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Mega64
May 23, 2008

I took the octopath less travelered,

And it made one-eighth the difference.




I'll get into cooking proper later this update, but you can only have one active effect per food item. Thus it's better to cook stuff to amplify the one effect you have, or to add more hearts.



Last time, we endured a lot of words and got a sweet new power.



So let's use it!



Whenever you're near water, it's good to let loose Magnesis to see if there's any chests hidden below water, as there often are. There's two chests here with an Amber and Opal.



This gave me an idea.

http://f.mega64.net/botw/u04/007.mp4

Hmmm. Well, if he's impervious, then surely Link is too, right?

http://f.mega64.net/botw/u04/008.mp4

Nope!



Busting open those metal crates reveals roasted bass within. Alright, then.



This is a bog. If you try to swim in it, you're going to drown.



Magnesis is good for navigating the pitfalls here.



...Assuming you don't throw your object too far and strand yourself.

http://f.mega64.net/botw/u04/015.mp4

If you die from drowning, the Game Over text is blue. Nice touch.

It's very rare you get into a position where you're screwed, though. You have to actively try to get in that position, like I did.



Anyway, we can make a bridge to these two treasure chests thanks to Magnesis.





While we're here, we also find a rock attached to a stump. Place it in the stump, and...



Another seed! It'll be awhile before these become relevant.



Anyway, the chests. Another set of fire arrows, and then ice arrows. They don't have as much utility as fire arrows, but ice arrows freeze enemies and thus are much more useful in combat.



Anyway, we can use the Sheikah Slate to fast travel to towers, shrines, and a few other locations we've already visited. Since we need to climb the tower to scout for shrines, let's travel there instead.

Music: Sheikah Tower



And one loading screen later, we're here!



I definitely remember. I just got a little, uh, distracted.

Now then... I wanted you to join me up here so you could use this as a vantage point to search for shrines.



Look through it, and you can stick a pin anywhere you'd like to mark on the map.



Seriously, though, you know an awful lot about the Sheikah Slate that was apparently sealed with us for the past one hundred years, and all these towers and shrines that were hidden until now. Are you going to tell us how you know all this?

Oho ho! Just a few tricks I've picked up after many, many years in the wild... You may take my advice or leave it. Go ahead and take a look if you feel inclined to do so.





Pressing the right control stick lets you zoom in on your surroundings.



At the edge of this mountain is a shrine.



We can assign up to five pins to highlight areas to investigate. They will show up on your map (and mini-map if you have the HUD enabled, which I declined to do for atmosphere) and when you use the zoom function on your Sheikah Slate.



Further to our left is another shrine, this one on the base of the plateau, though surrounded by walls.



Finally, beyond the snowy mountains, the third shrine.

We won't be doing any of these today. Instead, there's a bit more worth exploring.



Keese are a Zelda series staple, even though they're nothing more than monstrous bats. They only show up at night and, being weak both offensively and defensively, are more of a nuisance than anything. They usually show up in small groups and only during night.





They have their own drops as well.



Another night-exclusive enemy is the Stalkoblin, the skeletal version of the Bokoblin. They usually carry weapons similar to their living kin.

http://f.mega64.net/botw/u04/043.mp4



However, these skeletal enemies are also very fragile. One hit knocks their skull off, and hitting the skull kills the enemy. If the skull is left alone, eventually the Stalkoblin's skull will return to its skeleton.

My personal favorite way of dealing with these guys is picking up their skulls, finding the nearest cliff, and booting them off into the beyond. I'll be sure to show it off when I inevitably do so, of course.



They have similar drops to Bokoblins (though they don't drop guts for obvious reasons), and sometimes they'll even drop their arms, which serve as weapons.



Hmm. A boulder, Bokoblins, and a bunch of exploding barrels nearby...

Hmmmmmmm...

http://f.mega64.net/botw/u04/048.mp4

Sometimes the obvious move is still the most entertaining.





Some stuff is locked behind time of day, so you can wait by fires to pass the time. There's a few reasons to use this, one key reason being that exploring can be more difficult at night due to all the Keese and skeletal enemies randomly popping up. Then again, enemies may also be asleep during the night.



Anyway, I wanted to show off a couple of things for this update. We would've inevitably gone here if we went the route the game lays out for us, i.e. walking to the old man first thing, who then points this building out to us.



It would've been a better introduction to combat, since you only face lone Bokoblins here.

http://g.mega64.net/botw/u04/054.mp4

At this point I can simply slap 'em silly.



This chest hides better pants. Useful!

Music: Temple of Time



Anyway, this area is...the Temple of Time, huh?

Series fans will surely recognize this place. It's one of the most iconic locales of Ocarina of Time, and also pops up in Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword.



Strewn across the area are these massive stone structures.



Searching them lets you find ancient pieces like these screws.



The temple itself is guarded by a lone sleeping Bokoblin.





