I'm going to enter a quick flash fiction contest. It has a $7 fee, but that isn't too bad. Had to write a story based on a photo. Thought of a clever story, and got it typed up pretty quickly. I'm already on a second draft of it.
You could if you wish, I'd still say the story pay off is minor at best, with the bigger one being the linked game in general.
So the takeaway is that I should play Ages first
You get different things for playing the games in a certain order. Though it sounds to me, the biggest story pay off comes from playing Ages first, followed by Seasons cause there is a minor plot thread in Seasons and Ages that is only resolved in this manner. Otherwise it really doesn't matter from what I've read. This is my first time through these games myself. I will say that Seasons "action" style gameplay is a bit misleading. Dungeons still have puzzles in them, and devious ones at that, not to mention just finding a way into them is half the battle. Action really doesn't mean much in the way of combat focused as much as it means the items you get, and the nature of the dungeon puzzles are just less obtuse, and more high octane in execution. The game likes using mine carts a lot with puzzles that require hitting switches on the fly while you're riding them to change the course, or the fact you unlock the Power Bracelet and Roc's Feather within the first two dungeons and so there is a lot of lifting objects to hit switches and platforming than is usual for the series. I actually got stumped on one puzzle in a dungeon that involves hitting a switch that starts to deteriate the floor from the doorway to your location, and I initially thought the idea was to use an item that works like the Pegasus Boots and the Roc's Feather to make a mad dash leap to the doorway, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't reach the door way. The solution: use the Roc's Feather to just jump over the switch that causes the floor to crumble and causally walk to the door. It was a total accident when I discovered it to. The Seasons gimmick in the game is basically manipulating the environment in a similar vein to LttP's Light/Dark World gimmick where certain places can only be easily reached during a certain season. Summer creates vines you can climb and empties rivers, Winter freezes over lakes and rivers as well as making snow drifts you can use to cross gaps, Spring has flowers that can launch you high into the sky, and Autumn will have leaves cover pits and allow you to finally pick the Stone Mushrooms. So there is a heavier emphasis on movement and figuring out how to get from point A to point B. The bosses are mostly straight forward though, and definitely fall into more pure action. I really love the revamped Dodonga fight in this game, and Gohma was much more interesting than I thought he would be.
Awesome, looking forward to it! Btw, as I’ve said in the thread, after Spirit Tracks I’ll probably jump into the Oracle games, but I can’t decide on the order I should go. How are you going about it? I know one is more focused on combat the other on puzzles, so since I prefer puzzles, I should probably leave the puzzle heavy one for later?
Oh no, I agree. I really enjoyed the game, but it certainly doesn't live up to the hype. Made slightly more annoying to me because it seems like the Zelda fans who make the most videos on Youtube are huge fans of that particular entry. One in particular that I did like has a serious soft spot for that entry and seems to have a serious hatred for TP, since he likes to snub it a lot in his videos. I mean he ranks Fi's farewell at the end of SS as one of the saddest moment and didn;t even rank Midna's goodbye which Fi's was basically a redo of anyway. I have an article I'm writing for WW at the moment, and I feel you may find it refreshing compared to the usual praise thrown at it.
Speaking of Wind Waker, I feel like I’m pretty much the only person on the internet that was disappointed with it? I mean, I liked it alright, but then i had this hype for it built up that when I did finally play it, I was let down. Mostly due to the final stretch of the game. It kind of feels like the most rushed 3D Zelda to me because of that, since it’s pretty clear there was supposed to be one or two more dungeons there.
It is all good man, I've been too busy to respond to the Zelda thread as well despite starting Oracle of Seasons. PH isn't a bad game, but I do feel its a weaker title. Mainly cause I feel it was really designed both as a show piece for the DS features and was also designed to be an intro entry for younger fans. Of anything, I feel that applies to all of the entries in the Adult Timeline, cause even WW feels significantly easier than all of the previous Zelda titles.
So how are things? I’ve been itching to reply in the Zelda thread with some of my picks but I’ve been so busy with work. I did beat Phantom Hourglass in the meantime though and just started Spirit Tracks. Liked PH way more than expected but it’s still one of the weaker Zeldas.
That must have been cool to see his art at an actual museum. May have to check out more of his stuff, cause I really liked the art.
