Gaming Zelda Fans Come Hither...

You mean the grappling hook? Yeah, it can take some getting used to. You get the actual hookshot later, which is much more user-friendly.

 

Lol, yeah,

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she got hit pretty hard with Useless Princess Syndrome right there. All I'll say is that there's more of her later, and it's pretty good.

But the temples where you restore the Master Sword's power are some of my favorite segments of the game, so I think you're in for a treat there.

 

Aw. What are your criticisms? I can't imagine it's the sailing or the Triforce quest, since supposedly they vastly improved both of those in the HD version. (I've only played the GC version).

 

I think those are pretty valid complaints. One thing I think that helps fill in the world is the Nintendo Gallery, which allows you to connect to some of the characters a little better, if not some of the random islands. Otherwise yeah unlike BOTW and even ALTTP to an extent the empty seas are just that- empty.

I think it's a really good idea to take a break. I've had that feeling before with some other franchises, and breaks definitely help.

 

Nearing the endgame of ALBW after some playtime on the train last weekend:

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Ended up doing the Ice Ruins last and that was a pretty challenging one. Took a lot of 3D thinking and cheating edges to get through some of that. Now I'm just trying to get any heart containers pieces and Maimais I have missed before I hit the castle. I feel like i might be missing some items too, since there's still slots in my inventory, but I'm going to poke around some more.

But, at this rate, I might actually soon finish the game I bought my original 3DS for! Got distracted by Fire Emblem Awakening for a stretch there...

(and, no, I haven't finished FEA yet, either- I got distracted by ALBW )

A lot of SNES games got a lot of mood and atmosphere intro mileage out of (by modern standards) limited tech. I think there's just something particularly special about the 16-bit sound and how it's, for lack of a better term, "muffled". That unintentional effect strikes something magic when it comes to atmosphere and tone.

But it's not just the sound/music- they generally did a lot of concise but effective storytelling in such games (like Super Metroid) with some interesting, yet simple, graphical tricks to create interesting effects. Like how the background to the prologue in ALTTP is just two graphic sheets designed to create an effect when moved diagonally over one another.

Curious- is your controller 3rd party? Or just something wonky with it?

For TWW i think it actually helps to take a break in the middle of the game. I unintentionally did so for a couple years but came back into it at the start of the shard quest so it let my first session part peak with the Tower then my second start off slow and build towards the end.

The seas are definitely more barren to increase the scope, but the sense of sailing to the horizon balances things out, I think.

What stands out to me the most about TWW is how much Link powers up over the course of the game. The Wind Waker item itself provides rather powerful capabilities when you think of it and the toon stylizng allowing for more over the top combat moves combined for an effect that i have always summarized as "a boy becoming a god".

I also can't hate on the game much because exploring one of those random mini caves on an island somewhere in the game had the Triforce logo on the wall and when I stumbled upon it, the feeling i got made me realize that that symbol truly resonated with me and, so, convinced me to pull the trigger on a tattoo of it.

 

All Maiamais found! Peace of mind obtained so now i can finish the main quest.

I'm actually very surprised by how much of the game I hadn't yet discovered even though I've been able to go to Lorule Castle. It wasn't until I was on my second-to-last Maiamai that I found the Tower of Torment. And it wasn't until after I had all the Maiamais that I got both Master Sword upgrades, the reduced price milk, etc. The former of which is particularly weird given how significant the Golden Sword was in ALTTP.

What makes things kinda weirder is that, for the most part, I'm getting all these upgraded items/weapons that I no longer really need since I only have Lorule Castle left. Only the Great Spin Attack you get from Mother Maiamai once you've found all 100 of the babies is really useful (especially in the Tower of Torment... but, then, completing that ultimately gets you... an upgraded bug net?).

I mean, I wasn't aiming to 100% everything (I'm still missing 6 heart pieces, I think), but it seems the late game lets you get pretty close even unintentionally.

Anyways, I'm about halfway through Lorule Castle now. Sometime this week I'll probably finish it off. It will literally be my first retail 3DS game completed- both in the context of being the first title completed in my library for the system and in the context of being the first game I got for/with the system becoming finished, heh.


EDIT- Couldn't wait, heh. Not bad for a 5-year-long playthrough, I suppose...



Only missing 5 heart pieces in the end.

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Interesting ending. I think i might have to make a new file just to refresh my memory on the initial part of the story, as the locations were a bit odd (so we have Hyrule/Light World, Hyrule Sacred Realm/former Dark World, Lorule/new Dark World and Lorule Sacred Realm?) especially in terms of having Hilda sending them back through the Sacred Realm crack when they've all been jumping back and forth between worlds with ease the entire game.

A shame Lorule is kinda still left in ruin, though. Even if the earthquakes have stopped.

Also, Zelda won't let you leave the Sacred Realm without touching the Triforce- I tried, lol.

Lastly, I liked the connection with Ravio. Puts a new twist on Link's rabbit form in ALTTP.

Even though it won't be for several years, I think I'd like to take another shot at this in Hero Mode one day. The game did seem easier than I would have liked and, even though it's a minor point, small added details you can access there like Ravio's journal provide some further incentive.

It's also a bit weird that a couple of items/gear are left until the final dungeon. I feel like there should have been more opportunity to use one of them in particular because I wasn't able to guess one of its characteristics/functionality during the boss battle on my own. Some kind of training opportunity should have been given for that so you'd know how to use it in the final battle.

Speaking of that final battle- probably the best "dead man's volley" in the series so far. Took some practice to figure it out right and the speed and variety was welcome- I wish there was more of it (but it may have been so short simply because my sword strikes were maxed).

 

So, this arrived today:



Thus completing a Triforce of awesomeness. Behold, Power, Wisdom & Courage:



But, man, the content in the Encyclopedia is outstanding. I mean, I wouldn't go so far as to say this book was made specifically for me or anything, but...



I'll be in my bunk.