Month: May 2017

With three fireproof elixirs in hand, I headed off to Death Mountain in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Once I reached the southern mine, I found many Gorons working here. But there was also a guy who offered me some heat-resistant armor if I gathered up ten fireproof lizards for him.

After accepting the request, my second fireproof elixir wore off and I had to drink my last one. That gave me just six more minutes before I would turn into a crispy sausage Link. So I began looking for leaping lizards, and my search turned a bit frantic once my elixir ran down to the last minute. But with just 30 seconds to spare, I found the tenth lizard and got my flamebreaker armor. Whew.

With that hot mess behind me, I relaxed a bit as I continued up the road to Goron City. I explored the village, chatted with Gorons, and did some shopping as well. I quickly learned that it’s so hot here, that I can cook food by just setting it on the ground! You gotta love the facial expressions of the Gorons, especially when they’re shocked.

At the armor shop, I bought some flamebreaker boots to go with my armor. That will give me an extra layer of flame resistance. The shop also had a matching helmet, but it was 2,000 rupees and I was a bit short on money.

Anyway, I soon learned that I needed to go to the north mine to look for a young Goron named Yunobo. I headed that way, but I ended up stopping at several shrines on the way. I completed two of them, but during the third one, I ran out of arrows. So I left the shrine and took a little break.

I bought some arrows, I did some cooking, I visited a fairy to enhance my new clothes, and I exchanged four spirit orbs for another heart container. When I was good and ready, I returned to the shrine and completed it.

Once I figured out how to use the cannons at the north mine, I was able to rescue Yunobo.

After making a stop back at Goron City, the two of us headed up Death Mountain towards Divine Beast Vah Rudania. On the way up, we had to sneak past (or destroy) some guardian sentries. Using my horse-calling whistle, I could call out to Yunobo to tell him when to go or stop. The system certainly wasn’t flawless. Yunobo seemed to get stuck standing on small rocks just barely a few inches off the ground.

But we eventually made our way up the mountain, firing cannons along the way to push Rudania further up. Eventually, we got Rudania to retreat into the volcano. That’s when I hopped on board. But before going inside, I wanted to try something else…

So I teleported back to the Korok Forest, where the Master Sword sleeps. I again tried to pull it out…and this time, I succeeded! I now have the Master Sword! 😀

At last, I finally have a sword that won’t break! Ahh, but sadly, there is a catch. If you use the Master Sword too much, its power will run out and you’ll need to wait ten minutes for it to recharge. So it’s still not a weapon that you can use all the time. What is with Nintendo, anyway? Why can’t we have (and keep) nice things?

After trading in some more Korok seeds with Hestu (to expand more storage slots), I returned to Rudania. When I first went inside, I was surprised to see everything turn dark! You can only see blue flames and certain enemies, and you must use a torch to spread the light to other rooms. Even though the darkness makes it hard to see, I really enjoyed the atmosphere of playing this way. Really cool!

I made my way to the control station, which gave me the map of the beast. I was legitimately disappointed when the lights then came back on. The controls allow me to rotate Rudania 90 degrees, turning the entire beast. Turning it back and forth will be required to activate all of the terminals.

Most of the terminals weren’t very hard to figure out, but one of them was a bit tricky. But I got it before too long. I think I’m getting the hang of these divine beasts now. I then went over to the main control unit; activating it caused the boss to appear.

I waled on him with my Master Sword, taking away half of his health before he even had a chance to attack! He then changed tactics so I didn’t defeat him instantly, but it was still a surprisingly quick and easy fight.

That earned me another heart container, and the Goron champion Daruk gave me a new defensive ability. There’s only one more divine beast left! I may head that way next time.

In Breath of the Wild, I returned to Akkala Tower. I’ve been there several times before, but each time, something prevented me from reaching the top. Either I was short on time, or it would rain (preventing me from climbing), or I just had trouble finding my way past that purple slime. But this time, I arched my back and found a way up.

I then headed over to the flight range, where I met the Rito warrior Teba. To prove my worth, I had to complete his test. While soaring on my paraglider, I had to shoot five targets within three minutes. It was a shockingly easy task to complete.

Once I passed (with flying colors), he agreed to take me up to Divine Beast Vah Medoh. I had to shoot bomb arrows at Medoh’s cannons. I had no trouble doing this, and I found it considerably easier than defeating Vah Ruta.

So I then landed on the bird-shaped beast, and this is basically another dungeon. Once I found the map, I was able to control the tilt of the beast’s wings. It works the same way as Ruta’s trunk: Changing the setting is necessary to reach different areas of the beast. I had to find all of the terminals on board.

While reaching some of the terminals was a bit more complex than the ones in Vah Ruta, none of them stumped me. As a result, I was able to complete the divine beast (and finish off its boss) in a single play session. I scored another heart container and learned a new ability as well.

