Today I faced many Hinox, enjoyed the advantages of my newly obtained Thunder Helm and explored the sea to the southeast. No, Ganon fight yet. There's so much to do in the game and before I take on Hyrule Castle, I want to explore everything and also upgrade all important armor to the max.
After upgrading my weapon stash (I now need 55 Korok Seeds), I used the cooking pot inside the Deku Tree during a Blood Moon and every dish got this bonus, where the cooking music sounds like you did something especially right. This effect seems to be random, but at that time I got on every meal that I created. I might try cooking again during a Blood Moon...
And I need to find a good way to burn stronger weapons, because my inventory is full with strong weapons, where I don't want to use them on ordinary enemies, because that feels like a waste. Again, I'm repeating myself here, but this game would benefit from an Item Check like in Skyward Sword. Even a simple chest in your house at Hateno would suffice, as long as you can store good weapons there for later adventures. Right now I'm looking for challenges worthy of my arsenal, but I then just end up with even more good weapons after the fights.
In that matter I wanted to face some more Blue-Maned Lynels today, but I couldn't find any, because the game replaced them all with the White-Maned variant, which is still out of my league. But considering that I now have the strongest armor possible, they might always be... And here the game annoys me quite a lot, because I'm putting all this time into getting stronger for nothing, because it just keeps replacing its enemies with stronger types.
Hinox Hunter
I started hiking from Hateno Village and came across Mount Taran with the "Three Giant Brothers" Shrine Quest, where you have three ponds with a Hinox sleeping there. They are apparently brothers, where each of them is of a different tier, so you get a normal, a blue and a black one. They all protect an orb and at first I didn't have a clue, where I should bring them. The shrine with Tawa Jinn's Blessing is right in the center and gave me yet another Great Thunderblade.
On my way to the southeastern shoreline I stumbled over another Hinox, who sleeps at a pond in a "cave", where you can drop down from below right on him. Nothing all too special, but it felt like the game wanted to prepare me for the challenges ahead.
Afterwards I arrived at the Chaas Qeta Shrine on Tenoko Island. I've already seen this shrine many times before from a distance, because it's basically a beacon in the middle of the ocean, but for some reason I never bothered with gliding down there until now, even when I hiked to the Muwo Jeem Shrine on the cliff above. But I couldn't have done much there anyway up until now, because this shrines houses a "Major Test of Strength". The Guardian uses all three ++ weapons instead of a shield, which should come in handy, if you ever need some.
As a reward I got the final piece of climbing gear, where I have been looking for this thing. But since the other two pieces were found around mountains, I didn't expect the third piece to be down there. I've also been collecting Rushrooms, Swift Violets and Hot-Footed Frogs today to upgrade the climber's set, but the set bonus only makes you consume less stamina while jump climbing. I was hoping that the entire set would allow me to climb during rain, but it only helps a little with the slippery walls. Too bad.
Stranded
Using the raft found at the Chaas Qeta Shrine, I "sailed" towards Eventide Island for an interesting surprise. The Sheikah Monk takes away all your stuff except for the key items, so you're left naked with only your Sheikah Slate, Paraglider and spiritual upgrades. And again you had to collect three orbs to open a shrine and get your stuff back.
That was not what I expected. I hoped that this island would turn out to be some huge Link's Awakening reference and there certainly are some subtle ones, like the blue seashells at the shore or the bananas. But overall this was a pure survival based mission and I liked it a lot.
The survival aspect of Breath of the Wild is very well done. I enjoy playing games like Minecraft or Don't Starve, where the new Zelda offers a similar playstyle. And it was nice to return to the basics of the Great Plateau in a different environment, which fully fits the survival aspect. Now you have to collect fruits, simple weapons and everything you can find to best the strong enemies on the island.
Downside of this part is that you can't save your game. I started it in the middle of the night, because I just wanted to check out the island before going to bed. Big mistake. I ended up staying on a cliff for probably half an hour, throwing Bombs at a Blue Hinox...
How evil was that? I probably would have been more brave, if it wasn't a blue one. And there are certainly other ways of defeating him successfully. The Mighty Bananas for example can be used to cook some attack boost dish. And if you fight the Bokoblin camp on the mountain first, you will have a good selection of weapons. Also, it seemed like there was a scripted thunderstorm sequence, after the Hinox got hurt for a bit. The weather forecast only showed lightnings and it stopped, right after the Hinox was defeated. You could probably use Magnesis on a metallic weapon to fry the Hinox with lightning blasts.
Well, you receive Korgu Chideh's Blessing for all these efforts, but other than the Spirit Orb it only gives 300 Rupees... Come on! In the very least some armor piece would have been nice.
