The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past - Nintendo SNES - 1992

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past is the third game in the Zelda series and the second to feature on my blog.  I wasn't keen on Zelda II: The Adventure of Link with its side-scrolling levels.  A Link to the Past reverts back to the strange overhead view from the original Legend of Zelda from 1987, albeit with much improved sound and graphics.

I can forgive this viewpoint in something like Atic Atac, but shouldn't we be seeing the hero's back here?

The manual sets the scene for the game describing the history of the world to the present day.  The world of Hyrule was created by three gods.  They left behind them a powerful artefact called the Triforce which they placed in the hidden "Golden Land" hoping it would be found by someone worthy enough to wield its power.  Unfortunately the Gates to the Golden Land and the Triforce itself were discovered by the evil king of thieves, Ganondorf Dragmire.

A dark power began to emanate from the Golden Land and evil beings were drawn to join forces with Ganondorf.  After disasters started to befall Hyrule, the ruler ordered the Seven Wise Men and the Knights of Hyrule to seal the gates to the Golden Land.  The people of Hyrule also forged the Master Sword to counter the power of the Triforce, but it could only be wielded by a person of pure heart.  While the Wise Men were searching for this hero, the Knights were lost in a battle with the dark forces, but in the end the Golden Land was sealed off with Ganondorf trapped inside.

After centuries of peace, Hyrule was hit by disease and drought.  A Wizard appeared by the name of Agahnim who restored the land using a powerful magic.  The king installed him as chief advisor and heir to the Wise Men.  Lately, rumours have begun spreading that Agahnim is ruling the country with his magic and is carrying out strange experiments in Hyrule Castle...


You begin the game by naming your character with no more than 6 letters, which unfortunately 'Wingnut' exceeds.  In his sleep he sees a vision of Princess Zelda asking for help, saying she has been locked in the dungeon of Hyrule castle.  She also says Agahnim has kidnapped six other maidens, all descendants of the Seven Wise Men, and is using them to break open the seal to the Golden Land.  Zelda says she is the only one left.  On waking you find your uncle getting ready for battle.  He heads out telling you to remain in the house.

Of course it would be a pretty short game if you did as instructed so you head out into the rain.  The voice of Zelda says there is a secret entrance to the castle.  This is the only place you can head anyway as the main entrance to the castle and roads leading elsewhere are blocked by guards.  At this stage the only power you have is to uproot shrubs.  Occasionally you may find rupees (the local currency) under them.  The shrubs can be used as missile weapons.  Likewise, pots can be picked up and thrown in the same manner.  Later on other items may be revealed such as bombs, arrows, magic potions and hearts.

The secret entrance to Hyrule castle can be found under a bush.  You soon find your mortally wounded uncle who hands over his sword and shield and says you must rescue Zelda.  The shield can block some missiles while the sword can be used to attack enemies in front.  Holding down the B button charges a whirling attack that damages all enemies within range. Extra weapons such as a boomerang and bow can be found further into the game.

Getting hit by an enemy runs down your life meter.  The life meter is initially made of three heart containers.  Getting injured reduces the life meter and once it's empty you have the option of restarting the game at a previous point.  The heart containers can be partially recharged by picking up small hearts.  These can be found by searching in jars or under bushes and are sometimes dropped by dead opponents.  The meter can be fully recharged at certain points by finding faeries.  More heart containers can be found during the game.

After rescuing Zelda she takes you through a secret passage to Sanctuary.  You are advised to speak to the Village Elder who says you need the Master Sword to defeat Agahnim.  Before you can retrieve the sword you must find three pendants.  All quest objectives are marked on an overworld map that can be bought up outside of dungeons.

The map is shown in two scales.

The overworld is not too big and can be traversed quite quickly if you avoid combats.  All the items you are looking for, however, are normally hidden in dungeons and are guarded by a boss.  Some of the dungeons can be quite complex, making the world more expansive than it seems.

