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  Spoilers? As a main entry in a very popular game series, any and all spoilers are fair game. Spoilers for Wind Waker are, of course, fine too. Released in 2007, Phantom Hourglass is the fourteenth main installment in the Zelda franchise, and was the first entry released for the DS. The game serves as a direct sequel to 2002's Wind Waker, even involving the same incarnations of Link and Zelda. Zelda, or rather Tetra, does not get to do very much in this game compared to Wind Waker, spending a majority of the game as a statue. It's Minish Cap all over again, it seems. While released to very positive critical acclaim, it seems the fanbase has become somewhat divisive of this entry, with a number of Zelda fans deeming it as one of the weaker entries of the series, from what I've consistently seen. While I don't dislike the game, I do have to agree and say I personally find it on the lower part of the series totem pole. If anything, I find things more forgettable than anything else, though funnily enough I have zero problems remembering its sequel, Spirit Tracks. I do of course remember the Temple of the Ocean King and how the player must venture into it about half a dozen times over the course of the game. I also recall some interesting mechanics with the DS mechanics, like having to close the device to stamp something. Despite my general apathatic attitude towards the game, I still look forward to playing it again. I should also note that I will be using an emulator to play this game, as I have no real other way of recording the gameplay. This means there will be inevitable audio/graphics glitches and using a mouse instead of a stylus will make things a tad awkward, but there's not much that can be done there, I'm afraid. This series will be pre-recorded, and is not meant to be a 100% playthrough. Seems Tetra Was Taken For Granite, Huh?: Part 1 - Tetra Kidnapped Part 2 - Linebeck Part 3 - Temple of Fire Part 4 - Temple of the Ocean King I Part 5 - Through the Fog Part 6 - The Uncharted Island Part 7 - Temple of Wind Part 8 - Temple of the Ocean King II Part 9 - Temple of Courage Part 10 - Ciela's Identity Part 11 - The Ghost Ship Part 12 - Oshus' Identity Part 13 - Temple of the Ocean King III Part 14 - Goron Island Part 15 - Goron Temple Part 16 - Isle of Frost Part 17 - Temple of Ice Part 18 - Dee Ess Island Part 19 - Temple of the Ocean King IV Part 20 - Maze Island Part 21 - Isle of the Dead Part 22 - Isle of Ruins Part 23 - Mutoh's Temple Part 24 - Bellum TheLoneStar fucked around with this message at 04:15 on Jul 19, 2019 |
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Apr 30, 2019 01:40
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| # ? Apr 30, 2024 19:21 |
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Of course, before the adventure can properly begin, our hero is going to need a name and that's up to you all. Give some suggestions, keeping in mind the character limit is eight for Link's name. After a few days, I'll pick my favorite suggestion and get things going.
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Apr 30, 2019 01:41
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No takers? Ouch. Well, guess I'll just keep the name from Wind Waker, then. Part 1 - Tetra Kidnapped Lot of tutorial stuff for the most part, not too much to say. I am glad that the weird audio clipping from the Ghost Ship scene apparently didn't carry over to the recording for whatever reason, though the weird jittery shadows remained and there's really not much I can do about that. A bit unfortunate that Tetra gets taken out of the picture so early on, literally less than ten minutes into the game. She's always been one of the better Zelda incarnations, so it would have been nice to get more of her and Link interacting. Or even her and other characters interacting too. Especially since, if I recall, she really does nothing at all until the very end of the game, so that's a bummer. Ciela I remember being alright. Not great like Midna or Tatl, but not too terrible like Fi. Really wonder why they decided to recycle Navi's sound clips for her, it's completely needless to give her voice clips to begin with. Oh well. Either way, best character debuts next episode, and that's all that matters in the end. More apologies for the chunkiness of the controls, I just hope I can get used to using the mouse rather than the stylus.
