Twilight Princess Commentary 03
Mar. 27th, 2008 11:59 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
riariPhew. Two days of playing in this post. I was too tired the last two nights to type it up. :>
This commentary this time was done as I went so its more reactive. But I'll summarize a bit too. ^_^ Lots of things going on this time.
Eldin has sent us to Lanayru's province. So, onto the North! Only one more Fused Shadow to go...that can't be the only thing left. It's too easy. And Zelda games are full of "man that looked easy...hooo crap! Plot twist!"
So Link travels north across the bridge we had to joust on (damn that part annoyed me, because I sucked at it). As we go past it, the shadow beasts steal part of the bridge, trapping us on one side. And also come out to fight. Annoying. But I'm on the side I need so that's good. Back into Twilight we go! Midna mentions that this'll probably be the last of Twilight we see. I highly doubt that. Especially when she tells us that the way will be much harder from here.
Heheh, sometimes I forget that when I'm in wolf form that I have these extra senses to sniff out things. But Yeah! Ilia's scent to track now. Which conveniently leads us north. Yup, to the north: Hyrule Castle. Upon entering... Massive castle town meaning...spirits everywhere.
Oh god... Hyrule Castle Town under Twilight. All those people as spirits... Though they still go on like nothing has happened. But they don't realize that they're spirits. So wondering around town, while using our senses in wolf form, I can listen to people's conversations as I'm following the scent trail. Somethings wrong with the water supply. There's a shortage and some townspeople mention problems with Lake Hylia, the water source for Hyrule.
-I get the feeling that our next temple will be a water one. Considering the mention of a Zora child, the town water supply being cut off which comes from Lake Hylia, etc, etc.
Link tracks the scent into a bar where find Ilia! She's watching over a Zora child who looks very ill. Upon finding Ilia: "Aw, what an emotional reunion! Yes, a girl and her wolf! Eee hee!" Oh Midna. Tormenting us again.
We quickly get the location of the spirit's spring from a map and take off for Lake Hylia. But, Link and Midna run into trouble over the Great Bridge of Hylia. An archer with fire arrows light the oil slick on the bridge, trapping us in. A quick box move and Link can get up above the railing to jump.
-Darn archer with his fire arrows and oil slick and me on a high, high bridge. Good thing there was the deep puddle below the bridge that used to be Lake Hylia.
Lake Hylia. A massive lake that is now really just a very deep puddle. Thankfully deep enough to keep us from going splat. Here we find Zora spirits commenting on the low water levels. While listening to a entrepreneur on the lake bottom, the spirit sees a monster. Link runs to take it on, then the monster calls his massive huge bird friend! No fair! Oh that's just mean, the archer calling his bird friend! Mean!
But we defeat him! And now we get his ride! The bird friend is now under Midna's control and we have this whole flying bit through a cavern full of archers, falling rocks, and barracades. All this to get to the Zora domain. But Midna remarks that its getting cold and a quick drop to the river bottom shows why. It's iced over! Oh neat! You can see Link's reflection, in cute wolf form, in the ice.
Something I forgot to mention: Link still has his manacle on his leg when he's a wolf, when Midna freed him by zapping the chain. So whenever he runs around in wolf form you can hear the chain jingling. Whenever he goes back into Twilight and is a wolf, that manacle is still there.
But, back to the Zoras...
The entire area is frozen and the Zoras are trapped in the ice. A quick warp to Death Mountain to grab a hot lava rock, and the area is now water! The Zora spirits are freed, the water is running again, and now we can get to the Spirit Springs. Have I mentioned how odd it is to see the Gorons live on Death Mountain? What a great name for the place. It tries to kill you with volcanic eruptions.
Though...Poor Zoras. The Zora queen is beautiful...but she's no longer alive. She was killed as an example by the invaders. She sent her son though to Hyrule to explain to Princess Zelda about their situation, so that explains the Zora child that collapsed at the castle. Who Ilia is currently looking over. I wonder how Ilia got to Hyrule in the first place...was she looking for Link? Who was supposed to go to Hyrule before the monsters came in and stole the children? Huh.
