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Warren Shea

Archive for April, 2011

Zelda: Ocarina of Time – Final Chapter –

Wednesday, April 13th, 2011 at 11:20 pm

Sorry for the lack of updates, I wanted to stop spending time writing about what I was playing and just play…but…now that I’m done

Date
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Friday, April 8, 2011
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Monday, April 11, 2011
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Progress
Start –> Deku Tree –>
Dodongo’s Cavern –> Jabu-Jabu’s Belly –>
Forest Temple –> Fire Temple –> Ice Dungeon –>
Water Temple –> Bottom of the Well –> Shadow Temple –>
Gerudo’s Fortress –> Desert Colossus –>
Spirit Temple –> Ganon’s Tower 4/6 –>
Ganon’s Tower 6/6 –> Ganon –> End !

Another game taking 7 days (New Super Mario Bros. took 7 days too).

Notes:

  • Finished with 100/100 Skulltula tokens, 36/36 heart pieces, and all the upgrades.
  • Water Temple was the first dungeon where I missed something or had to go back or had to look in a walkthrough for what I missed…it took quite a while. Also, it was epicly annoying swapping boots, something I’ve heard will be fixed in the 3DS version
  • Bottom of the Well was scary…the ReDead scare the crap outta me…they’re like, these skinny naked dudes that move when you stay still….and when you get close, they unexpectedly and quickly latch on to you…Q_Q /dislike!
  • Shadow Temple, specifically Bongos Bongos was interesting. I wrote this whole, 400 word post right after the fight because it was so epic but I don’t feel like writing/posting it. To summarize, I went into the boss fight with full life and 3 fairies (used one during the actual temple). I couldn’t figure out how to beat him…until using all 3 fairies (with my full life at the start of the battle, I effectively went though 3 full lives before figuring the fight out). I finally knew what to do in my last life, but it was still pretty difficult because I was out/low on arrows. Eventually, I beat him with 1/4 of a heart left…it was uber close and I was on such a high after beating him…if there’s any fight I’d like to do again, it’d be this one, now that I know what to do. I wish I fraps’d that…I’d love to have re-watched it.
  • Spent a good chunk of time getting the 50 arrow quiver upgrade (riding Epona and shooting the targets). I saved right before playing it, played through 500 rupees, and then just reset and started again (so I had the experience, w/o technically spending the money). Even when I realized you could hit the bottles (effectively giving you an easy 700/1500 points), it was still tough. Eventually, I posted a post-it note on my TV for where the arrow would hit. Once I did that, my accuracy improved from an average 1000-1100 points to 1300-1450…but it took quite a while to break 1500. It was pretty fun though
  • After doing the Spirit Tower and just before Ganon’s tower, I noticed I only had 19 hearts instead of the 20 I should have had. I had all the heart pieces (I’d been keeping track), the only way to miss one would be the boss fights. So I returned to a child, went through the Deku Tree, Dodongo’s Cavern and Jabu-Jabu’s Belly looking for the heart I missed (fortunately, it’s pretty easy to get to the boss rooms from the beginning). I was scared though, none of those 3 dungeons had the heart and I specifically remember getting the hearts from the Water Temple and on…I went to the Fire Temple (before the Forest Temple) out of convenience and it wasn’t there either. Seriously, if the heart had disappeared, I would honestly restart the game because I could never finish the game with 19/20 hearts…Anyways, lucky enough, it was still in the Forest Temple boss room. I was ecstatic when I found it :D soooo relieved.
  • *Spoiler Alert* from this point on
    When Ganon first “died” I was like “WTF, so easy!” and then when we were escaping the castle (which I found uber annoying as Zelda had to be really close to you to proceed….you couldn’t even go ahead of her), I started to think there was more. And then the ReDead caught me and freaked me out :'( And finally, at the end, Ganondorf finally turned into the Pig/Boar Ganon, which was what I was expecting the whole time, given my knowledge of Ganon. I found it quite interesting that throughout the game, he’s known as Ganondorf, but occasionally, they’ll call him Ganon (like, <10 times). The only thing I didn't like is that you finish Ganon with your sword. Ganon is SUPPOSED to be killed with the Silver/Light Arrow. That's how it is in Zelda, Zelda: A Link to the Past, and the Zelda comic in Nintendo Power (based off A Link to the Past). Anyways, I was expecting to finish Ganon with the arrow but disappointingly, Link just slice and dices his head.
  • I thought the ending was interesting…the fact that Link went back in time was…the right thing to do but I wanted Link and Zelda to have more..moments. I guess it’s always their destiny, to be so close when they’re physically so far apart and to be apart when they can be together. Anyways, if Link goes back, and Ganon’s defeated, doesn’t that void most of the game? Stupid time travel and paradoxes! I’m guessing, based on what I read, this is how Majora’s Mask is. The other world/alternate reality. I found the END end to be interesting, when small Link greets small Zelda. Was that a moment from the past, when Link first met Zelda? Or is it current time, Link seeing Zelda. Or…I dunno. I’ll read up on it…I didn’t want the game to end though :( Story was great but I wanted more…
    *Spoiler Alert END*
  • I found getting the 51-100 Skulltula tokens pretty worthless. By the time you get all of them, you’re pretty much finished the game. If you got all the mini-game upgrades ahead of time, then what do you have to spend money on? Also, with the light arrows netting you 50 rupees with any guy killed, you pretty much have infinite money that way too. I think that was the most disappointing part of the work I did.
  • Can’t wait for the Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3DS game. I found the story, music, puzzles, and gameplay to be great but the graphics were a bit outdated/pixelated. I noticed at first, but as you play more, you get used to it and don’t mind anymore. But every once in a while, you’ll see something that looks a bit too pixelated and it took me out of the story. I’m a bit too late to get Pokemon Black and White as they seem sold out in many places, but if I were to get a 3DS, I’d like to have purchased those Pokemon games. Granted, I’ve only beat red, blue, yellow (and maybe green, I don’t remember)…and I missed any games with 152+ pokemon, I still like the concept/wouldn’t mind. Those games were worth it, despite not getting all 150 Pokemon (due to the game I played being emulated and thus, trades were impossible).
  • What next? I dislike the idea of playing Zelda as a kid again (Majora’s Mask)…so obnoxious! Can’t deflect with a proper shield, the shield you can deflect with sets on fire and disappears (HATED THAT). Sword is so tiny and weak. I also dislike the idea of a time limit cuz I play slowly -_-; Not that Ocarina of Time took close to 72 hours…but still. Not sure what I’ll do just yet…play Metal Gear Solid? Study some web stuff?

