Faron Woods – The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword Part 2

Intro

Shannon: Hello! Welcome to Tandem Legends. My name is Shannon

Joe: and I’m Joe.

Shannon: We are a podcast dedicated to playing and discussing Nintendo’s “Legend of Zelda” video games.

Joe: Together we will play each of the 18 games in small story-related chunks, in the timeline order noted in the Hyrule Historia.

Shannon: In this podcast we will talk about the uniqueness of each game including setting, lore, gameplay, music, and characters we love and we’ll find the threads that tie each Zelda game together. We’d love to talk to you about Zelda too – in fact, we invite you to play along with us!

Joe: Currently we are discussing our play-through of Skyward Sword.

Let’s get to it!

—————————–

Shannon: So, before we get into discussing this next section of gameplay let’s chat about what happened last time in Skyward Sword.

The game begins with Link waking up from a strange nightmare of a huge dark beast. We dismissed this, ventured outside and met Zelda and prepared for the Wing Ceremony, the final task before graduating from the Knight Academy. Together, Zelda and Link thwarted Groose’s plan to sabotage Link’s ability to race. Link then successfully won the wing ceremony race and obtained the sailcloth from Zelda.

Joe: Link and Zelda took their Loftwings to the sky after the race and enjoyed each other’s company for a few moments when suddenly an unnatural storm knocked Zelda from her Loftwing and she plummeted towards the cloud barrier. Link was knocked unconscious.

Link woke up in the Knight Academy, conferred with the headmaster, who is also Zelda’s father, and followed an otherworldly floaty figure named Fi through Skyloft until finally coming to the Goddess Sword and being told of a great destiny involving both himself and Zelda.

——————————-

Shannon: In the first section we’re discussing today, we begin with Headmaster Gaepora in Link’s room.

Headmaster Gaepora has just handed Link the green tunic of the graduating knights for that year, saying he has full confidence in both Link and Zelda to face whatever may come. Apparently living under the restrictions of a teacher’s salary, he doesn’t actually give Link anything else he might need on the presumably hostile surface, and so advises him to head to the Bazaar and go buy some stuff.

Thankfully one of the instructors hands Link a shield on his way out of the Knight’s Academy, so we’re starting to feel a bit better about his chances.

The Bazaar proves fruitful, as Link is gifted a bottle and some potion. Feeling somewhat more prepared, Link mounts his bird and makes his way towards the shaft of light piercing the cloud layer below.

Link dives from his loftwing, dropping below the cloud barrier and we get our first view of the surface

Link lands near a large pit in a forested region, an area Fi tells us is called the Sealed Grounds. After hacking up a bit of the local wildlife Link takes a peek into the pit and is overcome by a vision of the large Nightmare Pac-Man beast emerging from the bottom and apparently consuming him.

Back in reality, Link attempts to access a nearby door which turns out to be sealed by a powerful force. Link instead makes his way to the bottom of the pit, approaching a stone spike emanating some spooky black smoke and equally spooky music.

A voice comes as if from nowhere, identifying Link as the Child of Destiny descended from the sky, and instructs him to perform a skyward strike on the stone spike. He does so, the spooky smoke recedes and Link heads back to the now unsealed door. Entering the Sealed Temple.

Joe: I think it’s kind of funny that Gaepora entrusts me with this grand quest to usher in a new era for the surface and rescue his daughter and all that, but can’t chip in for just like, a shield or something. Like. I appreciate the clothes, but you had these lying around already.

Shannon: I mean you literally just graduated from the academy and all you get is a pat on the back.

Joe: I’m a student. I’m on a limited income.

At least Instructor Owlan offers us the Wooden Shield. But still..

Anyway, at this point there isn’t actually a whole lot of other things for us to do. It’s pretty much either go to the Bazaar or grab our Loftwing.

Shannon: No, it was pretty linear the whole way through. Which, I mean, makes sense. We’re still getting our footing. The story has hardly begun at this point.

I imagine we both went to the Bazaar, so let’s talk about that and what we found there.

Joe: Yeah, the Bazaar is a pretty unique place, certainly the most lively on Skyloft.

Shannon: It had been closed off from us during our last session, right?

Joe: Yeah, they had a few strategically placed roadblocks during that segment.

