Living the dream: Let's play Link's Awakening!

[Yimothy]

Welcome back. Last time I posted the completed overworld map, but I forgot to put up the in-game version, so here it is. Anyway! Five and a bit years after I started, it's time to finish this dream. Let me just make a phone call, though:



'BRRING! BRRING! Hello, this is Ulrira speaking! Link, it's time for you to face the Egg on Mt. Tamaranch! Be careful, Link! Bye! CLICK!'

Looks like Ulrira wants me to get on with it. Well, the Egg is just to the east of here, but first I have one outstanding item on my to-do list. There's a Piece of Heart out there somewhere, and I'm gonna find it. I hope. The plan is to poke around in caves, and if that doesn't work, go swimming.



As it happens, there's a cave just south of this phone booth. I poke around all the walls, but don't find anything. Next!



I head south to the forest cave. I don't find anything in there, either, but while I'm in the area I stop through the forest pond and find a healing fairy. I've been here a few times through the game, but never found anything before. I haven't had it on my list because I didn't think there was anything to find, but I've still had it on my mind and have dropped by whenever I've had reason to revisit the forest. I assume what happened was every other time I came I already had full hearts, so the fairy didn't appear. I'm gonna add that to my list and cross it off right away. Satisfying!



I carry on to Mabe Village. Nobody has anything new to say. I enter the Dream Shrine and poke all the walls. I find no hidden passages, but I do learn something:



These guys can be killed with the L-2 Sword! I went back and checked: the L-1 didn't work on them without Pegasus Boots. In the previous update, I encountered them while I had the Boomerang equipped, so I didn't try just hitting them with the sword.



There's another cave just outside of town, but again I find nothing.



I continue along the cliff face to another cave. This one has a chest I couldn't reach until I got the Pegasus Boots. It didn't occur to me at the time to check for other secrets in here.



Turns out that this was an error.



You collected four Pieces of Heart. Now, you have a complete Heart Container!

Yes! Mission complete! I check the walls of this room, just in case, then call up my status screen. I've got all the active use items (aside from the traded-away Shovel), all the passive use items, all the keys, all the instruments, all the Rupees, and now, all the hearts. I guess I should have stocked up on consumables to really have the full set. Oh well.

Now it's time to go to the Egg.



I scale Mt. Tamaranch and stand before the Egg. All that's left to do at this point is to play the Ballad of the Wind Fish on my Ocarina and the small orchestra Link has been building up over the course of the game. Before I kick off the end game though, I thought I'd talk about Link's Awakening a little.

I hope my affection for the game has come through, and the quality of the game itself. Making this LP has been a lot of work, and although I've enjoyed it, it has sometimes been a drag. I know in a few places I've let that show through, when I've complained about bits that are frustrating or where I took my time to figure out what to do. It's easier to complain than to praise. The fact is though, this is one of my favourite games. It would be dishonest to pretend that a large part of that isn't because I first played it at the impressionable age of ten, but it's also because it's an excellent game. I've mentioned already that when I played it as a kid I got stuck in one of the dungeons. After scouring the world and failing to make any progress, I started over and played through to the end. In one sense, that looks bad for the game, but on the other hand, I enjoyed the game enough to do it all again. When I played A Link to the Past some years later, I also got stuck in a dungeon. I looked up a map online and found that the last small key was behind the locked door I was stuck at, and gave up. Now, a lot of that probably comes from me being older at the time, but ALttP just didn't grab me in the same way that LA did.

Link's Awakening is a remarkable achievement. It's a 4 megabit (i.e. 512KB) Game Boy game. The screen is 160 by 144 pixels, with only four shades of gray/green available (which probably helped with the file size, of course). I can't knowledgeably comment on the processing power of the GB, but I imagine it's not much. Into that tiny system, they crammed what I honestly think is one of the best games of all time. At every point in the game, it's clear that the people making it cared about what they were doing. Look at the Boomerang Death Zone. Look at Marin commenting on Link's actions. Look at the way the world map fits together. Look at the way the dungeon maps make little pictures. Despite the graphical limitations, the game is beautiful, with excellent sprite work and backgrounds. Every screen in the game has something going on, and almost every ability you get allows you to get somewhere you couldn't before. You spend the game criss-crossing the overworld map, getting a little closer to the edges each time, and loving it. Also, Link has a jump that you can control. Best Zelda, right there.