I’m really happy that I got around to, finally played, and beat the game. It’s been on my to do list for soooo long, it’s great to cross that off :) Major accomplishment here! Didn’t even take very long…can’t wait to play it on the 3DS, for the better visuals, the Master Quest version, better and more usable UI, and to revisit and redo fights now that I know them.

Fin.

Zelda: Ocarina of Time – Part 3

Sunday, April 10th, 2011 at 1:57 am

**Spoiler Alert**

I figure I should have a spoiler alert as I’m going to discuss where I am in the game now.

Update – 1AM
I just beat the Fire Temple. It wasn’t quite the puzzle that Forest Temple was imo…but I still have 4? more complicated dungeons to go.

I still don’t know how to do Zelda: A Link to the Past – Dark World Dungeon 5 (Ice dungeon). I was stuck on it for so long when I was younger, that I decided to go to dungeon 6 and get the key item that would allow me to continue dungeon 5. Ever since then, I’ve always done Dungeon 6 before 5….it just seems to work. And it makes 5 really easy :)

Anyways…
73 – Skulltula tokens
33/36 – 1/4 Heart Containers
4 Bottles
All 3 tunics
Biggoron’s Sword
…and all that other stuff.

I’m admittingly using the internet to play…in an ideal world, I’d have to time to mess around and figure everything out on my own like I did for Zelda: A Link to the Past…but those days when I had that much time are gone. I try to avoid spoilers and I don’t use any help when doing dungeons…but I use the internet for like, where the skulltulas are and where the heart containers are. And how to get the 4th bottle.

Right now, I think I have everything I can get at my current time of playing. Like, I have everything I could have, right now. I must admit, it’s kinda cheap…because there’s no way, playing on my own, that I’d have 31 Heart Containers. I imagine if I weren’t using any guides, I’d likely be around 12 or 16….and I wouldn’t have this 4th bottles…not that I really need it so far. Just feels kinda cheap to me, this game, so far, is pretty easy and that might be why. Cuz I’m cheating!

Things that made me laugh, or that I failed at, or thought was awesome so far.