Shannon: Seems like by the time we get to the Bazaar people have already heard what’s happened. The potion lady, Luv, is kind enough to give us a free bottle to store the potion we buy from her and her husband Bertie.

Joe: So you already named two, Luv and Bertie, but we meet a lot of characters in the Bazaar. Maybe we should mention the others?

Shannon: Yeah, and it might be worth it to talk about some of the themes we hear. The Bazaar has some really great music. There are a lot of layers to it, tamborine, keyboard, drums, xylophones? Maybe even some maracas? The music here really highlights that interplay between setting and music and character that we mentioned in our last episode that Zelda seems to do so well. It’s definitely got a bustling marketplace feel. Maybe even circus like?

Joe: Definitely. I think music is like, the first thing you probably notice when you walk in. It’s pretty in your face. Or ears really. Haha.

Approaching each vendor gives us a different spin on that main theme. When we head towards Luv and Bertie at the potion stand, most of the instruments fade into the background and the tempo slows. The beat is pretty soft, mostly we hear either steel drums or a xylophone, and something accordion like. It’s a pretty chill compared to some of the others. It’s got a little bit of an exotic feel.

Shannon: Yeah, and across the way there’s Rupin, the gear shop owner. His music matches his mannerisms perfectly. He’s constantly moving and shifting position, very in your face, very eager to make that sale, and momentarily demoralized if you walk away. His music feels very hyperactive and fast. The tempo really picks up and you can feel his intensity and eagerness.

Joe: Over at the Item Check we have Peatrice. She’s got something of a lazy, disinterested demeanor. Most of the instruments are replaced by some kind of flute and the melody is dragged way out. There’s a little bit of percussion in the back, but overall it feels very.. Sleepy. The song itself sounds almost as bored as Peatrice does..

Shannon: Then if we move toward the scrap shop we meet Gondo. Gondo’s theme music feels very industrial, literally sounds like a hammer meeting anvil, very percussive. It also has a baritone saxophone playing the melody which perfectly characterizes Gondo’s large shoulders and frame moving around the shop as he works.

Joe: Now. The Fortune Teller, Sparrot, is one of my favorites. I think his and Gondo’s themes probably have the most personality. Sparrot can kind of strike you as a charlatan, he seems very intent on convincing you how mystical he is. Like Rupin, he’s got his own intensity and knows how to pitch his services, saying: “Trust my piercing eyes and listen to my pure and innocent voice.” Real or not, his music really attempts to hammer home that sort of exotic mysticism we associate with the stereotypically heavily perfumed, velvet upholstered furniture fortune teller image we kind of expect.

Side note, it’s possible his name is a combination of Parrot/Sparrow. OR more delightfully, Sparrow and Tarot, like the cards. I prefer that one so I think I’ll be calling him Sparro(w).

Shannon: I really feel like the Bazaar on Skyloft is a very unique and memorable area. And I’m really impressed with how the designers of Skyward Sword incorporated the music and setting and character design all together. Considering that they’re just NPCs, this extra attention really elevates the concept of each character and their role.

Joe: You know, i was looking through the Hyrule hystoria and it was showing off a lot of the concept art for the NPCs we see in Skyloft.. and a lot we don’t. It mentioned that there are so so many different ideas that end up not getting used and implied that a lot of character designs get revisited with each game to see if they’d fit. That made total sense to me looking at just how unique each of these characters have been so far. Like they could have been brought in from the planning stages of a previous zelda.

Any random things to mention before we move to the surface?

Shannon: I visited Groose in the Knights Academy. He was sulking in his room, said he blamed Link for Zelda’s disappearance and said that he would figure out a way to save her, which I thought was interesting. I also noticed that on the punching bag in the corner he had a drawing of Link’s face on it.

 

Joe: Ha! I love that. I’m not very good at going to rooms and houses in Zelda for some reason. So I tend to miss out on some of those little jokes. I did open up someone’s cupboard and the game admonished me for being so rude. “Hey you little jerk!” or something.. Haha

Shannon: So, Joe, I think we’re ready to move away from Skyloft.

Joe: Sounds good to me. I actually really wanted to talk about this next section a bit, particularly to comment on just how cinematic the next few minutes are.

Shannon: Please, set the scene!

Joe: Thanks!

