Well here it is! After letting the draft rot for more than a week I came running back to it after the moon in Majora's Mask scared the living daylights out of me (get it? moon, daylights? heh). What can I say? I needed to keep my sanity for a little while before going all out again.
I originally made this on February 9, expect my memory about my adventure to be a little fuzzy but don't worry I.have.PICTURES!
So ready?
Before posting Part 2 of my The Legend of Zelda Gaming Report, I managed to finish the game in one last (frustratingly) long playthrough. I haven't exactly finished it 100% but I'll get back to you guys on that.
I originally made this on February 9, expect my memory about my adventure to be a little fuzzy but don't worry I.have.PICTURES!
So ready?
Before posting Part 2 of my The Legend of Zelda Gaming Report, I managed to finish the game in one last (frustratingly) long playthrough. I haven't exactly finished it 100% but I'll get back to you guys on that.
While on my way to the far northwest of Hyrule, where dungeon 6 lie in wait, I received the White Sword from the Old Man (gosh, he's everywhere).
The White Sword deals more damage to enemies compared to the first sword and I actually thought this sword was the game's version of the Master Sword, but no we'll get to that bit later.
Dungeon 6 is no doubt the hardest level in this NES classic. I'm not joking. Darknuts could come charging in for all I care I'd rather face them than these guys:
The Wizzrobes.
Even with the shortcuts I found on IGN's walkthrough it was near impossible (at my noob level, anyway) to conquer this dungeon's demolition crew. Heck I raged more fighting one Wizzrobe than fighting Ganon. Ya' hear that? Friggin Ganon was easier to kill than a theme park mascot.
Anyway my memory in this dungeon is just so dark, utterly depressing, and filled with rage that I dare not draw it out of the darkness it occupies in my mind so I'll just skip to the highlights of this dungeon. But really, the dungeon didn't have much distinction in terms of structure. Of course the map is drastically different but the overall appeal as an area of environmental puzzles and hidden items didn't change that much, it's the lesser enemies who turn out to be greater than most that made this dungeon very notorious.
The dungeon's key item hidden under a Wizzrobe infested room was the Magic Rod which fires the same waves as those friggin' mascots.
Oddly enough, even with an item that looks like a game changer for this dungeon it actually does nothing to the Wizzrobes. Well whoopty doo scooby-doo what use does it have then? It's not like I already have the White Sword...but it is useful long range against other enemies when my health is not full. Wait, why did I only thought of that now? Meh doesn't matter.
Despite all the Wizzrobes, this dungeon's last boss was thankfully not an upsized version and instead we get a Gohma.
Now normally I'd rejoice over a victory against a boss but what I felt was contempt. I spent more than an hour getting to the boss room and all I get is a friggin' crustacean with an oversized eyeball, and it only took two well timed arrows to disintegrate into the life stream.
No!! I hate those Wizzrobes. I'd rather have a mass of Gohmas, and one Wizzrobe than what this dungeon offered me. Well, that's it for this dungeon.
Dungeon 7 was one of those dungeons where its location was justifiable based on the game's environment, the clues given and the purpose of a certain item. Of course it's difficult to find the dungeon easily but gathering some obvious clues and trying out every piece of equipment available like a smart adventurer would does make finding dungeon 7 a breeze. So yeah I cheated, derped and herped my way to it using the ever so useful walkthrough.
But now that I've taken the time to look back at the caps I made the clues were right there. Back in dungeon 6 (oh, god not again) there's a room with our favorite old man giving a hint about a place where 'fairies don't live'.
Fairies who replenish all of Link's health can only be found in certain fountains located in the overworld. There are some fairies who spawn from defeated enemies but they don't necessarily 'live' in the area. So where could this place where no fairies live be? It could be anywhere of course since we already know that fairies can only be found in fountains but there is one fountain without one.
But what about it then? There's a fairy fountain without a fairy, but what relevance does it have to Link's adventure? What secrets does it hold? Here's actually a good time to check out all the items Link has gathered from all of the previous dungeons. Out of all the items the Raft, Stepladder, and Recorder are the only non-offense weapons so it's easy to just experiment with the three of these. The Raft and Stepladder adds to Link's mobility in areas with water but they're not necessarily helpful in this empty fountain. So we're left with the Recorder. Playing it will drain the fountain and there we find the entrance to the 7th dungeon.
