Part III - A Story of 8-Bit Whores and Troublesome Times in Hyrule
Alright, so this was the part of my quest I have been dreading since deciding to start this new years resolution. This was the week I started Zelda II: Adventure of Link, the most frowned upon Zelda in the series apart from the CGI games. It has been called everything from the "black sheep", the "hardest", "most innovative", and "a huge piece of dog shit". I have had literally only beat the first palace in this game before giving up previously and will not be using a walk through. I will try to erase my previous bad experience with this game and try to go into it with an open mind. Alright lets fucking do it.
So you start the game with no warning and wake up with Zelda in a coma and your like fuuuuuuu. Its like one of those nights where you drink too much beers and blackout. Except this time its a princess in a coma and not some random girl from the club. So you decide to go to every town and sleep with a women who looks the exact same and heals you. This is the "hot coffee" scene from GTA of the 80s im telling you. Additionally first thing you notice is your not watching link from a helicopter anymore, your side scrolling like a boss. Then 5 seconds later your in the overworld in helicopter mode again.
That date rape drug is lasting a littttttle longer than its supposed to, lets find/kill my shadow and hope it wakes her up
Walking down the yellow brick road your like where are all the baddies to give me rupees. Well out of nowhere some black blobs start flying around you like maniacs then you get into combat mode to realize how weak and shitty you are at this game. So im familiar with this part of the game so I go to town get healed decide to train my stats up a bit before hitting up the first palace. This is where I realized where this game has some design issues just to fuck with you. #1 You are super weak and need to level up. But combat is really hard and takes skill vs most enemies. #2 Some enemies give no experience and when they hit you they they take away health and experience.... fuck #3 Your 3 points away from your next level and shit you die for the third time and get a game over. You lose all your fucking experience. FUCK!!! If thats not designed for rage I dont know what is.
Get used to this screen you'll be seeing it a lot.
So /leveling rant. I get a bit stronger decide to take my attack as much as I can and magic as little as I can and make my way to the palace which consists of fucking hard darknuts which are masters of combat in this game. And elevators. So anyways you grab keys the usually jib jab get an item (lantern) and beat the boss. That wasn't too bad after I spent an hourish doing repetitive leveling and healing at town. Now that the cave isn't just a dark guessing game Im good to go.
Darknuts and elevators
Here is where the developers give you a break, they bring you up to your next level and heal you. Sweet deal right? You dont get the classic heart container but its still a good tradeoff. But then they stamp a fuck you on the dungeon and close it off with rocks (non-destructible). So your best leveling opportunities have just been sealed off. Great.
So I go exploring after this find a heart container. This is probably the best feeling in this game along with getting a new attack level and getting passed a part where you don't know where to go. I literally stand up and dance when I find these things. Keep exploring find more magic bar. Yayyyy magic is pretty useless right now. I have shield which is good but dissapears after a screen transition and soon after I find jump which helps me transition through a cave. Find a trophy to get the jump spell. Which is pretty cool, random side-quests to find old man to give you new spell. Good concept.
Next town talk to everyone for advice 50% say HELLO! In brutally slow text. Not castlevania 2 slow, but slow enough that your wondering why its nessecary to include these characters at all. Even the people with hints speak in broken english and seem like they don't actually want you to save hyrule. Also you get to meet this insightful young fellow.
People only remember this game for me and shadow link ^-^
So explore the next part of the world more time spent training cause my combat is pitiful. Then go through the next dungeon which seems to be more darknuts and elevators. I thought the layout was actually the same as the 1st initially but it had more keys and I grabbed the glove and struggled through it and yay beat it.
Now this is the part where I get stuck and am actually pissed off. Walking around already explored every place around and talked to every one in town. Including the fucking people who turned into bats and hurt me. I actually died going to town to heal and got game over and lost all my experience and was depressed. Yes this game made me depressed. So I eventually find a mirror by mistake and get the best spell this game has to offer so far. LIFE. Since no enemies drop any life and there are no health potions, this is incredibly handy and im so glad I stumbled across it. But the way it was hidden was ridiculous. Random empty building, go next to table and press A. How intuitive.
