Stardew Valley #7 – End of Spring

I’ve finally returned to Stardew Valley for another play session.

Day 23

I got a letter in the mail telling me that the Flower Dance is tomorrow. I then went to work in the mine for the most of the day.

Day 24

I headed to the forest west of town for the Flower Dance today. I chatted briefly with everyone that was in attendance.

Haley, at the Flower Dance: I'm practicing my dance moves... It needs to be perfect.

Once I was ready, the mayor started the festivities. Six girls (wearing white dresses) and six guys were in the center, slowly wiggling dancing towards each other. It lasted about 35 seconds, and then the festival ended. It was cute, I suppose, but very underwhelming.

The spring Flower Dance in Stardew Valley for Nintendo Switch.

Day 25

Today, I took a home-grown cauliflower over to Jodi. Fulfilling her request completed a quest, and my reward was 350g…nice!

Jodi: Oh, that looks so delicious! Thank you, this is just what I wanted! It's going to be perfect for my yellow curry.

The blacksmith processed a geode of mine, and it contained a dwarvish helm.  I donated it to the museum, and that earned me some melon seeds as a reward. Then I worked in the mine until night fell.

Day 26

Robin sent me a letter today, telling me she can expand my house to include a kitchen. I would then be able to cook some food! Sounds nice, but I can’t even afford to expand my backpack again, let alone my house.

I worked in the mine once again, reaching level 10 for the first time. That unlocked the elevator there, so I can quickly jump back down to this level again next time.

Back at my farm, I cleaned up my property a bit before sleeping for the night.

Day 27

The blacksmith processed two more geodes of mine, and they contained some malachite and celestine. Both of those were new to me, so I donated them to the museum. I got another new reward, a standing geode. It’s furniture, so I put it in my house. It doesn’t seem to do anything though, so it’s kind of a bore.

The standing geode in my Stardew Valley house.

Day 28

I went up to the community center today and donated some items. I was able to complete the spring crops bundle, which unlocked another scroll in the boiler room.

Down in the mine, I reached level 15…unlocking another elevator stop. I still need to get down to level 40 so that I can complete a quest that I got early on in the game. 😛

Since I found some cherry bombs, I tried to blow up a wall that supposedly leads to the railroad. It didn’t work, however. Maybe I’ve been playing too much Zelda, the way I’m thinking bombs are always the answer. 😉

A cherry bomb explosion in Stardew Valley for Nintendo Switch.
Blowing stuff up is a blast.

After that, I returned home, shipped a bunch of stuff, and went to bed. And with that, that (finally) completes my first spring in Stardew Valley. Summer will arrive the next time I play, although I’m not sure when exactly that will be. 😛

If you’re a fan of the music in Stardew Valley, Amazon has the original soundtrack available. See you next time!

BOTW #21 – The Giant Horse & Loone

While exploring near Mount Lanayru, the Sheika Sensor started beeping to let me know a shrine was nearby. I tracked it down and bombed a wall to find the shrine. Surprisingly, that completed the “Secret of the Cedars” shrine quest! I wasn’t even looking for it, I just happened to stumble right into it.

At Mapla Point nearby, I caught another gorgeous sunrise. The reflection of the sun on the water was just stunning.

A beautiful sunrise at Mapla Point in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild for Nintendo Switch.
I can see my mummy’s house from here!

North of Lindor’s Brow, my Sheikah Sensor was beeping again. I remember being here before, but I couldn’t get into the shrine because a cave on the cliff was blocked with stones. At the time, throwing bombs wasn’t working because of the position of the cave. And I didn’t have bomb arrows that first time, but now I did. That made it much easier to enter the cave and complete the shrine.

For a side quest, I went to Skull Lake to take a picture of Kilton. He’s the owner of the Fang and Bone shop…even though the shop wasn’t open for business just yet. He’s going to travel around Hyrule, stopping off at various villages at night. I’m sure I’ll run into him again. Lucky me.

Kilton: I LOVE MONSTERS MORE THAN YOU DO!
So you love yourself? Good for you.

Far away, at the Mounted Archery Camp, a guy named Straia asked me to catch a giant horse for him! He told me to look for it around the Taobab Grassland, so I headed there immediately. I paraglided down from above, and landed right on the giant horse! I tried to soothe it, but it threw me off.

Once my stamina recovered, I climbed a tree and tried again. This time, I was able to tame the giant horse. I rode it back to camp, and Straia was a happy… camper.

Straia, to Link on a giant horse: That horse... It's huge...
He was hung up on the size of it.

