At the end of Windfall Island’s main path, at the highest point of the island, Link finds a number of interesting homes and businesses, but it’s the impressive and almost-monumental windmill that draws his attention. This town is full of life, surely this windmill is the centerpiece of the excitement, right?
Link’s eagerness fades quickly as he walks through the windmill’s entrance and stands on the dusty wooden floor of the mostly empty room. There are some decorations, but the room’s only noteworthy contents are the steps leading up to the windmill’s outer deck, and an exhausted-looking man slumped against a desk. The man seems a little odd and very tired, but considering Link’s run-ins with Tingle and Zunari, odd people often provide rewarding experiences. So, with that unbridled courage to run up and talk to strangers, Link approaches the man, that man being Salvatore.
Salvatore, staring off into the nothingness of his work area, is surprised by Link’s arrival, though it’s a little hard to tell that he’s surprised. It’s hard to tell he’s awake, honestly. “Energetic” would not be a proper way to describe him. But at least he’s dutiful. Unfazed by the fact that he actually has a customer, Link’s lethargic new friend asks if he’s looking to play the Squid-Hunt minigame. Being his nature, Link agrees without the slightest notion of what is about to happen.
Upon hearing that Link wants to play, and also upon receiving payment, Salvatore begins his routine. Out from behind his counter come the cutout portraits that allow Salvatore to transform himself into the cast of characters needed to make the hunt feel authentic. Salvatore, as a swarthy sea captain, explains the rules with the greatest stereotypical performance he can muster. The rules are simple: There are squids hidden on the game board, and Link needs to blast them out of the water. The hunt begins, and Link is thrown into the middle of this one-player version of Battleship.
When I was young, Salvatore was simply funny to me due to his lazy attitude. But now that I’m older, and especially that I’ve had past experience in customer service, I identify with this character. He’s not (completely) lazy, his job just sucks. Yes, Salvatore is a guy trying to make it through the day, and for some reason, there’s someone out there willing to pay him to sit alone in a windmill and put on a cheesy show for whatever random kids decide that a windmill is an interesting place to visit. Who could possibly have the strength of will to avoid having the same attitude?
The Squid-Hunt minigame is simple in premise, but the random placement of the hidden sea beasts prove to be a problem for Link, forcing him to take a few extra attempts and give up few more rupees than he’d care to admit. But Link is Link, and he won’t quit once a challenge is issued, even one of carnival quality.
Link makes his call and picks the final grid on the game board. It’s a hit, and the last of the elusive squids goes down, accompanied by exciting fanfare and a hearty “kaboom!” shouted by Salvatore. Realizing that Link has actually won, Salvatore returns to the cutouts to complete the tale with a proud captain and the unsettling cheers from manly-sounding children. And his energy promptly retreats back, leaving the monotone man to do nothing else but give Link his prize. Link accepts the goodies, though his excitement is curbed by the happiness vacuum that stands in front of him. With nothing left to do, and not wanting to make any further eye contact, Link leaves.
His time in the windmill behind him, Link sails the Great Sea in search of more adventure. It is because of this questing that he finds a small island not too far east from Windfall Island. He touches down on its crab-infested shores and hikes up its path to the odd tower-like structure. It’s at first hard to tell what the building is for, but things become clear once Link sees the catapult and Salvatore stationed at the center of the tower. Well, “clear” in the sense of being incredibly confusing and awkward.
“Wait, what?” is probably the question Link asks himself as he first walks up to Salvatore. Honestly, Link could question so many things about this moment: Why is Salvatore here? What is this place? In fact, how did Salvatore get here? There’s plenty of pondering to keep Link busy, but he’s a boy of action, so he takes the direct route and speaks to the sulking showman.
Salvatore greets Link with the same zeal as before. Turns out, this place is the home of the Barrel Shoot minigame, which Salvatore also runs. He gives Link an introduction as lifeless as the one in the windmill, save for the admittedly respectable effort to impersonate the pirates, and leaves the child to blast away with high artillery.
If the crappy job on Windfall Island didn’t grow your empathy for Salvatore, then the double-dose of awful that is his second job certainly should have. You ever had a job that expected you to basically be in two places at once? Well, Salvatore needed to literally pull that off almost every day.
Link again gives a show of his prowess, the last of his barrel targets explodes into a magnificent fireball, and the trumpet fanfare again sounds to declare his victory. Salvatore jumps back into character, and this time he even delivers a disturbingly good rendition of Tetra. But the bit ends, as does the enthusiasm, and Salvatore gives all the congratulations he can muster before handing over the Heart Piece prize to the young patron who was disinterested in his performances. Link then leaves and Salvatore stays, though, at least in spirit, Salvatore was never truly there in the first place.