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May 4, 2019 02:16
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Part 2 - Linebeck I'm one lucky son of a gun. Right after the adventure started, right as I was worrying that maybe Tetra was out of reach and I'd never find her...a miracle happened. A miracle in the form of the bravest, best looking, and most well-traveled adventurer on the seas: Linebeck. Sure, he needed me to help him out at the start, but every adventurer has an off day, it's nothing to be ashamed of. Besides, he was so grateful and so kind that he let me go aboard his ship and go on an adventure with him. Now that Linebeck is on my side, Tetra is as good as saved. On a more minor note, it is somewhat unusual how Toon Link keeps breaking barriers in terms of Link actually speaking properly. First it's him having actual voiced dialogue in Wind Waker that isn't just yelling or grunts of pain, and now he even has a text box. I don't know why that sticks out to me so much, I guess it's just so unusual to have, especially since it never really happens after this game. Closest we get is choosing full sentences to say in Skyward Sword and Breath of the Wild. That aside, already at the first temple of the game. Really feels like it came about faster than in some other more recent Zelda titles, not that that's necessarily a bad thing, though.
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May 7, 2019 01:45
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The Goddess Drops are used as power ups later in the game. The treasures are used to either craft ship parts or enhance them. Navi's voice is used because Nintendo seems to love reusing sound clips from OoT and MM, see Minish Cap for proof of it. Regarding your commentary, you seem to complain an awful lot about this game and the design choices of both it and the Zelda franchise. It's a little off-putting, to be honest. If you're having trouble thinking of what to say, maybe plan out a script that links to what you're doing in the videos? It might also help if you actually remembered the events of the game too. And don't worry about the emulator issues, they can't be helped!
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May 7, 2019 19:39
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Roro posted:The Goddess Drops are used as power ups later in the game. The treasures are used to either craft ship parts or enhance them. Navi's voice is used because Nintendo seems to love reusing sound clips from OoT and MM, see Minish Cap for proof of it. I apologize, I didn't realize I was doing it quite so much. I know I mentioned the Temple of the Ocean King and the many times you have to go in there a few times. I'll try and hold back on it. I really do love the Zelda series a lot, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have low points to it... Part 3 - Temple of Fire First temple already down and out. A nice, basic temple that really lacks any true gimmicks that makes it stand out. Then again, I'd rather that than something overly complex like some of the various Water Temples throughout the series. As I mention in the video, I like what they did with the Boomerang in this game with how they allow the player to choose whatever kind of weird path you want it to follow. It's small and simple, but enjoyable. Blaaz was also a fine boss, if only it didn't take me so long to realize just what to do with him, but that's entirely on me. All I could remember from the get-go was you had to use the Boomerang to mesh the split parts together. And, as it turns out, there actually is a way to get a couple more minutes in the Phantom Hourglass from treasures found on the seafloor.
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May 9, 2019 03:33
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Part 4 - Temple of the Ocean King I I don't recall the first real trip into the Temple of the Ocean King being as many floors deep as this. Wasn't bad, either way, since they were all pretty easy and short. As I mentioned in the video, I'm really not a fan of forced stealth sections in non-stealth video games. In this game at least you keep all your weapons, unlike lots of other forced stealth sections, and the guards seeing you isn't an automatic toss into a jail cell or game over. I'm sure it will also feel cathartic to take all the shortcuts that the game will offer me. That aside, all that really goes on is just me getting the cannon and trying, and failing, to catch up to the Ghost Ship. I had forgotten you have to actually try to chase it down before the game will let you talk to that islander guy.
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May 12, 2019 00:30
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Part 5 - Through the Fog Little bit of dungeon crawling, but mostly sailing in this episode. The little mini-dungeon wasn't much of note, but I got the Shovel there which is nice. I still find it slightly amusing how that one guy just dumps all his family problems on Link, who's like twelve years old. Just out of nowhere too. Aside from that, just me finding some ship parts and meeting a familiar looking adventurer. I love the whole fake version of the main character shtick. Somehow even knew about the King of Red Lions. Other than that, just getting through the fog and arriving at the Isle of Gust. I find the ship part mechanics alright, though it would be nice if they did more than just increase health, like if certain cannons had better range or did more damage or something. Not a huge deal, but it'd be neat if it was implemented that way.
