Status ggwilliams9 Nov 24, 2024
I have almost completed all the dark world dungeons. Currently, I am near the end of the 6th dungeon that is in the swamps. So far I have to say I'm enjoying this less than Link's Awakening. The types of puzzles I associate with Zelda games aren't a major aspect of the experience. There is much stronger emphasis on creating …
Read moreI have almost completed all the dark world dungeons. Currently, I am near the end of the 6th dungeon that is in the swamps. So far I have to say I'm enjoying this less than Link's Awakening. The types of puzzles I associate with Zelda games aren't a major aspect of the experience. There is much stronger emphasis on creating a mental map of spaces that the dungeons occupy. Such as checking the map to figure which hole I need to drop from in order to reach a chest or push a block from the desired direction. Most times acquiring the item barely changes how you view the space. The sense of exploration is still great, but there is no big AH moment of the dungeon item changing how I view everything. The game is more about exploring the dungeons and surviving the combat challenges the game puts in front of you. I was very focused on making sure that I didn't lose any of my hearts or magic of the way to the boss (especially important in the ice dungeon). Fighting enemies can be frustrating and there isn't a lot of depth to it. Its feels like a chore anytime I'm fighting most enemies. You don't feel skillful for overcoming them and messing them up you feel like a bumbling idiot just running into them. I think Tunic is the best version of what the developer may having been going for in this game. Finding the dungeons can be difficult. The main issue is remembering something an NPC told you 10 hours in gameplay ago and maybe weeks ago in real time. I had to look up how to reach the swamp dungeon because I completely forgot about the boy in woods saying the play the flute for the sleeping man. Once I saw it online I remembered, but it was on the first things I did once I unlocked the dark world. The overworld can be a fun experience of discovering new items, side quests, and heart pieces at your own pace. It can get you into trouble when the fun side content can't be differentiated from the main path. It felt empowering to grab items earlier than expected and felt awful when I'm traveling through both versions of the overworld trying to figure out what I'm missing to get to the next dungeon. This usually involves talking to every NPC and trying to remember every area I couldn't explore before getting my most recent item. I have been talking about issues with this game more than anything else in this little update. The game is so foundational for Zelda and gaming in general that it causes the issues here stand out. Generally, I am enjoying the game and it has to be acknowledged that this came out in 1991. Excited to finish this classic game in the coming days.
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I can't believe it took me a whole month to reach Ganon. very impressive for a SNES game, tbh.