The game has its weaknesses: the two buttons on the system meaning you're constantly going in and out of the menu, the way brushing up against an obstacle prompts the game to say "there must be some way past it" even after you've gotten past it a hundred times, the damn genie boss, the horse head "puzzle", the location of the Piece of Heart I got last, but they are minor. The two button thing is even turned into a strength: you don't need the sword out all the time, and it allows for combinations like the bomb arrows, the long jump, even the Boomerang Death Zone. Honestly, flicking between items never takes more than a few seconds and doesn't detract that strongly from the game, in my view. Keeping the controls simple is also a strength.

The other thing this game has going for it is heart. The writing is pretty much delightful from top to bottom, especially commenting on Link's actions and discoveries. Marin, in particular, complements the taciturn Link and emerges as the most developed character in the game, with a simple but effective storyline about her wanting more than the island can offer. She even sets off to wake the Wind Fish herself late in the game, and maybe she would have done it even without the instruments if the monsters hadn't intervened.

Anyways. Let's continue:

[Yimothy]

I equip the Ocarina and the Ballad of the Wind Fish and start to play. The eight Instruments of the Sirens join in.



Once again, something is lost without sound.



In response to the music, an opening appears in the Egg, and the owl arrives.



The time has come... The Wind Fish awaits... Enter the Egg... Hoot! Hoot!



Message delivered, the owl stands there blinking. Let's go!



I enter the Wind Fish's Egg. Sure is dark in here. I head forwards, but in the middle of the second room Link falls into a hole, landing in what I think can be fairly described as a nondescript room. Which way should I go?

Originally Posted by To-Do

Go right four times, then up four times, in the passageways of the Egg.

Oh, right.



I do as 'Dark Secrets and Mysteries of Koholint' said to do, and reach a more descript room. It's got a big hole in it.



Link takes the plunge into the unknown.



We were born of nightmares... To take over this world, we made the Wind Fish sleep endlessly! If the Wind Fish doesn't wake up, this island will never disappear! We would have been the masters of this place... But you had to come here and disrupt our plans! Heh heh! You can never defeat us!!! Let's rumble!

He lands in a room with an image of a whale on the floor, presumably the Wind Fish. A shadow appears beneath Link, and the Nightmares speak.



The shadow moves to the edge of the room, reforms itself as a blob, and jumps at Link. He can break it apart with the sword, but doing so doesn't seem to cause injury.



I try the Magic Rod, Hook Shot, Bow, and Boomerang without success. Perhaps I really can't defeat this thing?



It turns out that powder is the key. Three hits and the blob form dissipates, leaving the nightmare core.



The next form is a wizard, I guess. It's got two attacks: the ball seen here, which can be knocked back with the sword to score a hit, and:



The cross, which must be avoided.



Two more hits and this form goes down. What's next?



It's the return of the Moldorm! This one gets really fast, but is surprisingly easy to avoid. I only get hit once.



Up next is this big guy with a double headed axe and some flame bats. The sword doesn't seem to work.



Again I cycle ineffectually through my various offensive options.



Turns out I needed the Pegasus Boots. I get a little sloppy defence-wise trying to kill this form, but once I know what to do it doesn't take long.



I get lucky with the next form, taking it out with the Hook Shot on my first guess.



Up next is this two-armed spinny thing. It moves around a bit, taking me perilously close to running out of hearts, before its eye opens. I know a weak spot when I see one, but the sword doesn't work.



I equip the Bow and the Feather and both land and take a hit. This costs me my last heart, but Crazy Tracey's potion kicks in and I'm back at full strength.



There's a fair bit of waiting between chances to attack, and I'm not always in a good position when it does open up, but I continue to land hits.



I've cut out quite a bit of this fight, but after enough hits the enemy shrinks down and disappears for good.



This island is going to disappear... Our world is going to disappear... Our world... Our... world...

It's a terrible fate to be born into a dream, doomed to disappear when the dreamer wakes. Can the Nightmares be blamed for seeking to avoid their destiny?

[Yimothy]

...Link, you have beaten all the Nightmares! Climb the stairs before you!

A voice speaks. Hey, there are no stairs before me!



Oh. Link begins his ascent.



Things get a bit strange, and the owl appears again.



Hoot! Young lad, I mean... Link, the hero! You have defeated the Nightmares! You have proven your wisdom, courage and power!