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May 14, 2019 04:50
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Part 6 - The Uncharted Island Main story gets slightly put on pause for this video. I quickly get stumped on the Isle of Gust and decide to explore the ocean surrounding it a bit more instead of working through things. The most important thing that happens is getting that Cyclone Slate, which will finally allow me to utilize the gold frogs I've been seeing throughout the playthrough. And that "Old Wayfarer" finally makes his appearance, leaving his wife and son behind so he can capture a mermaid. A lot less dramatic reveal than one might expect after all the build-up to him, but I still found it amusing. Next time, I'll for real get through the Isle of Gust, and maybe even the Temple of Wind, depending on how long it takes to reach it.
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May 17, 2019 04:07
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Part 7 - Temple of Wind Finally got the second temple cleared and the second spirit rescued. I love how Nintendo just blatantly made Neri a reference to Navi like that. Just this blue fairy that has a severely similar name. Nothing suspicious there. Either way, the Temple of Wind was pretty simple, the only time I even got momentarily stuck was just because I was being dumb with that block puzzle. I never minded the wind-themed temples in other Zelda games, the only exception being in Wind Waker. Even then, that was mostly confined to the large fan in the temple's central room that got me more frustrated than needed. The boss here was also fun to fight, it certainly being helpful that I actually remembered what to do with him, not that it's hard to figure out. Now that I got my bombs, there's two specific shortcuts I recall for the next trip in the Temple of the Ocean King I can utilize. I can recall having fun going through the earlier floors of that place with new weapons to make them much shorter and simpler to get through. It almost feels like cheating and I just love it.
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May 19, 2019 01:54
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Part 8 - Temple of the Ocean King II I totally forgot just how long the second (true) visit to the Temple of the Ocean King was. I also forgot about those blasted Phantom Eyes. Clever way to raise the stakes, though. It really felt nice going through the earlier floors, the first floor especially, with the bombs and being able to take shortcuts. It's simple, but brings about a cathartic feeling. I also liked the cleverness with the stamping mini-puzzle, closing your DS to imprint the Courage symbol like that was a neat idea. Does anyone else know any other games that do that? Honestly I don't think I've ever seen it done in another DS game. The use of puzzles, or at least themes, from previous temples further into the Temple of the Ocean King is a nice little touch too. It isn't much, but here there's the instance of those Octorok statues that blow wind on the newest floors.
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May 22, 2019 08:24
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The closing of the screen was clever but I kept trying to poke around with my stylus when I played this, either dragging the mark or trying to recreate it. The repeat visit Dungeon also, as I recall, made me drop the game entirely back in the day despite loving the rest of it.
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May 22, 2019 12:39
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TheLoneStar posted:[I also liked the cleverness with the stamping mini-puzzle, closing your DS to imprint the Courage symbol like that was a neat idea. Does anyone else know any other games that do that? The NDS game Trace Memory also has a stamp thing, where you close the DS to stamp some wood cuttings to get a complete picture. That's the only other one I'm aware of. And yeah, I did the same ^^ poking around the screen to make it happen, I was almost to the point of breaking my screen with the stylus because I was an idiot, and it was a mechanic I'd never seen before.
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May 22, 2019 16:12
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The World Ends With You has two enemies that, in some situations, are only killable by closing the DS.
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May 23, 2019 14:32
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Well that's some cool stuff. I just found it strange how I personally never really saw or heard of other games utilizing the closing screen gimmick for puzzles. Or I guess combat with The World Ends With You. Part 9 - Temple of Courage The third and final spirit collected at long last. Something seems...really off with it though. In either case, this temple feels pretty unique among others in 3D Zelda games. For the most part, they have some kind of elemental theme to them, even if it isn't explicitly in the temple's title like in Ocarina of Time. I guess at most I can say it takes Courage to walk across empty air with that one puzzle, but that's really as far as things go with the temple having any kind of "Courage" theme to it. I also really love the gimmick of the boss, with the top screen being used as its P.O.V. as it tries to find you. It's really in this video where my lack of finesse when using the emulator shines through here, which I feel I should apologize for. The thing is there aren't any Heart Pieces in this game, and six Heart Containers that aren't gotten as a prize for beating boss. Really the main one I can get at the moment is one that I buy off of that strange and mysterious masked merchant. I really need to grind for cash...
