Yesterday I did a bit of a tour through Hyrule first, but today I wanted to make some progress by beating another main dungeon and opted for the Jabul Waters quest, since I've already been in the area. Also, I've been quite curious about the whole Sea and River Zora situation, because that's a rarity in the series. Only the Oracle games had done this so far...
On my way there I got some Monster Guts from my 50th Moblin or so... I don't know the exact number, but it seems to be a very rare drop, which is not something that I like in a Zelda game, or games in general. Hopefully there will be a more reliable way to get them, maybe as a prize in one of the dojo challenges, or so. There are also the Monster Stones, which are part of a list of resources that aren't used for smoothies. But I don't know what they are for yet.
Anyway, fighting became a bit more fun during this section of the game. It mainly helped that I've already acquired the Lvl. 2 Spear and Sword Moblins during my tour yesterday, where they can hit a bit harder and the spears are especially useful against flying foes. It all feels a bit like Pokémon to me...
"Go, Spear Moblin!"
"I chose you, Peahat!"
"You can do it, Octorok!"
The Piranha from the Faron Wetlands also gave me an edge early on, but you're learning all sorts of fish monsters here anyway, which includes the Bomb Fish on your way to the River Zora Village. I'm sure that there are other explosive monsters in this game, like the flying bomber mushrooms, but if you want bombs early on, then this will probably be the best choice.
In the River Zora Village you can also find both the Zora's Flippers and the Silver Brooch as new accessories, as well as the Zora Scale later on. So far I only had the Heart Pin from the Suthorn Ruins, and the Ancient Charm (I think it was a reward in the dojo), which increases your defense. And I didn't have to decide between them, because I already had two slots, since I've visited the Great Fairy at Lake Hylia.
I failed to mention this yesterday, but this location is very similar to A Link to the Past, just that instead of increasing your capacity for weaponry (which you don't have), the Great Fairy can make you equip more accessories at once. It's quite pricey, the second slot costs 100 Rupees, the third 300, and the forth 500... But it's always good if there is need for Rupees, because it makes finding them feel rewarding. Lots of Zelda games got that wrong in the past, but ever since A Link Between Worlds Rupees became a lot more valuable.
And with more than just two accessories in my pocket, this feature also becomes more interesting now, because I have to pick the right ones for the area or situation. I probably won't swap them all the time, but in Jabul Waters you certainly want the Zora's Flippers equipped for more swim speed. The only other way to swim faster seems to be spinning, which also works on land. It's not much, but I'm pretty sure it gives you a slight boost. So, spinning is the new rolling.
You'll quickly learn that you need to make the Sea and River Zora clans play music together, where I found Tri's disillusioned comment that they in a hurry hilarious. Welcome to a Zelda game, Tri!
This yellow ball has the potential to become my favorite sidekick in the series, which isn't hard to achieve, since I never liked any of them that much to begin with. That I'm not annoyed by my sidekick, but entertained, is an achievement in itself, however, but it will take a second playthrough to really evaluate that. If I still play for the story, then the interruptions aren't usually that bad.
It's a bit weird that both Chief Dradd and Queen Kushara, or any of the Zora for that matter, don't know who Zelda is... They only say that her name sounds familiar, but you would think that they had more contact with the Hylian royalty. Luckily, they didn't bother with hanging up her bounty poster past Seesyde.
I also like the different areas here, with the classic Zora River to the
beach to the ocean – the environments are mostly well done. Of course,
the sea has large empty parts with nothing but water, but it's supposed
to be an ocean, so it comes with the territory.
This is another thing that reminded me of Oracle of Ages, where a lot of screens on the map are filled with water in the south of Labrynna. The worlds of the Oracle games generally felt emptier than Koholint and to a degree this is true for this Hyrule as well, but I would say that it's not as bad.
What's really well done are the caves, because they all offer interesting challenges, thanks to the echoes. And you often learn new echoes inside them, like the Bomb Fish.
As for the main quest itself, it also comes with lots of throwbacks to past Zelda games. The Zoras are very focused on music, like in Majora's Mask, just less rock band and more ceremony. Lord Jabu-Jabu returns here for the first time since Oracle of Ages, he even swallows some people up. And of course there is the distinction between the classic River Zora and the Sea Zora.