So I go to cross the water and the asshole is like fuck you your not part of this town. And im like why would people from town want to leave to go to death mountain anyways. So i decide to just level up cause I have no fucking idea what to do. Then I start going into random levels in the forrest without hitting black guys and think hey, maybe if I clear out all these spiders he will let me cross. I even used the shield spell to make myself red to make it look like I was a townie. Well it was neither of those. It was a random cabin in the woods no townie every spoke of and he gave you a note saying let him cross. Excellent. I was pumped after I got through this part for about 5 minutes when I reached death mountain.
Just looking at this fucking cave maze shit makes me want to die
So yeah death mountain the guessing game makes you go through a million random caves to get through and oh yeah there's a shit load of bad guys and some throw axes that hurt 1/5 your health and you cant block. Great. So I get a couple of game overs then get through Find the hammer and get pumped yet again. Cause right at the start of the game it shows you a boulder blocking the easy way through and you like If I could just get through heeeeere! I continue to explore blocked areas and find a Heart container (YES) and a magic container.
And that's where I'm at so far. This games basically an emotional roller coaster and I have a love hate relationship with it. I love the satisfaction of accomplishing things as in finding things and figuring out puzzles, but there's a lot of dead times where you don't want to train and retarded combat is holding you back. But it is a decent game despite what people give it credit for, and it is definitely the hardest Zelda game I have played yet.
Heres another lyric video:
Overall Progress Legend of Zelda - 10 Hours (Completed) Legend of Zelda 2: Adventure of Link - 6 Hours (2 Palaces)
Coming up next time Moar zelda 2, hoping to be able to complete this game within the next 2 weeks. Before the 20 hour mark for sure. Lets see how it goes.
Hope you enjoyed keep reading and keep commenting. ALSO let me know if you've began this quest as some said you would/ let me know your experiences with Zelda 2. (No spoils tho plz) See you again next week.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uu96xMwFVXw
HardlyNever United States. February 01 2012 05:21. Posts 890
This is the one Zelda I've played, but never beat (and I've played over half of them). I literally got to the last palace and couldn't beat it. It is ridiculously fucking hard, in part because of the lives system. If you want to have a chance of beating it, you need to not lose lives in the earlier stages, and stack them for the last areas, or you will be screwed (that is what happened to me).
Stick with it and try not to use a walkthrough. Some of the stuck in this game is cryptic and in retrospect stupid, but there's nothing you won't be able to solve by yourself. Just try everything GL!
This is actually one of my favorite Zelda games. Well, I guess I actually just love all the Zelda games, but I have really fond memories of playing this one as a kid, then again in college years later. The combination of Zelda with RPG-style levelling and that really cool combat system (you're not kidding about fighting taking skill; killing those damn knights is an art) was a wonder to experience.
The frumious Bandersnatch
Hulavuta United States. February 01 2012 07:37. Posts 1252
Yeah the weird thing is that I finished both Zelda 1 and 2 as a 5 year old kid and I didn't remember it as particularly difficult, until I got on the internet years later and kept reading about how frustrating the game was. So I replayed it last week and it seems I got worse at videogames because I kept dying and dying and dying. Especially in Death Mountain. I swear I will literally kill something if I ever see one of those alligator axe dudes again
I still enjoyed the game, although I suspect that's largely due to nostalgia, but I was happy when I finally got to play LttP again. It was like getting your dessert after chewing through your vegetables. Finished LttP in like 2 days (practically know that game by heart, my favorite game of all time) and am currently balls deep into Link's Awakening, a game I had never played before and am enjoying, aside from some minor gripes.
ffadicted Canada. February 01 2012 09:44. Posts 2628
Nice blog bro. This game will forever be a thorn in my side, tired at least like 3-4 times to beat it but could never find the will to actually finish it all. Mad props if you do
SooYoung-Noona!
jetburger United States. February 01 2012 13:00. Posts 57
I'm not sure if you already know this or not, or if it's common knowledge or whatever, but I want to share with you my battle technique for beating darknuts in case you're having trouble with them. I'm not sure what your personal rules are for this playthrough, so I'll put it in a spoiler. (This is not a story spoiler or anything, just a fighting technique.)