After all the trouble I endured in Dungeon 6, I could only imagine what kind of batsh*t crazy enemies this dungeon has. But after a few rooms in I could confirm that the Wizzrobes are indeed the hardest enemies in the game and that whatever dungeon 7 has to offer it couldn't possible top dungeon 6. Sure I still got plenty of Goriyas and Bubbles but in all the honesty the world could muster I'd rather have them for a whole dungeon that one Wizzrobe in one room. That's how much I hate those little sh*ts.
The new enemies introduced in this dungeon, the Stalfos, were pretty lackluster, I did enjoy one-hitting them 'cause they look like Deadites right out of Army of Darkness but they could have been passed off as early dungeon spawns.
Perhaps what made this dungeon a little frustrating was this guy:
I couldn't get past him on my first try, I don't know why. Was it because I kept mass murdering his kind? In my defense his kind attacked me first. So what's he grumbling about? Food. He wants food. Consulting the walkthrough this little blockade was indeed hungry and it actually made mention of buying a slab of meat prior to entering this dungeon...great.
I had to go out of the dungeon, farm some rupees on the graveyard, search a merchant's cave to buy food, and go back to the dungeon to feed him. AGGGGGH!! What you see in the picture up there was the aftermath of all those trouble.
Anyway at least farming some rupees actually did me good since I could then afford a bigger bomb bag.
Bombs aren't as useful against enemies during the latter part of the game but they are crucial in blowing up holes to find shortcuts and avoid another rematch against previous bosses.
The hidden item in this game was an upgrade of the blue candle, the red candle.
With it Link can now fire three flames at once instead of one, but that's not really much of an upgrade.
The boss in the game was surprise, surprise Aquamentus making a (not so) triumphant return. Really, I don't know why this dragon came back and so late in the game as the boss of a dungeon.
There weren't any noticeable difference to fighting it (if there actually were any to begin with) and the same tactic as in the first dungeon was enough to defeat this lump of soon to be dead meat.
If we were to go in order of difficulty here, this should have been dungeon 6.
Before searching for Dungeon 8, I went back to the graveyard where our favorite old man lie in wait guarding the Master Sword until young Link is ready to be a Jedi. The requirements, as far as I know, where at least 12 hearts. Exactly what I got after Dungeon 7.
The Master Sword earns its distinction from the other two swords by having a slanted sprite and a more sophisticated hand guard. It plays normally during Link's attack animation but it does pack in a lot of power putting the Lynels in their place.
Dungeon 8 was probably the hardest to find even if it was hiding out in plain sight in the overworld. Even with a descriptive walkthrough I still got lost and ended up going crazy with the candle trying to burn everything in my way. So guys good luck instructing me how to cook instant noodles. In the end, I finally found it under one lonely tree.
Link ended its misery by setting it on fire of course so we can finally continue with the adventure.
Dungeon 8 was surprisingly small! And with such a compact dungeon the game tried its best to fit in previous bosses, Darknuts, Pol's Voice and Bubbles but it wasn't anything rage-worthy.
The dungeon has two items in store: the Special Key and the Magic Book.
The Special Key is definitely one of the more essential items in the game since it serves as the master key to all locked doors. No more trying to guess which door Link should take to progress so as not to waste any keys. The Magic Book serves as an upgrade to one of the most unused items I had since Dungeon 6, the Magic Rod.
With the Magic Book, the waves fired from the Magic Rod now has a flame effect when it hits walls or enemies, but even if it sounds good on paper it's not that useful this late in the game.
The penultimate boss was, meh, another Gleeok. While it was more difficult than the previous boss, and the first encounter with Gleeok. This one has four heads and, yes, the heads still go wild when they're detached.
But each head still takes the same amount of damage as with the first encounter to lash out. This time I didn't mind charging in. I have the Master Sword, the Blue Ring and 12 hearts. I may have lost six hearts but hey, it was still an easy win.