Once I had obtained the Master Sword, I was informed that Princess Zelda had once again been captured by Agahnim and was again being held in Hyrule Castle.  I got there just as Agahnim had used her to break the seal of the Seven Wise Men.  Of course, I had to kick his arse.

I was then banished to the Golden Land.  It had been corrupted by the evil Ganondorf and had now become the Dark World.  I had been here before to get past an obstacle in the Light World, but lacking the Moon Pool at the time I was turned into a rabbit.  I also now had a mirror that could be used as a portal between the two worlds.  The Dark World has a similar map to the Light World.

The first task here was to go about rescuing the seven maidens.  I did put some more time into the game but didn't complete it as I would never get this blog entry done.  I may well continue from this save in the future.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past  has often been lauded as one of the best games on the SNES.  It reminds me a lot of the best Ultimate Play the Game Spectrum titles where brains as well as manual dexterity are required to win.  It has some good puzzles and the two interconnected worlds work well.  The graphics are good and don't look dated.  The only issue I have is where the perspective of the rooms and the 2D sprite are sometimes out of kilter which I found a bit jarring.  Sound is good and some of the music is recognisable from the first Zelda game.  All in all an excellent title and much, much better than its immediate predecessor.

Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride - Nintendo SNES - 1992

While gamers in North America were still playing Dragon Warrior III, and a month before Dragon Warrior IV was released there, those lucky Japanese gamers were already getting their teeth into Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride.  Poor sales of the previous games and the cost of localisation meant this game was not released in the US.  I am playing an English version from DeJap Translations.  I started this game soon after finishing Dragon Warrior IV and, whilst the game engine is basically the same, the difference between the graphics and sound quality is staggering.  The archaic graphics have received a 16-bit makeover and the soundtrack has been dramatically improved on the new hardware.

The game begins with an effective in-engine cut scene that sets up the story nicely....

Dragon Quest V starts on a ship with you playing as a six year old boy.  You are heading back to your home town of Santa Rosa with your father Papas, who has been away for five years searching for 'something'.  Your father is distracted with his research allowing the young Wingnut to get into mischief (and level himself up).  You are soon off to nearby Alcapa to see your father's friend Duncan who has fallen ill.  You are befriended by Bianca, Duncan's daughter, and set off on an adventure together while Papas recovers from the illness he caught from Duncan.  I grew quite fond of Bianca but had to leave Alcapa when Papas recovered. 

Back in Santa Rosa, Papas is summoned by the King of Reinhart and tasked with guarding Henry, heir apparent to the throne.  Henry is subsequently kidnapped but Papas manages to chase down the culprits.  Papas defeats his guards but their leader, Gema, holds a knife to Wingnut's throat and says that if Papas continues to fight, you will be killed.  Papas is attacked again but does not fight back.  Before he dies he tells you your mother is still alive and to find her.

The story continues 10 years later with you and Henry as slaves building the Great Temple.  You manage to escape and return to Reinhart where Henry stays on.  Santa Rosa has been destroyed but you find a scroll from Papas along with the Zenithian sword.  The scroll explains that Papas had been searching for a 'legendary hero' who can wear the Zenithian armour and is capable of wielding the Zenithian sword.  It also says you mother is still alive but has been kidnapped by an evil power.  I also visited Alcapa in search of Bianca, but Duncan had long since sold up and moved on.

I will note my thoughts below... 

• Maximum party size in Dragon Quest V has been reduced to three characters.  Wingnut is the only permanent member with other NPCs coming and going as the plot progresses.

• In common with the series, Dragon Quest V contains a wide variety of weird, wonderful and strange monsters.

• After obtaining a wagon, defeated monsters occasionally offer to join your party.  They can be used to top up the party when there are no NPCs and can be put in a wagon when not needed.  They can also be equipped with weapons and armour and some can use magic.

• A nice touch are the shops where it shows you who can equip particular weapons and armour and how much difference it will make to their stats.  It saves making pointless purchases.

