. In OoT, if you go for a low strike, Shadow Link will jump onto your sword and punish you.

Formalhaut

07-14-2016, 03:05 AM

Ugh, I can relate to your Persona 3 reference. The full-moon missions were pretty much there for the narrative; the boss battles were by and large incredibly easy.

Bubba

07-14-2016, 09:32 AM

Top effort in completing Zelda 2. It's on my list but I don't think I'll be playing it for sheer enjoyment. It's way down on my list at the moment!

Wolf Kanno

02-07-2020, 09:17 AM

Damn straight I'm reviving this thread! Mostly because I want to talk Zelda some more. I got into a serious mood for it the other day while I was clearing out some backlog entries and forgot I never finished Spirit Tracks. I also decided for fun to tackle the 2nd Quest in the original Zelda 1 cause I've never completed it. Finally, I recently acquired Wind Waker for myself and both of the Oracle Games.

So, while I'll likely be using this thread to detail my progress for the two entries I am playing (don't worry, I plan on starting Odin Sphere or Parasite Even for my Backlog thread for anyone who cares, these are mostly my handhelds) but feel free to discuss any Zelda related nonsense you want.

Update Time!

Spirit Tracks: You'd think that coming back to a game four years later would leave me a bit confused on what to do but, Zelda is pretty straightforward, especially the DS entries it seems. I finally tackled the Fire Temple which was also pretty easy peasy, though I really liked the boss fight. It was some giant golem that had various weak points you had to strike using the Bow acquired in the dungeon. What makes this fight interesting is that you use a rail car to travel around the boss room to reach these weak spot all over him. Added a bit more challenge since you needed to time the fight better. After that I tried my hand at the Spirit Tower and got stuck. I called it a night, saved, and quit. I totally forgot that the game will send you back to the start of a dungeon when you do that. So since I didn't quite feel like restarting the puzzle, I decided to tackle all of those sidequests I've been ignoring. They are cute, most require transporting people and supplies to various places without getting too banged up by enemy encounters. The rewards are almost always Gratitude Crystals, which add new tracks and locations to the over world map. These locations will then add smaller dungeons or mini-games to win more prominent rewards like Heart Containers or rare materials for building new train parts. The whip race is a bit a annoying, but I actually really liked the Pirate Base Rescue mission. I've tapped out most of these quests, so I'll be heading to the Spirit Temple soonish reach the end of the game. I have a sneaking suspicion that there is a fifth are to the game, because there is a region in the Ocean Area I can't reach and I've tapped all the sidequests in the region. Not to mention I have a slot for one more item...

Zelda 1: I am going to take back what I said about this game being easy with a guide on my Top 100 List. 2nd Quest throws that assessment out the door cause holy hell has this been a challenge. You almost need a guide just to make it less hair pulling in its frustration. New dungeon layouts and new locations for everything. Tougher enemies start showing up in droves by the third dungeon. Bosses are used as regular enemies. Items are placed in a different order from the dungeons, as well as new locations for the heart containers and sword upgrades. Dungeons start heavily using invisible pathways to get around. Oh, and there are some rooms where an Old Man will block your path unless you cough up either 50 Rupees or One Heart Container. Yes, these guys will permanently lower your health if you don't bring rupees. I now understand why the devs programmed it so that Dungeon NPCs will attack you if you attack them. Better to die and come back with the dough that take the life hit. My least favorite new element is the two new whisp enemies. The normal ones will temporarily prevent you from using your sword. The new ones are Red and Blue, with Red Ones permanently cursing you so you can't use your swords, while the blue ones uncurse you. Most of the time, you'll find them together, but things like Level 8 have a room where there is nothing but the Red Ones and you'll have to traverse several rooms before you encounter the blue ones. I have most certainly used a guide to make my way through this game, but its been pretty intense. I'm literally at the final dungeon, but you can bet your ass I'm making a beeline for the Red Ring Upgrade. It's been a blast though.

76771

Lord Golbez

02-07-2020, 06:53 PM

Ugh, I can relate to your Persona 3 reference. The full-moon missions were pretty much there for the narrative; the boss battles were by and large incredibly easy.

Strangely, I had zero trouble with any of the full moon bosses the first time I played P3. However, on repeat plays I found I had some difficulty with the hotel bosses. Strange because usually I find bosses easier on a repeat play. It's possible this is due to leveling less to max social stats early for max social links though.

Bubba

02-07-2020, 08:36 PM

Just popping in here to say that Breath of the Wild was massively overrated and Horizon Zero Dawn kicks its punk ass.

That is all.

Fynn

02-07-2020, 09:45 PM

Breath of the Wild is a phenomenal work of art and anyone who says otherwise is a heathen that must repent or face judgement most severe.

Wolf Kanno

02-07-2020, 10:34 PM

I have yet to play either, so I can't really make a judgement call, though between the two, I'm more interested in Breath of the Wild, but that's likely the fanboy in me talking. :shifty:

Lord Golbez

02-07-2020, 11:25 PM

Just popping in here to say that Breath of the Wild was massively overrated and Horizon Zero Dawn kicks its punk ass.

That is all.

I agree with this, although I'd spin it more as Horizon Zero Dawn is massively underrated. BotW is still one of the best games of its year and one of the best - if not the best - in the series. Zelda games in general are massively overrated though.

Wolf Kanno

02-08-2020, 09:00 AM

Update time!

Zelda 1: Haven't touched.

Spirit Tracks: Still finishing up some quests. Got the upgraded bomb bag and I finally got the ridiculous time needed on the whip course top get the heart container. That leaves only the one Beedle has in his shop that requires me to spend 5000 Rupees (more like 3000) since it accumulates), the one from the Pirate Escape minigame that I'm waiting to complete once I get the Bow of Light since I read it doubles my point count, and one for a fifth region I'm pretty sure I'll find once I finish the Spirit Temple. I've collected a good chunk of the bunnies, but they've been a low priority at the moment. I think I have like almost half of them. I may try my hands on getting the second bomb upgrade, but that requires doing a bit of a boss rush minigame I'm not in the mood for at the moment. The quiver upgrades will also have to wait because the money I need to buy the first one is going towards Beedle to get the Gold Membership, while the other is another prize from the Pirate minigame I already mentions. I only need three more stamps to get the Spin Attack upgrade, but I thankfully got the reward from this quest I really wanted. Once you get 20/30 stamps for Nice, he gives you Link's Engineer outfit he wears in the beginning of the game. So now my Link is sporting a cooler outfit. #zeldafashion

I'm likely going to just finish the Spirit Temple and move forward. Ugh, I hope I don't have to redo everything when I get back. The Spirit Temple is much more challenging than the regular dungeons and I got stuck at a part I figured out too late required me to set up some Arro switches in a way where in order to hit the target switches I need, I have to place them both offscreen and hope my aim with the Bow flies true...

WarZidane

02-08-2020, 10:48 AM

Breath of the Wild is a phenomenal work of art and anyone who says otherwise is a heathen that must repent or face judgement most severe.

Great art, sure, as a game it's not nearly as fun as other Zelda games though :3:

I'm still kind of hoping that they port Wind Waker and Twilight Princess from Wii U over to Switch as a two-in-one bundle while we wait for Breath of the Wild 2. They brought over almost every other worthwhile Wii U game, why not those two as well :p

Fynn

02-08-2020, 10:59 AM

I still hope my theory that BotW 2 takes place entirely in the Hyrule underground is true, because that would be such a unique spin and would give us a Zelda with the opposite focus to the previous games - that is the dungeons and puzzles, rather than the overworld and exploration. I'm also holding my fingers crossed that maybe Zelda is the protagonist this time, but I imagine that is even less likely.

And idk man, I don't remember having this much fun with a Zelda game for ages.

Bubba

02-08-2020, 10:14 PM

I appreciate what BOTW did as an open world. Everything was interactive, literally EVERYTHING. I absolutely applaud that and I adored the art style. It looked kinda like they wanted Skyward Sword to look like. That was a bit too abstract for my liking.

There was just an awful lot of space and it got boring VERY quickly. Especially with a hundred-odd fucking shrines to plod through. Nah, not for me.

Horizon Zero Dawn had more of a standard open world. The story though was one of the best I’ve ever experienced. The level of richness to the world (through beautiful nuggets you find... and the Vantage points) were up there with the Mass Effect universe.

Aloy was the true star though. I believe we’ve come a long way in a short time with gaming protagonists. There have been plenty of games that have gone with a ‘strong female lead’ character. Aloy was simply a strong lead character. Done perfectly... gender doesn’t even come into it.

Lord Golbez

02-08-2020, 11:27 PM

Everyone is way too down on the shrines. I don't even see how you could like BotW without liking the shrines. The shrines are the best part of the game easily. Overworld exploration is fine and all but the shrines are the only thing that really gives that exploration much value. It would get boring quickly without the shrines, especially because combat is kind of meh and weapon durability is stupid.

I see people asking if there should be shrines in BotW2 like most think that would be a bad thing. My thought is it better have shrines or the equivalent thereof or it will surely be a much worse game than BotW. You need worthwhile places to find to motivate exploration of a vast open world. And garbage collectibles like korok nuts aren't going to cut it.

Fynn

02-09-2020, 06:19 AM

The shrines were fantastic what the hell

Wolf Kanno

02-09-2020, 07:01 AM

There are rumors that BotW 2 will be called Bond of the Triforce, and Zelda will be your partner character with the ability to manipulate the weather and environment for you.

I do hope that the HD remasters from the Wii U also get ported because, part of me does feel a Switch is in my future, but I would love to play the remasters of these two awesome Zelda games as well. I'm also hoping that the remake of Link's Awakening may mean Nintendo might try to remake the Oracle games someday.

Alright, Zelda question for you all:
Which Zelda game is the most overrated?
Which Zelda game is the most underrated?

Fynn

02-09-2020, 07:37 AM

To me, the most overrated is Ocarina of Time. Yes, it’s an important stepping stone for gaming, but I feel it doesn’t really stand the test of time. Many other Zelda games have done things it has just much more effectively, and it’s especially evident how vanilla OoT is nowadays when you compare it to its immediate successor, which is by far a more interesting gaming experience even today.

Most underrated is either Twilight Princess or Skyward Sword, though for different reasons. Twilight Sword gets overlooked a lot but I feel it takes all the best aspects from Link to the Past and Ocarina of Time and just makes them work so well. I love the style and the tone and I don’t even care if a lot of the items are just used for one dungeon, the dungeons themselves were still very engaging. Now, Skyward Sword May not be my favorite, but I really don’t feel it deserves its reputation as the franchise black sheep. Yes, it’s much more confined than the other games, but that doesn’t immediately make it bad. It’s gorgeous, it’s got a very interesting story, and some of my favorite dungeons in the series (the Great Cistern is still the most fun I’ve ever had in a Zelda dungeon). And while we’re at it, yes I feel the motion controls actually added to the experience.

Bubba

02-09-2020, 09:35 AM

Yeah, I agree that Ocarina of Time hasn’t aged the best. It’s still in my top five Zelda’s though but mainly for the nostalgia value. Twilight Princess is my favourite 3D Zelda by far.

WarZidane

02-09-2020, 12:05 PM

Most overrated, probably BotW, though OoT is indeed not far behind. Majora's Mask is in a weird spot where it's underrated and overrated at the same time. :p

As for most underrated, I'd agree with Fynn's Skyward Sword mention. I don't agree that the motion controls added to the experience, but the amount of neglect it gets is undeserved. I still think part of the reason is that the "core fanbase" was over the Wii by the time Skyward Sword released, which may just be bias because that was the case for me.

Lord Golbez

02-09-2020, 04:54 PM

Ocarina is the most overrated and probably the second to worst Zelda game (I haven't played all of them, hence the probably). It's not good. It's a drastic step back from Link to the Past (aside from being 3D, but that shouldn't excuse lame and boring 3D). The overworld is boring and empty (except some lame collectibles) and feels too small, because there's just one bland main area connecting to a few other areas. The dungeons are almost all so boring I just want to be done with them. Not just overrated. Bad and overrated.

