The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX (1998)

Day 5:

I spent most of my night digging up seashells and exploring the island. I did finally stumble across the Seashell Shrine, and now only need eight more shells to get my sword! I'm going to go ahead and wait until I get the flippers from the next dungeon before I do though.

In trying to reach my desert destination I found myself in the Animal Village...

Naturally the honey I found goes to a bear chef... My wife asked me where I got the honey, to which my response (eyes rolling) "Weren't you paying attention? The woman in town wanted a Yoshi doll for her baby, so I won one from the local crane game. She gave me a Ribbon which I gave to a Chain Chomp who just wanted to look pretty, in exchange for a can of dog food. Naturally, the dog food went to a hungry alligator who then gave me some bananas. The bananas went to a band of carpenter monkeys who, as monkeys are wont to do, constructed a bridge for me to cross to get to where I was going. We all know that monkeys are notoriously negligent on the job, and they left behind a stick, which I took for myself. A villager, standing at the base of a bee hive, asked to borrow my stick. Of course I let him, and after he ran away screaming, chased by angry bees, I figured I'd grab the honeycomb... THAT'S where I got the honey!"

Anyway then I had to go find Maron so she could sing to a walrus...

Daw...

With Maron in tow I was able to clear any unwanted mammals from my path and access the desert area. Turns out all I was after here was the key.

The mini boss was too easy, and once I grabbed the key I was instructed by my owl guide to take it and jump off a waterfall.

*reads back over entire post*

...This game's weird...

I saved back in Mabe Village, and before I hit up the next story dungeon I'll probably go visit the special Color Dungeon to get a new tunic.

Day 4:

After digging up the Slime Key it was off to the third dungeon! This place was a maze of Bob-Bombs and keys. The mini-boss here was a new kind of pain, having to lay bombs right in their path just hoping they wouldn't picot at the last second... Other than that, despite appearing complicated at first, the dungeon was fairly straight forward.

Eventually I'd pick up the Pegasus Boots, allowing me to charge forward. I definitely prefer the Pegasus Seeds in Oracle, since this game expects you to combine the boots with the feather for long jumps. Since you have to have both items equipped at once, that means no sword...

The boss was a breeze, and actually pretty fun. After bashing into the wall to knock him off the ceiling you need to slash away at his eye to start splitting him in half. Once he's been stretched out enough, charging through him will split him into two. At that point it's just slashing and jumping and dodging.

At this point I think I'm going to take a short break from instrument collecting and go pick up all the seashells I've missed up until this point, should only be a few.

Day 3:

Unfortunately I didn't get the chance to knock out the third dungeon tonight. Instead I was running around taking care of heart-piece collecting, grabbing seashells, fishing for fish, and feeding alligators canned dog food.

Also managed to piss off some bat monster who punished me with more inventory space.

And I met some new people! Crazy Tracy, Will Write, and... camera mouse? Actually the camera is one of my new favorite things in this game. The pictures are pretty great!

Hopefully I can finish out two dungeons tomorrow to make up for tonight.

Day 2:

When I was younger, Ocarina of Time used to creep me the hell out with some of its dungeons. Finding things like this brings those feeling right back. Why is this room even here!? Am I missing something? Do I need to go buy that shovel?

In any case the first dungeon of the game served both as an easy introductory dungeon, as well as assurance that I was in for a good time. One of the things I kept telling myself after Oracle of Seasons was how hard it was going to be playing Link's Awakening without the Roc Feather... Then I found the Roc Feather.

For that matter, everything that Oracle did that I thought was so innovative was actually taken straight from Link's Awakening! The items, the trade system, dungeon designs, etc. I feel right at home here.

One thing about this game compared to Oracle and the original is that the first couple bosses were definitely harder than I was used to for early fights. Nothing too demanding, but just enough that I was caught off guard.

I've heard Link's Awakening described as a Zelda fever dream... and I can absolutely see that... Yoshi sure is showing up in a lot of games these days... That doll is what starts the trade system in this game. Giving the doll to a woman's baby earned me a ribbon, which I gave to a tiny Chain Chomp, natural... she gave me dog food...

While I was busy winning stuffed dinosaurs, BowWow the Chain Chomp was busy getting... dognapped... by Moblins. After getting him back I took him through a walk in the swamp, where he granted me access to the second dungeon...

...Shy Guy...

.......

The dungeon itself was pretty easy, with the highlight being my acquisition of the strength bracelet. The boss here involved me dodging his attacks until he retreated to his bottle, then throwing the bottle up against the wall... and possible some reawakened clown nightmares...

With that the second instrument was mine! Now to go replace the batteries in my Wave Bird...

Day 1:

It's not cheating if you're shipwrecked on an island somewhere... and the girl looks just like you... and you might be dreaming...

I'd be lying if I said Oracle of Seasons didn't spoil me, and I was honestly expecting to go into this game accepting of the fact that I'd be playing a technical downgrade of that game. While the graphics are obviously not as refined, everything else about the game holds up just as good if not better than Oracle! Specifically the menu system is much quicker to navigate, saving is faster and everything just feels good. My only real complaint so far is that the text uses a font that can be hard to read at times and every time I walk up to a rock/pot/whatever I'm immediately reminded that "It's far too heavy to pick up with my bare hands!"

Yes, that's a Chain Chomp. No, I don't know how either...

Link's Awakening has invoked a feeling I don't think any other game on this project has so far; after just a few steps through the village I immediately found myself thinking "Holy crap... what have I gotten myself into..." Yes, it's Zelda, familiar, comfortable Zelda, but at the same time everything feels just a few degrees off. The lands are welcoming, yet claustrophobic. The people are happy, too happy. Just where the hell am I? I feel like I'm in the opening scenes of a Stephen King movie...

I have an owl guide like from Ocarina of Time, and every time he shows up I can't help but here the time from the N64 game. Not a complaint. After reclaiming my sword and shield I found myself in the Mysterious Woods which, according to the sign outside, are just a little mysterious. I spent little time getting lost here, and eventually had to save and call it for the night...

...I can't wait to play again tomorrow!