Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap (living hat shouts at small child)

[LaZodiac]

http://i.imgur.com/lUFwngd.png

Hello and welcome back to the Zelda series. When we last left off we had just beaten Skyward Sword, and seen the beginning of this affair of demonic curses and princessly reincarnation. We're going to be taking a swing at the next game in the series, The Minish Cap. Made by Capcom (the cause of all my problems) for the Game Boy Advance, this one is...well I mean it's basic and reminds me of the old top down Zelda games many people grew up with and love. It'll be interesting to see how this game compares. As always there is something waiting at the end of this thread to reward participation, we'll be updating Monday and Friday, the usual. Most of you have probably seen my Sunshine LP thing. With that out of the way, lets go!

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap [1] Talking Hat (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8ZmoDXVNOo)

Video Length: 23:29

Video Notes: The first three videos have some minor issues as I work out the kinks of recording a GBA game. My apologies.

We begin first with a beautiful series of stained glass windows, telling us a history. Those of you familiar with Skyward Sword may notice some...incongruities here, and while I will discuss them the time to do so is not now. All you need to know is that the legend depicted here, and the big ole legendary sword shown off later, it's not the Master Sword and it's not (entirely) about the past game. Moving on.

It s a beautiful day, and we see the lovely Princess Zelda heading to the home of the local (read: only) blacksmith. Inside, she basically demands very politely for the blacksmith's Grandson, Link, to be given to her so she can go to a festival with him. Grandpa Master Smith is more then happy then to let us go, so hooray! We get to go to a cool festival. Though he tasks us with delivering his newly finished sword, to be given to the winner of the sword fighting contest. The controls are really basic and simple here and that's good, you move with the D-Pad and roll around with R when moving, using R when not moving to grab things and do a little shimmy sham dance, while the A and B buttons are for item use but that won't be for at least a little while.

Princess Zelda, quite a rambunctious and high speed Princess, takes us quickly to the festival an basically just runs around getting little tastes of everything. It's adorable. She wins a prize raffle and when given the choice between a Heart Container (take it Princess please) a Huge Rupee, and a teeny tiny shield...she picks the shield. To her credit it's a gift to us, and so that we can protect her like a real knight! This is suuuuper adorable and makes me okay that she got us the shield. The shield works how you'd expect, blocking things when put up. It's a little small though, and not too good in terms of material so it won't block everything.

After encountering one of the MANY very god damn rude Deku Scrub businessmen in this game, and learning how to reflect projectiles in the meanwhile, we finally get to the castle. We decide to stay and watch the ceremony of the sword contest winner going up to the chest and touching the Picori Blade to make a wish. Only the winner seems...mysterious. A pale skinned man with purple hair, dressed in blackish purple clothing. He uh, makes it clear he's not here for the sword, and after blowing away from guards he smashes it, unleashing the monsters sealed within! He peers into the chest to claim his goal and...finds nothing. The Force he was looking for was not within. Zelda confronts him, and though we do try to defend her, this mysterious man known as Vaati easily pushes us aside and turns Zelda to stone.

We awaken from the whole Vaati busting our face up, inside the castle. The King is discussing with his guards and Master Blacksmith what is to be done. His guards will search the lands for the vile sorcerer who petrified his daughter, while a small child will be tasked with finding the Picori. Believed to be a legend, these small folk are very real, and will be able to fix the blade for us. Taking both the broken blade and the sword our grandpa made, we head off into the world to find the Picori! Thus begins the game proper, though we don't have many places to really go. We do encounter our first enemies, Octoroks and Crows. Simple foes, Octoroks spewing rocks and walking around, Crows diving at us. How rude! We also find the Acro-bandits, enemies that aren't really a threat so much as they are a good source of grinding because you kill like, five per encounter.

We make our ways down, into the Minish Woods, and at first it seems that other then the regular old green Chu-chus, there isn't much to find. However...we hear someone shouting for help. Thus we find our titular living hat friend, who after saved reveals himself as Ezlo. After a funny scene of poor Ezlo having...difficulties keeping up with a small child, we find ourselves with a new hat! Nice.

Ezlo is...an interesting friend. I'm sure some of you will find this ridiculous, but I find him more intrusive on the gameplay then Fi. Maybe it's because by this point there have been four other top down Zelda games with this style of control scheme, maybe it's because there is just something off about how he helps us, or maybe it's just that good ole Capcom quality, but something about Ezlo makes him kinda...annoying? We'll see more of this later, because for now he does give us some good advice. Specifically, he teaches us that us humans, we're bad at record keeping. The Picori are actually called the Minish. Secondly, certain areas in the game let us shrink down to Minish size, letting us explore! Thus we learn how to become a tinier small child, the main gimmick of the game. It's really fun though and they do some neat stuff with it, so lets go.

Exploring the woods a little as a tiny child, we find the Minish Village! The only problem is these super adorable and cute mouse people are uh...not able to speak our language! So we've gotta explore the village a little to find someone who can speak it. Shockingly it's not even the village elder who can, but instead like...the local priest. I find that funny and also actually kind of appropriate for reasons I'll explain later. It's just funny how the local super wise mega sega who'll tell us what we have to do to repair the sword...doesn't know Hylian just in case he needs to TALK with a destined hero. Anyway, Mr Priest here tells us to go find a jabbernut, and...well we do so it's not super difficult. To be fair this is basically the first puzzle we have to solve and this game is nice and easy so it's easing us into it, but yeah I'd kind of expect a minidungeon to get this, not a single block pushing puzzle. Anyway, nut!

With the Jabbernut eaten we can now understand the language. Notedly, based on what the other Minish say, we can now SPEAK the language too. The Jabbernut isn't a babel fish persay, it just taught us the language and now we can speak it. They're still saying "picopicoripi" but since we understand it it appears in like, Hylian. It's neat. Anyway the sage tells us about how to fix the sword we need to get the four elements, and one is nearby just ask Mr Priest to let us through and we do so...discovering that I am a dumb and forgot about the Heart Piece here. We'll...get that later. At any rate, at the cusp of our first dungeon (yes, already. This game goes fast) we end it here. I hope you enjoyed, and I'll see you all next time.

[Cuthalion]

Yay!

*tosses confetti around the thread*

[TheWombatOfDoom]

http://i.imgur.com/lUFwngd.png

Hello and welcome back to the Zelda series. When we last left off we had just beaten Skyward Sword, and seen the beginning of this affair of demonic curses and princessly reincarnation. We're going to be taking a swing at the next game in the series, The Minish Cap. Made by Capcom (the cause of all my problems) for the Game Boy Advance, this one is...well I mean it's basic and reminds me of the old top down Zelda games many people grew up with and love. It'll be interesting to see how this game compares. As always there is something waiting at the end of this thread to reward participation, we'll be updating Monday and Friday, the usual. Most of you have probably seen my Sunshine LP thing. With that out of the way, lets go!

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap [1] Talking Hat (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8ZmoDXVNOo)

Video Length: 23:29

Video Notes: The first three videos have some minor issues as I work out the kinks of recording a GBA game. My apologies.

We begin first with a beautiful series of stained glass windows, telling us a history. Those of you familiar with Skyward Sword may notice some...incongruities here, and while I will discuss them the time to do so is not now. All you need to know is that the legend depicted here, and the big ole legendary sword shown off later, it's not the Master Sword and it's not (entirely) about the past game. Moving on.

It s a beautiful day, and we see the lovely Princess Zelda heading to the home of the local (read: only) blacksmith. Inside, she basically demands very politely for the blacksmith's Grandson, Link, to be given to her so she can go to a festival with him. Grandpa Master Smith is more then happy then to let us go, so hooray! We get to go to a cool festival. Though he tasks us with delivering his newly finished sword, to be given to the winner of the sword fighting contest. The controls are really basic and simple here and that's good, you move with the D-Pad and roll around with R when moving, using R when not moving to grab things and do a little shimmy sham dance, while the A and B buttons are for item use but that won't be for at least a little while.

Princess Zelda, quite a rambunctious and high speed Princess, takes us quickly to the festival an basically just runs around getting little tastes of everything. It's adorable. She wins a prize raffle and when given the choice between a Heart Container (take it Princess please) a Huge Rupee, and a teeny tiny shield...she picks the shield. To her credit it's a gift to us, and so that we can protect her like a real knight! This is suuuuper adorable and makes me okay that she got us the shield. The shield works how you'd expect, blocking things when put up. It's a little small though, and not too good in terms of material so it won't block everything.

After encountering one of the MANY very god damn rude Deku Scrub businessmen in this game, and learning how to reflect projectiles in the meanwhile, we finally get to the castle. We decide to stay and watch the ceremony of the sword contest winner going up to the chest and touching the Picori Blade to make a wish. Only the winner seems...mysterious. A pale skinned man with purple hair, dressed in blackish purple clothing. He uh, makes it clear he's not here for the sword, and after blowing away from guards he smashes it, unleashing the monsters sealed within! He peers into the chest to claim his goal and...finds nothing. The Force he was looking for was not within. Zelda confronts him, and though we do try to defend her, this mysterious man known as Vaati easily pushes us aside and turns Zelda to stone.

We awaken from the whole Vaati busting our face up, inside the castle. The King is discussing with his guards and Master Blacksmith what is to be done. His guards will search the lands for the vile sorcerer who petrified his daughter, while a small child will be tasked with finding the Picori. Believed to be a legend, these small folk are very real, and will be able to fix the blade for us. Taking both the broken blade and the sword our grandpa made, we head off into the world to find the Picori! Thus begins the game proper, though we don't have many places to really go. We do encounter our first enemies, Octoroks and Crows. Simple foes, Octoroks spewing rocks and walking around, Crows diving at us. How rude! We also find the Acro-bandits, enemies that aren't really a threat so much as they are a good source of grinding because you kill like, five per encounter.

We make our ways down, into the Minish Woods, and at first it seems that other then the regular old green Chu-chus, there isn't much to find. However...we hear someone shouting for help. Thus we find our titular living hat friend, who after saved reveals himself as Ezlo. After a funny scene of poor Ezlo having...difficulties keeping up with a small child, we find ourselves with a new hat! Nice.

Ezlo is...an interesting friend. I'm sure some of you will find this ridiculous, but I find him more intrusive on the gameplay then Fi. Maybe it's because by this point there have been four other top down Zelda games with this style of control scheme, maybe it's because there is just something off about how he helps us, or maybe it's just that good ole Capcom quality, but something about Ezlo makes him kinda...annoying? We'll see more of this later, because for now he does give us some good advice. Specifically, he teaches us that us humans, we're bad at record keeping. The Picori are actually called the Minish. Secondly, certain areas in the game let us shrink down to Minish size, letting us explore! Thus we learn how to become a tinier small child, the main gimmick of the game. It's really fun though and they do some neat stuff with it, so lets go.

Exploring the woods a little as a tiny child, we find the Minish Village! The only problem is these super adorable and cute mouse people are uh...not able to speak our language! So we've gotta explore the village a little to find someone who can speak it. Shockingly it's not even the village elder who can, but instead like...the local priest. I find that funny and also actually kind of appropriate for reasons I'll explain later. It's just funny how the local super wise mega sega who'll tell us what we have to do to repair the sword...doesn't know Hylian just in case he needs to TALK with a destined hero. Anyway, Mr Priest here tells us to go find a jabbernut, and...well we do so it's not super difficult. To be fair this is basically the first puzzle we have to solve and this game is nice and easy so it's easing us into it, but yeah I'd kind of expect a minidungeon to get this, not a single block pushing puzzle. Anyway, nut!

With the Jabbernut eaten we can now understand the language. Notedly, based on what the other Minish say, we can now SPEAK the language too. The Jabbernut isn't a babel fish persay, it just taught us the language and now we can speak it. They're still saying "picopicoripi" but since we understand it it appears in like, Hylian. It's neat. Anyway the sage tells us about how to fix the sword we need to get the four elements, and one is nearby just ask Mr Priest to let us through and we do so...discovering that I am a dumb and forgot about the Heart Piece here. We'll...get that later. At any rate, at the cusp of our first dungeon (yes, already. This game goes fast) we end it here. I hope you enjoyed, and I'll see you all next time.

I didn't really realize this and I really should have...Link is sleeping at the beginning of every game. Sometimes due to fatigue, and sometimes...through injury. Dun dun dun. But for now, sleepy sleepy link...

Odds? They only tune into Hyrule history when it is interesting! What would a game be if nothing happened!

Awwwwww yeah, shield maiden!

Silly Vaati. If he hadn't monologue, he could have just done what he was going to do without interference!

Hmmm. We have to repair the sword? Isn't that what we...did last game? :smallamused:

Acro-bandits....seem similar in appearance to the mogma...aand why are bandits around hyrule guards? are they really that ineffective?

Agh! Face sucker! Head crab! Oh, just a green hat. That talks...

Jabbernut. Its like a babblefish. I like this game...the title has a pun. The Minish, Diminish. Hehe.

Wow, this game is going fast! We already have a dungeon?




EPISODE 1 KILL TALLY!

Octorok - 16
Crow - 2
Acro-Bandits - 11
Green Chuchus - 2

Missed Rupees - 0

(previous episodes)




The Minish Cap
Total Kills
(As of Episode 1)

Crow - 2
Acro-Bandits - 11
Green Chuchus - 2
Octorok - 16

[LaZodiac]

Hmmm. We have to repair the sword? Isn't that what we...did last game? :smallamused:

Acro-bandits....seem similar in appearance to the mogma...aand why are bandits around hyrule guards? are they really that ineffective?

Agh! Face sucker! Head crab! Oh, just a green hat. That talks...

Jabbernut. Its like a babblefish. I like this game...the title has a pun. The Minish, Diminish. Hehe.

Wow, this game is going fast! We already have a dungeon?




EPISODE 1 KILL TALLY!


I mean technically in Skyward Sword we were UPGRADING a sword, not fixing it. In this we're fixing it.

They are like Mogma, and perhaps an offshoot of them. I'll elaborate on that later though. My guess is that the guards just don't notice the mole guys.

Yeah this game is pretty damn fast! At least at the start anyway. Also if I recall we only have four actual dungeons to do because hey man, GBA games are kinda small! I may be forgetting though.

Ah, well documented list of everything I killed. How I missed you.

[TheWombatOfDoom]

I mean technically in Skyward Sword we were UPGRADING a sword, not fixing it. In this we're fixing it.

They are like Mogma, and perhaps an offshoot of them. I'll elaborate on that later though. My guess is that the guards just don't notice the mole guys.

Yeah this game is pretty damn fast! At least at the start anyway. Also if I recall we only have four actual dungeons to do because hey man, GBA games are kinda small! I may be forgetting though.

Ah, well documented list of everything I killed. How I missed you.

Alright, correction then. In both you are forging a sword.

I could have done one for Mario I suppose, but even us counters need a break once in awhile! Plus, I like finding connections between enemies in Zelda games, and so this is more fun. In Mario, they're all pretty much the same, with no hypothesizing evolutionary paths and such...

EPISODE 1 KILL TALLY!

Octorok - 16
Crow - 2
Acro-Bandits - 11
Green Chuchus - 2

Missed Rupees - 0
EPISODE 2 KILL TALLY!

Sluggula - 22
Mulldozer - 6
Pesto - 6
Madderpillar - 1
Puffstools - 10
Green Chuchu - 2 (1 boss)
Keese - 2
Peahat - 1

Missed Rupees - 0
EPISODE 3 KILL TALLY!

Acro-Bandits - 15
Octorok - 12
Keaton - 1
Tektites - 20
Red Chuchu - 8
Mulldozer - 6
Keese - 4
Helmasaurs - 4
Pesto - 6
Spiny Beetle - 4
Spike Chuchu - 2
Peahat - 2

Style Points - 1

Missed Rupees - 0
Lost Rupees (theft, overflow, ect.) - 10
EPISODE 4 KILL TALLY!

Tektite - 6
Spiny Beetle - 5
Blue Tektite - 1
Peahat - 4
Helmasaur - 10
Red Chuchu - 18
Bob-omb - 9
Spiked Beetle - 4
Green Rupee Like - 1
Keese - 8
Rollobites - 1
Spike Chuchu - 8

Style Points - 1

Missed Rupees - 2
Lost Rupees (theft, overflow, ect.) - 50!
EPISODE 5 KILL TALLY!

Keese - 5
Gleerok - 1
Tektite - 6
Peahat - 1
Beetle - 1
Octorok - 11
Keaton - 1
Blue Moblin - 2
Blue Octorok - 2
Moblin - 1

Style Points - 0

Missed Rupees - 0! (shiny!)
Lost Rupees (theft, overflow, ect.) - 101
EPISODE 6 KILL TALLY!

Keaton - 2
Crow - 4
Moblin - 2
Blue Octorok - 3
Moblin (Bow) - 4
Octorok - 16
Acro-Bandit - 21
Green Chuchu - 1
Rope - 8
Darknut - 1
Peahat - 1
Blue Mulldozer - 5
Eyegore Statue - 1

Style Points - 1!

Missed Rupees - 0! (shiny x2!)
Lost Rupees (theft, overflow, ect.) - 0
EPISODE 7 KILL TALLY!

Rope - 17
Peahat - 2
Eyegore Statue - 6
Red Rupee Like - 1
Armos - 8
Tektites - 13
Leever - 1
Beetle - 1
Spikey Beetle - 2
Stalfos - 14
Keese - 2
Spike Chuchu - 3
Darknut - 1

Style Points - 1!

Missed Rupees - 1
Lost Rupees (theft, overflow, ect.) - 0
EPISODE 8 KILL TALLY!

Floormaster - 3
Rope - 2
Moldorm - 5
Stalfos - 2
Wizrobe - 2
Beetle - 6
Mazaal - 1
Spike Chuchu - 1
Octorok - 1
Acro-bandit - 1

Style Points - 0

Missed Rupees - 0
Lost Rupees (theft, overflow, ect.) - 100!
EPISODE 9 KILL TALLY!

Octorok - 13
Acro-bandit - 23
Beetle - 1
Keaton - 6
Crow - 2
Moldorm - 1
Tektites - 2
Peahat - 7
Moblin - 5

Style Points - 1

Missed Rupees - 0
Lost Rupees (theft, overflow, ect.) - 40!
EPISODE 10 KILL TALLY!

Slugula - 5
Mulldozer - 2
Blue Mulldozer - 4
Octorok - 3
Gold Octorok - 1
Like Like - 1
Pesto - 1

Style Points - 0

Missed Rupees - 0
Lost Rupees (theft, overflow, ect.) - 0
EPISODE 11 KILL TALLY!

Slugula - 13
Scissor Beetles - 5
Mulldozer - 6
Blue Mulldozer - 7
Pestos - 8
Octorok - 2
Blue Octorok - 7
Green Chuchu - 1
Moblin - 1
Madderpillar - 1
Blue Pesto - 2

Style Points - 0

Missed Rupees - 0
Lost Rupees (theft, overflow, ect.) - 0
EPISODE 12 KILL TALLY!

Pestos - 11
Blue Chuchu - 1 (1 boss)
Mulldozers - 12
Scissor Beetles - 7
Blue Mulldozers - 12
Blue Pestos - 3
Madderpillars - 2
Octoroks - 1 (1 boss)

Style Points - 0

Missed Rupees - 0
Lost Rupees (theft, overflow, ect.) - 0
EPISODE 13 KILL TALLY!

Armos - 1
Gold Rope - 1
Rope - 7
Octorok - 5
Ghini - 16
Takkuri - 2
Stalfos - 3
Gibdo - 1

Style Points - 1

Missed Rupees - 0
Lost Rupees (theft, overflow, ect.) - 0
EPISODE 14 KILL TALLY!

Acro-bandit - 15
Octorok - 4
Blue Leever - 5
Blue Peahat - 2
Blue Rupee Like - 2
Red Rupee Like - 1
Blue Chuchu - 1
Crow - 1
Keese - 11
Red Bubble - 2
Red Chuchu - 2
Spiny Beetle - 5
Ghini - 1
Helmasaur - 4
Cloud Piranha - 6
Lakitu - 2

Style Points - 0

Missed Rupees - 0
Lost Rupees (theft, overflow, ect.) - 10
EPISODE 15 KILL TALLY!

Peahat - 5
Stalfos - 3
Bombarossa - 1
Bob-ombs - 2
Wizrobes - 12
Crow - 6
Blue Chuchu - 2
Spiked Beetles - 2
Red Rupee Like - 1
Keese - 1

Style Points - 0

Missed Rupees - 0
Lost Rupees (theft, overflow, ect.) - 0
EPISODE 16 KILL TALLY!

Moblin - 5
Blue Chuchu - 3
Lakitu - 1
Moblin (Bow) - 1
Stalfos - 20
Ball and Chain Soldier - 2
Spark - 6
Ice Wizrobe - 3
Red Stalfos - 9
Mighty Darknut (Caped) - 1
Peahat - 3
Gibdo - 4
Keese - 3
Fire Wizrobe - 5
Floormaster - 4
Bombarossa - 26
Wizrobe - 1

Style Points - 0

Missed Rupees - 0
Lost Rupees (theft, overflow, ect.) - 0
EPISODE 17 KILL TALLY!

Red Stalfos - 6
Ice Wizrobe - 1
Moblin - 4
Fire Wizrobe - 1
Blue Gyorg - 2
Green Gyorg - 5
Red Gyorg - 1
Tektite - 3
Spiny Beetle - 2
Octorok - 3
Blue Octorok - 1

Style Points - 0

Missed Rupees - 0
Lost Rupees (theft, overflow, ect.) - 0
EPISODE 18 KILL TALLY!

Ghini - 11
Takkuri - 1
Beetle - 3
Keese - 4
Octorok - 4
Moldorm - 1
Like Like - 3

Style Points - 0

Missed Rupees - 0
Lost Rupees (theft, overflow, ect.) - 0
EPISODE 19 KILL TALLY!

Tektites - 2
Moldorm - 3
Green Chuchu - 5
Spark - 2
Octorok - 7
Moblin - 1
Acro-bandit - 5
Blue Moblin - 3
Red Bubble - 1
Blue Bubble - 1
Stalfos - 3
Red Stalfos - 2
Wizrobes - 6
Keese - 4
Turrets - 4
Floormaster - 1

Style Points - 0

Missed Rupees - 1
Lost Rupees (theft, overflow, ect.) - 0
EPISODE 20 KILL TALLY!

Keese - 16
Blue Moblin - 12
Floormaster - 2
Stalfos - 10
Wizrobe - 5
Turret - 4
Blue Keaton - 15
Mighty Darknut (Caped)- 3
Gibdo - 3
Moldorm - 2
Spark - 11
Blue Moblin (Bow) - 3
Ball and Chain Soldier - 2
Bob-omb - 3
Black Knight Darknut - 1
Darknut - 4
Ghini - 2
Fire Wizrobe - 1
Red Stalfos - 4
Wallmaster - 2

Style Points - 7

Missed Rupees - 0
Lost Rupees (theft, overflow, ect.) - 2

EPISODE 21 KILL TALLY!

Blue Keaton - 10
Mighty Darknut (Caped) - 2
Black Knight Darknut - 1
Vaati - 1

Style Points - 1

Missed Rupees - 0
Lost Rupees (theft, overflow, ect.) - 0
EPISODE 22 KILL TALLY!

Octorok - 1
Moblin - 2
Beetle - 3
Spiny Beetle - 4
Keese - 8
Helmasaurs - 1
Green Chuchu - 1
Pesto - 7
Blue Mulldozer - 7
Gold Octorok - 2
Moblin (Bow) - 2
Crow - 1
Gold Rope - 2
Scissor Beetle - 3
Tektite - 7
Moldworm - 1
Acro-bandit - 1
Blue Octorok - 1
Moldorm - 1
Gold Tektite - 3
Red Chuchu - 1
Blue Tektite - 1
Peahat - 1
Blue Leever - 4
Spark - 1
Ghini - 2

Style Points - 2

Missed Rupees - 0
Lost Rupees (theft, overflow, ect.) - 0

[Lord Raziere]

since I'm bored, and watch lets plays to experience games I don't have time or resources to get, and can't decide what to watch next, I'll be following this

a sleepy hero of time wakes up so that a princess can take him to the festival on the eve of a certain event? pardon me, I'm having Chrono Trigger flashbacks....

a guy who looks like Magus wearing a black link cap, turns Zelda to stone and unleashes a great evil upon the land? why does this game keep reminding me of Chrono Trigger?

oh hello Birdhat.....why didn't you just jump on his head in the first place? and why do they insist on the walking thing until he jumps on?

ah, thats logical- being small is full of danger, even though its needed to progress. though that makes me wonder how small people such as these don't die by the truckload from giant people just plain stomping on them, considering how much lengths we go to to destroy ants and other pests.

I guess language barrier is a good excuse as any to pad things out a little for a simple puzzle, but whatever. it makes sense, given that the Minish must live in isolation to keep themselves from being stomped they as a result can't communicate....but I dunno, it feels a little pointless to me if your just going to get rid of the barrier in like two minutes after its introduced....but then again, thats kind of what happens with all languages in videogames, they get set up as a barrier then quickly get taken down for plot purposes. now I'm thinking of an interesting for a videogame or RPG would be to make language-learning more piecemeal and spread out, as more of a progression than an automatic thing, and hinge an entire plot around it where you can't do certain things because you only know so much of a certain language....

[LaZodiac]

since I'm bored, and watch lets plays to experience games I don't have time or resources to get, and can't decide what to watch next, I'll be following this

a sleepy hero of time wakes up so that a princess can take him to the festival on the eve of a certain event? pardon me, I'm having Chrono Trigger flashbacks....

a guy who looks like Magus wearing a black link cap, turns Zelda to stone and unleashes a great evil upon the land? why does this game keep reminding me of Chrono Trigger?

oh hello Birdhat.....why didn't you just jump on his head in the first place? and why do they insist on the walking thing until he jumps on?

ah, thats logical- being small is full of danger, even though its needed to progress. though that makes me wonder how small people such as these don't die by the truckload from giant people just plain stomping on them, considering how much lengths we go to to destroy ants and other pests.

I guess language barrier is a good excuse as any to pad things out a little for a simple puzzle, but whatever. it makes sense, given that the Minish must live in isolation to keep themselves from being stomped they as a result can't communicate....but I dunno, it feels a little pointless to me if your just going to get rid of the barrier in like two minutes after its introduced....but then again, thats kind of what happens with all languages in videogames, they get set up as a barrier then quickly get taken down for plot purposes. now I'm thinking of an interesting for a videogame or RPG would be to make language-learning more piecemeal and spread out, as more of a progression than an automatic thing, and hinge an entire plot around it where you can't do certain things because you only know so much of a certain language....

Man now I want Link to the Trigger to be a thing. Chrono Zelda?

I have to imagine Ezlo was just trying not to be rude at first. I mean he is sitting on a child's head.

The Minish all seem to be in areas where humans won't or can't go, or are Borrower level stealth so they manage to live pretty fine.

Final Fantasy X kind of did that with Al Bhed and I think basically everyone hated it? I don't recall.

[Seerow]

Honestly Chrono Trigger was my first thought seeing the festival as well. The art style is fairly close, so they really feel similar. I actually quite like that they echo each other like this, it probably helps that Chrono Trigger was probably the first real RPG I ever played, and remains one of my favorite games to date.

Anyway, really looking forward to this one. Never played any of the handheld zeldas, so this one (plus a few of the later games) is all new to me. One thing that has stuck out at me is how varied the enemy types are this early on. I'm used to the first section of a zelda game having 1-2 enemy types, and discovering others later in the game. But here in the first 5 minutes after the festival, you've run into a solid half dozen different enemies. That's cool IMO.


One Request: When you add a comment at the same time text is on the screen from something else, could you make your comment last slightly longer? I find myself pausing and rewinding the video constantly because there's two separate sets of text showing up at the same time for only a split second. It happened with Sunshine as well, but Sunshine most of the in-game text wasn't too important so I could just ignore it for the most part. With the Zelda games I'd like to be able to read what's going on in the game as well as keep up with your commentary.

edit: omg I just noticed Zodi already has a new avatar for minish cap. Your avatars changing with the LP you're working on are consistently fantastic.

[LaZodiac]

One Request: When you add a comment at the same time text is on the screen from something else, could you make your comment last slightly longer? I find myself pausing and rewinding the video constantly because there's two separate sets of text showing up at the same time for only a split second. It happened with Sunshine as well, but Sunshine most of the in-game text wasn't too important so I could just ignore it for the most part. With the Zelda games I'd like to be able to read what's going on in the game as well as keep up with your commentary.

edit: omg I just noticed Zodi already has a new avatar for minish cap. Your avatars changing with the LP you're working on are consistently fantastic.

I will keep that in mind! Just a note that uh...the first couple of videos are recorded already so it'll take awhile for that to be a thing! Sorry I like being over prepared :smallredface:

Thanks! Extend a lovely hand to Cuthalion for making this wonderful avatar of Ezlo yelling at me, based on this official art of Ezlo yelling at Link. (http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/zelda/images/3/3e/Link_Artwork_1_%28The_Minish_Cap%29.png/revision/latest?cb=20090805025619)

[DataNinja]

Yay! New things to look forwards to!

One thing I want to know is... why didn't Ezlo just translate for us before? He didn't eat the fish nut, yet he understands the Minish language? :smalltongue:

[LaZodiac]

Yay! New things to look forwards to!

One thing I want to know is... why didn't Ezlo just translate for us before? He didn't eat the fish nut, yet he understands the Minish language? :smalltongue:

That is an interesting question! While we won't find out why he didn't just translate for us, we DO later find out how he knows the language. I...think it's meant to explain why he didn't translate for us but it seems kinda silly? We'll see when we get to it.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Ahh, gotta love that new-thread smell.

I notice a lot of assets, particularly audio, seem very similar to a futurepast involving waking up the wind. Even some of the character noises like the King remind me of... well... we'll get to that when we get to it.

I'll have to admit, there's a lot of Chrono Trigger around the intro here. But at least that bell didn't ring. And you don't have Gato around to farm silver points with.

I am... decidedly NOT liking that hat. Probably the second-most annoying authorial-redirection device in the series. If, at any point, that hat utters the phrase "Hey! Listen!" then he may, in fact, beat the previous holder of that title. For reasons. And stuff.

At least you got well equipped when you went out. Sword, shield, map, the broken sword. Much more of a monty-haul than "It's dangerous to go alone. Take this".

[Coidzor]

http://i.imgur.com/lUFwngd.png

Hello and welcome back to the Zelda series. When we last left off we had just beaten Skyward Sword, and seen the beginning of this affair of demonic curses and princessly reincarnation. We're going to be taking a swing at the next game in the series, The Minish Cap. Made by Capcom (the cause of all my problems) for the Game Boy Advance, this one is...well I mean it's basic and reminds me of the old top down Zelda games many people grew up with and love. It'll be interesting to see how this game compares. As always there is something waiting at the end of this thread to reward participation, we'll be updating Monday and Friday, the usual. Most of you have probably seen my Sunshine LP thing. With that out of the way, lets go!

Hmm, either this is a new kismesis relationship or I was really asleep the last time capcom came up around you. XD

Yet another of the games in the series that I had access to for a while but not permanently and got all the way up to the final boss but never actually beat. :V

Link's Awakening, Twilight Princess, and Minish Cap. Such a trifecta. :smallredface:


Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap [1] Talking Hat (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8ZmoDXVNOo)

Video Length: 23:29

Video Notes: The first three videos have some minor issues as I work out the kinks of recording a GBA game. My apologies.

We begin first with a beautiful series of stained glass windows, telling us a history. Those of you familiar with Skyward Sword may notice some...incongruities here, and while I will discuss them the time to do so is not now. All you need to know is that the legend depicted here, and the big ole legendary sword shown off later, it's not the Master Sword and it's not (entirely) about the past game. Moving on.

Obviously it'd be boring to just have the first time evil came back be the story here. Gotta make it clear that this whole Link thing has been repeated a few more times. :smallwink:

And who doesn't love additional legendary magic swords cluttering up the place. :smallamused:

Eventually future Links might even be able to wallpaper with the number of swords built up from their ancestors and previous incarnations.


It s a beautiful day, and we see the lovely Princess Zelda heading to the home of the local (read: only) blacksmith. Inside, she basically demands very politely for the blacksmith's Grandson, Link, to be given to her so she can go to a festival with him. Grandpa Master Smith is more then happy then to let us go, so hooray! We get to go to a cool festival. Though he tasks us with delivering his newly finished sword, to be given to the winner of the sword fighting contest. The controls are really basic and simple here and that's good, you move with the D-Pad and roll around with R when moving, using R when not moving to grab things and do a little shimmy sham dance, while the A and B buttons are for item use but that won't be for at least a little while.

In a first for the series, Link actually has a reason for sleeping in! Late Night Intense Grandpa-Grandson Smithing! :smallcool:

Wait, that sounds wrong somehow... :smallsigh:

More seriously though, kinda silly of Zelda to have her theme song playing if she wants Link to wake up, I mean, she is playing him a lullaby just by being around. :smallamused:

Woohoo, Link's a Delivery Boy! :smallbiggrin: And completely unsuitable bodyguard!

Dead shame about not being able to bonk roll anymore, though. At least now Link can ninja roll off cliffs, so.... tradeoffs?


Princess Zelda, quite a rambunctious and high speed Princess, takes us quickly to the festival an basically just runs around getting little tastes of everything. It's adorable. She wins a prize raffle and when given the choice between a Heart Container (take it Princess please) a Huge Rupee, and a teeny tiny shield...she picks the shield. To her credit it's a gift to us, and so that we can protect her like a real knight! This is suuuuper adorable and makes me okay that she got us the shield. The shield works how you'd expect, blocking things when put up. It's a little small though, and not too good in terms of material so it won't block everything.

Mah Zodi (https://i.imgur.com/kvs9bMRh.jpg), these teensy shields are what all true warriors strive for. :smalltongue:

And if you're going to not start off with the shield, this is one of the better ways I can think of to have gotten it. Though the shield shaming is a little much. XD It's not the size, it's how you use it!

What's this about a LIGHT FORCE, though? Hm hm. They have triforce emblems on that wedding bell gate on the north end of the plaza, so they're probably not getting their history and mystical metaphysical concepts muddled.

Oh well, it came with a complimentary and complementary blade, so I'm sure this light force isn't all bad!

Teasing you with swordfights that they had neither the time nor the inclination to show with the limitations of playing a top-down Zelda game naturally preventing cool sword fights from happening under player control was a bit cruel though.

Moonwalking back to the castle is the only true and fit way to escort the Princess of Hyrule, after all. XD


After encountering one of the MANY very god damn rude Deku Scrub businessmen in this game, and learning how to reflect projectiles in the meanwhile, we finally get to the castle. We decide to stay and watch the ceremony of the sword contest winner going up to the chest and touching the Picori Blade to make a wish. Only the winner seems...mysterious. A pale skinned man with purple hair, dressed in blackish purple clothing. He uh, makes it clear he's not here for the sword, and after blowing away from guards he smashes it, unleashing the monsters sealed within! He peers into the chest to claim his goal and...finds nothing. The Force he was looking for was not within. Zelda confronts him, and though we do try to defend her, this mysterious man known as Vaati easily pushes us aside and turns Zelda to stone.

There's a very good reason why Deku Scrubs go extinct. They're trashbabies, by and large. And don't have the sense not to set up blockades on the path to a castle and spit deku nuts at princesses. Or cover their mouths(?) when they talk.

That, and I'm sure that there are many, many Links and possibly even other non-Link adventuring types that dedicate themselves to wiping them out after they retire from the saving the world business.

Hey, Vaati's wearing dark navy blue clothes, not mysterious black clothes.

Gotta give those guards credit, though, they at least attacked two at a time instead of only one at a time. :smallamused:

And that teensy tiny shield was enough to help Link not get blown away. No idea what that was about with Zelda though. Must already know magic or something as part of her preparations for being in Brawl. :V

Now where could that mysterious FORCE be if not in a chest full of sealed away evil monsters that should've just been killed?

I know, it's inside a HIDDEN TEMPLE! :smallbiggrin: Silly Vaati, don't you know how magical forces are kept stored? You gotta go through block moving puzzles and boss fights, not sword contests!

It was a pretty neat looking chest though, so I guess it's maybe a little bit forgivable, since he is completely new to this sort of thing and all.


We awaken from the whole Vaati busting our face up, inside the castle. The King is discussing with his guards and Master Blacksmith what is to be done. His guards will search the lands for the vile sorcerer who petrified his daughter, while a small child will be tasked with finding the Picori. Believed to be a legend, these small folk are very real, and will be able to fix the blade for us. Taking both the broken blade and the sword our grandpa made, we head off into the world to find the Picori! Thus begins the game proper, though we don't have many places to really go. We do encounter our first enemies, Octoroks and Crows. Simple foes, Octoroks spewing rocks and walking around, Crows diving at us. How rude! We also find the Acro-bandits, enemies that aren't really a threat so much as they are a good source of grinding because you kill like, five per encounter.

Hey, an actual good reason for why Link has to be a kid in this one. :smallamused: Ageist mystical creatures!

Interesting that they shared this place as a meeting place and now the Picorinos only show themselves to children. I wonder what could have happened.

Did some Hyrulian prince traumatize the Picori by attacking a Princess Zelda in front of them while under the influence of Ganon, sending her into a magical coma that lasted for years until she was awoken by a later Link? :V

I must admit, the acro-bandits were... kinda interesting, but also kinda just weird. But satisfying to kill. When collapsing them didn't drop one on your head. :V


We make our ways down, into the Minish Woods, and at first it seems that other then the regular old green Chu-chus, there isn't much to find. However...we hear someone shouting for help. Thus we find our titular living hat friend, who after saved reveals himself as Ezlo. After a funny scene of poor Ezlo having...difficulties keeping up with a small child, we find ourselves with a new hat! Nice.

Green Chu-Chus freaked me out the first time I played this, because they looked like a modern version of the electrified ones from Link's Awakening that always annoyed me as a little kid.

The octoroks harassing a hat instead of trying to murder it is also both interesting and kinda weird. Or maybe shooting rocks at magical hats just doesn't damage them, just makes them pain.

Was a somewhat amusing scene, him figuring out that he just needs to be a freakin' hat already. And dig his root tendrils into Link's brain to control his meat puppet minion. muahahahahaha.


Ezlo is...an interesting friend. I'm sure some of you will find this ridiculous, but I find him more intrusive on the gameplay then Fi. Maybe it's because by this point there have been four other top down Zelda games with this style of control scheme, maybe it's because there is just something off about how he helps us, or maybe it's just that good ole Capcom quality, but something about Ezlo makes him kinda...annoying? We'll see more of this later, because for now he does give us some good advice. Specifically, he teaches us that us humans, we're bad at record keeping. The Picori are actually called the Minish. Secondly, certain areas in the game let us shrink down to Minish size, letting us explore! Thus we learn how to become a tinier small child, the main gimmick of the game. It's really fun though and they do some neat stuff with it, so lets go.

Hooray for unnecessary alternate names that get dispelled about 15 minutes into the game proper!

Also, magical immortal portal stumps. Rather enjoyed this part of the game.

Exceeeeeept for some of the backtracking for collectibles. :V


Exploring the woods a little as a tiny child, we find the Minish Village! The only problem is these super adorable and cute mouse people are uh...not able to speak our language! So we've gotta explore the village a little to find someone who can speak it. Shockingly it's not even the village elder who can, but instead like...the local priest. I find that funny and also actually kind of appropriate for reasons I'll explain later. It's just funny how the local super wise mega sega who'll tell us what we have to do to repair the sword...doesn't know Hylian just in case he needs to TALK with a destined hero. Anyway, Mr Priest here tells us to go find a jabbernut, and...well we do so it's not super difficult. To be fair this is basically the first puzzle we have to solve and this game is nice and easy so it's easing us into it, but yeah I'd kind of expect a minidungeon to get this, not a single block pushing puzzle. Anyway, nut!

And now we have the explanation for why they're called Picori. Pokemon logic of "Let's just name it whatever it keeps on saying." XD

Interesting that Ezlo knows Picorish but isn't familiar with this dialect, hm hm.

Jibba-Jabu-Jabu Nut! :smallbiggrin: I found that bit about the priest and sage a bit interesting, yeah.


With the Jabbernut eaten we can now understand the language. Notedly, based on what the other Minish say, we can now SPEAK the language too. The Jabbernut isn't a babel fish persay, it just taught us the language and now we can speak it. They're still saying "picopicoripi" but since we understand it it appears in like, Hylian. It's neat. Anyway the sage tells us about how to fix the sword we need to get the four elements, and one is nearby just ask Mr Priest to let us through and we do so...discovering that I am a dumb and forgot about the Heart Piece here. We'll...get that later. At any rate, at the cusp of our first dungeon (yes, already. This game goes fast) we end it here. I hope you enjoyed, and I'll see you all next time.

Four Elements. Interesting, since I think this is the one and only time you actually have to collect things of all of the four elements and the four elements alone in Zelda.

Poor ol' Heart Piece, just gonna be there laying abandoned on its little stone niche where it's been waiting for ages.

At least now we know they're actually mystical stones or something from that one lady, so it doesn't go bad. XD


I didn't really realize this and I really should have...Link is sleeping at the beginning of every game. Sometimes due to fatigue, and sometimes...through injury. Dun dun dun. But for now, sleepy sleepy link...

Well, not every game. I can think of 2 that he isn't, and they're not even ones that have been excommunicated. :smallamused:

You could even say that one of them is a real... :smallcool: Adventure.


Honestly Chrono Trigger was my first thought seeing the festival as well. The art style is fairly close, so they really feel similar. I actually quite like that they echo each other like this, it probably helps that Chrono Trigger was probably the first real RPG I ever played, and remains one of my favorite games to date.

If it wasn't inspired by it at least in part, I'll eat my Ezlo!

I mean, that wedding bell arch just screens Leene's Bell to me. And all of those balloons~


Anyway, really looking forward to this one. Never played any of the handheld zeldas, so this one (plus a few of the later games) is all new to me. One thing that has stuck out at me is how varied the enemy types are this early on. I'm used to the first section of a zelda game having 1-2 enemy types, and discovering others later in the game. But here in the first 5 minutes after the festival, you've run into a solid half dozen different enemies. That's cool IMO.

Ah. Good catch there. I kinda hate bird enemies like the crows with a fiery passion, so I didn't notice it as much, but you're right.

I did enjoy the acro-bandits, until I got dropped down to one heart by them falling on me. :V


One Request: When you add a comment at the same time text is on the screen from something else, could you make your comment last slightly longer? I find myself pausing and rewinding the video constantly because there's two separate sets of text showing up at the same time for only a split second. It happened with Sunshine as well, but Sunshine most of the in-game text wasn't too important so I could just ignore it for the most part. With the Zelda games I'd like to be able to read what's going on in the game as well as keep up with your commentary.

Yeah, I think I ran into that a couple of times myself. :V


edit: omg I just noticed Zodi already has a new avatar for minish cap. Your avatars changing with the LP you're working on are consistently fantastic.

And how! :smallbiggrin:

[lurkmeister]

Oooh! New game!

Minish Cap is one of several Zelda games I started but never finished. Ah well.

BTW ... I have to admit, when you started throwing those urns, this came to mind:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zo8fg9yq-qs

:biggrin:

[huttj509]

I will keep that in mind! Just a note that uh...the first couple of videos are recorded already so it'll take awhile for that to be a thing! Sorry I like being over prepared :smallredface:

Thanks! Extend a lovely hand to Cuthalion for making this wonderful avatar of Ezlo yelling at me, based on this official art of Ezlo yelling at Link. (http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/zelda/images/3/3e/Link_Artwork_1_%28The_Minish_Cap%29.png/revision/latest?cb=20090805025619)

a) Link really likes being yelled at?

b) I kept reading the hat's name as Ezio instead of Ezlo. Made for some amusing thoughts.

[LaZodiac]

a) Link really likes being yelled at?

b) I kept reading the hat's name as Ezio instead of Ezlo. Made for some amusing thoughts.

I feel like it's more a bemused acceptance that this old man hat thing is going to yell at him a lot. Like, maybe I'm over blowing it, but I think he's a little excessive on his providing of hints.

Yes please assassin game where you are a hat. It'd be like a cloaker monster from DND only slightly more difficult since not everyone wants to wear a badass cloak.

[TheWombatOfDoom]

A poll for people. It didn't come up last game because of the expansive wallet that link gets almost immediately, but it's likely going to come up here - do rupees that Zodi gets after filling her wallet count as missed rupees? Or since she got them it still counts, even though she doesn't retain them. I'm torn. What do you all think?

[lurkmeister]

Having played Zelda games enough, it's sort of a gray area. Theoretically, Rupees are infinite, but you can collect large Rupees when your wallet's full in some games, and through multiple playthroughs you learn to avoid them until the wallet gets bigger. I seem to recall Windwaker being particularly bad at this, because of how common one-off silver Rupees are in it, how large the wallets get, and how many Rupees you need to spend to beat the game. (F**king Tingle...)

I would suggest that chest Rupees always count towards the missed Rupee total, but that field Rupees that are left uncollected don't. That's because -- unlike field Rupees -- you can't collect Rupees you get out of chests again.

[LaZodiac]

Onward, to the dungeon!

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap [2] Deepwood Shrine (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBRi6f9Im-o)

Video Length: 23:15

Video notes: Like I said last time, this and the next video are going to be a little rough due to getting used to learning a new game to edit. Sorry!

We begin! It's time for our first dungeon, and it IS a little tutorial-y in it's presentation. I do think it's justified though, because this is the first dungeon, we arrive at it so soon, and the whole "every game is someone's first" mentality. I do think Ezlo's tutorial messages are kind of...odd, though. Another odd thing is that you have to press a button to use keys in this, when normally in top down Zelda's like this you just push through the door.

Anyway, once we get past the lobby we find our first new enemy. It's the Sluggula! They're...very slow,they don't go out of their way to attack you, and they die in two hits. Very basic enemy that's super easy to dispatch, nice. Later on we'll see them falling from ceilings, and if we strike them while they're on their back they die in one hit. I think it's neat that even that much detail is put into such a basic enemy. We also get out first puzzle, just hit switches to light some torches. Done and done.

The next room actually has a cool bit of design to it, that makes me wonder if some of Ezlo's comments were put in last minute. Because like, we see the pull switch and it's got scuffmarks on the ground, and it's handle is light blue. Ezlo tells us to pull it, which is fair we've never seen something like this before presumably so that helps. But he doesn't tell us that you can pull the mushroom...but it DOES have the same scuffmarks near it, and is the same colour as the pull switch's handle. So that's some neat hinting at stuff without direct tutorializing. I like it.

After that we head to the center of the dungeon, and the first REAL set piece style puzzle in the game. Big ole barrel that we've gotta free, so we can roll around it while inside it to get to different places. Nice. We also get the Puffstool, an annoying enemy type that is invincible to us right now unless we throw a pot at it. They do try to run into you, but they're slow. Unfortunately their other attack is to spread spores around that leave little piles of it on the ground that slow you down a lot. I do show it off, but killing them with a pot causes a 3by3 explosion of spores. Also I call it dust in video because it never occurred to me that it was spores!

Getting through the barrel leads us to our next new enemy, the Mulldozer. They're kinda ladybuggish looking things that charge at you in a semi random pattern. To date I don't believe any single Mulldozer has actually tried to attack me with intention, and I'm okay with that. We also learn that mushrooms send you flying different ranges depending on how far they've been pulled (again, with no tutorializing by Ezlo, just the visual cues on the floor). Taking advantage of that gives us a Map, and teases us of a potential Heart Piece. Get used to that, Heart Pieces actually show up in dungeons in this one. Also, unlike the map in Skyward Sword, you don't get a compass with it. I actually like the combination of Map and Compass into a single item because it leaves more treasure chest space for other neat rewards.

Next room gives us our last new enemy (at least, basic regular enemy). It's a Pesto, flying insect dudes! They fly at you and are kind of annoying but really that's it? These enemies are all kind of the same really, just variations of the same idea. Which is good, it's teaching us how to deal with enemies in a controlled space so that in the future they can throw harder things at us. It's good! Less good is Ezlo telling us that this switch is mysterious in some way. I'll grant that it's hard to tell that the switches that need to be held down are rounded, but with the big scuff mark along the ground I think it's fairly easy to tell we're supposed to push the pot onto the switch. That being said pushing pots isn't the most common thing to do in these games, compared to block pushing, so I kinda get it? We also get a tutorial message about pulling and I'm not gonna be harsh on that because pulling isn't all that frequent in top down Zelda's, typically going just for pushes, and it's possible to have overlooked the game's interface saying you can pull. Unfortunately it outright spoils how to do the next puzzle but eeeh that's okay. Tutorial dungeon!

With key in hand we can now proceed. We've got more mushrooms to deal with, of course. Mushrooms are like the second sort of set-piece/dungeon gimmick in Deepwood Shrine, along with the rotating barrel. This leads us to what is technically the hardest puzzle in the dungeon! You've gotta do some pushing and pulling, but with foresight! Yeah look this game is relatively easier then other Zeldas and this is the first dungeon. Things are gonna go like this.

All of this leads us to our first sort of miniboss. It's more of a kill room but with fancy music. Thanks to Durkoala I realize I've missed some dialogue here from Ezlo (as well as during the actual miniboss and main boss). If you press select during a boss, miniboss, or action oriented room like this, he'll give you advice on it just like Fi! This is what he has to say about our three Muldozer fight: What are you doing!? We've no time for any of your nonsense!

...thanks Ezlo.

Anyway our reward is a key, and after making our way through some dusty rooms (and taking some time out to set up a chest for later and to pick up the compass) we find our first legitimate miniboss! This is the Madderpiller! It...goes around the room without any actual intent to attack you until you hit it, and even then it doesn't like actively seek you out. The way you beat it is by bopping it's nose, then slashing up it's tail once the weakpoint has revealed itself. Quite easy, and simple enough to be beaten in two rotations instead of three. Nice! Ezlo's tip for beating this guy is: Ew! What is that? Is that a caterpillar? It's disgusting! Hey, kid! I'll just let you take care of this one!

For defeating this miniboss we get our first dungeon item, and it's quite fun! The Gust Jar! A cousin to the Gust Bellows, whereas the Bellows blows, the Gust Jar sucks! It'll suck up all those annoying spore piles, it'll make Puffstools vulnerable to a good swording, it at least seems to draw Pesto's in closer to you. It does nothing to hardier enemies like Mulldozers, but it can actually suck up enemies like Octoroks to use as projectiles. Some enemies just get eaten up by it outright! It kind of rules! The secondary function of the Gust Jar is to shoot out a blast of air at enemies, pushing them back or otherwise annoying them. With Gust Jar in hand we can now go around the dungeon collecting some of the more hidden treasure chests, and deal with the web inside of the big ole barrel. We also finally get that Heart Piece, and open up the way to getting the other.

With the web gone we can fall to our next destination. There's a bit of a fountain underneath the Shrine, and thankfully a nearby lily pad will serve as our transportation. Using the Gust Jar we can propel it in a direction, and it actually controls really well. Much better then other pad and boat based mechanics I've had to deal with in the recent past. We do some tricky fighting on the pad itself against some Pesto's, some puzzles that quiz us on what all we've done in other parts of the dungeon, get back to that one Compass room to get a key, then proceed onward to where the last Big Chest is. In this room we learn how the Gust Jar interacts with mushrooms, which opens up some more cool puzzle opportunities that the game decides not to tutorialize us about. We open up the last chest and inside we find the Big Key! Those of you familiar with Skyward Sword may remember the cool little relics that we used to puzzle our way into boss fights. Yeah that only happens there, here we just shove a key into a lock, and now we've got a key big enough, so lets go. We activate a teleporter that brings us back to the Shrine's entrance (allowing us to quickly snag that Heart Piece).

After making a brief stop to open up the last chest this Shrine holds, it's time for the boss. Appearing from the forest itself and leaping into the dungeon, it's...a regular Chu-chu! The game considers it a different enemy for...certain purposes that we'll get into later, but aside from the interaction with the Gust Jar this is for all intents and purposes a regular Chu-chu. WE'RE the one with a different size, after all. It's AI even feels the same to a regular Chu-chu. Anyway, the way we defeat this is simple. Dodge it's jumps and use the Gust Jar to syphon off chunks of it's feet to make it tip and fall over. Then slash wildly! It's possible to beat this in four rotations but I almost never do that. Here's Ezlo's advice for the boss!: What are you doing, talking to me at a time like this! You've got work to do!

With the Chu-chu defeated, due solely to my lovely hat friend's teachings and hints, we can collect our first Element, the Element of Earth! We also get a Heart Container. Leaving the Shrine behind us, it feels like this'll be the start of a wonderful adventure. Because it is, as much as I rib on Ezlo for being kind of...useless, he's still funny and the game's still good. Not every Zelda game is going to be a sprawling, epic story with helpful swords and cool as hell Groose characters. Sometimes we get a more basic story, with easier gameplay, and even then this still has some good twists and turns. Anyway, lets get back to the Minish leader.

The leader tells us that up on Mt Crenal, the Mountain Minish have some blacksmithery going on. We've gotta bring the Picori Blade to them, along with the element, to get it fixed. Sounds simple enough, lets go (after getting that last Heart Piece we saw last time). On our way out of tow we encounter a nice Minish who just kinda hands us the bomb bag, which is weird...sorta. Usually we get bombs in a more elaborate fashion, and they're a dungeon item. Here a random dude just gives them to us so we can progress. Ah well, not to look a gift mouse in the mouth, it's time to explode things! Including a mysterious looking crest that Ezlo gets surprised by. He helpfully informs us that it is a...thing he doesn't know about. Cool great thanks.

After leaving the forest I encounter a Minish talking about something called Kinstones, we'll deal with thaaat in the next video. We also get more of those mysterious shells, which I still love how the game itself is like "These are for...a thing!". This game is so full of comedic vagueness, I kinda like it. We also encounter Keese which fly in perfectly random patterns, and Peahats, super annoying enemies especially when you forget to use the Gust Jar on them to make them actually hittable!

But yeah, that's our Zelda for today. Next time we'll climb Mt Crenal to find the blacksmith Minish, and perhaps learn something more about these...Kinstone things. See you guys then!

[TheWombatOfDoom]

Onward, to the dungeon!

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap [2] Deepwood Shrine (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBRi6f9Im-o)

Video Length: 23:15

Video notes: Like I said last time, this and the next video are going to be a little rough due to getting used to learning a new game to edit. Sorry!

We begin! It's time for our first dungeon, and it IS a little tutorial-y in it's presentation. I do think it's justified though, because this is the first dungeon, we arrive at it so soon, and the whole "every game is someone's first" mentality. I do think Ezlo's tutorial messages are kind of...odd, though. Another odd thing is that you have to press a button to use keys in this, when normally in top down Zelda's like this you just push through the door.

Anyway, once we get past the lobby we find our first new enemy. It's the Sluggula! They're...very slow,they don't go out of their way to attack you, and they die in two hits. Very basic enemy that's super easy to dispatch, nice. Later on we'll see them falling from ceilings, and if we strike them while they're on their back they die in one hit. I think it's neat that even that much detail is put into such a basic enemy. We also get out first puzzle, just hit switches to light some torches. Done and done.

The next room actually has a cool bit of design to it, that makes me wonder if some of Ezlo's comments were put in last minute. Because like, we see the pull switch and it's got scuffmarks on the ground, and it's handle is light blue. Ezlo tells us to pull it, which is fair we've never seen something like this before presumably so that helps. But he doesn't tell us that you can pull the mushroom...but it DOES have the same scuffmarks near it, and is the same colour as the pull switch's handle. So that's some neat hinting at stuff without direct tutorializing. I like it.

After that we head to the center of the dungeon, and the first REAL set piece style puzzle in the game. Big ole barrel that we've gotta free, so we can roll around it while inside it to get to different places. Nice. We also get the Puffstool, an annoying enemy type that is invincible to us right now unless we throw a pot at it. They do try to run into you, but they're slow. Unfortunately their other attack is to spread spores around that leave little piles of it on the ground that slow you down a lot. I do show it off, but killing them with a pot causes a 3by3 explosion of spores. Also I call it dust in video because it never occurred to me that it was spores!

Getting through the barrel leads us to our next new enemy, the Mulldozer. They're kinda ladybuggish looking things that charge at you in a semi random pattern. To date I don't believe any single Mulldozer has actually tried to attack me with intention, and I'm okay with that. We also learn that mushrooms send you flying different ranges depending on how far they've been pulled (again, with no tutorializing by Ezlo, just the visual cues on the floor). Taking advantage of that gives us a Map, and teases us of a potential Heart Piece. Get used to that, Heart Pieces actually show up in dungeons in this one. Also, unlike the map in Skyward Sword, you don't get a compass with it. I actually like the combination of Map and Compass into a single item because it leaves more treasure chest space for other neat rewards.

Next room gives us our last new enemy (at least, basic regular enemy). It's a Pesto, flying insect dudes! They fly at you and are kind of annoying but really that's it? These enemies are all kind of the same really, just variations of the same idea. Which is good, it's teaching us how to deal with enemies in a controlled space so that in the future they can throw harder things at us. It's good! Less good is Ezlo telling us that this switch is mysterious in some way. I'll grant that it's hard to tell that the switches that need to be held down are rounded, but with the big scuff mark along the ground I think it's fairly easy to tell we're supposed to push the pot onto the switch. That being said pushing pots isn't the most common thing to do in these games, compared to block pushing, so I kinda get it? We also get a tutorial message about pulling and I'm not gonna be harsh on that because pulling isn't all that frequent in top down Zelda's, typically going just for pushes, and it's possible to have overlooked the game's interface saying you can pull. Unfortunately it outright spoils how to do the next puzzle but eeeh that's okay. Tutorial dungeon!

With key in hand we can now proceed. We've got more mushrooms to deal with, of course. Mushrooms are like the second sort of set-piece/dungeon gimmick in Deepwood Shrine, along with the rotating barrel. This leads us to what is technically the hardest puzzle in the dungeon! You've gotta do some pushing and pulling, but with foresight! Yeah look this game is relatively easier then other Zeldas and this is the first dungeon. Things are gonna go like this.

All of this leads us to our first sort of miniboss. It's more of a kill room but with fancy music. Thanks to Durkoala I realize I've missed some dialogue here from Ezlo (as well as during the actual miniboss and main boss). If you press select during a boss, miniboss, or action oriented room like this, he'll give you advice on it just like Fi! This is what he has to say about our three Muldozer fight: What are you doing!? We've no time for any of your nonsense!

...thanks Ezlo.

Anyway our reward is a key, and after making our way through some dusty rooms (and taking some time out to set up a chest for later and to pick up the compass) we find our first legitimate miniboss! This is the Madderpiller! It...goes around the room without any actual intent to attack you until you hit it, and even then it doesn't like actively seek you out. The way you beat it is by bopping it's nose, then slashing up it's tail once the weakpoint has revealed itself. Quite easy, and simple enough to be beaten in two rotations instead of three. Nice! Ezlo's tip for beating this guy is: Ew! What is that? Is that a caterpillar? It's disgusting! Hey, kid! I'll just let you take care of this one!

For defeating this miniboss we get our first dungeon item, and it's quite fun! The Gust Jar! A cousin to the Gust Bellows, whereas the Bellows blows, the Gust Jar sucks! It'll suck up all those annoying spore piles, it'll make Puffstools vulnerable to a good swording, it at least seems to draw Pesto's in closer to you. It does nothing to hardier enemies like Mulldozers, but it can actually suck up enemies like Octoroks to use as projectiles. Some enemies just get eaten up by it outright! It kind of rules! The secondary function of the Gust Jar is to shoot out a blast of air at enemies, pushing them back or otherwise annoying them. With Gust Jar in hand we can now go around the dungeon collecting some of the more hidden treasure chests, and deal with the web inside of the big ole barrel. We also finally get that Heart Piece, and open up the way to getting the other.

With the web gone we can fall to our next destination. There's a bit of a fountain underneath the Shrine, and thankfully a nearby lily pad will serve as our transportation. Using the Gust Jar we can propel it in a direction, and it actually controls really well. Much better then other pad and boat based mechanics I've had to deal with in the recent past. We do some tricky fighting on the pad itself against some Pesto's, some puzzles that quiz us on what all we've done in other parts of the dungeon, get back to that one Compass room to get a key, then proceed onward to where the last Big Chest is. In this room we learn how the Gust Jar interacts with mushrooms, which opens up some more cool puzzle opportunities that the game decides not to tutorialize us about. We open up the last chest and inside we find the Big Key! Those of you familiar with Skyward Sword may remember the cool little relics that we used to puzzle our way into boss fights. Yeah that only happens there, here we just shove a key into a lock, and now we've got a key big enough, so lets go. We activate a teleporter that brings us back to the Shrine's entrance (allowing us to quickly snag that Heart Piece).

After making a brief stop to open up the last chest this Shrine holds, it's time for the boss. Appearing from the forest itself and leaping into the dungeon, it's...a regular Chu-chu! The game considers it a different enemy for...certain purposes that we'll get into later, but aside from the interaction with the Gust Jar this is for all intents and purposes a regular Chu-chu. WE'RE the one with a different size, after all. It's AI even feels the same to a regular Chu-chu. Anyway, the way we defeat this is simple. Dodge it's jumps and use the Gust Jar to syphon off chunks of it's feet to make it tip and fall over. Then slash wildly! It's possible to beat this in four rotations but I almost never do that. Here's Ezlo's advice for the boss!: What are you doing, talking to me at a time like this! You've got work to do!

With the Chu-chu defeated, due solely to my lovely hat friend's teachings and hints, we can collect our first Element, the Element of Earth! We also get a Heart Container. Leaving the Shrine behind us, it feels like this'll be the start of a wonderful adventure. Because it is, as much as I rib on Ezlo for being kind of...useless, he's still funny and the game's still good. Not every Zelda game is going to be a sprawling, epic story with helpful swords and cool as hell Groose characters. Sometimes we get a more basic story, with easier gameplay, and even then this still has some good twists and turns. Anyway, lets get back to the Minish leader.

The leader tells us that up on Mt Crenal, the Mountain Minish have some blacksmithery going on. We've gotta bring the Picori Blade to them, along with the element, to get it fixed. Sounds simple enough, lets go (after getting that last Heart Piece we saw last time). On our way out of tow we encounter a nice Minish who just kinda hands us the bomb bag, which is weird...sorta. Usually we get bombs in a more elaborate fashion, and they're a dungeon item. Here a random dude just gives them to us so we can progress. Ah well, not to look a gift mouse in the mouth, it's time to explode things! Including a mysterious looking crest that Ezlo gets surprised by. He helpfully informs us that it is a...thing he doesn't know about. Cool great thanks.

After leaving the forest I encounter a Minish talking about something called Kinstones, we'll deal with thaaat in the next video. We also get more of those mysterious shells, which I still love how the game itself is like "These are for...a thing!". This game is so full of comedic vagueness, I kinda like it. We also encounter Keese which fly in perfectly random patterns, and Peahats, super annoying enemies especially when you forget to use the Gust Jar on them to make them actually hittable!

But yeah, that's our Zelda for today. Next time we'll climb Mt Crenal to find the blacksmith Minish, and perhaps learn something more about these...Kinstone things. See you guys then!

First dungeon! Now to save my comments about most of the dungeon for my much anticipated but not always delivered upon Dungeon analysis. Though, with a 2d game, it's certainly not going to be as extensive as its 3d counterparts...

I didn't mind Ezlo. He's a cranky hat, is all. His comments might be a little instructionly, but he's trying to teach a child about something he thinks Link has never experienced...and to be honest, Link probably hasn't.

The Gust Bellows makes a return. It's interesting that it grows and shrinks with Link, which might explain why its so tiny and in the dungeon. And if Link can get small, than maybe the Minish can get big? I'd love to see what the connection is, since they function the same way...its either the same one or modeled after the one we used in an earlier incarnation.

I will say I really liked the dungeon, and I loved that the boss turned out to be a regular enemy, though I wish it hadn't been a chuchu...chuchu are just so goofy looking. I prefer the chuchu look from skyward sword. These look...stupid to me. :smallsigh:

Yeah, I like the silly mysteriousness the game goes with. It's for....something! Dun dun DUN!!! :smalltongue:



EPISODE 2 KILL TALLY!

Sluggula - 22
Mulldozer - 6
Pesto - 6
Madderpillar - 1
Puffstools - 10
Green Chuchu - 2 (1 boss)
Keese - 2
Peahat - 1

Missed Rupees - 0

(previous episodes)



The Minish Cap
Total Kills
(As of Episode 2)

Acro-Bandits - 11
Crow - 2
Chuchu, Green - 4*
Keese - 2
Octorok - 16
Peahat - 1
Puffstools - 10
Sluggula - 22

Bugs
Madderpillar - 1
Mulldozer - 6
Pesto - 6

*one of which was a boss

Total Things Dead - 81

1st Place - Sluggula, at 22!
2nd Place - Acro-bandits, at 11!
3rd Place - Puffstools, at 10!

Total Missed Rupees - 0!

[Lord Raziere]

Onward, to the dungeon!

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap [2] Deepwood Shrine (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBRi6f9Im-o)

Video Length: 23:15


heheheh.. gust jar is actually both useful and funny. poof poof.

as for the boss.....I actually like the creativity in that. its a nice way to remind you how small you are and that even the most basic enemy is now something dangerous and boss-like to you.

[DataNinja]

I find it humorous that the Gust Jar is more useful against ChuChus when you're small...

Also... now I'm imagining a Gust Jar attachment for FLUDD. Wouldn't that be handy? Useful for getting rid of Boos, too. Oh, wait, that's something else... :smalltongue:

No, why does the Minish Elder refer to it still as a Picori blade? Why not a Minish blade? :smallconfused:

[LaZodiac]

I find it humorous that the Gust Jar is more useful against ChuChus when you're small...

Also... now I'm imagining a Gust Jar attachment for FLUDD. Wouldn't that be handy? Useful for getting rid of Boos, too. Oh, wait, that's something else... :smalltongue:

No, why does the Minish Elder refer to it still as a Picori blade? Why not a Minish blade? :smallconfused:

Yeah, nooo idea what the Gust Jar can't just eat Chu-chus. It's so silly.

I think the idea is that Picori means something different to the Minish. Maybe since it's the sound they speak it's a symbolism thing? Since not all Minish can speak to humans, this blade will speak for us of our bonds. The sword of language, the Picori Blade. Or something like that.

[Qwertystop]

I hope more of the bosses are like the ChuChu-as-seen-from-small-scale. It'd be interesting to fight a relatively gigantic version of an enemy that's actually a challenge.

Ooh, or a boss-sized-at-human-scale enemy from Minish size, so it'd end up as a Shadow of the Colossus-style fight!

[LaZodiac]

I hope more of the bosses are like the ChuChu-as-seen-from-small-scale. It'd be interesting to fight a relatively gigantic version of an enemy that's actually a challenge.

Ooh, or a boss-sized-at-human-scale enemy from Minish size, so it'd end up as a Shadow of the Colossus-style fight!

You'll have to keep watching to see for yourself :smallwink:

[Coidzor]

A poll for people. It didn't come up last game because of the expansive wallet that link gets almost immediately, but it's likely going to come up here - do rupees that Zodi gets after filling her wallet count as missed rupees? Or since she got them it still counts, even though she doesn't retain them. I'm torn. What do you all think?

I'd say they'd be their own separate tally if they were to be tracked at all.


Yes please assassin game where you are a hat. It'd be like a cloaker monster from DND only slightly more difficult since not everyone wants to wear a badass cloak.

Well what's more likely? They want to wear a badass cloak or a doofy bird hat?

Still, it can't be worse than any of their other bottom of the barrel scraping ideas.


Onward, to the dungeon!

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap [2] Deepwood Shrine (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBRi6f9Im-o)

Video Length: 23:15

Video notes: Like I said last time, this and the next video are going to be a little rough due to getting used to learning a new game to edit. Sorry!

Deep in the woods of rough editing action! Awwww yeeeeeeee.


We begin! It's time for our first dungeon, and it IS a little tutorial-y in it's presentation. I do think it's justified though, because this is the first dungeon, we arrive at it so soon, and the whole "every game is someone's first" mentality. I do think Ezlo's tutorial messages are kind of...odd, though. Another odd thing is that you have to press a button to use keys in this, when normally in top down Zelda's like this you just push through the door.

I thought that was a little odd, but I figured part of it was just the changing aesthetic of the games from the influence of the 3D ones.

Accurate representation of how a fight between a hat and a small child would go down. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvqoGozWlC4)


Anyway, once we get past the lobby we find our first new enemy. It's the Sluggula! They're...very slow,they don't go out of their way to attack you, and they die in two hits. Very basic enemy that's super easy to dispatch, nice. Later on we'll see them falling from ceilings, and if we strike them while they're on their back they die in one hit. I think it's neat that even that much detail is put into such a basic enemy. We also get out first puzzle, just hit switches to light some torches. Done and done.

Sluggula. The, wait, why did they invent this as a new enemy, enemy! XD Although the whole, kill them quickly so it's easier on you and saves time thing was a neat touch, I 'spose.

It's good detail, but why so laaaaaame? I mean, I guess they needed some lame tutorial enemies that weren't all the same as what had come before...

Puzzle, AKA, excuse to roll in a square. And for Ezlo to hold your hand about a very, very self-evident concept. XD *imagines Egoraptor ranting about not needing hand-holding in his sequelitis videos and then forgetting to actually look at the screen or test out all the buttons in Windwaker while trying to maneuver the boat*Not that we'd ever need our hands held or anything.


The next room actually has a cool bit of design to it, that makes me wonder if some of Ezlo's comments were put in last minute. Because like, we see the pull switch and it's got scuffmarks on the ground, and it's handle is light blue. Ezlo tells us to pull it, which is fair we've never seen something like this before presumably so that helps. But he doesn't tell us that you can pull the mushroom...but it DOES have the same scuffmarks near it, and is the same colour as the pull switch's handle. So that's some neat hinting at stuff without direct tutorializing. I like it.

Pulling mushrooms? Lewd. :smalltongue:

But, yes, good to not have hands completely held. And I thought the flinging yourself component was pretty neat.


After that we head to the center of the dungeon, and the first REAL set piece style puzzle in the game. Big ole barrel that we've gotta free, so we can roll around it while inside it to get to different places. Nice. We also get the Puffstool, an annoying enemy type that is invincible to us right now unless we throw a pot at it. They do try to run into you, but they're slow. Unfortunately their other attack is to spread spores around that leave little piles of it on the ground that slow you down a lot. I do show it off, but killing them with a pot causes a 3by3 explosion of spores. Also I call it dust in video because it never occurred to me that it was spores!

I thought the pot throwing an interesting twist, since before it'd always just been sort of an easter egg that pots damaged things in earlier top-down Zelders.

I thought it was dust at first too. :V

Also, totally forgot about the visual distinction between types of switches in this game. XD Is good to have those little cues, though.

Thought it was neat to actually use those little flames to actually burn something, though. Really have to wonder about the effort the Minish took in order to set up these puzzles before they scarpered and abandoned the place.


Getting through the barrel leads us to our next new enemy, the Mulldozer. They're kinda ladybuggish looking things that charge at you in a semi random pattern. To date I don't believe any single Mulldozer has actually tried to attack me with intention, and I'm okay with that. We also learn that mushrooms send you flying different ranges depending on how far they've been pulled (again, with no tutorializing by Ezlo, just the visual cues on the floor). Taking advantage of that gives us a Map, and teases us of a potential Heart Piece. Get used to that, Heart Pieces actually show up in dungeons in this one. Also, unlike the map in Skyward Sword, you don't get a compass with it. I actually like the combination of Map and Compass into a single item because it leaves more treasure chest space for other neat rewards.

I... think I got hit a couple times by Mulldozers. When I was trying to rush by them. :V

Good to see you embrace sword and shield button assignment orthodoxy, finally. :smallamused:

Map+Compass is a good combo. I hated the backtracking because I missed a secret wall component of finding out there was treasure in room X 1/3 of the way into the dungeon.


Next room gives us our last new enemy (at least, basic regular enemy). It's a Pesto, flying insect dudes! They fly at you and are kind of annoying but really that's it? These enemies are all kind of the same really, just variations of the same idea. Which is good, it's teaching us how to deal with enemies in a controlled space so that in the future they can throw harder things at us. It's good! Less good is Ezlo telling us that this switch is mysterious in some way. I'll grant that it's hard to tell that the switches that need to be held down are rounded, but with the big scuff mark along the ground I think it's fairly easy to tell we're supposed to push the pot onto the switch. That being said pushing pots isn't the most common thing to do in these games, compared to block pushing, so I kinda get it? We also get a tutorial message about pulling and I'm not gonna be harsh on that because pulling isn't all that frequent in top down Zelda's, typically going just for pushes, and it's possible to have overlooked the game's interface saying you can pull. Unfortunately it outright spoils how to do the next puzzle but eeeh that's okay. Tutorial dungeon!

I have no strong feelings one way or the other when it comes to the fly. Other than to wonder "Why Pesto?" Because they're pests. Oh.

Ezlo's not annoying, he's just directing you. :smalltongue: Link's an empty-headed dumb blond of a child, after all.

I'd completely forgotten that pots were ever pushable in Zelda games by the time I played through this section, so... I actually needed the cues. :V

I don't think I ever pulled something that wasn't like, a chain or switch in a top-down Zelda game, so I really needed that bit of information.


With key in hand we can now proceed. We've got more mushrooms to deal with, of course. Mushrooms are like the second sort of set-piece/dungeon gimmick in Deepwood Shrine, along with the rotating barrel. This leads us to what is technically the hardest puzzle in the dungeon! You've gotta do some pushing and pulling, but with foresight! Yeah look this game is relatively easier then other Zeldas and this is the first dungeon. Things are gonna go like this.

Mushroom mushroom! Now if only we had some badgers. Or a snake. Though I guess the snakes would be too fast for the precedent set by the other monsters of this dungeon. XD

And, yes, I actually had to stop and think about that puzzle for a moment. ...It was deceptively simple, OK...


All of this leads us to our first sort of miniboss. It's more of a kill room but with fancy music. Thanks to Durkoala I realize I've missed some dialogue here from Ezlo (as well as during the actual miniboss and main boss). If you press select during a boss, miniboss, or action oriented room like this, he'll give you advice on it just like Fi! This is what he has to say about our three Muldozer fight: What are you doing!? We've no time for any of your nonsense!

...thanks Ezlo.

That's... a nifty thing that I... NEVER ACTUALLY FOUND OUT ABOUT. @_@

Snarky doofy bird hat is snarky.


Anyway our reward is a key, and after making our way through some dusty rooms (and taking some time out to set up a chest for later and to pick up the compass) we find our first legitimate miniboss! This is the Madderpiller! It...goes around the room without any actual intent to attack you until you hit it, and even then it doesn't like actively seek you out. The way you beat it is by bopping it's nose, then slashing up it's tail once the weakpoint has revealed itself. Quite easy, and simple enough to be beaten in two rotations instead of three. Nice! Ezlo's tip for beating this guy is: Ew! What is that? Is that a caterpillar? It's disgusting! Hey, kid! I'll just let you take care of this one!

Ezlo, tellin' ya that sometimes you can't solve a puzzle until later on, no matter how much DETERMINATION you have.

I can see how that'd actually be a useful reminder for some kids and new players?

I will say, though, that little sneak peek of the miniboss before actually going and fighting it is kinda neat, if ultimately pointless due to not really informing you of anything other than "here be miniboss, maybe. Probably."

Gotta get him coming and going, eh?

Ezlo's caterpillar based tips are not very helpful.

...OMG, Madderpillar is a bloody Cataquack Centipede. Or at least has the head of one of those abominations.... :smalleek:

Remember when compasses told you where the boss and BOSS KEY were instead of just treasure and treasure alone? That was good times.


For defeating this miniboss we get our first dungeon item, and it's quite fun! The Gust Jar! A cousin to the Gust Bellows, whereas the Bellows blows, the Gust Jar sucks! It'll suck up all those annoying spore piles, it'll make Puffstools vulnerable to a good swording, it at least seems to draw Pesto's in closer to you. It does nothing to hardier enemies like Mulldozers, but it can actually suck up enemies like Octoroks to use as projectiles. Some enemies just get eaten up by it outright! It kind of rules! The secondary function of the Gust Jar is to shoot out a blast of air at enemies, pushing them back or otherwise annoying them. With Gust Jar in hand we can now go around the dungeon collecting some of the more hidden treasure chests, and deal with the web inside of the big ole barrel. We also finally get that Heart Piece, and open up the way to getting the other.

ITEEEEEEEEEM! :smallbiggrin: I love the multiple settings and intensities aspect. And being able to stun and kill those durn puffstools at will. MUAHAHAHA. [NO MERCY].

Oh man, I completely forgot about the fun with octoroks component of the gust jar. XD

~Also, the most mysterious of shells~


With the web gone we can fall to our next destination. There's a bit of a fountain underneath the Shrine, and thankfully a nearby lily pad will serve as our transportation. Using the Gust Jar we can propel it in a direction, and it actually controls really well. Much better then other pad and boat based mechanics I've had to deal with in the recent past. We do some tricky fighting on the pad itself against some Pesto's, some puzzles that quiz us on what all we've done in other parts of the dungeon, get back to that one Compass room to get a key, then proceed onward to where the last Big Chest is. In this room we learn how the Gust Jar interacts with mushrooms, which opens up some more cool puzzle opportunities that the game decides not to tutorialize us about. We open up the last chest and inside we find the Big Key! Those of you familiar with Skyward Sword may remember the cool little relics that we used to puzzle our way into boss fights. Yeah that only happens there, here we just shove a key into a lock, and now we've got a key big enough, so lets go. We activate a teleporter that brings us back to the Shrine's entrance (allowing us to quickly snag that Heart Piece).

Yes, much, much easier to pew pew with your gusty gun to propel this pad. And it doesn't. freaking. sink.

The Pestos as a "Hey, don't go too fast or you might smack into damage" warning and the Sluggulas as a "OTOH, don't go too slow or stuff might fall on you" warning were interesting. Watch out but don't dawdle.