I Took the Red Pill

02-09-2020, 07:50 PM

Overrated: BoTW, Majora
Underrated : A Link Between Worlds, Minish Cap

Wolf Kanno

02-10-2020, 06:30 AM

For overrated, I'm probably going to go for the group consensus and say Ocarina of Time. I know I do rant about this game a lot, but I will say that I do still really like it. I just don't consider it to be the best game ever made, let alone the best Zelda. In some ways, its a bit like FFIV to me objectively. It did a lot for the Zelda franchise, but in the long run, it's one of the more vanilla entries in the series in terms of design and content. It has not aged very well, but thankfully the 3DS remake fixed a lot of the technical issues like the spotty Z-targeting, and an enhanced gyroscope to make using the bow significantly easier. I still feel that most of the boss fights in the game are still pretty fun.

For underrated, I have a few. I'd probably third Skyward Sword which I do feel is a flawed but still pretty fun game. I honestly don't even feel like the motion controls are the issue here for me, I feel it really was just making sword combat too much of a focus, as I feel it severely limited the creativity of the bosses and enemies found in the game, as well as undermining most of the special tools. It recycled too many bosses for me and I feel the game might be the worst offender in terms of dragging out stuff. With that said, when SS shines, it really shines well.

Another choice would be Spirit Tracks, which gets even overshadowed by its DS prequel Phantom Hourglass. While its over-world and side-quests are underwhelming, especially coming off Wind Waker and PH, not to mention the game is pathetically easy; it has more interesting puzzles to solve, a better recurring Tower Dungeon, and it may be one of the funniest entries in the series. It also allows Zelda to be playable and she's honestly one of the best incarnations of the character I feel I've seen in the series.

My third choice for underrated is Four Sword Adventures, which took the interesting, if terribly executed idea from the Four Swords mini-game that came with the GBA port of LttP, and actually made a pretty damn fun party game out of it. While a single player playthrough is not exactly ideal, if you can actually manage to get a full team playing this game, it's actually a real blast. It also has a better plot than Four Swords.

Also I found this amusing video and was curious to hear what everyone's take is on this.
0kM4IB7swnA

Wolf Kanno

02-10-2020, 11:39 PM

Update Time:

Zelda 1: Had a massive setback in this game. I was plunging into the final dungeon, and had finally acquired both the Red Ring and Silver arrows, which turned out to be pretty easy because the means to even reach Ganon kind of requires you to pick them up on the way in 2nd Quest. Anyway, it was super late and so I quit right there, but instead of quitting the game and suspending it, I accidentally shut my 3DS completely down. When I booted up, I discovered I had not actually saved in this file since getting the Key Item in Dungeon 5, so now I basically have to redo Dungeon 5-9 all over again. :cry: This is what happens when you game too late and do stuff half asleep...

Spirit Tracks: As I suspected, there was another Temple to explore. I finished the Spirit Tower and actually had a fun boss battle where Zelda was able to participate. Not terribly difficult but still really fun and unique. Basically the boss stays out of your reach in a caged arena and tries to smack you with his grappling claw hand. You need Link to lure and dodge the attack so it gets stuck on the ground, and then have Zelda in her Phantom body grab it and drag him down into the arena so you can hit him. Anyway, in typical Zelda fashion, we finally reach the big bads, only to learn we're too late. Malladus has been resurrected in Zelda's body, but is still having adjustment issues, so he escaped with his servant on a Demon Train. Fearing how godlike the demon may become if it learns to tap into Zelda's reservoir of spiritual power, we get sent to the Sand Realm to retrieve the Bow of Light, which should be powerful enough to force Malladus out o Zelda's body, though there is a slight possibility this could destroy Zelda's body as well. Getting to the Sand Temple sucked, to even find the entrance to the Sanctuary where the guardian resides, I had to travel around the desert and take not of where these giant heads were staring to determine where to bomb and find the entrance. This game loves these kind of puzzles, but it's also here that the touch screen has some issues with finesse, not helped by my DS having seen better days.

Once that was done, I had to learn the Lokomo song of this region, which is always a bitch, because unlike other rhythm games, this one doesn't tell you how you're doing until you're finished and gives you a pass/fail judgement. This sucks, cause the game never tells you where in the song you're screwing up so you can fix it. After that, it was dealign with three new challenges: I got to fight Gohma in a cave using the train, which was a bit of a bitch because it took awhile to realize the bomb barrels in the cave are meant to force it to open its eye, not to actually hurt it. The next part involved a bit of a Lost Woods puzzle, but I ended up solving this rather easily. The final challenge was the fact the dungeon actually had cannons protecting it all around the temple and I needed to destroy all of them to get the entrance opened. Normally this wouldn't be much of an issue, even being on the train, but I took some beatings from Gohma and had to be careful with my low health.

The temple itself, like all of the themed temples, was ridiculously easy compared to the trouble of getting here. I also learned that this was the game that introduced the Sand Wand, which allows you to raise sand from the ground like a pillar. It's much more user friendly in this game than ALBW, the puzzles for it are also much more interesting. So I had fun despite how easy it was. The boss was also interesting because it was a strange redo of the boss from the Arbitar's Grounds in TP. The boss is in the center of the room launching boulders at you. You use the sand wand to halt the boulders and then redirect them into various catapults strung around the arena, which you launch back at him and shatter parts of his spine. The challenge is that parts of his spine have armor plating that protects it, so you may have to arm the catapult and then run away from it so the boss will track you and expose the weak part of its spine, at which point you have to use your bow to strike the catapult switch to damage him.The boss fights in this game are fairly easy, but like TP, I appreciate how much more involving they can be. With the Bow of Light obtained, I now have to go back to the Spirit Tower again to retrieve an item the villains left behind which will allow me to find them. I was also awarded the Lokomo sword, which may go down as the worst sword upgrade Link has ever received in the series. I don't believe it raises his damage, and it can only stun Phantoms in the tower without the need of the Light artifacts to power up your basic sword. The Bow of Light is a much more interesting item. You can charge it to create powerful piercing arrows of light that can actually kill multiple enemies in a row if you time it right. I'm amused that the weapon quest of this game is for an item normally associated with Zelda, whereas Link's sword upgrade feels like an afterthought. In fact, it seems silly the Lokomo never bothered to give it to you in the first place considering how unimportant it was. So yeah, I need to head back to the Tower, but I'm going to try and finish up the last few quests and complete getting all the stamps and heart containers.

Lord Golbez

02-12-2020, 01:12 AM

Why is the bow of light usually associated with Zelda? I kind of always regarded the "bow of light" as just another version of the silver arrows from the first game and LttP.

Wolf Kanno

02-12-2020, 05:42 AM

Why is the bow of light usually associated with Zelda? I kind of always regarded the "bow of light" as just another version of the silver arrows from the first game and LttP.

She's usually armed with it whenever she does actually fight in any Zelda media. She uses it Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, and Spirit Tracks. She's also the one that tends to give them to Link throughout the series. Its also a weapon she uses frequently in Hyrule Warriors. Funny enough, the first time she used them was in the first manga adaption of Link to the Past, as she ends up being the one to kill Ganon. The one thing that amuses me about the Light/Silver Arrows is how their use changed with OoT. In the first and third Zelda titles, Ganon can only be defeated by the arrows, but you need the Magical/Master Sword to stun him long enough to hit him with it. Starting in OoT, it becomes the other way around with the Arrows being the only thing that can stun Ganon while the Master sword has to finish him off.

Update Time!

Zelda 1: 2nd Quest is complete, and it was a bitch having to restart half the game practically. On the brightside, my save did happen after I acquired the Magical Sword, so at least it wasn't a total loss. Redoing the levels wasn't too bad, and I even had an easier time with money drops which made tackling the 7th dungeon much easier since it has that annoying monster you have to feed to get past as well as two rooms with Old Men shaking you down for money or heart containers. The only bad thing that really happened in this playthrough was getting knocked into a Like Like early in the final dungeon and losing my Magic Shield. Thank god for the Red Ring, otherwise, I would have seriously been chugging my Potion of Life to make it to the end. I was also incorrect about Level 9 being a bit easier. Turns out getting the Silver Arrows traps you in a dead end, and instead of being able to backtrack to the previous room that would lead you to Ganon's chambers, you have to take a shortcut that sends you back to the start of the dungeon. Still, Ganon didn't give me as much trouble as the Wizzrobes did. I still don't think these enemies have ever been more terrifying than in their first incarnation. So done and done.

Spirit Tracks: Finally collected all of the Heart Containers, the Pirate Hideout mission seemed impossible until I figured out how the scoring system works. After that, it was unlocking the Ends of the Earth Station which was a puzzle cave using the Sand Wand to solve. Finally, my last Heart Container involved getting the Gold Membership from Beedle, which was a bit more annoying because most of his wares are cheap, and the few items that are costly are once a day items, so I had to manipulate the time on my DS just to get on with it. That leaves only two more Force Gems to acquire, but honestly the prizes for both is not worth the effort. One gets me another piece of Rare Loot I can use to make the best Train parts, and both unlock new tracks with more bunnies to collect, but seeing how I need to catch another 13 of them to get the Sword Beam scroll, I'm probably not going to bother. I did acquire the final stamp for Niko, so I'll at least get the upgraded spin attack scroll. I'm currently back at the Spirit Temple doing another chamber, and this one has been a doozy because in addition to requiring most of my items, I also need to frequently switch which types of Phantoms Zelda uses. I've already gone through all four types so far and I don't think I'm anywhere close to being done with this place. Considering it's the closest thing to a final dungeon this game gets, it has been pretty interesting so far.

Wolf Kanno

02-12-2020, 10:27 PM

Update Time!

Spirit Tracks: Aye Carumba! and I thought the fight against Ganondorf in Twilight Princess was dragged out, Malladus has been a total chore to take down. When you first enter the Dark Realm, you have to play Train Pac-Man where you collect Seeds of Life to power up your train and need to use that short invincibility time to take out all of the minor demon trains. On the one hand, it's easier than Pac-Man cause the Seeds of Light regenerate across the map when your invulnerability wears off. On the other hand, your mobility is much more restricted because of the train mechanics and I kept getting nailed thanks to trying to redirect my movement and dealing with enemies that move faster than me once my super mode is gone. After this, I had to fight the Ganon Train as fans call it, which was a much more interesting fight. He changes tracks a lot and tries to ram you but his cable cars also have weapons to hit you with. I died a few times in this phase because the final phase changes the rules a little. First off, you don't realize this phase is timed, basically you only have so much track and once you reach the end, its game over. What really perplexed me was that once you're down to just fighting the engine, the engine generates energy beam attacks which you can destroy, so like taking out the passenger cars, you think the idea of the fight is to destroy all of them. This turns out to be wrong, your actual goal is to speed past the train and directly attack the Ganon face in order to stop the train once and for all. The beam weapon will constantly regenerate and kill time until you lose room to go.

The actual fight with Malladus begins and the goal is to get Phantom Zelda to reach the boss in order to grab them because they'll use a shield otherwise to block all your attacks. Malladus also fires a beam that requires Zelda to work as a shield for Link. What makes this phase a pain in the ass, is that Malladus' servant Cole is floating around the stage and summon phantom mice which scares Zelda until Link can kill them all except, if one of the mice touches Zelda, she loses control of her body and Cole takes control of her until you cut off the strings which becomes increasingly harder the closer you are to Malladus because he'll snipe you if you move out of the cover of Zelda's body. The other issue is that the train floors shift, forcing you to readjust Zelda's pathway, which takes just enough time for Cole to launch a successful mouse attack. In the phase I have now, Zelda is trying to channel power to stop Malladus who is coughing up lava balls at her that Link much deflect with his sword. This here is the phase that sadly brings attention to my biggest gripe with the DS Zelda titles, mainly that I felt it was stupid to tie both moving and attacking to the stylus controls. Especially since a strike and a roll are almost the same input, so I'm taking way more damage than I feel I should cause Link is rolling into these lava balls instead of slashing at them. I finally ran out of potions and died, so I may end up redoing the Demon train portion again. *sigh* I vaguely remember Phantom Hourglass also pulling some counter-intuitive game change for its final boss fight as well.

