Bring Potions, Boots, and Bombs! Let's Play The Legend of Zelda: Parallel Worlds

SO WHAT'S SO GREAT ABOUT THIS OVERWORLD

The Overworld is very pretty.

I remember watching half a video of a Let's Play of this game.

It looked awful.

Next update is coming tonight after I get home from work. I was going to do weekly updates, but this next one is going to be a bit smaller.

This thing drove me nuts, and I was beating LttP every couple of weeks at one point.

What's this, an update? Here, have some videos:
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6


When we last left off in the mystical land of Hyrule, Gannon had just rescued the princess from the Parallel Universe or some such tripe. Anyways, today’s update is going to be short and it’s going to consist of me just sort of dicking around on the overworld looking for stuff to make the next area playable.



Gannon emerged from the holy house a new man. He had found the potential love of his life and had accomplished the impossible. While he could have been happy with that, he realized that his journey had only just begun and that he should prepare for his upcoming trial. He knew what he needed and made himself a list: Four Heart Pieces, Two Magic Bottles, Zora Flippers and a Bug Catching Net. With his goal in front of him, he decided to travel on.



Good to know!



The Kakariko Village had always been full of holes, but Gannon had never actually questioned them until now. As he peered into the darkness, he had but one option; pull up his bigboy pants and galavant on in there.



And here we get our first taste of my good friend, the Beamos Statue. These guys come in four different flavors in this game, all of which spin at faster speeds than the last. I believe the order is Green, Blue, Gold, Broken Color Pallet. These dudes, as you know, love to shoot lasers at you and have a tendency to annoy everyone.



Including myself.



Heart Piece #1 Get



She’s talking about an entirely new threat that Euclid and Seph threw into this game. Basically, if your sword is out, you’re going to have a constant stream of fireballs rained upon you. The best part is that they’re actually just invisible tiles, so they can be anywhere.



After a bit of adventuring, Gannon found himself at a crossroads. The Cannon Oasis was a legendary place that lead straight up to the Sky Isles and had recently become home to the King of the Zora Tribe. Seeing as he was in desperate need of some Zora Flippers, Gannon decided to save the Hyrule Castle for later.



The Cannon Oasis is filled with both water and enemies that shoot cannonballs at you. Shocking, I know.



Gannon was sure that he had the funds to pick up the scales, though he wasn’t entirely sure why they were scales in the first place. Hadn’t the Zora’s been famous for their flipper-making prowess? Regardless, he complied and handed the King of the Zoras his fifty rupees. “Maybe they’re just scales in name” he pondered to himself. “Wah ha ha” the Zoraking jovially laughed, “One pair of Zora scales coming right up.” Right at that moment, Gannon realized what horrors were soon to come. With his mouth agape and his eyes slightly cocked, the Zoraking reached back and tore the scales right off his backside and handed them to the young hero. With bloodied scales in hand, Gannon suddenly felt like he had the aptitude to swim for leagues. If Hyrule ever had a swimmeet, Gannon knew just what to do.

After swimming his way back to the crossroads, Gannon had decided it was finally time to pay a visit to the castle that housed Draegor. When he arrived, he realized that there was a giant tower in the middle of the way, so he decided to just take the royal tour instead.



What you see here is actually a dummied out enemy from the original Link to the Past. These versions of the Darknuts basically act as stationary crossbow guards that lob spiked balls towards you. I don’t know this for a fact, but I highly suspect that they weren’t finished by the time they were cut as they don’t actually get knocked back by your sword swings. Even still, it’s neat to see them in the game.



After defeating several guards and making his way past the implausible fountains that Draegor loved so much, Gannon had arrived at the Triforce Shrine. This was a special place that’s been kept a secret to everyone. Nobody had ever known why it was there or what made it special, but Gannon had a feeling that he would spend a lot of time there someday.



Heart Piece #2 Get



Gannon had learned to love the water and decided to do something he had meant to do for a long time; It was time to go to the beach. Once he had arrived, he remembered the tales that had been passed around the Kakariko Pub about the dangers of Vanilla Beach. This place was full of Chain Chomps and other such horrors! Never before had Gannon been in so much danger. This beach was far from Vanilla.



Heart Piece #3 Get



After his cruise through the dangerous beach, Gannon found himself at the Hyrule Docks. He’d heard that they’d been shut down for good and that the only two boats there were now permanent fixtures. One had become a casino for people who enjoy their times fast and their wallets empty. The other boat was a bigger mystery, so Gannon took it upon himself to solve it. He was the greatest sleuth in all of Hyrule, afterall.



No



After hearing his mission yet again, Gannon decided that he was still game for some more adventuring. Eventually, he found himself at the Endless Beach, a section of water that seems to loop around endlessly. No one had ever solved its mysteries before and its riddles had..

^><^

Oh



Gannon had managed to figure out the puzzle of the Endless Beach instantaneously and made his way to the Ancient Pyramids. How he figured out the Endless Beach is a mystery to all and has been lost to time, but many speculate he had outside help

Yeah, I don’t think I was supposed to be over here yet.



