184 replies to this topic

[Super Boom]

Day 13 --Click here to view--

13. Which temple did you find the easiest?
Definitely Skyview Temple, seeing as how that one was basically a tutorial dungeon. Honestly, there were signs right out in the open telling you how to complete the dungeon.
"Ye who wants to get a key...go to this room that I'm somehow marking on your map."
Me: Huh? What the heck just marked my map?!?!

The Earth Temple (SS style) was pretty easy too, though that was more based on its length than its puzzles.

Edited by Boom...Winning, 17 May 2012 - 11:58 PM.

[Rocket]

Day 13~ --Click here to view--

Q: Which temple did you find the easiest?
Skyview Temple, durr. I mean come on, given that it's the first dungeon in the game... that's how it is with all Zelda games.

I kind of wish they were a little more challenging sometimes...

[Super Boom]

Day 14 --Click here to view--

14. Which temple was your overall favorite?

Ancient Cistern, hands down. The inspiration behind it was so cool. The lotus flowers, the Heaven and Hell areas, and the general Buddhist atmosphere just felt so unique. There were also some cool puzzles, fun water areas (I really enjoyed swimming around with the motion controls), and probably the best mini-boss and boss combo in the whole game.

If there was a better item inside, and the music was a little more memorable, the Ancient Cistern might even take its place as my favorite Zelda dungeon ever. Heck, maybe it already has. There's so many of them, I don't think I've ever really reflected on it...

Edited by Boom...Winning, 19 May 2012 - 01:43 AM.

[Rocket]

Day 14~ --Click here to view--

Q: Which temple was your overall favorite?
The Ancient Cistern. A popular choice among most players I suppose, but at least I'm being honest about my opinion.

Anyway. I thought that this dungeon was beautiful and just downright entertaining. The brightness of the upper level was absolutely gorgeous and stunning, a nice and fitting contrast to the eerie and dark bottom level. Heck, even the colour schemes of each area are complementary! Usually hell itself is associated with the colour red, so I wasn't really expecting it to be purple, the place being a hell inspired area. Then again purple is mainly used for darkness I suppose.

LOL I've sidetracked here, but anyways. Exploring the bottom floor legitimately gave me the chills. I think this is the first time I've *actually* been too scared to complete a dungeon since the Shadow Temple from OoT. Also the dungeon wasn't too difficult for me, although I expected otherwise. This is a water-based dungeon, right? (Yes I went there )

The puzzles were fun too, and the whip, IMO, was put to some pretty good use, like pulling switches, those screw thingies, and hurray for whipping Furnixes!

Edited by Rocket, 19 May 2012 - 01:58 PM.

[Super Boom]

Day 15 --Click here to view--

15. What is your opinion on the Trials?

Well, those Guardians (is that what they were called??) were scary as heck (and WAY too frackin' fast), but I thought the actual idea was pretty cool. I enjoyed the Twilight Realm sequences in TP, and enjoyed the Temple of the Ocean King/Tower of Spirits from the DS games, so it was cool to see a game sequence that incorporated ideas from those games. The only Trial I really didn't care for was the Eldin Trial, and that was mostly because I thought running up the hill without alerting the watchers was insanely hard. Like...there wasn't a point on the hill where they wouldn't see you, so you pretty much just had to leave a Tear somewhere and let yourself be found at a certain point.

And don't get me started on Lanayru's Time Trials. I think it seriously took me 20 tries to beat that realm in under six minutes.

Edited by Boom...Winning, 19 May 2012 - 10:47 PM.

[Rocket]

Day 15~ --Click here to view--

Q: What is your opinion on the Trials?
Allow me to express my thoughts on the Trials with a simple piece of fanart:



Yeah...

... --Click here to view--

Or at least, that's how I felt during my first playthrough. After completing all Silent Realms I decided to replay them all during Lanayru's Lightning Round to overcome my fears, and now I've kind of gotten used to its scariness I suppose. But anyways, I never really hated the Silent Realms. I just thought they were freaking scary at first, but later I found them to be really exhilarating. It was really awesome how inspiration was taken from past games. Aside from the tear collecting being taken from the Twilight Realms, I can think of at least four things in the Trials that are really similar to the Temple of the Ocean King in Phantom Hourglass.

Playing the Eldin Volcano Trial probably gave me the biggest adrenaline rush in the entire game, let alone out of all the Trials. I think I left the last tear at the top of the sand slide on the right (the one with the whole Watcher gang) and after I got that tear I slid down, and because of my fail sliding control skills I got caught. So I had to quickly slide down and run to the protective circle to save my ass from getting hit. Thing is, there was a Flying Guardian approaching the circle. I literally had 1/16 left of stamina, and just when the Flying Guardian swung its scythe, I rolled using my last bit of stamina left and I... just made it into the circle.



Sorry, I just had to share that. But true story.