Lord Golbez

02-12-2020, 11:07 PM

In Link Between Worlds the Bow of Light is used to both stun and defeat Ganon (sort of).

Wolf Kanno

02-15-2020, 12:36 AM

In Link Between Worlds the Bow of Light is used to both stun and defeat Ganon (sort of).

It is still used mostly to knock him out of the painted form so you can actually hurt him with the Master Sword.

Update Time!

Spirit Tracks is done. I opted to track down the rest of the bunnies and finish up a few quests to get the Beam Sword scroll and upgrade my train despite not needing the upgrades anymore. I'm very much split on how I feel about the Malladus fight. On the one hand, I feel like the controls of the game really get in the way of the fight, and makes it tougher than it really needed to be. On the other hand, this might be one of the most cinematic final bouts in handheld Zelda title. Barring the Demon Train/Dark World opening, the main fight has four phases. The first phase has Phantom Zelda protecting Link as she tries to reach Malladus to grab him and let Link nail him with the Bow of Light, all the while, Link has to protect Zelda from phantom rats and Cole possessing her. This is easily the roughest part of the fight as trying to multitask both characters while both enemies are attacking is a pain. The second phase involves Zelda, back in her true body, gathering her spiritual power to weaken Malladus. Link has to deflect projectiles Malladus sends towards Zelda, if she gets hit, you have to start the whole segment over. This is the part where the controls can be a bit of a pain, but as long as you stay calm and battle carefully, this is actually the breather part of the fight, especially since his projectiles will occasionally turn into hearts to heal you. The third phase is the one that throws most people off. Zelda gathers her power and needs Link to do a duet with her using the Spirit Flute, this part is a bitch. While I normally like the way the flute works in the game, the simon says sequences are a pain because you never know how well you are doing until the end. This was especially tough cause you had to play fast and the song has a few skips that require you to be careful when you're blowing into your DS as not to screw up the song by playing an extra or wrong note. After this point, you enter the final phase where Malladus gains a weak spot on his back, so Link has to draw his attention while Zelda uses the Bow of Light to strike the weakness. The bottom screen shows Link and gives you the command for Zelda to shoot, while the top screen shows her perspective. You have to wait until you get a gold lock on before firing, and even then Malladus moves around a lot, so its still a pain to hit him. Once her gets knocked out from his weak spot, his real weak spot on his head appears, but you have to destroy his horns to even reach it, so this cat and mouse game plays out about three times with each strike having him add new attacks to his arsenal. Once you finally expose his full weakness, Link strikes him with the Lokomo sword and tries to shove it into Malladus' weak spot at which point you have to rub the bottom screen. During this point, Zelda comes along and helps Link shove the sword through Malladus before he finally dies.

I watched the pretty neat ending, and was amused to learn that the final part of it will actually change a little bit based on the answer you give to Zelda before the final boss fight concerning your plans after the final battle. It was pretty cute.

Overall, Spirit Tracks felt like a better game than Phantom Hourglass. While PH has the more interesting setting and better overworld, ST has the better dungeons and story. Zelda in this game ranks up there with Midna for me as one of the best side kicks Link has had, and it was great to finally play a Zelda game where Zelda is both a prominent character in it, and actually has a great story arc. My main beef with the game is that the puzzles in the themed temples were a wee bit too easy for my taste. Course this game was likely made for a younger type of fan, so I guess I shouldn't complain. The actual Spirit Tower could be really brutal and ultimately was the most fun dungeon to go through. It especially fixed my issues with the Ocean Temple, which was always a bit too repetitive for my taste, whereas this dungeon has enough variety in its sections built around using Phantom Zelda to get through that made it fun. Of anything, I really wish Phantom Zelda got more use in other dungeons.The villains weren't that great, but I liked them more than PH's set of villains, but they are not as interesting as the Nightmares in Link's Awakening or Majora or Vaati.

So question for people since the last time I asked this was like two years ago in this thread, how would you rank the Zelda games you've played?

Fynn

02-15-2020, 08:28 AM

There’s a lot of those, so they’re pretty hard to pick, not to mention these types of lists constantly shift around for me. As of now, though, I’d rank them like this:

12. Zelda II
11. Ocarina of Time
10. Minish Cap
9. Zelda I
8. Wind Waker
7. Majora’s Mask
6. Link’s Awakening
5. Skyward Sword
4. A Link Between Worlds
3. Twilight Princess
2. A Link to the Past
1. Breath of the Wild

Lord Golbez

02-15-2020, 05:52 PM

Oh. Is the Master Sword used for the killing blow? I forgot. I knew you switched between but thought the painting was the last one.

Anyway ranking them.

AKA the good ones ( these are close enough together that I could change my mind on any ranking at various times)

1. Breath of the Wild
2. Link to the Past
3. Link Between Worlds
4. Legend of Zelda
5. Link's Awakening

AKA the weird/okay ones
6. Phantom Hourglass
7. The one with the kangaroo or some trout

.
.
.
AKA the bad ones (ranking almost doesn't matter because I hate both but one is clearly worse than the other continuous numbering is passed up as those numbers are reserved for games I haven't played but are definitely better or games I've played and forgot to list)

2nd to worst: Ocarina of Time
Worst: Zelda II (I was gonna say aka the fake Zelda game, but there are other more fake Zelda games - the CD-i games - that are almost certainly even worse than this game)

Wolf Kanno

02-16-2020, 07:40 AM

I've never played a Zelda game I haven't enjoyed in some way. My rankings would probably be...

13. Four Swords - I feel like I'm cheating here, considering this game barely has a plot and started as a multiplayer spin-off for the GBA port of ALttP. Still, this is easily the roughest entry to play, especially by yourself since it can be a pain controlling two different Links. Like it's superior sequel, Four Sword Adventures, this game would likely be more fun if you can play with more than just one person.

12. Phantom Hourglass - A cute sequel to Wind Waker which I actually played before I ever touched Wind Waker. I feel like its a real charming game with my only gripes being how much I felt mapping all of Link's controls to the stylus hurt the overall game, forcing the enemies and puzzles to be a bit on the easier side for my taste. Having to replay the Temple of Ocean after every dungeon also got a bit tedious. Linebeck is a good character, but I feel Zelda fans overhype him a bit. I did enjoy the overworld and side content, but I felt the game often went a little too far with the DS functions.

11. Spirit Tracks - PH's sequel, this game is even more lighthearted than PH and WW which is pretty refreshing for the series. Zelda is easily one of the best companion characters in the series and I loved how they retooled the ideas of Phantoms from PH in her use. Sadly, many of my gripes from PH were not remedied outside of the Spirit Tower being genuinely more fun than the Ocean Temple which made backtracking to it feel less like a chore. The overworld is quaint, but a little tedious compared to its predecessors. At least the game had more memorable bosses and pretty epic final battle.

10. Zelda 2: The Adventures of Link - I have a serious soft spot for this relic of a game. Maybe it took getting into Dark Souls to finally appreciate the game's brutality and obtuse puzzles but I honestly had a blast going through this game. It was nice to play a game where even small victories like a small level upgrade, or discovering an item felt incredibly rewarding. With that said, the Lives system and having Link restart at Hyrule Castle are serious scrappy mechanics. Of allk the Zelda titles I've played, I feel a proper and expansive remake of this game would likely be well received cause I feel the bones are good in this one, it just needed better tech and more polish to really shine.

9. A Link Between Worlds - This is a game I wish I liked more than I actually do. I honestly found the game to be pretty forgettable outside of the final story moments, and I feel part of that is due to the game being too derivative of Link to the Past for my taste, combined with how dungeons felt much less rewarding due to the "item rental mechanic" and more non-linear nature of the dungeon structure that made most of the dungeons feel forgettable and removed that sense of growing stronger I really enjoy about the series. Its a solid game, and certainly a great intro entry for top down Zelda titles for fans who only have played the 3D entries, but I'm honestly surprised how often I forget about this game. I even initially forgot it on this list which is why I changed its ranking.

8. Skyward Sword - Of the well known console entries, I feel SS is the most underrated entry of the 3D Zelda titles. While its hardly perfect, I feel fans tend to blow the negatives out of proportion. I also don't feel the motion controls hurt it as much as just making swordplay the game's main design. Even if they somehow were able to map the swordplay to a standard controller, I feel most fans would just finally see the game's real issue which was too many repetitive boss battles, too much backtracking, and too many plot coupon quests. For a game that was trying to push for more exploration with larger maps, the game feels more linear in nature. I did eventually come around to the Demise/Hylia plot element which I still feel is a bit of a cop out, but I'm not quite annoyed as I used to be. Despite all that, this game has some really underrated dungeon design, Zelda and Groose are fun characters, and I feel this game has my favorite incarnation of Impa in the whole series. Ghiriam is overrated though.

7. Ocarina of Time - I feel my thoughts on OoT would likely be similar to my thoughts on FFIV if I looked at it from a pure objective perspective and took off the nostalgia goggles once in awhile. Its a solid and fun game and an important stepping stone for the franchise, but at the end of the day, I feel its the most vanilla entry in the series. Not bad, but not exactly what I would call great either. I do have a similar problem with it when discussing it with fans like I do with FFVII in that I feel the game is a bit overrated and fans often are too blind to the game's imperfections. I have mellowed out a bit on this though, especially since the 3DS port fixed a lot of the technical issues I had with the original. Music is definitely really good in this titles, and I appreciate the fact the series finally got more of setting with unique races than the previous installments.

6. Wind Waker - I will leave the majority of my thoughts on a future blog entry, but suffice to say that WW may have the best incarnations of Link and Ganondorf in the series. I also love just how expressive the characters are in this game and its visually the most impressive Zelda I've seen. It has some really good ideas, but it gets held back by some weak difficulty and a third act that stunts all of the game's momentum. Still, I understand why so many fans love this game.

5. Majora's Mask - Even now, a few years after I finally beat this beast of a game, I'm still debating on whether the Groundhog Day Loop mechanic is brilliant or a scrappy mechanic that hurts the core game. I think it really comes down to what you consider the "core game" is. If you feel its dealing with the residents of Termina, then I would agree its a great mechanic. If you feel its the standard Zelda dungeon aspect, then I would likely agree its a scrappy mechanic that just adds artificial difficulty to the game. Still, it was a really memorable experience for me and I'm glad I got a chance to conquer what used to be the black sheep of the N64 era.

4. The Legend of Zelda - A classic that dominated my childhood, I hate saying a game is ahead of its time, but honestly Zelda 1 really was. My favorite NES memory was conquering this game. I finished Second Quest this year, and had a blast being seriously challenged once again by a game I loved since I was a child.

3. Link's Awakening - My current Zelda regret was waiting so long to finally playing this game properly. I had wanted to when it originally came out but, like a lot of games that came out when I was a kid, I sort of forgot about it. Picked it up a few years ago and played it during the Zelda marathon I did in this thread and it easily jumped into my top three entries. Great story, cool dungeons, and I loved how you could use two items at once to garner special effects. This game also has some really crafty and awesome dungeon puzzles. The cast was also pretty underrated until recently.

2. Twilight Princess - Easily my favorite 3D Zelda so far, TP was a game I was really excited for. TP has one of my favorite stories in the series and Midna is easily the best original companion in the series. TP also has my favorite collection of dungeons and bosses in the 3D Zeldas. Such a groovy game.

1. A Link to the Past - Easily my favorite entry and the game that cemented me as a Zelda fan. LttP was awesome for finally giving the series a better narrative and introducing all the elements Zelda would be well known for. The Light/Dark world mechanic was really well done in this game, and I still feel its one of the best executed gimmicks in the series.

I still need to play the Oracle games (which I own) to figure out where they would be. After that, it's just trying to get the means to play Four Sword Adventures, Breath of the Wild, Minish Cap and Tri Force Heroes.

WarZidane

02-16-2020, 10:37 AM

Hard to accurately rank them since some of them are a big blur and some are really close together, but it'd probably look something like this for me, at the moment:

18. Wand of Gamelon (Yes, I do actually own this and have played it :p )
17. Zelda 2
16. Four Swords
15. Phantom Hourglass
14. Majora's Mask
13. Spirit Tracks
12. Legend of Zelda
11. Breath of the Wild
10. Ocarina of Time
9. Oracle of Seasons
8. Oracle of Ages
7. Skyward Sword
6. Minish Cap
5. Link's Awakening
4. Twilight Princess
3. A Link to the Past
2. Wind Waker
1. A Link Between Worlds

Fynn

02-16-2020, 12:03 PM

I’m very happy to see Twilight Princess get so much love because it’s always seemed to me like it’s one of the most disliked entries.

