Through the looking glass? Let's Play The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past!

You guys all... um... flower.

I figure I've taken long enough with this next installment. Time to get this next place over with.



Now that we've got the Titan's Mitt, we can finally tear open a door to next temple. Time to head south down to Lake Hylia for the Ice Palace.



At first glance, it may seem like there's no way in, what with a solid ice wall around it and seemingly no backdoor entrance.



However, that doesn't necessarily mean we can't warp our way in, and lifting this once-unmovable stone reveals the gate needed to do just that.



Welcome to the Ice Palace, quite possibly the most misunderstood dungeon in the whole game - everyone hates the place, but doesn't know why.



Perhaps it could be the ice? No one likes a lack of traction, but it seems relatively tame compared to the hell that was the Skull Woods.



Maybe it's the Pengators? Nah, a single Hook Shot knocks them out cold, and they drop the large decanters we need to keep going.



It certainly can't be the puzzles, since they can be solved in a snap.



(Though if you are having trouble, be sure to try and aim for this door.)



In any case, we can puzzle over just why everyone hates the place later. It's time to head deeper into the dungeon with a well-placed bomb blast.

Watch out for the Stalfos though - conventional weaponry doesn't leave a scratch on them, so knock them down and blow them up using your bombs.



You may think it might be rooms like this, but honestly it's much easier than it first appears. After grabbing the key from a nearby enemy, head through the door in the bottom corner. Ignore the switch for now.



It's not the traps, as they're easily evaded.



It might be this set of trick stairs though. You have to charge down them in order to move on, since normal walking doesn't seem to work.



Maybe these guys? Nah, a single shot from the Fire Rod melts them easily.



It can't be the treasure, which is hella awesome - half damage is always a nice thing to have. Sadly, we won't be collecting it on this run because reducing damage isn't necessary to beat the game.



We'll still need the Big Key though. Time to track it down by heading back up the stairs.

Wait, I know why everyone hates the place now. It's because it's freaking boring, that's why. Nothing but one long hike from point A to point B, then onto point C.



Also, this information would've been more useful back in dungeon 3 when we needed it, Saharsrahla. Or is that Zelda speaking just now?

Anyway, time to head further into the place. Ugh.

God. It's about time we got this thing. Now we just have to head back.





If you're short on time, head into this room instead for a shortcut.



That is, if you're okay with the disappearing floor.

Well, we're back here again. Time to head downstairs and fight the boss now.



Just kidding! It's time for yet another roundabout journey through the dungeon!



Make sure to hit this switch first so we don't end up wasting our time. Though be sure to avoid being turned into a rabbit by that trap over there.



Our goal is to try and push down one of those blocks on the other side of this wall so we can trigger the switch downstairs.



You have to drop down from this room to get to the other side, as it's the only way down there.



Be careful you don't get pushed off yourself when moving that block.



Anyway, after pushing the block onto the switch in the Room From Hell's younger brother, it's time to head down to the boss's room.



That is, after moving all of this shit out of the way first. It's like they designed this temple just to waste time, for crying out loud.

Come to think of it, The Ice Dungeon is pretty dull. Not hostile, just bland.

Maybe that's why I never recalled hating it, it didn't really register on me.

Damn it, messed up the order. THIS is the real last post, I swear.



Introducing Kholdstare, the boss of the Ice Palace. Though he'd be a bit more of a threat if he hadn't frozen himself in a block of ice. Be sure to thaw him out with that Fire Rod of yours, will ya?



To be honest, Kholdstare's not even that hard - compared to Mothula he's a cakewalk. Though watch that they don't get a lucky shot in, as they can take off four hearts in a single blow...



...as it'll result in you having to solve that roundabout puzzle again. Ugh.



Anyway, the strategy for Kholdstare boils down to spin attacks - well-timed, they can prevent you from even being touched by them due to the knockback. Though make sure to keep moving, since you don't want to get clubbed on the head by a falling piece of ice.



The dungeon's more time-consuming than it actually is hard - it only took me three tries to beat the place, and I only died once to the boss (the other was from a Stalfos ambush that got lucky). That should speak volumes about it, especially in contrast with the last two places.



Anyway, now that we've iced the boss and nabbed his crystal, it's time to move onto the next place. Hopefully it'll be more interesting than this dump.

Next Time: The Misery Mire and the Endless Fetch-Quest!

