Twilight Princess is the game to play if you’re looking for a mysteriously gothic good time, with the player traversing through yawning mansions, spooky passages, and haunted forests. Even in the early stages of the game, after Link gets transformed into a wolf, a deep feeling of dread can be felt watching the world of Twilight slowly overtake the Kingdom.
Zooming in a bit on the map of Hyrule, the perpetually locked house on Castle Town’s South Road contains one of the more memorable side quests in Twilight Princess. Though entirely optional, Jovani’s house, and by extension the Poe Souls side quest, provides an interesting perspective on how the Twilight Realm bleeding into Hyrule is starting to affect its citizens.
First of all, any decent Zelda player would automatically be intrigued by a front yard crawling with cats. That, at least, is what yanked my attention to the locked door when I first explored Twilight Princess’s Castle Town. Luckily there are two ways to get inside, neither of which involve busting the door down. There’s a patch of dirt right outside that Link can dig through in his wolf form.
Wolf Link is also able to sneak into Telma’s Bar. Using what’s apparently a very advanced form of canine acrobatics, he can make his way across the ceiling’s ropes to an alcove with a secret passage that leads directly inside the locked house.
Jovani is a man punished for his greed. Even before learning his story, it’s apparent that the space has suffered from an excess of wealth. Most obvious, an overflowing pile of gold pours across the floor from the center of the room, where upon an expensive-looking throne sits a golden statue of a man and his cat. Swimming throughout the piles of riches are treasure chests, decorated tables, and the peeking corners of paintings and other artifacts. Surrounding the scene of opulence are clear signs of neglect: peeling red wallpaper, cobwebs overtaking dark corners, fallen decor. The house itself seems to be sagging into the ground; the support beams from the ceiling have cracked or fallen to the floor.
But back to the statue in the center, which happens to actually be Jovani and his cat, Gengle. Cursed by the Imp Poes in a quest for endless wealth, he now sits as a talking gold statue, with gemstones for eyes. His face is frozen in a creepy grin.
Upon arriving, Link can actually defeat one of these Imp Poes before speaking to Jovani. Link can only see their full form as a wolf; in regular view, they only appear as floating glowing lanterns. That’s already spooky enough, though their real form takes the cake.
Definitely not something you should ever make a deal with (seriously, what was this guy thinking?), the Imp Poes hover off the ground as ghostly figures, with their visible lantern hanging from their feet. Their appearance is reminiscent of a patchwork doll, with stitched mouths stretching to the back of their heads. Their joints are knoblike, similar to wooden puppet models, and they carry a large scythe as a weapon.
When defeated, Imp Poes drop the Poe Soul collectible. Begging for help breaking the curse, Jovani offers Link a reward for collecting 20 of them. It isn’t an easy task, as there are Imp Poes all over Hyrule. It’s less difficult for a wolf, though, and Link can use the Poe Scent to track down Imp Poes that lurk in any given area. They can only be attacked while Link is in Wolf Form.
After some epic head-butting, Link can return to Jovani’s House to gift him the 20 Poe Souls. As thanks, Jovani gifts Link a Bottle filled with Great Fairy Tears.
Turns out, though, that 20 Poe Souls aren’t enough to completely break Jovani’s curse. Though his mobility has been regained, he’s still very much made of gold. Gengle, however, is now a free, non-metalic cat. Finally, we can achieve the real goal, here: picking up the cat.
Well, actually no. In order to turn Jovani back into a full human, Link must collect a total of 60 Poe Souls. Don’t worry, though, the reward is definitely worth it. Once Link turns over the required amount of Poe Souls, Jovani transforms, now a very relieved human having learned his lesson. Abandoning his coin-littered tomb, he makes straight for where any traumatized NPC would go: the bar next door.
He isn’t happy, that’s for sure. It seems like his girlfriend has moved on since he got trapped in his house.
Gengle can still be found in the house after the quest is done. Apparently, he’s the leader of Castle Town’s resident cat population, and they’ve been looking for him for a while now. After Jovani leaves, Gengle will gift Link with 200 Rupees every time he visits. This means that, yes, Link can receive infinite Rupees throughout the rest of the game as compensation for dragging Midna all over Hyrule to get those Poe Souls.
Of course, though Link can farm Jovani’s House for all it’s worth (which is a lot), the actual appearance of the house doesn’t change over time. Whenever Link returns, it’s still just as strange, even after Jovani leaves. The mountains of gold juxtaposed with the rotting walls and still air makes for an eerily empty atmosphere.
Jovani’s ex-girlfriend is now dating a town guard. When interacted with, the guard mentions that strange things have been happening throughout Castle Town, and that some say its the work of dark spirits or ghouls. However, the player knows that these problems aren’t localized to Castle Town. All across the kingdom, incidents related to the Twilight Realm’s corruption of Hyrule are starting to affect nature itself. Even Ordon Village, representing the peaceful beginning of Link’s journey, has suffered an attack despite being far from Castle Town.
As the threat of an eternal twilight rises, even those unaware of its influence are beginning to feel uneasy, and rumors are spreading. When coming across Jovani’s House for the first time, it confirms what the player already knows: evil is spreading its shadow over Hyrule.