Wolf Kanno

02-17-2020, 10:40 AM

I feel whatever ire that game may have had in its debut has largely subsided since Skyward Sword and even Breath of the Wild. SS I feel is the most disliked of the "main games" with Tri Force Heroes probably being the most hated side game. While people who hated the direction of BotW now tend to cite TP as the last true Zelda.

Due to having forgotten a lot about the game, I've decided to replay A Link Between Worlds. To make this playthrough a bit more memorable for me, I'm playing it on Hero Mode, which I'm already regretting when dealing with the StreetPass nonsense as it takes me like six hits to kill a basic starter Link, while my opponent only needs to land two hits. Oddly enough, I almost feel like Hero Mode simply makes Link as flimsy as his Zelda 1 incarnation, so I do need to be more careful, and Heart Containers are way more important in this one.

I have just acquired the Wisdom Pendant. I've rented the majority of the tools from Ravio except the Fire and Ice Rods, which I know don't get much use until later. I really do feel they did a great job with the painting mechanic, it may seem silly, but unlike a lot of other gimmicks in the series, this one gets a lot of uses throughout the game, so I really appreciate that. The first proper dungeon was mostly a joke, but I did like the last section that tries to get you familiar with the painting mechanic.

The second dungeon at the windmill was much better, but I was a bit disappointed by how much the Wind Staff really trivializes everything in the dungeon. I did like the mini-bosses and the final boss of the dungeon, but I also feel like the game should have mixed things up and made one of them weak to a different tool. I feel my biggest issue with the Tool Rental mechanic so far is that it opens up Hyrule way too quickly, but more annoyingly, I feel the idea kind of cheapens the exploration of the game more. Like I'm kind of getting annoyed how often all these secrets I'm uncovering mostly turn out to be Rupees, whereas really useful stuff like Power Gloves and the Pegasus Boots are acquired really easily by just talking to a few NPCs. Getting Zora Flippers in LttP is a bit of a pain, even when you know what you're doing and they weren't even required to beat the game though they made doing so much easier. Here, the biggest issue is just the tedium of needing to go from Zora's Domain to Kakariko Village and back, and even then, the Warp mechanic unlocks early in this game, making even that problem a minor gripe at most. I guess my issue is that I don;t really feel like I'm earning my sense of accomplishment, but rather just being handed it. What rewards I do find is mostly there to soften the blow on the chance I get killed in battle and Ravio takes back all his loot, which considering I'm over 2000 rupees now, is hardly going to bother me, especially since there isn't really much of anything left to buy at the moment. I guess I just feel like the team made this game a little too user friendly...

I do like the characters though. The Blacksmith family is quirky and fun, the Zoras were hilarious, and I love my little witch girl. I am a little disappointed that the first two sages really don't get much screen time before they get captured. Yuga is okay, not exactly my favorite Zelda villain, but it's nice to have someone who is more prominent in the plot after playing through the DS entries where the villain is just some vague evil demon who appears at the end. I also love the Zelda fan theory that believes that Gramps, the old man who runs the Shadow Link Streetpass game, is actually the Hero of Legend from LttP. Made even more amusing if you ever complete his silly trials and actually unlock him as a hidden boss fight where he's the hardest enemy in the game.

Okay, so enough of my silly observations, more Zelda questions:

Which incarnation of Link, Zelda, Ganondorf, and Impa is your favorite?
Who is your favorite side character in the series?
Who is our favorite non-Ganon villain in the series?

Fynn

02-17-2020, 11:29 AM

This thread has actually made me restart Phantom Hourglass as I also play Trails in the Sky in the meantime. I have both PH and Spirit Tracks borrowed from my brother and I haven’t beaten either yet, and since I’m focusing on new games this year, I’ve decided to give them a whirl. Phantom Hourglass is actually much more fun than I remember it being. I’m actually gonna play the Oracle games after I’m done with these.

To answer your questions, these are hard to pick. I like various Links for various things. Wind Waker’s is the most expressive, and I really like Twilight Princess’s Link for simply looking so cool. But I think BotW Link actually holds a special place in my heart because it’s basically accepted by the fan community that he’s this reckless survivalist wild child, just based on the gameplay of BotW, and it’s such an amusing contrast to the knightly Links we’ve had before. It’s also hard to pick a best Zelda. TP Zelda is, similarly to Link, the most regal incarnation in the series, Skyward Sword Zelda is just incredibly sweet in the best way possible, but I think BotW wins again for me because we actually get to look so much into Zelda’s human side, her internal conflicts, her incredibly ambivalent relationship with her father, and how she grows from being incredibly curt with Link to genuinely caring for him (but of course, considering the design of this game, how much you see of that entirely depends on you, so people’s perception of Zelda may differ accordingly). BotW Ganon is not getting this spot, even though I think they’ve done something incredibly interesting with him, but he’s not really a character in this game. Wind Waker Ganondorf wins for me, if only for his awesome character design. Otherwise, I feel like he’s very similar to his OoT and TP incarnations (which makes sense as it’s actually the exact same character and not a reincarnation). I was never a fan of OoT Impa, so for me it’s really a tie between Skyward Sword and Breath of the Wild, though SS gets a slight edge. BotW Impa is basically the cool old lady mentor, but she really doesn’t do anything to add to this trope, nor does she really have much to do in the game. SS Impa is great because of her two incarnations, both of which have incredibly cool designs, and she’s just an important presence all throughout the game.

Side characters are hard to choose from since there’s been lots. The pirate crew in WW, Groose in SS, the Champions in BotW are all great. If companions count, then Midna wins this. If they don’t, I choose Tingle. I just love that guy tbh.

As for non-Ganon enemy, I don’t really know since I haven’t really dove deep into the games without him. I guess Majora and Skull Kid by extension win this just for the sheer, existential dread that they bring to the table.

And I’m gonna actually finish this off with a question of my own:

Which Zelda do you feel had the best soundtrack?

WarZidane

02-17-2020, 01:48 PM

Favorite OST would be Skyward Sword. Sure, other Zelda games have specific themes that are more memorable, but Skyward Sword's OST wins out overall.

As for the other questions,

Favorite Ganon: Ganondorf from OoT/WW/TP. Hey, they're all the same character after all :p. If I had to pick one appearance specifically though, Wind Waker's.
Favorite Zelda: Tetra (surely she counts), for being a great character in general on top of being a refreshing change from the typical Zelda.
Favorite side character: Wind Waker's king of Hyrule/King of Red Lions
Favorite Link: Well, not much personality to judge here so I'll go with Breath of the Wild's Link, just because of his traversal skills and the fact you can drastically change his outfit (as opposed to just recoloring his tunic in some other games)
Favorite Impa: None of them really stand out to me but I guess Skyward Sword's?

Aulayna

02-17-2020, 07:14 PM

Favourite OST: Think I'll agree on Skyward Sword. It's the most complete out of all the OSTs. Though for individual tracks I have to say The Great Sea theme from The Wind Waker just encapsulates exploring the wide open ocean to me.
Favourite Ganon: OoT - purely because I loved the Dark Ganon fight right at the very end.
Favourite Zelda: Breath of the Wild, honestly because she feels more of a fleshed-out character than a plot driver. Like Fynn said, we see more of a human side to her.
Favourite Link: I'm largely indifferent here. Link is Link to me.
Favourite Impa: Skyward Sword, it's her most impactful appearance.
Favourite Side-Character: Cremia from Majora's Mask. I think MM did a good job of making so many of the NPCs seem like actual people, but Cremia's kindheartedness - and how she puts on a brave face for Romani, granting her wish, knowing full-well of the impeding doom ahead of them, really struck a chord with me.
Favourite Non-Ganon Villain:I guess Vaati is the only one really up there.

Wolf Kanno

02-17-2020, 09:14 PM

Favorite Ganondorf: WW is actually my favorite. I disagree about saying he's the same as his OoT and TP incarnations, because while they are all the same character, they're also all different due to their experiences from the split timeline. OoT is young and cocky, TP is bitter about being sealed away but now has a bit more of a god-complex due to the Triforce of Power saving him, hile WW's Ganondorf is wiser and more reflective since he was defeated by Link, making him a bit more humble. WW for me is the first entry to actually try to make Ganondorf feel like something more than the token bad guy, so he wins out for me.
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Favorite Zelda: Spirit Tracks, easily. I absolutely appreciate how she was made to be a subversion of previous Zelda's and how often she's used to poke fun at Zelda's bad reputation among fans of the series.
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Favorite Link: Probably the toughest for me. I feel the manga adaption of Link fro LttP has really colored my perception of him in that game, so I've always had a soft spot for the Hero of Legend, especially when you see him again in Link's Awakening. Though I also really liked his incarnations from WW and TP. Both feel really put upon, but I love the fact that both are motivated by more than just saving Hyrule with TP Link slowly discovering his unknown destiny as the descendant of the Hero of Time, whereas WW Link spends most of his game trying to earn the blessing of the gods because no matter how much he accomplishes, they still don't think he has what it takes to fill the shoes of the Hero of Time, which is really fitting when you think about WW's reception and how much the fanbase loves OoT in comparison.

Favorite Side Character: I don't want to pick companions, because that's too easy, instead I'm thinking just a minor NPC or maybe someone plot important, but not a companion. So Marin from Link's Awakening is one of my favorites in the series.

Favorite Non-Ganon Villain: There are not many to choose from, but I may give this to either the Nightmares in LA, which really turn your head about your actions in the game. You have to kind of see them as a collective consciousness but they really added to the story. Majora is also a safe bet since their prescense is felt throughout the game and I love the mystery surrounding their origin and motive. Finally Hilda from ALBW, who is more of a anti-villain but something not seen very often in the fairly black and white world of Hyrule.

Favorite Soundtrack: Either Ocarina of Time for mostly solidifying the OST of the series or Twilight Princess which has some really groovy pieces like the Mian Theme and Midna's Lament. Though iconic themes like Zelda's Theme, Lost Woods Theme, and Ganon's Theme all debuted in A Link to the Past, OoT's versions are probably the most well known incarnations and they added a bunch of themes that have been remixed into future entries.

Lord Golbez

02-18-2020, 12:59 AM

Favorite Zelda: BotW. The memories give her more presence in BotW than she has in most of the other Zelda games I've played.

Favorite Ganon: Link to the Past

Favorite side character - Meh Zelda games don't generally have enough character development for me to care so "It's a secret to everyone" Moblin gets my pick.

Favorite Soundtrack - the original or Link to the Past
Main reason is the main Legend of Zelda theme. The original introduced it, but Link to the Past has better sound quality and kept it for the overworld theme. Later games either didn't have it or relegated it to obscure places so they're automatically worse.

Favorite Link - Eh. They're pretty much all the same.

Favorite Non-Ganon - No idea.

Fynn

02-18-2020, 05:21 AM

For my favorite soundtrack, I’m actually gonna pick Breath of the Wild. I know it’s a controversial option because it’s so unlike any Zelda OST, but that’s also precisely why I’m picking it. It’s the perfect OST in that it is ideal for the game it’s attached to. There’s the overall minimalist, piano-heavy, melancholy vibe that makes this essentially post-apocalyptic Hyrule feel unlike any other open world I’ve explored. It’s also an incredibly bold step in artistic terms, as I don’t think I’ve ever heard a game’s soundtrack that veers so heavily into contemporary art music, which I love dearly. And then there’s just the incredible way this soundtrack brings back some old themes. Hyrule Castle is just phenomenal overall, bringing together the traditional series theme, Zelda’s theme and Gabon’s theme, but it’s the Temple og Time theme being just a broken version of the original that really speaks to the level of artistry this OST represents. And then there’s just the BotW Main Theme that just radiates Ghibli energy.

