And we're back to the Zeldaing. What delights await us today?
UPDATES - Last Updated 5:57 PM PST
10:03 - It begins...
10:20 - Kind of a goofy first boss fight. As you'd expect, it's big on the boomerang useage. Just not real clear at first if the thing it looks like you're supposed doing is the right thing to do. It is. Beating him released Leaf, the Spirit of Power, who looks like a fairy, except glowing red. He's going to join my posse. Sweet. Also, at the end of a boss fight, you get a heart container. Talk about bucking trends!
10:25 - Apparently I need to find three of these spirits in order to track down the ghost ship. Power, wisdom, and courage. Triforce anyone?
10:35 - Got the Phantom Hourglass back at the temple of the Ocean King (I knew I'd have to come back here). Now I can search through the temple without getting the life sucked out of me until all the sand reaches the bottom. And before any of you smart alecs out there start whining about how you could just flip the glass over again endlessly, no you bloody can't, and the game addresses that particular contrivance. So nyah!
11:01 - Stealth sequences! Agh! Actually, this section wasn't half bad. Big knight demon dudes you couldn't kill wandered the three floors of the Ocean King temple, and I just had to avoid them while wandering around finding keys and "force gems" (see if you can read between the lines on that one). Some neat traps in this one. Got a new sea chart. I predict more sailing!
11:20 - I must sail northwest, but I need a cannon to break some rocks that are directly in the ship's path. Maybe I should take a trip to cannon island...
11:22 - A copy of Chibi-Robo: Park Patrol just showed up on my desk. On the box is a fat sticker that says "Only at Wal-Mart." That's always a good sign.
11:38 - Cannon island is an island where a guy...makes...cannons... Well, at least there's no false advertising. Had to circumnavigate the entire length of the island to get to the guy, but now I can get all cannon happy on those rocks. Picked up a treasure map too. I'll need a salvage arm before I can get it, though, and the cannon dude hasn't built it yet. Does that mean when I come back, this place will be called Salvage Arm Island?
12:21 - Ran into the ghost ship along the way, and got trapped in a blinding thicket of fog. If you go the wrong way, it resets you back to the beginning of the area. Flailed around in that for a while until a realized Limebeck had hinted about asking someone on a nearby island for help. Sailed back to an island I hadn't been to and got some info by digging a lot of holes with a newly gotten shovel and pilfering some old sailor's journal. As you would figure, the route through the fog is appropriately labyrinthine. Drew the route on my map and set sail.
12:30 - Made it through that damned fog and fought off some pirate ships to get to the next island. I think I'll break here and let my DS recharge for a short bit. Translation: I need a sandwich. More later.
1:15 - To heck with a sandwich, curry in a hurry is the way to go. Chicken Tikka Masala FTW! OK, back to it.
1:28 - This island has a wind gimmick. Big gusts of wind knock me around from time to time, and I just had to blow on a bunch of sacred windmills to get some doors to open. Yeah blowin' on stuff! Wait, what?!?
1:38 - Got legitimately stuck for the first time inside this latest temple, until I realized one of the doors I thought was sealed wasn't. God I'm awesome. While I'm reveling in my own stupidity, I also realized I've failed to mention how totally amazing this game looks. They really did just shove Wind Waker onto a DS cart. You can see the little details Nintendo skimped on to get it to fit, but they're small things. The art style is still amazing, the frame rate never drops, and the camera hasn't screwed me over once yet. Beautiful looking game.
1:40 - Rock Band pricing announced. $170 for everything! Sorry, I know, off topic, but that's exciting!
2:16 - Great second temple. Solid puzzles all around, and the boss fight is nicely tricky. Got the bomb bag here, and the whole level nicely mixed the wind theme with the bomb mechanics. I can definitely feel the game picking up some momentum here. Hopefully it keeps it up.
2:18 - This time it's Neri, the Spirit of Wisdom I've rescued. Heart container! Whoo! OK, break time. More later.
3:22 - Mkay, enough of that "real work" crud. Back to the Zelda.
3:35 - Explored an uncharted island, solved a silly riddle, and picked up the cyclone slate from a giant creepy golden frog dude. This will allow me to travel around via sea cyclones. Boss.
4:13 - So once I headed back to the main island, I had to go back to the temple of the Ocean King, and had to go through all the puzzles I'd solved previously to get to the next area. Bombs helped me circumvent a few of the more lengthy sections, but don't go in without an ample number. I just ran out and ended up having to go back and buy more--at which point, I had to go through the temple AGAIN to get back to that spot. Fun. I really hate it when games make you repeat stuff. I have a feeling there's some sort of teleporting device I'll get later on, but right now this is a little annoying.
4:55 - Mkay, finally got through that blasted temple. A few good puzzles eventually made up for the repetition, including one of those "close the DS shut to solve something" dealies. Now I'm off to another island that isn't on my map. Who makes these silly maps anyway? They're not very accurate.
5:08 - Actually, instead of that, I decided to go buy the salvage arm and go hunt for treasure. I had to yell into the microphone to show just how badly I wanted it. Not the most comfortable thing to do in an office environment.
5:15 - Dug up some extra sand for the Phantom Hourglass using the salvage arm. Gives me more time to live! Salvaging is more of a minigame now, so that's kinda neat. Also, the cyclone slate is pretty neat. You find these little golden frog dudes swimming around, and when you shoot them with your cannon, they stop to chat, and show you a symbol you can draw on the slate to warp back to that point any time. Right, because that's what I do when someone shoots me with a cannon. I exchange pleasantries.
5:49 - Had to sail around for a while until I could remember what I was supposed to do with this crazy key I picked up from the uncharted spot on the map. Then I realized I'd drawn that thing on one of the island maps earlier. This feature DOES come in handy!
5:57 - Just opened up the third temple. Think I'll stop here for tonight and maybe dabble a bit later. Got a concert to go to tonight, so I dunno if I'll play anymore. We'll see. Thus far I like the game a whole bunch, though I'm a little dubious on the game's insistance on forcing you to revisit the same areas again and again. Mainly it's just that damn Temple of the Ocean King. Hopefully this new temple is good. More later/tomorrow!