He took a good look at it and gave me 100 rupees; that completed a side quest. But the best part was that I was still on the horse! I rode it to Highland Stable and registered it. It’s mine now! I named it Big Red.

Link rides Big Red, the giant horse in Zelda BOTW.

As I explored, I found what I thought was a fairy fountain. But it was actually Malanya, the horse god! He’s kinda creepy…

Malanya, the horse god: Shall I make you my meal?!
Hay, don’t eat me! Why don’t you eat some thorough bread?

He can revive dead horses…but only if you’ve registered them with a stable, apparently. I didn’t have any dead horses like that, so he couldn’t really do anything for me. Other than threaten to eat me. 😛

Breath of the Wild has some really odd characters that don’t seem very…sane. There was the crazy flower lady Magda on the Floret Sandbar, the crazy cooking lady Moza on Mount Granajh, and now I’ve met another. On Puffer Beach, I met the appropriately named Loone. She was in love…with an ancient orb. She was stroking it, talking to it, and she even named it Roscoe.

Loone, to an orb: Your skin is so smooth and gorgeous, my little Roscoe...
She was having a ball.

I needed the orb to activate a shrine, but she refused to give him up…unless I could show her pictures of three types of guardians: a small one, a walking one, and a flying one. So I kept that in mind as I continued my journey.

I completed a shrine on Tingel Island, and then went to Tarrey Town. I traded in four spirit orbs for a stamina vessel, and then I spotted Kilton once night fell. His Fang and Bone shop was now open for business. But he only accepts a currency called mon (as in monster money).

He buys monster parts with mon, and then I can use the mon to buy new weapons, monster masks, and other equipment. The monster masks allow you to blend in with that species of monster. They apparently won’t attack you…at least until you start fighting them. 😛

Link wears a Bokoblin mask.
Does this hat make my ears look big?

In the Crenel Hills area, I found another shrine. It was a combat trial, and I took a picture of the Guardian Scout inside to meet the “small guardian” requirement for Loone’s shrine quest. The other two guardian pictures were easy to find, so I took them and returned to Loone.

I showed her the pictures, and she was overwhelmed by her newfound attraction fascination with guardians. Despite her claims of loyalty towards “Roscoe” (and how obsessed she was with him), she sure discarded him quickly once she found something new. Something’s wrong with that girl.

A close-up look at Loone's face in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

I then took Roscoe…I mean the orb…to the altar and activated the shrine. After completing it, I (eventually) made my way back to Hateno Village. I hired Bolson and Karson repeatedly to completely finish off my house. This completed the “Hylian Homeowner” side quest, but also, they gave me some free furniture!

My house in Zelda: BOTW, now complete with furniture.
Yeah, but why can’t I customize it?

I figured this was a good stopping point for now. Here’s my latest progress update:

  • Completion percentage: 33.82%
  • Shrines: 94/120
  • Korok seeds: 170/900
  • Shrine quests: 25/42
  • Side quests: 48/77
  • Hyrule Compendium: 334/385

And last but not least, I have a new video! Here is Breath of the Wild FAILS #2!

BOTW #20 – Riding Animals

I continued exploring in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and I soon arrived at the Mirro Shaz Shrine. The task here involves using stasis on some orbs, and then hitting them with a sledgehammer to launch them over a gap and into their altars.

After a lot of trial and error, I completed the main objective, which unlocked the exit. However, there was a 2nd hidden/bonus part that was even tougher. I ended up breaking my sledgehammers, so I’ll have to return here again someday. It’s so annoying that even a sledgehammer can break after a few minutes of use in this game.

Back outside, I spotted a couple of deer. I’ve been wanting to try to mount some animals other than horses, so I followed one of them. It ran away from me at first, but I hid behind a tree when it started to turn back around. When the time was right, I jumped out, mounted it, and tamed it! I was near the Woodland Stable, so I tried to register it…but of course, the guy wouldn’t let me. 😛

Kish: Oh, for the love of Hylia... That's not a horse!
Doe!

Once I dismounted, the deer ran off.

As I entered Hyrule Forest Park, I began fighting a guardian stalker. But during the battle, a very large enemy known as a Stalnox also appeared. I tried to get them to fight each other, but I had no such luck.

Fighting a Stalnox and a Guardian.

So I finished off the guardian before focusing on the Stalnox. But right when I had the Stalnox down to just a sliver of health remaining, he dug a hole underground and escaped! What a coward.

The next day, I continued exploring and I found the Spring of Courage. However, I need to offer Farosh’s scale to the statue before I can do anything else here.