  • Zora, moving his fat ass ever so slowly to unblock the door to the 3rd dungeon (made me lol cuz it took so long)
  • In the Forest Temple, with the 1 skeleton knight, followed by 2 skeleton knights…those guys owned me royal. Everything so far had been dirt easy, no use for Lon Lon’s milk, fairies, nothing…so I had one bottle with a bug (you never know when you might need to unearth a Skulltula!), one bottle with Lon Lon’s milk and…one bottle with the blue flame (which, as I said in my last post, I bought). Anyways, I had beat one skeleton and had 3 hearts lefts….1 skeleton left. And then the other skelleton came back to life! I used both my Lon Lon’s milk but the 2 skellies took that off in like, 15 seconds. I thought I was gonna die so I just aggressively attacked my ass off…and I beat them…but I barely survived. It was then that I decided…to get some fairies :) 4 Fairies…so now, I’m prepared for it all!
  • Forest Temple’s Puzzle ghost. Moving the blocks in time and preparing them to work after a rotation. Never had a puzzle like that in Zelda, it was awesome.
  • Forest Temple’s first boss: Phantom Ganon. Just the idea of coming out of the paintings…and I had no idea what to do. Well, obviously use Bow and Arrows (as that was the weapon of the dungeon) but…I kept missing, and getting shocked! Jerkface! Thought that fight was pretty interesting in concept. Kinda like Haku from Naruto, Zabuza partner…going from mirror to mirror
  • One of the reasons I HATE Zelda dungeons: That stupid hand that comes from the ceiling and brings you to the beginning. As someone who does things thoroughly one time only, I can think of nothing worse than having to repeat things unnecessarily. Waste of time. It got me once and I was like “WTF???”…and then was like..”F*** YOU!!”
  • I used my expensive Blue Flame to unfreeze Zora to get the Biggoron sword. It was well worth it.

Seems like I won’t be able to finish the game by tomorrow sadly. I’ve spent a lot of time the last 3 days play…but I’ve also been sleeping a lot and going out…basically just recharging. I finish, at most, 2 dungeons a day. And I have….4 to 5 to go….and after tomorrow, will have to take it easy time wise (cuz I go back to work). I guess my goal is to finish before the end of the week…if I can do that, I’ll be happy. I’m glad I finally got around to playing this…it took a long time to find the time to do it…but I’m glad I finally did.

Update – 3AM
I just did the Ice “Dungeon”. Don’t know if I said this, but I HATE Ice and Water dungeons…and levels. Very happy Ice Dungeon was so short. When I saw the map, 1F, I was like “WTF!?” but yeah, not complaining…omw to the Water Dungeon, but I should sleep…….

Zelda: Ocarina of Time – Part 2

Friday, April 8th, 2011 at 9:22 pm

Update – 9pm:
I’m just about to enter the Temple of Time and (I think) get the Master sword.

My status:
44 Skulltula tokens
17/36 Heart Containers
A useless Stone of Agony (because I have no rumble pack on my Wii controller)
5 songs
3 medallions
max deku bullets (50)
max bomb bag (40)
max deku sticks (30)
max deku nuts (30)
bombchu (50)
3 bottles
500 Rupees
2 Magic spells (Din’s Fire & Farore’s Wind)
8 Magic beans planted (and still have 2 left in my inventory)

.
.
.

I realized that there MUST be a way to go back as a kid because some of this stuff is simply unreachable at this point. Like visiting the Desert Colossus to plant a magic bean. Can’t do it with those Gerudo blocking the way.

I’m pretty happy with my progress so far.

But that was the easy part. Part 2 will probably much harder.

Oh, also: I spent 30 minutes today fishing for a 10-pounder for a 1/4 heart container. I think I almost caught the 10-pound fish twice, the first time tho I didn’t reel fast enough :( And then, 10 minutes later, finally got him. Stupid fishing.

Oh Oh, also: I bought this blue flame and 300 rupees (because i had money to burn) right before giving my bunny mask to that guy…he paid 489 rupees for it :D it was awesome seeing the money go from 11 to 500 :)

Comparison to Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Like all Zelda games, the sword, shield, bombs, and boomerang are the fundamental weapons. Bow and Arrow as well but, at least for Ocarina of Time, I’ve yet to obtain it, despite seeing arrows for sale since the beginning of the game. While I only have strong Zelda: A Link to the Past knowledge, it seems like bottles in this game are pretty similar. The first 2 are easy to get. The 3rd you get eventually (but fairly quickly), but the 4th is difficult to get until late in the game. Also, in Zelda: A Link to the Past, you get boots that make you run fast after the first dungeon. Those boots come in handy like crazy. In Ocarina of Time, especially the way I’ve been doing things, running around inefficiently (since this is my first time playing the game), going to one place, and back, and everything, on foot as a child is sooooo slow. I know I get a horse later in the game (as I see Link riding a horse in the intro :P) but…man, couldn’t they find a mount for young link? A boar or big dog? So much play time wasted doing that.

