Retro Wildlands #58 - Zelda II: The Adventure of Link

[00:00:19] Greetings fellow travelers, vagrants, explorers, wildlanders, and welcome to episode 58 of The Retro Wildlands.

[00:00:29] My name is Nomad and this is my gaming podcast where I like to share my thoughts and experiences with a video game that I have discovered or rediscovered while roaming the gaming wildlands.

[00:00:41] Thank you very much for tuning into the show today.

[00:00:44] We've made 57 trips into the gaming wildlands up to this point, checking out some awesome games and going on some memorable adventures, and each and every one has been made better with you here.

[00:00:57] So whether this is your first time with us, your 58th time with us, or you're somewhere in between, I am glad that you decided to hang out today.

[00:01:06] DD, our canine expedition leader, always gets excited whenever we have some company join us.

[00:01:13] He'll be coming around as per usual to administer the obligatory sniffing of the leg and, if you're lucky, he may even let you give him a nice pat on the butt.

[00:01:23] I'm not sure what it is lately, but patting him on his little dog butt or scratching him just above his right back leg seems to hit the spot for DD.

[00:01:32] So if you get the chance, make it count.

[00:01:37] DD may skip the pleasantries this time around, though.

[00:01:40] We have a unique situation going on here today and we're going to need your help to get out of it.

[00:01:47] You see, Dexter, who's DD's brother from another dog mother, has seemingly fallen asleep and no matter what we do, he is not waking up.

[00:01:57] We're not entirely sure what happened, but we need to find a way.

[00:02:02] It's almost as if someone put a curse on poor Dexter.

[00:02:07] Wait a minute, who is that over there?

[00:02:12] Stand down, DD.

[00:02:13] I think this mysterious old woman means us no harm.

[00:02:18] Hey, you there!

[00:02:19] What brings you to the campsite?

[00:02:21] I see one of your own is deep in an unnatural slumber.

[00:02:28] This isn't anything natural, my young travelers.

[00:02:32] A curse has befallen your old and decrepit dog.

[00:02:37] Wait, he's not that old.

[00:02:40] Nevertheless, there's only one way to break the curse.

[00:02:45] You will need to set out on an expedition to recover the Triforce of Courage, which is hidden in the Great Temple in the Valley of Death on the largest island in Hyrule.

[00:02:59] However, to enter there you must first fight the Guardians and undo the Binding Force.

[00:03:05] When you have defeated the Guardians, which I made to prevent enemies from invading the six palaces in Hyrule,

[00:03:14] set a crystal in the forehead of the statue that you find.

[00:03:19] I don't know, this seems like a hell of a lot of work.

[00:03:23] Silence! Don't you want to save your companion?

[00:03:27] Well, yeah, I mean...

[00:03:30] Once you place the six crystals in the six palaces, you can go to the Great Palace, fight the Last Guardian, and retrieve the Triforce of Courage.

[00:03:42] There's nothing to fear, Nomad.

[00:03:45] You are the one to get the Triforce.

[00:03:49] You are the beacon of hope for Hyrule.

[00:03:53] You know what, mysterious old lady? You're right.

[00:03:57] I can do this. We can do this.

[00:04:02] Oh, and one more thing.

[00:04:04] See that you don't die because your blood is what's needed for Ganon's followers to resurrect their fallen master.

[00:04:13] And we wouldn't want that now, would we?

[00:04:17] Uh, right. We will do our best to not die then.

[00:04:22] Good! Now go! Save your friend and bring back peace to Hyrule.

[00:04:30] Well, you heard her, Wildlanders. Our expedition has one hell of a purpose this time out.

[00:04:38] It's funny, though. This setup is exactly like a game on the original Nintendo that I played recently.

[00:04:45] It happens to be the title of the episode.

[00:04:48] And as we journey forth on our quest to save Dexter, I want to tell you all about it.

[00:04:55] On today's episode, we're checking out a game that always finds a way to spark some interesting discussions and have some interesting opinions fly around.

[00:05:06] To give you an idea, when I posted on social media to our main page and to some of the groups that I follow that I was giving this game a go,

[00:05:14] I saw people praise this game saying things like, one of my favorites today, or one of the most underrated video games ever made.

[00:05:24] But, on the flip side, I saw people saying things like, I can't get into it no matter how hard I try, or, it's too difficult and way too different.

[00:05:37] One passionate person messaged me directly and quite literally said,

[00:05:41] This game is dog shit. I have no idea why you're wasting your time with this one.

[00:05:48] Games like these are fascinating to me, and this particular one is one that I've been meaning to play for a very long time.

[00:05:56] But once I got my hands on the new Nintendo World Championships NES edition, and this game was featured on it,

[00:06:03] it was enough to push me to finally get off my ass and play this game for real.

[00:06:10] I was ready to find out where I stood in regards to this title.

[00:06:15] And after putting multiple hours into it, I think I'm ready to share my thoughts and take us through this thing.

[00:06:23] So, today on the Retro Wildlands, we're going to be diving in to Zelda 2 The Adventure of Link on the original Nintendo.

[00:06:35] When Nintendo dropped the original Legend of Zelda on the NES, it was considered a huge commercial success and launched one of the most memorable game franchises in history.

[00:06:47] The Legend of Zelda was a top-down action-adventure game that had players moving from area to area defeating enemies, conquering dungeons, and solving puzzles to progress.

[00:06:58] Players took control of Link, a young warrior who was out to save the kingdom of Hyrule from the dark army led by Ganon, the Prince of Darkness.

[00:07:09] The game was incredibly well received, obviously.

[00:07:12] It sold around 6.5 million copies, and characters like Link, Zelda, and Ganon became household names from that point forward.

[00:07:21] The direct sequel to Zelda 2 came out in less than a year and tried to keep the momentum of success driving forward.

[00:07:30] But fans of the original Legend of Zelda would be treated to a very different experience.

[00:07:36] Instead of the top-down, somewhat puzzle-centric focus on gameplay, players were treated with a side-scrolling experience that had more role-playing elements baked in than the original title.

[00:07:47] Plus, there was a lot more emphasis on combat.

[00:07:52] Players could level up Link and increase his stats by gaining experience as well.

[00:07:57] There were also towns the player could visit and actual characters that he could interact with, which was vital to progression.

[00:08:05] On the surface, these sounded like upgrades and a logical step in the game's progression.

[00:08:11] However, things reverted back to the original top-down format with the series' next installment on the Super Nintendo, The Legend of Zelda A Link to the Past.

[00:08:22] This alone made Zelda 2 sort of an outlier.

[00:08:26] While several pieces of Zelda 2 were used in future installments, such as the magic meter, greater usage of non-player characters, and Link's shadow known as Dark Link,

[00:08:38] Zelda 2 found a way to isolate itself from the series.

[00:08:42] It was just too different.

[00:08:45] A departure that had great ideas and good intent, but whose ideas were largely abandoned when the Nintendo entered the SNES era.

[00:08:53] While I haven't played many games in the Zelda franchise myself yet, it's still pretty easy to see the differences and know how unique Zelda 2 is.

[00:09:04] To be quite honest with you all, this game has always fascinated me in a way.

[00:09:10] The idea of a side-scrolling platformer with RPG elements sounds awesome on paper.

[00:09:16] But I've always been put off by how different people have said this game is, and how difficult and time-consuming it could be.

[00:09:25] Is this game really as good as I think it is?

[00:09:28] Or is it the pile of dog shit that others claim it to be?

[00:09:33] Well, I've always been a big believer that a person should form their own opinions after experiencing something themselves,

[00:09:39] so dammit, that is what we're gonna do today.

[00:09:44] While I have not played this game to completion yet, I have enough experience with this game where I feel good about where I stand.

[00:09:52] So, on today's episode, we're going to dive in and check this game out together as I share my feelings with one of the most polarizing retro games that I have played so far.

[00:10:05] Now, if you're new to the show, I like to kick things off by chatting it up with you all for a little bit first,

[00:10:11] and giving you all a peek behind the scenes here in the retro wildlands before getting into the episode itself.

[00:10:17] Depending on what's on my mind, I like to talk about the podcast itself, what games I might be playing,

[00:10:23] what projects I might be tackling, what's going on in my personal life,

[00:10:27] or whatever else I feel like droning on about before we dive into the game itself.

[00:10:31] I also want to take some time to read and respond to any comments I received about Zelda 2 when I put a call out for them on our social media pages,

[00:10:40] so we can give members of the Wildlands community a chance to sound off their thoughts on this polarizing game.

[00:10:47] Now, if none of that interests you, and you're just here for the Zelda 2 experience and my overall thoughts,

[00:10:53] no worries, you can skip ahead in the show about 20 minutes or so, and you should get into the game talk.

[00:11:00] I'll also have loaded timestamps into the show's description, so if you want to know exactly where you need to go,

[00:11:07] you can use those instead of fumbling around with your podcast app.

[00:11:12] But I encourage you to stick around, my friends.

[00:11:15] There's a lot going on in my neck of the woods, and listening to your fellow wildlanders sound off about Zelda 2

[00:11:21] will make for some great discussion, and I cannot think of a better way to start our expedition off today.

[00:11:28] So, without further ado, let's get into our opening segment that I like to call...

[00:11:34] Campfire Ketchup.

[00:11:37] I feel like I normally start off Campfire Ketchup by saying something along the lines of,

[00:11:57] well, it's been pretty busy over in my neck of the woods, or, I've got a lot going on since we last spoke.

[00:12:03] And, well, that has never been more true than this time around.

[00:12:08] I've been diving into a lot of things since we last talked, and all of them are pretty awesome.

[00:12:13] It's actually a little overwhelming, and it's been hard to focus on just one project lately,

[00:12:18] but I've been very excited to try some new things, and I wanted to get you all up to speed on what I'm doing,

[00:12:25] as well as how my content creation journey is going.

[00:12:28] Plus, I'll touch on some of the games I've been playing throughout it all.

[00:12:32] Now, let me set the stage here first.

[00:12:35] Just over two years ago, I launched the Retro Wildlands podcast.

[00:12:40] I genuinely didn't think it would amount to much of anything,

[00:12:44] but I liked the idea of trying something new and creating something I could look back on with pride.

[00:12:50] Even if no one ever listened to an episode, I didn't, and still don't, care.

[00:12:56] Well, let me be clear, I obviously care.

[00:12:59] I would love nothing more than for someone to listen to the thing that I made.

[00:13:03] But ultimately, I'm not making this show for any one person.

[00:13:07] I'm making it for me.

[00:13:10] I'm making these episodes mostly for me the way I want,

[00:13:14] and that's been a real driver for the things that I do around here.

[00:13:19] Hopefully that makes sense.

[00:13:21] Over the course of the last two years, I've had the pleasure of meeting some incredible people in the realm of content creation.

[00:13:28] I've worked with some awesome podcasters all around the world,

[00:13:32] and I've met and learned from some great YouTubers around my area and some not so close to me.

[00:13:38] Seeing all these different people taking their unique approach to building what they want to build has been very inspirational to say the least.

[00:13:47] Now, just to be clear, I love making podcasts for this show.

[00:13:52] Playing old games, gathering my thoughts, and turning them into shows using music and sound have been a blast to create.

[00:14:00] But every once in a while, I feel a pull to try something different, or a drive to take what I've already built to the next level, or drive it into a different direction.

[00:14:11] And over the last month or so, the desire to expand this thing and build it up even further has been almost addictive.

[00:14:20] So I just wanted to rifle through a few things that I've been up to, and some changes that are coming with regard to the retro wildlands.

[00:14:28] And don't worry, the podcast itself isn't going anywhere.

[00:14:32] I'm just doing more things.

[00:14:34] Or at least I'm trying like hell to.

[00:14:37] So, I'm pretty sure I mentioned this last episode, but in case you missed it, I've started to jump into the world of live streaming.

[00:14:45] Lindsay, who runs a YouTube channel called LL Cool Games, and I have been getting together once a week on Tuesday evenings to jump on a live stream together and talk about the indie RPG Sea of Stars.

[00:15:00] We're both playing through the game together, and each week we connect and talk about the game up to the point that we're both at.

[00:15:08] We'll discuss things like whether or not we're having a good time, what we think about the game mechanics that we've encountered so far, and we'll talk about the story as well.

