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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 and Phantom Hourglass are, of course, fine too. Released in 2009, Phantom Hourglass is the fifteenth main installment in the Zelda franchise, and was the second game released for the DS. On top of that, it served as a sequel to Phantom Hourglass, taking place one hundred years later in the second Kingdom of Hyrule. It is also the third, and seemingly final, game in what I call the "Toon Series" of Zelda games. As always, this game revolves around a Link, this one being an apprentice train engineer, as this new version of Hyrule is a lot more technologically advanced than usual incarnations of the setting. Of course, things almost instantly go wrong and Zelda is put in peril. In a twist, however, her spirit travels along with Link on his adventure, and the two grow closer as the game goes on. Personally, I find this to be a really overlooked and underrated part of the series for that last bit alone. It's the first game where Zelda has an overarching character arc and really feels fleshed out. I at the very least think it's safe to say this game is overall better than Phantom Hourglass. That being said, the game was not quite as successful as its predecessor, and I rarely ever see people talk about the game, and when they do I tend to see them look down on the whole train system. Admittedly I found the trains odd at first as well, but I quickly grew to like the new technology for the series. 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. Poor Link, Railroaded Onto A Dangerous Adventure: Part 1 - New Hyrule Part 2 - Cole's Betrayal Part 3 - Tower of Spirits I Part 4 - The Forest Sanctuary Part 5 - The Forest Temple Part 6 - Tower of Spirits II Part 7 - Cannons and Rabbits and Stamps, Oh My Part 8 - The Snow Realm Part 9 - The Snow Temple Part 10 - Tower of Spirits III Part 11 - Linebeck III Part 12 - The Ocean Realm Part 13 - The Ocean Temple Part 14 - Tower of Spirits IV Part 15 - The Fire Realm Part 16 - Force Gems and Snurglars Part 17 - The Fire Temple Part 18 - Pirate Hideout Part 19 - Tower of Spirits V Part 20 - The Sand Realm Part 21 - The Sand Temple Part 22 - The Final Stamp Part 23 - The Final Rabbit, Dark Ore, and Optional Stations Part 24 - Tower of Spirits VI Part 25 - Malladus TheLoneStar fucked around with this message at 01:10 on Oct 13, 2019 |
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Jul 21, 2019 21:12
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| # ? Apr 30, 2024 11:22 |
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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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Jul 21, 2019 21:13
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Couplink. It's a pun. About Zelda-games and trains.
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Jul 21, 2019 21:30
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There is no way that I could do any better than that.
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Jul 22, 2019 21:06
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Even if I got more names, I don't think I could've not picked Couplink. Part 1 - New Hyrule Decided to make the first video shorter than normal, just as a quick start to things. I don't know if it's just me, but it really feels like the game is moving at breakneck speed to get the plot up and going as soon as possible. Less than twenty minutes and the second-to-main villain is already revealed as evil and Hyrule is clearly in some form of danger. Then again, Phantom Hourglass and Wind Waker (to a lesser extent) had short prologues too. I think overall I like the way the train works more than Linebeck's boat, especially since there's a way to speed the train up. The game also satisfied my desire for needless puns, with Chancellor Cole being the first among many. Him and all the others with train-centered names really makes the Couplink name all the better. Not much else to say, only that I hope my massive conspiracy theory makes at least a little bit of sense. I wasn't just talking crazy, right? This situation with Link and Princess Zelda is pretty odd...right?
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Jul 25, 2019 04:46
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I'm looking forward to this lp, since I've only played Phantom Hourglass on my DS and never got a chance to play Spirit Tracks.
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Jul 25, 2019 19:40
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Wipfmetz posted:I'm looking forward to this lp, since I've only played Phantom Hourglass on my DS and never got a chance to play Spirit Tracks. Part 2 - Cole's Betrayal One thing I got to get out of the way is how much I love Cole, that lovely little twerp. I seem to always end up liking villains that are essentially easily-hateable shits that mock and scorn the heroes whenever they get the chance. The two top hats covering two horns was also a nice little touch that I just enjoy. Byrne I remember liking overall, but I still kind of think his design is something more out of Final Fantasy or something similar. I still like the design, almost as a guilty pleasure, but it really does seem ill-fitting to the Zelda series to me. Anyone else feel that way? The video also marks Zelda following Link along through his journey, which is a big reason why I like this game as much as I do. It finally lets a version of Zelda join the ride and have many more interactions with Link than any other Zelda game at the time.