Now the usual hunt for the Tears of Light and the dark bugs that took them. Once they're all back (which is the longest hunt the game for them...annoying), the Spirit Lanayru revives the area...and gives us a story.
The goddesses created the land from chaos and it was called the Sacred Realm, but evil ones who wanted it tried to take it by strong magics. They used the Fused Shadows to do so. But the Light Spirits were called upon to seal the magic away. Then more cinema happens.
-What in the hell was with that cinema? Did they take clues from Anno? Yeesh. That was very Rei like with all the Ilia's there. Though it is disturbing we are after a mask that was very powerful and very dangerous.
Back to Hyrule! Link gets back to the bar where he found Ilia but... Awww, Ilia doesn't remember us...or anything else apparently. The Zora child needs medical attention and the doctor there doesn't know anything about Zora physiology. But there is a shaman in Kakariko who can help. (Of course.) None of the soliders stay to help escort the bartender Telma and Ilia, but Link of course does.
-Annnnd, escort mission. And damn, me with out arrows.
So we escort Telma and Ilia through a bridge we have to take on the jousting monster again, against fire arrows that try to burn the wagon down, and against bomb dropping birds. Finally we make it to Kakariko and Renado, the shaman, says that the child is out of the danger zone. After a quick talk with Telma, where she's a part of a group of people who are looking after Hyrule's interests, Rutela shows up. The Zora Queen drifts backs and wants Link to follow her into the graveyard. The King of the Zora's grave is in the back part of the Graveyard, and Rutela gives us the Zora Armor as thanks for saving her son.
Now Link heads off to the Water Temple. Water temples. Why are the always so damn annoying?
-2 1/2 hours in a freaking water temple. I think. I lost track of when I went in, but it was at least a couple of hours in there. Yeesh. And hooray! All three pieces of Fused Shadow.
We finish the dungeon/temple off, (too damn long), and return to the Spirit Spring... Where Zant, the King of Shadows, is standing behind us. Zant defeats Lanayru, brings Twilight back, and takes our Fused Shadows! Hey!
Midna's caught, and he calls her a traitor. Zant's not using the "old magic" of their tribe. He's using magic granted from his god. He tosses wolf Link and Midna on the ground, a piece of dark magic lodges in Link's head, and then tries to get Midna to join him. She refuses by not answering and he curses her to the Light realm. Zant turns around to get Link next, and we're gone. The Light Spirit saved us and put us outside Lake Hylia. We're still a wolf thanks to the dark magic piece. Midna's hurt badly though, and she directs Link to go to Princess Zelda.
-Ooooooooooh damn. I knew there was a plot twisty thing coming up and ho damn it was one. Nothing like thinking a job well done, smell the fresh air...then plot! Yes, the fresh air of plot. :P Turning around and walking into the King of Shadow is not the best way to see the end of a dungeon. Poor Midna. At least she is trying to save people in her own rough way. Now we need to see Princess Zelda...and I'm stuck in wolf form again.
-Haha, oh the people of Hyrule Castle Town are screaming in fear due to the fact I'm a wolf running around their area. Awesome.
-Man, Midna's color scheme looks completely reversed... That's not good.
While we couldn't go through the bar, as Telma said there was a secret entrance to the castle there, her cat helped us get to a passage we needed. Hey, we've been here before. In the beginning when we escaped the prison cell. So, we retrace the route, with some differences, back to Princess Zelda's room. Midna gets Zelda to look at Link first but she can't help us. She tells us a way to break the curse. Find the Master Sword! (About damn time I got that.)
Midna tells Zelda to tell Link where the Mirror of Twilight was. Zelda figures out then what Midna is, and then transfers her power into Midna. Midna protests this loudly, but she is healed. Zelda disappears.
Still a wolf, we warp to N. Faron Woods, where a Sacred Grove holds the Master Sword. With music from Ocarina of Time too. And an annoying Skull Kid reminiscient from Majora's Mask and Ocarina of Time.
-And of course its a small puzzle to get to the damn sword. Nothing new there.
Solve a puzzle with two guardian statues, and the Master Sword is Link's. It cleaves through the darkness surrounding him and he takes the sword. The magic Zant put on us is collected into a handy bead. Midna debates about tossing it away, but we can use it to transform Link into a wolf whenever we want.
