Zelda LTTP: Master Sword

It’s been a very long time since my last Zelda: Link to the Past blog entry, but I just spontaneously got the urge to play it today. When I left off last time, I had just acquired the third pendant up on Death Mountain. So now, I was headed off to the Lost Woods in search of the Master Sword. The journey into the misty Lost Woods is one of the most memorable parts of the game for me.

Animals in the Lost Woods (GIF).The three pendants allowed me to pull the Master Sword out of its resting place. Sahasrahla immediately contacted me telepathically–I’m surprised I get any reception at all this deep in the woods! He told me that the sword makes evil retreat; it apparently has the same effect on fog.

Grabbing the Master Sword. (GIF)On my way out of the woods, Sahasrahla contacted me again trying to sell me life insurance. He told me to hurry back to the sanctuary, because soldiers were there! I rushed back as soon as I could. Actually, that’s not entirely true. I stopped to talk to some lumberjacks and then I robbed their home. But in my defense, it was a quick robbery.

Once I got to the sanctuary, I was told that I was one second too late. Maybe if Sahasrahla didn’t keep calling me every minute, I could have saved his butt!

Link! You are a second too late. I have failed Zelda.He told me that the soldiers have taken Zelda. So I went back to the castle, broke the seal on roof, and tracked down the wizard Agahnim. I arrived just in time for a magic show! He levitated Zelda and then made her disappear! That was impressive, but I was hoping to see him pull a rabbit out of a hat.

Agahnim makes Zelda disappear!Instead, he made himself disappear. But I went up on stage and saw a trick door hiding behind a curtain. So that’s how he does it! He didn’t appreciate that I figured out his trick illusion. He was afraid he was going to be kicked out of the magician’s alliance! He was so mad that he wanted to fight me! He kept shooting magic balls at me, but I knew I had to use my sword to slap those balls right back to him.

Deflecting Agahnim's magic balls.He was swollen and bruised by the time I got done with him, but he wouldn’t admit defeat. Instead, he banished me to the Dark World! What a sore loser!

As soon as I arrived there, I had another call from Sahasrahla. Why did I ever give this guy my number? Anyway, he told me I had to rescue seven maidens who were also sent to the Dark World by Agahnim. I had to wonder…did they deflect his magic balls too? I guess losing battles to girls and elves must have really deflated his ego. Maybe he’ll have to try fighting some Smurfs next time.

My next destination was the Palace of Darkness. On my way there, I ran into my good old friend Kiki the monkey! I had to pay him 10 rupees just to get him to join me, but I knew it would be worth it in the long run. Once I got to the palace, I needed him to open the front door! But he demanded 100 rupees from me. At this point, I realized Kiki may not be the friend I thought. He only wants my money!

Kiki: Ki ki ki! If you give me 100 rupees, I will open the entrance for you!This dungeon has some tricky parts. You’re required to use switches, push statues, sprint across a falling bridge, and bomb holes in the floor to drop down to other areas.

Inside the Palace of Darkness.I remembered many parts of this dungeon well. But I still got stuck for a while, all because I failed to notice a bombable wall in one of the rooms with a teleport tile. But once I corrected that oversight, I was able to obtain the hammer and pound my way to the boss fight.

A mask-wearing boss.This Helmasaur King apparently thought it was Halloween or Mardi Gras, wearing a mask like that. Nothing a few bombs to the face can’t fix. But once the mask was gone, I saw why he needed it: He was hiding a big, nasty, green pimple on his forehead! Ew!

Fighting a boss in the Palace of Darkness.Once I used some sharp arrows to pop his zit, the monster was defeated and the first maiden was freed. She told me where the other six ladies were, so my map now shows the location of those dungeons. At this point, I ended my game for the night. I’ll be back for more, but I’m not sure when it will be.

One other note about this blog. I have gone back and tagged previous entries. Each entry’s tags will be visible on the side by the date, and there will generally be a link to all posts relating to a series (such as the Legend of Zelda tag) as well as one for that specific game–in this case, LTTP. This will make it easier to find previous posts. That’s especially helpful when I haven’t blogged about a certain game in a long time.

Harvest Moon 64

Many people know me as a big Animal Crossing fan. But before I got hooked on Animal Crossing, I was addicted to another simulation game: Harvest Moon 64.Harvest Moon 64 title screen.With a new Harvest Moon game (Seeds of Memories) coming this year to Wii U, I decided this would be a good time to revisit my old Harvest Moon 64 game save that I haven’t played in years. In my main file, which was in spring of the sixth year, I was married to Karen and had a son.

Since it had been so long since I’ve played, I’ve forgotten how to do everything I was supposed to do. But I took a quick tour of my house, including a stop to use the bathroom–I’ve been holding it in for years, after all!

I checked in on my chickens, my sheep, and my cows to feed them all. I went in my greenhouse to ship some corn that was ready, and I watered my few remaining crops. By this point in the game, I had already bought everything I needed so I didn’t need the money.

I then went into town to speak with the people, including Ellie’s grandmother who is thankfully still alive. (I think in a secondary save file, she ended up dying). In the cafe, I bought some cake…and ate it too.

Eating cake in the bakery (HM64).Once I was done in town, I went over to the vineyard. I tried to steal some wine like I used to, but I must have been doing something wrong, so my bottle remained empty.

In the mountain area, I saw a cut scene where Maria helped get a grasshopper off of Karen (who was freaking out). Those are the nice touches that give Harvest Moon 64 its charm. It’s easy to see how I was once so addicted to this game.

Karen: Quick! Quick! Get it off!As I began to go up the mountain, night fell and the screen got dark. Very dark. I suppose it was just my TV settings that made it nearly impossible to see anything at all, but I struggled just to find my way back home! The short length of days was always my biggest complaint about the game. There isn’t enough time in the day to even see the whole village.

Still, I wanted to take a walk on the beach, so I headed in that direction as the next day started up. After enjoying the ocean atmosphere, I finished up my game at the town square, where the sowing festival was being held. Kai selected me to go into the hot air balloon with him, so we went up, up, and away. The day concluded immediately after–I guess I should have fed my animals first. Oh well, I didn’t save my game so they’re still fine.

Here is a video of my adventure:

Like I mentioned above, Harvest Moon: Seeds of Memories is coming out on Wii U at some point this year. Once it does, I will be blogging regularly about my adventures in the game. So please bookmark http://www.jvgs.net/hmsom/ if you’re interested in following along.

As you may know, the original developers of the older Harvest Moon games are no longer associated with new Harvest Moon games and have gone on to make Story of Seasons. But that game is only on 3DS so far, and I prefer home consoles over portables. If they made Story of Seasons for Wii U, I would gladly buy that as well. But for now, I’m looking forward to giving Seeds of Memories a shot as soon as it’s released.