Yesterday was the first day since the release of Skyward Sword, where I didn't play the game. Just didn't get to it, but today I was playing all day long.
warning: potential spoilers
Well, most of the day I was farming. Looking for spots, where it's easy to farm certain insects. For example if you want a lot of Volcanic Ladybugs, there's the spot with the waterfall at the Vulcano Summit. Right next to the exit there are usually up to three Ladybugs at the wall. Just reenter and collect them, it's just a matter of minutes to collect 99 of them. I'm crazy about 99ing stuff, as long as it doesn't take a lifetime. I would never think about 99ing ship parts in Phantom Hourglass for example, that would be ridiculous. But for example I 99ed all spoils in the Wind Waker. All except the Blue Chu Jelly, you can only get 23 of those. Why did I 99 all other spoils, you ask? Well, why not? It was mostly about killing some time and the green numbers in the menu look nice. That's my collection so far:
Most insects are easy to collect in great numbers, when you know the right spots, where you can reenter an area. Only the Gerudo Dragonflies aren't too easy to catch, so far I only got 19. And the sky insects also would take their time, because there are no spots with more than one of them at a time. So, I probably wouldn't waste time with those. But it doesn't really matter. I collected more than enough to upgrade everything many times in the Hero Mode. I do the farming, because I enjoy it. Usually I would say that farming items in RPGs is totally idiotic. But in Zelda I kind of like it. Well, there's lots of variety to it, catching the insects and birds can be fun and there's usually an ideal spot for farming a specific item.
And in Hero Mode I can sell most of the unrequired items to get stuff from Beedle's Airshop as soon as possible. For example a Sand Cicada is worth 50 Rupees. I got 99 of them, do the math. I only need a few of them for Heart Potions++ and maybe one or two Revitilazing Potions++. Let's say, I just sell half of them, that still would already be 2500 Rupees. You only need 3 Goddess Plumes for all upgrades, unless you want more than one Large Quiver. So, I could basically sell 20 of them to make another 2000 Rupees. To buy all of Beedle's items you need 5850 Rupees, if I'm correct, that's already pretty close and I got tons of other stuff to sell. For example those stupid Blue Bird Feathers aren't hard to get, but one of them is actually worth 100 Rupees! So, yeah, farming is worth it, if you want to make your life in Hero Mode a little easier.
I practiced the third Ghirahim battle and I got a lot better at it. I can now easily beat him in the Boss Battle Mode, meaning within 18 Hearts. My problem was the thrusting. You have to thrust to attack his weak spot, but I usually fail at thrusting. This was already a giant problem with the Scorpion Boss. When I try to thrust, I usually move the Nunchuk slightly as well, but the Wii recognizes this and thinks I want to do a vertical spin attack. Sometimes it even just activates the shield and I don't attack at all (which is actually better, because then I don't get my ass kicked). I really have to focus, that I make a clear thrust forward without moving the Nunchuk in any way. In a heated battle this can be quite hard for me. But once I got the hang of it, Ghirahim became a lot easier. In his second phase you basically just have to shield bash all his attacks and then thrust. Which was the problem, I have to spam Nunchuk attacks and then I have to hold the Nunchuk perfectly still right afterwards, which doesn't always work. And the attack window is very small... But if you can reflect his sword beam shots successfully, then you can thrust him three or four times in a row to finish it. I got a lot more confident in fighting now.
I also played the minigames a lot as research for the ZeldaEurope sidequest guide. I got very good at the Rickety Roaster by now. My problem earlier was that I probably tilted the Wiimote too much. And I would say that the collection of minigames is very solid. Usually there's something that brutally annoys me (like the Rollgoal game), but all minigames are manageable, some are even a lot of fun. And half of them are entirely optional, you can play them to get some Rupees or treasures, if you want, but it's not necessary. Some minigames give you rare treasures early in the game, for example you can win an Evil Crystal at the Bamboo Slicing, which is required for the Big Net. Otherwise you would have to wait until the Ancient Cistern, but thanks to this minigame you can get the Big Net early. I think this is a nice solution for a minigame instead of always giving you a Piece of Heart.
The Rupee Dowsing gets more and more interesting. There are many weird spots, where Rupees just come out of nowhere. Usually you just can shoot something with the Slingshot and a Rupee pops up. Or roll against certain walls. The Gust Bellow also reveals some Rupees between flowers, mushrooms or something. It's really weird sometimes, but it's interesting. So, use the Rupee dowsing for some surprises.
Something what totally annoys me in this game is the low battery warning. As if the blinking red icon the in the lower right corner wouldn't be enough, each time you change the area, Fi starts to call you about the battery issue. The problem is, the batteries easily last another four hours. And during all those hours you get annoyed for nothing.