Sneak up on a sleeping enemy to Sneakstrike for increased damage.



The Temple of Time has seen better days. The whole left wall has collapsed in what must have been one nasty battle.



Off to the side is a chest with a bow.



Really, all there is to note here is this statue.





I can offer you great power. But you do not yet have four Spirit Orbs. Seek out the shrines scattered across Hyrule, and face more challenges.



I'm going to jump ahead a bit and spoil what the Spirit Orbs do since I'll probably have you vote on our reward once we do the other three. Spirit Orbs are essentially this game's heart pieces, though when you give them to the goddess you can choose whether you gain a Heart Container (an extra heart, max of 30) or a Stamina Vessel (adds a fifth of a ring of max stamina, maximum of three rings). Both are great early on, as hearts obviously let you live longer and stamina lets you explore more easily.



That's all there is to the temple right now. There's one more major area to check out before we go shrine hunting.





This rock has a rushroom, a mushroom that grows on the side of mountains. Cooking it increases movement speed, which is handy.



We're actually close to the first shrine we saw, but I'm more interested in this cabin.



The old man must be living here.



In the meantime, let's check out his diary.

quote:

On this desolate plateau, the only pleasure that brings me comfort is cooking. And today, I outdid myself! Truly, I created the perfect dish. I call it...spicy meat and seafood fry. This recipe not only restores health, but it also keeps me warm, even when traveling in the snowy mountains. With this dish on my side, I no longer have need of that itchy warm doublet.

I do not know how I allowed this to happen, but it seems I forgot to write down a very important recipe. I know it contained raw meat and spicy pepper. However... I simply cannot remember what else I used! My age is catching up to me.

Sadly, on this lonely plateau, I have only my own knowledge and memory to rely on. Still... If I did find someone who knew the missing ingredient, I would happily reward them with my warm doublet. However, it seems unlikely that such a miraculous wish will ever be fulfilled.

So, spicy meat and seafood fry. The spicy pepper's the spicy part, the raw meat is the meat part, so that leaves...



Pot Lids are the weakest shields. That said, you can still humiliate a large number of enemies with one if you know what you're doing.



This is the wild. You've gotta use what you can get!



There's not just enemies out here, you know. There's a large variety of fauna as well, such as this pigeon.





And we've now got the raw meat part! And now we're set to cook!



Alright, cooking. To actually cook, go to the menu, press X to hold items, then select up to five items to hold. For this recipe, we need a spicy pepper, any meat, and of course a fish.

Then go up to a lit cooking pot until it says "Cook". Then...

http://g.mega64.net/botw/u04/097.mp4



There we go! As mentioned earlier, each dish can only have one effect. Each ingredient will add a specific strength of an effect, so stacking those up could make the effect stronger or last longer. Some ingredients don't add effects and will instead add more hearts to be recovered.

This dish will increase our resistance to cold, letting us explore the snowy mountains from before without taking damage.





Any dishes you cook have an option to check the ingredients used. This is useful since most cooking is simply throwing stuff together to see what works, at least until you look up how it actually works. I won't get into that here, though.



Anyway, the old man has woken up, though we can't show him our meal quite yet.



I was just about to go cut down a few trees over there. We'll have to talk later.



Let's join him!



Isn't it obvious?! I thought this tree here might make for some good firewood. However...getting a tree to fall exactly where you want it to is quite an art. The trick is to turn your hips so that they face where you want the tree to land. So... I see you found my axe. Why not help me out and give it a few swings? I'm working up quite a sweat here... but these bones could use a break.

http://g.mega64.net/botw/u04/113.mp4

Basically, the tree will fall where you're facing. You don't need an axe either, any sharp weapon will do. So will explosives.



Also a good way to get acorns.



And to cross gaps, though this is honestly the only time where you'd use a log to cross a crevice.

Really, a lot of the little things set up around the Great Plateau, like rolling rocks onto enemies, aren't things you're going to do often once you hit the rest of the game. What's important, though, is it trains you to learn to interact with the environment to figure out how to approach enemies and obstacles, as we haven't seen even a sliver of what this game has to offer. So while cutting a tree to cross a gap won't be useful later on, it's a nice way to tell you to stay on your toes and see what various options you have to approach whatever stands in your way.



If you chop a log, you get wood. Drop it and set it alight (there are several methods, including our Fire Arrows) to start a fire to pass time at.





How about tips?

Simply open your inventory, grab hold of your ingredients, and toss them in! Try to consider how the ingredients will complement one another. You can even make a dish that increases your stamina! It's all about being creative and trying different things. Oho ho!



Let's show him what we cooked.

Wait... Is that... That looks just like my signature perfect dish, spicy meat and seafood fry! But how did you-?! Well, I suppose that is not important. Can I trouble you to share the recipe?



Well done! Now, please allow me to reward your culinary efforts with this warm doublet.