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May 24, 2019 03:21
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Part 10 - Ciela's Identity Finally, Ciela's identity is revealed. At least it would've been if I hadn't mentioned it already, but let's not split hairs about that. Instead I'll split hairs that Spirit of Courage of Ciela is gold and not green. It's such a small thing but I can't help but get annoyed when I see it. It's on the same level as seeing a bunch of items neat in a row save one that's slightly askew. It's not a big thing, but it gets under my skin. Onto better things, I finally powered up Leaf, giving myself an attack boost. I'll just go ahead and outline what each Spirit does when powered up. Leaf: Double the attack with first boost, quadrupled attack power with the second. Neri: Doubles Link’s defense with the first boost, quadruples it with the second. Ciela: First upgrade gives Link his classic Sword Beam move, second makes the beam larger. And that's that. Pretty neat stuff, and I'm going to try and get every single Power Gem in the game, even if I don't use all the abilities given. I'm more of a brute force kind of player, so I may stick with Leaf only until the end, but we'll see.
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May 26, 2019 00:23
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Part 11 - The Ghost Ship I kind of forgot how short the Ghost Ship actually is. Even with all my messing up, it didn't really take too long. It exists in the weird realm of what I'd consider a mini-dungeon and a regular one. No item gained, but a Heart Container at the end. No mini-bosses and honestly there aren't even too many real puzzles, but there's a boss fight. I liked the light callback to the Poe Sisters from Ocarina of Time, those four always stand out in my head even if I can never get their names right. Except that I know Meg is the purple one, that fact is stuck in my head forever. Overall, I liked the dungeon if only because it's all horror-themed. Those type of dungeons, Zelda or not, tend to be among my favorites in these type of games. The boss fight was nice too, a classic dead-man's volley, a true staple of the Zelda series. It's just unfortunate my clumsiness with the emulator made it last longer than it needed to.
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May 29, 2019 00:10
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Part 12 - Oshus' Identity Finally, Oshus fesses that he's the Ocean King, a plot twist that even Tetra could see coming, and she's been reduced to a statue. Speaking of which, I'm still bummed that Tetra gets to do gently caress-all in this game. One scene at the start and a bit at the end, and that's essentially it. There's not many good Princess Zeldas out there, and she was one of them. Y'know, because she has actual personality. Even if 90% of it only exists in her pirate persona. Miles better than Twilight Princess Zelda, she was about as interesting as a plank of wood. Also Bellum gets introduced to the story. Not much to say about him. I kind of like his design, though we haven't really seen it yet, but that's about all he has. He's just kind of an evil monster that's evil because he likes being evil. Majora could talk at least, but I don't recall Bellum being able to. Still, at least he's not an annoying out just outright lovely villain, that's much worse in my opinion. Also, loved Linebeck in this episode, more than usual. He really stole the entire "finding Tetra" scene in the best possible way.
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May 31, 2019 03:19
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Part 13 - Temple of the Ocean King III The longest and most difficult trip into this temple so far. Not one, not two, but three curveballs thrown at the player. The Swift Phantom, a faster and bigger version of the Phantom, and not even the final variant. Those strange dingy floors that can attract nearby Phantoms to attack you. Then of course the Wizzrobes that for whatever reason wield scythes in this game. Creepy little fuckers. I can appreciate how the game makers try to spice up the temple each time, even adding new and harder elements to the floors already visited. There's even a checkpoint now so those floors can be skipped. Sadly some optional stuff, even some Good Things if I recall right, can be obtained further in the game by revisiting those floors with new items. So, sadly, I can't take advantage of that checkpoint. At least now the third part of the world map is revealed, with some new islands to explore.