[00:15:17] It's been fun keeping each other accountable, for one, but it's also been fun interacting with others who have either played the game before or are playing the game along with us.

[00:15:27] Lindsay and I are almost done with the game, so we'll have to see if we're going to keep going with another game or if we're going to part ways and do something different.

[00:15:37] Now, while we have some screenshots of the game that we like to share on stream, we aren't actually playing through the game or anything.

[00:15:45] I did try to hook my Switch up to my computer and see if that would work, but it became very clear that my old little Dell laptop here is not going to be cut out for the job.

[00:15:58] Lindsay and I tried to test it once, and boy did it bog down the stream. It was bad.

[00:16:03] I learned a little later that my CPU was operating at like 100% capacity, and it was very stressed out.

[00:16:12] However, I still wanted to try and stream a game, so on a random Monday when Justine was out of town for work, I decided to hold an impromptu-ish livestream where I played the original Resident Evil using emulation software that I already had downloaded on my laptop.

[00:16:31] That stream went exceptionally well, and I had a blast.

[00:16:37] If you happen to be listening to this and you were there present for that stream, thank you so much for coming. I really appreciate it.

[00:16:44] I was nervous as hell most of the day, and I even had to start late because my microphone here had some issues that I had a hard time figuring out.

[00:16:54] But I did get going eventually, and I had an absolute blast. I was planning an hour and ended up going two and a half hours.

[00:17:03] I had some really great people share and stop by the stream too. It was awesome.

[00:17:08] I wasn't really banking on an audience, but that made it that much more enjoyable for sure.

[00:17:14] My computer ran the emulator on stream pretty well, but I could tell my CPU was still being stressed out as I lost frames here and there and my internet connection upload speeds were very strained.

[00:17:26] But beyond that, it was awesome. I even spent the time making a thumbnail for the event and a custom Resident Evil style overlay where I used the inventory screen for Resident Evil 2 in such a way where my face was in the little window that the character in the game is usually in.

[00:17:45] Seriously, it was such a great time. If you want to check that stream out, it should be loaded on the Retro Wildlands YouTube channel as well as our Twitch channel.

[00:17:56] All that being said, I really want to do more live streams and it's something that I want to do more often now that I've been bitten by the bug.

[00:18:04] I made some modifications to my existing PC to see if I can reduce the CPU strain and I even increased my internet speeds here at home with our service provider, so I'd like to see if that makes a difference.

[00:18:17] But beyond that, I have decided that my trusty PC here does need some upgrading, so I am currently saving my pennies for that.

[00:18:27] Streaming gets me excited talking about it now, so be sure to follow the Retro Wildlands on our Facebook, YouTube, and or Twitch channels if you would ever like to join a stream live or see a past recording.

[00:18:40] Just like everything else I do, I don't really have a schedule in place right now, and I'll mainly just strike when the iron's hot.

[00:18:48] But if I have an idea of the next time that I'm going to be jumping on stream, I'll let everybody know as far in advance as I can on social media.

[00:18:57] And for the time being, I'll be live with LL Cool Games Tuesday nights at 9pm Eastern if you want to hang out there.

[00:19:06] So yeah, I'm expanding a little bit, but it doesn't end there.

[00:19:11] While the Retro Wildlands has a basic website that I get from Podbean, which is the platform that I use to host the show out of,

[00:19:19] I've been going back and forth on whether or not I want to build a bonafide website the way that I want it.

[00:19:25] I've been doing some research on different platforms, and I think I finally settled on one, which I'm currently trialing right now.

[00:19:33] I haven't settled yet, but one service that I'm demoing allows me to use all of their tools and features for 14 days with no commitment.

[00:19:43] So I'm in the process of building out a new Retro Wildlands website and seeing if I like it.

[00:19:49] In my mind, I've always wanted a website where I can not just embed episodes of the show, but somewhere that I can have people visit to leave reviews, leave comments on specific episodes, check out some behind-the-scenes nonsense, maybe find some links to the podcast that I've been a guest on.

[00:20:08] I also wanted to leave some links to the YouTube videos that I've created up to this point, and I actually thought about building a blog and actually inserting past scripts of episodes that we've done since I have those saved up.

[00:20:21] One reason specifically I want to do that is I think it would help with search engine optimization, SEO as you nerds like to call it.

[00:20:31] And my thought is this will be an interesting and hopefully lucrative way for people to potentially find the show.

[00:20:39] It's all been a pretty hefty time commitment, not gonna lie, just to see if I want to move forward, but it has been an eye-opening experience.

[00:20:48] If I do commit, it would be another personal cost that I would have to sink into the show, so I'm considering that as well.

[00:20:56] So for those following along at home, I pay to host the show, I pay for a service to make graphics for the show like the episode thumbnails and whatnot,

[00:21:05] I pay for the program that I'm using to livestream, and I'd potentially be paying to host a new website.

[00:21:13] I'm not worried about the money or anything, but I still want to make sure that I'm being smart, so I'm just looking at things from the top down right now.

[00:21:22] If nothing else, all of this has been very, very invigorating.

[00:21:26] I have so many ideas, but not enough time in the day.

[00:21:30] But that's okay!

[00:21:31] When I sit down and lock in with the retro wild lands, I am in my happy place.

[00:21:38] So yeah, lots going on around here.

[00:21:41] And by the way, if I haven't said so in a while, thank you very much to anyone who's ever interacted with the show in any capacity.

[00:21:49] That goes doubly for you right now, because you're listening to me right now!

[00:21:54] I may be doing all of this for me mostly, but I love that there's people out there like you that give me some of your precious time to see what I have going on.

[00:22:04] We are going to end this year with a bang! I can feel it!

[00:22:08] So be sure to subscribe to the show or follow us on social media for more.

[00:22:15] Other than that, I'm still gaming whenever I have the chance.

[00:22:20] I do want to say thank GOD for the Nintendo Switch and the PlayStation Portable.

[00:22:27] Not since I played Resident Evil Village last month have I actually sat down with a video game on our TV in the living room or the TV that I have here in my home office.

[00:22:39] It's all been handheld gaming for me whenever I have a few moments or need to step away from a project.

[00:22:45] The most recent game that I've been going through is the Nintendo World Championships NES Edition on the Switch.

[00:22:51] Even though I feel like it's not very topical anymore, I've considered reviewing this game on our YouTube channel.

[00:22:59] It's a fantastic game, one that has used speedrunning sections of several iconic Nintendo games.

[00:23:06] While it is fun and has given me some mad respect for anyone who speedruns a game, whether it's professionally or casually,

[00:23:15] there is not a lot to this game specifically.

[00:23:20] Still, I'm having fun going through the challenges and trying to find ways to shave off milliseconds off my times.

[00:23:27] I'd say I'm about halfway done with it and while I'm trying my best to S-rank all of the challenges,

[00:23:33] I think I've conceded the fact that I do not have the patience for it and I'm lacking some of the skill required,

[00:23:40] so I think I'll call this one complete when I get at least an A-plus rank on everything.

[00:23:46] If you've not played this one yet, I think you should at least consider it.

[00:23:51] It's not too expensive and really it is very approachable.

[00:23:55] Though, if you don't like the original NES or retro games for some reason,

[00:24:00] which would make me wonder why you're listening to my show right now,

[00:24:04] you are probably not going to care for this game.

[00:24:06] Still, keep the Nintendo World Championships on your radar.

[00:24:11] Maybe one day they'll make a Super Nintendo version.

[00:24:14] That would actually be pretty frickin' awesome.

[00:24:18] Alright, I think that is plenty to cover this time around.

[00:24:22] Let's transition to the reason that you are all here today.

[00:24:27] It's time for us to start talking about Zelda II The Adventure of Link.

[00:24:36] We got a healthy amount of comments on Zelda II from the Wildlands community

[00:24:40] when I put a call out for them on our social media pages,

[00:24:43] and running through those is going to be the perfect way to set the stage.

[00:24:47] The comments themselves span a range of feelings regarding this game,

[00:24:52] and some of the back and forth really reflect my own thoughts with this title.

[00:24:56] Anyway, before I get ahead of myself, let's get into them.

[00:25:00] And by the way, apologies if I somehow missed your comment this time around.

[00:25:04] We had a decent amount of submissions this time,

[00:25:07] and I always worry that I'm going to miss somebody,

[00:25:10] so hopefully I didn't and hopefully I got them all.

[00:25:13] Let's start it off with Chris Copline, who is one half of the Retro Hangover podcast.

[00:25:20] Chris dropped a comment over on our Twitter slash xpage and said,

[00:25:24] This game gets crapped on a lot.

[00:25:27] But looking at the things it did,

[00:25:29] it seems like today I could enjoy it and should give it an honest chance.

[00:25:34] Action, platforming, exploration, RPG leveling systems.

[00:25:38] I mean, it should work.

[00:25:40] I feel like its greatest sin is it wasn't like the first.

[00:25:46] Chris, your feelings here are exactly my own.

[00:25:49] When I first dove into the gameplay mechanics as an adult in an effort to understand this game better,

[00:25:54] I came away with the same thoughts.

[00:25:56] The bigger sticking point for me was the way the game handled leveling up Link.

[00:26:02] It doesn't have an overall level system per se, just levels for his three core stats.

[00:26:08] That alone made me want to try this game, but it's funny.

[00:26:12] Anytime I brought it up, I'd split the room down the middle.

[00:26:16] And based on what I've learned and experienced,

[00:26:19] Zelda 2's biggest downfall was the fact that it was just too different.

[00:26:24] This game is not perfect in my opinion, but I think what it does well, it does well enough.

[00:26:30] Does make me wonder who out there might be holding out on this game because they didn't want to stray too far from the familiar.

[00:26:39] Next up we have TheOverwhelmedGamer, who gave us a shoutout over on our twitter slash x page.

[00:26:46] He said,

[00:26:46] I loved a lot about this game.

[00:26:50] Liked the introduction of magic.

[00:26:52] Down and up thrusts were cool, but for whatever reason it didn't feel like a quote unquote Zelda game.

[00:26:59] I did like how Zelda 2 implemented magic as well.

[00:27:03] Find the old wise men, learn a new spell, use x amount of magic to cast, level up your magic to cast more often.

[00:27:11] Magic is very situational in this game, in my opinion,

[00:27:14] and I never found myself using it a ton, but that's kinda what makes it special.

[00:27:20] When you have to reach into the magic reserves and boost your defense for a tough fight

[00:27:24] or cast a powerful offensive spell to turn the tide, it kinda feels weighty.

[00:27:30] Though the game rarely gives you an opportunity to heal Link in the field, so I ended up saving my magic to heal myself.

[00:27:38] Still, I enjoyed the whole concept.

[00:27:41] The downward thrust of Link's sword when you learn it isn't just fun to execute, it makes the game combat so much easier, too.

[00:27:49] And it's just fun to do that maneuver.

[00:27:52] Almost as fun as pogo jumping as Scrooge McDuck in DuckTales.

[00:27:57] Our next comment seems to agree with Overwhelm Gamer in that Zelda 2 just feels different.

[00:28:04] Curtis over on our Retro Wildlands Facebook page had this to say,

[00:28:09] I'm not sure how to do this.

[00:28:09] It was such a difficult game and such a huge departure from the original Legend of Zelda that I really couldn't get into it as a kid.

[00:28:17] We always rented the NES, so I always preferred grabbing Contra and TMNT instead of this game.

[00:28:24] I just enjoyed them more.

[00:28:27] When I was first starting to play Zelda 2 for the podcast, the game's difficulty really did a number on me, too.

[00:28:33] It wasn't so bad that I considered quitting the game or anything, but I could see how this might be a turnoff for some.

[00:28:39] Even though I could argue Contra and TMNT are both NES tough in their own rights,

[00:28:45] there is something inherently more enjoyable about either of those games,

[00:28:49] and I think I would prefer either of them over Zelda 2 if I was a kid, too.

[00:28:54] It was such a huge departure, one that I largely appreciate as an adult, though.

[00:29:00] Which does make me wonder…

[00:29:02] Was Zelda 2 just too advanced for us when we were younger?

[00:29:06] Was it a game that really did it all right, but we were too naive to see it?

[00:29:11] We'll certainly explore that concept as we go today.