So, we’ve just leapt from Skyloft and are making our way to the green beacon. The flying music is in full swing and we’re feeling pretty pumped. Link, he leaps from his loftwing and the camera whips around to follow him as he very confidently begins to drop through the cloud layer. The music swells, triumphant and exciting as the camera zooms in and out, tracking his descent.

Shannon: They do a great job helping you feel like you’re accomplishing something amazing, that you’re truly being courageous and blazing new trails.

Joe: Yes! Then.. The music loses some of that power and almost seems to drift away. The camera pulls way back and we see just how small Link is between the sky and surface. Things start to feel.. Less confident, less bold.

Now, the music shifts pretty dramatically from what we’ve been hearing all along in Skyloft. It’s quiet, cooler, more simple. Even the colors of this area are much cooler in their blues and greens. We can feel the stillness and the loneliness of the area. It really feels like you’re the only one on the whole planet.

Shannon: Mm, yeah, it’s definitely less cheerful than up in Skyloft. Almost immediately you can tell that you’re in unfamiliar territory. And even beyond that you feel like you might be the first person to set foot here for.. who knows how long.

Joe: It really of reminds me of a cold winter morning before the world has really woken up. Still and cold and silent.

Shannon: You know, right next to where we land there’s that Toucan Sam save statue sitting there, but it’s not lit up. It looks–old.

Joe: Yeah, decrepit

Shannon: And almost immediately we see that this is a more wild place. Just a few more steps and we are confronted with a Deku Baba.

Joe: These Deku Baba’s look great don’t they? Ocarina of Time had Deku Baba’s but they were like.. Two half spheres clacking together.

Shannon: This thing has teeth! And a tongue.. It really comes across as vicious and violent.

This is also where we’re seeing more of the Motion Plus mechanics come into play.

Joe: Yeah, our first introduction to the idea that actual combat will depend on your attack angles.

Shannon: I’ll admit it took me a few whacks to figure out what they were going for. Eventually I was like, “Ohhh!”. I’m glad they gave us a few Deku Baba’s to practice on.

Joe: Yeah, pretty low pressure enemy overall. Though I think my technique needs work. I must stand too close or something because they always seem to close their mouths just as I’m about to hit, so I’m just bopping their heads over and over.

Almost uncomfortably satisfying when you pull of that horizontal slice in one try though.. Top of his head slides away–eesh.

Shannon: You know, you were talking about striking visuals a moment ago and we get another one in the cutscene here don’t we?

Joe: Yeah, just as Link is approaching the pit.

Shannon: So Link peaks over the edge of the pit and has this dramatic vision of that Nightmare Pac-Man beast coming out and devouring him. Before going too far, I wanted to point out that we actually see Link being afraid during this cutscene. I don’t think we’ve seen that before.

Joe: That’s a really interesting observation. I feel like it’s kind of rare that we see Link have much of a response unless it’s some form of being resolute or steadfast.

Shannon: Yeah

Joe: So, the vision ends and he’s still peering at this spike in the center of the pit. The wind picks up around him a little and a leaf tumbling in the breeze catches his eye. He glances towards it and follows its movement behind him, the camera follows suit and we see a big door sealed by some kind of magic.

Shannon: A very elegant transition, right?

Joe: Absolutely! It’s a brand new space and we might not really know where to get started, it was was an elegant way to show us the key fixtures without pulling us too far out of the game.

Shannon:  that magic on the door, the symbol. I’m familiar with the Legend of Zelda series enough to recognize that as the symbol of the Sheikah, the protectors of the royal family.

Joe: Yeah! Or at least that’s their role in later games. I was kind of surprised to see it here, supposedly it’s well before any sort of royal family.

Shannon: There’s not even a Hyrule yet.

Joe: Nope, and according to the intro, Hylia sent all of the humans up into the sky.

Shannon: So this could imply that either it was sealed before that happened, or there’s still a human presence on the surface. Perhaps more Sheikah?

Joe: I honestly don’t remember! That would definitely be interesting to see though. One of the big themes in Breath of the Wild is the advanced technology possessed by the ancient Shiekah, maybe these are those Shiekah?

Shannon: It would be pretty amazing to see something in this game hinting at that.

Joe: Yeah, absolutely, hopefully we will. Back to the Sealed Grounds.. Turns out that Sheikah marked door is locked.

Shannon: And this being a Zelda game, if you can’t go one way, you go the other way. So we head into the big pit.

