"Oh boy, Mondays." That's probably what's running through Garflink's head right now as he stands at the precipice of Turtle Rock: the penultimate The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past dungeon and the only one that shares its name with a track from the TMNT movie soundtrack. That's right, it's time for the seventh episode of this Garfield-themed randomizer playthrough. Be sure to walk, don't run, to see how it all began here if you're just joining us.
Pulling ourselves out of a concerning tailspin, we left off last week in a cheerier mood by acquiring the Titan's Mitt and the Fire Rod, which means at least two more dungeons can be completed in addition to access to a gaggle of overworld sources. That's not to say that the playthrough can't go south again, as it well might if we don't find the Zora Flippers soon, but I'm optimistic. Helps that I'm writing this intro after already experiencing all the below, huh? It's easy to be optimistic when you can see the future, after all.
Side-Note: The Zora Flippers allow Link to swim in deeper waters, and are usually bought from the Zora King for an exorbitant price. It's worth any cost, though, as not only are they required to access two dungeons but there's a lot of overworld that can only be reached through swimming. Of all the remaining items, the Flippers were easily the most vital to completing this run. I can now access every dungeon in the game! Well, bar the Misery Mire, which still needs a Quake Medallion.
Side-Note: One of the unspoken heroes of Garflink's arsenal, the half-magic ability means that every magic-using item I have - the Lantern, the Fire Rod, the Canes, etc. - now requires half as much magic to use. It's a vital upgrade to get early if, oh hypothetically speaking here, you started with a magical weapon instead of a sword. Figures I'd get it in Turtle Rock, hours after it might've been really useful. At any rate, I believe there might be another one out there for quarter-magic. (As for how you'd normally get half-magic, I'll be showing that off a little later.)
A finished dungeon is always a good place to stop, so let's summarize this episode's progress:
- We have the Zora Flippers! We've already accessed most of the Flipper-required areas of the game in this episode, at least the ones with potentially useful items, but there's still the Swamp Palace dungeon to go.
- Other valuable acquisitions this episode: Half-Magic, which is less useful now with the Silver Arrows and Tempered Sword doing most of the heavy lifting, but still appreciated; a new heart container and another piece towards the next; a new bottle; and another quiver upgrade.
- We might as well skip the traditional Dungeon Check-in. We only have five of them left, and only two of those have anything for us right now: the Swamp Palace and Skull Woods. Turtle Rock is on hold until we can defeat Twinexx, and both Misery Mire and Ganon's Tower are locked up tight.
- How about we review what items we still need, instead?
- Of the "absolutely require"s: The Ice Rod, to defeat Twinexx; and the Quake Medallion, to enter Memory Mire.
- The "This could be helpful"s: The final sword, armor and shield upgrades (the Golden Sword, Red Tunic and Mirror Shield, respectively). The last bottle. The Magic Powder, which is valuable for turning anti-fairies into fairies for when I need a quick pick-me-up in dungeons. The Book of Mudora can still net me another two items from the Medallion tablets, if not the Medallions themselves. The Shovel can get me two items too, and one each from the Mushroom and the Cape.
- I don't actually need the Ether Medallion or Magic Boomerang for anything, but they might be nice to have anyway. Ditto for the Quarter-Magic upgrade, the other bomb-bag/quiver upgrades, and any of the remaining heart pieces/containers.
Next Time, on A Randomized Link to the Past: There's the second half of Skull Woods left to wrap up and all of Swamp Palace to explore, so we still have a number of opportunities for new gear. I should probably resolve the Blacksmith and locked chest quests as well. Dang, there's not a whole lot of game left...
Log in to comment