[00:29:16] Moving along, Dave Jackson, who is the real Dave Jackson, by the way,

[00:29:20] who is also the host of the Tales from the Backlog podcast and co-host of a Top 3 podcast,

[00:29:27] gave me a shout over on Discord.

[00:29:29] He said,

[00:29:31] I want to like Zelda 2, but it's one of the only headline Nintendo franchise releases that I find to be hatefully designed,

[00:29:40] which is not the case for Zelda 1.

[00:29:43] Link's sword is too short, enemy placement is meant to put you in no-win scenarios,

[00:29:48] healing items are too rare, and dungeon design is atrocious.

[00:29:53] At least the dungeon music is amazing.

[00:29:57] With such differing opinions on this game across our community comments,

[00:30:01] you'd think it would be hard for me to agree with all of them,

[00:30:04] but I have to agree with Dave on his thoughts as well.

[00:30:08] All of this kind of expands on the difficulty challenges that I was having.

[00:30:12] Until you get that downward thrust, combat can be a chore, and while I don't think I mind how Link attacks and defends in this game,

[00:30:21] his short reach really puts him at a disadvantage.

[00:30:24] I think I make this comparison somewhere else in the podcast, but it's like Link traded in his sword for a dagger,

[00:30:31] or better yet, a butter knife.

[00:30:33] I think I took more hits just trying to hit something else, and it was very agitating.

[00:30:40] And as you progress further into the game, you'll notice enemies are situated in such a way to put you at an immediate disadvantage.

[00:30:48] Need to jump over a pit that'll kill you if you fall into it?

[00:30:51] Well, look out for the four little blobs as well as fireballs coming in from offscreen.

[00:30:57] Take a hit, and the knockback alone will certainly kill you instantly.

[00:31:01] You know, stuff like that.

[00:31:02] And I also agree, the dungeon design can get really convoluted as you go.

[00:31:08] I loved that in the original Zelda, you at least had a rudimentary map.

[00:31:13] In Zelda 2, you better have a piece of paper next to you on the coffee table or something.

[00:31:19] But for the one positive, I am also with you, Dave.

[00:31:22] The dungeon music in Zelda 2 absolutely slaps, as the kids like to say.

[00:31:28] Really, the entire soundtrack is really, really good in my opinion.

[00:31:32] So there's at least that one light in the cavern of darkness ahead.

[00:31:38] Oh, and by the way, to those of you listening, I don't think I ever shouted out Dave on the show before,

[00:31:43] but if you really like great podcasts, check out Tales from the Backlog as well as a Top 3 podcast.

[00:31:51] These two shows are ones that I listen to myself whenever I can, and I am always entertained.

[00:31:56] Dave is definitely a good dude, so check him out if you need to get out of the wild lands for a little bit.

[00:32:03] Moving on, William over on our Facebook page had this to say about Zelda 2.

[00:32:09] Zelda 2 has the greatest intro to any Zelda game, including Ocarina.

[00:32:16] I'm still ashamed to say that I haven't played Ocarina of Time yet, but I do agree.

[00:32:21] I like the introduction in Zelda 2.

[00:32:24] I like the title screen with the sword embedded on the cliff side, and you can see a body of water in the distance that sparkles in the night sky.

[00:32:31] If you wait long enough, you get an almost Star Wars-esque text crawl that sets the game up.

[00:32:38] And when you actually start the game, your hand is not being held.

[00:32:43] You're truly on an adventure, and it is up to you to see it through.

[00:32:47] It all comes together quite perfectly in my opinion.

[00:32:52] Moving along, next we have Captain N, one of the hosts of the Retrotopia podcast, who sounded off on our Twitter slash x page.

[00:33:00] He said,

[00:33:21] You know, the one thing I appreciate most about you, Captain, is your passion.

[00:33:26] But as with the rest of the comments, I have to agree.

[00:33:31] I think there are some redeeming qualities to this title, but I do agree that the platforming in particular is not high on my list of things that I enjoy about this game.

[00:33:42] Link, while he has decent mobility on the ground and in the air, just feels floaty at times.

[00:33:49] Plus, there's the damage knockback that seems so popular in games like this that'll have you plummeting to your death if you aren't careful.

[00:33:58] But, all of that said, it's not like there's a lot of precise platforming either.

[00:34:03] So, it does make me wonder why they went the side-scrolling route at all.

[00:34:08] Why not keep everything else this game has, but keep the top-down perspective?

[00:34:14] I wonder if this game would be better and more widely accepted if that were the case.

[00:34:21] Swinging the pendulum back the other direction, Brando gave us a shoutout over on our twitter slash x page.

[00:34:27] They said,

[00:34:29] I absolutely adore this game.

[00:34:32] It always felt like such a massive adventure due to the hidden secrets, multiple towns and dungeons, and having two continents to explore.

[00:34:41] It still gives me a sense of wonder when I play it, even today.

[00:34:46] And with that comment, we're going right back to the other side.

[00:34:49] That is one thing that I absolutely enjoy about this game as well.

[00:34:54] You have your main objective, which is to conquer all the palaces in Hyrule, but that's all you have.

[00:35:00] It's up to you to navigate the world, find items to progress, talk to townspeople for hints, and discover the land's secrets.

[00:35:08] You would think that would be the secret sauce for any game, especially a game this old.

[00:35:14] I know it's appealing today, and honestly, it was one of the reasons I was drawn to finally play this game.

[00:35:21] While I did not play this game to completion yet, I never really felt like I was stuck now that I think about it.

[00:35:29] The game always had something to reward your exploration with, whether it was an item, a passageway forward, or more experience that you could use to level up.

[00:35:37] All of it gives off a wonder that I absolutely appreciate.

[00:35:43] Next up, we have Inner Demons, the Ghost Rider podcast, who reached out over on our twitter slash x page.

[00:35:51] They said,

[00:35:52] I grew up with Zelda 2 and while this may be an unpopular take, I definitely prefer it to the iconic original.

[00:36:00] I enjoy the change in gameplay from top down to side scrolling, and Zelda being in a sleep spell at the start is a constant reminder of Link's dire mission.

[00:36:12] I did like that touch, I will say.

[00:36:15] You start the game in the room that Zelda is sleeping in, and anytime you lose all of your lives and have to restart, you always start back by her side.

[00:36:24] While it can be very frustrating having to start all the way back to the beginning like that, it is a nice reminder of what it is that you're fighting for.

[00:36:33] But I find it fascinating that Captain N feels that the side scrolling levels remove some of the overall charm, whereas you prefer them over the original top down perspective.

[00:36:45] I think I find how divisive this game can be more fascinating than the actual game.

[00:36:51] Personally, I think I prefer the top down approach, but I also do enjoy, for the most part, the side scrolling that Zelda 2 has to offer.

[00:37:00] It's a big stretch, but it makes me think of some of the better side scrolling Metroidvanias out there.

[00:37:08] Personally, I really enjoyed Castlevania's side scrolling approach to gameplay and combat, and part of me feels that Zelda 2 can stand toe to toe with those experiences.

[00:37:18] I think it just comes down to what one prefers.

[00:37:23] And our last comment comes from Tara Burge out in the land of Twitter slash X.

[00:37:30] They shared something that I thought would be the perfect end to this segment.

[00:37:35] They said,

[00:37:36] This game holds quite a memory.

[00:37:40] Jeremy Burge played it for our late uncle while he was passing away.

[00:37:45] He couldn't move his hands anymore and couldn't use the controllers.

[00:37:50] We have both games in gold case form.

[00:37:53] They haven't been touched since, and his games are still saved on them.

[00:37:58] First off, Tara, I really appreciate you sharing this story, and please accept my condolences.

[00:38:04] While it sucks losing someone you love, this right here is the sort of thing that'll keep them around and with you forever.

[00:38:13] We have heard a lot of back and forth on Zelda 2 with regards to gameplay, presentation, and even its legacy.

[00:38:20] But when a game, good or bad, has a memory tied to it like this, nothing about the game can tarnish that.

[00:38:29] I love that video games at their core are about the experiences, especially if you can share those experiences with others.

[00:38:37] Resident Evil, Metal Gear Solid, Silent Hill, Tomb Raider on the original PlayStation for instance, will always stick with me because of the time I spent playing them with my stepdad.

[00:38:48] And I love that Zelda 2 will always have a special place in your heart and be tied to someone that you love like this.

[00:38:55] This is why I love this hobby, and meeting those that partake along the way.

[00:39:01] Thank you very much for sharing your memory with us, Tara, and a huge thank you to everybody else who submitted your thoughts on Zelda 2 for the show today.

[00:39:10] I cannot tell you how much I appreciate you all taking the time to share your thoughts and some of your time with me today.

[00:39:18] Originally released on the Famicom Disk System in Japan on January 14th, 1987, before making its way to North America on December 1st, 1988,

[00:39:30] Zelda 2, The Adventure of Link is a direct sequel to the original Legend of Zelda on the original Nintendo.

[00:39:38] After the defeat of Ganon in the first game, all seemed well.

[00:39:42] Our hero Link, though, soon discovers that Princess Zelda, who is not the Zelda from the first game but we'll get into that later, has been under a sleeping spell for many generations.

[00:39:55] Link must make his way to the Great Palace in Hyrule and obtain the Triforce of Courage.

[00:40:02] Only then will Zelda awake from her slumber.

[00:40:05] Before that, however, Link must take six crystals and put them into statues in six lesser palaces scattered across the kingdom in order to access the Great Palace.

[00:40:18] Meanwhile, followers of Ganon are on a quest to kill Link and sprinkle his blood over the ashes of their former master, which will restore him to his former self.

[00:40:30] Will Link succeed in awakening Princess Zelda and become the warrior and hero he was destined to be?

[00:40:37] Or will he fall to the forces of evil and have his blood used to usher in an age of darkness?

[00:40:45] Well, my friends, that is going to be completely up to us.

[00:40:51] So let's gear up, Wildlanders.

[00:40:53] Don your green tunic, grab your magical sword, and don't forget your shield.

[00:41:00] The adventure ahead will not be easy and the forces of evil will do everything in their power to bleed you dry and sprinkle your entrails on their former master's ashen corpse.

[00:41:12] But so long as we stay the course and commit ourselves to our quest, there's nothing we can't do on our quest to restore peace to the kingdom.

[00:42:00] Zelda 2 has always been a polarizing game to me.

[00:42:04] I know I've played it when I was younger, as the opening to the game is very familiar to me, but I couldn't tell you where or when that was.

[00:42:11] Even though I didn't grow up playing this game, it was hard not to have heard about it, even as time passed and I grew into a somewhat functioning adult.

[00:42:20] The Zelda series, which started on the original Nintendo, would go on to have over 25 mainline games and spinoffs produced.

[00:42:29] Whether you're a fan of the series or not, the footprint and influence of this series is undeniable.

[00:42:35] Guaranteed, you can think of a few games in the series.

[00:42:38] A Link to the Past, Majora's Mask, Wind Waker, Minish Cap, Breath of the Wild.

[00:42:45] Even though games in this series can be pretty different from each other, at least from what I can tell only having three Zelda games to my credit as of this recording,

[00:42:54] they all seem to have a pretty consistent theme throughout.

[00:42:58] They're adventure games, ones where players explore a world, conquer dungeons, obtain specific key items needed to progress, and solve puzzles of varying difficulty along the way.

[00:43:10] This was especially true of the original game, but before this formula would become Zelda Law, there was a divergent path the series took early on.

[00:43:20] When Zelda 2 was being developed, focus was put more so on action-oriented gameplay than what came before it.

[00:43:29] Tadashi Sujiyama and Yasuhisa Yamamura were directors on the project, and one of the series' creators, the legendary Shigeru Miyamoto, was placed in the producer's role.

[00:43:42] Tadashi Sujiyama was quoted once saying Miyamoto's version of Zelda 2 was to focus on action.

[00:43:49] He wanted a side-scrolling action-adventure game that put emphasis on combat, and made use of up-and-down movements of the player character.

[00:43:58] From the sounds of it, he wanted to have the player feel as though they were engaging in actual battle with enemies, not just stomping on them or dispatching them with ease.

[00:44:08] This really wasn't possible in the first game, but in this new iteration, new gameplay elements were inherently possible.

