BOTW #19 – Gut Check Challenge

In The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, I returned to Gerudo Town. I completed a couple of side quests, one of which allowed a bartender to make a special drink for the sick Gerudo I mentioned last time.

I had to lug around a giant ice cube through the desert, just because the one Gerudo woman was too thirsty to move from her spot. But once I told her the drink was ready, she got up and ran all the way back to town. If she had that kind of energy, why couldn’t she just move a few inches so I could’ve activated the shrine in the first place?

Anyway, that allowed me to enter the Misae Suma shrine. After completing it, I set off exploring. I soon came across the South Lomei Labyrinth.

The South Lomei Labyrinth in Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

Compared to the other two Lomei Labyrinths, this one seemed much easier (unless I just got lucky by finding the shrine so quickly). After that, I continued on, and climbed Mount Granajh. From there, I saw yet another new shrine. I paraglided down, and met a strange woman named Moza there. She was angrily swinging her large wooden spoon at her pot of burning food.

Moza raiser her wooden spoon in anger.

She was trying to perfect some new recipes, which involved cooking monster parts, ore, and ancient parts from guardians. Not only did it not sound appetizing, but she was letting everything burn. And she got mad if I even looked at her burnt food. This woman seems almost as insane as the crazy flower lady on the Floret Sandbar.

Moza: Don't! Touch!! A thing!!!

I gave up on trying to be nice to her, and just completed the shrine.

After that, I set off exploring once again. I stopped briefly to watch the gorgeous sunrise near Mount Faloraa.

Exploring near Mount Faloraa in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

Without even trying, I soon found myself back on the Great Plateau–where the game began, one year ago! I revisited some sites I remembered from early on, and I decided I would trace my steps over to the Dueling Peaks–all on foot. Of course, I found some Korok seeds and shrines that I missed the first time around.

But first, I stopped to fully explore the Coliseum Ruins. There were a lot of enemies in here, and I got a lot of weapons (mostly elemental weapons) from defeating them.

If you knock an enemy off of a higher floor in here, they come back up to continue fighting. However, since the Coliseum is so large and there are only ramps at certain locations, it could take a few minutes for them to get back up to you. I thought it was pretty amusing to watch them scurry around and run up each ramp. Especially if you’re just going to knock them off again. 😉

The silver Lynel (zebra wannabe) at the bottom provided a challenge, but I was able to escape with a victory and earn my stripes.

The Silver Lynel is one angry dude.

I then continued on my way, making it to the Dueling Peaks, and then to Dueling Peaks stable. For a side quest, I caught myself a wild horse. My reward was a purple rupee (worth 50 rupees). So that’s why I decided to name my new horse 50cent. That’s right, he’s named after a rapper rupee.

Tasseren: Are you sure you want to name this horse 50cent?

I then mounted my (two) quarter horse and rode into Kakariko Village. I bought some items at the shop that I couldn’t afford earlier, and I traded in some spirit orbs for a heart container and a stamina vessel. That fully completed my second stamina circle.

Next, I had a little chat with Pikango. He pointed me in the direction of Mount Lanayru, for a memory I needed to recover. After I did a little cooking, I teleported there. I paraglided down from the mountain, ran past a Lynel, and then found the glowing spot just past the East Gate. That allowed me to recover the memory.

From there, I teleported to Death Mountain. I spotted a shrine, and paraglided down to it. It was up on a tall pillar, and a Goron named Bayge was blocking the way! This area is called Gut Check Rock, and I had to prove my worth before I could enter the shrine. This is the Gut Check Challenge.

Bayge, at the Gut Check Challenge: SO WHAT ARE YA WAITIN' FOR, BROTHER?! GET TRAININ'!
I don’t have the guts.

Starting all the way at ground level, I had to climb the entire pillar within three minutes–while collecting a certain number of rupees along the way. This would have been a big challenge earlier in the game (with less stamina), but I breezed through it.

I was able to complete the shrine, and then I tried Bayge’s expert challenge…the Super Gut Check Challenge. Now you’re playing with Guts… Super Guts. This one was more difficult, and it took me three attempts before I finished it successfully.

After flying to the Tabantha area, I unlocked a shrine…by doing some things I’m not proud of. Oh, the things I do for you, Zelda.

After you took off all your clothing and stood on top of the pedestal on the night of the blood...

In search of another memory, I teleported to Hyrule Field and made my way to the Sacred Ground Ruins. I watched the cut scene “remembered” another part of the story, and I have now recovered eight of the 12 photo memories. I figured this would be a good stopping point for now.

So far I’ve completed 83 shrines, and I’ve found 108 Korok seeds. My overall completion percentage is up to 26.55%. And most importantly, I’m still enjoying the game; there are still lots of things I want to do. See you next time!