Showing the meal to the old man nets us a nice warm doublet. Same defense as the old shirt, but it gives a level of cold resistance, which gives us another way to survive the cold.



As for me, I know a great spicy meat and seafood fry recipe, so I can do without that warm doublet.

It's nice this game gives multiple ways to handle the cold to reach the shrine above. You can cook foods to resist the cold, you can do this mini-quest to gain the doublet, you can carry a torch to stay warm, or you can just tank it and constantly eat to recover hearts.





At this point, I mess around, combining stuff with apples and mushrooms to make a few more dishes.





The Rushroom gives a small movement boost, and the Stamella Shroom recovers Stamina, which is great when climbing.





We can also make Elixirs. To make these, we need both an insect (like the Summerwing Butterflys that fly around the plateau) and a monster part (like one of the numerous Bokoblin Horns I have). The insects increase the strength of the elixir, the monster parts affect the duration.



There's a group of Bokoblins nearby, and I've got the perfect disguise.



...Well, it'd be perfect if I was good at stealth.



I'm good at fighting, at least!



This spear is optimized for throwing, though usually you only throw weapons when they're about to break and want to make room for the next one.



The main reason I dealt with these guys is to reach this poorly-disguised area.



Once we scare off the bees with fire...



Kinda rare but also a pretty nice ingredient. But that's not all!



Now we're talking! Bomb Arrows explode on contact. They're as wonderful as they sound.



So how about we actually finally cross over to the other side of where this log leads?



Honestly not much here. Just these two Bokoblins.



Did you know Bokoblins are omnivores? They'll eat pretty much anything.

http://g.mega64.net/botw/u04/150.mp4

And I do mean anything.



Otherwise, there's an apple tree and a dead end. Maaaybe we could go up?

Anyway, that's it for this update. Next time, we start tackling the other shrines. However...



...I need your help! Which order should I do them in? As a reminder:



Red is up on a high ledge.



Blue is on level ground, but surrounded by walls and other stubborn terrain.



Yellow is high up in the cold mountains.

VOTE FOR YOUR PREFERRED ORDER HERE! After a couple of days I'll go with whatever's winning and go from there.

Two or three more updates and we'll be ready to explore Hyrule!

Mega64 fucked around with this message at 16:44 on Jul 25, 2017

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girl dick energy
Sep 30, 2009

You think you have the wherewithal to figure out my puzzle vagina?
Honestly, I don't care whether you do blue or red first, as long as you do yellow last, so we can make you suffer through Link's complete lack of armor hilarious nudity for as long as possible.

ZeeToo
Feb 20, 2008

I'm a kitty!
I'm good with PMush's ordering plans.

I feel that this Link is a vegetarian, and doesn't eat any meat-using foods.

girl dick energy
Sep 30, 2009

You think you have the wherewithal to figure out my puzzle vagina?

ZeeToo posted:

I'm good with PMush's ordering plans.

I feel that this Link is a vegetarian, and doesn't eat any meat-using foods.
Let's at least make it a little fair.

Link is a pescetarian.

FeyerbrandX
Oct 9, 2012

PMush Perfect posted:

Honestly, I don't care whether you do blue or red first, as long as you do yellow last, so we can make you suffer through Link's complete lack of armor hilarious nudity for as long as possible.

I would think doing Blue last would be the stretch for Nudity. You can survive yellow with face tanking (didn't bother talking to the Old man about the armor, or making potions or food on my playthrough)

Godna
Feb 4, 2013
Now that it is too late.

You can actually get the doublet another way. By means of climbing the icy mountain it's top without any cold protection either by means of a torch or other shennigans such as food.

So of course I did it in the buff

Mega64
May 23, 2008

I took the octopath less travelered,

And it made one-eighth the difference.
Was not aware of that! Pretty cool you can still get it that way.



Back to playing the game!

girl dick energy
Sep 30, 2009

You think you have the wherewithal to figure out my puzzle vagina?

Mega64 posted:

Was not aware of that! Pretty cool you can still get it that way.



Back to playing the game!
Well that was decisive.

Bruceski
Aug 21, 2007

The tools of a hero mean nothing without a solid core.

I just noticed something in one of the screenshots. Could you take a closer look at the left side of the volcano?

Orange Fluffy Sheep
Jul 26, 2008

Bad EXP received

There's a beetle on the tree. It's essential to any% speedrun route.

I love this game.

Mega64
May 23, 2008

I took the octopath less travelered,

And it made one-eighth the difference.

Bruceski posted:

I just noticed something in one of the screenshots. Could you take a closer look at the left side of the volcano?

You mean this?

https://u.nya.is/rqtxjc.mp4

I'm sure it's nothing important.

Glazius
Jul 22, 2007

Hail all those who are able,
any mouse can,
any mouse will,
but the Guard prevail.

