Guardians of Termina

Here’s how I review dungeons (for the newbies):

Dungeon Design (15 Points): Is the dungeon linear or complex? If linear, was it meant to be linear?  If complex, does it have unfair frustration? Does the gamer have much of a choice? Is there reasoning to what you have to do?

Visuals (15 Points): Does the dungeon look the part? Is the music good? Is the dungeon believable? If not, does it impact the dungeon? Does the overall mood of the dungeon bring chills up your spine?

Gameplay (15 Points): Is there a lot to do? Does the dungeon take full use of the item you’re given? If there is no item, is there a major hook that grabs you in this dungeon? Is the playstyle repetitive and does it get in the way of your playing?

Enemies (15 Points): Is there a variety of enemies in this dungeon? Does that variety fit the dungeon theme? Do the enemies bring a challenge and are entertaining? Is the miniboss or boss good, or does it fall flat? Would you battle the enemies again?

Puzzles (15 Points): Do the puzzles challenge your brain and treat you like you’re a functioning human? Are the puzzle rewards worth it? Is there unfair consequences to getting something wrong? Do the puzzles fit with the theme? Do the puzzles involve the dungeon item?

Challenge (10 Points): Is the dungeon too hard or too easy? Is it so linear that there’s no way to get lost? Is it very possible to die in this dungeon? If it is too easy, is it a fault of the game or the dungeon? Does the challenge work with how far you are in the game?

Fun Factor (15 Points): What did the dungeon make me feel like when I was in it and when I left it? Do I want to do it again? Was it entertaining and did I ever get bored? Was it too short or too long? Is there anything to enjoy in this dungeon that doesn’t end up as repetitive?

Now, the review awaits!

BUT FIRST

A quick announcement and an introduction to my Link to the Past reviews

In almost all of the top 5 Best Zelda Games lists, this game is going to be a slightly blind review for me, considering I’ve actually never played this game with an intelligent mind (read: I was 5). So what number was this game on my top 10 Zelda Games? #5, right? Let’s see how it truly is to me. Well, it definitely has some good things going on for sure. For this game, I’m going to be a bit different when it comes to the Zelda reviews. For one, I’m reviewing mini-dungeons like Sewer Passageway and Hyrule Castle, and for the most part, I’ll combine them. Also, there’s going to be a LOT more pictures in the reviews. Lot more. Tons. Anyway, let’s kick up the action!

NOWWW the review awaits!

Ah, a special RIGHT off the bat. Yes, I’m combining Hyrule Castle and Sewer Passageway, as each one on their own is too short. So, I combined them! Anyway, this is one of the most story-related dungeons in the game, so this won’t be your “usual” dungeon with an item, a boss, and stuff. There is a main item, and a mini-boss, but no boss. Anyway, let’s kick off this review!

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Dungeon Design (15): The design of this dungeon is very linear, but that’s not a fault. It’s the first dungeon set of the game! The design is pretty good though. More than one floor, “3D” situations such as corridors for enemies to be up above on, slopes, and stairs. The design is never frustrating, especially Sewage Passageway, as it’s fairly easy to find a torch to light. The castle feels maze-like, as there are corridors, basements, and darkness….. Thankfully, there’s NO unfair frustration from the last game *mutters about Zelda II*. Things are in convenient places, and you’ll find that exploring is not tedious. Very good first dungeon design. 14 points.

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Visuals (15): The castle looks like a castle! Except possibly the basement (why such a big basement with huge holes?), though the dungeon looks the part. The red carpet looks great, the tapestries are brilliant, and the main hall to the secret passageway (the King’s room) is simply borderline gorgeous. The Sewer Passageway looks pretty good, although I think the designers missed a chance to make it look older, although the dark helps. The Sanctuary is weird, but that’s fine by me, I’m just being nitpicky. The music (http://zeldawiki.org/images/e/ef/ALTTP_Hyrule_Castle.ogg) is perfect for feeling LIKE a castle, and it’s imposing. You’re rescuing the princess! The bass notes and cadences of how a dark force is in the castle is pretty good and fitting. The dungeon is pretty believable despite the 1st basement. The mood definitely impacted me trying to smash everything I saw in sight. So nice intro to the game! Oh, and the sprites for the enemies are good too. Let’s not count out the Sewage Passageway, although it has the same music. They…. could’ve worked on that. Not as fitting there, although Zelda is now ESCAPING, so…. I’ll give it that. 14 points.

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Gameplay (15): Brilliant gameplay. You automatically find your uncle dead, and he gives you his sword and shield before passing. You fight corrupted soldiers who attack Link on sight. You must then rescue Princess Zelda whom is guarded by a mini-boss, and then get out of there! You go through the Sewage passageway, using Link’s Lamp to light the way. You’ll need the torches lit to see through the dungeon properly. Fighting small enemies in an abundance, you’ll need to find hidden keys for locked doors to progress into the sewage area, which is probably beneath the moat of the castle, and navigate to find a secret path to the Sanctuary. Climbing the staircase, there’s a trap, and then that’s it! Yes, this kind of reviewing is new, where I talk about what you go through in the gameplay. Now let’s analyze it! There’s definitely a lot to do, as you can see. The main items of this dungeon set are the Boomerang for Hyrule Castle and the Lamp for Sewage Passageway. The Boomerang, found near a Blue Sword Soldier, is essential for the mini-boss so you don’t die, and is extremely useful throughout the game, as it can stun the castle guards for a pretty long period of time. The Lamp, found in Link’s house at the beginning, is used for the Sewage Passageway to light your way, both giving you a little flashlight and lighting the torches to see clearer! So you can see both items are used very effectively! No repetitive playstyle, and what a great way to start with solid gameplay! Although, the dungeon is a bit small… ah well, deal with it. 14 points.

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Enemies (15): The game starts with a small enemy pool, as it’s the first dungeon set, but they make up for it with strategy. First, there’s the Soldier, the calm collected individual that takes a bit of time to notice you and then you must swing thy sword. Then there’s the Sword Soldier, a brave soul that ventures for you breast in order to STAB you as quick as possible, so you end up raving your sword around like mad trying to hurt him as fast as possible. Then, there’s the enemies of the Sewage Passageway. First there are Keese, the sneaky bats that attack you when you get close, and then stop, and then attack you again until you either cry or slice it in half. Then there are the Rats, which are in a small abundance, those little critters are not to be taken lightly, as they can take your health quick if you’re not careful. Then, there’s the Ropes, the quick snakes that are usually found in a HUGE abundance, which makes you scared and makes you want to swing your sword like a madman on coffee. Then there’s the miniboss of Hyrule Castle, the Ball and Chain Soldier. This person holds a mace that he swirls around his head and then inflicts HEAVY amounts of damage on you by swinging it. The Boomerang is EXTREMELY useful against him, as without it you’re totally going to die once. The enemies fit where they’re found, as there are corrupted soldiers in Hyrule Castle and little critters in the Sewage Passageway. The enemies bring a challenge, and don’t end up TOO frustrating for a first dungeon, though in the beginning, you might beg to differ as you beg for a heart. The miniboss is good, although there is nothing that makes me want to fight him again (this is a onetime thing). Overall, a good first dungeon enemy lineup, but I must say something. Pay attention to your hearts. 13 points.

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Puzzles (15): This is going to be a bit of a tilt category, but there’s no real puzzles here. There are small ones though, but they’re not in Hyrule Castle, they’re in the Sewer Passaegway. Those puzzles are the torches that you must light to see the way, finding the rat that holds the small key, and the switches. The torches aren’t really a puzzle though, but the rat and switches are! The switches is as follows. One of the switches holds the key to opening the door. One of them will summon an ARMY of ropes that you must fight. Good luck there. Here’s a hint: Look for the switch that causes a prompt on how to pull a switch. Overall, these are some decent puzzles for a first dungeon, although they SERIOUSLY could’ve taken advantage of the Boomerang. Not joking, there are lots of situations for that item. Oh well. The puzzles don’t really challenge your brain, and are less of puzzles than they are things you have to do. The switch brings you to the end of your journey, but there’s no rewards. The army of ropes is not hard, and while I screamed when I pulled the wrong level (DON’T TELL), they weren’t punishing. Of course, you’re not supposed to expect puzzles in a castle (or a sewer for that matter), but still, Boomerang puzzles not there. I am disappoint. 9 points.

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Challenge (10): The dungeon is not easy, although there is a fair question as to whether or not it’s too difficult for your first go through a dungeon. The answer is…… close, but it gets away with it. With 3 hearts, the Soldiers take a LOT out of you, but you usually have pots with hearts found somewhere nearby. The Sword Soldiers are debatable for being a quick step up, but in my opinion, they were one of the fun enemies, and there was usually a pot nearby to send them off the edge in the first level of the Basement. Edit: Also, it’s a DANG near guilty pleasure to toss the pots at the soldiers, making them fall into the abyss (Bliss!). The miniboss, however, is the most debatable of them all, with some people telling me it’s a bit of a “too hard too early” thing, but again, I found him very fun! Talk about someone that tests your quick-wittedness and your ability to use items at will, which is a Zelda thing! As for the dungeon itself, it’s very linear for a first dungeon set, but that’s a GOOD thing, and while it’s possible to die, it’s not a “VERY” possible to die. The challenge works overall, and if you disagree, I suggest going through this dungeon again and taking it from a more outside view. But seriously, it’s not as bad as you think. Edit: 7 points.

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Fun Factor (15): This dungeon set was a really good intro. I mean, you leave your house, find your uncle dying in a castle, rescue the princess from a mad soldier, and then you escape through the sewers. It’s pretty memorable, and this dungeon sticks in my brain for a GREAT introduction to a game. I couldn’t wait to go through it, and I loved it all the more afterwards. There’s no real hook for me to do it again (considering it’s a short first dungeon set), but that doesn’t make it any less entertaining. This might be the shortest dungeon in the game (?), but it’s a great intro. They COULD’VE made it longer though, considering it was a REALLY small set, but that’s the first dungeon set for you, and also, it’s very very plot focused, so what did you expect? 10 points.

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Overall, 81 points. Great. I haven’t had an intro to a Zelda game better than an 80 since the original Legend of Zelda’s Second Quest. It’s a great dungeon indeed. Whether it’s how aesthetically pleasing the visuals are, how good the 3D situations you’re plopped in, or how good it is that the Boomerang and Lamp you receive in this dungeon used to about full effect (except probably the Boomerang), this dungeon gets my rating of Great. What does that mean (yes this is a new type of ending)? I recommend this dungeon to all of you readers, as this dungeon will give you a good ride. It’s very linear, but it’s fun, the combat is pretty cool, and the escape from the castle is glorious. Join me on my next review, where I tackle the Eastern Palace and receive the Pendant of Courage! Estimated review time: Sunday, November 23. See you then!

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Woot! Got it out in time today… Sorry for the wait.

Have to say, I’m certainly looking forward to the next dungeons in this game. I’ll try to review them faithfully, and I hope to enjoy them as much as possible.

What do you think about the review? Lower, higher? On target? Don’t know? Let us know in the comments!

Also, tell me how you feel about the tone. Do you like how it is now? Do you like or hate the changes?

Anyway, if there’s anything I missed, or you have something to say about this dungeon/review, let me know in the comments!

ShadowSect and I are making Zelda GAME reviews. (Instead of of Dungeon reviews) ShadowSect is still doing dungeon reviews, this isn’t replacing it. We are going to see how this does. If it goes well and you guys like it, we will review more games! Anyway, we will be using points like ShadowSect’s dungeon reviews, but with a few different categories. Here they are!

Dungeons:  (15 Points) Are the dungeons good? Are they fun to play through? Are they challenging, or are they too easy/too hard? Are the dungeons designed well? Visuals/Score: (10 Points) Does the game look good? Are the areas designed well, or are the areas just a complete eyesore? Is the music good (Score)? Or is it just plain annoying? Gameplay/Hook: (15 Points) Does the game run smoothly? Do you struggle to find where to go to next? Do you want to come back to play more (hook)? Are you interested in the game? Puzzles: (15 Points) Are the puzzles good? Are they too easy/too hard? Do the puzzles make sense? Fun Factor: (10 Points) Is the game fun to play? Do you get excited playing it? Do you look forward to play more? Characters/Story: (10 Points) Are the characters interesting? Do they have good dialog? Are the characters helpful? Is the story well written? Does the story make sense? Exploring: (10 Points) Is there much to explore? Is it fun to explore? Is it too hard to explore? Is stuff to explore too easy to find? CED (Combat, Enemies, Difficultly): (10 Points) How is the combat in the game? Is the combat to hard to control? Are the enemies good? (How they look, fight you, and sound). Are the enemies too hard/too easy? Is the game too hard? Is it hard to find out what to do next? Replay-ability (5 Points) Do you want to play the game again? Is it fun to replay the game? Or do you never want to pick that game up again? —————————————— Now the review! First off let me just say, this was on the NES. The NES has MANY limitations. Also, this is the FIRST Zelda game. There weren’t any at the time to compare it too. (I will admit, I had to cheat on this game A LOT. Man, imagine what it would have been like playing this game without the internet)?! (Or I was just frustrated, and couldn’t figure it out :P) Right! The review! Let me just talk about the cartridge first. GOLD

WOW A GOLD CARTRIDGE?! THIS IS AWESOME! There were also gray versions, which are the players choice versions. The gold one is worth a little more.