... ... ... ...

As part of the Wind Fish's spirit, I am the guardian of his dream world... But one day, the Nightmares entered the dream and began wreaking havoc. Then you, Link, came to rescue the island... I have always trusted in your courage to turn back the Nightmares. Thank you, Link... My work is done... The Wind Fish will wake soon. Good bye...Hoot!

The message appears on a white background, the inverse of every other message so far. I think Link's sprite here might be new, too. The owl reveals itself to be a part of the Wind Fish, and lays out the back story of the game. It also claims that Link has rescued the island, which is a bit odd considering what's about to happen. Maybe it will come back whenever the Wind Fish takes a nap?



Its job done, the owl fades away.



In its place, the Wind Fish appears. It appears to be a whale, so I guess the owl statue that said it wasn't a fish (or wind) was right.



I AM THE WIND FISH... LONG HAS BEEN MY SLUMBER... IN MY DREAMS... AN EGG APPEARED AND WAS SURROUNDED BY AN ISLAND, WITH PEOPLE, ANIMALS, AN ENTIRE WORLD! ... ... ... ... BUT, VERILY, IT BE THE NATURE OF DREAMS TO END! WHEN I DOST AWAKEN, KOHOLINT WILL BE GONE... ONLY THE MEMORY OF THIS DREAM LAND WILL EXIST IN THE WAKING WORLD... SOMEDAY, THOU MAY RECALL THIS ISLAND... THAT MEMORY MUST BE THE REAL DREAM WORLD...

... ... ... ...

COME, Link... LET US AWAKEN... TOGETHER!!

The Wind Fish, as befits a deity, speaks in all caps and uses words like "verily" and "dost".



The fish fades away, with an instruction to Link to play the Ballad of the Wind Fish on the Instruments of the Sirens. Link obeys.



People and places fade away as the world is unmade by Link's rendition of Marin's song.



Link is carried out from wherever he is on a giant waterspout.



Wherever he's wound up, there's sunlight.



A figure clings to flotsam floating on the sea.



Link awakens! Was the whole thing just a dream?



He pulls himself out of the water to sit on the debris, and a shadow comes over him. Looking up, he sees the shape of a whale blocking the sun. It wasn't a dream! Sort of. It all really happened! Kinda.



The credits roll. The flickering effect here comes from having alternate letters appear in each frame, which makes the names impossible to screenshot. Running the whole sequence made a gif that was too big, so I'm just crediting the first two people listed. Sorry to the others!



At the end of the credits the view scrolls up to reveal the Wind Fish, flying through the sky.



Thanks for reading! I hope you all have enjoyed it (feel free to let me know if so). If you've enjoyed it so much that you'd like to play it yourself, Link's Awakening is a little hard to come by these days: you need to find a copy of the original cart and something that'll play Game Boy games. Alternatively, Link's Awakening DX, the GBC remake, can be purchased on 3DS Virtual Console. I haven't played that version, but we've talked about it a little in the thread and it seems some members of the board swear by it. So far as I know it's basically the same game, but with colour, a new dungeon, and maybe some other small changes, so it's probably pretty good.

There's one thing that can happen here that I haven't done: if you beat the game without dying (a tall ask for me), there's an extra scene here. There's a different one in the DX version, as well. You can find them online fairly easily, if you're interested.

Map:
I posted the full world map in the previous update, so this time I'll put it up with the screen boundaries shown (and the fairy in the forest pond added):



And now, for the last time:

To-Do:

• Do something at the Forest Pond.
• Poke suspicious walls with the sword.
• Find the last Piece of Heart.
  -Check the caves north of Mr Write's place.
  -Check the cave with the signpost in the forest.
  -Check the Dream Shrine.
  -Check the caves in the cliff face east of Mabe Village.
• Go right four times, then up four times, in the passageways of the Egg.
• Play the eight Sirens' Instruments in front of the Wind Fish Egg.
  -Wake the Wind Fish.
• Get off the island, I guess?

That's the lot!