I call this move "the unblockable jump slash." It is meant for the darknuts who usually block all your attacks with their shield. It works on all varieties (orange, red, blue... but blue may require additional maneuvering to get in the right position). It is virtually impossible for them to block this attack. It's been a long while since I've played this game, though. I'll do my best to give a thorough description.
What you do is jump towards them and try to land right in front of them within sword range. While you're in the air hold down on the control pad. Just as you're about to land, you strike such that your sword actually hits the darknuts upper body and then lower body immediately afterwards, all from a single strike as your sword comes down (all while you're still in the air). They can't block both places at once
The timing is not too difficult. You just have to make sure not to time it wrong. Don't jump so that you enter his sword range as he strikes. Other than that it's easy timing-wise. If you time it wrong, you'll either get hit while in the air, or you may have a chance to block his attack right when you land.
The spacing may take a little getting used to, though. Once you've practice this move a bit you'll get the hang of it. If I remember correctly, you should jump towards them when you're about 1.5 link-body-heights distance away from them horizontally.
If the timing and spacing are correct, you will hit him first and he will be pushed backed out of range as he tries to swing at you. Then the timing and spacing are about right for you to immediately repeat this process all over again for as many hits as it takes to kill him. Practice it a bit and it becomes second nature. Be careful trying to use this maneuver when the darknut has his back against a wall because all the spacing changes obviously.
For the blue darknuts, you just have to be careful to dodge or block his projectiles while you get yourself into the right jumping position. Otherwise it's the same.
Spoiler on a particular skill that I don't know if you've gotten yet. + Show Spoiler +
Once you've gained the downward strike sword skill, you will gain a little bit of added safety with this move because if you mis-space your jump, you can safely bounce off the darknut and land on the other side of him.
Edit: Found a youtube video that shows it very clearly: + Show Spoiler +
I use a similar jump slash technique. The main differences are that (1)he has no shield to block your attack, so the timing of your sword strike does not need to be so precise, and (2) you can't block his axe so the timing of your jump must be near perfect. But other than that, it's the same. You hit him, he gets pushed back out of range, he misses you.
...the Reflect spell strengthens your shield so that you can block certain previously unblockable attacks like axes?
To expand further on what HardlyNever mentioned, I recommend that you do NOT pick up any 1UP dolls as you find them. Leave them there and remember where they are. Save them until you're ready for the final dungeon. In fact, you may want to consider trying to go through the final dungeon at least once on a standard 3-lives run so that you know what to expect. Then, when you're ready to go all-in, grab all those dolls then head to the dungeon for your big push.
Good luck.
Edit: Are they called darknuts or iron knuckles?
Last edit: 2012-02-01 13:56:40
Joedaddy United States. February 01 2012 15:28. Posts 1584
Up until the Wii I prided myself on conquering every Zelda game ever made. Every Zelda game but "Link" that is....
"The Adventure of Link" brings back such fond childhood memories for me. Seeing the pictures puts me right back in my living room, 8 years old, sitting next to my dad spit-balling ideas off each other about how to get across that moat(?) with no bridge. I watched my dad beat the game, but never did beat the final boss myself. Time and time again I would make it to the last boss fight and each time I came up short. Eventually the super Nintendo came out and I moved on to the next game.
In 2005 I was stationed away from home for military training. One day while I was touring the town, I came across a vintage gaming store that sold refurbished Nintendos. I told the store clerk that if they had a working copy of "Link" I would buy them as a set. They had it.
When I got back to the barracks, I sat down to conquer the arch nemesis of my childhood gaming adventures. I stayed up through the night marching across the map with a fevered determination. As I progressed closer and closer to that dreaded final boss I could hear my dad cheering me on as I cut through the monsters just like he did when I was a kid.