Alas, no relatively easy puzzle game just to fight the boss. That's what the rest of the dungeon was foooooooor! :smallcool:

Even better is how it's RIGHT AT THE ENTRANCE. All of that stuff wasn't even necessary to clear a path deeper into the shrine, it was just mucking around in the basement looking for the key and gust jar. XD


After making a brief stop to open up the last chest this Shrine holds, it's time for the boss. Appearing from the forest itself and leaping into the dungeon, it's...a regular Chu-chu! The game considers it a different enemy for...certain purposes that we'll get into later, but aside from the interaction with the Gust Jar this is for all intents and purposes a regular Chu-chu. WE'RE the one with a different size, after all. It's AI even feels the same to a regular Chu-chu. Anyway, the way we defeat this is simple. Dodge it's jumps and use the Gust Jar to syphon off chunks of it's feet to make it tip and fall over. Then slash wildly! It's possible to beat this in four rotations but I almost never do that. Here's Ezlo's advice for the boss!: What are you doing, talking to me at a time like this! You've got work to do!

I rather enjoyed the novelty of this "Giant" Chu-chu fight, though it did drag a bit at the end.

Interesting that the Earth Element knew to wait until you'd killed something suitable as a sacrifice to it. Considering you technically BEAT the Chu-chu to the room. Even with it cheating by leaking through the roof.


With the Chu-chu defeated, due solely to my lovely hat friend's teachings and hints, we can collect our first Element, the Element of Earth! We also get a Heart Container. Leaving the Shrine behind us, it feels like this'll be the start of a wonderful adventure. Because it is, as much as I rib on Ezlo for being kind of...useless, he's still funny and the game's still good. Not every Zelda game is going to be a sprawling, epic story with helpful swords and cool as hell Groose characters. Sometimes we get a more basic story, with easier gameplay, and even then this still has some good twists and turns. Anyway, lets get back to the Minish leader.

Well, Ezlo's main job is to be the comic relief, after all. And to do the talking because, well, Link. XD


The leader tells us that up on Mt Crenal, the Mountain Minish have some blacksmithery going on. We've gotta bring the Picori Blade to them, along with the element, to get it fixed. Sounds simple enough, lets go (after getting that last Heart Piece we saw last time). On our way out of tow we encounter a nice Minish who just kinda hands us the bomb bag, which is weird...sorta. Usually we get bombs in a more elaborate fashion, and they're a dungeon item. Here a random dude just gives them to us so we can progress. Ah well, not to look a gift mouse in the mouth, it's time to explode things! Including a mysterious looking crest that Ezlo gets surprised by. He helpfully informs us that it is a...thing he doesn't know about. Cool great thanks.

Buff Minish Blacksmithery. Hooray!

NPCs actually being helpful to stave off the inevitable end of their world when a Link goes mad at their uselessness and destroys them all. Hooray!

Don't look a gift mouse in the horse, either. :smalltongue:

But, remember Zodi. :smallcool: USE BOMBS WISELY! :smallfurious:

:smalltongue:

Mysterious ominous explosmy WIND creeeeest~ I wonder if it has anything to do with the Wind element. Or some kind of lost tribe of people in the sky or something.


After leaving the forest I encounter a Minish talking about something called Kinstones, we'll deal with thaaat in the next video. We also get more of those mysterious shells, which I still love how the game itself is like "These are for...a thing!". This game is so full of comedic vagueness, I kinda like it. We also encounter Keese which fly in perfectly random patterns, and Peahats, super annoying enemies especially when you forget to use the Gust Jar on them to make them actually hittable!

Kinstones. Introduced in... Oracle of Sassiness, I believe? Or possibly Link's Awakening DX? :smallconfused: Mysterious Shells. Kinstones. Collectibles.

At least there's no big ol' item trading game woven through the entire game, eh? Eh?

Sorta interesting that they have this tutorial offered before you can get a kinstone and telling you to come back after you get one rather than giving you one along with the tutorial.


But yeah, that's our Zelda for today. Next time we'll climb Mt Crenal to find the blacksmith Minish, and perhaps learn something more about these...Kinstone things. See you guys then!

Hurrah! Now to watch Mt. Crenal get renamed Death Mountain! For killing Zodi many, many times! :smallbiggrin:

[DataNinja]

Well what's more likely? They want to wear a badass cloak or a doofy bird hat?

Still, it can't be worse than any of their other bottom of the barrel scraping ideas.

Hat of Ezlo: Constantly provides unsolicited advice to the wearer, except when you want it. Shrinks you down at will...but only in spots it deems appropriate. Has a small chance of sucking your brain out. +4 to obnoxiousness.

[Qwertystop]

You'll have to keep watching to see for yourself :smallwink:

I meant in future games. Shrinking might show up as a one-dungeon gimmick or something.

[LaZodiac]

I meant in future games. Shrinking might show up as a one-dungeon gimmick or something.

Ah. Well...same answer :smallwink:

(though I sort of forgot if this exactly is done in other games...)

[Durkoala]

Hello, thread! This is the first game of our lovely host's that I've actually played, so for once I can comment on what's going to happen.

Minish Cap was my first Zelda, so I'm very happy to see it here. I love the cute art style, the music and the story, but this game introduced me properly to the feeling of moving around a continous map, learning new abilities and upgrading old ones to progress. There's a lot of cool things here, but most of them are technically spoilers so I'll talk about them when they turn up.

The shrinking mechanic is pretty fun: as we've seen, you can travel around the overworld while tiny (albeit quite slowly and with some difficulty), but you can also access hidden areas where, unlike in the overworld, all your abilities function perfectly and you can fight some extremely murderous insects and things. In these areas, you function pretty much as you do while normal-sized, which while perfectly enjoyable and understandable from a technical viewpoint (Would you really want to code in new effects and mechanics when you can recycle what you've already got?), it does feel like there were some missed opportunities to take advantage of how certain items could be affected by the size change; unfortunately I can't really talk about any of them yet. This shrinking mechanic is implemented a lot, so no matter how annoying you all may find Ezlo you can't deny he's making himself useful.

I actually like our hattish companion. While he is a constantly nagging old duck-thing and a poor teacher, I find his stuck-up attitude (and its regular undermining) amusing and many of his little phrases are pretty funny, although I doubt Zodi wants to keep hitting select to show them all off to us.:smalltongue: Besides, there is a reason for his constant rudery, but you'll have to wait and see.

I won't talk about the sword or the first dungeon right now because I'm a little bit strapped for the time (and I'm sure that Ms. Zodiac and Wombat of Doom, esquire, will do it better), but I'll tell you about our first item and our first dungeon item: the shield and the gust jar.

The shield is underwhelming at first glance: even the characters laugh at it! However, despite having no upgrades or function beyond 'block some attacks', it's actually a very valuable tool. It deploys easily and blocks most enemy attacks in the game, including most bosses', and even stuns many difficult enemies. You can't attack with the shield out, or move very fast, or change which direction you're facing, and it doesn't block attacks from behind but used right, it will often be a lifesaver. Sadly, it's often neglected in favour of later, flashier items.
Off the top of my head, it doesn't protect from Ghini, Like-likes, Lakitu, beetles, the cursing skulls, the Gyorg pushing you off or some of Vaati's attacks. Just about everything else can be blocked.

There's also an upgraded form, but it can't be obtained until the postgame. It's really cool, but by then there's not much worth using it on.

The gust jar is the opposite of the Shield, being very flashy and immediately useful, but generally difficult to use in combat past the second dungeon. It's slow to build up its power and has a delay before it starts to suck, leaving you open to nearby enemies. A few early foes are vulnerable to it, and there's a scattering of later ones that it's effective against, but it gets less and less useful as the game progresses. It is, however, a very fun item to use and finding some of those later enemies to vacuum is always a treat. It can also be used to suck up items, which is very useful if you manage to kill a flying enemy out of your reach.

Also, with Zodi's permission, I'm going to try a counting of my own: the not-so great list of LaZodiac's english fails!

As I'm personally not too good with grammar rules, and Zodiac runs a pretty informal commentary anyway, I'm not taking note of subject-object mistakes, subordiante clauses or things like that. I will be checking spelling, I will (probably) be watching punctuation, I will be looking for words that are being used wrongly and I will be varying in the quality I present because I have a really bad work ethic. Also, I can't use tables, so get used to lists until I work out how.

So things are clear, I'm not trying to get Zodi to change her commentary style or implying that it's less than satisfactory. This is just a fun thing to do because I really enjoyed reading the other counts.

THE GREAT-ISH LIST OF LAZODIAC'S ENGLISH FAILS!

* "For now enjoy the story" This probably falls under casual speak being legal, but it irks me. I really want to put a comma in so it's 'For now, enjoy the story'. Episode 1: 0.44

*Ditto with "Oh hey it's a princess!" I actually typed 'Oh hey, it's a princess' while typing it here. Episode 1: 1.33

* "Before we go lets pick up our allowance and or pay" should be "Before we go, let's pick up our allowance and/or pay". Episode 1: 3.37

* I think you mean 'festivities' instead of 'festives'. Zelda probably isn't energetic because of the things pertaining to suitable for a festival, if only because it's an adjective rather than a noun. Episode 1: 4.10

* "Will do Mr King." sounds rather suspect without a comma showing that you're addressing His Majesty. ('Will do, Mr King.') Episode 1: 12.00

* "Lets go help him out." 'Let's' is an abbreviation of 'let us' and so needs an apostrophe to mark this fact. Episode 1: 15.44

That's it for now. I'll try and work out some kind of ranking system for later, to seperate the little niggles that I threw in almost for fun (I left most instances of missing commas off this list, for example, because it was really boring counting them all and they technically fall under the protection of the informal, but did slip in a few) from the actually annoying errors (of which there were very few in this episode) and of course I'll try to do Episode 2 sometime.

So far, this has been a great start to a fondly-remembered game and I can't wait to see it continue.:smallsmile:

[LaZodiac]

Onwards! To more Minish Cap!

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap [3] Mt Crenel (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BTq28AoLJ0)

Video Length: 24:12

Starting us off today, we play around with some enemies, blow up some walls, then return to Hyrule Town. Of importance we find a Fairy pond, full of cute little fairies willing to heal us. If only we had a bottle. Once we're in Hyrule Town, we get interrupted by a very fancy man with a music box type crank box thing. He's the Hurdy-Gurdy Man, and he's gonna teach about Kinstones! And since he's teaching us about em, that means I've gotta teach YOU about em. So lets go!

While most of what the Hurdy-Gurdy Man says is true, there is some stuff he left out. Specifically, each colour of Kinstone has three shapes to it, so there is a 1/3 chance that whenever you find a Kinstone, it'll be the shape you're specifically looking for. This includes any Kinstones in chests, and believe me we'll find a LOT of those. You can also get them as random drops from enemies and from grass. I will (probably) rarely have to grind for them, but if I do you can expect the same level of editing as the Loot grinding in Skyward Sword. Now, as for what these rocks do when rubbed together...

Green Kinstones, the most common. They typically give a Rupee reward, but sometimes (very rarely) will give a better reward. Blue Kinstones, which are a little less common, typically give something generally positive. It's not always a physical reward, but it unlocks more things. Either by straight reward or through some obscure means, this stone typically gets you a Heart Piece. Consider this the Sidequest stone. Finally we have Red Kinstones, the rarest! They don't ever randomly drop (unless you do a thing, more on that laaater) and have to be found in treasure chests or bought. These almost always give you something really good like a Heart Piece, or enough rupees to buy another Red Kinstone because much like Power Bombs in Metroid they enjoy unlocking more of themselves. Now of course all this "usually" business is moot since every fusion is predetermined, but it's a good way to judge if you should bother immediately going for the prize you get for fusion or not. If you do a Green fusion you can probably afford to wait a bit until your wallet is a little emptier.

So that's Kinstones. They DO do important things (like I said, Blue ones are basically how Sidequests are allowed to be done in this game) but overall I don't really like the mechanic? There isn't anything special to it, it's just finding a person who wants to rube stones and then hoping you have the right stone to rub with. And god forbid you if you don't have the right stone because five hours later you still won't. There are ways to improve the drop rate, which we'll get into more when I unlock the ability to do so, but suffice to say this mechanic is kind of silly and a HUGE rupee sink. However, since I'm going for 100% we will be doing EVERY Kinstone Fusion. Also, as a note, only ONE single Kinstone fusion in the game can be missed, and if you miss it you lose a thing. We'll cover that more once we get to it. Anyway, dissertation of touching rocks is over, back to the game.

We go over to that tree that had nasty old vines on it that our pushed together rocks got rid of, and get rewarded with a Heart Piece (and thus an extra heart)! Nice! With an extra bit of oomph in hand, lets find our way to Mt Crenel! Here we face a someone embarrassing dilemma. We have to find the sword trainer so the guards will let us leave, once we get a fancy sword move. Unfortunately I forgot where he was! Que me getting lost. So much for that map the King gave us...anyway, we do eventually find the sword trainer, and he's kind of awesome if a bit excessive!

Say hello to Swiftblade. This mighty warrior shall teach us general sword techniques, written on fancy Tiger Scrolls. He only teaches us after certain events, but it's quite worth it. It has no cost and the only thing you have to do is repeat the move once he uses his possession ability to show you how to do it, after explaining how to do it in text. Like I said, this seems a bit excessive training wise, but hey we learn our Spin Attack finally so that rules. With Spin Attack in hand we can finally get going to Mt Crenel! Or at least sort of, we have to pass through the Trilby Highlands first but still. Once we step through the gate we meet another new enemy! This mad fox with a knife is a Keaton! Only one tail so I doubt they're powerful (it's a Japanese mythology thing) but that knife looks nasty. If they hit us rupee's will fly out (probably) and he'll steal them. We don't want that to happen. Keaton's CAN parry your sword strikes, causing it to bounce back unharmed, but this one doesn't because...I guess I'm just the best at sword fighting.

Upon arriving at Mt Crenel, two things happen. One, we finally reach out Rupee count max. Sigh. We also see that we need some sort of container to carry water over to this seed so it'll grow so we can proceed onward. Looks like we've gotta find the rare and mystical mason jar! The second best jar. Luckily for us, there's a rude Business Scrub in a nearby blowupable wall that tells us where to GET one. It's very close by too, how lucky! We go back to the Highlands and go down a ladder, leading us to a completely mundane and uninteresting room that has a bombable wall that gets us to the jerk Scrub that sells us the bottle after we teach him some manners. Bottle get! Now we can climb Mt Crenel in earnest!

Mt Crenel is a really interesting place. It's got a bunch of Chu-chus, including some variations we haven't seen before! Red and Spiked. Red ones are simple, they just hide more often then the basic Green, and Spiked ones are huge jerks that can only be hurt when attacking or stunned by bombs (or spin attack, which I learn later). We've also got a bunch of Peathats flying around, as well as Tektites, large mountain spiders that jump around being huge jerks. There are even Blue Tektites, we just don't find any yet. We've also got Spikey Beetles, which are suuuuper annoying enemies that hide under bushes and rocks and junk. The Gust Jar makes short work of them however. We also meet Helmasaurs, little bird dinosaur things with iron masks! They like to charge around, but like with the Beetles the Gust Jar ruins their day. Finally we also get to fight Pesto's while as regular size Link. THIS rules.

Also introduced in this area are hidden walls that you can only tell via insight (hmm, that fence has a gap in it...) or by pinging your sword against to hear if it's got a hollow-er noise. These are kind of annoying but also good at the same time. They're usually hidden fairly and aren't that big of a deal. It's just annoying to be stuck on a puzzle and for it to go "oh you where supposed to be aware this one wall could be exploded". It's a weird combination of kind of alright and super feel bad in regards to puzzle design. But to each their own.

We also...hahaha, we also learn that Ezlo's actually useful for something. I kid of course, Ezlo is a good guy, it's just...he tells us to jump into a random gust of wind that's just kinda floating around and it lets us fly using him as a glider. This is super silly! But it is a neat mechanic, and kinda cute. I guess I should be less hard on Ezlo.

I'm not going to give an immediate play by play of every room in this area because it's a huge ass mountain you guys. We explore a lot, find a Kinstone chest and some Rupees in a chest, along with a Heart Piece. Nice use of bombs here. We also beat up more rude Business Scrubs, which is always fun. By the end of the video we need to haul around a green seed to make a vine path we need, but it requires delicious green mineral water to grow. Thankfully we have a bottle of it and never ever accidently poured it out after spending all that time getting it. We also get to see that wow Link's hella strong if he's able to actually LIFT that seed as a tiny shrunk child.

Once all that (and a couple more chests, pushing puzzles, and bomb fun) is done with, we find another Business Scrub who sells us the Grip Ring, which lets us climb walls. Quite useful given the only place left to go is up a wall! This also lets us shortcut up and down the mountain thanks to climbable walls and such. Very handy. But that's all for now, next time lets finish climbing Mt Crenel! Hope to see you guys there.

------

As I said earlier in the video, a thing this game has that Skyward Sword doesn't is "the requirement of pausing all the action to switch out items". So I'm curious, would you guys prefer if I edited all those pauses out? It'd make me have to record for longer (and have to edit the footage...at all, because there are no loading screens on the GBA) but it would make the pace of the game feel a little quicker. Though it'd obscure what items I have on me at any given time since you'd have to pay attention to the topright corner of the screen. So yeah, leave your thoughts on that please.

[Lord Raziere]

hmm
"You can spin around like a top! seems like legit fighting"

as for the clever thing: they give you 20 rupees before you go get the bottle, which is sold for 20 rupees...

I guess it does make sense that a bird-hat would want to fly.....maybe he suggested to jump into the tornado because his bird instincts were telling him to.

whats with Nintendo and suspicious looking men trying to be helpful? it happens here, Super Mario Sunshine, Paper Mario, Pokemon.....weird suspicious people randomly giving you things just seems to be a running theme throughout their works.....

as for the item switching, it seems to go real quick, so I don't see whats so bad about it, and all Legend of Zelda games seem to have this big inventory thats important so....kind of par for the course, honestly.

[Qwertystop]

I'm fine with not cutting out the pauses - they're not long, and it doesn't seem worth the effort.

[DataNinja]

I want an Ezlo hat, now. It seems indestructible. Octorok Rocks? Fine. Stretching? Fine. Sure, the fabric shrinks when going through stone, but, eh, that's minor side effect.

...just make sure to bring duct tape.

[Coidzor]

The shrinking mechanic is pretty fun: as we've seen, you can travel around the overworld while tiny (albeit quite slowly and with some difficulty), but you can also access hidden areas where, unlike in the overworld, all your abilities function perfectly and you can fight some extremely murderous insects and things. In these areas, you function pretty much as you do while normal-sized, which while perfectly enjoyable and understandable from a technical viewpoint (Would you really want to code in new effects and mechanics when you can recycle what you've already got?), it does feel like there were some missed opportunities to take advantage of how certain items could be affected by the size change; unfortunately I can't really talk about any of them yet. This shrinking mechanic is implemented a lot, so no matter how annoying you all may find Ezlo you can't deny he's making himself useful.

That would've been nice, but I can see why they wouldn't want to do that, both for reasons of actual system complexity and for potential player confusion.


I won't talk about the sword or the first dungeon right now because I'm a little bit strapped for the time (and I'm sure that Ms. Zodiac and Wombat of Doom, esquire, will do it better), but I'll tell you about our first item and our first dungeon item: the shield and the gust jar.

The shield is underwhelming at first glance: even the characters laugh at it! However, despite having no upgrades or function beyond 'block some attacks', it's actually a very valuable tool. It deploys easily and blocks most enemy attacks in the game, including most bosses', and even stuns many difficult enemies. You can't attack with the shield out, or move very fast, or change which direction you're facing, and it doesn't block attacks from behind but used right, it will often be a lifesaver. Sadly, it's often neglected in favour of later, flashier items.
Off the top of my head, it doesn't protect from Ghini, Like-likes, Lakitu, beetles, the cursing skulls, the Gyorg pushing you off or some of Vaati's attacks. Just about everything else can be blocked.

There's also an upgraded form, but it can't be obtained until the postgame. It's really cool, but by then there's not much worth using it on.

The shield is basically the most straightforward item in the game, yeah. Which is good. And moving on to not depending upon it and instead learning to dodge and use other items is part of the evolution of player ability over the course of a top-down handheld Zelda game, starting with Link's Awakening back when I were a wee'un.


The gust jar is the opposite of the Shield, being very flashy and immediately useful, but generally difficult to use in combat past the second dungeon. It's slow to build up its power and has a delay before it starts to suck, leaving you open to nearby enemies. A few early foes are vulnerable to it, and there's a scattering of later ones that it's effective against, but it gets less and less useful as the game progresses. It is, however, a very fun item to use and finding some of those later enemies to vacuum is always a treat. It can also be used to suck up items, which is very useful if you manage to kill a flying enemy out of your reach.

It really is a shame that aside from using it as a tool every now and then, I basically forgot about the gust jar for most of the game. I guess I just didn't have enough stick-to-it-ness to remember to test it out on new enemies and in new situations. :V


As I'm personally not too good with grammar rules, and Zodiac runs a pretty informal commentary anyway, I'm not taking note of subject-object mistakes, subordiante clauses or things like that. I will be checking spelling, I will (probably) be watching punctuation, I will be looking for words that are being used wrongly and I will be varying in the quality I present because I have a really bad work ethic. Also, I can't use tables, so get used to lists until I work out how.

So things are clear, I'm not trying to get Zodi to change her commentary style or implying that it's less than satisfactory. This is just a fun thing to do because I really enjoyed reading the other counts.

THE GREAT-ISH LIST OF LAZODIAC'S ENGLISH FAILS!

* "For now enjoy the story" This probably falls under casual speak being legal, but it irks me. I really want to put a comma in so it's 'For now, enjoy the story'. Episode 1: 0.44

*Ditto with "Oh hey it's a princess!" I actually typed 'Oh hey, it's a princess' while typing it here. Episode 1: 1.33

* "Before we go lets pick up our allowance and or pay" should be "Before we go, let's pick up our allowance and/or pay". Episode 1: 3.37

* I think you mean 'festivities' instead of 'festives'. Zelda probably isn't energetic because of the things pertaining to suitable for a festival, if only because it's an adjective rather than a noun. Episode 1: 4.10

* "Will do Mr King." sounds rather suspect without a comma showing that you're addressing His Majesty. ('Will do, Mr King.') Episode 1: 12.00

* "Lets go help him out." 'Let's' is an abbreviation of 'let us' and so needs an apostrophe to mark this fact. Episode 1: 15.44

That's it for now. I'll try and work out some kind of ranking system for later, to seperate the little niggles that I threw in almost for fun (I left most instances of missing commas off this list, for example, because it was really boring counting them all and they technically fall under the protection of the informal, but did slip in a few) from the actually annoying errors (of which there were very few in this episode) and of course I'll try to do Episode 2 sometime.

So far, this has been a great start to a fondly-remembered game and I can't wait to see it continue.:smallsmile:

#grammarshaming :smallamused:

[lurkmeister]

Kinstone fusion ... smashing rocks together ... heh heheh heheheheheh ...

[LaZodiac]

Now that all my recording issues have been fixed by me being awesome, it's time for more ZELDA!

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap [4] Cave of Fire (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w76EwIDs3Xo)

Video Length: 25:00

Last time on Minish Cap we picked up the Grip Bracelet or whatever that let us climb walls and stuff! So lets go find a wall to climb yo! Cutting our way through Tektites and the occasional Spiky Beetle for a few screens leads us to the wall in question that we must climb. However, we must be careful of falling rocks! This area is actually a little dangerous because of Link's weirdly slow climbing speed, causing us to get a boulder to the face every so often. But this is still "early game" so they don't do much damage. Don't worry Link, rocks build character.

After dealing with the wall we get access to the Crenel Hermit, a dude who gives us advice about bomb walls. It IS possible to get up to this point without having ever blown up a hidden wall, but not a regular wall, so this isn't a BAD hint, it's just one I don't really need, sorta. Still, it's good. Less good is his absolutely SPICY response to us just not having the friendship rock that matched his. Are you a hermit to gain wisdom or because you're a jerk, dude! Anyway, that's another big flaw with the Kinstone system, you...you just aren't going to ever have the type you need, because I'm pretty sure the type they want is randomized too! Colour stays the same but the SHAPE they want is random per playthrough as far as I can tell. It's really frustrating, and I may be exaggerating a bit.

Anyway, moving on to progress town, we use a mushroom to go flying from one side of the mountain to the other! Then it starts raining but ONLY for this screen because they really wanted to do the "it's raining while Minish" set piece. It's cute and neat but overall not that big of a deal. This involves pushing boulders and it's pretty basic a pushing puzzle, with the various pitalls you'd expect from it. At this point there isn't all that much to say. Lotta block pushing puzzles as we make our way up the mountain, at one point we do a clever bomb throwing puzzle to hit a switch to build a bridge. Nothing too exciting, but it's nice. This is a cool mountain.

Finally, we reach the summit, which means we've also reached the location of the Minish we're looking for! Melari's Mine! It's a small little area, though it's cute counting all the seats and beds and stuff to see if it matches the amount of Minish who live here (and it does!). They also made suuuper cute noises which is adorable and I love it. We go find Melari who's busy at work and ooh jeez he's quite large for a small mouse man. He's gotta be like a 3/3 or something. Melari says they'll work on fixing the sword, but it'll take awhile. While we're at it, since we need the Elements anyway, why not go next door to the human mine to pick up Fire. I have a slight problem with this.

Why wasn't Melari's mine at the bottom of the mountain? With where it is now, it seems like our quest was LITERALLY just to go find a due who can fix the sword, with the dungeon thrown in as a side thought. It makes our trip up the mountain seem like a somewhat dangerous errand, not a big plot quest type thing. Additionally, how does ANY Minish climb up this whooole mountain? What they should of done is had Melari's Mine be at the bottom (near the mineral water) and have them be like yeah sure we can fix it...if you find the Fire element. Make the Elements more then just plot tokens that do DO a thing, but have no actual relevance to the story. Make it so that the Earth Element we got let us see Minish towns more easily (explaining why we can see his UNDERGROUND mine) and make it so that the Fire Element, while useless in OUR hands, gives Melari the fire he needs to reforge this legendary sword. It'd also make climbing the mountain more "epic" since we're explicitly climbing it to get to that dungeon. This is just a small, little thought at the back of my head, but I think it would of made the game feel a little better. Anyway, moving on to the dungeon!

The Cave of Fire, formally a human mine! An interesting name and setting for a dungeon, but I like it. Our new enemies are all quite silly, too. We've got straight up Bob-ombs on loan from the Mushroom Kingdom. Hit them once and they start running around all crazy, hit em again and they'll stop. They explode after awhile. Then we've got a Rupee Like, the worst ambush predator in the world. These guys consume money, and hide in obvious piles of money. These games NEVER just GIVE YOU a pile of rupees on the floor like this, so even discounting the fact that you cannot actually tell which rupee is the Rupee Like, you're never going to get eaten by one. I should hope not since they eat money which is super rude! The color of the rupee on their stalk determines how much "damage" they do, which is a clever little indication. Then we have Spiked Beetles, not to be mixed up with Spiky Beetles because they're super different. These guys can only be beaten by flipping them with your shield and then slashing their underbelly! We do so...and then Ezlo tells us how to do it. I've gone back in other saves to check and this tutorial message is, for whatever reason, keys to activate only when you get into the MIDDLE of the room. So...it's technically not his fault? We've also got Rollobites, completely indestructible enemies designed to be used in puzzles. Put ball in hole! I throw one into the lava just to get the kill counter up.

The main thing we're doing in this dungeon is blowing up walls and using the mine cart system that's still in place. Ezlo said it's safe and...well lets just say that Ezlo's often wrong and leave it at that. It's cool and funny and I actually quite like it. Another sort of weird thing is that we get the compass before the map, which seems...basically pointless? It's weird and I don't know why it happened. There's also floating around on rock chunks in lava, which is quite dangerous! We've also got chests and switches on poles so we have to push said pole into holes to get at it. Cute! I'm going to try and let the dungeons speak for themselves, I don't want to take up a huge amount of space by doing a direct play by play of every screen you know! Suffice to say we cut our way through the dungeon, push things into holes, and get to our second sort of miniboss!

This mine's miniboss is a bunch of Spiky Chu-chu's! Not the biggest threat if you realize you can spin attack them, but if you don't oh god that's gonna suck. Thankfully I do know that, so we're easily able to dispatch them. Like the last time we've had a difficult fight, Ezlo has something to say that I missed out. Here it is: Spikey Chu-Chu Fight: My word! It has spikes, it jumps...What can't it do!? Ah, such a bother!

Thanks for the advice hatbro. Our reward for beating them is an item that is for some reason one of my favorites in the game! The Cane of Pacci! This majestic wand of power will grant us access to the most powerful magic of all! The ability to make things flip! Tragically this does not work on many enemies, but it is super fun and silly. I think it can also be used to flip Spiked Beetles instead of the shield. The main use of this item however is to flip spiky rock platforms over to a less dangerous side for more lava crossing, and for supercharging holes so we can do a super jump! I don't quite understand the magi-physics of how this works but I'm guessing it's just a feature of the cane. But yeah, it's a pretty great weapon, I doubt other canes are this cool (http://www.awkwardzombie.com/index.php?page=0&comic=030308).

Anyway, after some practice with the Pacci stick we get to the big involved puzzle to get the Boss Key, but since we're running out of time I just activate the warp back to the entrance and call it quits for today. I'll see you guys next time!

[GloatingSwine]

These guys consume money, and hide in obvious piles of money. These games NEVER just GIVE YOU a pile of rupees on the floor like this, so even discounting the fact that you cannot actually tell which rupee is the Rupee Like, you're never going to get eaten by one.

Zelda games often do have money lying around on the floor.

Doesn't matter though, you can easily tell which one is a Rupee Like because the Gust Jar doesn't collect it.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Silly Link, flipping is for tables!

On another note, I notice a certain similarity between the minish forge and another fire-based area filled with non-hostile non-Hylians from the futurepast. You've even got one guy rolling around the second level.

[Lord Raziere]

Now that all my recording issues have been fixed by me being awesome, it's time for more ZELDA!

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap [4] Cave of Fire (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w76EwIDs3Xo)

Video Length: 25:00


Man, I just had a thought about the block-pushing puzzle with the pillar: if this were Golden Sun, Isaac or Felix would've just moved the pillar with their mind then jump over the gap. I guess the pillar jut reminded me of it

but really? thats the only time the grip ring is used? thats almost as pointless as the jabber nut!

that is a freakishly fast mining cart. really, but then again all videogame mining carts are.

the Cane of Pacci looks like something a trickster wizard would make. y'know something to play pranks with.

[LaZodiac]

Man, I just had a thought about the block-pushing puzzle with the pillar: if this were Golden Sun, Isaac or Felix would've just moved the pillar with their mind then jump over the gap. I guess the pillar jut reminded me of it

but really? thats the only time the grip ring is used? thats almost as pointless as the jabber nut!

that is a freakishly fast mining cart. really, but then again all videogame mining carts are.

the Cane of Pacci looks like something a trickster wizard would make. y'know something to play pranks with.

Man, I've never actually played Golden Sun. Seerow hasn't changed his mind yet so it's still a game I may potentially play oh man. It sounds cool though, I love the idea of "oh no something is out of range for a standard RPG protagonist" *grabs with psychic powers*.

Well I mean there are other places you can climb on the Mountain to make traveling it easier but...yeah, that's it for the Grip Ring!

In video games, the faster the cart the better.

Cane of Pacci would be the best prank weapon. I kinda want something like it in an open world game. Haha, get flipped on cars!

[Qwertystop]

My best guess as to why the Cane of Pacci might be useful:

One: The high-jump thing was actually the intended purpose, and flipping things over is just what happens if the spell hits something before it gets a chance to build up in a contained space. Presumably if you didn't have a convenient hole in the ground you'd bring a shovel with you, or perhaps a bucket if there's some way to make the bucket hold the spell instead of flipping. In that case, it's like having a ladder that fits in your backpack.

Two: Someone with any actual magical skill at all would be able to manipulate objects more carefully/effectively with it. Link uses it to toss things (and himself) into the air because he's some random kid waving it around with no clue what he's doing, but maybe an actual mage would be able to use it for general-purpose line-of-sight telekinesis.

EDIT: I would recommend not playing Golden Sun. Admittedly it might be hyperbole, but... well, it's on LPArchive, and the verdict is quite poor.

[Lord Raziere]

Man, I've never actually played Golden Sun. Seerow hasn't changed his mind yet so it's still a game I may potentially play oh man. It sounds cool though, I love the idea of "oh no something is out of range for a standard RPG protagonist" *grabs with psychic powers*.


if you ever get around to that I recommend you play the first to better understand the second game, Golden Sun: The Lost Age, which is actually the best of three Golden Sun games. don't bother with Dark Dawn, its just disappointing.

[Seerow]

EDIT: I would recommend not playing Golden Sun. Admittedly it might be hyperbole, but... well, it's on LPArchive, and the verdict is quite poor.


No idea about LPArchive, but I personally quite enjoyed the first Golden Sun game when it first came out. The Second I've heard is much better, but never got to play it myself. My main reason for picking it though was because it was one of the few games I saw on Zodi's list of games available to play that she hasn't already beaten (well that plus it being a game I like).

I originally wanted to put in a vote for a Banjo game, but there was a serious derth of N64 games on Zodi's list of available games, which makes me suspect she doesn't actually own that console. And it's not worth her buying a console when she has so many hundreds of other games to choose from.




Anyway, it's been a couple episodes since I commented here, so catchup time!


1) It was mentioned at one point there's ~4 dungeons in the game. Does that mean we're close to the halfway point already, or am I misunderstanding? I'd hope there's at least 1-2 dungeons after finishing the Piccori Sword starter quest.

2) Gust Jar is okay, personally I preferred the Bellows from Skyward Sword. Being able to use enemies as ammunition is pretty awesome though, I'll give it points for that. And also for apparently being strong enough to destroy solid stones that it doesn't pick up.

3) First Temple is pretty straightforward, as expected for an intro temple. Not really a lot to comment on in it. I liked the Green Chuchu fight, I actually thought the tactics needed to beat it from small size made it really interesting. I'd love to have a series of boss fights that are just dealing with regular enemies as a very tiny person.

4) Okay so with the whole getting climbing gloves and going rock climbing thing, this mountain feels like more of a mountain than any mountain I ever remember from a zelda game I played. It's actually pretty cool. Like some other games do the same sort of boulders raining down on you, but the whole thing of alternating between long straight up climbs and plateaus to explore on gives a feeling of height and scaling a real mountain that I don't usually feel in these sorts of environments. Capturing that in a 2d game is doubly impressive.

5) The sheer variety of enemies continues to impress me. While we have some palette swaps, we have far more new and unique enemy types. Compare the list of enemy types we've encountered in the first 4 episodes to the number of enemy types in even the first 10 episodes of Skyward Sword, I suspect we have much more variety here.

6) The Second Dungeon I am actually liking a lot so far. The environment is pretty cool, and the puzzles are a bit more interesting. You complained about going in circles, but backtracking and revisiting areas you already cleared are part of dungeon delving. Revisiting it due to opening up alternate doors and going as a different size is worthwhile imo. Actually I think that's what I like the most so far, having the stones to change size mid dungeon.

7) I disagree with you about Ezlo's encouragement for the whirlwinds and minecarts. In both cases he was right: It was perfectly safe! More than a little scary, sure. But safe to use nonetheless. You didn't even take damage, much less die! Link does far more dangerous things all the time, and both times doing the scary thing was necessary to progress.

Also my love for mountain themed roller coasters in zelda games is already well documented, so needless to say I love the mine carts despite (or possibly because of) their higher than regulation speed levels.

8) Editing in because I almost forgot-I love the new Cane item. This is another one of those items I think would be a lot of fun to see in a mainstream 3d zelda game, because in one of those games you'd get totally unique animations for every enemy and a lot of objects that just aren't interactable in this game. Either way though, the super charged flip jump is the real highlight for the cane. Flipping over platforms is 'meh' and flipping enemies is fun but only useful in a few situations... but the flip jump is pretty awesome and I can't think of another link incarnation who can just jump up 10-20ft like that.

[LaZodiac]

No idea about LPArchive, but I personally quite enjoyed the first Golden Sun game when it first came out. The Second I've heard is much better, but never got to play it myself. My main reason for picking it though was because it was one of the few games I saw on Zodi's list of games available to play that she hasn't already beaten (well that plus it being a game I like).

I originally wanted to put in a vote for a Banjo game, but there was a serious derth of N64 games on Zodi's list of available games, which makes me suspect she doesn't actually own that console. And it's not worth her buying a console when she has so many hundreds of other games to choose from.

Anyway, it's been a couple episodes since I commented here, so catchup time!

1) It was mentioned at one point there's ~4 dungeons in the game. Does that mean we're close to the halfway point already, or am I misunderstanding? I'd hope there's at least 1-2 dungeons after finishing the Piccori Sword starter quest.

4) Okay so with the whole getting climbing gloves and going rock climbing thing, this mountain feels like more of a mountain than any mountain I ever remember from a zelda game I played. It's actually pretty cool. Like some other games do the same sort of boulders raining down on you, but the whole thing of alternating between long straight up climbs and plateaus to explore on gives a feeling of height and scaling a real mountain that I don't usually feel in these sorts of environments. Capturing that in a 2d game is doubly impressive.

5) The sheer variety of enemies continues to impress me. While we have some palette swaps, we have far more new and unique enemy types. Compare the list of enemy types we've encountered in the first 4 episodes to the number of enemy types in even the first 10 episodes of Skyward Sword, I suspect we have much more variety here.

7) I disagree with you about Ezlo's encouragement for the whirlwinds and minecarts. In both cases he was right: It was perfectly safe! More than a little scary, sure. But safe to use nonetheless. You didn't even take damage, much less die! Link does far more dangerous things all the time, and both times doing the scary thing was necessary to progress.

Also my love for mountain themed roller coasters in zelda games is already well documented, so needless to say I love the mine carts despite (or possibly because of) their higher than regulation speed levels.


I do own an N64, and like I've said you can pick whatever game you want! I just need to get it (and I'll get it by hook or by crook, if you follow my meaning!) I just...never really owned many games for the N64 is all!

Without spoiling things...yeah there are only really four dungeons in this game! It's kind of short for a Zelda game! Don't worry, there's more to it then their appears.

Yeah, this is a pretty mountainy feeling mountain. Gotta get our proper gear and everything! I will say that, this game is good at making the environments really stand out and feel good.

Okay good point, the whirlwind and mine cart WERE safe. But man Ezlo, own up if it scares you and you regret it :smallamused:

Yeah that's one thing the 3D Zelda's kind of have a problem with, enemy variety. We'll be seeing that drop off a little, but for the most part it stays consistently a thing here.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Actually, one thing I *REALLY* like about this offering of Link is how the game is laid out. It is a top-down isometric view like the classic links and LTTP (which is still one of my most awesomest and favoritest games), but I really like the way it handles the third dimension. There's a couple of neat gimmicks, the barrel comes to mind, but overall, I like how this game handles this mechanic.

OoT and later console offerings went to a first/third person shooter viewpoint, which really... I dunno, it broke something inside. Yes, Twilight Princess was shiny and cool and awesome, but there's still this little nostalgia-buff inside complaining that you should be looking top-down. But TP was really the first of the 3d offerings that I thought was even remotely aesthetically pleasing. Whereas LTTP had some of the best aesthetics of any game ever.

[TheWombatOfDoom]

Onwards! To more Minish Cap!

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap [3] Mt Crenel (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BTq28AoLJ0)

Video Length: 24:12

Starting us off today, we play around with some enemies, blow up some walls, then return to Hyrule Town. Of importance we find a Fairy pond, full of cute little fairies willing to heal us. If only we had a bottle. Once we're in Hyrule Town, we get interrupted by a very fancy man with a music box type crank box thing. He's the Hurdy-Gurdy Man, and he's gonna teach about Kinstones! And since he's teaching us about em, that means I've gotta teach YOU about em. So lets go!

While most of what the Hurdy-Gurdy Man says is true, there is some stuff he left out. Specifically, each colour of Kinstone has three shapes to it, so there is a 1/3 chance that whenever you find a Kinstone, it'll be the shape you're specifically looking for. This includes any Kinstones in chests, and believe me we'll find a LOT of those. You can also get them as random drops from enemies and from grass. I will (probably) rarely have to grind for them, but if I do you can expect the same level of editing as the Loot grinding in Skyward Sword. Now, as for what these rocks do when rubbed together...

Green Kinstones, the most common. They typically give a Rupee reward, but sometimes (very rarely) will give a better reward. Blue Kinstones, which are a little less common, typically give something generally positive. It's not always a physical reward, but it unlocks more things. Either by straight reward or through some obscure means, this stone typically gets you a Heart Piece. Consider this the Sidequest stone. Finally we have Red Kinstones, the rarest! They don't ever randomly drop (unless you do a thing, more on that laaater) and have to be found in treasure chests or bought. These almost always give you something really good like a Heart Piece, or enough rupees to buy another Red Kinstone because much like Power Bombs in Metroid they enjoy unlocking more of themselves. Now of course all this "usually" business is moot since every fusion is predetermined, but it's a good way to judge if you should bother immediately going for the prize you get for fusion or not. If you do a Green fusion you can probably afford to wait a bit until your wallet is a little emptier.

So that's Kinstones. They DO do important things (like I said, Blue ones are basically how Sidequests are allowed to be done in this game) but overall I don't really like the mechanic? There isn't anything special to it, it's just finding a person who wants to rube stones and then hoping you have the right stone to rub with. And god forbid you if you don't have the right stone because five hours later you still won't. There are ways to improve the drop rate, which we'll get into more when I unlock the ability to do so, but suffice to say this mechanic is kind of silly and a HUGE rupee sink. However, since I'm going for 100% we will be doing EVERY Kinstone Fusion. Also, as a note, only ONE single Kinstone fusion in the game can be missed, and if you miss it you lose a thing. We'll cover that more once we get to it. Anyway, dissertation of touching rocks is over, back to the game.

We go over to that tree that had nasty old vines on it that our pushed together rocks got rid of, and get rewarded with a Heart Piece (and thus an extra heart)! Nice! With an extra bit of oomph in hand, lets find our way to Mt Crenel! Here we face a someone embarrassing dilemma. We have to find the sword trainer so the guards will let us leave, once we get a fancy sword move. Unfortunately I forgot where he was! Que me getting lost. So much for that map the King gave us...anyway, we do eventually find the sword trainer, and he's kind of awesome if a bit excessive!

Say hello to Swiftblade. This mighty warrior shall teach us general sword techniques, written on fancy Tiger Scrolls. He only teaches us after certain events, but it's quite worth it. It has no cost and the only thing you have to do is repeat the move once he uses his possession ability to show you how to do it, after explaining how to do it in text. Like I said, this seems a bit excessive training wise, but hey we learn our Spin Attack finally so that rules. With Spin Attack in hand we can finally get going to Mt Crenel! Or at least sort of, we have to pass through the Trilby Highlands first but still. Once we step through the gate we meet another new enemy! This mad fox with a knife is a Keaton! Only one tail so I doubt they're powerful (it's a Japanese mythology thing) but that knife looks nasty. If they hit us rupee's will fly out (probably) and he'll steal them. We don't want that to happen. Keaton's CAN parry your sword strikes, causing it to bounce back unharmed, but this one doesn't because...I guess I'm just the best at sword fighting.

Upon arriving at Mt Crenel, two things happen. One, we finally reach out Rupee count max. Sigh. We also see that we need some sort of container to carry water over to this seed so it'll grow so we can proceed onward. Looks like we've gotta find the rare and mystical mason jar! The second best jar. Luckily for us, there's a rude Business Scrub in a nearby blowupable wall that tells us where to GET one. It's very close by too, how lucky! We go back to the Highlands and go down a ladder, leading us to a completely mundane and uninteresting room that has a bombable wall that gets us to the jerk Scrub that sells us the bottle after we teach him some manners. Bottle get! Now we can climb Mt Crenel in earnest!

Mt Crenel is a really interesting place. It's got a bunch of Chu-chus, including some variations we haven't seen before! Red and Spiked. Red ones are simple, they just hide more often then the basic Green, and Spiked ones are huge jerks that can only be hurt when attacking or stunned by bombs (or spin attack, which I learn later). We've also got a bunch of Peathats flying around, as well as Tektites, large mountain spiders that jump around being huge jerks. There are even Blue Tektites, we just don't find any yet. We've also got Spikey Beetles, which are suuuuper annoying enemies that hide under bushes and rocks and junk. The Gust Jar makes short work of them however. We also meet Helmasaurs, little bird dinosaur things with iron masks! They like to charge around, but like with the Beetles the Gust Jar ruins their day. Finally we also get to fight Pesto's while as regular size Link. THIS rules.

Also introduced in this area are hidden walls that you can only tell via insight (hmm, that fence has a gap in it...) or by pinging your sword against to hear if it's got a hollow-er noise. These are kind of annoying but also good at the same time. They're usually hidden fairly and aren't that big of a deal. It's just annoying to be stuck on a puzzle and for it to go "oh you where supposed to be aware this one wall could be exploded". It's a weird combination of kind of alright and super feel bad in regards to puzzle design. But to each their own.

We also...hahaha, we also learn that Ezlo's actually useful for something. I kid of course, Ezlo is a good guy, it's just...he tells us to jump into a random gust of wind that's just kinda floating around and it lets us fly using him as a glider. This is super silly! But it is a neat mechanic, and kinda cute. I guess I should be less hard on Ezlo.

I'm not going to give an immediate play by play of every room in this area because it's a huge ass mountain you guys. We explore a lot, find a Kinstone chest and some Rupees in a chest, along with a Heart Piece. Nice use of bombs here. We also beat up more rude Business Scrubs, which is always fun. By the end of the video we need to haul around a green seed to make a vine path we need, but it requires delicious green mineral water to grow. Thankfully we have a bottle of it and never ever accidently poured it out after spending all that time getting it. We also get to see that wow Link's hella strong if he's able to actually LIFT that seed as a tiny shrunk child.

Once all that (and a couple more chests, pushing puzzles, and bomb fun) is done with, we find another Business Scrub who sells us the Grip Ring, which lets us climb walls. Quite useful given the only place left to go is up a wall! This also lets us shortcut up and down the mountain thanks to climbable walls and such. Very handy. But that's all for now, next time lets finish climbing Mt Crenel! Hope to see you guys there.

------

As I said earlier in the video, a thing this game has that Skyward Sword doesn't is "the requirement of pausing all the action to switch out items". So I'm curious, would you guys prefer if I edited all those pauses out? It'd make me have to record for longer (and have to edit the footage...at all, because there are no loading screens on the GBA) but it would make the pace of the game feel a little quicker. Though it'd obscure what items I have on me at any given time since you'd have to pay attention to the topright corner of the screen. So yeah, leave your thoughts on that please.

ALRIGHT FOLKS OFFICIAL VERDICT ON RUPEES! If the wallet is full, rupees not picked up still count as missed if Zodi doesn't get them. However, since the wallet is full, it would technically be overflow. But I'm not going to fault Zodi for getting the rupees or not getting the rupees, so I'll go with the suggestion of only counting rupees from chests for overflow, titled "Lost Rupees". Also if a Keaton (or other creature that can steal) takes rupees from Link, they'll count as Lost Rupees also.

Personally, in concept I like the Kinstones. In concept. I'm a big completionist, and love collecting. The part that comes later with them? Not so much. Honestly, I don't mind when you get lost because it feels like gameplay. It also showed us all the neat and different shops in town. :smallsmile: I think its awesome that the postman jumps over both you and the dog to deliver mail. That's pretty neat. Also, first postman sighting for the win!

Spin power! Aw yeah. I like that the guard tests you.

I don't remember what is clever about the room before the bottle get, but I'll kick myself later I'm sure.

Spin attack double kill! +1 Style points! What are style points you ask? Cool things you do, judged by me, and are unpredictable! Not as stylish if you repeat the things I judge styling, so just play and people can tell me if they thought something was Stylish enough to count.

Haven't you ever heard of a green potion? Mountain spring water is fine...

I like that the mountain Minish are living in holes. Though, God forbid a rockslide happens, or a monster decides to hide there. Think of a chuchu going in the hole in the ground....:smallfrown:

Overall, I like Mt. Crenel and the dangers it poses, though it seems to be in a different place than the previous mountain was, and certainly less volcanic. I'm wondering if this is a different mountain all together than skyward sword.

I actually really like the hidden wall mechanic when there are hints to it, because after I find it I always find an overwhelming sense of accomplishment. The "aren't I so smart" feeling.

I think Link is like ant man when he shrinks. Same mass, smaller body.

As for cutting out the pauses, don't worry about it. I don't mind them and its so much work it doesn't seem worth it.



EPISODE 3 KILL TALLY!

Acro-Bandits - 15
Octorok - 12
Keaton - 1
Tektites - 20
Red Chuchu - 8
Mulldozer - 6
Keese - 4
Helmasaurs - 4
Pesto - 6
Spiny Beetle - 4
Spike Chuchu - 2
Peahat - 2

Style Points - 1

Missed Rupees - 0
Lost Rupees (theft, overflow, ect.) - 10

(previous episodes)



The Minish Cap
Total Kills
(As of Episode 3)

Acro-Bandits - 26
Crows - 2
Helmasaurs - 4
Keaton - 1
Keese - 6
Octoroks - 28
Peahats - 3
Puffstools - 10
Sluggula - 22
Tektites - 20

Bugs
Madderpillars - 1
Mulldozers - 12
Pestos - 13
Spiny Beetles - 4

Chuchus
Chuchus, Green - 4*
Chuchus, Red - 8
Chuchus, Spike - 2

*one of which was a boss

Total Things Dead - 166!

1st Place - Octoroks, at 28!
2nd Place - Acro-bandits, at 26!
3rd Place - Sluggula, at 22!

Total Missed Rupees - 0!
Total Lost Rupees - 10

[GloatingSwine]

OoT and later console offerings went to a first/third person shooter viewpoint, which really... I dunno, it broke something inside. Yes, Twilight Princess was shiny and cool and awesome, but there's still this little nostalgia-buff inside complaining that you should be looking top-down. But TP was really the first of the 3d offerings that I thought was even remotely aesthetically pleasing. Whereas LTTP had some of the best aesthetics of any game ever.

Outside of dungeons, I agree.

Inside of dungeon LttP has really quite limited tilesets and several dungeons just reuse them with a palette swap.


Something did change though, and you can actually see it happen, it's part way through Ocarina of Time. Dungeon design changes from being a spatial puzzle based on interconnected maps with a limited sense of place to being designed primarily to convey a sense of place with puzzles being constrained much more to single rooms. The Water Temple being the one which most clearly shows the spatial puzzle design, contrast that with the Spirit Temple which is much more designed to be a place.

[LaZodiac]

ALRIGHT FOLKS OFFICIAL VERDICT ON RUPEES! If the wallet is full, rupees not picked up still count as missed if Zodi doesn't get them. However, since the wallet is full, it would technically be overflow. But I'm not going to fault Zodi for getting the rupees or not getting the rupees, so I'll go with the suggestion of only counting rupees from chests for overflow, titled "Lost Rupees". Also if a Keaton (or other creature that can steal) takes rupees from Link, they'll count as Lost Rupees also.

Personally, in concept I like the Kinstones. In concept. I'm a big completionist, and love collecting. The part that comes later with them? Not so much. Honestly, I don't mind when you get lost because it feels like gameplay. It also showed us all the neat and different shops in town. :smallsmile: I think its awesome that the postman jumps over both you and the dog to deliver mail. That's pretty neat. Also, first postman sighting for the win!

I like that the mountain Minish are living in holes. Though, God forbid a rockslide happens, or a monster decides to hide there. Think of a chuchu going in the hole in the ground....:smallfrown:

Overall, I like Mt. Crenel and the dangers it poses, though it seems to be in a different place than the previous mountain was, and certainly less volcanic. I'm wondering if this is a different mountain all together than skyward sword.

I actually really like the hidden wall mechanic when there are hints to it, because after I find it I always find an overwhelming sense of accomplishment. The "aren't I so smart" feeling.

As for cutting out the pauses, don't worry about it. I don't mind them and its so much work it doesn't seem worth it.

I like the new changes to the Rupee count. It's a stain upon my soul, because I must obtain all the money.

At some point I'm going to INTENTIONALLY tour Hyrule Town. Also yeah, the Kinstones are neat, it's just...the actual getting of the stones is a little bothersome.

The good news is, all Minish Dwellings are at least seemingly invisible to non children, so don't worry I doubt a Minish townhouse is going to get flooded by a Chu-chu.

My guess is that Mt Crenel is a slightly different mountain, and once the Gorons move in it'll be uh..."removed". Gorons gotta eat man!

Yeah, the "man, I figured it out!" feeling is great. It's just an issue when the game backfires with it :smalltongue:

Noted! I've got enough opinions in, I'll leave the pauses in. Woo!

[LaZodiac]

I know it's not much, but five videos into a series is a milestone. Lets go!

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap [5] Double Time (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUUQPGAC-cc)

Video Length: 25:28

Last time we all but completed the Cave of Fire, an old human mine turned monsters playground. This time, we'll be finishing it off. There really isn't much left to do besides clean up the last incidental treasures, get the big key, and then go face us a boss fight. Tragically, one of the last treasure chests contains 100 Rupees, and this is just awful. I'm sorry, completionists everywhere, but this truly is a waste of money.

Regardless, after getting our way through blade traps and tornadoes, we obtain our big key and open up the door to the boss. Meet Gleerok, a lizardy lava monster! It's main attack is spewing jets of fire, though at the beginning of the fight they are basically just singular fire balls. To defeat it, you must evade it's attacks and get to either it's side or back, and fire a Pacci shot at it's hardened magma shell! The shell flips up and slams into it's back, stunning it, allowing you to run up it's neck to tear into the weird crystal thing on it's back. Once you've done enough damage he'll flood the room with lava, making you have to stick to the edges briefly until it recedes, dodging falling rocks all the while. Then it rises back up ready to resume, a little faster and with a lot more fire to share with you. Three rotations of this pattern and you've won! This is a REALLY fun boss fight actually, very hectic and dangerous, but with how the fire works you can get healed fairly easily due to getting hearts from the leftover embers. It's pretty cool. With Gleerok finally slain, the lava cools and we get a Heart Container, plus the Element of Fire! Two down, two to go...but it appears I may be wrong about their being only four dungeons because it's been awhile since I've played this!

With Elements in hand we head back to our Minish blacksmith friend, who gives us the now completed Picori Blade! Or at least, the former Picori Blade. Any magic it may of had is kind of...lacking, since it got smashed in half, and now it's a simple White Sword. Still, it does one more damage then our regular old sword we're trading up here. He tells us that our next job is to actually infuse the elements into the White Sword. The Elemental Sanctuary is somewhere in Hyrule Castle, so lets get a move on!

This leads to one of those awkward moments where I get confused due to my knowledge of future events and end up a little lost. Oops! I do get to fuse Kinstones with the King and his adviser though, so that's nice. We also get to see the dialogue that happens when you look at Zelda's petrified body, which I don't think I knew about. Intense! Anyway after flailing about a little we find the Elemental Sanctuary, and boy is this place pretty. Shiny and regal, with full size Minish statues, four heroes holding blades. It's almost symbolic of something. We place our sword in the center, and the Elements of Earth and Fire pour into our blade. With the magic of the Elements, we are now capable of participating in this game's second major game mechanic!

By holding out our sword we channel the power of the Elementals and, by stepping over glowing tiles on the ground, we can essentially clone ourselves! We are now two small children in one! With this power, puzzles will likely get trickier as they involve manipulating your second self, and I'm all for it. This is a cool mechanic and I like it a lot. This is also what I meant by the clever comment a few videos back. There are glowing tiles next to the explody wall you NEED to go through to get the bottle, and these are the only time those specific tiles are REQUIRED to see, up to this point. There are others but they're on optional paths and the like. So with that in mind, assuming you only end up doing required stuff, the player will notice that hey, these glowy tiles are like the ones in that one cave. I should go there. And they should because that's where they HAVE to go to progress forward in the plot. It's a really cool way of secretly guiding the player's path.

Anyway, it's time to leave Hyrule Castle and oh crap! It's Vaati! It's time to learn some backstory and hoo boy is it something. I forgot we actually learned it this early. Vaati and Ezlo used to be student and master, respectively. They also used to be both Minish. But Ezlo, big dumb wizard that he was, made a hat that granted your hearts desire. Vaati, annoyed by Ezlo's teachings not being very good, took the hat and used it to become what he is now. He then cursed Ezlo to become a hat, a ignoble end to the sub par sage's life. So Ezlo wants to help us save the world and stop Vaati because it's basically literally all his fault. Lets just hope he doesn't find the Light Force before we can do so.

I actually really like this backstory, and as a younger me it actually got me really invested in Ezlo and Vaati's characters. Ezlo isn't some weird talking hat, and Vaati isn't some random sorcerer who'll likely get co-opted by a different villain like so many other games do. Vaati's just a regular Minish who was learning magic under Ezlo, and Ezlo has shown us quite clearly why Vaati was unsatisfied with his teachings. Ezlo's a cool dude, but his actual advice in game is kinda bad, and I feel like that was intentional to make us see just why Vaati did what he did. It's like using a strategy guide only it makes you a creepy evil jerkface. I also like it because it gives some backstory for Vaati himself, who seemed like he was just kinda there. Mild futurepast spoilers, this is not the last time we'll see Vaati, even if this is the first. It's really cool, and makes me interested in this silly laughing wizard.

Anyway, we learn all this AFTER getting forced to fight some monsters by Vaati, so lets go over those monsters shall we? They are Moblins, and this is unique in that this is the first time we're fighting the tougher version of a monster before we fight the regular kind. Thankfully our upgraded sword helps with that. Less helpful is that Moblins are kind of tough to deal with in this game! They're fairly well protected from the front, using their spears to parry your attacks, and they stab at you pretty damn quick with em. They also have a dash attack but this area is a bit too small to show that off. With Moblins dead and backstory learned, lets continue on to Castor Wilds, our next destination.

Now's the part where I almost pathologically delay our going to Castor Wilds to do other things. There is a reason for it, it's just an example of my future knowledge making me think the next segment is gonna be really long! I'm wrong and am silly. So yeah, we check out that bakery and pick up some delicious food objects. Since having played this game a long time ago I've actually HAD Brioche, for example, and that **** is delicious. Get some if you can, it's super good. Anyway, the reason this bread shop exists is because every so often you'll find a random Kinstone piece inside the pastry you'll eat!

I get that this is a game and I get that this is just a funny little game mechanic, but these bakers PUT ROCKS INTO THEIR FOOD AT RANDOM. Someone please tell me why and how this store isn't closed down due to pure actual idiocy?

After that we then go over to Swiftblade's house. Something I forgot to show almost completely is that after learning a thing from him, you can talk to him to see when he can give you his next move. In this case he told us to come back when we've got a stronger blade. Well, with the White Sword in hand we DO have a stronger blade, so lets go! He teaches us the Rock Breaker, an amazingly complex move. To perform it, ATTACK POTS AND BOULDERS...and that's it. We can now smash pots and boulders with our sword. He STILL POSSESSES US to show us how to do the move though, JUST so we understand how the move works. That's...kind of SUPER silly.

Speaking of super silly, we finally encounter Blue Octoroks, the stronger versions of the regular ones. After getting the stronger sword, effectively making them identical to regular ones! Game design! I do kind of like this if only because, since we've clearly become aware by this point that "blue enemies" are stronger, seeing a blue Octorok still die in one hit like a regular one can be a sort of uplifting moment for the player, showing clearly how strong they are. I like it, it just seems goofy on the surface.

As we make our way down to the Western Wood, which according to our map will take us to Castor Wilds, we have...a small scene where the wind blows and gives us chills. Those of you with futurepast knowledge may note something interesting here, but suffice to say we DO see Vaati show up in Hyrule Castle and do...some manner of evil to the King. Taking his place and demanding his soldiers find the Light Force, cruelly arresting those do don't agree with him. Ezlo passes the wind off as nothing, and we continue onward. But that'll be for next time. I hope you enjoyed.

[TheWombatOfDoom]

Now that all my recording issues have been fixed by me being awesome, it's time for more ZELDA!

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap [4] Cave of Fire (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w76EwIDs3Xo)

Video Length: 25:00

Last time on Minish Cap we picked up the Grip Bracelet or whatever that let us climb walls and stuff! So lets go find a wall to climb yo! Cutting our way through Tektites and the occasional Spiky Beetle for a few screens leads us to the wall in question that we must climb. However, we must be careful of falling rocks! This area is actually a little dangerous because of Link's weirdly slow climbing speed, causing us to get a boulder to the face every so often. But this is still "early game" so they don't do much damage. Don't worry Link, rocks build character.

After dealing with the wall we get access to the Crenel Hermit, a dude who gives us advice about bomb walls. It IS possible to get up to this point without having ever blown up a hidden wall, but not a regular wall, so this isn't a BAD hint, it's just one I don't really need, sorta. Still, it's good. Less good is his absolutely SPICY response to us just not having the friendship rock that matched his. Are you a hermit to gain wisdom or because you're a jerk, dude! Anyway, that's another big flaw with the Kinstone system, you...you just aren't going to ever have the type you need, because I'm pretty sure the type they want is randomized too! Colour stays the same but the SHAPE they want is random per playthrough as far as I can tell. It's really frustrating, and I may be exaggerating a bit.

Anyway, moving on to progress town, we use a mushroom to go flying from one side of the mountain to the other! Then it starts raining but ONLY for this screen because they really wanted to do the "it's raining while Minish" set piece. It's cute and neat but overall not that big of a deal. This involves pushing boulders and it's pretty basic a pushing puzzle, with the various pitalls you'd expect from it. At this point there isn't all that much to say. Lotta block pushing puzzles as we make our way up the mountain, at one point we do a clever bomb throwing puzzle to hit a switch to build a bridge. Nothing too exciting, but it's nice. This is a cool mountain.

Finally, we reach the summit, which means we've also reached the location of the Minish we're looking for! Melari's Mine! It's a small little area, though it's cute counting all the seats and beds and stuff to see if it matches the amount of Minish who live here (and it does!). They also made suuuper cute noises which is adorable and I love it. We go find Melari who's busy at work and ooh jeez he's quite large for a small mouse man. He's gotta be like a 3/3 or something. Melari says they'll work on fixing the sword, but it'll take awhile. While we're at it, since we need the Elements anyway, why not go next door to the human mine to pick up Fire. I have a slight problem with this.

Why wasn't Melari's mine at the bottom of the mountain? With where it is now, it seems like our quest was LITERALLY just to go find a due who can fix the sword, with the dungeon thrown in as a side thought. It makes our trip up the mountain seem like a somewhat dangerous errand, not a big plot quest type thing. Additionally, how does ANY Minish climb up this whooole mountain? What they should of done is had Melari's Mine be at the bottom (near the mineral water) and have them be like yeah sure we can fix it...if you find the Fire element. Make the Elements more then just plot tokens that do DO a thing, but have no actual relevance to the story. Make it so that the Earth Element we got let us see Minish towns more easily (explaining why we can see his UNDERGROUND mine) and make it so that the Fire Element, while useless in OUR hands, gives Melari the fire he needs to reforge this legendary sword. It'd also make climbing the mountain more "epic" since we're explicitly climbing it to get to that dungeon. This is just a small, little thought at the back of my head, but I think it would of made the game feel a little better. Anyway, moving on to the dungeon!

The Cave of Fire, formally a human mine! An interesting name and setting for a dungeon, but I like it. Our new enemies are all quite silly, too. We've got straight up Bob-ombs on loan from the Mushroom Kingdom. Hit them once and they start running around all crazy, hit em again and they'll stop. They explode after awhile. Then we've got a Rupee Like, the worst ambush predator in the world. These guys consume money, and hide in obvious piles of money. These games NEVER just GIVE YOU a pile of rupees on the floor like this, so even discounting the fact that you cannot actually tell which rupee is the Rupee Like, you're never going to get eaten by one. I should hope not since they eat money which is super rude! The color of the rupee on their stalk determines how much "damage" they do, which is a clever little indication. Then we have Spiked Beetles, not to be mixed up with Spiky Beetles because they're super different. These guys can only be beaten by flipping them with your shield and then slashing their underbelly! We do so...and then Ezlo tells us how to do it. I've gone back in other saves to check and this tutorial message is, for whatever reason, keys to activate only when you get into the MIDDLE of the room. So...it's technically not his fault? We've also got Rollobites, completely indestructible enemies designed to be used in puzzles. Put ball in hole! I throw one into the lava just to get the kill counter up.

The main thing we're doing in this dungeon is blowing up walls and using the mine cart system that's still in place. Ezlo said it's safe and...well lets just say that Ezlo's often wrong and leave it at that. It's cool and funny and I actually quite like it. Another sort of weird thing is that we get the compass before the map, which seems...basically pointless? It's weird and I don't know why it happened. There's also floating around on rock chunks in lava, which is quite dangerous! We've also got chests and switches on poles so we have to push said pole into holes to get at it. Cute! I'm going to try and let the dungeons speak for themselves, I don't want to take up a huge amount of space by doing a direct play by play of every screen you know! Suffice to say we cut our way through the dungeon, push things into holes, and get to our second sort of miniboss!

This mine's miniboss is a bunch of Spiky Chu-chu's! Not the biggest threat if you realize you can spin attack them, but if you don't oh god that's gonna suck. Thankfully I do know that, so we're easily able to dispatch them. Like the last time we've had a difficult fight, Ezlo has something to say that I missed out. Here it is: Spikey Chu-Chu Fight: My word! It has spikes, it jumps...What can't it do!? Ah, such a bother!

Thanks for the advice hatbro. Our reward for beating them is an item that is for some reason one of my favorites in the game! The Cane of Pacci! This majestic wand of power will grant us access to the most powerful magic of all! The ability to make things flip! Tragically this does not work on many enemies, but it is super fun and silly. I think it can also be used to flip Spiked Beetles instead of the shield. The main use of this item however is to flip spiky rock platforms over to a less dangerous side for more lava crossing, and for supercharging holes so we can do a super jump! I don't quite understand the magi-physics of how this works but I'm guessing it's just a feature of the cane. But yeah, it's a pretty great weapon, I doubt other canes are this cool (http://www.awkwardzombie.com/index.php?page=0&comic=030308).

Anyway, after some practice with the Pacci stick we get to the big involved puzzle to get the Boss Key, but since we're running out of time I just activate the warp back to the entrance and call it quits for today. I'll see you guys next time!

Alright, so right off the keese, Ezlo's helpful stuff is hilari-bad. Like, at least fi said something helpful. He's just...comic relief I guess. It's an odd mechanic that sometimes makes me laugh, and other times makes me roll my eyes at how doofy he is.

The hermit is a hermit for a reason. You don't become a hermit because you like public interaction. Maybe if you had the right kinstone, he'd be happy. And since you're the only one that can give him the kinstone to make him happy, the only person you have to blame is yourself. Or perhaps Ezlo...:smallbiggrin:

I do like the mechanic of the water falling and hope they come back to it. On approach, I thought it was the evil of the next dungeon affecting the area, but then the next dungeon is the Cave of FIRE, not water, so yeah, magic?

+1 style points for defeating a spiny beetle with a peahat!

I agree completely with your mine sentiments, they could have set that up a little better. The mines don't need to be in the same place. And what is it there for? What do they mine? Couldn't they just set up shop in the human mine somewhere? It's odd, but I guess if you don't think about it and say, "oh mountains make sense for mines. Oh their mine being close to the human mine also makes sense," then squint a lot while playing, it doesn't seem so glaring. :smallwink:

Oh bob-ombs, spiny's and spiked beetles...thank you for giving further proof that Mario and Link exist in the same universe. Somehow. Maybe the same planet?

Another abandoned mining facility? With mine carts? Interesting....

I noticed the compass first as well, and it made me confused. Maybe we're supposed to be entering the dungeon from the back entrance, and the map is closer to the front, but the front is now collapsed? I like that they mixed in big and small parts to the dungeon, and I love the Cane. Its just a unique item and its refreshing to see.



EPISODE 4 KILL TALLY!

Tektite - 6
Spiny Beetle - 5
Blue Tektite - 1
Peahat - 4
Helmasaur - 10
Red Chuchu - 18
Bob-omb - 9
Spiked Beetle - 4
Green Rupee Like - 1
Keese - 8
Rollobites - 1
Spike Chuchu - 8

Style Points - 1

Missed Rupees - 2
Lost Rupees (theft, overflow, ect.) - 50!

(previous episodes)



The Minish Cap
Total Kills
(As of Episode 4)

Acro-Bandits - 26
Bob-ombs - 9
Crows - 2
Helmasaurs - 14
Keaton - 1
Keese - 14
Octoroks - 28
Peahats - 7
Puffstools - 10
Rupee Like, Green - 1
Sluggula - 22

Bugs
Beetles, Spiked - 4
Beetles, Spiny - 9
Madderpillars - 1
Mulldozers - 12
Rollobites - 1
Pestos - 13

Chuchus
Chuchus, Green - 4*
Chuchus, Red - 26
Chuchus, Spike - 10

Tektites
Tektites - 26
Tektites, Blue - 1

*one of which was a boss

Total Things Dead - 241!

1st Place - Octoroks, at 28!
2nd Place - Acro-bandits, Red Chuchus and Tektites, Tied at 26!
3rd Place - Sluggula, at 22!

Total Style Points - 2!

Total Missed Rupees - 2
Total Lost Rupees - 60

[LaZodiac]

Alright, so right off the keese, Ezlo's helpful stuff is hilari-bad. Like, at least fi said something helpful. He's just...comic relief I guess. It's an odd mechanic that sometimes makes me laugh, and other times makes me roll my eyes at how doofy he is.

The hermit is a hermit for a reason. You don't become a hermit because you like public interaction. Maybe if you had the right kinstone, he'd be happy. And since you're the only one that can give him the kinstone to make him happy, the only person you have to blame is yourself. Or perhaps Ezlo...:smallbiggrin:

I do like the mechanic of the water falling and hope they come back to it. On approach, I thought it was the evil of the next dungeon affecting the area, but then the next dungeon is the Cave of FIRE, not water, so yeah, magic?

Another abandoned mining facility? With mine carts? Interesting....

I noticed the compass first as well, and it made me confused. Maybe we're supposed to be entering the dungeon from the back entrance, and the map is closer to the front, but the front is now collapsed? I like that they mixed in big and small parts to the dungeon, and I love the Cane. Its just a unique item and its refreshing to see.


**** that "right off the keese" joke is good my god.

I'll blame random drops for not giving me the appropriate Kinstone for when I needed it. Don't worry, since I intend to do all the Kinstone fusions I'll do my best to make that jerk hermit happy.

I'm almost completely certain we'll see those rain drops again. I just forget where.

When you've made as many games as Zelda has you start to overlap a little on what gets made a dungeon. It happens!

I too love the cane. Sadly it's not super useful against enemies, but conceptually it's one of my favorite items here.

[Lord Raziere]

so thats Vaati's story....

I guess people make such wish-granting artifacts out of idealism. the dream of someone using great power to accomplish good ends always burns brightly in mankind, a dream to always hold sway....but then does the reality come and steal such potential away, leaving nothing but another tyrant to defeat today....

um.....they're very pretty rocks. people always like pretty rocks to collect, right? even if they are in croissants. what.....I liked to collect pretty rocks when I was a kid.....

[DataNinja]

I just want to say: Thanks Zodi! Mondays and Fridays are my super-"bleh" days at university, so watching these videos during lunch break cheers me right up. :smallsmile:

[LaZodiac]

so thats Vaati's story....

I guess people make such wish-granting artifacts out of idealism. the dream of someone using great power to accomplish good ends always burns brightly in mankind, a dream to always hold sway....but then does the reality come and steal such potential away, leaving nothing but another tyrant to defeat today....

um.....they're very pretty rocks. people always like pretty rocks to collect, right? even if they are in croissants. what.....I liked to collect pretty rocks when I was a kid.....

Yup! It's a shame, but power corrupts. Vaati could of been a nice sorcerer and now he's just a big mean jerk.

Nothing wrong with collecting shiny rocks just please don't make me eat them.


I just want to say: Thanks Zodi! Mondays and Fridays are my super-"bleh" days at university, so watching these videos during lunch break cheers me right up. :smallsmile:

****, I don't care if I'm making 38 dollars or 3800 dollars, at the end of the day I'm doing this for stuff like this.

Though the money doesn't hurt :smallbiggrin:

[Kd7sov]

Aah! I missed thread-start on one of my favorite Zelda games!

I still think this game (and its sequels) would have been better served elsewhere on the timeline. Picture it: Forces of evil rampage across the land. The Picori appear with a sword (and a "golden light", which I don't actually understand), which they give to the Hero of Men - an adult, possibly a father already, with a pregnant wife. Said Hero beats the evil back, but at terrible cost: every known member of the royal family is dead. The people insist that they must have a ruler, and that this Hero should be it. The hero reluctantly agrees, and when his child is born - a daughter - he names her Zelda, because that's what princesses are called. (I dunno, I just feel like it works better in this set if there's no connection with Hylia at all.)

Sad to say, I think you missed something, unless I did - if my understanding is correct, the cutscene on the path to Castor marks the cutoff point for rock-smashing with a particular visitor in town, which opens a portal to a guy haunted by a ghost. Which in turn, if I remember right, eventually gives you the Light Arrows. And I haven't noticed mention of this particular fusion in your writeups. (I may have mentioned before, I don't actually enjoy watching people play games, so I'm going by your writeups rather than the videos themselves.)

[LaZodiac]

Aah! I missed thread-start on one of my favorite Zelda games!

I still think this game (and its sequels) would have been better served elsewhere on the timeline. Picture it: Forces of evil rampage across the land. The Picori appear with a sword (and a "golden light", which I don't actually understand), which they give to the Hero of Men - an adult, possibly a father already, with a pregnant wife. Said Hero beats the evil back, but at terrible cost: every known member of the royal family is dead. The people insist that they must have a ruler, and that this Hero should be it. The hero reluctantly agrees, and when his child is born - a daughter - he names her Zelda, because that's what princesses are called. (I dunno, I just feel like it works better in this set if there's no connection with Hylia at all.)

Sad to say, I think you missed something, unless I did - if my understanding is correct, the cutscene on the path to Castor marks the cutoff point for rock-smashing with a particular visitor in town, which opens a portal to a guy haunted by a ghost. Which in turn, if I remember right, eventually gives you *A THING*. And I haven't noticed mention of this particular fusion in your writeups. (I may have mentioned before, I don't actually enjoy watching people play games, so I'm going by your writeups rather than the videos themselves.)

Rest assured, I'll explain some of the incongruities of the timeline later. Suffice to say I disagree on your opinion in that case, though I do like the little story you presented.

As for that specific fusion, I'd prefer not to spoil things if that's okay. At any rate don't worry, that particular fusion, which is the only fusion in the entire game that can be missed, won't be missed.

That all being said, I'm glad you're enjoying!

[LaZodiac]

Time for more Zelda! Nothing will stop us now!

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap [6] Castor Wilds (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-2RlXhHlP8)

Video Length: 24:34

Starting us off, we're in the Western Woods and quite close to the Castor Wilds. All we've gotta do is cut through some Keaton, Moblin, and Crow enemies. Along the way we see first hand that Moblins drop Kinstones for us on death occasionally. A little creepy, but nice of them!

We get into Castor Wild proper, a messy ole swamp full of weird plants and murky, muddy depths. Unfortunately, we're immediately impeded by said swamp, as it sucks us in like a very slow pit, and we're not fast enough to get out. Thankfully it seems that Pegasus Boots are common knowledge in this era, so we at least have an idea of how we can get across. So lets go take a visit to the shoe store!

On our way we encounter some Moblins with bows. The other, spear having Moblins could all dash about and stuff too. HMM, feels like foreshadowing I just can't put my finger on it. The Bow ones are incredibly easy because they lack all the defensive and offensive capabilities of the spear Moblins due to...not having a spear! They're dangerous at long range but this is a GBA game so it's kind of impossible for them to GET long range on you.

After doing some light exploration of the town (don't worry I'll get more in depth into the town later) we finally get to the shoe store! Unfortunately for us the cobbler falls asleep right as we show up, and he's a heavy dang sleeper. Oops! Thankfully he's got a pot nearby that we can use to shrink down, climb up onto his desk, and speak with the city Minish that are secretly helping him out, Cobbler and the Elves style. This is honestly super cute, I love it. It also doesn't help that the City Minish all speak english naturally, which they would of course do given they spend the most time around humans, even if they don't interact. Long and short of it is that we need to go to the house o Witch Maple to get a wake up shroom to get this guy up so he can finish the Boots, so lets get going!

First though, like I said, I'll detail the shop in the open market. Our god friend Beedle is back, this time just peddling wares instead of a flying machine. Here he's just selling Picolyte, special little glowing orb things made from Pico Blooms. We'll get more into that once we see them in video, but just keep those in mind. Point is, eat a Picolyte and for 30 seconds or so, it increases the drop rate of things! Blue Picolyte makes more stuff just drop in general. Despite this it still costs 200 rupees like all the others, which is lame! Green Picolyte makes Mysterious Shells drop more frequently. We'll talk more about these shells once we find what they're used for but suffice to say I'll be buying a lot of Green Picolyte. Red Picolyte is for hearts which is basically pointless. Orange is for Fairies which is, again, kind of useless. Yellow Picolyte is for Rupees, but I'm actually pretty sure you can't get more then the 200 Rupees you spent on it, I'd have to test it. Just wouldn't have the time, I think. Finally, and most/second most important, White gets you Kinstones. I'll be buying a lot of this too. But not now, we're broke. Also, only three of the colours are currently available, someone (us) will have to do something about this (probably rubbing rocks together).