Edited by Rocket, 20 May 2012 - 10:16 AM.

[Super Boom]

Day 16 --Click here to view--

16. Did you end up getting the Hylian Shield?

Oh yes. I'm kinda obsessive-compulsive about collecting everything in Zelda, so I pretty much refused to go fight the Horde, Ghirahim, or Demise until I had all the Heart Pieces, finished the Gratitude Quests, and completed all of Lanayru's Trials, which included getting the Hylian Shield.

@Rocket: Wow, that's intense. That would have really stunk to have mistimed that last roll, especially with how long that trial is.

Edited by Boom...Winning, 20 May 2012 - 05:17 PM.

[Rocket]

Day 16~ --Click here to view--

Q: Did you end up getting the Hylian Shield?
I did. I still can't shield bash properly, plus my Sacred Shield broke in a battle against a Stalmaster in Sky Keep.

I should have gotten it earlier...

[Super Boom]

Day 17 --Click here to view--

17. Goddess Cubes; Good idea, or too much work than they're worth?

My only real gripe with the Goddess Cubes was how easy their treasure chests were to find. One of my favorite parts of Wind Waker was trying to figure out which chart went with each island in order to find the chests, and just seeing them show up on your map took away some of the joy of solving those puzzles. I also thought the items in the chests could have been a little better. I mean, honestly, do I really need two Treasure or Rupee medals, or small quivers that I can easily purchase in Skyloft whenever I want?

Other than that though, I found them to be a pretty nice addition. There was something rewarding about returning to the sky after beating a dungeon, and finding five unopened treasure chests waiting for you.

Edited by Boom...Winning, 21 May 2012 - 11:46 PM.

[Rocket]

Day 17~ --Click here to view--

Q: Goddess Cubes; Good idea or too much work than they're worth?
Too much work than they're worth? Lolwut.

If anything the "work" was too easy. Not only were the chests easy to locate, but the Cubes themselves weren't difficult to find and activate either, or at least for my liking. I wish accessing and activating the Goddess Cubes were a bit more difficult, like having mini dungeons for a Cubes that unlock chests with super-duper rare (read: VERY rare, like Magic Armor rare lol) treasures, or at least limiting access to certain Cubes until you've upgraded your sword with the Sacred Flames or something like that.

On the plus side, it was lots of fun finding the Cubes and roaming all over Skyloft to claim your treasures. I did think the Cubes were an interesting idea when it comes to obtaining treasure.

And now I am insanely tired... /falls asleep on Knight Academy toilet

[Super Boom]

Day 18 --Click here to view--

18. What did you think of having the Harp as an instrument versus other instruments like the Ocarina?

I didn't hate the harp, but I definitely didn't like it as much as the musical instruments from previous games. There weren't really any unique ways to play it like with the Ocarina (honestly, some people out there have done whole symphonies on the in-game ocarina), it was basically just a token rhythm instrument. Heck, other than the mini-game at the Lumpy Pumpkin, it was only used five times over the course of the whole game. It was sort of like the pan flute from Spirit Tracks in that respect, except not nearly as hard to play.

Anyways, like I said, I didn't hate it, but I didn't really think the harp was used to its full potential. Maybe I would have liked it more if they zoomed in on the harp as Link was playing it to allow more precise playing, or if they set certain strings to various buttons. As it was though, I personally don't think I would have missed it if it wasn't used.

Edited by Boom...Winning, 23 May 2012 - 01:12 AM.

[Rocket]

Day 18~ --Click here to view--

Q: What did you think of having the Harp as an instrument versus other instruments like the Ocarina?
The harp is a pretty instrument, but the amount of times it's used in the game wasn't enough for me to favour it over other instruments in the series. Not to mention how freaking hard it was to play the thing. Anyways, I wished it had more use, like playing it near a bird statue to teleport to another bird statue within that region or something, you know, like in OoT. But yeah, it would have been a better instrument if it had more use besides playing the songs to gain access to the Silent Realms. The harp could be played to activate Goddess Walls, but... that was it. Half of them I didn't even bother to activate unless I needed to, or sometimes I just couldn't be stuffed.

By the way, that thing is a lyre, not a harp.

EDIT: Oh and I just realised that Link can't swing his sword while running, yet he can play the harp while running.

Edited by Rocket, 23 May 2012 - 11:17 AM.

[Super Boom]

Day 19 --Click here to view--

19. Which new race was your favorite?

It's a tough call, but I'd have to say the LD robots. Their designs might have seemed a little weird to some, but I really like seeing robots and futuristic motifs in otherwise medieval worlds. I guess SS wasn't quite as medieval in its overall theme as OoT or TP, but I thought they still felt really unique in the otherwise barren surface world. They also added a bit of extra mythos to the game that was supposed to "start it all", which I was actually happy with. I'm not sure if the implication was that the Thunder Dragon Laxus Lanayru created the robots, but I liked to think of them as being signs of a previous civilization before the big Hylia/Demise showdown.