[00:44:17] As an admirer of the entire series, even though I still have many games in the series to go,

[00:44:22] I always assume the reason Zelda 2 is considered so unique and often looked at as the oddball

[00:44:28] is that there really isn't a game quite like it in all of the 25-plus iterations of the series.

[00:44:35] When A Link to the Past was released in 1991, the series returned to its previous top-down perspective

[00:44:41] and largely abandoned the action focus for a more exploratory, puzzle-solving approach.

[00:44:48] Even though the series evolved multiple times, A Link to the Past DNA is much more prevalent in future titles.

[00:44:55] And while Zelda 2 did have a few things that carried over into other games, such as a magic meter,

[00:45:01] emphasis on NPCs to enrich and advance the story, and the usage of the enemy Dark Link,

[00:45:07] most everything else was largely left behind.

[00:45:11] Zelda 2 needed to happen so that Nintendo knew where the focus for the series needed to go.

[00:45:17] Call it a sacrificial lamb, if you will.

[00:45:20] In that way, you could argue that Zelda 2 was essential.

[00:45:25] But for me, just a regular guy, I've only ever been curious about one thing.

[00:45:31] Is Zelda 2 The Adventure of Link a good game?

[00:45:36] Was it fun? Was it enjoyable?

[00:45:38] It's easy for this game to be called The Outsider because, let's face it, it is.

[00:45:44] But if you remove what came before it, all that's come after it, and really look at it for what it is,

[00:45:50] is this game one that you'll have a good time with and should consider giving a go?

[00:45:56] Or is it a poor attempt at a side-scrolling action-adventure RPG that needs to remain on the shelf, gathering dust?

[00:46:03] Well, that's what I wanted to figure out.

[00:46:07] I finally sat down and put some considerable time into this game,

[00:46:11] and while I have not completed this game as of this recording,

[00:46:14] I've put enough time and energy into it where I feel like my mind is pretty well made up

[00:46:18] and I am ready to pass judgment.

[00:46:21] So, with that said, it's time for you and I to embark on this unique adventure, my friend.

[00:46:27] We're going to slot this game into our Nintendo and see what Zelda 2 is all about.

[00:46:31] And in order to do that, let's start by peeling back the layers of this game even further than we already have

[00:46:39] and see exactly what it is that we're working with.

[00:46:44] So, what is this game?

[00:46:47] As previously mentioned, Zelda 2 The Adventure of Link is a side-scrolling action-adventure RPG where players take control of Link.

[00:46:56] The game takes place right after the first game, and although we defeated Ganon and brought peace to Hyrule,

[00:47:02] there is much more going on behind the scenes.

[00:47:05] In order to awaken Princess Zelda from a sleeping spell, we're going to need to secure the Triforce of Courage

[00:47:13] by conquering six palaces in order to gain access to the Great Palace.

[00:47:18] But our journey isn't going to be as simple as moving from palace to palace.

[00:47:23] Ganon's minions are out for blood, quite literally,

[00:47:26] and we'll need to level up in order to be strong enough to keep pace with them.

[00:47:31] Now, in most of the older retro games that I've covered on the show up to this point,

[00:47:36] the story setups are generally pretty simple.

[00:47:39] Sometimes you get nods to the story and gameplay, but most of the time,

[00:47:43] you're just thrust into the game itself and the story is largely relegated to the instruction manual for you to read.

[00:47:49] The latter is very much the case for Zelda 2.

[00:47:53] When you start the game, you're put inside the temple where Princess Zelda is sleeping, and off you go.

[00:47:59] No in-game explanation other than a short text crawl at the start of the game.

[00:48:05] So, in order to understand what's going on here, let's grab the instruction manual and see what our adventure is all about.

[00:48:12] Holy shit! This instruction manual is thick!

[00:48:18] What do we have here?

[00:48:22] 50 pages? 50?!

[00:48:25] And the first 12 or so are story setup.

[00:48:29] Man, if I owned this game as a kid, I'll bet I would have been on cloud nine.

[00:48:35] I used to take my old instruction manuals on car rides with me and to school to read through.

[00:48:41] With 50 pages, I could read this manual for hours!

[00:48:45] Well, I'm not going to do that here, but I do want to touch on the story just a little bit.

[00:48:50] It is pretty basic fare, but any hero on a quest needs to know why it is he's questing, so let's take a look.

[00:48:58] I'm not going to read this one word for word, but let's summarize.

[00:49:03] Hyrule was on the road to ruin.

[00:49:07] The power that the vile heart of Ganon had left behind was causing chaos and disorder.

[00:49:13] What's more, even after the fall of Ganon, some of his underlings remained, waiting for Ganon's return.

[00:49:20] The key to Ganon's return was the blood of Link, the valiant lad who overthrew the King of Evil.

[00:49:28] Ganon would be revived by sacrificing Link and sprinkling his blood on the ashes of Ganon.

[00:49:35] Wow, that is dark.

[00:49:38] But, kinda cool, not gonna lie.

[00:49:40] Anyway.

[00:49:41] One day, a strange mark exactly like the crest of the kingdom appeared on the back of Link's hand.

[00:49:49] Link went to Impa, Princess Zelda's nursemaid.

[00:49:53] Impa took Link to a door in the castle and pressed the back of his hand against it.

[00:49:59] There was a sound of a lock falling open, the door slowly creaking open,

[00:50:04] and there was an altar in the middle of the room.

[00:50:07] Upon it lay a beautiful woman.

[00:50:10] Impa explained that this was Princess Zelda.

[00:50:14] Long ago, the King of Hyrule maintained the peace of the kingdom by using the Triforce.

[00:50:20] When the King eventually passed away, the Prince was surprised to learn that he could only inherit parts of the Triforce.

[00:50:28] The Prince searched everywhere for the missing parts, but alas, he could not find them.

[00:50:34] It was later revealed that the King had told Princess Zelda information about the Triforce and where the missing parts were.

[00:50:43] The Prince questioned Zelda, but Zelda told him nothing.

[00:50:47] A magician who was close to the King threatened to put Zelda into an eternal sleep if she did not talk, but even still, she said nothing.

[00:50:59] In his anger, the magician cast the spell on the Princess.

[00:51:03] The Prince tried to fight off the magician, but ultimately the spell was cast and Princess Zelda fell,

[00:51:09] entering a sleep from which she might never awake.

[00:51:13] At the same time, the magician fell down and breathed his last.

[00:51:19] In his grief, the Prince placed the Princess in a room in the castle.

[00:51:24] So this tragedy would never be forgotten.

[00:51:27] He ordered every female child born into the royal household shall be given the name Zelda.

[00:51:35] Hold up a minute.

[00:51:37] So this means the Zelda we rescued in the first game was not THE real Zelda?

[00:51:43] Huh, was not expecting that one.

[00:51:46] Anyway, let's carry on.

[00:51:49] From the stand next to the altar where Princess Zelda lay in a deep sleep, Impa took six crystals and a scroll with the same crest and handed them to Link.

[00:52:01] On the scroll, which was written in an ancient text no one could read except for Link now because he's apparently the chosen one,

[00:52:10] it's said that a spell had been cast on all of Hyrule.

[00:52:14] A crest will appear on a young man with good character that has been brought up correctly, has gained many kinds of experiences and reached a certain age.

[00:52:25] They will be the one destined to find the Triforce of Courage in the Great Palace.

[00:52:33] However, to enter there Link must fight the Guardians and undo the Binding Force.

[00:52:40] After defeating a Guardian, Link is to put one of the crystals in the statue that he'll find after the battle.

[00:52:47] After setting all six crystals, the Great Palace will open and Link will need to defeat a final Guardian in order to obtain the Triforce.

[00:52:57] The scroll goes on to say that there is nothing to fear.

[00:53:01] You are the one to get the Triforce and you are the beacon of hope for Hyrule.

[00:53:08] Whew, that was a lot! And I was cutting out a lot of stuff too!

[00:53:15] Even though the story setup is pretty cookie cutter if you take out all the fluff,

[00:53:19] I will always appreciate a good narrative driver for upcoming gameplay.

[00:53:25] So basically if you take anything away from my presentation, it's that we need to wake Zelda up from her nap.

[00:53:30] We do this by conquering seven dungeons and not dying in the process.

[00:53:36] If we do die, our blood will be used to revive the bad guy and that is not at all what we want to happen.

[00:53:42] Simple enough, right?

[00:53:44] Well, adventurers, we know what we're doing and why.

[00:53:48] Now it's time to set out on our journey.

[00:53:50] Let's grab Zelda 2 off the shelf and slide it into our Nintendo.

[00:53:57] Whoa!

[00:53:58] The Nintendo cartridge for Zelda 2 was originally golden and it was a thing of beauty.

[00:54:08] I believe the game had another manufacturing run and those cartridges were the standard grey when they ran them again,

[00:54:15] but man, do I love the design of this gold cartridge.

[00:54:20] Mm-mm-mm.

[00:54:21] After sliding the cartridge into the NES, go ahead and hit the power button and let's get started.

[00:54:29] As soon as the screen comes up, we see a sword stuck in the ground near a cliff's edge.

[00:54:35] In the distance, we can see a body of water and high above, we get a glimpse of the night sky extending above, stars shining brightly.

[00:54:44] If we pay close attention, we'll catch a glimpse of a shooting star heading towards the horizon.

[00:54:50] Just as we lose sight of it, the title of our adventure comes up from beyond the horizon.

[00:54:56] Zelda 2 The Adventure of Link.

[00:54:59] There's no prompt on screen, but if we press the start button, we'll move on from here,

[00:55:04] but if you're willing to wait a few moments, the title screen will scroll up and make way for a very short story summary setting up the game.

[00:55:13] Not to pat myself on the back or anything, but I think I already did a pretty damn good job summing up this game's story,

[00:55:20] so let's not waste any more time here.

[00:55:22] Hit the start button and let's get to work.

[00:55:25] On screen now is the select screen.

[00:55:29] Zelda 2 allowed players to save up to three instances of the game.

[00:55:34] In order to start a new game, you need to register your name.

[00:55:38] So let's hit the start button so we can do that.

[00:55:42] Alright, from here, enter your name.

[00:55:45] So what is your name, traveler?

[00:55:49] I'm sorry, what was that?

[00:55:50] Please speak directly into your phone or car speaker.

[00:55:55] Ah, got it.

[00:55:56] Okay, let's enter it.

[00:56:04] Alex.

[00:56:09] Perfect.

[00:56:11] Haha, I hope there's an Alex listening to this, and I hope you just had your world rocked, my friend.

[00:56:17] Haha.

[00:56:18] Anyway, whatever your name is, once we input it, go down to End and that'll take you back to the top of the menu.

[00:56:26] From here, press Start next to your name and we're off.

[00:56:30] Now, the first thing you're going to see is your name, followed by Link's in-game sprite, and beside that is the number 3.

[00:56:39] Looks a lot like when you started Game of Super Mario Bros., doesn't it?

[00:56:43] Because of that, I'm sure you know what this is, right?

[00:56:47] That is your life count.

[00:56:50] In Zelda 2, you start the game with three lives, and when you run out of them, it is game over.

[00:56:56] It's not a complete game over, we'll be able to save our acquired levels and special items and all that, but we will be sent back to the very beginning of the world map, which can be a real pain in the ass.

[00:57:08] But, we will worry about that later.

[00:57:12] Past this screen, it all begins and we're thrust right into our adventure.

[00:57:18] On screen, we can see that we're in the room where Zelda slumbers.

[00:57:23] She's lying on a pedestal at the top of a white set of stairs.

[00:57:27] The game doesn't give us any direction, so it's up to us to figure out where we need to go from here.

[00:57:34] Before we move on though, it'll be a good idea to get used to how this game controls and get a feel for moving Link around the screen.

[00:57:42] Okay, first things first, left and right on the directional pad will move Link in those directions. Easy enough.

[00:57:49] Your A button will have Link jump upwards, and you'll want to practice that a little bit here just to get a feel for it.

[00:57:56] There's a decent amount of platforming ahead of us, so we'll want to be as familiar with how Link jumps as we can.

[00:58:04] But don't worry too much about the platforming, there's really not a ton of it and it really isn't all that complicated.