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Jul 28, 2019 00:08
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Is this what you've meant with "train-centered names"? Can't blame a guy named "cole" in a world full of steam trains to become a villain.
Wipfmetz fucked around with this message at 22:05 on Jul 28, 2019 |
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Jul 28, 2019 22:01
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Wipfmetz posted:Is this what you've meant with "train-centered names"? Can't blame a guy named "cole" in a world full of steam trains to become a villain.
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Jul 28, 2019 22:06
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Part 3 - Tower of Spirits I The first visit to the Tower of Spirits done all quick and easy-like. As I mention in the video, things are vastly improved with this game's repeating dungeon when compared to the Temple of the Ocean King. At least in my opinion. With the lack of having to wait until the end of the game to deal with the Phantoms properly and being able to skip the earlier floors entirely, it solves the main problems I had with the Temple of the Ocean King. The video also shows off a bit of Zelda's personality in this game, which I've mentioned a number of times that I really enjoy. She truly feels like a character this time around, which is such a rarity in the series. Also, I really like the design of the Lokomos. Those little wheelchair-type things they ride around in are really neat to me and I don't even know why.
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Aug 3, 2019 03:43
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Part 4 - The Forest Sanctuary Not too much happens here, just the preparation for the first major temple. I was relieved that the emulator's mic worked pretty well for playing the Spirit Flute. It was something I was a bit anxious about when beginning the playthrough. This new train travels a bit more conveniently than the old one, which is nice, and it seems the Lost Woods are just a Hyrule constant. Doesn't seem to matter if it's a brand new Hyrule. Learning and playing the song went smoother than I hoped, and it was a pleasant little tune to boot. Actually reaching Gage was the hard part, but hopefully my stupid blunders entertain at least one of you. Not too much else happened, and next time the first temple will be completed. Finally, some real progress.
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Aug 7, 2019 03:28
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Part 5 - The Forest Temple First temple cleared out and a part of the Tower of Spirits is restored. The temple was pretty typical, a Forest temple with a wind theme with a little bit of poison going on as well. Not that that's necessarily bad, but kind of typical is all. I am grateful that it has its own theme music, something that wasn't really present in Phantom Hourglass. I like the Whirlwind item, though it is essentially the Deku Leaf with less powers. It has a neat design and that's enough for me in this case. The Stagnox fight was alright as well, a nice instance of utilizing the top screen with it flying up there for the second phase of the fight. That, and beetles are just cool in general so that's a plus as well. I actually don't even recall where the monsters come from in this game, like Stagnox or other bosses that corrupt the temples. Presumably created by Malladus, but I don't recall if it's ever specified.
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Aug 11, 2019 04:22
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Part 6 - Tower of Spirits II Not much to say here, simply the second trip through the Tower of Spirits. It really feels good not to have to go back to the older floors. The combat with Phantom Zelda was a bit clunky, but I'm sure a majority of the blame can be put on having to use an emulator. Still, the fact they went out of their way to include that sort of thing was really nice. It helps Zelda be a part of the adventure itself rather than a guiding companion of some sort like Navi or Fi. I'm not sure when I'll go through the gauntlet-type minigame I talked about in the video, but I'm sure I'll show it off at some point.
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Aug 14, 2019 04:37
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Part 7 - Cannons and Rabbits and Stamps, Oh My Still not too much going on here. In terms of story, I got my cannon which is nice. Gives me more to do when traveling the tracks aside from blowing the whistle or avoiding Dark Trains. The stamp collection and rabbit hunting are nice pieces of side content. Not intrusive at all and pretty quickly taken care of. Well, only if you don't suck with the net like I do. I swear it doesn't send the actual net part out where I click. I'll probably end up getting all the stamps, but I doubt I'll round up all the rabbits. I'll certainly spot any I see as I go along, but I'll play it by ear either way. One problem with it is there's only two prizes aside from Rupees. A Heart Container at five Rabbits, and a Swordsman's Scroll for all fifty. Really huge gap between prizes. Next time, for real, it's off to the cold and bitter Snow Realm.