Our next destination is the Lon Lon Ranch. We need to go here so we can make a quuuuick stop at the lake to get to the part of the Minish Wood Maple lives in. But first, I take a sliiight detour that brings us to something I forgot was even here! A mysterious tree cave full of ancient looking stone, and a large fountain. Inside the fountain is a beautiful fairy who asks us for all of our money. I'm fine with that. In return for our generosity she gives us the Big Wallet! With this we can hold 300 rupees! I said 200 in the video cause I wasn't sure and forgot to check, sorry! What's somewhat annoying is that, looking at this...I COULD of gotten a wallet upgrade before going to Mt Crenel, so my wasted rupees are even MORE wasted. Especially since, now that I have this new wallet THIS way, the other ways to get a wallet upgrade have gotten harder to compensate for that. This is my fault for exploring every shop except THE ONE THAT ACTUALLY SELLS ITEMS.

With that accidentally awesome detour out of the way, lets continue to the Ranch! It seems poor owner of the ranch, lost his key. The spare key is also inside the house. Oops! Thankfully, we can shrink our way in. No problem is to large for a small child! Sadly we can't unlock their door from inside, which would be hilarious, but such is the way things go. He's so happy that we somehow managed to get his spare key that he gives us free reign to go through his house at any time! Seeing as how it's the only way to get to Lake Hylia, I imagine he must do this a lot, or at least charge a toll. Also, minor lore point, you may recognize the name of Hylia. The idea is that the people in this world aren't humans, they're hylians, the people of Hyrule, so for them this is just the lake of the people of Hyrule. But it seems to be quite a bit more then it first appears. We spend some time exploring what we can of the lake, but unless Link learns how to swim we're not getting through any time soon. I was wrong by the way you don't need to go to the lake OOPS! We got to make friends with a dog though so that's cool.

After soaring through some tornadoes to get to Syrup's Hut, we...get to Syrup's Hut! Look sometimes writing is hard! The point is we get to the old Witch's house and she sells us that mushroom for 60 rupees! I guess it's a good thing I didn't buy that extra wallet since I don't know if I'd be able to afford this without grinding otherwise! At any rate, the mushroom is ours so we can now progress. We head back to the cobbler and wake him up with the mushroom, and are rewarded handsomely for the effort with the PEGASUS BOOTS! With these awesome items on hand (foot?) we can run and dash like those Moblins, very fast! This'll let us speed around the country side, and pas through Castor Wilds without trouble. But most importantly of all, we can ram into walls again! Huzzah! We also learn how to hold a sword while running from Swiftblade.

Before we get into the Wilds, first I'd like to talk about the Gorons. These lovable rock eating ogres are a series staple, but for those of you following these videos in order this is the first time we've seen em! They're nice and cool dudes who just kinda want to chill and eat all day, and I can get behind that. They're also pretty strong, able to dig up rocks with their fists! Impressive! We'll see more of these guys later (the Goron I fused with I'm pretty sure is the start of a veeery long side quest) but in this game they're really just kinda there, not plot important. Anyway, moving onto the Wilds!

The Castor Wilds are quite a messy swamp. It's tangled and dirty and kind of like a small maze. It's quite easy to get lost here, even with a map! Thankfully my pinpoint navigational skills will get us through. We encounter a few new enemies here, mainly the Rope Snakes. These little guys only attack through contact damage, and they only charge at you if you come at them from a cardinal direction. Diagonals are safe and fine from these guys! In that sense, quite easy to deal with. Less easy to deal with is a miniboss we happen to stumble into. A large hound looking man in white armor, wielding both a shield and sword. This is a Darknut, and in any Zelda game they appear in they are certainly the strongest enemy you can find! In this game, this mighty warrior is practically invincible from the front, parrying your sword swings or just outright blocking them. He's only vulnerable from the sides and back, but unless you do some quick dodging work while he's attacking he just won't let you get to his back. You CAN use bombs on them, but I kind of prefer the thrill of combat. Defeating him gets us a golden Kinstone. We'll...deal with THAT later. Mysterious~

That all being said and done, we explore the Wilds some more and eventually find a place we can become a Minish at. Going through a small path on our lilypad (which is full of nothing but time wasting lotus flowers that get in our way and nothing else) we find a bunch of Blue Mulldozer's! This is somewhat challenging, but overall not a big issue. The reward is quite good though, the Bow! With Bow in hand, we can progress on wards into the Wilds, and I make a show of it by defeating one of the Eyegore Statue enemies in our way. You don't have to, a single shot will get them to move, but they're big ole stompy monsters so I may as well destroy them. And with that, we're done for today.

I hope you all enjoyed I'll see you guys next time. I think we'll get to the dungeon next video, so that'll be fun cause I still don't remember it at all basically.

[Lord Raziere]

Time for more Zelda! Nothing will stop us now!

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap [6] Castor Wilds (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-2RlXhHlP8)

Video Length: 24:34


why do you like running into things so much? I'm pretty sure your Mario has severe head trauma from your playthrough of Sunshine, and by the end of this lets play, this Link will grow up to have some sort of mental dysfunction or something. :smalltongue:

awesome shoes are always awesome. certainly better than those iron boots from Wind Waker, I mean boots to sink like a rock in a game where most of the world is WATER, great idea! so you of course, get boots to walk on water in the Minish Cap, where the entire kingdom seems to be landlocked!

I like the lon-lon ranch's cow-girl's voice "lu-lu-lu-luuuuuu" just sounds so musical and soothing.

and we get a Bow, surprising absolutely no one, I don't use bows all that often. in RPG's they're always hard to use in some form or other and its just better to use your melee weapon, unless its like absolutely needed for a certain situation. either that or they're just weak and take too long to kill something when you have a sword that does the job much better.

[LaZodiac]

why do you like running into things so much? I'm pretty sure your Mario has severe head trauma from your playthrough of Sunshine, and by the end of this lets play, this Link will grow up to have some sort of mental dysfunction or something. :smalltongue:

I like the lon-lon ranch's cow-girl's voice "lu-lu-lu-luuuuuu" just sounds so musical and soothing.

I just sorta thought it'd be funny and it became a thing, I guess! Happy birthday to the wall *crashes face*

Yeah, that music is quite lovely. We'll talk more about that later, I think :smallamused:

[ShneekeyTheLost]

I just sorta thought it'd be funny and it became a thing, I guess! Happy birthday to the wall *crashes face*

Yeah, that music is quite lovely. We'll talk more about that later, I think :smallamused:

Indeed. Futurepast self facepalm'd at that melody. In fact, there were a few things in this episode that futurepast self reacted to. Which is one reason I'm not going to spoil it. After all, three or four games down the road, you'll be like "I GOT THAT!", just like that scene in the Avengers with Cap.

[TheWombatOfDoom]

I know it's not much, but five videos into a series is a milestone. Lets go!

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap [5] Double Time (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUUQPGAC-cc)

Video Length: 25:28

Last time we all but completed the Cave of Fire, an old human mine turned monsters playground. This time, we'll be finishing it off. There really isn't much left to do besides clean up the last incidental treasures, get the big key, and then go face us a boss fight. Tragically, one of the last treasure chests contains 100 Rupees, and this is just awful. I'm sorry, completionists everywhere, but this truly is a waste of money.

Regardless, after getting our way through blade traps and tornadoes, we obtain our big key and open up the door to the boss. Meet Gleerok, a lizardy lava monster! It's main attack is spewing jets of fire, though at the beginning of the fight they are basically just singular fire balls. To defeat it, you must evade it's attacks and get to either it's side or back, and fire a Pacci shot at it's hardened magma shell! The shell flips up and slams into it's back, stunning it, allowing you to run up it's neck to tear into the weird crystal thing on it's back. Once you've done enough damage he'll flood the room with lava, making you have to stick to the edges briefly until it recedes, dodging falling rocks all the while. Then it rises back up ready to resume, a little faster and with a lot more fire to share with you. Three rotations of this pattern and you've won! This is a REALLY fun boss fight actually, very hectic and dangerous, but with how the fire works you can get healed fairly easily due to getting hearts from the leftover embers. It's pretty cool. With Gleerok finally slain, the lava cools and we get a Heart Container, plus the Element of Fire! Two down, two to go...but it appears I may be wrong about their being only four dungeons because it's been awhile since I've played this!

With Elements in hand we head back to our Minish blacksmith friend, who gives us the now completed Picori Blade! Or at least, the former Picori Blade. Any magic it may of had is kind of...lacking, since it got smashed in half, and now it's a simple White Sword. Still, it does one more damage then our regular old sword we're trading up here. He tells us that our next job is to actually infuse the elements into the White Sword. The Elemental Sanctuary is somewhere in Hyrule Castle, so lets get a move on!

This leads to one of those awkward moments where I get confused due to my knowledge of future events and end up a little lost. Oops! I do get to fuse Kinstones with the King and his adviser though, so that's nice. We also get to see the dialogue that happens when you look at Zelda's petrified body, which I don't think I knew about. Intense! Anyway after flailing about a little we find the Elemental Sanctuary, and boy is this place pretty. Shiny and regal, with full size Minish statues, four heroes holding blades. It's almost symbolic of something. We place our sword in the center, and the Elements of Earth and Fire pour into our blade. With the magic of the Elements, we are now capable of participating in this game's second major game mechanic!

By holding out our sword we channel the power of the Elementals and, by stepping over glowing tiles on the ground, we can essentially clone ourselves! We are now two small children in one! With this power, puzzles will likely get trickier as they involve manipulating your second self, and I'm all for it. This is a cool mechanic and I like it a lot. This is also what I meant by the clever comment a few videos back. There are glowing tiles next to the explody wall you NEED to go through to get the bottle, and these are the only time those specific tiles are REQUIRED to see, up to this point. There are others but they're on optional paths and the like. So with that in mind, assuming you only end up doing required stuff, the player will notice that hey, these glowy tiles are like the ones in that one cave. I should go there. And they should because that's where they HAVE to go to progress forward in the plot. It's a really cool way of secretly guiding the player's path.

Anyway, it's time to leave Hyrule Castle and oh crap! It's Vaati! It's time to learn some backstory and hoo boy is it something. I forgot we actually learned it this early. Vaati and Ezlo used to be student and master, respectively. They also used to be both Minish. But Ezlo, big dumb wizard that he was, made a hat that granted your hearts desire. Vaati, annoyed by Ezlo's teachings not being very good, took the hat and used it to become what he is now. He then cursed Ezlo to become a hat, a ignoble end to the sub par sage's life. So Ezlo wants to help us save the world and stop Vaati because it's basically literally all his fault. Lets just hope he doesn't find the Light Force before we can do so.

I actually really like this backstory, and as a younger me it actually got me really invested in Ezlo and Vaati's characters. Ezlo isn't some weird talking hat, and Vaati isn't some random sorcerer who'll likely get co-opted by a different villain like so many other games do. Vaati's just a regular Minish who was learning magic under Ezlo, and Ezlo has shown us quite clearly why Vaati was unsatisfied with his teachings. Ezlo's a cool dude, but his actual advice in game is kinda bad, and I feel like that was intentional to make us see just why Vaati did what he did. It's like using a strategy guide only it makes you a creepy evil jerkface. I also like it because it gives some backstory for Vaati himself, who seemed like he was just kinda there. Mild futurepast spoilers, this is not the last time we'll see Vaati, even if this is the first. It's really cool, and makes me interested in this silly laughing wizard.

Anyway, we learn all this AFTER getting forced to fight some monsters by Vaati, so lets go over those monsters shall we? They are Moblins, and this is unique in that this is the first time we're fighting the tougher version of a monster before we fight the regular kind. Thankfully our upgraded sword helps with that. Less helpful is that Moblins are kind of tough to deal with in this game! They're fairly well protected from the front, using their spears to parry your attacks, and they stab at you pretty damn quick with em. They also have a dash attack but this area is a bit too small to show that off. With Moblins dead and backstory learned, lets continue on to Castor Wilds, our next destination.

Now's the part where I almost pathologically delay our going to Castor Wilds to do other things. There is a reason for it, it's just an example of my future knowledge making me think the next segment is gonna be really long! I'm wrong and am silly. So yeah, we check out that bakery and pick up some delicious food objects. Since having played this game a long time ago I've actually HAD Brioche, for example, and that **** is delicious. Get some if you can, it's super good. Anyway, the reason this bread shop exists is because every so often you'll find a random Kinstone piece inside the pastry you'll eat!

I get that this is a game and I get that this is just a funny little game mechanic, but these bakers PUT ROCKS INTO THEIR FOOD AT RANDOM. Someone please tell me why and how this store isn't closed down due to pure actual idiocy?

After that we then go over to Swiftblade's house. Something I forgot to show almost completely is that after learning a thing from him, you can talk to him to see when he can give you his next move. In this case he told us to come back when we've got a stronger blade. Well, with the White Sword in hand we DO have a stronger blade, so lets go! He teaches us the Rock Breaker, an amazingly complex move. To perform it, ATTACK POTS AND BOULDERS...and that's it. We can now smash pots and boulders with our sword. He STILL POSSESSES US to show us how to do the move though, JUST so we understand how the move works. That's...kind of SUPER silly.

Speaking of super silly, we finally encounter Blue Octoroks, the stronger versions of the regular ones. After getting the stronger sword, effectively making them identical to regular ones! Game design! I do kind of like this if only because, since we've clearly become aware by this point that "blue enemies" are stronger, seeing a blue Octorok still die in one hit like a regular one can be a sort of uplifting moment for the player, showing clearly how strong they are. I like it, it just seems goofy on the surface.

As we make our way down to the Western Wood, which according to our map will take us to Castor Wilds, we have...a small scene where the wind blows and gives us chills. Those of you with futurepast knowledge may note something interesting here, but suffice to say we DO see Vaati show up in Hyrule Castle and do...some manner of evil to the King. Taking his place and demanding his soldiers find the Light Force, cruelly arresting those do don't agree with him. Ezlo passes the wind off as nothing, and we continue onward. But that'll be for next time. I hope you enjoyed.

I liked this dungeon a bit, but DEAR GOD 100 RUPEES, oh dear. Poor Zodi. :( Game, how do you expect for a player to spend all their money before giving them this chest, since the wallet can only hold 100 anyway? Its just very poorly thought of.

Double the fun of Double Link Gum! I wonder if Link can now kinstone fusion with himself...FUUUU-SHUN-HA!

I do really like the reveal of Ezlo and Vaati as both minish, and their relationship. Its one of my favorite reveals, to be honest.

The bakers put the kinstones in their bread, only to make the sign out front accurate. What does the sign say? This bread rocks! ....I'll see myself out.

All I have to say about Swiftblade is that, being a teacher myself, sometimes its a lot easier to show someone how to do it by possession than it is to explain it and hope they get it. 100% learning, 100% invasive use of teaching.



EPISODE 5 KILL TALLY!

Keese - 5
Gleerok - 1
Tektite - 6
Peahat - 1
Beetle - 1
Octorok - 11
Keaton - 1
Blue Moblin - 2
Blue Octorok - 2
Moblin - 1

Style Points - 0

Missed Rupees - 0! (shiny!)
Lost Rupees (theft, overflow, ect.) - 101

(previous episodes)



The Minish Cap
Total Kills
(As of Episode 5)

Acro-Bandits - 26
Bob-ombs - 9
Crows - 2
Gleerok - 1
Helmasaurs - 14
Keaton - 2
Keese - 19
Peahats - 8
Puffstools - 10
Rupee Like, Green - 1
Sluggula - 22

Blins
Moblin - 1
Moblin, Blue - 2

Bugs
Beetles - 1
Beetles, Spiked - 4
Beetles, Spiny - 9
Madderpillars - 1
Mulldozers - 12
Rollobites - 1
Pestos - 13

Chuchus
Chuchus, Green - 4*
Chuchus, Red - 26
Chuchus, Spike - 10

Octoroks
Octoroks - 39
Octoroks, Blue - 2

Tektites
Tektites - 32
Tektites, Blue - 1

*one of which was a boss

Total Things Dead - 272!

1st Place - Octoroks, at 39!
2nd Place - Tektites, at 32!
3rd Place - Acro-bandits and Red Chuchus, Tied at 26!

Total Style Points - 2!

Total Missed Rupees - 2
Total Lost Rupees - 161

[LaZodiac]

I liked this dungeon a bit, but DEAR GOD 100 RUPEES, oh dear. Poor Zodi. :( Game, how do you expect for a player to spend all their money before giving them this chest, since the wallet can only hold 100 anyway? Its just very poorly thought of.

Double the fun of Double Link Gum! I wonder if Link can now kinstone fusion with himself...FUUUU-SHUN-HA!

I do really like the reveal of Ezlo and Vaati as both minish, and their relationship. Its one of my favorite reveals, to be honest.

All I have to say about Swiftblade is that, being a teacher myself, sometimes its a lot easier to show someone how to do it by possession than it is to explain it and hope they get it. 100% learning, 100% invasive use of teaching.


The dungeon's actually pretty good, but...man. Man. My poor wallet. I'm so sorry, wasted rupees. It IS actually possible to get those rupees, as I actually mentioned in video 6's write up (you'll get to it) but it's still tragic!

Ooh, rubbing rocks together with yourself? Sounds...dirty, for some reason.

Agreed! The Ezlo and Vaati reveal is actually pretty good.

That is true, showing can help. I've not been a teacher but I HAVE been a student. That being said, taking over our body to show us how to do something this simple is a little silly.

[TheWombatOfDoom]

Time for more Zelda! Nothing will stop us now!

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap [6] Castor Wilds (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-2RlXhHlP8)

Video Length: 24:34

Starting us off, we're in the Western Woods and quite close to the Castor Wilds. All we've gotta do is cut through some Keaton, Moblin, and Crow enemies. Along the way we see first hand that Moblins drop Kinstones for us on death occasionally. A little creepy, but nice of them!

We get into Castor Wild proper, a messy ole swamp full of weird plants and murky, muddy depths. Unfortunately, we're immediately impeded by said swamp, as it sucks us in like a very slow pit, and we're not fast enough to get out. Thankfully it seems that Pegasus Boots are common knowledge in this era, so we at least have an idea of how we can get across. So lets go take a visit to the shoe store!

On our way we encounter some Moblins with bows. The other, spear having Moblins could all dash about and stuff too. HMM, feels like foreshadowing I just can't put my finger on it. The Bow ones are incredibly easy because they lack all the defensive and offensive capabilities of the spear Moblins due to...not having a spear! They're dangerous at long range but this is a GBA game so it's kind of impossible for them to GET long range on you.

After doing some light exploration of the town (don't worry I'll get more in depth into the town later) we finally get to the shoe store! Unfortunately for us the cobbler falls asleep right as we show up, and he's a heavy dang sleeper. Oops! Thankfully he's got a pot nearby that we can use to shrink down, climb up onto his desk, and speak with the city Minish that are secretly helping him out, Cobbler and the Elves style. This is honestly super cute, I love it. It also doesn't help that the City Minish all speak english naturally, which they would of course do given they spend the most time around humans, even if they don't interact. Long and short of it is that we need to go to the house o Witch Maple to get a wake up shroom to get this guy up so he can finish the Boots, so lets get going!

First though, like I said, I'll detail the shop in the open market. Our god friend Beedle is back, this time just peddling wares instead of a flying machine. Here he's just selling Picolyte, special little glowing orb things made from Pico Blooms. We'll get more into that once we see them in video, but just keep those in mind. Point is, eat a Picolyte and for 30 seconds or so, it increases the drop rate of things! Blue Picolyte makes more stuff just drop in general. Despite this it still costs 200 rupees like all the others, which is lame! Green Picolyte makes Mysterious Shells drop more frequently. We'll talk more about these shells once we find what they're used for but suffice to say I'll be buying a lot of Green Picolyte. Red Picolyte is for hearts which is basically pointless. Orange is for Fairies which is, again, kind of useless. Yellow Picolyte is for Rupees, but I'm actually pretty sure you can't get more then the 200 Rupees you spent on it, I'd have to test it. Just wouldn't have the time, I think. Finally, and most/second most important, White gets you Kinstones. I'll be buying a lot of this too. But not now, we're broke. Also, only three of the colours are currently available, someone (us) will have to do something about this (probably rubbing rocks together).

Our next destination is the Lon Lon Ranch. We need to go here so we can make a quuuuick stop at the lake to get to the part of the Minish Wood Maple lives in. But first, I take a sliiight detour that brings us to something I forgot was even here! A mysterious tree cave full of ancient looking stone, and a large fountain. Inside the fountain is a beautiful fairy who asks us for all of our money. I'm fine with that. In return for our generosity she gives us the Big Wallet! With this we can hold 300 rupees! I said 200 in the video cause I wasn't sure and forgot to check, sorry! What's somewhat annoying is that, looking at this...I COULD of gotten a wallet upgrade before going to Mt Crenel, so my wasted rupees are even MORE wasted. Especially since, now that I have this new wallet THIS way, the other ways to get a wallet upgrade have gotten harder to compensate for that. This is my fault for exploring every shop except THE ONE THAT ACTUALLY SELLS ITEMS.

With that accidentally awesome detour out of the way, lets continue to the Ranch! It seems poor owner of the ranch, lost his key. The spare key is also inside the house. Oops! Thankfully, we can shrink our way in. No problem is to large for a small child! Sadly we can't unlock their door from inside, which would be hilarious, but such is the way things go. He's so happy that we somehow managed to get his spare key that he gives us free reign to go through his house at any time! Seeing as how it's the only way to get to Lake Hylia, I imagine he must do this a lot, or at least charge a toll. Also, minor lore point, you may recognize the name of Hylia. The idea is that the people in this world aren't humans, they're hylians, the people of Hyrule, so for them this is just the lake of the people of Hyrule. But it seems to be quite a bit more then it first appears. We spend some time exploring what we can of the lake, but unless Link learns how to swim we're not getting through any time soon. I was wrong by the way you don't need to go to the lake OOPS! We got to make friends with a dog though so that's cool.

After soaring through some tornadoes to get to Syrup's Hut, we...get to Syrup's Hut! Look sometimes writing is hard! The point is we get to the old Witch's house and she sells us that mushroom for 60 rupees! I guess it's a good thing I didn't buy that extra wallet since I don't know if I'd be able to afford this without grinding otherwise! At any rate, the mushroom is ours so we can now progress. We head back to the cobbler and wake him up with the mushroom, and are rewarded handsomely for the effort with the PEGASUS BOOTS! With these awesome items on hand (foot?) we can run and dash like those Moblins, very fast! This'll let us speed around the country side, and pas through Castor Wilds without trouble. But most importantly of all, we can ram into walls again! Huzzah! We also learn how to hold a sword while running from Swiftblade.

Before we get into the Wilds, first I'd like to talk about the Gorons. These lovable rock eating ogres are a series staple, but for those of you following these videos in order this is the first time we've seen em! They're nice and cool dudes who just kinda want to chill and eat all day, and I can get behind that. They're also pretty strong, able to dig up rocks with their fists! Impressive! We'll see more of these guys later (the Goron I fused with I'm pretty sure is the start of a veeery long side quest) but in this game they're really just kinda there, not plot important. Anyway, moving onto the Wilds!

The Castor Wilds are quite a messy swamp. It's tangled and dirty and kind of like a small maze. It's quite easy to get lost here, even with a map! Thankfully my pinpoint navigational skills will get us through. We encounter a few new enemies here, mainly the Rope Snakes. These little guys only attack through contact damage, and they only charge at you if you come at them from a cardinal direction. Diagonals are safe and fine from these guys! In that sense, quite easy to deal with. Less easy to deal with is a miniboss we happen to stumble into. A large hound looking man in white armor, wielding both a shield and sword. This is a Darknut, and in any Zelda game they appear in they are certainly the strongest enemy you can find! In this game, this mighty warrior is practically invincible from the front, parrying your sword swings or just outright blocking them. He's only vulnerable from the sides and back, but unless you do some quick dodging work while he's attacking he just won't let you get to his back. You CAN use bombs on them, but I kind of prefer the thrill of combat. Defeating him gets us a golden Kinstone. We'll...deal with THAT later. Mysterious~

That all being said and done, we explore the Wilds some more and eventually find a place we can become a Minish at. Going through a small path on our lilypad (which is full of nothing but time wasting lotus flowers that get in our way and nothing else) we find a bunch of Blue Mulldozer's! This is somewhat challenging, but overall not a big issue. The reward is quite good though, the Bow! With Bow in hand, we can progress on wards into the Wilds, and I make a show of it by defeating one of the Eyegore Statue enemies in our way. You don't have to, a single shot will get them to move, but they're big ole stompy monsters so I may as well destroy them. And with that, we're done for today.

I hope you all enjoyed I'll see you guys next time. I think we'll get to the dungeon next video, so that'll be fun cause I still don't remember it at all basically.

In my headspace, moblins steal kinstones to prevent happiness from spreading. Because they're meanie heads.

I do like that the minish help the dude with his shoes. Its kind of a borrowers kind of feel as well, that the world is more than it appears to humans.

I honestly forgot about picolite all together. :smallsigh:

Why is lake Hylia up there? Zelda why you move things? Everything is in a different place except the forest, which is the most moveable thing of the bunch.... The fairies look pretty though.

I do like the map in this game. Detailed, zoom in-able...stylized. I like maps. :smallsmile:

I love that the Pegasus Boots quest is really, find a mushroom that smells terrible, and stick it under his nose, and he'll give you some boots.

But...we saw Gorons in Skyward Sword...this isn't the first time....or do you mean for this game? Probably that. Gorons are probably my favorite race in Zelda....Probably. Zora are pretty close. Though people don't know what those are yet so....runs away.

The final touch to the Pegasus boots apparently is hitting them with a hammer, and rubbing them with some cloth. Also yeah for slamming into walls! I also like that swiftblade's instruction is, hold sword, then run like crazy. :smallbiggrin:

Gotta love the challenge of a darknut. +1 Style points for not getting hit once while fighting him.

I find it curious that the bow isn't in a dungeon, just like the bombs. Maybe they had plans for more places but ran out of time? Or room on the cartridge?



EPISODE 6 KILL TALLY!

Keaton - 2
Crow - 4
Moblin - 2
Blue Octorok - 3
Moblin (Bow) - 4
Octorok - 16
Acro-Bandit - 21
Green Chuchu - 1
Rope - 8
Darknut - 1
Peahat - 1
Blue Mulldozer - 5
Eyegore Statue - 1

Style Points - 1!

Missed Rupees - 0! (shiny x2!)
Lost Rupees (theft, overflow, ect.) - 0

(previous episodes)



The Minish Cap
Total Kills
(As of Episode 6)

Acro-Bandits - 47
Bob-ombs - 9
Crows - 6
Darknut - 1
Eyegore Statue - 1
Gleerok - 1
Helmasaurs - 14
Keaton - 4
Keese - 19
Peahats - 9
Puffstools - 10
Rope - 8
Rupee Like, Green - 1
Sluggula - 22

Blins
Moblin - 3
Moblin (Bow) - 4
Moblin, Blue - 2

Bugs
Beetles - 1
Beetles, Spiked - 4
Beetles, Spiny - 9
Madderpillars - 1
Mulldozers - 12
Mulldozers, Blue - 5
Rollobites - 1
Pestos - 13

Chuchus
Chuchus, Green - 5*
Chuchus, Red - 26
Chuchus, Spike - 10

Octoroks
Octoroks - 55
Octoroks, Blue - 5

Tektites
Tektites - 32
Tektites, Blue - 1

*one of which was a boss

Total Things Dead - 341!

1st Place - Octoroks, at 55!
2nd Place - Acro-bandits, at 47!
3rd Place - Tektites, at 32!

Total Style Points - 3!

Total Missed Rupees - 2
Total Lost Rupees - 161

[LaZodiac]

In my headspace, moblins steal kinstones to prevent happiness from spreading. Because they're meanie heads.

I honestly forgot about picolite all together. :smallsigh:

Why is lake Hylia up there? Zelda why you move things? Everything is in a different place except the forest, which is the most moveable thing of the bunch.... The fairies look pretty though.

But...we saw Gorons in Skyward Sword...this isn't the first time....or do you mean for this game? Probably that. Gorons are probably my favorite race in Zelda....Probably. Zora are pretty close. Though people don't know what those are yet so....runs away.

Gotta love the challenge of a darknut. +1 Style points for not getting hit once while fighting him.

I find it curious that the bow isn't in a dungeon, just like the bombs. Maybe they had plans for more places but ran out of time? Or room on the cartridge?


Yeah, that's reasonable. Moblins are huge jerks,they'd take kinstones. It's out job to get em back!

It's perfectly reasonable to forget Picolyte, you don't need it unless you're insane.

Presumably something'll happen to make them decide to move the castle, I'm guessing.

...oh my god we did I just blocked it out I'm sorry. I've made a large error and I'm sorry. Apologies to all my Gorons out their, I'm a dumb.

Hell yeah, skill fight against the Darknut. That's always fun.

Yeah I have to imagine it's just a space on the cartridge thing.

[LaZodiac]

Onwards to more Zelda!

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap [7] Fortress of Winds (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPx2eXqQdVg)

Video Length: 25:55

Okay! Last time we started exploring Castor Wilds, and got us a cool little bow. With that in hand, lets continue onward! Right off the bat, we encounter something really cool. A grave in the swamp! This being an adventure game, we push it open and step inside, to reveal...Swiftblade the First! A powerful sword ghost who says he'll teach us a cool move after we learn all of the other moves Swiftblade (and presumably other swordmasters) teaches us. We'll have to keep this in mind for later!

Moving on, cutting through enemies and dashing through the swamp, we eventually find our end goal in this swamp. Near the exit of the swamp we find three statues, each with a golden Kinstone placed in it. What this means is that somewhere in Castor Wilds are three (two actually, we have the first) golden Kinstone pieces, and we need to get them to progress. This is what the golden ones do, and I actually really like it. It gives the Wilds this feeling of an "open air" mini dungeon, and given that we even find a new item in it that's not too far off from true! It also feels like they might of had more dungeon ideas, but never got to implement them in time due to such and such reasoning. Anyway, with a goal now firmly in mind, lets rush off to find the other pieces!

It turns out the other pieces aren't that bad to find. It does include some running around, but defense wise the last two are much easier to obtain then the one held by the Darknut. I think it's really weird from a game design perspective to have the first one you CAN get, obtained in such a difficult manner, but I think their was a reason for it. First, it does kinda pump you up for adventure since it's a cool fight. Second, it makes it QUITE clear that this isn't just some random thingo, this is important. It helps to inform the player that these aren't optional, so I guess that works. With that (and a really bad engagement with some Rupee Likes) out of the way, we can now proceed to the Wind Ruins!

This area is, as you'd expect, a series of ruins. It looks like a temple like area, and that's not inaccurate. Unlike Castor Wilds which is an open air dungeon like aesthetic, this is a straight (as in liner) shot to our destination, with challenges along the way of both large and small variety. It's actually pretty cool. We have to deal with a new enemy in the Armos, robotic soldiers that can't be hurt in statue form, alternating between turning them on so we can fight them and then actually engaging in combat with the guys. This area seems really balanced in what it has you do, and it feels good to play, the challenges building on each other. Though I do run into some trouble due to the Cane of Pacci being not quite up to snuff as I thought it was. With all that done, we've reached the entrance to our dungeon, so lets get a move on.

The Fortress of Winds! Our third dungeon, and we're not even at 10 videos yet, this game goes fast! This dungeon is full of dirt blocks and stuff, so it's clear that whatever this area was, it was built into the cliff side. Looking at the map we eventually get, the idea of this area is that it's basically three large towers, two side ones and then the larger main one. With that in mind, lets go through em! I opt to take the left most door first, and their we get to meet a new friend, the Stalfos! These skeleton enemies dodge your attacks with high frequency, and try to ground pound you. Thankfully that leaves them open to a good spin attack, taking them out. The only other new enemy that we encounter in this video is the Wallmaster, an annoying red hand that falls on you and takes you back to the entrance. I didn't kill it, but rest assured they'll show up again.

As for what we're actually DOING in this dungeon, it's fairly simple. We climb each of the side towers, going through combat encounters and minor puzzles involving the Bow or our fancy White Sword's clone ability, and at the top we make a key fall down the pit, then jump in after it. It's a cute little event that I like, and it's used in other games in the futurepast. A consequence of going up the leftmost tower first is that we get the compass first again, which is just silly. I brig up something about chests not being visible on the map and...well, I'll explain that now, so that my dialogue in the next video looks a little silly but still accurate to my reactions. The idea is that, those areas with the dirt blocks and stuff, they aren't part of the actual BUILDINGS they made and mapped out, so they aren't visible on the map. This is a very stupid game design thing that I don't like at all. It confused me and made me annoyed and think the game was glitching (and given other glitches that happen these videos, you can hardly blame me). So yeah, that's the main thing with this dungeon.

After dealing with that it's time to go into the main tower, where we can get our map basically for free and without any effort. I feel like you're intended to go this way first to see all the locked doors and impossible to get through paths first. Oops, I guess! After dealing with a Darknut and getting a warp back to the start of the dungeon I figure it's time to cut recording, so I hope you guys enjoyed. Next time we'll be completing the dungeon for real.

------

For those of you who follow my channel but don't like, have a subscription and stuff to get email updates, yesterday I posted a video announcing a new project I'm doing involving the game "RWBY: Grimm Eclipse". There won't be a thread for it (beyond the regular RWBY thread that I'll throw these into) but I figure it'd be prudent to mention it here in case anyone missed it.

Coming Soon: RWBY Grimm Eclipse. RWBY Tuesday every Tuesday. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b__8viHyKh0)

[ShneekeyTheLost]

------

For those of you who follow my channel but don't like, have a subscription and stuff to get email updates, yesterday I posted a video announcing a new project I'm doing involving the game "RWBY: Grimm Eclipse". There won't be a thread for it (beyond the regular RWBY thread that I'll throw these into) but I figure it'd be prudent to mention it here in case anyone missed it.

Coming Soon: RWBY Grimm Eclipse. RWBY Tuesday every Tuesday. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b__8viHyKh0)

Soooo... Dynasty Warriors for Otaku? Generic panty-flash characters so generic they are named after their apparent color scheme wielding improbable weapons in improbable manners to wipe out hordes of mooks using maneuvers designed to entice the worst of the young adult male audience. Objectification of females for profit.

Ummm... okaaaay... if that's what you want to do. Granted, I only saw your little blurb, so there MIGHT be a redeeming feature in there that wasn't featured,but I just didn't see this one being of any interest to you.

[LaZodiac]

Soooo... Dynasty Warriors for Otaku? Generic panty-flash characters so generic they are named after their apparent color scheme wielding improbable weapons in improbable manners to wipe out hordes of mooks using maneuvers designed to entice the worst of the young adult male audience. Objectification of females for profit.

Ummm... okaaaay... if that's what you want to do. Granted, I only saw your little blurb, so there MIGHT be a redeeming feature in there that wasn't featured,but I just didn't see this one being of any interest to you.

Seeing someone who's never seen Roosterteeth's kind of bad not-anime for the first time reminds me of the first time I saw it. Suffice to say, riffing will be had and that's why I'm doing this :smallwink:

Also it's more of a beat em up then a Dynasty Warrior game. It's also actually not that bad objectification ways (their is no actual panty flashing here) but you're not wrong about the characters being a little generic.

I'll be honest, while this doesn't really seem like my kind of thing (aside from being a beat em up) I promised I'd do it in the RWBY thread, and they like me riffing on the show so lets take a crack at the game. It's expanding my brand, you could say.

[Lord Raziere]

Onwards to more Zelda!

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap [7] Fortress of Winds (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPx2eXqQdVg)

Video Length: 25:55

Coming Soon: RWBY Grimm Eclipse. RWBY Tuesday every Tuesday. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b__8viHyKh0)

so yeah......third dungeon. honestly, I'm more interested in what this Swiftblade the First has to teach us. not much else to say.

as for RWBY Tuesday: huh, interesting. I guess I'll look forward to it.

[HalfTangible]

Soooo... Dynasty Warriors for Otaku? Generic panty-flash characters so generic they are named after their apparent color scheme wielding improbable weapons in improbable manners to wipe out hordes of mooks using maneuvers designed to entice the worst of the young adult male audience. Objectification of females for profit.

Ummm... okaaaay... if that's what you want to do. Granted, I only saw your little blurb, so there MIGHT be a redeeming feature in there that wasn't featured,but I just didn't see this one being of any interest to you.
Wouldn't dynasty warriors for Otaku just be dynasty warriors?

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Seeing someone who's never seen Roosterteeth's kind of bad not-anime for the first time reminds me of the first time I saw it. Suffice to say, riffing will be had and that's why I'm doing this :smallwink:

Also it's more of a beat em up then a Dynasty Warrior game. It's also actually not that bad objectification ways (their is no actual panty flashing here) but you're not wrong about the characters being a little generic.

I'll be honest, while this doesn't really seem like my kind of thing (aside from being a beat em up) I promised I'd do it in the RWBY thread, and they like me riffing on the show so lets take a crack at the game. It's expanding my brand, you could say.

Ahh, gotcha. MST3K style. I'll grab the popcorn!

Also, there seem to be statues built into the walls here that make my futurepast self veeeery suspicious. They resemble a certain octopi-resembling rock-shooting thing that makes me suspect they will be used as a trap to shoot you at some point because they are introducing them to you as 'harmless' now.

[LaZodiac]

Ahh, gotcha. MST3K style. I'll grab the popcorn!

Also, there seem to be statues built into the walls here that make my futurepast self veeeery suspicious. They resemble a certain octopi-resembling rock-shooting thing that makes me suspect they will be used as a trap to shoot you at some point because they are introducing them to you as 'harmless' now.

Hope you enjoy :smallamused:

Hmm...good point. I'm actually pulling a blank on what you mean so I guess we'll get to find out together, futurepast style!

[Coidzor]

Man, I've never actually played Golden Sun. Seerow hasn't changed his mind yet so it's still a game I may potentially play oh man. It sounds cool though, I love the idea of "oh no something is out of range for a standard RPG protagonist" *grabs with psychic powers*.

Cane of Pacci would be the best prank weapon. I kinda want something like it in an open world game. Haha, get flipped on cars!

Golden Sun is at least OK. The psynergy stuff is occasionally nifty but also sometimes a bit obtuse, so you'll probably find it a mixed bag after the novelty wears off, unless you have the same frame of mind as the puzzle designers.

That would be interesting, yeah.


I originally wanted to put in a vote for a Banjo game, but there was a serious derth of N64 games on Zodi's list of available games, which makes me suspect she doesn't actually own that console. And it's not worth her buying a console when she has so many hundreds of other games to choose from.

I'm thinking that a Banjo game might actually just be cruel and unusual punishment due to the sheer amount of collecting. :smallamused:


1) It was mentioned at one point there's ~4 dungeons in the game. Does that mean we're close to the halfway point already, or am I misunderstanding? I'd hope there's at least 1-2 dungeons after finishing the Piccori Sword starter quest.

As we've since seen through the Castor Wilds(though why they don't just own that it's a friggin' swamp, I don't even...) and Wind Ruins, there's a bit more dungeony elements to the overworld than is usual for either 3D or top-down Zelda games.

The fully upgraded sword gets shown off a lot more in this game than in Skyward Sword, don't worry.


3) First Temple is pretty straightforward, as expected for an intro temple. Not really a lot to comment on in it. I liked the Green Chuchu fight, I actually thought the tactics needed to beat it from small size made it really interesting. I'd love to have a series of boss fights that are just dealing with regular enemies as a very tiny person.

Agreed.


4) Okay so with the whole getting climbing gloves and going rock climbing thing, this mountain feels like more of a mountain than any mountain I ever remember from a zelda game I played. It's actually pretty cool. Like some other games do the same sort of boulders raining down on you, but the whole thing of alternating between long straight up climbs and plateaus to explore on gives a feeling of height and scaling a real mountain that I don't usually feel in these sorts of environments. Capturing that in a 2d game is doubly impressive.

I didn't enjoy it that much, but then I've never really enjoyed scaling any of the mountains in Zelda games, aside from the music for Tal Tal Heights in Link's Awakening as a wee lad. You do raise some very good points, even if I think these are some of the most meatball-looking boulders I've seen in a video game that weren't intentionally made to look like meatballs for parody reasons.


Strangely enough, I actually remembered the mountain being even taller than it actually turned out to be. :V


5) The sheer variety of enemies continues to impress me. While we have some palette swaps, we have far more new and unique enemy types. Compare the list of enemy types we've encountered in the first 4 episodes to the number of enemy types in even the first 10 episodes of Skyward Sword, I suspect we have much more variety here.

Yeah, for as short as it is, it does nicely pack in a whole slew of enemies from across the Zelda canon.


6) The Second Dungeon I am actually liking a lot so far. The environment is pretty cool, and the puzzles are a bit more interesting. You complained about going in circles, but backtracking and revisiting areas you already cleared are part of dungeon delving. Revisiting it due to opening up alternate doors and going as a different size is worthwhile imo. Actually I think that's what I like the most so far, having the stones to change size mid dungeon.

That element definitely made the backtracking more palatable to me when I did my playthrough years ago, yeah.


8) Editing in because I almost forgot-I love the new Cane item. This is another one of those items I think would be a lot of fun to see in a mainstream 3d zelda game, because in one of those games you'd get totally unique animations for every enemy and a lot of objects that just aren't interactable in this game. Either way though, the super charged flip jump is the real highlight for the cane. Flipping over platforms is 'meh' and flipping enemies is fun but only useful in a few situations... but the flip jump is pretty awesome and I can't think of another link incarnation who can just jump up 10-20ft like that.

Yessssssssssssssss

I never realized how much I wanted to see Link make holes in the ground in a 3D zelda game turn into the cannon travel agency until now.


Oh bob-ombs, spiny's and spiked beetles...thank you for giving further proof that Mario and Link exist in the same universe. Somehow. Maybe the same planet?

Peach, Luigi, and Bowser are just what happens after Zelda, Link, and Ganon go through the cycle of reincarnation so many times they forget why they were doing it.

Groose is, of course, Wario.


why do you like running into things so much? I'm pretty sure your Mario has severe head trauma from your playthrough of Sunshine, and by the end of this lets play, this Link will grow up to have some sort of mental dysfunction or something. :smalltongue:

I like the lon-lon ranch's cow-girl's voice "lu-lu-lu-luuuuuu" just sounds so musical and soothing.

Well, he's already suffering from Congenital Link Syndrome, so what's a little aggravated Linkitis on top of that?

There's a good reason it's so soothing, yeah. :smallamused:


Silly Link, flipping is for tables!

On another note, I notice a certain similarity between the minish forge and another fire-based area filled with non-hostile non-Hylians from the futurepast. You've even got one guy rolling around the second level.

Which makes the existence of Goro-Goros outside of the Mountains even more peculiar in this game.

Though it was cute to see that one had decided to just start punching out a place for him to live.


Soooo... Dynasty Warriors for Otaku? Generic panty-flash characters so generic they are named after their apparent color scheme wielding improbable weapons in improbable manners to wipe out hordes of mooks using maneuvers designed to entice the worst of the young adult male audience. Objectification of females for profit.

Ummm... okaaaay... if that's what you want to do. Granted, I only saw your little blurb, so there MIGHT be a redeeming feature in there that wasn't featured,but I just didn't see this one being of any interest to you.

That's kinda redundant. Dynasty Warriors is already for otaku/something that helps define whether or not someone is an otaku based upon whether they like it.

The real question is, do these panty flashes and such maneuvers actually successfully entice the worst aspects of teen and young adult males? Because if so, that's sort of a sad commentary on the state of affairs when it comes to fan service-filled media.

The game at least looks like it's going to be incapable of titillation, so there shouldn't be any risk of that. But, then, I'd have said that the show itself was incapable of titillation, at least with the tools they chose to do the job.

[Qwertystop]

Okay, that switch at 21 minutes really shouldn't have worked. Good thing "simultaneous" doesn't actually have to be?

[LaZodiac]

Slightly later episode due to cooking pancakes!

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap [8] Tribe of the Winds (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsIuHWzWp2E)

Video Length: 23:43

Welcome back! It's time for more Wind Fort! When we last left off we had just gotten to the blue warp tile, which means we're what like a third of the way through the dungeon? It's neat how they're using these warp things to sort of gauge out how long the dungeon is. It's...not 100% accurate, though.

Anyway, it's time to move forward! Our next room is actually really cool to me because it's one of those "iconic Zelda puzzle" rooms. You've gotta move along with some blade traps to hit a switch, then move with them to get to where the switch opens. It's kinda cute in my opinion, and rest assured we'll be seeing more stuff like this in the future. After dealing with that we also see some mysterious tiles on the ground, with two skulls on them but the middle left empty. This is actually a rather subtle clue to "bomb this wall" and while I don't REALLY like it since I can imagine someone playing this blind would just have a really bad time with it, if you've played other Zelda games before this area should spark your discovery instinct. Maybe. I don't know, it did for me!

Good thing it did too, because behind that wall is our dungeon item! We have obtained the Mole Mitts! Those of you familiar with the last game may recognize these, and I'll be sure to talk more about that at a more appropriate time. For now, lets see how these babies work. They let you dig holes in the ground like a shovel, finding random enemies or items, and unique to this game they let you dig through those big dirt blocks you've been seeing through this whole dungeon. Digging our way through them will let us get a fairly large amount of Kinstone holding chests, as well as a secret room in this dungeon. Tragically, this is a pure utility tool, and can not be used to fling enemies over your shoulder. Later in the video I go back to the entrance and dig aaaall the way to the left, to a hidden room where we get into a big fight with some wizards! These are Wizrobes, huge jerks that teleport around and fire blasts of magic. They also seemingly enchant the fire in a room to shoot blasts at you as well. They're really annoying, but also aren't from this dungeon. Think of it as a teaser.

With Mitts in hand, lets explore the other path we opted not to take last video. This one has another somewhat iconic puzzle, the Pegasus Boot bridge run! Gotta dash over a bridge before it collapses beneath you (or in this case, before it coils back into the wall). It's fun and silly. Less fun and silly is the enemy type it leads us to, one of the last new enemies we'll encounter in this dungeon! Floormasters! These blue handed version of the red handed Wallmasters work basically the same as them. Unlike Wallmasters that have the decency to ambush you, the Floormasters just kinda shuffle around, and if you touch them at all they just kinda grab you and take you to the dungeon entrance. This SUCKS, it wastes your time, and in a game with as...generous a hitbox as this game, it's REALLY easy to get grabbed. Suffice to say these are super bloody annoying.

We dispatch the hands and get to do a long and fairly involved puzzle chain involving our sword's cloning ability and sneaking through some steel rollers as a tiny Link. It's actually pretty cool how this one room gets "completed" in two different ways, each leading to sliiightly different things. During all this we get through another iconic Zelda puzzle, falling down a hole from one floor of a dungeon to another, and making sure to fall through the correct hole. It's a cute little puzzle I like that rewards attention to detail and makes the dungeons feel a lot more "complete" and not just random rooms strung together. We get the Boss Key from this, so that's cool.

At some point during the dungeon we encounter Moldorms! This is the last unique enemy in the dungeon (though not the last one we meet video wise I'm just kinda jumping around). No longer the game of cat and mouse they were in the last game, these guys just kinda bounce around all crazy and the actual in game recommended method to dispatch them is to slash wildly. I'm not one to go against free advice, and it really does deal with these guys quite nicely. With that, and some bothersome treasure collecting out of the way (one of which I leave for later), we're now done with this dungeon except for the boss. Of course right before the boss door we get the red teleport, for some reason. This leads to my main problem with the Fortress of Wind, which I'll get to before I go into the boss.

This dungeon doesn't really feel all that well put together. It's basically three towers you have to go through. There's nothing wrong with that, but that doesn't really match the feel of "Fortress of Wind" I think. It also has the issue that, all the areas with dirt walls in them you need to dig...they don't show up on the map. So you have no idea if you're missing treasure or not unless you go through the entire area! Now, as you may of noticed, me and many players tend to navigate by the "treasure chest" method. If a treasure chest is open the you've been here. Treasure chests=progress. It isn't always 100% accurate, but since they're explicit rewards that you tend to only pick up once the area is dealt with, it tends to happen. So when you mess with the players perception of that, it gets frustrating! Another game in the series has this sort of problem and it's getting fixed in it's HD remake, the director even citing this thing I brought up. It's frustrating and annoying and just weird that areas that make up a good third of the dungeon aren't even listed on the map. Anyway, bad dungeon design aside, it's time for a boss.

The boss of the Fortress of Wind is a giant robot face! Meet Mazaal! This is actually kind of a bad boss maybe, I don't really know. The way you fight him is by shooting an arrow at the little eye orbs in his hands, destroying those with your sword, and then shrinking to sneak into his face to slice up his little control rod thing. On paper this sounds pretty cool, but in practice it feels kinda...bad? Like maybe I'm just getting something wrong here, but his hands are WAY too big and he just kinda rubs them all over the screen, which is quite tiny seeing as how it's a GBA game! Basically it seems really hard to evade damage in this fight, and it kinda sucks. He HAS other attacks, summoning beetles to keep you from attacking and shooting eye lasers, but he almost never does them in favor of just rubbing his giant stone fists all over your giant god damn hit box. Regardless, after three rotations of his pattern he dies like a good boss should, getting us a Heart Container and...the element?

We leave the dungeon and end up on it's roof, a rather beautiful looking ruined shrine covered in exotic looking multicolour birds. Up ahead we find a large tablet, which we read. Once their was a tribe that had faith in the winds who lived here, and after mastering them they decided to leave for the sky. They took their element with them in safe keeping. Those of you familiar with Skyward Sword might find this information quite interesting. We do receive a reward for getting his far though, a bird names Zeffa arrives and grants us the Ocarina of Winds. A simple flute, we play a certain song (that some of you may recognize) on it, and the nice bird that gave it to us will send us to any of the unlocked Wind Crests we desire. Now, you guys may of noticed that their is one extra Wind Crest on this map, and may of in fact spied an unlocked Wind Crest while we were in Lake Hylia. That's one that hasn't been sealed, and that'll be our destination when we next want to progress forward.

However, before we do that, lets take care of some business. I've been kind of putting it off by accident, so lets go shopping! We arrive in town using our Ocarina (Ezlo...triggering a very rude tutorial message in the process, sigh) and begin our shopping spree! First off, we go to the post office. You may recall that I rubbed stones with the postman and this caused a Newsletter to get unlocked. Well, we can go purchase those now, 200 a pop. I forgot how to read them this video but rest assured we'll get to that next time. You unlock a new one every time Swiftblade or one of his family (spoilers there is more then just Swiftblade and the ghost one) teaches you a new thing, so we'll be spending a lot of money here! To help facilitate that we head into the ACTUAL MONEY STORE and buy a wallet that has been their from the beginning of the game man I wish I had remembered that sooner because haha hey it costs 80 rupees and now we can hold 500. Hell yeah.

Also during this I rub up against Malon, the farm girl, a lot. The game wasn't glitching when it wasn't showing her fusion thing, it's because apparently some NPCs have a varied chance every time you load the screen to actually WANT to fuse. Thankfully not all 100 Kinstone fusions are unique, some fusions can be done by multiple people. Speaking of fusions, we go to the left side of town and fuse a red stone with a weirdly dressed stranger. This is VITALLY IMPORTANT, to the degree that I drop everything to go inspect the weird teleporty thing fusing with him got us. It takes us to his house, where after some exploration we find his...father? Grandfather? I don't know, but he's sick and dying due to a ghost possession! Thankfully I'm an expert at this, and suck up the ghost into my Gust Jar as you do. The old man is saved and gives us a lot of shells, and...suffice to say this will pay off later, but how it does will be revealed in the future. Yo so this is the only reward in the game you can MISS, and now that we've eaten that ghost we won't miss it, so unless something awful happens we're safe and able to get 100% now. Hell yeah! I've never actually done this before by the way, so I'm actually pretty excited!

With all that done (and a quick trip to the Minish Elder to see if I can do the thing and I cannot do the thing aaaah) and we're done for today. Next time we'll not actually be progressing the plot, but instead getting some **** DONE! We've got a lot of utility tools, and I think it's time we went on a collection hunt. We're only gonna be focusing on important stuff though don't worry, we'll have a video in the future dedicated to getting all the ridiculously Kinstone stuff. Next time, we'll be getting the REALLY ridiculous Kinstone stuff. See you guys then!

[Lord Raziere]

Slightly later episode due to cooking pancakes!

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap [8] Tribe of the Winds (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsIuHWzWp2E)

Video Length: 23:43


I dunno, if I had mole gloves, I'd want to dig through the bones and flesh of my enemies.....they just look so clawlike.

and Link faces an ancient, giant rock em' sock em' robot. kay

huh, those pad things are telepads, cool. and isn't a Zelda game without Link playing a musical instrument of some kind. One day he will end up playing the Bagpipes of Hope or something and cause ghosts to rise up in anger.

Malon's voice is always soothing.....

[LaZodiac]

I dunno, if I had mole gloves, I'd want to dig through the bones and flesh of my enemies.....they just look so clawlike.

huh, those pad things are telepads, cool. and isn't a Zelda game without Link playing a musical instrument of some kind. One day he will end up playing the Bagpipes of Hope or something and cause ghosts to rise up in anger.

Malon's voice is always soothing.....

Oh trust me I wish I could use the Mole Mitts to attack to, I love claw weapons.

Yeah...that might be a thing that's already happened! At least in the futurepast. You'll have to wait and see :smallamused:

[DataNinja]

Hmmm.... getting rid of the ghost that way reminds me of another green Nintendonian hero. :smallamused:

[Coidzor]

Slightly later episode due to cooking pancakes!

Well, eating breakfast is important. :smalltongue: Can't have ya starvin' now.


Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap [8] Tribe of the Winds (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsIuHWzWp2E)

Tribe of the Foul Wind. Because they're butts.


Welcome back! It's time for more Wind Fort! When we last left off we had just gotten to the blue warp tile, which means we're what like a third of the way through the dungeon? It's neat how they're using these warp things to sort of gauge out how long the dungeon is. It's...not 100% accurate, though.

Indeed, it seemed like it roughly divided the first dungeon up into thirds and the second dungeon into half and then the final quarter(I think?), but this one it's like.... ~1/3 of the way through and then RIGHT BEFORE THE BOSS ROOM! :smallconfused:


Anyway, it's time to move forward! Our next room is actually really cool to me because it's one of those "iconic Zelda puzzle" rooms. You've gotta move along with some blade traps to hit a switch, then move with them to get to where the switch opens. It's kinda cute in my opinion, and rest assured we'll be seeing more stuff like this in the future. After dealing with that we also see some mysterious tiles on the ground, with two skulls on them but the middle left empty. This is actually a rather subtle clue to "bomb this wall" and while I don't REALLY like it since I can imagine someone playing this blind would just have a really bad time with it, if you've played other Zelda games before this area should spark your discovery instinct. Maybe. I don't know, it did for me!

Ahh, a rotational blade trap room, that's a great way to start off a video.


Good thing it did too, because behind that wall is our dungeon item! We have obtained the Mole Mitts! Those of you familiar with the last game may recognize these, and I'll be sure to talk more about that at a more appropriate time. For now, lets see how these babies work. They let you dig holes in the ground like a shovel, finding random enemies or items, and unique to this game they let you dig through those big dirt blocks you've been seeing through this whole dungeon. Digging our way through them will let us get a fairly large amount of Kinstone holding chests, as well as a secret room in this dungeon. Tragically, this is a pure utility tool, and can not be used to fling enemies over your shoulder. Later in the video I go back to the entrance and dig aaaall the way to the left, to a hidden room where we get into a big fight with some wizards! These are Wizrobes, huge jerks that teleport around and fire blasts of magic. They also seemingly enchant the fire in a room to shoot blasts at you as well. They're really annoying, but also aren't from this dungeon. Think of it as a teaser.

Sneaky skull wall is sneaky. The wallcoloration is also a hint at the bombable wall, being grey elsewhere and then brown around the bombable area I think. It even has a sort of trapezoidal shape, where it's narrower at the base than at the top, sort of giving the suggestion of an arrow or diagonal narrowing to focus in on the tiles and then the skulls narrow the focus from the tiles even further to the space in between them. I think it might be that way to help clue anyone in who got frustrated at not being able to progress and then remembered that they had the compass, so they could see that there's a chest they couldn't get to the north of this room?

Black Mages that were totally just visiting for a cup of tea when Link rudely burst in on them. Totally. :smalltongue:

At any rate, I've spoken too much when the real draw here is MOGMA HANDS. :smallcool:

Sadly, no match for skullz. :smallfrown: But at least they're pretty when they dig. And it's satisfying to clear out an area if you have OCDish tendencies.

They died for your sins, Link, or at least your need to dig in the future long after all the mogsmoms were exterminated.


With Mitts in hand, lets explore the other path we opted not to take last video. This one has another somewhat iconic puzzle, the Pegasus Boot bridge run! Gotta dash over a bridge before it collapses beneath you (or in this case, before it coils back into the wall). It's fun and silly. Less fun and silly is the enemy type it leads us to, one of the last new enemies we'll encounter in this dungeon! Floormasters! These blue handed version of the red handed Wallmasters work basically the same as them. Unlike Wallmasters that have the decency to ambush you, the Floormasters just kinda shuffle around, and if you touch them at all they just kinda grab you and take you to the dungeon entrance. This SUCKS, it wastes your time, and in a game with as...generous a hitbox as this game, it's REALLY easy to get grabbed. Suffice to say these are super bloody annoying.

Good times with that pegasus boot pull switch "puzzle." Really takes me back. Even though I'm sure that I've never actually done that in an older Zelda game, it really feels like a return to form to have that sort of timed switch puzzle. :smallconfused:

Floormasters are weird-looking. Seeing them out in the open like that, it's kinda strange. Like they're painted, flat magical things that aren't even proper naturally unnatural monsters.

A great slogan occurs to me. Floormasters: Encouraging you to MURDERMAIMKILL in the name of Khorne in a Zelda game near you.

Ooo, nice catch with those skulls at 2:12ish. And I see the whole hidey hole idea to avoid traps came back, this time for the roller variant! First it showed you in the last dungeon without you really needing it, and then in this dungeon it let you actually apply it. Good gradual learning there, Zelda Devs. I think! Although maybe a little *too* gradual, since it was in the last dungeon where it came up at all, and wasn't really necessary...


We dispatch the hands and get to do a long and fairly involved puzzle chain involving our sword's cloning ability and sneaking through some steel rollers as a tiny Link. It's actually pretty cool how this one room gets "completed" in two different ways, each leading to sliiightly different things. During all this we get through another iconic Zelda puzzle, falling down a hole from one floor of a dungeon to another, and making sure to fall through the correct hole. It's a cute little puzzle I like that rewards attention to detail and makes the dungeons feel a lot more "complete" and not just random rooms strung together. We get the Boss Key from this, so that's cool.

Sneaky puzzle making you have to reverse it from the easy configuration for "solving" it. And remember not to step on the wrong magic tile.

And, again, you did the thing where you managed to get away with not quite having the right distance between you and the clome. XD I'm, like, 99% sure.

I liked the incredible journey of small little Link. Getting to see *why* there's two rollers and a gap between them, and that as small Link, hidey holes are not not our friends, but instead OBSTACLES! :smallbiggrin: Brilliant!

I really liked that change of dynamic where the thing that hindered you as full size link (the gap between them) and the thing that enabled you to cross (the hidey holes) are reversed when you switch sizes.


At some point during the dungeon we encounter Moldorms! This is the last unique enemy in the dungeon (though not the last one we meet video wise I'm just kinda jumping around). No longer the game of cat and mouse they were in the last game, these guys just kinda bounce around all crazy and the actual in game recommended method to dispatch them is to slash wildly. I'm not one to go against free advice, and it really does deal with these guys quite nicely. With that, and some bothersome treasure collecting out of the way (one of which I leave for later), we're now done with this dungeon except for the boss. Of course right before the boss door we get the red teleport, for some reason. This leads to my main problem with the Fortress of Wind, which I'll get to before I go into the boss.

Oooo, Moldorm infestations. MUST KILL FOR POT. Also, bloodlust.

Alas, random BIG RUPEE drop. :( Such a tragic waste. :smallfrown:

And a dead end. Ah, well, at least these wormies don't respawn during backtracking! Back to get small at one of those two nifty little shrink stations! :biggrin:

If I never see moldorms like in Skyward Sword again, it'll be too soon. I'll take these janky-ass clown monsters any day. Even that annoying boss from Link's Awakening that KEPT KNOCKING ME INTO THE PIT AND RESETTING THE FIRST BOSS FIGHT OF THE GAME, LIKE, SIX TIMES.


This dungeon doesn't really feel all that well put together. It's basically three towers you have to go through. There's nothing wrong with that, but that doesn't really match the feel of "Fortress of Wind" I think. It also has the issue that, all the areas with dirt walls in them you need to dig...they don't show up on the map. So you have no idea if you're missing treasure or not unless you go through the entire area! Now, as you may of noticed, me and many players tend to navigate by the "treasure chest" method. If a treasure chest is open the you've been here. Treasure chests=progress. It isn't always 100% accurate, but since they're explicit rewards that you tend to only pick up once the area is dealt with, it tends to happen. So when you mess with the players perception of that, it gets frustrating! Another game in the series has this sort of problem and it's getting fixed in it's HD remake, the director even citing this thing I brought up. It's frustrating and annoying and just weird that areas that make up a good third of the dungeon aren't even listed on the map. Anyway, bad dungeon design aside, it's time for a boss.

It doesn't really feel like it has a wind theme, that's true. It feels more like a crypt or necropolis instead of a fortress and there's no real wind mechanics in it.

I hardly ever use the map unless I'm truly stuck, I must admit, so I basically say, ok, if there's a chest I can't get, I missed something or I have to back track as part of the dungeon's design and I'll get it from a later area backtracking me or from an item I'll get later on.

If I actually paid attention to the map, it'd have probably driven me crazy. :V As it is, I don't think I ever noticed that the chests don't show up on the map until you told me.


The boss of the Fortress of Wind is a giant robot face! Meet Mazaal! This is actually kind of a bad boss maybe, I don't really know. The way you fight him is by shooting an arrow at the little eye orbs in his hands, destroying those with your sword, and then shrinking to sneak into his face to slice up his little control rod thing. On paper this sounds pretty cool, but in practice it feels kinda...bad? Like maybe I'm just getting something wrong here, but his hands are WAY too big and he just kinda rubs them all over the screen, which is quite tiny seeing as how it's a GBA game! Basically it seems really hard to evade damage in this fight, and it kinda sucks. He HAS other attacks, summoning beetles to keep you from attacking and shooting eye lasers, but he almost never does them in favor of just rubbing his giant stone fists all over your giant god damn hit box. Regardless, after three rotations of his pattern he dies like a good boss should, getting us a Heart Container and...the element?

And now for your enemy, giant stone head. Who is actually a robutt.

Why, Robutt? Why? Why you turn on mans? You don't have the excuse of being possessed by a demon lord like the guy in Skyward Sword!

Heck, Vaati hasn't even noticed us going into the temples yet, not really.

Love the size changing element here, though, especially the bit about him filling himself with dirt to protect against vermin and the crane game element.

THE CLAW CHOOSES LIIINK!

It's almost too bad that Link can't fight Beetles while Minish sized or something, that'd have added an interesting additional element, I think.

And you just killed the announcer from Legends of the Hidden Temple. I hope you're proud of yourself. :smalltongue:

Alas, poor Olmec, we hardly knew your Hidden Temples.

Honestly, I don't remember fighting this guy that much. I don't think I had much in the way of trouble, though. :V I think I might just be more comfortable tanking damage. Or maybe using those pots as thrown weapons helped?

Or... Wait, can you bomb arrow in this one? :smallconfused:


We leave the dungeon and end up on it's roof, a rather beautiful looking ruined shrine covered in exotic looking multicolour birds. Up ahead we find a large tablet, which we read. Once their was a tribe that had faith in the winds who lived here, and after mastering them they decided to leave for the sky. They took their element with them in safe keeping. Those of you familiar with Skyward Sword might find this information quite interesting. We do receive a reward for getting his far though, a bird names Zeffa arrives and grants us the Ocarina of Winds. A simple flute, we play a certain song (that some of you may recognize) on it, and the nice bird that gave it to us will send us to any of the unlocked Wind Crests we desire. Now, you guys may of noticed that their is one extra Wind Crest on this map, and may of in fact spied an unlocked Wind Crest while we were in Lake Hylia. That's one that hasn't been sealed, and that'll be our destination when we next want to progress forward.

There are birbs, errywhere. Which was nice. I kinda wish there was more to do with the birbs, honestly.

In the moment reaction: BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIRBS. The True Tribe of the Winds and People of the Wind, right? Also, the element of the wind has gotta come out of one of them or all of them. Surely. Surely.

Wait. What the hell? A pillar? A Zoffa? A Zeffa?

THEY TOOK THE ELEMENT AWAY BUT LEFT THE KILLER ROBOT?

What butts. Such butts. Butt butts.

Also, holy crap, those are either immortal birbs, or some of the most intelligent to keep up that tradition. Either that or they're even bigger butts because they keep periodically checking in on this place to make sure the birbs know to give the champeen the ocarina.

Oh, the birb is Zeffa. OK. That's one less NPC to quest after.

Well, at least he gives us a bit of teleportation. Now to UNLOCK ALL LOCATIONS TO TELEPORT TOOOOOOOOOO~!

And sounds like the warp whistle from Mario. :biggrin:

As for futurepast knowledge, honestly, it seems like humans just keep going back and forth and back and forth.

Maybe that's why they eventually had Twilight Princess's horrorifying fate befall them. They figured they'd just keep doing it forever anyway, so they might as well just have the innate ability to do so.

Also, ahah, I knew you were going to Lake Hylia next. Though I honestly forgot if you'd come across a wind crest.

Sorta makes you wonder how the crests knew who you were before Zeffa did, though...


However, before we do that, lets take care of some business. I've been kind of putting it off by accident, so lets go shopping! We arrive in town using our Ocarina (Ezlo...triggering a very rude tutorial message in the process, sigh) and begin our shopping spree! First off, we go to the post office. You may recall that I rubbed stones with the postman and this caused a Newsletter to get unlocked. Well, we can go purchase those now, 200 a pop. I forgot how to read them this video but rest assured we'll get to that next time. You unlock a new one every time Swiftblade or one of his family (spoilers there is more then just Swiftblade and the ghost one) teaches you a new thing, so we'll be spending a lot of money here! To help facilitate that we head into the ACTUAL MONEY STORE and buy a wallet that has been their from the beginning of the game man I wish I had remembered that sooner because haha hey it costs 80 rupees and now we can hold 500. Hell yeah.

You've been putting off Link's retail therapy with your single-minded devotion to saving Zelder, I'm sure. :smallwink:

Ezlo's not rude, he can just feel Link's brain overheating from his big fat birdhat butt on top of it. :smallbiggrin:

"ACTUAL MONEY STORE" A store where you actually buy money. :smallamused:

80 rupees, yeah, definitely should've just gone and gotten that when you filled up. :smalltongue:


Also during this I rub up against Malon, the farm girl, a lot. The game wasn't glitching when it wasn't showing her fusion thing, it's because apparently some NPCs have a varied chance every time you load the screen to actually WANT to fuse. Thankfully not all 100 Kinstone fusions are unique, some fusions can be done by multiple people. Speaking of fusions, we go to the left side of town and fuse a red stone with a weirdly dressed stranger. This is VITALLY IMPORTANT, to the degree that I drop everything to go inspect the weird teleporty thing fusing with him got us. It takes us to his house, where after some exploration we find his...father? Grandfather? I don't know, but he's sick and dying due to a ghost possession! Thankfully I'm an expert at this, and suck up the ghost into my Gust Jar as you do. The old man is saved and gives us a lot of shells, and...suffice to say this will pay off later, but how it does will be revealed in the future. Yo so this is the only reward in the game you can MISS, and now that we've eaten that ghost we won't miss it, so unless something awful happens we're safe and able to get 100% now. Hell yeah! I've never actually done this before by the way, so I'm actually pretty excited!

Jeez, Zodi, you're not supposed to pressure girls into fusing when they're not in the mood. :smalltongue: Sometimes girls just aren't in the mood to fuse and it's no one's fault or anything. A woman has the right to fuse whenever and with whoever she wants.

In a twist, you also saved the ghost, because he got stuck on the old man's oldness. Now he's free to live in the garbage dimension with the rest of the garbage. Alternatively he's been ripped to shreds inside of a magical black hole.

Good thing I'm a kinstone fiend, as I never realized he was missable. :V

I also like how mysterious shells are the accepted currency for ghostbusting, not actual money. :smallcool:


With all that done (and a quick trip to the Minish Elder to see if I can do the thing and I cannot do the thing aaaah) and we're done for today. Next time we'll not actually be progressing the plot, but instead getting some **** DONE! We've got a lot of utility tools, and I think it's time we went on a collection hunt. We're only gonna be focusing on important stuff though don't worry, we'll have a video in the future dedicated to getting all the ridiculously Kinstone stuff. Next time, we'll be getting the REALLY ridiculous Kinstone stuff. See you guys then!

Just all the pressuring people into rubbing rocks, Zodi. Need to get sent back to rock rubbing consent 101. :smalltongue:

Some days you just can't find anyone to rub rock with. :smallwink:

Tricksy little small key and moldorm area. Just tempts you with curiosity... AND BLOODLUST.

Alas, FLOORMASTER'D Huh, never realized that just *throwing* a bomb at them would hurt them, somehow. And there's the true horror of Floormasters, rather than *just* taking you back to the entrance.... THEY BRING BACK THE TRASH MOBS.

And Biggest of Keys obtained, hurrah! Kinda morbid of the Wind People to put a skull motif into the floor where the big key is. I mean, those entry way statues are a little skullular, but they could just be spirits. But that's definitely a skull.

Or maybe the evil monsters and spirits and such also included some monsters that just helped redecorate the places they decided to infest?

Also, cue backtracking to all of those nifty places you can go with the severed mogma hand mitts~

Annoying hidden treasure mitts. Poor Zodi desire for loots.

Uh oh. Black mages! I mean Wizards! I mean, Wizzrobes! Green ons! They're cramping on Link's Style! KILL THEM MERCILESSLY! I'd say, like, 75% of the difficulty came from working with those evil lamps in the corners.

Zodi vacillation. And the desire to completionist the looting of this ancient tomb. Or whatever it is.

Maybe this actually is a necropolis and that's why all the skulls are around, the monsters just scattered the stuff that would've been in catacombsy niches. Or something.

That was one of the most anticlimactic ways of activating a teleport. XD But, also, kind of greatly so in a way.

Ooo, a foreigner talkin' about living with his feet on the ground, I wonder where he could be from. And a strange orb formed by kinstone fusioning with him.

Expensive newsletters are a great excuse for emptying your purse at least. XD.

Now to read them, somehow.... :V Ah well, at least they helpfully tell us that they're timed to come out every time you learn a new technique.

Y'know, for such a low population the Hylians of Hyrule certain *do* like to send an awful lot of letters. They must either be super gossipy or a lot more lettered than they look.



Okay, that switch at 21 minutes really shouldn't have worked. Good thing "simultaneous" doesn't actually have to be?

I guess the ancients wanted to be slightly forgiving to future generations as long as they got in the ballpark.


Hmmm.... getting rid of the ghost that way reminds me of another green Nintendonian hero. :smallamused:

Now to double check which year this game and the game I'm thinking of came out....

[huttj509]

2 things on the latest dungeon:

1: pull switch platform - IIRC you can hold it longer, letting the bridge finish coming over before letting go and dashing across. Gives you a scotch extra time to avoid the gap at the start. Been a while since I played.

2: Um, I think there might be something in how you're counting tiles causing you to be off. The switches you needed to stand on were "2 down, 2 over, 2 down" from each other. The copy you made was "2 down, 2 over, 1 down" which is why it was the whole "half on double press" thing. Last video you ran into something similar where your copy was one space too little away, but you made it work with the half-step shenanigans again. If you're mentally counting the spaces between, and not counting the last space for the switches, but counting it for the tiles, that'd do it. For example "ok, 2 tiles between the switches" followed by "ok, my copy is 2 tiles away from me, I'm good," would lead to the miscount.

[LaZodiac]

2 things on the latest dungeon:

1: pull switch platform - IIRC you can hold it longer, letting the bridge finish coming over before letting go and dashing across. Gives you a scotch extra time to avoid the gap at the start. Been a while since I played.

2: Um, I think there might be something in how you're counting tiles causing you to be off. The switches you needed to stand on were "2 down, 2 over, 2 down" from each other. The copy you made was "2 down, 2 over, 1 down" which is why it was the whole "half on double press" thing. Last video you ran into something similar where your copy was one space too little away, but you made it work with the half-step shenanigans again. If you're mentally counting the spaces between, and not counting the last space for the switches, but counting it for the tiles, that'd do it. For example "ok, 2 tiles between the switches" followed by "ok, my copy is 2 tiles away from me, I'm good," would lead to the miscount.

Weird...I could of swore I was doing the counting right. There's three tiles between the switches, so I left three tiles between where I put my Link clone. Hm...I must be doing something wrong and not realizing it. Thank goodness for generous hitboxes.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

That boss strongly reminds me of something from futurepast. Several somethings, actually. But hey, at least he doesn't have a cold this time. One version sneezes out arrows when you run out.

Post office complaining about needing help... that also tingles my futurepast senses. I wonder if he pays well...

[LaZodiac]

Oh man, it's time for some ZELDA!

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap [9] Tingle (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fm14N-b2K6w)

Video Length: 26:53

As promised, today's video is a very mild collection hunt, so my write up for the episode proper isn't going to be super huge or anything. With that said, lets get going! Our first order of business is to go to the unassuming house of apparent Mayor Hagen! This guy smells suspicious to Ezlo, but rubbing stones with him drains a pond over in Lon Lon Ranch. That's also where we happen to be going next so that's pretty great! Looking at this now I realize I could of gone over the things I want to do here a little faster, but overall I'm fine with how it's gone.

Anyway, on our way over to the drained pond in Lon Lon Ranch, we stop by a smaller farm and fuse Kinstones with a farmer dude, which makes that wall punching Goron get stronger. Thus begins, in earnest, the Goron Side Quest! I show it off later in the episode, but throughout Hyrule are dig walls you can dig into, and in...I think six of these walls, hidden somewhere against a northern wall, is a place where you can jam a rock into to make more Gorons show up to help the Goron with his wall punching. This is a major sidequest in the game, and one we'll have to keep our eyes open for! Anyway, at Lon Lon Ranch proper we go into that drained pond and find the last Wallet upgrade! We can now hold 999, a paltry sum considering the last game's absurd amount but perfectly serviceable in this game. Now it's time for the second major thing we're gonna do today.

But first a detour to Link's house. Ezlo thinks it's pretty nice, and he has more to say if we go up to our bedroom but we're not doing that yet. Instead we go to good ole Grandpa Smith and shove rocks at him to make another chest appear. We head off, and find inside the chest Grandpa Smith got us our second bottle! Now we'll be able to carry two fairies that I'll hopefully end up never using! Or other things! But before that, we go and find...him. A 35 year old man in a green leotard and red underpants, with only the desire to be a fairy on his mind. Say hello to Tingle, an series staple. This guy is the bane of many player's existence, for numerous reasons. Futurepast wise, he's a big source of trouble for MANY things, most of which related to maps and money, but we'll get to that when we get to it. His main goal here is to start a side quest. Fuse stones with him and his three brothers, and you get a special prize (and the option to fuse with Tingle again). They also tell you how many Kinstone fusions you have left to perform, out of the 100 that exist in game. Unfortunately, and no one really knows how, the game can glitch and Tingle can "reward" you for that ahead of schedule, which also locks you out of making ANY OTHER FUSIONS. This isn't the best thing in the world, no. Thankfully I avoid it, and head off to fuse stones with the rest of his family.

While we go around hunting for the other Tingle Bros, we're also going to be shoving our faces into dirt walls to find what treasures are inside and also trying to find the Mystery Walls we need to make more Gorons appear, as an aside. Anyway, our first Tingle Bro is in Lon Lon Ranch (as you can plainly see if I had talked to Tingle and Grandpa Smith earlier I could of done all this at the same time as getting the wallet) behind a large block that we need the power of a single clone to push. Climbing up from their we meet Ankle, the brother wearing pink! The next one is in Lake Hylia, and is basically just kinda sitting in the open, David Jr wearing white. This one is notable because, as I say in video, David Jr is (at least in the game he appears in) actually just a dude who looks like Tingle and his brothers and thus gets conscripted into Tingle's collective. It's kind of hilarious and also really dark if you think too much about it. The final Tingle is in Trilby Highlands, behind a dig wall, Knuckle in blue.

Before we get the reward for fusing with the Tingles though, since we're in the area lets look at some stuff in Mt Crenel that we now have access to. More specifically we bomb two walls that we could of easily accessed last time, gaining access to a fairy fountain and a Great Fairy Fountain! Throwing a bomb into the latter causes the Great Fairy to rise up and put us through a classic, old tale. Speaking truthfully, she rewards us with a bomb bag. Thanks lady! The major thing up here however is, behind another block that needs more then one small child to push, we find Grayblade! One of the siblings of Swiftblade, he'll teach us a special move, and if we fuse stones with him it'll unlock another Blade to train with (though I don't have the stone for it yet and couldn't get to the next one anyway, thus we'll do this later). The move Grayblade teaches us is actually a somewhat difficult one to use, and an even harder one to master! The Rolling Attack! Roll, and as you're just about to end the roll animation attack to spring forward, delivering a fatal blow that'll pierce basically all defenses! This is a really cool attack that I kind of overuse in attempts to be fancy, like my elaborate jumping in Super Mario Sunshine. Haha...I'm gonna get so beat up for learning this.

