#I LOVEe oracle of ages and seasons BUT. i got stuck at some part in ooa and didn't finish it xd

[kitttwilight]

i've been a zelda fan for more than 4 years. my biggest embarrassment is that i own all of the games (except four swords xd) but have only beat ... like 3 of them

[pathetic-gamer]

*MAJOR TOTK SPOILERS BELOW THE CUT*

I was anxiously awaiting this game from the moment it was announced. I 100% completed BOTW, including Kilton's monster medallions and full armor upgrades - literally all content except for the sword trials on master mode - and I played and enjoyed AOC, so I was so so so excited

Now that I've finished the game and have had a few months (lol) to reflect on it, here are some of my impressions/reviews for things that stuck with me, aka a long list of what i did and didnt like. (I only did the main story and a couple of key save-my-wife-related side quests, so this isn't about all the content in the game.)

First, things I liked:

Regarding gameplay: the final boss fight was so much more fun than BOTW's. I liked that it combined a massive boss like Calamity Ganon with an actual humanoid boss similar to older games, plus the fight against the demon king was very cool. I especially liked the fact that he could dodge Link's attacks the same way Link can dodge his, but thank God he can't flurry rush lmao. (The last stage I'm particular was VERY cool.)

It was really funny to me how in the last phase of the fight, if you get down to one single heart, his attacks become SO much weaker, so you're basically guaranteed to not die lmao

I liked how the sages could actually follow you around as you adventured! That was fun and cute.

Related to that, it was kinda nice how they prepared you for that fight throughout the game by making you learn his moveset ahead of time

Speaking of sages, the temples were fun and their final bosses were cooler than the ones in BOTW. The lightning temple was especially cool - that final boss was creepy and made me think of Mothula, whom i know from A Link to the Past and Oracle of Seasons

fuck gloom hands, all my homies hate gloom hands (they still go in the "likes" section bc they were cool, but they were. so scary)

fuck gibdos, all my homies hate gibdos.

Actually I think one of my favorite experiences in the whole game was going to Gerudo Town without talking to anyone about what was happening, and therefore finding ruins full of what I briefly thought were actual zombies of the Gerudo, and then running around the town looking for survivors and finding absolutely nothing (until i finally found the main entrance to the sanctuary embarrassingly late). That was legitimately terrifying.

another favorite moment was descending to the final boss - that was pretty unsettling too, especially when I hit the bottom floor of the huge spiral staircase and got the pop-up about the power of the sages being gone.

regarding specific mechanics: I actually really liked the weapon crafting. I thought I would hate it, but figuring out strong combinations and going out to hunt down strong monsters for their parts was fun. I felt like a genius when I managed to create a weapon with 120 attack lol

for the story: the master sword quest!!!!!!!! so good.

Purah!!!!! I loved her change in personality throughout the calamity trilogy, I feel like it really reflected her age and the state of the world. in AOC, she was a super spunky and brilliant teenager, and in BOTW she was basically a 4yo, so having her back to being 20, but now having literally 100 years of horror with her friends, family, and all of hyrule suffering hanging over her, she's way more serious and subdued. She's also clearly scared and worried at Zelda still being missing, which I think speaks to how close the friendship is between all three. idk, I have feelings lol

PAYA 😭😭😭😭😭

I did like how much different it felt overall as everyone recovered from the Calamity. That was nice.

and last but not least: ZELINK CANON ZELINK CANON ZELINK CANON

Now for things I didn't like:

I didn't actually like the shrines very much this time, even though the puzzles were more interesting than the ones in BOTW. that might just be fatigue from doing ~250 shrines (main save file and master mode) in the first game, but I found them tedious. once I had enough stamina for the master sword and enough hearts for the sage of spirit quest, I stopped doing them.

the temples were better than the divine beasts, but I still would have preferred more extensive dungeons. (Worth noting that the games I've played other than the two most recent are Link to the Past, Oracle of Seasons, and the original LoZ. I briefly started OOT and Majora's Mask, but didn't finish either of them, so i dont have a comparison point for recent 3d games.)

I felt there was a lack of continuity specifically because of the sheika shrines/towers. Did they ever explain why they are gone now? Did they disappear into the depths during the upheaval? Even the divine beasts are missing! I feel like at the bare minimum, Robbie or Purah should have mentioned something, let alone the second gen champions who literally already piloted them.