• During the game I discovered Baron Ludman possessed the Zenithian shield.  The town had several suitors wanting to marry, Flora, his daughter.  The one who could bring Ludman the Fire and Water rings could win her hand and get the shield.  During the quest for the Water ring we met up with Bianca.  Even though she obviously had feelings for Wingnut she joined the party and helped recover the ring.  In the end I was given the choice of marrying Flora or Bianca and I chose Bianca.  The good baron still funded the wedding and on hearing about the search for the legendary hero from Henry, gave us the Zenithian shield as a wedding present.

• On our travels I discover Papas was King of Granavia and I am heir to the throne.  On the way there Bianca faints a couple of times, obviously telegraphing the fact she is pregnant.  Sure enough when we reach Granvania she gives birth to a twin boy and girl.  After your coronation the whole castle celebrates but during the festivities Bianca gets kidnapped like your mother.  You eventually find her but after his defeat the boss turns you both to stone.

• Fast forward another few years during which you are sold as a statue, you are eventually found by your children.  They have grown up and your son reveals he can use the Zenithian sword and armour.  You now have to find both Bianca and your mother.

• Up to this point the plot was pretty easy to follow.  I soon became stuck and did not know where to go next and had to consult a walkthrough.  It turns out I had to revisit Ludman.  One of his ancestors had trapped a demon in a jar and now the seals were weak and it was about to escape.  I hadn't needed to do any grinding until this bastard appeared over the horizon...

 
Defeating Buorn took several attempts and a lot of grinding. Once defeated he dropped the Final Key which meant I was able to access areas I couldn't reach before.

• There was a brief time travel element in the game where you had to retrieve a quest item from your younger self before it was destroyed by Gema.  I remember the scene from earlier in the game but I didn't think any more of it.  You can also warn Papas not to travel to Reinhart but he says he doesn't believe in fortune tellers.

• Your quest eventually leads you to the Demon World and the Evil Mountain.  In the evil mountain you arrive to find you mother being killed by Mildrath, the Demon Lord.  Her spirit joins Papas and they tell you you must destroy Mildrath.

 
And so we finally meet Mildrath...

Whatever.

As usual the final boss comes in two forms.  The first form was simple enough to defeat but I could not beat the second form.  

He didn't take much damage from physical attacks and he reflected magical attacks back at the caster.  Conversely, Mildrath can do a lot a damage with physical attacks and can cast the most powerful party damaging spells.  Additionally, he clears any buffing effects and heals himself every few rounds.  After several attempts and a lot of grinding I had to admit defeat and resigned myself to leaving this game unfinished.  I didn't feel to bad as I greatly enjoyed the journey up until this point.


After playing the previous two games in the series I was expecting another long slog.  Although it was very long, I found Dragon Quest V much more bearable.  This was helped in part by the more detailed graphics.  The sound was much improved too but I had to mute it long before I finished the game.  What really made the game enjoyable was the fantastic storyline and the fact that Wingnut was kept on as the lead character even after finding the legendary hero.  It made a change from Dragon Warrior IV with the main player character changing after every chapter.  Following Wingnut from childhood through marriage and parenthood made me feel more attached than I normally would to a game character.  I was genuinely interested to see what would happen next as the game progressed.  Overall Dragon Quest V is a brilliant game and I would rate it as my favourite JRPG to date.






Later...


The thought of not completing this game kept niggling away in the back of my mind.  After a few weeks I went back the game a did some grinding in the Evil Mountain every couple of days.  After a few failed attempts and with a lot of grinding in between I eventually defeated Mildrath.  This was done using the Increase and Bikill spells on the party and using the Sage's Seed every round (restores a few hit points to each character including those in the wagon).  I also swapped out party members that were low on hp until they were healed enough to re-enter the fray.  Eventually I managed to defeat Mildrath.
 

The ending was a bit anti-climactic.  You get whisked around the world to visit the main cast of characters which seemed to last an age.  The last place you visit is Granavia....