-I liked how the FAQ I'm using put it. "You've mastered the Master Sword!" And, since we kept the darkness that turned me into a wolf, I can change at will! Haha sucker! And you know, also, warp everywhere with the portals...
Midna asks us to search for something called the Mirror of Twilight. Link agrees. Its the last potential link to Zant. The Mirror's probably in pieces but we can hope to get a whole one.
Spending some time gearing up, we head back to Hyrule Castle Town and Telma's bar. Let's meet those people she was talking about.
-Oh right. Master Sword. Cleaves evil. That would explain why it took only one sword swipe for a shadow beast. Duh.
-Ha ha oh man. I just ran into a lolita-dressed bug princess. Really she's a Hylian with the pointed ears, but her fascination with bugs is...odd. Another one of those quests that sends you all around Hyrule and the local provinces searcing for bugs.
One of the Ordona villagers is a part of this group! And Shad, a bookish scholar, and a female knight called Ashei. Auru isn't there, but he's studying the desert. We decide to go meet him. At Lake Hylia. Of course.
Auru tells us about the prison in the Gerudo Desert that held the worst criminals ever known. So we of course, decide to get to that prison, because they used a mirror to send prisoners to the underworld.
Midna tells us, once we make it to the Desert, that she is descended from the banished tribe that tried to take over the Sacred Realm. They were forced into the Twilight realm, where it was peaceful for a time. The Zant took control and changed all the Twili from shadows into shadow beasts. Zant has an evil power, one that the tribe hasn't never seen. Midna was sent from the Twilight, and couldn't access it without Zant's power. But there's another story among the Twili. There is a link between Light and Darkness, the Mirror of Twilight. The Goddesses kept them from returning to the Light World but they left this last link.
We press on, to a monster encampment in the Desert. Hordes of monsters come at us, but shooting the archers down and taking down the one monster with the key stop them. Then once again, Link has to go against the monster that we jousted against twice. Defeated, he leaves...but sets the fort on fire! With us trapped inside! Bastard!
Luckily, a boar was there with us so we escaped by bashing through the gates, all the way to the Prison entrance. Nice.
-Desert all around. And now I'm in a dungeon that was made by Hyrule for prisoners, in search of the Twilight Mirror. Goody.
-Annnd, I just finished the mini-dungeon for the real dungeon. Oh shoot me now...
-Well, actually, this dungeon was a hell of a lot more fun considering the water dungeon. But Link, attacking the rope of a tied down sword with a ton of charms hanging from the ropes...not exactly the best thing... But this prison/dungeon needed clearing out.
-Oh Shoot! Zant again! Damn, he must be after the Mirror! Giant monster, no problem. And a fun one to take down this time with the Spinner we get! Awesome thing it is.
Upon the Stallord's defeat, finally, Link rushes to the top of the collesium. We unearth the Mirror of Twilight but notice in dismay...It's shattered.
-Oh of course the mirror is fragmented! It's par for course in a Zelda game!! (dammit)
Glowing Sages perched ontop of the Prison Collesium spires tells us a story. one of Ganondorf. He is the one who has the power to shatter the mirror. Ganondorf was a demon thief, but he was blind to danger. He was captured and the sages stabbed him on the pillar. But he wasn't dead. He too was blessed by the Goddesses (aka the Triforce on his hand). Ganondorf broke free of his chains and killed a sage. The sages used the Mirror of Twilight to send him away. To this day, one of the pillars is broken, for the one sage that was killed.
The true leader of the Twili can destroy the mirror but Zant could only break it into pieces. "One is in the snowy mountain heights, one is in an ancient grove, and one is in the heavens." So the hunt begins!
-Ganondorf. Well, that explains the fanart I've been seeing of him with the hair ornament.
-Also, how must it be, when all three people are blessed by the goddess in an never ending fight? Ganondorf, Zelda, Link.
So, that's where I stopped last night. Phew. Arbiter's Grounds, the Prison Dungeon, was a hell of a lot better than the Lakebed Temple. A hell of a lot better. I like the Zora areas, but I hate their dungeons. Ugh.
