Tag: Legend of Zelda

Zelda: Link Between Worlds – Eastern Palace

I resumed my game and headed off for the first dungeon, the Eastern Palace. Once I got there, I saw a symbol that showed a bow and arrow on it. A sign told me I had to go to an “item shop” where Ravio would let me rent one! Rent? Don’t you know who I am?

z-rentThe item shop was actually at my own house, and Ravio is a rabbit that I let stay there last time. But he agreed to lend me the bow for free, at least this time. The interesting thing is that the bow doesn’t use regular arrows that you would buy or pick up. Instead, it uses an energy gauge. Shooting an arrow will lower your energy gauge, and you can shoot until it’s empty. However, the gauge refills itself, so you won’t have to be without arrows for long.

With my bow and infinite magical arrows in hand, I returned to the Eastern Palace, where I was able to unlock a door to progress further. Once I reached the palace, some old guy with a ponytail named Osfala was there. Link told him what was going on (wait, how does Link tell people things if he doesn’t talk?) and he revealed he’s one of the original seven sages. He went inside the palace, and I followed behind. I soon reached an area I recognized from A Link to the Past: Bowling balls!

z-bowlingThis room was an awful lot like A Link to the Past, but to be fair, the dungeon overall is not identical. There are new puzzles, new rooms, and new traps all around. Once I made it to the boss room, the bad guy Yuga was making Osfala hover in the air in apparent discomfort. Yuga then turned Osfala into a painting. It was time for me to fight Yuga!

z-galleryI fought him and beat him, but then he did something unthinkable: He turned ME into a painting. Oh no you didn’t!

z-paintingWell, at least this is one way to slim down after eating big holiday meals. But then, a bracelet I was wearing (from Ravio) saved me somehow. I popped out of the wall and felt human…err…elfy again! I now have the ability to merge into walls by turning into a painting. I can then fit through cracks in the wall to reach new places. But this ability uses the energy gauge, so I can only use it for a limited time before allowing it to recharge. Even though I collected the heart container from beating the boss, I wasn’t done with the dungeon.

I was in a new area on the outer walls of the palace. I got a bit lost for a few minutes, but I eventually found my way back out of the dungeon. Sahasrahla met me there, and I filled him in on the details. After hearing a loud crash, we automatically made our way to Hyrule Castle, which had a mysterious barrier around it. He told me I needed to get the two other pendants, one in the House of Gales and the other in the Tower of Hera. So I’ll be headed to one of those locations next time. But for now, I saved my game and quit. See you next time!

Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds

As you may have seen in Friday’s post, I recently bought The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds for Nintendo 3DS. This is a description of my first half hour or so with the game.

lbw-titleLink has overslept and has to hurry to the workplace of a blacksmith. Before leaving the house, I noticed that Majora’s Mask is hanging on Link’s wall! What’s that all about?

By looking at the overworld map, I can’t help but notice that it looks almost identical to the world of A Link to the Past. I knew A Link Between Worlds was set in the same world as A Link to the Past, but I wasn’t expecting the world to be practically identical!

Anyway, the blacksmith sends me off on an errand to return a sword to a captain who left it behind. On my way, I ran into a Hyrule soldier who commented about vandals painting on all the walls…that’s pretty funny if you know what Link can do later in the game. I was told to go to the sanctuary, but I did a little exploring first. I stopped to take a look at Kakariko Village, with all its familiar sights. The buildings were all locked or closed of course, but it was definitely a nostalgic visit.

lbw-villageI also walked into the Haunted Grove and the animals scattered, just like they did in A Link to the Past. It’s just a joy to revisit these memorable places from A Link to the Past.

I eventually went ahead to the sanctuary, and I was surprised to see Dampe’ from Ocarina of Time outside. But something bad happened inside the sanctuary, and I was unable to go in. Dampe told me there was a secret passage from the graveyard into the sanctuary. So I had to push some gravestones until I found some stairs, which led me down into the sewers. I had to use a lantern to light the way while avoiding rats. It’s a lot like a scene from A Link to the Past. Once I got to the sanctuary, I saw that the captain and a woman named Seres were turned into paintings by a villain named Yuga. It looked like a woman, but the game referred to Yuga as “him.” After a failed attempt at attacking Yuga, I was knocked unconscious and I woke up back in my house.

I was told I had to get to the castle to warn Princess Zelda. Once I reached her, she told me I needed to find the elder, Sahasrahla, in Kakariko Village. I went to see him, and he told me to go ahead to the Eastern Palace. This series of events closely mirrors those of A Link to the Past. A Link Between Worlds was originally going to be a remake of A Link to the Past before it turned into a sequel, and it really shows. The early going is surprisingly similar to the SNES classic. But that’s not a bad thing, as A Link to the Past was a great game (and my favorite Zelda game).

I’m not very far into A Link Between Worlds yet, but I am enjoying what I’ve seen so far. I’m looking forward to getting into a dungeon next time. However, I’m probably going to be focusing my gaming time on Super Mario 3D World for a while. But I will definitely get back to A Link Between Worlds, so keep checking Jeff’s Gaming Blog for updates on both games.

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lbw-sanctuary

Zelda LTTP: Death Mountain

I was overdue to resume my adventure in The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past for SNES. I needed one more pendant, and it just happened to be up on Death Mountain. So I headed up that way, when I ran into an old man who insisted on following me into a dark cave. If Fi was in this game, she might have told me that she’s 95% certain that going into dark caves with a stranger isn’t the best idea. But she’s not, so I did.

zlttp-oldmanIt turned out okay though. He gave me directions on when to turn and he warned me of hazards along the way. He was like my GPS (Grandpa Positioning System).

zlttp-watchstepOnce we made it out of the caves, he gave me a magic mirror.

zlttp-magicmirrorHe told me to gaze into it if I ever wander into a magical transporter. Uh okay, sure, gramps. He then asked me what channel Matlock was on. I quickly ran away from him and continued climbing the mountain.

Eventually, I reached…a magical transporter. Oh. Stepping into it transported me to a strange, mysterious place: The Dark World. This is one of the most memorable parts of the game for me. Link turns into a bunny, and there are two characters there. One of them kicks the other one around like a ball.

zlttp-bunnyStrategic use of the magic mirror allowed me to reach the next dungeon, the Tower of Hera. Throughout the dungeon, there are numerous switches that raise and lower blue and orange blocks. Likewise, there are star switches that you can step on to change the location of holes in the floor. They add some puzzle elements to the action.

zlttp-switchesA large treasure chest holds the Moon Pearl, which allows Link to retain his normal shape when entering the Dark World. This allows him to use his normal items, which he can’t do in bunny form.

zlttp-moonpearlThe boss of this dungeon is Moldorm, a large yellow worm that you must fight on a relatively small platform with no walls.

zlttp-moldormIt’s quite easy to be knocked of this platform, so it can be frustrating if you’re fighting him for the first time. Fortunately for me, I’ve played this game several times before. So I remembered to use spin attacks and attack his tail, and I didn’t have much trouble with him this time. Once I defeated him, I received the Pendant of Wisdom. (Where exactly was the worm storing this pendant?)

zlttp-wisdomI can now head to the lost woods to acquire the Master Sword! So that’s where I’ll be headed next time.