[Yimothy]

One last thing: I changed my avatar and user title with each update. Here's each of them:

Intro: Link's Unconsciousness

Unconscious

Part 1: Link's Awakening

Awake

Part 2: Link's Violence

Armed

Part 3: Link's Mystery

Mysterious

Part 4: Link's Tale

Light

Part 5: Link's Rescue

Digging

Part 6: Link's Walk

Walking

Part 7: Link's Bottle

Strong

Part 8: Link's Enrichment

Rich

Part 9: Link's Castle

Excluded

At the start of the LP's hiatus I changed to:

Failed

Part 10: Link's Counterrevolution

Reactionary

Part 11: Link's Key

Unlocked

Part 12: Link's Ocarina

Musical

Part 13: Link's Date

Romantic

Part 14: Link's Desert

Dry

Part 15: Link's Angle

Wet

Part 16: Link's Ghost

Haunted

Part 17: Link's Necklace

Lucky

Part 18: Link's Maw

Hooked

Part 19: Link's Grapple

Burnt

Part 20: Link's Face

Frustrated

Part 21: Link's Rooster

Flying

Part 22: Link's Tower

Shielded

Part 23: Link's Help

Deflective

Part 24: Link's Turtle

Magical

Part 25: Link's Awakening

Awake

[Yimothy]

Actually, I thought of another last thing. Here's the to-do list in full:

Completed tasks:

