A Warm Bed Makes Me Feel Good Inside
My exhaustion seems to be affecting my section-naming skills… well, let’s hope the caffeine kicks in soon. But warmth plays a big part in the next section of the game, which takes place inside Death Mountain Crater, in the exceedingly warm Fire Temple. This place is so hot I had to snatch a Goron Tunic just to keep from having my flesh seared off.
So, once Navi prodded enough I set off for Death Mountain, excited to see my friends the Gorons. However, I was shocked to discover that none of them were there, save one rolling wildly in one of the circular ‘tracks’ that make up the design for the city. After lobbing a couple of bombs at him, I had Link ask what was going on. Was it Miyamoto’s take on environmentalism? Was it harsh treatment of minorities? I had to know where the Gorons were!
The little Goron, little by Goron standards anyway, introduced himself as It, and informs Link that a dragon is planning to eat the Gorons. Horrified, I took off running, wanting to rescue the dragon from the indigestion that would undoubtedly result from eating so many rock-people. However, along the way I rescued all the Gorons and eventually saved the day once more instead of sleeping.
The odd thing about this temple was that instead of one person like in the Forest Temple I was saving a race of people here. I’ve come to think of this as Miyamoto’s slow transitioning of rescuing the people as well as the land. You see, prior to this my main concern was the land, but the Adult Arc seems to focus the player in an incredibly compelling way on the people of Hyrule and not just the land itself. It’s a brilliant form of storytelling that can still keep me completely engrossed even at five-thirty in the morning.
This temple was also hard, but not tough yet. I’ve begun noticing the difficulty curve though, the child in me never quite got this far in the game. The dragon I liked though, mostly because it reminded me of the Whack-A-Mole carnival games of old. I’ve really liked most of the bosses so far, as of now they’ve all been so interesting and unique, not to mention colorful. They stand out from some of the pre-rendered backgrounds and help to bring the adventure to life in a gritty, action-paced sort of way.
Trust me, it's a different Goron this time. What? Are you calling me a liar? Racist!
However, I feel at this juncture I must make a certain criticism. You see, in many video games there are certain mentor figures that guide the main character through the adventure. There are numerous ones in OoT, good ones like the Great Deku Tree who serve their purpose and add to the story, annoying ones like Navi who exist because Miyamoto assumed we the players were incredible idiots, and infuriating ones like the owl Kaepora Gaebora who make me want to tear my beautiful hair out in rage every time I lay eyes on them. And then there’s Sheik, a young man who looks a bit too much like a woman. He aids Link through the quest, but what’s his true, mysterious agenda? I’m under the impression that everyone know what his true, mysterious agenda is, and I for one find it a bit lacking considering that it does not help Sheik’s character development. Seriously, the only proper mentor is the Great Deku Tree and he’s killed off quickly at the start. Ah, what is it the good must die so young?