Also, it seems that the last part of the game is indeed supposed to be non-linear... but it might cause some glitching. Actually I tried getting to the Thunder Dragon first, but the Goron wouldn't let me... :D
That's it for today. I haven't started writing the review yet, because I'm busy with the sidequest guide for ZeldaEurope (just finished the minigame guide today), so don't hold your breath. But if you speak German, you can go to the Pirateboard, there I posted a "short" review. However, most of it is about what I don't like, like the weak dungeons. But the game has also tons of positive aspects, which I will highlight in my upcoming review.
warning: potential spoilers
Well, most of the day I was farming. Looking for spots, where it's easy to farm certain insects. For example if you want a lot of Volcanic Ladybugs, there's the spot with the waterfall at the Vulcano Summit. Right next to the exit there are usually up to three Ladybugs at the wall. Just reenter and collect them, it's just a matter of minutes to collect 99 of them. I'm crazy about 99ing stuff, as long as it doesn't take a lifetime. I would never think about 99ing ship parts in Phantom Hourglass for example, that would be ridiculous. But for example I 99ed all spoils in the Wind Waker. All except the Blue Chu Jelly, you can only get 23 of those. Why did I 99 all other spoils, you ask? Well, why not? It was mostly about killing some time and the green numbers in the menu look nice. That's my collection so far:
- 99 Deku-Hornets
- 99 Blessed Butterflies
- 99 Starry Fireflies
- 99 Rhino Beetles
- 99 Volcanic Ladybugs
- 99 Sand Cicadas
- 99 Faron Grasshoppers
- 99 Lanayru Ants
- 99 Eldin Rollers
- 99 Amber Relics
- 99 Monster Horns
- 23 Goddess Plumes
Most insects are easy to collect in great numbers, when you know the right spots, where you can reenter an area. Only the Gerudo Dragonflies aren't too easy to catch, so far I only got 19. And the sky insects also would take their time, because there are no spots with more than one of them at a time. So, I probably wouldn't waste time with those. But it doesn't really matter. I collected more than enough to upgrade everything many times in the Hero Mode. I do the farming, because I enjoy it. Usually I would say that farming items in RPGs is totally idiotic. But in Zelda I kind of like it. Well, there's lots of variety to it, catching the insects and birds can be fun and there's usually an ideal spot for farming a specific item.
And in Hero Mode I can sell most of the unrequired items to get stuff from Beedle's Airshop as soon as possible. For example a Sand Cicada is worth 50 Rupees. I got 99 of them, do the math. I only need a few of them for Heart Potions++ and maybe one or two Revitilazing Potions++. Let's say, I just sell half of them, that still would already be 2500 Rupees. You only need 3 Goddess Plumes for all upgrades, unless you want more than one Large Quiver. So, I could basically sell 20 of them to make another 2000 Rupees. To buy all of Beedle's items you need 5850 Rupees, if I'm correct, that's already pretty close and I got tons of other stuff to sell. For example those stupid Blue Bird Feathers aren't hard to get, but one of them is actually worth 100 Rupees! So, yeah, farming is worth it, if you want to make your life in Hero Mode a little easier.
I practiced the third Ghirahim battle and I got a lot better at it. I can now easily beat him in the Boss Battle Mode, meaning within 18 Hearts. My problem was the thrusting. You have to thrust to attack his weak spot, but I usually fail at thrusting. This was already a giant problem with the Scorpion Boss. When I try to thrust, I usually move the Nunchuk slightly as well, but the Wii recognizes this and thinks I want to do a vertical spin attack. Sometimes it even just activates the shield and I don't attack at all (which is actually better, because then I don't get my ass kicked). I really have to focus, that I make a clear thrust forward without moving the Nunchuk in any way. In a heated battle this can be quite hard for me. But once I got the hang of it, Ghirahim became a lot easier. In his second phase you basically just have to shield bash all his attacks and then thrust. Which was the problem, I have to spam Nunchuk attacks and then I have to hold the Nunchuk perfectly still right afterwards, which doesn't always work. And the attack window is very small... But if you can reflect his sword beam shots successfully, then you can thrust him three or four times in a row to finish it. I got a lot more confident in fighting now.
I also played the minigames a lot as research for the ZeldaEurope sidequest guide. I got very good at the Rickety Roaster by now. My problem earlier was that I probably tilted the Wiimote too much. And I would say that the collection of minigames is very solid. Usually there's something that brutally annoys me (like the Rollgoal game), but all minigames are manageable, some are even a lot of fun. And half of them are entirely optional, you can play them to get some Rupees or treasures, if you want, but it's not necessary. Some minigames give you rare treasures early in the game, for example you can win an Evil Crystal at the Bamboo Slicing, which is required for the Big Net. Otherwise you would have to wait until the Ancient Cistern, but thanks to this minigame you can get the Big Net early. I think this is a nice solution for a minigame instead of always giving you a Piece of Heart.
The Rupee Dowsing gets more and more interesting. There are many weird spots, where Rupees just come out of nowhere. Usually you just can shoot something with the Slingshot and a Rupee pops up. Or roll against certain walls. The Gust Bellow also reveals some Rupees between flowers, mushrooms or something. It's really weird sometimes, but it's interesting. So, use the Rupee dowsing for some surprises.
Something what totally annoys me in this game is the low battery warning. As if the blinking red icon the in the lower right corner wouldn't be enough, each time you change the area, Fi starts to call you about the battery issue. The problem is, the batteries easily last another four hours. And during all those hours you get annoyed for nothing.
Also, it seems that the last part of the game is indeed supposed to be non-linear... but it might cause some glitching. Actually I tried getting to the Thunder Dragon first, but the Goron wouldn't let me... :D
That's it for today. I haven't started writing the review yet, because I'm busy with the sidequest guide for ZeldaEurope (just finished the minigame guide today), so don't hold your breath. But if you speak German, you can go to the Pirateboard, there I posted a "short" review. However, most of it is about what I don't like, like the weak dungeons. But the game has also tons of positive aspects, which I will highlight in my upcoming review.
No comments:
Post a Comment