• See what else washed up with me on the beach.
• Figure out how to get past long grass.
  -Get into the Trendy Game shop.
  -Cut down the field of grass in town.
  -Jump into the well west of town.
  -Enter the mysterious forest.
• Find a way across holes.
  -Get the piece of heart surrounded by holes in the Mysterious Forest.
  -Go east from the witch's hut.
  -Reach the building to the north of the exit from the Mysterious Forest.
  -Go north from the phone booth north of the Mysterious Forest.
• Get strong enough to lift pots.
  -Open the chest in the first room of Bottle Grotto.
• Get strong enough to lift rocks.
  -Enter the building at the north of town.
  -Take the east exit out of town.
  -Open the chest at the south-east of the beach.
  -Go east past the chest in the beach area.
  -Get the chest near the entrance to the Mysterious Forest.
  -Lift the rock next to the pond in the Mysterious Forest.
  -Get into the north cave in the Mysterious Forest.
  -Lift the rock near the piece of heart surrounded by holes in the Mysterious Forest.
  -Go south past the rock near the gravestone next to the witch's hut.
  -Head east from the Gopongo Swamp.
  -Enter Ukuku Prairie.
  -Go down the stairs surrounded by rocks south of the Witch's hut.
  -Lift the rocks in the crow forest.
  -Go north above the moblins' hideout.
  -Lift the rocks north of Write's place.
  -Go to Crazy Tracy's place.
• Get strong enough to lift skulls.
  -Get the piece of heart in the cave in the Mysterious Forest.
  -Open the chest in the cave north of Write's house.
• Find a way to get past crystals.
  -Explore the cave in the mountain to the east of Mt. Tamaranch.
  -Get the other chest in the Dream Shrine.
  -Get the chest in the cave northwest of the pig head rock.
  -Get through the cave two screens south of Seashell Mansion.
• Find a way to get past cracked (but non-explodable) rocks.
  -Get past the cracked rock north of the phone booth near Write's place.
  -Get past the cracked rocks on Mt Tamaranch.
  -Get past the cracked rocks on the mountains east of Mt Tamaranch.
  -Get past the cracked rock blocking the cave entrance at the peak of the western Tal Tals.
  -Get past the cracked rocks just east of the Stone Turtle in the mountains.
• Find a way to cross long gaps.
  -Get the piece of heart in the cave south of the witch's hut.
  -Cross the gap east of the dilapidated house.
  -Cross the gap south of the phone booth just outside of town.
• Find another way to cross long gaps.
  -Reach the last signpost in the signpost maze.
  -Cross the river east of the Seashell Mansion.
  -Cross the water east of Angler's Tunnel.
  -Get the chest in the north cave in the Mysterious Forest.
  -Get the chest near the crystals in the cave in the mountain to the east of Mt. Tamaranch.
  -Cross the gap over water to the south-west of the Animal Village.
  -Get the piece of heart in the cave at the north-east of the Animal Village.
  -Cross the gap (going east-west) in the cave at the very north-east of the map.
  -Cross the big gap (going north-south) in the cave at the very north-east of the map.
  -Cross the gap in the bridge west of the Chicken Man's house.
  -Cross the gap in the cave under the statue on the island north of Animal Village.
• Find yet another way to cross long gaps.
  -Cross the gap to the left of the Kanalet Castle gates.
  -Cross the gap in the cave below the Chicken Man's house.
• Learn to swim.
  -Explore the waters and caves near Angler's Tunnel.
  -Visit the person swimming in Martha's Bay.
  -Explore the waters of Martha's Bay.
  -Cut the bush on the island southwest of the Mermaid statue.
  -Cut the bush on the island in the lake north of Richard's place.
  -Cross the water to the east of the waterfall in the mountains near where Papahl got lost.
  -Check for secrets under the bridge south-west of the Animal Village.
  -Do something with the statues on the island north of the Animal Village.
  -Reach the cave entrance north of the stone field north of the Animal Village.
  -Continue exploring up above Angler's Tunnel.
• Ram any trees I come across.
  -By the teleport in the prairie.
  -By the fairy cave in the prairie.
  -By Mr. Write's house.
  -South of the northern chest in the mysterious forest.
  -South of the pond in the mysterious forest.
  -North of the southern chest in the mysterious forest.
  -South of the fishing pond in Mabe Village. (x2)
  -By Marin and Tarin's house.
  -Near Tail Cave.
  -In the signpost maze.
  -Near the phone booth north of the signpost maze.
  -East of Kanalet Castle.
  -South of the Seashell Mansion.
  -Further south of the Seashell Mansion.
  -South-west of Angler's Tunnel.
  -North of the Witch's hut.
  -East of the dilapidated house.
  -South of the Animal Village.
  -By the owl statue north-east of the stone field.
  -West of the Animal Village.
  -South-west of the Animal Village.
• Do something in the cave on the beach.
• Collect a lot of secret seashells.
  -Have something pretty ordinary happen.
  -Have something good happen.
• Talk to the trees outside the Seashell Mansion
• Help Richard.
  -Find five gold leaves.
  -Murder all his servants.
  -Do something with the wall carvings on the second floor of Kanalet Castle.
  -Get through the door into the last room of Kanalet Castle.
• Get into, and explore, pothole field.
  -Explore it some more.
• Get to the owl statue to the right of the lake above Richard's place.
• Explore the cave under the owl statue to the right of the lake above Richard's Place.
• Reach the stairs south of the Mermaid statue.
• Get into the closed off area northeast of the house east of the beach.
• Do something in the house east of the beach.
• Do something at the grave west of the witch's hut.
