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.

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.

Buy The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds at Amazon

Buy Super Mario 3D World at Amazon

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