Anyway, one more stop before we go get the treasure Tingle and his brother's unlocked for us. I had hoped to get enough Rupees to buy it, but the store has a Boomerang in stock that we can buy! The Boomerang is a basic weapon that can be flung in 8 basic directions (as you'd expect). It stuns most enemies and can pick up items and stuff. Sadly, the Boomerang shall never technically grace our inventory screen. As you see, after pressing the four switches that the Tingle fusions revealed to us, we have access to a large chest, and inside we find...the Magic Boomerang! This is an upgrade to the Boomerang, and as far as the game is concerned we've now picked up the regular Boomerang, went here, and picked up it's upgrade. The Boomerang has vanished from the shop, replaced with the second Bomb Bag. The Magic Boomerang is special in that, you can control it's movements. Sadly the movements aren't AS controllable as they could be, and it's a little unclear how to make the best use of it, but that aside it's pretty dang cool! Since it stuns things it's also just very usable, it'll work in many situations.

After that it's time for some small clean up. Recently the house with the ghost on it has opened up, so lets take a look! This is "Simon's Simulations", a minigame of sorts where you get put to sleep and have to fight a massive room full of huge, scary monsters! Sadly, I get my face beat in and lose a LOT of rupees because of the Keatons here, but I get my revenge in my own ways! Finishing up the encounter gets us a Heart Piece, and from then on a random Kinstone piece. After that we do some shrinking and some very light exploring of the town to get our fourth Heart Piece of the episode. We finish up by going to read the Newsletter we bought (turns out we have to leave and reenter for the Newsletter to appear and be readable!) and get some...decent advice considering what all we've done today.

With that said, I hope you all enjoyed. Next time we'll actually be progressing the plot forward, potentially even starting the dungeon. We'll also be exploring the town proper!

------

So, about that old story I mentioned...

Once upon a time their was a woodcutter. As woodcutters tend to do he cut wood, chop chop chop. One day he came across a pond and, being a woodcutter, figured hey this is a good place to rest. So he did, but he dropped his axe into the pond. Oops! But out from the pond rose a fairy, holding two shining and glimmering axes of silver and gold. She asked if he dropped a silver axe, or a gold axe, so that she could return his property to him. He answers truthfully and she gives him all three axes or blesses him after giving him his axe or whatever, I've heard many potential endings for this. It's an iconic and well known story, I can basically assure you that you could find a random person on the street and ask them "did you drop a gold or silver X" where X is any object, and they'd get the reference.

[DataNinja]

One thing that's been bugging me... so, Kinstones fuse, no? Who gets the finished stone? It seems like it'd cause more arguments then good luck. :smalltongue:

Also, amusing to have that guy at the end just oblivious to the size-shifting child. :smallbiggrin:

[Lord Raziere]

Oh man, it's time for some ZELDA!

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap [9] Tingle (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fm14N-b2K6w)


oh hey Tingle! and Tingle Bros. I futurepast remember him from Majora's Mask.

and Link has so many hearts! if he was in Undertale, he'd be a god by now. or he is just very determined, considering how much he saves Hyrule.

I'm also kind of wondering if Link is a timelord. because each Link is similar, yet generationally different. it would funny if they all just met each other as 1st Link, 2nd Link and so on.

As for the old story:
I personally picture the woodcutter going:
"gold? silver? them metals are too soft to cut wood well, what bloomin' idiot would make gold and silver ones!? gimme me real axe now ye stupid fairies, what're ye trying to do, get me in trouble with a noble who'll probably just take them from anyways before I can even sell them for something good!? honestly, how daft do ye think I am, I know how tricksy fairies are."
They then give him the real axe and the other two to reward his honesty, but then when he turns his back, shoots him in the heart with an arrow to punish his rudeness towards fair folk.

[Qwertystop]

One thing that's been bugging me... so, Kinstones fuse, no? Who gets the finished stone? It seems like it'd cause more arguments then good luck. :smalltongue:

Also, amusing to have that guy at the end just oblivious to the size-shifting child. :smallbiggrin:

Based on the animation, I think it turns into a sparkly light and disappears if they fit properly.

[Kd7sov]

One thing that's been bugging me... so, Kinstones fuse, no? Who gets the finished stone? It seems like it'd cause more arguments then good luck. :smalltongue:

I believe there's some implication that the Picori get them. At the very least, one of them says that they provide the treasures, so it seems fair to me.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Futurepast me is cringing and facepalming at the sight of Tingle. There was apparently some extremely traumatic event, possibly multiple events, which this individual featured in. Very traumatic. Such facepalm. Wow.

This guy is... really special. He's exceedingly annoying wherever you find him. In fact, I can definitively state that this is his LEAST annoying incarnation. The most amusing time he shows up is in Majora's Mask where you literally blackmail HIS father into giving you something VERY nice in exchange for a rather incriminating photo. Come to think of it, one of the reasons Twilight Princess was one of my favorite post-OOT offerings is because the annoying little git doesn't make an appearance.

[LaZodiac]

Collection is done for now, lets press onward!

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap [10] Library (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fMWpRdUv1A)

Video Length: 25:30

Today we're gonna do the busywork required to get into the next dungeon! First of all, we fiiiinally shrink down and get to the left side of town to tell that dog to get out of the way. I guess it's as simple as asking, sometimes. On this side of town we also finally find the purpose of all those mysterious shells I've been collecting! There's a secret figurine gatchapon machine underneath a tree, and we give shells over to have a pull of it! There are...a whole crap ton of these, and there is at least two rewards for getting 100%. Since this is basically super tedious, I won't actually be showing my collection of them until their is like only one left to obtain, and then I'll be showing that one so we can see the rewards. So assume I'll be doing that off screen whenever I have the chance to do so.

With that done, let's fly to the only place left to really go! There's a wind crest that came pre-unlocked, so lets check it out. Up their, in a little Minish Mushroom house, we find an apparent apprentice to the great sage Librari! He tells us that Librari lives in the library (of course) and HE got into the Temple of Droplets, so if we want to get in we should ask him. Seems simple enough, lets do it! Talking with this guy also makes the library accessible, so that's nice.

Going to the library itself and shrinking in size to go to where the Minish live here, we find that it seems three books are missing, and this is quite vital! As it turns out the Minish we need to talk to lives here, and the three books that've been taken out are ladders to his house. It's...a good thing we're here since I imagine he might of starved to death after awhile if not for us, since most of these books we have to get back (and we do have to get them back, of course) have been taken out for a while. So yeah, we talk to the nice library clerk and she's like "oh hey you're gonna get the books cool!" and thus begins our quest. This entire sequence seems really silly to me, but I'm okay with it.

First up is a bestiary taken out by a local lady so she could learn more about her house cat. This seems kinda goofy to me and also makes me wish I could get a Hyrulian Bestiary so I could more easily answer Wombat's questions about what enemy goes were on our wall of slaughter. Anyway, she has the book up on a shelf and is busy making kissy faces with her boyfriend next door so we've got some puzzle solving to do. If you pay attention you can see the paths the Minish take, and that's basically our only clue as to what to do. We douse his fire and go through it to get onto the path that leads between their homes. The only real threat here is the cat because, unsurprisingly, cats are always gonna be cats. Once past said cat we can push the book down from the shelf, get back to regular small child size, and pick up the book. One down!

Next one is a book on the Picori. Not the best book I imagine seeing as how it doesn't even have their names right, womp womp. This one is held by Dr Left, a reference to Sim City but more importantly, a silly ole researcher that didn't allow us into his house until just now. This part always confuses me thanks to my future knowledge! Anyway, we can't find the book anywhere, but according to the Minish in his house there is a legend about a treasure that lets small people push giant things, and it starts from this guy's house. So after quickly dunking his fireplace, let's see about doing that! It's not all that complicated really, just Minishing through some houses and down a garden until we find a small sort of mini dungeon thing! It's nothing too complicated, but it gives us a good place to test out our new Magic Boomerang. Our reward for clearing this area is the Power Bracelets! These fine gold rings they they make us super strong in any size, but that is not correct! We're only able to push huge things while tiny. Still, with this was can get the book so lets go.

We return to Dr Left's house, push the shelves into the correct position, and climb on up to the rafters. Up their we find some Minish reading the good doctors books. One of which is the one we're looking or, and another Minish is trying to get down to him. We need the strength of at least three small children to get it down, and thankfully after cleaning some dust we find those mystical clone tiles that let us create another Link. The book falls down, we pick it up, badabing badaboom second book obtained. Let's bring it back.

Our third book is held by that suspicious and jerky Mayor Hagen. We ask him about the book and his response is...basically null and void. He doesn't even think he took the book out. We smash his masks to open up a Minish path and THEY are far more forthcoming with useful information. It seems the book is at his town house in Lake Hyrule, and as you may recall we saw a sign that said no digging, on Hagen's word. Unfortunately for him I only respect one Mayor Hagen, and since I doubt this guy is going to be piledriving gangsters any time soon lets get digging! In this area we meet the Like Like, the original and class bagworm monster that eats your stuff that the Rupee Like is based on. These eat your shield, and that's super rude! We won't let tiny shield get eaten! Also their is a funny little gag about the first Like Like we find being in the hole that is owned by a mayor. It's always been said that "Shield-eaters and world leaders have many likes alike". This is something I'll explain below this write up by the way.

Anyway, we get to his house and find that once more, the book is up on a high place we can't reach. Thankfully, through clever use of our head, we open up a Minish portal, get down into his house, and push the book down onto the floor so we can pick it up. I then PROCEED TO FORGET TO PICK UP THE BOOK until I make it all the way back to the library. Oops! After correcting that mistake we've gotten all the books we need, and the path opens to us. We speak to Librari and he...dunks us into another mini dungeon! Well that happened. I guess I'll see you guys next time!

------

The little joke that is usually mentioned in reference to Like Like's is "Shield-eaters and world leaders have many likes alike". This is derived from the Japanese proverb, 蓼食う虫も好き好き (Tade kū mushi mo sukizuki), which literally translated means "Some bugs eat water-peppers and like-like it." and is intended to mean "each to their own tastes". The symbols for water-peppers can easily be changed to shield, this is the reference they're making.

Sometimes video games are written very strangely.

[Lord Raziere]

Collection is done for now, lets press onward!

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap [10] Library (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fMWpRdUv1A)

Video Length: 25:30


heh, cats are dangerous at that size, because you look like a mouse to them. your prey! *bat bat* just be thankful they're not cuckoos :smalltongue:

critical memory failure on that one. just be thankful that its only a book in a videogame, there have been times that I accidentally left things far more important to me somewhere else in real life! and both you an the mayor forgot about the book, maybe there is a curse of forgetting cast upon it?

but especially don't trust Tree-Oni Wizards. if you ever see a pianta in a robe and wizard hat....RUN.

[DataNinja]

Well, it's nice to know that link isn't the only one who has that habit of holding things over his head whenever the obtains them. Maybe it's a Hylian thing? :smallbiggrin:

[Lord Raziere]

Well, it's nice to know that link isn't the only one who has that habit of holding things over his head whenever the obtains them. Maybe it's a Hylian thing? :smallbiggrin:

Maybe its a prayer to their goddesses as a sort of thanks for receiving a gift? like...

*gets a loaf of bread*
*holds loaf of bread up in the air to show the goddesses that you are thankful for this loaf of bread*

or
*gets handed a ring during wedding*
*both bride and groom hold up the rings to show the goddesses they are thankful for the marriage, then put them on*

and the little musical tune that plays is the goddesses acknowledging their prayer and approving it?

[LaZodiac]

Maybe its a prayer to their goddesses as a sort of thanks for receiving a gift? like...


That's completely plausible enough an explanation that I'm willing to take it. It's not seen weird in this time because it's common place, but in Skyward Sword's time it's seen as weird since no one knew about it then (it must of come into place between the two, reasonable given they just left the sky). Later games it slowly becomes less well know, but Link keeps doing it since it's in his blood.

Also that wedding imagery is hilarious my god.

[DataNinja]

and the little musical tune that plays is the goddesses acknowledging their prayer and approving it?

That must suck, sometimes. *tries to sneak through somewhere* "Ooh, 50 rupees!" *picks up* *musical tune plays* "Dang it..."

[ShneekeyTheLost]

There was quite a bit of futurepast in this episode. First... masks. There is a deep dread and foreboding when the topic of masks comes up. Some of those masks that were knocked off of walls reinforced that dread. The fetch quest that will not end. Literally an entire game which is nothing more than one elaborate fetch quest. Fetch Quest meets Groundhog Day. Eeeeevil.

And that old dude with the cane... futurepast me is expecting him to get hot under the collar because someone downstairs rolled into something and knocked down his shelving. No clue why...

[Coidzor]

Maybe its a prayer to their goddesses as a sort of thanks for receiving a gift? like...

*gets a loaf of bread*
*holds loaf of bread up in the air to show the goddesses that you are thankful for this loaf of bread*

or
*gets handed a ring during wedding*
*both bride and groom hold up the rings to show the goddesses they are thankful for the marriage, then put them on*

and the little musical tune that plays is the goddesses acknowledging their prayer and approving it?

Headcanon accepted and locked in. Now if only we had a spriter to make a wedding scene at that bell...

One thing that's been bugging me... so, Kinstones fuse, no? Who gets the finished stone? It seems like it'd cause more arguments then good luck. :smalltongue:

Also, amusing to have that guy at the end just oblivious to the size-shifting child. :smallbiggrin:

I just thought they got consumed and turned into those magical balls of light that trigger the stored up magic.

Giving Minishes their tails or something like that would also fit, though. Or maybe human happiness provides power or sustenance or longevity to them, that's why they're such desperate people pleasers? In which case, kinstone fusing would be like freebasing that stuff.

[DataNinja]

Giving Minishes their tails or something like that would also fit, though. Or maybe human happiness provides power or sustenance or longevity to them, that's why they're such desperate people pleasers? In which case, kinstone fusing would be like freebasing that stuff.

So they're happiness vampires? :smalleek:

That took a dark turn fairly quickly...

[LaZodiac]

Hark, a new Zelda arrives!

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap [11] Temple of Droplets (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQEQ3xvMmVA)

Video Length: 24:35

Last time on Minish Cap, Sage Librari dunked us into a tiny dungeon to find the sacred treasure that'll let us get into the Temple of Droplets! How rude and also exactly expected give he's a sage in a video game! Let's get through this dungeon and then maybe give him a piece of our mind two episodes later. As far as minidungeons go this is really more of an extension of the place where we got the Power Bracelets. It's a few short rooms followed by a somewhat intense combat encounter, in this case Scissor Beetles! These bugs are quite a hard nut to crack, invincible from teh front due to their shielding blades. However, they also throw those to attack, so they're vulnerable. Another vulnerability is the Magic Boomerang, which just stuns the outright allowing for a far easier time. Our reward for slaying them all is the Flippers! These apparently magical footwear allow us to swim with the greatest of ease. We can use this to collect a bunch of stuff right now, but I'm going to hold off on that. We already had an episode dedicated to just gettin' stuff.

That being said, I am going to do a small bit of collecting. Nothing major just, since we're on our WAY to Lake Hylia, we may as well do this. First of all I buy the Quiver at the store, giving us access to 50 arrows! This is pretty awesome if arrows were more usable (they don't feel as good as they should in this game). We could of bought the bomb bag since bombs are slightly more useful, but eh the Quiver was closer. Next, we shrink in the cafe and do some light exploration up in the rafters, which leads us over to the general store. And what do you know it, this shop keeper is so eagle eyed he sensed we arrived in Minish size, even if he didn't see us outright. Going back to regular size he says we're allowed to shop from here, so...lets try to buy his bottle! Not for sale sadly, but he says he'll give it to us if we go feed his dog, which is in Lake Hylia so it's on the way. See, perfectly reasonable to go about doing this now! Let's get going to Lake Hylia!

It's REALLY at the Lake that we start seeing just how uh...frustrating the flipper's inability to climb onto anything other then shore banks and stairs really is. There is a Heart Piece right there and we can't get it aaaaah. It also makes it just a bit harder to navigate then I'd like, just a minor little quibble. Anyway, he search the lake and find some neat stuff, like a Heart Piece we CAN collect, and a new sword trainer! This is Waveblade and we can't learn from him till we have 10 hearts. We've got 9, so we'll pick this guy up after the dungeon proper. Speaking of which, this is another Minish size dungeon, and in a funny sort of twist the Temple is itself a Minish Portal. Neat! Lets dive on in!

Now, let me just start of this dungeon by saying, I do still enjoy this dungeon. It's a fun dungeon and actually put together pretty well, if weirdly (their isn't really any reason for the first locked door in the dungeon to be a Big Key door...). That said, this dungeon is just...really frustrating with the mechanics it focuses on. The swimming is okay, but the ice is just...it's ice in video games people, it's exactly as bad as you'd expect. And though we only get a small taste of it here, there ARE areas with darkness in this dungeon and it's just super annoying. And like...none of this is a super bad game breaker or anything, it's just in the way of a good dungeon. So, lets move on to the Temple of Droplets.

Our first major goal here is to find the Big Key so we can actually get into the rest of the dungeon. This involves going through two ice block pushing puzzles, which if you've played video games for any length of time you're certain to have encountered at some point. Gotta push the block or blocks to the right spot, taking into mind that you cannot stop the block's movement on ice until it hits something. The first one is relatively easy, the second one embarrassingly took me long enough that I felt it needed to be sped up, due solely to me messing up the trick you use to solve these. The way you solve these puzzles is quite simple in that you work backwards. Start from where you want to the block to go, and move away from it until you hit a solid object (in this case the first solid object you really hit in the puzzle I messed up was the switch itself, which I forgot counted!). This method works 100% of the time in my experience, and will help you through a lot of rather difficult puzzles if you keep it in mind.

That said, we get through the Big Key door and find our element just kinda waiting for us...frozen in ice. Dang, looks like we've got to go through the entire dungeon to open up gates so that the heat will melt the element out. Nothing's ever easy! Moving forward we eventually get to another thing that...lets say doesn't make me to keen on this dungeon. It's still good mind you, but less happy about it. We're bringing back the lilypad from the first dungeon! Nothing's really wrong with that, other areas have established that the lilypad is not a dungeon mechanic so much as a Minish mechanic in general, but I feel like for this dungeon at the very least, they could of at least changed the graphic to be like an ice chunk or something. But then it'd be slippery...tough choices. Anyway, we've gotta babysit this lilypad for awhile. It makes some areas easier and some harder, as you'd really expect. For my part I just face tank the metal crushers.

Speaking of things returning from other dungeons, the Madderpiller is back! The ice makes him actually pretty tough to fight, and again while I don't begrudge them this is just "a Minish enemy" and not a 100% strictly Dungeon 1 mechanic, it still feels kinda lame. We could of had a different mini boss and instead we have this guy again. A little after that we get to fight three Scissor Beetles again, and I think this is a far better choice for "miniboss" for this dungeon since that is a new enemy JUST revealed, that we've had to fight to get the flippers so they feel like they're "part of this dungeon" if you catch what I mean. The Madderpiller just seems unneeded. Anyway, after beating up the Scissor Beetles we get a warp back to the entrance, and I think that's enough for today. See you guys next time for when we finish this dungeon off right!

[Coidzor]

~0:15: Shows what my memory is, I thought the flippers and power bracelet were part of the same dungeon, connected by areas where you swam, and that you exited through the power bracelet entrance after grabbing that heart piece you have to swim to get. :smallembarrassed:

~0:30: *Ahem* BOOOOOOOMERRR KUUWAAAAAANGERRRS! How appropriate that the boomerang became available just before you can have boomeranger duels. Nice touch, that.

~1:20: Clearly, we're gonna need a torch for this magical ice. Or maybe a hammer or pick for the magical crystal. Well, I guess magic ice is technically a magical crystal too...

~1:45: the most disappointment. How dare that waterfall not have goodies!

~2:10: Not even gonna have Ezlo yell at him for giving him a surprise bath? Letting that Librari get off easily, aren't ya? Xp

~2:20: So despite being literate enough to overload the post office, they hardly use the library, or at least whatever is on the second floor. I guess the desk girls were hired as eye candy to try to get people to go to the library?

~2:45: I bet you're just all aquiver with excitement to no longer have to use arrows wisely. Too bad for you, Zodi, ya still gotta USE BOMBS WISELY!!! :smalltongue:

~3:22: The most adorable, like when doge think they're people.

~3:30: However, like doge, Minish are kinda dumb and need a kinstone fusion love connection to help them trade hats. XD

~4:30 I'm sure with all the dust the minish were just using it as storage space, not that the minish living in the rafters got et. Monsters seem to only have appeared in places people weren't already, after all.

~5:30: Why would you want the bottle? It's not like bottles are incredibly rare and useful objects. Oh, lampshading the unique difficulties of being a Link and thus always short on bottles.

~7:00: That's one hungry doge alright. No worries, probably hungry enough to clean up the food that got spilled all over the floor by pushing Link.

~7:15: dumb octoroks are dumb, but still able to hit ya from offscreen,because you left you hands full ocarina! Xp

~8:10: aaaand rejected by the metroid wavebeam legolas reference! Time to consume more SOULs. And only one short, that's rough. Hopefully it's not some cool technique that's only of use in a water or ice dungeon!

~9:00: I forgot about that aspect too, really cool though, the portal being the dungeon entrance.

Also, worst name for an ice dungeon. Droplets are liquid, not froze!

~10:00: Flying pots, annoying and effective! At attrition! Sword harder Zodi-Link! Or shield more! /Ezlo

~11:00: And then once he gets spiked boots they'll complain they can't kick.

~11:30: Silly Zodi, your roll attacks cannot harm me, I'm a flying pot! Xp

~13:00-14:00: Yeah, that's a tricky one and definitely a screwy aspect of the dungeon. Working backwards sums up that puzzle solution and getting the big key so you can open up the dungeon. :smallamused:

~14:12: There we go! Mastering the art of flying pot denial! XD

~14:45: I think they're dualistically both a physical object that's magical and a symbol of the element itself. Though the temples do play fast and loose about how they present what you need to do to get access to the element/be granted it. Heck, the Wind Tribe was able to move and redefine how you get the wind element when they left their valley abandoned save for the dead and guardian robutts.

~15:30: I'm torn between yelling at you about diving or dodging now. Divedodging.

~15:50: Ice and swimming? Secret dungeon theme of hypothermia confirmed.

~16:30: Corny, but I liked that bottom of the pot bit.

~17:00: Oh, hey, a climb wall that might as well have been a ladder. :smallamused: Or, then again, maybe Minish can make robutts with ladders up their fronts, but not actual stand alone ladders.

~18:00: Woo! Lilypad silliness! Or maybe it's... LILY MADNESS! I like the effect of hoping over the waterfall at least, even if the backtracking is a little silly, especially with that spike roller trap.

~19:00: seems like cleaning the walls and getting your shield put would be the name of the game. Too bad you can't use the cane to flip him or boomerang stun him open.

~21:30: Pretty sure that's rolled up monster dung they're dropping, sorry. Extra rudinal.

Still, a nice little block puzzle, if a bit of an overly circuitous lilypad path.

~23:15: Don't trip! *promptly walks off ledge* :V

Darkness is the worst.

~24:00: Not bad, if you'd not forgotten your second item and used a shield you might've done it flawlessly.

[Lord Raziere]

Hark, a new Zelda arrives!

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap [11] Temple of Droplets (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQEQ3xvMmVA)

Video Length: 24:35


.....flippers eh? kay, wouldn't be the first time that a game mechanic of basic movement requires a certain item to work (HINT: Every time a water pokemon doesn't know Surf, or a Flying pokemon Fly)

well, where else would you put a mini-restaurant? seems logical to me: if you all live in the same town, might as well make all the places of business in the same places the humans do, no need for building your own structures and its easier to procure the supplies you need, if your small enough to take advantage of being int he same place without being noticed.

....if the blue-hatted one wants a red hat and the red-hatted one wants a blue hat....then why don't they just trade the hats? is the joke that they're too lazy to give them to each other, even when they're right next to one another?

I dunno, the secret place dried out a castle fountain, not one in town, so..... I doubt its a vital drinking spot, probably decorative for some noble's whim. and a waste of money.

temple of droplets eh? lemme guess: you have to unfreeze the octorok statue to actually fight the boss. first boss key, THEN puzzle....to get to actual boss fight.

and yeah, darkness is a bad mechanic in RPG's. especially since nintendo seems to use it a lot: Paper Mario? you need Watt. pokemon? well there is a meme about tough guys getting through Granite Cave without Flash for a reason y'know. and apparently Zelda games to.

[LaZodiac]

.....flippers eh? kay, wouldn't be the first time that a game mechanic of basic movement requires a certain item to work (HINT: Every time a water pokemon doesn't know Surf, or a Flying pokemon Fly)

....if the blue-hatted one wants a red hat and the red-hatted one wants a blue hat....then why don't they just trade the hats? is the joke that they're too lazy to give them to each other, even when they're right next to one another?

I dunno, the secret place dried out a castle fountain, not one in town, so..... I doubt its a vital drinking spot, probably decorative for some noble's whim. and a waste of money.

temple of droplets eh? lemme guess: you have to unfreeze the octorok statue to actually fight the boss. first boss key, THEN puzzle....to get to actual boss fight.

and yeah, darkness is a bad mechanic in RPG's. especially since nintendo seems to use it a lot: Paper Mario? you need Watt. pokemon? well there is a meme about tough guys getting through Granite Cave without Flash for a reason y'know. and apparently Zelda games to.

One day there will be a Pokemon game that lets you fly because "you have a pokemon capable of flight" and then I can safely field Golurk without wasting a move slot just to fulfill my dreams of flying on a giant robot. One daaay.

I think it's more the idea that the two Minish are too nervous to ask about trading hats.

Hmm, good point. Though water is in high supply in Hyrule I don't think it's TOO bad to be a little wasteful with it. We're practically drowning in water down in Hyrule!

Hehe, you'll have to wait and see :smallamused:

At least Watt is an awesome partner and super adorable.

[Qwertystop]

One day there will be a Pokemon game that lets you fly because "you have a pokemon capable of flight" and then I can safely field Golurk without wasting a move slot just to fulfill my dreams of flying on a giant robot. One daaay.

My expectation is that they'll let you use the moves as long as you have the badge and the HM (and something that could learn it).

[Coidzor]

One day there will be a Pokemon game that lets you fly because "you have a pokemon capable of flight" and then I can safely field Golurk without wasting a move slot just to fulfill my dreams of flying on a giant robot. One daaay.

I think it's more the idea that the two Minish are too nervous to ask about trading hats.

Hmm, good point. Though water is in high supply in Hyrule I don't think it's TOO bad to be a little wasteful with it. We're practically drowning in water down in Hyrule!

No, because that would be fun. Can't have that. :smalltongue:

Like a couple of hat virgins who both want it but are too scared and awkward to initiate properly.

Futurepast!!!!! *shakes fist*


.....flippers eh? kay, wouldn't be the first time that a game mechanic of basic movement requires a certain item to work (HINT: Every time a water pokemon doesn't know Surf, or a Flying pokemon Fly) Also top-down Zelda games since Link to the Past.

Hyrule just has magic items instead of swimming lessons. Just goes to show how high magic they are/were.


....if the blue-hatted one wants a red hat and the red-hatted one wants a blue hat....then why don't they just trade the hats? is the joke that they're too lazy to give them to each other, even when they're right next to one another?

NPC helplessness lampshading, I think.


temple of droplets eh? lemme guess: you have to unfreeze the octorok statue to actually fight the boss. first boss key, THEN puzzle....to get to actual boss fight.

In a plot twist it turns out the boss fight is just thawing the octorok so it plummets and lets us get ast the crystal element maguffin. :smallamused:

[LaZodiac]

Deeper into the Temple we go!

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda the Minish Cap [12] Big Octorok (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9X1gw5DGtwo)

Video Length: 26:46

When we last left off, we had juust finished the halfway point of the Temple! Using our clone powers we puuuush a switch to cause some light in, partially melting the frozen prison of the Element. It also opens up the path to the rest of the dungeon, so lets get going! Down this path we find some ice paths mixed with pits and traps that'll send you flying off the edge! This...is kinda frustrating, as you'd expect from ice in video games. It's not that big of a deal overall, but it still makes you feel bad, especially since it makes you restart the whole room.

Moving on we find a new ice block pushing puzzle...except it doesn't have ice block pushing, just uses those elements. We've gotta flip switches properly to get this chest unfrozen. It gives us a key that brings us to another kind of annoying retread, the Big Blue Chu-chu! Yup, it's a return of the first boss in the game, only harder! It has more health, it moves around a little faster, jumps a little more aggressively, and most importantly occasionally covers itself in a cloak of lightning that makes it impossible to hurt or suck the goo from with your Gust Jar! This is...actually really annoying for multiple reasons! First of all, refighting the first boss in the game as a miniboss, while not BAD (it can even be great!) can be seen as a little cheap, since this guy has nooothing to do with the dungeon at all beyond being blue. Second, because of the upgrades this guy has, it doesn't make you feel any stronger. You're fighting this guy that should be a representation of how you've grown in the game, a guy who was once a boss now just a miniboss. But instead, because of his upgrades and his lightning field, he feels harder then the original. That's not OVERLY bad because he should still be a challenge given we're in the second to last dungeon or so, but it's an unfortunate case of this guy not really striking the balance between "challenging for this part of the game" and "but still makes you feel a lot stronger fighting it because it's a retread". Third, and this may just be due to my playing the game, this is the first Blue Chu-chu you encounter so if you don't know what those are you're gonna get your butt kicked. That feels like bad game design to me, having a "boss" version of an enemy that you haven't even seen yet unless you go out of your way to explore more then you "should".

Anyway, we finally slay the fearsome beast, and our reward is the dungeon item! This one is...the Lantern. We could of got a magical rod of fire and instead we get a lamp. Okay. I kind of kid though, this lamp's kind of cool! It can't...actually hurt enemies, but you can use it to light fires and to banish the dark (though not solve it completely, sadly). Most importantly we can use it to melt ice, so lets go! It's at this point that we encounter the large portion of "the room is daaaaark" gimmick the Temple of Droplets have, and it also takes place in a maze. Hooraaaaaaay *Falls over*. We also get some rooms with Scissor Beatles in them that I mistake for a puzzle and a kill room, respectively. Oops! We also face the fearsome TWO MADDERPILLERS IN DARKNESS room.

After dealing with the darkness we get a nice clone puzzle that I actually quite like, and then are subjected to the Winder enemies, which I don't! Winder's are more like obstacles, in that they are invincible! They can't be killed, but can sure as heck kill you. If you touch a Winder you get set on fire and this causes Link to, understandably, start running around all crazy like. This is a problem since it makes you run into the Winder more, as well as make it pretty hard to control! It's just another really annoying enemy to throw in to a dungeon that's already really trying to test your patience.

Finally, cutting through scores of Mulldozers and solving many a puzzle, we reach the second switch to bring light into the dungeon, freeing the Element. It also, tragically, melts the large Octorok statue, which turns out to not be a statue at all! The Octorok sucks up the Element, and we've got a fight on our hands! This is the big Octorok, though it's still technically just a basic enemy while WE are the small one. In it's first, regular phase it shuffles around spewing rocks at us that we have to knock back at it to damage it, and tries to suck us up to shoot us at walls and stuff. It's quite large on such a small screen so it can be a little tricky, especially when I waste time trying to get hearts from the leavings the rock's...leave, after hitting a wall (spoilers there is no way to recover hearts in this fight!). After damaging it enough he freezes over with the power of the Element, and it's time for his second form! In this form he blasts out frozen breath that can freeze you, and does his same sucking in attack. This form is harder to deal with since the ice is, of course, slippery, and you need to light the flower on it on fire so the Octorok itself catches on fire. Once you've done that it switches over to it's regular form. At some point during the fight it gains the ability to spew out ink to darken the screen and starts charging around to cause rocks to fall.

This boss is...surprisingly infuriating, if I must say. It's really difficult, it's annoying dealing with the ice, the darkness and charge attack is okay but at the same time kind of...not? This entire fight just has this weird edge to it that makes it really just bothersome to play. It IS a good boss, don't get me wrong, but a total lack of healing opportunities in a boss seems kinda weird to me, especially one of this difficulty. The biggest problem in this fight is the waiting though, if you miss a rock you're gonna be sitting around a looong time.

After a long and difficult fight, we finally kill the Octorok. Element and Heart Container obtained, we've done it! Just one more to go...but where could it be? Well, as we leave the dungeon, the ghost of a King of Hyrule appears and says "hey yo come to the graveyard to figure out how to proceed" and that's awfully nice of him. Thanks Ghost King! First we have to put the new Element into our sword...but before THAT lets go to Waveblade to learn his secrets finally. Turns out he gives us the Peril Blade, the skill that lets us throw beam swords if we have one heart left! Useless! See you guys next time.

[DataNinja]

Y'know what would have made sense for the chuchu battle? Have it be another green one, that only takes two cycles to defeat. That would give it reason for having four cycles to begin with. But, what would video games be if they made sense? :smalltongue:

[LaZodiac]

Y'know what would have made sense for the chuchu battle? Have it be another green one, that only takes two cycles to defeat. That would give it reason for having four cycles to begin with. But, what would video games be if they made sense? :smalltongue:

Another thing they could of done is leave it as a Blue, but give us some smaller Blue Chu-chu's before entering the dungeon, AND only making it two cycles. That way it's harder then the first but faster to kill due to our increased powed.

[Kd7sov]

Aren't Winders one of the things that succumb to the boomerang? Or is that just... Sparks, I think might be the name?

And yes, Giant Variable Octorok is one of my least favorite bosses, pastfuture or futurepast. (Or futurefuture.) Trying to get around to its tail when it's frozen, in particular, is always a frustrating struggle.

[LaZodiac]

Aren't Winders one of the things that succumb to the boomerang? Or is that just... Sparks, I think might be the name?

And yes, Giant Variable Octorok is one of my least favorite bosses, pastfuture or futurepast. (Or futurefuture.) Trying to get around to its tail when it's frozen, in particular, is always a frustrating struggle.

Sparks and Anti-fairies/bubbles are what you're thinking of. Winders can't be hurt by the boomerang.

[Lord Raziere]

Deeper into the Temple we go!

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda the Minish Cap [12] Big Octorok (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9X1gw5DGtwo)

Video Length: 26:46


and wow, that supposed "mini boss" took off a lot of your health

behold! the power of Link: able to slash enemies with his sword through WALLS

yep, your special hell indeed. but it seems the Big Octorok is also apart of it.

and wow yeah. that is pretty useless: you can fire swords at people....but only when your near death. I mean, sure there is concept of limit break, but anyone who plays RPG's knows to keep yourself healthy with lots of potions than risk near death unless they're specifically doing a hax build like Danger Mario or the junctioning you pull in FF8.

[Qwertystop]

It's not useless - if you're in trouble, you no longer need to worry about having to get close to the enemy.

[Coidzor]

Also, it does let you make a wavebeam reference even harder. :smallamused:

And hey, now we know why there was that random madderpiller on the ice. As a heads up that those monsters are here and practice doing it on ice while you can see instead of giving up two and dark and ice for your second maddening.

[LaZodiac]

It's time for another new Zelda!

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap [13] Royal Valley (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mxqp23Eqdo)

Video Length: 23:00

This one might be a little shorter then I'd like due to do some editing shinanigans and having to babysit and stuff. Anyway, starting us off we revisit with that devious sage that dropped us into a dungeon. It turns out this was completely a good idea because the dialogue is fantastic. Good decision all around. That little detour over, it's time for a more proper, meaty detour. First, after buying a bigger bomb bag from the store, we head over to the Forest Minish Elder and FINALLY we're able to rub stones with this guy! In doing so it makes Belari, that bomb making Minish, realize that hey you know what would be sweet? Remote control bombs. A quick visit to his hut and that's exactly what we GET. Remote Bombs, a replacement for regular bombs that makes it so that we completely control the explosion of our bombs. We can only have one bomb out at a time but this is such a useful feature it more then makes up for it.

Of course that's not all Belari has to reward us with. If we push a rock into his face, it summons up a chest that we're gonna go get right away. Inside it is another, and our last, bomb bag upgrade! We can now hold 99 bombs, awesome! Now it's time to head off to the spooky Royal Valley. Our first action here is...to disregard all enemies and bust our way into a cave that has the third Great Fairy in it! I didn't mention it but each of the Great Fairies in this game has a name, based on their wings. I forget them but they're all based on insects and it's kind of cute. Anyway, she asks us about our journey and after remembering all of our cool adventures we're rewarded with a quiver! We could actually go get the last quiver now except I don't know what Minish needs a new friend to get it, and I can't find information on which it is! So that's fun.

Anyway, Royal Valley! This spooky ass place has two new enemies for us to encounter! We've got the Ghini, spooky cyclopean ghosts that latch onto you and lick Link's face! It's kinda horrifying and yet also strangely cute, fitting the aesthetic of this game quite well. Then we have Takkuri, red crows that hit Link in the face and steal his rupees! This is super rude but thankfully I avoided getting hit by all of the ones we can encounter. This then leads us to the Lost Woods! The Lost Woods are an iconic staple of the Zelda series and this is the first time we're seeing it in my little series retrospective. This one isn't as bad as others, with each screen giving you a sign on which way to go...some a little more obscure then others! I mess it up once though...but after that it's smooth sailing, and we're in the Royal Graveyard proper.

At least...sort of, anyway. First we need to get the key from the gravedigger, Dampe. Which...isn't actually all that difficult he just gives it to us! But there isn't anything wrong with that...except as we leave his shack some Takkuri steal it and we have a minute or two long distraction to get it back. This is just a really weird side thing that I don't quite understand why they decided it should happen. It's...just a weird thing. Anyway, we're in the Royal Graveyard now and there is a cute ghost guy here but more importantly we can open up a grave to get into the Royal Crypt! Onwards, we must find the ghost dad!

The Royal Crypt is another mini dungeon, which this game has quite a lot of I realized! This one's got Gibdo's in it though so that's cool! Gibdo's are mummy enemies that just kinda walk at you, and you could fight them if you want (I make sure to log at least one Gibdo kill for our list) but or the most part, setting them on fire and beating the Stalfos that pops out is very more effective. That aside...there's two neat clone puzzles but that's basically it! Ths is very short and sweet/too the point.

After getting through the Royal Crypt we find the resting place of old King Gustaf, and he gives us the thing we need to go forward...a gold Kinstone. Next time we're gonna go actually do that! Hope to see you then.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Oh wow, futurepast me got hit by a blast of nostalgia when you entered that dungeon. That music...

For some reason, futurepast me also recognized Dampe... and not in a good way.

Forest maze... for some reason, that makes my futurepast self cringe and whimper almost as bad as Tingle did... come to think of it, there was also a lantern involved.

[Lord Raziere]

It's time for another new Zelda!

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap [13] Royal Valley (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mxqp23Eqdo)

Video Length: 23:00


so lets see....99 bombs that can explode whenever you want? why'd you want to go BACK to the normal ones?

yes, much better than peril beam! sword beam full health powers GOOOOOO!!!

and...lost woods again. those are always tricky. the real impressive thing is how seamless the transition is between the right path and going back to the beginning is in every game.

[Qwertystop]

so lets see....99 bombs that can explode whenever you want? why'd you want to go BACK to the normal ones?

yes, much better than peril beam! sword beam full health powers GOOOOOO!!!

and...lost woods again. those are always tricky. the real impressive thing is how seamless the transition is between the right path and going back to the beginning is in every game.

Since pushing the button causes them to explode, you can't have more than one out at a time and can't pull them out as fast. Unlikely to matter, but technically a disadvantage.

[LaZodiac]

Oh man I managed to pry myself off of Fire Emblem FAtes long enough to post the new video.

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap [14] Cloud Tops (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBiAzSusHLg)

Video Length: 24:42

Last time we picked up a golden Kinstone from a ghost king. Today, we're gonna actually go check up on that. But first we're going to the Ranch. There's a path we could go for a while, but since we need to go up to this new area (the Veil Falls) anyway, and we needed flippers to explore it properly, I figure now is as good a time as any. Inside we find a Heart Piece, some treasure chests, and a new enemy! Or more like, a variation on an enemy, the Blue Peahat! These guys have long root like tendrils that let them spawn and drop bombs on us, which sucks. What's worse, they seem to be immune to the Gust Jar so our only recourse is to shoot an arrow at them...but they're only hittable by the bow when they're dashing at you. You can see the problem here. We also encounter a Blue Leever and like other Leever's in this game it does basically nothing.

After that we go the CORRECT way to get into Veil Falls, and thanks to that gold Kinstone we can open up the "Source of the Flow" and head on in. It's a system of caves that are actually fairly maze like, some rooms even having darkness, and I think this is a much more fitting use of darkness as a mechanic then the Temple of Droplets. No risk of falling, no slippery floor, everything in the room works PROPERLY except the lighting, and while it's frustrating they also don't put in two minibosses to fight so it's actually kind of fun and not bad. We've also got a Wind Crest at the end of all of it so we don't have to go through it all every time we want to go up here. I'm talking to you, Royal Valley.

On top of the Falls we find a large bit of rock that makes weird noises that we're just going to ignore for now...and a very large tornado. I feel like all of Ezlo's comments about "jump into the unsafe thing" was leading up to this moment where YOU jump into the unsafe thing of your own volition. It's actually pretty funny. Anyway, the giant tornado sends us up, up into the sky! Welcome to Cloud Tops! It's a very pretty cloud place, obviously. Right away we can see (in part thanks to a small child informing us of what to do. Man, small children are the best in this game) that we've got some more gold Kinstone fusions to do. Unfortunately, unlike Castor Wilds, this one is...kind of annoying.

There are five fusions to make here to open the path forward, and the five stones and five cloud tumours we shove them into are scattered about the whole area. This isn't all that bad, but I think five might be a bit much. I'd of been okay if we kept to three like in the Wilds, or if we had four to get instead of five. Five seems a biiit on the side of padding. And trust me, I know padding, but something about THIS padding rubs me the wrong way compared to the padding in Skyward Sword. Part of it is probably caused by the two enemies we fight up here, which I'll go into more detail below this big ole paragraph thing.

So, Cloud Tops proper, how do we deal with it? Well, there are two "layers" to this area. The undercloud, where we are now, which is where enemies live. Get into a red tornado and it'll fling you up into the uppercloud, which is safe and full of cloud dirt to dig through with our claws. You can find Kinstones in the clouds, but not the golden ones (though I forgot this). There's also tornadoes hanging around that let us move between cloud formations, and for some reason the controls on them just feel tighter then when we normally encounter a tornado. Which is good, I'm all for improving a mechanic for the area you end up using it a bunch in. What I'm not okay with is the enemies IN the undercloud. We have two of them, the Cloud Piranha and the...literally a Lakitu. The Lakitu is again, literally a Lakitu from Mario, only it throws lightning instead of spike balls. Your only way to beat it is to use the Gust Jar to suck up it's cloud and then bop it in the face. I forgot this.

Then we have the Cloud Piranha. Hooo boy we have the Cloud Piranha. These enemies are the worst. They're completely immune to damage when swimming around in the clouds. Nothing you have will get them out early or make them easier to fight. You have to hit them as they jump out, and the window for DOING so is actually pretty damn tight. They also take three hits from our sword, so the best way to deal with them is hitting them with the boomerang. But that's hard since they're also FASTER then the boomerang by juuust a bit, so you can't camp out and bop em with it when they jump out, you have to make sure you're in the right spot so that you hit them as soon as they jump out, otherwise you miss. Additionally, because of how this area is set up, sometimes you'll just land in the undercloud right on top of one and get hurt, or worse get hurt AND THEN ALSO BE PUSHED BACK INTO THE RED TORNADO AND THROWN INTO THE UPPERCLOUD AGAIN. I don't like these enemies and I'm basically certain that they're why I don't like this area.

At any rate, because I'm a dumb and forgot where the last Kinstone is, we end off with one left. See you guys next time for the conclusion of horrible sky zone.

[TheWombatOfDoom]

[QUOTE=LaZodiac;20360786]Onwards to more Zelda!

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap [7] Fortress of Winds (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPx2eXqQdVg)

Video Length: 25:55

Okay! Last time we started exploring Castor Wilds, and got us a cool little bow. With that in hand, lets continue onward! Right off the bat, we encounter something really cool. A grave in the swamp! This being an adventure game, we push it open and step inside, to reveal...Swiftblade the First! A powerful sword ghost who says he'll teach us a cool move after we learn all of the other moves Swiftblade (and presumably other swordmasters) teaches us. We'll have to keep this in mind for later!

Moving on, cutting through enemies and dashing through the swamp, we eventually find our end goal in this swamp. Near the exit of the swamp we find three statues, each with a golden Kinstone placed in it. What this means is that somewhere in Castor Wilds are three (two actually, we have the first) golden Kinstone pieces, and we need to get them to progress. This is what the golden ones do, and I actually really like it. It gives the Wilds this feeling of an "open air" mini dungeon, and given that we even find a new item in it that's not too far off from true! It also feels like they might of had more dungeon ideas, but never got to implement them in time due to such and such reasoning. Anyway, with a goal now firmly in mind, lets rush off to find the other pieces!

It turns out the other pieces aren't that bad to find. It does include some running around, but defense wise the last two are much easier to obtain then the one held by the Darknut. I think it's really weird from a game design perspective to have the first one you CAN get, obtained in such a difficult manner, but I think their was a reason for it. First, it does kinda pump you up for adventure since it's a cool fight. Second, it makes it QUITE clear that this isn't just some random thingo, this is important. It helps to inform the player that these aren't optional, so I guess that works. With that (and a really bad engagement with some Rupee Likes) out of the way, we can now proceed to the Wind Ruins!

This area is, as you'd expect, a series of ruins. It looks like a temple like area, and that's not inaccurate. Unlike Castor Wilds which is an open air dungeon like aesthetic, this is a straight (as in liner) shot to our destination, with challenges along the way of both large and small variety. It's actually pretty cool. We have to deal with a new enemy in the Armos, robotic soldiers that can't be hurt in statue form, alternating between turning them on so we can fight them and then actually engaging in combat with the guys. This area seems really balanced in what it has you do, and it feels good to play, the challenges building on each other. Though I do run into some trouble due to the Cane of Pacci being not quite up to snuff as I thought it was. With all that done, we've reached the entrance to our dungeon, so lets get a move on.

The Fortress of Winds! Our third dungeon, and we're not even at 10 videos yet, this game goes fast! This dungeon is full of dirt blocks and stuff, so it's clear that whatever this area was, it was built into the cliff side. Looking at the map we eventually get, the idea of this area is that it's basically three large towers, two side ones and then the larger main one. With that in mind, lets go through em! I opt to take the left most door first, and their we get to meet a new friend, the Stalfos! These skeleton enemies dodge your attacks with high frequency, and try to ground pound you. Thankfully that leaves them open to a good spin attack, taking them out. The only other new enemy that we encounter in this video is the Wallmaster, an annoying red hand that falls on you and takes you back to the entrance. I didn't kill it, but rest assured they'll show up again.

As for what we're actually DOING in this dungeon, it's fairly simple. We climb each of the side towers, going through combat encounters and minor puzzles involving the Bow or our fancy White Sword's clone ability, and at the top we make a key fall down the pit, then jump in after it. It's a cute little event that I like, and it's used in other games in the futurepast. A consequence of going up the leftmost tower first is that we get the compass first again, which is just silly. I brig up something about chests not being visible on the map and...well, I'll explain that now, so that my dialogue in the next video looks a little silly but still accurate to my reactions. The idea is that, those areas with the dirt blocks and stuff, they aren't part of the actual BUILDINGS they made and mapped out, so they aren't visible on the map. This is a very stupid game design thing that I don't like at all. It confused me and made me annoyed and think the game was glitching (and given other glitches that happen these videos, you can hardly blame me). So yeah, that's the main thing with this dungeon.

After dealing with that it's time to go into the main tower, where we can get our map basically for free and without any effort. I feel like you're intended to go this way first to see all the locked doors and impossible to get through paths first. Oops, I guess! After dealing with a Darknut and getting a warp back to the start of the dungeon I figure it's time to cut recording, so I hope you guys enjoyed. Next time we'll be completing the dungeon for real.

Casper Swiftblade! Oh man, that's a lot of tactics to learn before visiting. Hope they're all cool!

I'd say the reason the golden kinstones are set up the way they are is each represents a different third of the triforce. Courage, Power and Wisdom. They're a little hard to figure out, but it might fit?

Oh man, those rupee likes really effed you up. :smallbiggrin:

I really like the puzzles with the Armos approaching the dungeon. It's a really neat concept, and even though they look very different from the Skyward Sword counterparts, I have to assume the robots made a few different designs. The atmosphere really looks nice in the ruins leading up to the temple. I wonder who made the wind temple and so on. And why its in a grave yard. I wonder if its a monument to fallen soldiers in a war between Skyward and Now? I mean, wind certainly seems to be a connection to the sky people...

+1 style points for killing 3 stalfos in one attack!



EPISODE 7 KILL TALLY!

Rope - 17
Peahat - 2
Eyegore Statue - 6
Red Rupee Like - 1
Armos - 8
Tektites - 13
Leever - 1
Beetle - 1
Spikey Beetle - 2
Stalfos - 14
Keese - 2
Spike Chuchu - 3
Darknut - 1

Style Points - 1!

Missed Rupees - 1
Lost Rupees (theft, overflow, ect.) - 0

(previous episodes)



The Minish Cap
Total Kills
(As of Episode 7)

Acro-Bandits - 47
Bob-ombs - 9
Crows - 6
Darknut - 2
Gleerok - 1
Helmasaurs - 14
Keaton - 4
Keese - 21
Leever - 1
Peahats - 11
Puffstools - 10
Rope - 25
Sluggula - 22
Stalfos - 14

Blins
Moblin - 3
Moblin (Bow) - 4
Moblin, Blue - 2

Bugs
Beetles - 2
Beetles, Spiked - 6
Beetles, Spiny - 9
Madderpillars - 1
Mulldozers - 12
Mulldozers, Blue - 5
Rollobites - 1
Pestos - 13

Constructs
Armos - 8
Eyegore Statue - 7

Chuchus
Chuchus, Green - 5*
Chuchus, Red - 26
Chuchus, Spike - 13

Likes
Rupee Like, Green - 1
Rupee Like, Red - 1

Octoroks
Octoroks - 55
Octoroks, Blue - 5

Tektites
Tektites - 45
Tektites, Blue - 1

*one of which was a boss

Total Things Dead - 412!

1st Place - Octoroks, at 55!
2nd Place - Acro-bandits, at 47!
3rd Place - Tektites, at 45!

Total Style Points - 4!

Total Missed Rupees - 3
Total Lost Rupees - 161

[TheWombatOfDoom]

Slightly later episode due to cooking pancakes!

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap [8] Tribe of the Winds (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsIuHWzWp2E)

Video Length: 23:43

Welcome back! It's time for more Wind Fort! When we last left off we had just gotten to the blue warp tile, which means we're what like a third of the way through the dungeon? It's neat how they're using these warp things to sort of gauge out how long the dungeon is. It's...not 100% accurate, though.

Anyway, it's time to move forward! Our next room is actually really cool to me because it's one of those "iconic Zelda puzzle" rooms. You've gotta move along with some blade traps to hit a switch, then move with them to get to where the switch opens. It's kinda cute in my opinion, and rest assured we'll be seeing more stuff like this in the future. After dealing with that we also see some mysterious tiles on the ground, with two skulls on them but the middle left empty. This is actually a rather subtle clue to "bomb this wall" and while I don't REALLY like it since I can imagine someone playing this blind would just have a really bad time with it, if you've played other Zelda games before this area should spark your discovery instinct. Maybe. I don't know, it did for me!

Good thing it did too, because behind that wall is our dungeon item! We have obtained the Mole Mitts! Those of you familiar with the last game may recognize these, and I'll be sure to talk more about that at a more appropriate time. For now, lets see how these babies work. They let you dig holes in the ground like a shovel, finding random enemies or items, and unique to this game they let you dig through those big dirt blocks you've been seeing through this whole dungeon. Digging our way through them will let us get a fairly large amount of Kinstone holding chests, as well as a secret room in this dungeon. Tragically, this is a pure utility tool, and can not be used to fling enemies over your shoulder. Later in the video I go back to the entrance and dig aaaall the way to the left, to a hidden room where we get into a big fight with some wizards! These are Wizrobes, huge jerks that teleport around and fire blasts of magic. They also seemingly enchant the fire in a room to shoot blasts at you as well. They're really annoying, but also aren't from this dungeon. Think of it as a teaser.

With Mitts in hand, lets explore the other path we opted not to take last video. This one has another somewhat iconic puzzle, the Pegasus Boot bridge run! Gotta dash over a bridge before it collapses beneath you (or in this case, before it coils back into the wall). It's fun and silly. Less fun and silly is the enemy type it leads us to, one of the last new enemies we'll encounter in this dungeon! Floormasters! These blue handed version of the red handed Wallmasters work basically the same as them. Unlike Wallmasters that have the decency to ambush you, the Floormasters just kinda shuffle around, and if you touch them at all they just kinda grab you and take you to the dungeon entrance. This SUCKS, it wastes your time, and in a game with as...generous a hitbox as this game, it's REALLY easy to get grabbed. Suffice to say these are super bloody annoying.

We dispatch the hands and get to do a long and fairly involved puzzle chain involving our sword's cloning ability and sneaking through some steel rollers as a tiny Link. It's actually pretty cool how this one room gets "completed" in two different ways, each leading to sliiightly different things. During all this we get through another iconic Zelda puzzle, falling down a hole from one floor of a dungeon to another, and making sure to fall through the correct hole. It's a cute little puzzle I like that rewards attention to detail and makes the dungeons feel a lot more "complete" and not just random rooms strung together. We get the Boss Key from this, so that's cool.

At some point during the dungeon we encounter Moldorms! This is the last unique enemy in the dungeon (though not the last one we meet video wise I'm just kinda jumping around). No longer the game of cat and mouse they were in the last game, these guys just kinda bounce around all crazy and the actual in game recommended method to dispatch them is to slash wildly. I'm not one to go against free advice, and it really does deal with these guys quite nicely. With that, and some bothersome treasure collecting out of the way (one of which I leave for later), we're now done with this dungeon except for the boss. Of course right before the boss door we get the red teleport, for some reason. This leads to my main problem with the Fortress of Wind, which I'll get to before I go into the boss.

This dungeon doesn't really feel all that well put together. It's basically three towers you have to go through. There's nothing wrong with that, but that doesn't really match the feel of "Fortress of Wind" I think. It also has the issue that, all the areas with dirt walls in them you need to dig...they don't show up on the map. So you have no idea if you're missing treasure or not unless you go through the entire area! Now, as you may of noticed, me and many players tend to navigate by the "treasure chest" method. If a treasure chest is open the you've been here. Treasure chests=progress. It isn't always 100% accurate, but since they're explicit rewards that you tend to only pick up once the area is dealt with, it tends to happen. So when you mess with the players perception of that, it gets frustrating! Another game in the series has this sort of problem and it's getting fixed in it's HD remake, the director even citing this thing I brought up. It's frustrating and annoying and just weird that areas that make up a good third of the dungeon aren't even listed on the map. Anyway, bad dungeon design aside, it's time for a boss.

The boss of the Fortress of Wind is a giant robot face! Meet Mazaal! This is actually kind of a bad boss maybe, I don't really know. The way you fight him is by shooting an arrow at the little eye orbs in his hands, destroying those with your sword, and then shrinking to sneak into his face to slice up his little control rod thing. On paper this sounds pretty cool, but in practice it feels kinda...bad? Like maybe I'm just getting something wrong here, but his hands are WAY too big and he just kinda rubs them all over the screen, which is quite tiny seeing as how it's a GBA game! Basically it seems really hard to evade damage in this fight, and it kinda sucks. He HAS other attacks, summoning beetles to keep you from attacking and shooting eye lasers, but he almost never does them in favor of just rubbing his giant stone fists all over your giant god damn hit box. Regardless, after three rotations of his pattern he dies like a good boss should, getting us a Heart Container and...the element?

We leave the dungeon and end up on it's roof, a rather beautiful looking ruined shrine covered in exotic looking multicolour birds. Up ahead we find a large tablet, which we read. Once their was a tribe that had faith in the winds who lived here, and after mastering them they decided to leave for the sky. They took their element with them in safe keeping. Those of you familiar with Skyward Sword might find this information quite interesting. We do receive a reward for getting his far though, a bird names Zeffa arrives and grants us the Ocarina of Winds. A simple flute, we play a certain song (that some of you may recognize) on it, and the nice bird that gave it to us will send us to any of the unlocked Wind Crests we desire. Now, you guys may of noticed that their is one extra Wind Crest on this map, and may of in fact spied an unlocked Wind Crest while we were in Lake Hylia. That's one that hasn't been sealed, and that'll be our destination when we next want to progress forward.

However, before we do that, lets take care of some business. I've been kind of putting it off by accident, so lets go shopping! We arrive in town using our Ocarina (Ezlo...triggering a very rude tutorial message in the process, sigh) and begin our shopping spree! First off, we go to the post office. You may recall that I rubbed stones with the postman and this caused a Newsletter to get unlocked. Well, we can go purchase those now, 200 a pop. I forgot how to read them this video but rest assured we'll get to that next time. You unlock a new one every time Swiftblade or one of his family (spoilers there is more then just Swiftblade and the ghost one) teaches you a new thing, so we'll be spending a lot of money here! To help facilitate that we head into the ACTUAL MONEY STORE and buy a wallet that has been their from the beginning of the game man I wish I had remembered that sooner because haha hey it costs 80 rupees and now we can hold 500. Hell yeah.

Also during this I rub up against Malon, the farm girl, a lot. The game wasn't glitching when it wasn't showing her fusion thing, it's because apparently some NPCs have a varied chance every time you load the screen to actually WANT to fuse. Thankfully not all 100 Kinstone fusions are unique, some fusions can be done by multiple people. Speaking of fusions, we go to the left side of town and fuse a red stone with a weirdly dressed stranger. This is VITALLY IMPORTANT, to the degree that I drop everything to go inspect the weird teleporty thing fusing with him got us. It takes us to his house, where after some exploration we find his...father? Grandfather? I don't know, but he's sick and dying due to a ghost possession! Thankfully I'm an expert at this, and suck up the ghost into my Gust Jar as you do. The old man is saved and gives us a lot of shells, and...suffice to say this will pay off later, but how it does will be revealed in the future. Yo so this is the only reward in the game you can MISS, and now that we've eaten that ghost we won't miss it, so unless something awful happens we're safe and able to get 100% now. Hell yeah! I've never actually done this before by the way, so I'm actually pretty excited!

With all that done (and a quick trip to the Minish Elder to see if I can do the thing and I cannot do the thing aaaah) and we're done for today. Next time we'll not actually be progressing the plot, but instead getting some **** DONE! We've got a lot of utility tools, and I think it's time we went on a collection hunt. We're only gonna be focusing on important stuff though don't worry, we'll have a video in the future dedicated to getting all the ridiculously Kinstone stuff. Next time, we'll be getting the REALLY ridiculous Kinstone stuff. See you guys then!

The bombable hidden wall is okay by me, because the room is on the map, and they've set it up before, but to put a crucial item on the otherside? Eh...

Gust jar and now mogma mitts? I'm liking the correlation between games.

I've got a love/hate relationship with Wall/Floormasters. I like their look, and their utility and such, but man does it suck to get grabbed by one. Even so, I like the mechanic. No other enemy does this!

I do like the theme of 3 towers, and each is its own column, and the play of each section. But you're right, for something named after wind, it seems more...shadowy? Best I can say is that its all that remains of the wind tribe on earth or something? We'll touch on that one later when you beat it! But yeah, the stuff not showing up on the map seems like a design flaw, especially if they are chests...and since the dirt respawns....I see your point.

I personally like the boss, and he reminds me of the robots from skyward sword quite a bit. It's neat h9ow this game came first in creation, yet foreshadows the pastfuture stuff quite a bit. I like the different stages, and basically foreshadowing things with the armos mechanic into the final boss going in and destroying his fuses. I know damage can be annoying...and we'll see the giant head and hands mechanic again...but I still like it.

Spend that money! The more you spend the less I have to make you feel bad about on the tally! :smallwink:

Alright! A quest episode? I love quest episodes! Looking forward to next time!



EPISODE 8 KILL TALLY!

Floormaster - 3
Rope - 2
Moldorm - 5
Stalfos - 2
Wizrobe - 2
Beetle - 6
Mazaal - 1
Spike Chuchu - 1
Octorok - 1
Acro-bandit - 1

Style Points - 0

Missed Rupees - 0
Lost Rupees (theft, overflow, ect.) - 100!

(previous episodes)



The Minish Cap
Total Kills
(As of Episode 8)

Acro-Bandits - 48
Bob-ombs - 9
Crows - 6
Darknut - 2
Floormaster - 3
Gleerok - 1
Helmasaurs - 14
Keaton - 4
Keese - 21
Leever - 1
Moldorm - 5
Peahats - 11
Puffstools - 10
Rope - 27
Sluggula - 22
Stalfos - 16
Wizrobe - 2

Blins
Moblin - 3
Moblin (Bow) - 4
Moblin, Blue - 2

Bugs
Beetles - 8
Beetles, Spiked - 6
Beetles, Spiny - 9
Madderpillars - 1
Mulldozers - 12
Mulldozers, Blue - 5
Rollobites - 1
Pestos - 13

Chuchus
Chuchus, Green - 5*
Chuchus, Red - 26
Chuchus, Spike - 14

Constructs
Armos - 8
Eyegore Statue - 7
Mazaal - 1

Likes
Rupee Like, Green - 1
Rupee Like, Red - 1

Octoroks
Octoroks - 56
Octoroks, Blue - 5

Tektites
Tektites - 45
Tektites, Blue - 1

*one of which was a boss

Total Things Dead - 436!

1st Place - Octoroks, at 56!
2nd Place - Acro-bandits, at 48!
3rd Place - Tektites, at 45!

Total Style Points - 4!

Total Missed Rupees - 3
Total Lost Rupees - 261

[LaZodiac]

The bombable hidden wall is okay by me, because the room is on the map, and they've set it up before, but to put a crucial item on the otherside? Eh...

Gust jar and now mogma mitts? I'm liking the correlation between games.

I've got a love/hate relationship with Wall/Floormasters. I like their look, and their utility and such, but man does it suck to get grabbed by one. Even so, I like the mechanic. No other enemy does this!

I do like the theme of 3 towers, and each is its own column, and the play of each section. But you're right, for something named after wind, it seems more...shadowy? Best I can say is that its all that remains of the wind tribe on earth or something? We'll touch on that one later when you beat it! But yeah, the stuff not showing up on the map seems like a design flaw, especially if they are chests...and since the dirt respawns....I see your point.

I personally like the boss, and he reminds me of the robots from skyward sword quite a bit. It's neat h9ow this game came first in creation, yet foreshadows the pastfuture stuff quite a bit. I like the different stages, and basically foreshadowing things with the armos mechanic into the final boss going in and destroying his fuses. I know damage can be annoying...and we'll see the giant head and hands mechanic again...but I still like it.

Spend that money! The more you spend the less I have to make you feel bad about on the tally! :smallwink:

Alright! A quest episode? I love quest episodes! Looking forward to next time!


Hehehe, I think you're gonna enjoy the next episode give my money woes. It's fun seeing someone go through the backlog and reacting to the past, knowing the future :smalltongue:

Yeah, the futurepast foreshadowing is fun. In all seriousness it's really great seeing people make games that take place "in the past" of a universe and trying to tie it all together. It's quite cool!

[Coidzor]

It's time for another new Zelda!

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap [13] Royal Valley (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mxqp23Eqdo)

Video Length: 23:00

This one might be a little shorter then I'd like due to do some editing shinanigans and having to babysit and stuff. Anyway, starting us off we revisit with that devious sage that dropped us into a dungeon. It turns out this was completely a good idea because the dialogue is fantastic. Good decision all around. That little detour over, it's time for a more proper, meaty detour. First, after buying a bigger bomb bag from the store, we head over to the Forest Minish Elder and FINALLY we're able to rub stones with this guy! In doing so it makes Belari, that bomb making Minish, realize that hey you know what would be sweet? Remote control bombs. A quick visit to his hut and that's exactly what we GET. Remote Bombs, a replacement for regular bombs that makes it so that we completely control the explosion of our bombs. We can only have one bomb out at a time but this is such a useful feature it more then makes up for it.

Of course that's not all Belari has to reward us with. If we push a rock into his face, it summons up a chest that we're gonna go get right away. Inside it is another, and our last, bomb bag upgrade! We can now hold 99 bombs, awesome! Now it's time to head off to the spooky Royal Valley. Our first action here is...to disregard all enemies and bust our way into a cave that has the third Great Fairy in it! I didn't mention it but each of the Great Fairies in this game has a name, based on their wings. I forget them but they're all based on insects and it's kind of cute. Anyway, she asks us about our journey and after remembering all of our cool adventures we're rewarded with a quiver! We could actually go get the last quiver now except I don't know what Minish needs a new friend to get it, and I can't find information on which it is! So that's fun.

Anyway, Royal Valley! This spooky ass place has two new enemies for us to encounter! We've got the Ghini, spooky cyclopean ghosts that latch onto you and lick Link's face! It's kinda horrifying and yet also strangely cute, fitting the aesthetic of this game quite well. Then we have Takkuri, red crows that hit Link in the face and steal his rupees! This is super rude but thankfully I avoided getting hit by all of the ones we can encounter. This then leads us to the Lost Woods! The Lost Woods are an iconic staple of the Zelda series and this is the first time we're seeing it in my little series retrospective. This one isn't as bad as others, with each screen giving you a sign on which way to go...some a little more obscure then others! I mess it up once though...but after that it's smooth sailing, and we're in the Royal Graveyard proper.

At least...sort of, anyway. First we need to get the key from the gravedigger, Dampe. Which...isn't actually all that difficult he just gives it to us! But there isn't anything wrong with that...except as we leave his shack some Takkuri steal it and we have a minute or two long distraction to get it back. This is just a really weird side thing that I don't quite understand why they decided it should happen. It's...just a weird thing. Anyway, we're in the Royal Graveyard now and there is a cute ghost guy here but more importantly we can open up a grave to get into the Royal Crypt! Onwards, we must find the ghost dad!

The Royal Crypt is another mini dungeon, which this game has quite a lot of I realized! This one's got Gibdo's in it though so that's cool! Gibdo's are mummy enemies that just kinda walk at you, and you could fight them if you want (I make sure to log at least one Gibdo kill for our list) but or the most part, setting them on fire and beating the Stalfos that pops out is very more effective. That aside...there's two neat clone puzzles but that's basically it! Ths is very short and sweet/too the point.

After getting through the Royal Crypt we find the resting place of old King Gustaf, and he gives us the thing we need to go forward...a gold Kinstone. Next time we're gonna go actually do that! Hope to see you then.

First off, I agree completely. The rupee sounds definitely make me feel better about the mass sums I throw down. Although I can't decide if I like having to stay inside and wait for the full tinkling effect to end.

Secondly, I eagerly await to see whether remote bombs help you use bombs wisely. Especially now that you have enough bombs to last you the rest of the game without refills. :smalltongue:

Ahhh, Grimblade, the superior brother of Waveblade. And conveniently unlocked by the same dungeon. Nice.

Not the most obnoxious stealth portion, but I remember having a few of them see me while they were looking the wrong way. Maybe I was too cautious and they turned around before their sprite did.

Silly Zodi, why only grab one fairy? Ya got 3 buttles!

Ahh, ropes, a great futurepast tradition for being in secret parts of Hyrule Castle. Not gonna lie, thought you were gonna fall through those damaged floor tiles. Feels almost like a missed opportunity for forcing you to slow down and negotiate the ropes. But since they didn't include any stealth inside the castle, I suppose they didn't want yet another minidungeon blocking you from the full reward after the frustrating ice dungeon. Still weird that they only break if you walk on them but not pegasus dash in this area, though.

It's a good thing they didn't set up that last torch lighting activity so you had to combine pegasus boots and torches, but I was totally expecting that kind of challenge.:X

I completely forgot about the triforce pots. That's an amazing and lovely little touch.


Oh man I managed to pry myself off of Fire Emblem FAtes long enough to post the new video.

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap [14] Cloud Tops (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBiAzSusHLg)

Video Length: 24:42

Last time we picked up a golden Kinstone from a ghost king. Today, we're gonna actually go check up on that. But first we're going to the Ranch. There's a path we could go for a while, but since we need to go up to this new area (the Veil Falls) anyway, and we needed flippers to explore it properly, I figure now is as good a time as any. Inside we find a Heart Piece, some treasure chests, and a new enemy! Or more like, a variation on an enemy, the Blue Peahat! These guys have long root like tendrils that let them spawn and drop bombs on us, which sucks. What's worse, they seem to be immune to the Gust Jar so our only recourse is to shoot an arrow at them...but they're only hittable by the bow when they're dashing at you. You can see the problem here. We also encounter a Blue Leever and like other Leever's in this game it does basically nothing.

After that we go the CORRECT way to get into Veil Falls, and thanks to that gold Kinstone we can open up the "Source of the Flow" and head on in. It's a system of caves that are actually fairly maze like, some rooms even having darkness, and I think this is a much more fitting use of darkness as a mechanic then the Temple of Droplets. No risk of falling, no slippery floor, everything in the room works PROPERLY except the lighting, and while it's frustrating they also don't put in two minibosses to fight so it's actually kind of fun and not bad. We've also got a Wind Crest at the end of all of it so we don't have to go through it all every time we want to go up here. I'm talking to you, Royal Valley.

On top of the Falls we find a large bit of rock that makes weird noises that we're just going to ignore for now...and a very large tornado. I feel like all of Ezlo's comments about "jump into the unsafe thing" was leading up to this moment where YOU jump into the unsafe thing of your own volition. It's actually pretty funny. Anyway, the giant tornado sends us up, up into the sky! Welcome to Cloud Tops! It's a very pretty cloud place, obviously. Right away we can see (in part thanks to a small child informing us of what to do. Man, small children are the best in this game) that we've got some more gold Kinstone fusions to do. Unfortunately, unlike Castor Wilds, this one is...kind of annoying.

There are five fusions to make here to open the path forward, and the five stones and five cloud tumours we shove them into are scattered about the whole area. This isn't all that bad, but I think five might be a bit much. I'd of been okay if we kept to three like in the Wilds, or if we had four to get instead of five. Five seems a biiit on the side of padding. And trust me, I know padding, but something about THIS padding rubs me the wrong way compared to the padding in Skyward Sword. Part of it is probably caused by the two enemies we fight up here, which I'll go into more detail below this big ole paragraph thing.

So, Cloud Tops proper, how do we deal with it? Well, there are two "layers" to this area. The undercloud, where we are now, which is where enemies live. Get into a red tornado and it'll fling you up into the uppercloud, which is safe and full of cloud dirt to dig through with our claws. You can find Kinstones in the clouds, but not the golden ones (though I forgot this). There's also tornadoes hanging around that let us move between cloud formations, and for some reason the controls on them just feel tighter then when we normally encounter a tornado. Which is good, I'm all for improving a mechanic for the area you end up using it a bunch in. What I'm not okay with is the enemies IN the undercloud. We have two of them, the Cloud Piranha and the...literally a Lakitu. The Lakitu is again, literally a Lakitu from Mario, only it throws lightning instead of spike balls. Your only way to beat it is to use the Gust Jar to suck up it's cloud and then bop it in the face. I forgot this.

Then we have the Cloud Piranha. Hooo boy we have the Cloud Piranha. These enemies are the worst. They're completely immune to damage when swimming around in the clouds. Nothing you have will get them out early or make them easier to fight. You have to hit them as they jump out, and the window for DOING so is actually pretty damn tight. They also take three hits from our sword, so the best way to deal with them is hitting them with the boomerang. But that's hard since they're also FASTER then the boomerang by juuust a bit, so you can't camp out and bop em with it when they jump out, you have to make sure you're in the right spot so that you hit them as soon as they jump out, otherwise you miss. Additionally, because of how this area is set up, sometimes you'll just land in the undercloud right on top of one and get hurt, or worse get hurt AND THEN ALSO BE PUSHED BACK INTO THE RED TORNADO AND THROWN INTO THE UPPERCLOUD AGAIN. I don't like these enemies and I'm basically certain that they're why I don't like this area.

At any rate, because I'm a dumb and forgot where the last Kinstone is, we end off with one left. See you guys next time for the conclusion of horrible sky zone.

Sky Zone was my least favorite zone, though I think I lucked out of getting stuck in any loops by getting hit into teleporters by any enemies.

I also agree that Acro Bandits are a fun little enemy and also a little neat where you can kill them quickly and rush by or go a little slower and grind them for loot drops. This would be nicer with a slightly better drop rate, though, but all in all they're very fun to defeat, which is the best part, seeing their doofy faces of fallen dismay before they poof.

Tingles still hanging around the maps instead of retreating to their own little ghetto/rupee-sink is very....jarring, and I don't like it at all.

Man those Blue Peahats look annoying! Thank goodness that they die in only one dinky arrow.

It's kinda interesting how certain hits knocked the rupee-likes back but others they kept going through. No idea how you'd tally lost rupees for them if you end up making a net profit like with that blue one that ate 10 then gave 20. That'll be fun.

Pretty nifty that you've already made the cost of the big bomb bag back already, too, especially since it was kinda pointless with the upgrade already in a kinstone chest for free. XD

Oh dear. Red monsters acquiring a sense of fashion... Well, at least it isn't underwear this time!

Let's be honest, Zodi, Link would probably have started a genocide run with Flowey. And his muteness would probably have created issues with Toriel even if he didn't have reincarnation PTSD futurepast flashbacks upon seeing her. Poor Papyrus, though...

Granted, he has dealt with non-hostile moblins... Papyrus is still so screwed, though.

Y'know, for making a big deal about hidden underwater rupees, so far that's only happened once for one waterfall... XD

And that cave when you first entered veil falls didn't seem to have a goro-goro kinstone butt, either...

Nice gust jar trick shot with the keese! And good to know it kills keese dead even in suck mode.

Profligate bombing, ho at about 10:35ish. I guess using bombs wisely is just out of the question with sooo many. Xp

GOROGORO!!! futurepast senses tingling so hard.

Pure of heart, yep, that's Link. Somehow. :V

If the cloud tops are safe, why is there a cloud piranha visible on the next cloud over from Gale and the gold kinstone? Amazingly prescient of whoever it was to have a kinstone thinger there to turn the wind back on if it ever stopped mysteriously.

It seems like transitioning from on top of some clouds to being inside of other clouds that are above them.

The cloud digging was strangely addictive to me, but I'm glad you were able to mostly resist temptation.

No gorogoro wall butts in the sky, either, but that makes a bit of sense, being all air elemental.

[Lord Raziere]

Oh man I managed to pry myself off of Fire Emblem FAtes long enough to post the new video.

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap [14] Cloud Tops (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBiAzSusHLg)

Video Length: 24:42


yeah getting lost in cloud places is really understandable. I got lost in the cloud sections of Super Paper Mario as well, especially when I had to find the right friggin' apple.....

electro-lakitus. guess there were a few of them that decided Bowser wasn't paying enough so they decided to work with Vaati instead? too bad a job as a Link villain is arguably worse....Mario only jumps on you. Link throws bombs, cuts you with swords and fires arrows at you. assuming he doesn't use whatever divine magic granted to him this generation to defeat you instead or reflects your own attack back at you.

.....now I'm wondering what superhero is the worst person to have as an enemy.....

[LaZodiac]

Welcome back to Zodi Plays. It's time for more Zelda.

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap [15] Palace of Winds (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUAtLLK2Hg0)

Video Length: 24:53

Starting off where we left off, it's time to get that one last gold Kinstone. Making the fusion opens up a tornado that leads further up into Cloudtops where, surprise, we've been already! It's the house that teleporter took us to so long ago! Now that we're here properly, we can finally get the reward we earned from saving that old guy. He grants us the Light Arrows, a mystical artifact that I'm kind of surprised is treated so casually here! The Light Arrows give our bow a charge shot, the fully charged up arrow instantly slaying most enemies and slicing through grass. It's not extremely useful (in a few videos we'll get something that makes it far more useful, don't you worry.) but it'll certainly help us out in a pinch.

After that we're given access to the next dungeon by the elder of this little tribe of sky people. Before we dash off into the tornado however, it's time to blow all our money on the Swiftblade Newsletters! We've learned a lot of moves, so that means we've got a nice handfull of newsletters waiting to be bought. They all give a various mix of useful and useless information, but it's all presented in a funny way that, if I had been playing this for my first time, would of been really interesting to hear! How do we get Remote Bombs, what is this Magical Boomerang, stuff like that. It's pretty cool, I just wish it wasn't THIS expensive. But then the game basically throws buckets of rupees at you as a reward for anything, so maybe they NEEDED to have big money sinks like this.

Anyway, moving onto the dungeon proper. Welcome to the Palace of Wind! This is a VERY cool dungeon, in visual design, musical design, and just general game feel. It's a big floating palace in the sky, a good chunk of it not even having walls! Unlike the Temple of Winds those sky areas even show up on the map, so it's not infuriating to progress through! The Palace has a bunch of tricky challenges, ranging from simple "hit this switch that's slightly out of the way" to "use the clones to do an elaborate switch hitting formation" to just straight platforming challenges. Yes, platforming challenges in a top down 2d game. We've got moving platforms and wind turbines to bypass. It's pretty cool, helped along by the fact that our dungeon item this time is the Roc's Cape, one of my favorite weapons in the series. It lets Link jump, and it opens up a lot of cool and neat opportunities for dungeon design and puzzles. Of course to get it we had to cut our way through a gauntlet of 12 wizards, which is a little silly.

Speaking of enemies, this place has a lot of them! Peahats floating around near the entrance, Stalfos throughout the whole place, we've even got a new enemy in Bombarossa's, these floating red orbs that explode on contact with literally anything. Lotta fun enemies to contest with here, and with actually kind of neat combat encounters to handle them (though most of that'll be for next time). We've even got a good mix of enemies serving as distractions for the actual platforming stuff, like the crows in the rooms they show up in. All in all this is a much tighter designed dungeon then the Temple of Droplets, which makes Droplets all the more egregious in it's kind of...offness. Maybe it's just a bad mix of mechanics, while the Palace of Winds has a good mix of mechanics.

