The Eldin region awaits! We both have a great time exploring this volcanic area. There’s a pretty stark contrast in gameplay between Faron Woods and Eldin, a change that I think we both enjoyed. We met a few new enemies, had a chat with a few Mogma, and got shouted at by a mysterious stranger dressed in black.
Listen in as we discuss the next leg in our journey towards finding Zelda!
Discussion
Last Time
Last time on Tandem Legends we carved our way through Skyview Temple in search of Zelda. After battling a few Bokoblins, Skulltulas, and a Stalfos, we encounter someone who appears to be the mastermind behind Zelda’s disappearance from the sky – Demon Lord Ghirahim. Ghirahim taunts Link into battle, toying with him before ultimately growing tired and disappearing again with a promise not to be so kind next time…
Upon reaching the Skyview Spring, Link learns that Zelda already moved on to the Eldin Region to purify herself in the Earth Spring. We acquired a ruby stone tablet which, once placed within the Goddess Statue on Skyloft, broke open the cloud barrier to reveal a path to the volcanic area of Eldin.
While in Skyloft we pursued clues to solve the case of Kukiel who was missing in action, eventually discovering a kindly demon living out of sight who had been visiting with her and playing a game. The demon Bateaux explained his desire to become human, and introduced us to the concept of gratitude crystals.
This Episode
In this section of gameplay we’re discussing today, we descend from our Loftwing into the volcanic area of Eldin. Here we find yet another region beset with Bokoblins and other monsters. We also encounter the Mogma, an intelligent mole species that enjoys burrowing and hunting for treasure. The Mogma keep us at arms length, but do let us know they’ve seen a few weirdos passing through, namely a man dressed in black.
Rooting out the Bokoblin infestation inspires one of the Mogma to reward Link with a pair of Digging Mitts which greatly increase the overall weight of our wallet as we dig up rupees galore. As we navigate our way through the lava maze around and inside the Eldin Volcano, the “man in black” – who might not actually be a man – shouts at Link to hurry ahead and save Zelda. After locating the missing pieces to the Earth Temple key Link prepares to embark deeper into the mountain in search of Zelda.
Eldin Volcano
Our initial thoughts for this area are pretty positive.
Unlike Faron Woods, the Eldin region seems more open. Even if there are winding pathways and obscured areas, it feels less like a series of corridors and presents us with fewer blind turns. So while it may be of similar size to Faron Woods (though honestly we have no idea) it feels bigger and less claustrophobic.
The environment itself also feels much less static than Faron Woods. Pools of lava, moving platforms, vents sending link hurling into the air.. There’s just a lot more to interact with here.
We encounter one of the first big instances of the game designers eschewing some common tropes of the Zelda franchise. Both of us, Shannon on this playthrough and Joe on his first, saw the volcano and immediately thought — Bomb Bag.
Shannon described this expectation as a bit of a handicap. She went in assuming the solution to her problems meant figuring what she needed to do to receive a Bomb Bag, something that would be pretty useful in resolving some of the blocked passageways throughout the area. On the hunt for the Bomb Bag, she felt that her blinders went up to what the game designers were trying to get her to do. She felt she wasted a lot of time trying to find clues in the Mogma’s dialogue and even in venturing back up to Skyloft to see if either Rupin’s or Beedle’s shop had updated their stock.
Ultimately it ended up being a learning experience. Going forward she’s hoping to keep an open mind when approaching puzzles and really take stock of the surroundings. The developers have a clear idea of what they want you to do and sometimes it just takes some careful observation to notice what that is.
Deciding what you need to solve a puzzle, rather than letting the game decide, is an easy trap to fall into.
Something that turned into a bit of a disappointment for the both of us was the lack of Gorons in this area. Just as we had associated a volcanic mountain with receiving the Bomb Bag, we were both expecting to see Gorons. Not even Gorko made an appearance.
Before wrapping things up, both of us ended up making the trip to Skyloft. We were each flush with rupees, and so took the opportunity to make a few purchases. Joe sprung for the Heart Medal, which, much to his disappointment only adds a single heart to your overall total but only while you’re carrying it. Shannon on the other hand was much more practical and grabbed an additional Adventurer’s Pouch.
While Joe was a good boy and went back to Eldin, Shannon was not. Shannon explored Skyloft at night, visiting the shopkeepers in their homes. At one point she met Rupin and his wife, and after Rupin’s wife’s generously displayed her antique collection, Shannon decided to heartlessly destroy the lot. Forced only to fork over 20 rupees, she shows little remorse.
This song gave us a lot of promises that it just couldn’t keep. Don’t get us wrong, great theme. Neat use of the horns, feels heavy and a bit ponderous, also has sort of a cartoonish sneaky sound perfect for a mountain setting filled with lava pools.. It’d also be perfect for a setting rife with Gorons.
-Sigh-
I mean, it’s fine. Whatever.
This song does have some striking similarities to the Death Mountain theme from Twilight Princess, so you can’t really blame us for assuming there’d be a Goron around every corner.
A rift has grown between your hosts over this song. Shannon finds this jazzy number endearing, fun, and perfectly suited to the pseudo-greaser/West Side Story street gang demeanor of the Mogma.
Joe generally agrees, but just wishes they’d pull back a bit. It’s such a unique theme, he feels like it’d be more appropriate as the theme for a single character.
This song has a lot of clarinet, and some slow plodding brass. It’s a bit cartoonish, but not exactly silly. Both Shannon and Joe agreed that it was very similar to the Forsaken Fortress in Wind Waker, but also has some similarities to a songs from Peggle or the Greatwood area of Fable 1.
This song managed to do what I think the Skyview Temple theme failed to do. Which was to make you feel like you’re in a dangerous area without sapping all of the joy out of the game.
Despite the tense string introduction to Tubert, he sets himself apart from his fellow Mogma with some super chill theme music. His song is actually a super slowed down and more acoustic version of the Eldin Volcano theme which was pretty neat. Joe noted that the themes for the rooms the mini-games exist in tend to have some really relaxed music, almost like it’s a refuge from the main game outside. Shannon agreed, feeling it was the perfect music to accompany swaying in a hammock on the beach.
A slightly sped up and more energetic variation on Tubert’s theme, the song for this game is actually pretty tame for a mini-game theme. Which kind of worked because the game itself isn’t that high pressure, not even having a time limit.
Final Thoughts
Joe
I really like this region, more than Faron Woods. I’m not sure if it’s actually bigger, but it does feel more interesting.
I’m working on getting over the lack of Gorons.
One of my favorite features of Zelda games are Bomb Flowers. It’s just such a weird thing to exist: a plant that explodes shortly after you pluck it from the ground. Adding in the rolling mechanic also put a fresh spin on what has become a Zelda staple.
Overall it was just a fun region.
Shannon
I really enjoyed this section. The environment was very dynamic throughout the region.
I can see now how Faron Woods was a great tutorial area. All the things I learned there made this region a much more enjoyable place to explore. It taught me what is probably an important lesson about Zelda games, that I can’t assume I know what I need.
Going forward I’m feeling competent, which I think is saying something about the game designers. They want the player to be exploring and making note of all the interesting things in the area, and I’m figuring out how to recognize those points of interest.
We have reached the end of our discussion this week on Tandem Legends. Thanks for joining us! We encourage you to play along and talk to us about your thoughts on Legend of Zelda. What do you think about this game so far? You can let us know by sending us a tweet @tandemlegends or commenting on this episode’s post below.
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Please tune in to our next episode where we enter the Earth Temple.
Until next time!
The theme music for this podcast, Overworld, was created by Kevin Macleod of incomepetech.com, licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
