Today I had a clear step-by-step plan for the rest of the game:
And I achieved all of these goals in this order. The full playthrough took me exactly 40:00 hours, though the ingame timer always runs, so this time includes pauses. I was never a big fan of the timer in Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword, because it always gives me the urge that I should rush more and aim for a better time. And on systems like the Wii U it's not needed anyway, because there's play stats for that. Well, let's talk about the individual steps...
Cave of Shadows
The first 20 floors were pretty fast and easy, in fact I could do those without getting hurt in a couple of minutes, so I thought the other half of the cave will be pretty easy as well. And I couldn't have been more wrong. Floor 21 is where the nasty stuff starts...
So, then I finally got my Bottomless Wallet:
But this was not the only reward!
I also figured out, how the "highscore" system works. It does show you all sorts of stats at the end, before you can save on the Wolf Link amiibo, like your remaining hearts, the amiibo used, your time, damage taken and highest combo. This looks all pretty impressive at first, but all that matters for the "record" are your remaining hearts. It only saves those on the amiibo and what floor you have reached. Because my previous run to floor 20 had more hearts left at the end, I could not save a new record. So, my data on the Wolf Link amiibo shows that I'm still at floor 20...
You can, however, just heal yourself right at the end to make sure that you have a better result. The Wolf Link amiibo will give you the stored hearts from your best run and the Zelda or Sheik amiibo will heal you completely, so save those for the end.
Rollgoal
Naturally I had to defend my title as Rollgoal Master and play through all 64 levels of Rollgoal again. Doing it with the Analog Stick was very similar to the GameCube version, so there's nothing special here.
In the past I complained, how it's silly that you have to go through the same courses eight times in total. All that's different is that there's a little less time and they keep being mirrored with every level. Time isn't really an issue though, I hardly ever need more than 40 seconds for one course, which is the time limit of the eight level.
So, when they announced Twilight Princess HD, I was hoping that they would shorten the process. Basically have the first level for the Frog Lure and then go right into the most difficult set. However, considering the new Bottomless Wallet and the reward, it makes sense that you have to go through all this effort, because Hena completely fills your wallet:
That's right. If you want to fill your wallet to the 9999 Rupee maximum, this is the best way to do it. It also fills very slowly, so you can probably walk around for a while with the sounds of incoming Rupees in your ears. It's very satisfying to complete Rollgoal in this version.
Cave of Ordeals
The Cave of Shadows made me actually appreciate the wolf form in some situations, so I would use it more often in Cave of Ordeals. In the past I would avoid the wolf as much as possible and use some of the items like the Ball & Chain a lot. Now, in this run I was constantly using Wolf Link for certain enemy types, especially the Chuchus. In human form I always got hurt from the large Chuchus, when they jumped around. But in wolf form you basically just have to hold ZL and keep spamming A. You will destroy all the gel without getting hit.
I was using the Ganondorf amiibo and didn't have any trouble. It was basically the same as playing in Hero Mode, because there are only four Hearts, which you can find in the Cave of Ordeals, enemies won't drop any. But then again, I played through the Cave of Ordeals so many times that I know all the tricks (except for the wolf ones, apparently). I also made a 2nd run right away, but nothing has changed there. So, here's my inventory with three times Great Fairy's Tears, which I like to have at the end of the game:
However, the Cave of Ordeals now has more rewards to offer than just potions and fairies...
Miiverse Stamps
I didn't have too look for any missing stamps, because it actually was the case that nearly all remaining stamps were gotten from the Cave of Ordeals and Hyrule Castle. The Cave of Ordeals actually gives you a chest with a stamp on each floor with the Great Fairy, so that were five stamps in total. Two more were found in Hyrule Castle and you now also get a stamp for collecting 60 Poe Souls, where it's nice that you're getting something else here than just Rupees, even though it's just a Rupee stamp.
The final stamp is gotten automatically after collecting the 49 other stamps...
I'm planning on compiling a Stamp Location Guide the next days.
The Grand Finale
Ganondorf looks like a giant ape, when he's stabbed. But we already knew that... The additional credits were completely underwhelming. Just a black screen in the background that supports the fact that this was just a lazy remaster.
