freakboards

GAME 1: POST 1

So, I've played this Zelda before, and I think it might have been the first Zelda I ever beat. I had a ton of help from walkthroughs my first time because this game is CRYPTIC to a determinantal level. Despite that, I've always had a fondness for this one in particular and I think it has a kind of magic that is never really captured again for this series(Link's Awakening gets pretty darn close tho). Most of my knowledge comes through that playthrough I had in high school so I'm not going in blind here, but I REFUSE to look up anything else about this game besides the manual.



For this playthrough, I'm playing on original hardware with one of my favorite cartridges. I love this heckin' thing dude. It straight up looks like a relic from the past, while OOZING charm from the late 20th century with its cheap-ass plastic and gold paint. However, I got bummer news gamers. As of right now, I don't own a CRT tv and don't have a capture card, so I'm just taking pictures of the game through my flat screen. Hopefully, in the coming months I'll be able to capture these games in the most authentic way possible: Through a shitty camera pointed at a crusty CRT.



Here's Freak, he's ready to kick major ass, dude.


(Charlie Brown lookin' fucker)

I blasted through the first three dungeons on muscle memory and struggled a bit with the fourth dungeon before finally pulling through with a magic potion (sorry Robby). It was around this point I realized I should be exploring the overworld to get better equipment so I went ahead and That's about all I got through with this session, but I wanted to point out a few things I find really interesting a cool about this first entry right off the bat.



There are a ton of little moments that teach the player mechanics, and this is one of my favorite examples. The circle enemies are called Bubbles (dumb name) and they make Link temporarily lose the ability to swing his sword when they hit him. At this point in the game, you probably found the boomerang, and if you run out of bombs that is the only tool left at your disposal (unless you're a freak that bought the bow and arrows already and actually use it). The slime-looking guys are called Zols and when they get slashed they turn into smaller slimes called Gels. These enemies and the bats in the room make the perfect opportunity to show the player that boomerangs can kill these weaker enemies. It's really smart stuff.



She is the worst dude. This FIEND will steal your cash if you don't pick the middle option in some spots. The absolute worst man. Also, no game should have a beeping noise that plays constantly when you are low on health. Probably the biggest thing we all hate to some degree is that this game will have spots that need to be bombed or burned that are hardly telegraphed, and that's a bummer. I've yet to stumble onto one of real significance but in the late game, this experience turns sour if you don't know where the secret areas are. That's about all my complaints though. I can't think of anything els-





So far this second playthrough has been a blast. I'm having a ton of fun rediscovering all the secrets and areas littered throughout this world. Let me tell you, there is no greater joy than sitting on the floor staring at these funky little pixels while eating buffalo chicken pizza and drinking Dr. Pepper late into the night. It OWNS.

Played a little yesterday - found the fifth dungeon, got the compass and map and then got my ass handed to me by the blue darknuts for like two hours.

Then Robby stream. They found a heart container that I did not and where the magic ring is so this morning I immediately went and got that heart container and got the money for the ring. I did some more exploring, found one additional heart container, and the ninth dungeon by pure luck. I really, really wanted the magic sword to help with the blue darknuts so I caved and looked up a guide. Got the magic sword and the power ring now and the blue darknuts were sooo much more manageable. Also got a potion which ended up being critical for surviving the boss. The magic sword FUCKS

Went straight from dungeon 5 to 6 since I had already found that one. Got to the compass before my SHIELD GOT EATEN AGAIN and then I died so I left to replace my shield and get a potion, did some more exploring, found the seventh dungeon based off a hunch. Found out the power ring unlocks WARPING. I didn't know there was warping in this game!

Very much was losing my momentum after the fucking fourth dungeon and then hitting another wall on the fifth. The magic sword and blue ring have absolutely bolstered my confidence though and I feel like I have a chance of beating the game

Got inspired by Robby and Dev's streams so I actually spent the entire weekend playing Legend of Zelda and I just finished so wanted to post my thoughts!

