Oracle of Ages (Linked game) high playthrough log 4/4

The mermaid suit found in the previous dungeon lets you swim through the ocean... and the only part of the map left to go to is the ocean part in the southwest... I also explored around Crescent Island again and found the Mirror Shield out of nowhere!

Exploring the ocean is easier than you might think... you can dive in almost anywhere and all of the rock/coral walls are mostly the same underwater as they are above water... Also you can't play the harp unless you are on dry land. I found an island that someone says was located further to the east a long time ago... interesting.

Found Zora Village... this part is interesting, because the Zora people have very long lifespans, so they remember the past era a lot more clearly than the other characters do.

The Zora here say the previous king got sick and died, and they lost the key to the Eyeglass Isle Library. Since then they haven't had a king. Back in the past, the king is sick and all the Zora are worried about him. This part is kinda hard if you haven't been exploring thoroughly and paying attention... but I happened to find the house of the witch Syrup (Maple's grandmother) near Yoll Graveyard before even coming here. She has the magic potion I need to cure the Zora King. The potion heals the king, and Link asks him about the "big fish" that is supposed to hold the next essence... He directs Link to the shrine of Jabu-Jabu... but he's not that big yet in the past era.

Found a fairy that was turned into an octorok... She says that Veran has dirtied the sea and that's what's making people sick. Need to get the Fairy Powder to turn her back so that she can clean the water... Back in the present, King Zora is still alive. In fact these Zora have such long lives that they all still remember Link from way back then. Jabu Jabu has grown, but now he's gotten sick from the dirty water, and King Zora says if I can find a way to clean the water then he'll let me in to see Jabu Jabu.

Got to the library... need the Book of Seals to get to where the Fairy Powder is. Went to the library again in the past to find the Book of Seals... then followed a sequence of very specific directions to get to the Fairy Powder... Finally I can cure the fairy to clean the water in the past, to cure Jabu Jabu in the present to get to the next essence. This whole section is basically just a big fetch quest to give you an excuse to explore the entire ocean before going to the next dungeon...

Level 7 - Jabu-Jabu's Belly

Got the map and compass right away... despite having that, it's still very confusing to navigate. It's 3 floors, each of various different shapes, and many ways to go up and down between floors. This also involves raising and lowering the water level to 3 different levels, similar to the Water Temple in OoT.

It's not that hard, once you get to know your way around. The puzzles are mostly all about spacial awareness, and a bunch of room-specific puzzles as well.
The miniboss is Angler Fish, the same one from Link's Awakening, again in a sidescrolling room. Except this time you're not underwater. Instead the fish bounces around like a ball...
The boss of this dungeon is Plasmarine, a jellyfish that switches colors when you use the switch hook on it. Once you figure that out, it's an extremely easy boss.

Got the 7th Essence of Time, the Rolling Seas.

The mystical song of the sea roars into a crashing wave that sweeps heroes out into adventure.

Twinrova scene:

You're too late, Link! The Black Tower has already reached the heavens!

Veran summons the power of darkness from the sky, becomes the new Demon Queen... This is interesting... The Sacred Realm/Golden Land was in the sky, and this game takes place after LttP, where the Sacred Realm turned into the Dark World... So Veran needs to get up to the sky to call upon the powers of darkness.

Now true darkness comes. The sorrow of the people shall be delivered to me, lighing my Flame of Sorrow!

People in both the past and present are starting to turn to stone again now. The Maku Tree can't remember where the final Essence of Time is.

Got the Zora Scale as thanks for cleaning the water... This lets me get into that one section of the ocean that's surrounded by whirlpools. A pirate ship is sailing around here...

Tales tell of giant ruins out east in the Sea o' No Return

These pirate skeletons remember Link from back in Holodrum.. now they are stuck in the Sea of Storms.. gave them the Zora Scale in exchange for the Tokay Eyeball, which apparently is needed to get into an ancient tomb...

Back to Lynna Village... wow the people here are all extremely depressed now... the flame of sorrow is really something.

Explored a bunch of other places to fill out the map, find some more soil locations... completed the present era map at least... when I try using the Tune of Ages in the Yoll Graveyard, it just sends me back... something strange about this area in the past.

Used the Tokay Eyeball to open up a cave on Crescent Island...

Show your courage, wisdom, and power. The road to the past shall then open.

This place is just a series of simple rooms filled with enemies and obstacles. Getting through it leads to that one section of the past map that was walled off... it's the Sea of No Return. There's a bunch of these blue statues I can't do anything with yet... but I was able to make it through to the next dungeon.

Level 8 - Ancient Tomb

This dungeon is huge... It's 4 floors, and has that confusing issue where you it's hard to keep track of where all the staircases are to get from floor to floor... The main gimmick is those red and blue tiles that need to be swapped on/off in order to navigate the different parts of the maze, some puzzles involve walking and jumping ontop of the raised tiles.

Defeated Death (a blue Stalfos) but hitting its attacks back at it... The dungeon item here is the power glove, it lets you pick up and throw those big blue statues that I first saw outside of this dungeon.
The dungeon boss is Ramrock, another puzzle boss... it has like 4 different phases that each require you to use a different item.
Got the 8th, final Essence of Time, the Falling Star.