Clapping Larry
Hmm. If you're looking for a food challenge, how about this? This is a beautiful world and we're going to taste as much of it as possible. Link will only eat foods made up of all different ingredients.

Siegkrow
Oct 11, 2013

Arguing about Lore for 5 years and counting



Food challenge? Every meal must have some kind of meat.

Mega64
May 23, 2008

I took the octopath less travelered,

And it made one-eighth the difference.

Glazius posted:

Hmm. If you're looking for a food challenge, how about this? This is a beautiful world and we're going to taste as much of it as possible. Link will only eat foods made up of all different ingredients.

I like this. Only issue is it's harder to get the highest-tier buffs, but that really only matters for a couple things that are more quality-of-life and possibly harsher climates. It's nothing that would prevent advancement.

Siegkrow posted:

Food challenge? Every meal must have some kind of meat.

I also like this, as this encourages me to go hunting and thus show off more of the game's fauna.

Mega64
May 23, 2008

I took the octopath less travelered,

And it made one-eighth the difference.




Oh hey, I already explained this last update and it pretty much explains itself here. Oh well!



Results were a strong Red -> Blue -> Yellow, probably because that was the first option. It's also the most roundabout way since Red and Yellow are much better to do together, but it does let me show off a lot more stuff so it's cool.

Normally, to get to the red-marked shrine, you'd have to climb towards the yellow-marked shrine and then travel southeast to reach the edge of the mountain range. However, there's always another way...





Several things can drop from trees when you cut them down. Korok Leaves are probably the most entertaining of the bunch.

http://h.mega64.net/botw/u05/005.mp4

Korok Leaves make for terrible weapons, but their gust effect can lead to a lot of fun interactions. And they have other uses as well, one of which we'll see later this update...



So, the shrine is up there.





Normally, such a climb would be near-impossible for Link without a lot of stamina-recovering food. However, this way has a lot of helpful outcroppings where Link can stop and recover his stamina.



Eventually, Link makes it to the top. I really appreciate that there's an alternate way up here besides traversing the snowy mountain range. It's a shortcut that rewards exploration rather than discourage it, something I really wish more games would learn to do.



Anyway, we're at our next shrine.



Shrines start off orange. When activated, the base turns blue and the top yellow, activating fast-travel to that shrine. When the shrine is completed, the entire shrine is blue. The map on the Sheikah Slate also distinguishes between unactivated, activated, and completed based on the color of the icon.

Music: Shrine Theme



The four shrines on the Great Plateau give you your main abilities for the entire game and are tutorials on how to use them, though they certainly don't teach you every trick for using them.



This shrine gives us Statis, one of the more fun ones to use.

http://h.mega64.net/botw/u05/016.mp4

Statis stops time for the chosen object, though it wears off over...time. Obvious puzzle applications, but there's a bit more to it...



Next puzzle. This ball respawns when it rolls off the map.



Statis, as you may expect, is the solution!



We don't have to go all the way up here, but free treasure.





This sledgehammer should give you a clue as to how to handle the final puzzle.

http://h.mega64.net/botw/u05/022.mp4

All those hits do nothing, obviously. Link's pretty athletic, but he's no powerhouse.

Obviously the answer lies with Statis, but how? Go back and reread the rune description, then if you still don't know, watch and see.

http://h.mega64.net/botw/u05/023.mp4

An object in stasis will store kinetic energy. That means hitting an object three times will apply all three hits at once as soon as it's out of stasis. More hits makes the object fly further.

Also, you can charge your attack to do a special move at the cost of stamina. This attack depends on the weapon type. The two-handed whirling around is probably the most useful of the bunch.



Anyway, that's all there is to the Statis Trial.





From now on, every shrine ends basically the same way. Dialogue only changes depending on whether the shrine is a trial, combat, or blessing (i.e. "You already did the puzzle to unlock the shrine, have a free Spirit Orb").



Then the monk dissolves and after a short loading screen you're back at the overworld.



Each shrine also has a thing around it to test your new power out.



To go more into stasis, once you have a red arrow, the energy is maxed out and hits won't make further impact. More importantly, the direction the object goes is based on the direction of the last hit. This is important for instances where direction matters.



Sadly, the boulder fades out of view before we can see it hit outside land. At least the chest nets us another Traveler's Bow.



That's a pretty big bridge.



Further on is cold weather and the path to the yellow shrine. But first we've gotta go blue!



Sadly, we can't just jump off quite yet, so we slowly descend.



Night hits, and we see a new insect.



Not this one though, this guy was always available. I just managed to sneak up on it as I try to get...



...this guy. The beetle is better though because attack boost is one of the best buffs in the game, for obvious reasons.



To the left side of the Temple of Time, you can descend to this area of ruined robots.

http://h.mega64.net/botw/u05/040.mp4

...and not-so-ruined robots. This guy is called a Decayed Guardian and basically acts as a souped-up Beamos. That laser freaking hurts, and right now our weaponry is way too weak to do much against it.