[00:58:11] If nothing else, we're going to be jumping a lot in combat or using our jump ability to evade combat scenarios, so either way, get used to how Link jumps.

[00:58:21] The one thing we will be doing a lot of, and it can be complicated sometimes, is fighting.

[00:58:28] Link carries a magic sword with him, and you can thrust it forward by pressing the B button.

[00:58:34] When you do this, you'll notice there's just a moment's worth of windup that Link does.

[00:58:39] He'll pull back and then he'll thrust forward.

[00:58:43] You'll absolutely need to keep this in mind when you're in a fight with the enemy.

[00:58:47] Let's go ahead and try it now.

[00:58:52] Ooh, nice! And would you look at that!

[00:58:55] When you swing your sword, an energy beam flies out in front of you.

[00:59:00] Any time you have full health, you'll be able to shoot an energy beam out in front of you.

[00:59:04] The range isn't all that great, and some tougher enemies will just shrug this off, but it's a great incentive to not take damage if you can help it.

[00:59:14] But you'll also notice that Link's actual sword is pretty short.

[00:59:20] Really, it has the range of a dagger, and it drives me up a wall if I'm being honest.

[00:59:25] You'll need to get very close to your enemies in order to deal damage with your blade, and since Link has a windup animation before thrusting forward, it can make some of the harder enemies very agitating to fight.

[00:59:37] But we'll get to that nonsense soon enough, believe that.

[00:59:43] And while that can suck, lucky for us, we have a way to ward off attacks.

[00:59:49] In Link's offhand, he's carrying a shield.

[00:59:52] The nice thing about the shield is it will actually block a decent amount of attacks, and Link will take no damage as a result.

[01:00:01] And better yet, the shield doesn't just reflect projectiles either.

[01:00:06] It can deflect sword and spear strikes too.

[01:00:10] Now, here's where it gets complicated… or fun, depending on your mindset.

[01:00:16] Pressing and holding down on the directional pad will have Link crouch.

[01:00:20] Doing this will have Link move his shield in front of his lower body so you can actually block attacks coming at you from further down.

[01:00:29] Some enemies will attack you at chest level, some at your knees, so you'll have to be mindful and block accordingly.

[01:00:37] This can actually be a little overwhelming at first, but once you learn the timing of some enemies and you just pay attention in general,

[01:00:45] you'll be parrying attacks with your shield and responding in kind with your sword.

[01:00:50] Miyamoto really wanted the player to feel like they were in a sword fight at times, and this mechanic really makes it feel that way.

[01:00:58] To add to your offensive and defensive abilities, you can swing your sword while crouching and jumping,

[01:01:04] so keep that in mind as well.

[01:01:07] The last thing I wanted to mention was that, as you play the game, you'll discover seasoned swordsmen hanging out in some of the villages that you'll visit.

[01:01:16] One will teach you an upward thrust technique, and another will teach you a downward thrust technique.

[01:01:22] The upper thrust is pretty situational, but that downward thrust is a game-changer.

[01:01:30] It's a lot like the downward pogo stick technique from DuckTales.

[01:01:35] Once you learn this move and master it, the game becomes much easier.

[01:01:42] Okay, I think that's enough with the controls.

[01:01:45] There's some information at the top of your screen that's important, but we'll get into that in a little bit.

[01:01:49] For now, let's begin our journey to Awaken Zelda.

[01:01:55] First things first, we need to find our first temple.

[01:01:58] Let's head to the right side of the screen until we exit the area that we're in.

[01:02:03] Once we leave the area, we are taken to the overworld map.

[01:02:08] This top-down view allows us to see a lot of things around us.

[01:02:12] We'll notice right away the area that we were just in.

[01:02:15] We're literally standing right on top of it.

[01:02:18] In order to move Link around on the overworld map, all you need to do is press a direction on your directional pad,

[01:02:24] and Link will move in said direction.

[01:02:27] The temple that we were just at is surrounded by water, with a path extending to the right.

[01:02:32] Let's follow the path for the moment and see where it leads.

[01:02:36] Now, while we obviously can't walk on water, we can walk off the path and explore a little bit if we wanted to.

[01:02:45] Games like this are all about exploration, so if you feel inclined, you can walk off the beaten path at any point.

[01:02:53] But, be warned. If you stray from the path, you may attract the attention of Ganon's forces.

[01:03:01] Ah crap, see what I mean?

[01:03:03] The moment you step into the grass, three black silhouettes appear on screen.

[01:03:09] Wow, they are moving fast. Crap, watch out! One of them is right on top of you.

[01:03:16] In a flash, the screen changes back to a side-scrolling view, and some intense battle music starts to play.

[01:03:24] What in the world is going on?

[01:03:27] Don't fret, dear listener, it is actually pretty simple.

[01:03:30] We have more or less entered a random battle situation.

[01:03:35] In this little area, there's enemies lurking.

[01:03:38] Now, we don't need to defeat all the enemies to get out of this situation.

[01:03:42] All we need to do is exit the area by going as far left or as far right as we can,

[01:03:47] at which point we'll be tossed back to the overworld map.

[01:03:51] But, there's no real need to do that right now.

[01:03:54] What we really should do is try our hand at combat.

[01:03:58] Not only will we get some good experience, Link himself will gain experience in-game,

[01:04:04] and that is going to be super important as we go.

[01:04:07] Sound like a plan?

[01:04:09] Okay, let's move Link to the right.

[01:04:12] On the ground, we'll notice a blue little blob slowly moving towards us.

[01:04:17] This jelly monster is called a bot, and it'll sometimes jump towards us if we're not careful.

[01:04:24] Actually, one of the best things we can do to avoid taking damage from the enemy is using our sword's magic beam.

[01:04:31] It'll do damage while keeping us out of harm's way.

[01:04:35] Since we're at full health, let's take advantage while we can.

[01:04:40] Now, obviously, we're going to need to crouch so our blade is low enough to the ground to do some damage.

[01:04:45] So let's crouch and attack.

[01:04:50] Nice! Pretty cool, right?

[01:04:52] Our enemy isn't dead yet though, so give it one more blast.

[01:04:58] Awesome, good work.

[01:05:00] Wait a second, did you see that?

[01:05:02] If you blink, you'll miss it, but a number two came up from the little blob before it disappeared.

[01:05:09] That right there is one of my favorite things in the whole wide world.

[01:05:13] Experience points.

[01:05:15] The experience point system in Zelda 2 is the only time in the series that we ever see it to my knowledge.

[01:05:23] If you look at the top right-hand side of your screen, you'll see an experience point counter.

[01:05:29] Between the two sets of numbers, the one on the left is how many points we currently have,

[01:05:34] and the number on the right is the number that we need to get to in order to level up.

[01:05:40] Any time we get enough points, we don't level up per se,

[01:05:44] but we're able to spend those points to upgrade one of three attributes.

[01:05:48] What are those attributes, you might be wondering to yourself?

[01:05:53] First, our attack power.

[01:05:55] The higher level that is, the more damage we deal.

[01:05:58] Pretty simple.

[01:06:00] Next, we have our magic.

[01:06:02] The higher our magic level is, the less any magic spells we have will cost to cast.

[01:06:09] And lastly, we have life.

[01:06:13] This one is a little misleading because you would think a higher life level means your health bar will increase,

[01:06:19] but a higher life level actually reduces the amount of damage you take.

[01:06:23] Think of it as your defense.

[01:06:26] This system is nice because it allows you to increase your skills in a way that makes sense to you and your playstyle,

[01:06:33] though it has a bit of a catch.

[01:06:36] You can spec link out to focus on attack while sacrificing defense, let's say,

[01:06:41] or you can focus on defense or level them up evenly.

[01:06:45] The choice is kinda yours.

[01:06:46] But the catch is, the total amount of experience needed for each attribute is not the same.

[01:06:55] Leveling up life the first time costs 50 experience, magic costs 100, and then attack a whopping 200.

[01:07:04] Now, you can save up your points to just focus on attack if you wanted, but then you'll be sacrificing growth elsewhere.

[01:07:13] It is a pretty simple system, and it does make you think a little bit about what it is that you want to focus on,

[01:07:18] but all things told, I really appreciated the leveling system in this game and it was probably my favorite feature that this game has to offer as a whole.

[01:07:28] While not all enemies will grant experience points, you'll still be incentivized to enter combat.

[01:07:34] Link as a character and you as a player will need to gain experience and grow to take on the game's harder challenges,

[01:07:41] so get to practicing.

[01:07:44] Speaking of, there's another little blue jelly heading our way.

[01:07:48] Why don't you take it out as well?

[01:07:54] Beautiful.

[01:07:56] Now, in these encounters, killing all the enemies won't send you back to the overworld map.

[01:08:02] All you need to do is just walk to the left or to the right until you hit the edge of the area and then you're out.

[01:08:08] I don't see any more slimeballs wiggling around, so let's get out of here.

[01:08:16] Alright, so now that we're back on the map, let's head over to the nearest road.

[01:08:21] Enemies won't spawn on the map if you're on the path, so you can move around without interruption.

[01:08:27] It is worth noting though that if there are enemies following you and you make it back to the road,

[01:08:32] they'll still pull you into battle if they touch you, but no enemies will be present, so you'll be free to exit the situation unharmed.

[01:08:40] Monsters in Hyrule apparently don't care for man-made flat surfaces, I guess.

[01:08:45] Anyway, the next thing we need to figure out is where do we go from here.

[01:08:50] That's sort of the beauty of this game, I have to say.

[01:08:53] It in no way tells you where you need to go next.

[01:08:57] All you know is that you need to find the six palaces and conquer them so you can get to the seventh.

[01:09:03] Now, if you happen to have the instruction manual for the game, there is a map for this very first area that you're in,

[01:09:10] so you can sort of get an idea of what's around you.

[01:09:14] But I'm going to guess that this isn't something you're probably going to have more than likely.

[01:09:19] So, how can we figure out where to go? Simple. Scattered across Hyrule are several towns.

[01:09:27] If we visit towns, we can talk to the townspeople and see if we can figure some things out, so I vote that we head to the nearest one.

[01:09:35] If you follow the road that you're on right now to the right, and then keep right at the fork, you'll eventually come to a town.

[01:09:43] The town of… r-ra-ra-ru? R-ra-ru. The town of… r-ra-ru? R-ra-ru. It's a town, and we're going there.

[01:09:53] There's plenty to do, so let's head inside.

[01:09:59] When we enter the town, we approach from the right side of the screen, so we're going to be moving to the left here.

[01:10:06] Some female villagers in red who I think are balancing water bowls on their head come into view.

[01:10:11] If you stand close to a villager and press your A button, you'll talk to them.

[01:10:16] Let's try that now with some of these young ladies.

[01:10:20] Ah, she says hello!

[01:10:22] And nothing more, apparently.

[01:10:25] Well, at least she was pleasant.

[01:10:27] Moving on, we'll come across a house with its door shut.

[01:10:31] We can't enter a building unless the door's open, so let's just keep pressing on.

[01:10:36] Just after the house, we'll spot an old woman. Let's go say hi to her.

[01:10:43] Return the crystal to the palace in Parappa.

[01:10:47] Alright, thank you, old one. We are already aware of our mission.

[01:10:51] Anyway, the next house we come up to has their door wide open, so let's invade someone's home and enter, shall we?

[01:11:02] Inside, there's a rather portly man in purple.

[01:11:05] Let's see if he has any sage advice for us.

[01:11:10] If all else fails, use fire.

[01:11:15] Nice. Very good. Solid advice, I'd say.

[01:11:18] I use that advice in my everyday life already, but it's good to keep on our back pocket.

[01:11:23] You know, I have to say, I really do enjoy the villagers in this game.

[01:11:28] They're nice, they're calming, the music in the village itself is great, and the villagers themselves are pretty helpful, even if they spout some cryptic stuff sometimes.

[01:11:39] I especially like how any dialogue they have is crammed into one text box, so sometimes they sound like robots.

[01:11:47] Ah, the villages are so lovely.

[01:11:49] Except for that one town where some of the villagers randomly turn into bats because they're enemy spies.

[01:11:56] That actually killed me once, goddammit.

[01:11:59] But anyway, I'm getting way ahead of myself.