This is my hottest take, but: Zelda could have stayed a dragon. Don't get me wrong, I love her and am thrilled Ultimate Wife Guy Link got his wife back, but I don't like when stories undermine their Great Sacrifice(tm) like that. Keep in mind, I also think Byleth should have died in FE3H's Crimson Flower route and that the Silver Snow route is a more powerful ending if you don't meet the conditions for Rhea to survive. In stories about sacrifice for some 'greater good,' I am simply not a happy endings person.

All in all, I had fun! I felt much more invested in the story and hurrying to rescue Zelda because I felt so much more attached to all the characters, so I think that was a massive improvement.

[lets-mosey]

How do you feel about Legend of Zelda series?

I like it! 

Below, I’ll go into the games I’ve played so far. This is long, so I’m including a cut.

One of the games I put many, many hours into as a kid was Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages, and I absolutely loved it. I was also very, very bad at it, and never finished the game. It took me a year to figure out how to beat the boss of the 1st or 2nd dungeon I’m pretty sure. A year being on the shorter end of the estimation. I was also like 8 or something, but still. I restarted that game so many times because I just loved it, even though I couldn’t beat it. Eventually I came back to it when I was 13 or so and finally old enough to realize how to beat the boss. I got pretty far, to the 6th dungeon, but stopped playing for some reason. I came back to it a year later and realized I had no idea how to proceed. Oracle of Ages involves time travel, and the dungeon I was in needed stuff to be done in both the past and the present, and I couldn’t remember what I had and hadn’t done so I was pretty lost. I haven’t gone back and finished it yet even though it’s been years, since restarting again and losing the progress is a little demotivating. I will soon though. That game was great. I also played Oracle of Seasons on the virtual console to the end and had a great time.

I’m someone who loves walkthroughs/let’s plays on youtube, so a majority of my Zelda games I’ve gotten through that. Usually I’ll watch a walkthrough and then buy the game to play myself, so I’ve bought a few games because of that. Namely Skyward Sword and Majora’s Mask. And Oracle of Seasons, I think? It’s been a while. I’ve seen part of a playthrough of Ocarina of Time too, but haven’t finished it. Someday. Oh, and the original Legend of Zelda. First watched a playthrough, then bought the game and played through it myself. It’s interesting enough. 

I own Wind Waker HD and am halfway through that, but I haven’t touched it in a year or so so I need to get on that. I’ve never seen a playthrough, so I’m not sure how it ends, but am looking forward to it. I also own Phantom Hour Glass, but I was never able to beat the final boss. I was stuck for months if not longer on that guy, and then finally lost my cartridge. My brother gave me his several years ago, but like with Oracle of Ages starting all over is really demotivating/demoralizing and I haven’t gotten around to it.

I saw a full playthrough of Link’s Awakening, and that game was fantastic. It’s another one I’m looking to buy when I can afford it. 

I own A Link Between Worlds, but I’ve only played up until the first dungeon or so. I didn’t really like it so I haven’t played it since it first came out. It has some good reviews though, and probably gets better as I go along, so I’ll pick it up someday. Probably not until after I play a Link to the Past though. That one tops people’s lists, so I’m going to play it when I have the time. Or watch a walkthrough, in all likelihood.

Breath of the Wild I watched probably 4 or 5 hours of a playthrough of, and wasn’t super impressed. It’s okay so far. It also got amazing ratings and reviews, so I know it has to get better, but it wasn’t super compelling. The idea is sort of interesting though. It just didn’t have as interesting start as some of my favorites, so I haven’t gone to finish it yet.

So overall, I’ve experienced a bunch of Zelda games, and have really liked them. Link’s cool, the adventures are fun, and the plots for the most part have interested me. I’d say Majora’s Mask or Oracle of Ages is my favorite. Even though I haven’t finished the latter. It makes me think of being a kid, and that boosts my love for it a ton.

The Legend of Zelda series isn’t super ultra intense or overly violent, and has enough quirky things here and there to make me smile. I’m someone who loves repeated concepts/characters like the Links, Zeldas, Ganon(dorf)s, cucoos, etc. (like Chocobos for FF), so that’s another thing I like about the series. 

So yeah. LoZ is pretty great.