As we approach the spike that spooky music displaces the theme for the area. Tendrils of wispy black smoke lash around it. As you get closer still, a voice sounds. Calling you “Young One”.

Is that supposed to be Hylia?

Joe: I have no clue. The camera angle makes it look like it’s coming from above, which I suppose is where Gods and Goddesses hang, but it almost feels like a trick. Like that evil presence around the spike is trying to trick you into releasing it.

Shannon: Yeah, it feels fishy, and again it feels like everyone knows more than we do about whats going on. But. I mean. What else are we gonna do. Skyward Strike!

Joe: Which is apparently exactly what we needed to do cuz the door unlocks and the spooky music went away. I feel like any time spooky music stops, you probably did the right thing.

I did want to ask: how did you feel about the first view of the surface map?

Shannon: Oh,  that’s right. As we’re floating down to the surface through the cloud barrier we do see the surface map for the first time. Honestly? It felt really small. Is that weird?

Joe: No, that’s how I felt too. It’s a little bit disappointing. We’re lead to believe that the surface is this vast land. Which, compared to Skyloft, it is much larger and there appears to be more to explore. But, the choice to color-in just one section of the map at a time kinda highlights how small the surface appears to be.

Shannon: Absolutely. Hopefully this is just our first impression though and the map develops further as we progress through the story.

For now, let’s move along to the next segment!

Joe: Link makes his way inside the temple and meets a very old woman who seems to be expecting him. She speaks at length of the gears of fate and the passage of time. She encourages Link to seek out the “Spirit Maiden” in Faron Woods, assuring him that all of his questions will be answered eventually.

In Faron Woods Link rescues a scholarly Goron named Gorko that inadvertently helps Link activate the Bird Statues on the surface. Deeper into the woods a tiny creature with a bush on his back is being accosted by a couple Bokoblins. The bush-being flees from his rescuer as Fi explains that this creature is called a Kikwi.

After chasing the little guy down we learn of a Kikwi Elder. Despite his excellent camouflage the enormous Kikwi is also found. He remembers seeing a woman in the woods but his memory is a bit fuzzy. Manipulated into helping locate the rest of the little Kikwi tribe, Link scours the forest. Once each is found, the Elder points towards “the temple”. He also gives Link a slingshot as a reward.

Link moves into an area known as the Deep Woods. After doing a lot of tightrope walking, vine swinging, and Bokoblin bashing, Link meets up with Mr. Gorko once more and is told of another holy oddity, Goddess Cubes.

Link finally makes it to the entrance of the temple. Just before entering Fi advises Link to head back to Skyloft to stock up on potions and equipment.

Shannon: First things first, music. Kind of an interesting piece they’ve got playing in the Sealed Temple.

Joe: Yeah, I can’t really put my finger on it. It’s got kind of a choir aspect with a bit of piano.. kind of like a big church or.. Temple I suppose.

Shannon: Yeah, and also bells? The music as a whole feels somewhat reverent, but has a more positive spin to it than the music outside.

Joe: Yeah

Shannon: So, this old woman. She was definitely expecting Link..

Joe: That would seem to be the case, right?

Shannon: She asks your name, but once you say it, she’s like “Oh, good.” or something. Mentioning she’s been waiting for you for a long time.. Then starts speaking very cryptically about your next steps.

Joe: Yeah, and mentions that Zelda wasn’t meant to reach the surface in the manner she did.

Shannon: She definitely has an idea of what’s going on, but it’s interesting that she isn’t really open to answering your questions. Which is in direct contrast to Fi who offers lots of information upfront.

You know, thinking about Fi it actually seems like she knows a lot more than you’d expect, especially about the residents of Skyloft. So I wonder if she has some sort of direct line to Hylia.. She does describe herself as the spirit of the goddess’ sword.

Joe: Yeah, so I’m wondering if she knows more about what’s going on than is implied, but is only sharing the information most relevant at the time. As if she’s more about preparing you for the challenges you’ll face on your journey.

Shannon: And in thinking now about the old woman in the sealed temple, I’m wondering if she has a divine connection to the goddess Hylia too.

Joe: Ohh, interesting. Yeah, she definitely has a mysterious air about her. Which I really like. I like wandering through this game feeling like everyone knows more about me than I do.

Shannon: Sure, sure. Something else about that old woman.. Not only is she another human. On the surface! But, she has the Shiekah symbol on her clothes.