@Karol RE: Majora’s Mask
When I talk to my friends who played both OoT and MM (and there are 3, you being one of them), the other 2 don’t really like MM. Complicated, time travel, takes place in one day…that’s all I really know. Not sure if it’s on Wii Virtual Console or not…if it’s not, I probably definitely will not play it. Anyways, I’ll decide after I finish OoT. MM better not be based around water. I hate all the water levels/aspects of water in any game. Hard to maneuver under water, can’t move the character like I want….anyways, that’s a rant for another time… :)

Zelda: Ocarina of Time – Part 1

Friday, April 8th, 2011 at 3:08 am

I started playing Zelda: Ocarina of Time a year ago…playing to around the beginning of Death Mountain…didn’t even make it to Dodongo’s Cavern (second dungeon), after picking it up and dropping it many times. Eventually, I hadn’t touched it in so long that I figured I should just restart. Not that I made it very far anyways…

I recently decided to re-pick up the game….again, I played until I beat the Deku tree and stopped. Not very far again. Well, today I spent much of the day playing…started from right after the Deku tree…right now I’m on my way to Zora’s Domain. I started today with 4 Skulltula tokens this morning and I have 23 right now. I had 0 1/4 heart pieces this morning and have 13 1/4 heart pieces right now.

Oh. I should note that I had today and have tomorrow off :) I’ve spent considerable time buying bottle bugs and earning the money back via the Shooting Gallery. +30 Rupee profit for each successful game. I’ve also spent considerable time slowing travelling as a child. So slow. Reminds me of WoW.

I kinda know how Ocarina of Time works…Links starts off as a child but at some point, turns into an adult. I’m trying to make sure I have EVERYTHING that I can get as a child, before I turn into an adult. I have no idea if it’s possible to turn back to a child (while this seems impossible, Ocarina of Time indicates some kind of time travel…right? Maybe not…I don’t know yet but I don’t wanna be spoiled, so don’t tell me.

Don’t tell me anything. I wanna find out as I continue.

Anyways, I’m working towards the 100 Skulltula tokens…tho I’d be happy with 50 as I can earn money quite easily. I’d definitely need to get the 32(?) 1/4 heart pieces…

Anyways, I’m happy with how things are going. Yes, I played most of the day and only did one dungeon…again…but I’m working hard in getting the other stuff….slowly working my way through to 100%. That’s how I roll.

Contemplating going out tomorrow morning to run some errands but tomorrow might be completely focused on Zelda: OoT as well….who knows, maybe I’ll finish within the next week! :D That’d be awesome.

Unfortunately, there already is one MAJOR spoiler that I’m aware of, which has to do with Zelda…I learned it accidentally as I researched Super Smash Bros. Brawl…too bad because I figure it’s one of those spoilers that could turn a game from “awesome” to “mind-blowing” :( Ah well, nothing I can do….that’s what I get for playing this game….15 years after it’s made?

Oh yeah, my goal is still to finish before the Zelda: Ocarina of Time comes out for Nintendo 3DS. I’m already wondering what to play next….Majora’s Mask? Twilight Princess? Final Fantasy XIII? Final Fantasy X? Mario Galaxy? Metal Gear Solid 3…followed by Metal Gear Solid 4? All these games are so old….I’m so behind.

Omnimon & Predaking galleries

Sunday, April 3rd, 2011 at 12:51 am

I got my D-Arts Omnimon toy this month. As I played with it, I didn’t think there was much I could do with it. Sure, it came with 2 capes but the joints are awkward, you can’t position it like you might want. So I wasn’t too thrilled in doing a gallery for it but felt compelled to give Omnimon the same treatment as my Wargreymon post from earlier. Turns out…after taking some pictures, that you can do a LOT….I had a lot of fun taking the pictures, giving him poses. There was one problem, my photos were a bit too dark, they should have a white background, like most of my photos….oh well :( Anyways, here’s the Omnimon gallery, followed by my comparison chart between my D-Arts toy and an old Omnimon toy. That is my Wargreymon comparison chart (again). And below that are my Predaking shots.

Click on the images for a larger one
Omnimon Comparison chart

Wargreymon Comparison chart

The Generation 1 Predaking reissue is huge so there really isn’t much you can do with it…I only have 8 shots and most aren’t dynamic at all. For a $200 toy, I was hoping my gallery would be epic…but alas, it’s just too clunky to take good shots.

On another note, it was great to pull out my photography stuff, after 4 months (which is pretty long). With taking photographs, manipulating them, posting about them (all to the sounds of ReBoot Season 3!), I’ve been doing this for about 6 hours now. It’s so time consuming…

Tomorrow: Zelda + Web Development. That’s my plan :) Nice to do stuff just for me…that was the plan of this weekend and so far, I’m fulfilling it…