• Check the jars in the ghost's house.
• Do something at Manbo's Pond.
• Check for a hidden room near the flying heart in Angler’s Tunnel.
• Blow up the entrance of the cave at the north-east of the Animal Village
• Blow up the entrance to the cave near the stone field north of the Animal Village.
• Take the south-east pathway from the stone field north of the Animal Village.
• Kill the flying mushroom south of Angler's Tunnel.
• Kill the statues in the area north of the Animal Village.
• Find Marin at the beach.
• Bring Marin to the Animal Village.
• Get the walrus out of the way to Yarna Desert.
• Buy a bow.
• Ride the rapids on a raft.
  -Fully explore the rapids.
  -Bomb the wall behind the first chest.
  -Open the map near the second chest.
• Reach the chest on the south-west island in the rapids.
• Kill the boss in the building north of the Animal Village.
• Do something at the dead end bit of beach south of the chest.
• Keep a look out for Papahl in the hills later.
  -Find some vittles for Papahl.
• Dig up the dead end near where Papahl got lost.
• Reach the piece of heart in the cave in the mountain to the east of Mt. Tamaranch.
  -Try bombing the eastern wall of the first cave east of Mt Tamaranch.
• Meet Sale's brother.
• Grasp Schule's art.
• Do something at the Forest Pond.
• Poke suspicious walls with the sword.
• Find the last Piece of Heart.
  -Check the caves north of Mr Write's place.
  -Check the cave with the signpost in the forest.
  -Check the Dream Shrine.
  -Check the caves in the cliff face east of Mabe Village.
• Do something with the Flying Rooster statue.
• Find a flying chicken.
• Find a Yoshi Doll for the baby.
• Find something to do with the ribbon.
• Trade Sale some canned food for some bananas.
• Find something to do with the bananas.
• Find something to do with the stick.
• Find something to do with the honeycomb.
• Find something to do with the pineapple.
• Find a hibiscus flower for the goat in the Animal Village.
• Give the hibiscus flower to the goat in the Animal Village.
• Give the goat's letter to Mr Write.
• Find a use for the broom.
• Find a use for the fishing hook.
• Return the mermaid's necklace
• Find a use for the mermaid's scale.
• Do something with the Mermaid statue.
• Go fishing.
• Catch something other than a runt at the fishing pond.
• Help Mr Write receive a letter.
• Find the mermaid's necklace
• Find Tarin in the forest.
• Find out where Tarin's gone.
• Find out where Tarin went after being chased off by bees.
• Rescue BowWow from Moblins.
• Clear the plants in the Gopongo Swamp.
  -Enter the cave in the swamp.
  -Get the chest in the swamp.
• Do something with BowWow in the Swamp.
• Do something with the beehive in the prarie.
• Find a demon to double my arrow carrying capacity.
• Get past the flamethrower in the cave in the western Tal Tals.
  -Try the L-2 Shield.
• Rescue Marin from being stranded on the mountain bridge.
• Get to the other side of the hole in the cave two screens east of Angler's Tunnel.
• Learn to play many songs.
  -Learn to play the "Ballad of the Wind Fish".
  -Learn to play "Manbo's Mambo".
  -Learn to play "The Frog's Song of Soul".
• Use "The Frog's Song of Soul" to liven up something unliving.
  -Try the Flying Rooster Statue.
  -Try at the graveyard.
  -Try the big skulls in the desert.
  -Try the skeleton of the Flying Rooster.
• Find something really heavy to lift/push.
  -Try desert skulls.
  -Try moving skulls.
  -Try Flying Rooster Statue.
• Win the moving prizes in the Trendy Game.
  -Shield
  -Pouch
  -Heart
  -Rupee
  -Other Rupee
• Buy a shovel.
  -Dig up Bow Wow's kennel.
  -Dig up the area above the Flying Rooster statue.
  -Dig up the shells on the beach.
  -Dig under the bush surrounded by holes in the Mysterious Forest.
• Get revenge on the monkey.
• Kill the electric jelly.
  -Try sword.
  -Try powder.
  -Try bombs.
  -Try arrows.
• Figure out how to kill the moving skulls
  -Kill the moving skulls in the cave to the right of the lake above Richard's house.
  -Kill the moving skull in the cave under Richard's house.
  -Try lifting them again.
• Do something in the vacant area in the Animal Village.
• Do something with the growth near the gravestone next to the witch's hut.
• Do something about the bumpy bit of wall on the beach.
• Do something about the cracked wall in the Tail Cave.
• Use powder on:
  -Electric jelly.
  -Glowing ball thingos.
  -Dogs.
  -Chickens.
• Equip bombs and arrows and hit both buttons at the same time.
• Try hitting different things with the L2 sword, particularly ceramic ones.
• Find the key for the Tale Keyhole.
• Go through the gate next to the Tale Keyhole.
• Retrieve the instrument from the Tail Cave.
• Explore Bottle Grotto.
• Find the key to Slime Keyhole.
• Open the gate near Slime Keyhole.
• Explore Key Cavern.
• Find the key to Angler Keyhole.
• Explore Angler's Tunnel
• Dive into the waters of Martha's Bay to enter the Catfish's Maw.
• Explore the Catfish's Maw.
• Go to the Face Shrine.
• Find a use for the Face Key.
• Use a key in the keyhole north of Animal Village.
• Explore the Face Shrine.
• Get the bird key in the cave below the Chicken Man's house.
• Use a key in the Bird Keyhole.
• Explore Eagle's Tower.
• Explore Turtle Rock.
• Get a magnifying glass.
  -Read 'Dark Secrets and Mysteries of Koholint'.
• Find the eight Sirens' Instruments.
  -Find the Full Moon Cello.
  -Find the Conch Horn.
  -Find the Sea Lily's Bell.
  -Find the Surf Harp.
  -Find the Wind Marimba.
  -Find the Coral Triangle.
  -Find the Organ of Evening Calm.
  -Find the Thunder Drum.
• Play the eight Sirens' Instruments in front of the Wind Fish Egg.
• Go right four times, then up four times, in the passageways of the Egg.
• Wake the Wind Fish.
• Get off the island, I guess?

