Part 4 - Desert Palace: Wherein Link outsmarts the floor.
I’ve decided to go ahead and revert to pasting images from the document rather than the screenshots folder. Yes, they may be slightly lower quality this way, but the screenshot folder method takes significantly longer.
Anyway…
I have boots, but good sir, how are you so fast?
Dashing young man: You don’t seem like such a terrible monster, though… Anyway, because you have such quick feet, it might be a good idea to run and bash into many things…
Is he trying to trick me into getting a concussion?
Dashing young man: For example, the trees in this village have many useful things hanging in their branches.. Well, just try it, OK?!
…I think this is his way of politely disengaging from conversation with the bunny.
Anyway, on to the next palace!
Oh hey, it’s a guy! I wonder what he has to say.
A guy: …
Heeeyy… That’s Link’s line!
Sign: Pay no attention to the average middle-aged man standing by this sign. Leave him alone!
Of course. Signs, signs. Everywhere a sign. “Do this.” “Don’t do that.” Bah!
Oh well, I guess it’s at least a reasonable enough…
Sign: (Especially bunnies!)
…
That’s what you get for defying the will of the cuteness!
A guy: Lousy thieving rabbits… Mumble… mumble…
This does make me curious about this guy’s backstory. Did a rabbit kidnap his parents when he was a kid, or something?
And now, he’s following me! Despite his grumpy exterior, it seems that, among the things I stole from him, at the top of the list is his heart.
I’m honestly not sure what this vulture’s plan of attack is. It just ends up circling me until I kill it, and I never really give it time to do anything else. Is its plan genuinely to just circle around me until I die from other causes?
Also, landmines tend to be a bit more effective when HIDDEN.
…Ah, right, time to hit the books!
Engraving: way will be opened to he who is sincere.
Then how did all the monsters get in? No offense to them, but they don’t strike me as the praying sort. Though I suppose they do seem the sincere…ly hungry sort.
Bunny Link, live on stage!
Next question. How do I get out?
…Okay, I know bunnies are typically prey, but getting eaten by architecture? Really?
Ah, yes, this thing. It shoots lasers when the eye spots Link. Alright, fair enough, but here’s a question: How does one explain collision damage, in the case of this inert statue?
I know I should probably be intimidated, but… Why make a sand worm thing in a light blue color, exactly?
I think this dungeon needs some medicine; it’s puking up bunnies.
On another note, it turns out the ice rod one-hit-kills these sand worms! Quite nice, considering they can be a bit of an annoyance and, well, what else am I using it or my magic power for?
Remember, kids: When next something is up too high for you to reach, just ram face-first into whatever it’s on top of. What’s the worst that could happen?
If I were a fairy, I think I would live somewhere else.
Huh. You find seaweed in the strangest places, these days…
Again, nothing to a danmaku veteran.
Okay, so I wan’t exactly playing on the highest difficulty in those games, but it was far more difficult than this.
Anyway, this leads to the bunny key, yay!
carry stones now!
I love the Power Baseball Glove. It’s so bad.
Oh magical 8-stone, will I defeat Ganon?
“Ask again later.”
Oh no, the floor tiles are coming out to kill me. Whatever shall I doooo…?
Well, just standing here seems to be working pretty well, so I guess I’ll keep doing that.
How ominous, the floor tiles uprooted themselves in the pattern of a, uh… thing?
I didn’t get a screenshot of it at the time, but I managed to somehow avoid being shot by a statue eye laser by being in the middle of a spin attack when it hit me. I’m not sure exactly how that is supposed to work, but I shan’t complain.
I’ve always found it amusing that it creates an 8 before finishing the tile pattern.
And thus, a secret entrance is opened, once again proving that lighting things on fire solves everything.
Interesting boss fight, though odd they don’t incorporate the dungeon’s treasure anywhere into it. I just gotta use my sword to kill these sand worms.
Wait… sand worms…
AHAHAHAHA TREMBLE IN FEEEEAR!
Ultimately, I finished the fight with my last bit of magic. I do believe that counts as an epic moment. Or me being a terrible shot for most of the fight.
Go for the last one!
I would have colored power red, personally. It just feels more right, really.
And now, to go on toward the last pendant!
Oh hey, I missed this cave before.
Descendant of wise men: veins…
By definition, wasn’t it most definitely in my veins since I’d rescued Princess Zelda and was thus a hero at that point? Or is he referring to a specific hero? If so, that specific hero isn’t very… specific.
I still wonder how these heart pieces keep getting in these places, but I shan’t complain.
Excuse me, sir. Could you kindly explain how you got in here and how you had intended to get out? Do you have one of those super baseball gloves, too?
Thief: Check out the cave east of Lake Hylia. Strange and wonderful things live in it…
Like fish?
One bout of smashing a whole bunch of pots later, I find myself at max rupees. I should probably go find somewhere to spend it.
No.
Oh hey, the graveyard! Hard to believe I didn’t mention this in part two. This was pretty much always one of the first places I visited, as a child, whenever I first exited the sanctuary.
But hey, a good thing I waited, because now I can lift the stones to get to this gravestone!
…It was a trap.
A very ineffective one, sending me back to the end of the sewers.
But hey, now that I am back, I can open up these bomb walls that I couldn’t earlier!
…Or I could just bash into them. This is the first time I’ve played since I found out that was an option, so this is kinda weirdly satisfying, in a way. I mean, this was always a key moment I remembered as a child, finally opening this up, and now, I added something new to it.
And also I am a bunny, now. So, that also helps.
Pretty neat rewards, too! Mainly in the form of that center chest giving 300 rupees. The left one gave bombs. And yes, I reloaded from a save state after I realized I had just opened a 300 rupee chest when I am at max capacity. I normally wouldn’t use states for such a purpose, but… bleh. I don’t have time to reload from the last proper save and do stuff all over again just to avoid wasting 300 rupees.
I’m sure they’re probably very confused about this.
This is something that has always confused me. I can destroy a pile of these stones with the pegasus boots, but one stone requires the glove. Why are several of these stones more of an obstacle than just one? I guess maybe that 8 on the top of the stone is pretty vital to a stone’s structural integrity.
Speaking of 8, almost to that many hearts, so that’s exciting. Ish.
Oh hey, there was a bug under this rock! Makes sense, I suppose.
Sorry bug, but at least your death was not in vain. The war effort against socks thanks you.
Anyway, that said, not entering that cave yet. I’ve got some more unfinished business, first.