We could simply rush to the shrine or sneak around, but I've got a much more entertaining idea.



Behold!

http://h.mega64.net/botw/u05/042.mp4

Moving inside the barrel doesn't quite work, but it does block line-of-sight from the guardian. Isn't it wonderful when your weird plan works?



There's a chest here, but no ordinary chest.





This is the Switch version of the game, and because I love the game so much I went ahead and purchased the expansion pass, which nets this baby as well as a couple other chests (a Ruby and some Bomb Arrows).

I'm not going to wear it right now because bare Link.



Also, our next shrine.



So, our next trial introduces a new spin on a classic Zelda item.



Bombs are a rune in this game. This means bombs are unlimited (though you have to wait on a recharge time between bombs).

There are a few differences between bombs in this game and bombs in other Zelda games.





First off, bombs here are detonated remotely rather than on a timer. This gives you plenty of time to choose when to detonate.



Like, say, when you're away from the bomb.



This chest does give us a nice two-handed weapon though.





We get two bomb types: Round and Square. Square bombs don't roll as easily (though they'll still roll on a steep incline) so are better for more precise moments, like this moving platform.

http://i.mega64.net/botw/u05/057.mp4



Round types are better when the rolling would be beneficial, or in contraptions like this that only take the round type.





The puzzle here is obvious enough.



Of course we can get on one of these platforms as well and get propelled to a treasure chest.





And that's bombs!

http://i.mega64.net/botw/u05/065.mp4

Traditionally, bombs in this series are a somewhat-viable method of attack. They're decent early on, but their attack power does not scale and thus they're pretty poor for damage later in the game. They still have their uses, though!



Hmmm.





Goes as expected.



A blue Bokoblin is left, but...



...arrows and bombs take it out quickly enough.



Also got its weapon (and more fire arrows from a chest).



Further up is this spot.





Diving in nets us another Korok Seed.





On top of this area is an embedded Rusty Broadsword. Better if we went here earlier, of course.



A few bombable walls around the area. This holds an Opal.





And, of course, bomb fishing. These bombs float on water, and since they're from a magic rune, will still explode.





They also knock down trees!



I pick up some fire to light the pot.



...and get a little carried away.



Cooking just a single chili pepper gives us a nice 150-second resistance to cold.



A Summerwing Butterfly, a horn, and three fangs nets me a rather-lengthy elixir. Should be more than enough to get me through the cold!



All that playing with fire burns away my shield. Wooden items can catch on fire and burn away, so be careful! Of course, wooden weapons on fire will do more damage.

Anyway, we're at the entrance of the cold mountain range.



There's several ways across this lake. If we go further down, we'll see the bridge we saw in the second update. Except we can now use Magnesis on a slab of metal to finish the bridge and cross that way.

Alternatively, we can climb the mountain range to the left and work our way up that way, near where the Statis Shrine is.

I'm not taking either of those ways, though.



First, I'm going to need to use something other than the torch, so time to feast!



There's a handy Korok Leaf here.



We need to make a bridge, since if we get in the water we take damage very quickly.



Meanwhile, Magnesis up a couple of chests with Amber inside.





And then make it to this raft!

http://i.mega64.net/botw/u05/099.mp4

The raft is stuck on those poles, so it looks less graceful than it really is. But the wind effects of the Korok Leaf make for a great way to navigate a raft.

Sadly, using Magnesis to use a metal weapon or object to propel the raft forward like a motorboat got patched out.



We meet our first Chuchu, an ice type no less.





It'll dive towards you and briefly become vulnerable to melee weapons. Trying to attack one while it's icy will just freeze you instead.

The best part about Chuchus is they aren't really that hostile. They're just giant goofy creatures that want to give you a hug without realizing they're hurting you.



They also drop different types of jelly, depending on the element. This one will freeze nearby enemies if you hit it near them. Thus Chuchu jellies make for effective traps should you trigger them. Not really necessary, but who cares if it's inventive and fun to utilize?



Behind the left waterfall is a treasure trove.



A Spiked Boko Bow, another Soldier's Broadword, and some regular and Fire Arrows.





The elements will affect your drops as well. After killing a pigeon, one of the drumsticks froze, giving me this.



Eventually there's a path that leads up, and going to the left of that path gets us to the base of this mountain peak.



There's a circle of rocks, with the missing one off to the side.





Another Korok puzzle.



At the top is the Old Man.



Apparently he'll give you the Warm Doublet here if you hadn't gotten it yet. I have it but refuse to wear it. Anyway, let's enjoy the view in the buff.



Use your scope to look for shrines. When you locate one, place a pin on your map as a marker.









Quite the view, indeed.



Now to the final shrine. On the path to it, yet another camp of Bokoblins. So how do I handle this group?



I ignore them and climb to the top. I'm kinda tired of dealing with these weaklings at this point.