In case you wonder, there's no reward or statistic about using the Ganondorf amiibo, it's an entirely optional challenge like the Cursed Ring in the Oracle games. I really got used to those blue hearts though, so now it doesn't feel right, when the hearts are still red, so I instinctively scan the Ganondorf amiibo at the beginning of every play session.
That's it for now. I'm planning on playing through Hero Mode later this year, probably after playing the 2nd Quest of The Wind Waker HD. I might also do some more fishing and practice the Cave of Shadows, but probably nothing worth another entry in this diary series for now. Thank you for reading.
- Complete the Cave of Shadows
- Master Rollgoal
- Complete the Cave of Ordeals (twice)
- Collect all 50 Miiverse Stamps
- Finish the game
And I achieved all of these goals in this order. The full playthrough took me exactly 40:00 hours, though the ingame timer always runs, so this time includes pauses. I was never a big fan of the timer in Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword, because it always gives me the urge that I should rush more and aim for a better time. And on systems like the Wii U it's not needed anyway, because there's play stats for that. Well, let's talk about the individual steps...
Cave of Shadows
The first 20 floors were pretty fast and easy, in fact I could do those without getting hurt in a couple of minutes, so I thought the other half of the cave will be pretty easy as well. And I couldn't have been more wrong. Floor 21 is where the nasty stuff starts...
So, then I finally got my Bottomless Wallet:
But this was not the only reward!
I also figured out, how the "highscore" system works. It does show you all sorts of stats at the end, before you can save on the Wolf Link amiibo, like your remaining hearts, the amiibo used, your time, damage taken and highest combo. This looks all pretty impressive at first, but all that matters for the "record" are your remaining hearts. It only saves those on the amiibo and what floor you have reached. Because my previous run to floor 20 had more hearts left at the end, I could not save a new record. So, my data on the Wolf Link amiibo shows that I'm still at floor 20...
You can, however, just heal yourself right at the end to make sure that you have a better result. The Wolf Link amiibo will give you the stored hearts from your best run and the Zelda or Sheik amiibo will heal you completely, so save those for the end.
Rollgoal
Naturally I had to defend my title as Rollgoal Master and play through all 64 levels of Rollgoal again. Doing it with the Analog Stick was very similar to the GameCube version, so there's nothing special here.
In the past I complained, how it's silly that you have to go through the same courses eight times in total. All that's different is that there's a little less time and they keep being mirrored with every level. Time isn't really an issue though, I hardly ever need more than 40 seconds for one course, which is the time limit of the eight level.
So, when they announced Twilight Princess HD, I was hoping that they would shorten the process. Basically have the first level for the Frog Lure and then go right into the most difficult set. However, considering the new Bottomless Wallet and the reward, it makes sense that you have to go through all this effort, because Hena completely fills your wallet:
That's right. If you want to fill your wallet to the 9999 Rupee maximum, this is the best way to do it. It also fills very slowly, so you can probably walk around for a while with the sounds of incoming Rupees in your ears. It's very satisfying to complete Rollgoal in this version.
Cave of Ordeals
The Cave of Shadows made me actually appreciate the wolf form in some situations, so I would use it more often in Cave of Ordeals. In the past I would avoid the wolf as much as possible and use some of the items like the Ball & Chain a lot. Now, in this run I was constantly using Wolf Link for certain enemy types, especially the Chuchus. In human form I always got hurt from the large Chuchus, when they jumped around. But in wolf form you basically just have to hold ZL and keep spamming A. You will destroy all the gel without getting hit.
I was using the Ganondorf amiibo and didn't have any trouble. It was basically the same as playing in Hero Mode, because there are only four Hearts, which you can find in the Cave of Ordeals, enemies won't drop any. But then again, I played through the Cave of Ordeals so many times that I know all the tricks (except for the wolf ones, apparently). I also made a 2nd run right away, but nothing has changed there. So, here's my inventory with three times Great Fairy's Tears, which I like to have at the end of the game:
However, the Cave of Ordeals now has more rewards to offer than just potions and fairies...
Miiverse Stamps
I didn't have too look for any missing stamps, because it actually was the case that nearly all remaining stamps were gotten from the Cave of Ordeals and Hyrule Castle. The Cave of Ordeals actually gives you a chest with a stamp on each floor with the Great Fairy, so that were five stamps in total. Two more were found in Hyrule Castle and you now also get a stamp for collecting 60 Poe Souls, where it's nice that you're getting something else here than just Rupees, even though it's just a Rupee stamp.