Finally, the triforce is complete again! Time to head to the final dungeon and pray to Hylia that there aren't any Wizzrobes.
I didn't waste any time trying to manually find the last dungeon. While it was easier to follow the directions to it I still can't understand why the dungeon was where it was. It just felt so random. I felt like going in another journey just trying to find the reason for it.
Anyway, the last dungeon was difficult - not as difficult as Dungeon 6 but it does come close.
It's big, full of enemies from previous dungeons, has a lot of stray paths, it's also full of hidden switches to open doors or stairs, and yes...there are also Wizzrobes.
I actually admire this dungeon for testing the gamer whether he learned a lot from the adventure or not. While there's no more micromanaging the number of keys, it does give you more reason to get lost, and with all the power and items Link has it was actually tempting to beat the living daylights out of the lesser enemies (except Wizzrobes, not those guys, anyone but those guys).
Still with the raid I wanted to do in this last dungeon without a walkthrough I don't know how long I could have spent trying to finding the essential items in beating Ganon.
Yeah, this dungeon has two more items in store before facing Ganon. The traditional Silver Arrows, and the Red Ring which serves as an upgrade to the Blue Ring. With the Red Ring, any damage done to Link is halved so come at me bro! Link's body is ready!
Well then with all the trouble this last dungeon gave me it all culminates with the final boss...GANON but with all the hype I felt going to where this Gerudo hunk was hiding it all quickly went down once the actual fight started.
It seems like it's a trend in this first Zelda title for all boss to be so pattern-based with weak stats. Sure succeeding bosses still had patterns to them but most were genuinely difficult. With this game's Ganon though, it was a really lackluster battle.
Ganon is invisible for the majority of the fight only damaging Link ever so often. The fireballs thrown from the corners of the room also aid the Gerudo Prince but they don't really do much at all. To damage Ganon all Link had to do was wildly swing his sword. That's right, proper prediction and luck was all that Link needed.
Once Ganon has sustained enough damage he'll change color signalling that it's time to fire the Silver Arrows. That's it, end of all the struggle.
Princess Zelda is in the next room surrounded by flames.
Either swing the blade or use whatever offensive weapon Link has to put them out and get to the princess.
Wait...no! Enough! No more.
Gotta go!
Dungeon 6 is no doubt the hardest level in this NES classic. I'm not joking. Darknuts could come charging in for all I care I'd rather face them than these guys:
Even with the shortcuts I found on IGN's walkthrough it was near impossible (at my noob level, anyway) to conquer this dungeon's demolition crew. Heck I raged more fighting one Wizzrobe than fighting Ganon. Ya' hear that? Friggin Ganon was easier to kill than a theme park mascot.
Anyway my memory in this dungeon is just so dark, utterly depressing, and filled with rage that I dare not draw it out of the darkness it occupies in my mind so I'll just skip to the highlights of this dungeon. But really, the dungeon didn't have much distinction in terms of structure. Of course the map is drastically different but the overall appeal as an area of environmental puzzles and hidden items didn't change that much, it's the lesser enemies who turn out to be greater than most that made this dungeon very notorious.
The dungeon's key item hidden under a Wizzrobe infested room was the Magic Rod which fires the same waves as those friggin' mascots.
Despite all the Wizzrobes, this dungeon's last boss was thankfully not an upsized version and instead we get a Gohma.
Dungeon 7 was one of those dungeons where its location was justifiable based on the game's environment, the clues given and the purpose of a certain item. Of course it's difficult to find the dungeon easily but gathering some obvious clues and trying out every piece of equipment available like a smart adventurer would does make finding dungeon 7 a breeze. So yeah I cheated, derped and herped my way to it using the ever so useful walkthrough.
But now that I've taken the time to look back at the caps I made the clues were right there. Back in dungeon 6 (oh, god not again) there's a room with our favorite old man giving a hint about a place where 'fairies don't live'.
After all the trouble I endured in Dungeon 6, I could only imagine what kind of batsh*t crazy enemies this dungeon has. But after a few rooms in I could confirm that the Wizzrobes are indeed the hardest enemies in the game and that whatever dungeon 7 has to offer it couldn't possible top dungeon 6. Sure I still got plenty of Goriyas and Bubbles but in all the honesty the world could muster I'd rather have them for a whole dungeon that one Wizzrobe in one room. That's how much I hate those little sh*ts.