Ideally I'd have this all in order, but sorting it out would be a big job. The first and last items are in the right places. That's good enough, right?

[Jeanie]

Congrats and thank you so much for a great LP that went above and beyond what it could have done.

[Lucas]

I'll say. Those world maps are a work of art all on their own.

[Falselogic]

Thank you Yimothy! I loved this!

[Awkward Grunt]

Thank you for playing one of my favorite games. I played this when I was very young and got lost in it so often. despite newer and flashier games being also being out at the time, I loved Koholit Island so much that Link's Awakening ended up being the very first game that I beat around age 6.

[Gerad]

Agahnim and aLttP Ganon making phantom appearances is cool. It's always crazy to me that this game came out so much later.

Also: wow, great LP, Yimothy! You really did the game justice.

[Yimothy]

Thanks for the kind words, everyone.

Originally Posted by Gerad

Agahnim and aLttP Ganon making phantom appearances is cool.

As I’ve mentioned, I haven’t beaten aLttP, so I didn’t recognise them. I think LA Link is supposed to be the same one as in aLttP so it makes sense he’d see them in a nightmare.

[Mogri]

I don't have any kind words that haven't been said, but you know by now that I'm a big fan of your stuff. I'm looking forward to whatever you do next.

[WildcatJF]

A great LP, Yimothy! I need to read the whole thing but I've enjoyed the recent posts a lot.

[Sensenic]

Congratulations for finishing this LP, Yimothy, and thank you for it!

It was really great, and the level of effort put into it truly makes it shine (even if, understandably, that meant it being a drag on your energy). Like the developers with this game, we can tell you put a lot of heart into it (personally I loved the little detail of the changing avatar and status).

And I dunno what else to say, except looking forward to whatever it is you do next!

[Solitayre]

This was fabulous, Yimmers!

[Torzelbaum]

Congratulations on finishing your/Link's to-do list.

[Yimothy]

I said I was done, and I thought that I was, but here's Percy again. As usual, he's dropped all his progress.



So, as always, we set off for the beach to get the sword back. Hey! Percy! The beach isn't that way! Oh, he'll figure it out when he gets stuck at the heavy rock blocking the eastern exit from town.



Or not. What just happened?



This is a pretty well-known glitch in Link's Awakening. Press select at just the right moment as the screen transition starts, and when you exit the map Link will be at the same point on the screen he was when you pressed select, but the screen will have changed to the one you were transitioning to. The little pause at the start of this gif is me checking I'm not about to teleport into a tree.



This trick lets you bypass any obstacle, so long as you have a screen to transition from and a clear place to land.



I'm not sure why the Piece of Heart is collected along the way, but I'm not complaining.



This works pretty simply on the overworld map, where everything is smoothly connected, but what about underground?



I can stick myself in the wall, for one. Fortunately, there's only one tile of wall here and I can jump back out. Teleport into something thicker and you can get stuck.



I try the same wall again, and this time I land slightly further to the left and am able to jump to the next screen. Where Bow Wow appears, for some reason, but only functions some of the time. This is the cave south of the Witch's hut, quite a few screens south of the moblin cave I started from. I think what's going on here is that the underground, just like the overworld, consists of a big contiguous map, you just can't normally move from one section to another. I'd guess when you enter a cave the game puts relevant things into memory, and Bow Wow is showing up because he's a feature of the moblin cave and so has been put into memory, but the game doesn't expect him to be there in the other cave so he acts a bit off. Anyway, I'm not equipped to escape this cave, so I have Percy lose all his hearts to get away. In retrospect, I could have held all the buttons for a soft reset instead.



I try one of the other walls and wind up in a phone booth. Or just outside it, I suppose, unable to do anything other than fall repeatedly. The booth is again a bit off: instead of the house tiles, there are cave walls and floors, and the chest is replaced with I don't know what. Plus the phone is resting on a potato statue instead of a desk.

Anyways, that's it! More determined people than I have thoroughly explored what can be done with this glitch and some others, and I linked to a video LP of that sort of thing back in the first post of the thread. I haven't watched it since back then, but I thought it was pretty good at the time. Doing a full-glitch minimum items etc. LP run of the game would be interesting, but I have my limits. I've LP'd Link's Awakening enough.

[Phantoon]

Thanks for a great Let's Play. Link's Awakening is one of my all time favourite games and you did it justice.

[Yimothy]

Thanks! It’s always nice to get positive feedback, especially on the day I’ve started my new LP project.