Right when you put the cartridge in and hit the power it’s like…

You hear this awesome tune, with an awesome title screen, WITH a brief storyline, WITH a list of all the awesome items!

Back then you would be thinking, “…This game…is going to be…AWESOME!” And it is! Of course it also has it’s flaws. And which now I will be FINALLY getting to the review. —————————————— Dungeons: (15 Points) Now, you already probably know what the dungeons are like because of ShadowSect’s reviews. I’m just going to briefly review each one on my own. 1. Eagle: It’s the first dungeon. Of course it’s kinda easy. The music is great! 2. Moon: Same color as Eagle. Music still good! Boss is too easy. 3. Manji: Shaped in a suggestive symbol. Although I heard it means peace in Japan. That’s not what we would have thought it meant. 4. Snake: Ugly yellow to me. Kinda boring, but you do get the stepladder. 5. Lizard: Bunch of Secrets! Pretty darn hard enemies. (Blue Darknut) 6.  Dragon: Probably one of the hardest dungeons. The secret passages are now important, instead of just neat little secrets. 7. Demon: Lots of block pushing. Pretty big. Hard enemies. 8. Lion: BUNCH of secrets! Huge dungeon. It’s a pretty nice challenge! 9. Death Mountain: New music!  Extremely hard enemies. Make sure you get the red ring! The dungeons can be pretty good, and some are pretty bad. They make sure you explore the overworld for heart containers because of some of their challenge. So I give the dungeons….11 Points.

—————————————— Visuals/Score: (10 Points) The game was on the NES, so it really can’t have that great of visuals.  But when it comes to color choices, I think they did just fine! You can easily tell what things are supposed to be! But, my only complaint is that the dungeons overuse some of the same colors. The dungeons can be boring and repetitive because of that. (I know, this isn’t the dungeon part). Now for the music (Score)! The music is great! There isn’t much different music in the game though. There’s the classic Zelda theme (wait the game is the classic game…) playing while you’re in the overworld, the catchy dungeon theme (although, towards the lat few dungeons it does start to get repetitive), Death Mountains dungeon theme (which is VERY fitting for the dungeon), and…Wait, that’s it. Well except for the title screen music. They probably could have added more music. So… 7 Points. —————————————— Gameplay/Hook (10 Points) The gameplay is great! The game runs smoothly! The controls make sense, and interacting with stuff is great! The game always wants you to go back for more, so you can try to find that last dungeon or a secret area. You will always want to get back on to figure out where to go next, or where the next sword is! I don’t have a whole lot to say here. It’s all really great. So…. 9 Points. Why 9 points? It’s because, sometimes it is pretty frustrating. That’s mainly because of its difficulty though. I’ll be talking about that soon! —————————————— Puzzles (15 Points) Zelda. Just thinking of Zelda makes me think of puzzles. From the ice block sliding puzzles,

to, “What is the order that I have to light these dang torches?!” Puzzles are a staple in Zelda games. So what about the original Zelda? Well, there defiantly is puzzles I’ll tell you that. From the Lost Woods (I think that’s what it is called in the original Zelda), to that one never ending mountain. You would be trying different patterns for HOURS. No joke. At least I would spend hours. But that’s just me. Anyways, there are other puzzles. In the dungeons, you would have to find which block to push to open the stairs to the next room. THAT in its self is a challenge because you never know which direction to push the block. And a lot of the times, you didn’t even know you could move that block. You might just run into it for curiosity, or pure luck. Back to the overworld puzzles. There is one suspicious looking waterfall in the mountain area in the overworld. Walk into it and BAM! The old lady is back. This time she says, “Pay me, and I’ll talk.” WTH? It’s not like you are interrogating her, you just went in there out of curiosity! Anyway, if you pay her the 5 or 10 rupees she won’t talk. So there goes 15 rupees. Of course you have to pay the highest amount which is 20 rupees. Once you pay her she says, “Go up, up, the mountain ahead.” At first you may be thinking, “Oh, the mountain that’s right next to this waterfall right?” WRONG. You have to go over a few screens, and THEN you’ll be at the mountain. Alright, I know. I shouldn’t be so critical of this. It just bugs me that the mountain that you think of, isn’t the right one. This is something VERY stupid to complain about, I know. I dunno, it just bugged me. At first I go up the mountain, then I can’t go up anymore. I’m pretty sure the are at least four different mountains in the overworld. How are you supposed to know which one? I dunno, I dunno. Maybe it bugs me because, the first time I played it I was annoyed as heck that is wasn’t the right mountain. Like I said, this is VERY stupid to complain about but that’s just my opinion. It really was a clever thing to do, so that you know you have to keep going up a mountain somewhere. I’m not going to take points off from my pointless rambling on… So….. 10. The block sliding thingy in the dungeons is what brought this down. —————————————— Fun Factor (10 Points) Now, although I’ve said the game is frustrating…It is still VERY fun. (I’ve noticed I have been typing, “VERY” a lot). Finding secrets in this game, makes you VERY happy! (See, I did it again). Anyways, it is really great to find secrets. When you do, you are like, “Wait, if there is this one secret… Imagine how many others there must be?!” And, there were a BUNCH more. It’s feels really great when you kill something in this game. That’s another reason this game is so fun! Like I have said before, I don’t have a whole lot to say for the category. It’s fun to discover stuff, find items, and kill enemies. What more need I say? So I give this…….9 Points. —————————————— Characters/Story (10 Points) Now, there aren’t many characters in the game so there really isn’t much dialog. There is the old man who will give you hints for secrets, the shopkeepers, the old lady, and that one guy who says, “Grumble, Grumble”. The only other dialog I can think of is when Princess Zelda calls you a hero at the end of the game. (If there is any more dialog, let me know in the comments)! Now the story! The only story you get is at the title screen.

Here’s how I review dungeons (for the newbies):

Dungeon Design (15 Points): Is the dungeon linear or complex? If linear, was it meant to be linear?  If complex, does it have unfair frustration? Does the gamer have much of a choice? Is there reasoning to what you have to do?

Visuals (15 Points): Does the dungeon look the part? Is the music good? Is the dungeon believable? If not, does it impact the dungeon? Does the overall mood of the dungeon bring chills up your spine?

Gameplay (15 Points): Is there a lot to do? Does the dungeon take full use of the item you’re given? If there is no item, is there a major hook that grabs you in this dungeon? Is the playstyle repetitive and does it get in the way of your playing?

Enemies (15 Points): Is there a variety of enemies in this dungeon? Does that variety fit the dungeon theme? Do the enemies bring a challenge and are entertaining? Is the miniboss or boss good, or does it fall flat? Would you battle the enemies again?

Puzzles (15 Points): Do the puzzles challenge your brain and treat you like you’re a functioning human? Are the puzzle rewards worth it? Is there unfair consequences to getting something wrong? Do the puzzles fit with the theme? Do the puzzles involve the dungeon item?

Challenge (10 Points): Is the dungeon too hard or too easy? Is it so linear that there’s no way to get lost? Is it very possible to die in this dungeon? If it is too easy, is it a fault of the game or the dungeon? Does the challenge work with how far you are in the game?

Fun Factor (15 Points): What did the dungeon make me feel like when I was in it and when I left it? Do I want to do it again? Was it entertaining and did I ever get bored? Was it too short or too long? Is there anything to enjoy in this dungeon that doesn’t end up as repetitive?

Now, the review awaits!

I actually have quite decent memories of this dungeon, especially with the dungeon boss, Carock. But this isn’t the past, this is the now. And man did the trek through the maze kind of predict the labyrinth that is this dungeon. Let’s get through it!

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Dungeon Design (15): Linearity meets complexity I guess. Or I should say the latter ate the former, because this dungeon is not linear by any stretch of the word. Now, that could be a good thing, so let’s get more in-depth. This dungeon kind of requires that you explore everywhere for the purpose of keys, and THAT’S not exactly a good thing, since that gets rid of the reward of exploring where you’re not supposed to, which is a Zelda trend. That being said, what makes this dungeon so much different is that falling off into a hole might NOT kill you, and instead bring you to another room. It might also be the only way into that specific room. Well gee, that certainly gives points for creativity…. And frustration. But I must tell you that the latter does not exist, as you know you can die in the hole if there’s LAVA. By the way, I suggest not using the ZeldaDungeon walkthrough for this Palace, as it ticked me off with its archaic and wrong instructions on where to go. So don’t use it. Thankfully, that just made exploring more fun for me :D! 13 points.

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Visuals (15): Blue and purple bricks. This dungeon actually looks more “elegant” than the previous three. The fact that there’s no windows in this palace makes you feel encamped and trapped, which was an awesome feeling for me. I do love the sprites as well, especially for the new enemies. The rest of the visuals are a problem, but it’s a “GAME” problem and not a “DUNGEON” problem. Then again, it’s not groundbreaking, but it’s the NES. 13 points.

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Gameplay (15): Big dungeon, so there’s lots to do. Let’s start right off with the spell of the dungeon: Reflect. Why? Well, one of the new enemies in this dungeon is the Wizzrobe, which can only be defeated by their own spells, hence Reflect’s use. Also, SPOILER ALERT, the boss requires reflect as well. Technically, Fire was also received before this dungeon too, but there are no enemies that require it in this dungeon, and it’s more of an overworld tool anyway. The skill of the dungeon is the Upward Thrust, which is not required for this dungeon, but it makes it easier to get out of traps and hit Dragon Heads. Wait, scratch that, it is required to get a key. Excuse my earlier remark. Anyway, the item found in this dungeon is the Winged Boots, which is pretty useful as you need it to get to the next palace (and a Heart Container), but other than that, it’s pretty useless, unlike the item received earlier which opened up a whole new area! As for the combat, it’s still the same, and while it might border on a bit annoying at this point, as there are no new enemies that add to the formula other than a boss, it’s still challenging and equally frustrating, but more on the challenge later. Overall there’s some good and some bad, and while the good does not outweigh the bad, it’s still not a bad setup for a dungeon. 10 points.

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Enemies (15): Eh…. Not really a good lineup this time. Of course there can be dungeons with no new enemies, but for a game as old as this, it makes it harder to recommend this dungeon when there’s repetitiveness. There’s Moas, Stalfoses, Lynels, Doomknockers, Ironknuckles, Bubbles, and more of the same, with actually less enemies. And there’s actually only 2~3 Moas that DON’T RESPAWN. The only redeeming enemies are the Dragon Heads which add difficulty so you don’t slack off, the Wizzrobes that require the devilry known as Reflect (which thankfully doesn’t cost much magic at my levels when I got here), and of course, the boss Carock. Why is he hard if Reflect can defeat him in less than 30 seconds? Because if you don’t get out Reflect or kill him fast enough, he warps and attacks you at a VERY fast rate, so you do not want to flinch for even a second, or it will spell out your downfall… But other than that, the setup this time around isn’t decent, and barely mediocre. Hopefully Nintendo will pick up the slack from here, as this dungeon might possibly have the worst enemy lineup of the game, despite its RED Ironknuckles. 7 points.

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Puzzles (15): Sorry, no can do. Wait? YES THERE IS. The dungeon’s location! Does it mess up like the previous dungeon? NO. In fact, it’s a pretty cool buildup at the same time! So what is it? Why, the mountains, rivers, and hills (including hidden pitfalls) surrounding the palace creates a natural labyrinth. Yes, a NATURE INDUCED LABYRINTH. COOL! But hey, it’s better than last time, and better than most of the other dungeons, and it’s the NES. And the second Zelda game! And puzzles didn’t really come around until the next game! So let’s go with this score! 8 points.

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Challenge (10): This dungeon is close and barely scrapes perfection when it comes to its challenge aspect. Yes, the enemies do give a bit of a slight coma for high leveled people, but I can’t say the same for those who are low leveled, as it’s still as difficult as it was the last dungeon. However, the design of the dungeon does unkind towards both, and in a good way. The Dragon Heads WILL knock you into the lava, as well as the bubbles, and enemies WILL jump at you from above, and random enemies will pop up to tick you off. And the fact that there’s a lot of knockback when you land into an enemy is a huge frustration when jumping over platforms, but other than all that, the difficulty is great for a 4th dungeon, despite its frustration and “coma”-tic environment for those who max out xp. 8 points.