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Jun 2, 2019 04:54
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Part 14 - Goron Island I always really loved Gorons and I never really got why. For some reason they're just my favorite Zelda race, especially since Hylians are literally just vaguely medieval Europeans with pointed ears. The Gorons in this game, however, are a lot more dickish than I remember. They straight-up say they don't cotton to my kind around those parts. It's especially unusual considering how kind they are in just about every other Zelda game ever. I mean it's really not a big deal, it's just more surprising than anything. I also forgot how quickly you can dock on the island and then reach the temple. It took like, fifteen minutes at most for me to step foot within the temple. Not even complaining, I just really didn't recall it being so fast. Oh, and for anyone curious...no, there are no female Gorons in the franchise, they're all dudes. I guess my weird breeding theory checks out...
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Jun 5, 2019 03:30
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Part 15 - Goron Temple Another temple I liked pretty decently. I liked the gimmick with switching between Link and Gongoron, but I wish there was more to it. In the end, it was just one small segment and then the boss fight. Maybe the whole dungeon with it would be a bit much, but more than one room would've been welcome too. I do enjoy how the Bombchus work in this game, especially when remembering how they sometimes seemed to have a mind of their own in Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask. Here they go exactly where I direct them with no straying from the path. The boss fight was pretty cool too, with the Dongorongo have a nice design and both phases of the battle being well made. It's also of course interesting to see a boss that REQUIRES Bombchus to defeat.
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Jun 7, 2019 04:14
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Part 16 - Isle of Frost I completely and utterly forgot that Link is literally thrown into a race war in this part of the game. It's actually kind of funny because of how much it doesn't fit in a Zelda game. Ciela even encourages him to "get revenge" on all the Yooks for the actions of one of them, and then he proceeds to commit genocide. Of course Yooks seem to be all evil so I guess it's not a bad thing they got killed off. I was just taken aback at how serious poo poo got for a moment there. Ciela was out for blood, the Anouki Chief was also egging me on, everyone talked about how bad this other race of creatures was. It just seems so out of place it goes right around to being hilarious. And also the islands really are getting shorter and shorter, leading to quicker temple visits. Not bad by itself, just more surprising than anything.
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Jun 10, 2019 03:33
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Part 17 - Temple of Ice Well, as I state a few times in the videos, I absolutely hate ice dungeons/levels in general. Slippery floor mechanics can just rot in the deepest pits of Hell because they are garbage every loving time. Aside from that, I really don't have too much to say about the dungeon in general. The Grappling Hook at least is kind of neat, acting somewhat like a Hookshot in some instances, but can also do stuff like make tightropes. It's just another instance of the game taking an old item and giving it a slight twist to keep it fresh. The boss was neat, Gleeoks not appearing in the franchise very much, this in fact being the last appearance of one in a canon game. I had troubles with the fight a bit, but mainly because I kept panicking. Either way, I liked how the mechanic worked of using the Grappling Hook rope to deflect the attacks back, then attacking their tongues. And, most importantly, Aroo is safe and sound.
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Jun 13, 2019 02:44
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Part 18 - Dee Ess Island Not too much to say here. A vast majority of the video is just be collecting Spirit Gems and then upgrading the other two Spirits. I will say that I kind of forgot just how many goodies are hidden behind the Grappling Hook alone. I didn't even go for the Treasure Charts, after all. The only other thing of note is Dee Ess island, which is a fun and silly idea. It's just a shame I really suck at that minigame though, and there's not much else to do there aside from grab a few goodies. One other thing is I must have been out of it last night, because Wind Waker doesn't have a GameCube Island, though it was supposed to. Kind of a shame it got cut, it honestly could've replaced one of those stupid dice-reefs in the game...
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Jun 19, 2019 01:36
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Part 19 - Temple of the Ocean King IV Another trip through the Temple of the Ocean King under my belt. The Gold Phantoms really are freaky, at least in my opinion. Just being able to warp right behind you as soon as you get discovered by any other enemy is freakier than it sounds. At least they aren't too fast, so outrunning them isn't much of an issue. Overall I like this visit more than the last one. The puzzles involved weren't nearly as tedious or lengthy, at least it felt that way. Not to mention I wasn't forced into showing my horrible lack of mouse-based art skills, so that's always a plus. It's a relief to say that the next visit here will be the very last. Still, the temple overall isn't quite as bad as I remember it being.