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Wolf Kanno

02-18-2020, 06:36 AM

That is a great main theme.

Update Time:

I finally got the Pendant of Power after doing the new Tower of Hera. I feel the boss was better in the original for being more difficult to beat, but I feel the remake dungeon is actually a better dungeon with a real sense of vertical challenge. Funny enough, the boss was tough for me, but that actually be cause getting hit three times by him was enough to actually kill me. I have tried my best to scrounge up as much of the heart containers I can currently access so I'm not a complete glass cannon, but entering Lorule was enough to teach me that ended quickly.

Anyway, with the tower beaten, I unlocked the alien octopus quest and have been collecting a few of them. I have not traded any in yet, cause I'm still trying to complete some of the StreetPass Challenges and they require the original version of most of the game items. The Lost Woods lived up to their name better in this game than they did in LttP, but getting the Master Sword in this title doesn't quite feel as important. Maybe because Yura doesn't strike me as terrifying, and perhaps because Ganon in this title is way less powerful than he was in LttP from a lore stand point. Hyrule Castle was interesting, especially since it was very different from LttP. The rematch with Yura was surprisingly easy though. I finally got to meet Hilda and see the wonderful stage show she had set up for me. I learned pretty quickly that most creatures in Lorule can currently one shot me, so I may need to figure out where the Blue or Red Mail is and make them my priority for dungeons to conquer next. I did swing by Ravio's house and read his diary, which is the only other change in Hero Mode. Got my fourth bottle and transferred back to Hyrule to finally use all these Rupees I've been hoarding to purchase my items once and for all. I made sure to use the half off on the Ice Rod since both it and the Fire Rod are the most expensive. With that, I've purchased everything but the Boomerang, Hammer, Fire Rod, and the Sand Rod which is still unavailable to me. Not sure where I'm going to start with the dungeons. Will likely avoid the Ice Tower for the time being despite knowing the Red Mail is there since that place is still a pain in the ass like it was in LttP. I may tackle the Thieves Hideout first since it was the most memorable dungeon for me the first time through.

More Zelda Questions:

What's your favorite recurring Zelda item/tool?
What's your favorite game specific item/tool?
Favorite Dungeon?
Least Favorite Dungeon?

Lord Golbez

02-18-2020, 02:27 PM

Fav recurring item: Boomerang or hookshot. I go back and forth on them

Fave game specific item: Cape in Link to the Past. I'm not sure if that's game specific but I don't remember seeing it in other games.

Favorite Dungeon - That's a toughy. Maybe Turtle Rock in Link to the Past.

Worst Dungeon - Like most of Ocarina's dungeons but especially the water one.

Fynn

02-19-2020, 01:25 PM

Favorite recurring tool is probably the bow. That or the hookshot. I don’t know why, I just think they’re neat.

Favorite game-specific tool is a bit tougher. I think it’s gonna be something from Twilight Princess since I remember those gadgets being cool, even if they were used for all of one dungeon each. I’d say that spinning top thing was cool, for example.

Favorite dungeon is still and probably always will be the Great Cistern from Skyward Sword. It’s an incredibly imaginative dungeon that tells a story all its own just through its architecture and the way you progress it. To this day it’s my most satisfying Zelda dungeon experience.

Least favorite - while I generally liked the shrines and divine beasts in Breath of the Wild a lot, even if they were nowhere near as robust as other dungeons in the series, there was one Divine Beast dungeon I have to choose for this one but it’s not because of sone poor design choice of anything - it’s because it made me nauseous. It was probably Vah Neboris or the flying one - the one where you have to keep spinning the thing around and constantly look at walls and ceilings. No thank you. Other than that, I don’t think I’ve disliked a single dungeon in Zelda. They’re all such a fun part of the game.

Wolf Kanno

02-20-2020, 06:31 AM

Favorite Tool: Probably the Hookshot, especially the double clawshot from TP and SS. My second choice would either be the Pegasus Boots or the Roc Feather.

Favorite Game specific Tool: Probably the masks from Majora's Mask. bit specifically either the Bunny Ears that doubled your speed, or the Goron Mask.

Favorite Dungeon: Oof, tough one. Either the Thieves Hideout from LttP, it's Lorule counterpart in ALBW, or Death Mountain from TP.

Least Favorite: I feel the easy low hanging fruit here would be to list off the dungeons from Zelda 2, but that feels like a cop out. I'm going to say either Level 6 from Zelda 1 where Wizzrobes are first introduced, the Fire Temple from OoT cause I find it annoying to track down all the Gorons, The Great Bay Dungeon from MM cause it's even more annoying than OoT's Water Temple, or the Ocean King Temple from Phantom Hourglass for being kind of repetitive and slowing down the game.

Update Time:
I've finished the Dark Palace and Skull Woods Dungeon, forgot I had to figure out a password to get into the Thieves Dungeon but I was oddly able to figure it out without much effort when I actually tried. I was able to gain two pieces of Master Ore, allowing the Hyrule Blacksmith to upgrade the Master Sword to its tempered form. I'm still a glass cannon, but the cannon part is being heavily emphasized. I was also finally able to buy all of the available weapons. I'm still missing the Sand Wand since one of the Sages has it and I can't quite figure out which temple he's specifically at. Knowing my luck, he's at he Water themed dungeon, which requires I get the Titan Mitts first to reach since it retained the annoying "do something in the Light World to affect the Dark World" which technically shouldn't really work in this game when I think about it. What really irks me is that the Swamp dungeon has the damn Blue Tunic in this game, and I need the Sand Wand to get there.

I do feel I need to start training in my alien squid babies for Item upgrades, but I need to check what I've accomplished so far so I don't accidentally lock myself out of the optional boss. Thankfully, I've already accomplished one of the tougher challenges in beating an opponent with the Lantern. That one is a bitch. I've collected over sixty of the alien squid babies, so I really don't have much left to go.

More Questions:

Favorite Dungeon Boss (No Final bosses)?
Least Favorite Dungeon Boss?
Favorite Minigame?
Least Favorite?

Lord Golbez

02-20-2020, 07:09 AM

Fav boss - Turtle Rock boss is definitely up there. Also multi-headed dragon boss from the original.

Least fav boss - I'm sure there are worse ones (probably plenty in OoT) but right now what comes to mind is how annoying the Death Mountain boss in LttP can be.

Fav Minigame. - Just no. I don't like Zelda minigames. Only ever play them for pieces of heart.

Least fav minigame - Omniway tie?

Wolf Kanno

02-21-2020, 12:26 AM

Fave Dungeon Boss: Probably the Boss of the Fire or Water temples in Twilight Princess, largely because they require using several items besides the dungeon item, and partyly because I love the aesthetics of the fight. Blinding a giant and then tripping him up on his own ball and chain to get to the weak point was clever, and I love the Shadow of the Colossus feel of the eel worm boss in the Water Temple.

Least Favorite: Probably Rebonack from Zelda II, Blue Iron Knuckles are cheating bastard and the boss form might be the worst. For more "standard bosses" probably Fraaz from Spirit Tracks, which is a clever fight since it revolves around using the boomerang to hit him with his own weakness, but this boss has way too much health and proves to be the fight where the controls of the game are problematic since using the boomerang makes you a sitting duck and the boss is certainly not going to sit there and give you the chance to draw the boomerang pathway for you.

Favorite Minigame: Probably Goron Sumo Wrestling, which was a neat and novel idea that comes to play in a later boss fight. I also did grow to love the Octoball game in ALBW, and I'm always partial to the fishing minigames. The one aspect I tend to like about Zelda minigames over say... Kingdom Hearts, is that Zelda is kind enough to usually make the valuable prizes like Heart Pieces be a mid-tier or secondary prize instead of the high score only prize. Granted there are exceptions to this rule, but more often than not, the better prizes can usually be gained rather easily like how the Boss Rush minigame in Skyward Sword awards you the heart piece for four battles, the Hylian Shield for eight battles, and the final tenth round is usually just either Rupees or a rare material.

Least Favorite: Probably any minigame that is pure RNG like the majority of the ones in LttP. The treasure chest mini-game is probably the worst offender since it actually has a heart piece as a prize. For games of skill, probably anything that involves using the bow while riding Epona. Multi-tasking is hardly my strong point and these minigames show it.

Update time!

Two more dungeons finished. I do still love the Thieves Dungeon in this game, probably one of the better subverted dungeons in the game since this one involves an escort mission, and tricks you into thinking they're going to pull the same stunt as in LttP. This is also one of the better redone boss fights from the original and the one that really makes the Picture Link mechanic really shine for me. Still my favorite dungeon so far except maybe the lone original dungeon House of Gales.

To my surprise, the Sage who took the Sand Rod was in this dungeon, so I have finally obtained all of the tool items. This led me to Misery Mire, which I forgot was really the Desert Dungeon. It's a pretty clever dungeon, much less annoying the second time around, I even had an easier time with the boss. Unfortunately for me, I got Misery Mire and the Swamp Palace mixed up, despite Misery Mire clearly being a swamp, the fucking Water dungeon is the actual "Smamp" Palace. So my reward was the Titan Mitts instead, which are still useful, but now I'm realizing the Blue Mail may be for naught since I'll only have two dungeons left to beat before I get to Lorule Castle and the Red Mail. Oh well, whatever. I'm now trying to do the Swamp Palace. Still haven't upgraded any of my items, but not really seeing much reason for it either.

I only need five more Heart Pieces, but I have thankfully grabbed the majority of them that are prizes in the minigames. So I only need Eight Heart Pieces now.

As for the next set of questions:

Most underrated Tool?
Favorite Side Quest?
Favorite mode of transportation?
Favorite recurring musical theme?

Wolf Kanno

02-22-2020, 06:54 AM

Game Set and Match!

The Swamp Dungeon, like most Water themed dungeons in Zelda titles, is not particularly hard to figure out, as much as it's simply tedious to do so even when its figured out. Switch puzzle dungeons can be fun, with moderation, and thankfully this one wasn't too bad. The real treat here was finally getting the Blue Mail and no longer being a three hit wonder. With the Swamp Dungeon finished off, I did the Ice Ruins next. Much like the original game, this is probably the most tedious and challenging dungeon since there are a lot of ways to die in here, and its really easy to get turned around. Oddly enough though, it might be less tedious than the originals, but I certainly had more deaths here than I feel I should have. The item of this dungeon was the Stamina Scroll, which raised my Item Meter. Nice, but not nearly as useful as I would have liked. Finally, we hit up Turtle Rock, and this might be the biggest curveball for LttP fans like myself. Its located in the notorious area where the Ice Ruins were originally in LttP, it actually is built around using the Ice Wand, which was an optional item that made Turtle Rock easier in the original, and despite having the name of the other notorious dungeon from LttP, this one is ridiculously easy. It even has damn Wizrobes in it, yet the dungeon is surprisingly short, pretty easy to figure out, and it might actually be the easiest dungeon in the game barring the Eastern Palace.

The Hylian Shield is also an overrated item and should not have been the treasure of this dungeon. I don't care for how shields work in this game, since they're trying to impose rules from the 3D Zeldas here with the shield being an item you have to use a button for, whereas most 2D Zeldas have the shield be a default use if you're not doing any other action. Especially problematic when the shield animation has less priority than other actions, meaning that even if you remember to use it, you almost need fair warning to make use of it. I was also surprised how pointless the Boomerang is for most of the game. Its primarily used for one optional challenge dungeon, and even then, its used in conjunction with the hookshot for that dungeon. On the other hand, it's a pretty brutal weapon in the weird Streetpass game, since it both stuns your opponent and brings them to you. Its faster than the hookshot as well.

After finishing all the dungeons, I finished collecting all 100 Alien Squid kids, though I never finished the quest due to the streetpass mechanics. Course, I may have screwed myself anyway with that, so I probably shouldn't have bothered, but considering this was more of a challenge run since I was in Hero Mode, it felt fitting to not upgrade any of them. I was reminded that I had one more bottle to collect from the hidden fairy fountain by the Bomb Flower shop.