Eventually, I reach the final shrine of the Great Plateau.





The final rune for now is Cryonis. It's the most simple of the bunch.

http://i.mega64.net/botw/u05/131.mp4



Use it on water to make a pillar of ice. There you go.

It's much more limited compared to the others, and its uses are much more obvious. But don't get me wrong, it's still very handy and can be used creatively. If nothing else, you can use it to cross great stretches of water without running out of stamina from swimming.



A gate blocks the path?



Cryonis! Note you can only have three pillars up at a time. Try to make a fourth, and the earliest-made pillar breaks. Of course, you can also use the power to break ice pillars you've already made.



There's another guardian scout here. I guess the idea is use cyronis pillars to block its lasers.



It works better in theory than in practice though, so I just wallop it instead.



So what's the solution to thi-



Oh you already know it's freaking Cryonis.

Rule of Thumb: If water's involved, it's probably Cryonis.





And another spear for the chest here.



And that completes our fourth shrine! We've got all four shrines finished!



And look who decided to visit us!



Oho ho! Extraordinary!



Link, it is finally time for me to tell you everything. But first...



I shall wait for you there.

http://i.mega64.net/botw/u05/152.mp4

Uh...huh...

Next time, we get our rewards, get a nice old plot dump, and finally finish up the tutorial!

Speaking of rewards, which Spirit Orb reward should we obtain, a Heart Container or Stamina Vessel?

Mega64 fucked around with this message at 16:45 on Jul 25, 2017

girl dick energy
Sep 30, 2009

You think you have the wherewithal to figure out my puzzle vagina?
Making a motion to dismiss Naked Link in favor of Tacky Tourist Link, in the Switch shirt and the goofiest pants you can find.

ThornBrain
Jan 25, 2011

Hi. I forgot your name. Whatever.
My... point is...
Hi. Your head's on fire.

Raw Steak Eateeeer- Anyway, agreed.

Both times I played through this, it didn't even occur to me that the Stasis shrine could be accessed from the other way. Blatantly obvious, but that's my time playing Oblivion and Skyrim coming back - the smart path is the wrong path; awkward jumping up a cliff is the right path.

Bruceski
Aug 21, 2007

The tools of a hero mean nothing without a solid core.

I climbed a bit further from the shrine, and rather than making resist food I just horked down apples and chicken to offset the environmental damage. Really the great thing about this game is that while they have intended ways to do things, if you find a workaround they say "sure, go ahead" instead of "go back and do it right." Shame they removed the Magnesis physics-breaking boat, though.

Junpei
Oct 4, 2015

Although next time, you would be wise to heed the ancient Japanese proverb... phone first!
Suggestion for when we're done with the plateau: Throw a random weapon, note the direction it lands, then walk in that direction (retrieving weapon optional).

RareAcumen
Dec 28, 2012




Can you stack the ice blocks on top of each other to make a tower?

Godna
Feb 4, 2013
Nothing but health for...reasons. And then once REASONS happen. Switch to nothing but Stamina...because we love you, and our love is pain.

Carbon dioxide
Oct 9, 2012

When you threw that rock, so it disappears off into the distance, I suppose it despawns? The game doesn't keep track of every single object in the entire world, does it?

tiistai
Nov 1, 2012

Solo Melodica
Nothing but stamina because who needs health when you can simply not get hit. Mobility is more important in this vast world.

Godna posted:

Nothing but health for...reasons.

There's a way to get around it anyway

Carbon dioxide posted:

When you threw that rock, so it disappears off into the distance, I suppose it despawns? The game doesn't keep track of every single object in the entire world, does it?

I know small rocks respawn simply by walking a very short distance and looking away from them, but big ones might work different. I should check. Every chest is unique and deliberately placed though.

tiistai fucked around with this message at 11:13 on May 6, 2017

girl dick energy
Sep 30, 2009

You think you have the wherewithal to figure out my puzzle vagina?

tiistai posted:

Nothing but stamina because who needs health when you can simply not get hit. Mobility is more important in this vast world.
That was my logic. Not enough health? We can just make fun of Mega and say to get good.

Serifina
Oct 30, 2011

So... dizzy...
Definitely stamina.

Rawkking
Sep 4, 2011
Stamina and concurring with the switch t-shirt/ridiculous pants clothing options.

Lynneth
Sep 13, 2011
Another full stamina wheel at least, considering the immense mobility upgrades it gives, is the best choice.

cant cook creole bream
Aug 15, 2011
I think Fahrenheit is better for weather
Mega64 will surely manage to survive without any health upgrades or armor. He claimed to be good at the game, right?

Getting a lot of stamina and exploring stuff feels way more interesting than being able to get hit more.

Godna
Feb 4, 2013
The game isn't too hard without any stamina I found. Tons and tons of stamina restoring food and abusing a wall climbing trick

Rabbi Raccoon
Mar 31, 2009

I stabbed you dude!
I vote that Link stays naked as much as possible. Hyrule's had a rough century. They could use the hilarious hijinks of a naked man running wild to lift their spirits.