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Fun Factor (15): There’s not actually much for me to say here, although my memory was better than what I’ve seen. You might find Carock thoroughly enjoyable, travelling the maze a journey to a now hyped up palace extraordinary, and traversing another palace that tests you top notch. I certainly didn’t have as much fun as I might have in the past, but I digress. This dungeon may just have variable fun depending on who goes through it, and I might not know that. Nor might I ever will! Who knows! Who NOSE! See that? That’s a perfectly well-timed DW reference. Anyway, I’ve digressed far too much there, so the rating for this category? 12 points.

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Overall, 71 points. Fun. Unfortunately, there’s not a lot of depth in any specific category that could make this dungeon spectacular, but that doesn’t mean that each category shirked out on its work! This dungeon doesn’t flunk in any category except barely the enemy lineup, but other than that, I’m sure you’ll find good things with the blue blocks, sprites, and the exploration involved in another maze of a dungeon! MORE PUNS! See me next time at the Palace on the Sea, where we become Jesus!

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Found some good pictures this time. Although the website for making the last one had problems…

Anyway, what do you think? This dungeon got a better rating than the previous one. Are the dungeons going to get better from here, or worse? Do you think I was being too light on the dungeon?

Anyway, if I missed anything, or you have things to say about this dungeon/review, let us know in the comments!

Here’s how I review dungeons (for the newbies):

Dungeon Design (15 Points): Is the dungeon linear or complex? If linear, was it meant to be linear?  If complex, does it have unfair frustration? Does the gamer have much of a choice? Is there reasoning to what you have to do?

Visuals (15 Points): Does the dungeon look the part? Is the music good? Is the dungeon believable? If not, does it impact the dungeon? Does the overall mood of the dungeon bring chills up your spine?

Gameplay (15 Points): Is there a lot to do? Does the dungeon take full use of the item you’re given? If there is no item, is there a major hook that grabs you in this dungeon? Is the playstyle repetitive and does it get in the way of your playing?

Enemies (15 Points): Is there a variety of enemies in this dungeon? Does that variety fit the dungeon theme? Do the enemies bring a challenge and are entertaining? Is the miniboss or boss good, or does it fall flat? Would you battle the enemies again?

Puzzles (15 Points): Do the puzzles challenge your brain and treat you like you’re a functioning human? Are the puzzle rewards worth it? Is there unfair consequences to getting something wrong? Do the puzzles fit with the theme? Do the puzzles involve the dungeon item?

Challenge (10 Points): Is the dungeon too hard or too easy? Is it so linear that there’s no way to get lost? Is it very possible to die in this dungeon? If it is too easy, is it a fault of the game or the dungeon? Does the challenge work with how far you are in the game?

Fun Factor (15 Points): What did the dungeon make me feel like when I was in it and when I left it? Do I want to do it again? Was it entertaining and did I ever get bored? Was it too short or too long? Is there anything to enjoy in this dungeon that doesn’t end up as repetitive?

Now, the review awaits!

Onward to the second dungeon, Midoro Palace! And with the trusty Life spell, Fairy spell, Jump spell, and the recently received Downward Stab, I took on this dungeon! And succeeded with only 3 deaths! Dang it how much I hate Red Ironknuckles and lava… especially when both are at the same time!

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Dungeon Design (15): Really good dungeon design here. Of course, the dungeon gets slightly more difficult. The keys rise in number, there are more rooms, and you, Link, find yourself blocked from other rooms by huge stone blocks. And the only way past them is to get the Power Glove in this dungeon! Clever design. Anyway, I never found the dungeon design unforgiving in the slightest except for the lava rooms. Yes, there were gripes with the Mace Thrower rooms, but those were YOUR fault. However, jumping from block to block above lava with huge red drops blocking your way and bots heeding your process is a bad thing. But anyway, the rooms are never too congested, and this dungeon glorifies its combat. 14 points.

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Visuals (15): While there is color, I had serious gripes with the visuals in this dungeon. Before we go to the negative, let’s look at the positive. The music is still really good from the previous one. Done. The negative? Everything else. Now look, I know the game itself has bad visuals, and we should be looking at this dungeon from the perspective of a dungeon, and there are cool red windows to the outside, but SERIOUSLY. THE SMALL BLUE BLOCKS GOING ACROSS THE SCREEN ISN’T JUST VISUALLY UNAPPEALING, BUT PAINFUL TO THE EYES! If you’re walking fast, I STRONGLY RECOMMEND you don’t look at the background. But in the middle of combat? Feel free, it’s imposing. 5 points.

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Gameplay (15): Pray tell master, does it shine? Oh sweet boy the combat does. Again, frustration is key, and the game really makes you pay for your poor reaction times while giving you fun combat scenarios with Mace Throwers and Ironknuckles galore. What’s the skill of this dungeon? Wait, skill? Yes, there’s a skill. THE DOWNWARD STAB. PROBABLY ONE OF THE MOST USEFUL SKILLS EVER OF ALL TIME IN THIS GAME. WATCH AS I SPAM IT ON THE BUBBLES TO ACTUALLY KILL THEM. WOOHOO. Anyway, what are the spells? 2 SPELLS. The Jump spell, which gives you strategic points to attack downward with Mr. Stabby and get red potions from statues, and the Life spell, which gives you tons of health when you REALLY REALLY need it. And the item of this dungeon is the Power Glove, which allows you to break the stone rocks blocking your path AND get some nice point bags. Cool! Anyway, pristine combat, not too frustrating this time around, and lots to plunder. If only there was a true hook… 14 points.

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Enemies (15): Let’s list off the common folk! We’ve got the Bots, the new Bot “Drippers” that spawn bots and also hurt you while you try to jump lava, the cleverly strategic enemies called the Stalfoses, the new Dragon Heads that REALLY annoy you, the orange Iron Knuckles that are easier thanks to the level system but still challenge you quick reaction times, the now mildly annoying Bubbles, the Red Iron Knuckles that are MUCH TOO STRONG, the ropes that remind you of the Octorocks except they’re MOVING, the Red Mace Throwers that challenge your patience, and the return of the annoying Lynels. What a clever pool of enemies! The 2nddungeon isn’t afraid to use a lot of repetition, and since the 2nd dungeon comes much later, it’s a perfectly fine transition from the DASTARDLY death mountain enemy pool. And then there’s the boss, Helmethead. Much like Horsehead, his weakness is his head (no duh, it’s in the name), but his artificial head comes off to be replaced by a new one, and the artificial one FLOATS AROUND AND SHOOTS FLAMING FIREBALLS AT YOU. A clever boss that requires a good strategy with dodging fireballs and slicing the head while also being a bit imposing. On paper, this is awesome. In reality, he’s not much of a leap from Horsehead, but that’s fine for this dungeon. So overall a good pool of enemies for a 2nd dungeon with an slightly imposing boss like the first dungeon. 13 points.

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Puzzles (15): Hahahahahahahahahaha. No. For being the 2nd Zelda game and on the NES, but being now the 2ND DUNGEON, 5 points.

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Challenge (10): This dungeon is more or less a nice step from the previous dungeon. I died about as much as the previous dungeon, but it wasn’t as much unforgiving as it was actually being challenging. The dungeon isn’t really “linear” anymore, and while it might be a doozy to get lost, it’s also a doozy to NOT get lost. But then again, it’s the 2nd dungeon now! And it’s not a huge step up in challenge for it to be bad! And for me, someone who sucks at video games in general, it’s really nice! 10 points.

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Fun Factor (15): I can say it was an entertaining dungeon. I have to say though, WHAT THE HECK is with the visuals, and it kind of affects how I felt about some of it, though not TOO largely. Either way, the combat was intense, I facepalmed when I died, I threw the controller when I died, the scenic route through the slow swamp to this place was imposing, and it was more or less a fun experience. I really do want something like puzzles though. Combat can get old. While it can’t from a gameplay aspect, it can from an ENTERTAINMENT aspect. Nevertheless, I give it what it’s worth. 12 points.

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Overall, 73 points. Fun. Other than even worse visuals, no puzzles, and less entertainment, there was better challenges, better enemies, and better gameplay. I still had fun though, and if you can leap over its poor blue blocks, there is great combat and a good layout to see. See me next time with the review for Island Palace, which would take the normal gamer FOREVER to find, but thank god for ZeldaDungeon and GameFAQs!

(end)

Wow this came out quick! I’m glad. Anyway, serious question. Do you think any of the dungeons in Zelda II are going to get a score of 80 or higher? Or even 90 or higher?

And yes, I know one later might get something really low.

Anyway, what else do you think? Was I being too nice on Zelda II, or was I being too critical with its visuals?

Anyway, if I missed anything, or you have things to say about this dungeon/review, let us know in the comments!

Before I give my shpeel on how I review dungeons, here’s some backstory to Zelda II

I get it, it’s extremely frustrating. It’s hard, the game is difficult, and people are probably wondering if that will affect the dungeon reviews. The answer is yes and no. It will affect it, but only to a small extent, and I’ll try to look at it from the dungeon’s perspective and not the GAME’S.

Anyway,

Here’s how I review dungeons (for the newbies):

Dungeon Design (15 Points): Is the dungeon linear or complex? If linear, was it meant to be linear?  If complex, does it have unfair frustration? Does the gamer have much of a choice? Is there reasoning to what you have to do?

Visuals (15 Points): Does the dungeon look the part? Is the music good? Is the dungeon believable? If not, does it impact the dungeon? Does the overall mood of the dungeon bring chills up your spine?

Gameplay (15 Points): Is there a lot to do? Does the dungeon take full use of the item you’re given? If there is no item, is there a major hook that grabs you in this dungeon? Is the playstyle repetitive and does it get in the way of your playing?

Enemies (15 Points): Is there a variety of enemies in this dungeon? Does that variety fit the dungeon theme? Do the enemies bring a challenge and are entertaining? Is the miniboss or boss good, or does it fall flat? Would you battle the enemies again?

Puzzles (15 Points): Do the puzzles challenge your brain and treat you like you’re a functioning human? Are the puzzle rewards worth it? Is there unfair consequences to getting something wrong? Do the puzzles fit with the theme? Do the puzzles involve the dungeon item?

Challenge (10 Points): Is the dungeon too hard or too easy? Is it so linear that there’s no way to get lost? Is it very possible to die in this dungeon? If it is too easy, is it a fault of the game or the dungeon? Does the challenge work with how far you are in the game?

Fun Factor (15 Points): What did the dungeon make me feel like when I was in it and when I left it? Do I want to do it again? Was it entertaining and did I ever get bored? Was it too short or too long? Is there anything to enjoy in this dungeon that doesn’t end up as repetitive?

Now, the review awaits!

Oh god do people hate this game. People say it’s too difficult, some say that the random encounters were frustrating, some say the dungeons themselves have huge difficulty curves, and I’m going to stop right here before I start ranting myself. But regardless, this should be considered the worst Zelda game according to the Internet right? And surprisingly, that’s not the case. I did a recent study looking at Top 10s and seeing where Zelda II is on the lists (or if it’s even on there), but instead I found that it’s considered the 3rd worst game according to the internet, not the worst. So there are good things in the Adventure of Link, but I don’t care. We’re going to look at the dungeons. Because that’s the dang topic of this series of reviews. So let’s get right into Parapa Palace!

Let’s start with the first dungeon, the smallest and most straightforward dungeon that recommends Shield otherwise you get your butt handed to you on a silver platter. How thoughtful Horsehead! Screw you and your Iron Knuckles :D (sorry for swearing, that was for comical purposes…)

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Dungeon Design (15): For starters, this dungeon is VERY linear, and it’s a good thing too. For a game that’s not forgiving in the slightest, this map isn’t hard to get lost in unless you’re stupid. And I mean really stupid. If you really do need help, then ZeldaDungeon is the way to go for a walkthrough, but other than that, I had fun scavenging the area of this fortress. If we’re talking unforgiving things, Zelda II has a lot of them, and we shouldn’t judge, but if we must be talking about SERIOUS unforgivingness, there’s 3 things. Heavily congested rooms such as the wild axe murderer guarding a key, the early Ironknuckles, and the “stair room” (the room with 2 stalfoses on top of stairs walking down them). But other than that, not bad for a first dungeon! 13 points.

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Visuals (15): The visuals in this game are really bad compared to the previous version, and it’s no excuse since this was released after. That doesn’t mean the music and sound effects aren’t pristine, because they ARE. I love the palace theme, and the sound effects of clinking and stabbing are top notch for a combat-intrusive game. But seriously, the bland textures of the palace, while imposing, are dumbed down from a previously good game. Dang it Nintendo! 9 points.