As I approached the last palace entrance I got goosebumps. The day of reckoning had come. No longer would I be haunted by the one Zelda game I had failed to master. And then, it happened..... THE FUCKING GAME FROZE UP.
I was so mad lol T.T;; and to this day I still haven't beaten the game. Out of all of the Zelda games I played growing up this one evokes more emotion and nostalgia than all the rest because of the time I spent playing it with my dad. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.
Keep us updated <3
Last edit: 2012-02-01 15:30:15
I imagine all of my Protoss opponents reading a book in one hand and playing with their foot. -Painuser
Little-Chimp Canada. February 02 2012 01:37. Posts 444
On February 01 2012 13:00 jetburger wrote: I'm not sure if you already know this or not, or if it's common knowledge or whatever, but I want to share with you my battle technique for beating darknuts in case you're having trouble with them. I'm not sure what your personal rules are for this playthrough, so I'll put it in a spoiler. (This is not a story spoiler or anything, just a fighting technique.)
I call this move "the unblockable jump slash." It is meant for the darknuts who usually block all your attacks with their shield. It works on all varieties (orange, red, blue... but blue may require additional maneuvering to get in the right position). It is virtually impossible for them to block this attack. It's been a long while since I've played this game, though. I'll do my best to give a thorough description.
What you do is jump towards them and try to land right in front of them within sword range. While you're in the air hold down on the control pad. Just as you're about to land, you strike such that your sword actually hits the darknuts upper body and then lower body immediately afterwards, all from a single strike as your sword comes down (all while you're still in the air). They can't block both places at once
The timing is not too difficult. You just have to make sure not to time it wrong. Don't jump so that you enter his sword range as he strikes. Other than that it's easy timing-wise. If you time it wrong, you'll either get hit while in the air, or you may have a chance to block his attack right when you land.
The spacing may take a little getting used to, though. Once you've practice this move a bit you'll get the hang of it. If I remember correctly, you should jump towards them when you're about 1.5 link-body-heights distance away from them horizontally.
If the timing and spacing are correct, you will hit him first and he will be pushed backed out of range as he tries to swing at you. Then the timing and spacing are about right for you to immediately repeat this process all over again for as many hits as it takes to kill him. Practice it a bit and it becomes second nature. Be careful trying to use this maneuver when the darknut has his back against a wall because all the spacing changes obviously.
For the blue darknuts, you just have to be careful to dodge or block his projectiles while you get yourself into the right jumping position. Otherwise it's the same.
Spoiler on a particular skill that I don't know if you've gotten yet. + Show Spoiler +
Once you've gained the downward strike sword skill, you will gain a little bit of added safety with this move because if you mis-space your jump, you can safely bounce off the darknut and land on the other side of him.
Edit: Found a youtube video that shows it very clearly: + Show Spoiler +
I use a similar jump slash technique. The main differences are that (1)he has no shield to block your attack, so the timing of your sword strike does not need to be so precise, and (2) you can't block his axe so the timing of your jump must be near perfect. But other than that, it's the same. You hit him, he gets pushed back out of range, he misses you.
...the Reflect spell strengthens your shield so that you can block certain previously unblockable attacks like axes?
To expand further on what HardlyNever mentioned, I recommend that you do NOT pick up any 1UP dolls as you find them. Leave them there and remember where they are. Save them until you're ready for the final dungeon. In fact, you may want to consider trying to go through the final dungeon at least once on a standard 3-lives run so that you know what to expect. Then, when you're ready to go all-in, grab all those dolls then head to the dungeon for your big push.
Good luck.
Edit: Are they called darknuts or iron knuckles?
Thanks for the tips. Yes they are iron knuckles but I will keep calling them dark nuts lol. For the dark nuts I just duck, hold down and spam jump and attack . Usually works pretty good. For the axe guys I run up duck attack run back jump over and repeat.
On February 01 2012 15:28 Joedaddy wrote: Up until the Wii I prided myself on conquering every Zelda game ever made. Every Zelda game but "Link" that is....