It sort of reminded me of Tales of Phantasia, another quasi-medieval game, in which a futuristic past is repeatedly mentioned over the course of the game. I recall reading a book in an in-game library that mentioned the ancients playing "a loud lute-like instrument plugged into a large box. Archeologists suggest it was referred to as...an electric guitar."

Anyways, the Mogmas were a close second...I found them to be pretty funny for the most part. I'm just curious what happened to them. Were they wiped out in a volcanic explosion? Was that where Death Mountain got its name??

Edited by Boom...Winning, 24 May 2012 - 12:53 AM.

[Rocket]

Well this time around I'll keep my answer short and sweet since I'm really tired right now. And this stupid knee of mine that's bleeding is painful as feck.

Day 19~ --Click here to view--

Q: Which new race was your favorite?


KIKWIS OMG. OMG KIKWIS. I swear these things are the most kawaii little creatures I've ever seen! LOL, I'm such a sucker for cute stuff~



~~~~

[Super Boom]

Day 20 --Click here to view--

20. Did you use any of the featured medals? If so which ones came in handy the most?

To be honest, the only medals I even bothered to equip for most of the game were the the Life Medals, and that was basically just so I could reach my coveted 20 hearts.

Finding Treasure and Rupees was never a big issue for me, nor were finding hearts on my first playthrough (the Heart Medal would have come in handy on Hero's Quest, but I thought it sort of cheapened the challenge, at least for me), so I never bothered with any of those medals. The Cursed Medal was sort of the same idea, and I didn't find it to be worth the drawbacks. I did like the Bug and Potion medals though, I just never really kept them in my pouch for too long. Had to keep room open for my Big Quivers...

[Rocket]

Day 20~ --Click here to view--

Q: Did you use any of the featured medals? If so which ones came in handy the most?
Uhm. No, not really...

The medals were fun to try out, but I found that I didn't really need to use them, and some just took up space in my Adventure Pouch. I would have packed a Potion Medal, then I realised that it would only be useful for air and stamina potions. I only pack revitalizing potions for my shield.

The only medal I actually used was the Cursed Medal on Hero Mode...

[Super Boom]

Day 21 --Click here to view--

21. Gratitude Crystals, a good way of introducing sidequests or a waste of time?

I'm a side-quest maniac, so of course I loved the Gratitude Crystals! My only gripe was that a lot of them felt too easy, with Fi basically telling you where to go most of the time. I think I also would have preferred getting actual items from the people I helped, but I guess the Goddess Cubes sort of filled that role in this game.

EDIT: I won't be around to do this regularly over the next week or so, so I probably won't be able to do Day 22 onwards for awhile. Sorry to leave you hangin' senpai!

Edited by Boom...Winning, 26 May 2012 - 03:09 PM.

[Rocket]

Day 21~ --Click here to view--

Q: Gratitude Crystals, a good way of introducing sidequests or a waste of time?
Well by all means it definitely wasn't a bad sidequest. I really liked it, although getting only 5 Grabitude Crackles (LOLOL) doesn't seem too rewarding for me when I go through a lot of trouble to help someone. Then again there's lots of people to help anyway (helping people feels good~!) and I suppose what really matters is that it keeps me busy. I still wish it was a bit more challenging like the Kafei and Anju sidequest from Majora's Mask... actually no, that's a bit too intricate.

@Master Boom: Ahh, it's completely fine! Don't worry about it! But I guess it means multiposting for me then...

Crap it's almost 12am... I better go to sleep.

EDIT: 27/5/12

Day 22~ --Click here to view--

Q: How did you find the general length of the game, too short? too long? right in the middle?
Too short! It's actually how I feel with pretty much all Zelda games, after the end it just makes me want more adventure! And after replaying a game so many times it can get boring because you already know what to do and what's gonna happen. Boo!

Although if we're talking about the main quest length-wise, then yeah, I suppose it was kinda short compared to games like, say OoT and ALttP (that game has so many fricken dungeons). Including the sidequests and whatnot, I suppose it was a pretty decent length. I think for me the gameplay was what made it kinda difficult to complete the game in a short amount of hours. The main quest itself took me 47 hours without even completing the Gratitude Crystals sidequest or mucking about in the Sky getting treasures in the Goddess Chests. That was on my first playthrough, contrary to TP (the Wii version being the first motion-gameplay Zelda) which took me 21 hours on my first playthrough. Then again the motion controls weren't exactly advanced enough back in '06, so TP had is easy, plus there wasn't even a trading sidequest.

I heard somewhere that SS was meant to have 50-100 hours of gameplay, so the fact that it took me 3 hours short of 50 on the main quest alone means that it isn't too much of a bad length. I think it's when you compare it to other installments, it seems like a short game.