Joe: Yeah! So, not only does this imply that there are other humans outside of Skyloft.. This also implies that she’s part of this mysterious Shiekah clan we see throughout the Zelda game series.

Shannon: I can’t say it feels like any of our questions about the Shiekah are answered just yet..

Joe: No, if anything this kind of raises more. Before it was a question on whether there were other humans left on the surface and what that might mean. Now we know there are, and the first one we meet seems to have very specific plans.

Shannon: She talks of Fi and the Goddess Sword, or perhaps around them, and refers to Zelda as the Spirit Maiden just like Fi had earlier, so we can at least feel pretty confident that we’re all playing for the same team. It’s just a matter of what exactly we’re trying to accomplish–besides just finding Zelda.

Moving along. The old woman points us to Faron Woods and grants us the ability to place beacons to help find our way. Kind of similar to Breath of the Wild, actually.

Joe: Hm, yeah it is, actually..

Shannon: We head out and quickly come across a Goron being attacked by a few Bokoblins.

Joe: A new enemy!

Shannon: Yes! And one that relies heavily on the motion mechanics, just like the Deku Babas.

Joe: I have to say, I was not very impressive during this fight. I never seemed to anticipate the change of their blocking direction quickly enough. I feel like this fight took me a bit longer than the game expected.

Shannon: Well you meet like, 6 of them for the first encounter?

Joe: Yeah, something like that.

Shannon: We get quite a bit of practice during this whole area, fighting Bokoblins I mean.

Joe: Yeah, but I feel like Zelda would still be disappointed if she happened to see me by the time we reach the temple. Annnyway. After that battle we meet a Goron!

Shannon: Yes! I love the Gorons. I was so excited to meet a Goron.

Joe: Yes! It’s always a good time when the Gorons are around.

Shannon: And I really liked his design. Different from Ocarina of Time.

Joe: Yeah, the design seems more similar to Twilight Princess, though a little less intimidating. This Goron, Gorko, I really love his over the top enthusiasm about history and archaeology.

Shannon: Yeah!

Joe:  As you’re talking to him the text gets bigger and bigger as he gets more and more excited. He’s a really fun character.

Shannon: A few interesting things I noticed. He isn’t surprised to see Link, a human, wandering around.

Joe: Huh. That’s an excellent point! He tells us about Skyloft, referring to it as the Isle of the Goddess and talks about all the mystical magical things the Isle has to offer its residents.

It’s funny then that he sees Link and doesn’t even associate him directly with Skyloft.

Shannon: Again, that would seem to imply that not all humans got sent to the sky.

Joe: Huh. We mentioned the Red Bokoblins already, but there are a few more enemies we meet in this area.

Shannon: Ugh, yes. The Octorocks.

Joe: Not a big fan?

Shannon: No! And, you know, this comes down to the motion controls a little bit. You have to like, bump the nunchuck to actually get your shield to deflect the rock they spit. It took me awhile to get the hang of that. My poor shield.

Joe: Ye-ah. The degrading mechanic is an interesting addition. Seems like yet another thing that got carried over into Breath of the Wild.

Shannon: I’m not sure how I feel about it just yet.

Joe: There is one aspect of it that I enjoy. That one fella in Skyloft, Gondo? He can upgrade your stuff.

Shannon: Ohh

Joe: Yeah, I think the next one is called a “banded” shield. I haven’t done it yet, but it says its supposed to be more durable.

Shannon: Well that’ll help. You know, it kind of feels like this was Nintendo dipping their toe into more “traditional” RPG games. Introducing Stamina, Equipment Degradation, and even Crafting.

Joe: Yeah, as we’re talking about this I’m noticing a lot of the things that will get carried over into Breath of the Wild. Refined a bit. But definitely the inspiration for some of the stuff we see in that game.

Shannon: Let’s get back to Faron Woods for a bit. We haven’t mentioned it, yet, but the music in this area contrasts pretty sharply with the Sealed Ground and the Sealed Temple.

Joe: Yeah, where that music was more.. Somber? The theme for Faron Woods is positively cheerful.

Shannon: Lots of layers built into this area’s theme. Strings, flute, perhaps tambourine, and then some French horn or something similar.