A Song of Storms
Apropos thunderstorms, Blessing Shrines and armor pieces. This all came together at the big waterfall around Lake Floria. This might explain, why it always stormed in the area, but with the Zora Armor and my now fully completed climbing set I could reach the top, where you have to cast a lightning stroke to reveal a shrine. Well, thanks to my new Thunder Helm all I had to do was stand there. This toy is amazing, you can get hit by a lightning and NOTHING happens to you. Not even a scratch. I love this item and it was so worth the effort.
I don't even have any use for these Rubber Tights that I got from Qukah Nata's Blessing for doing all this. But at least I have another armor set completed.
In the category of shrines, I've also found the Ke'nai Shakah Shrine today - it's well hidden, where I won't spoil it's location, but it does contain another "Modest Test of Strength". It seems like there are at least four strength tests per level, where I'm still missing another Minor Test of Strength somewhere.
I also explored more of the southeastern sea, where I took on two bigger Bokoblin camps. They were both related to some sidequests from the villages, "The Sheep Rustlers" and "Take Back the Sea". It's quite easy to take out the Silver and Black Bokoblins here, because you can just push them into the water, where they will die instantly.
A Dark Horse
Today I found an almost entirely black horse on the Sahasra Slope to the west of Kakariko. And this one might be a keeper, because she got similar stats to Epona. It's only one star missing for the speed, but that's okay.
As you can see in the picture, I gave her the purple mane and named her "Hilda", since I want to name the royal family's white horse "Zelda", as soon as I get her, where this will be her counterpart. To fully bond with Hilda, I rode from the Highland Stable to the various areas around, like through Faron Woods.
And this is, where I started to wonder, what happened to the areas shown in Game Awards 2014 footage. Aonuma rode through many landscapes in this video and it's hard to recognize any of it in the game now, but it's still there. For example near the end you can see him leaving Faron Woods and riding towards the Bridge of Hylia. It's just that the forest wasn't as thick back then and the hill on the left side didn't have the Lake Tower on it yet or any of the sharp rocks. It was just a blank hill.
Anyway, to accommodate my new steed, I finally got all the costume stuff from Kilton, the full Dark Link set, the Monster Bridle and the Monster Saddle. And it just looks superb:
Behold! The Rider of the Apocalypse!
I love what you can do with costumes in this game. Also, with the full Dark Link set equipped the people always react afraid, when they see you, as if you would be swinging your sword around them all the time. But it's attention to details like that, which makes Nintendo games stand out.
Current Progress:
After upgrading my weapon stash (I now need 55 Korok Seeds), I used the cooking pot inside the Deku Tree during a Blood Moon and every dish got this bonus, where the cooking music sounds like you did something especially right. This effect seems to be random, but at that time I got on every meal that I created. I might try cooking again during a Blood Moon...
And I need to find a good way to burn stronger weapons, because my inventory is full with strong weapons, where I don't want to use them on ordinary enemies, because that feels like a waste. Again, I'm repeating myself here, but this game would benefit from an Item Check like in Skyward Sword. Even a simple chest in your house at Hateno would suffice, as long as you can store good weapons there for later adventures. Right now I'm looking for challenges worthy of my arsenal, but I then just end up with even more good weapons after the fights.
In that matter I wanted to face some more Blue-Maned Lynels today, but I couldn't find any, because the game replaced them all with the White-Maned variant, which is still out of my league. But considering that I now have the strongest armor possible, they might always be... And here the game annoys me quite a lot, because I'm putting all this time into getting stronger for nothing, because it just keeps replacing its enemies with stronger types.
Hinox Hunter
I started hiking from Hateno Village and came across Mount Taran with the "Three Giant Brothers" Shrine Quest, where you have three ponds with a Hinox sleeping there. They are apparently brothers, where each of them is of a different tier, so you get a normal, a blue and a black one. They all protect an orb and at first I didn't have a clue, where I should bring them. The shrine with Tawa Jinn's Blessing is right in the center and gave me yet another Great Thunderblade.
On my way to the southeastern shoreline I stumbled over another Hinox, who sleeps at a pond in a "cave", where you can drop down from below right on him. Nothing all too special, but it felt like the game wanted to prepare me for the challenges ahead.
Afterwards I arrived at the Chaas Qeta Shrine on Tenoko Island. I've already seen this shrine many times before from a distance, because it's basically a beacon in the middle of the ocean, but for some reason I never bothered with gliding down there until now, even when I hiked to the Muwo Jeem Shrine on the cliff above. But I couldn't have done much there anyway up until now, because this shrines houses a "Major Test of Strength". The Guardian uses all three ++ weapons instead of a shield, which should come in handy, if you ever need some.
As a reward I got the final piece of climbing gear, where I have been looking for this thing. But since the other two pieces were found around mountains, I didn't expect the third piece to be down there. I've also been collecting Rushrooms, Swift Violets and Hot-Footed Frogs today to upgrade the climber's set, but the set bonus only makes you consume less stamina while jump climbing. I was hoping that the entire set would allow me to climb during rain, but it only helps a little with the slippery walls. Too bad.