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Gameplay (15): Combat takes a huge step up in this game, and this dungeon takes full advantage of it. While frustration is an element, it’s a GOOD element. It really makes you fight at all times on the edge of your seat so you don’t die…. Unless you’re me with my infinite lives. I really don’t recommend it for anybody else since I DO suck at video games in general. This game doesn’t really have dungeon items that are “usuable”, but nevertheless, there’s usually a spell and an item for each dungeon. For this dungeon, the spell is Shield, and the item is the Candle. Shield is particularly stupid, as it saps your magic very fast at low levels, but it’s extremely useful for Horsehead, so it has its uses. The Candle is not usable in this dungeon, but it’s EXTREMELY useful for later, as it lights up caves. I like the variety of combat, but it is sad that a lot of usable items that were a huge trope in the previous game were removed for overworld uses. A pity, but oh well. 12 points.

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Enemies (15): Colorful list of enemies for the first dungeon, and they’re not half bad! First there’s the Bots, the usual mobs that you would find me farming off in the overworld for low xp. The Bubbles are cool for sapping your magic and health, with the former being a huge annoyance and the latter being a mild poke, but some of them are way too frustrating as 2 of the 9 found like to both team up on you with others and go REALLY fast, making them hard to avoid unless you have Asian reaction times. The Gumas, or Mace Throwers, are great for having a strategic opponent for people with brains, and those who say they are frustrating are really bad like me, and even I can gloss over that. The Iron Knuckles, however, can go die in THE FIERY PITS OF LUCIFER AND SATAN HIMSELF GOD HELP THESE PEOPLE CROSS MY PATH WHEN I AM AT FULL HEALTH GO TO LUCIFER YOU DASTARDLY PIECES OF SCRAP METAL. *huff huff* Anyway, they’re really frustrating for a first dungeon, and I can’t stand them with a combat level of 1. God help me. Anyway, then there’s the Stalfos, which is yet another intelligent enemy I won’t go into full detail about, but then there’s the Wosus or named by the mild word “Tinsuits”. They’re annoying, but they serve to keep you on your toes. I do find frustration with the xp they take away from you, but it’s very small, and you DO need to stay on your toes. They shouldn’t do take that much health away from you though…Horsehead has one simple description. Don’t fight him without shield, and if you don’t have any magic, GOD DANG THIS ENEMY IS TOO HARD FOR A FIRST DUNGEON WHY DOES HE HAVE TO PERSISTENTLY HIT YOU WITH A CLUB TO KNOCK YOU BACK AND SERVE TO REMIND ME THAT I SUCK DANG IT DANG IT DANG IT. Anyway, the enemies’ frustration levels are largely the game’s fault, and NOT the dungeon’s. 12 points.

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Puzzles (15): Yeah no. Good luck. It’s an NES game though, and it’s the first dungeon, but no puzzles, and it’s not even a puzzle to scavenge the palace. 7 points.

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Challenge (10): I’ll just say right off the bat, with the information of the enemies’ and combat’s frustration behind me, and the analysis mentioned prior to this category, this challenge category shouldn’t be too much of a problem with you readers. But to summarize, while the game is largely at fault for its frustrating elements, the aspects of this first dungeon quest is not balanced with how the quest goes. The challenge is great, but no more, and I’m tempted to put it lower for its difficulty. 8 points.

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Fun Factor (15): With traversing to this location, walking through the entrance, braving the halls filled with Wosus or Tinsuits, traversing the elevators, fighting Horsehead, grabbing the useful candle, using the Shield ability, and just traversing a difficult first dungeon, this dungeon definitely let me have some fun, and I have fond memories BECAUSE it’s not as difficult as the next dungeons, so there we go. Almost flawless fun in a first dungeon despite its shortcomings. 14 points.

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Overall, 75 points. Good. Despite its shortcomings in NO puzzles, somewhat bland visuals, and unstoppable frustration, there is fun to be had with its combat and the scope of the whole challenge. I mean, doesn’t it feel like David and the Goliath? Just starting to traverse what will be a huge game of challenge? Feels like Dark Souls to me (BIG JK). It’s still frustrating anyway, but it’s not really bad frustration yet. Anyway, see me next time for Midoro Palace, the palace in the swamp! Of course, I’ll have to go through Death Mountain! I’ll comment on that before my next review…

(end)

Phew, there we go. The first review had problems with internet with getting it out here, but here it is!

Little swearing, but there was one time, and I’m sorry. I needed some comical moments in this review.

Anyway, what do you think? Too forgiving or too critical? Was I too hard on the Zelda II game, or did it deserve to be lower for its frustration?

Anyway, if I missed anything, or you have things to say about this dungeon/review, let us know in the comments!

Here’s how I review dungeons again:

Dungeon Design (15 Points): Is the dungeon linear or complex? If linear, was it meant to be linear?  If complex, does it have unfair frustration? Does the gamer have much of a choice? Is there reasoning to what you have to do?

Visuals (15 Points): Does the dungeon look the part? Is the music good? Is the dungeon believable? If not, does it impact the dungeon? Does the overall mood of the dungeon bring chills up your spine?

Gameplay (15 Points): Is there a lot to do? Does the dungeon take full use of the item you’re given? If there is no item, is there a major hook that grabs you in this dungeon? Is the playstyle repetitive and does it get in the way of your playing?

Enemies (15 Points): Is there a variety of enemies in this dungeon? Does that variety fit the dungeon theme? Do the enemies bring a challenge and are entertaining? Is the miniboss or boss good, or does it fall flat? Would you battle the enemies again?

Puzzles (15 Points): Do the puzzles challenge your brain and treat you like you’re a functioning human? Are the puzzle rewards worth it? Is there unfair consequences to getting something wrong? Do the puzzles fit with the theme? Do the puzzles involve the dungeon item?

Challenge (10 Points): Is the dungeon too hard or too easy? Is it so linear that there’s no way to get lost? Is it very possible to die in this dungeon? If it is too easy, is it a fault of the game or the dungeon? Does the challenge work with how far you are in the game?

Fun Factor (15 Points): What did the dungeon make me feel like when I was in it and when I left it? Do I want to do it again? Was it entertaining and did I ever get bored? Was it too short or too long? Is there anything to enjoy in this dungeon that doesn’t end up as repetitive?

Now, the epic review awaits!

*Cue Michael Jackson’s “This is It”* This dungeon. THIS dungeon is… WOW. It’s AWESOME! What a great way to end a game, and this dungeon is really good. To all those people who say, “but it’s SOOOOOOooooOOOOOooo difficult”, shut your face. I suck at this game and I still had a lot of fun with the dungeon. Definitely my personal favorite of the game, but I’ll try not to impose my opinions on you too much.

Disclaimer: You get the picture. It’s on the frickin NES. It’s going to be forgiving. Another Disclaimer: This dungeon review is 25% influenced by what Rabbidluigi says about this dungeon, which I completely agree with, and I absolutely recommend that you should check out his channel. It’s fantastic. But the other 75% is my own dang opinion, and believe me, there’s a lot of it… and facts. Don’t forget facts.

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Dungeon Design (15): It’s the final dungeon, the last hoorah in what is overall a great game, and Nintendo is going to put it out with a bang. So of course the dungeon design is going to be pretty difficult. The dungeon is a labyrinth, with 50 rooms with swarms of enemies including dozens of Wizzrobes and the difficult Patras alike. There’s many rooms, bombable walls, secret passages, Old Men, and minibosses alike. And with the aspect of a labyrinth, it is not linear at ALL. There are a lot of secret passages that lead to other sides of the map that make this dungeon difficult without a dungeon map, a compass, or even a cheat sheet that you can write down on. Unfortunately, it’s very, very easy to get lost in this dungeon, and I couldn’t get through this dungeon without a walkthrough, especially on my minimalist run without the Magical Key, and the design of some rooms have their own unfair frustration, but that can be slightly forgiven since it’s the last dang dungeon, despite no hints to the passageways. 14 points.

Here’s a cheat sheet btw, if you need it when you get there (THANKS ZD):

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Visuals (15): Finally that music is gone and replaced with a sick beat. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ps3jZCfha4c This music is killer, and it certainly boosts the mood for a final dungeon. The music has this drumming beat like a heartbeat that rhythms with your health when it’s low, which is pretty good, and the melody is full of accidentals that complement the enemies you face. The dungeon itself, however, is thankfully better than before. The white background was already shown in Level 8, but the design of the dungeons isn’t repetitive anymore thanks to the increasing difficulty and the “no mercy” enemies that you face. It doesn’t look too old at all. And the red water in the dungeons? OMG. 15 points.

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Gameplay (15): Huge dungeon, my friend. Huge dungeon indeed. To start with, there are 2 main items you can get in this dungeon: The Red Ring that lowers enemy damage even more than the blue ring: 

(and is totally worth it for the amount of enemies you face in the dungeon and the reward for all the enemies you faced to get to it), and the legendary Silver Arrows that Link requires in order to defeat Ganon, which unfortunately are a bit out of place in this dungeon, and that’s kind of sad. The main hook of this dungeon is the challenge, and the Red Ring is used RIGHT AWAY, with Wizzrobes everywhere that make this place difficult and make it almost impossible on a minimalist run, but I’ll get to that in the Challenge section. Anyway, the gameplay is awesome. 15 points.

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Enemies (15): The variety of enemies in this dungeon is outstanding, but creates some frustration that I’ll get to in the Challenge portion as well, but it’s definitely the hook of this dungeon. There’s Blade Traps combined with the return of Like Likes and the very difficult Wizzrobes (in thankfully not too congested rooms), rooms with Like Likes, Wizzrobes, AND bubbles, a new enemy called the Lanmola that’s similar to the Moldorm but can only be hurt on the head but end up being more of a pushover than an actually challenging enemy, and of course, Darkn–… wait. No darknuts? Thank GOD. I’ll explain why that’s a good thing later, but the enemies here are fun (even the gels make a reappearance in this dungeon as being hilarious to kill with ease XD). And now the boss section. The minibosses are 2 types of a new enemy called the Patra, which always has an outer ring of little enemies that spin around him, and the outer ring fights differently from Patra to Patra. It’s either a circle that expands and contracts, or it rotates like a gyroscope. Nevertheless, you have to defeat the outer circle in order to defeat the inner Patra, and it’s no pushover. I had to use Medicine after I ran through this guy due to how much I suck at the game, and it pops up about 4-5 times in this dungeon. How difficult. But the rooms you fight him in have a lot of room to walk, so any damage that happens to you is your fault and not the dungeon itself. Before I talk about the boss, I need to talk to Nintendo for a second. Whoever person thought it was a great idea to have Like Likes and Wizzrobes in the same room, (beep) YOU. I lost my shield to those (beep). And now the boss: Ganon. I heard he was going to be a pushover since he only takes 4 hits to kill him, but he ended up making me use the last of my medicine. THIS GUY IS HARD ON A MINIMALIST RUN, PEOPLE. 16 HITS HOLY CRAP. But yeah, when you enter the room, it’s dark, and you’re afraid you’re going to fight this guy with no sight of the room, but then you hold up your Triforce and BOOM! He appears, and the dark goes away. Yay, that means I’m going to see the enemy, right? NOPE. He’s invisible, and he teleports in a pattern around the room shooting fireballs at you that deal 1 heart of damage even with the Red Ring. Holy (beep). How do you defeat this dude? Guess where he is and hit him to make him pop up, and repeat that 4-16 times depending on your sword. Then he turns brown, and then you get your Silver Arrow, and WOOT! YOU WON THE GAME! WOOT. What a great boss, and the cinematics before and after complement a worthy opponent. 15 points.

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Puzzles (15): Um… I wouldn’t call them puzzles, but there’s a valid reason why I used a walkthrough throughout this dungeon (Woot Zelda Dungeon!). But yeah, there are random points in the dungeon where you have to fight off all the enemies in a room that you can kill, and THEN there might be a block in the room that you have to push. Most of the time it’s obvious (there’s a staircase in the middle of the room surrounded by blocks, hmmm….), but 3-4 times, it’s NOT. There’s a room with blade traps and Wizzrobes and once you defeat them, you would guess there’s no block puzzle, right? I mean, there’s blade traps in each corner… NOPE. THE STAIRCASE IS FOUND UNDER A BLADE TRAP. WTH NINTENDO. But yeah, the puzzles in this dungeon are not exactly logical, and there’s a lot of testing that you have to do, and although I’m glad that there’s finally a puzzle at the end of the game in a dungeon, they aren’t easy and not completely logical. 11 points.