Rabbi Raccoon fucked around with this message at 18:07 on May 6, 2017

Siegkrow
Oct 11, 2013

Arguing about Lore for 5 years and counting



Naked Link is getting old, put on the most stylish stuff you can.

Mega64
May 23, 2008

I took the octopath less travelered,

And it made one-eighth the difference.
First thing's first.



Good, because I had already recorded the next update and picked stamina, expecting people to vote for it.

RareAcumen posted:

Can you stack the ice blocks on top of each other to make a tower?

Unfortunately no. Cyronis will break any ice tower it's targeting and only builds upon water.

Junpei posted:

Suggestion for when we're done with the plateau: Throw a random weapon, note the direction it lands, then walk in that direction (retrieving weapon optional).

I'm planning to do a big vote for where to go after we finish the Great Plateau, but I'm pretty fond of this idea myself.

As for outfit discussions, I'm going Naked Link for the next update because it's already recorded, but after that I'll probably do a vote for that because it's turning into quite the decisive issue!

Mega64
May 23, 2008

I took the octopath less travelered,

And it made one-eighth the difference.




Note this is a poor idea early on since you can take fall damage in this game. It should become slightly better once we get the paraglider, though.



Speaking of which! We've done all four shrines, so we're about done with the Great Plateau! But first, a couple of things.



This wood chest cannot be Magnesised, but we can take advantage of it floating!



It contains an Opal.



Up top is a frozen block of ice.



Fire of all varieties work, some better than others. Right now the only reliable fire method I have though are Fire Arrows, so four of these melt the ice...





...and net us a Korok!



The Old Man said to go where the four shrines intersect. Hard to see from here, but that is describing the Temple of Time.



Now that we have four Spirit Orbs, the goddess statue is shining.



You guys ultimately voted for the Stamina Vessel. Which works for me because that's what I picked before asking you guys and it means I don't have to replay this section again.

http://j.mega64.net/botw/u06/016.mp4

We gain a fifth of a stamina wheel. We can have three circles max, so we can only get ten Stamina Vessels before we can no longer increase stamina (outside of foods that temporarily boost max stamina, of course). More stamina is always nice because it makes exploration easier, and exploration is always fun to do in this game.

http://j.mega64.net/botw/u06/017.mp4

Suddenly, someone shouts out to Link. Considering we've literally only met one other person on this plateau, it can only be...



Here I am... Get up here-quickly!



Fortunately, there's a ladder to the roof right outside the temple.

I was not aware of this ladder the first time I played this game. Fortunately the front end is varied enough to make climbing it the old-fashioned way viable.





Once we reach the old man, we get a rather lengthy cutscene that serves as this game's backstory. It's got some voice acting and some nifty visuals, but I'll also recap it here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9rkMlgEGrs



Now, then... The time has come to show you who I truly am.



I was...the last leader of Hyrule. A kingdom which no longer exists.





Music: The Last King of Hyrule



Yes, the old man watching over Link was no mere wanderer, but the spirit of the last king of Hyrule, one hundred years before Calamity Ganon struck.

The music here is a nice callback to the Hyrule Castle theme, first appearing in Link to the Past and then popping up here and there in other games since.

The Great Calamity was merciless... It devastated everything in its path, lo, a century ago. It was then that my life was taken away from me.



I did not think it wise to overwhelm you while your memory was still fragile. So rather than that, I thought it best to assume a temporary form.



I think you are now ready.



Music: 100 Years Ago



The demon king was born into this kingdom, but his transformation into Malice created the horror you see now.



But there was also...a prophecy. "The signs of a resurrection of Calamity Ganon are clear. And the power to oppose it lies dormant beneath the ground."



It wasn't long before we discovered several ancient relics made by the hands of our distant ancestors.











One hundred years ago, there was a princess set to inherit a sacred power and a skilled knight at her side.



We selected four skilled individuals from across Hyrule and tasked them with the duty of piloting the Divine Beasts.



...a name that would solidify their unique bond. The princess, her appointed knight, and the rest of the Champions were on the brink of sealing away Ganon...



Ganon was cunning, and he responded with a plan beyond our imagining.







He appeared from deep below Hyrule Castle, seized control of the Guardians and the Divine Beasts, and turned them against us.







However...





Link...





Music: A King's Request



My dear Zelda.





You fought valiantly when your fate took an unfortunate turn. And then, you were taken to the Shrine of Resurrection. Here you now stand revitalized, 100 years later.



Even now, as she works to restrain Ganon from within Hyrule Castle, she calls out for your help. However, my daughter's power will soon be exhausted. Once that happens, Ganon will freely regenerate himself and nothing will stop him from consuming our land. Considering that I could not save my own kingdom, I have no right to ask this of you, Link...