Stranded
Using the raft found at the Chaas Qeta Shrine, I "sailed" towards Eventide Island for an interesting surprise. The Sheikah Monk takes away all your stuff except for the key items, so you're left naked with only your Sheikah Slate, Paraglider and spiritual upgrades. And again you had to collect three orbs to open a shrine and get your stuff back.
That was not what I expected. I hoped that this island would turn out to be some huge Link's Awakening reference and there certainly are some subtle ones, like the blue seashells at the shore or the bananas. But overall this was a pure survival based mission and I liked it a lot.
The survival aspect of Breath of the Wild is very well done. I enjoy playing games like Minecraft or Don't Starve, where the new Zelda offers a similar playstyle. And it was nice to return to the basics of the Great Plateau in a different environment, which fully fits the survival aspect. Now you have to collect fruits, simple weapons and everything you can find to best the strong enemies on the island.
Downside of this part is that you can't save your game. I started it in the middle of the night, because I just wanted to check out the island before going to bed. Big mistake. I ended up staying on a cliff for probably half an hour, throwing Bombs at a Blue Hinox...
How evil was that? I probably would have been more brave, if it wasn't a blue one. And there are certainly other ways of defeating him successfully. The Mighty Bananas for example can be used to cook some attack boost dish. And if you fight the Bokoblin camp on the mountain first, you will have a good selection of weapons. Also, it seemed like there was a scripted thunderstorm sequence, after the Hinox got hurt for a bit. The weather forecast only showed lightnings and it stopped, right after the Hinox was defeated. You could probably use Magnesis on a metallic weapon to fry the Hinox with lightning blasts.
Well, you receive Korgu Chideh's Blessing for all these efforts, but other than the Spirit Orb it only gives 300 Rupees... Come on! In the very least some armor piece would have been nice.
A Song of Storms
Apropos thunderstorms, Blessing Shrines and armor pieces. This all came together at the big waterfall around Lake Floria. This might explain, why it always stormed in the area, but with the Zora Armor and my now fully completed climbing set I could reach the top, where you have to cast a lightning stroke to reveal a shrine. Well, thanks to my new Thunder Helm all I had to do was stand there. This toy is amazing, you can get hit by a lightning and NOTHING happens to you. Not even a scratch. I love this item and it was so worth the effort.
I don't even have any use for these Rubber Tights that I got from Qukah Nata's Blessing for doing all this. But at least I have another armor set completed.
In the category of shrines, I've also found the Ke'nai Shakah Shrine today - it's well hidden, where I won't spoil it's location, but it does contain another "Modest Test of Strength". It seems like there are at least four strength tests per level, where I'm still missing another Minor Test of Strength somewhere.
I also explored more of the southeastern sea, where I took on two bigger Bokoblin camps. They were both related to some sidequests from the villages, "The Sheep Rustlers" and "Take Back the Sea". It's quite easy to take out the Silver and Black Bokoblins here, because you can just push them into the water, where they will die instantly.
A Dark Horse
Today I found an almost entirely black horse on the Sahasra Slope to the west of Kakariko. And this one might be a keeper, because she got similar stats to Epona. It's only one star missing for the speed, but that's okay.
As you can see in the picture, I gave her the purple mane and named her "Hilda", since I want to name the royal family's white horse "Zelda", as soon as I get her, where this will be her counterpart. To fully bond with Hilda, I rode from the Highland Stable to the various areas around, like through Faron Woods.
And this is, where I started to wonder, what happened to the areas shown in Game Awards 2014 footage. Aonuma rode through many landscapes in this video and it's hard to recognize any of it in the game now, but it's still there. For example near the end you can see him leaving Faron Woods and riding towards the Bridge of Hylia. It's just that the forest wasn't as thick back then and the hill on the left side didn't have the Lake Tower on it yet or any of the sharp rocks. It was just a blank hill.
Anyway, to accommodate my new steed, I finally got all the costume stuff from Kilton, the full Dark Link set, the Monster Bridle and the Monster Saddle. And it just looks superb:
Behold! The Rider of the Apocalypse!
I love what you can do with costumes in this game. Also, with the full Dark Link set equipped the people always react afraid, when they see you, as if you would be swinging your sword around them all the time. But it's attention to details like that, which makes Nintendo games stand out.
Current Progress:
- Shrines: 84
- Koroks: 196
- Divine Beasts: 4
2 comments:
You beat this area, so just wanted to add an interesting 'cheat' tidbit about the island (scroll down for spoiler)
I had a lot of trouble getting through the island, died, had to start over again. I discovered if you throw some weapons from the raft before stepping foot on the island, they will still be there on the beach when the Monk strips you of your stuff. For people like me who had trouble with the island, it helps a little.
That's nice to know!
I really want to replay this part and experiment with lightning strikes and such.
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