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Challenge (10): This requires some explaining, because this is the last dungeon of the game. Is it fair when a room is congested with Like Likes and Wizzrobes and bubbles and you have to fight all of them to unlock a door? This requires some debate, but I have to say, yes and no. While I know this is the last dungeon, and it’s fair to have a huge difficulty curve at this point, it’s so very easy to die in those kind of rooms, and there’s a lot of them too! 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6… 6! It would be fine if it was just 1 or 2, but 6 is too much. Thankfully when it’s not the case, the room is forgiving, where damage taken is your own fault (Patras are the prime example). I can say one thing though: Thank god there are no Darknuts. That would’ve made this dungeon’s challenge go through the ROOF as unforgiving frustration, and this dungeon would’ve gotten a 6 or 5 on the Challenge section in a heartbeat due to that type of frustration. As for fighting in this dungeon on a minimalist run, that’s your fault. Don’t do it. Only the most hardened veterans would do such a thing, but I advise you don’t. It’s difficult as heck, and unfair frustration is your own fault at that point. It’s the last dungeon though, and it’s not the dungeon’s fault if it’s very easy to die in it. Since it’s the last dungeon (and the fact that this bias could be me just sucking at the game), 8 points.

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Fun Factor (15): This dungeon was a worthy challenge. A final hurrah. The Finale. The 4th of July. Fireworks. Boom boom. When I finished this dungeon, I felt proud of myself. Wow Jacob, you just went through hell, got all those 8 pieces of Triforce, you just beat Ganon, and you saved the princess. I AM THE MAN. Have you ever watched Game Theory’s “Why You Play Video Games?”? Well, they analyzed that it’s 3 things: Autonomy, Competence, and Relatedness. Ignore Autonomy and Relatedness, but Competence means the ability to something successfully or efficiently, and more specifically in this context, to feel yourself getting better, getting stronger, and conquering impossible odds. This dungeon had that certain aspect. Competence is what made this dungeon fun and AWESOME, and that’s awesome. I want to do it again, and other than a challenge that’s huge, it’s perfect (by the way, here’s the link to the Game Theory Video, it’s pretty good and the guys there are really smart and deserve compensation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyUC_28HIvA&feature=kp). 14 points.

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Overall, 92 points. Badass. This dungeon is the best NES Legend of Zelda dungeon. Other than nitpicky flaws (and some challenging aspects), this dungeon boasts a huge amount of awesome gameplay, enemies, and fun. Play it, love it, and I hope you agree with me. That’s all for the Legend of Zelda!

(end)

That’s it for now! I have one question for you guys: Either I continue the series and move on to Zelda II, or I go over the underrated Second Quest? Please let me know in the comments!

What do you think? Was the mountain truly as deathly as I put it, or should it have whimpered? Let us know in the comments.

                                                             –ShadowSect

Here’s how I review dungeons again:

Dungeon Design (15 Points): Is the dungeon linear or complex? If linear, was it meant to be linear?  If complex, does it have unfair frustration? Does the gamer have much of a choice? Is there reasoning to what you have to do?

Visuals (15 Points): Does the dungeon look the part? Is the music good? Is the dungeon believable? If not, does it impact the dungeon? Does the overall mood of the dungeon bring chills up your spine?

Gameplay (15 Points): Is there a lot to do? Does the dungeon take full use of the item you’re given? If there is no item, is there a major hook that grabs you in this dungeon? Is the playstyle repetitive and does it get in the way of your playing?

Enemies (15 Points): Is there a variety of enemies in this dungeon? Does that variety fit the dungeon theme? Do the enemies bring a challenge and are entertaining? Is the miniboss or boss good, or does it fall flat? Would you battle the enemies again?

Puzzles (15 Points): Do the puzzles challenge your brain and treat you like you’re a functioning human? Are the puzzle rewards worth it? Is there unfair consequences to getting something wrong? Do the puzzles fit with the theme? Do the puzzles involve the dungeon item?

Challenge (10 Points): Is the dungeon too hard or too easy? Is it so linear that there’s no way to get lost? Is it very possible to die in this dungeon? If it is too easy, is it a fault of the game or the dungeon? Does the challenge work with how far you are in the game?

Fun Factor (15 Points): What did the dungeon make me feel like when I was in it and when I left it? Do I want to do it again? Was it entertaining and did I ever get bored? Was it too short or too long? Is there anything to enjoy in this dungeon that doesn’t end up as repetitive?

Now, the review awaits!

And now we face the roar. The battle cry. The LION!

Disclaimer: Just remember my dungeon reviews on the NES game will be forgiving since it was on the dang NES and for that time, this was revolutionary, and you can’t blame it for its visuals or repetition most of the time, as well as its puzzles.

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Dungeon Design (15): This dungeon’s design is actually pretty dang good. This dungeon LOVES exploration like the overworld map, and there’s many secret rooms with items that prove extremely useful, like the Magic Book you can get almost right from the start which proves to upgrade your Magic Rod to set people on fire, virtually making the Red Candle useless (sadly, and you just got it too…). There’s also secret passages as well, and the structure isn’t exactly linear anymore. 14 points.

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Visuals (15): I told you that dungeon’s look was getting old, and the white background does not save it much, although it does look pristine for a last dungeon, and it works with the NES’s capabilities at this point in time. The music has gotten repetitive to this point as well, but the overall mood is final thanks to the return of the Darknuts, so the repetitiveness isn’t too bad, and of course it’s the NES. The sprites might be getting old, but they’re in no way tip top shape of this time period. 12 points.

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Gameplay (15): Oh dang there’s a lot to do. Manhandla near the start of the map, the return of the Darknut, rooms that have to be bombed to proceed, constant switching of items, the arrows being extremely useful, and the items. OH THE ITEMS. I said before the Magic Book overshadows the Candle, but you also, if you explore hard enough, can find the magic key THAT RENDERS DUNGEON KEYS USELESS BECAUSE THE MAGIC KEY HAS UNLIMITED USES. WOOT WOOT WOOT. The playstyle of this dungeon is surely final, and it serves as a definitive hurrah before you explore Death Mountain. 13 points.

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Enemies (15): The enemies here are SPECTACULAR. You better have explored enough on the overworld map to finally get the white sword, because a minimalist run will make this dungeon look like a death trap. The bubbles are now no longer paired with Like Likes (thank god) but while they ARE paired with Darknuts, at this point of the game you should have good reaction times (unless you’re me). The Blue Darknuts make a return and are punishing without the White Sword, the Gibdos are back with Keese and Zols, the Pols Voice aren’t as annoying and make you switch out to use arrows (bliss!), and the minibosses. OMG the minibosses. The manhandles make a return and aren’t much of a pushover if you’re out of bombs, and the Blue Gohma thankfully has to be punished with 3 arrows instead of a measly 1, which means you need to dodge those stone statues, which also appear in other rooms to punish poor reactions times. And the boss is a spectacular hoorah for the last dungeon of the Triforce dungeons, with Gleeok with 4 HEADS being the boss. I hope you have medicine, because he certainly isn’t easy, and the challenge with it is fine for it being what appeared to be the last dungeon. 15 points.

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Puzzles (15): No puzzles inside, but there is one puzzle on the OUTSIDE of this dungeon… finding it. You have to be curious, because this dungeon is hard to find. I found it on my second run on accident, and so did many others. A dungeon that has to be found through curiosity and exploration? Sign me up. 9 points.

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Challenge (10): The challenge is here for a final dungeon, and the rewards keep it from feeling unnecessary, with the magical key and the book of magic being very, VERY generous upgrades. The Darknuts, Stone Statues, and Gleeok himself are no pushovers. If you didn’t explore enough though, I pray for you, but you should’ve at this point. The only reason it isn’t perfect is because of the room with the 5 darknuts and 4 stone statues with no way out is a little unforgiving, and so is not knowing that you have to bomb rooms to explore, as there is no hints for what’s bombable. 9 points.

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Fun Factor (15): This dungeon was fun and I felt like a master after I completed it. I leave it behind as a dungeon I mastered, I went over, I ACCOMPLISHED SOMETHING EXTRAORDINARY, AND… there’s one more dungeon. Oh, [Censored]. But heck yes it was entertaining, and it wasn’t too long either. I accomplished it at midnight in only 12 minutes, which is fine for a first Zelda game dungeon. However, there’s no real hook that makes me want to do it again after I’ve completed it once, which is fine. I mean, it was MADE for a first time experience, and then there’s second quest anyway (I’m not reviewing that). 12 points.

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Overall, 84 points. Great. I’m sure you could tell that the Fun Factor and the Puzzles categories were pretty much tilts, but regardless, this dungeon was great. While lacking another run, or something to truly challenge your brain, the NES shows no bounds when it comes to its gameplay, exploration, and enemies in dungeons. BUT WAIT! There’s still Death Mountain ahead. It serves as the most difficult dungeon, and we shall conquer it soon! But first I shall prepare myself! I must get my medicine, and my bombs, and my magical shield that those stupid Like Likes from Dragon took from me! I won’t lose it again! Wait, there’s Like Likes in Death Mountain too? FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF****************[Censored]

(end)

Thank god it didn’t crash on me this time! Can’t wait for Death Mountain, huh? Neither can I!

There wasn’t too much swearing, although for the obvious one, I kept some to keep it funny but added obvious “Censored” markings. Maybe it wasn’t necessary… Do you think so?

Anyway, what do you think? Was the Lion tamed by my reviewing skills, or was I just eaten whole?

If I missed anything, or you have things to say about this dungeon/review, let us know in the comments!

And please don’t make this a huge discussion thread. My computer won’t let me read all of your comments.

Here’s how I review dungeons again:

Dungeon Design (15 Points): Is the dungeon linear or complex? If linear, was it meant to be linear?  If complex, does it have unfair frustration? Does the gamer have much of a choice? Is there reasoning to what you have to do?

Visuals (15 Points): Does the dungeon look the part? Is the music good? Is the dungeon believable? If not, does it impact the dungeon? Does the overall mood of the dungeon bring chills up your spine?

Gameplay (15 Points): Is there a lot to do? Does the dungeon take full use of the item you’re given? If there is no item, is there a major hook that grabs you in this dungeon? Is the playstyle repetitive and does it get in the way of your playing?

Enemies (15 Points): Is there a variety of enemies in this dungeon? Does that variety fit the dungeon theme? Do the enemies bring a challenge and are entertaining? Is the miniboss or boss good, or does it fall flat? Would you battle the enemies again?

Puzzles (15 Points): Do the puzzles challenge your brain and treat you like you’re a functioning human? Are the puzzle rewards worth it? Is there unfair consequences to getting something wrong? Do the puzzles fit with the theme? Do the puzzles involve the dungeon item?

Challenge (10 Points): Is the dungeon too hard or too easy? Is it so linear that there’s no way to get lost? Is it very possible to die in this dungeon? If it is too easy, is it a fault of the game or the dungeon? Does the challenge work with how far you are in the game?

Fun Factor (15 Points): What did the dungeon make me feel like when I was in it and when I left it? Do I want to do it again? Was it entertaining and did I ever get bored? Was it too short or too long? Is there anything to enjoy in this dungeon that doesn’t end up as repetitive?

Now, the review awaits!

Level 7 here we come. This dungeon is far from a rant, and I personally love the dungeon (others might disagree) because it’s an easy addition to what previously was a FRICKIN HARD dungeon, so I feel this is comfort. Disclaimer: Just remember my dungeon reviews on the NES game will be forgiving since it was on the dang NES and for that time, this was revolutionary, and you can’t blame it for its visuals or repetition most of the time.

Note: Just reminding you guys that the Originality category is gone, and the points were added to the Enemies category.

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Dungeon Design (15): This dungeon is HUGE. It’s a lot longer, and there’s a lot of complexity to how you explore throughout this dungeon. To people who haven’t played, I advise you make sure you’ve killed ALL the enemies and THEN start pushing blocks, although I feel that the room with the wallmasters was a bit of a design flaw. I mean, there’s no signal when you’ve killed them all! The old man is back with another huge upgrade to your bombs, and I have no issues with it. And another secret rupee room (YAY). 12 points.

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Visuals (15): More green. Seriously. The music is still the same, and now it’s FINALLY frickin repetitive. The look isn’t good anymore either, so the visuals are slowly yet surely going down the drain. At least the enemy sprites haven’t aged at all. 9 points.

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Gameplay (15): Oh yeah there’s a lot to do here. The major hook are the Goriyas, the reoccurring enemies, which make this dungeon feel like an obstacle course, dodging boomerangs and keese and ropes and wallmasters. This fits the part, and there’s nothing really confusing about this dungeon, except for ONE DANG THING. THE FREAKIN HUNGRY GORIYA. Do you have any idea how confusing that is to so many people? I mean seriously. And if you didn’t bring the bait and finally realize that the guy is hungry, you need to backtrack out of the dungeon to the overworld to get it, which is a bit tedious. However, for the rest of the dungeon, the playstyle is unique and fun. Especially since you now get the Red Candle upgrade, a much needed upgrade that makes it slightly spammable and a great asset to your kit and to this dungeon with dark rooms, especially since it’s not just a one time use anymore, which was a huge pain. 11 points.