Joe: Yes! That horn. It plays a little melody that immediately makes me think of Twilight Princess but I cannot for the life of me figure out why. I’ve scoured the soundtrack and I haven’t been able to find a direct analogue. So maybe it’s just the horn? I feel like Twilight Princess had a lot of horns in it.

Shannon: Definitely could be!

Joe: You know, if you listening have a better ear than me and have any idea where I’m getting the Twilight Princess association from I’d really appreciate it if you sent us a tweet or something. Driving me crazy. Sorry. Haha

Shannon: No you’re fine! I like the idea that the themes for similar areas in different Zelda games are echoed again and again. I haven’t heard the Twilight Princess music very much so I can’t really offer any opinions. But, overall I feel that the music in Faron Woods here in Skyward Sword is very bouncy.

Joe: Absolutely. Matches the general vibe of the forest’s design.

Shannon: Yeah the forest is very colorful. Big bright mushrooms, lush green leaves, bright blue sky. The designers said they wanted a storybook feel for this first area and that really comes across.

Joe: Yeah and speaking of storybook feel, we meet the Kikwi, which seem ripped straight from the pages of a children’s book.

Shannon: They’re super cute.

Joe: Yeah, though I didn’t like them too much my first playthrough. I think I accidentally became a traditionalist and didn’t want there to be a bunch of new sentient creatures running around, but I’m over it now. Haha

Shannon: So the Kikwi we meet are named, Machi, Erla, Lopsa, Oolo.

Joe: When I saw all these names listed out I felt like something was familiar about them. I was thinking they were named after food, but I looked it up and it turns out they’re named after tea leaves! I don’t know anything about tea, but Oolo would probably be after Oolong, which I’m pretty sure is tea?

Shannon: Yeah, and Machi is probably Matcha.

Joe: Ohhh

Shannon: My favorite Kikwi has to be the one stuck in the tree. He’s too scared to jump down so you roll into the tree and he just… falls onto the ground. The scene is super not graceful. Haha. But, I thought it was cute.

Joe: Totally, I think mine has to be the little guy hiding in the grasses. You chop at the grass and he doesn’t just run away like the others, he like.. persists.. in his effort to hide. He squeakily crawls to a new patch of grass until you clear a bunch out so he can’t really hide anymore.

Shannon: I love that! And you know, that calls back to something we mentioned last episode, this game has a fun sense of humor.

Joe: Yeah you’re right. The sealed grounds feels pretty serious, so to have that assurance that the lightness of the game is gonna stick around is nice. It’s not all divine imperative this and face your destiny that.

Shannon: I think, even though we mentioned those Kikwi, and even though they’re super cute, there is a clear best Kikwi we haven’t mentioned yet. Bucha, the Kikwi elder

[Kikwi elder noises]

Gyuuu-gyuuuuu

A-wah-a-waaaah

Wow-a-wow-a-wooooow

Shannon: So, the Elder, after we find all the little Kikwis, finally tells us he saw Zelda heading towards the temple and gives us a new weapon! The slingshot

Joe: Which I thought was a bit surprising. I would have assumed a bow and arrow just because.. Well forest? I guess I assume if it’s a forest setting I’m getting a bow and arrow. But also, I think he calls it an “heirloom”.. Who’s heirloom? Where’d it come from?

Shannon: That’s a great question! I did notice when we first arrived at Faron Woods and it shows a wide shot of the area you see a large tree in the background. Perhaps the slingshot is an heirloom from the Great Deku Tree?

Joe: Oh I like that!

So, with the slingshot we can make it into the deep woods. More bad guys, more vines. There isn’t a whole lot left in this area, it’s pretty straight forward. Though we do meet up with Gorko again.

Shannon: Oh, wait. Actually! Something does happen! Link sort of glances over his shoulder just as he’s about to move into the Deep Woods, the camera pulls way back and we see someone is standing there. And then he disappears.

Joe: Ohhh yeah! That was a neat little scene. I like that we’ve apparently been watched this whole time. Kinda creepy. Love that diamond effect on their teleport skill.

Shannon: Is that magical teleporting person someone you’ve seen before in other Zelda games?

Joe: No, this is someone different. I think even the whole idea of Link being followed–Someone stalking him–is kind of a new concept for Zelda games.

Shannon: Ooo. I’m wondering if this person is the one who brought all the monsters to Faron Woods… Maybe we’ll find out soon.