Gannon had never seen such a spectacular sight before. These were the pyramids that had been spoken about in the Hylian myths that Gannon had heard since he was a young boy. Many thought they were lost to another dimension, but it turns out that they were just north! Most everything was blocked off to Gannon, but he did manage to find himself a quarter of a beating heart in a cave. Surely the bats wouldn’t miss it, after all. Gannon needed all the help he could get.

Heart Piece #4 Get



Gannon bought a bottle, big whoop. Cost him a measly hundred rupees.



In Gannon’s travels into the Misty Forest, he found plenty of things worth seeing. There was a bottle merchant whom he had already visited and a couple of nice looking lumberjacks. Beyond that, though, he knew that the Lost Woods awaited him. He had gotten lucky with the Endless Beach, but he’s heard that the solution to the Lost Woods isn’t even in this realm!



This isn’t the solution.



Bottle #2 Get

After procuring another Magic Bottle from his good friend, Dudebro, Gannon decided it was time to go back home to rest for his journey. On the way out, however, he happened to notice a nice little cottage on a hill. He had the curiosity of a cat and knew he wouldn’t be happy until he took an innocent little peek inside.



The air was dark and damp and there was a must in the air that could only be called Danger. Gannon couldn’t really see far past his face, but he just knew there was bad juju in this place. After stumbling around for several minutes, he found himself at the foot of a telepathic tile. The message that was beamed into his mind was one that made him quiver in his boots. The message was...



Okay, here’s the thing about the HALLS OF PAIN. This is a little bonus area you’re supposed to access to get two different items: A small key and the Cane of Byrna. Invincibility items are essential in Parallel Worlds and this is your first opportunity to get one. There’s a problem with this though, the HALLS OF PAIN are very painful! Basically, there is no way to get through here using conventional means. There’s no pots to hook onto and no Roc’s Feather to hop over the pits. What exactly does Euclid expect the player to do? That motherfucker wants you to Bomb jump. Unlike in Super Metroid, Bomb jumping actually hurts you. I believe every bomb takes away a whole heart and every screw up takes away another. Even if I wanted to do the HALLS OF PAIN, I couldn’t even survive it because I would need to bomb jump Seven Fucking Times to make it to one of the items. Now, this isn’t too bad when it comes to the Cane of Byrna, afterall, there’s a Magic Cape easily accessible in the Dark World. So yeah, it’s optional, right?

NO, IT IS NOT FUCKING OPTIONAL

I mentioned that the HALLS OF PAIN also houses a small key. Parallel Worlds has Six small keys spread around both worlds that you need to climb the final dungeon. You cannot beat the game without getting this key. Anyways, enjoy these screenshots of the HALLS OF PAIN:



Gannon collected his thoughts after having his mind flayed by the telepathic tile. “This is a painful place” He thought to himself, “Perhaps I should come back later.” Gannon had his fill for the day of death and danger, so he decided it was finally time to end his adventure for now. On his way back, Gannon decided to visit his old pal Willy in the Kakariko Village.





Next time: Nayru’s Bay

As someone who generally enjoys the overworld and all the stuff required to get to the dungeon's more than the actual dungeon crawling in Zelda it's a shame to see all that neat map design go to waste.

I also kind of like how the Soldier's barracks looked like actual barrack's, random spikes aside.

Zora flippers already? That's pretty early.

Bomb jumping seven times! I assume every mistake takes you back to the very beginning right? Man, in LttP bomb jumping must be done very precisely, it's really easy to make a mistake. There the only applications are to bomb over pits that are two tiles wide (to the moon pearl, fire rod, and the diagonal one in the ice dungeon), and this takes within 3 or 4 pixels of precision. Are these seven bomb jumps all that difficult?

Oh sure, you show us the Halls of Pain but you don't have the guts to go through it.

You are a bad LPer and I demand that you go though that hall.

GO THROUGH THE HALL GARRISON.

He doesn't have enough hearts yet I think, unless he cheats.

Good Lord.

Um, can you use the dash into a wall trick to get past the first one, at least?

Also, great LP! Though I think I'll resist the urge to play along on this one.

Well, he can get potions now. He'd run out of bombs before he died from jumping. Of course, that would involve rupee farming, and this game is painful enough.

Really enjoying this so far.

If I really wanted to, I could go it the Cane of Byrna and the Small Key without having to farm rupees. There's free bombs in the warehouse in the Kakariko Village and a small fairy cave on Vanilla Beach. That said, I'd still have to do seven consecutive bombjumps per item, so I'd rather hold off until I have more hearts. I'll leave it up to the viewership whether I go through the HALLS OF PAIN before the Dark World or after.

I vote after. We want to see all the different kinds of pain, not an hour of the same pain.

Garrison talks as if he's not using savestates...

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

hahahahaha

That's rich

HALLS, GARRISON. PAIN.

Okay, yeah, it's totally possible.

Took me about an hour to do and I quit without saving, but I fucking did it.

This is like some horrible mixture of Deadly Towers and Zelda.

And yet I can't look away.