The final stamp is gotten automatically after collecting the 49 other stamps...
I'm planning on compiling a Stamp Location Guide the next days.
The Grand Finale
Ganondorf looks like a giant ape, when he's stabbed. But we already knew that... The additional credits were completely underwhelming. Just a black screen in the background that supports the fact that this was just a lazy remaster.
In case you wonder, there's no reward or statistic about using the Ganondorf amiibo, it's an entirely optional challenge like the Cursed Ring in the Oracle games. I really got used to those blue hearts though, so now it doesn't feel right, when the hearts are still red, so I instinctively scan the Ganondorf amiibo at the beginning of every play session.
That's it for now. I'm planning on playing through Hero Mode later this year, probably after playing the 2nd Quest of The Wind Waker HD. I might also do some more fishing and practice the Cave of Shadows, but probably nothing worth another entry in this diary series for now. Thank you for reading.
I always enjoy reading your diary posts :)
ReplyDeleteBut I didn't understand the wolf amiibo highscore system... Do you mean that you can ONLY rewrite the data in your amiibo if you finish your run with more hearts? That... doesn't make sense... Or could you just scan a Zelda amiibo in the last room and recover the hearts (which is like cheating) to make sure you can store your new run? I cannot imagine myself finishing the whole cave without losing a heart...
Yup, that's how it works. Pretty silly. It doesn't matter, whether you use the Ganondorf amiibo or heal yourself, how much time and damage you took or what your best combo was. All that matters is your remaining hearts at the end, where you can just cheat using Zelda or Sheik amiibo.
ReplyDeleteIt's because the Wolf Link amiibo also works as a healing tool, which gives you the amount of hearts that you had left at the end of your last run. 20 hearts is the best possible result and from there on you probably can't even improve.
Now you need to make a post about your theories of the wolf amiibo use in the next Zelda game :)
ReplyDeleteNot sure yet. I suppose, Zelda U will have more customization features, like outfits for Link and saddles or even armor for the horse, where the Wolf Link amiibo might unlock some wolf design horse armor. Something like that.
ReplyDeleteI haven't put much thought into this yet, Nintendo just has shown too little of the game so far...
"they made a pretty clever trap with the Armos, where getting close opens rooms with rats and Baby Gohmas, so you can't just quickly kill them, when they wake up"
ReplyDeleteIt is possible to approach the Armos, so they come at you without opening the doors. I find it easier to lure them to the other side of the room one by one, then open the door afterwards. These Armos statues have different holding pattern than the ones found in Floor 21: there it's possible to wait for them to return to their original position. While one is hopping back it exposes the back, so you can quickly damage it. On the other hand here they never return to their original position making the killing more difficult.
"It also fills very slowly, so you can probably walk around for a while with the sounds of incoming Rupees in your ears."
If you exit the room, you'll instantly have 9,999 rupees.
About the Armos: I know that you can lure them without opening in doors, but it's not possible to get just quickly behind their backs to destroy them, while they wake up. That's what I meant. This post was just a first impression, not some Cave of Shadows strategy guide. If I ever write one, I will keep your trick on floor 21 in mind, because that one I didn't know. I will have try this for myself, but I won't return to Twilight Princess HD until winter.
ReplyDeleteAbout the Rupees: No, I walked outside the hut with Rupees still coming in, otherwise I probably wouldn't have made this remark.
A detailed guide for CoS would be very welcome. I searched the web for quite some time, but I couldn't find any good guide that would explain different strategies for the rooms/enemies.
ReplyDeleteJust one example: the Redead Knights were very difficult for me the first time with the wolf since the force field attack won't do any good and they deal a huge number of hearts. They are actually quite easy if you lock onto them then just press A once attacking the neck, although in this state you're still exposed to archers. If you get stunned by the redead scream there is a couple of frames where you can escape before they hit.
I think the whole CoS is very well designed and thoughtful, especially for the wolf. Not at all the CoO experience. I had the same thought as you: the cave got me much more comfortable with the wolf and I could then use this to clear the other cave with much more confidence.