Welcome back to Hyrule, all, for this special one-off bonus episode of A Randomized Link to the Past. The site that creates randomizer seeds has a plethora of different conditions and configurations: the one with Garflink was Normal difficulty with no assurance that we'd get the sword and shield from Uncle Deadmeat, which is what I'd recommend to newcomers (the Easy difficulty makes the game's combat way too simple with all its additions, and doesn't actually change the fundamental struggle of having specific dungeon items you sorely need).

Today, we're looking at the notorious Key-sanity mode with a brand new protagonist: Yunica Tovah of Ys Origin fame, who knows a thing or two about a thing or two when it comes to challenging dungeon crawls. The big hook for Key-sanity is that it adds all the dungeon items - keys, compasses, maps, and big keys - to the global randomization pool. This has all sorts of terrifying ramifications and is therefore recommended only for those speedrunners who are true ALTTP Randomizer masters. I'm sure I'm close to becoming one of those after a single successful playthrough. Only one way to find out, right?

That is the Key-sanity run in a rather large nutshell. It's a hassle and a hoff to keep track of all those compasses, maps, keys and whatnot, but I was at least fortunate enough to find enough items to keep me in the figurative and literal game. I know where I can get a sword if I ever find the Flippers, and I'm free to at least enter the Dark Palace and Thieves' Town for anything people may have left in the entryway. Umbrellas and coats, mostly.

I might stick with this, but I dunno if y'all are going to be entertained by a hundred screenshots of me acquiring keys and then loudly cussing, so I might just do a round-up way later or move onto something else entirely for my alternative Tuesday blogging slot. I do want to check out a few other SNES game randomizers - some of which feel more thought-out than others, like that bizarre Super Metroid/A Link to the Past crossover game Dan was talking about on the Beastcast - so maybe I can make exploring those a series for a while. It's odd; while I'm not a particularly big fan of roguelikes, the way that procedural generation has been retrofitted into these older pre-determined games has filled them with new life. I'm curious to see if any other games have benefited as much as A Link to the Past has; a game, I should hasten to add, that was already fantastic on its own merits prior to this treatment.

At any rate, I believe that's the end of this particular feature. Thanks once again everyone who was curious enough to follow Garflink and Yunica's travails through Random Hyrule ("Ye Hurl"? "Helury"?) and I hope this and its recent appearances elsewhere - GBEast's "The Zelda Scramble", the AGDC speedrun race from January, friend of the site's @zandravandra's double-play stream for charity - are enough to encourage you to try it yourselves. It's apparently been catching on; the folks in the Zelda Scramble chat seemed fairly proficient with its rules and quirks. Proud of y'all.

But, uh, maybe stay well enough away from Key-sanity - it's no picnic.

This variation looks terrifying. I applaud you for your courage, Mento.

Also, I started a fresh run of randomizer the other day. It has been close to a week since I've touched it though, which might be long enough to forget what I've already done and what I haven't, so I may just start another fresh one again anyway.

Oh boy, this seems like a damn nightmare.

I will shamefully admit to never finishing A Link to the Past, and the amount of recent excitement surrounding the randomizer makes me want to give it another go. If they made an Ocarina of Time randomizer I think I'd be all over that, though I think that might require a lot more work to get it to the level of polish this LttP one seems to have.