...Man, I wonder if there are any rom hacks of BN games that actually change up the game's story?

Ahahahahaha. Yes. Garrison you are the best ever.

The relief and grief mixing in your voice at the end are a strange and beautiful creature.

I need to watch the videos, but the text LP is still fucking awesome.

Delicious, delicious schadenfreude.

Part 7
Part 8
Bonus: The Halls of Pain



Last Time in the Mythical Land of Hyrule: Gannon sequence broke the world map and got an extra heart container early.



It was a new day and Gannon had awoken with a fresh mind and a hand full of sword. He was ready for any challenge that would present itself; unfortunately for him his bottles were not. Gannon decided to stroll down to the Vanilla Beach to restock on fairies.



It was a new day and Gannon had just gotten out of church and had a hand full of sword. He was ready for any challenge that would present itself; unfortunately for him his bottles were not. Gannon decided to stroll down to the Vanilla Beach to restock on fairies.



THIS IS NOT THE IDEAL PLACE FOR A BALL AND CHAIN TROOPER



swimming, swimming



On Gannon’s swim through Lake Saria, he happened to see a curious little shack with billows of smoke rising from its chimney. “Cor blimey!” Gannon whispered aloud, “I bet they’ve got all kinds of treasures in there!” The young hero snuck on into the shack and found himself staring at a short, squat elderly fellow hammering away an a red-hot iron. The elder fellow mentioned something about his partner being at a place called The Sky Isles, but Gannon’s interest had waned by that point and he had wandered off to find more treasure.



There’s something interesting about this smoke.



See all this smoke? Yeah, it NEVER stops spawning once the chimney is on the screen. This wasn’t really a big deal in ALTTP since the smithy was on the top of that particular screen, but here in Parallel Worlds, it’ll just keep on going endlessly. This is a good way to choke out your fps and slow the game to a crawl. So yeah, it’s totally great!



Finally, Gannon had come to the cave behind the waterfall at Lake Saria. He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to find there, but he knew deep down that he was ready. Afterall, what was the worst thing Draegor could possibly throw at him?



Oops, wrong horrible deathtrap!

Okay, so maybe it isn’t immediately apparent from the four or five screenshots, but that place I went to isn’t actually the dungeon proper. For whatever reason, Euclid decided it was a good idea to put a ridiculously difficult optional area right next to the first dungeon. If my adventures in the HALLS OF PAIN are any indicator, this about the point where people demand I go through here. Were it actually possible, I would. As it stands, I physically can’t do anything here outside of get hurt lots and lots at the moment. Get back to me around endgame and I’ll give this stupid place a rundown. Here, I’ll sum it up right now: Spikes and Beamos Statues EVERYWHERE!

Anyways, that place is just a little optional area to catch up on heart containers, so of course it’s unreasonably difficult. That said, the first dungeon won’t be as full of bullshit, right?



You have to love getting pelted by fireballs every six seconds to enjoy Parallel Worlds.



Gannon had found himself in the very mouth of Hades, which was a lot wetter than he imagined. There were spinning monstrosities everywhere and fireballs being chucked left and right. He dodged and he dodged, yet he didn’t know how long he’d last. To make things worse, the Whack-a-mole traps had been put in place and with it, many solutions were now cut out entirely.



After traversing the initial caves of Nayru’s Bay, Gannon found himself on the high bridges far above the water. As he walked along the edge, he could see the vast, featureless waters that would surely tear his body asunder if he were to meet face with it. He wondered why exactly the place was called a bay, as it was merely a cave behind a waterfall, when suddenly the oddest of roadblocks hit him smack dab in the face: a bouncing ball shaped bumper. Gannon couldn’t make heads or tails of it. It was the most bizarre thing he had seen. He knew he had to get by though, so he pulled up his pants and wiped the snot from his nose and went about his hero business. It wasn’t a comfortable fit and he knew things could go badly at any moment, but he walked the fine line between the abyss and the ball.

Okay yeah, time to break the drama once again to explain something. I didn’t bother capturing everything here, but this room is basically impossible unless you do one of three things: bomb jump, bounce off the bumper and over the gap both ways, or glitch your way past them. I’m not going to pretend I know a lot about how games work, but I’m pretty sure this particular glitch is due to the way the hitbox is setup on the bumper. The top of the bumper can be phased through if you walk on the very far edge. It’s kind of hard to get right at first, but of the three options available, it’s probably the best.



After a long walk down what was seemingly an endless set of stairs, Gannon found himself at the bottom of the bay. There was water everywhere and there was something mysterious in the air. The water had a faint glimmer and certain sheen that gave Gannon the feeling that there was more than meets the eye. At closer examination, Gannon came to the realization that the entire place was actually a flooded dungeon!



Between the bugs, the curious waterfire, the flying floor tiles and the chill of the icy cave water, Gannon had already had his fill of Nayru’s Bay. After a while, Gannon had found some dry land to warm up on. He was very cold, you see. As soon as his foot hit the ground, that certain scent once again wafted straight into Gannon’s tender nostrils. There was treasure afoot!



Well that was quick.



Back to the old swim!