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Enemies (15): No new enemies, but reoccurring enemies that make this dungeon kind of a redo, which is both a gift and a curse. It’s a gift with the Goriyas, the Keese, and the Ropes that makes this feel like an obstacle course. It’s a HUGE curse for the Stalfos and the Moldorm that end up being really, really easy. Come on Nintendo! I get this is supposed to be a cooldown dungeon, but that’s a bit too much cooldown. There is a LOT of minibosses though. Dodongos and digdoggers OH MY. The dodongos are optional, but can punish you if you decide to fight them and lo and behold I’M OUT OF BOMBS… until you get the old man. So those end up being a pushover, but the digdoggers are not so, my friend. There are 3, with the first 2 being optional, but the 3rdone is no pushover my friend if you get to that point. A worthy challenge that requires the flute if you didn’t get it (although if you didn’t get it he’s a bit harder), but he splits into 3 parts this time, and they run around the room as if there is meth in music. He does end up being a slight pushover, but I have no problem with slight in a cooldown dungeon. The boss though. EASY. I really don’t understand why Nintendo did it though… He was so boring. Even for a cooldown dungeon. So no, the enemies aren’t perfect here, but they’re not bad and certainly not mediocre. 12 points.

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Puzzles (15): Do the block puzzles and the secret rooms count? Not really. By now there REALLY should’ve been a puzzle that involved the dungeon item, but the candle is never used for that sort of purpose other than to light up dark rooms. How boring. Although finding this dungeon was a puzzle indeed (unless you found the old man that told you where). And it’s the NES… 9 points.

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Challenge (10): Too easy? To a point, but it’s not that much of a problem for a cooldown dungeon. It’s not easy to get lost, and being a minimalist it’s easy to get to the exit (maybe too easy). The challenge, however, is still here, with dodging the fearful Goriyas and the Wallmaster room (god the wallmaster room). I still feel that this should’ve been harder for a cooldown dungeon, but it is fine as it is. 8 points.

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Fun Factor (15): This dungeon was fun, don’t worry, and I found joy in the easy things. Do I want to do it again? Probably, although there’s no hook in this dungeon other than DODGE THIS (I really hope you guys watch TeamFourStar). It was entertaining while it lasted, and it wasn’t too long and it wasn’t too short. Even though this was probably the longest dungeon so far, nothing gets too repetitive to a fault, except maybe for the music. 13 points.

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Overall, 74 points. Fun. There is joy in this dungeon, that much is certain, although there really should’ve been puzzles at this point. I mean, seriously Nintendo. Why do all the puzzles have to be on the overworld map? Oh well, we’ll win someday. Also, the visuals don’t work anymore. So… yeah. Well, I do have to remember it was on the NES, right? Yep. On the NES… Come back next time for Level 8: Lion, where the Darknuts make an unfortunate return, the Candle we got is rendered useless, and we get the ability to unlock ANYTHING.

(end)

I had this all ready earlier with awesome edits, but it crashed :( I forgot what those edits were too… Except for the picture. That was a great idea given by my twin brother. THANKS!

Oh well. There wasn’t much swearing to remove, and there wasn’t too much “criticalness” to remove either that wasn’t unnecessary. Or, at least in my HUMBLE opinion. XD

Anyway, what do you think? Was I spot on with the Demon, or was I dancing too much with the demon in the pale moonlight? WOOT BATMAN REFERENCE. Anyway, if I missed anything, did something wrong, or you have cool things to say about this dungeon, let us know in the comments!

Here’s how I review dungeons again:

Dungeon Design (15 Points): Is the dungeon linear or complex? If linear, was it meant to be linear?  If complex, does it have unfair frustration? Does the gamer have much of a choice? Is there reasoning to what you have to do?

Visuals (15 Points): Does the dungeon look the part? Is the music good? Is the dungeon believable? If not, does it impact the dungeon? Does the overall mood of the dungeon bring chills up your spine?

Gameplay (15 Points): Is there a lot to do? Does the dungeon take full use of the item you’re given? If there is no item, is there a major hook that grabs you in this dungeon? Is the playstyle repetitive and does it get in the way of your playing?

Enemies (15 Points): Is there a variety of enemies in this dungeon? Does that variety fit the dungeon theme? Do the enemies bring a challenge and are entertaining? Is the miniboss or boss good, or does it fall flat? Would you battle the enemies again?

Puzzles (15 Points): Do the puzzles challenge your brain and treat you like you’re a functioning human? Are the puzzle rewards worth it? Is there unfair consequences to getting something wrong? Do the puzzles fit with the theme? Do the puzzles involve the dungeon item?

Challenge (10 Points): Is the dungeon too hard or too easy? Is it so linear that there’s no way to get lost? Is it very possible to die in this dungeon? If it is too easy, is it a fault of the game or the dungeon? Does the challenge work with how far you are in the game?

Fun Factor (15 Points): What did the dungeon make me feel like when I was in it and when I left it? Do I want to do it again? Was it entertaining and did I ever get bored? Was it too short or too long? Is there anything to enjoy in this dungeon that doesn’t end up as repetitive?

Now, the review awaits! Warning: I had to remove a LOT of swearing, so at some point I eventually just put in bold letters [Censored].

And here is Level 6. I’m going to rant. I am. I know I shouldn’t. But I am. I personally hate this dungeon SO much. This is the only dungeon where I’ve died and had so much frustration it hurts. My brother, so far, has not helped me cooling down, but this dungeon is….. something. Disclaimer: Just remember my dungeon reviews on the NES game will be forgiving since it was on the dang NES and for that time, this was revolutionary, and you can’t blame it for its visuals or repetition most of the time.

*pours water over head to hopefully cool me down for the review*

Note: I have now decided to remove the Originality category, and am now adding the 5 points to the Enemies category.

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Dungeon Design (15): This dungeon is considered the most difficult dungeon in the game besides Death Mountain, and it certainly fits the part with its layout of challenge. There is a LOT of unfair frustration, though, with very enclosed rooms with hard opponents surrounding you (e.g. Wizzrobes and Like Likes with blocks scattered around blocking your way). It’s also frustrating in how you figure out where you go, as there are secret passages you need to find (yes, they are now necessary and not optional). It fits the challenge, but there’s a little too much unfair frustration. 11 points.

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Visuals (15): Yellow, an ugly yellow. The map looks like a Dragon somewhat, and the music is back again and is still not repetitive, but the look certainly is. Now it’s bland, and it’s getting old fast. Since it’s the NES, 11 points.

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Gameplay (15): I’M GOING TO RANT. THE BUCKET DIDN’T WORK! THIS DUNGEON IS FRUSTRATING. THE ENCLOSED ROOMS WITH LOTS OF ENEMIES, THE ITEM AND MAP COMES REALLY LATE, AND I USED UP ALL MY MEDICINE IN THIS DUNGEON, AND STILL ALMOST DIED. *HUFF HUFF HUFF huff huff huffff…….* Ok. Still not as bad as Zelda 2. The item, the magic rod, comes VERY late, and it can’t even be used on the Blue Wizzrobes and the boss itself, which by that time is pretty much all that’s in your way (it can be used on the like likes though). The playstyle is unique, and I can’t rant at this as much as the Challenge aspect will get, so the points will only go down by 1-2, and it’s an NES game so that puts it up as well, and I also suck at video games, so the Challenge may be nullified. 11 points.

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Enemies (15): RANT AGAIN. Jk. Jk again. But seriously, the Wizzrobes are REALLY DIFFICULT. And the Like Likes. AND THE LIKE LIKES! I ALMOST LOST MY SHIELD TO THESE GOD{Censored] [Censored], AND THEN I DID LATER, AND HAD TO BACKTRACK AFTER THIS DUNGEON. [Censoreddddddddd]. This dungeon had its moments IN BETWEEN difficulty, in which I managed to survive and it was fun killing them at low health, but around ¾ through my medicine was GONE. At least they took away the Darknuts, or the score would’ve been much lower. Even with an exploring run these enemies were a PAIN IN MY A-WORD. The only enemy that WASN’T frustrating was Gohma, which was REALLY easy with just one arrow shot, but if you didn’t know that, I’m sorry. As for Gleeok, [Censored] YOU! 6 points.

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Puzzles (15): Other than secret passages, none what.so.ever. However, this is an NES game, but the unneeded difficulty stops it short. 8 points.

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Challenge (10): 10 right? WRONG. FRUSTRATING DIFFICULTY DOES NOT GET A 10. A 10 on this category means that the dungeon was difficult without being frustrating, where it wasn’t easy to get lost, where it’s possible to die but not too much, and the difficulty works with how far it was in the game. Does that apply here? HECK NO. Read the above paragraphs. THIS DUNGEON IS TOO DIFFICULT FOR A 6TH DUNGEON! 6 points.

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Fun Factor (15): This dungeon TICKED me off when I left it. I had to get a shield, buy more medicine, and I never, EVER, wanted to do it again. I don’t have a gripe with how short it was, but seriously, WTH Nintendo? *brother tries to calm me down* STOP! *brother hits me with the bucket he poured earlier* Ok, ok, I get that I suck at this game, so I’m going to be forgiving here. 9 points.

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Overall, 62 points: Meh. This wasn’t as bad as Level 2, but man oh man was it close. This was a bit too unnecessarily difficult, and it hurt me so much to do this dungeon. God I don’t want to do it again. See me next time on Level 7: Demon, where I’ll be in a happier mood and more forgiving, because the boss is Aquamentus.

(end)

Here’s how I review dungeons again:

Dungeon Design (15 Points): Is the dungeon linear or complex? If linear, was it meant to be linear?  If complex, does it have unfair frustration? Does the gamer have much of a choice? Is there reasoning to what you have to do?

Visuals (15 Points): Does the dungeon look the part? Is the music good? Is the dungeon believable? If not, does it impact the dungeon? Does the overall mood of the dungeon bring chills up your spine?

Gameplay (15 Points): Is there a lot to do? Does the dungeon take full use of the item you’re given? If there is no item, is there a major hook that grabs you in this dungeon? Is the playstyle repetitive and does it get in the way of your playing?

Enemies (15 Points): Is there a variety of enemies in this dungeon? Does that variety fit the dungeon theme? Do the enemies bring a challenge and are entertaining? Is the miniboss or boss good, or does it fall flat? Would you battle the enemies again?

Puzzles (15 Points): Do the puzzles challenge your brain and treat you like you’re a functioning human? Are the puzzle rewards worth it? Is there unfair consequences to getting something wrong? Do the puzzles fit with the theme? Do the puzzles involve the dungeon item?

Challenge (10 Points): Is the dungeon too hard or too easy? Is it so linear that there’s no way to get lost? Is it very possible to die in this dungeon? If it is too easy, is it a fault of the game or the dungeon? Does the challenge work with how far you are in the game?

Fun Factor (15 Points): What did the dungeon make me feel like when I was in it and when I left it? Do I want to do it again? Was it entertaining and did I ever get bored? Was it too short or too long? Is there anything to enjoy in this dungeon that doesn’t end up as repetitive?

Now, the review awaits!

And here we go, Level 5: Lizard. And even right before we enter the dungeon, we have to do a puzzle, which thanks to an elderly fellow that forces you to explore to find her, she tells you the answer “Go up, up, up, up the mountain ahead.” What a fun riddle… Not really. Oh well. Disclaimer: Just remember my dungeon reviews on the NES game will be forgiving since it was on the dang NES and for that time, this was revolutionary, and you can’t blame it for its visuals or repetition most of the time.

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Dungeon Design (15): A lot more complex this time. There’s a secret passage, walls you can bomb, multiple pathways, and, of course, the old man is back, but this time he helps you TWICE! That’s really small, but since it’s an NES, that’s pretty good. 11 points.

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Visuals (15): It’s green again. As if the Lizard look of the map wasn’t enough, the greenery helps. The music is the same (sadly), but it’s still not repetitive yet. The mood of this dungeon is very weird, though, and, unfortunately, the whole dungeon look got repetitive last dungeon, and it’s not helped here. 7 points.

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Gameplay (15): Another dungeon where the gameplay is fine. There’s definitely a lot to do, to an optional side passage that leads you to a mildly useful item that can be used once in this dungeon and to get to every other dungeon afterwards to a map that can punish you if you haven’t gone to Snake yet to get the stepladder. Also, there is a BONUS in this dungeon, and if you find the old man after you go through the secret passageway, you are able to now hold 12 BOMBS! That’s actually pretty good. 11 points.