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Jun 22, 2019 03:23
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Part 20 - Maze Island Not much to say here, just going through a few minigames and starting on the trade sequence. Harrow Island is the type of minigame I'm not particularly fond of; getting prizes at complete random with no skill involved. That by itself isn't too bad, except a couple of treasure maps can only be acquired through this method. This means if you're someone who wants to complete the game 100%, you'll have to dig and dig and dig and dig until the game decides to toss you a bone and hand over a treasure map. Makes me glad I'm not aiming for that. The Maze Island is perfectly fine, though using the emulator makes it harder for me to go faster, so even the easiest mode was kind of annoying for me. I probably will only go back there for the other Wisdom Gem, I'm not going to bother with the Heart Container.
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Jun 27, 2019 03:07
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Part 21 - Isle of the Dead Again I'm finding these islands to be shorter than expected. This one I think is especially odd since this is the lead-up to the final main temple of the game. At the very least, I enjoy locations like this; ruins from a long-dead civilization just waiting to be explored. It's just a shame there's not much to see, though there are some hidden treasures which is a treat. It's basically just the pyramid puzzle and not much else the player actually has to do. I also decided to take care of the trading sequence in this episode. Pretty short and pretty simple with a prize fitting of the small effort it takes to get done. Wind Waker Link spazzing out with a spin attack is always pretty funny to watch, I will say that much.
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Jul 2, 2019 03:36
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Part 22 - Isle of Ruins The thing about this island is it really isn't too bad if you just go straight for the story stuff. Going back for the Spirit Gems can really bite you in the rear end. It doesn't help that the tiniest mistake can make you have to waste several minutes finding a place to climb back upwards in the near-maze of an island. I did like the aesthetic, still, with the pyramids and general Egyptian theme. If there were more ramps and staircases it would be far less of a pain. I also went and got almost all the Spirit Gems I missed throughout the playthrough in a commentary-free montage. All of them are very self-explanatory, and there wouldn't be much for me to say, so I just left the clips as they were. Things are really getting close to wrapping up now, with one more main temple to go before endgame.
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Jul 8, 2019 00:27
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Part 23 - Mutoh's Temple Something I only found out today was you can actually do the three Pure Metal temples in any order. Despite that, I still consider this to be the real last temple since it's in the last quadrant. I also don't consider the Temple of the Ocean King to fit this role since not only have I gone through it several times now, but I can skip about half of it when I go in. It's a pretty simple temple with some water level puzzles and flipping X and O tiles. I really love the Hammer just because of how overtly destructive it is. Just a massive mallet that you can tap rapidly and spam on enemies. The boss, Eox, was pretty cool and the way he was so tall it took both screens to fully show him. A bit of a simpler gimmick compared to Crayk, but still nice. OF course the fight itself was also fun, launching Link up into the air to chip away at the boss' outer armor and all that. The next episode will most likely be the finale, as I said in this video, though it will also probably be longer than the average episode as well.
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Jul 13, 2019 02:26
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Part 24 - Bellum Finale time. Starting out the playthrough I considered Phantom Hourglass to be among my bottom Zelda games. A game I still liked of course, but still near the bottom the ladder. Playing through it again years later did nothing to really change my mind. Still a good game overall, but I can think of only one Zelda game (Skyward Sword) that I've played that I like less than it. It just doesn't really resonate with me, but even then I'm glad I got to play it again...even if using an emulator to play it is a pain. Bellum is a pretty boring villain, just a character-free monster that corrupts things because it's evil. The first two phases of his fight aren't much either aside from the time stop. Not much else for me to say that I didn't say in the video, so I'll leave it at that. Sometime within a few days, I'll get started on Spirit Tracks. Hopefully I can get name for suggestions for Link this time around...
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Jul 19, 2019 04:15
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