Anyway, that's all I've got to say about this one. Hope you guys enjoyed I'll see you guys Monday for more of this pretty great dungeon with pretty fantastic music!

[huttj509]

One comment, the chime at the end (for the Zodi plays end of video stuff) is *really* loud compared to the game sound/music.

[LaZodiac]

One comment, the chime at the end (for the Zodi plays end of video stuff) is *really* loud compared to the game sound/music.

I wasn't sure if it was a big problem or not. I'll turn it down, the contrast is a little jarring.

[Coidzor]

To be fair, the Wind Tribe is gonna be small by default, that or super inbred. Or both.

I mean, when all you have are, at best, 2nd cousins due to living up in the sky with no real fresh blood...

Throw in the Westermarck effect and no wonder things end up like they do in the futurepast. Or possibly just future future, I forget the years involved for the games I'm thinking of.

Heh, I love little bits like Swiftblade acknowledging his eyebrows being fabulous, where the devs show they're self-aware but it's not beaten over your head.

Zodi. Zodi. Zodi. You realize now. You have to have to have to use your lantern to burn a gibdo and then cane the resulting stalfos! Please! For great justice!

Ghost vs. Cow. Though, really, being a ghost master swordsman has probably gotta be pretty dull day to day. I mean, you gotta be bored t take up cow tipping, right?

Alright, time for the best dungeon of the game to bring on the sword-based crystal switches!

Love the Middle Eastern elements in the music, been waiting for some since first seeing them wind tribe duders.

~15:00: Truly, a ridiculousness of wizrobes has appeared. Totally call-in that for the term for a group of wizrobes. That doesn't get censored by the forum filters anyway.

What's a danmyaku, though?

Ahh, the double jumping roc's cape, because screw starting with a feather and then upgrading! Most stylish, and fun. I love getting to jump as Link in these games.

The ladder of clouds tricked me the first time I saw it, lead-in to accidentally jumping off because I thought I was going up, not, well, UP. :v

~18:00: Maybe you should have backtracked for that swiftblade move after getting a taste of the dungeon after all. Ah, well, at least he helped by reminding you that the cane exists by telling you to use it against stalfos and spiky enemies!

Re: Rupee Likes, you should totally run away from them and see if light arrows are the answer.

~21:00, truly cruel timing. At least you could go back rather than being stuck though. Still, maybe should FYAH'D once you could see the oncoming platform?

Good catch remembering the gust jar for that last rupee. I almost thought it was lost myself.

[LaZodiac]

Zodi. Zodi. Zodi. You realize now. You have to have to have to use your lantern to burn a gibdo and then cane the resulting stalfos! Please! For great justice!

Love the Middle Eastern elements in the music, been waiting for some since first seeing them wind tribe duders.

What's a danmyaku, though?


I'll keep that in mind Coidzor :smallwink:

Same. The music is so goo.

Danmaku is "bullet curtain", essentially. Think Touhou or other SHMUP style games.

[Lord Raziere]

Welcome back to Zodi Plays. It's time for more Zelda.

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap [15] Palace of Winds (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUAtLLK2Hg0)

Video Length: 24:53


yeah, that is a ridiculous amount of wizards. way exceeding their wizard limit there. at least there weren't thirteen.

and roc cape....it amuses me that Link needs an item to do what Mario does naturally in every game he is in.

a danmaku is I think the japanese term for "bullet hell", gameplay where the main priority is survival, the method of survival is DOOOOOOOOOOOOOODGE!! all the huge amounts of bullets/missiles heading for you.

but yeah seems like a dungeon thats not pulling its punches. wonder what the boss'll be like.....

[LaZodiac]

Further, into the Palace of Winds!

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap [16] Mighty Darknut (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dL9RkDcDzLY)

Video Length: 23:50

A sort of naming scheme I've had for these videos is to name them after the important place or thing in them...and yo as it turns out this video was pretty hard to name since not a lot happens beyond "and then we explore more of this huge ass dungeon".

As we climb higher, old and new enemies alike appear. Moblins are finally in a dungeon proper! We also encounter Red Stalfos, which can avoid your attacks by jumping like the regular blue ones but instead of trying to Mario stomp you, they throw a bone at you! How rude. We also encounter Fire and Ice Wizrobes, the fire ones shooting a fireball that makes you run around like you've been hit by a Winder, the ice ones freezing you in place with their ice blast. You can easily dispatch the Ice Wizrobes with your lantern of course, but the fire ones less so. Both are easily stunned by the boomerang though. We also encounter two Ball and Chain soldiers, buff armour knights that swing around a mighty morningstar! They're pretty dang destructive and I took a...weird solution to beating them, throwing Remote Bombs at em. It worked though! Finally, we have the miniboss of this dungeon; the Red Darknut, or if you prefer Mighty Darknut (note for Wombat: other games call this variant Mighty Darknut so I think we should go with that honestly, I just called it Red in video because babysitting). This is like a bigger, fancier Darknut! It's got it's regular slashes and stab attacks, but it can also charge up it's sword to deliver it's own spin attack! This one is far more focused, causing his sword to spin like a drill instead of his whole body. Can't shield it, but it's telegraphed super easily so just make sure to avoid it.

Anyway, this video's basically just me clearing out all but the tail end of it, getting involved in somewhat elaborate and unique puzzles. Jumping past (or with the help of) those wind turbines, doing various shenanigans with the clone Link's, and doing all sorts of Roc's Cape based jumping puzzles. All in all this dungeon is very active, always bringing new or built upon puzzles to the table. So I'll take this moment to bring up the one "puzzle" this dungeon has more then it's fair share of that's actually bad. Large messes of blocks where only one or two of those blocks are the "right" ones to push. These are super annoying, because unless the idea is that you have to push them SMARTLY, ie push them in a way that you can get through, it's really just a "rub your face on things until you find the proper path" situation and that honestly sucks. This dungeon has quite a lot of that, and it just feels bad, especially when you miss stuff because of it, which I have. I don't mind pushing blocks, but please make pushing blocks more mentally active then just "ram your face into a block until you find the right one".

...so yeah other then my stellar performance on this one puzzle involving Bombarossa's nothing really major happens here! Sorry this is just a consequence of having really huge dungeons in these games! I think I fixed the sound levels of my end of video title cards though, if that counts for something! Sorry I've let it go for so long I'm just occasionally bad at noticing problems unless it's pointed out to me. I'm sure those of you who record all my spelling errors (I know someone does~) can attest to that!

But yeah no that's the video for today. Not a lot to talk about on my end, but it's a good video. Hope you enjoyed, next time we'll be finishing up this Palace!

[Kd7sov]

We also encounter two Ball and Chain soldiers, buff armour knights that swing around a mighty morningstar! They're pretty dang destructive and I took a...weird solution to beating them, throwing Remote Bombs at em. It worked though!

Is that a particularly unusual solution? It's what I usually use. The hard part is getting them to walk over where the bomb is.

[LaZodiac]

Is that a particularly unusual solution? It's what I usually use. The hard part is getting them to walk over where the bomb is.

Well I mean I imagine MOST people would actually go gung ho with the sword, right? Though yeah, getting them to walk on the bomb is a liiittle tough. Thankfully Remote Bombs are the best.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

So finally we have a real dungeon in the game, as opposed to a few short rooms, key, few short rooms, boss, and done. Granted, this game was for the GBA, so space was limited, but still... this game has been blazing through.

[LaZodiac]

So finally we have a real dungeon in the game, as opposed to a few short rooms, key, few short rooms, boss, and done. Granted, this game was for the GBA, so space was limited, but still... this game has been blazing through.

This is the second last dungeon of the game, and the last before we head to the end game dungeon, so I'd hope it's good! Yeah, since it's a GBA game it's not...impossible to imagine they just ran out of room for everything they had wanted. But hey, nothing wrong with a fast game. Means we'll get to more games faster. I can't wait to see what my patreons and the guy who won the participation award for this thread will choose to go onto a poll for us to vote on~

donate to me patreoooon.

[Coidzor]

A sort of naming scheme I've had for these videos is to name them after the important place or thing in them...and yo as it turns out this video was pretty hard to name since not a lot happens beyond "and then we explore more of this huge ass dungeon".

Certainly would have been appropriate, but something about windbags might have been manageable.


All in all this dungeon is very active, always bringing new or built upon puzzles to the table. So I'll take this moment to bring up the one "puzzle" this dungeon has more then it's fair share of that's actually bad. Large messes of blocks where only one or two of those blocks are the "right" ones to push. These are super annoying, because unless the idea is that you have to push them SMARTLY, ie push them in a way that you can get through, it's really just a "rub your face on things until you find the proper path" situation and that honestly sucks. This dungeon has quite a lot of that, and it just feels bad, especially when you miss stuff because of it, which I have. I don't mind pushing blocks, but please make pushing blocks more mentally active then just "ram your face into a block until you find the right one".

Good old time wasting "puzzles" which only serve to break up the flow of progression yhriugh the game and slow you down. Wouldn't be so bad if there was a reason for you to slow down and be aware of what's coming up next, though.


Now, onto reactions in ze moment...


First off, *really* satisfying to thumb your nose at the spike rollers now that you can jump :smallbiggrin: Now that's a good start to a video.

See, now, the first wind turbine puzzle here is great at reminding you to slow down and pace yourself rather than rush through, in anticipation of more complex wind puzzles. Much better than block searching.

I think maybe they dumbed down the block pushing to prevent kids from getting stuck in certain places by pushing themselves into unwinnable scenarios unless there was a way to easily reset it.

~1:50: Ooo, I loved the turbine assisted jumps. Not much of a puzzle so much as a call to master the controls, but a very fun little twist of excitement.

~2:30: Definitely fun. I was waiting for something like that as soon as I realized the clouds were going up, not just being a jumping bridge.

~3:00: Grating Denied!

3:18: ahah! So I'm not the only one the perspective messed with!

That was a pretty effective stalfos ambush!

~4:00: Dang, I forgot they could be arrow immune, especially light arrow immune seems a bit strange.

It would have been novel to see you shield them, yeah. :smalltongue:

Definitely ramping up the challenge to have that as just a key, yeah. Though the rupee rewards for the both of them seem pretty nice too. Definitely should start using those other two bottles ya got, though.

~5:30: Oof, that was pretty gnarly for a regular room's worth of damage. Stalfos plus antifairy in tight quarters is no fun.

~5:45: But zodi, you missed a block in questing for that chest. Xp

~6:00: Fairy farming! :smallbiggrin: Somehow I don't think I ever realized it.

Magic clone children and pots are natural allies against floor switches. =3

~6:50: I wonder if it's supposed to be more sudden of an ambush than usual or if the wind turbine speed boost did a little bit of funniness there... Good job flaming those wizards!

~7:20: Nice skull on bone parry!

Ahah,so that's why you didn't try that last block. Future past recollection knowledge! Still silly of you to jump off to the side like that, though.:smalltongue:

But seriously, why keep wasting fairies instead of bottling them? Do we need a wasted fairy counter now?

Ahh, there we go, just had to get the big key to feel good about it. Silly big key being first again.

And yes, very happy. :smallwink:

~8:45: No Dos Boomerangeros, no, but you did discover the potential combo of throwing a boomerangs to stun and then switching to bombs or light arrows to take advantage of the stun before it happens?

Oh man, I forgot about how the build up to jumping down looked. So cool. And the arena is pretty neat too, for being mostly based stone in the sky.

Wait a minute though... That symbol in the floor. Wasn't there a symbol in the floor in Castor Wilds where you fouight the first Darknut?

Maybe these guys have more to do with things than just having been let out of a Pandora box by Vaati...

Good Darknut fight. Always fun to get back to basics with a worthy opponent.

~10:40: Super fun dancing stalfos time light switch rave party!

~11:00: gibdo! ... Aww, no fire caning. :( Oh well, maybe next time~

Ahh, and there compass is the true reward for dealing with Ser Darknut. Getting that progresss~

~12:20: oh man, I remember being so nettled when I was trying to figure out how to drop on the right platform using the holes coming up here...

~14:00: Nice and smooth, this ain't your first magical child clone rodeo.

~14:12: Not gonna lie... I totally goofed off and played jump rope with those two rollers until I messed up and lost a couple hearts. :V

~14:50: Stiffer, but I do like comboing the ROC cape with ezlo gliding. And the bit about having to get in between the bombarossa as they patrol.

~15:00: Honestly makes ya wonder why there were two switches if you didn't even have to spin attack or bomb them to hit them both. :smallconfused:

~15:54: Heh, torch to the rescue, blocking that flame wizard's blast!

And map get, about halfway through conquering the tower itself. =3

~16:30: well, to be fair, with the darknut warp, going back to the dungeon entrance is just a short walk from the tower's lobby anyway. Still better to not find out, except for some kinda bonus video showing off the effects of enemy attacks that never connected during the main play through, like a gibdo grab. :smallwink:

Now, now, you know Wizards are never late. Even when they slept in after a bender with the rest of their wizzrobe frat bros.

As for the lack of kinstones, I expect they thought side quest fever would mean you were mostly done with them at this point?

~18 30: I was about to say it's a good thing the map is backtracking friendly. Then you basically spawned in on top of a winder and two stalfos. :V Devs!

Real question is, though, are these stalfos and gibdos reanimating dead wind tribesmen bodies that were stored in hereor just like Papyrus where they're just.... Skeletons without coming from anything.

~20:00: wizards and bombs don't seem to mix well. I think this is their most cunning ambush yet.

~22:00: The bombarossa-switch puzzle is a nice way of turning expectations around while also using hazards to demonstrate which block to push to proceed forward. But it did surprise me at first. Sorta. I saw them and immediately wanted the satisfaction of blowing up a chain of those jerks.

All this and we get a nice moblin "maze" to look forward to next time!

[LaZodiac]

Oh maaan, Zelda time. My favorite time.

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap [17] Training (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvxkSEKLjVs)

Video Length: 23:35

Okay, this time we're finishing off the dungeon for real. Like with last time there really isn't much to say about the dungeon proper. It's more of the same actually pretty good dungeon environment. Dealing with the Moblin maze we left off last time, doing some jumping around. Honestly, we only have like two or three rooms left before the boss. We came pretty dang close to finishing the dungeon last time! So that all being said lets just detail the boss.

Say hello to the Gyorg Pair. The big red one is the lady while the small blue ones are the dudes. This is a pretty elaborate boss fight that's actually really cool and fun. The first phase is very simple, you've just gotta wait for the Gyorg's eyes to open. Then you clone yourself and smash it's eyes all at the same time, stunning it so you can then proceed to slash away at it. Once it's eyes have been damaged heavily, it'll fly off to recover while a blue one flies up to try and attack you but really just gives you a good place to stand on while the red one's gone. While on the blue one you've got to slash at it's occasionally showing eyes, jumping over it's tail as it tries to swat you off of it.

That leads you into phase two, where you now must contend with the other blue one (cause the first one crashed and burnt after damaging it) shooting orbs at you. This makes the clone part a little difficult, though truth be told that was just because of my non desire to dodge. It does lead to me doing a really awesome thing that I sadly cannot replicate at all though! Once that's done it's time for another go on the back of the blue dude, this time with the lady Gyorg Pair spewing Baby Gyorges at us in addition to everything else. We do another rotation or two of this and finally the three Gyorg Pair's (or would it be one whole Gyorg Pair? Or would it be like...one Red Gyorg Pair and two Blue Gyorg Pair's?) are destroyed and we get the next Heart Container...and the final Element! Before we leave the sky we clear out the dungeon of the two things I missed, both for silly and annoying reasons.

Back on the surface, I think it's time we did some intense training. We learn from Swiftblade his final move, the Down Thrust. This powerful move lets us jump into the air and then do a sword based ground pound. It's got a surprisingly large AOE, making it quite useful for killing enemies. Probably would of been helpful during the Gyorg Pair honestly. With all seven moves in the game learned, Swiftblade the First can use his completely legitimate ghost possession skills to teach us the final, ultimate move. The Great Spin Attack, a swirling dervish of power! With this, we've now learned every single move in the game. And yet...there is more we can do. The Blade siblings that teach you the Peril Beam, Sword Beam, and Rolling Attack can each be Kinstone fused with, and in doing so it unlocks three more Blades to learn from. These guys are more visual training oriented, but what they teach you is quite vital. One increases the speed of your spin attack's charge, one increases the duration of the Great Spin Attack, and the last makes your Split Gauge for cloning Link go MUCH faster. This would of been nice to have during the boss too, oops.

But yeah, with that training done it's time to buy the last Newsletters and end the video. Swiftblade's Newsletters are a funny little side thing in the game, and though they're very clearly just an absurd money sink I think they're cool. Until next time, warriors!!!!

------

Oh yeah here's the poll I was talking about. (http://strawpoll.me/6990404)

[TheWombatOfDoom]

Oh man, it's time for some ZELDA!

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap [9] Tingle (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fm14N-b2K6w)

Video Length: 26:53

As promised, today's video is a very mild collection hunt, so my write up for the episode proper isn't going to be super huge or anything. With that said, lets get going! Our first order of business is to go to the unassuming house of apparent Mayor Hagen! This guy smells suspicious to Ezlo, but rubbing stones with him drains a pond over in Lon Lon Ranch. That's also where we happen to be going next so that's pretty great! Looking at this now I realize I could of gone over the things I want to do here a little faster, but overall I'm fine with how it's gone.

Anyway, on our way over to the drained pond in Lon Lon Ranch, we stop by a smaller farm and fuse Kinstones with a farmer dude, which makes that wall punching Goron get stronger. Thus begins, in earnest, the Goron Side Quest! I show it off later in the episode, but throughout Hyrule are dig walls you can dig into, and in...I think six of these walls, hidden somewhere against a northern wall, is a place where you can jam a rock into to make more Gorons show up to help the Goron with his wall punching. This is a major sidequest in the game, and one we'll have to keep our eyes open for! Anyway, at Lon Lon Ranch proper we go into that drained pond and find the last Wallet upgrade! We can now hold 999, a paltry sum considering the last game's absurd amount but perfectly serviceable in this game. Now it's time for the second major thing we're gonna do today.

But first a detour to Link's house. Ezlo thinks it's pretty nice, and he has more to say if we go up to our bedroom but we're not doing that yet. Instead we go to good ole Grandpa Smith and shove rocks at him to make another chest appear. We head off, and find inside the chest Grandpa Smith got us our second bottle! Now we'll be able to carry two fairies that I'll hopefully end up never using! Or other things! But before that, we go and find...him. A 35 year old man in a green leotard and red underpants, with only the desire to be a fairy on his mind. Say hello to Tingle, an series staple. This guy is the bane of many player's existence, for numerous reasons. Futurepast wise, he's a big source of trouble for MANY things, most of which related to maps and money, but we'll get to that when we get to it. His main goal here is to start a side quest. Fuse stones with him and his three brothers, and you get a special prize (and the option to fuse with Tingle again). They also tell you how many Kinstone fusions you have left to perform, out of the 100 that exist in game. Unfortunately, and no one really knows how, the game can glitch and Tingle can "reward" you for that ahead of schedule, which also locks you out of making ANY OTHER FUSIONS. This isn't the best thing in the world, no. Thankfully I avoid it, and head off to fuse stones with the rest of his family.

While we go around hunting for the other Tingle Bros, we're also going to be shoving our faces into dirt walls to find what treasures are inside and also trying to find the Mystery Walls we need to make more Gorons appear, as an aside. Anyway, our first Tingle Bro is in Lon Lon Ranch (as you can plainly see if I had talked to Tingle and Grandpa Smith earlier I could of done all this at the same time as getting the wallet) behind a large block that we need the power of a single clone to push. Climbing up from their we meet Ankle, the brother wearing pink! The next one is in Lake Hylia, and is basically just kinda sitting in the open, David Jr wearing white. This one is notable because, as I say in video, David Jr is (at least in the game he appears in) actually just a dude who looks like Tingle and his brothers and thus gets conscripted into Tingle's collective. It's kind of hilarious and also really dark if you think too much about it. The final Tingle is in Trilby Highlands, behind a dig wall, Knuckle in blue.

Before we get the reward for fusing with the Tingles though, since we're in the area lets look at some stuff in Mt Crenel that we now have access to. More specifically we bomb two walls that we could of easily accessed last time, gaining access to a fairy fountain and a Great Fairy Fountain! Throwing a bomb into the latter causes the Great Fairy to rise up and put us through a classic, old tale. Speaking truthfully, she rewards us with a bomb bag. Thanks lady! The major thing up here however is, behind another block that needs more then one small child to push, we find Grayblade! One of the siblings of Swiftblade, he'll teach us a special move, and if we fuse stones with him it'll unlock another Blade to train with (though I don't have the stone for it yet and couldn't get to the next one anyway, thus we'll do this later). The move Grayblade teaches us is actually a somewhat difficult one to use, and an even harder one to master! The Rolling Attack! Roll, and as you're just about to end the roll animation attack to spring forward, delivering a fatal blow that'll pierce basically all defenses! This is a really cool attack that I kind of overuse in attempts to be fancy, like my elaborate jumping in Super Mario Sunshine. Haha...I'm gonna get so beat up for learning this.

Anyway, one more stop before we go get the treasure Tingle and his brother's unlocked for us. I had hoped to get enough Rupees to buy it, but the store has a Boomerang in stock that we can buy! The Boomerang is a basic weapon that can be flung in 8 basic directions (as you'd expect). It stuns most enemies and can pick up items and stuff. Sadly, the Boomerang shall never technically grace our inventory screen. As you see, after pressing the four switches that the Tingle fusions revealed to us, we have access to a large chest, and inside we find...the Magic Boomerang! This is an upgrade to the Boomerang, and as far as the game is concerned we've now picked up the regular Boomerang, went here, and picked up it's upgrade. The Boomerang has vanished from the shop, replaced with the second Bomb Bag. The Magic Boomerang is special in that, you can control it's movements. Sadly the movements aren't AS controllable as they could be, and it's a little unclear how to make the best use of it, but that aside it's pretty dang cool! Since it stuns things it's also just very usable, it'll work in many situations.

After that it's time for some small clean up. Recently the house with the ghost on it has opened up, so lets take a look! This is "Simon's Simulations", a minigame of sorts where you get put to sleep and have to fight a massive room full of huge, scary monsters! Sadly, I get my face beat in and lose a LOT of rupees because of the Keatons here, but I get my revenge in my own ways! Finishing up the encounter gets us a Heart Piece, and from then on a random Kinstone piece. After that we do some shrinking and some very light exploring of the town to get our fourth Heart Piece of the episode. We finish up by going to read the Newsletter we bought (turns out we have to leave and reenter for the Newsletter to appear and be readable!) and get some...decent advice considering what all we've done today.

With that said, I hope you all enjoyed. Next time we'll actually be progressing the plot forward, potentially even starting the dungeon. We'll also be exploring the town proper!

------

So, about that old story I mentioned...

Once upon a time their was a woodcutter. As woodcutters tend to do he cut wood, chop chop chop. One day he came across a pond and, being a woodcutter, figured hey this is a good place to rest. So he did, but he dropped his axe into the pond. Oops! But out from the pond rose a fairy, holding two shining and glimmering axes of silver and gold. She asked if he dropped a silver axe, or a gold axe, so that she could return his property to him. He answers truthfully and she gives him all three axes or blesses him after giving him his axe or whatever, I've heard many potential endings for this. It's an iconic and well known story, I can basically assure you that you could find a random person on the street and ask them "did you drop a gold or silver X" where X is any object, and they'd get the reference.

Dang sketchy mayor. No wonder the kingdom is getting attacked...and what makes the man happy is draining a pond at an innocent farms abode? Unthinkable...

999 Rupees! Dang, that's quite a bit...but not as many as last game, right? I can't remember now, but I think it was well over a thousand...hopefully that will solve overflow!

Anyways, gotta love Gorons. They're the best. :smallbiggrin: Eenie also gave you a hint that you can dig up kinstones. Probably some nearby... (they're likely green though)

Oh tingle. I don't mind tingle personally, but I never take him all that seriously. Its not love or hate...just ambivalence. I always find it odd that beetle and tingle seem to keep appearing. I wonder if they are stuck in some less interesting reincarnation time loop thing like Zelda, link and demise are...but that glitch you mention? Dayum...that sounds awful for someone like me, being a completionist.

I love the goron dig wall areas, they're like little challenges, which this game seems to do a lot. Which may be why I enjoy it. The overworld seems so full of stuff to do or get, it makes me happy. As if the minish cap were one half of a kin stone...for me....okay I'm just getting silly now. But sometimes it feels like these smaller games are better at making the entire world interesting and full, rather than bare and boring...

You mention its kind of dark about David Jr, but I'm not really certain what's dark. He does seem a little sad...but that's about it.

Ezlo...they are living creatures...they shouldn't look delicious...poor translation, perhaps? Or are the minish carnivorous miniature monsters?

I really like the look of the Great Fairies in this game. Yey honesty!

These double link puzzles you keep doing one off, and its driving me nuts! :smallbiggrin: Especially because it keeps working! It shouldn't be working, but I guess the game has a little margin of error.

Don't mind me, Greyblade. Let me just loot your remote dojo before I make you teach me a thing. His revenge is possession. :smallbiggrin: ROLL SLASH!

I was confused at first about the boomerang comment, but once you got the upgrade it made sense, and made me chuckle.

I really enjoyed the snag of the rupee right after you got the boomerang...a STYLE POINT for you!

Dag...that ghost house ripped the crap out of your wallet. 40 rupees gone. At least you managed to save ten, or it would have been fifty! That room was hard to track the enemies you killed in there. :smallsigh:

The puns with the names continue from last game. All the pets are puns! Rolf the dog! :smallbiggrin:

Newsletter advise is not very helpful, but could be helpful.



EPISODE 9 KILL TALLY!

Octorok - 13
Acro-bandit - 23
Beetle - 1
Keaton - 6
Crow - 2
Moldorm - 1
Tektites - 2
Peahat - 7
Moblin - 5

Style Points - 1

Missed Rupees - 0
Lost Rupees (theft, overflow, ect.) - 40!

(previous episodes)



The Minish Cap
Total Kills
(As of Episode 9)

Acro-Bandits - 71
Bob-ombs - 9
Crows - 8
Darknut - 2
Floormaster - 3
Gleerok - 1
Helmasaurs - 14
Keaton - 10
Keese - 21
Leever - 1
Moldorm - 6
Peahats - 18
Puffstools - 10
Rope - 27
Sluggula - 22
Stalfos - 16
Wizrobe - 2

Blins
Moblin - 8
Moblin (Bow) - 4
Moblin, Blue - 2

Bugs
Beetles - 9
Beetles, Spiked - 6
Beetles, Spiny - 9
Madderpillars - 1
Mulldozers - 12
Mulldozers, Blue - 5
Rollobites - 1
Pestos - 13

Chuchus
Chuchus, Green - 5*
Chuchus, Red - 26
Chuchus, Spike - 14

Constructs
Armos - 8
Eyegore Statue - 7
Mazaal - 1

Likes
Rupee Like, Green - 1
Rupee Like, Red - 1

Octoroks
Octoroks - 69
Octoroks, Blue - 5

Tektites
Tektites - 47
Tektites, Blue - 1

*one of which was a boss

Total Things Dead - 496!

1st Place - Acro-bandits, at 71!
2nd Place - Octoroks, at 69!
3rd Place - Tektites, at 47!

Total Style Points - 5!

Total Missed Rupees - 3
Total Lost Rupees - 301

[LaZodiac]

999 Rupees! Dang, that's quite a bit...but not as many as last game, right? I can't remember now, but I think it was well over a thousand...hopefully that will solve overflow!

Oh tingle. I don't mind tingle personally, but I never take him all that seriously. Its not love or hate...just ambivalence. I always find it odd that beetle and tingle seem to keep appearing. I wonder if they are stuck in some less interesting reincarnation time loop thing like Zelda, link and demise are...but that glitch you mention? Dayum...that sounds awful for someone like me, being a completionist.

I love the goron dig wall areas, they're like little challenges, which this game seems to do a lot. Which may be why I enjoy it. The overworld seems so full of stuff to do or get, it makes me happy. As if the minish cap were one half of a kin stone...for me....okay I'm just getting silly now. But sometimes it feels like these smaller games are better at making the entire world interesting and full, rather than bare and boring...

You mention its kind of dark about David Jr, but I'm not really certain what's dark. He does seem a little sad...but that's about it.

Ezlo...they are living creatures...they shouldn't look delicious...poor translation, perhaps? Or are the minish carnivorous miniature monsters?

I really like the look of the Great Fairies in this game. Yey honesty!

These double link puzzles you keep doing one off, and its driving me nuts! :smallbiggrin: Especially because it keeps working! It shouldn't be working, but I guess the game has a little margin of error.

I really enjoyed the snag of the rupee right after you got the boomerang...a STYLE POINT for you!

Dag...that ghost house ripped the crap out of your wallet. 40 rupees gone. At least you managed to save ten, or it would have been fifty! That room was hard to track the enemies you killed in there. :smallsigh:


Yeah Skyward Sword has like...nine thousand more rupee max then this one. It was basically 9 away from 10 000, pretty sure.

The Tingle glitch is awful, yeah. As for Beetle and Tingle showing up...well I mean reincarnation is a canon thing in universe so why not.

Honestly I agree. This game my be small, but its so jam pack full of things that it feels really full. If only all of it was worth doing! 100 fusions, most of which at the end of the day just give more stones or rupees, which you get waaay too much of in this game considering there is so little rupee sinks.

What's dark about David Jr is that he's basically conscripted into Tingle's family and can't leave. That's technically kidnapping. But maybe it's not bad in this game, and he's just like a friend.

Well...I mean WE eat meat, technically we could say that cows look delicious too. I think Ezlo's just, as the plot has shown us time and time again, he's just really bad at saying the right words and really good at saying the wrong words.

I'll talk a bit about the Great Fairies, probably next post or later in this one. Basically, each Great Fairy in this game looks like a different type of insect based on it's wings and that's super god damn stylish and cool.

Boomerang is best friend.

Yeah sorry about that it's basically just a big huge mess of enemies dumped on your head!

[DataNinja]

No, Swiftblade! You taught the wrong technique! You should have taught us how you got Link to jump that high without the Roc's Cape. :smalltongue:

[Qwertystop]

Ah, yes, the Gyorg Pair. Neither half of the name fits - three of them, not two, and they look nothing like any of the futurepast Gyorgs.

[huttj509]

You learned to spin longer.

DOUBLE HIGH FIVE!

[TheWombatOfDoom]

Collection is done for now, lets press onward!

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap [10] Library (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fMWpRdUv1A)

Video Length: 25:30

Today we're gonna do the busywork required to get into the next dungeon! First of all, we fiiiinally shrink down and get to the left side of town to tell that dog to get out of the way. I guess it's as simple as asking, sometimes. On this side of town we also finally find the purpose of all those mysterious shells I've been collecting! There's a secret figurine gatchapon machine underneath a tree, and we give shells over to have a pull of it! There are...a whole crap ton of these, and there is at least two rewards for getting 100%. Since this is basically super tedious, I won't actually be showing my collection of them until their is like only one left to obtain, and then I'll be showing that one so we can see the rewards. So assume I'll be doing that off screen whenever I have the chance to do so.

With that done, let's fly to the only place left to really go! There's a wind crest that came pre-unlocked, so lets check it out. Up their, in a little Minish Mushroom house, we find an apparent apprentice to the great sage Librari! He tells us that Librari lives in the library (of course) and HE got into the Temple of Droplets, so if we want to get in we should ask him. Seems simple enough, lets do it! Talking with this guy also makes the library accessible, so that's nice.

Going to the library itself and shrinking in size to go to where the Minish live here, we find that it seems three books are missing, and this is quite vital! As it turns out the Minish we need to talk to lives here, and the three books that've been taken out are ladders to his house. It's...a good thing we're here since I imagine he might of starved to death after awhile if not for us, since most of these books we have to get back (and we do have to get them back, of course) have been taken out for a while. So yeah, we talk to the nice library clerk and she's like "oh hey you're gonna get the books cool!" and thus begins our quest. This entire sequence seems really silly to me, but I'm okay with it.

First up is a bestiary taken out by a local lady so she could learn more about her house cat. This seems kinda goofy to me and also makes me wish I could get a Hyrulian Bestiary so I could more easily answer Wombat's questions about what enemy goes were on our wall of slaughter. Anyway, she has the book up on a shelf and is busy making kissy faces with her boyfriend next door so we've got some puzzle solving to do. If you pay attention you can see the paths the Minish take, and that's basically our only clue as to what to do. We douse his fire and go through it to get onto the path that leads between their homes. The only real threat here is the cat because, unsurprisingly, cats are always gonna be cats. Once past said cat we can push the book down from the shelf, get back to regular small child size, and pick up the book. One down!

Next one is a book on the Picori. Not the best book I imagine seeing as how it doesn't even have their names right, womp womp. This one is held by Dr Left, a reference to Sim City but more importantly, a silly ole researcher that didn't allow us into his house until just now. This part always confuses me thanks to my future knowledge! Anyway, we can't find the book anywhere, but according to the Minish in his house there is a legend about a treasure that lets small people push giant things, and it starts from this guy's house. So after quickly dunking his fireplace, let's see about doing that! It's not all that complicated really, just Minishing through some houses and down a garden until we find a small sort of mini dungeon thing! It's nothing too complicated, but it gives us a good place to test out our new Magic Boomerang. Our reward for clearing this area is the Power Bracelets! These fine gold rings they they make us super strong in any size, but that is not correct! We're only able to push huge things while tiny. Still, with this was can get the book so lets go.

We return to Dr Left's house, push the shelves into the correct position, and climb on up to the rafters. Up their we find some Minish reading the good doctors books. One of which is the one we're looking or, and another Minish is trying to get down to him. We need the strength of at least three small children to get it down, and thankfully after cleaning some dust we find those mystical clone tiles that let us create another Link. The book falls down, we pick it up, badabing badaboom second book obtained. Let's bring it back.

Our third book is held by that suspicious and jerky Mayor Hagen. We ask him about the book and his response is...basically null and void. He doesn't even think he took the book out. We smash his masks to open up a Minish path and THEY are far more forthcoming with useful information. It seems the book is at his town house in Lake Hyrule, and as you may recall we saw a sign that said no digging, on Hagen's word. Unfortunately for him I only respect one Mayor Hagen, and since I doubt this guy is going to be piledriving gangsters any time soon lets get digging! In this area we meet the Like Like, the original and class bagworm monster that eats your stuff that the Rupee Like is based on. These eat your shield, and that's super rude! We won't let tiny shield get eaten! Also their is a funny little gag about the first Like Like we find being in the hole that is owned by a mayor. It's always been said that "Shield-eaters and world leaders have many likes alike". This is something I'll explain below this write up by the way.

Anyway, we get to his house and find that once more, the book is up on a high place we can't reach. Thankfully, through clever use of our head, we open up a Minish portal, get down into his house, and push the book down onto the floor so we can pick it up. I then PROCEED TO FORGET TO PICK UP THE BOOK until I make it all the way back to the library. Oops! After correcting that mistake we've gotten all the books we need, and the path opens to us. We speak to Librari and he...dunks us into another mini dungeon! Well that happened. I guess I'll see you guys next time!

------

The little joke that is usually mentioned in reference to Like Like's is "Shield-eaters and world leaders have many likes alike". This is derived from the Japanese proverb, 蓼食う虫も好き好き (Tade kū mushi mo sukizuki), which literally translated means "Some bugs eat water-peppers and like-like it." and is intended to mean "each to their own tastes". The symbols for water-peppers can easily be changed to shield, this is the reference they're making.

Sometimes video games are written very strangely.
Knowing what happens later because I watch every episode at least twice, once for tallies, and once for comments, why the heck can you fuse stones with the gray tabby out on the bridge, but all the rest of the cats attack you and are mean? It doesn't make sense! Also, that cat's name is Purry. :smallsmile: And the Dog at the stairs is named Growler. They're all so cute.

Just like the rest, the carpenters must be caught up in the same regeneration loop...also Malon and Talon...this is getting weird. We know this isn't in the same time period as later games...so are they just legacy names and everyone looks really similar...low gene pool? I've got nothing...

I remember the figurine collection, and while I think you made the right call, it would be cool to see a few collections once in awhile just to see that its still a thing. Hopefully we can see all the figurines at some point. I do remember how tedious this darn thing is, though. So tedious. Good luck! It's also strange that he basically has a description that insults the fruit guy. How rude.

Wait, is the library just opening for the first time? Or was it just too early in this REALLY long day? Hoping the second, because if its the first they've already got 3 overdue books in their first minutes of opening. :smallbiggrin:

I honestly really like the book fetch quests. They're fun, explore parts of Castle Town in unique ways, and provide a whole bunch of challenges. Not to mention the fact that the books give reference to the three facets of the triforce subtly.

I'd love a hyrule beastiary as well. Oh man, wouldn't that be a cool project to do? Make a book describing each creature, what era's they've been present in, and what they look like. Maybe do some illustrations...dang it...now I want to do it. I wonder if I made it and pitched it to Nintendo what they would do...

I love how this minish epic journey is through cats and things :smallbiggrin: Also....that heart piece...I feel your pain. Hopefully you can swim shortly! (like possibly next episode :smallbiggrin:)

I like how the minish seem to congregate around people who think like them. The shoe maker had minish that liked making shoes, the professor has scholarly minish...ect. What doesn't make sense is why the minish would borrow a book on the picori, since that's...them...maybe to make corrections?

Did the mayor forget, or did he hide it there on purpose? The minish seem to have more faith in him than us, though...

Like Likes! I really like these guys for some reason....even though they can be quite annoying.

I was like, no the book! THE BOOK! ZODI THE....ah you'll figure it out. the text you wrote is the same, pretty much. XD You were just so excited about them Gorons.

The sage is cute...but its also amusing that he basically destroyed a book to make his home. Hopefully no one ever takes out that book...or they'll probably show that its damaged to the library and they'll get rid of it....:smalleek:



EPISODE 10 KILL TALLY!

Slugula - 5
Mulldozer - 2
Blue Mulldozer - 4
Octorok - 3
Gold Octorok - 1
Like Like - 1
Pesto - 1

Style Points - 0

Missed Rupees - 0
Lost Rupees (theft, overflow, ect.) - 0

(previous episodes)



The Minish Cap
Total Kills
(As of Episode 10)

Acro-Bandits - 71
Bob-ombs - 9
Crows - 8
Darknut - 2
Floormaster - 3
Gleerok - 1
Helmasaurs - 14
Keaton - 10
Keese - 21
Leever - 1
Moldorm - 6
Peahats - 18
Puffstools - 10
Rope - 27
Sluggula - 27
Stalfos - 16
Wizrobe - 2

Blins
Moblin - 8
Moblin (Bow) - 4
Moblin, Blue - 2

Bugs
Beetles - 9
Beetles, Spiked - 6
Beetles, Spiny - 9
Madderpillars - 1
Mulldozers - 14
Mulldozers, Blue - 9
Rollobites - 1
Pestos - 14

Chuchus
Chuchus, Green - 5*
Chuchus, Red - 26
Chuchus, Spike - 14

Constructs
Armos - 8
Eyegore Statue - 7
Mazaal - 1

Likes
Rupee Like, Green - 1
Rupee Like, Red - 1
Like Like - 1

Octoroks
Octoroks - 72
Octoroks, Blue - 5
Octoroks, Gold - 1

Tektites
Tektites - 47
Tektites, Blue - 1

*one of which was a boss

Total Things Dead - 513!

1st Place - Octoroks, at 72!
2nd Place - Acro-bandits, at 71!
3rd Place - Tektites, at 47!

Total Style Points - 5!

Total Missed Rupees - 3
Total Lost Rupees - 301

[LaZodiac]

Ah, yes, the Gyorg Pair. Neither half of the name fits - three of them, not two, and they look nothing like any of the futurepast Gyorgs.

Yeah...silly manta ray boss.


You learned to spin longer.

DOUBLE HIGH FIVE!

*high five* SPINNING IN CIRCLES! DEMACIA!



Knowing what happens later because I watch every episode at least twice, once for tallies, and once for comments, why the heck can you fuse stones with the gray tabby out on the bridge, but all the rest of the cats attack you and are mean? It doesn't make sense! Also, that cat's name is Purry. :smallsmile: And the Dog at the stairs is named Growler. They're all so cute.

I remember the figurine collection, and while I think you made the right call, it would be cool to see a few collections once in awhile just to see that its still a thing. Hopefully we can see all the figurines at some point. I do remember how tedious this darn thing is, though. So tedious. Good luck! It's also strange that he basically has a description that insults the fruit guy. How rude.

I'd love a hyrule beastiary as well. Oh man, wouldn't that be a cool project to do? Make a book describing each creature, what era's they've been present in, and what they look like. Maybe do some illustrations...dang it...now I want to do it. I wonder if I made it and pitched it to Nintendo what they would do...

I like how the minish seem to congregate around people who think like them. The shoe maker had minish that liked making shoes, the professor has scholarly minish...ect. What doesn't make sense is why the minish would borrow a book on the picori, since that's...them...maybe to make corrections?

I was like, no the book! THE BOOK! ZODI THE....ah you'll figure it out. the text you wrote is the same, pretty much. XD You were just so excited about them Gorons.

The sage is cute...but its also amusing that he basically destroyed a book to make his home. Hopefully no one ever takes out that book...or they'll probably show that its damaged to the library and they'll get rid of it....:smalleek:

The cat you can fuse stones with will also attack you if you wait a bit, if I recall. Cat's are just rude.

I intend to show off all the figurines once I get them, I'm just avoiding showing them because they DO show spoilers.

If you DO do that, keep it on the downlow. As long as you don't try to actively sell it it'd probably be fine. I endorse this idea. Pretty sure they'd like the idea they heard about it, though.

I'd love to read a book about how wrong everyone is about me. Make me feel better because everyone gets all this junk wrong. It'd be hilarious.

I can't control myself Wombat they're like giant fun oni.

I think the pages' are just tented, not damage. I may be wrong though.

[TheWombatOfDoom]

Hark, a new Zelda arrives!

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap [11] Temple of Droplets (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQEQ3xvMmVA)

Video Length: 24:35

Last time on Minish Cap, Sage Librari dunked us into a tiny dungeon to find the sacred treasure that'll let us get into the Temple of Droplets! How rude and also exactly expected give he's a sage in a video game! Let's get through this dungeon and then maybe give him a piece of our mind two episodes later. As far as minidungeons go this is really more of an extension of the place where we got the Power Bracelets. It's a few short rooms followed by a somewhat intense combat encounter, in this case Scissor Beetles! These bugs are quite a hard nut to crack, invincible from teh front due to their shielding blades. However, they also throw those to attack, so they're vulnerable. Another vulnerability is the Magic Boomerang, which just stuns the outright allowing for a far easier time. Our reward for slaying them all is the Flippers! These apparently magical footwear allow us to swim with the greatest of ease. We can use this to collect a bunch of stuff right now, but I'm going to hold off on that. We already had an episode dedicated to just gettin' stuff.

That being said, I am going to do a small bit of collecting. Nothing major just, since we're on our WAY to Lake Hylia, we may as well do this. First of all I buy the Quiver at the store, giving us access to 50 arrows! This is pretty awesome if arrows were more usable (they don't feel as good as they should in this game). We could of bought the bomb bag since bombs are slightly more useful, but eh the Quiver was closer. Next, we shrink in the cafe and do some light exploration up in the rafters, which leads us over to the general store. And what do you know it, this shop keeper is so eagle eyed he sensed we arrived in Minish size, even if he didn't see us outright. Going back to regular size he says we're allowed to shop from here, so...lets try to buy his bottle! Not for sale sadly, but he says he'll give it to us if we go feed his dog, which is in Lake Hylia so it's on the way. See, perfectly reasonable to go about doing this now! Let's get going to Lake Hylia!

It's REALLY at the Lake that we start seeing just how uh...frustrating the flipper's inability to climb onto anything other then shore banks and stairs really is. There is a Heart Piece right there and we can't get it aaaaah. It also makes it just a bit harder to navigate then I'd like, just a minor little quibble. Anyway, he search the lake and find some neat stuff, like a Heart Piece we CAN collect, and a new sword trainer! This is Waveblade and we can't learn from him till we have 10 hearts. We've got 9, so we'll pick this guy up after the dungeon proper. Speaking of which, this is another Minish size dungeon, and in a funny sort of twist the Temple is itself a Minish Portal. Neat! Lets dive on in!

Now, let me just start of this dungeon by saying, I do still enjoy this dungeon. It's a fun dungeon and actually put together pretty well, if weirdly (their isn't really any reason for the first locked door in the dungeon to be a Big Key door...). That said, this dungeon is just...really frustrating with the mechanics it focuses on. The swimming is okay, but the ice is just...it's ice in video games people, it's exactly as bad as you'd expect. And though we only get a small taste of it here, there ARE areas with darkness in this dungeon and it's just super annoying. And like...none of this is a super bad game breaker or anything, it's just in the way of a good dungeon. So, lets move on to the Temple of Droplets.

Our first major goal here is to find the Big Key so we can actually get into the rest of the dungeon. This involves going through two ice block pushing puzzles, which if you've played video games for any length of time you're certain to have encountered at some point. Gotta push the block or blocks to the right spot, taking into mind that you cannot stop the block's movement on ice until it hits something. The first one is relatively easy, the second one embarrassingly took me long enough that I felt it needed to be sped up, due solely to me messing up the trick you use to solve these. The way you solve these puzzles is quite simple in that you work backwards. Start from where you want to the block to go, and move away from it until you hit a solid object (in this case the first solid object you really hit in the puzzle I messed up was the switch itself, which I forgot counted!). This method works 100% of the time in my experience, and will help you through a lot of rather difficult puzzles if you keep it in mind.

That said, we get through the Big Key door and find our element just kinda waiting for us...frozen in ice. Dang, looks like we've got to go through the entire dungeon to open up gates so that the heat will melt the element out. Nothing's ever easy! Moving forward we eventually get to another thing that...lets say doesn't make me to keen on this dungeon. It's still good mind you, but less happy about it. We're bringing back the lilypad from the first dungeon! Nothing's really wrong with that, other areas have established that the lilypad is not a dungeon mechanic so much as a Minish mechanic in general, but I feel like for this dungeon at the very least, they could of at least changed the graphic to be like an ice chunk or something. But then it'd be slippery...tough choices. Anyway, we've gotta babysit this lilypad for awhile. It makes some areas easier and some harder, as you'd really expect. For my part I just face tank the metal crushers.

Speaking of things returning from other dungeons, the Madderpiller is back! The ice makes him actually pretty tough to fight, and again while I don't begrudge them this is just "a Minish enemy" and not a 100% strictly Dungeon 1 mechanic, it still feels kinda lame. We could of had a different mini boss and instead we have this guy again. A little after that we get to fight three Scissor Beetles again, and I think this is a far better choice for "miniboss" for this dungeon since that is a new enemy JUST revealed, that we've had to fight to get the flippers so they feel like they're "part of this dungeon" if you catch what I mean. The Madderpiller just seems unneeded. Anyway, after beating up the Scissor Beetles we get a warp back to the entrance, and I think that's enough for today. See you guys next time for when we finish this dungeon off right!

Alright, flippers and new enemies! Woot. Oh no, those poor minish in the general store...hopefully they just got driven out or abandoned the store and moved to the forest?

I agree, suicidal octoroks don't count towards kills, even if they're only doing it because they saw you were coming. :smallamused:

Well, maybe not spiked boots for ice, but iron boots work well. They just are slow, so a different form of frustration.

The temple of droplets was my most memorable temple of this game. That is, this is the only one I really remember well. I really like the mechanics.

Oooo, you almost got something for getting all the pots that were flying at you, but then one hit you. It was almost quite stylish!

Interestingly enough, while the temple layout looks like an Octorok.

While I agree that the floating lily pad is a retread, I like that they had it for the water temple. It probably would have been more thematic to use a floating iceblock, but alas. I think it fits here better than the forest temple, but I like that they set up the mechanic earlier to be used later again, combining things you've used in other places all in one place. Either way, I see what you're saying. The madderpillars on the other hand I could certainly have done without. I think they wanted to limit the minish enemies in favor of the regular sized ones.



EPISODE 11 KILL TALLY!

Slugula - 13
Scissor Beetles - 5
Mulldozer - 6
Blue Mulldozer - 7
Pestos - 8
Octorok - 2
Blue Octorok - 7
Green Chuchu - 1
Moblin - 1
Madderpillar - 1
Blue Pesto - 2

Style Points - 0

Missed Rupees - 0
Lost Rupees (theft, overflow, ect.) - 0

(previous episodes)



The Minish Cap
Total Kills
(As of Episode 11)

Acro-Bandits - 71
Bob-ombs - 9
Crows - 8
Darknut - 2
Floormaster - 3
Gleerok - 1
Helmasaurs - 14
Keaton - 10
Keese - 21
Leever - 1
Moldorm - 6
Peahats - 18
Puffstools - 10
Rope - 27
Sluggula - 40
Stalfos - 16
Wizrobe - 2

Blins
Moblin - 9
Moblin (Bow) - 4
Moblin, Blue - 2

Bugs
Beetles - 9
Beetles, Spiked - 6
Beetles, Spiny - 9
Beetles, Scissor - 5
Madderpillars - 2
Mulldozers - 20
Mulldozers, Blue - 16
Rollobites - 1
Pestos - 22
Pestos, Blue - 2

Chuchus
Chuchus, Green - 6*
Chuchus, Red - 26
Chuchus, Spike - 14

Constructs
Armos - 8
Eyegore Statue - 7
Mazaal - 1

Likes
Rupee Like, Green - 1
Rupee Like, Red - 1
Like Like - 1

Octoroks
Octoroks - 74
Octoroks, Blue - 12
Octoroks, Gold - 1

Tektites
Tektites - 47
Tektites, Blue - 1

*one of which was a boss

Total Things Dead - 566!

1st Place - Octoroks, at 74!
2nd Place - Acro-bandits, at 71!
3rd Place - Tektites, at 47!

Total Style Points - 5!

Total Missed Rupees - 3
Total Lost Rupees - 301

[LaZodiac]

Alright, flippers and new enemies! Woot. Oh no, those poor minish in the general store...hopefully they just got driven out or abandoned the store and moved to the forest?

I agree, suicidal octoroks don't count towards kills, even if they're only doing it because they saw you were coming. :smallamused:

Well, maybe not spiked boots for ice, but iron boots work well. They just are slow, so a different form of frustration.

Oooo, you almost got something for getting all the pots that were flying at you, but then one hit you. It was almost quite stylish!

Interestingly enough, while the temple layout looks like an Octorok.

While I agree that the floating lily pad is a retread, I like that they had it for the water temple. It probably would have been more thematic to use a floating iceblock, but alas. I think it fits here better than the forest temple, but I like that they set up the mechanic earlier to be used later again, combining things you've used in other places all in one place. Either way, I see what you're saying. The madderpillars on the other hand I could certainly have done without. I think they wanted to limit the minish enemies in favor of the regular sized ones.


I'm sure they just got chased out to the other homes.

Every enemy shall fear me!

Can we have no slip boots that are also fast please?

POTS! Also I thought it looked more like a pot, the dungeon layout.

Yeah, I can see that. Not wanting to have TOO many Minish only mechanics.

[Seerow]

Hi, I live!


I was really hoping one of the improved spin attack techniques was going to be combining the full/low health sword beam with spin attack. Could you imagine? Just spinning around in circles for like a solid 6 seconds with aoe lasers flying everywhere? It'd be so ridiculously cool. Sure faster charges is probably better balanced and easier to do, but c'mon spinning sword lasers man!


The whole last temple was all pretty cool. Roc's cape is fantastic, and an item I really wish showed up more often in the future. The last boss in the most recent video was really pretty cool as well, like you said tons of stuff going on that keeps it interesting even while just trying to execute the same basic mechanic repeatedly.

[LaZodiac]

Hi, I live!


I was really hoping one of the improved spin attack techniques was going to be combining the full/low health sword beam with spin attack. Could you imagine? Just spinning around in circles for like a solid 6 seconds with aoe lasers flying everywhere? It'd be so ridiculously cool. Sure faster charges is probably better balanced and easier to do, but c'mon spinning sword lasers man!


The whole last temple was all pretty cool. Roc's cape is fantastic, and an item I really wish showed up more often in the future. The last boss in the most recent video was really pretty cool as well, like you said tons of stuff going on that keeps it interesting even while just trying to execute the same basic mechanic repeatedly.

Woo, it's a Seerow! Between you and Wombat catching up it's like old times :smallbiggrin:

That'd be hilarious and I want it now. Laser spin attack please!

Note that when Seerow says future here he means the actual future this is so far the last game to feature the Roc's Cape pretty sure. Maybe some day, Zelda U seems like it could make good use of it...

[Coidzor]

Oh maaan, Zelda time. My favorite time.

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap [17] Training (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvxkSEKLjVs)

Video Length: 23:35


I agree with greens being functionally the rarest because of the chest drops and relatively sparse placement of green-dropping enemies. I just ground for them between segments, because I was kinstone maniac. Hell, I actually went into the tavern to see what was what before I had the case of pacci and the ability to use it for the minishing in town.

I kinda hard a problem.

~2:50: No disco for you, Disco Skeleton Stus! Nicely done, almost got all of them at once, too.

~3:40: ahh,unnecessary but appreciated final Big Door.

Now for gyorgicide. =3 Gottta kill the females so they can't lay eggs, after all.

And to cement the males being the derps of the species, they play a lethal game of skip-it with you. XD

Yes,taste the darkness of the past! http://youtu.be/FhGDkwrlsxQ

...

...

*ahem*

Isn't it silly how the male gyorgs' tails look like a closed pair of scissors or shears?

Also, seeing their eyes open really makes me wish Link could down thrust stab them in each eye in turn. :v

~6:00: I think I remember hearing about that trick in a walkthrough but it didn't quite work for me or something. Nice job!

~6:20: But a nuisance that could almost be cute with how they already can fly in formation. But, as said, GYORGICIDE.

~7:35: Ooo, nice job keep clonehesion long enough to get a second round of womping in!

~8:08: Arright! Monster killing time! Time to get this Gyorgicide train back to the station!

~9:18: Rather handy of her to crash where you'd land back at the tornado place, only Sans tornado and with the wind element instead. XD

Granted, pretty interesting how a monster had sacred mystical sword tiles on her back.

~11:25: Dare I say, it's about time to get schwifty in here? :smallwink:

~18:00: Y'know, seeing them so close together really drives home the impact of how great the Blade family really is. Especially the ones with something approaching humility or awareness of just how many are in the family. XD

~SPINNNNNNNNNINNNNNG~<3





Back on the surface, I think it's time we did some intense training. We learn from Swiftblade his final move, the Down Thrust. This powerful move lets us jump into the air and then do a sword based ground pound. It's got a surprisingly large AOE, making it quite useful for killing enemies. Probably would of been helpful during the Gyorg Pair honestly. With all seven moves in the game learned, Swiftblade the First can use his completely legitimate ghost possession skills to teach us the final, ultimate move. The Great Spin Attack, a swirling dervish of power! With this, we've now learned every single move in the game. And yet...there is more we can do. The Blade siblings that teach you the Peril Beam, Sword Beam, and Rolling Attack can each be Kinstone fused with, and in doing so it unlocks three more Blades to learn from. These guys are more visual training oriented, but what they teach you is quite vital. One increases the speed of your spin attack's charge, one increases the duration of the Great Spin Attack, and the last makes your Split Gauge for cloning Link go MUCH faster. This would of been nice to have during the boss too, oops.

But yeah, with that training done it's time to buy the last Newsletters and end the video. Swiftblade's Newsletters are a funny little side thing in the game, and though they're very clearly just an absurd money sink I think they're cool. Until next time, warriors!!!!

------

Oh yeah here's the poll I was talking about. (http://strawpoll.me/6990404)

All this talk of training makes me wonder what training from hell would actually look like for a Link. Those abilities definitely would been nice for tackling this penultimate dungeon, yeah. Oh well, now you're rocking it for the final showdown at least!

But a cool money sink! And occasionally useful, especially if you stopped to grind for green kinstone pieces so you always had one of each type going to the next section of the game.

What orky colors to choose from.

[TheWombatOfDoom]

Deeper into the Temple we go!

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda the Minish Cap [12] Big Octorok (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9X1gw5DGtwo)

Video Length: 26:46

When we last left off, we had juust finished the halfway point of the Temple! Using our clone powers we puuuush a switch to cause some light in, partially melting the frozen prison of the Element. It also opens up the path to the rest of the dungeon, so lets get going! Down this path we find some ice paths mixed with pits and traps that'll send you flying off the edge! This...is kinda frustrating, as you'd expect from ice in video games. It's not that big of a deal overall, but it still makes you feel bad, especially since it makes you restart the whole room.

Moving on we find a new ice block pushing puzzle...except it doesn't have ice block pushing, just uses those elements. We've gotta flip switches properly to get this chest unfrozen. It gives us a key that brings us to another kind of annoying retread, the Big Blue Chu-chu! Yup, it's a return of the first boss in the game, only harder! It has more health, it moves around a little faster, jumps a little more aggressively, and most importantly occasionally covers itself in a cloak of lightning that makes it impossible to hurt or suck the goo from with your Gust Jar! This is...actually really annoying for multiple reasons! First of all, refighting the first boss in the game as a miniboss, while not BAD (it can even be great!) can be seen as a little cheap, since this guy has nooothing to do with the dungeon at all beyond being blue. Second, because of the upgrades this guy has, it doesn't make you feel any stronger. You're fighting this guy that should be a representation of how you've grown in the game, a guy who was once a boss now just a miniboss. But instead, because of his upgrades and his lightning field, he feels harder then the original. That's not OVERLY bad because he should still be a challenge given we're in the second to last dungeon or so, but it's an unfortunate case of this guy not really striking the balance between "challenging for this part of the game" and "but still makes you feel a lot stronger fighting it because it's a retread". Third, and this may just be due to my playing the game, this is the first Blue Chu-chu you encounter so if you don't know what those are you're gonna get your butt kicked. That feels like bad game design to me, having a "boss" version of an enemy that you haven't even seen yet unless you go out of your way to explore more then you "should".

Anyway, we finally slay the fearsome beast, and our reward is the dungeon item! This one is...the Lantern. We could of got a magical rod of fire and instead we get a lamp. Okay. I kind of kid though, this lamp's kind of cool! It can't...actually hurt enemies, but you can use it to light fires and to banish the dark (though not solve it completely, sadly). Most importantly we can use it to melt ice, so lets go! It's at this point that we encounter the large portion of "the room is daaaaark" gimmick the Temple of Droplets have, and it also takes place in a maze. Hooraaaaaaay *Falls over*. We also get some rooms with Scissor Beatles in them that I mistake for a puzzle and a kill room, respectively. Oops! We also face the fearsome TWO MADDERPILLERS IN DARKNESS room.

After dealing with the darkness we get a nice clone puzzle that I actually quite like, and then are subjected to the Winder enemies, which I don't! Winder's are more like obstacles, in that they are invincible! They can't be killed, but can sure as heck kill you. If you touch a Winder you get set on fire and this causes Link to, understandably, start running around all crazy like. This is a problem since it makes you run into the Winder more, as well as make it pretty hard to control! It's just another really annoying enemy to throw in to a dungeon that's already really trying to test your patience.

Finally, cutting through scores of Mulldozers and solving many a puzzle, we reach the second switch to bring light into the dungeon, freeing the Element. It also, tragically, melts the large Octorok statue, which turns out to not be a statue at all! The Octorok sucks up the Element, and we've got a fight on our hands! This is the big Octorok, though it's still technically just a basic enemy while WE are the small one. In it's first, regular phase it shuffles around spewing rocks at us that we have to knock back at it to damage it, and tries to suck us up to shoot us at walls and stuff. It's quite large on such a small screen so it can be a little tricky, especially when I waste time trying to get hearts from the leavings the rock's...leave, after hitting a wall (spoilers there is no way to recover hearts in this fight!). After damaging it enough he freezes over with the power of the Element, and it's time for his second form! In this form he blasts out frozen breath that can freeze you, and does his same sucking in attack. This form is harder to deal with since the ice is, of course, slippery, and you need to light the flower on it on fire so the Octorok itself catches on fire. Once you've done that it switches over to it's regular form. At some point during the fight it gains the ability to spew out ink to darken the screen and starts charging around to cause rocks to fall.

This boss is...surprisingly infuriating, if I must say. It's really difficult, it's annoying dealing with the ice, the darkness and charge attack is okay but at the same time kind of...not? This entire fight just has this weird edge to it that makes it really just bothersome to play. It IS a good boss, don't get me wrong, but a total lack of healing opportunities in a boss seems kinda weird to me, especially one of this difficulty. The biggest problem in this fight is the waiting though, if you miss a rock you're gonna be sitting around a looong time.

After a long and difficult fight, we finally kill the Octorok. Element and Heart Container obtained, we've done it! Just one more to go...but where could it be? Well, as we leave the dungeon, the ghost of a King of Hyrule appears and says "hey yo come to the graveyard to figure out how to proceed" and that's awfully nice of him. Thanks Ghost King! First we have to put the new Element into our sword...but before THAT lets go to Waveblade to learn his secrets finally. Turns out he gives us the Peril Blade, the skill that lets us throw beam swords if we have one heart left! Useless! See you guys next time.



That close call with the kinstone...JUST a kinstone? I'd have had to add a counter, just for the comment. :smallmad: :smallbiggrin:

I see what you were thinking with those blocks with the winders...poor zodi. Lots of ouch. And I don't understand why the area covers over the room. But it does this in the top down games from time to time.

Blue Chuchu! I just wish it wasn't so dumb looking. XD I miss the chuchu's of Skyward Sword. Even though its a retread, its a neat retread. I like that its not just the same exact fight. It does make me feel it cheapens the boss of the forest temple though, but I still like the fact the monsters for minish are bosses, if that makes sense. So I suppose it works. Now to see what the boss is (the Octorok, of course). The game sure puts a lot of effort in showing you how difficult it can be to be a minish. Just think, for you as link, you can kill an octorok in one slash, but in minish form, its a whole nother ball game. Makes Hyrule field look a lot more terrifying for a minish. I'd never leave the mushroom!

Okay, I think this dungeon is out to get Zodi. Ice, Darkness, Madderpillars, retreading, bottomless pits mixed in...:smallfrown:



EPISODE 12 KILL TALLY!

Pestos - 11
Blue Chuchu - 1 (1 boss)
Mulldozers - 12
Scissor Beetles - 7
Blue Mulldozers - 12
Blue Pestos - 3
Madderpillars - 2
Octoroks - 1 (1 boss)

Style Points - 0

Missed Rupees - 0
Lost Rupees (theft, overflow, ect.) - 0

(previous episodes)



The Minish Cap
Total Kills
(As of Episode 12)

Acro-Bandits - 71
Bob-ombs - 9
Crows - 8
Darknut - 2
Floormaster - 3
Gleerok - 1
Helmasaurs - 14
Keaton - 10
Keese - 21
Leever - 1
Moldorm - 6
Peahats - 18
Puffstools - 10
Rope - 27
Sluggula - 40
Stalfos - 16
Wizrobe - 2

Blins
Moblin - 9
Moblin (Bow) - 4
Moblin, Blue - 2

Bugs
Beetles - 9
Beetles, Spiked - 6
Beetles, Spiny - 9
Beetles, Scissor - 12
Madderpillars - 4
Mulldozers - 32
Mulldozers, Blue - 28
Rollobites - 1
Pestos - 33
Pestos, Blue - 5

Chuchus
Chuchus, Green - 6*
Chuchus, Red - 26
Chuchua, Blue - 1*
Chuchus, Spike - 14

Constructs
Armos - 8
Eyegore Statue - 7
Mazaal - 1

Likes
Rupee Like, Green - 1
Rupee Like, Red - 1
Like Like - 1

Octoroks
Octoroks - 75*
Octoroks, Blue - 12
Octoroks, Gold - 1

Tektites
Tektites - 47
Tektites, Blue - 1

*one of which was a boss

Total Things Dead - 615!

1st Place - Octoroks, at 75!
2nd Place - Acro-bandits, at 71!
3rd Place - Tektites, at 47!

Total Style Points - 5!

Total Missed Rupees - 3
Total Lost Rupees - 301

[LaZodiac]

That close call with the kinstone...JUST a kinstone? I'd have had to add a counter, just for the comment. :smallmad: :smallbiggrin:

Blue Chuchu! I just wish it wasn't so dumb looking. XD I miss the chuchu's of Skyward Sword. Even though its a retread, its a neat retread. I like that its not just the same exact fight. It does make me feel it cheapens the boss of the forest temple though, but I still like the fact the monsters for minish are bosses, if that makes sense. So I suppose it works. Now to see what the boss is (the Octorok, of course). The game sure puts a lot of effort in showing you how difficult it can be to be a minish. Just think, for you as link, you can kill an octorok in one slash, but in minish form, its a whole nother ball game. Makes Hyrule field look a lot more terrifying for a minish. I'd never leave the mushroom!

Okay, I think this dungeon is out to get Zodi. Ice, Darkness, Madderpillars, retreading, bottomless pits mixed in...:smallfrown:


I doubt we need to start counting Kinstones. Especially since I haven't missed any :smallamused:

Yeah, being a very tiny small person is scary! As someone who's 6 foot 2ish it's not something I've ever really gone through. Poor Minish :smallfrown:

Yup! I think any negative things I have to say about the Temple of Droplets is purely due to it touching all the mechanical stuff I don't super like. It's a good dungeon it's just not one I like due to my own personal experiences.

[Coidzor]

Hi, I live!


I was really hoping one of the improved spin attack techniques was going to be combining the full/low health sword beam with spin attack. Could you imagine? Just spinning around in circles for like a solid 6 seconds with aoe lasers flying everywhere? It'd be so ridiculously cool. Sure faster charges is probably better balanced and easier to do, but c'mon spinning sword lasers man!

That's good enough to be a medallion in the style of LTTP. :smallamused:


I doubt we need to start counting Kinstones. Especially since I haven't missed any :smallamused:

Yeah, being a very tiny small person is scary! As someone who's 6 foot 2ish it's not something I've ever really gone through. Poor Minish :smallfrown:

Which is good! :smallbiggrin:

Well, at least it's basically the equivalent of a really nasty afternoon than anything that goes on for long enough to cause problems?


Every enemy shall fear me!

Can we have no slip boots that are also fast please?

POTS! Also I thought it looked more like a pot, the dungeon layout.

The real question is, are there gonna be any left to go back in Pandora's box?

See, the problem with that is that it would restore fun to ice worlds. Can't have that.

Clearly it is actually an Octo-Pot!

[TheWombatOfDoom]

It's time for another new Zelda!

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap [13] Royal Valley (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mxqp23Eqdo)

Video Length: 23:00

This one might be a little shorter then I'd like due to do some editing shinanigans and having to babysit and stuff. Anyway, starting us off we revisit with that devious sage that dropped us into a dungeon. It turns out this was completely a good idea because the dialogue is fantastic. Good decision all around. That little detour over, it's time for a more proper, meaty detour. First, after buying a bigger bomb bag from the store, we head over to the Forest Minish Elder and FINALLY we're able to rub stones with this guy! In doing so it makes Belari, that bomb making Minish, realize that hey you know what would be sweet? Remote control bombs. A quick visit to his hut and that's exactly what we GET. Remote Bombs, a replacement for regular bombs that makes it so that we completely control the explosion of our bombs. We can only have one bomb out at a time but this is such a useful feature it more then makes up for it.

Of course that's not all Belari has to reward us with. If we push a rock into his face, it summons up a chest that we're gonna go get right away. Inside it is another, and our last, bomb bag upgrade! We can now hold 99 bombs, awesome! Now it's time to head off to the spooky Royal Valley. Our first action here is...to disregard all enemies and bust our way into a cave that has the third Great Fairy in it! I didn't mention it but each of the Great Fairies in this game has a name, based on their wings. I forget them but they're all based on insects and it's kind of cute. Anyway, she asks us about our journey and after remembering all of our cool adventures we're rewarded with a quiver! We could actually go get the last quiver now except I don't know what Minish needs a new friend to get it, and I can't find information on which it is! So that's fun.

Anyway, Royal Valley! This spooky ass place has two new enemies for us to encounter! We've got the Ghini, spooky cyclopean ghosts that latch onto you and lick Link's face! It's kinda horrifying and yet also strangely cute, fitting the aesthetic of this game quite well. Then we have Takkuri, red crows that hit Link in the face and steal his rupees! This is super rude but thankfully I avoided getting hit by all of the ones we can encounter. This then leads us to the Lost Woods! The Lost Woods are an iconic staple of the Zelda series and this is the first time we're seeing it in my little series retrospective. This one isn't as bad as others, with each screen giving you a sign on which way to go...some a little more obscure then others! I mess it up once though...but after that it's smooth sailing, and we're in the Royal Graveyard proper.

At least...sort of, anyway. First we need to get the key from the gravedigger, Dampe. Which...isn't actually all that difficult he just gives it to us! But there isn't anything wrong with that...except as we leave his shack some Takkuri steal it and we have a minute or two long distraction to get it back. This is just a really weird side thing that I don't quite understand why they decided it should happen. It's...just a weird thing. Anyway, we're in the Royal Graveyard now and there is a cute ghost guy here but more importantly we can open up a grave to get into the Royal Crypt! Onwards, we must find the ghost dad!

The Royal Crypt is another mini dungeon, which this game has quite a lot of I realized! This one's got Gibdo's in it though so that's cool! Gibdo's are mummy enemies that just kinda walk at you, and you could fight them if you want (I make sure to log at least one Gibdo kill for our list) but or the most part, setting them on fire and beating the Stalfos that pops out is very more effective. That aside...there's two neat clone puzzles but that's basically it! Ths is very short and sweet/too the point.

After getting through the Royal Crypt we find the resting place of old King Gustaf, and he gives us the thing we need to go forward...a gold Kinstone. Next time we're gonna go actually do that! Hope to see you then.

Remote Bombs for the win. Its certainly something I wish they had in a few other games...I also never noticed the forest minish elder has all the symbols of the elements above him. Did the minish say we could trade back if we wanted to? Why in the world would we want to do that? (I got 99 problems but a bomb aint one)

Yeah gold rope didn't stand a chance in that area....but you never got hit, so I'll throw you a style point!

Um...why is grimblade standing around in a dark dojo? I mean, I understand its a way to prevent you from talking to him until you get the lantern, but.....its kinda strange. Especially since he's under hyrule castle gardens.

I've always liked sneaking around in Zelda games...

Oh, so that fountain didn't get drained. It just opened into a lower fountain with fairies, so in a way it was a nice thing, because you activated a fountain for the fairies.

I like the pun for Ghini! Genie...too bad there aren't any poes. I also really like this incarnation of the lost woods. I don't mind going through it again, at least it never changes the order like some...also....Dampe now too. I'm so confused by all these people being the same names and looking the same. What if they are the same? But then, how is malon still a little girl in later games? *headspace ouch*

I think the bridge could have been opened earlier. Remember, the stones were bombable from the beginning, you just chose to do it now.

Could you give me a run down on the amounts of the larger rupees and their colors? Colorblind and all...

Here's what I have:

1 - Green rupee
5 - Blue rupee
10 - Yellow rupee
20 - Red rupee
50 - Purple rupee
100 - ??? rupee
200 - ??? rupee



EPISODE 13 KILL TALLY!

Armos - 1
Gold Rope - 1
Rope - 7
Octorok - 5
Ghini - 16
Takkuri - 2
Stalfos - 3
Gibdo - 1

Style Points - 1

Missed Rupees - 0
Lost Rupees (theft, overflow, ect.) - 0

(previous episodes)



The Minish Cap
Total Kills
(As of Episode 13)

Acro-Bandits - 71
Bob-ombs - 9
Darknut - 2
Floormaster - 3
Ghini - 16
Gleerok - 1
Helmasaurs - 14
Keaton - 10
Keese - 21
Leever - 1
Moldorm - 6
Peahats - 18
Puffstools - 10
Sluggula - 40
Wizrobe - 2

Avians
Crows - 8
Takkuri - 2

Blins
Moblin - 9
Moblin (Bow) - 4
Moblin, Blue - 2

Bugs
Beetles - 9
Beetles, Spiked - 6
Beetles, Spiny - 9
Beetles, Scissor - 12
Madderpillars - 4
Mulldozers - 32
Mulldozers, Blue - 28
Rollobites - 1
Pestos - 33
Pestos, Blue - 5

Chuchus
Chuchus, Green - 6*
Chuchus, Red - 26
Chuchua, Blue - 1*
Chuchus, Spike - 14

Constructs
Armos - 9
Eyegore Statue - 7
Mazaal - 1

Likes
Rupee Like, Green - 1
Rupee Like, Red - 1
Like Like - 1

Octoroks
Octoroks - 80*
Octoroks, Blue - 12
Octoroks, Gold - 1

Rope
Rope - 34
Rope, Gold - 1

Stal
Stalfos - 19
Gibdo - 1

Tektites
Tektites - 47
Tektites, Blue - 1

*one of which was a boss

Total Things Dead - 651!

1st Place - Octoroks, at 80!
2nd Place - Acro-bandits, at 71!
3rd Place - Tektites, at 47!

Total Style Points - 5!

Total Missed Rupees - 3
Total Lost Rupees - 301

[LaZodiac]

Remote Bombs for the win. Its certainly something I wish they had in a few other games...I also never noticed the forest minish elder has all the symbols of the elements above him. Did the minish say we could trade back if we wanted to? Why in the world would we want to do that? (I got 99 problems but a bomb aint one)

Um...why is grimblade standing around in a dark dojo? I mean, I understand its a way to prevent you from talking to him until you get the lantern, but.....its kinda strange. Especially since he's under hyrule castle gardens.

I like the pun for Ghini! Genie...too bad there aren't any poes. I also really like this incarnation of the lost woods. I don't mind going through it again, at least it never changes the order like some...also....Dampe now too. I'm so confused by all these people being the same names and looking the same. What if they are the same? But then, how is malon still a little girl in later games? *headspace ouch*

Could you give me a run down on the amounts of the larger rupees and their colors? Colorblind and all...

Here's what I have:

1 - Green rupee
5 - Blue rupee
10 - Green rupee
20 - Red rupee
50 - Purple rupee
100 - ??? rupee
200 - ??? rupee


Yeah you can trade back the bombs. There is not one single reason as to why you'd want to do this.

Darkness helps with training! I mean his name is GRIM Blade, gotta fit the aesthetic. But it only works for personal training. I really want to make a Shenmue reference but I can't remember any choice quotes from the blind master.

Look reincarnation is a hell of a drug and Hylia spiked the punch with it.

...yeah jeez right colour blindness. It's a good thing you actively like counting or I'd tell you to stop for your own sake. Sorry about that. Here are the proper colours for each Rupee type for Minish Cap. The colour changes from game to game, occasionally.

1 - Green rupee
5 - Blue rupee
10 - Doesn't exist in this one : D
20 - Red rupee
50 - Big Green rupee
100 - Big Blue rupee
200 - Big Red rupee

[LaZodiac]

Oh man new Zelda again. At some point it stops being a coincidence and starts being a schedule.

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap [18] Charms (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjrS9gp0bbY)

Video Length: 23:44

Today on Minish Cap, we're going to do some side quest-y stuff. I know you're all dissapointed and want me to go get the fourth Element shoved into my sword, but that'll do "a thing" and I want to hold off on doing "a thing" for as long as possible (not that long honestly...). So today we're doing some side quests! Not as early as you could do them I think, but not late to the point where it's useless to have done them.

Our main order of business today is saying hi to the foreign ladies in the hotel. Three nice ladies who're looking for a house. Din, Nayru, and Farore. There's some stuff I could say about them but I'm gonna hold off on it and just say, these three are pretty important! By fusing with any of them it makes a relatively nasty looking Luigi type guy called Gorman show up and decide to sell that empty house! Can he like...do that? Does he own it? No idea! Anyway, you guys voted for BLUE and RED, so Nayru gets this house! Each of the three ladies put up different laundry when they take the house and I've shown you what that looks like in video. After that we can see Gorman thinking about building and selling another house, and after some fusion with a woodworker it gets done and we can send Din off to that house. Sadly, Farore never gets a home. One day, small adult lady.

For doing this, we get access to their charms! Nayru's Charm ups your defense, making attacks that would do say, half a heart instead do a quarter of a heart. Din's Charm increases your power by one step, letting to kill enemies exactly one hit sooner then you would regularly. Farore's Charm is weird in that it does the same as both of these, but for not as long and for not as strong an effect. They turn you Blue, Red, and...purple, respectively. I guess since Link is already green you can't have him turn green...

But that's not all! Once you've started shoving these ladies into houses you can fuse stones with them each individually to make a Joy Butterfly appear! Joy Butterflies are...I mean they're butterflies. But if you collect em you get a fancy thing! I forget who gives which butterfly but the three you collect increase your swim speed, dig speed, and arrow shooting speed! Those last two are pretty useful, but not so much on the former. You don't swim much in this game and you can't get these until after the Temple of Droplets so it can't help there. I'd of rather had increased push/pull speed myself. Still, the other two are quite useful!

Lastly for today we're gonna get one step closer to finishing the Goron quest. I'm gonna finish it next video spoilers but for now this is what we've got. Only one mysterious wall remains: I wonder what our reward could be after all this. See you guys next time.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Futurepast me knows who those names belong to for those ladies. Ummm... okay. Well, it's an honor and all that. Umm.

Also, kind of rude that you are basically forced to chose two out of the three ladies. Of course, I see some lowbrow humor involved in asking the third one to move in with you, but part of Link's charm is that no matter how many women throw themselves at him, he's completely oblivious to it. I mean... OoT. Was there a named female character who DIDN'T try to hit on him at one point?