Lorule Castle was pretty neat. I don't like it as much as Ganon's Tower in LttP, or Hyrule Castle in TP, but I could probably rank this as one of the better dungeons. The Red Mail, though a tricky pain in the ass to acquire if you don't get slightly lucky or just have a knack for extinguishing all of the torches you find. It is also Broken as shit because I went from taking reasonable damage with the Blue Mail, to suddenly taking damage like a champ. I started to forget I was playing Hero Mode actually. Wish I had found it before I did the Boss Rush challenge. Yuga-Ganon is a clever revamp of the old Ganon fight from LttP with Yuga's painting shenanigans added in for variety. With that said, I was actually surprised how easy the fight managed to be. I only used a Blue Potion, because I got so impatient with his first form, that I started trading blows with him just to end the fight faster. The second round was pretty easy. I will say this game does have one of the better Zelda endings, and I still appreciate the twist with Hilda in the end which is easily the highlight of the game. The game is fun and charming, but I still feel it borrows too much from LttP to feel unique, which is a shame because the painting mechanics was actually really well implemented in a series that tends to do a poor job with gimmicky mechanics. I have decided that the games primary issue really is the "open world" aspect. Dungeons in the first half felt less rewarding since they didn't feature any items beyond plot coupons and the second half of the game lacked challenge since they had to make all of the dungeons fairly similar in difficulty since you could take them in any order. I feel what really hurt them was the fact that the puzzles often felt one dimensional since they relegated each dungeon to just one tool and your painting form to solve all of the puzzles. Unlike previous entries where your whole arsenal could often come into play. The issue I see here is that the designers intended for players to only bring the token item into a dungeon, but since Rupees practically fall from the heavens all the time, I feel they should have accounted that players may bring more items into play. As it stands, the overworld usually ended up being more interesting since you did often need to have most of your tools available depending on the circumstances. While I would be fine with this design flaw in normal plays, since I feel its obvious this game suffers from the DS entries problem of being designed to be as accessible as possible to a younger generation, it would have been awesome if Hero Mode worked similar to Master Quest/2nd Quest and have the dungeons revamped and possibly built for multiple items to present more challenge. With that said, the variety of puzzles built around the items were fairly good. With the game freshly in my memory, I may move it up one rank in my original ranking list.

As for my questions:
Most Underrated Tool/Item? I could probably list a few one game only items like the Spinner from TP, or the whip in SS; I'd probably say the Boomerang since is went from being a staple item in the first and third games, loses its luster in the N64 titles, and came back with a vengence in WW and TP, yet it tends to get overlooked a lot because of the hookshot.

Favorite Sidequest: I enjoyed the chain of deals quest in LA, I also liked the few overworld quests in LttP where you had to rescue people like the blacksmith's brother so you can upgrade the sword. I also ended up liking the Gratitude quest in SS since it really fleshed out the Sky Islands. and Skyloft. The Romani Ranch Alien abduction mission in MM was also a highlight.

Favorite Mode of Transportation: The King of Red Lions from WW.

Favorite Recurring Musical Theme: Either the main theme, or the Lost Woods theme.

Wolf Kanno

02-25-2020, 11:24 PM

Update Time!

I decided to check out the Oracle series, which has been collecting dust on my 3DS Hardware for awhile. Started with Oracle of Seasons, and I just finished the fourth dungeon last night. I've also apparently found most of the heart pieces in the game. I'm only missing three by this point and two I can't access yet while the last one is the RNG with the Gacha Nut tree mechanic.

The biggest treat so far is experiencing some of the leftover elements for when this game started as a remake of the first Zelda game. It was really nice to see Aquamentus from the first game make a serious return since it has almost never appeared again after the first game. So far most of the bosses debuted in the first game except the Moth boss from the third dungeon which is from LttP.

The Season mechanic is also pretty clever, though part of me feel the game doesn't quite take it to the full potential it should have had, similar to OoT's under performing time travel mechanics. Its still really neat, and I love the variety if gives. I can still only access three of the seasons at the moment. Course, I feel the one lauded mechanic that really isn't doing much for me is the Ring system. The idea is sound, but the rings themselves are either uselessly gimmicky like the ones that change your form, or so over specialized to feel kind of meaningless like half damage to small rock attacks. Even looking at a list of all the rings, it really only feels like a handful have any value to me, and most of them are locked behind the Linked Game mechanic, or some endgame quest I can't do at the moment, so it's been a real let down so far. The animal companions are amusing as well, though I'm annoyed that I apparently set the flute to the worst of the three. The flying bear guy is a pain to use compared to Ricky and the dinosaur one.

The overall flow of the game has been really good so far. The game looks and feels like a continuation of Link's Awakening, but there are even more interesting side characters and several borrowed from OoT. It's been a really charming game so far. I also really love Maple, and I enjoy the kind of odd game like rivalry she shares with Link. I've also completed a good chunk of the game's Trading Sequence quest, which has been really amusing. I think I actually have the last item, the phonograph, though I haven't met anyone looking for it. I feel the most interesting part for me in this game has been Subrosia. I'm a sucker for subterranean societies, and I love when game implement alternate monetary mechanics in different regions. The place has served as an amusing diversion from the issues plaguing Holodrum since they tend to be oblivious to anything going on in the surface. I only wish Roda would just give me her necklace, so I wouldn't have to deal with acquiring keys anymore in dungeons. Overall, been a really fun game, and I'm going to have a tough time figuring out where I would place it among the series.

New questions:

Favorite Zelda gimmick (Light/Dark World, Ocarina of Time, Wind Waker, Season Rod, etc...)?
Least favorite Zelda gimmick?
Favorite non-Hyrule setting?
2D or 3D Zelda?

Lord Golbez

02-26-2020, 02:27 AM

Not really sure what this gimmick thing means so I'm gonna go with collecting pieces of the Triforce. Gotta stick with the classics. I actually don't like the Light/Dark world element of Link to the Past too much. Even though it's one of my favorite games of the series having the majority of the game dominated by the Dark World was a mistake IMO.

Least favorite gimmick. Stamina in BOTW.

Non-Hyrule - Link's Awakening

2d over 3d mostly. BotW though...

Wolf Kanno

02-26-2020, 05:06 AM

Gimmick is basically a core mechanic that defines the whole game, so needing to switch back and forth between the Light and Dark Worlds in LttP, using the various songs with the Ocarina of Time, the Masks and three day time loop in MM, Sailing and using the Wind Waker, Wolf Link, swordplay in SS, changing seasons in Oracle of Seasons, time travel in Oracle of Ages, etc...

Each game is usually defined by the gimmick, so that would be where I would start.

Lord Golbez

02-26-2020, 08:02 AM

Well, the original is pretty much defined by collecting pieces of the Triforce. I stand by it.

Wolf Kanno

02-27-2020, 08:08 PM

Well, the original is pretty much defined by collecting pieces of the Triforce. I stand by it.

Even though most of the games in the series can be defined as "collect eight mcguffans to proceed to the ending"? ;)

Update Time:

Finished the fifth dungeon, and obtained what might be one of the coolest items I've seen in awhile for the series. The Magnetic Gloves are a pretty clever idea, and I like how it works like a more versatile hookshot despite magnets not working like this. Basically, the gloves change every time you use them to a N or S polarity which will either attract metal or repel it. It works like the hookshot because there are posts in areas that are stationary, which if you use this item, you can either pull yourself across gaps to reach it, or push yourself away. The most interesting thing was the boss battle of the dungeon. It was Didogger, another returning boss from the original. In the old game, you had to use the Flute to force it to split into a group of smaller versions of itself which could actually be damaged by your sword. In this one, it hops around the room and instead you need to manipulate a large spiked ball to collide with it until it shatters the monster and splits up into smaller versions that can be hurt by the sword. What is interesting is that Didogger is pretty harmless since he's kind of slow and most of his moves are easily telegraphed, the real damage is making sure you don't accidentally collide with the Spiked Ball yourself when manipulating it since the speed of attraction and repelling is based on how long you hold the magnet gloves button. It was a pretty interesting fight, and I've been enjoying the items use in the overworld.

With that finished, I reached the first really obtuse section of the game. I need to reach some old ruins in the Lost Woods but it's blocked by a door that needs four sigils that are scattered all over the map. There is a map you can acquire in one of the bazaars that show you where they are located but, you may not obtain it if you don't frequent another shop in Subrosia. None of this is helped by the fact the treasure map doesn't state what the items marked on it are for until this point in the game. Adding to this issue is that I don't think I ever met anyone who told me how to get through the Lost Woods to reach the ruins, the Maku Tree who is suppose to be your guide is actually pretty useless in this game. I imagine Impa may have told me, but I always forget to check back with her since she's usually better about directions. I actually tried the original games path hoping that it might work but it involves using the Rod of Seasons in a specific way. I ended up using a guide to get to the dungeon. On the brightside, I finished the Chain of Deals quest and obtained the instructions needed to navigate the Lost Woods and find the Noble Sword, which couldn't have come sooner cause I'm certainly dealing with stronger enemies now that tank hits like no other. So now I'm tackling the sixth dungeon. I've also obtained a bunch of useless rings, though apparently one of them may come in handy in Oracle of Ages if I transfer the data when I finish the game.

Other than that, I've been toying with the idea that once I finish the Oracle series, I may play Masterquest mode in Ocarina of Time, since I've never played it despite have the Zelda collection for Gamecube and the 3DS remaster of the game. I was pretty impressed with how different 2nd Quest was for the original Zelda, so I feel like this might do something similar for OoT for me.

Wolf Kanno

02-29-2020, 03:38 AM

Update Time:

The Ancient Cave took forever, probably one of the longest dungeons so far in the game, but I appreciate that this along with the Explorer's Crypt really show off what I mean about my issue with ALBW dungeons feeling a bit bare bones compared to more standard dungeons. These dungeons will make damn sure you're still using almost every item you've obtained up until this point which I actually prefer in my Zelda Dungeons. Also, as if the cosmos itself heard my gripes about how underappeciated the Boomerang is in this series, the Ancient Cave actually gives you the Mgaic Boomerang, and it may be the best version of the item in the series. First off, it's pathway can be directly controlled by you, meaning this game did this idea first and predated WW, which I find amusing because I've watched a bunch of Zelda fan videos brow beat TP for copying WW for having a controllable Boomerang. The bigger deal with this item is that is can actually do some serious damage, and there are a few enemies like the glowing skulls that bounce around the room, that this item can directly kill, making it way more useful than most versions of the item. The mini-boss of the dungeon involved a battle with Vires, the demon bat enemies from Zelda 1. He was a bit more annoying than I would care for since he likes to stay out of your reach, but as minibosses go, he actually took less hits than most, but maybe that's because I'm sporting the Noble Sword now. The actual boss of the dungeon was the Manhanda Plant monster from Zelda 1, who could only be damaged when one of its mouths were opened. The Boomerang was also the ideal weapon cause its main body was a giant version of those little green cauctar guys that zap you if you strike them with the sword. They actually made this a bit of a tougher fight, especially since you fought it on quicksand that kept shifting you around.

After this, I needed to reach a graveyard, but the only one I know of was in Subrosia. There I re-encountered the Piratians, a crew of undead pirates, of whom half their ship is buried on the top side of the world, while the other is in Subrosia. The crew can't leave because the Captain lost a special Bell he was given by his Lady love in the desert, and he wouldn't let Link go looking for it until he had more experience as an adventurer. Have I mentioned how much I enjoy how Zelda handles undead characters and plot points. These guys were hilarious and trying to find this bell was amusing since it involved carrying around one of the crews heads through the desert to find the right quicksand path and then taking a the rusted bell to the wacky blacksmiths in Subrosia who prefer you to be blunt and to the point instead of polite. Finally the pirates vacated Subrosia, only to learn they've been on land for so long, they lost their sea legs and got seasick trying to leave. They parked the ship on a beach south of Horon Village which led me to the area of the graveyard and the Explorer's Crypt. This place has been interesting because you'll occasionally go into a room where the a voice tells you to leave before the torches all go out, if you don't, you're sent back to the entrance of the dungeon. The trick is to usually find a dark room nearby that has a grave and torches in it, light the torches, and face off with one of the Poe Sisters that is causing the curse. Been a tricky dungeon so far.