I really respect you for what you're doing here, taking only the essential items to finish the game, but I know I could never play it this way. Not necessarily because of the difficulty, although I'm sure that would be a factor, but because I could never in a million years bring myself to bypass the Bombos amulet. Best item in the entire Zelda series. (Although the flying chicken that you hang on to in Link's Awakening is an awfully close second.)

Kholdstare is the long-lost brother of Kracko.

Yeah, it's a huge temptation to say to hell with it and grab the stuff anyway. Lord knows how many Minimalist runs have ended in failure because of that one heart container at the beginning. :/

For years I never used the magic spells.

Then a couple of years ago I was replaying it, and sort of just messing around, I started using the spells to use up some of that magic meter.

Walked through the rest of the game without even getting close to dying.

Thing is broken, yo.

Huh. Well how about that.

I think this entry nails it: it's the meandering, endless nature of this dungeon that bugs me. All the backtracking and revisiting of rooms is just tedious. The final block puzzle rubs me the wrong way too. I think it's because it took me forever to figure it out the first time I played. Nowadays I just use the Cane of Somaria to skip that whole step, simply out of spite for this wretched place.

That ice dungeon is why I will never beat this game. Repetition like that hits my "what's on TV?" button square in the center.

Oh yeah, to echo Mr. Bungle: This entry captures the spirit of the game perfectly. Good on ya, PapillonReel

This last entry sure was ice!

I'm getting in on the ground floor this time.

Ice? On the contrary. Do you have any idea how many times I've gotten frost over the years?

It's too late for that now; the pun train has come and gone. Now you'll never get to be cool.

That was cold, dude.

Yeah, I guess I shouldn't freeze him out before he gets the chance to make some more puns. You never snow when someone will come up with something really good.

There's snow way I'm going to flake out on the puns.

You people are sick.

The Yeti's Mansion was my favourite Zelda dungeon of all time...even if I'm not much good at block puzzles.

One thing I was thinking about is the music that plays up on Dark World Death Mountain when you first visit as Bunny Link. It's so helpless and ominous, and we never do get to hear it again.

Puns? You sleet mens' colds, and make them your sleighs!

(Director's cut: you snowmens' colds.)

I don't think it was my favorite, but that one is certainly one of the best. It took me until I got the map that I even realized that it WAS a dungeon. It seemed like one of those pre-dungeon ordeals you had to go through, like the Gerudo Fortress/the desert in OoT or the Pirate Fortress in MM or any of the other things like that. It seemed like something I was doing in order to gain access to the actual dungeon rather than a dungeon itself. But then it kept going and going. And it's use of the yeti's kitchen as a hub gave the dungeon a different feel than any other Zelda dungeon in existence. Top it off with a great boss fight, and you have one for the record books.

And yeah, LttP's ice dungeon is kind of weak. But oh well.

You mad bastard genius.

Also an update coming soon I guess?

The reason I didn't like the Yeti's House is because of the Artificially Locked Doors. Zelda dungeons work better if you progress through them as the result of solving puzzles and applying tools, not "Oh, the widget wasn't through Door A? Okay, I'll open Door B for you so you can go look there." It's obvious the widget is beyond Door C, but you can't even open it until you've checked the first two non-options.

The ball'n'chain is unbelievably cool though.

Exactly. It was slightly fetch-quest-y, but it was still fun. And I enjoyed exploring a snowbound mansion. It was a nice change of pace. I've explored hundreds of ancient tombs before; you can put me in a Scooby Doo-esque haunted mansion any day.

And if you're really careful, you can sequence break slightly in some of the later games...but yeah, it's not like it used to be. You can't do any of the important stuff out of order. Luckily, I don't care much about stuff like that so it doesn't bother me. But there's always hope for the future, right?

I guess I should point out that I did like the yeti's house from a "this is a cool dungeon and I am having fun with it" standpoint and that it only bothers me from a "this is slightly bad game design and I do not approve of it" standpoint. TP has a lot of these (and by a lot I mean a lot) whereas OoT did not, at least not from where I'm standing.

I'll wait until someone does an OoT or TP Let's Play to complain about it too much though, LttP is great and it's going to take a cartoonishly absurd amount of willpower to not spend the rest of the afternoon playing it.

So, is there any useful way to spend loads of money after the slippers and bomb/arrow upgrades in LttP? I remember everyone complaining about getting too much money in TP, but LttP is really generous with the rupees too.