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Aug 19, 2019 06:13
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Part 8 - The Snow Realm Finally, the Snow Realm. I'm glad that the Anoukis returned, them being a pretty amusing part of Phantom Hourglass. I guess it's just the overly casual way that they talk, I don't know. I don't like the Rocktite segment, even though I lucked out and managed to get through it without getting hit. Just the way it charges so quickly and seems to change directions and patterns way too fast makes it all kind of stressful. Everything else was pretty nice and short and simple, which I'm glad for. The Sanctuary didn't take too long, and getting to Ferrus and through the blizzard wasn't bad either. I'd say a pretty nice and quick journey from the start of the Snow Realm to the Snow Temple itself.
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Aug 26, 2019 04:38
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Part 9 - The Snow Temple Boy do I just hate ice levels in general. This was no exception. Having to skate across icy terrain is bad on its own, but having to skate across temporary icy terrain floating on water is ten times worse. Other than that I don't have much else to say about the temple aside from enjoying the bell gimmick as small as it was. That and Fraaz of course. Like I mentioned in the video, I cut out around ten minutes of me struggling against him because of how fast I had to throw that loving boomerang to get him. That and the ice blasts seemed to always hit me no matter how far away I was, which never helps. Either way, that's another temple under the belt, so another visit to the Tower of Spirits awaits.
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Aug 29, 2019 03:31
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Part 10 - Tower of Spirits III Lots of Rabbits in this episode. Aside from that and a few stamps, not much to mention except another trip to the Tower of Spirits. Of course there was getting the bombs, which is done in an odd manner in this game, where it's bought rather than found in a dungeon. The trip to the Tower of Spirits was somewhat interesting, with the darkness gimmick and the introduction of a the Torch Phantom. Zelda going about with a flaming sword is pretty nifty to see. Even though I got lost a bit, I consider it a better visit than the last one overall. Not much to do between this point and the Ocean Realm, though actually reaching the area won't be as simple as just driving to it...
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Sep 3, 2019 04:24
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Part 11 - Linebeck III Finally, the greatest character in the game...no...the greatest character in Zelda graces this playthrough. Of course I speak of the legendary Linebeck...III. Really, I am glad that this game included a descendant of Linebeck who is pretty much just Linebeck in a hat. Though honestly it would have been better if it was him that lived to be the brittle old man instead of Niko. Did literally anyone care about him ever? I know I didn't. Having to lug passengers around kind of sucks, and dealing with Carben and his poo poo isn't too great either. I kind of remember the next bit being pretty annoying involving him. Of course it's been a while so I'll just have to see if it was as bad as I recall.
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Sep 6, 2019 02:35
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Part 12 - The Ocean Realm Didn't quite get through the Ocean Temple. Too much stuff to do to even start, really. The pirate attack was a nice little segment, though maybe the Big Blinpart could have been a bit shorter since it started to really get tedious by the end. As a fan of ocean biomes, I kind of liked just traveling around the Ocean Realm and looking about the area. Shame there's not really too many places to actually go, just the sanctuary and a single village alongside the Ocean Temple. Thinking of it I wish there were more communities in the game. The Forest Realm has three towns/villages on its own, but so far the other Realms are kind of lacking. I don't really recall the last two Realms having multiple settlements either.
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Sep 10, 2019 03:09
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Part 13 - The Ocean Temple It is such a relief how non-wet this temple is. Water Temples are almost always bad in these games, and the temple at the bottom of the ocean having such little moisture in it is shocking but also amazing. I really wonder why they did that, but I won't complain a bit, that's for sure. The whip is a nice and handy tool, and I love the snake design of it. The temple itself in terms of looks and puzzles was pretty basic, and I really feel like both this game and Phantom Hourglass are pretty lacking in unique and interesting designs for their temples. The boss was kind of fun though, even if it was a pretty typical case of hitting the eye to death like so many other Zelda bosses. Its design was one I liked a bit, so I can at least give it that.
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Sep 13, 2019 00:21
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Part 14 - Tower of Spirits IV Now this episode was just frustrating, at least the Tower of Spirits portion. Granted, a lot of it was my fault for not reading the guide carefully enough, but it was still a pain in the rear end. Those Phantom Eyes are way, way more annoying than they ever were in Phantom Hourglass given they can't be permanently killed. On another subject, there's just something so cathartic about getting Force Gems and having new tracks added to the overworld. I just feel oddly satisfied seeing them pop up even though most of them are just used to spawn more rabbits. It certainly helps that so far all the Force Gems received have been pretty easy to get. The one with the kid that wanted to fly was the most annoying since Beedle has no fixed location. Even then it didn't take me long to hunt the shopkeeper down.