In sidequest mode, I finally finished tracking down the four Golden Enemies this old man asks you to hunt down. They only appear in certain areas during certain seasons. An Octorok, a Moblin, a Darknut, and a Lynel of all things. Beating them rewards you with the Red Ring, which is probably one of the only truly decent rings in this game that doubles your attack power. I'm grateful its a guaranteed drop from a quest rather than play with the RNG and having to deal with Ring drops with Gasha Trees or running into Maple.

To answer my own questions:
Favorite Gimmick: Either Dark/Light world or the Season changing

Least favorite: Probably the Phantom Hourglass

Favorite Non-Hyrule location: Kolinet Island

2D or 3D: Probably 2D, though I like both for different reasons.

More Zelda Questions:

Favorite Non-Master Sword sword?

Favorite recurring NPC that isn't Zelda?

80s Zelda Cartoon: Yay or Nay?

Favorite non-Green Tunic outfit Link has worn?

I Took the Red Pill

02-29-2020, 05:29 AM

Favorite Non-Master Sword sword?
Great Fairy Sword, mostly because it had health regen in the GameCube version of Soul Calibur 2 and I loved playing as Link in that game

Favorite recurring NPC that isn't Zelda?
https://gifimage.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/tingle-gif-13.gif

80s Zelda Cartoon: Yay or Nay?
Dont think I ever saw more than one episode

Favorite non-Green Tunic outfit Link has worn?
Hmm maybe the Sheikah set from BoTW, but only as a distant second to the classic green

Wolf Kanno

03-01-2020, 10:01 AM

Update Time!

Oracle of Seasons: Finished the Explorers Crypt which granted me the awesome Roc's Cape that let me glide further distances, making this the most mobile 2D Link in the series. The boss of the dungeon turned out to be Gleeok, a boss I'm still surprised doesn't show up more often in the series cause you would think fighting a multi-headed dragon would be pretty popular with both the devs and fans. He fight is like his classic form with his heads that get cut off coming back from the dead to try and murder you. He has a few new fire breath patters, but his real new trick is that once all the heads are dealt with, his body revives and tries to ram you as well after it does a huge earthquake stomp to stun you. You need to use the Roc's Cape to stay in the air long enough for this attack to miss.

With the Roc's Cape, I can reach the are of Holodrum where the Temple of Seasons originally stood before Orok knocked into Subrosia. I actually ended up having to go to Subrosia to cause a volcanic eruption which allowed me to collect the last heart piece I needed to form the last non-dungeon heart. The Sword and Shield dungeon actually lies in Subrosia itself, and this dungeon is weird with a Fire & Ice theme with the rooms. The dungeon item is an upgraded Slingshot that can fire three shots instead of one in a shotgun spread. Looks like I need it to activate some specific switches. We'll see how this dungeon goes.

Ocarina of Time: Going to try out Master's Quest. Course this may be lost on me because I don't play OoT enough to have the game memorized, so even though I'm exploring the remixed first dungeon, as far as I remember, it feels mostly the same. We'll see how this goes.

To answer my questions:

Favorite Non-Master Sword: The Four Sword is pretty neat. Though I also like the Noble Sword in Seasons and the Magic Sword in Zelda 1.

Favorite recurring NPC that isn't Zelda: Probably Beedle.

80s Zelda Cartoon: Yay!

Favorite Non-Green Tunic outfit: Either his Ordon farm hand outfit in TP, or his Lobster shirt in WW. Though his Engineers outfit in Spirit Tracks is adorable.

Wolf Kanno

03-03-2020, 08:25 PM

Update Time!

Ocarina of Time Master Quest: Deku Tree is finished. I didn't see much in the way of major changes to the dungeon, though as I stated before, I'm not exactly a die hard fan of this entry who has it memorized. I did notice a few items and pathways are blocked off and need items I'll obtain in later dungeons. So I guess MQ mostly makes backtracking a worthwhile effort. I will say that I have always liked the Deku Tree as a starter dungeon, I feel it really does pull you through all the ropes of what the new engine can let Link do, and get you familiar with how puzzles are going to work. I also love the Slingshot, which I like better than the bow, if only because its easier to aim. Course I'm playing the 3DS Remaster, so manual targeting is actually feasible with little skill. Gohma has always been one of my favorite recurring Zelda bosses, though I'm still sad he's such a cakewalk in this game. I beat the boss, got the Kokori stone, and I'm going to be sent off to Hyrule Castle to do the mini-stealth mission to see Zelda and start this quest properly.

Oracle of Seasons: Finished! The Sword and Shield dungeon was pretty hectic but thankfully has several shortcuts you can activate to make backtracking less of a chore than the Ancient Ruins or Explorers Tomb. Oddly enough, the miniboss was more of a challenge than the actual final boss. He was a Fire and Ice demon who would change element based on which seeds you hit him with. The fastest, though not necessarily easiest way to beat him involves hitting him with a Mystery Seed to make him go into Ice form, strike one of his ice attacks with the same seed to turn it into an ice block, and then strike him again with a seed to make him go back to his Fire form. From there, you equip the Power Bracelet to lift the Ice block and chuck it into him, though it does involve getting close to him. With the triple shot Slingshot, this process is way easier than you think if you line up the shot right. The actual final boss is a keep away boss who has an annoying ability to turn you into stone so they can land extra hits. You need the Roc's Cape to dodge all of its attacks and close the gap between you.

Orok's Castle was pretty straightforward but Orok himself was actually interesting. He doesn't take damage from your normal sword strikes, instead, you have to charge it up for the spin attack to actually do damage. You need to dodge his massive ball and chain hammer while striking during the few openings he has. Once he's taken a few hits though, he summons Din, the Oracle of Seasons, and uses her as a shield that causes you to take damage if you strike her and she always floats in a way to block you. The key here is to use the Seasons Rod to strike her, which won't hurt her or you, but it will send her flying across the room and give you a few moments to go in for a hit.

His second form is really amusing for me as a long time fan of the Mega Man X series, and a moment where the development team showed their true colors. His second form is a massive flying dragon, of which he can only take damage from a jewel on his forehead. To reach it, you have to wait until he tries to squash you with one of its arms, and then use the Roc's Cape to jump onto his hand and let him move you close to his head where you can jump again and hit his weak point. If this sounds a bit familiar, this is the same strategy for taking out Sigma's final form in MMX1. The biggest difference is that Link's sword attack has way better range than the Rolling Shield weapon, and Orok isn't filling the screen with death while you try to dodge and platform at the same time to actually get in range to strike. He does have a few other attacks like breathing fireballs that are tough to dodge properly but he doesn't use them as often as his hand smash. With him defeated Din, is saved and Holodrum returns to normal outside of the fact that most of the Temple of Seasons is still trapped in Subrosia. We get a neat ending sequence showing off all the NPCs interacting with Din and Link. We also get all the heavy foreshadowing about the content of the Linked Game/True Ending path.

I wrote down my crazy password, and will probably start Oracle of Ages a bit later.

Wolf Kanno

01-19-2021, 06:53 PM

I've got me some Breath of the Wild waiting in my backlog, but I also remembered I never finished the Oracle games, so I started Oracle of Ages today using my code from Seasons. First dungeon is complete and now I need to find the second one.

Vasher

01-20-2021, 11:35 AM

I played the original “Legend of Zelda” and “Link’s Adventure” back in the 80’s. Went through “A Link to the Past” when it was released on the SNES. My eldest son and I beat Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword on the Wii. ... but it wasn’t until my eldest, 2’nd, and I played through “Link’s Awakening” on the Switch that I fell in love with the franchise. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been a huge fan and avid player, but watching my 6yr old (at the time) fall for the series, as well as my eldest come to understand the initial brilliance (as LA really captures that original feel), was very... nostalgic (only a lot
More than that).

We’ve played through BotW and Age of Calamity, unlocked nearly 100% of the content on each, including the Amiibo characters/gear for BotW. Not trying to spoil anything, so just mentioning that we’re only missing the final character on AoC.

My 7yr old is so enamored with LoZ that he has a Master Sword, Hylian Shield, Link’s bow (not sure which one), Link’s costume (think it’s from Skyward Sword), and a playable ceramic Ocarina (TriForce in the glaze). He’s done his research and wants a GameCube w/“Majora’s Mask” and “Ocarina of
Time”.

Amazes me that there are games/franchises from over 30 years ago that are not only relevant, but industry leading today.

Anyhow, loving some LoZ over here.

Aulayna

01-20-2021, 10:02 PM

He’s done his research and wants a GameCube w/“Majora’s Mask” and “Ocarina of
Time”.

If you can, and want to go full retro, I'd get an N64 instead (or for more portability, a 3DS). The GameCube emulation of Ocarina of Time mostly works well, but the emulation of Majora's Mask crashes ALL THE TIME which can get quite frustrating considering the more restrictive save mechanics in that game (especially when doing one of the time sensitive side quests for example).

Fynn

01-21-2021, 06:55 AM

Plus, the 3DS versions are pretty much enhanced remakes with updated graphics and (arguably) gameplay. 3DS Majora’s Mask is honestly in my top 3.

Example

01-23-2021, 09:08 AM

Currently replaying Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask, it's been a good 10 years since I've played them for the first time (10 years after watching my cousin play OOT) but this time on actual N64 hardware. I'm definitely having more fun with MM, the time-based mechanics force you to think in more unconventional ways and the world itself feels more alive and full of personality, though I will always respect OOT for revolutionizing the gaming industry. I've had to put BotW on hold for now, and tbh I'm getting pretty burned out on that game.

Wolf Kanno

01-25-2021, 08:48 AM

Still not very far into OoA but I am surprised how more RPGish this entry is. Lot more talking, and a lot more of getting to know the villagers. If Seasons took it's roots from Link to the Past and Ocarina of Time, then this entry feels closer to Link's Awakening and Majora's Mask. It's not a bad thing mind you, just a bit surprising seeing how Seasons felt a bit light on story in comparison. I've just reached the second dungeon.

Example

02-15-2021, 06:16 PM

Spent half the day looking for the last gold skulltula in Ocarina of Time, then found it through sheer dumb luck saving me from having to replay every dungeon. Awesome.

Wolf Kanno

02-18-2021, 04:58 AM

Skyward Sword is finally getting an HD release.

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I'm still a bit iffy about the button only controls but seeing how I only have a Switch Lite, I'll have to wait and see. Still hoping they port over the HD remasters of TP and WW someday as well since the Wii U is a lost cause.

Example

02-18-2021, 05:37 AM

It would be nice if they could do another HD remaster of WW without the distractingly awful bloom effect in the Wii U version.

Fynn

02-18-2021, 06:28 AM

Skyward Sword is underrated and I’m glad it’s getting the HD treatment!

Del Murder

02-18-2021, 05:50 PM

It's underrated? I thought most people agreed it was good? It is good.

This remaster will be interesting since this game heavily utilized the Wii motion controls. Although it is cool they are giving SS some attention, I wish they instead made a new Zelda or, if they have to go remaster something, do Metriod Prime since I never finished part 3. :mad:

Fynn

02-18-2021, 06:26 PM

SS seems to be one of the franchise’s black sheep from where I’m standing. I’m glad that’s not a universal impression though!

Wolf Kanno

02-19-2021, 03:27 AM

It's only sort of underrated. It's big issue is all the people who hate the Wii and motion controls tend to resent it. Most fans liked it though it has it's problems. I'm curious to see if people will notice them more once they stop getting hung up on the controls. Even with the changes, I can already see some people wishing they just remade the core gameplay to be like OoT/TP.

I'd say the real underrated entries are the handhelds since everyone tend to ignore them.

Fynn

02-19-2021, 05:18 AM

Wolf Kanno

02-19-2021, 09:45 AM

It's not just the linearity, it's also the repetitiveness of it since you essentially have to go through each zone twice to reach the second set of dungeons in each world. While the game is likely just as large as TP or WW, it feels smaller by comparison because so many assets were re-used. I also feel the swordplay focus of the gameplay severely limited the types of puzzles and bosses in the game which are often the two aspects most people love about the franchise. Lie what it does, it does well, but I often can't help feeling like the game needed more time to really expand the concept out. I wouldn't be surprised if the game actually got rushed out considering it was released in an anniversary year.