It's really interesting to see just how much of the structure that we know as Zelda still exists here in what is effectively the prototype for the series. The dungeons were really fun to play, I enjoyed the puzzles when they showed up you do get a sense of progression as you move between them as you get more and more upgrades. I really appreciate that there's just old men in each dungeon who tell you about something cool to find in Hyrule and then you just have to go looking for it that rocks. I think the sound design is absolutely stellar in this game and a highlight for me was hearing the bosses making noise when you're in the room adjacent and of course the theme and overworld music is iconic.

On the downside, and it might be a fault with me rather than the game, I'm not really familiar with most NES games so I actually found the game pretty difficult and obtuse so had to refer to a guide at different points just to figure out where to go just so I didn't waste hours of my time wandering in circles which is a bit of a shame. I think it's a shame that a lot of the bosses repeat, I get that it's just one of those things because of the era of gaming it comes from but I really liked seeing the unique bosses in those final rooms so for some of them to be the same thing but slightly upgraded kind of sucked to me. My biggest frustration was honest how little things drop hearts in the latter dungeons, putting you in rooms filled with Darknuts whilst lasers shoot at you isn't fun when you can't heal without buying a potion for 68 "Rubies"

All in all I feel like I learned a lot playing it like I had no idea that warping was in the game and that you could get different coloured tunics as you progressed so it's been quite fun to engage with a game I thought I knew everything about and I thought I'd never actually play to completion and it's given me a totally new appreciation for one of my favourite series. Can't wait for February to see what comes next!

I have today off work so trying to wrap up this game today. I won't have time to play next weekend.

Beat dungeon 6 yesterday and then 7 and 8 today. And that's the triforce completed! Overall 7 was easier than 6 which is weird but whatever. 8 was real tough, so many gods damned blue darknuts WITH the lasers (like EstradiolGel said) and there are significantly less enemies that drop stuff with any decent frequency in this dungeon. I miss you slimes and stalfos. There are sooo many mini bosses in this dungeon. I'm sick of the four pronged laser thing that gets faster with every part you destroy.

I just have to finish the 9th dungeon. The blue wizrobes are annoying and difficult to fight. As well as the yellow guys, whatever they're called. I have to take a break now but hopefully I will come back later today to report victory!

Finished the game. The ninth dungeon is super difficult, it's punishing.

This game has points where it is really fun and satisfying, finding secrets is very rewarding, but the last two dungeons are such slogs. It was satisfying to finish but being so frustrated by extremely slow progress through dungeon 9 robbed it of the joy for me. I was mostly relieved I never have to do that shit again.

Took me a couple of days, but I defeated Ganon! Big thanks to Vee for tips and tricks!

I only ever played it up to the first dungeon years ago, so getting to the end feels so wack. It's cool to see just how many parts of video game standards were born out of this silly little game. This is just a progenitor of every adventure game, and you see the DNA this game shares with everything going forward.

It was such a blast! Though yeah, unless you scrub the map for power ups, past dungeon 3 can be a drag. It feels weird to me to say "imagination" carries this game, because the music and the visuals are just so iconic and evergreen, even without imagination it has strengths in it's blocky visuals and approach.

Also, fuck Gleeok.

Crowbill wrote: ↑Wed Jan 18, 2023 1:44 pm Took me a couple of days, but I defeated Ganon! Big thanks to Vee for tips and tricks!

I only ever played it up to the first dungeon years ago, so getting to the end feels so wack. It's cool to see just how many parts of video game standards were born out of this silly little game. This is just a progenitor of every adventure game, and you see the DNA this game shares with everything going forward.

It was such a blast! Though yeah, unless you scrub the map for power ups, past dungeon 3 can be a drag. It feels weird to me to say "imagination" carries this game, because the music and the visuals are just so iconic and evergreen, even without imagination it has strengths in it's blocky visuals and approach.

Also, fuck Gleeok.

FUCK Gleeok all my homies hate Gleeok

just started, I found level 1 pretty quickly, but ever since then I've found the master(?) sword without being allowed to take it, level 5 without being strong enough to do anything in it, and like 4 shops without being able to afford anything in em

I said no to gambling then stumbled into a 100 rupee secret im so powerful don't gamble kids money is just out there

who is this WENCH!