[01:12:02] Let's head out of this large man's home and keep checking out the town.

[01:12:08] At the next house down, a lovely lady is hanging out by her front door.

[01:12:13] Let's see what she has to offer.

[01:12:16] Please let me help you come inside.

[01:12:21] Huh, what is this now?

[01:12:23] The woman heads to her front door, opens it, and heads inside, leaving the door open for us.

[01:12:28] Well, I suppose it would be rude to refuse the request of such a beautiful lady.

[01:12:33] Let's go ahead and head inside.

[01:12:37] I can restore your life.

[01:12:40] Okay.

[01:12:41] At this point, if you've taken any damage in combat, this lovely lady will restore your health to full.

[01:12:48] How does she do that, you might be wondering?

[01:12:51] Well, I'm sure plenty of people have made this joke over the years, and it would be absolutely juvenile if I made the same joke.

[01:12:58] So, I'm going to make it anyway.

[01:13:06] Link gets his health back in the most sensual way possible.

[01:13:10] Grrrrr.

[01:13:12] Ah, the perks of being a hero.

[01:13:17] I'm just kidding, don't get your underwear in a bunch.

[01:13:21] We all thought it when we were young teenagers, and don't you dare deny it.

[01:13:26] In all seriousness though, a lot of the villagers are generally very nice to Link and supportive, so I always thought he was just either getting a nice meal or the lovely lady was just patching his wounds.

[01:13:39] While there is magic that you can learn that will restore lost health in the field, always keep in mind the lady in red if you need to come back to town and restore your health.

[01:13:50] After we part ways with the lady in red, continue heading left to the next screen.

[01:13:55] Here there's a man that might have some information.

[01:13:58] Let's poke him on the shoulder and say hey.

[01:14:02] Only the hammer can destroy a roadblock.

[01:14:06] Ah, good to know.

[01:14:08] On the overworld map you'll occasionally come across big boulders blocking your path.

[01:14:13] Looks like a hammer of some kind is what we'll need to get those out of the way, so let's remember that for later.

[01:14:19] While you're pretty free to roam the overworld of Hyrule at your leisure, there are some elements of gear gating in play, meaning that you'll have to find the right item to move forward.

[01:14:30] And that'll require us to explore caves and dungeons thoroughly.

[01:14:36] Alright, let's continue on.

[01:14:38] There's one more important house that we need to visit.

[01:14:41] There we go.

[01:14:42] Right up ahead is a rather large gray house.

[01:14:46] Outside said house there's a lady in purple.

[01:14:49] Walk up to her and see what she has to say.

[01:14:53] Talk with my father before you leave town.

[01:14:57] The woman, like the last one, heads inside her home and leaves the door open for us.

[01:15:03] Go ahead and head inside and let's see what her father has to say.

[01:15:09] The inside of the home is mostly red and pretty empty.

[01:15:13] As we head to the right, we'll see the woman standing by a table.

[01:15:18] If we talk to her, she'll tell us that every town has a wise man and that we should learn from them.

[01:15:24] Town wise men and even swordsmen can pass along magic spells or new sword techniques for us to use, and they are going to be indispensable in our journey.

[01:15:35] Not all are easy to find though.

[01:15:38] Some are only found after completing a quest or taking on a specific task.

[01:15:43] You'll want to go out of your way to find these men because not only are some of the techniques you'll learn a great way to give you some advantages in and out of combat,

[01:15:53] some are very essential to finishing your quest.

[01:15:57] Continue heading to the right past the woman and eventually we'll find ourselves in the basement.

[01:16:02] At the end of the passageway, we'll find an old man in a red cloak.

[01:16:07] He looks every bit as much of a wise man as you would expect him to, and when we get close to him, he starts to speak.

[01:16:16] In Parappa Desert, use this magic to survive.

[01:16:21] At this point the screen flashes.

[01:16:25] And then we see a menu open displaying the name of a magic spell that we just learned.

[01:16:31] Shield.

[01:16:35] Shield is a great spell to have, as casting it will cut damage received by enemies in half.

[01:16:42] The effects will last until you leave the room or screen that you're on, so it is a great spell to use when you're going up against the palace guardians.

[01:16:52] There's eight magic spells to learn in total, some of which include

[01:16:56] Jump, which increases Link's jump height, which allows him to get to previously inaccessible areas.

[01:17:02] Fire, which is used to throw a fireball by swinging your sword.

[01:17:06] And Fairy, which transforms you into a, you guessed it, Fairy, for which I assume is a way to traverse the world a little easier.

[01:17:15] Each spell takes a certain amount of magic, and as you gain levels to your magic stat, you'll be able to cast spells more often.

[01:17:24] Some spells, like the ultimate attack magic, Thunder, are so powerful, you'll have to have a very high magic stat just to be able to cast it.

[01:17:34] I didn't get very far in my initial playthrough of Zelda 2, but once I learned the Life spell, which restores a good portion of your lost health, it made things a bit easier for me.

[01:17:46] I don't know what it was, but there was a point where I started to get very frustrated with this game and its difficulty.

[01:17:53] I somehow kept finding ways to take damage and die.

[01:17:57] I even complained about it on social media at one point.

[01:18:00] I blamed it mostly on me just sucking at video games, but for a while, I couldn't play the game more than ten minutes without needing to backtrack all the way to a town and see the nice young lady in red about some healing.

[01:18:15] Life magic made it to where I didn't have to backtrack nearly as much.

[01:18:20] That and putting time into the game slowly helped me get better at fighting, so there was that as well.

[01:18:27] Speaking of the game's difficulty, while the game is a decent challenge throughout, it's the palaces that'll really test you and your desire to finish your journey.

[01:18:38] And while the first palace, the palace of Parappa, can be fairly easy for the most part, it'll be a great place for us to check out as we get a feel for more of what Zelda 2 has to offer.

[01:18:50] So let's head out of this old man's basement and leave town.

[01:18:55] While there's more to do in the area, let's head to Parappa Palace now and see if we can slot our first crystal.

[01:19:03] For as simple a setup as Zelda 2 is, it was around this point where the game honestly started to get its hooks in me.

[01:19:11] I'd like to think I'm a simple man who loves the simple things in life, and while Zelda 2 does and can have a lot going on, especially in the later game, I really love the gameplay loop.

[01:19:24] It's up to you to explore the world in order to figure out where you need to go next.

[01:19:28] All the while, you're battling monsters, gaining experience, and becoming stronger as you go.

[01:19:34] In the event you lose all three of your lives, it is game over, and while the game puts you all the way back to the location you started from, you do get to keep your skill progress.

[01:19:45] One thing that is really important to me is playing through a game that values my time as not just a gamer, but as a human.

[01:19:53] While I completely understand and often embrace the idea that old retro games can be unforgiving and you'll find your forward progress can be lost more often than not, I love a game that finds a way around that.

[01:20:07] In Zelda 2, I died. Often. I lost all three lives more times than I care to admit.

[01:20:14] But keeping my skill progress was enough for me to jump back in and not feel like my time was entirely wasted.

[01:20:22] I really enjoyed that about this game.

[01:20:25] Oh, and worth mentioning, I'm pretty sure you can keep any special items you find along the way too, so even though you start from the beginning, getting back to where you were,

[01:20:35] isn't really the worst thing ever.

[01:20:38] Now, to be clear, I did play a decent amount of Zelda 2 on my Nintendo Switch using the online service.

[01:20:45] And while I did try to avoid using save states as much as I could, I finally gave in and used a save state at the start of a palace or a larger area.

[01:20:55] It didn't just make the game easier to digest, but it made more sense from a progression standpoint to have to restart a palace at the beginning when you lost all your lives, and not have to hike the miles and miles just to get back.

[01:21:10] I didn't make it this far, but I did hear that when you get to the final palace in the game and you run out of all three of your lives, you'll pick back up in the final palace when you restart.

[01:21:22] And this only happens in the final palace for some reason. It's weird. I have no idea.

[01:21:28] We're almost to the palace in Parappa, but I had one more thought I wanted to throw out before we get there.

[01:21:36] When it comes to roleplaying games or games with RPG elements, I really enjoy being able to grind for levels, equipment, or for loot.

[01:21:45] It's a basic loop. Do the thing, get reward, feel dopamine, repeat.

[01:21:51] One of the things I was looking forward to the most was level grinding in Zelda 2 and trying to make my link as overpowered as possible.

[01:22:00] And while these opportunities do exist in a way, you don't really have to grind in order to have a solid experience here.

[01:22:08] It's a very odd comparison, but the point I want to make reminds me of my feelings for Sea of Stars, the indie RPG that I'm currently playing.

[01:22:19] Grinding in that game is very slow going and the experience that enemies dole out make it to where you're going to be spending a long time before you see the next level.

[01:22:30] However, you level up pretty quick as you continue the main story and enemies do scale pretty naturally accordingly.

[01:22:38] Sea of Stars wants you to focus on the narrative, and while there's plenty of side quests and activities to partake in, you're encouraged to just keep pushing forward.

[01:22:48] In a way, it's trying to be mindful of my time in that way.

[01:22:52] Zelda 2 is kinda like that.

[01:22:55] While you can jump into one-off battles and revisit palaces to defeat enemies for experience, you don't really need to.

[01:23:05] My progression was very well balanced and I never felt too weak to take on a challenge.

[01:23:11] Though, I will admit it was nice grinding a little so I could put some extra levels into my attack stat.

[01:23:17] I am a firm believer that attack power is king most of the time.

[01:23:21] Why worry about defense when killing the enemy outright prevents them from attacking you at all, thereby having to rely on your defense stat?

[01:23:30] Still though, what I'm trying to get at is that I never felt like I had to grind in Zelda 2 and progression was evenly paced.

[01:23:38] I appreciated that.

[01:23:40] Especially when I learned how to exploit the experience system a little bit when you complete palaces, but I'll touch on that here in a little bit.

[01:23:49] Okay, we are here.

[01:23:52] I'm skipping a decent amount of stuff, but I wanted to tackle the first dungeon before we finish up today.

[01:23:58] The palaces are probably my favorite part of Zelda 2 as they do offer a decent challenge, they do offer up some awesome rewards, and the music slaps, as the kids like to say.

[01:24:10] They aren't perfect though, some enemy placement is very agitating, and some of the platforming that you'll have to do can be just as agitating, but for my money, palaces are where this game shine.

[01:24:22] So, how about it, dear listener?

[01:24:25] Up for one quick jaunt into the unknown?

[01:24:28] Of course you are.

[01:24:29] Steal thyself and prepare for battle.

[01:24:34] When we enter the palace, we start just outside of it.

[01:24:38] Gray bricks above and below, along with several columns holding it all together.

[01:24:43] A stoic statue of a warrior clad in armor greets us.

[01:24:49] This is it.

[01:24:50] Our very first palace.

[01:24:52] There's no way to heal ourselves inside, so we're going to need to be careful.

[01:24:57] The ultimate goal is to locate the guardian, who will be guarding the statue we need to shove one of these crystals into.

[01:25:05] There's no map telling us where we're going, or where we've been, so our skills in pathfinding will be put to the test.

[01:25:13] The first palace isn't all that difficult, and it's hard to get lost in.

[01:25:17] Though, in some of the later palaces, I found myself sketching out the palace layout as I went.

[01:25:23] I'm an old man, and used a piece of paper, but the internet also exists, so I guess do what works for you.

[01:25:31] Anyway, let's get going.

[01:25:33] When you move as far right as you can, you'll come across an elevator of sorts.

[01:25:40] Really, this thing looks like a pair of those flute platforms that you would see in Super Mario Bros.,

[01:25:45] but somehow they operate as a means to go up and down.

[01:25:49] Stand in the center of this contraption and hold down on the directional pad to descend.

[01:25:55] When we get to the bottom floor, we're in a cramped hallway, and we can either move left or we can move right.

[01:26:03] Uh-oh, hold up a moment.

[01:26:05] We have an enemy coming in on our right.

[01:26:09] A demon, clad in orange armor, is hopping towards us with a knife outstretched, ready to shank us.

[01:26:17] Well, getting shanked is not on the agenda today, so let's take this threat out with a magic sword blast from our sword.

[01:26:25] Easy enough.

[01:26:27] Let's make our way to the left.