I then made a quick stop at Snowfield Stable. Believe it or not, I’ve hardly been using horses at all lately. It’s always a pain to get off the horse each time to pick up an item or investigate something, so I generally travel without one.

Anyway, a sleeping guy named Danton was mumbling in his sleep about a sword that seals the darkness. That would be the Master Sword! I sure would like to get my hands on that, although I didn’t know if I would be able to get it yet. But I kept that thought in mind.

I saw that I still needed to activate a tower in the area north of Central Hyrule, so I headed off in that direction. I soon came across a mysterious, foggy area down below.

That looked very suspicious, so I paraglided down into the fog. But I was overwhelmed by the fog, and soon found myself back on the mountain where I had jumped from! Clearly this was not the way to get in. But it looked like the entrance wasn’t far from the tower I was going to, so I thought I’d try for both.

I soon reached Woodland Tower. I crossed a moat and then scaled and activated the tower. That gave me the map to this area, and it showed me the way into the mysterious foggy area (which was not yet named on the map).

I glided down, followed the path, and soon my suspicions and hopes were confirmed: This is the Lost Woods!

I’ve been a Zelda fan for a long time, so I know a bit about the Lost Woods. I’ve mist it much! 😉 It’s a confusing place where it’s easy to get lost and find yourself back where you started. But it’s also the home of the Master Sword!

It takes some trial-and-error, some slow movement, and also some quick retreats when the fog starts to surround you. After a while, I made it through and found myself at Korok Forest. I woke up the great Deku Tree! He’s a throwback to Ocarina of Time. The Master Sword was also here! But I soon discovered that I am not yet worthy of the sword.

I chatted with the Koroks here, and I met back up with Hestu…finally! I’ve been looking for him for a long time, but I didn’t have the foggiest idea where to find him. I traded in some more Korok seeds to expand my inventory to hold more weapons, bows, and shields.

I also learned of three Korok trials. Each would require a new mission into the Lost Woods, and each one leads to a shrine. So I set off on my journey through the woods.

I completed all three of the trials, but my reward for doing so was a bit underwhelming.

Anyway, I saw that only one section of my map was missing. So I teleported to Wasteland Tower, flew down to a shrine, and then continued on. After a little while, I made my way to Gerudo Tower and activated it. My map of Hyrule is now complete!

After completing another shrine nearby, I wrapped up my game. Next time, I plan on heading for the land of the Gorons! Of course, there’s always a chance I could get distracted and go somewhere else instead. That’s what I love about this game. See you next time!

I did some more exploring in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, finding and activating Faron Tower and Hebra Tower. I also completed a shrine near each one.

Back at Kakariko Village, I redeemed my spirit orbs for a stamina vessel, for just the second time. That added another one-fifth or so to my stamina wheel, which hardly seems worth it. I may not get any more until I have plenty of heart containers.

I then decided to pay Robbie a visit, for a side quest. He works at Akkala Ancient Tech Lab, so I headed in that direction. But on the way there, I spotted a new fairy fountain. It belonged to the Great Fairy Mija, and she charged me a whopping 1,000 rupees for her services.

She was able to upgrade some of my clothes further. Next, I stopped at the Katosa Aug Shrine, where I basically played some motion-controlled mini-golf. 😛

The first hole (shown above) was pretty easy, but the second hole was a bit trickier. Once I finished, I continued on and reached the research lab. You know how most characters will see the Sheikah Slate and realize that Link is Link? That wasn’t enough for Robbie. He wanted to see the scars on my body to prove that I’m me. That’s right, this creep made me undress for him!

Once I did, he examined my body.

Once he was convinced, he needed me to ignite his flame. I had to bring the blue flame back to the lab to activate Cherry. Cherry is his oven that he named after an old girlfriend of his. Yeah, Robbie is a strange guy.

After activating Cherry, I was then able to buy ancient gear, including ancient arrows and ancient weapons. I was a bit short on money though, thanks to that last fairy.

I did some shrine hunting after that, and I eventually found myself in Rito Village. This is the land of the bird people. The village consists of boardwalks and stairs that circle around a stone pillar, basically.

My new fine-feathered friends told me about the Divine Beast Vah Medoh, up in the sky. I’ve been seeing it flying around for a while now, but it didn’t even occur to me that it was one of the divine beasts.

I spoke with the villagers, did some shopping, and completed the shrine that’s here in town. Obtaining that spirit orb allowed me to trade in for another heart container.

The village elder, Kaneli, told me more about Divine Beast Vah Medoh. He let me know what I needed to do next in order to make my way to the divine beast.

I’ll be heading to Divine Beast Vah Medoh next time!

By the way, I’ve recently posted a video showing some of my fails in Breath of the Wild so far. It’s a compilation of falls, deaths, zaps, splashes, and other situations that did not end well for Link. You may get a laugh out of it. Hope you enjoy!