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Sep 15, 2019 04:24
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Part 15 - The Fire Realm Always nice to see some Gorons. I don't even really know why I like them so much, I guess just the idea of what are basically rock people to be cool, I guess. That, and they tend to be pretty comedic which helps. I love how there's these huge conflicting biomes right next to each other. A frozen landscape is right next to pleasant forests and fields. Then next to this icy cold area is a lava-filled, fire-stricken mountain with an active volcano. The Forest and Ocean Realms aren't too bad, I suppose. The Fire Sanctuary was nice and short, but the song was a pain in the rear end to get through. Gonna focus on doing Force Gems and catching more Rabbits before entering the Fire Temple. Hopefully I should actually arrive at the temple in the next video.
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Sep 17, 2019 04:32
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Part 16 - Force Gems and Snurglars So many errands, so little time. A majority of this video is simply me getting Force Gems, so I don't have too much to say. One thing though is that the ones where you have to make multiple trips are just plain miserable. Riding the train is nice and all, but when you have to make so many long trips in a row, I get sick of doing it. Of course, that's really on me for doing so many of these sidequests in a row like that. Getting into the Fire Temple is nice and simple, the three monsters with the keys, the Snurglars, really weren't too bad to deal with. They're pretty simple to the point I almost wonder why they were included at all. Also, it felt kind of nice getting one entire Realm cleared of the wild rabbits, with some shiny treasure as a decent reward.
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Sep 19, 2019 02:46
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Part 17 - The Fire Temple The Fire Temple wasn't all too bad, at least I don't think so. I only messed up a few times and things moved along alright. It's certainly nice to finally have the Bow and Arrow after so long, and I enjoyed the miniboss I had to fight for it. Cragma was a pretty fun boss too, I liked getting to ride around on a cart and sniping at his weak points. Kind of hosed up you essentially have to slash away at its brains after knocking the top of its skull off. I very much doubt I'll get to the Tower of Spirits next time just because of the abundance of optional stuff that will be unlocked and available for me. I really forgot just how much there was to do outside of the main quest in this game, such as just how many Rabbits there are.
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Sep 21, 2019 03:09
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Part 18 - Pirate Hideout Couple of Rabbits and Force Gems, not too much else to comment on there like the usual videos full of optional stuff. The Goron going to the big city was entertaining at least, and a couple of optional dungeons got opened up. Of course even without those, opening up the railways is just satisfying on its own, even if they just reveal a minor shortcut. I liked how short they were, especially since the prizes were especially good. An Alchemy Stone, a stamp, and a Force Gem and both dungeons only took about five minutes each. Next time I'll go to the Tower of Spirits and see what shenanigans are going on there. I'm sure Anjean is still alive and not murdered or pushed down a staircase.
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Sep 25, 2019 03:09
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Part 19 - Tower of Spirits V Another bout of the Tower of Spirits, and some more headaches. The Wrecker Phantoms are kind of cool design-wise, and when they chase you the tension skyrockets way more than other phantoms. This trip was just so long, like even if I didn't mess up so much it would have still taken a while to get it all done under forty minutes. Things of course go horribly wrong at the top of the tower, and Malladus is now possessing Zelda's body. Honestly that'd really suck to be brought back and trapped in some kid's body like that, especially for an ancient demon king. Only one more major temple to go and the endgame pretty much starts and ends pretty quick from what I remember.
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Sep 29, 2019 04:12
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Part 20 - The Sand Realm The Sand Realm really has an odd feel to it. Like I mentioned in the video, it feels like the section was added in at the last minute or something. As if the developers realized that, for whatever reason, they needed more game so they split the Ocean Realm in half and made a fifth Realm that doesn't even have its own segment of the map. Like it was a very, very quick transition to the most recent trip to the Tower of Spirits to stepping foot into the Sand Temple, and the whole trip being to get the Totally Not Light Arrows. I mean I guess it'd be worse if things got dragged out a great deal and the Sand Realm was massive, but it just feels odd to me. Does anyone else feel this way?