This commentary this time was done as I went so its more reactive. But I'll summarize a bit too. ^_^ Lots of things going on this time.
Eldin has sent us to Lanayru's province. So, onto the North! Only one more Fused Shadow to go...that can't be the only thing left. It's too easy. And Zelda games are full of "man that looked easy...hooo crap! Plot twist!"
So Link travels north across the bridge we had to joust on (damn that part annoyed me, because I sucked at it). As we go past it, the shadow beasts steal part of the bridge, trapping us on one side. And also come out to fight. Annoying. But I'm on the side I need so that's good. Back into Twilight we go! Midna mentions that this'll probably be the last of Twilight we see. I highly doubt that. Especially when she tells us that the way will be much harder from here.
Heheh, sometimes I forget that when I'm in wolf form that I have these extra senses to sniff out things. But Yeah! Ilia's scent to track now. Which conveniently leads us north. Yup, to the north: Hyrule Castle. Upon entering... Massive castle town meaning...spirits everywhere.
Oh god... Hyrule Castle Town under Twilight. All those people as spirits... Though they still go on like nothing has happened. But they don't realize that they're spirits. So wondering around town, while using our senses in wolf form, I can listen to people's conversations as I'm following the scent trail. Somethings wrong with the water supply. There's a shortage and some townspeople mention problems with Lake Hylia, the water source for Hyrule.
-I get the feeling that our next temple will be a water one. Considering the mention of a Zora child, the town water supply being cut off which comes from Lake Hylia, etc, etc.
Link tracks the scent into a bar where find Ilia! She's watching over a Zora child who looks very ill. Upon finding Ilia: "Aw, what an emotional reunion! Yes, a girl and her wolf! Eee hee!" Oh Midna. Tormenting us again.
We quickly get the location of the spirit's spring from a map and take off for Lake Hylia. But, Link and Midna run into trouble over the Great Bridge of Hylia. An archer with fire arrows light the oil slick on the bridge, trapping us in. A quick box move and Link can get up above the railing to jump.
-Darn archer with his fire arrows and oil slick and me on a high, high bridge. Good thing there was the deep puddle below the bridge that used to be Lake Hylia.
Lake Hylia. A massive lake that is now really just a very deep puddle. Thankfully deep enough to keep us from going splat. Here we find Zora spirits commenting on the low water levels. While listening to a entrepreneur on the lake bottom, the spirit sees a monster. Link runs to take it on, then the monster calls his massive huge bird friend! No fair! Oh that's just mean, the archer calling his bird friend! Mean!
But we defeat him! And now we get his ride! The bird friend is now under Midna's control and we have this whole flying bit through a cavern full of archers, falling rocks, and barracades. All this to get to the Zora domain. But Midna remarks that its getting cold and a quick drop to the river bottom shows why. It's iced over! Oh neat! You can see Link's reflection, in cute wolf form, in the ice.
Something I forgot to mention: Link still has his manacle on his leg when he's a wolf, when Midna freed him by zapping the chain. So whenever he runs around in wolf form you can hear the chain jingling. Whenever he goes back into Twilight and is a wolf, that manacle is still there.
But, back to the Zoras...
The entire area is frozen and the Zoras are trapped in the ice. A quick warp to Death Mountain to grab a hot lava rock, and the area is now water! The Zora spirits are freed, the water is running again, and now we can get to the Spirit Springs. Have I mentioned how odd it is to see the Gorons live on Death Mountain? What a great name for the place. It tries to kill you with volcanic eruptions.
Though...Poor Zoras. The Zora queen is beautiful...but she's no longer alive. She was killed as an example by the invaders. She sent her son though to Hyrule to explain to Princess Zelda about their situation, so that explains the Zora child that collapsed at the castle. Who Ilia is currently looking over. I wonder how Ilia got to Hyrule in the first place...was she looking for Link? Who was supposed to go to Hyrule before the monsters came in and stole the children? Huh.
Now the usual hunt for the Tears of Light and the dark bugs that took them. Once they're all back (which is the longest hunt the game for them...annoying), the Spirit Lanayru revives the area...and gives us a story.