"The Adventure of Link" brings back such fond childhood memories for me. Seeing the pictures puts me right back in my living room, 8 years old, sitting next to my dad spit-balling ideas off each other about how to get across that moat(?) with no bridge. I watched my dad beat the game, but never did beat the final boss myself. Time and time again I would make it to the last boss fight and each time I came up short. Eventually the super Nintendo came out and I moved on to the next game.
In 2005 I was stationed away from home for military training. One day while I was touring the town, I came across a vintage gaming store that sold refurbished Nintendos. I told the store clerk that if they had a working copy of "Link" I would buy them as a set. They had it.
When I got back to the barracks, I sat down to conquer the arch nemesis of my childhood gaming adventures. I stayed up through the night marching across the map with a fevered determination. As I progressed closer and closer to that dreaded final boss I could hear my dad cheering me on as I cut through the monsters just like he did when I was a kid.
As I approached the last palace entrance I got goosebumps. The day of reckoning had come. No longer would I be haunted by the one Zelda game I had failed to master. And then, it happened..... THE FUCKING GAME FROZE UP.
I was so mad lol T.T;; and to this day I still haven't beaten the game. Out of all of the Zelda games I played growing up this one evokes more emotion and nostalgia than all the rest because of the time I spent playing it with my dad. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.
Keep us updated <3
Nice story. These are the types of things I am enjoying most about the blog, lots of father son/emotional nostalgia stories.
On February 01 2012 09:32 Ikonn wrote: Yeah the weird thing is that I finished both Zelda 1 and 2 as a 5 year old kid and I didn't remember it as particularly difficult, until I got on the internet years later and kept reading about how frustrating the game was. So I replayed it last week and it seems I got worse at videogames because I kept dying and dying and dying. Especially in Death Mountain. I swear I will literally kill something if I ever see one of those alligator axe dudes again
I still enjoyed the game, although I suspect that's largely due to nostalgia, but I was happy when I finally got to play LttP again. It was like getting your dessert after chewing through your vegetables. Finished LttP in like 2 days (practically know that game by heart, my favorite game of all time) and am currently balls deep into Link's Awakening, a game I had never played before and am enjoying, aside from some minor gripes.
This^^. It seems like most people who have beat the game without walkthroughs have beaten it before the teenage years. I seem to remember being better at single player adventure games back then too. Hmm maybe its cause the internet was non -existant for me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uu96xMwFVXw
ZeromuS Canada. February 02 2012 02:33. Posts 8288
seriously all you have to do is jump and then attack normally as you are on the way down, they'll get hit basically every time. You don't need any of the up/down manipulation suggested above, just jump and then press B.
(Alternatively just jump over most of them)
The Great Palace is legitimately challenging, especially if you don't know where you are going since it is very big, but the rest of the game is not particularly hard since ironknuckles are about the worst you have to deal with and they are not really very dangerous.
The lack of guidance is probably the most frustrating part of the game (as it was in the first game).
Last edit: 2012-02-02 08:33:21
We did. You did. Yes we can. No. || http://crawl.akrasiac.org/scoring/players/crate.html || twitch.tv/crate3333
KrisElmqvist Sweden. February 02 2012 09:33. Posts 1951
seriously all you have to do is jump and then attack normally as you are on the way down, they'll get hit basically every time. You don't need any of the up/down manipulation suggested above, just jump and then press B.
(Alternatively just jump over most of them)
The Great Palace is legitimately challenging, especially if you don't know where you are going since it is very big, but the rest of the game is not particularly hard since ironknuckles are about the worst you have to deal with and they are not really very dangerous.
The lack of guidance is probably the most frustrating part of the game (as it was in the first game).
yeah but if you game over in the Great Palace you start at the entrance of the dungeon which makes it very doable
the path to the Great Palace though...
Last edit: 2012-02-02 09:43:28
Clbull United Kingdom. February 02 2012 10:32. Posts 909
Store
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ALSO let me know if you've began this quest as some said you would/ let me know your experiences with Zelda 2. (No spoils tho plz) See you again next week.
