I Need a Drink
It seems that soda I just drank hasn’t kicked in yet, I’m still feeling a bit on the near-total-exhaustion side. Well, at least the good news is that we’re about halfway through the game. Or, rather we’re about halfway through the main story. I haven’t even touched most of the side-quests and bonuses in my haste to burn through the game, but trust me when I say they’re worth the look. If I can feel such dedication and individuality about our silent Link with only the main quests, imagine how I would feel if I took the time to see everything in Hyrule!
Hint: I’d probably still feel exceedingly tired.
Moving on from my near catatonic exhaustion, I am certain that everyone remembers the infamous Water Temple. Regarded as the most difficult of all the temples in the game, it has aged well. With its perplexing puzzle structure, hard underwater battles, and lots of spikes, it is responsible for its fair share of dents in the living room wall in the shape of N64 controllers. I will not lie that, for me, it was difficult remembering all the old rooms and it took me some time to get through. Hence the reason I’m up this late. Nonetheless, there are key elements that must be looked at in this temple, most importantly of which is Dark Link.
Dark Link. Why does he exist? No, seriously. Sure, he’s there to keep Link from getting the Longshot, but I have an additional reason for everyone reading to ponder: he’s there to show us how far Link has come. Throughout this story Link is constantly evolving, an excellent sign for any character. We have had a chance earlier to see who Link is through Ruto’s single-mindedness and her transformation through her love of Link, and we see it again here. Here we see Link as we are: completely mute, powerful, and adamant against those who stand in his way.
So why is Dark Link there? To test us? No, everyone knows to use Din’s Fire, or a cheap trick like that when battling Dark Link. He’s not that difficult to beat. No, he’s there to mean something. The point of the Dark Link battle is not to defeat him. Navi, for once is right when she says to “Defeat yourself.” Defeating Dark Link means defeating the person Link was, defeating Dark Link means that Link ascends above and beyond even himself to defend Hyrule. And that means you, the player, do as well.
The most epic aquatic battle every captured through photography: Link vs. Fish!
Oh, and as for the boss… I didn’t realize the tentacle monster was in this game. That guy’s in everything! He’s like the Japanese Samuel L. Jackson. I can hardly see anything Japanese without seeing the tentacle monster, be it video game, television show, or inappropriate cartoon program or comic book. At least Ruto gets over Link at the end…think of what the children would look like.
Actually, you don’t need to think, if you really want to. If you’re lazy like me, you just search for the fan-art. It’s out there… somewhere. Somewhere I don’t go, and don’t condone going. Not at all.
Kids Can Have Caffeine, Right?
I can see the final stretch of this article in sight, almost in the same way that a runner can see the final stretch of his marathon about three miles from the finish line. Given the long, highly tiring trek I’ve been on, I can’t wait for some well deserved rest at the end of this marathon session!
Like me, this filthy hobo wishes for nothing but a dry place to sleep in. And some change.
Continuing my analysis from where we left off, Link’s headed back to his childhood. I suppose that, after all this time grown up and doing big grown up things like drinking red potion instead of milk and shooting arrows instead of Deku nuts Miyamoto wanted to get up in touch with our roots, so back to kid land I went. Now, the well I’ve always found fun since it’s almost like a return to the nightmare that the game started out with, and it’s nice to remember that, despite how much Link has changed and evolved during the game, there are still parts of him that get a little nervous when he has to confront his fears. He is, after all, still a little bit of a child, even if he has had to grow up to save Hyrule.
So once the Lens of Truth is obtained, the Shadow Temple is ours to venture into. Gothic themes of darkness and evil marinate this Graveyard locale like a well-based turkey, turning it into the perfect horror house. That, and its crippling difficulty level makes it likely to make you wonder if you should shiver or curse vehemently at the images on-screen. Oh, and I suppose it’s a good idea to mention that, for me, this was the hardest boss fight. Absolutely, one hundred percent more difficult. Bongo-Bongo is almost, but not quite, reaching A Link to the Past in terms of difficulty. Almost, but not quite.
Oddly enough, I found the Shadow Temple exemplifying exactly what I had thought of the Adult Arc’s Hyrule: dark and sinister. The Shadow Temple is completely unafraid of anything, it tests the player and submits Link to the true horror of a Hyrule without him for seven years. The temple shows him Ganondorf’s true malice against the land that Link loves and is fighting to protect, and reaffirms his commitment to rescuing the land.
