I found the first missing one easily enough. I just used the scarecrow and bam. But the second one had me walking around for hours trying to figure out where the hell it was. Then I realised the game actually tells me where I should be looking. Haha. It was in kokiri Village the entire time. Whoops.

On a side note, given that I live in Japan and this is autumn, I can tell you these spiders are quite real and live all around me right now. In English they are called golden orb weavers and some of them are as big as your outstretched hand. Google them in you dare.

I have also been quite busy, but I promised myself to do this, so that is what I will do! Grrrr. Motivation!  Question time: Is there a Zelda game that you just found you couldn’t make it through as fast as others?

Hey everyone! Just a quick update on my one year adventure. I’m still on Ocarina of Time. I’ve been crazy busy as of late, but I am still on the adventure. I will admit though, that OoT hasn’t sucked me in as quickly as the previous games have so far.

Don’t get me wrong. I really like it. It’s a great game, full of amazing music and  lush visuals.  But there is something about the 3D and all the items, that leaves me wanting. Also, the camera angles can be frustrating at times. I get fences and other objects blocking my view.  As for the storyline,  I think I am half way through the game now. Zelda has been kidnapped and I am off to the Temple of Time. I tossed the precious ocarina that the green haired girl  Saria left for me and grabbed the one Zelda dropped. How kind of me to do that.

Another thing I noted was that all the girls in this game are all really attractive, except for Zelda herself and the fairies. The fairies are actually pretty scary creepy. Their laugh will stay with me until my grave.  Zelda looks kind of like she is hiding a round of chemo treatment. Even the crazy chicken lady is cuter than Zelda is this time. What’s up with that?

Anyways, I have a l little more time coming up, so I’ll be sure to blog more about the game as I play more.

Game Release date – 1998 / 2011

Start Time – March 14, 2012

End Time – TBD

System Played on – Nintendo 3DS

Walkthrough Used - Zelda Dungeon, Gamefaqs

And so it begins. I have started my journey into the world of 3D Zelda gaming. Not only is this game in 3D compared to previous Zelda games, but it uses the 3DS’s 3D for 3DX2   or 6D? Well, you know what I mean.

I really enjoyed the first hour of the game. It teaches you as you go, so I was able to jump in and learn quickly. I’m still getting used to the camera angles however. The 3DS wants me to move the unit to look up, but that causes me to lose the 3D field of view. Headaches ensue. I turned off the 3D for a while so I could relax my eyes. I also getting used to all of the new items and the slot I need to put them in. There are a lot more involvement than in previous games. But I think I’m going to like it.

I got pretty far into the first area, then I got my sword and went over to talk with that massive tree.  I got to chat with Mr.Deku and when I got inside of him, well, things just went haywire. You see, I’m not a big fan of spiders, and those spiders inside the Deku are pretty terrifying. They look just like the massive garden spiders we have here in Japan. Needless to say, I was pretty freaked out by them. The first boss of the game was also quite horrific. Easy to beat, but also scary.  This new way of playing Zelda is going to take some getting used to . But I look forward to it. I’ll keep you updated as I make my way through the game.

Start Time – February 13, 2012

End Time – March  12, 2012

System Played on – Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console

Total Play Time – 17 Hours

Naturally, there are spoilers ahead!

I just wrapped up Link’s adventure last night.  It’s quite the tear jerking ending, isn’t it. I’ve played the game before, but I don’t quite remember the impact it had on me at that time. It was probably similar to how I feel now. A little shocked and a little saddened. There is a lot of debate about what happens at the end. I would like invoke Occam’s razor here to help me along with what I think happened to Link(See what I did there son?):

Simply put, Link is on his way somewhere after his adventures in Hyrule in ‘A link to the Past’. His boat gets torn asunder in a storm and he’s left floundering on a couple of logs. Here he drifts in and out of consciousness and dreams the entire ‘Link’s Adventure’ game. He is then woken up by a large seagull flying in front of the sun. He recalls the cute girl he fell for in the dream . He smiles as insanity finally takes him.  Sadly the part that we don’t see if how he slowly dies dehydration mere hours after he hallucinates a large ‘whale bird’ in the sky. Marin is basically his desire to get with Zelda. But Zelda didn’t put out, and Marin was all about the touchy touchy.  Pure fantasy. Poor Link. What a sad end.

Anyways, on to the emphysema Ocarina of Time. It’s the first time for me, so please be gentle.  For some reason, I moved on to Playstation games around this time and never got to it. I’m about to rectify this major faux pas. Bring it!