[01:26:30] As we move, another demon hopskips towards us.

[01:26:34] You know the drill at this point.

[01:26:36] Go ahead and put him down.

[01:26:37] Ah, crap, here comes another one.

[01:26:43] While these enemies are relatively easy to kill, they will keep spawning, so we should just keep moving.

[01:26:50] Plus, you'll notice these enemies don't award any experience points, so there's no reason to dilly-dally.

[01:26:58] If you don't want to stop and kill each one of these guys, you can jump over them if you want.

[01:27:05] Regardless of your methods, continue to the next area on the left.

[01:27:09] In the next room, we can see a platform a little ways above us with a couple blue slime creatures on them.

[01:27:17] These guys are the ones that you find out on the overworld map, so I always make it a point to take them out for the couple of experience points that you will get.

[01:27:26] Just be careful, though.

[01:27:28] For some reason, these guys are a little more aggressive than their overworld map counterparts.

[01:27:33] Take care as you move forward and...

[01:27:36] Ah, crap, it jumped!

[01:27:37] Watch out!

[01:27:39] Damn it, one of them nailed us for some damage.

[01:27:43] So, now that that's happened, a couple things.

[01:27:46] First, you'll notice taking damage really knocks you back.

[01:27:50] Not super far or anything, not like the earlier Castlevania games.

[01:27:54] But the knockback can be problematic if you find yourself jumping over holes in the floor, water, or lava traps.

[01:28:02] Nothing causes more traumatic stress in one's life than falling to your death thanks to knockback.

[01:28:09] The second thing that you'll notice is that, the next time you swing your sword, you'll have lost the ability to toss out the energy beam thing.

[01:28:17] Until you restore your life to full, you'll have to rely on actual sword strikes to take out your foes.

[01:28:24] Like I mentioned before, Link's sword is way too friggin' short, and once you have to use it in a close-up battle, you'll understand why this is extremely frustrating.

[01:28:35] And lastly, and most obviously, you'll notice that your health bar at the top of the screen has gone down a little bit.

[01:28:43] When it's completely empty, you lose a life, but more annoyingly, if you're reduced to one quarter of your health remaining or less,

[01:28:51] a warning alarm will sound and it will not stop until you restore your health.

[01:28:58] Just for funsies, it sounds a little like this.

[01:29:05] Oh, man, how agitating, right?

[01:29:09] Can you imagine playing through the rest of the palace hearing this?

[01:29:14] We really, really need to be careful because, while dying is bad, listening to this for ten straight minutes is just awful.

[01:29:23] In fact, I'm pretty sure having this in a game is a war crime, so let's just be sure to keep our health up, okay?

[01:29:31] Ugh, I cannot stand low health indicator sounds.

[01:29:36] Well, let me take that back.

[01:29:37] I don't mind the ones that make a noise or two and then go away, like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on the NES or Star Fox.

[01:29:46] It's when they will not stop that I start thinking about cutting off my own ears.

[01:29:51] My God!

[01:29:54] Anyway, I am droning on.

[01:29:55] Go ahead and kill these slimes so we can move on.

[01:30:03] Excellent.

[01:30:05] Continue on to the left from here and soon you'll be greeted by a new enemy.

[01:30:10] Standing above you is a Stalfos, a skeleton warrior brandishing a sword and shield.

[01:30:18] As soon as you pass under it, the skeleton drops down with its sword angled downwards.

[01:30:24] Hey, don't stop and watch it!

[01:30:26] Get out of the way!

[01:30:28] Goddammit, that really hurt!

[01:30:30] Let's return the gesture with a little stabby stabby of our own.

[01:30:35] Now, if you're anything like me, you're probably going to head right in with your sword arm swinging.

[01:30:41] But then you'll realize that the skeleton shield isn't for show.

[01:30:46] See what I mean?

[01:30:47] You're going to have to get low and take out your enemy at the knees.

[01:30:52] Which is the precise moment you truly realize how short your sword actually is.

[01:30:58] You're going to have to get very close before your sword will make contact.

[01:31:03] Now, it's not that bad, really.

[01:31:06] But the thing you'll have to manage is the skeleton taking swings at you.

[01:31:12] But this is where you can also rely on your own shield.

[01:31:16] The skeleton will swing its sword out in front of it above waist level.

[01:31:19] So if you stand up and don't swing your sword, its sword will bounce off your shield as well.

[01:31:26] There you go.

[01:31:28] Nice.

[01:31:28] Just like that.

[01:31:30] Now, the whole idea the developers were going for was that they wanted to put the player into an actual sword fight scenario with these kind of enemy encounters.

[01:31:40] And I have to say, it certainly feels that way.

[01:31:44] It isn't always the most fun, though, which we'll get into when we come across another enemy in the palace.

[01:31:49] But for now, this skeleton fight does well enough to showcase the idea.

[01:31:54] But speaking of said skeleton, I'm getting kind of tired of looking at this thing.

[01:31:59] Would you so kindly crouch down and take this thing out by stabbing it repeatedly in the kneecaps, please?

[01:32:07] Good work.

[01:32:09] And would you look at that?

[01:32:11] 30 experience points.

[01:32:13] Nice.

[01:32:14] Some of the enemies in the palace give away some good XP, so be sure to take them out whenever you can.

[01:32:20] Now, if you continue to the left, you'll hit a dead end, but you'll also find a key.

[01:32:28] Palaces will have a number of locked doors preventing access to certain areas, and you'll need to find keys to progress.

[01:32:34] The thing about keys, though, is that keys only work in the palace that you find them in.

[01:32:40] So if you happen to complete a palace, but you still have some keys left over, you're obviously missing something, so just be mindful.

[01:32:48] Anyway, to grab the key here, all you need to do is strike it with your sword.

[01:32:53] Easy enough.

[01:32:54] Now that we have the key, let's double back and keep moving through the palace.

[01:32:59] There's a decent amount more to discover in this first palace, but given how long this episode is already going,

[01:33:05] I'm going to leave you to defeat the guardian and place the crystal in the statue.

[01:33:10] Or, if you wanted to be a sneaky adventurer, one thing you could do is, after you defeat the guardian,

[01:33:16] wait to place the crystal in the statue and come back and do it later.

[01:33:20] Putting the crystal in the statue will give you the amount of experience points you're missing to reach the next level.

[01:33:26] So, if you wait until later, when you're looking for, I don't know, a couple thousand experience points at once,

[01:33:33] putting the crystal in the statue will all of a sudden get you there.

[01:33:36] It is a fantastic little method that will save you a ton of time grinding out experience points.

[01:33:43] I never knew about this strategy until I read about it, so if this is new to you, you're welcome, I guess.

[01:33:50] I will say, while I did enjoy taking a moment here and there and grinding out experience points to try and level up one of Link's stats,

[01:33:58] I never felt like I really had to.

[01:34:01] Like I mentioned before, the game paced leveling pretty well,

[01:34:04] and it seemed to happen naturally when I would expect it to, so there is that.

[01:34:09] You're mainly going to get the most experience points in palaces.

[01:34:15] Speaking of, you will need to make sure that you find the candle that's hidden in this particular palace before you leave.

[01:34:21] Otherwise, you won't be able to progress without it.

[01:34:24] Actually, I take that back.

[01:34:26] You can progress without it, but it will be a huge pain in the ass if you don't have it.

[01:34:31] For what it's worth, and I assume others would agree,

[01:34:34] working your way through a palace in order to locate a new item that'll help you progress

[01:34:39] as well as expand your gameplay options is pretty appealing.

[01:34:43] There's a lot to love with this game, but there's certainly enough on the opposite side of that spectrum

[01:34:48] that can certainly bring things back to the middle for most players.

[01:34:53] But before we wrap this episode up, there's one more palace experience that I want us to experience together.

[01:35:00] If for no other reason than so others can share in my misery.

[01:35:07] So for those that follow the retro wildlands on social media,

[01:35:11] I made a post where I vented my frustrations about the game's difficulty.

[01:35:15] I fully expected this game to give me the business,

[01:35:18] but I didn't realize what it would be that would tip me into borderline rage territory.

[01:35:25] And it all came down to an enemy common in all the palaces called the Iron Knuckle.

[01:35:32] These enemies are clad in armor from head to toe.

[01:35:36] The basic ones are mostly orange, but red and blue variants exist.

[01:35:41] Once again, going back to what the developers were hoping to achieve out of the combat experience,

[01:35:46] they wanted the player to feel like they were engaging in an actual sword fight.

[01:35:50] Well, fighting this enemy accomplished that aesthetic very, very well.

[01:35:56] Almost too well.

[01:35:58] Those that have fought this thing are probably nodding your heads a little right here.

[01:36:03] So, how does this encounter work?

[01:36:06] When you come across an Iron Knuckle,

[01:36:08] it'll start to walk towards you in order to get into striking distance.

[01:36:13] By the time you find one of these enemies,

[01:36:16] you're probably feeling pretty decently confident in your fighting abilities.

[01:36:20] Link's sword, while small and cumbersome,

[01:36:23] is something you're starting to get used to.

[01:36:25] So, if you're like me,

[01:36:27] the first thing you'll do is walk straight up to the thing and take a swing.

[01:36:32] Your sword slash is immediately deflected by the Iron Knuckle shield.

[01:36:37] Huh. Not a big deal though, right?

[01:36:40] The skeleton warrior with a sword and shield from before

[01:36:43] was easily taken out by striking at the knees,

[01:36:46] so let's see if we can just repeat the strategy here.

[01:36:50] What the hell?

[01:36:52] The Iron Knuckle moves its shield down to deflect your sword a second time.

[01:36:57] Quick, try and hit him up high again before he can move his shield back up.

[01:37:00] Stand up and swing.

[01:37:02] Damn it, really?

[01:37:05] It's at this point your enemy winds up with their sword

[01:37:08] and tries to take a swing at you.

[01:37:10] Quick, watch out!

[01:37:12] Woo!

[01:37:13] Woo!

[01:37:13] Bounced right off of your own shield.

[01:37:16] Uh-oh, he's swinging low.

[01:37:18] Crouch down, quick!

[01:37:20] Nice!

[01:37:21] Oh man, this really does feel like a bona fide sword duel, doesn't it?

[01:37:26] You can't deny that this is actually kind of cool.

[01:37:30] It's like all those times we played make-believe as a kid.

[01:37:34] We'd find the perfect stick and imagined felling countless foes.

[01:37:39] Alright, let's find a way through the Iron Knuckle's defenses and take it out.

[01:37:47] Okay, I'm sure we'll land a hit here at any time.

[01:37:54] Oh, come on!

[01:37:57] Dammit, why can't we hit this guy?

[01:38:00] And all the while, he's chipping away at our health

[01:38:03] because it can be really hard balancing attacking and defending.

[01:38:09] I can't believe this!

[01:38:11] This is where we're gonna die, isn't it?

[01:38:14] Son of a bitch!

[01:38:23] After multiple encounters with this enemy type,

[01:38:27] I never did figure out the secret sauce when it came to beating them in battle.

[01:38:32] I did appreciate what the developers were trying to do here,

[01:38:36] but I never found fighting these enemies fun.

[01:38:39] There just seemed to be too much of a random element in play.

[01:38:43] Sometimes I would strike them before they could move their shield back up,

[01:38:47] other times I would just be smacking my sword against their shield for minutes at a time, it seemed.

[01:38:53] And I did read up online to see if there was a strategy,

[01:38:56] but the only thing I was able to find was an article where someone said

[01:39:00] that jump slashing would usually grant you a hit.

[01:39:04] I do know that things are made much easier in these type of battle situations

[01:39:08] when you have access to the downward thrust ability,

[01:39:11] which is nice, but that doesn't really help us in the early game.

[01:39:16] It was this specific enemy and enemies like this

[01:39:18] that you would think you'd be excited to see and want to fight.

[01:39:22] They certainly pose a challenge,

[01:39:23] and it can certainly be rewarding when you do finally defeat them.

[01:39:27] But more often than not,

[01:39:29] I would just sigh when they walked up on screen,

[01:39:32] and I would sink into my chair a little,

[01:39:34] muttering to myself,

[01:39:36] here we go again.

[01:39:38] Maybe there is a way to defeat these guys,

[01:39:41] and I'm just too dumb to figure it out.