Joe: Maybe! The Kikwi do seem to imply the monsters are a new addition to the forest..

Shannon: Oh yeah that’s right. The Kikwi seem scared of Link, thinking that he’s a monster who is going to eat them. And Bucha the elder Kikwi sends you on that fetch quest because he’s concerned about his Kikwis.That all seems to say that the monsters are definitely new.

At any rate, you had actually been talking about Gorko again.

Joe: Oh, yeah. So Gorko hollers at Link from a ledge and we make our way to him. Gorko  introduces goddess cubes to us! We do a Skyward Strike on the goddess cube and it shimmers and dissipates into the sky.

Shannon: Another great segway in design of the game, which makes us consider traveling back to Skyloft to solve this goddess cube mystery. So far the game has been pretty linear but, given the little we’ve seen of the surface map I’m guessing that there’s more traveling back and forth between Skyloft and the surface that will happen as the game progresses.

Joe: Definitely. And remember that emerald tablet that opened the cloud barrier to Faron Woods area?

Shannon: Oh! That’s right. And the bird statues on the surface all include an option to return to the sky. So it’s pretty clear that we are encouraged to travel back and forth between the surface and Skyloft regularly. That’s kind of fun.

Though honestly I am hoping that this game doesn’t include reusing the maps too much. I already felt like Faron Woods was very maze-like and struggled to navigate it easily at first.

Joe: Yeah. The multi-layered maze design of Faron Woods highlights how Nintendo responded to feedback about Twilight Princess. A lot of people felt that Twilight Princess, while a great game, and definitely having the biggest map of any Zelda game up to that point, was mostly empty.

And so here, the map kind of twists and turns and folds over itself to make it feel big but still have lots of stuff to do. It is hard to navigate, and once you’ve explored a bit, the illusion sort of wears off and you see how small it is.

Shannon: Ohh, interesting. So it seems that by addressing that problem they accidentally created a new one.

Joe: Exactly!

Shannon: Interesting. Thanks for sharing that perspective! There definitely seem to be some cause and effect going on in these Zelda games. Which makes sense considering we’re starting this project with a game that’s relatively recent – it’s the product of what came before and it affected games to come after.

Joe: Definitely true. And I think we see that in Breath of the Wild, where we get the big map again, but it’s full of lots of stuff.

Shannon: Before we move on, I just want to note that it seems kind of strange that Gorko still doesn’t seem phased by Link at this point, right? He’s just accepting Link being a mysterious human with mystical powers that unlock stone bird statues and destroy stone cubes imbedded in the earth.

Joe: Haha! Yeah, uncertain if Gorko is as intelligent and observant as he first appears. Or maybe he has traveled and experienced so much that nothing phases him anymore.

So before we enter Skyview Temple Fi does in fact stop Link and strongly encourage him to return to Skyloft to restock and repair equipment.

Shannon: Which is a good enough excuse for me!

Joe: So off we go!

When we get back above the cloud barrier Fi pops out and explains that the goddess cubes that dissipated below activated treasure chests up here. One of them on the map is located at…

Shannon: …the Lumpy Pumpkin!

Joe: Which is such a great name! And the music itself it reminds me of Lon Lon Ranch from Ocarina of Time. So automatically I’m really enjoying this area.

Shannon: Absolutely! The music has that country twang and lazy swaying that I love from the Lon Lon Ranch theme. But, it’s still very unique and brings it’s own flavor to the Zelda universe. Though actually.. Now I’m wondering if Lumpy Pumpkin later becomes what we know as Lon Lon Ranch? We’ve established that Skyward Sword is the origin of the land of Hyrule.

Joe: An interesting idea! I can totally see Hylians constantly recreating a place like this as the generations go on.

Shannon: So inside the Lumpy Pumpkin we meet some fun characters.

We see Keet, who is sitting at the table admiring the waitress, Kina.

Joe: I like Kina a lot. She’s super cute! And her dad, Pumm, the owner of Lumpy Pumpkin reminds me of Talon from Lon Lon Ranch with his big mustache.

Shannon: We also meet Rusta, who is an old man married to Henya back at the Knight Academy. That play on their names is fun. Highlighting how the designers made Skyloft folks look like birds.