EDIT 2.0: 28/5/12

Day 23~ --Click here to view--

Q: The Dowsing ability; annoying or useful?
Well for most part I wanted to find things myself. I didn't want to rely on dowsing too much because I thought it would kind of ruin it for me, it's kind of like using a player's guide. But it definitely helped a lot when I really needed it. No more having to look on the map, attempt to find what you're looking for, get lost, then open up the map again, backtrack and so on. Why do all that when you have the dowsing ability, which is just a C-button press away?

That said, I think it was only the consistent chiming that was annoying. It didn't really have anything to do with the dowsing itself, so I suppose it wasn't too much of a bother.

Edited by Rocket, 28 May 2012 - 09:12 AM.

[Rocket]

Bump time~

Day 24~ --Click here to view--

Q: Would you have preferred to get different coloured tunics instead of the dragon scale and fire earrings?
I'll say this. Tunics... are overrated.

Okay no, not really. But the thing is, I think that if tunics were used, it would kind of make them seem less unique. The Dragon Scale and Fireshield Earrings are probably not the most original ideas, but at least they seem more unique since they're both based on completely different items from each other, compared to the tunics, which are only different colours and have different functions. Those would be pretty boring by now.

EDIT: 30/5/12

Day 25~ --Click here to view--

Q: Link who was previously blonde has been featured as a brunette in the two most recent games, thoughts/opinions?
Psshh, this question seems like it's such a surprise that Link is a brunette in SS. Wasn't he a brunette in the original games too?

Oh well. Personally he looks more attractive with blonde hair (SSBB LINK FTW ), but really, I'm kind of indifferent. As long as he doesn't have wacky-coloured hair like pink (if you know what I mean ), then I'm all good.

EDIT 2.0: 31/5/12

Day 26~ --Click here to view--

Q: Where there any parts during the Skyward Sword that reminded you of parts of previous Zelda games?
Quite s few actually. For starters, I've already mentioned about the whole Silent Realm/Twilight Realm/Ocean King Temple stuff in question 15, so I don't think I have to go through those again. Then there's the Sand Sea and riding Skipper's boat, which gives the whole Wind Waker feel and such, and when I first saw the map if the Sand Sea, I was all like "hey, it looks like the map of the Desert Province in the GCN version of TP," although the fact that it was all quicksand also reminded me of the Haunted Wasteland for some reason...

That's all I can think of from the top of my head for now.

Edit: Oh yeah, the inside of the huge tree in Faron Woods also reminded me of the Great Deku Tree, but like, with no spiders and stuff!

Edited by Rocket, 31 May 2012 - 12:02 PM.

[Rocket]

Bump time again~~

Day 27~ --Click here to view--

Q: Groose, thoughts/opinions on his character and character development?
GROOSEEEEEEEEEEEEEEYYYY~!

Much like everyone else, I used to dislike him. I'm not really fond of characters who bully the nice people, and Groose was no exception. The guy was so freaking smug and smart-ass... I especially don't like smart-ass people.

But during that cutscene where he and Link have surprise skysecks HAHAHAHAHA descend into Faron Woods, I sort of started to warm up to him. During that time he wasn't acting like a complete a-hole, although he did seem kinda desperate to win Zelda over when he told Link to leave it to him to save her. I was a bit irked by that, I thought he would have understood by then that only Link can save her (and belongs to her <3).

I was quite happy that Groose did realise this later on, and this is when I really started to like him. He started helping out Link more, and he generally just became a nicer guy in such a short amount of time. I almost forgot to say that he's really funny.

tl;dr, Groose turns from a-hole to bro. And in the end, we all love him.

OH AND DAT POMPADOUR. I think that's what made his character so fascinating.

EDIT 2.0: 2/6/12

Day 28~ --Click here to view--

Q: Your reaction to the last scene?
Not much to say for this question, but starting from the part where Fi leaves Link, I cried for the remainder of the game. This game is just so damn emotional.

EDIT 3.0: 3/6/12

Day 29~ --Click here to view--

Q: HERO MODE! Too hard or a well needed challenge?
I FINISHED HERO MODE ABOUT A WEEK AGO!

But anyways... a well needed challenge? Why not?

I actually found this more challenging than I anticipated, especially since there are no heart flowers to support you through your adventure, so you have to carry potions pretty much everywhere you go. What makes it harder is that enemies and bosses do double the damage they usually do on normal mode. I mean seriously, freaking Scaldera wiped out about four of my hearts in one attack. What the hell?

All you get after completing Hero Mode is a Triforce on your quest log thingy. I do wish there was something more rewarding... like extra Zelinky goodness bhahahaha but yeah, what can I say? I enjoyed playing SS on Hero Mode.

Edited by Rocket, 03 June 2012 - 01:04 PM.