You would expect that their quarrel has to do with something more serious, like different world views on how much salt water should contain... But they simply trash-talked the other's music style and are now mad at each other. It's a heart-warming quest that takes you all over the area, up and down, but the whole premise is a bit silly.
And from what I have seen so far, the nostalgia is really focused on the SNES, Game Boy (Color) and Nintendo 64 era of the Zelda series: A Link to the Past, Link's Awakening, Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, and Oracle of Ages. Nothing really from Seasons yet, but that may come. This hits a sweet spot for me, because those are the Zelda games that I grew up with. And I bet it's the same for many of the developers at Grezzo, who are said to be fans of the series since their childhood as well...
In the Stilled Jabul Waters you get to learn the water blocks, finally, something that I already wanted out of the smaller water-based Still Worlds that came before. But it's essentially the biggest upgrade in this part of the game, next to the Bomb Fishes, and the most powerful traversal tool yet. The water blocks let you freely move all around Jabul Waters and beyond its boundaries. It feels overpowered.
They also taught me that it's probably best to wait with the acorn mini-games. In case of the Zora River you have an area with lots of Tektites, but not enough time to fight them all. They will trash anything you are building, so when I first played this I was heavily frustrated... But with water blocks I could get the single time reward (100 Rupees in this case) on my first try. Would be great if it also marked on your map which of these you've already mastered.
I'm not sure what the Gerudo Desert will have to offer, but it will be hard to top bombs and water blocks, where going to Jabul Waters first is probably the preferred choice. The only important ability I feel that I'm missing right now is digging, which means that I want to find a mole or something similar... Maybe that's what the Gerudo Desert will have in store.
Finally, I had the opportunity to play another dungeon in this game, the Jabul Ruins. Will all main dungeons in this game be called "ruins"? Is this the new "temple"? Thematically this was heavily inspired by the Angler's Tunnel from Link's Awakening, where this is certainly one of the prettiest water dungeons.
You have to activate four switches to raise a geyser, which lets you reach the boss chamber. You can pick between two switches at a time, so there's some choice here, but the individual sections were very linear again. I did like the emphasis on side-scrolling sections, however, where in past Zelda games they usually served as smaller tunnels from point A to B (except for The Adventure of Link). Here they are a lot more sophisticated and make up the majority of the dungeon, even the boss is fought from the side.
It was also nice to see a completely new boss here, called Vocavor, because I was afraid that they will be overdoing all the throwbacks and solely rely on nostalgia. This boss gave me some Metroid vibes, however, with its crystals on the back and the side scrolling perspective. There is also this Diggernaut moment in the beginning of the dungeon, where you have to get away from a giant vortex that is chasing you...
The dungeon was otherwise quite simple, sadly, so much that it made the Suthorn Ruins feel sophisticated. You find a map, you find the boss key, you activate the four switches, that's it. You could probably even skip the switches entirely and rush to the boss key with the right echoes, but I haven't tried that... The Suthorn Ruins at least gave you some progression in the form of new echoes and the Mysterious Sword.
There is no mid-boss battle, though you do get the battle against the Imposter Jabu-Jabu before the Still World, which was another well-made boss battle. But I suppose you will only be fighting Link again for the bow and bombs, so three times in total, and then maybe one final time. All the upgrades to your swordfighter form are then obtained via the Might Crystals...
Tri did not get a new triangle with her third level, instead it unlocked the power to summon from a distance, which will be useful with a variety of puzzles. If there are at least five dungeons in the game, then you would have gotten to eight triangles in total if the levels only were about triangles. Maybe that's a bit much, but you're already at four after the tutorial... So, let's see. And I hope that there will be more than just five dungeons.
(From what I'm guessing it's probably seven: the Suthorn Ruins and one in all four of the marketed areas. Then potentially another on the snowy Death Mountain. Plus, the Stilled Hyrule Castle, that has to happen. It's nice that I don't know this already and was able to stay relatively spoiler-free, Nintendo's heavy marketing aside.)
Big happy family at the end. Despite its silliness, I did like the Zora quest line overall. Let's see if the Gerudo will be able to keep up...
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