The goddesses created the land from chaos and it was called the Sacred Realm, but evil ones who wanted it tried to take it by strong magics. They used the Fused Shadows to do so. But the Light Spirits were called upon to seal the magic away. Then more cinema happens.
-What in the hell was with that cinema? Did they take clues from Anno? Yeesh. That was very Rei like with all the Ilia's there. Though it is disturbing we are after a mask that was very powerful and very dangerous.
Back to Hyrule! Link gets back to the bar where he found Ilia but... Awww, Ilia doesn't remember us...or anything else apparently. The Zora child needs medical attention and the doctor there doesn't know anything about Zora physiology. But there is a shaman in Kakariko who can help. (Of course.) None of the soliders stay to help escort the bartender Telma and Ilia, but Link of course does.
-Annnnd, escort mission. And damn, me with out arrows.
So we escort Telma and Ilia through a bridge we have to take on the jousting monster again, against fire arrows that try to burn the wagon down, and against bomb dropping birds. Finally we make it to Kakariko and Renado, the shaman, says that the child is out of the danger zone. After a quick talk with Telma, where she's a part of a group of people who are looking after Hyrule's interests, Rutela shows up. The Zora Queen drifts backs and wants Link to follow her into the graveyard. The King of the Zora's grave is in the back part of the Graveyard, and Rutela gives us the Zora Armor as thanks for saving her son.
Now Link heads off to the Water Temple. Water temples. Why are the always so damn annoying?
-2 1/2 hours in a freaking water temple. I think. I lost track of when I went in, but it was at least a couple of hours in there. Yeesh. And hooray! All three pieces of Fused Shadow.
We finish the dungeon/temple off, (too damn long), and return to the Spirit Spring... Where Zant, the King of Shadows, is standing behind us. Zant defeats Lanayru, brings Twilight back, and takes our Fused Shadows! Hey!
Midna's caught, and he calls her a traitor. Zant's not using the "old magic" of their tribe. He's using magic granted from his god. He tosses wolf Link and Midna on the ground, a piece of dark magic lodges in Link's head, and then tries to get Midna to join him. She refuses by not answering and he curses her to the Light realm. Zant turns around to get Link next, and we're gone. The Light Spirit saved us and put us outside Lake Hylia. We're still a wolf thanks to the dark magic piece. Midna's hurt badly though, and she directs Link to go to Princess Zelda.
-Ooooooooooh damn. I knew there was a plot twisty thing coming up and ho damn it was one. Nothing like thinking a job well done, smell the fresh air...then plot! Yes, the fresh air of plot. :P Turning around and walking into the King of Shadow is not the best way to see the end of a dungeon. Poor Midna. At least she is trying to save people in her own rough way. Now we need to see Princess Zelda...and I'm stuck in wolf form again.
-Haha, oh the people of Hyrule Castle Town are screaming in fear due to the fact I'm a wolf running around their area. Awesome.
-Man, Midna's color scheme looks completely reversed... That's not good.
While we couldn't go through the bar, as Telma said there was a secret entrance to the castle there, her cat helped us get to a passage we needed. Hey, we've been here before. In the beginning when we escaped the prison cell. So, we retrace the route, with some differences, back to Princess Zelda's room. Midna gets Zelda to look at Link first but she can't help us. She tells us a way to break the curse. Find the Master Sword! (About damn time I got that.)
Midna tells Zelda to tell Link where the Mirror of Twilight was. Zelda figures out then what Midna is, and then transfers her power into Midna. Midna protests this loudly, but she is healed. Zelda disappears.
Still a wolf, we warp to N. Faron Woods, where a Sacred Grove holds the Master Sword. With music from Ocarina of Time too. And an annoying Skull Kid reminiscient from Majora's Mask and Ocarina of Time.
-And of course its a small puzzle to get to the damn sword. Nothing new there.
Solve a puzzle with two guardian statues, and the Master Sword is Link's. It cleaves through the darkness surrounding him and he takes the sword. The magic Zant put on us is collected into a handy bead. Midna debates about tossing it away, but we can use it to transform Link into a wolf whenever we want.