[Coidzor]

I like the pun for Ghini! Genie...too bad there aren't any poes. I also really like this incarnation of the lost woods. I don't mind going through it again, at least it never changes the order like some...also....Dampe now too. I'm so confused by all these people being the same names and looking the same. What if they are the same? But then, how is malon still a little girl in later games? *headspace ouch*

Could you give me a run down on the amounts of the larger rupees and their colors? Colorblind and all...

Try not to think about the futurepast too much, especially when it comes to Malon. Though she's not always a little girl, more her age is anchored to Link's age... usually. With that hair though, I'm certain she's a distant descendant of Groose. I'd want to say that she has something to do with Peatrice getting to not have to be a blonde that's competing with Zelda, but the bird-lore lady would be a better fit if we want to think that any other Skyloftians other than Owlface, Zelda, and Link get reincarnation cycled.

Huh. I forgot all about that. Keeping track of all of the lose rupees is all the more impressive, then.


Also, kind of rude that you are basically forced to chose two out of the three ladies. Of course, I see some lowbrow humor involved in asking the third one to move in with you, but part of Link's charm is that no matter how many women throw themselves at him, he's completely oblivious to it. I mean... OoT. Was there a named female character who DIDN'T try to hit on him at one point?

Impa? :smallconfused:

And, really, out of the lot, I suppose it's most appropriate for Farore to be a wanderer. Or moving in with Link directly.

[TheWombatOfDoom]

Oh man I managed to pry myself off of Fire Emblem FAtes long enough to post the new video.

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap [14] Cloud Tops (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBiAzSusHLg)

Video Length: 24:42

Last time we picked up a golden Kinstone from a ghost king. Today, we're gonna actually go check up on that. But first we're going to the Ranch. There's a path we could go for a while, but since we need to go up to this new area (the Veil Falls) anyway, and we needed flippers to explore it properly, I figure now is as good a time as any. Inside we find a Heart Piece, some treasure chests, and a new enemy! Or more like, a variation on an enemy, the Blue Peahat! These guys have long root like tendrils that let them spawn and drop bombs on us, which sucks. What's worse, they seem to be immune to the Gust Jar so our only recourse is to shoot an arrow at them...but they're only hittable by the bow when they're dashing at you. You can see the problem here. We also encounter a Blue Leever and like other Leever's in this game it does basically nothing.

After that we go the CORRECT way to get into Veil Falls, and thanks to that gold Kinstone we can open up the "Source of the Flow" and head on in. It's a system of caves that are actually fairly maze like, some rooms even having darkness, and I think this is a much more fitting use of darkness as a mechanic then the Temple of Droplets. No risk of falling, no slippery floor, everything in the room works PROPERLY except the lighting, and while it's frustrating they also don't put in two minibosses to fight so it's actually kind of fun and not bad. We've also got a Wind Crest at the end of all of it so we don't have to go through it all every time we want to go up here. I'm talking to you, Royal Valley.

On top of the Falls we find a large bit of rock that makes weird noises that we're just going to ignore for now...and a very large tornado. I feel like all of Ezlo's comments about "jump into the unsafe thing" was leading up to this moment where YOU jump into the unsafe thing of your own volition. It's actually pretty funny. Anyway, the giant tornado sends us up, up into the sky! Welcome to Cloud Tops! It's a very pretty cloud place, obviously. Right away we can see (in part thanks to a small child informing us of what to do. Man, small children are the best in this game) that we've got some more gold Kinstone fusions to do. Unfortunately, unlike Castor Wilds, this one is...kind of annoying.

There are five fusions to make here to open the path forward, and the five stones and five cloud tumours we shove them into are scattered about the whole area. This isn't all that bad, but I think five might be a bit much. I'd of been okay if we kept to three like in the Wilds, or if we had four to get instead of five. Five seems a biiit on the side of padding. And trust me, I know padding, but something about THIS padding rubs me the wrong way compared to the padding in Skyward Sword. Part of it is probably caused by the two enemies we fight up here, which I'll go into more detail below this big ole paragraph thing.

So, Cloud Tops proper, how do we deal with it? Well, there are two "layers" to this area. The undercloud, where we are now, which is where enemies live. Get into a red tornado and it'll fling you up into the uppercloud, which is safe and full of cloud dirt to dig through with our claws. You can find Kinstones in the clouds, but not the golden ones (though I forgot this). There's also tornadoes hanging around that let us move between cloud formations, and for some reason the controls on them just feel tighter then when we normally encounter a tornado. Which is good, I'm all for improving a mechanic for the area you end up using it a bunch in. What I'm not okay with is the enemies IN the undercloud. We have two of them, the Cloud Piranha and the...literally a Lakitu. The Lakitu is again, literally a Lakitu from Mario, only it throws lightning instead of spike balls. Your only way to beat it is to use the Gust Jar to suck up it's cloud and then bop it in the face. I forgot this.

Then we have the Cloud Piranha. Hooo boy we have the Cloud Piranha. These enemies are the worst. They're completely immune to damage when swimming around in the clouds. Nothing you have will get them out early or make them easier to fight. You have to hit them as they jump out, and the window for DOING so is actually pretty damn tight. They also take three hits from our sword, so the best way to deal with them is hitting them with the boomerang. But that's hard since they're also FASTER then the boomerang by juuust a bit, so you can't camp out and bop em with it when they jump out, you have to make sure you're in the right spot so that you hit them as soon as they jump out, otherwise you miss. Additionally, because of how this area is set up, sometimes you'll just land in the undercloud right on top of one and get hurt, or worse get hurt AND THEN ALSO BE PUSHED BACK INTO THE RED TORNADO AND THROWN INTO THE UPPERCLOUD AGAIN. I don't like these enemies and I'm basically certain that they're why I don't like this area.

At any rate, because I'm a dumb and forgot where the last Kinstone is, we end off with one left. See you guys next time for the conclusion of horrible sky zone.

More enemies! Huzzah! We’re getting close to no more new enemies, once the last official temple is beaten…I’m looking forward to seeing the final list. If anyone has any thoughts on groupings and such, let me know! I’m always happy to take suggestions. As for killing Acro-bandits, that has jumped them to the lead. It’s funny how quickly they add up. And sweet, more rupee like kills. I approve. (I’m the kind of guy that always clears all the enemies, and always collects everything, even if I don’t need it. I have a problem. And it seems with my tracking, I’ve passed that over in small ways to you. :smallbiggrin: I’m grouping bubbles as stal, since they are skull based enemies, and treating red chuchu with hats as red chuchu, because you can break off the hat. Feel free to disagree though!

I see a biggoron! There’s no fooling me!

I completely forgot about the cloud area of this game. It seems…quite annoying. I lol’d that there were lakitus, but the cloud piranhas are the worst. I mean, the idea of the area is neat....it kind of feels dungeon, but not quite there, which in this case seems not great. Still, I see what they were trying to do, I just don't know if it worked as well as they wanted!



EPISODE 14 KILL TALLY!

Acro-bandit - 15
Octorok - 4
Blue Leever - 5
Blue Peahat - 2
Blue Rupee Like - 2
Red Rupee Like - 1
Blue Chuchu - 1
Crow - 1
Keese - 11
Red Bubble - 2
Red Chuchu - 2
Spiny Beetle - 5
Ghini - 1
Helmasaur - 4
Cloud Piranha - 6
Lakitu - 2

Style Points - 0

Missed Rupees - 0
Lost Rupees (theft, overflow, ect.) - 10

(previous episodes)



The Minish Cap
Total Kills
(As of Episode 14)

Acro-Bandits - 86
Bob-ombs - 9
Cloud Piranha - 6
Darknut - 2
Floormaster - 3
Ghini - 17
Gleerok - 1
Helmasaurs - 18
Keaton - 10
Keese - 32
Lakitu - 2
Moldorm - 6
Puffstools - 10
Sluggula - 40
Wizrobe - 2

Avians
Crows - 9
Takkuri - 2

Blins
Moblin - 9
Moblin (Bow) - 4
Moblin, Blue - 2

Bugs
Beetles - 9
Beetles, Spiked - 6
Beetles, Spiny - 14
Beetles, Scissor - 12
Madderpillars - 4
Mulldozers - 32
Mulldozers, Blue - 28
Rollobites - 1
Pestos - 33
Pestos, Blue - 5

Chuchus
Chuchus, Green - 6*
Chuchus, Red - 28
Chuchus, Blue - 2*
Chuchus, Spike - 14

Constructs
Armos - 9
Eyegore Statues - 7
Mazaal - 1

Likes
Rupee Like, Green - 1
Rupee Like, Blue - 1
Rupee Like, Red - 2
Like Like - 1

Leever
Leever - 1
Leever, Blue - 5

Octoroks
Octoroks - 84*
Octoroks, Blue - 12
Octoroks, Gold - 1

Peahats
Peahats - 18
Peahats, Blue - 2

Rope
Rope - 34
Rope, Gold - 1

Stal
Stalfos - 19
Gibdo - 1
Bubble, Red - 2

Tektites
Tektites - 47
Tektites, Blue - 1

*one of which was a boss

Total Things Dead - 715!

1st Place - Acro-bandits, at 86!
2nd Place - Octoroks, at 84!
3rd Place - Tektites, at 47!

Total Style Points - 5!

Total Missed Rupees - 3
Total Lost Rupees - 311

[LaZodiac]

More enemies! Huzzah! We’re getting close to no more new enemies, once the last official temple is beaten…I’m looking forward to seeing the final list. If anyone has any thoughts on groupings and such, let me know! I’m always happy to take suggestions. As for killing Acro-bandits, that has jumped them to the lead. It’s funny how quickly they add up. And sweet, more rupee like kills. I approve. (I’m the kind of guy that always clears all the enemies, and always collects everything, even if I don’t need it. I have a problem. And it seems with my tracking, I’ve passed that over in small ways to you. :smallbiggrin: I’m grouping bubbles as stal, since they are skull based enemies, and treating red chuchu with hats as red chuchu, because you can break off the hat. Feel free to disagree though!

I completely forgot about the cloud area of this game. It seems…quite annoying. I lol’d that there were lakitus, but the cloud piranhas are the worst. I mean, the idea of the area is neat....it kind of feels dungeon, but not quite there, which in this case seems not great. Still, I see what they were trying to do, I just don't know if it worked as well as they wanted!


I don't mind that you've infected me with your murder and collection mentality. I'm like the angriest magpie on the internet now.

Cloudtops is like Castor Wilds in that it's basically a minidungeon unto itself, but unlike Castor Wilds it's just kind of not super fun to play through.

[TheWombatOfDoom]

Welcome back to Zodi Plays. It's time for more Zelda.

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap [15] Palace of Winds (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUAtLLK2Hg0)

Video Length: 24:53

Starting off where we left off, it's time to get that one last gold Kinstone. Making the fusion opens up a tornado that leads further up into Cloudtops where, surprise, we've been already! It's the house that teleporter took us to so long ago! Now that we're here properly, we can finally get the reward we earned from saving that old guy. He grants us the Light Arrows, a mystical artifact that I'm kind of surprised is treated so casually here! The Light Arrows give our bow a charge shot, the fully charged up arrow instantly slaying most enemies and slicing through grass. It's not extremely useful (in a few videos we'll get something that makes it far more useful, don't you worry.) but it'll certainly help us out in a pinch.

After that we're given access to the next dungeon by the elder of this little tribe of sky people. Before we dash off into the tornado however, it's time to blow all our money on the Swiftblade Newsletters! We've learned a lot of moves, so that means we've got a nice handfull of newsletters waiting to be bought. They all give a various mix of useful and useless information, but it's all presented in a funny way that, if I had been playing this for my first time, would of been really interesting to hear! How do we get Remote Bombs, what is this Magical Boomerang, stuff like that. It's pretty cool, I just wish it wasn't THIS expensive. But then the game basically throws buckets of rupees at you as a reward for anything, so maybe they NEEDED to have big money sinks like this.

Anyway, moving onto the dungeon proper. Welcome to the Palace of Wind! This is a VERY cool dungeon, in visual design, musical design, and just general game feel. It's a big floating palace in the sky, a good chunk of it not even having walls! Unlike the Temple of Winds those sky areas even show up on the map, so it's not infuriating to progress through! The Palace has a bunch of tricky challenges, ranging from simple "hit this switch that's slightly out of the way" to "use the clones to do an elaborate switch hitting formation" to just straight platforming challenges. Yes, platforming challenges in a top down 2d game. We've got moving platforms and wind turbines to bypass. It's pretty cool, helped along by the fact that our dungeon item this time is the Roc's Cape, one of my favorite weapons in the series. It lets Link jump, and it opens up a lot of cool and neat opportunities for dungeon design and puzzles. Of course to get it we had to cut our way through a gauntlet of 12 wizards, which is a little silly.

Speaking of enemies, this place has a lot of them! Peahats floating around near the entrance, Stalfos throughout the whole place, we've even got a new enemy in Bombarossa's, these floating red orbs that explode on contact with literally anything. Lotta fun enemies to contest with here, and with actually kind of neat combat encounters to handle them (though most of that'll be for next time). We've even got a good mix of enemies serving as distractions for the actual platforming stuff, like the crows in the rooms they show up in. All in all this is a much tighter designed dungeon then the Temple of Droplets, which makes Droplets all the more egregious in it's kind of...offness. Maybe it's just a bad mix of mechanics, while the Palace of Winds has a good mix of mechanics.

Anyway, that's all I've got to say about this one. Hope you guys enjoyed I'll see you guys Monday for more of this pretty great dungeon with pretty fantastic music!

Yey, lets get out of cloud land!

It's interesting that they brought you to cloudtops before you got there in that side quest. Seems a little strange, but I like the reveal. It has a few implications as to who the wind tribe is! Kinda... Are you going to explain relations to the previous game at some point, or at least your theories? Also yey for things you've never gotten before! These play throughs has more positives than just entertainment!

I love the line - you want to fuse kinstones? Alright, but lets be careful about it! What are you gonna do, break a hip?

On top of the wind tribe temple, there's a familiar symbol of the zora...the sapphire. Its the same symbol we saw in lanayru desert on the ship last game.

Pan's Labyrinth is an excellent movie. Can't believe you hadn't seen it yet. I'll keep it a secret from everyone.

Okay so the palace of the wind....it looks like its souring over islands in an ocean...this seems a little weird to me....

I just realized that every block puzzle has to have 4 spots even if you're less, not to give you options, but because if it doesn't you won't be able to activate it as you get more links clones.

Oh look, the boss symbol in the mini mini boss room. 12 wizrobes? What is this, hyrule warriors?

I do like the puzzles and points of this dungeon. They really use the roc's cape very well to work in this dungeon. It's just a shame there aren't other dungeons to use the cape in. I understand why its a later item, jumping freely breaks puzzles. (I should know, making Mario maker Zelda remakes) But I wish we got more use out of the item!



EPISODE 15 KILL TALLY!

Peahat - 5
Stalfos - 3
Bombarossa - 1
Bob-ombs - 2
Wizrobes - 12
Crow - 6
Blue Chuchu - 2
Spiked Beetles - 2
Red Rupee Like - 1
Keese - 1

Style Points - 0

Missed Rupees - 0
Lost Rupees (theft, overflow, ect.) - 0

(previous episodes)



The Minish Cap
Total Kills
(As of Episode 15)

Acro-Bandits - 86
Cloud Piranha - 6
Darknut - 2
Floormaster - 3
Ghini - 17
Gleerok - 1
Helmasaurs - 18
Keaton - 10
Keese - 33
Lakitu - 2
Moldorm - 6
Puffstools - 10
Sluggula - 40
Wizrobe - 14

Avians
Crows - 15
Takkuri - 2

Blins
Moblin - 9
Moblin (Bow) - 4
Moblin, Blue - 2

Bombs
Bob-ombs - 11
Bombarossa - 1

Bugs
Beetles - 9
Beetles, Spiked - 8
Beetles, Spiny - 14
Beetles, Scissor - 12
Madderpillars - 4
Mulldozers - 32
Mulldozers, Blue - 28
Rollobites - 1
Pestos - 33
Pestos, Blue - 5

Chuchus
Chuchus, Green - 6*
Chuchus, Red - 28
Chuchus, Blue - 4*
Chuchus, Spike - 14

Constructs
Armos - 9
Eyegore Statues - 7
Mazaal - 1

Leever
Leever - 1
Leever, Blue - 5

Likes
Rupee Like, Green - 1
Rupee Like, Blue - 1
Rupee Like, Red - 3
Like Like - 1

Octoroks
Octoroks - 84*
Octoroks, Blue - 12
Octoroks, Gold - 1

Peahats
Peahats - 23
Peahats, Blue - 2

Rope
Rope - 34
Rope, Gold - 1

Stal
Stalfos - 21
Gibdo - 1
Bubble, Red - 2

Tektites
Tektites - 47
Tektites, Blue - 1

*one of which was a boss

Total Things Dead - 750!

1st Place - Acro-bandits, at 86!
2nd Place - Octoroks, at 84!
3rd Place - Tektites, at 47!

Total Style Points - 5!

Total Missed Rupees - 3
Total Lost Rupees - 311

[LaZodiac]

Yey, lets get out of cloud land!

It's interesting that they brought you to cloudtops before you got there in that side quest. Seems a little strange, but I like the reveal. It has a few implications as to who the wind tribe is! Kinda... Are you going to explain relations to the previous game at some point, or at least your theories? Also yey for things you've never gotten before! These play throughs has more positives than just entertainment!

I love the line - you want to fuse kinstones? Alright, but lets be careful about it! What are you gonna do, break a hip?

On top of the wind tribe temple, there's a familiar symbol of the zora...the sapphire. Its the same symbol we saw in lanayru desert on the ship last game.

Okay so the palace of the wind....it looks like its souring over islands in an ocean...this seems a little weird to me....

I just realized that every block puzzle has to have 4 spots even if you're less, not to give you options, but because if it doesn't you won't be able to activate it as you get more links clones.

I do like the puzzles and points of this dungeon. They really use the roc's cape very well to work in this dungeon. It's just a shame there aren't other dungeons to use the cape in. I understand why its a later item, jumping freely breaks puzzles. (I should know, making Mario maker Zelda remakes) But I wish we got more use out of the item!


I'm gonna explain more about the Wind Tribe later. The basic idea is that they're probably people from Skyloft that still held a connection to the sky and decided to return. And yup, learning new stuff and getting new things! Quite cool.

Well I mean you've gotta be careful when rubbing stones together. You might get hurt!

Yup, an interesting thing indeed. I imagine as we play through the Zelda games we'll get more into that stuff, but for now it's a mystery!

Yeah maybe the Wind Palace is waaay out over the ocean instead of the continent this game takes place on? Also yeah good catch, I've genuinely never thought of that.

Don't worry. One day we'll get a game where we get "The ability to bend our legs and jump" earlier rather then later.

[TheWombatOfDoom]

Further, into the Palace of Winds!

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap [16] Mighty Darknut (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dL9RkDcDzLY)

Video Length: 23:50

A sort of naming scheme I've had for these videos is to name them after the important place or thing in them...and yo as it turns out this video was pretty hard to name since not a lot happens beyond "and then we explore more of this huge ass dungeon".

As we climb higher, old and new enemies alike appear. Moblins are finally in a dungeon proper! We also encounter Red Stalfos, which can avoid your attacks by jumping like the regular blue ones but instead of trying to Mario stomp you, they throw a bone at you! How rude. We also encounter Fire and Ice Wizrobes, the fire ones shooting a fireball that makes you run around like you've been hit by a Winder, the ice ones freezing you in place with their ice blast. You can easily dispatch the Ice Wizrobes with your lantern of course, but the fire ones less so. Both are easily stunned by the boomerang though. We also encounter two Ball and Chain soldiers, buff armour knights that swing around a mighty morningstar! They're pretty dang destructive and I took a...weird solution to beating them, throwing Remote Bombs at em. It worked though! Finally, we have the miniboss of this dungeon; the Red Darknut, or if you prefer Mighty Darknut (note for Wombat: other games call this variant Mighty Darknut so I think we should go with that honestly, I just called it Red in video because babysitting). This is like a bigger, fancier Darknut! It's got it's regular slashes and stab attacks, but it can also charge up it's sword to deliver it's own spin attack! This one is far more focused, causing his sword to spin like a drill instead of his whole body. Can't shield it, but it's telegraphed super easily so just make sure to avoid it.

Anyway, this video's basically just me clearing out all but the tail end of it, getting involved in somewhat elaborate and unique puzzles. Jumping past (or with the help of) those wind turbines, doing various shenanigans with the clone Link's, and doing all sorts of Roc's Cape based jumping puzzles. All in all this dungeon is very active, always bringing new or built upon puzzles to the table. So I'll take this moment to bring up the one "puzzle" this dungeon has more then it's fair share of that's actually bad. Large messes of blocks where only one or two of those blocks are the "right" ones to push. These are super annoying, because unless the idea is that you have to push them SMARTLY, ie push them in a way that you can get through, it's really just a "rub your face on things until you find the proper path" situation and that honestly sucks. This dungeon has quite a lot of that, and it just feels bad, especially when you miss stuff because of it, which I have. I don't mind pushing blocks, but please make pushing blocks more mentally active then just "ram your face into a block until you find the right one".

...so yeah other then my stellar performance on this one puzzle involving Bombarossa's nothing really major happens here! Sorry this is just a consequence of having really huge dungeons in these games! I think I fixed the sound levels of my end of video title cards though, if that counts for something! Sorry I've let it go for so long I'm just occasionally bad at noticing problems unless it's pointed out to me. I'm sure those of you who record all my spelling errors (I know someone does~) can attest to that!

But yeah no that's the video for today. Not a lot to talk about on my end, but it's a good video. Hope you enjoyed, next time we'll be finishing up this Palace!

Grouping ball and chain and darknuts in soldier category. This way, the category will cross each game, including knuckles and guards and so on.

While I understand why you don't like the block puzzle, its an old staple that's carried over from even the earliest Zelda game that I think in theory is good, and even in some implementation, but obviously it can be annoying. I attribute it akin to unmarked walls that are bombable. Annoying, a little unfair, but nostalgia.

That's quite a mess of rooms in the middle of the structure. I like the openness of the exterior of the dungeon, and the closeness of the interior. It works well. And hooo-boy, that was a lot of enemies you decided to stop the episode at! If you had killed 3 more enemies, you would have killed 100 this episode. Very enemy concentrated, the wind temple is.



EPISODE 16 KILL TALLY!

Moblin - 5
Blue Chuchu - 3
Lakitu - 1
Moblin (Bow) - 1
Stalfos - 20
Ball and Chain Soldier - 2
Spark - 6
Ice Wizrobe - 3
Red Stalfos - 9
Mighty Darknut - 1
Peahat - 3
Gibdo - 4
Keese - 3
Fire Wizrobe - 5
Floormaster - 4
Bombarossa - 26
Wizrobe - 1

Style Points - 0

Missed Rupees - 0
Lost Rupees (theft, overflow, ect.) - 0

(previous episodes)



The Minish Cap
Total Kills
(As of Episode 16)

Acro-Bandits - 86
Cloud Piranhas - 6
Floormasters - 7
Ghinis - 17
Gleerok - 1
Helmasaurs - 18
Keatons - 10
Keese - 36
Lakitu - 3
Moldorm - 6
Puffstools - 10
Sluggula - 40
Sparks - 6

Avians
Crows - 15
Takkuri - 2

Blins
Moblins - 14
Moblins (Bow) - 5
Moblins, Blue - 2

Bombs
Bob-ombs - 11
Bombarossa - 27

Bugs
Beetles - 9
Beetles, Spiked - 8
Beetles, Spiny - 14
Beetles, Scissor - 12
Madderpillars - 4
Mulldozers - 32
Mulldozers, Blue - 28
Rollobites - 1
Pestos - 33
Pestos, Blue - 5

Chuchus
Chuchus, Green - 6*
Chuchus, Red - 28
Chuchus, Blue - 7*
Chuchus, Spike - 14

Constructs
Armos - 9
Eyegore Statues - 7
Mazaal - 1

Leever
Leevers - 1
Leevers, Blue - 5

Likes
Rupee Likes, Green - 1
Rupee Likes, Blue - 1
Rupee Likes, Red - 3
Like Likes - 1

Octoroks
Octoroks - 84*
Octoroks, Blue - 12
Octoroks, Gold - 1

Peahats
Peahats - 26
Peahats, Blue - 2

Rope
Ropes - 34
Ropes, Gold - 1

Soldier
Darknuts - 2
Darknuts, Mighty - 1
Soldiers, Ball and Chain - 2

Stal
Stalfos - 41
Stalfos, Red - 9
Gibdo - 5
Bubbles, Red - 2

Tektites
Tektites - 47
Tektites, Blue - 1

Wizrobe
Wizrobes - 15
Wizrobes, Ice - 3
Wizrobes, Fire - 5

*one of which was a boss

Total Things Dead - 847!

1st Place - Acro-bandits, at 86!
2nd Place - Octoroks, at 84!
3rd Place - Tektites, at 47!

Total Style Points - 5!

Total Missed Rupees - 3
Total Lost Rupees - 311

[LaZodiac]

Grouping ball and chain and darknuts in soldier category. This way, the category will cross each game, including knuckles and guards and so on.

While I understand why you don't like the block puzzle, its an old staple that's carried over from even the earliest Zelda game that I think in theory is good, and even in some implementation, but obviously it can be annoying. I attribute it akin to unmarked walls that are bombable. Annoying, a little unfair, but nostalgia.

That's quite a mess of rooms in the middle of the structure. I like the openness of the exterior of the dungeon, and the closeness of the interior. It works well. And hooo-boy, that was a lot of enemies you decided to stop the episode at! If you had killed 3 more enemies, you would have killed 100 this episode. Very enemy concentrated, the wind temple is.


Perfectly fine with their being a straight soldierman classification.

I like block puzzles if they're interesting or have good design feel to em. They're nostalgic, so I'll give it some leeway, but make them fun to get through.

Yeah it doesn't help that the Wind Palace is friggin huge. Lotta enemies to kill our way through! Also oh man you're almost caught up other people will find time to post then :smalltongue:

[Seerow]

Every time I look at Wombat's counts and see a ! after a number, I get confused for a second.

Like I actually went to look up what 847! translates to.... apparently it's 8.568(...)*10^2113, a value so high I am not sure we actually have a precise name for it. Google's online calculator actually just told me that it translates into "infinity".


I guess what I'm trying to say is that Link is much more efficient at monster killing than I would have guessed. Or I fixate on weird things. One or the other.

[TheWombatOfDoom]

Every time I look at Wombat's counts and see a ! after a number, I get confused for a second.

Like I actually went to look up what 847! translates to.... apparently it's 8.568(...)*10^2113, a value so high I am not sure we actually have a precise name for it. Google's online calculator actually just told me that it translates into "infinity".


I guess what I'm trying to say is that Link is much more efficient at monster killing than I would have guessed. Or I fixate on weird things. One or the other.

Remember, I'm excited about killing things and rupees...so its me exclaiming! Not mathing. :smallbiggrin: If Zodi breaks 1000 kills, it'll get !! instead of !, if that helps.

[TheWombatOfDoom]

Oh maaan, Zelda time. My favorite time.

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap [17] Training (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvxkSEKLjVs)

Video Length: 23:35

Okay, this time we're finishing off the dungeon for real. Like with last time there really isn't much to say about the dungeon proper. It's more of the same actually pretty good dungeon environment. Dealing with the Moblin maze we left off last time, doing some jumping around. Honestly, we only have like two or three rooms left before the boss. We came pretty dang close to finishing the dungeon last time! So that all being said lets just detail the boss.

Say hello to the Gyorg Pair. The big red one is the lady while the small blue ones are the dudes. This is a pretty elaborate boss fight that's actually really cool and fun. The first phase is very simple, you've just gotta wait for the Gyorg's eyes to open. Then you clone yourself and smash it's eyes all at the same time, stunning it so you can then proceed to slash away at it. Once it's eyes have been damaged heavily, it'll fly off to recover while a blue one flies up to try and attack you but really just gives you a good place to stand on while the red one's gone. While on the blue one you've got to slash at it's occasionally showing eyes, jumping over it's tail as it tries to swat you off of it.

That leads you into phase two, where you now must contend with the other blue one (cause the first one crashed and burnt after damaging it) shooting orbs at you. This makes the clone part a little difficult, though truth be told that was just because of my non desire to dodge. It does lead to me doing a really awesome thing that I sadly cannot replicate at all though! Once that's done it's time for another go on the back of the blue dude, this time with the lady Gyorg Pair spewing Baby Gyorges at us in addition to everything else. We do another rotation or two of this and finally the three Gyorg Pair's (or would it be one whole Gyorg Pair? Or would it be like...one Red Gyorg Pair and two Blue Gyorg Pair's?) are destroyed and we get the next Heart Container...and the final Element! Before we leave the sky we clear out the dungeon of the two things I missed, both for silly and annoying reasons.

Back on the surface, I think it's time we did some intense training. We learn from Swiftblade his final move, the Down Thrust. This powerful move lets us jump into the air and then do a sword based ground pound. It's got a surprisingly large AOE, making it quite useful for killing enemies. Probably would of been helpful during the Gyorg Pair honestly. With all seven moves in the game learned, Swiftblade the First can use his completely legitimate ghost possession skills to teach us the final, ultimate move. The Great Spin Attack, a swirling dervish of power! With this, we've now learned every single move in the game. And yet...there is more we can do. The Blade siblings that teach you the Peril Beam, Sword Beam, and Rolling Attack can each be Kinstone fused with, and in doing so it unlocks three more Blades to learn from. These guys are more visual training oriented, but what they teach you is quite vital. One increases the speed of your spin attack's charge, one increases the duration of the Great Spin Attack, and the last makes your Split Gauge for cloning Link go MUCH faster. This would of been nice to have during the boss too, oops.

But yeah, with that training done it's time to buy the last Newsletters and end the video. Swiftblade's Newsletters are a funny little side thing in the game, and though they're very clearly just an absurd money sink I think they're cool. Until next time, warriors!!!!

------

Oh yeah here's the poll I was talking about. (http://strawpoll.me/6990404)
It is strange that the boss key was so early, and then there were two boss doors. They really got creative with their efforts to reinvent what a dungeon is like. Some dungeons the boss key is first, some dungeons you get the compass first, some dungeons you fight bosses that are just normal enemies but you're small, ect. I find that kind of refreshing!

Doing searches online has given me nothing on any connection between futurepast Gyorg and the Gyorg pair. Which seems odd to me. That they share the name but look different and no one has mentioned it? I'm naming the group sky fish until someone gives me something better. I avoided just fish, but yeah...that detail is a head scratcher. Also put cloud piranha in that group. Anyway, these flying manta rays are by far my favorite of the bosses in this game! Its just so unique, and fun, and it feels like you're moving around a lot despite not really. Unlike having a boss room. I still laugh when things fall from the sky in this dungeon. Those poor hyrulian's below being rained on by pots, enemies and giant manta rays, oh god.

Its weird that the second warp point warps you out of the temple rather than to the warp point square...or was that editing magic?

And now for all of the moves! I like that this is a thing in this game. I'm playing twilight princess, and lets just say without spoilers that its nice the idea continues into several other games. I wonder if the blade family are descended from Skyward Sword Link, or maybe that bamboo cutting guy, since both are attributed to blades, and might have taken the name.



EPISODE 17 KILL TALLY!

Red Stalfos - 6
Ice Wizrobe - 1
Moblin - 4
Fire Wizrobe - 1
Blue Gyorg - 2
Green Gyorg - 5
Red Gyorg - 1
Tektite - 3
Spiny Beetle - 2
Octorok - 3
Blue Octorok - 1

Style Points - 0

Missed Rupees - 0
Lost Rupees (theft, overflow, ect.) - 0

(previous episodes)



The Minish Cap
Total Kills
(As of Episode 17)

Acro-Bandits - 86
Floormasters - 7
Ghinis - 17
Gleerok - 1
Helmasaurs - 18
Keatons - 10
Keese - 36
Lakitu - 3
Moldorm - 6
Puffstools - 10
Sluggula - 40
Sparks - 6

Avians
Crows - 15
Takkuri - 2

Blins
Moblins - 18
Moblins (Bow) - 5
Moblins, Blue - 2

Bombs
Bob-ombs - 11
Bombarossa - 27

Bugs
Beetles - 9
Beetles, Spiked - 8
Beetles, Spiny - 16
Beetles, Scissor - 12
Madderpillars - 4
Mulldozers - 32
Mulldozers, Blue - 28
Rollobites - 1
Pestos - 33
Pestos, Blue - 5

Chuchus
Chuchus, Green - 6*
Chuchus, Red - 28
Chuchus, Blue - 7*
Chuchus, Spike - 14

Constructs
Armos - 9
Eyegore Statues - 7
Mazaal - 1

Leever
Leevers - 1
Leevers, Blue - 5

Likes
Rupee Likes, Green - 1
Rupee Likes, Blue - 1
Rupee Likes, Red - 3
Like Likes - 1

Octoroks
Octoroks - 87*
Octoroks, Blue - 13
Octoroks, Gold - 1

Peahats
Peahats - 26
Peahats, Blue - 2

Rope
Ropes - 34
Ropes, Gold - 1

Skyfish
Cloud Piranhas - 6
Gyorg, Blue - 2
Gyorg, Green - 4
Gyorg, Red - 1

Soldier
Darknuts - 2
Darknuts, Mighty - 1
Soldiers, Ball and Chain - 2

Stal
Stalfos - 41
Stalfos, Red - 15
Gibdo - 5
Bubbles, Red - 2

Tektites
Tektites - 50
Tektites, Blue - 1

Wizrobe
Wizrobes - 15
Wizrobes, Ice - 4
Wizrobes, Fire - 6

*one of which was a boss

Total Things Dead - 876!

1st Place - Octoroks, at 87!
2nd Place - Acro-bandits, at 86!
3rd Place - Tektites, at 50!

Total Style Points - 5!

Total Missed Rupees - 3
Total Lost Rupees - 311

[LaZodiac]

It is strange that the boss key was so early, and then there were two boss doors. They really got creative with their efforts to reinvent what a dungeon is like. Some dungeons the boss key is first, some dungeons you get the compass first, some dungeons you fight bosses that are just normal enemies but you're small, ect. I find that kind of refreshing!

Doing searches online has given me nothing on any connection between futurepast Gyorg and the Gyorg pair. Which seems odd to me. That they share the name but look different and no one has mentioned it? I'm naming the group sky fish until someone gives me something better. I avoided just fish, but yeah...that detail is a head scratcher. Also put cloud piranha in that group. Anyway, these flying manta rays are by far my favorite of the bosses in this game! Its just so unique, and fun, and it feels like you're moving around a lot despite not really. Unlike having a boss room. I still laugh when things fall from the sky in this dungeon. Those poor hyrulian's below being rained on by pots, enemies and giant manta rays, oh god.

Its weird that the second warp point warps you out of the temple rather than to the warp point square...or was that editing magic?

And now for all of the moves! I like that this is a thing in this game. I'm playing twilight princess, and lets just say without spoilers that its nice the idea continues into several other games. I wonder if the blade family are descended from Skyward Sword Link, or maybe that bamboo cutting guy, since both are attributed to blades, and might have taken the name.


Yeah, I'll give Minish Cap this much. It did try to make every dungeon quite unique in it's presentation.

Yeah the Gyorg Pair is kind of an anomoly, taxinomy wise. At the end of the day it works out, because the sky is just another sea I guess. I do like the funny implication of things falling down from the Wind Palace though, that's hilarious.

That's editing magic.

I'd guess the Blade siblings come from Peater's family. The master of bamboo cutting eventually giving rise to a family of badass swordmasters seems fitting. I too really like the idea of learning special moves, makes you feel pretty strong honestly. The power is palpable!

[TheWombatOfDoom]

Oh man new Zelda again. At some point it stops being a coincidence and starts being a schedule.

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap [18] Charms (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjrS9gp0bbY)

Video Length: 23:44

Today on Minish Cap, we're going to do some side quest-y stuff. I know you're all dissapointed and want me to go get the fourth Element shoved into my sword, but that'll do "a thing" and I want to hold off on doing "a thing" for as long as possible (not that long honestly...). So today we're doing some side quests! Not as early as you could do them I think, but not late to the point where it's useless to have done them.

Our main order of business today is saying hi to the foreign ladies in the hotel. Three nice ladies who're looking for a house. Din, Nayru, and Farore. There's some stuff I could say about them but I'm gonna hold off on it and just say, these three are pretty important! By fusing with any of them it makes a relatively nasty looking Luigi type guy called Gorman show up and decide to sell that empty house! Can he like...do that? Does he own it? No idea! Anyway, you guys voted for BLUE and RED, so Nayru gets this house! Each of the three ladies put up different laundry when they take the house and I've shown you what that looks like in video. After that we can see Gorman thinking about building and selling another house, and after some fusion with a woodworker it gets done and we can send Din off to that house. Sadly, Farore never gets a home. One day, small adult lady.

For doing this, we get access to their charms! Nayru's Charm ups your defense, making attacks that would do say, half a heart instead do a quarter of a heart. Din's Charm increases your power by one step, letting to kill enemies exactly one hit sooner then you would regularly. Farore's Charm is weird in that it does the same as both of these, but for not as long and for not as strong an effect. They turn you Blue, Red, and...purple, respectively. I guess since Link is already green you can't have him turn green...

But that's not all! Once you've started shoving these ladies into houses you can fuse stones with them each individually to make a Joy Butterfly appear! Joy Butterflies are...I mean they're butterflies. But if you collect em you get a fancy thing! I forget who gives which butterfly but the three you collect increase your swim speed, dig speed, and arrow shooting speed! Those last two are pretty useful, but not so much on the former. You don't swim much in this game and you can't get these until after the Temple of Droplets so it can't help there. I'd of rather had increased push/pull speed myself. Still, the other two are quite useful!

Lastly for today we're gonna get one step closer to finishing the Goron quest. I'm gonna finish it next video spoilers but for now this is what we've got. Only one mysterious wall remains: I wonder what our reward could be after all this. See you guys next time.

ANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNND CAUGHT UP! :smallcool:

That gambling shop owner doesn't seem to be very interested in being a gambling shop owner...maybe that's his tactic so that people don't blame him when they lose. :smallwink:

It really stinks that you have to buy all the kinstones to reset them with the goron merchant! What if you only have green trades left?!

Soooo, I have to wonder, are these three incarnations, the named persons in human form, or what? I know in some games we've got these three appearing again, but it seems that they connected this game to the oracle games, and then Nintendo placed this before other games. Actually, what is the reasoning behind having this game after skyward sword? I'm not sure I know of the reason...anyway, thank you for letting me see what the other colors looked like. Attention to detail is nice! Also, now we've got Gorman. People watching the next game are going to see lots of familiar faces if they've not seen the game.

Those butterflies are pretty cool! Also, neat that you can drain water, and create islands in water, with kinstones. As well as send ghosts to the afterlife, apparently.

I was banking on digging into the grave. But then that didn't work either.

I can't really see what color link turned, but I know its different. :smallsigh: Thank you for telling me the color! :smallsmile:



EPISODE 18 KILL TALLY!

Ghini - 11
Takkuri - 1
Beetle - 3
Keese - 4
Octorok - 4
Moldorm - 1
Like Like - 3

Style Points - 0

Missed Rupees - 0
Lost Rupees (theft, overflow, ect.) - 0

(previous episodes)



The Minish Cap
Total Kills
(As of Episode 18)

Acro-Bandits - 86
Floormasters - 7
Ghinis - 28
Gleerok - 1
Helmasaurs - 18
Keatons - 10
Keese - 40
Lakitu - 3
Moldorm - 7
Puffstools - 10
Sluggula - 40
Sparks - 6

Avians
Crows - 15
Takkuri - 3

Blins
Moblins - 18
Moblins (Bow) - 5
Moblins, Blue - 2

Bombs
Bob-ombs - 11
Bombarossa - 27

Bugs
Beetles - 12
Beetles, Spiked - 8
Beetles, Spiny - 16
Beetles, Scissor - 12
Madderpillars - 4
Mulldozers - 32
Mulldozers, Blue - 28
Rollobites - 1
Pestos - 33
Pestos, Blue - 5

Chuchus
Chuchus, Green - 6*
Chuchus, Red - 28
Chuchus, Blue - 7*
Chuchus, Spike - 14

Constructs
Armos - 9
Eyegore Statues - 7
Mazaal - 1

Leever
Leevers - 1
Leevers, Blue - 5

Likes
Rupee Likes, Green - 1
Rupee Likes, Blue - 1
Rupee Likes, Red - 3
Like Likes - 4

Octoroks
Octoroks - 91*
Octoroks, Blue - 13
Octoroks, Gold - 1

Peahats
Peahats - 26
Peahats, Blue - 2

Rope
Ropes - 34
Ropes, Gold - 1

Skyfish
Cloud Piranhas - 6
Gyorg, Blue - 2
Gyorg, Green - 4
Gyorg, Red - 1

Soldier
Darknuts - 2
Darknuts, Mighty - 1
Soldiers, Ball and Chain - 2

Stal
Stalfos - 41
Stalfos, Red - 15
Gibdo - 5
Bubbles, Red - 2

Tektites
Tektites - 50
Tektites, Blue - 1

Wizrobe
Wizrobes - 15
Wizrobes, Ice - 4
Wizrobes, Fire - 6

*one of which was a boss

Total Things Dead - 903!

1st Place - Octoroks, at 91!
2nd Place - Acro-bandits, at 86!
3rd Place - Tektites, at 50!

Total Style Points - 5!

Total Missed Rupees - 3
Total Lost Rupees - 311

[LaZodiac]

ANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNND CAUGHT UP! :smallcool:

It really stinks that you have to buy all the kinstones to reset them with the goron merchant! What if you only have green trades left?!

Soooo, I have to wonder, are these three incarnations, the named persons in human form, or what? I know in some games we've got these three appearing again, but it seems that they connected this game to the oracle games, and then Nintendo placed this before other games. Actually, what is the reasoning behind having this game after skyward sword? I'm not sure I know of the reason...anyway, thank you for letting me see what the other colors looked like. Attention to detail is nice! Also, now we've got Gorman. People watching the next game are going to see lots of familiar faces if they've not seen the game.

Woo getting caught up on stuff. Glad you're enjoying, as is I assume everyone else.

If you've only got green stones left to fuse then well you're gonna have a bad time. It's again that Power Bomb effect where at the end of the day all the work you're doing is going to get you more stuff that lets you do more work to get more of the same stuff.

I'll explain more about what the deal is with those lovely ladies later. It's fairly complicated, but basically they're not the same people from the Oracle games, but ARE the same idea. If that makes sense.

[Coidzor]

Oh man new Zelda again. At some point it stops being a coincidence and starts being a schedule.

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap [18] Charms (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjrS9gp0bbY)


~2:10: Those crazy Hylians, using torch-based locks even in buildings they live in and use!

Something just... Interesting about seeing a dungeon mechanic like that used to open up someone's veranda or balcony or whatever.

~4:48: Oh mai, an unexploded bombable wall!? However did that get missed? Well, time to use bombs wisely and capture a butterfly in one go.

Nayrurus: "You're blue now! That's my special charmtack!"

~8:00: and now I'm just stuck thinking about how Annoying that Dog is. Ahh, wandering NPC placement when you can't nudge them away.

~8:25: BELL! YES. So satisfying to finally make it rang!

~9:30: Mysteriously that unbombed wall has become bombed. Mysteriousness abounds!

~11:15: Oh my! What helpful clones they are, passing that piece of heart back to Link like that. :O

~13:30: Yet more evidence for the argument that the town is a dungeon, along with that torch lock earlier! It's all becoming clear now!

~17:35: Ahh, that's why they're still there. More Tingle fusions. 48 to go, eh? Still a bunch more to go it seems. Good luck! Especially avoiding the Tingle glitch since you gotta go rub stones again!

~19:40: Aww, yizz, flawless swordbeam!

~21:00: I think the dirt spiral is just a way to make kinstone dig farming more visually interesting. :v

Or it's a fusion!

Oh mai, transforming into an orange beclad Dark Link and getting lucky by rubbing stones with one hot mama who may very well have just allowed you to finish off the goro goros!

[LaZodiac]

Oh man a Zelda lets go.

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap [19] Four Sword (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Le3pyClUxdE)

Video Length: 20:28

Kinda short video today, time constraints and other nonsense. Also I was messing around with aspect ratio this time to see if it'd look good and sorry it doesn't look super great compared to the other ones. I'll do more experimentation later I'll admit most of what I've been doing was to try and make the RWBY game look less bad. Anyway, lets get a move on.

Starting off this video we finish off the Goron sidequest! At least, as much as we can. See, there's ooone small bit that we can't do for this quest yet, but for now it's finished. Going into the now fully dug out tunnel, we obtain our reward! The fourth and final bottle of the game. Awesome. With this we can hold onto two charms and two fairies and that's probably how I'll roll for the future.

Speaking of the future, lets go and put the fourth element into our sword. I'm sure nothing drastic and permanent will happen, forcing me to abandon my original plan for how I'm playing this game. With all four elements shoved into our sword, it becomes the Four Sword! This majestic blade with curved, golden hilt is now one tier stronger then it was before! We can split into four now, and we can also fire a non-lethal beam from our spin attack that can purify those that have been turned to stone. How nice! With Four Sword in hand, we head off to the area behind the Elemental Sanctuary, where we get some interesting exposition.

So, time to explain some stuff. Some of this might involve knowledge that we haven't seen yet in video, but I think it's a small enough thing that we can discuss this. Note, this'll have spoilers for Skyward Sword! Okay, so, the Light Force...is NOT the Triforce as I imagine some of you may of guessed if you hadn't played this game before. The Light Force is the divine magic of light, probably left over from when Hylia removed her own divinity, and put into Zelda's mortal form. The Minish basically come from a place that's beyond our world, likely the Sacred Realm where Link and Zelda of Skyward Sword eventually hid the Triforce. It's not unreasonable to assume the Light Force was there as well, and the Minish brought it with them along with their own magical sword to help out in the time these stained glass windows represent. That being said, these Stained Glass windows also are sort of lying. They seem like a mixture of an event that happened in the past, mixed with half remembered legends involving Skyward Sword. Things like this might be why the Wind Tribe decided to return to the Sky.

So yeah, the Light Force is basically Hylia's power, and it's inside Zelda. It IS a triangle, and believe it or not before this thread is done we'll be exploring an interesting thing about it. Also, Vaati wants it. That's not good. Lets uh...go deal with that.

After that fun little history lesson HEY DOWN IN FRONT VAATI HOW DID YOU GET HERE AAAAH DEAD. Or more like, knocked out briefly. Vaati's not very good at the whole fatal attack thing. Ignoring how he somehow poofed in front of us without us knowing, this is a good moment. He had the guards searching for the Light Force, but since he IS a Minish he clearly knew the Elemental Sanctuary EXISTS so of course he'd camp it waiting for us to do stuff in it. It's actually pretty clever. Now he's gonna go find Zelda and remove the Light Force though! That's not good, lets get going!

...this isn't Hyrule Castle. At least, not regularly. Welcome to the final dungeon of the game, Dark Hyrule Castle. Called such since Vaati gave it a paint job if nothing else, and filled it with all sorts of baddy! You can assume you'll encounter every enemy in the game here, though we really only encounter Stalfos, Bubbles, Wizrobes, a blue Moblin, and a Floormaster here. That said, the enemy encounters are going to be quite difficult. This game's pulling out all the stops, so we've gotta bring our best. The puzzles are more difficult too, requiring some slightly more involved thinking, to the degree that poor Past Zodi kind of...messed up a little bit here and there. Don't worry my head'll be in the game for next episode.

Speaking of next episode, that's all for this time. I had originally planned to get all the collectables that I could before doing the final dungeon, but since it's here I may as well. Feel free to contest this opinion if you'd like, though.

[Coidzor]

So what you're saying is that Hylia's power is the lost 4th triangle from the middle of the Triforce? :smallamused:

I love how silly the goro goros are here after they've finally got their cave home carved out, now they realize how stinky they are from all that digging and one of them is even creeped out in retrospect by all of the goron statues they've made as they've dug.

Something tells me that this stinkyness may inspire some of the goro goros to seek out a hot springs to bathe in. :smallamused:

I'm not really sure what to say about the Castle portion, other than that it's good you finally caught the portal in the gardens for collectable/fusion purposes later on.

Rescuing the King was a pretty neat moment, I thought, and the idea of using a SWORD to cure being Stone'D was rather pleasingly kooky to me when I went through this.

Depending upon how much collectathoning you have to do, I'd say do it then the dungeon if it's a little, but leave the secret seashell stuff for the very last possible moment you can do that.

Though it's a little bit late to say that, being it's sunday, so... :smallredface:

[Lord Raziere]

catching up:

yup, thats a lot of good training

and hm, Legend of Zelda is the only franchise where you must go on a great quest just to get an empty bottle, but use a magical instrument to teleport yourself around as a matter of routine.

and yeah, magical sword of stone cure is...magical.

and aaaaaaw....I would've voted for the green one.

and final dungeon after only 19 videos, this is a short videogame.

and finally, well of course the magical thing of awesome is in the princess. in japanese fantasy, its always near the princess, or IS the princess, or has something to do with the princess. in fact list all the princesses that DON'T have something magical and plot important about them, because if a princess is there, that probably means they are magical just by default. thats right, in all probability any princess you meet in fiction is also a witch, therefore BURN THE PRINCESS! wait....*gets killed the king's men*

[DataNinja]

and aaaaaaw....I would've voted for the green one.


Don't worry, I did, having absolutely no idea why except 'green is my favorite colour, so let's choose that one'. :smallbiggrin:

I MAKE MY CHOICES VERY CAREFULLY.

[LaZodiac]

and hm, Legend of Zelda is the only franchise where you must go on a great quest just to get an empty bottle, but use a magical instrument to teleport yourself around as a matter of routine.

and final dungeon after only 19 videos, this is a short videogame.

and finally, well of course the magical thing of awesome is in the princess. in japanese fantasy, its always near the princess, or IS the princess, or has something to do with the princess. in fact list all the princesses that DON'T have something magical and plot important about them, because if a princess is there, that probably means they are magical just by default. thats right, in all probability any princess you meet in fiction is also a witch, therefore BURN THE PRINCESS! wait....*gets killed the king's men*

I feel like after a fashion they realized how silly it is. Yeah we just kinda pick up this ocarina that lets us call upon THE SPIRIT OF THE WIND IN ROOSTER FORM to carry us around. But to get a bottle we need to find five different walls scattered throughout the entire world.

Yeah Minish Cap is REAL short. I checked and we were in DUNGEON TWO of Skyward Sword around this time.

Princesses always have the best magic. It helps that royalty tends to be related to dragons in Japanese fantasy, and they're often considered a step below gods or actual gods (though Kami tend to be pretty open on who gets to join the divinity club).


Don't worry, I did, having absolutely no idea why except 'green is my favorite colour, so let's choose that one'. :smallbiggrin:

I MAKE MY CHOICES VERY CAREFULLY.

If you guys had voted the vote would of been split AGAIN. If I've learned anything from this LP it's that between the three primary colours of red, blue, and green, you can safely assume the results will be divided as evenly as possible.

[DataNinja]

If you guys had voted the vote would of been split AGAIN. If I've learned anything from this LP it's that between the three primary colours of red, blue, and green, you can safely assume the results will be divided as evenly as possible.

If I've learned anything, it's that I'll choose the lowest value rupee in the vote. :smalltongue:

PRIORITIES.

[huttj509]

Yeah Minish Cap is REAL short. I checked and we were in DUNGEON TWO of Skyward Sword around this time.


How much of that woulda been dialogue, dramatic music, and cutscenes?

Minish cap's been better about getting to the point, though I think my feelings are being skewed by watching another LP of skyward sword that's still in the beginning which is infodump heavy.

The time from "Deliver this sword" to "something went down, save the kingdom" is a lot shorter than "Find the exit, talk to me from a distance, save the cat, go to the statue, meet cute, get pushed off a ledge, go to the training hall, get permission to carry the sword, find the cave, save the bird, race the bird, *now* you get someone/thing to chase after."

[LaZodiac]

Quite a bit, yeah. Speaking of dramatic stuff, new Zelda!

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap [20] Dark Hyrule Castle (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JzIOsDla7g)

Video Length: 27:17

Gonna start off with a bit of a rant here. So, that Goron shop keeper who sells Kinstones? Turns out he can run out of stock. He can run out of stock very easily. Considering how genuinely tedious collecting Kinstones actually is, especially when you need to collect a bunch of them, this is VERY annoying. When you have a game that requires you to get a lot of usable resources, there should be a way to easily, if not cheaply, replenish those resources. I talked a bit before on how the green Kinstones are the hardest to actually FIND but the one you need the MOST of, and this is just another example of this. He has no real reason to go out of stock, it's just a way to make collecting these so you can do all 100 fusions all the more frustrating. It doesn't help that again, each colour is divided into three shapes, and looking at my Kinstone count the shape that I keep on running into the most is ALWAYS the one I have the least amount of stones for. This is the one real annoying thing about this game, and it's gonna be a hell of a thing when I do get around to collecting everything.

Anyway, moving on. It's time to delve into the final dungeon proper. We've got a lot of ground to cover. I'm not doing a room by room write up so suffice to say, we cut our way through a ton of enemies and a lot of interesting puzzles, finding the dungeon map and the compass quite easily. This dungeon actually feels a little short, but really punchy and sweet at the same time. The real big moment is when we encounter the miniboss, the Black Knight. This guy is a Darknut, but he's SUPER fast and strong compared to the regular ones. After besting him in battle, four rooms get filled with either a Mighty Darknut or two of the regular Darknuts, and we've got to fight them so we can open up the large door that leads up to the key we need. It's actually really fun, especially since I discovered at some point a really good and fun way to fight these guys. The only other thing to note here is the room with the ghosts, where only one can actually take damage and die. It's a mysterious, but interesting, mechanic. I like it, and the way you can tell which ghost is "real" is that it looks at you as you move.

I'll be honest, there's not much to say about this, because most of what I want to say is said in video well enough that I don't really know what to write here. It's just a lot of rooms full of powerful enemies and devious traps, and it's all quite well put together. I'm still annoyed that the Light Arrows aren't able to explode Gibdo's though.

[TheWombatOfDoom]

Oh man a Zelda lets go.

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap [19] Four Sword (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Le3pyClUxdE)

Video Length: 20:28

Kinda short video today, time constraints and other nonsense. Also I was messing around with aspect ratio this time to see if it'd look good and sorry it doesn't look super great compared to the other ones. I'll do more experimentation later I'll admit most of what I've been doing was to try and make the RWBY game look less bad. Anyway, lets get a move on.

Starting off this video we finish off the Goron sidequest! At least, as much as we can. See, there's ooone small bit that we can't do for this quest yet, but for now it's finished. Going into the now fully dug out tunnel, we obtain our reward! The fourth and final bottle of the game. Awesome. With this we can hold onto two charms and two fairies and that's probably how I'll roll for the future.

Speaking of the future, lets go and put the fourth element into our sword. I'm sure nothing drastic and permanent will happen, forcing me to abandon my original plan for how I'm playing this game. With all four elements shoved into our sword, it becomes the Four Sword! This majestic blade with curved, golden hilt is now one tier stronger then it was before! We can split into four now, and we can also fire a non-lethal beam from our spin attack that can purify those that have been turned to stone. How nice! With Four Sword in hand, we head off to the area behind the Elemental Sanctuary, where we get some interesting exposition.

So, time to explain some stuff. Some of this might involve knowledge that we haven't seen yet in video, but I think it's a small enough thing that we can discuss this. Note, this'll have spoilers for Skyward Sword! Okay, so, the Light Force...is NOT the Triforce as I imagine some of you may of guessed if you hadn't played this game before. The Light Force is the divine magic of light, probably left over from when Hylia removed her own divinity, and put into Zelda's mortal form. The Minish basically come from a place that's beyond our world, likely the Sacred Realm where Link and Zelda of Skyward Sword eventually hid the Triforce. It's not unreasonable to assume the Light Force was there as well, and the Minish brought it with them along with their own magical sword to help out in the time these stained glass windows represent. That being said, these Stained Glass windows also are sort of lying. They seem like a mixture of an event that happened in the past, mixed with half remembered legends involving Skyward Sword. Things like this might be why the Wind Tribe decided to return to the Sky.

So yeah, the Light Force is basically Hylia's power, and it's inside Zelda. It IS a triangle, and believe it or not before this thread is done we'll be exploring an interesting thing about it. Also, Vaati wants it. That's not good. Lets uh...go deal with that.

After that fun little history lesson HEY DOWN IN FRONT VAATI HOW DID YOU GET HERE AAAAH DEAD. Or more like, knocked out briefly. Vaati's not very good at the whole fatal attack thing. Ignoring how he somehow poofed in front of us without us knowing, this is a good moment. He had the guards searching for the Light Force, but since he IS a Minish he clearly knew the Elemental Sanctuary EXISTS so of course he'd camp it waiting for us to do stuff in it. It's actually pretty clever. Now he's gonna go find Zelda and remove the Light Force though! That's not good, lets get going!

...this isn't Hyrule Castle. At least, not regularly. Welcome to the final dungeon of the game, Dark Hyrule Castle. Called such since Vaati gave it a paint job if nothing else, and filled it with all sorts of baddy! You can assume you'll encounter every enemy in the game here, though we really only encounter Stalfos, Bubbles, Wizrobes, a blue Moblin, and a Floormaster here. That said, the enemy encounters are going to be quite difficult. This game's pulling out all the stops, so we've gotta bring our best. The puzzles are more difficult too, requiring some slightly more involved thinking, to the degree that poor Past Zodi kind of...messed up a little bit here and there. Don't worry my head'll be in the game for next episode.

Speaking of next episode, that's all for this time. I had originally planned to get all the collectables that I could before doing the final dungeon, but since it's here I may as well. Feel free to contest this opinion if you'd like, though.

...Wait....all that Goron stuff...for a bottle? Next they'll have you find large Ghini's scattered throughout the map....

I have a different interpretation of this, but I could be wrong. I always thought that the master sword was actually also the four sword. Either way, I think this is the same retelling of the story, just with a different theme. Like Hylia is still reborn in Zelda, and the minish are connected to her. The light force is the Zelda's light magic in another form. Vaati is an incarnation of Demise, or perhaps the hat of power that he is wearing.

Oh man, Dark Hyrule is cool. Lots to do, and I like the setup of it. I wish there were more people to unfreeze though.

Since you'll have to get stuff after the end game anyway, I'm fine with you doing some cleanup episodes! :smallsmile:



EPISODE 19 KILL TALLY!

Tektites - 2
Moldorm - 3
Green Chuchu - 5
Spark - 2
Octorok - 7
Moblin - 1
Acro-bandit - 5
Blue Moblin - 3
Red Bubble - 1
Blue Bubble - 1
Stalfos - 3
Red Stalfos - 2
Wizrobes - 6
Keese - 4
Turrets - 4
Floormaster - 1

Style Points - 0

Missed Rupees - 1
Lost Rupees (theft, overflow, ect.) - 0

(previous episodes)



The Minish Cap
Total Kills
(As of Episode 19)

Acro-Bandits - 91
Floormasters - 8
Ghinis - 28
Gleerok - 1
Helmasaurs - 18
Keatons - 10
Keese - 44
Lakitu - 3
Moldorm - 10
Puffstools - 10
Sluggula - 40
Sparks - 8

Avians
Crows - 15
Takkuri - 3

Blins
Moblins - 19
Moblins (Bow) - 5
Moblins, Blue - 5

Bombs
Bob-ombs - 11
Bombarossa - 27

Bugs
Beetles - 12
Beetles, Spiked - 8
Beetles, Spiny - 16
Beetles, Scissor - 12
Madderpillars - 4
Mulldozers - 32
Mulldozers, Blue - 28
Rollobites - 1
Pestos - 33
Pestos, Blue - 5

Chuchus
Chuchus, Green - 11*
Chuchus, Red - 28
Chuchus, Blue - 7*
Chuchus, Spike - 14

Constructs
Armos - 9
Eyegore Statues - 7
Turrets - 4
Mazaal - 1

Leever
Leevers - 1
Leevers, Blue - 5

Likes
Rupee Likes, Green - 1
Rupee Likes, Blue - 1
Rupee Likes, Red - 3
Like Likes - 4

Octoroks
Octoroks - 98*
Octoroks, Blue - 13
Octoroks, Gold - 1

Peahats
Peahats - 26
Peahats, Blue - 2

Rope
Ropes - 34
Ropes, Gold - 1

Skyfish
Cloud Piranhas - 6
Gyorg, Blue - 2
Gyorg, Green - 4
Gyorg, Red - 1

Soldier
Darknuts - 2
Darknuts, Mighty - 1
Soldiers, Ball and Chain - 2

Stal
Stalfos - 44
Stalfos, Red - 17
Gibdo - 5
Bubbles, Red - 3
Bubbles, Blue - 1

Tektites
Tektites - 52
Tektites, Blue - 1

Wizrobe
Wizrobes - 21
Wizrobes, Ice - 4
Wizrobes, Fire - 6

*one of which was a boss

Total Things Dead - 953!

1st Place - Octoroks, at 98!
2nd Place - Acro-bandits, at 91!
3rd Place - Tektites, at 52!

Total Style Points - 6!

Total Missed Rupees - 4
Total Lost Rupees - 311

[LaZodiac]

...Wait....all that Goron stuff...for a bottle? Next they'll have you find large Ghini's scattered throughout the map....

I have a different interpretation of this, but I could be wrong. I always thought that the master sword was actually also the four sword. Either way, I think this is the same retelling of the story, just with a different theme. Like Hylia is still reborn in Zelda, and the minish are connected to her. The light force is the Zelda's light magic in another form. Vaati is an incarnation of Demise, or perhaps the hat of power that he is wearing.

Oh man, Dark Hyrule is cool. Lots to do, and I like the setup of it. I wish there were more people to unfreeze though.

Since you'll have to get stuff after the end game anyway, I'm fine with you doing some cleanup episodes! :smallsmile:

Yup! Just to get a bottle. Pain and suffering~

I will say outright that you are wrong. We'll get more onto this later, but...suffice to say, the Light Force and the Four Sword are not the same as the Triforce and Master Sword. The Master Sword's got a purple hilt after all. But I'll talk more about that later.

I wish there were more people to unfreeze too. That's actually a thing I just realized we're missing here.

[Coidzor]

Don't worry, I did, having absolutely no idea why except 'green is my favorite colour, so let's choose that one'. :smallbiggrin:

I MAKE MY CHOICES VERY CAREFULLY.

Well, you know, GREEN'S DA BEST, ROIGHT BOYZ!? :thog:


I feel like after a fashion they realized how silly it is. Yeah we just kinda pick up this ocarina that lets us call upon THE SPIRIT OF THE WIND IN ROOSTER FORM to carry us around. But to get a bottle we need to find five different walls scattered throughout the entire world.

Yeah Minish Cap is REAL short. I checked and we were in DUNGEON TWO of Skyward Sword around this time.

Princesses always have the best magic. It helps that royalty tends to be related to dragons in Japanese fantasy, and they're often considered a step below gods or actual gods (though Kami tend to be pretty open on who gets to join the divinity club).

Err, I think the rooster is another game, this burns some kind of blue-footed booby bluebird of paradise. Parrot. Thing.

How many hours do you want smol child to spend on a handheld Zelda game, Zodi? You want more hours, make a Zelda Pokemon clome. :smalltongue:

Oh, don't even get me started on Howe much of a headache that is. :smallsigh: Lousy ancient cultures and their insistence on making things difficult for RPG design.


If you guys had voted the vote would of been split AGAIN. If I've learned anything from this LP it's that between the three primary colours of red, blue, and green, you can safely assume the results will be divided as evenly as possible.

OBJECTION! Only two of those are Primary Colors! The third primary color, Ms. Zodiac, is... Yellow!

[DataNinja]

Well, you know, GREEN'S DA BEST, ROIGHT BOYZ!? :thog:
:durkon: Cure Terrible Grammar!


Err, I think the rooster is another game, this burns some kind of blue-footed booby bluebird of paradise. Parrot. Thing.
I believe I remember reading that it's a cuckoo variant, but don't quote me on that.


How many hours do you want smol child to spend on a handheld Zelda game, Zodi? You want more hours, make a Zelda Pokemon clome. :smalltongue:
Would that require a Four Swords cartridge? :smallbiggrin:


Oh, don't even get me started on Howe much of a headache that is. :smallsigh: Lousy ancient cultures and their insistence on making things difficult for RPG design.
Hey, at least ancient cultures conveniently always have things designed to interface with your items. That's considerate.


OBJECTION! Only two of those are Primary Colors! The third primary color, Ms. Zodiac, is... Yellow!
COUNTERPOINT! Not when you're talking about LIGHT!

[LaZodiac]

Would that require a Four Swords cartridge? :smallbiggrin:


Or an early release 3DS that has the ambassador certificate on it so you can download the special stand alone Four Swords game that includes single player.

Not that I've been thinking about that particular game or anything.

[DataNinja]

Or an early release 3DS that has the ambassador certificate on it so you can download the special stand alone Four Swords game that includes single player.

Not that I've been thinking about that particular game or anything.

So would that be Four Swords Adventure: Give or Take Three Swords? :smallbiggrin:

[LaZodiac]

So would that be Four Swords Adventure: Give or Take Three Swords? :smallbiggrin:

Technically there are two games. Four Swords, the little bonus game that was attached to the GBA Link to the Past rerelease which later became what I said it did above. Then there's Four Swords Adventure, which is for the Gamecube and is ALSO multiplayer focused but I'll have to be playing single player because I do not have 1: friends and 2: an omni-quad to make it all get recorded.

But more on this at a later date~

[DataNinja]

But more on this at a later date~

The intrigue... It piques the curiosity. :smallcool:

[TheWombatOfDoom]

Quite a bit, yeah. Speaking of dramatic stuff, new Zelda!

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap [20] Dark Hyrule Castle (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JzIOsDla7g)

Video Length: 27:17

Gonna start off with a bit of a rant here. So, that Goron shop keeper who sells Kinstones? Turns out he can run out of stock. He can run out of stock very easily. Considering how genuinely tedious collecting Kinstones actually is, especially when you need to collect a bunch of them, this is VERY annoying. When you have a game that requires you to get a lot of usable resources, there should be a way to easily, if not cheaply, replenish those resources. I talked a bit before on how the green Kinstones are the hardest to actually FIND but the one you need the MOST of, and this is just another example of this. He has no real reason to go out of stock, it's just a way to make collecting these so you can do all 100 fusions all the more frustrating. It doesn't help that again, each colour is divided into three shapes, and looking at my Kinstone count the shape that I keep on running into the most is ALWAYS the one I have the least amount of stones for. This is the one real annoying thing about this game, and it's gonna be a hell of a thing when I do get around to collecting everything.

Anyway, moving on. It's time to delve into the final dungeon proper. We've got a lot of ground to cover. I'm not doing a room by room write up so suffice to say, we cut our way through a ton of enemies and a lot of interesting puzzles, finding the dungeon map and the compass quite easily. This dungeon actually feels a little short, but really punchy and sweet at the same time. The real big moment is when we encounter the miniboss, the Black Knight. This guy is a Darknut, but he's SUPER fast and strong compared to the regular ones. After besting him in battle, four rooms get filled with either a Mighty Darknut or two of the regular Darknuts, and we've got to fight them so we can open up the large door that leads up to the key we need. It's actually really fun, especially since I discovered at some point a really good and fun way to fight these guys. The only other thing to note here is the room with the ghosts, where only one can actually take damage and die. It's a mysterious, but interesting, mechanic. I like it, and the way you can tell which ghost is "real" is that it looks at you as you move.

I'll be honest, there's not much to say about this, because most of what I want to say is said in video well enough that I don't really know what to write here. It's just a lot of rooms full of powerful enemies and devious traps, and it's all quite well put together. I'm still annoyed that the Light Arrows aren't able to explode Gibdo's though.

Alright, so it makes sense why the shop keeper runs out of kinstones. You only have so many fusions in the game. I assume you can't get Kinstones after all the fusions right? Which would mean that there are only as many Kinstones as there are fusions in the game right? Maybe you can have useless kinstones as well, I don't know, but that would be my guess. Also, so you don't, you know, just buy all the kinstones with him. It would make more sense to always sell the green, and run out of the other two kinds, but alas.

I really like the set up of the dungeon. The symmetry is neat, and I like the challenges of the dungeon itself. Also, its a neat thing, because its the first time a familiar area has been corrupted and turned into a fortress of sorts. I wonder what the open air area where you're floating around in the "red sky" with the turrets is...its all kind of confusing...but I like it.

Style Point Explainations:
Twirling around to kill all the floor masters and pot attacks? 1 STYLE POINT!

Using a variety of swordsman skills in multiple areas of the same temple? 1 STYLE POINT!

Jump slamming all the Blue Keatons in the room, even if it lost you two rupees? 1 STYLE POINT!

Defeating Darknuts with bombs alone? 1 STYLE POINT!

Discovering that you can hop Darknuts and get them from behind? 1 STYLE POINT!

Slaughtering over 100 enemies in one episode? 1 STYLE POINT!

Getting a record number of style points in one episode? 1 STYLE POINT!!!



EPISODE 20 KILL TALLY!

Keese - 16
Blue Moblin - 12
Floormaster - 2
Stalfos - 10
Wizrobe - 5
Turret - 4
Blue Keaton - 15
Mighty Darknut - 3
Gibdo - 3
Moldorm - 2
Spark - 11
Blue Moblin (Bow) - 3
Ball and Chain Soldier - 2
Bob-omb - 3
Black Knight Darknut - 1
Darknut - 4
Ghini - 2
Fire Wizrobe - 1
Red Stalfos - 4
Wallmaster - 2

Style Points - 7

Missed Rupees - 0
Lost Rupees (theft, overflow, ect.) - 2

(previous episodes)



The Minish Cap
Total Kills
(As of Episode 20)

Acro-Bandits - 91
Ghini - 30
Gleerok - 1
Helmasaurs - 18
Keese - 60
Lakitu - 3
Moldorm - 12
Puffstools - 10
Sluggula - 40
Sparks - 19

Avians
Crows - 15
Takkuri - 3

Blins
Moblins - 19
Moblins (Bow) - 5
Moblins, Blue - 17
Moblins, Blue (Bow) - 3

Bombs
Bob-ombs - 14
Bombarossa - 27

Bugs
Beetles - 12
Beetles, Spiked - 8
Beetles, Spiny - 16
Beetles, Scissor - 12
Madderpillars - 4
Mulldozers - 32
Mulldozers, Blue - 28
Rollobites - 1
Pestos - 33
Pestos, Blue - 5

Chuchus
Chuchus, Green - 11*
Chuchus, Red - 28
Chuchus, Blue - 7*
Chuchus, Spike - 14

Constructs
Armos - 9
Eyegore Statues - 7
Turrets - 8
Mazaal - 1

Hands
Floormasters - 10
Wallmaster - 2

Keatons
Keatons - 10
Keatons, Blue - 15

Leevers
Leevers - 1
Leevers, Blue - 5

Likes
Rupee Likes, Green - 1
Rupee Likes, Blue - 1
Rupee Likes, Red - 3
Like Likes - 4

Octoroks
Octoroks - 98*
Octoroks, Blue - 13
Octoroks, Gold - 1

Peahats
Peahats - 26
Peahats, Blue - 2

Rope
Ropes - 34
Ropes, Gold - 1

Skyfish
Cloud Piranhas - 6
Gyorg, Blue - 2
Gyorg, Green - 4
Gyorg, Red - 1

Soldier
Darknuts - 6
Darknuts, Mighty - 4
Darknuts, Black Knight - 1
Soldiers, Ball and Chain - 4

Stal
Stalfos - 54
Stalfos, Red - 21
Gibdo - 8
Bubbles, Red - 3
Bubbles, Blue - 1

Tektites
Tektites - 52
Tektites, Blue - 1

Wizrobe
Wizrobes - 28
Wizrobes, Ice - 4
Wizrobes, Fire - 7

*one of which was a boss

Total Things Dead - 1058!!

1st Place - Octoroks, at 98!
2nd Place - Acro-bandits, at 91!
3rd Place - Stalfos, at 54!

Total Style Points - 13!

Total Missed Rupees - 4
Total Lost Rupees - 313

[LaZodiac]

Alright, so it makes sense why the shop keeper runs out of kinstones. You only have so many fusions in the game. I assume you can't get Kinstones after all the fusions right? Which would mean that there are only as many Kinstones as there are fusions in the game right? Maybe you can have useless kinstones as well, I don't know, but that would be my guess. Also, so you don't, you know, just buy all the kinstones with him. It would make more sense to always sell the green, and run out of the other two kinds, but alas.

I really like the set up of the dungeon. The symmetry is neat, and I like the challenges of the dungeon itself. Also, its a neat thing, because its the first time a familiar area has been corrupted and turned into a fortress of sorts. I wonder what the open air area where you're floating around in the "red sky" with the turrets is...its all kind of confusing...but I like it.

Style Point Explainations:
Twirling around to kill all the floor masters and pot attacks? 1 STYLE POINT!

Using a variety of swordsman skills in multiple areas of the same temple? 1 STYLE POINT!

Jump slamming all the Blue Keatons in the room, even if it lost you two rupees? 1 STYLE POINT!

Defeating Darknuts with bombs alone? 1 STYLE POINT!

Discovering that you can hop Darknuts and get them from behind? 1 STYLE POINT!

Slaughtering over 100 enemies in one episode? 1 STYLE POINT!

Getting a record number of style points in one episode? 1 STYLE POINT!!!


From what I read you CAN get Kinstones still after getting all of them, they just can't be used because you're out of fusions. The bag actually loses the functionality to fuse mechanically once you've flicked the flag that says "done all fusions" which is why that Tingle glitch exists.

I feel like all those open sky areas are just like...balconies and stuff, in the regular castle. Since it's evil there aren't any safety regulations, so no guard rails.

I am the most stylish~ (https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/06/64/8d/06648dd8a399607d5c25e3c332109f10.gif)

[TheWombatOfDoom]

From what I read you CAN get Kinstones still after getting all of them, they just can't be used because you're out of fusions. The bag actually loses the functionality to fuse mechanically once you've flicked the flag that says "done all fusions" which is why that Tingle glitch exists.

I feel like all those open sky areas are just like...balconies and stuff, in the regular castle. Since it's evil there aren't any safety regulations, so no guard rails.

I am the most stylish~ (https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/06/64/8d/06648dd8a399607d5c25e3c332109f10.gif)

I meant, why is the ground black with red clouds? Since its top down view, it makes it look like the castle is floating or in another dimension.

[LaZodiac]

I meant, why is the ground black with red clouds? Since its top down view, it makes it look like the castle is floating or in another dimension.

...oh yes that.

..........clouds?

[LaZodiac]

Okay guys...it's time. Lets take on Vaati.

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap [21] Vaati
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRGm2Tz-cC8)
Video Length: 24:22

Opening the boss door, we're greeted with a hallway. A bell chimes, signalling that we've got a time limit. Three clangs and Zelda's dead, the Light Force stripped from her completely. The good news is there isn't actually a time limit...yet. That being said, let's not be sluggish about it we're saving our best friend and potential love interest so lets get a move on, leaping over the Ball and Chain Soldier. A second chime, and this time we've gotta face a huge horde of the blue Keatons, then use our splitting power to open the next door. I'll admit this is all still really tense, even knowing the time limit doesn't start yet.

Then we step through the next door, and the time limit ACTUALLY starts. I think you have like...three minutes or so, which seems like plenty of time, but you're fighting two Mighty Darknuts and a Black Knight so it's actually really challenging. Thankfully, I went back to get more Charms off screen and my leaping strategy helps deal with these guys a lot faster then I would of if I fought them normally. With the Darknuts slain, we head on up to the roof to face Vaati.

Vaati, of course, has other plans. He's quite annoyed at us having interrupted his ritual, so after throwing us down a hole back to the room we just left, he teleports in to fight us personally. This is where he changes his body, corrupting it and becoming Vaati Reborn. Originally a Minish that turned himself into a Human Sorcerer, he's now used his immense magical power and even some of the Light Force to twist his body into a large, slightly Minish sorcerer with a giant eye on his body. It's time to fight! This form is quite dangerous, doing a lot of damage with it's attacks, few as they may be. He can spew out a torrent of fire which causes you to run around wildly, likely slamming into his body or his other attacks. His man method of attack is summoning up little eyeball orbiters that shoot out highly damaging lasers that have NO qualms with just combo-ing you to death. This is also his weakness however, as you can destroy the eyes, stunning Vaati and leaving him open for attack. After doing this once he adds two more eyes, and once more he covers them with shadows that must be removed using the Gust Jar. After that it's just a challenging fight, avoiding his attacks and destroying his eyes so you can slice him to ribbons. Once Vaati's taken enough damage, he'll let the dark powers he wields consume him, and he reveals his true form!

A giant orb with an eye on it, surrounded by other orbs. The epitome of wizarly might, say hello to the Wind Demon Sorcerer, Vaati Transfigured! This form is equal parts more and less difficult then Vaati Reborn. He can't cause contact damage to you, but in this form he can shoot tracking electrical shots or just regular aimed shots that are quite dangerous, and will hurt you even if they hit your clones. He can also spew out this dark matter that turns into spikes, but thankfully you can smash them open to get hearts or arrows. The goal of this form is to shoot arrows at his orbs to reveal if they're an eye or not. Blue means they're shielding him, red means they're a weakness we can exploit! Using the sacred tiles we can split into our and hit all four of his eyes at once, causing him to drop to the ground were we can just go whole hog on the guy! The might of four small children finally bring down Vaati, his body exploding fantastically!