Joe: And then we also see Strich again, who is one of Groose’s goons. But, here he seems relatively nice. He talks about how much he likes bugs and encourages Link to meet Beedle in his shop floating around Skyloft.

Shannon: The biggest thing we notice is that heart piece on top of the fancy, swinging, fragile chandelier here in Lumpy Pumpkin. We manage to shake the chandelier enough to cause it to crash down.

Joe: I loved this scene. Everyone’s reactions were really amusing and exaggerated.

Shannon: I feel like this scene is a GREAT reason why you should never let Link into your house. He’s always smashing your pots and breaking your chandeliers. What a selfish kid!

Joe: Haha, definitely. And Pumm definitely doesn’t appreciate Link right now. He makes him work off the cost of the broken chandelier, first by delivering pumpkin soup to the Knight Commander. A nice little sidequest.

Shannon: And clearly we’ll be back to Lumpy Pumpkin a number of times to pay off this debt. Curious to see what other side projects Pumm asks us to do.

Speaking of side-things, did you end up visiting Beedle’s shop?

Joe: Yes, actually! I grabbed the bug-net and admired some of Beedle’s other wares.

Shannon: I’m curious if that heart-medallion will help us find more heart pieces! I’m gonna try saving up all my rupees for that. If I can manage it. Haha.

And I love Beedle’s voice. Thank YOOOuuu!

Joe: Yeah! Beedle is the only one on Skyloft who appears to speak in real words that we understand.

Did you notice the bed in Beedle’s shop?

Shannon: Oh, no I didn’t! Did you sleep in it?

Joe: Yeah! And you wake up at night on this little island where Beedle parked his shop. You go outside and Beedle is sitting by a campfire and he talks to you a bit. First off, his voice is totally different!

Shannon: What? Haha.

Joe: Yeah! He’s talking to you using bigger words and more descriptive sentences. Quite a contrast to earlier.

Shannon: How fun!

Joe: And Beedle shares a little about how he loves beetles… which is especially interesting because this character appears in quite a few other Zelda games.

Shannon: Oh my gosh, you’re right! Doesn’t he appear in Breath of the Wild?

Joe: Yep! In Breath of the Wild he actually wears a big backpack contraption thing on his back that makes him look like a beetle as he’s walking around. And he also appears in Windwaker – he owns a shop on a boat.

Shannon: That’s amazing! Is it possible that this is the same exact Beedle? Like, is he secretly the god of equipment and gear – the patron saint of shopkeepers?

Joe: Haha! Who knows? I really like that idea though.

Closing

Shannon: So, Joe, how are you feeling so far? Are you still engaged in this game, despite having played it before?

Joe: I think I touched on this a bit in the last episode, but I still find the game really charming. It kind of helps that I don’t exactly remember everything that’s going on, and with Breath of the Wild calling back to Skyward Sword so much I feel like I’m playing this game with a different sense of purpose or something. I’m still a little bummed out by some of the areas being reused and kinda small feeling, but as with other things I was worried about, maybe it won’t end up being such a big deal once I get to those points..

I don’t mean to be too mysterious about some of the stuff going on right now. I think once we’re a little further I’ll start expanding on a lot of my thoughts more. For now the world and story have only just begun to establish themselves, and I think seeing it develop naturally is important to enjoying what comes later.. then I’ll start throwing out spoilers left and right.

So, what about you, Shannon, how are you feeling so far about Skyward Sword?

Shannon: I’m still really enjoying it! At this point I’m getting used to the Wii Motion Plus mechanics so it’s feeling like less of a barrier now. There are still new aspects of this technology that I’m encountering which aren’t my favorite, like the shield bash using the nunchuk. That doesn’t feel very elegant to me. Haha.

I’m a little disappointed in the small scope of the initial map sections but the music and characters we’re encountering are keeping me engaged overall. I’m a little nervous, honestly, about entering Skyview temple simply because I know that temples in Zelda games are filled with puzzles, often under a similar theme. Given the frequent use of the Wii Motion Plus mechanic I’m assuming that will come into play more in this upcoming area. But, that’s easily overcome. I’m curious too if we’ll have more of this mystery solved regarding the spirit of apocalypse on the surface and what Zelda will be able to share about her own journey so far.

---

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.

And if you like what you hear, leave us a 5 star rating and review on iTunes and Stitcher to help spread the word!

Please tune in to our next episode where we embark to the Skyview 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