-I liked how the FAQ I'm using put it. "You've mastered the Master Sword!" And, since we kept the darkness that turned me into a wolf, I can change at will! Haha sucker! And you know, also, warp everywhere with the portals...
Midna asks us to search for something called the Mirror of Twilight. Link agrees. Its the last potential link to Zant. The Mirror's probably in pieces but we can hope to get a whole one.
Spending some time gearing up, we head back to Hyrule Castle Town and Telma's bar. Let's meet those people she was talking about.
-Oh right. Master Sword. Cleaves evil. That would explain why it took only one sword swipe for a shadow beast. Duh.
-Ha ha oh man. I just ran into a lolita-dressed bug princess. Really she's a Hylian with the pointed ears, but her fascination with bugs is...odd. Another one of those quests that sends you all around Hyrule and the local provinces searcing for bugs.
One of the Ordona villagers is a part of this group! And Shad, a bookish scholar, and a female knight called Ashei. Auru isn't there, but he's studying the desert. We decide to go meet him. At Lake Hylia. Of course.
Auru tells us about the prison in the Gerudo Desert that held the worst criminals ever known. So we of course, decide to get to that prison, because they used a mirror to send prisoners to the underworld.
Midna tells us, once we make it to the Desert, that she is descended from the banished tribe that tried to take over the Sacred Realm. They were forced into the Twilight realm, where it was peaceful for a time. The Zant took control and changed all the Twili from shadows into shadow beasts. Zant has an evil power, one that the tribe hasn't never seen. Midna was sent from the Twilight, and couldn't access it without Zant's power. But there's another story among the Twili. There is a link between Light and Darkness, the Mirror of Twilight. The Goddesses kept them from returning to the Light World but they left this last link.
We press on, to a monster encampment in the Desert. Hordes of monsters come at us, but shooting the archers down and taking down the one monster with the key stop them. Then once again, Link has to go against the monster that we jousted against twice. Defeated, he leaves...but sets the fort on fire! With us trapped inside! Bastard!
Luckily, a boar was there with us so we escaped by bashing through the gates, all the way to the Prison entrance. Nice.
-Desert all around. And now I'm in a dungeon that was made by Hyrule for prisoners, in search of the Twilight Mirror. Goody.
-Annnd, I just finished the mini-dungeon for the real dungeon. Oh shoot me now...
-Well, actually, this dungeon was a hell of a lot more fun considering the water dungeon. But Link, attacking the rope of a tied down sword with a ton of charms hanging from the ropes...not exactly the best thing... But this prison/dungeon needed clearing out.
-Oh Shoot! Zant again! Damn, he must be after the Mirror! Giant monster, no problem. And a fun one to take down this time with the Spinner we get! Awesome thing it is.
Upon the Stallord's defeat, finally, Link rushes to the top of the collesium. We unearth the Mirror of Twilight but notice in dismay...It's shattered.
-Oh of course the mirror is fragmented! It's par for course in a Zelda game!! (dammit)
Glowing Sages perched ontop of the Prison Collesium spires tells us a story. one of Ganondorf. He is the one who has the power to shatter the mirror. Ganondorf was a demon thief, but he was blind to danger. He was captured and the sages stabbed him on the pillar. But he wasn't dead. He too was blessed by the Goddesses (aka the Triforce on his hand). Ganondorf broke free of his chains and killed a sage. The sages used the Mirror of Twilight to send him away. To this day, one of the pillars is broken, for the one sage that was killed.
The true leader of the Twili can destroy the mirror but Zant could only break it into pieces. "One is in the snowy mountain heights, one is in an ancient grove, and one is in the heavens." So the hunt begins!
-Ganondorf. Well, that explains the fanart I've been seeing of him with the hair ornament.
-Also, how must it be, when all three people are blessed by the goddess in an never ending fight? Ganondorf, Zelda, Link.
So, that's where I stopped last night. Phew. Arbiter's Grounds, the Prison Dungeon, was a hell of a lot better than the Lakebed Temple. A hell of a lot better. I like the Zora areas, but I hate their dungeons. Ugh.