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Enemies (10): Well there’s 3 new enemies here: The pols voice, the Gibdo, and the very, very infamous Blue Darknut. The pols voice ends up being an annoyance if you don’t have enough rupees for arrows, which is good I guess (?), but the Gibdo is a nice upgrade to the Stalfos, which ends up being harder to kill and can punish you for your lack of exploration. The Blue Darknut are the same as the Gibdo, being an upgrade to a rather new enemy, but the Blue Darknut is PRETTY DARN DIFFICULT. He punishes you both for your lack of exploration and your bad reaction times. And there’s a room with 5 of them with VERY LITTLE ROOM TO MOVE. That’s a big unforgiving, and even me when I did my run where I explore everything on the overworld first, I ended up with 2 hearts when I left the room. 2 HEARTS OUT OF 12. Luckily, I had medicine afterwards, but dang was that room difficult (me being a more newer gamer who can’t handle very difficult things, TL;DR I suck at games). The miniboss ended up being 3 FRICKIN DODONGOS THAT PUNISH YOU FOR YOUR LACK OF BOMBS. But they are easy if you did, so… yeah. The boss ends up challenging you not for your skill, but for your AMOUNT OF EXPLORATION. Did you get the whistle? Then you may lose some valuable health here lololololololol. Oh you got it? Well [CENSORED][CENSORED]. I like that, because there’s more than one way to defeat him, and if you did explore the whole dungeon, your efforts end up being fruitful. 9 points.

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Puzzles (15): Nope. Maybe 2 puzzles though, if you count having to explore with bombs and possibly using the whistle for the Digdogger, but other than it being an NES game, 11 points.

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Challenge (10): This dungeon is like the Manji, in which the challenge is indirectly proportional to the amount of exploring you did on the map. At this point in the game (if you’ve been following the dungeons in order, which you really shouldn’t have to), you could have every item that was possible to receive on the overworld map. So if you have the white sword, the blue ring, and the candle, this dungeon ends up being easier with still due challenge but not unforgiving other than the blue Darknut. If you didn’t, however, than this dungeon will be a CHALLENGE, and you’ll die to the Darknuts 2-3 times. That’s a great challenge. The only thing I can think of that hurts the challenge of this dungeon is the blue Darknuts which are slightly unforgiving in my eyes (especially since they pop up in 2 rooms), but other than that, the challenge is excellent here. 9 points.

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Originality (5): Ctrl-C Ctrl-V past dungeons. 5 points.

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Fun Factor (15): When I left this dungeon, I had mixed feelings, although thankfully it wasn’t because it was too short. It was entertaining in which on my minimalist run, I was running around the dungeon with about a half heart due to DARKNUTS I HATE YOU, and it was such a fun challenge trying to survive and screaming when a fairy popped out of a Gibdo. I can’t really think of an idea of why I would play this dungeon again, but I definitely enjoyed this dungeon while it lasted. 12 points.

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Overall, 75 points: Good. This dungeon’s lack of puzzles certainly hurt its score (like usual), but there’s fun to be had, and this is probably the best dungeon in the game I’ve reviewed so far, narrowly beating out the Manji. See you next time in Level 6: Dragon. Prepare for that day, as I will no doubt be in a bad mood after completing that dungeon because of its huge difficulty (IMO, I SAID IMO), so hopefully my brother will pour a bucket of water over my head or something.

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(end)

I myself think I was a bit too critical, despite this being a 3rd and final draft. But what do you think? Am I being too critical or too forgiving? Did I miss anything important? Let us know in the comments!

Oh, and to prepare for what I’m going to look like for the next dungeon review:

Like Solid Snake. GET IT GUYS? C’MON… ok. Disclaimer: Just remember my dungeon reviews on the NES game will be forgiving since it was on the dang NES and for that time, this was revolutionary, and you can’t blame it for its visuals or repetition most of the time.

Anyway, here’s how I review dungeons again:

Dungeon Design (15 Points): Is the dungeon linear or complex? If linear, was it meant to be linear?  If complex, does it have unfair frustration? Does the gamer have much of a choice? Is there reasoning to what you have to do?

Visuals (15 Points): Does the dungeon look the part? Is the music good? Is the dungeon believable? If not, does it impact the dungeon? Does the overall mood of the dungeon bring chills up your spine?

Gameplay (15 Points): Is there a lot to do? Does the dungeon take full use of the item you’re given? If there is no item, is there a major hook that grabs you in this dungeon? Is the playstyle repetitive and does it get in the way of your playing?

Enemies (15 Points): Is there a variety of enemies in this dungeon? Does that variety fit the dungeon theme? Do the enemies bring a challenge and are entertaining? Is the miniboss or boss good, or does it fall flat? Would you battle the enemies again?

Puzzles (15 Points): Do the puzzles challenge your brain and treat you like you’re a functioning human? Are the puzzle rewards worth it? Is there unfair consequences to getting something wrong? Do the puzzles fit with the theme? Do the puzzles involve the dungeon item?

Challenge (10 Points): Is the dungeon too hard or too easy? Is it so linear that there’s no way to get lost? Is it very possible to die in this dungeon? If it is too easy, is it a fault of the game or the dungeon? Does the challenge work with how far you are in the game?

Fun Factor (15 Points): What did the dungeon make me feel like when I was in it and when I left it? Do I want to do it again? Was it entertaining and did I ever get bored? Was it too short or too long? Is there anything to enjoy in this dungeon that doesn’t end up as repetitive?

Now onward to the review!

Dungeon Design (15): Again, overworld has the design, not the dungeons, so it’s linear to a fault. However, there’s definitely some point to this dungeon. It definitely FITS the snake, as you are going to be slithering and backtracking and exploring points because you hit a brick wall, and there’s nothing unreasonable. However, this dungeon feels to me half-baked, but that’s just my opinion. Really boring design that’s a bit unlike the others in that regard.  8 points.

Visuals (15): Oooh, a yellow shade. Gross. I guess that fits the snake theme? Eh… no. The music is the same throughout all the dungeons, but it still fits, and isn’t really repetitive yet. Emphasis on yet. The visuals, though, are slowly creeping in as old, probably even at the time this game came out. It doesn’t affect the score too much though. The mood of this dungeon didn’t really help with the enemies though.But it’s the NES. 9 points.

Gameplay (15): And this dungeon is the best in gameplay! There’s a lot to do, there’s a variety of things to do, there’s even a moment where you hit a brick wall and it implements exploration to get the stepladder, which is probably the most used dungeon item in the game regarding the dungeon you GET IT IN. The rupee room is an added bonus too. 14 points.

Enemies (10): And the streak stops short. This dungeon, by far, has the worst enemies EVER. The keese and zols make a reappearance, tis true, but THEY’RE BORING. The Vires are just plain annoying and they really, REALLY, dropped this score. The only thing that this dungeon had that was unique and was pretty good was the introduction of the infamous Like Like and the reappearance of the Bubbles in the same room. THAT was a room, but it was too short, and the Like Likes ended up being an EXTREME pushover at max health. The miniboss was alright, reimplementing the 4-mouth (?) guy to hurt your dreams if you lack bombs, although if you still have some, too easy. The boss, however, WAS CHALLENGING, and was a great boss for an otherwise meh dungeon. 5 points.

Puzzles (15): YAY PUZZLES… oh wait. 3 puzzles this time, with 2 of them being the underwhelming block movements. Again, the puzzles are on the overworld, not here. BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUT, the stepladder is used to the most extreme on the 3rd puzzle… walking. That might seem underwhelming, but it’s something. 10 points.

Challenge (10): This dungeon is a mix. It’s good in which there’s fair challenge with Manhandla w/o bombs and Gleeok is no pushover. The Like Likes are also fair challenge as well (although a VERY short encounter). However, the bad is EVERYTHING ELSE. Annoying enemies that don’t “really” hurt you, to the stupid vires that jump around to the pushover Zols at this point. 5 points.

Originality (5): Blah blah blah NES implements ideas for first time, but dungeon copies previous ideas but not to a huge points to turn this score down. First Zelda game blah blah blah kill me now we all know the score at this point because first Zelda game. 5 points.

Fun Factor (15): This dungeon was REALLY underwhelming. Do I want to do it again? No. Entertaining? Depends, at the beginning NO, the end YES. I want so badly to fight Gleeok again (SPOILER ALERT: I WILL IN FUTURE DUNGEONS). What did I feel when I left it? Cheated by how short the positives were. Yeah, too short blah blah blah. 8 points.

Overall, 64 points: Meh. Another dungeon that really needed more stuff. Can’t be too critical since first Zelda game, blah blah Ctrl-C Ctrl-V Level 2: Moon summary. Hey, at least it’s not as BAD as Level 2: Moon. Meet me next time when I tackle Level 5: Lizard. Now where is my flute so I can get the lizard out of the pot… Oh wait, should’ve used that joke at the start for snake. DON’T INSULT ME PEOPLEZ I KNOW I SHOULD BE MORE FUNNY BUT THAT’S THE WAY I ROLL.

(End)

Removed the swearing. I think I was a bit too critical on this dungeon as well, but sometimes my reviews reflect my mood at the time I reviewed the dungeon, and in this case, I was kind of in a boring mood. I had just done some work, remembered I had to do a review, and this review became a sort of a rush job (and so was me going through the dungeon).

But what do you think? Was I too critical, was there things I missed, or is it perfectly fine? Let us know in the comments!

7 Things, each worth something: Dungeon Design (15 Points): Is the dungeon linear or complex? If linear, was it meant to be linear? If complex, does it have unfair frustration? Does the gamer have much of a choice? Is there reasoning to what you have to do? Visuals (15 Points): Does the dungeon look the part? Is the music good? Is the dungeon believable? If not, does it impact the dungeon? Does the overall mood of the dungeon bring chills up your spine? Gameplay (15 Points): Is there a lot to do? Does the dungeon take full use of the item you’re given? If there is no item, is there a major hook that grabs you in this dungeon? Is the playstyle repetitive and does it get in the way of your playing? Enemies (15 Points): Is there a variety of enemies in this dungeon? Does that variety fit the dungeon theme? Do the enemies bring a challenge and are entertaining? Is the miniboss or boss good, or does it fall flat? Would you battle the enemies again? Puzzles (15 Points): Do the puzzles challenge your brain and treat you like you’re a functioning human? Are the puzzle rewards worth it? Is there unfair consequences to getting something wrong? Do the puzzles fit with the theme? Do the puzzles involve the dungeon item? Challenge (10 Points): Is the dungeon too hard or too easy? Is it so linear that there’s no way to get lost? Is it very possible to die in this dungeon? If it is too easy, is it a fault of the game or the dungeon? Does the challenge work with how far you are in the game? Fun Factor (15 Points): What did the dungeon make me feel like when I was in it and when I left it? Do I want to do it again? Was it entertaining and did I ever get bored? Was it too short or too long? Is there anything to enjoy in this dungeon that doesn’t end up as repetitive?

Level 3: Manji I’m back! And here is the 3rd dungeon, Manji. Disclaimer: Just remember my dungeon reviews on the NES game will be forgiving since it was on the NES and for that time, this was revolutionary, and you can’t blame it for its visuals or repetition most of the time. Dungeon Design (15): Less linear than the previous, and more fun to be had. This dungeon looks like a manji, and it works like a manji, with even 1 whole side of the dungeon as an optional part with fun enemies :D. 11 points. Visuals (15): I had myself do some research on what the manji was. Pretty sure most of you know it as the swastika, or the Nazi symbol, but the origin of that word swastika came from Sanskrit, which meant “well-being”, and it was also used to apparently mark the points of Buddhist temples or shrines. That was probably part of the reason the Nazis used it as a symbol, probably to mean good luck. However, it’s probably one of the most hated symbols nowadays, and this dungeon definitely takes the symbol and turns it into a dungeon, but it’s far from a shrine. This dungeon’s difficulty is indirectly proportional to how much exploring you do on the overworld map. No exploring? The dungeon takes the evil aspect of the dungeon, with Darknuts, Zols, and Bubbles. Lots of exploring? It’s a breeze, and it’s definitely good luck at that point. The dungeon definitely tricks you at first, giving a green look to bring out the luck meaning of the manji, but of course, it’s a ruse, and the dungeon’s boss definitely shows it at once. I greatly loved this dungeon’s visuals, and that was probably my 2nd favorite part of the dungeon. 13 points. Gameplay (15): There’s a lot to do here, but the item you find in the dungeon isn’t used at all in this dungeon, rather it’s used for the overworld to explore even further as a raft. The item is definitely worth it, but I would’ve loved another item in the dungeon or something that would make it more fun, but I digress, it’s the NES. The major hook here is the difficulty, which I’ve said in the visual department, and there’s also a whole part of the dungeon at the top that’s completely optional and quite fun, with lots of enemies tied into there as well. 7 points. Enemies (10): Perfect. The introduction of the infamous darknut, a boss that’s hard to go against without bombs and ends up being really fun separating Zols that punish you for lack of exploration, and bubbles that render sword useless for a time. I can’t really ask for anything more. 10 points. Puzzles (15): Yeah…. No. No puzzles here. But since it’s an NES game, and the real puzzles are on the overworld hence what the game is all about, 2 points. Challenge (10): Perfect. A difficulty that’s directly proportional to your lack of exploring, and there’s even a room in the way of getting the raft with 8 DARKNUTS!!! And the boss is no pushover either without bombs. What a great level for a 3rd dungeon! 10 points. Originality (5): Read above paragraphs. It’s the first Zelda game. It’s on the NES. Great ideas. Blah blah blah. 5 points. Fun Factor (15): The sad part about this dungeon is that I wanted to do it again after I left the dungeon. It was so entertaining and the enemies were fantastic. So yeah, a major gripe with the dungeon is that it’s too short, but then again, it’s on the NES and it’s the first Zelda game. At least there was nothing repetitive though. 11 points. Overall, 69 points. Average. Definitely the best dungeon I’ve been in so far, but the lack of puzzles and it being too short kinda push the score down. If this dungeon was longer, had puzzles, and ANOTHER dungeon item that could’ve been used in this dungeon, this dungeon would be perfect. Join me next time when I review Level 4: Snake.