With Vaati destroyed, we can take Zelda by the hand and run off to escape the castle! Unfortunately, Vaati didn't go down without a fight and is bringing the castle down with him! We hurry to the Elemental Sanctuary, assuming it'll be safe there. Once we get there however...dun dun duuuun! Vaati returns! His body may be shattered and broken, but he still lives! We thus enter the third and final form of the boss fight, Vaati's Wrath! As Vaati's Wrath he can shoot out tracking electrical shots at high speeds, as well as swipe at you with those huge claws. He can also smash them into the ground and cause them to rise up near you as a large shadowy tentacle, trying to bludgeon you to death or blast you with basic magic attacks. However, this is his weakness, as we can...use the Cane of Pacci to cause his arm to pop off when it's in this state. I suppose it's because they're coming out of a shadow hole, so the cane's energy gets into the hole and causes the arm to just get thrown into the air, ripping it off, but that's suuuper vague honestly. Anyway, a Minish Portal has appeared, so using it we shrink down into Vaati's ripped off limbs to destroy the cells inside! Like with the ghosts back in the dungeon proper, only one of them can be destroyed, the rest being fake. This is actually a really cool bit of foreshadowing, and if you look closely you can see that much like with those ghosts, the real one is always moving it's eye to look at you while the rest have dead stares. It's pretty cool.

Once both arms are destroyed Vaati switches to a more magically oriented attack mode, opening up the four eye orbs on his body and flying up on wings of darkness. Sadly, at least to me, this is where the quality of the boss drops pretty quickly. The goal here is to avoid his rapid fire spread of electrical orbs, then bounce back his magical eye blasts to stun him, where we can then pump him full of arrows. The problem is that the two attacks are basically on separate cool downs, and this causes them to sometimes overlap in weird annoying ways that make it quite hard to actually do. Coupled in with the fact that it's just a lot of waiting, and sometimes the game'll mess up and one of the reflected shots will go wide, it's just annoying. And lets not even get into how the Minish Portal is still here and if Vaati lands on it the Portal will block arrows from hitting him! This is the one unfortunate bit of the final boss, the one little sour note to what is actually a really badass, cool, fun boss fight. I won't let it tear me down though.

With Vaati finally destroyed, whatever shred of him remaining getting sealed by the power of the Four Sword, we can finally rest. His magic hat, in tatters, appears, and Ezlo's curse if broken. The great sage introduces himself properly, and gives Zelda the hat so her pure heart can wish for all the damage Vaati's done to be undone, saving the castle and all it's people and pushing the monsters back into the shadows. We have a sad good bye with the old man, as he shrinks and walks into the Elemental Sanctuary so he can return to...whever the Elemental Sanctuary actually is, which I think is the Sacred Realm for reasons and I'll explain what that actually is later. Zelda and Link are happy that the day has been saved, aaand the credits roll. Stick around in video to see some of my snarky thoughts and a special me based cameo. But yeah no that's it no special scene that's the game.

------

That all being said, this isn't the end of The Minish Cap thread. I've still gotta collect everything, which'll be the actual finale. After that...lets just say I've got an interesting plan I think you'll all like. Or some of you will like I'm not your Dad go make a decision for yourself. That being said, I think it's appropriate to give my quoteunquote "final thoughts" on the game here, since this IS the ending and really all of the post game collecting will have it's own sort of coda segment where I discuss how weird it is that they lock stuff behind beating the final boss.

The Minish Cap is definitely a Zelda game that has been overlooked, perhaps not surprisingly given that it's about shrinking in size. I think, from a purely mechanical standpoint, this game is actually like, pretty damn high up on the "what Zelda games are good?" tier. It's actually put together really well from a gameplay perspective, and while people may think the Kinstone thing is all busy work (and lets be fair most of the time it is) the actual dungeons are all very good, and most of them are quite memorable. It's fun exploring the world, and there's a really high density of enemies so you can do a lot of fun combat stuff, especially since there are so many enemy TYPES. One thing that really stands out to me mechanically is the sword trainer stuff. Swiftblade and his family teaching you special moves is actually a lot of fun and brings in some variety to the combat that makes it all the more fun.

The two main "gimmicks" of the game, for lack of a better term, is the Minish Portals and the Kinstone fusion. The Minish Portals are basically done as well as they could be given the system this is on, allowing us to shrink down and explore the world, seeing how it all looks from the perspective of the Minish. The Kinstones are this sort of weird quasi message of love and friendship by smashing rocks together so magical fairies will do things to make us happy and okay so it's not super great flavor wise but mechanically it's okay, though it does lead to the problem where "oh man my reward for fusing is the ability to fuse more how great yay" and that always feels bad, I think. Again, more on this in Monday's little coda thing.

Now lets talk about story. Blah blah blah yes I know, and I'm probably really overstating it, but yes I'm aware the Zelda Timeline is all silly and dumb and stuff, but I like it. I like having little connections and stuff, and I feel it all works well. So bare with me. Minish Cap takes place after Skyward Sword, and the legend it tells is an interesting one that feels like Skyward Sword and another legend that happened between these two games got mixed together. We know for a fact that the Four Sword is not the Master Sword, and The Light Force isn't the Triforce, so it's clear they're separate legendary artifacts. I'm curious and interested in seeing a game that details the first time the Minish show up.

Anyway, Minish Cap's story proper; it's okay. Nothing really big happens, but nothing really stupid or bad happens. The apprentice of a wizard gets his hands on a magical hat, and being fascinated with the darkness in the hearts of men makes said apprentice decide to do evil stuff. He opens up an obvious Pandora's Box reference and we have to stop him with a wisetalking hat who happens to be the apprentice's cursed master. It's a perfectly okay plot, the only really outstanding part is how they worked in "Ezlo's actually just a bad teacher" into the game mechanics by making him like, 70% of the time give you basically no actual useful information. It's annoying if you're not really good at these games, or are playing it for the first time, but I really appreciate the fun connection between story and mechanics. No wonder Vaati's evil, stop yelling at me you dang hat! I also find it really funny how, due to how the Minish work, they had to specify Link is a young child. Like, it's funny to me how it's a plot point that Link's like 12 and being told to do all this stuff to save the world and he has no idea what he's doing because he is just a tiny baby child.

So yeah. Overall, this was just a really fun, good game. Not the best Zelda but certainly not the worst Zelda, it was an enjoyable, fast paced romp through Hyrule. An interesting adventure where we take a small child, throw a cranky old man on his head, and tell him to go face horrific danger and monsters to save the world and also his best friend and maybe love interest. Despite it all, Link pulls through and beats the evil, who's only words are "How could I be beaten by a small child" to which all I have to say is no Vaati, you're wrong. I can clone myself you got beat by four small children.

See you guys next time yo.

[Lord Raziere]

@ 20th:
"step on every tile only once" are EASY puzzles!? aw man, every time I encounter those, they give me trouble......easy for you to say Miss. Figure Out The Solution At A Glance...

and yeah, Darknuts, they are the elite minions of this game, and now your pretty much taking on armies of them.

heh I'm thinking the last red Dark Nut was like "friggin' leap frog tactics, gets me every time!"

but wow, the thinking that lock need to be unlocked all at the same time.....that makes me feel better, cause I would've just unlocked them one at a time as soon as I had a key.

@ 21th:
THREE of them, with a black knight and two red knights. your either dead or awesome.

an yeah, three part fight. kay. and yeah.....that is one goofy hat. its always some innocuous piece of clothing in fantasy isn't it? its always a ring, or a hat, or a crown and everyone fights over the little thing because it turns out it has ultra-magical power for no adequately explained reason. now I'm looking at Zelda wearing the cap and I'm like....picturing Zelda in Brawl or 3ds SSB wearing it and can only think of everyone laughing at her

and Link gets his trademark green cap at the end after Ezlo been riding around upon him the whole time. poetic way to end it. and yeah, this whole game while not an outstanding one, seems decent and has some cleverness to it in how most of Ezlo's advice is useless, and the whole game seems to be some strange light comedy version of Zelda games not a complete parody but it isn't taking itself as seriously as other games from my point of view.

[LaZodiac]

@ 20th:
"step on every tile only once" are EASY puzzles!? aw man, every time I encounter those, they give me trouble......easy for you to say Miss. Figure Out The Solution At A Glance...

and yeah, Darknuts, they are the elite minions of this game, and now your pretty much taking on armies of them.

but wow, the thinking that lock need to be unlocked all at the same time.....that makes me feel better, cause I would've just unlocked them one at a time as soon as I had a key.

an yeah, three part fight. kay. and yeah.....that is one goofy hat. its always some innocuous piece of clothing in fantasy isn't it? its always a ring, or a hat, or a crown and everyone fights over the little thing because it turns out it has ultra-magical power for no adequately explained reason. now I'm looking at Zelda wearing the cap and I'm like....picturing Zelda in Brawl or 3ds SSB wearing it and can only think of everyone laughing at her

and Link gets his trademark green cap at the end after Ezlo been riding around upon him the whole time. poetic way to end it. and yeah, this whole game while not an outstanding one, seems decent and has some cleverness to it in how most of Ezlo's advice is useless, and the whole game seems to be some strange light comedy version of Zelda games not a complete parody but it isn't taking itself as seriously as other games from my point of view.

Apologies, I know those puzzles can be tough for some people :smalltongue:

I'll be honest, fighting small armies of Darknuts does a far better job of showing you how you've grown then refighting the Chu-chu boss.

Yeah...as smart as I can be at some puzzles, sometimes I'm a bit of a derp!

...man now I want to see a fully 3D Zelda wearing that big ole goof hat. It'd be hilarious.

Well say. This is a light comedy version of the classical Zelda. Relaxing and fun.

[Seerow]

Oh hey, the game is done!

So random thoughts:

1) I've enjoyed this game more than I expected to. It starts out really strong, and while the middle felt kind of 'meh', the last two dungeons were good enough to more than make up the difference.

2) The minish portals really kind of fell by the wayside, and I feel that was a missed opportunity. Yes, it continued being used to break and enter, but there were very few encounters where you got to fight a giant version of an enemy, and almost no minish only areas like we see when first being introduced to the mechanic, which is disappointing.

3) Ezlo... nope. Never came to like him. At least Fi gives useful information and has the really sweet goodbye scene. Ezlo is annoying from start to finish, never contributes a single useful thing. His literal only purpose is as a reason for the plot to happen. And if all he was was a plot point like the Minish Elder we had to talk to at the start, it'd be fine. But he's with us constantly, and literally never says or does anything of value, and this central character taking up such a role then doing it horribly basically turns me against him entirely.

4) Re: The final sequence- I was actually way more scared when I saw the three darknuts pop up and you mention there was now a hard time limit, than I was at any point during the actual fight with Vaati. That's a really tense situation, loved it.

5) Vaati's fight was pretty cool. I agree that the very last phase was a disappointment, which is sad because it ends the game on a bad note. If they had just left off the 3rd form altogether I think the game would have probably been better for it. That said, I don't mind the Cane of Pacci being useful against Vaati... though I do wish it had been more intuitive. It feels like like "MAGIC MUST DEFEAT MAGIC" rather than "Hey there is this thing we need to flip, we have an item that flips things"

6) Still love all of the items in the game overall. There's a lot of unique ones here that don't show up in other games that I would love to see pop up at some point in the future. The cape and gust jar top that list, but also Cane of Pacci and probably some others I'm forgetting.

7) On the kinstone fusions, the concept itself wasn't awful, but the implementation just leaves me shaking my head at it in general. I did notice that the last dungeon enemies seemed to have a pretty high drop rate though, we seemed to be getting 1-2 green kinstones per room which was kind of nice. Still after you've essentially beaten the game there's not much point to farm kinstones except completionism. Just because Zodi will be doing it does not make it good game design!

[LaZodiac]

Just because Zodi will be doing it does not make it good game design!

Everything you said is accurate and great but this line in particular is definitely "a thing" given how I've got three hours of footage to edit through from my post game shinanigans. I know a majority of this stuff could of been done before the final dungeon but WHOA that's a bit much.

[LaZodiac]

Let's finish the fight, as it were.

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap [22] [FINALE] Friendship Rocks (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciTvBlUZxPM)

Video Length: 29:04

Strap yourself in boys, this one's pretty long. But it's also the final video so that can be allowed. I took this down from 3 hours so I think the length is perfectly acceptable. Anyway, this is the final episode. We're going to get everything today, no ifs ands or buts. Every Kinstone fusion, every reward FROM that fusion, every incidental chest just laying around, every item, and every Figurine in the whole game. So lets talk a bit about all these, shall we?

Let's talk about Kinstones first, since it so easily leads into at least two other topics. Kinstones are problematic. First, you do have to collect them as drops, there is NO easy way to buy the pieces you need which is just obnoxious. This is helped by the Picolyte, but that only lass 30 seconds. While the drop rate IS increased DRAMATICALLY, Picolyte also costs 200 rupees, so you'll need to do some kind of grinding to fuel your Kinstone hunting. Then we get to the actual ACT of fusing stones, which is troublesome. Some fusions don't unlock until you're later in the game which is quite fine, but other fusions are attached to people who are quote "Fickle". What this means is that some people who HAVE a fusion, won't want to fuse with you all the time. You have to constantly reload the screen. Now, the good news is that by end game, every Fickle Fuser has their fusion shared with a constant person except for one (the purple teacher lady). The bad news is since this mechanic exists I spent like 40 minutes constantly reloading every Fickle Fuser's screen. That was painful.

Then we get into the rewards these give you, which...at the end of the day just really isn't worth it. Mysterious shells are occasionally a reward and that's cool, and rupees are nice since it cuts down on the grinding for cash I NEEDED to do to get the Figurines (because you can buy Mysterious shells from the store), but when all is said and done the rewards for doing Kinstone fusion is rarely worth it. The rewards that ARE worth it certainly are, extra hearts more arrows the Light Arrow our good friend Remote Bomb, all of that's obtained by fusion. But all of these could of been done through actual side quests perhaps instead of just rubbing stones with someone and would of been fine. I guess they just really wanted to do this cute friendship rock thing.

Another problem with fusion is that a few, not most of these but SOME, could only be done after beating up Vaati. The biggest one of these is the Goron fusion that gets you the Mirror Shield, a fantastic shield that lets you move a little faster while shielding, gives you a larger shield for more protection, and lets you bounce projectiles back with an intense force! There's nothing left in the game to use this on. That just makes you feel bad, something like the Mirror Shield shouldn't really be a bragging rights reward, because really all you did was smush rocks together with a Goron. Speaking of bragging rights rewards completing every fusion gets you a golden Tingle Trophy. That's it! It prevents you from doing fusions if any somehow remain, and it makes it so that you can't get Kinstones from non-chest based rewards. Neat I guess. So yeah that's kind of my Kinstone rant.

Small side point before moving on. During this video I find the last actual enemy in the game! This one is rare, only really showing up in one or two places. The Moldworm, a tiny little worm enemy that...does nothing really. It eats Link and poots him out, making Pesto's attack him more aggressively. Good job Moldworm. Also worth mentioning is one of the ACTUAL SIDE QUESTS that doesn't involve Kinstones is finally shown off. We must play chicken chaser, running after Anju's Cucco's to throw them into the pen. I don't see why she times us for this, and I sure as hell don't see why they make us do this NINE TIMES, but at the end of it all we get a Heart Piece so that's good.

Okay, Figurines! Pay a slowly increasing amount of Mysterious shells to gamble at getting a new figurine. You can always get 100% odds so that rules. I do get all of them, and do show what happens when you get all of them on screen. Our reward for 100% clearing is the Carlov Medal, which replaces our Mysterious Shells and just makes every single Mysterious Shell drop become rupees and also gets halved in value. After a 11ish minute interlude of looking at our cool action figures and their somewhat comedic descriptions, we can finally progress onward. The guy outside the Mama's Cafe gives us the key to his house after showing him the Carlov medal, and thanks to that we're able to open up his mysterious house, finally. The chests contain money, and since this is literally the last thing we ever have to do in the game that's quite cruel. We do get our final Heart Piece, and more importantly we get the Sound Test! I think that's a pretty cool reward, to be honest.

But yeah, that's it. Link returns home to sleep. After all this, I'd be tired too. Normally I'd put up a poll for the next game I play but...that'll have to wait for next time. Speaking of next time, I've got something special planned. Hope you all enjoy.

[Seerow]

Around the 16:50-17:00 mark of the last video, you use the lamp and it seems to hit an aoe of fire. I don't remember ever seeing that before. Was that a late game kinstone reward, or just some use of the lamp I am forgetting?

And... yeah the endgame was every bit as painful as expected, even with most of the slog cut out. You're a champ Zodi. I feel like Kinstones were an interesting concept, but they would have been better off with fewer of them, all set in place rather than randomized. Like imagine for a moment if you will, something like this:

-Kinstones at their core are similar to how they are now. They come in Green/Blue/Red, when you befriend someone you combine your kinstone with theirs and stuff happens. Magic! Friendship!

-Kinstones do not drop randomly. You have a single Kinstone, as does everybody else. As you befriend someone, the two of your kinstones change to become more like each other, enabling the stone mashing. You befriend people in different ways, some via story, more via sidequest.

-When you successfully mash stones with somebody, it unlocks a fairy of the similar color that stays with you. You use these fairies to accomplish stuff out in the world. So instead of mashing stones, and getting a random chest appearing and marked on your map in the middle of nowhere, you explore out in the middle of nowhere, find a blue fairy spot, and use your blue fairy to unlock it. This encourages exploration instead of running directly to markers.

-Some of the sidequests that currently use kinstones but don't make sense under the above mentioned design change slightly. For example, anything that involves mashing stones with a wall (looking at you Goron Sidequest) changes. Could be as simple as finding Gorons in those caves/tunnels and telling them to go help their buddy. Finishing that sidequest unlocks the kinstone fusion for Biggoron as normal.



Basically, keep the essence of what they're supposed to be, but put more emphasis on building relationships and exploration instead of grinding and grinding.


That being said, non-kinstone things of note in the video:
-Did the one minish dude in an out of the way hut actually give you a full heart container? It looked like he did, but it may have just been a heartpiece that got you your fourth. If he gave a full container that's totally badass.

-I never would have guessed in a million years that the Mirror Shield was in this game, much less as a postgame item. Why?! Like the sidequest to get it wasn't painful enough you also have to put the reward off until it no longer has a purpose? Imagine a world where you could use mirror shield to totally shut down vaati's magic in fight 3, turning the boring slog at the end of the fight into something potentially quick and enjoyable! ...actually you can go back and fight Vaati again can't you? Does that actually work?

-Still on the Mirror Shield, is the tiny shield made of stone? I always assumed it was wood, but Gorons eat rocks, and says the shield is a delicacy. And somehow eating the shield made it come out bigger. I am so confused by the physics of this. Like wouldn't it make more sense if we brought him a big boulder, and him chewing on it polished it into a usable mirror shield or something?

-The way Link and his hat share a bed is either cute or creepy... but I honestly lean towards creepy. Like I get it's a hat, but it's also an old man and there's literally another bed 3 feet away unused. STRANGER DANGER.


Anyway, I am looking forward to what you've got planned next.

[LaZodiac]

Around the 16:50-17:00 mark of the last video, you use the lamp and it seems to hit an aoe of fire. I don't remember ever seeing that before. Was that a late game kinstone reward, or just some use of the lamp I am forgetting?

And... yeah the endgame was every bit as painful as expected, even with most of the slog cut out. You're a champ Zodi. I feel like Kinstones were an interesting concept, but they would have been better off with fewer of them, all set in place rather than randomized. Like imagine for a moment if you will, something like this:

-Kinstones at their core are similar to how they are now. They come in Green/Blue/Red, when you befriend someone you combine your kinstone with theirs and stuff happens. Magic! Friendship!

-Kinstones do not drop randomly. You have a single Kinstone, as does everybody else. As you befriend someone, the two of your kinstones change to become more like each other, enabling the stone mashing. You befriend people in different ways, some via story, more via sidequest.

-When you successfully mash stones with somebody, it unlocks a fairy of the similar color that stays with you. You use these fairies to accomplish stuff out in the world. So instead of mashing stones, and getting a random chest appearing and marked on your map in the middle of nowhere, you explore out in the middle of nowhere, find a blue fairy spot, and use your blue fairy to unlock it. This encourages exploration instead of running directly to markers.

-Some of the sidequests that currently use kinstones but don't make sense under the above mentioned design change slightly. For example, anything that involves mashing stones with a wall (looking at you Goron Sidequest) changes. Could be as simple as finding Gorons in those caves/tunnels and telling them to go help their buddy. Finishing that sidequest unlocks the kinstone fusion for Biggoron as normal.

Basically, keep the essence of what they're supposed to be, but put more emphasis on building relationships and exploration instead of grinding and grinding.

That being said, non-kinstone things of note in the video:
-Did the one minish dude in an out of the way hut actually give you a full heart container? It looked like he did, but it may have just been a heartpiece that got you your fourth. If he gave a full container that's totally badass.

-I never would have guessed in a million years that the Mirror Shield was in this game, much less as a postgame item. Why?! Like the sidequest to get it wasn't painful enough you also have to put the reward off until it no longer has a purpose? Imagine a world where you could use mirror shield to totally shut down vaati's magic in fight 3, turning the boring slog at the end of the fight into something potentially quick and enjoyable! ...actually you can go back and fight Vaati again can't you? Does that actually work?

-Still on the Mirror Shield, is the tiny shield made of stone? I always assumed it was wood, but Gorons eat rocks, and says the shield is a delicacy. And somehow eating the shield made it come out bigger. I am so confused by the physics of this. Like wouldn't it make more sense if we brought him a big boulder, and him chewing on it polished it into a usable mirror shield or something?

-The way Link and his hat share a bed is either cute or creepy... but I honestly lean towards creepy. Like I get it's a hat, but it's also an old man and there's literally another bed 3 feet away unused. STRANGER DANGER.

Anyway, I am looking forward to what you've got planned next.

Naw, nothing special about the lantern it never does anything cool. That's just it's animation.

Man, that's a good damn idea for how to fix the Kinstone system. I like it a lot and it would of been a lot better, with probably less programming trouble involved!

That old Minish was actually Librari! And it was in fact a FULL Heart Container. Dude killed a boss and just kinda held onto the entire heart to give to some strapping young hero. That's kind of awesome.

...you know I don't actually know, I'll get back to you on the Mirror Shield working on Vaati. *smashes Vaati to dust* okay so the mirror shield DOES bounce it back, but you cannot use your shield while splitting Link into four so sadly, it's just good for defense.

One could argue that his chewing on it caused the metal to expand in size without changing the weight. Like, it was originally a compact shield of steel, and his chewing forged the metal into a thinner version. That said yeah no this is just a really silly way to get the Mirror Shield, 100%

I think it's cute because while yes it's an old man it's also an old fairy-esque man. Sure, it's weird to be sharing a bed with him, but he's just a funny little mouse fairy guy it should be fine. It's no less creepy then having him sit on our head all day.

I hope you enjoy. I'm doing some...lets say busy work to make it all functional and cool. You'll have to wait Friday to see what it is though.

[Teddy]

Wooo, dropping in here right at the end of the game! Might have been for the best, I would have polluted this thread with "Why didn't you do this? Why are you doing that? You're solving the Sacred Tiles puzzles all wrong!" (Zodi can attest that I didn't spare her this, though http://i.imgur.com/FZ6yI9l.png). By which I mean, I've played and beaten this game twice myself (once to 100%), so I kinda remember how it works, and can thus see whenever she misses something I remember. http://i.imgur.com/ZRHtTJs.png

That aside, I actually like the Kinstones. I think they're a fun reward for dedicating your time toward actually exploring the side paths and talking to people. I happen to be of the "Go everywhere, talk to everyone" personality, and I also really love the Minish, so I tended to return to them very often only because I love their atmoshpere. As such, finding new people willing to fuse with me felt like a reward for spending time on doing something I thought was fun, making it even more fun. It also makes already explored areas feel less dead, since you can discover new things there even after having been gone for a while.

I'd also say that some of the complaints about Kinstones become much less severe if you dedicate more effort toward exploring and fusing. For example, you'll be able to unlock the Rupee Picolyte after... I think the second or third temple, supplying us with the best money earning method by far. Simon Simulations is also a good earner, if I remember correctly. And green Kinstones are a rare but still consistent drop from enemies, so if you explore more, and don't run past the enemies, you're going to get more green Kinstones.

Also, don't run after every new chest immediately. It's much more fun to go into an area and open five Kinstone chests in a row. The rewards feel a lot less "not worth it" too, then.

Not getting the Mirror Shield before beating the game is pretty dumb, though, but I must say that I find it really satisfying to wield against a Golden Octorok. http://i.imgur.com/ZRHtTJs.png


-Kinstones at their core are similar to how they are now. They come in Green/Blue/Red, when you befriend someone you combine your kinstone with theirs and stuff happens. Magic! Friendship!

-Kinstones do not drop randomly. You have a single Kinstone, as does everybody else. As you befriend someone, the two of your kinstones change to become more like each other, enabling the stone mashing. You befriend people in different ways, some via story, more via sidequest.

-When you successfully mash stones with somebody, it unlocks a fairy of the similar color that stays with you. You use these fairies to accomplish stuff out in the world. So instead of mashing stones, and getting a random chest appearing and marked on your map in the middle of nowhere, you explore out in the middle of nowhere, find a blue fairy spot, and use your blue fairy to unlock it. This encourages exploration instead of running directly to markers.

-Some of the sidequests that currently use kinstones but don't make sense under the above mentioned design change slightly. For example, anything that involves mashing stones with a wall (looking at you Goron Sidequest) changes. Could be as simple as finding Gorons in those caves/tunnels and telling them to go help their buddy. Finishing that sidequest unlocks the kinstone fusion for Biggoron as normal.

Basically, keep the essence of what they're supposed to be, but put more emphasis on building relationships and exploration instead of grinding and grinding.

I'm not entirely sure I understand. Would only having one single Kinstone mean you'd only be able to fuse kinstones once in the entire game? Or would they come apart again after fusing? Or would you only be able to find a new Kinstone after having fused the previous one? And would you be able to carry multiple fairies at once, or would you have to find the treasure before you could fuse anew? http://i.imgur.com/kavzNLd.png

Also, how do you befriend someone to fuse with?

And, well, crassly spoken, I wouldn't really call that emphasis on exploration unless those marks only appear in unexplored territories. Otherwise it sounds to me like it'll put emphasis on exploration in the same way hidden bomb walls put emphasis on exploration: by forcing you into a tedious search for something you expect to find but don't know where to look for. And unless you can perform a batch of fusings at once before going looking for them, this could easily become a very slow treasure hunt.

I'm sorry about going harsh on your idea. I just don't think it speaks to my type of player...


Back to the original Kinstones, if you play Gotta Catch 'Em All on any collection element in a game, it'll invariably turn into a grind, so I don't think it's fair to say that's where the emphasis of the original Kinstones is. The only real way to prevent that is by making the collectibles so few or so easily accessed that it doesn't take any time collecting them. No matter which, Kinstones would likely become less interesting to the player who rather stumbles upon stuff than seeks it out, since they'd either be encountering the Kinstones much more seldomly, or we'd just create some form of Kinstone Plaza where Kinstones become a currency among other.


-Still on the Mirror Shield, is the tiny shield made of stone? I always assumed it was wood, but Gorons eat rocks, and says the shield is a delicacy. And somehow eating the shield made it come out bigger. I am so confused by the physics of this. Like wouldn't it make more sense if we brought him a big boulder, and him chewing on it polished it into a usable mirror shield or something?

Biggoron talks about the shield being made of steel. I assume he accidently flattens and polishes it while nibbling at it, making it larger and lighter at the same time. Goron saliva probably serves to harden it too, given that it doesn't crumple like tinfoil. http://i.imgur.com/ZRHtTJs.png


-The way Link and his hat share a bed is either cute or creepy... but I honestly lean towards creepy. Like I get it's a hat, but it's also an old man and there's literally another bed 3 feet away unused. STRANGER DANGER.

That's Smith's bed. http://i.imgur.com/FZ6yI9l.png


Man, that's a good damn idea for how to fix the Kinstone system. I like it a lot and it would of been a lot better, with probably less programming trouble involved!

Not really, no. Apart from the animations and creating 100 different fuse results, I'd say that the mechanic as is is probably just a pair of days of work, if you stay focused. Since they're most likely using the same event system for changing tiles and areas as buttons and plot advancements do, I don't proramming the event manager would take much more extra time. Given, I see a lot of ways in which you could do this much less efficiently, but that's true of any project...

As for Seerow's idea, based on the answers to some of my questions above, it could be anything from more or less the same thing to a smaller game to develop in its own right. Could definitely cut down on the design and animation time if there are fewer of those Kinstones, though.

[LaZodiac]

All very good points, especially the fact that I prooobably could of done some of these sooner then I should of, and the next time I find myself playing a Zelda game like this I'll be a little more proactive in collecting stuff. I was just overly concerned with getting into a "okay I've got one fusion left...where do I go?" situation, cause that would suck.

Seeing as how I did get into that situation and the last fusion was THE FIRST PERSON I WENT TO and his little fusion thought bubble DID NOT GO UP, I ended up causing myself undue concern over something that ended up going pear shaped because of bad luck anyway. Whoopsiedoodle.

[Seerow]

I'm not entirely sure I understand. Would only having one single Kinstone mean you'd only be able to fuse kinstones once in the entire game? Or would they come apart again after fusing? Or would you only be able to find a new Kinstone after having fused the previous one? And would you be able to carry multiple fairies at once, or would you have to find the treasure before you could fuse anew?

The idea was that you'd keep your one kinstone. And yes, I was imagining being able to carry as many fairies around as you can get.


Also, how do you befriend someone to fuse with?

Doing things involving them. It could be small things (like talking to the lonely dog as a very tiny child), or bigger things (rescuing the King from being turned into stone). But basically instead of having 100 essentially completely random and meaningless fusions, you have 10-20 with characters that you interact with in some way to earn that fusion.


And, well, crassly spoken, I wouldn't really call that emphasis on exploration unless those marks only appear in unexplored territories. Otherwise it sounds to me like it'll put emphasis on exploration in the same way hidden bomb walls put emphasis on exploration: by forcing you into a tedious search for something you expect to find but don't know where to look for. And unless you can perform a batch of fusings at once before going looking for them, this could easily become a very slow treasure hunt.

I was imagining the things that a fairy can do being marked somehow when you do find them, so less annoying than bombable walls (which are frequently unmarked). Probably something closer to the windcrest symbols, though probably a bit smaller than that. But when you find it, you know it's there, it's just a matter of coming across it. But either way, yes if you don't like the idea of exploring every nook and cranny it probably won't appeal to you. But to me it fits the core zelda exploration concept a lot better than being led by the nose to points marked on your map.


I'm sorry about going harsh on your idea. I just don't think it speaks to my type of player...

Doesn't bug me any, it was a 10 minute spitball, just random thoughts. I'm not setting out to actually redesign the game or anything :smalleek:



Man, that's a good damn idea for how to fix the Kinstone system. I like it a lot and it would of been a lot better, with probably less programming trouble involved!


I agree with Teddy here, the kinstone system as it is is pretty simple as it is. My suggestion at best breaks even, and most likely creates more work in an effort to develop actual sidequests to unlock kinstone fusions.

[TheWombatOfDoom]

Okay guys...it's time. Lets take on Vaati.

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap [21] Vaati
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRGm2Tz-cC8)
Video Length: 24:22

Opening the boss door, we're greeted with a hallway. A bell chimes, signalling that we've got a time limit. Three clangs and Zelda's dead, the Light Force stripped from her completely. The good news is there isn't actually a time limit...yet. That being said, let's not be sluggish about it we're saving our best friend and potential love interest so lets get a move on, leaping over the Ball and Chain Soldier. A second chime, and this time we've gotta face a huge horde of the blue Keatons, then use our splitting power to open the next door. I'll admit this is all still really tense, even knowing the time limit doesn't start yet.

Then we step through the next door, and the time limit ACTUALLY starts. I think you have like...three minutes or so, which seems like plenty of time, but you're fighting two Mighty Darknuts and a Black Knight so it's actually really challenging. Thankfully, I went back to get more Charms off screen and my leaping strategy helps deal with these guys a lot faster then I would of if I fought them normally. With the Darknuts slain, we head on up to the roof to face Vaati.

Vaati, of course, has other plans. He's quite annoyed at us having interrupted his ritual, so after throwing us down a hole back to the room we just left, he teleports in to fight us personally. This is where he changes his body, corrupting it and becoming Vaati Reborn. Originally a Minish that turned himself into a Human Sorcerer, he's now used his immense magical power and even some of the Light Force to twist his body into a large, slightly Minish sorcerer with a giant eye on his body. It's time to fight! This form is quite dangerous, doing a lot of damage with it's attacks, few as they may be. He can spew out a torrent of fire which causes you to run around wildly, likely slamming into his body or his other attacks. His man method of attack is summoning up little eyeball orbiters that shoot out highly damaging lasers that have NO qualms with just combo-ing you to death. This is also his weakness however, as you can destroy the eyes, stunning Vaati and leaving him open for attack. After doing this once he adds two more eyes, and once more he covers them with shadows that must be removed using the Gust Jar. After that it's just a challenging fight, avoiding his attacks and destroying his eyes so you can slice him to ribbons. Once Vaati's taken enough damage, he'll let the dark powers he wields consume him, and he reveals his true form!

A giant orb with an eye on it, surrounded by other orbs. The epitome of wizarly might, say hello to the Wind Demon Sorcerer, Vaati Transfigured! This form is equal parts more and less difficult then Vaati Reborn. He can't cause contact damage to you, but in this form he can shoot tracking electrical shots or just regular aimed shots that are quite dangerous, and will hurt you even if they hit your clones. He can also spew out this dark matter that turns into spikes, but thankfully you can smash them open to get hearts or arrows. The goal of this form is to shoot arrows at his orbs to reveal if they're an eye or not. Blue means they're shielding him, red means they're a weakness we can exploit! Using the sacred tiles we can split into our and hit all four of his eyes at once, causing him to drop to the ground were we can just go whole hog on the guy! The might of four small children finally bring down Vaati, his body exploding fantastically!

With Vaati destroyed, we can take Zelda by the hand and run off to escape the castle! Unfortunately, Vaati didn't go down without a fight and is bringing the castle down with him! We hurry to the Elemental Sanctuary, assuming it'll be safe there. Once we get there however...dun dun duuuun! Vaati returns! His body may be shattered and broken, but he still lives! We thus enter the third and final form of the boss fight, Vaati's Wrath! As Vaati's Wrath he can shoot out tracking electrical shots at high speeds, as well as swipe at you with those huge claws. He can also smash them into the ground and cause them to rise up near you as a large shadowy tentacle, trying to bludgeon you to death or blast you with basic magic attacks. However, this is his weakness, as we can...use the Cane of Pacci to cause his arm to pop off when it's in this state. I suppose it's because they're coming out of a shadow hole, so the cane's energy gets into the hole and causes the arm to just get thrown into the air, ripping it off, but that's suuuper vague honestly. Anyway, a Minish Portal has appeared, so using it we shrink down into Vaati's ripped off limbs to destroy the cells inside! Like with the ghosts back in the dungeon proper, only one of them can be destroyed, the rest being fake. This is actually a really cool bit of foreshadowing, and if you look closely you can see that much like with those ghosts, the real one is always moving it's eye to look at you while the rest have dead stares. It's pretty cool.

Once both arms are destroyed Vaati switches to a more magically oriented attack mode, opening up the four eye orbs on his body and flying up on wings of darkness. Sadly, at least to me, this is where the quality of the boss drops pretty quickly. The goal here is to avoid his rapid fire spread of electrical orbs, then bounce back his magical eye blasts to stun him, where we can then pump him full of arrows. The problem is that the two attacks are basically on separate cool downs, and this causes them to sometimes overlap in weird annoying ways that make it quite hard to actually do. Coupled in with the fact that it's just a lot of waiting, and sometimes the game'll mess up and one of the reflected shots will go wide, it's just annoying. And lets not even get into how the Minish Portal is still here and if Vaati lands on it the Portal will block arrows from hitting him! This is the one unfortunate bit of the final boss, the one little sour note to what is actually a really badass, cool, fun boss fight. I won't let it tear me down though.

With Vaati finally destroyed, whatever shred of him remaining getting sealed by the power of the Four Sword, we can finally rest. His magic hat, in tatters, appears, and Ezlo's curse if broken. The great sage introduces himself properly, and gives Zelda the hat so her pure heart can wish for all the damage Vaati's done to be undone, saving the castle and all it's people and pushing the monsters back into the shadows. We have a sad good bye with the old man, as he shrinks and walks into the Elemental Sanctuary so he can return to...whever the Elemental Sanctuary actually is, which I think is the Sacred Realm for reasons and I'll explain what that actually is later. Zelda and Link are happy that the day has been saved, aaand the credits roll. Stick around in video to see some of my snarky thoughts and a special me based cameo. But yeah no that's it no special scene that's the game.

------

That all being said, this isn't the end of The Minish Cap thread. I've still gotta collect everything, which'll be the actual finale. After that...lets just say I've got an interesting plan I think you'll all like. Or some of you will like I'm not your Dad go make a decision for yourself. That being said, I think it's appropriate to give my quoteunquote "final thoughts" on the game here, since this IS the ending and really all of the post game collecting will have it's own sort of coda segment where I discuss how weird it is that they lock stuff behind beating the final boss.

The Minish Cap is definitely a Zelda game that has been overlooked, perhaps not surprisingly given that it's about shrinking in size. I think, from a purely mechanical standpoint, this game is actually like, pretty damn high up on the "what Zelda games are good?" tier. It's actually put together really well from a gameplay perspective, and while people may think the Kinstone thing is all busy work (and lets be fair most of the time it is) the actual dungeons are all very good, and most of them are quite memorable. It's fun exploring the world, and there's a really high density of enemies so you can do a lot of fun combat stuff, especially since there are so many enemy TYPES. One thing that really stands out to me mechanically is the sword trainer stuff. Swiftblade and his family teaching you special moves is actually a lot of fun and brings in some variety to the combat that makes it all the more fun.

The two main "gimmicks" of the game, for lack of a better term, is the Minish Portals and the Kinstone fusion. The Minish Portals are basically done as well as they could be given the system this is on, allowing us to shrink down and explore the world, seeing how it all looks from the perspective of the Minish. The Kinstones are this sort of weird quasi message of love and friendship by smashing rocks together so magical fairies will do things to make us happy and okay so it's not super great flavor wise but mechanically it's okay, though it does lead to the problem where "oh man my reward for fusing is the ability to fuse more how great yay" and that always feels bad, I think. Again, more on this in Monday's little coda thing.

Now lets talk about story. Blah blah blah yes I know, and I'm probably really overstating it, but yes I'm aware the Zelda Timeline is all silly and dumb and stuff, but I like it. I like having little connections and stuff, and I feel it all works well. So bare with me. Minish Cap takes place after Skyward Sword, and the legend it tells is an interesting one that feels like Skyward Sword and another legend that happened between these two games got mixed together. We know for a fact that the Four Sword is not the Master Sword, and The Light Force isn't the Triforce, so it's clear they're separate legendary artifacts. I'm curious and interested in seeing a game that details the first time the Minish show up.

Anyway, Minish Cap's story proper; it's okay. Nothing really big happens, but nothing really stupid or bad happens. The apprentice of a wizard gets his hands on a magical hat, and being fascinated with the darkness in the hearts of men makes said apprentice decide to do evil stuff. He opens up an obvious Pandora's Box reference and we have to stop him with a wisetalking hat who happens to be the apprentice's cursed master. It's a perfectly okay plot, the only really outstanding part is how they worked in "Ezlo's actually just a bad teacher" into the game mechanics by making him like, 70% of the time give you basically no actual useful information. It's annoying if you're not really good at these games, or are playing it for the first time, but I really appreciate the fun connection between story and mechanics. No wonder Vaati's evil, stop yelling at me you dang hat! I also find it really funny how, due to how the Minish work, they had to specify Link is a young child. Like, it's funny to me how it's a plot point that Link's like 12 and being told to do all this stuff to save the world and he has no idea what he's doing because he is just a tiny baby child.

So yeah. Overall, this was just a really fun, good game. Not the best Zelda but certainly not the worst Zelda, it was an enjoyable, fast paced romp through Hyrule. An interesting adventure where we take a small child, throw a cranky old man on his head, and tell him to go face horrific danger and monsters to save the world and also his best friend and maybe love interest. Despite it all, Link pulls through and beats the evil, who's only words are "How could I be beaten by a small child" to which all I have to say is no Vaati, you're wrong. I can clone myself you got beat by four small children.

See you guys next time yo.

Style points for defeating Vaati, because I never could. I don't think I got past the first form. Those eyeballs killed me dead. Vaati's hat reminds me of...a certain...mask...in final form. Even has three stages...

As far as the story, I like it. Its a simple one but a nice found about way of creating the four sword, and also introducing the shrinking mechanic I think is pretty neat. I think it could have been a bigger game utilizing the mechanic more, but it works for what it was. There were a lot of redundancies that were unneeded like the light force and such that was triangular. You'd think it was an element of Hylia in any case, maybe a shadow of the triforce. It certainly acts similarly. I love the variety in of areas and enemies, and the puzzles were great. Certainly a fun one to play, and the title is a pun! :smallsmile:



EPISODE 21 KILL TALLY!

Blue Keaton - 10
Mighty Darknut - 2
Black Knight Darknut - 1
Vaati - 1

Style Points - 1

Missed Rupees - 0
Lost Rupees (theft, overflow, ect.) - 0

(previous episodes)



The Minish Cap
Total Kills
(As of Episode 21)

Acro-Bandits - 91
Ghini - 30
Gleerok - 1
Helmasaurs - 18
Keese - 60
Lakitu - 3
Moldorm - 12
Puffstools - 10
Sluggula - 40
Sparks - 19
Vaati - 1

Avians
Crows - 15
Takkuri - 3

Blins
Moblins - 19
Moblins (Bow) - 5
Moblins, Blue - 17
Moblins, Blue (Bow) - 3

Bombs
Bob-ombs - 14
Bombarossa - 27

Bugs
Beetles - 12
Beetles, Spiked - 8
Beetles, Spiny - 16
Beetles, Scissor - 12
Madderpillars - 4
Mulldozers - 32
Mulldozers, Blue - 28
Rollobites - 1
Pestos - 33
Pestos, Blue - 5

Chuchus
Chuchus, Green - 11*
Chuchus, Red - 28
Chuchus, Blue - 7*
Chuchus, Spike - 14

Constructs
Armos - 9
Eyegore Statues - 7
Turrets - 8
Mazaal - 1

Hands
Floormasters - 10
Wallmaster - 2

Keatons
Keatons - 10
Keatons, Blue - 25

Leevers
Leevers - 1
Leevers, Blue - 5

Likes
Rupee Likes, Green - 1
Rupee Likes, Blue - 1
Rupee Likes, Red - 3
Like Likes - 4

Octoroks
Octoroks - 98*
Octoroks, Blue - 13
Octoroks, Gold - 1

Peahats
Peahats - 26
Peahats, Blue - 2

Rope
Ropes - 34
Ropes, Gold - 1

Skyfish
Cloud Piranhas - 6
Gyorg, Blue - 2
Gyorg, Green - 4
Gyorg, Red - 1

Soldier
Darknuts - 6
Darknuts, Mighty - 6
Darknuts, Black Knight - 2
Soldiers, Ball and Chain - 4

Stal
Stalfos - 54
Stalfos, Red - 21
Gibdo - 8
Bubbles, Red - 3
Bubbles, Blue - 1

Tektites
Tektites - 52
Tektites, Blue - 1

Wizrobe
Wizrobes - 28
Wizrobes, Ice - 4
Wizrobes, Fire - 7

*one of which was a boss

Total Things Dead - 1072!!

1st Place - Octoroks, at 98!
2nd Place - Acro-bandits, at 91!
3rd Place - Stalfos, at 54!

Total Style Points - 14!

Total Missed Rupees - 4
Total Lost Rupees - 313

[LaZodiac]

Style points for defeating Vaati, because I never could. I don't think I got past the first form. Those eyeballs killed me dead. Vaati's hat reminds me of...a certain...mask...in final form. Even has three stages...

As far as the story, I like it. Its a simple one but a nice found about way of creating the four sword, and also introducing the shrinking mechanic I think is pretty neat. I think it could have been a bigger game utilizing the mechanic more, but it works for what it was. There were a lot of redundancies that were unneeded like the light force and such that was triangular. You'd think it was an element of Hylia in any case, maybe a shadow of the triforce. It certainly acts similarly. I love the variety in of areas and enemies, and the puzzles were great. Certainly a fun one to play, and the title is a pun! :smallsmile:


Yeah, you'd think so. The funny thing about the Light Force is that it does get used later on in the series, especially if you're familiar with other games that may or may not include the Four Sword and everyone's favorite wind wizard.

[TheWombatOfDoom]

Let's finish the fight, as it were.

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap [22] [FINALE] Friendship Rocks (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciTvBlUZxPM)

Video Length: 29:04

Strap yourself in boys, this one's pretty long. But it's also the final video so that can be allowed. I took this down from 3 hours so I think the length is perfectly acceptable. Anyway, this is the final episode. We're going to get everything today, no ifs ands or buts. Every Kinstone fusion, every reward FROM that fusion, every incidental chest just laying around, every item, and every Figurine in the whole game. So lets talk a bit about all these, shall we?

Let's talk about Kinstones first, since it so easily leads into at least two other topics. Kinstones are problematic. First, you do have to collect them as drops, there is NO easy way to buy the pieces you need which is just obnoxious. This is helped by the Picolyte, but that only lass 30 seconds. While the drop rate IS increased DRAMATICALLY, Picolyte also costs 200 rupees, so you'll need to do some kind of grinding to fuel your Kinstone hunting. Then we get to the actual ACT of fusing stones, which is troublesome. Some fusions don't unlock until you're later in the game which is quite fine, but other fusions are attached to people who are quote "Fickle". What this means is that some people who HAVE a fusion, won't want to fuse with you all the time. You have to constantly reload the screen. Now, the good news is that by end game, every Fickle Fuser has their fusion shared with a constant person except for one (the purple teacher lady). The bad news is since this mechanic exists I spent like 40 minutes constantly reloading every Fickle Fuser's screen. That was painful.

Then we get into the rewards these give you, which...at the end of the day just really isn't worth it. Mysterious shells are occasionally a reward and that's cool, and rupees are nice since it cuts down on the grinding for cash I NEEDED to do to get the Figurines (because you can buy Mysterious shells from the store), but when all is said and done the rewards for doing Kinstone fusion is rarely worth it. The rewards that ARE worth it certainly are, extra hearts more arrows the Light Arrow our good friend Remote Bomb, all of that's obtained by fusion. But all of these could of been done through actual side quests perhaps instead of just rubbing stones with someone and would of been fine. I guess they just really wanted to do this cute friendship rock thing.

Another problem with fusion is that a few, not most of these but SOME, could only be done after beating up Vaati. The biggest one of these is the Goron fusion that gets you the Mirror Shield, a fantastic shield that lets you move a little faster while shielding, gives you a larger shield for more protection, and lets you bounce projectiles back with an intense force! There's nothing left in the game to use this on. That just makes you feel bad, something like the Mirror Shield shouldn't really be a bragging rights reward, because really all you did was smush rocks together with a Goron. Speaking of bragging rights rewards completing every fusion gets you a golden Tingle Trophy. That's it! It prevents you from doing fusions if any somehow remain, and it makes it so that you can't get Kinstones from non-chest based rewards. Neat I guess. So yeah that's kind of my Kinstone rant.

Small side point before moving on. During this video I find the last actual enemy in the game! This one is rare, only really showing up in one or two places. The Moldworm, a tiny little worm enemy that...does nothing really. It eats Link and poots him out, making Pesto's attack him more aggressively. Good job Moldworm. Also worth mentioning is one of the ACTUAL SIDE QUESTS that doesn't involve Kinstones is finally shown off. We must play chicken chaser, running after Anju's Cucco's to throw them into the pen. I don't see why she times us for this, and I sure as hell don't see why they make us do this NINE TIMES, but at the end of it all we get a Heart Piece so that's good.

Okay, Figurines! Pay a slowly increasing amount of Mysterious shells to gamble at getting a new figurine. You can always get 100% odds so that rules. I do get all of them, and do show what happens when you get all of them on screen. Our reward for 100% clearing is the Carlov Medal, which replaces our Mysterious Shells and just makes every single Mysterious Shell drop become rupees and also gets halved in value. After a 11ish minute interlude of looking at our cool action figures and their somewhat comedic descriptions, we can finally progress onward. The guy outside the Mama's Cafe gives us the key to his house after showing him the Carlov medal, and thanks to that we're able to open up his mysterious house, finally. The chests contain money, and since this is literally the last thing we ever have to do in the game that's quite cruel. We do get our final Heart Piece, and more importantly we get the Sound Test! I think that's a pretty cool reward, to be honest.

But yeah, that's it. Link returns home to sleep. After all this, I'd be tired too. Normally I'd put up a poll for the next game I play but...that'll have to wait for next time. Speaking of next time, I've got something special planned. Hope you all enjoy.

Style points for maxing out all kinstones! Wowee....

Yeah, I'm not happy about the mirror shield actually not gettable until after you beat the game...that just seems like an bad mechanic for people like me who don't want to finish a game without getting everything and not looking at a manual. Another reason I probably couldn't finish the game come to think of it...

Good job on getting rid of rupees before getting those last two red rupees. I think it deserves a style point. :smallamused:

Dear god that's a lot of cuccoo catching. :smallsigh:

Alright, so since its the last episode, I've got something special! Its time for Item Inventory!!! DUH DUH DUH DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUH!!!!!




Skyward Sword
Minish Cap


Master Sword
Four Sword


Bow
Bow (Regular, Light Arrow)


Bombs
Bombs (Regular, Remote)


Beetle



Bug Net



Slingshot



Clawshot



Whip



Gust Bellows
Gust Jar



Cane of Pacci



Boomerang (Regular, Magical)


Digging/Mogma Mitts
Mole Mitts



Lantern



Pegasus Boots


Sail Cloth
Roc's Cape


Goddess's Harp
Ocarina of Wind



Power Bracelets


Fireshield Earings



Water Dragon's Scale



Wooden Shield



Iron Shield
Small Shield


Sacred Shield



Hylian Shield




Mirror Shield





-
Skyward Sword
Minish Cap


Pieces of Heart
24
44


Max Rupees
9900
999


Max Bottles
5
4






EPISODE 22 KILL TALLY!

Octorok - 1
Moblin - 2
Beetle - 3
Spiny Beetle - 4
Keese - 8
Helmasaurs - 1
Green Chuchu - 1
Pesto - 7
Blue Mulldozer - 7
Gold Octorok - 2
Moblin (Bow) - 2
Crow - 1
Gold Rope - 2
Scissor Beetle - 3
Tektite - 7
Moldworm - 1
Acro-bandit - 1
Blue Octorok - 1
Moldorm - 1
Gold Tektite - 3
Red Chuchu - 1
Blue Tektite - 1
Peahat - 1
Blue Leever - 4
Spark - 1
Ghini - 2

Style Points - 2

Missed Rupees - 0
Lost Rupees (theft, overflow, ect.) - 0

(previous episodes)



The Minish Cap
Total Kills
(Final Count)

Acro-Bandits - 92
Ghini - 32
Gleerok - 1
Helmasaurs - 19
Keese - 68
Lakitu - 3
Puffstools - 10
Sluggula - 40
Sparks - 20
Vaati - 1

Avians
Crows - 16
Takkuri - 3

Blins
Moblins - 21
Moblins (Bow) - 7
Moblins, Blue - 17
Moblins, Blue (Bow) - 3

Bombs
Bob-ombs - 14
Bombarossa - 27

Bugs
Beetles - 15
Beetles, Spiked - 8
Beetles, Spiny - 20
Beetles, Scissor - 15
Madderpillars - 4
Mulldozers - 32
Mulldozers, Blue - 35
Rollobites - 1
Pestos - 40
Pestos, Blue - 5

Chuchus
Chuchus, Green - 12*
Chuchus, Red - 29
Chuchus, Blue - 7*
Chuchus, Spike - 14

Constructs
Armos - 9
Eyegore Statues - 7
Turrets - 8
Mazaal - 1

Hands
Floormasters - 10
Wallmaster - 2

Keatons
Keatons - 10
Keatons, Blue - 25

Leevers
Leevers - 1
Leevers, Blue - 9

Likes
Rupee Likes, Green - 1
Rupee Likes, Blue - 1
Rupee Likes, Red - 3
Like Likes - 4

Molds
Moldorms - 13
Moldworms -1

Octoroks
Octoroks - 99*
Octoroks, Blue - 14
Octoroks, Gold - 3

Peahats
Peahats - 27
Peahats, Blue - 2

Rope
Ropes - 34
Ropes, Gold - 3

Skyfish
Cloud Piranhas - 6
Gyorg, Blue - 2
Gyorg, Green - 4
Gyorg, Red - 1

Soldier
Darknuts - 6
Darknuts, Mighty (Caped) - 6
Darknuts, Black Knight - 2
Soldiers, Ball and Chain - 4

Stal
Stalfos - 54
Stalfos, Red - 21
Gibdo - 8
Bubbles, Red - 3
Bubbles, Blue - 1

Tektites
Tektites - 59
Tektites, Blue - 2
Tektites, Gold - 3

Wizzrobes
Wizzrobes - 28
Wizzrobes, Ice - 4
Wizzrobes, Fire - 7

*one of which was a boss

Total Things Dead - 1072!!

1st Place - Octoroks, at 99!
2nd Place - Acro-bandits, at 92!
3rd Place - Keese, at 68!

Total Style Points - 16!

Total Missed Rupees - 4
Total Lost Rupees - 313

[LaZodiac]

Style points for maxing out all kinstones! Wowee....

Yeah, I'm not happy about the mirror shield actually not gettable until after you beat the game...that just seems like an bad mechanic for people like me who don't want to finish a game without getting everything and not looking at a manual. Another reason I probably couldn't finish the game come to think of it...

Good job on getting rid of rupees before getting those last two red rupees. I think it deserves a style point. :smallamused:

Dear god that's a lot of cuccoo catching. :smallsigh:

Alright, so since its the last episode, I've got something special! Its time for Item Inventory!!! DUH DUH DUH DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUH!!!!!




Skyward Sword
Minish Cap


Master Sword
Four Sword


Bow
Bow (Regular, Light Arrow)


Bombs
Bombs (Regular, Remote)


Beetle



Bug Net



Slingshot



Clawshot



Whip



Gust Bellows
Gust Jar



Cane of Pacci



Boomerang (Regular, Magical)


Digging/Mogma Mitts
Mole Mitts



Lantern



Pegasus Boots


Sail Cloth
Roc's Cape


Goddess's Harp
Ocarina of Wind



Power Bracelets


Fireshield Earings



Water Dragon's Scale



Wooden Shield



Iron Shield
Small Shield


Sacred Shield



Hylian Shield




Mirror Shield





-
Skyward Sword
Minish Cap


Pieces of Heart
24
44


Max Rupees
9900
999


Max Bottles
5
4






Total Things Dead - 1072!!

1st Place - Octoroks, at 99!
2nd Place - Acro-bandits, at 92!
3rd Place - Keese, at 68!

Total Style Points - 16!

Total Missed Rupees - 4
Total Lost Rupees - 313

I saw how high my rupee count was getting and I immediately thought of you. Oh man, my gaming habits have been changed by recording video games for the internet what have you done to me.

Yup! Way too many chickens. Could of cut that minigame in half and it'd be fine. Also, holy crap that's a cool little table thing. By the time we're done all the Zelda's that's going to be huge!

For such a short game, I think we matched Skyward Sword's total kill count, right?

[TheWombatOfDoom]

The Legend of Zelda
Total Kills
(Skyward Sword, The Minish Cap)

Acro-Bandits - 92
Ampilus - 15
Bilocyte - 1
Cranioc - 4
Ghini - 32
Gleerok - 1
Helmasaurs - 19
Lakitu - 3
Puffstools - 10
Sparks - 20

Avians
Crows - 16
Guay - 39
Takkuri - 4
Hrok - 2
Furnix - 5

Babas
Deku Baba - 57
Quadro Baba - 19

Blins
Bokoblin, Red - 281
Bokoblin, Red (Archer) - 33
Bokoblin, Green - 14
Bokoblin, Green (Archer) - 30
Bokoblin, Blue - 43
Bokoblin, Cursed - 52
Technoblin - 39
Moblins - 21
Moblin (Wooden Shield) - 4
Moblin (Metal Shield) - 6
Moblins (Bow) - 7
Moblins, Blue - 17
Moblins, Blue (Bow) - 3

Bombs
Bob-ombs - 14
Bombarossa - 27

Bugs
Bee hives - 6
Beetles - 15
Beetles, Spiked - 8
Beetles, Spiny - 20
Beetles, Scissor - 15
Bugs - 6
Madderpillars - 4
Mulldozers - 32
Mulldozers, Blue - 35
Rollobites - 1
Pestos - 40
Pestos, Blue - 5
Sluggula - 40

Constructs
Armos - 14
Beamos - 24
Eyegore Statues - 7
Sentrobe - 3
Turrets - 8
Scervo - 1
Dreadfuse - 1
Mazaal - 1
Koloktos - 3
Ghirahim - 1

Hands
Floormasters - 10
Wallmaster - 2
Magmanos - 3

Keatons
Keatons - 10
Keatons, Blue - 25

Keese
Keese - 314
Keese, Fire - 95
Keese, Thunder - 38
Keese, Dark - 20

Leevers
Leevers - 1
Leevers, Blue - 9

Likes
Rupee Likes, Green - 1
Rupee Likes, Blue - 1
Rupee Likes, Red - 3
Like Likes - 4

Lizal
Lizalfos - 18
Lizalfos, Dark - 4

Molds
Aracha - 163
Moldarach - 3
Moldorms - 18
Moldworms -1
Sky-Tail - 5
Walltula - 17
Skulltula - 19


Octoroks
Octoroks - 99*
Octoroks, Blue - 14
Octoroks, Gold - 3
Octorok, Grass - 13
Octorok, Sky - 3
Octorok, Rock - 8
Tentalus - 3

Peahats
Peahats - 27
Peahats, Blue - 2

Pyroclasts
Pyrup - 9
Scaldera - 2

Ropes
Ropes - 34
Ropes, Gold - 3

Skyfish
Froak - 36
Cloud Piranhas - 6
Gyorg, Blue - 2
Gyorg, Green - 4
Gyorg, Red - 1

Slimes
Chuchus, Green - 111*
Chuchus, Red - 99
Chuchus, Yellow - 67
Chuchus, Blue - 11*
Chuchus, Spike - 14

Soldiers
Darknuts - 6
Darknuts, Mighty - 6
Darknuts, Black Knight - 2
Soldiers, Ball and Chain - 4

Spumes
Spumes, Magma - 10
Spumes, Electro - 18
Spumes, Water - 1
Spumes, Cursed - 18

Stal
Stalfos - 63
Stalfos, Red - 21
Stalmaster - 2
Gibdo - 8
Staldra - 7
Bubbles, Red - 3
Bubbles, Blue - 1

Tektites
Tektites - 59
Tektites, Blue - 2
Tektites, Gold - 3

Wizzrobes
Wizzrobes - 28
Wizzrobes, Ice - 4
Wizzrobes, Fire - 7

Final Bosses
Demise - 1
Vaati - 1

*one of which was a boss

Total Things Dead - 2706

1st Place - Keese, at 314!
2nd Place - Red Bokoblin, at 281!
3rd Place - Aracha, at 163!

Total Style Points - 16!

Total Missed Rupees - 285
Total Lost Rupees - 313

[LaZodiac]

Jeez that's a long list. 2706 creatures have been felled by our dear protagonist, and we've made a small fortune from the rupees we missed or lost along the way.

I'm excited for Friday, lets be perfectly blunt here.

[Coidzor]

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap [20] Dark Hyrule Castle (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JzIOsDla7g)

I'm still annoyed that the Light Arrows aren't able to explode Gibdo's though.

Accursed bandages! Other than moblins, gibdos are the main tough enemy to want to One Shot. I mean, maybe floor masters might be light arrow fodder, too... :/ Just not a very good reward on the optional reward end of things. Oh well, futuepast Links appreciate them continuing to exist so they can get them.

It really is too bad there doesn't seem to be much use for the ground pound sword move. Maybe in that chusterflub of a mini game with the monsters all on top of you. Since at first you don't quite have the breathing room to great spin attack them.

Wizrobes are lame and totally should have a tackle em option, like most wizards. :smallamused:

Great googly moogly that's a lotta Keatons!

~5 minutes is where having regular bombs would be handy, since you could quickly bomb all the walls in a room to test instead of methodically bombing each segment one by one.

~11:50: You and your misaligned smol children! :smalltongue:

Y'know, I have to wonder just what Darknuts are. Another, canine offshoot of demons related to the 'blins? A creation of one of what's his face's reincarnations?

Ahh, good to see you finally discovered the secret to defeating darknuts, thinking vertically. :smallbiggrin:


I meant, why is the ground black with red clouds? Since its top down view, it makes it look like the castle is floating or in another dimension.

Vaati's futzing around with a demiplane overlapping the basic dimensional reality of Hyrule.


7) On the kinstone fusions, the concept itself wasn't awful, but the implementation just leaves me shaking my head at it in general. I did notice that the last dungeon enemies seemed to have a pretty high drop rate though, we seemed to be getting 1-2 green kinstones per room which was kind of nice. Still after you've essentially beaten the game there's not much point to farm kinstones except completionism. Just because Zodi will be doing it does not make it good game design!

That basically sums it up perfectly, aye.


Okay guys...it's time. Lets take on Vaati.

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap [21] Vaati
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRGm2Tz-cC8)
Video Length: 24:22

Opening the boss door, we're greeted with a hallway. A bell chimes, signalling that we've got a time limit. Three clangs and Zelda's dead, the Light Force stripped from her completely. The good news is there isn't actually a time limit...yet. That being said, let's not be sluggish about it we're saving our best friend and potential love interest so lets get a move on, leaping over the Ball and Chain Soldier. A second chime, and this time we've gotta face a huge horde of the blue Keatons, then use our splitting power to open the next door. I'll admit this is all still really tense, even knowing the time limit doesn't start yet.

I'm sad you skipped out on the opportunity to actually try fighting the keatons while in 4 smol child mode. :smallfrown: :smalltongue:


Then we step through the next door, and the time limit ACTUALLY starts. I think you have like...three minutes or so, which seems like plenty of time, but you're fighting two Mighty Darknuts and a Black Knight so it's actually really challenging. Thankfully, I went back to get more Charms off screen and my leaping strategy helps deal with these guys a lot faster then I would of if I fought them normally. With the Darknuts slain, we head on up to the roof to face Vaati.

Much faster, yeah. Still surprised that you managed to kill the Black Knight before the second Mighty Darknut, though.

This also explains why you didn't refill those bottles with fairies after you used up the charms last video.


Vaati, of course, has other plans. He's quite annoyed at us having interrupted his ritual, so after throwing us down a hole back to the room we just left, he teleports in to fight us personally. This is where he changes his body, corrupting it and becoming Vaati Reborn. Originally a Minish that turned himself into a Human Sorcerer, he's now used his immense magical power and even some of the Light Force to twist his body into a large, slightly Minish sorcerer with a giant eye on his body. It's time to fight! This form is quite dangerous, doing a lot of damage with it's attacks, few as they may be. He can spew out a torrent of fire which causes you to run around wildly, likely slamming into his body or his other attacks. His man method of attack is summoning up little eyeball orbiters that shoot out highly damaging lasers that have NO qualms with just combo-ing you to death. This is also his weakness however, as you can destroy the eyes, stunning Vaati and leaving him open for attack. After doing this once he adds two more eyes, and once more he covers them with shadows that must be removed using the Gust Jar. After that it's just a challenging fight, avoiding his attacks and destroying his eyes so you can slice him to ribbons. Once Vaati's taken enough damage, he'll let the dark powers he wields consume him, and he reveals his true form!

One thing I have to wonder is this.

Why are the forces of evil in Zeldaverse... obsessed with singular staring eyes? Are they secretly a subsidiary of the Illuminati or something? :smallconfused:

Or was Sauron just that influential? :smallamused:

Another thing I wonder... Is it just a coincidence or did they intend for his eye to be so... lewd. :smalleek:


A giant orb with an eye on it, surrounded by other orbs. The epitome of wizarly might, say hello to the Wind Demon Sorcerer, Vaati Transfigured! This form is equal parts more and less difficult then Vaati Reborn. He can't cause contact damage to you, but in this form he can shoot tracking electrical shots or just regular aimed shots that are quite dangerous, and will hurt you even if they hit your clones. He can also spew out this dark matter that turns into spikes, but thankfully you can smash them open to get hearts or arrows. The goal of this form is to shoot arrows at his orbs to reveal if they're an eye or not. Blue means they're shielding him, red means they're a weakness we can exploit! Using the sacred tiles we can split into our and hit all four of his eyes at once, causing him to drop to the ground were we can just go whole hog on the guy! The might of four small children finally bring down Vaati, his body exploding fantastically!

Super rude of Vaati to try to camp on top of the child duplication tiles.

Almost genre savvy of him, though. :smallamused:

It is also interesting to see weaponized EVIL CRYSTAL, I think.

The pattern of his eye and eyebrow reminds me a bit of the shiekah and gossip stones, though. :smallconfused:


With Vaati destroyed, we can take Zelda by the hand and run off to escape the castle! Unfortunately, Vaati didn't go down without a fight and is bringing the castle down with him! We hurry to the Elemental Sanctuary, assuming it'll be safe there. Once we get there however...dun dun duuuun! Vaati returns! His body may be shattered and broken, but he still lives! We thus enter the third and final form of the boss fight, Vaati's Wrath! As Vaati's Wrath he can shoot out tracking electrical shots at high speeds, as well as swipe at you with those huge claws. He can also smash them into the ground and cause them to rise up near you as a large shadowy tentacle, trying to bludgeon you to death or blast you with basic magic attacks. However, this is his weakness, as we can...use the Cane of Pacci to cause his arm to pop off when it's in this state. I suppose it's because they're coming out of a shadow hole, so the cane's energy gets into the hole and causes the arm to just get thrown into the air, ripping it off, but that's suuuper vague honestly. Anyway, a Minish Portal has appeared, so using it we shrink down into Vaati's ripped off limbs to destroy the cells inside! Like with the ghosts back in the dungeon proper, only one of them can be destroyed, the rest being fake. This is actually a really cool bit of foreshadowing, and if you look closely you can see that much like with those ghosts, the real one is always moving it's eye to look at you while the rest have dead stares. It's pretty cool.

I wonder how on earth you're supposed to figure out that the cane of pacci is the key here... :smallconfused:

Oh, hey, the pupils are empty circles on the clones too. Double insurance!

...So why did you get fooled by the decoys? :smalltongue:

I definitely agree that playing tennis with the final boss should be reserved for one of the earlier forms, not the final form. :smallconfused:

Definitely a wasted opportunity to not have Vaati stunned long enough to use light arrows on him.

Alas, poor light arrows.

I think this is the first thing I've actually felt tempted to skip all LP. :smallsigh: Bad tedious final boss fight with wonky mechanics! :smallfurious:

I mean, sure, it'd have been less bad if you learned the pattern to wait until after the lightning scatter to hit the last smol child duplication tile, but it's still atrocious.

Zelda's comments about all those people really reminds me of how it'd have been neat to have rescued more people as you proceeded through the castle than just the king. I'd have sworn you did rescue someone other than the King after that first room of dudes, too... :smallconfused: What tricks memory plays.

*ahem*

Dat derpy-eye Chu-Chu. :smallamused:


That all being said, this isn't the end of The Minish Cap thread. I've still gotta collect everything, which'll be the actual finale. After that...lets just say I've got an interesting plan I think you'll all like. Or some of you will like I'm not your Dad go make a decision for yourself. That being said, I think it's appropriate to give my quoteunquote "final thoughts" on the game here, since this IS the ending and really all of the post game collecting will have it's own sort of coda segment where I discuss how weird it is that they lock stuff behind beating the final boss.

The Minish Cap is definitely a Zelda game that has been overlooked, perhaps not surprisingly given that it's about shrinking in size. I think, from a purely mechanical standpoint, this game is actually like, pretty damn high up on the "what Zelda games are good?" tier. It's actually put together really well from a gameplay perspective, and while people may think the Kinstone thing is all busy work (and lets be fair most of the time it is) the actual dungeons are all very good, and most of them are quite memorable. It's fun exploring the world, and there's a really high density of enemies so you can do a lot of fun combat stuff, especially since there are so many enemy TYPES. One thing that really stands out to me mechanically is the sword trainer stuff. Swiftblade and his family teaching you special moves is actually a lot of fun and brings in some variety to the combat that makes it all the more fun.

The two main "gimmicks" of the game, for lack of a better term, is the Minish Portals and the Kinstone fusion. The Minish Portals are basically done as well as they could be given the system this is on, allowing us to shrink down and explore the world, seeing how it all looks from the perspective of the Minish. The Kinstones are this sort of weird quasi message of love and friendship by smashing rocks together so magical fairies will do things to make us happy and okay so it's not super great flavor wise but mechanically it's okay, though it does lead to the problem where "oh man my reward for fusing is the ability to fuse more how great yay" and that always feels bad, I think. Again, more on this in Monday's little coda thing.

Now lets talk about story. Blah blah blah yes I know, and I'm probably really overstating it, but yes I'm aware the Zelda Timeline is all silly and dumb and stuff, but I like it. I like having little connections and stuff, and I feel it all works well. So bare with me. Minish Cap takes place after Skyward Sword, and the legend it tells is an interesting one that feels like Skyward Sword and another legend that happened between these two games got mixed together. We know for a fact that the Four Sword is not the Master Sword, and The Light Force isn't the Triforce, so it's clear they're separate legendary artifacts. I'm curious and interested in seeing a game that details the first time the Minish show up.

Anyway, Minish Cap's story proper; it's okay. Nothing really big happens, but nothing really stupid or bad happens. The apprentice of a wizard gets his hands on a magical hat, and being fascinated with the darkness in the hearts of men makes said apprentice decide to do evil stuff. He opens up an obvious Pandora's Box reference and we have to stop him with a wisetalking hat who happens to be the apprentice's cursed master. It's a perfectly okay plot, the only really outstanding part is how they worked in "Ezlo's actually just a bad teacher" into the game mechanics by making him like, 70% of the time give you basically no actual useful information. It's annoying if you're not really good at these games, or are playing it for the first time, but I really appreciate the fun connection between story and mechanics. No wonder Vaati's evil, stop yelling at me you dang hat! I also find it really funny how, due to how the Minish work, they had to specify Link is a young child. Like, it's funny to me how it's a plot point that Link's like 12 and being told to do all this stuff to save the world and he has no idea what he's doing because he is just a tiny baby child.

So yeah. Overall, this was just a really fun, good game. Not the best Zelda but certainly not the worst Zelda, it was an enjoyable, fast paced romp through Hyrule. An interesting adventure where we take a small child, throw a cranky old man on his head, and tell him to go face horrific danger and monsters to save the world and also his best friend and maybe love interest. Despite it all, Link pulls through and beats the evil, who's only words are "How could I be beaten by a small child" to which all I have to say is no Vaati, you're wrong. I can clone myself you got beat by four small children.

Yeah, this is basically the closest to the feel of the original Link to the Past, but shorter and sweeter in many ways... I do wish there had been a bit more Minishing in the second half of the game beyond just the collectathoning, though.

And then undone by awkward kinstone stuff and, well, Tingle. :smallfurious:

[LaZodiac]

But more on this at a later date~

OH LOOK AT THE TIME IT'S A LATER DATE!

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda Four Swords [1] Get Rich or Die Trying (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JW1Yb1E0HTQ)

Video Length: 25:32

So, the next game in the Zelda series is Four Swords, a small little side game that was originally multiplayer only, attached to the GBA remake of Link to the Past. This game introduced Vaati as a thing, as well as the Four Sword, and is basically just a super duper small diversion. As such, this game doesn't really deserve it's own thread in the future, so I decided THE FUTURE, IS NOW! I'll be starting the vote for which game we do next at the bottom of this post, but for now lets begin our small side trip into weird multiplayer Zelda.

Yo so it turned out Vaati came back. His death breaking his mind, he now truly believed he was the demonic Wind Sorcerer he turned into. Vague recollections of his past inspired him to torment the lands once again, kidnapping fair maidens and taking over the Palace of Winds. A brave hero took up the Four Sword and with the combined strength of four children, once more slew the former Minish, this time sealing his essence into the Four Sword so he wouldn't come back and be a jerk. Unfortunately the Four Sword isn't as good at the whole "blade of evil's bane" thing as the proper Master Sword so the seal eventually weakens, bringing us to today. The adorable Princess Zelda brings her friend Link to the Wind Shrine, basically to check up on how the seal is doing. Turns out it broke and Vaati's back! He kidnaps Zelda, and at the urging of three small fairies draw the blade, splitting into four! Our adventure begins...TO GET RICH YO!

So, as I said above, Four Swords is a side game made in the GBA era, before Minish Cap was made. Originally it was multiplayer only, having to connect through a link cable and everything. For early adopted of the 3DS and also for the 25th Anniversary of Zelda, they released the version I'm playing. A special edition that has some bonus stuff we'll get to later, and the ability to play solo. I'll be taking requests on which colour of Link to take with me into dungeons by the way. The gameplay of this game is REALLY simple, it's just basic Zelda stuff but with friends. The conceit of the game is to get to the end of the dungeon, beat the boss, and get a key from the Fairy that guards that land, with more rupees equaling better keys. Seeing as how the keys do nothing but make the final dungeon slightly harder I'm not going to waste all your time grinding out the 3000+5000 rupees needed to get the best keys. If I had friends playing this where the draw was more "haha look at these four idiots kill each other" then maybe, but as it stands, no. Once we beat the game and show off the special anniversary edition bonus dungeons that RULE, we're done here. This'll take like maybe 6 or 7 videos.

Let's discuss some of the new enemies and mechanics in this, while we've the time. Due to having multiple Links, some enemies now REQUIRE cooperation. The Hikkun and Nokkun, specifically. They're both eyeball orb monsters, Hikkun being red and defeated by RIPPING IT IN HALF, while Nokkun is green and has you throwing it to your partner to slice out of the air. It's pretty cool. Other "partner" mechanics involve larger switches, larger cubes to push, rock walls to smash. It's all pretty cool. Now, since this game is semi competitive, the main goal of the game is to get as many rupees as you can while also beating the game. You use rupees to revive if you die, yo can collect Rupoors which are black rupees that make you bleed money out for others to collect, and so on. Whoever has the most rupees at the end of the dungeon gets a shiny gold medal from the fairy, which goes towards unlocking a thing that we ourselves can unlocked by collecting oh a paltry sum of like 150 000 rupees.

Now for the items, which are quite simple compared to other games. You only get to hang onto one item at a time, and it has no real restrictions on use. We've got the Roc's Cape which is awesome as ever, even having a downstab. The boomerang is back with a lovely wooden THWOCK sound if you hit something. The bombs, which are remote AND regular in function which rules. Pegasus Boots which as unchanged because they're the best item. Magnet Gloves, a strange magnetic gauntlet that is one of my favorite items purely due to nostalgic reasons that you'll see later. The Bow and Arrow, which is slightly faster and less drawn out then the bow in Minish Cap which gave me a weird sort of feeling while playing (also has a charge shot by default). And finally, the Gnat Hat, a small red hat that lets us shrink at will and doesn't yell at us. Oh also the Shield I guess. Those are the items, don't really know how often the items will see use given that the stages are semi random (they're picked from a pool of stages).

That all being said...I'm done. There's nothing left to talk about for this game today! I did what I said I would, the two basic tutorials and then the final exam tutorial and it shows the game off quite well if I do say so. Only thing it's missing is a boss, because the bosses in this game are actually kind of cool. So, be sure to tell me your thoughts on this, especially my cool little overlay thingy! Now...lets go over the vote.

------

Since this is a side game that'll take all of three weeks, I think it's appropriate to take a vote on what game I do next now. So, as always, HERE IS THE POLL (http://strawpoll.me/7179761). I'll explain the options below.

Zodi's Choice: I'll pick a game to play myself! I've been asked specifically for a shorter game, that I've never played. So consider this also the Blind Run option. I still haven't decided what game to pick if this wins by the way.

Kirby: Return to Dreamland: (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d4/Kirbys_return_to_dreamland_boxart.jpg) The best Kirby game since Super Star itself (which I also played long ago in this forum). This game is...well I mean it's the BEST KIRBY GAME SINCE SUPER STAR. What else do I SAY, that evokes a lot.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles (http://media.ign.com/games/image/object/479/479090/Final-Fantasy-Crystal-Chronicles_Cube_US_ESRB.jpg): An obscure action RPG from the last legs of the Gamecube's life, and probably one of the most beautiful games on the system. This is another weirdly multiplayer game that I'd have to play solo like Four Swords, but unlike Four Swords this game is actually really, really good. I love it and it's great.

Harvest Moon More Friends of Mineral Town: (http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/hmwikia/images/b/ba/Mfomt.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20100516123201) Long as hell farm sim game for the GBA. Since this is the "more" game, you play as a girl instead of a guy! Girl power! Romance and farming and some weird shamanistic overtones I guesss are in this game. Look if you pick this don't expect an amazing story it's a farm game and Natsume hasn't thought to make Rune Harvest yet.

Zack and Wiki, Search for Barbaros' Treasure (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/12/Zack_%26_Wiki_-_Quest_for_Barbaros'_Treasure_Coverart.png): This little guy's been on the list for awhile so you guys may remember it from last time. If you don't: hey guess what it's still a point and click puzzle game featuring an ancient mayan monkey bell that turns objects into living creatures and vice versa. Has a talking skull in it. It's actually good just...it's a pac puzzle game.

Dishonoured: (http://voltmagonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Dishonoured_1_Volt.jpg) Proof that Bethesda can make a good game that isn't terribly glitchy if they're just forced to focus. Takes place in a sort of gothic horror-y setting, we're some kind of assassin dude who gets tied up with some lovecraftian stuff and have to do things. Involves moral choices like if you should play the game stealthly or use your awesome shadowmancer powers to slaughter everyone. I haven't really played this game so it'd basically be blind.