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Oct 1, 2019 02:56
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Part 21 - The Sand Temple Now this was a pain for me. This entire temple was just a headache and I blame it entirely on the Sand Wand. The puzzles, enemies, and so on themselves were all fine, even the boss. I think the Sand Wand just didn't work quite right with the emulator, at least that's how it felt, and it made the entire experience just horrible. I like Skeldritch for his design, and had it not been for the Sand Wand not working too well, I'd probably have had a blast with his fight. He's also an instance of a boss I wish we got to somehow find out more about. I'm not sure if the bosses and general enemies in this game are like in Phantom Hourglass where they were spawned from the main antagonist or exist for separate reasons. I just want to know what it was like when alive and fleshy, if it ever was alive and/or fleshy. Now that I have the Totally Not Light Arrows, there's just a few episodes worth of optional content and I can finally wrap up this playthrough.
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Oct 3, 2019 03:47
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Part 22 - The Final Stamp A short, but frustrating episode due to the events of the Dark Ore Mine. Or, rather, the fact I don't do anything at all there. I actually looked closer at the guide I'm using and came to realize the whole letter thing isn't even part of the sidequest. I just read the guide wrong in my endless stupidity and misunderstood how the quest was meant to be properly started. So I do need to just go to the mines and pick the ore up is all. It's almost more frustrating how simple the solution was, but I'm glad I figured it out at all, I guess. I at least got the last stamp and the second-to-last Rabbit and Force Gem, so it wasn't a total waste. That, and if things work out how I'm hoping they do, there should only be three more updates and the playthrough will be done with.
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Oct 5, 2019 03:40
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Part 23 - The Final Rabbit, Dark Ore, and Optional Stations No more optional stuff for me to do. At least, stuff I plan to do for the playthrough. There really should only be two episodes left, unless the Dark Realm is longer than I remember it being and I have to cut it in half. The Dark Ore Mine mission can be pretty drat simple if you plan ahead, which I decided to do here. Always go for the easy route in bullshit missions like this. Overall I don't really care for those optional, secret stations. They were either icy and annoying, near impossible without bombs, or relied on that cursed Sand Wand. Getting the final Rabbit also felt pretty good, even if the prize really isn't all too worth it. The sword beam never really seems like a worthwhile prize most of the time, honestly. It tends to be somewhat weak, and of course the rule you need to be at full health to use it just makes it a bit lame.
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Oct 9, 2019 02:05
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Part 24 - Tower of Spirits VI I have to say I'm really glad this is the last visit to this dungeon. At first I enjoyed the Tower of Spirits and how it played things up better than the Temple of the Ocean King; mainly due to only having to visit each section one time. The last few visits here, though, were much more painful than any visit to the Temple of the Ocean King. I think I just forgot how tedious these last couple of treks were, along with so many of the other things I forgot about this game. As I mentioned in the video, I saw they were going for using the four Phantom types as much as possible both in dealing with them and having Zelda use them. (I realized after the commentary was that all the weapons are used too.) It didn't really do much to diminish my annoyance though. The whole thing was just a slog and really overstayed its welcome, needing to go back and forth between several levels too many times and by the end I was more than ready to never have to deal with this dungeon again. Good news is the next video is more than short enough to act as a one-part finale.
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Oct 11, 2019 03:35
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| # ? Apr 30, 2024 11:22 |
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Part 25 - Malladus Things went by a lot faster than I thought, the cutscenes especially which were the main reasons I thought the final video would be overly long. With me cutting out a majority of my mistakes, things went by pretty nicely with a video not even fifty minutes long. Facing all those Armored Trains was fun, finally being able to completely demolish those fuckers. The Armored Trains were especially annoying in the overworld because unlike the Dark Trains, they can't be temporarily slowed down at all. The bit with the Demon Train was fine too, especially since it went by so smoothly, and I always found destroying a boss one segment at a time to be satisfying. The Cole bit with the rats he sent after Phantom Zelda was a bit of a pain, mainly due to emulator controls making it hard to swipe at them. Finally, the final boss was a massive pain in the rear end, again a big part of that being emulator controls. Still, overall it wasn't too bad, and with that another Zelda playthrough is over. Despite the hard times, I had fun overall and enjoyed watching the game unfold, especially with one of the best Princess Zeldas out there along for the ride. I give all the other specific thoughts I felt I need to say in the video itself so I won't type them all out again here. I'm really looking forward to trying out Hyrule Warriors sometime within the next week or so.
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Oct 13, 2019 01:10
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