Lord Golbez

02-22-2021, 03:27 PM

Linearity itself isn't bad, but Zelda games are generally loved for the exploration aspect. If it's linear enough to exclude exploration, that can reasonably be regarded as a con (I haven't played the game so I don't know, but am looking forward to the Switch release).

Wolf Kanno

02-23-2021, 10:35 AM

I mean to be fair, the zones are huge, so there is still plenty to explore, it's just a bit annoying when the game makes you go through them a second time just to get to the 20% new content which is mostly a dungeon.

Example

02-23-2021, 01:18 PM

I feel like the biggest criticism the people lodge at SS is it’s linearity - it’s precisely why BotW veered in the extreme opposite direction. Which sure, it definitely was linear, but that alone doesn’t make a game bad.

Naw the biggest criticism is definitely Fi holding the player's hand for the entire game and explaining every puzzle before you had a chance to attempt to solve it.

Storm

03-22-2021, 03:26 AM

It's interesting to compare Skyward Sword and Breath of the Wild, as the two games are so different.

Skyward Sword, as people mentioned, is linear, and the world feels so small due to revisiting each area. But the 6 main dungeons in that game are fantastic, some of the best in the series.

Breath of the Wild is non-linear, and the world is huge. I was blown away by the game at first. I really liked how you could just essentially pick a direction and go explore. But the more I played, the more I realized how empty the world is. And by the end, and don't get me wrong, I absolutely loved BotW, I really missed having large, engaging dungeons, each with their own unique theme. The shrines are too short, as are the Divine Beasts, and they all look the same.

I hope the next game in the series combines elements from both. Have a large open world that you can explore, in any order, but have at least 6 large, engaging dungeons, each with their own unique theme.

Wolf Kanno

06-16-2021, 01:28 AM

Get ready peeps, we're going back to the sky!

fNAhxl0uYQw

Del Murder

06-17-2021, 12:22 AM

The fact that it still exists means something. I'm sure it will super fun when it comes out!

Depression Moon

06-18-2021, 05:17 AM

Maaan, that was just another cutscene.

Example

06-20-2021, 04:41 AM

Meh, just looks like BotW 1's map but with tiny floating islands in the sky. I'll wait until I see more footage before getting hyped.

Fynn

06-22-2021, 10:30 AM

Yeah, I was really hoping for an underworld, but we’ll see where it goes from here

Wolf Kanno

09-26-2021, 05:20 AM

Finally started Breath of the Wild. We'll see how this goes.

Wolf Kanno

09-29-2021, 09:28 AM

So I've left the Great Plateau and I'm suppose to be heading to Kakariko village. As usual, my sense of direction or lack there of has led me to the village of Hepteto I think?

Been an interesting experience for sure. Not exactly if the new design has won me over. I really love the classic Zelda formula, but so far it's been a pretty good experience so far. It's interesting for me because I've been replaying Zelda II and BotW definitely has a harder RPG formula than most Zelda titles.

The breaking weapon thing is not nearly as bad as people whine about. Almost everything seems to carry a weapon and my bigger issue is really just item management when I need to drop subpar crap for better gear. I hate scavenging for arrows though and the bow mechanics are taking a bit of getting used to. I do wish I could find more clothing option besides what's in the shops.

I think my biggest gripe at the moment is the crafting mechanics. Once upon a time, I liked crafting mechanics in game. But after it spread like wildfire through every genre known to man, it has overstayed its welcome and now feels like a chore. I've been cooking, but it's hardly my favorite thing to do and my hoarder instincts is making it hard for me to part with anything in case it might be rare.

I'm also not thrilled that bombs are infinite. They are a potent Zelda weapon and this game doesn't change that fact, but older entries usually made the finite nature of them something that kept you from spamming them. The time stop skill is also a bit broken. I wish the tablet skills had been spread out a bit farther apart and not mostly earned in the first area.

Visually, I'm digging the Studio Ghibli vibes of the games world and design. The heavy Buddhist imagery is also a nice touch. The music matches the imagery but has a bad habit of being just background noise for me. Still trying to get used to actual voice acting in the game as well.

The UI could also be better but that's likely because the game was meant to be played on the WiiU touch pad and not have everything remapped to all the buttons. Switching weapons is the worst since the scroll button is the right analog stick when my instinct is to use the shoulder buttons to scroll. I honestly feel there is too much going on with the buttons and the controls try to hard to keep you in the action when I think a less cumbersome and traditional pause/menu play mechanic would have been fine.

I have died more times to the cold than anything else in the game.

Fynn

10-02-2021, 08:27 AM

Funnily, the UI is actually identical between both games and the touch screen is never used unless you move the game entirely to the gamepad. It’s because of the Switch version that they went away from the touch controls. In the end you have a game UI that isn’t optimized for either platform lol

Glad you’re enjoying it so far! It was a bit weird for me at the beginning, but the game gradually grew on me, to the point of becoming my favorite Zelda game. I’m also a massive fan of the soundtrack, and that includes the way the game utilizes long periods of silence

Wolf Kanno

08-26-2022, 09:47 AM

Just started this back up again with BotW. I'm digging the vibe and narrative of the game. I do miss having traditional dungeons though. Finally got more clothing options and most of the map is unlocked. I have two Guardian Beasts down right now (Goron and Zora) and have started the Rito one. I have more quests unlocked than I could remember and I've largely ignored most of them unless I accidentally solve them. I've mainly been going after shrines. I easily have enough to gain the Master Sword, but I'm waiting until after I complete the guardian beast quests. Still having fun, but I don't think I'm going to be joining the band wagon sadly. The open world design just can't hold my interest for long. Not helped that I've played Elden Ring recently and that game sort of handled what I really wanted BotW to be.

Wolf Kanno

09-15-2022, 09:38 AM

So what's everyone's most controversial Zelda opinion besides not liking Ocarina of Time, the Original Zelda, and BotW? :lol:

Quindiana Jones

09-15-2022, 02:36 PM

Honestly, I never really got into Zelda games. They were exclusives to consoles I never owned so I was never part of that ecosystem, and I have no desire to play them.

I have BotW and I've given it a fair whack. It has things that are very cool and some great design choices, but I just do not enjoy playing it. The controls and UI are probably a decent chunk of that negative experience, lol.

Lone Wolf Leonhart

09-15-2022, 10:36 PM

So what's everyone's most controversial Zelda opinion besides not liking Ocarina of Time, the Original Zelda, and BotW? :lol:

Imagine not liking Ocarina of Time.

Atrocious take.

Wolf Kanno

10-07-2022, 02:36 AM

I don't have much left to do in this game. I man technically there is a tone of things I need to do, but only a handful of things I actually care about. Four Divine Beasts conquered, Master Sword acquired, and I have maybe 30 more shrines left. I mean there is the DLC stuff, but I would need to acquire that first. I'm thinking of just finishing the game at this point. BotW has been an interesting ride bu the burnout is real.

Wolf Kanno

11-09-2022, 09:21 AM

BotW is done, well except for the DLC I don't own.

Overall, a mixed bag for me. I definitely love the Zelda formula more than I thought I did and it was surely missed this time around. But with that said, I felt BotW brought a lot to the table I wouldn't mind keeping for future installments either. So onto my usual Pros/Cons lists...

Pros:

The sheer size of the world and exploration was great. I love how we finally got a Hyrule that felt massive in scope for once. It was a really fun world to explore overall. Graphically, the game was gorgeous as well.
I liked having multiple weapon types to play with. Definitely broke up the monotony of combat and enemies are generous enough to usually show up in groups brandishing every weapon type.
I do love the addition of the Quick Fury, Slow Down Aiming, and Timed Shield Deflect skills. Gave combat a lot more depth than usual for the series and mastering them often ended up being the key to tackling the game's toughest enemy types like the Lyonels and Guardians. In fact they wound up being some of my favorite enemy types by the end.
The Yiga clan was an interesting addition to the game.
I actually really liked the premise of the game and the story of the Champions, Zelda, and the Fall of Hyrule. In fact this game is one of the best titles in terms of making Zelda feel like a real person and giving her some real depth for once.
While the item first appeared in Wind Waker, the Sail is easily the best item in this game and the item I missed the most when I put this game down to play Elden Ring instead.
Loved the Lost Woods in this game and happy to see Nintendo continue to use the superior Koroks over their boring Kokiri designs from OoT.
I do really like the Tool selection in this game, and it's honestly the best set in the series since so much inside and outside of the shrines utilize them.
I loved the ability to collect outfits that give you different abilities as well. At first I felt like I couldn't find any, but by the endpoint I was tripping over new ones I didn't know about.
My favorite NPCs were easily Paya (honestly, most of Kakorikko Village) and the Benson Family Construction crew. Oh and Sidoh is a very good boy.
I liked having the option to raise my stamina bar. In fact it was the first thing I focused on and I don't regret that decision at all.
The Great Fairy's are amusing as usual. I still love it when Nintendo drops the elegant fairy designs for the more interesting drag queen designs. Makes them more charming for sure.
Breakable weapons largely didn't turn out to be an issue. Nintendo was smart and used some ideas from games like SaGa where new gear is plentiful and enemies level with you to some degree so by endgame, even random Bobkin and Lizalfos enemies were just casually carrying Royal tier gear. The elemental weapons end up being a bit rare, but they're mainly mid-tier at best and Hyrule Castle has several weapons just lying around. It's definitely more of an issue in the early game, but once you just stop carrying, the system flows pretty naturally.

Cons:

I'm not a huge fan of the shrine system. There are too many, they're too short to be satisfying, and the sheer amount of them meant the quality veered from brilliant to forgettable. Despite there being 120 Shrines, I could probably only name about five or ten that really stood out.
I also wasn't a fan of the Divine Beasts as dungeons. The first time it was neat but each one just felt the same. Even the bosses all felt a little too similar.
Likewise, BotW has the weakest boss selection in all of the Zelda games if you ask me. I think only Four Sword Adventure or the OP come close to being more forgettable and boring.
This is likely the Old Fogey in me talking, but I still don't appreciate getting all of the tools right off the bat. I get that the design of the game wouldn't have worked as well, but getting all your toys from the get go feels boring to me. I prefer more Metroidvania style where you might find a place you can't access because you're missing a tool and then the joy of coming back there.
The enemy variety in this game is the worst. While Zelda isn't exactly big on having massive monster rosters, the team could have done more to add in some more enemy types to deal with. Combat has all these cool new tools to play with but it didn't take long to get bored of Bobkins and Moblins mobs. The less said about their dull undead counterparts the better.
Side Quests were a hit or miss bag. Did you get a nifty new piece or armor? Awesome, but 80% of the time you just got Rupees and they are not difficult to come by in this game making me largely ignore the quests.
The Hero of the Wild outfit is awful. It takes way too long to acquire, has stupid item requirements to level up, and it's surprisingly ugly to boot.
I am so sick and tired of the Zonai Tribe the fan theorist are all obsessed with.
I honestly feel BotW could have used a "less is more" mentality. I can tell Monolith Soft helped make this game because it has the tell-tale signs of the Xenoblade games strengths and weaknesses. Loved the scale, but didn't appreciate the lackluster rewards and pointless quests.

The problem for me, and one of the reasons why I can see why this game wasn't well loved by traditionalist fans is that BotW's worst aspects are mostly the things Zelda is known for: Amazing dungeon design and fun boss battles. But I feel the game balances it out with all the new elements added in. So it's a mixed bag for me as I really missed the elements I loved but I enjoyed a lot of the new stuff. I think the biggest thing that hurt this game for me was starting it early this year only to get distracted by Elden Ring, which has an open world design with a classic gameplay I like that ultimately flowed and worked better. It made coming back to BotW much harder for me. What is interesting for me is that BotW gives me the same vibes as Death Stranding in that it was a game I often played more for the sake of unwinding than to sink my teeth into a meaty game experience like it's predecessors. Which is not a bad thing at all.

I am hoping that Tears of the Kingdom will compromise and merge the BotW design with more traditional Zelda design. I still want to explore and frolic through that open world Hyrule, but give me a denser meatier experience with larger more classic Zelda dungeons with my flashy bosses.