You must save her...my daughter.



Somehow, Ganon has maintained control over all four Divine Beasts, as well as those Guardians swarming around Hyrule Castle. I believe it would be quite reckless for you to head directly to the castle at this point. I suggest...that you make your way east, out to one of the villages in the wilderness.





She will tell you more about the path that lies ahead.



Make your way past the twin summits of the Dueling Peaks.



It's a lengthy cutscene for sure, but it also sets up what exactly happened to Hyrule a hundred years ago as well as sets up both our overall goal (Destroy Ganon) and our immediate goal, should we choose to do it of course (visit Kakariko Village and consult with Impa). Of course, we're still missing a lot of finer details, but those will get filled in over the course of the game.

At this point, the voiced cutscene ends and we're back in-game, though with a bit more dialogue still...

Music: Temple of Time





And we've finally got the Paraglider! This baby is essential in our travels, one of many reasons being we can't leave the Great Plateau without it. Now we can travel through all of Hyrule!



Which also means we're finally done with the tutorial section of the game.



And...I think that's it. I told you everything I can...

http://j.mega64.net/botw/u06/111.mp4

And there goes our only companion thus far.









We've got our two new quests.



And here are the results from the last quest for good measure.



Also, an upgraded bow. Nice.



Before we finish things off here, let's do a couple more things.





First, scaling the Temple of Time nets us another Korok.



We also get a nice bird's-eye view of the surrounding area. We can explore all of it now.

So, how big is Hyrule?



This is the Great Plateau...





...and this is the rest of Hyrule. The yellow dot is where Kakariko Village is.

So, uh, this might take awhile.

http://j.mega64.net/botw/u06/129.mp4

Paragliding is simple. Press X to open your paraglider in mid-air. This lets you cover large distances, which is very handy since the distances in Hyrule are...even greater than "large". It does require stamina, though it doesn't use too much unless you're going really far.



To close things out, we're going back to the cabin to check on one last thing.





Well, two.



The diary's been updated now that we've learned who the Old Man really is.

quote:

Link... Bit by bit, you may come to realize who I am. I am sorry for not revealing my true identity to you sooner. The truth is, after you awoke from your long Slumber of Restoration, I did not know how to tell you all there was to say.

Perhaps deceiving you was not the right thing to do. Still...you must admit I put on a great performance! But all joking aside...what I ask of you is of the utmost importance, dear hero. I implore you, with all my heart...defeat Calamity Ganon and save my precious daughter, Zelda. I understand this is no simple task I am asking of you, but I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you can do it. I do not doubt it for a moment. I see courage in your eyes, just as I did 100 years ago. I believe in you, Link.

And with that...we're ready to explore Hyrule!

We'll do this in two phases. First phase, I'll ask people for input on what we should do. After I have enough suggestions that are popular and/or I like, we'll then do an overall vote and I'll follow through on it to the best of my ability (meaning if everyone chooses "Go kill Ganon" I probably won't be successful, plus it'd kinda make for a short and anticlimatic LP if I do).

I'm gonna aim for 6-10 suggestions, including the two the game has for us (listed below). After I have enough I like, I'll throw up a vote for around a day or so.

Go to Hyrule Castle and (attempt to) kill Ganon.
Visit Kakariko Village.

Bold your suggestions. If you like someone else's suggestion, please say so! And I'm always open for suggestions on other gameplay ideas, like what clothes (if any) to wear or any reasonable gameplay gimmicks. I'll try to accommodate as much as I can, within reason of course.

Next time, the adventure truly begins! ...Probably.

Mega64 fucked around with this message at 16:46 on Jul 25, 2017

Putty
Mar 21, 2013

HOOKED ON THE BROTHERS
The king should have said something like "dinner" or "mah boi" to appeal to the hardcore Zelda fans

Serifina
Oct 30, 2011

So... dizzy...
Put on a drat shirt

and

Go kick Ganon's rear end

savixeon
Oct 22, 2016
I say go visit Kakariko.

Junpei
Oct 4, 2015

Although next time, you would be wise to heed the ancient Japanese proverb... phone first!
I say do the weapon throw thing I mentioned earlier.

Siegkrow
Oct 11, 2013

Arguing about Lore for 5 years and counting



I vote for KAKARIKO because I need me some more PLOT.

Also, enough nakedness, Dress Appropiately for every situation. By which I mean, try to dress in a way you'd fit in! If you're na cold place, put on a jacket. If you gonna fight, put on some armor!

Bruceski
Aug 21, 2007

The tools of a hero mean nothing without a solid core.

It's right there on your quest log, destroy Ganon. May as well check it off the list.

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Pea
Nov 25, 2005
Friendly neighbourhood vegetable
Go on Link's Paragliding Grand Tour of Hyrule.
Paraglide your way to Kakariko in the most roundabout way.

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