Sometimes your memory plays tricks on you. So, it's a good thing that I'm currently replaying all Zelda games to refresh my memories and get my facts straight. For example I remembered the bonus dungeons made by Capcom, the Hero's Caves in the Oracle saga and the "Palace of the Four Sword" in the GBA version of A Link to the Past, to be way harder than they actually are.
Or maybe I just got tougher. Especially playing Zelda II again lately probably toughened me up. Well, after beating Four Swords yesterday the Palace of the Four Sword finally became accessible and I used this as a opportunity to replay the dungeon. I originally played the dungeon only one time using the jump-with-mirror-and-go-through-walls-glitch to enter it on a different save file. That was a little bit inconvinient, because you couldn't come and leave as you please, but it worked.
And back then the bosses gave me a hard time. Especially Arrghus II was tricky, the electric Bari can be dangerous if you're not very careful. However, this time around Arrghus II felt like the easiest of the bunch. Mothula II and Blind II were also not a problem. Only Helmasaur King II and the four Shadow Links were still able to deal quite some damage. I used three Blue Potions and I abused the Cane of Byrna a lot, so my performance was still pathetic actually. But to enter the Palace of the Four Sword you have to beat both A Link to the Past and Four Swords and at that point you're definitely fully geared up and I'm not hesitating to use everything in my power.
But the bosses are the only highlight of the dungeon. The rooms before the bosses were mostly a no-brainer.
It's interesting how storywise this dungeon basically connects to Four Swords Adventures. In my theory FSA covers the Imprisoning War, however, there not the Master Sword but the Four Sword was used to seal Ganon away in the Dark Realm. But the backstory of the Master Sword got changed anyway... Well, at some point Ganon broke the seal and he split the Four Sword and cursed it by creating Dark Links guarding it, so no one could ever use it again to ban him. That's what you then get inside the Pyramid in the Palace of the Four Sword. And what you basically do is restoring the blade, though you don't get to use it, because the game ends at that point.
Or maybe I just got tougher. Especially playing Zelda II again lately probably toughened me up. Well, after beating Four Swords yesterday the Palace of the Four Sword finally became accessible and I used this as a opportunity to replay the dungeon. I originally played the dungeon only one time using the jump-with-mirror-and-go-through-walls-glitch to enter it on a different save file. That was a little bit inconvinient, because you couldn't come and leave as you please, but it worked.
And back then the bosses gave me a hard time. Especially Arrghus II was tricky, the electric Bari can be dangerous if you're not very careful. However, this time around Arrghus II felt like the easiest of the bunch. Mothula II and Blind II were also not a problem. Only Helmasaur King II and the four Shadow Links were still able to deal quite some damage. I used three Blue Potions and I abused the Cane of Byrna a lot, so my performance was still pathetic actually. But to enter the Palace of the Four Sword you have to beat both A Link to the Past and Four Swords and at that point you're definitely fully geared up and I'm not hesitating to use everything in my power.
But the bosses are the only highlight of the dungeon. The rooms before the bosses were mostly a no-brainer.
It's interesting how storywise this dungeon basically connects to Four Swords Adventures. In my theory FSA covers the Imprisoning War, however, there not the Master Sword but the Four Sword was used to seal Ganon away in the Dark Realm. But the backstory of the Master Sword got changed anyway... Well, at some point Ganon broke the seal and he split the Four Sword and cursed it by creating Dark Links guarding it, so no one could ever use it again to ban him. That's what you then get inside the Pyramid in the Palace of the Four Sword. And what you basically do is restoring the blade, though you don't get to use it, because the game ends at that point.
in fsa ganon was not sealed in the dark world and he was not implied to have the trifore either. fsa ended where ganon was sealed in the four sword so it contradicts the imprisoning war. if anything fsa would fit better as a sequel if it was not shoe-horned into the child timeline.
ReplyDeleteKeep in mind that this post was done before Nintendo released the official timeline with Hyrule Historia, so timeline speculations were still a thing. :D
ReplyDeleteBut thanks for your comments so far!