(End) Once again I removed the swearing that was in the review. He is defiantly a lot less critical on the dungeons. I enjoyed this review much more than the other ones! So what did you guys think? Let us know in the comments!

How Jacob Rates Dungeons 7 Things, each worth something: Dungeon Design (15 Points): Is the dungeon linear or complex? If linear, was it meant to be linear? If complex, does it have unfair frustration? Does the gamer have much of a choice? Is there reasoning to what you have to do? Visuals (15 Points): Does the dungeon look the part? Is the music good? Is the dungeon believable? If not, does it impact the dungeon? Does the overall mood of the dungeon bring chills up your spine? Gameplay (15 Points): Is there a lot to do? Does the dungeon take full use of the item you’re given? If there is no item, is there a major hook that grabs you in this dungeon? Is the playstyle repetitive and does it get in the way of your playing? Enemies (15 Points): Is there a variety of enemies in this dungeon? Does that variety fit the dungeon theme? Do the enemies bring a challenge and are entertaining? Is the miniboss or boss good, or does it fall flat? Would you battle the enemies again? Puzzles (15 Points): Do the puzzles challenge your brain and treat you like you’re a functioning human? Are the puzzle rewards worth it? Is there unfair consequences to getting something wrong? Do the puzzles fit with the theme? Do the puzzles involve the dungeon item? Challenge (10 Points): Is the dungeon too hard or too easy? Is it so linear that there’s no way to get lost? Is it very possible to die in this dungeon? If it is too easy, is it a fault of the game or the dungeon? Does the challenge work with how far you are in the game? Fun Factor (15 Points): What did the dungeon make me feel like when I was in it and when I left it? Do I want to do it again? Was it entertaining and did I ever get bored? Was it too short or too long? Is there anything to enjoy in this dungeon that doesn’t end up as repetitive?

Level 2: Moon Back again, and this time it’s the 2nd dungeon, the moon. Just remember my dungeon reviews on the NES game will be forgiving since it was on the NES and for that time, this was revolutionary, and you can’t blame it for its visuals or repetition most of the time. Dungeon Design (15): This dungeon is a LOT more linear than the previous dungeon, which I can forgive since you can go to any dungeon at any time (except for maybe Death Mountain), so it all depends whether or not you go here at any time or you’re following by order and this is your second level. However, I’m going to give it 7 points. Visuals (15): Ooooh, more blue. The music is back and it still fits, and the dungeon feels just as good as the previous one. And that’s what makes this game so good, is that the dungeons never get repetitive and I get the same feeling from the previous one. This dungeon looks like a moon, and while it shares no resemblance to Majora’s moon (jokingly, this is the first Zelda game O.O), I see no real problem. 9 points. Gameplay (15): This dungeon’s gameplay, however, does NOT fit the part. This dungeon is great in which it upgrades your boomerang so it fits the whole screen, but that’s it. It becomes a great utility throughout, but you get it early (IMO late), and for the next dungeons it doesn’t work anymore. A final hurrah for an item though. The playstyle is still not repetitive though, so 7 points. Enemies (10): Less variety of enemies this time, with the main thing being either snakes that rampage in your direction or the mean Goriya that hurls his boomerang at you with statues shooting at you. Unfortunately, the ropes end up being tedious and just an annoyance at best (not to mention the gels got repetitive), and the blue Goriya makes a very short enemy that could’ve been expanded into a miniboss. There’s a fire guy that’s RIDICULOUSLY easy to kill, and the boss could be hard if you skipped the old man and have to experiment, but other than that the boss is REALLY easy. 4 points. Puzzles (15): Again, the first Zelda game is not known for its puzzles as much, and this dungeon only has one, which is, Dodongo dislikes smoke. That’s it. 6 points for it being the first Zelda game. Challenge (10): This dungeon is easier than the first one. There’s no way to get lost here, and probably the only way to die in this dungeon is to stay too long in the Blue Goriya room. This is technically fine since this could’ve been your first dungeon for all you care, but still, that’s a bit unforgiving. 4 points. Originality (5): Pretty sure you know this is the first Zelda game and there’s no way I’m going to give it 0 points, but since this dungeon doesn’t pose up a lot of new ideas, 4 points. Fun Factor (15): This dungeon made me feel a little disappointed when I left it, and I don’t want to do it again. The blue Goriya part was probably the only part that was entertaining, and then the rest was too easy, even with a small kit. Too short, and we could’ve had more without so much repetition. 5 points.

Overall, this dungeon gets 46 points. This dungeon is mediocre at best, and could’ve had so much more. That’s probably as critical as I’ll get for the first Zelda game, so you can guess it’s going to get better from here. See you next time for Level 3: Manji. Isn’t that controversial…

(End) Once again, I would say he was a little critical again on the dungeon. This time he does acknowledge that sense it was on the NES era, it wouldn’t be top class.

So what did you guys think? Let us know in the comments!

(This is how he rates the dungeons) How Jacob Rates Dungeons 7 Things, each worth something: Dungeon Design (15 Points): Is the dungeon linear or complex? If linear, was it meant to be linear? If complex, does it have unfair frustration? Does the gamer have much of a choice? Is there reasoning to what you have to do? Visuals (15 Points): Does the dungeon look the part? Is the music good? Is the dungeon believable? If not, does it impact the dungeon? Does the overall mood of the dungeon bring chills up your spine? Gameplay (15 Points): Is there a lot to do? Does the dungeon take full use of the item you’re given? If there is no item, is there a major hook that grabs you in this dungeon? Is the playstyle repetitive and does it get in the way of your playing? Enemies (15 Points): Is there a variety of enemies in this dungeon? Does that variety fit the dungeon theme? Do the enemies bring a challenge and are entertaining? Is the miniboss or boss good, or does it fall flat? Would you battle the enemies again? Puzzles (15 Points): Do the puzzles challenge your brain and treat you like you’re a functioning human? Are the puzzle rewards worth it? Is there unfair consequences to getting something wrong? Do the puzzles fit with the theme? Do the puzzles involve the dungeon item? Challenge (10 Points): Is the dungeon too hard or too easy? Is it so linear that there’s no way to get lost? Is it very possible to die in this dungeon? If it is too easy, is it a fault of the game or the dungeon? Does the challenge work with how far you are in the game? Fun Factor (15 Points): What did the dungeon make me feel like when I was in it and when I left it? Do I want to do it again? Was it entertaining and did I ever get bored? Was it too short or too long? Is there anything to enjoy in this dungeon that doesn’t end up as repetitive? Level 1: Eagle Disclaimer: Yes, this looks a lot like a script, because originally it was. I’m working out how to make it NOT like this, but the idea of having this in videos is there, so this stays as it is. Yeah, I know, Legend of Zelda. Some people hate it. Some people love it for its exploration, others loved it for its ingenuity and how it defined the Zelda franchise. To me, it starts off the Zelda series, and we’re going to start with its dungeons. This is the first dungeon. In the Zelda spirit, I played this dungeon twice. One with me not exploring as much, and the other getting as much as I can before I start the dungeon, so I can see how the exploration of the overworld map tailors the dungeons. :D Dungeon Design (15 points): First off, let’s talk about why I can’t criticize this game’s dungeons as much. This game was tailored around exploration, so it’s not bad if the dungeons aren’t exactly appealing. However, this dungeon is a great start (then again, every dungeon in the game can be done in any order). It’s not complex, but it’s not really linear. You forge your own way through this dungeon, and you explore as you see fit. 11 points. Visuals (15 points): Eh, it’s blue. The music is definitely good, although it’s the same for almost all of the dungeons except the last one, but it fits well for an old school game. The dungeon definitely has a mood thanks to its music. Mysterious. Many people have different takes on it, but that’s my shpeel. However, it’s not much with visuals, but you can’t blame it for an NES game and when it came out. Especially the map look, an eagle, which is alright I guess? FREEDOM! 9 points. Gameplay (15 points): There’s definitely a lot to do in this dungeon. Whether you’re escaping blade traps, or you step into a room full of keese as you dodge them trying to get a key, there’s definitely some variety here (although the gels do get repetitive). If you got the arrows beforehand, the bow can prove somewhat useful though it drains your rupees fast, but what’s special about this dungeon is that you already get the boomerang! It’s not used much (unless you want it to), as you get it rather late on your way to the boss, but it’s a great item that proves useful for the remainder of the game. Unfortunately, that’s it. It’s hard to judge NES dungeons though, so this might be forgiving, but 8 points. Enemies (10 points): There is definitely a variety of enemies in this dungeon. Whether there’s Keese or Gels you avoid to get a certain map, or Stalfoses that hold the key you need, or Goriyas who throw their boomerang mercilessly. The enemies that show up are absolutely not hard at all, but they fit for the first dungeon in the game (and the series for that matter), and they do well to test you quickly. The boss, Aquamentus, is a great boss though underwhelming. He’s really easy if you got to him with a lot of hearts like I did, but hard if you came in there with like 1 heart and you’re dodging for your life (and your shield can’t block his shots). I wouldn’t want to fight him again, though, because he’s very easy if you got the White Sword beforehand, and still somewhat easy beforehand. 6 points. Puzzles (15 points): Unfortunately, the NES game is not known for its puzzles in dungeons, specifically not this one. There’s maybe only 2 puzzles in which you push a block so the patch is clear, but other than that they fall flat. Then again, it’s the first dungeon, but maybe there could’ve been something that involves the boomerang, or at least something with a brain. 8 points. Challenge (10 points): The challenge is here, don’t worry. It’s not too easy and not too hard, and if you die, you only start at the beginning of the dungeon, which is a plus. Since it’s the first dungeon, it can also get away with how easy the boss is as well as some of the enemies found around here (except maybe for the infamous Wallmasters that annoy you if you accidentally stepped into it *shudders*). 9 points. Originality (5 points): Well, duh it has originality. It’s the first dungeon in the whole series! While there’s not much ideas, the dungeon is great for starting out. That’s not much for this category, but 5 points regardless. Fun Factor (15 points): I definitely had fun in this dungeon when I didn’t explore beforehand, and it was even more fun when I DID explore beforehand, since I felt all-powerful and the exploration was rewarding right off the bat. Since this is an old game and it doesn’t have a real hook like many later games do, I can’t say I want to do it again soon, but it was definitely entertaining while I was in it. It was just long enough for a first dungeon, and there was nothing really repetitive that got in the way.9 points.

Overall, 65 points: Meh. Again, this is an old game, and its hook wasn’t its dungeons, but its exploration. The later dungeon reviews probably will be about the same, but for a first dungeon, this is alright. (End) Personally I thought he was a little critical on the dungeons. It’s only the NES era, the game aren’t that great yet. What did you think of it? Let us know in the comments!

Next thread will probably be Rabbids, but seriously who knows. Uncharted is also this month. It’s also the month of colleges and school. Yikes!

In any case, it’s coming out for almost every console, so you should totally pre-order now. It’ll be great. Can’t go wrong with 2D Sonic (except Sonic 4).

For the people who want something different next thread, don’t worry. It’ll probbbbbbbbably be Sonic Mania. Probably.

In any case, hope you can still get your hands on this game so you can join the GoT team as they take on Splatoon 2.

GoT is also turning 3 in just a 2 days! WOO ANNIVERSARY GOT IS 3 YEARS OLD.... which means we’re still infants. Sucks.

In any case, hope you can get your hands on a Switch to join GoT in SplatFest and other Switch games. They’re selling out like hotcakes.