In the Hickaly Woods, I spotted a bear. I wanted to try riding it too, so I carefully closed in on it. When the time was right, I pounced! I hopped on and pressed the L button several times to soothe the bear until he was tamed. Then I could ride him around! I also made him pose for a picture. 😛

Riding a bear in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

Unfortunately, you can’t make the bear attack anyone (or anything). But it is pretty cool to just ride around on. As I continued through the forest, I soon saw another bear! I wondered if it would attack me, or run, or what…

Link, riding a bear, approaches another bear in Zelda BOTW.

But it just walked in circles at first. As I got closer, the bear just seemed to walk around aimlessly. And after a little bit, it simply vanished into mid-air! But I stayed on my bear for a while, taking it down to the beach where there were some Bokoblins.

Enemies approach Link riding a bear.

One of them attacked me with a flaming spear, and it damaged me a bit. The bear didn’t seem to mind that, but it did mind when another Bokoblin threw a rock and hit the bear. I was forcibly dismounted, and the bear ran off. The bear may not be a grisly killer like I may have hoped, but it’s still pretty awesome that you can do things like this.

Anyway, I found a shrine nearby, so I went inside. It was one of those shrines that use motion controls, which generally aren’t my favorites. But this one wasn’t too bad; it just took me five minutes to complete.

Near Breman Peak, I found a Korok under a rock…and then noticed a beautiful sunrise. This has got to be one of my favorite screenshots yet.

Holding up a rock at sunrise.
This view rocks.

Near Camphor Pond, you could find me mountin’ a mountain buck. Believe it or not, he was harder to tame than the bear was! Unfortunately, I accidentally dismounted the buck after just a few seconds. So I didn’t get much bang for the buck.

Link tries to ride a buck.
The buck stops here.

I made my way back to Hateno Village, and I hired Bolson and Karson for some upgrades to my house. They added a bed, lighting, a door, a sign with my name, some trees, and some flowers. The only options still remaining are gear displays, which can show off weapons, bows, or shields. Those don’t really feel very useful to me, so I didn’t purchase them yet.

Later on, I spotted a strange area on the map just west of the Eldin Mountains. I decided to investigate, and I found a strange area that reminded me of a mini-Lost Woods! The “Shrouded Shrine” shrine quest began.

The area is a dark maze, where you need to use your torch to see. You can use the fire to light the statues you come across. Not only will that give you a bit more light, but they’ll serve as markers so you know where you’ve been already.

Link runs in darkness while holding a lit torch.
This statue is lit!

This area is really cool. I don’t even know why I like the dark areas like this (and the inside of Vah Rudania) so much, but I do. 😛 It just seems to be such a different atmosphere. Maybe I’m just a night owl.

I found some fire rods here, and I know I needed one of those for a side quest. But they’re helpful in another way: If your torch goes out, just use the fire rod (or any fire-based weapon) to ignite some grass. Then dip your torch into the flames.

After finding the right way to go, I defeated a Hinox, and then unlocked and completed the shrine. Quite an enjoyable shrine quest.

I spotted a curious-looking valley on the map, so I headed there next. That’s where I found the Forgotten Temple. There were a number of guardians in here, but I also found a goddess statue and a shrine.

Inside the Forgotten Temple.

I exchanged four spirit orbs for a stamina vessel, and then I completed the shrine.

Juannelle, at the nearby Snowfield Stable, wanted to see a picture of a Stalhorse. So I set off into the snow. Not only did I get the picture I needed, but I also mounted the Stalhorse and took it for a ride!

Link rides a Stalhorse in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
I shall name you E-bone-a.

Unfortunately, I kind of fell down the side of the mountain a bit…so I couldn’t get him back up. I had to leave my undead horse for dead as I returned to Snowfield Stable. Juannelle gave me 100 rupees for showing her the picture.

I then returned to the valley and followed it southwest. Inside a shrine I found along the way (Dunba Taag), a giant ball kept getting stuck in a place where I couldn’t do anything with it! I had to exit and re-enter the shrine a couple times to reset it.

A ball gets stuck in the Dunba Taag Shrine of Zelda BOTW.

After completing the shrine, I continued following the valley. Nearby, I found a giant golf course! Well, it’s just one hole, but it’s called the Tanagar Canyon Course. It’s a mini-game, and I gave it a try. I just didn’t do very well at it.

Back in Hateno Village, I showed my fire rod to a kid for a side quest. After that, I wrapped up my game for the time being. My current completion percentage is 30.19%, and I’ve completed 88 shrines and found 138 Korok seeds. See you next time!