I like the not-so-serious nature of the game. The banter and bickering of the NPCs is a pleasant change. While there seems to be a grand story unfolding here, there is a lot of light humor to keep you laughing. In fact, I can’t remember laughing once in any previous Zelda game. Well, unless you count slashing chickens. But that’s a morbid kind of humor. I like this light and fluffy humor. It’s like chicken soup for the Zelda soul.

Now on to the not-so-great. My biggest grip about this game is the A/B button item switcheroo. I have spent more time flipping between jumping and rock lifting than I did playing the entire first Zelda. Okay, that is a bit of an exaggeration, but if you’ve playing this game, you’ll know what I mean. I think they designed it like that for building quick A/B button combo moves, like dashing and jumping,  but they should have made a number of the basic moves (jump/lift rock etc.) automatic and not something you had to actually equip.  It get’s so bad, there are times when I just want to quit the game. Like when I do a dash, run and there is a monster on the other side, so I have to quick equip my sword, but that can take up to 25 seconds.  A Link to the Past had the controls down pat. Why did they need to take a step back?

Assign Rope to A  - Assign post to B   

Assign fail to Link

   That’s all I have for now. I am about to embark into the desert with Marin. Who knows? Maybe I’ll get to second base before we get our eyes pecked out by vultures.

Start Time – February 13, 2012

End Time – February 29, 2012

System Played on – Nintendo Wii Virtual Console

Total Play Time – 14 Hours (Estimate. Wii doesn’t let me total my play time. Boo.)

Another one bites the dust. I just finished this great game, although I am left wanting. The final dungeons were fun, but they seemed a little too easy. After making my fingers bleed on Zelda 2, this one seemed rather pedestrian.  I made it through the last dungeon without evening needing a walkthrough at all. In fact, the only time I used a walkthrough was to find  two missing heart containers. It turns out that I forgot them at the very start of the game. One of them was still in the village. I forgot to bomb something.

The Ganon fight was rather straightforward. I knew there were silver arrows required somewhere, and I assumed that when he was white that is when I should use them. It seems to me that the best way to beat a Zelda game is to have played previous Zelda games. All the clues are already there. As for the good, I will say that I did enjoy the music in this game. Especially the ending theme. It was heartwarming. I also noticed that Link resurrected his uncle at the end. I wonder if there is a future for zombie uncle.

I wonder if the Aquifina Ocarina of Time will let me use the same hints that I’ve learned from previous Zelda’s. We’ll see. Now to finish Link’s Awakening.

Let me tell you something. I have not had much of a problem with A Link to the Past until now. But then I get to Turtle Rock. Oh, and then I get to this little area (pictured on the right.) Pardon my french, but holy s**t! Either I’ve lost all my muscle control, or that was one of the most annoying areas in any Zelda game. Whenever I wanted to turn, it decided that I wouldn’t be turning.  The boss was actually quite easy to figure out once I got to him. Way easier than that ridiculous maze.  Pro Tip: Color coding your bosses goes a long way into helping people figure out how to defeat them. I suppose next they’ll be collated. Haha. A little office humor. But I digress.  I just discovered that I am missing two heart pieces. I didn’t rely on a walkthrough, so somewhere along the way, I missed a couple. I did check the walkthrough to try to get an idea of where I could have misplaced them, but I don’t know. I’ll have to start looking in order when I play next. I’m hoping to wrap up this game by the weekend. Then I’ll attack Link’s Awakening and start the Okinawa Ocarina of Time 3D. From that point on, it’s turtles all the way down.

 So far I’ve been able to collect a number of items without have to resort to a walkthrough. I even tricked that bat into halving my magic use by powdering his blood supply.  I also figured out how to beat the monsters in the first two dark world dungeons. Though I bombed one rather than hammering him. But, whatever works, right? I really hate those hoppy things (I guess they are called ropas) that take two hearts away from you in the dark work. I went to the witch’s house to top up my hearts, flashed back to the dark world and got into a fracas with one of them. I ended up down to four heart and having to backtrack back to the witches houses again. As much as I love Zelda games, I really suck at them.  I’m hoping to wrap this up in the next couple of weeks. I am not really rushing through it, however, since it is such an enjoyable game. So far I’d say the worst enemy is that damn bug eyed thing that forces you off the edge and makes you come back up to fight him again. I don’t know how many times he pushed me off that ledge. Grrr.

This dude sucks balls.