The eternal light of this heavenly body acts as guide to the other essences.

The Maku Tree remembers that she's the guardian of Nayru. She gives link a "Huge Maku Seed", a think that can penetrate evil forces... somehow... meanwhile Princess Zelda and Impa are at Lynna City and notice people have turned into stone...

Then Twinrova appears again, just like last time when Link got all the Essences of Nature, and says their rites will soon be complete.

Remember our name as if it were sorrow! The name of Twinrova! Oh ho ho ho ho! The Evil King's revival begins! Oh ho ho ho ho!

I can now go to the Black Tower to fight Veran, but first, there's that thing I had access to from the beginning of the game...

Hero's Cave

Despite being very linear, this dungeon is really hard. Each room has a key you need to find to get to the next room, and getting the key always involves some tricky puzzle solving. I really enjoy this kind of dungeon a lot, it's just a non-stop series of puzzles. At the end of it is a ring that gives you better defense. Probably didn't even need that. This dungeon was fun though. It was pretty challenging, but I think dungeons 7 and 8 were harder than this.

Ralph, Nayru, Zelda, and Impa are all there at the entrance to the Black Tower in the past... oh cool I guess Zelda knows how to time travel too. Ralph charges ahead to try and fight Veran/Queen Ambi himself... Impa says that Ralph is actually related to Queen Ambi, and if he kills her in the past, he'll kill himself as well.

A worker NPC warns Link about how dangerous the tower is now... It's way different now than it was when I first came here to save Zelda... it's another minidungeon... just a linear series of rooms with enemies in the way. You can easily just ignore all the enemies and run through with the pegasus seeds if you want.

Another Twinrova scene after Link uses the Maku Seed and 8 Essences of Time to enter the upper part of the tower...

Behold! Time has been disrupted in Labrynna! People have lost all joy and are filled with sorrow! Oh ho ho ho ho! Eee hee hee hee! The time comes! Already the Flame of Sorrow is lit! The Flames of Sorrow and Destruction burn brightly! Only the Flame of Despair remains! Eee hee hee hee! When the three flames are lit, we will offer the sacrifice and complete the Dark Rites. Then the Evil King shall return! Oh ho ho ho ho!

A staircase maze, with wizzrobes and darknuts... This puzzle is really neat... an owl statue says "Truth glares at your back... then when you enter the next room its full of staircases, and 4 flames wandering around To find the right staircase, you need to follow the flame that appeared behind your back when you first entered the room...

Veran, Sorceress of Shadows

Ralph fails at killing Ambi...
Veran's first form is easy, but it's a very annoying boss battle because you need 3 items throughout (sword, mystery seeds, switch hook) but can only carry 2 so you're constantly going back to the pause menu... At least it goes by quickly with all my attack upgrades. And her 2nd form is... what even is this? She changed into a giant fairy, doing nothing but flying across the room, and there are 4 Shadow Links that mirror your movements. I didn't even have to try, and beat her without getting hit once.

After that, Nayru and Ralph show up and then Link gets grabbed by a wall master as they're leaving the tower... Veran isn't finished yet, and reveals her 3rd form, a purple tortoise that jumps around and makes the floor around her lava.. and a giant spider... this boss is so lame lmao... Fortunately, since this is a Linked game, Veran isn't the final boss. She was only doing all of this to light the Flame of Sorrow, to help revive the Evil King Ganon.

Twinrova finds Zelda and kidnaps her.

Eee hee hee hee! We've found you, Princess Zelda! Hope for the people? We'll snuff it out! And you shall light the Flame of Despair! Eee hee hee hee! The sacrifice is in our grasp... When Zelda, the people's hope, vanishes, this land will be stricken with despair.

The 3 Flames of Destruction, Sorrow, and Despair are lit, the Dark Rites to revive Ganon have started... Nayru, Oracle of Ages and Din, Oracle of Seasons combine their powers to help Link get to where Zelda is.

May the divine protection of the Triforce be with the hero of the Essences of Time and Nature!

There's now a portal near the Maku Tree that takes you between Labrynna and Twinrova's lair.

Room of Rites
lol this last puzzle of the game is silly... each room has a bunch of eyeball statues looking in different directions, and you have to go in the direction that none of the statues are looking.

The first phase of Twinrova is fighting the 2 witches Koume and Kotake and deflecting one witch's magic back at the other one... the 2nd phase is their combined form, where she just switches the room back and forth between ice and lava, and does some easily dodge-able attacks. After defeating Twinrova, she uses herself as the sacrifice instead, and revives Ganon into a mindless, raging beast. This is very similar to the LttP Ganon fight except easier, since you don't need to worry about light torches.

Now hope and peace can return to the hearts of the people. Thank you! You are a true hero!

Twinrova's castle starts crumbling, and the Maku tree and the Oracles use their powers to get Link and Zelda back to Labrynna. Got the true ending of Oracle of Ages where Zelda kisses Link... That was great... I kinda want to eventually play these again in reverse order.

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