The new enemies introduced in this dungeon, the Stalfos, were pretty lackluster, I did enjoy one-hitting them 'cause they look like Deadites right out of Army of Darkness but they could have been passed off as early dungeon spawns.
Perhaps what made this dungeon a little frustrating was this guy:
I couldn't get past him on my first try, I don't know why. Was it because I kept mass murdering his kind? In my defense his kind attacked me first. So what's he grumbling about? Food. He wants food. Consulting the walkthrough this little blockade was indeed hungry and it actually made mention of buying a slab of meat prior to entering this dungeon...great.
I had to go out of the dungeon, farm some rupees on the graveyard, search a merchant's cave to buy food, and go back to the dungeon to feed him. AGGGGGH!! What you see in the picture up there was the aftermath of all those trouble.
Anyway at least farming some rupees actually did me good since I could then afford a bigger bomb bag.
The hidden item in this game was an upgrade of the blue candle, the red candle.
The boss in the game was surprise, surprise Aquamentus making a (not so) triumphant return. Really, I don't know why this dragon came back and so late in the game as the boss of a dungeon.
If we were to go in order of difficulty here, this should have been dungeon 6.
Before searching for Dungeon 8, I went back to the graveyard where our favorite old man lie in wait guarding the Master Sword until young Link is ready to be a Jedi. The requirements, as far as I know, where at least 12 hearts. Exactly what I got after Dungeon 7.
Dungeon 8 was probably the hardest to find even if it was hiding out in plain sight in the overworld. Even with a descriptive walkthrough I still got lost and ended up going crazy with the candle trying to burn everything in my way. So guys good luck instructing me how to cook instant noodles. In the end, I finally found it under one lonely tree.
Dungeon 8 was surprisingly small! And with such a compact dungeon the game tried its best to fit in previous bosses, Darknuts, Pol's Voice and Bubbles but it wasn't anything rage-worthy.
The dungeon has two items in store: the Special Key and the Magic Book.
The penultimate boss was, meh, another Gleeok. While it was more difficult than the previous boss, and the first encounter with Gleeok. This one has four heads and, yes, the heads still go wild when they're detached.
Finally, the triforce is complete again! Time to head to the final dungeon and pray to Hylia that there aren't any Wizzrobes.
I didn't waste any time trying to manually find the last dungeon. While it was easier to follow the directions to it I still can't understand why the dungeon was where it was. It just felt so random. I felt like going in another journey just trying to find the reason for it.
Anyway, the last dungeon was difficult - not as difficult as Dungeon 6 but it does come close.
It's big, full of enemies from previous dungeons, has a lot of stray paths, it's also full of hidden switches to open doors or stairs, and yes...there are also Wizzrobes.
I actually admire this dungeon for testing the gamer whether he learned a lot from the adventure or not. While there's no more micromanaging the number of keys, it does give you more reason to get lost, and with all the power and items Link has it was actually tempting to beat the living daylights out of the lesser enemies (except Wizzrobes, not those guys, anyone but those guys).
Still with the raid I wanted to do in this last dungeon without a walkthrough I don't know how long I could have spent trying to finding the essential items in beating Ganon.
Yeah, this dungeon has two more items in store before facing Ganon. The traditional Silver Arrows, and the Red Ring which serves as an upgrade to the Blue Ring. With the Red Ring, any damage done to Link is halved so come at me bro! Link's body is ready!
Well then with all the trouble this last dungeon gave me it all culminates with the final boss...GANON but with all the hype I felt going to where this Gerudo hunk was hiding it all quickly went down once the actual fight started.
Ganon is invisible for the majority of the fight only damaging Link ever so often. The fireballs thrown from the corners of the room also aid the Gerudo Prince but they don't really do much at all. To damage Ganon all Link had to do was wildly swing his sword. That's right, proper prediction and luck was all that Link needed.
Princess Zelda is in the next room surrounded by flames.
That's it. LINK IS THE HERO OF HYRULE.
Gotta go!
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