Pikmin 2: (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/38/Pikmin_2_Case.jpg) A very attractive spaceman exploits the local fauna that saved his life a month ago to get mad cash because otherwise they'll all probably be killed by loan sharks because his boss is a stupid idiot. Partnered with a layabout, the amazing Captain Olimar returns in this strange RTS game. I'm really bad at Pikmin by the way.

So yeah, those are your choices. Voting will be open until next Friday.

[Coidzor]

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda Four Swords [1] Get Rich or Die Trying (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JW1Yb1E0HTQ)

Hmm, nice overlay, but the text color might need to get tweaked for better legibility.

Well, I'm surprised that Vaati didn't recognize Link and Zelda on some level there.

Pretty much the most rapey kidnapping of a Zelda to date, I believe. Does help lend a greater sense of urgency than putting Zelda in crystal storage.

Seems almost like one fairy too few. The three fairies of the Four Sword just doesn't quite rin right, I think.

Also, quite interesting to see the Great Fairies take on an active involvement in a plot like this, rather than being more sidequesty, even when integral to the ability of said Link to advance, like it OoT or MM.

This emphasis on rupees... The game didn't happen to come out close to Tingle's, did I?

Well, as for companions, Green's da best, Red wuns bomb fasta, and Blue's lucky!

No idea about violeta.

As for the map, I have only this to say, "Squadilah! We're off!"

Poor red child, just getting thrown around like Ragdoll. XD

Oh mai! Rupee shards, applying heart piece logic to getting mad cash. Nice.

The sword smacking is definitely a cute little teamwork mechanic.

Hey, nice, looks like those swimming lessons paid off for this Link.

~10:20: I have new sympathy for those gorogoros punching through similar walls.

Yeah, those pull apart clam enemies are brutal to slay.

~16:20: Damn, so that's what happens when someone oils up those pull cord switches. That is much smoother.

As for who to take where... Red for Death Mountain, Purple for trees, and Blue for that other one?


Harvest Moon More Friends of Mineral Town: (http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/hmwikia/images/b/ba/Mfomt.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20100516123201) Long as hell farm sim game for the GBA. Since this is the "more" game, you play as a girl instead of a guy! Girl power! Romance and farming and some weird shamanistic overtones I guesss are in this game. Look if you pick this don't expect an amazing story it's a farm game and Natsume hasn't thought to make Rune Harvest yet.

I think that's what Stardew Valley is for.

Anyhoo,what sort of length or endpoint would this one have?

[LaZodiac]

Hmm, nice overlay, but the text color might need to get tweaked for better legibility.

This emphasis on rupees... The game didn't happen to come out close to Tingle's, did I?

As for who to take where... Red for Death Mountain, Purple for trees, and Blue for that other one?

Anyhoo,what sort of length or endpoint would this one have?

I'll keep that in mind as you're the second person to bring that up. Dang...the consequences of text commentary.

Nope this game is squarely in the "Tingle's just a thing now" era of Zelda games. No special connection at all.

Opinion noted!

I'd do all of the events and get married I guess? I don't actually know how Harvest Moon really works :smallredface:

[DataNinja]

Link seems rather... calm about suddenly becoming quadruplets. Doesn't even look around.

Also, there's no max wallet size in this game, is there? (Yay for Wallets of Holding!)


Well, as for companions, Green's da best, Red wuns bomb fasta, and Blue's lucky!

No idea about violeta.

Purple iz sneaky. You ain't ever seen a purple ork 'ave ya?

[ShneekeyTheLost]

And practically the first thing the faeries tell him?

It's dangerous to go alone
Take this!

This is... this is to Zelda what Mystic Quest was to Final Fantasy. Still, it's a Zelda game, you're doing the Zelda games, so it must be done.

On your poll, I see that one of these things is not like the others. It'll be interesting to see if Dishonoured comes out ahead, since it is a very different genre from what you have been playing lately. Quite an interesting game, though. It has moral choices that actually have mechanical game impact, for example. And not in an arbitrary 'you are too evil, I don't want to talk to you' kind of way. The choices you make can have impact on many different factors, including what types of enemies and how many show up in certain areas, and... well, I don't want to spoil it, but depending on your choices, it can get a bit... surrealistic. Moreso than usual, I mean.

[LaZodiac]

And practically the first thing the faeries tell him?

It's dangerous to go alone
Take this!

This is... this is to Zelda what Mystic Quest was to Final Fantasy. Still, it's a Zelda game, you're doing the Zelda games, so it must be done.

On your poll, I see that one of these things is not like the others. It'll be interesting to see if Dishonoured comes out ahead, since it is a very different genre from what you have been playing lately. Quite an interesting game, though. It has moral choices that actually have mechanical game impact, for example. And not in an arbitrary 'you are too evil, I don't want to talk to you' kind of way. The choices you make can have impact on many different factors, including what types of enemies and how many show up in certain areas, and... well, I don't want to spoil it, but depending on your choices, it can get a bit... surrealistic. Moreso than usual, I mean.

Yeah, I have a feeling Dishonoured will be played in this webspace at one point. Maybe not this time, but some time! I don't really know basically anything beyond the opening stuff since I haven't beaten it yet, so when I DO play it that'll be cool.

"Four Swords is the Mystic Quest of Zelda" is a pretty good way to put it, yeah.

Reminder that the poll closes this Friday!

[Cuthalion]

No voting shenanigans, now!

[Durkoala]

Link seems rather... calm about suddenly becoming quadruplets. Doesn't even look around.

Also, there's no max wallet size in this game, is there? (Yay for Wallets of Holding!)

I got the impression that this is a veteran Link, who's already been through an adventure or two. This is Hyrule, weird stuff happens.:smalltongue:


OH LOOK AT THE TIME IT'S A LATER DATE!

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda Four Swords [1] Get Rich or Die Trying (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JW1Yb1E0HTQ)

Video Length: 25:32

So, the next game in the Zelda series is Four Swords, a small little side game that was originally multiplayer only, attached to the GBA remake of Link to the Past. This game introduced Vaati as a thing, as well as the Four Sword, and is basically just a super duper small diversion. As such, this game doesn't really deserve it's own thread in the future, so I decided THE FUTURE, IS NOW! I'll be starting the vote for which game we do next at the bottom of this post, but for now lets begin our small side trip into weird multiplayer Zelda.
------

Since this is a side game that'll take all of three weeks, I think it's appropriate to take a vote on what game I do next now. So, as always, HERE IS THE POLL (http://strawpoll.me/7179761). I'll explain the options below.

I'll try and stick with this little mini-series and hope work doesn't jump on me again. Still a way behind with the Minish Cap videos, though.:smallredface:

So, the Four Sword now makes Link into four permanant Links? I suppose some magic swords get stronger with age... and sometimes go a bit vinegar-y.:smalltongue:

I'm sorry to say the tutorial is very boring to watch, with its linear path and constant fairy helpers that slow everything down. The music is just as bad: very repetitive and a bit annoying. The whole thing would be a lot more fun to watch with actual people falling over each other, but that's not your fault (while also being entirely your fault:smalltongue:). That said, some of the puzzles so far are pretty good, if simple, and the teamwork aspect is really clear, especially with the team enemies.

Also, it's got the Roc's Cape in it, which is almost enough to justify buying the game on its own.

So, I'll be following this for real this time, hoping that it gets better when the game proper begins, and maybe posting a bit on minish cap stuff as I catch up on that. Sadly, I won't be doing the grammar list because I don't have the energy during the week.

[Coidzor]

Link seems rather... calm about suddenly becoming quadruplets. Doesn't even look around.

Also, there's no max wallet size in this game, is there? (Yay for Wallets of Holding!)

Purple iz sneaky. You ain't ever seen a purple ork 'ave ya?

He's probably used to having his soul split up by now, after the magical cloning of minish cap and being split in two for the various timelines and for the Oracle pair of games.

Hooray indeed. A rupee collectathon that made you seek out progressively larger wallets would probably get annoying.

Hah.

[LaZodiac]

Okay, time for some more of this!

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda Four Swords [2] Little Hero Eggs (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzrMutR4Yo8)

Video Length: 24:32

Truth be told I don't have muuuuch to say here. So lets make this as brief as possible. This episode we beat both the Sea of Trees and Talos Caves, and we start to really see the problems with this game. It really is just designed FOR multiplayer, so the large rooms full of nothing are a little...annoying, as a solo player. The smaller rooms, and the way the enemies work (they have almost zero knock back in this for some reason) also all feel like it's designed for four players, always. That being said it's still not AWFUL, it's just...Four Swords is very much exactly what it is. An experiment that was attached to a classic SNES game being ported to the GBA. It is no more or less than what it is.

The two boss fights really kinda show that off, too. Manhandla is actually pretty fun, if a bit simple. I'd love to fight more bosses like this! Dora Zol however is less then ideal, especially with regards to rupee collecting. It's just an infuriating boss for many, many reasons. Really, that's all I have to say about these two.

So, about those keys. I did say I'd explain that. The way it works is that this game encourages multiple playthroughs of these levels, getting higher rupee counts each time. If you get over 1000 you get the Silver Key, and once you have the Silver Key if you get over 3000 rupees you get the Gold Hero, and then 5000 for the Hero Key. All of these keys will, spoiler, unlock a harder version of the final dungeon. Literally nothing is obtained other than the harder path. So...we won't be doing it. Like I said, this is meant to be a short, "as long as we have to" look at a tiny side game that has a general story purpose to the series and helps explain some of the design decisions in Minish Cap as well as another game in the future. But that's really it, as the game itself is really not all that good, so no we won't be grinding millions of rupees just to have the right to refight bosses during the final dungeon.

Reminder: Vote on the next game poll! (http://strawpoll.me/7179761) It's a really close vote every entry matters!

[DataNinja]

Alright, you wanted comments on the text? Great job. Way easier to read, although sometimes I found that the commentary flashed by a little too fast. But that's the benefit of being able to pause a video. :smallbiggrin:

Concerning the Rupoors, I actually think they work fine at their intended purpose. Which is not to make you lose rupees, but to make youscramble to see if you can pick up your money before your three er, friends, do.

[LaZodiac]

Alright, you wanted comments on the text? Great job. Way easier to read, although sometimes I found that the commentary flashed by a little too fast. But that's the benefit of being able to pause a video. :smallbiggrin:

Concerning the Rupoors, I actually think they work fine at their intended purpose. Which is not to make you lose rupees, but to make youscramble to see if you can pick up your money before your three er, friends, do.

Thanks! I'll probably keep the thicker outlines then. I'll also see about adjusting the length, I've had the consistently be 5 seconds 3 milliseconds and this is the first someones brought up a concern for time they stay on screen.

That's a good point. Rupoors are the little "surprise" that helps encourage "teamwork".

[DataNinja]

I'll also see about adjusting the length, I've had the consistently be 5 seconds 3 milliseconds and this is the first someones brought up a concern for time they stay on screen.

It's only some of the longer ones. But that might just be me getting distracted for a split second by something else on the scre- Ooohh, shiny!

Don't feel you should change anything on my behalf. I am enjoying these for free, after all. :smallsmile:

[LaZodiac]

It's only some of the longer ones. But that might just be me getting distracted for a split second by something else on the scre- Ooohh, shiny!

Don't feel you should change anything on my behalf. I am enjoying these for free, after all. :smallsmile:

True but if I make the overall video experience better more people will donate money and that'll be cool, so I'm always open to suggestions on how to improve things!

(donate to me patreoooon *spins into outerspace* )

[huttj509]

I think the main jammer in figuring out how long to keep the text up is 2 variables that differ constantly:

a) Length of text. This is rather obvious, and has been mentioned, but longer blocks of text take more time to read. Also more time to run into...

b) Other stuff happening on screen (alluded to, not sure it was explicitly mentioned). I'm not sure how most people are, but when I'm reading the text my focus is off the gameplay, and when I'm watching the gameplay the text is in my peripheral vision. So if I'm reading text, look up to see what was in the chest just gotten, or puzzle solution, or whatever, the text is often gone by the time I get back to it.


I'm...really not sure there's an elegant solution to b. At least not an obvious one.

[LaZodiac]

I
I'm...really not sure there's an elegant solution to b. At least not an obvious one.

Yeah...that's just a major flaw of the style of LP I'm doing. It'd be better with a mic, but I'm just not really capable of doing voice commentary both due to availability (I live in a really **** place in regards to purchasable tech, online or otherwise) and due to ability to actually record (there just isn't any time in my day to record good audio commentary in addition to editing it and my game footage all at once.)

That said, my Patreon goals are in place to lead towards making both of problems...not, a problem. Until then, I'll strive to make my text commentary better.

[TheWombatOfDoom]

OH LOOK AT THE TIME IT'S A LATER DATE!

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda Four Swords [1] Get Rich or Die Trying (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JW1Yb1E0HTQ)

Video Length: 25:32

So, the next game in the Zelda series is Four Swords, a small little side game that was originally multiplayer only, attached to the GBA remake of Link to the Past. This game introduced Vaati as a thing, as well as the Four Sword, and is basically just a super duper small diversion. As such, this game doesn't really deserve it's own thread in the future, so I decided THE FUTURE, IS NOW! I'll be starting the vote for which game we do next at the bottom of this post, but for now lets begin our small side trip into weird multiplayer Zelda.

Yo so it turned out Vaati came back. His death breaking his mind, he now truly believed he was the demonic Wind Sorcerer he turned into. Vague recollections of his past inspired him to torment the lands once again, kidnapping fair maidens and taking over the Palace of Winds. A brave hero took up the Four Sword and with the combined strength of four children, once more slew the former Minish, this time sealing his essence into the Four Sword so he wouldn't come back and be a jerk. Unfortunately the Four Sword isn't as good at the whole "blade of evil's bane" thing as the proper Master Sword so the seal eventually weakens, bringing us to today. The adorable Princess Zelda brings her friend Link to the Wind Shrine, basically to check up on how the seal is doing. Turns out it broke and Vaati's back! He kidnaps Zelda, and at the urging of three small fairies draw the blade, splitting into four! Our adventure begins...TO GET RICH YO!

So, as I said above, Four Swords is a side game made in the GBA era, before Minish Cap was made. Originally it was multiplayer only, having to connect through a link cable and everything. For early adopted of the 3DS and also for the 25th Anniversary of Zelda, they released the version I'm playing. A special edition that has some bonus stuff we'll get to later, and the ability to play solo. I'll be taking requests on which colour of Link to take with me into dungeons by the way. The gameplay of this game is REALLY simple, it's just basic Zelda stuff but with friends. The conceit of the game is to get to the end of the dungeon, beat the boss, and get a key from the Fairy that guards that land, with more rupees equaling better keys. Seeing as how the keys do nothing but make the final dungeon slightly harder I'm not going to waste all your time grinding out the 3000+5000 rupees needed to get the best keys. If I had friends playing this where the draw was more "haha look at these four idiots kill each other" then maybe, but as it stands, no. Once we beat the game and show off the special anniversary edition bonus dungeons that RULE, we're done here. This'll take like maybe 6 or 7 videos.

Let's discuss some of the new enemies and mechanics in this, while we've the time. Due to having multiple Links, some enemies now REQUIRE cooperation. The Hikkun and Nokkun, specifically. They're both eyeball orb monsters, Hikkun being red and defeated by RIPPING IT IN HALF, while Nokkun is green and has you throwing it to your partner to slice out of the air. It's pretty cool. Other "partner" mechanics involve larger switches, larger cubes to push, rock walls to smash. It's all pretty cool. Now, since this game is semi competitive, the main goal of the game is to get as many rupees as you can while also beating the game. You use rupees to revive if you die, yo can collect Rupoors which are black rupees that make you bleed money out for others to collect, and so on. Whoever has the most rupees at the end of the dungeon gets a shiny gold medal from the fairy, which goes towards unlocking a thing that we ourselves can unlocked by collecting oh a paltry sum of like 150 000 rupees.

Now for the items, which are quite simple compared to other games. You only get to hang onto one item at a time, and it has no real restrictions on use. We've got the Roc's Cape which is awesome as ever, even having a downstab. The boomerang is back with a lovely wooden THWOCK sound if you hit something. The bombs, which are remote AND regular in function which rules. Pegasus Boots which as unchanged because they're the best item. Magnet Gloves, a strange magnetic gauntlet that is one of my favorite items purely due to nostalgic reasons that you'll see later. The Bow and Arrow, which is slightly faster and less drawn out then the bow in Minish Cap which gave me a weird sort of feeling while playing (also has a charge shot by default). And finally, the Gnat Hat, a small red hat that lets us shrink at will and doesn't yell at us. Oh also the Shield I guess. Those are the items, don't really know how often the items will see use given that the stages are semi random (they're picked from a pool of stages).

That all being said...I'm done. There's nothing left to talk about for this game today! I did what I said I would, the two basic tutorials and then the final exam tutorial and it shows the game off quite well if I do say so. Only thing it's missing is a boss, because the bosses in this game are actually kind of cool. So, be sure to tell me your thoughts on this, especially my cool little overlay thingy! Now...lets go over the vote.


I'm reeeeeeally glad this is not its own thread... because this isn't great... I never played this one, and now I'm kinda glad I haven't...I actually didn't know that this game was made before the minish cap. It's actually nice to know, because this kinda is a beta for those mechanics. They even used a lot of the same enemies and items for it. I really like that, to be honest. Even the minish power is in it, so they must have really been inspired by that hat. It also gives a good explanation at how the four sword was forged, and what it is, and what element each color link is from.

Oh. My. God. RUPEE ROOM YOU SLAY ME. After doing extensive research (hard to find walkthroughs or playthroughs of this game), I have deduced that each rupee bonus room has 400 rupees that drop - 100 for each possible link. SO. That means there are going to be a LOT of missed rupees. However, I have some good news. Since you are playing a multiplayer game solo, any multiplayer games rupees will not count toward the single player game rupee totals, but instead be its own tally. I don't want this game to kill your thirst for rupees in future games, so this seems like the only solution that will keep the both of us sane. The rupee room made me want to stop counting.... :smallbiggrin: I WILL NOT LET THE GAME BEAT ME!

Enemy totals will be the same, but its a shame we are skipping all the tutorial areas, because it might mean we will miss some enemies that are in the game...but it looks like based on the setup, we're going to miss main areas too because of random selection for each area.



EPISODE 1 KILL TALLY!

Rope - 16
Spiked Beetle - 3
Ball and Chain Soldier - 1
Hikkun - 2
Bob-omb - 2
Nokkun - 2
Green Rupee Like - 1
Ice Wizzrobe - 1

Style Points - 0

Missed Rupees - 191
Lost Rupees (theft, overflow, ect.) - 1

(previous episodes)



Four Swords
Total Kills
(As of Episode 1)

Ball and Chain Soldier - 1
Beetles, Spiked - 3
Bob-ombs - 2
Rope - 16
Rupee Like, Green - 1
Wizzrobe, Ice - 1

Slimes
Hikkun - 2
Nokkun - 2

Total Things Dead - 28

1st Place - Ropes, at 16!
2nd Place - Spiked Beetles, at 3!
3rd Place - Bob-ombs, Hikkun and Nokkun, tied at 2!

Total Style Points - 0

Total Missed Rupees - 191
Total Lost Rupees - 1

[LaZodiac]

I'm reeeeeeally glad this is not its own thread... because this isn't great... I never played this one, and now I'm kinda glad I haven't...I actually didn't know that this game was made before the minish cap. It's actually nice to know, because this kinda is a beta for those mechanics. They even used a lot of the same enemies and items for it. I really like that, to be honest. Even the minish power is in it, so they must have really been inspired by that hat. It also gives a good explanation at how the four sword was forged, and what it is, and what element each color link is from.

Oh. My. God. RUPEE ROOM YOU SLAY ME. After doing extensive research (hard to find walkthroughs or playthroughs of this game), I have deduced that each rupee bonus room has 400 rupees that drop - 100 for each possible link. SO. That means there are going to be a LOT of missed rupees. However, I have some good news. Since you are playing a multiplayer game solo, any multiplayer games rupees will not count toward the single player game rupee totals, but instead be its own tally. I don't want this game to kill your thirst for rupees in future games, so this seems like the only solution that will keep the both of us sane. The rupee room made me want to stop counting.... :smallbiggrin: I WILL NOT LET THE GAME BEAT ME!

Enemy totals will be the same, but its a shame we are skipping all the tutorial areas, because it might mean we will miss some enemies that are in the game...but it looks like based on the setup, we're going to miss main areas too because of random selection for each area.


I'll give this game that much. It was clearly the developers trying a new thing and seeing what stuck, what was liked by fans, and what was bad, and making a Zelda game accordingly. I appreciate it, and I also appreciate that they haven't gone and put the 25th Anniversary Edition up on the E-Shop for purchase. While doing research on this game I see a lot of people wishing they could just drop 5 dollars on this game to play it and I just want to scream at them "NO" because this game isn't worth five dollars. The GBA port of Link to the Past that COMES with this should be worth around 5 dollars now, and it comes with this game just kinda latched onto it.

Haha...good luck not getting beaten Wombat. You're gonna feel real bad if we get to a room that breaks that pattern. (because we doooooo)

In my off time I've gone through the tutorials and nothing that shows up in them will be missed. The only things that will be outright missed are things the game just opts not to throw at us when they easily could.

[TheWombatOfDoom]

Okay, time for some more of this!

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda Four Swords [2] Little Hero Eggs (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzrMutR4Yo8)

Video Length: 24:32

Truth be told I don't have muuuuch to say here. So lets make this as brief as possible. This episode we beat both the Sea of Trees and Talos Caves, and we start to really see the problems with this game. It really is just designed FOR multiplayer, so the large rooms full of nothing are a little...annoying, as a solo player. The smaller rooms, and the way the enemies work (they have almost zero knock back in this for some reason) also all feel like it's designed for four players, always. That being said it's still not AWFUL, it's just...Four Swords is very much exactly what it is. An experiment that was attached to a classic SNES game being ported to the GBA. It is no more or less than what it is.

The two boss fights really kinda show that off, too. Manhandla is actually pretty fun, if a bit simple. I'd love to fight more bosses like this! Dora Zol however is less then ideal, especially with regards to rupee collecting. It's just an infuriating boss for many, many reasons. Really, that's all I have to say about these two.

So, about those keys. I did say I'd explain that. The way it works is that this game encourages multiple playthroughs of these levels, getting higher rupee counts each time. If you get over 1000 you get the Silver Key, and once you have the Silver Key if you get over 3000 rupees you get the Gold Hero, and then 5000 for the Hero Key. All of these keys will, spoiler, unlock a harder version of the final dungeon. Literally nothing is obtained other than the harder path. So...we won't be doing it. Like I said, this is meant to be a short, "as long as we have to" look at a tiny side game that has a general story purpose to the series and helps explain some of the design decisions in Minish Cap as well as another game in the future. But that's really it, as the game itself is really not all that good, so no we won't be grinding millions of rupees just to have the right to refight bosses during the final dungeon.

Reminder: Vote on the next game poll! (http://strawpoll.me/7179761) It's a really close vote every entry matters!

Text is perfect! Much better. Even I can see it better, and that's saying something.

Interesting idea for the parallel with Faron woods...I wonder where these all tie in to the areas of the other game. Death Mountain now exists, and its in a similar spot if you twist the map a bit. It almost seems like we're in the wilderness a bit apart from Hyrule Castle. No people just fairies and realms. The sea of trees could definitely be faron woods, and the Talus Caves could be some glacier that melts to form Lake Hylia. There's also another body of water to the east that could be...a future area. We shall see I suppose.

Just remembered that the buff seeds happen again in another game as well...and some of the items also...neat!

First map in the sea of trees was pretty simple...but the second looks kinda like the lost woods! I don't mind that its not randomized, I still kinda like its simple design, and the ability to explore an area with a ton of chests.

I like the three stages the Manhandla plant boss fight has. Pretty neat. Definitely of the Baba monster type, no doubt.

Hero EGGS? The heck is this fairy smoking? Bad translation? Shakes head...

Also, is the tutorial area longer than the actual freaking game...? Because there's three areas you have to clear, and it looks like you're clearing 2 of the 3 in this episode....

The first area in Talus looks very similar in layout to the first area in sea of trees. A open area with small mini puzzles. I wonder where the 2 other rupee shards were in the Talus area...Sad that you didn't kill the Zol or the Moldorm, but I've been assured you will be later, so I'll leave you alone. :smallcool:

It's also strange how random enemies just appear without warning. Like Vaati is watching and going - *drop in some more Keese! Double the Moldorm!*

How the heck are you even supposed to navigate TO that chest. That's awful. It almost killed you. :smallannoyed: Ice mechanics look frustrating...

Dora Zol does look frustrating. Hmmm, if he's related to the Zol slime things, and the Zol slime things are related to Chuchus in Slime category, does that mean that maybe Sluggula should count as slimes? :smallconfused: He does seem frustrating, especially for the Missed Rupees counter, and what the heck is his final form? Some sort of tormented version of a soot spirit from spirited away?!



EPISODE 2 KILL TALLY!

Octorok - 3
Spikey Beetles - 8
Rope - 1
Manhandla - 1
Spiked Beetles - 4
Bombarossa - 8
Red Stalfos - 1
Red Rupee Like - 1
Keese - 13
Dora Zol - 1

Style Points - 0

Missed Rupees - 366
Lost Rupees (theft, overflow, ect.) - 0

(previous episodes)



Four Swords
Total Kills
(As of Episode 2)

Ball and Chain Soldiers - 1
Keese - 13
Manhandla - 1
Octoroks - 3
Ropes - 17
Stalfos, Red - 1
Wizzrobes, Ice - 1

Bombs
Bob-ombs - 2
Bombarossa - 8

Bugs
Beetles, Spiked - 7
Beetles, Spikey - 8

Likes
Rupee Likes, Green - 1
Rupee Likes, Red - 1

Slimes
Hikkun - 2
Nokkun - 2
Dora Zol - 1

Total Things Dead - 68

1st Place - Ropes, at 17!
2nd Place - Keese, at 13!
3rd Place - Spikey Beetles and Bombarossa, tied at 8!

Total Style Points - 0

Total Missed Rupees - 557
Total Lost Rupees - 1

[LaZodiac]

How the heck are you even supposed to navigate TO that chest. That's awful. It almost killed you. :smallannoyed: Ice mechanics look frustrating...

Dora Zol does look frustrating. Hmmm, if he's related to the Zol slime things, and the Zol slime things are related to Chuchus in Slime category, does that mean that maybe Sluggula should count as slimes? :smallconfused: He does seem frustrating, especially for the Missed Rupees counter, and what the heck is his final form? Some sort of tormented version of a soot spirit from spirited away?!


It's...really bad, yeah. The ice and swimming mechanics in this game are just...really really poorly executed. They slow you down WAY to much at the outset.

It is related to the Zol. Naw, Sluggula is just a regular ole slug, it's only a monster because we're tiny in that game remember. Zol's shell is just part of it's goo form, hardened over age. I think the idea is that Dora Zol is so aged that his core self is all hardened and stuff like that attempt at a shell.

[LaZodiac]

It's time for a good Zelda game! Oh wait no April Fools I guess.

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda Four Swords [3] Power of Teamwork (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOJQ9Hk3vHY)

Video Length: 29:29

This one's cutting it a little close length wise, but it's worth it. We complete both Death Mountain AND Vaati's Palace here, after all.

Death Mountain is a pretty interesting area full of lava, as you'd expect. There's a lot of fire and burning steam and so on. It's got some interesting set pieces in the maps we get for it, and overall I think it's the most solid of the three main areas in terms of level design. Except for the bounce tile puzzle, which is just horrendous. Tiles that bounce you in a semi-random direction, with one screw up that is entirely out of your control sending you back to start! It's...horrible. Thankfully the power of solo player cheating lets me get through this with any degree of sanity in tact.

After all that nonsense, we get to the boss of Death Mountain, Gouen! Gouen is an interesting, if incredibly weak, boss. He jumps around like the big ole fire monster that he is, spitting fire and glowing rocks at us. Hit the rocks back with the right Link and he'll split into flames, one of which is the real him. Slash it enough and it becomes his true, burnt up shape, and the pattern repeats basically. He's a really easy boss, even if you eventually have to rebound rocks from one Link to the other. With that we get the last Silver Key and can now challenge Vaati directly!

So, Vaati's Palace, the Palace of Winds. Aesthetically it's quite like the original from Minish Cap, but everything feels kinda...cheap. Overall it's not even really that hard, though it has some interesting puzzle situations. We even get to see the Gibdo's in this area, which have ACTUAL ATTACKS and stuff. It's pretty cool! But with some quick foot work from me it's not too much of a problem. With the two maps of Vaati's Palace down, it's time to face the big man himself.

So, Vaati. His first form, his demonic spirit possessing a fancy statue of himself, is quite easy! It moves around shooting magic at you, and trying to grab you with it's tornado aura, which hurts you and can fling you into pits. In this form you just need to do well timed bomb throws, as the bombs will be sucked up into his tornado. Explode them on him three times and he'll fall, allowing you to slash at him wildly. Eventually the statue will be destroyed, forcing him to fight you for real! And...what a real it is.

Vaati's true form here is basically garbage incarnate. He has three attack patterns, each based off one of the three other bosses of the game. His first one, based on Manhandla, has him spawn two large arms that spin around and eventually fire blasts of fire, ice, or electricity. The way you damage this is by hitting the flower arms as they open with the Link's of the proper colour...except in all my playing and testing it never worked. It didn't actually seem to hurt him and it did nothing to prevent his attack. So that's fun. His second pattern, based on Dora Zol, has him surround himself in magical orbs. You can reflect orbs that match your colour back at him, but only other Link's can see those colours, much like the Dora Zol fight. This...is completely a crapshoot since the orbs move too fast and can't be reflected very well. So it just doesn't work. Finally, we have the one based on Gouen, where he shoots bouncy magic at you and then fires a coloured rock at you like Gouen. This one is very easy to hit him with...barring any mistakes from yours truly. So, two of his three attack patterns are stupidly hard or just broken with regards to hitting him, and he spends a random amount of time in each attack pattern. If you couldn't tell, this is the worst boss I was talking about in the Dora Zol fight. You have to wait far too long to damage him effectively, and though you're supposed to be able to damage him in his other phases it's just too difficult to actually do! It sucks.

With Vaati destroyed, and the wonderfully narm-y line of "OH no I'm being sucked into the sword!" fresh in our ears, it's time for the credits to roll. We've saved the day, returned to normal, and everything is fine now. As the credits roll we get a kind of neat bit where we have to collect rupees on a floating platform, it's a cool minigame esque event. But with that done, we lay the Four Sword to rest. We're done here...exceeeept.

By defeating Vaati, we've unlocked the Realm of Memories, a special zone made purely for the 25th Anniversary edition of the game. See you guys next time, where we get a peak into our futurepast.

------

So, curious about the result of the poll, since it's today? Well...the poll is over, and at the time I checked it, Zodi's Choice had won! That said, I'll be saving the reveal of what game I play next hidden until Four Swords is done. Gotta keep cards up my sleeves :smallamused:

[TheWombatOfDoom]

It's time for a good Zelda game! Oh wait no April Fools I guess.

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda Four Swords [3] Power of Teamwork (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOJQ9Hk3vHY)

Video Length: 29:29

This one's cutting it a little close length wise, but it's worth it. We complete both Death Mountain AND Vaati's Palace here, after all.

Death Mountain is a pretty interesting area full of lava, as you'd expect. There's a lot of fire and burning steam and so on. It's got some interesting set pieces in the maps we get for it, and overall I think it's the most solid of the three main areas in terms of level design. Except for the bounce tile puzzle, which is just horrendous. Tiles that bounce you in a semi-random direction, with one screw up that is entirely out of your control sending you back to start! It's...horrible. Thankfully the power of solo player cheating lets me get through this with any degree of sanity in tact.

After all that nonsense, we get to the boss of Death Mountain, Gouen! Gouen is an interesting, if incredibly weak, boss. He jumps around like the big ole fire monster that he is, spitting fire and glowing rocks at us. Hit the rocks back with the right Link and he'll split into flames, one of which is the real him. Slash it enough and it becomes his true, burnt up shape, and the pattern repeats basically. He's a really easy boss, even if you eventually have to rebound rocks from one Link to the other. With that we get the last Silver Key and can now challenge Vaati directly!

So, Vaati's Palace, the Palace of Winds. Aesthetically it's quite like the original from Minish Cap, but everything feels kinda...cheap. Overall it's not even really that hard, though it has some interesting puzzle situations. We even get to see the Gibdo's in this area, which have ACTUAL ATTACKS and stuff. It's pretty cool! But with some quick foot work from me it's not too much of a problem. With the two maps of Vaati's Palace down, it's time to face the big man himself.

So, Vaati. His first form, his demonic spirit possessing a fancy statue of himself, is quite easy! It moves around shooting magic at you, and trying to grab you with it's tornado aura, which hurts you and can fling you into pits. In this form you just need to do well timed bomb throws, as the bombs will be sucked up into his tornado. Explode them on him three times and he'll fall, allowing you to slash at him wildly. Eventually the statue will be destroyed, forcing him to fight you for real! And...what a real it is.

Vaati's true form here is basically garbage incarnate. He has three attack patterns, each based off one of the three other bosses of the game. His first one, based on Manhandla, has him spawn two large arms that spin around and eventually fire blasts of fire, ice, or electricity. The way you damage this is by hitting the flower arms as they open with the Link's of the proper colour...except in all my playing and testing it never worked. It didn't actually seem to hurt him and it did nothing to prevent his attack. So that's fun. His second pattern, based on Dora Zol, has him surround himself in magical orbs. You can reflect orbs that match your colour back at him, but only other Link's can see those colours, much like the Dora Zol fight. This...is completely a crapshoot since the orbs move too fast and can't be reflected very well. So it just doesn't work. Finally, we have the one based on Gouen, where he shoots bouncy magic at you and then fires a coloured rock at you like Gouen. This one is very easy to hit him with...barring any mistakes from yours truly. So, two of his three attack patterns are stupidly hard or just broken with regards to hitting him, and he spends a random amount of time in each attack pattern. If you couldn't tell, this is the worst boss I was talking about in the Dora Zol fight. You have to wait far too long to damage him effectively, and though you're supposed to be able to damage him in his other phases it's just too difficult to actually do! It sucks.

With Vaati destroyed, and the wonderfully narm-y line of "OH no I'm being sucked into the sword!" fresh in our ears, it's time for the credits to roll. We've saved the day, returned to normal, and everything is fine now. As the credits roll we get a kind of neat bit where we have to collect rupees on a floating platform, it's a cool minigame esque event. But with that done, we lay the Four Sword to rest. We're done here...exceeeept.

By defeating Vaati, we've unlocked the Realm of Memories, a special zone made purely for the 25th Anniversary edition of the game. See you guys next time, where we get a peak into our futurepast.

I always like fire themes...but I'm also partial to gorons...(it's a shame there wasn't a water theme...the closest we got was the first level of the Sea of Trees)

Did you really need to extend the bridge with your whistling shenanigans?

Dance link dance! Oh gosh, so much springing. It looks like an....interesting puzzle.

Two rupee rooms in one level? Kill me now...first one is 400 rupees, second was 1000. So you're going to have a massive missed rupee count. :smallsigh: Even though the second is small, it totally goes on for a while.

The fire boss is a fire boss...a little underwhelming for me, but whatever. Manhandla was my favorite.

I'm gonna give you style points for flawlessly navigating that lava room...even though you totally eat it as you exit. :smallbiggrin:

I like the wind shrine appearance. It looks cool. Three keys unlock it? Interesting...where have we seen that before?

The doors DO look like stairs. I'm right there with you...I like that the wind temple looks like the wind temple from the minish cap. It is strange that there aren't beefier enemy types in the last area. Eh, maybe we just didn't get the harder random level.

Yeah, Armos. Nice. I also like the tile puzzles, but I think I really don't like the random level selection. It makes it so that you miss a lot of things that could have been in the game. Why couldn't we just play all of them? I'm sorry, I'm wishing the game longer and I guess I shouldn't be. Though we do get Gibdos, and they're pretty cool. I suppose somewhere else would have a Darknut or something.

I like the statue version of Vaati. I find it interesting that Vaati turns people to stone in Minish Cap, and turns Stone to Life in Four Swords.

I totally didn't get the parallel of the bosses in the final battle with Vaati. It looks like a frustrating fight, and I'm sorry but I liked Vaati's first form in Minish Cap better than the ball with an eye the true forms appear to look. It's just silly looking...

I do like the credit screen giving you the chance to get more rupees. It looks kinda fun.



EPISODE 3 KILL TALLY!

Red Gel - 6
Red Stalfos - 2
Moldorm - 3
Spiked Beetle - 3
Tektite - 4
Red Zol - 1
Bob-omb - 9
Gouen - 1
Octorok - 7
Blue Rupee Like - 6
Armos - 2
Gibdo - 3
Keese - 2
Vaati - 1
Green Rupee Like - 1
Red Rupee Like - 1

Style Points - 1

Missed Rupees - 650
Lost Rupees (theft, overflow, ect.) - 0

(previous episodes)



Four Swords
Total Kills
(As of Episode 3)

Armos - 2
Gouen - 1
Keese - 15
Manhandla - 1
Moldorm - 3
Octoroks - 10
Ropes - 17
Soldiers, Ball and Chain - 1
Tektites - 4
Vaati - 1
Wizzrobes, Ice - 1

Bombs
Bob-ombs - 11
Bombarossa - 8

Bugs
Beetles, Spiked - 10
Beetles, Spikey - 8

Likes
Rupee Likes, Green - 2
Rupee Likes, Blue - 6
Rupee Likes, Red - 2

Slimes
Hikkun - 2
Nokkun - 2
Zol, Red - 1
Gel, Red - 6
Zol, Dora - 1

Stal
Stalfos, Red - 3
Gibdos - 3

Total Things Dead - 120

1st Place - Ropes, at 17!
2nd Place - Keese, at 15!
3rd Place - Bob-ombs, at 11!

Total Style Points - 1

Total Missed Rupees - 1207
Total Lost Rupees - 1

[LaZodiac]

I totally didn't get the parallel of the bosses in the final battle with Vaati. It looks like a frustrating fight, and I'm sorry but I liked Vaati's first form in Minish Cap better than the ball with an eye the true forms appear to look. It's just silly looking...

I do like the credit screen giving you the chance to get more rupees. It looks kinda fun.

Total Missed Rupees - 1207

For what it's worth I agree, I like Vaati's humanoid form better than the orb. And yes this fight is VERY frustrating.

Yeah, the credits minigame is actually pretty fun.

[LaZodiac]

Once more, into the breach.

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda Four Swords [4] Link to the Futurepast (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLVnQC0rTRE)

Video Length: 19:44

Due to ~reasons~ this episode is a little shorter than the others. This was basically unavoidable. But yes, on with the show!

Today we're tackling the Realm of Memories, the actual good portion of Four Swords introduced just for the 25th Anniversary Edition...sort of. It's good in that the gameplay is more compelling and involved, but bad in that the length of these maps, and the level OF involvement, really just bares all the problems this game has out in the open. I'm going to try and stay positive, but suffice to say things are gonna get a little salty.

So, the Realm of Memory. It lets us play three maps worth of Four Swords in special areas designed after old Zelda games! The first one is Link to the Past, likely the easiest to make seeing as how Four Swords was just attached to the GBA port of Link to the Past. There is little done to change the graphical style, but they do alter some assets to make it fit the world (mostly replacing bounce cubes with bouncy mushrooms). It's still quite good, and the old music is enjoyable to listen to. Even if it is on repeat forever.

The problem with the Realm of Memory is three fold, and all sort of connected. First they're obsessed with the "get trapped in a room to fight a large horde of monsters" mechanic. You do it a LOT in these memories, even if there's only three enemies you still get the musical sting and the cubes of blocking show up and everything. The second issue is that they just looove them some rupee storms. It's not very evident in this one, but in later Memories they'll just be vomiting rupees on you, of which you can get maybe a quarter of them if you're lucky. The third problem is the sheer length. The Link to the Past memory is pretty short due to not being OVERLY complex, but spoilers the next two take upwards of 26 minutes each, more if you're a goober like me. They just drag on and it forces you to notice all the bad parts of this game on a mechanical level, like how Spear Moblins have super weird hit detection and how Bow Moblins slide around like ugly Flash game assets.

Another problem is just that...since it's THREE maps, instead of two maps and a boss, there doesn't ever really seem to be a satisfying end to these memories. They just kinda...stop. It feels annoying. This all being said I do appreciate what they attempted to do here. See you guys next time for another cool memory.

[DataNinja]

I agree that the big-small puzzle looked like a good idea. I'd love to see an asymmetrical game like that. I also like how when you're small, the switches don't count you towards the 2-child weight limit. I just like little touches like that.

[TheWombatOfDoom]

Once more, into the breach.

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda Four Swords [4] Link to the Futurepast (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLVnQC0rTRE)

Video Length: 19:44

Due to ~reasons~ this episode is a little shorter than the others. This was basically unavoidable. But yes, on with the show!

Today we're tackling the Realm of Memories, the actual good portion of Four Swords introduced just for the 25th Anniversary Edition...sort of. It's good in that the gameplay is more compelling and involved, but bad in that the length of these maps, and the level OF involvement, really just bares all the problems this game has out in the open. I'm going to try and stay positive, but suffice to say things are gonna get a little salty.

So, the Realm of Memory. It lets us play three maps worth of Four Swords in special areas designed after old Zelda games! The first one is Link to the Past, likely the easiest to make seeing as how Four Swords was just attached to the GBA port of Link to the Past. There is little done to change the graphical style, but they do alter some assets to make it fit the world (mostly replacing bounce cubes with bouncy mushrooms). It's still quite good, and the old music is enjoyable to listen to. Even if it is on repeat forever.

The problem with the Realm of Memory is three fold, and all sort of connected. First they're obsessed with the "get trapped in a room to fight a large horde of monsters" mechanic. You do it a LOT in these memories, even if there's only three enemies you still get the musical sting and the cubes of blocking show up and everything. The second issue is that they just looove them some rupee storms. It's not very evident in this one, but in later Memories they'll just be vomiting rupees on you, of which you can get maybe a quarter of them if you're lucky. The third problem is the sheer length. The Link to the Past memory is pretty short due to not being OVERLY complex, but spoilers the next two take upwards of 26 minutes each, more if you're a goober like me. They just drag on and it forces you to notice all the bad parts of this game on a mechanical level, like how Spear Moblins have super weird hit detection and how Bow Moblins slide around like ugly Flash game assets.

Another problem is just that...since it's THREE maps, instead of two maps and a boss, there doesn't ever really seem to be a satisfying end to these memories. They just kinda...stop. It feels annoying. This all being said I do appreciate what they attempted to do here. See you guys next time for another cool memory.

I like the change of skin, but some of it is eh. I really don't like the hidden ways within the castle and forest...like they don't feel very easy to navigate. Otherwise, the levels feel more put together, and less random than the original game, where enemies randomly popped up. These ones pop up in rooms instead, which feels a little more...organized at least. Random monsters within, but its all good.

Why was it funny that we got the Pegasus boots for the blob?

Honestly, why wasn't the forest first, and then the outer and inner castle after that? :smallconfused: It seems like a more understandable progression for sure. And less leaves you wanting a boss...

You mention a bow moblin, but I didn't see one in this episode. Only a spear moblin...

You killed 131 enemies in one episode... You get a style point for that. Even if a lot of it was enemy spam! That's more than you've killed total in this game so far!



EPISODE 4 KILL TALLY!

Spiked Beetles - 4
Bombarossa - 3
Red Stalfos - 28
Red Gel - 26
Moldorm - 4
Rope - 34
Red Zol - 6
Blue Rupee Like - 4
Moblin - 1
Helmasaur - 18
Ball and Chain Soldier - 1
Eyegore Statue - 1
Bulbul - 1

Style Points - 1

Missed Rupees - 140
Lost Rupees (theft, overflow, ect.) - 0

(previous episodes)



Four Swords
Total Kills
(As of Episode 4)

Gouen - 1
Helmasaurs - 18
Keese - 15
Manhandla - 1
Moblins - 1
Moldorm - 7
Octoroks - 10
Ropes - 51
Soldiers, Ball and Chain - 2
Tektites - 4
Vaati - 1
Wizzrobes, Ice - 1

Bombs
Bob-ombs - 11
Bombarossa - 11

Bugs
Beetles, Spiked - 14
Beetles, Spikey - 8

Constructs
Armos - 2
Eyegore Statues - 1

Likes
Rupee Likes, Green - 2
Rupee Likes, Blue - 10
Rupee Likes, Red - 2

Slimes
Bulbul - 1
Hikkun - 2
Nokkun - 2
Zol, Red - 7
Gel, Red - 32
Zol, Dora - 1

Stal
Stalfos, Red - 31
Gibdos - 3

Total Things Dead - 251

1st Place - Ropes, at 51!
2nd Place - Red Gel, at 32!
3rd Place - Red Stalfos, at 31!

Total Style Points - 2

Total Missed Rupees - 1347!
Total Lost Rupees - 1

[LaZodiac]

Why was it funny that we got the Pegasus boots for the blob?

Honestly, why wasn't the forest first, and then the outer and inner castle after that? :smallconfused: It seems like a more understandable progression for sure. And less leaves you wanting a boss...

You mention a bow moblin, but I didn't see one in this episode. Only a spear moblin...


You'll have to wait and see. It involves Link to the Past, at any rate :smallamused:

I imagine they wanted to leave you off with a nice look of the place where you get the Master Sword? I don't know...

Yeah sorry that's some future talk slipping in :smalltongue:

[Coidzor]

It's time for a good Zelda game! Oh wait no April Fools I guess.

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda Four Swords [3] Power of Teamwork (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOJQ9Hk3vHY)

Video Length: 29:29


Always good to see a lava level. Fire grass is... interesting!

Very interesting. Kinda cute, even. It might be interesting in a 3D Zelda to see how they did it.

Very strange that the steam vents are small and cute for a random floor damaging obstacle, but I guess it makes sense to introduce them first where they're easily avoidable. Too bad they don't actually *do* anything with them, though, at least not in the version of the levels and boss that you experienced.

Try not to think about how a bomb could put out fire grass, either. :P

~2:26, and our first non-incidental abandoned rupee, I think. So sad.

~2:40: Pretty sure that you stunned a moldorm or two in Minish Cap with a boomerang...

Like, uh, 80% sure.

~4:30: Wow, they really wanted you to have shields. XD

Well, you know, the order of operations is important.

Ahh, a surprising amount of switches hidden under blocks and fire in this little sequence.

~7:45: But can Zodi use the Bomb-ombs wisely!? :smalltongue:

sadly, no, but manage to get through with minimal fuss, so that's good.

WOO! Link tossing leapfrogging~ Fun times.

I am a little disappointed that you didn't toss, chest, whistle, toss your way through it more though.

Nice use of tennis on the boss there, I think.

And the Great Fairy's fountain is surrounded by magma on an island surrounded by lava. :smallamused: So great.

Vaati tiiiiiiime~

And now we know why the Wind Palace was so extensive in Minish Cap.

And also that Zodi-Link's truest foe is and always will be objects rising up off the ground to attack. :smalltongue:

Quite interesting to see Octoroks reappear as the default introductory sky enemy.

Or boring, one of those.

Woo, fiddly Link digging walls!

And I just realized why rupee-likes are as much of a thing as they were in Minish Cap, too. :V

And now all that Link tossing practice pays off with those different colored tile bridges over the sky.

Pretty neat, I think.

I guess the more formulaic nature of this game is part of why there's less to say.

Very "Zelda by numbers" I guess you could say.

Ahh, frickin' ice floors, had to find a way to bring those back. XD

Oh, hey, new stuff for Gibdos that means they're not just slow HP sponges.

Definitely a shame that sorta thing didn't carry over to Minish Cap, I think.

Would've made setting them on fire a matter of tactics and not just what you do to save a few sword swings.

and vaati possessess... A statue of himself! :V For some reason!

Tornado bombing to get him to lower seems like a fun little gimmick as gimmicks go.

But, yeah, a bit too easy for the first stage of the final boss. Seems like that should have been part of one of the level bosses, along with *something* offensive.

"You thought you could leave, but it was me, Di-I mean, vaati!"

TASTE COSMIC SPACE BACKGROUNDS!

And poorly designed and unituitive boss mechanicsl

Well, at least both of them slashing the flower made Vaati flash, right? :V

Oh, well, at least Zelda Tennis is back, I guess?

Ahh, so that's why there's rupees in the wind palace, refilling your HP during the boss fights.

And vaati gets sword orbs and now the Four Sword is all like "Om Nom Nom."

So I guess Vaati gets to find out what it's like to be Fi, eh? :smallamused:

And Zelda's all "whoa, more than one Link, oh mai~ But that might be too many Links for me...."

The power will fade, eh? So I guess there'll be some lingering after effects, like one of the Link personallities splitting off into its own timeline when it comes time to reincarnate, maybe? XD

Cute little credits sequence, though. Can't quite make out what those things you were swording were, exactly, though.

And those three fairies finally go back to their Great Fairy bosses.

Actually, come to think of it, this makes me wonder what the relationship between Great Fairies, Goddesses, Light Spirits, and Dragons is. Are the Great Fairies possibly just what happened to the lower orders of Goddesses in the absence of Hylia and the Big Three at the top of the Divine Hierarchy?




The fire boss is a fire boss...a little underwhelming for me, but whatever. Manhandla was my favorite.

I like the wind shrine appearance. It looks cool. Three keys unlock it? Interesting...where have we seen that before?

I totally didn't get the parallel of the bosses in the final battle with Vaati. It looks like a frustrating fight, and I'm sorry but I liked Vaati's first form in Minish Cap better than the ball with an eye the true forms appear to look. It's just silly looking...

Agreed. Manhandling boss is best boss.

That's the power of three! *cue 80s music*

Yeah, I almost wish you'd been able to have a swordfight with Vaati or something in his humanoid form, since his skills were talked up early on in the game. Or at least some future-past reference Zelda Tennis with him before he goes full monster.


Once more, into the breach.

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda Four Swords [4] Link to the Futurepast (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLVnQC0rTRE)

Video Length: 19:44

Another problem is just that...since it's THREE maps, instead of two maps and a boss, there doesn't ever really seem to be a satisfying end to these memories. They just kinda...stop. It feels annoying. This all being said I do appreciate what they attempted to do here. See you guys next time for another cool memory.

Yeah. It just sorta gets to the end.

So it is nice to hear the classic LTTP tune...

I'm really wondering whether it's a video issue or the trail of rupees actually disappears before the rupees become unable to be collected. :smallconfused:

Hey, the gels and the Stalfos actually worked fairly well together in the first monster rush room's first phase.

Almost challenging monster tactica! WOO!

Oh mai, invisible path inside the wall. That's a little klunky.

I kinda liked the rupee paths, at least for keeping in with the spirit of the game as a rupee collectathon.

Oh dear, spawning rupee-likes is... quite confusing. Since they should be trap enemies

Oh well, at least you can cheese them by switching between Links, I guess.

Ironically, getting to the point you can one-shot Zels is actually counter-productive in a way, since then they're only worth 1 rupee each, instead of being worth 2 rupees when split into individual gels.

I agree, it does feel like a wall. I think a bit more than the original LTTP, but I'm a bit rusty on that.

Oh mai god, that's a lot of chests! And then you don't even open them all. :V

And kawaii-ma-saurs~<3 Easily dispatched with the help of MAGNETISM!

Oh dear, Zodi's greatest foe, the Floor! That's kinda neat, first time I've seen carpeted sections of floor become hostile. XD

Hmm, speaking of the Floor as an enemy, I wonder if Zodi has ever played any of the *early* Ultima games... :smallamused:

Ooo, that's a very satisfying pot-shattering sound effect. I don't remember if this is the first time or not that I've heard it...

Interesting how instead of tracking you, now the hostile lamps/torches are just like those cannons from Dark Hyrule Castle.

Ooo, I didn't notice you could sword deflect Stalfos bones. I like that effect a lot! Especially after Skyward Sword.

Obviously the throne room was a trap so that you wouldn't feel too safe. Or padding. One of those. :smalltongue:

Oh mai, a ball and chain soldier! And even more chests after vanquishing him.

And again, no need for rupees :V

Interesting decision to go for the Lost Woods instead of having a boss, yeah.

Kinda disappointing decision too. Though a bit of a comparison of the Four Sword and Master Sword might've been an amusing moment as a reward for this bit... Maybe.

~14:45: I agree, that would be an interesting sort of cooperative feel. Or even an interesting way to do a more competitive play environment. Small dodging through things while big blasts through directly.

I wonder how you're supposed to do that puzzle at ~14:45 to 15:10 without being single player, since it seems like multiplayer just wouldn't work for getting a bomb guy over there...

All these Eyegore statues just make me itch for a bow and arrow...

Ahh, dastardly hidden path! That was rather conniving of them.

Oh, right, there are bows in this game after all! :smallembarrased: I forgot. :V

Man, that Eyegore was doing his cardio. Super fast hopping mad action.

Huh, a new enemy just for the nostalgia portions. Wiggy!

Oh dear, Futurepast Link Statue! Hopefully *just* a statue...

[LaZodiac]

We've been to the futurepast, now lets enter a waking nightmare.

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda Four Swords [5] Can't Wake Up (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vk0LJ0NmA4)

Video Length: 25:51

Further, further into the Realm of Memories. This time, Link's Awakening, a cute little game boy game. Devoid of colour sans our tunics and rupees, I feel really bad for the colour deprived audience members today. But then, having the ability to see colour won't prevent you from seeing the poor game design of this. I do exaggerate a little this time, I think at the end of the day this Memory is the best designed, but it sure feels a little tedious sometimes, and the grayscale makes it a little hard to see some details that you'd probably rather not overlook!

There is some new stuff this time though, and I'm actually kind of happy about that. First in that we see the regular ole non-cloud Piranha's this episode. They work like the Cloud one's in Minish Cap only worse due to being almost impossible to actually hit them, but better in that you CAN hurt their fins. So it's a trade off. Another new thing, unique to this Memory, is a new item! Bow-wow the Chain Chomp, a direct reference to Link's Awakening. This little puppy will occasionally eat enemies up wholesale, and is vital for completing a puzzle here. Gotta eat them Octoroks, yo.

Finally, one of the puzzles in this area requires some actually really interesting multiplayer block pushing and I quite like it. Utilizing the gimmick of the game is important to make the game actually fun, and even as a series of simple block pushing puzzles it works. So overall I'd say this is the best Memory so far.

Join me next time, dear viewer, for the conclusion of the Realm of Memory...and Four Swords as a whole. We'll be revealing what the new LP will be as well, so stay tuned!

[Cuthalion]

It's a pretty cool next LP, from the info on the street. I'm a fan of the color scheme.

[LaZodiac]

Here it is folks, the final Four Swords.

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda Four Swords [6] [FINALE] The Legend Begins (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OpGd2IWQrA)

Video Length: 26:36

Here we go, into the final Realm of Memory. This time it takes us back to the very beginning of the series. The original Legend of Zelda. I'll be honest, for all my griping I will do here and do do in video, it's actually quite fun and nostalgic to see the game like this again. I never grew up with this game so it's not SUPER Nostalgic like it might be for some people, but it's still part of my history as someone who has fun playing video games, so I like it.

That said mechanically this Memory is a mess. It throws rupee storms at us at the drop of a hate, and I'd checked out so hard by this point that I do basically stop collecting them. I actually feel kinda bad about it because I should always strive to take what I'm doing seriously. But I'd been worn down by the last two Memories and other stuff going on and I just...did not care. Honestly that's not surprising, look at my write ups for this game compared to Minish Cap. At it's worst days Minish Cap had something interesting to talk about and this game just...doesn't.

I do have stuff to talk about. First, the Bow Moblin's here feel very..."flash game-y" if you catch my meaning. The way they move to stay in line with you when taking aim with their bow feels very unnatural for the Zelda games. It feels like this is a Flash game and they were programmed to just latch to your movement. Second, and this is most important; you may of noticed during the first map that I point out a readability issue with a block that vanishes after clearing a room that has basically no chance of being seen onscreen when it poofs. This is pure and simple just pure poor game design. Maybe it was "my fault" for not realizing it, but I do feel the game's at fault here for not delivering information to me clearly. It's frustrating and annoying and is part of what did make me feel like I was just done done done done with this.

My final point I'd like to make is about the last...lets say quarter of the second map. The way this is set up, you clearly HAVE to abuse the system by throwing your partners into the gaps between bounce tiles. While this is a somewhat interesting use of the multiplayer gimmick it also points to something I'd like to bring up. these bounce tiles are random, but it's clear the developers have some way of influencing where they send you. So why would they ever make the bounce tiles fight against you, like back in Death Mountain and in many places here? It reeks of awful level design. The worst part is they clearly noticed, since they set up this part of the second map to BE used that way. Instead of say, making a compelling gameplay or fixing the tiles. Let me put this in bold so the importance of it is clear. If you have a gameplay element or gimmick that you design a puzzle around, where the puzzle is to avoid using the gameplay element or gimmick, nine times out of ten YOU HAVE MADE A BAD GAMEPLAY ELEMENT! This is just inexcusable and I haaaate it. There are times where "you must avoid interaction with the gameplay element" can be good, but this? This is just tedious and awful. My solo player teleportation powers are the only thing that make it any degree of tolerable.

Or reward for beating all the Realms of Memory? We get a bonus that makes the game give us sword beams. Nice.

------

So yeah...this is the end of Four Swords. I tried to stay positive and I think I did as well as can be expected given the game I am playing. At the end of the day this game is exactly, and AGGRESIVELY, exactly what it looks like. A mediocre tech demo with some interesting ideas attached to a GBA remake of a SNES game. It exists to see if "multiplayer Zelda" can be a thing, and apparently it worked since despite how actually not very good it is people loved it and wanted more multiplayer Zelda. There are people even know begging for Nintendo to put this on the e-Shop so they can buy it. I...find that horrifying after having played all of it but I guess the power of friendship trumps even the lacklusterish of games.

That being said I did enjoy making these. I doubt many people are still keeping with the thread now that Minish Cap is done but I hope those of you who did enjoyed watching my slow descent into tech demo induced madness. In reward, I'll reveal the game I'll be playing next. It's time for something interesting, because the game I'll be playing will be BLIND! That's right, I've never played this game before. So come with me, my friends. Next time, on April 15th, we begin...Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight!

[TheWombatOfDoom]

We've been to the futurepast, now lets enter a waking nightmare.

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda Four Swords [5] Can't Wake Up (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vk0LJ0NmA4)

Video Length: 25:51

Further, further into the Realm of Memories. This time, Link's Awakening, a cute little game boy game. Devoid of colour sans our tunics and rupees, I feel really bad for the colour deprived audience members today. But then, having the ability to see colour won't prevent you from seeing the poor game design of this. I do exaggerate a little this time, I think at the end of the day this Memory is the best designed, but it sure feels a little tedious sometimes, and the grayscale makes it a little hard to see some details that you'd probably rather not overlook!

There is some new stuff this time though, and I'm actually kind of happy about that. First in that we see the regular ole non-cloud Piranha's this episode. They work like the Cloud one's in Minish Cap only worse due to being almost impossible to actually hit them, but better in that you CAN hurt their fins. So it's a trade off. Another new thing, unique to this Memory, is a new item! Bow-wow the Chain Chomp, a direct reference to Link's Awakening. This little puppy will occasionally eat enemies up wholesale, and is vital for completing a puzzle here. Gotta eat them Octoroks, yo.

Finally, one of the puzzles in this area requires some actually really interesting multiplayer block pushing and I quite like it. Utilizing the gimmick of the game is important to make the game actually fun, and even as a series of simple block pushing puzzles it works. So overall I'd say this is the best Memory so far.

Join me next time, dear viewer, for the conclusion of the Realm of Memory...and Four Swords as a whole. We'll be revealing what the new LP will be as well, so stay tuned!Ah link's awakening. A game I haven't played, but have had the ending ruined for me...multiple times. I won't spoil it here for anyone, don't worry. I own the game, but haven't had the chance to play it as of yet, so none of this will look familiar to me. Except hello little chain chomp. Goothci gootchi goo! OW!

While this may be neat in terms of key collecting, it is the worst in terms of rupee drop rooms. You broke over 1000 missed rupees without breaking a sweat. That pit circle kicked your butt. You got lucky the fairies revived you. I kinda wish I had a fairy counter somewhere, but if you ever die, there will be a death counter make no mistake. Almost deaths are fine I suppose! But real death is a big deal. :smallbiggrin:

Yey non cloud piranhas...but boo that they drop blue rupees. Not that missing 16 more really affects anything....OH GOD WHAT HAS THIS GAME DONE!? I'm brushing off losing 16 rupees like some casual gamer... :smallyuk: Glad we only have one more of these...

The block pushing puzzle is neat, but can be bypassed easily with 4 people rather than your two. A lot less blocks need pushing. And that makes it not as great. As a single or 2 player? Yeah! Great puzzle.



EPISODE 5 KILL TALLY!

Spikey Beetle - 10
Red Zol - 20
Blue Rupee Like - 1
Red Gel - 6
Piranha - 3
Octorok - 2
Bulbul - 1
Spiked Beetle - 2
Bob-ombs - 4
Hikkun - 2
Bombarossa - 18
Ball and Chain Soldier - 1
Moldorm - 3
Tektite - 2
Rope - 12
Moblin - 1
Armos - 1

Style Points - 0

Missed Rupees - 1141
Lost Rupees (theft, overflow, ect.) - 40

(previous episodes)



Four Swords
Total Kills
(As of Episode 5)

Gouen - 1
Helmasaurs - 18
Keese - 15
Manhandla - 1
Moblins - 2
Moldorm - 10
Octoroks - 12
Piranhas - 3
Ropes - 63
Soldiers, Ball and Chain - 3
Tektites - 6
Vaati - 1
Wizzrobes, Ice - 1

Bombs
Bob-ombs - 15
Bombarossa - 29

Bugs
Beetles, Spiked - 16
Beetles, Spikey - 18

Constructs
Armos - 3
Eyegore Statues - 1

Likes
Rupee Likes, Green - 2
Rupee Likes, Blue - 11
Rupee Likes, Red - 2

Slimes
Bulbul - 2
Hikkun - 4
Nokkun - 2
Zol, Red - 27
Zol, Dora - 1
Gel, Red - 38

Stal
Stalfos, Red - 31
Gibdos - 3

Total Things Dead - 338

1st Place - Ropes, at 63!
2nd Place - Red Gel, at 38!
3rd Place - Red Stalfos, at 31!

Total Style Points - 2

Total Missed Rupees - 2488!!
Total Lost Rupees - 41

[LaZodiac]

Glad we only have one more of these...

The block pushing puzzle is neat, but can be bypassed easily with 4 people rather than your two. A lot less blocks need pushing. And that makes it not as great. As a single or 2 player? Yeah! Great puzzle.


You have no idea how much I agree with you there.

...huh you're right that does sort of invalidate the puzzle a bit what the hell! So silly.

[DataNinja]

...huh you're right that does sort of invalidate the puzzle a bit what the hell! So silly.

I think that there really sums up the game, from what I've seen. They had some ideas that looked good as a concept (And some that weren't *cough* bounce pads *cough*), they just didn't think them through or develop them well enough.

[TheWombatOfDoom]

Here it is folks, the final Four Swords.

Zodi Plays: The Legend of Zelda Four Swords [6] [FINALE] The Legend Begins (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OpGd2IWQrA)

Video Length: 26:36

Here we go, into the final Realm of Memory. This time it takes us back to the very beginning of the series. The original Legend of Zelda. I'll be honest, for all my griping I will do here and do do in video, it's actually quite fun and nostalgic to see the game like this again. I never grew up with this game so it's not SUPER Nostalgic like it might be for some people, but it's still part of my history as someone who has fun playing video games, so I like it.

That said mechanically this Memory is a mess. It throws rupee storms at us at the drop of a hate, and I'd checked out so hard by this point that I do basically stop collecting them. I actually feel kinda bad about it because I should always strive to take what I'm doing seriously. But I'd been worn down by the last two Memories and other stuff going on and I just...did not care. Honestly that's not surprising, look at my write ups for this game compared to Minish Cap. At it's worst days Minish Cap had something interesting to talk about and this game just...doesn't.

I do have stuff to talk about. First, the Bow Moblin's here feel very..."flash game-y" if you catch my meaning. The way they move to stay in line with you when taking aim with their bow feels very unnatural for the Zelda games. It feels like this is a Flash game and they were programmed to just latch to your movement. Second, and this is most important; you may of noticed during the first map that I point out a readability issue with a block that vanishes after clearing a room that has basically no chance of being seen onscreen when it poofs. This is pure and simple just pure poor game design. Maybe it was "my fault" for not realizing it, but I do feel the game's at fault here for not delivering information to me clearly. It's frustrating and annoying and is part of what did make me feel like I was just done done done done with this.

My final point I'd like to make is about the last...lets say quarter of the second map. The way this is set up, you clearly HAVE to abuse the system by throwing your partners into the gaps between bounce tiles. While this is a somewhat interesting use of the multiplayer gimmick it also points to something I'd like to bring up. these bounce tiles are random, but it's clear the developers have some way of influencing where they send you. So why would they ever make the bounce tiles fight against you, like back in Death Mountain and in many places here? It reeks of awful level design. The worst part is they clearly noticed, since they set up this part of the second map to BE used that way. Instead of say, making a compelling gameplay or fixing the tiles. Let me put this in bold so the importance of it is clear. If you have a gameplay element or gimmick that you design a puzzle around, where the puzzle is to avoid using the gameplay element or gimmick, nine times out of ten YOU HAVE MADE A BAD GAMEPLAY ELEMENT! This is just inexcusable and I haaaate it. There are times where "you must avoid interaction with the gameplay element" can be good, but this? This is just tedious and awful. My solo player teleportation powers are the only thing that make it any degree of tolerable.

Or reward for beating all the Realms of Memory? We get a bonus that makes the game give us sword beams. Nice.

------

So yeah...this is the end of Four Swords. I tried to stay positive and I think I did as well as can be expected given the game I am playing. At the end of the day this game is exactly, and AGGRESIVELY, exactly what it looks like. A mediocre tech demo with some interesting ideas attached to a GBA remake of a SNES game. It exists to see if "multiplayer Zelda" can be a thing, and apparently it worked since despite how actually not very good it is people loved it and wanted more multiplayer Zelda. There are people even know begging for Nintendo to put this on the e-Shop so they can buy it. I...find that horrifying after having played all of it but I guess the power of friendship trumps even the lacklusterish of games.

That being said I did enjoy making these. I doubt many people are still keeping with the thread now that Minish Cap is done but I hope those of you who did enjoyed watching my slow descent into tech demo induced madness. In reward, I'll reveal the game I'll be playing next. It's time for something interesting, because the game I'll be playing will be BLIND! That's right, I've never played this game before. So come with me, my friends. Next time, on April 15th, we begin...Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight!

Oh lord...Zodi's lost her cool. The game broke her. While the maps were neat, I didn't like the layout having buildings recreated, but not utilized. It seems sloppy.

As for the nostalgia in this one, it was neat to take a skin and then turn it into a puzzle map, but what it felt like is a series of kill rooms with a few switches and annoying devices instead. This one was my least favorite, as there were too many rupee rooms, which meant it was specifically designed to ruin my day, and yours as well.

I will say a lot of the issues you had with the spring board puzzles could have been avoided with the push of the right block. However, I know how much you don't like the non marked moveable blocks, so there's that. Its a puzzle the original Zelda had (as well as unmarked bombable walls) that I don't think really needs to be repeated, and in future Zelda games could have been improved to pattern change of some sort. Color perhaps? The bows in the last level were reachable by a push block method as well. :smallfrown:

Also, that last red rupee room? You know how you say red rupee room just because the game hates us? Well guess what. After its done raining red rupees it gets worse. It then rains BIG green rupees, which are 50 rupees a pop. You missed 2000 in that room alone by skipping it. That nearly doubles the amount you missed from in the whole of four swords from missing that room alone. And that...my friend...is what I call salt in the wound. All of the salt.

Anyway, I'm glad this wasn't a stand alone game. Yes there are some not as great Zelda games, but at least we have good ones too...and I'm certainly glad that after this coming game, you've got good games for quite a bit. Overall, the gameplay, commentary, and missed rupees say it all. This game was...hard to swallow. Don't ever let someone start on this series. Thank you for playing it for me so that I never have to. :smallsmile: We'll see you next time!

EDIT: You missed a few enemies this time! Darknut, Wisp, and a normal Wizzrobe! Tut tut!




Skyward Sword
Minish Cap
Four Sword


Master Sword
Four Sword
Four Sword


Bow
Bow (Regular, Light Arrow)
Bow


Bombs
Bombs (Regular, Remote)
Bombs (Remote)


Beetle




Bug Net




Slingshot




Clawshot




Whip




Gust Bellows
Gust Jar




Cane of Pacci




Boomerang (Regular, Magical)
Boomerang


Digging/Mogma Mitts
Mole Mitts
Magnetic Gloves



Lantern




Pegasus Boots
Pegasus Boots


Sail Cloth
Roc's Cape
Roc's Cape


Goddess's Harp
Ocarina of Wind




Minish Cap
Gnat Hat



Power Bracelets



Fireshield Earings




Water Dragon's Scale




Wooden Shield




Iron Shield
Small Shield



Sacred Shield




Hylian Shield

Hylian Shield



Mirror Shield






-
Skyward Sword
Minish Cap
Four Sword


Pieces of Heart
24
44
0


Max Rupees
9900
999
Unlimited


Max Bottles
5
4
0





EPISODE 6 KILL TALLY!

Moblin (Bow) -19
Eyegore Statue - 7
Octorok - 60
Tektite - 14
Moblin - 1
Ghini - 4
Red Stalfos - 6
Armos - 3
Red Gel - 28
Blue Rupee Like - 2
Gibdo - 1
Bob-omb - 12
Red Rupee Like - 2

Style Points - Nope

Missed Rupees - 3872
Lost Rupees (theft, overflow, ect.) - 22

(previous episodes)



Four Swords
Total Kills
(Final Count)

Ghini - 4
Gouen - 1
Helmasaurs - 18
Keese - 15
Manhandla - 1
Moldorm - 10
Octoroks - 72
Piranhas - 3
Ropes - 63
Tektites - 20
Vaati - 1
Wisp - 0

Blin
Moblin - 3
Moblin (Bow) - 19

Bombs
Bob-ombs - 27
Bombarossa - 29

Bugs
Beetles, Spiked - 16
Beetles, Spiny - 18

Constructs
Armos - 6
Eyegore Statues - 8

Likes
Rupee Likes, Green - 2
Rupee Likes, Blue - 13
Rupee Likes, Red - 4

Slimes
Bulbul - 2
Hikkun - 4
Nokkun - 2
Zol, Red - 27
Zol, Dora - 1
Gel, Red - 66

Soldiers
Soldiers, Ball and Chain - 3
Darknut - 0

Stal
Stalfos, Red - 37
Gibdos - 4

Wizrobes
Wizzrobes - 0
Wizzrobes, Ice - 1

Total Things Dead - 497

1st Place - Octorok, at 72!
2nd Place - Red Gel, at 66!
3rd Place - Ropes, at 63!

Total Style Points - 2

Total Missed Rupees - 6360!!!!!!
Total Lost Rupees - 63

[TheWombatOfDoom]

The Legend of Zelda
Total Kills
(Skyward Sword, The Minish Cap, Four Sword)

Acro-Bandits - 92
Ampilus - 15
Bilocyte - 1
Cranioc - 4
Ghini - 36
Gleerok - 1
Helmasaurs - 37
Lakitu - 3
Puffstools - 10
Sparks - 20

Avians
Crows - 16
Guay - 39
Takkuri - 4
Hrok - 2
Furnix - 5

Babas
Baba, Deku - 57
Baba, Quadro - 19
Manhandla - 1

Blins
Bokoblin, Red - 281
Bokoblin, Red (Archer) - 33
Bokoblin, Green - 14
Bokoblin, Green (Archer) - 30
Bokoblin, Blue - 43
Bokoblin, Cursed - 52
Technoblin - 39
Moblins - 24
Moblin (Wooden Shield) - 4
Moblin (Metal Shield) - 6
Moblins (Bow) - 26
Moblins, Blue - 17
Moblins, Blue (Bow) - 3

Bombs
Bob-ombs - 41
Bombarossa - 56

Bugs
Bee hives - 6
Beetles - 15
Beetles, Spiked - 24
Beetles, Spiny - 38
Beetles, Scissor - 15
Bugs - 6
Madderpillars - 4
Mulldozers - 32
Mulldozers, Blue - 35
Rollobites - 1
Pestos - 40
Pestos, Blue - 5
Sluggula - 40

Constructs
Armos - 20
Beamos - 24
Eyegore Statues - 15
Sentrobe - 3
Turrets - 8
Scervo - 1
Dreadfuse - 1
Mazaal - 1
Koloktos - 3
Ghirahim - 1

Fish (Aero & Aquatic)
Froak - 36
Piranhas - 3
Piranhas, Cloud - 6
Gyorg, Blue - 2
Gyorg, Green - 4
Gyorg, Red - 1

Hands
Floormasters - 10
Wallmaster - 2
Magmanos - 3

Keatons
Keatons - 10
Keatons, Blue - 25

Keese
Keese - 329
Keese, Fire - 95
Keese, Thunder - 38
Keese, Dark - 20

Leevers
Leevers - 1
Leevers, Blue - 9

Likes
Rupee Likes, Green - 3
Rupee Likes, Blue - 14
Rupee Likes, Red - 7
Like Likes - 4

Lizal
Lizalfos - 18
Lizalfos, Dark - 4

Molds
Aracha - 163
Moldarach - 3
Moldorms - 28
Moldworms -1
Sky-Tail - 5
Walltula - 17
Skulltula - 19

Octoroks
Octoroks - 171*
Octoroks, Blue - 14
Octoroks, Gold - 3
Octorok, Grass - 13
Octorok, Sky - 3
Octorok, Rock - 8
Tentalus - 3

Peahats
Peahats - 27
Peahats, Blue - 2

Pyroclasts
Gouen - 1
Pyrup - 9
Scaldera - 2

Ropes
Ropes - 97
Ropes, Gold - 3

Slimes
Bulbul - 2
Hikkun - 4
Nokkun - 2
Chuchus, Green - 111*
Chuchus, Red - 99
Chuchus, Yellow - 67
Chuchus, Blue - 11*
Chuchus, Spike - 14
Gel, Red - 66
Zol, Red - 27
Zol, Dora - 1

Soldiers
Darknuts - 6
Darknuts, Mighty - 6
Darknuts, Black Knight - 2
Soldiers, Ball and Chain - 7

Spumes
Spumes, Magma - 10
Spumes, Electro - 18
Spumes, Water - 1
Spumes, Cursed - 18

Stal
Stalfos - 63
Stalfos, Red - 58
Stalmaster - 2
Gibdo - 12
Staldra - 7
Bubbles, Red - 3
Bubbles, Blue - 1

Tektites
Tektites - 79
Tektites, Blue - 2
Tektites, Gold - 3

Wizzrobes
Wizzrobes - 28
Wizzrobes, Ice - 5
Wizzrobes, Fire - 7

Final Bosses
Demise - 1
Vaati - 2

*one of which was a boss

Total Things Dead - 3203

1st Place - Keese, at 329!
2nd Place - Red Bokoblin, at 281!
3rd Place - Octoroks, at 171!

Total Style Points - 18!

Total Missed Rupees - 285
Total Missed Multiplayer Rupees - 6360!
Total Lost Rupees - 313
Total Lost Multiplayer Rupees - 63

[LaZodiac]

[
Total Missed Multiplayer Rupees - 6360!

I have many things to say about your lovely work cataloging my stats but I can say with confidence that this number of missed rupees will never be surpassed.

[huttj509]

Been a while since I played it...

Are you sure the bounce tiles are random? Like, walk into the same one twice and it sends you 2 different directions?

From what I remember they sent you a set (but unmarked) direction, so part of the intended puzzle was figuring out the maze, with added flexibility of being able to toss over parts of it.

Then again, I skipped the session where they were first introduced, so maybe you checked that there.

[LaZodiac]

Been a while since I played it...

Are you sure the bounce tiles are random? Like, walk into the same one twice and it sends you 2 different directions?

From what I remember they sent you a set (but unmarked) direction, so part of the intended puzzle was figuring out the maze, with added flexibility of being able to toss over parts of it.

Then again, I skipped the session where they were first introduced, so maybe you checked that there.

In Death Mountain they're seemingly random. I think the idea is that they can randomly decide which of the options they send you flying, and can have anywhere from one to 4 options. I'll admit I was probably just suuuper salty at this point and had enough of it, but I do recall trying to do this legitimately and it taking like an hour because the bounce tiles never sent me where I was supposed to go.

[Cuthalion]

New game hype.

[TheWombatOfDoom]

I have many things to say about your lovely work cataloging my stats but I can say with confidence that this number of missed rupees will never be surpassed.

Until...Four Swords Adventures. DUN DUN DUUUUUUN!

[LaZodiac]

Those are technically something else but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. More importantly...

Thus begins the new LP: Momodora Reverie Under the Moonlight! (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?484929-Zodi-Plays-Momodora-Reverie-Under-the-Moonlight-%28So-many-adorable-death-cries!%29&p=20668098#post20668098)

[Coidzor]

There were painful moments here and there in the earlier ones and in the first nostalgia bomb, but, hoo. Those last two areas were just downright painful to watch and looked painful to play.

I'm so torn by remembering how much I enjoyed Link's Awakening and my nostalgia for it... and seeing just how dunderheaded many of the moments in that realm of memory were.

And I would have loved to have a boss rush of the simpler Legend of Zelda bosses, pitting advanced Links against futurepast foes. The seeds of something great, but... very strangely underdone, like they just got interns to do it or something.