[01:39:42] That's entirely possible, but...

[01:39:44] God damn.

[01:39:47] As we start to wind things down,

[01:39:49] there is a lot more to Zelda 2 here

[01:39:51] than what we've covered and experienced today,

[01:39:54] even though I know this episode is going to go pretty long.

[01:39:57] If you happen to hang out during our intro

[01:40:00] and listen to some of the community comments,

[01:40:02] it's pretty evident that this game can either be someone's favorite,

[01:40:05] or it could be their least favorite by a mile.

[01:40:09] Most of the time, it's hard to find someone that's in the middle of the spectrum, though.

[01:40:14] And while I try my best not to be a fence-sitter,

[01:40:17] I think that's exactly what this game has turned me into.

[01:40:21] On one hand, I love this game.

[01:40:24] Jumping into an open-ish world to explore, battle, and discover is exactly as fun as it sounds.

[01:40:31] I love the experience system, which allows me to spend my time getting stronger,

[01:40:36] and you absolutely notice those increases to your stats and gameplay.

[01:40:41] Even though I died plenty of times and was whisked back to the beginning area,

[01:40:45] I didn't feel like my time was being wasted all that much.

[01:40:49] I love the loop of exploring, finding a town, talking to townspeople,

[01:40:54] learning where to go next, and embarking out on that journey.

[01:40:58] Combat with enemies can be cumbersome, but when it worked,

[01:41:02] I really did feel like a badass that was growing stronger in-game

[01:41:06] as well as growing stronger as a player.

[01:41:09] And you can't beat that feeling of conquering a palace,

[01:41:13] acquiring a new item, and using that to progress.

[01:41:17] While I am by no means an expert in Zelda games by any stretch,

[01:41:22] I honestly feel like that even with the side-scrolling aspect of this game,

[01:41:27] there is a Zelda experience at this game's core,

[01:41:31] and I believe those that like this game believe that as well.

[01:41:35] But on the other hand, Zelda 2 does feel different and way out of place.

[01:41:41] And not even just as a Zelda game, it just feels different as a game in general.

[01:41:46] It's like that one cousin you only see every once in a while for certain holidays.

[01:41:50] They come in with their hair disheveled, and they're wearing something not inherently festive.

[01:41:56] You love them, and they're part of the family,

[01:41:59] but you do wonder what the hell is going on in their head from time to time.

[01:42:03] Zelda 2 is a side-scrolling platformer,

[01:42:06] and the platforming in this game is mediocre at best.

[01:42:10] Of the palaces I did have a chance to conquer,

[01:42:13] I would agree that their design can be extremely convoluted.

[01:42:18] With no in-game map to figure out where you are or where you need to go,

[01:42:22] it's easy to become lost and frustrated.

[01:42:25] Some enemies, like the Iron Knuckle, are difficult to fight,

[01:42:29] but more often than not, it's the placement of the enemies

[01:42:32] and their increased frequency as you go that can make things quite difficult.

[01:42:38] Thankfully it didn't happen to me a lot,

[01:42:40] but this is another NES game where taking damage knocks your character back a bit,

[01:42:45] and the enemy placement will guarantee that a hit will toss you into a pit

[01:42:50] where you will instantly perish.

[01:42:53] The combat in this game can be fun,

[01:42:56] but again, Link's sword is way too short,

[01:42:59] and his ability to deal damage is severely hampered.

[01:43:03] Whenever I have to get into a close quarters battle situation,

[01:43:06] I'm getting hit, and that's just a fact of life at this point.

[01:43:10] And because of this, I'm almost always running low on health

[01:43:14] when I still have miles of palace left to explore.

[01:43:18] How does one heal?

[01:43:19] Well, not by using health items you find,

[01:43:22] because outside of the occasional fairy, I never found any.

[01:43:26] I would have to rely on a magic spell to heal myself,

[01:43:30] or I'd have to exit the palace and backtrack all the way to the nearest town

[01:43:35] to get special attention from the lady in the red dress.

[01:43:39] It's incredibly frustrating,

[01:43:40] and that's the sort of stuff that was not conscious of my time as a player.

[01:43:46] So, where do I stand?

[01:43:48] Where does Zelda 2 The Adventure of Link fall for me as a 40-year-old gamer?

[01:43:55] If someone came up to me and said,

[01:43:57] Nomad, Zelda 2 is one of the greatest retro games ever made,

[01:44:02] and it's one of my favorites.

[01:44:04] I would respond with,

[01:44:06] Absolutely, random person.

[01:44:07] I agree with you and support your stance on this game.

[01:44:11] If someone else came up to me and said,

[01:44:14] Nomad, Zelda 2 is an awful experience,

[01:44:16] a missed opportunity,

[01:44:18] and just a frustrating experience all the way around.

[01:44:20] I would respond with,

[01:44:23] Absolutely, random person.

[01:44:24] I agree with you and support your stance on this game.

[01:44:28] I can see both sides clear as day.

[01:44:31] But if someone came up to me and asked what I thought about this game,

[01:44:36] if I couldn't sit on the fence and I had to choose one side or the other,

[01:44:41] I would have to say that, at its core,

[01:44:44] I do like this game.

[01:44:48] Despite everything,

[01:44:49] despite the gameplay hangups,

[01:44:51] despite the poor design choices,

[01:44:52] despite the legacy,

[01:44:54] I largely enjoyed my time with Zelda 2.

[01:44:58] And while I didn't finish it to completion,

[01:45:00] I am going to continue to chip away at this game.

[01:45:05] Taking everything and putting it aside,

[01:45:07] I genuinely had a good time when I played this game more often than I didn't.

[01:45:12] Graphics are good,

[01:45:13] the music is pretty damn impressive,

[01:45:15] the gameplay loop is easy to fall into,

[01:45:18] and I love discovering secrets buried in this world.

[01:45:22] There's a great game underneath it all,

[01:45:24] and one that I think you should try if you haven't before.

[01:45:28] Or, if it's been a while,

[01:45:29] fire it up again and see if a new perspective

[01:45:31] and a little bit of time is all you needed to let it click.

[01:45:35] Now, if you still feel like you hate this game

[01:45:38] and wouldn't play it if your life depended on it,

[01:45:40] I would still 100% defend your opinion,

[01:45:44] as I can see and appreciate all arguments.

[01:45:48] So, if that alone doesn't give you a reason to try or to replay this game,

[01:45:53] I don't know what else would.

[01:45:55] Zelda 2, The Adventure of Link,

[01:45:58] is one of the most polarizing video games that I have ever played.

[01:46:02] More than anything,

[01:46:03] I really enjoyed my journey through it,

[01:46:06] and I've loved the conversations I've had with fellow gamers about this title,

[01:46:10] whether you like the game or not.

[01:46:12] And, at the end of the day,

[01:46:14] a game that can spark intelligent debates

[01:46:18] and good conversation

[01:46:19] is one that shouldn't be ignored.

[01:46:22] Zelda 2,

[01:46:23] you have frustrated the hell out of me,

[01:46:26] confused me,

[01:46:27] and sometimes you've angered me.

[01:46:29] But, when the dust settled,

[01:46:31] overall, I have to say,

[01:46:34] you have impressed me.

[01:46:49] And that is the end of our adventure

[01:47:11] into the land of Hyrule, my friends.

[01:47:14] This has been episode 58

[01:47:16] of the Retro Wildlands,

[01:47:18] Zelda 2,

[01:47:20] The Adventure of Link

[01:47:21] for the Nintendo Entertainment System.

[01:47:24] Thank you very much for tuning into the show today.

[01:47:27] I'm hoping to continue to plug away at Zelda 2

[01:47:30] when I have the time.

[01:47:32] I don't think I really appreciated the time

[01:47:34] I was going to need to complete it,

[01:47:36] and I certainly didn't appreciate

[01:47:37] how challenging and involved this game was.

[01:47:40] But even though I still have a ways to go,

[01:47:42] I'm pretty impressed with this game.

[01:47:44] I think I understand

[01:47:47] why some don't care for it,

[01:47:49] and that's fine.

[01:47:50] But for what it tries to be

[01:47:52] and what it brings to the table,

[01:47:54] I can't deny that I've had

[01:47:56] a great time with this game.

[01:47:58] And really, that's all that matters.

[01:48:01] I would not mind at all

[01:48:04] if this game gets remade in some capacity

[01:48:06] or the next Zelda game

[01:48:08] takes some inspiration from Zelda 2.

[01:48:11] There's a lot of good opportunity here,

[01:48:13] and under the right direction,

[01:48:15] it could become something amazing

[01:48:17] to the next generation of gamers.

[01:48:21] If you like the show today

[01:48:23] and you want to show it and myself some support,

[01:48:26] please consider following or subscribing

[01:48:28] to the podcast on your preferred podcasting platform.

[01:48:32] I have a lot of fun creating podcast episodes

[01:48:35] for the show,

[01:48:36] as well as making YouTube videos

[01:48:37] and now live streams.

[01:48:40] But at the end of the day,

[01:48:42] I really only do what I can

[01:48:44] whenever I have the time to do it.

[01:48:46] My family, day job, and personal health

[01:48:50] take priority over this project,

[01:48:51] and given everything I tend to juggle,

[01:48:54] it doesn't leave me as much time

[01:48:56] to dedicate to the show as I'd like.

[01:48:58] It is a hobby, after all.

[01:49:00] That being said,

[01:49:02] making sure you follow or subscribe to us

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[01:49:06] the next time an episode is primed

[01:49:08] and ready for your ear holes.

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[01:49:14] We have a link tree

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[01:49:33] to comment on the game

[01:49:35] that I'm covering in an upcoming episode

[01:49:37] if you want to interact with the show in that way.

[01:49:40] Oh, and one more thing,

[01:49:42] and I will let you go, I promise.

[01:49:44] If you really like the show

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[01:49:54] I know you can leave a star rating on Spotify,

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[01:49:59] a written review over on Podchaser,

[01:50:01] iTunes, GoodPods, and CastBox

[01:50:04] to name the ones that I remember

[01:50:06] off the top of my head.

[01:50:08] Good reviews will help circulate the show,

[01:50:10] but more than that,

[01:50:11] it'll let me know that you really dig

[01:50:14] what it is that I'm doing here

[01:50:15] and that all the time and effort

[01:50:17] that I'm putting into this thing

[01:50:18] is valuable to you.

[01:50:20] But, as always,

[01:50:22] you are under no obligation to do so

[01:50:24] if you don't have the time.

[01:50:26] Just the fact that you're listening to my show

[01:50:29] right now is so much more

[01:50:31] than I could have ever asked for,

[01:50:33] so above all else,

[01:50:35] thank you for being here.

[01:50:38] So, what's coming up next?

[01:50:41] Well, just like my own birthday,

[01:50:43] I don't pay attention to the podcast's birthday.

[01:50:46] As of last month,

[01:50:48] the Retro Wildlands is two years old.

[01:50:51] Holy shit.

[01:50:54] Last year around this time,

[01:50:56] I did an Ask Nomad episode,

[01:50:58] and that was a question-and-answer-centric episode

[01:51:02] that seemed to go over relatively well.

[01:51:05] I opened up the floor to all of you

[01:51:07] and took any question that you could think of

[01:51:10] that you wanted to ask me,

[01:51:11] whether it was video game related,

[01:51:13] about the podcast itself,

[01:51:15] about my personal life,

[01:51:16] or whatever.

[01:51:18] That said,

[01:51:19] I'm thinking of doing another one of those

[01:51:21] and making it a yearly tradition.

[01:51:23] I really had a good time last year

[01:51:25] answering some great questions from all of you.

[01:51:28] Plus, those kinds of episodes

[01:51:30] aren't nearly as time-consuming

[01:51:32] to put together for you all,

[01:51:33] so I should be able to turn one around pretty quick.

[01:51:37] So, keep your eyes peeled

[01:51:39] for a social media shout-out

[01:51:41] for question submissions coming soon.

[01:51:44] I would love to interact with you,

[01:51:46] and this will be a very fun way to do it.

[01:51:50] Until then, my friends,

[01:51:52] my name is Nomad,

[01:51:54] and you can find me

[01:51:56] roaming the Retro Wildlands.