And welcome everypony er, everyone, to my second dungeon
analysis from The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds! Today I will be
looking at the Lorule dungeon known as Thieves Hideout, so let’s get on with it
eh?
Thieves Hideout was the first Lorule dungeon I did on my
first playthrough of A Link Between Worlds. From what I’ve read it was for many
as well, and seems to be the most common first Lorule dungeon. The reason that
I personally went to it first was that, upon first entering Lorule, what I was
most curious about was well, Lorule, and I wanted to learn all about it. And
what better place to then in Kakariko village, where presumably most of the
NPCs are? And as I wandered around there, I stumbled upon this dungeon.
As a result of it being the first Lorule dungeon I did, I
don’t think I remembered this dungeon as well as I’d like to. For that reason,
playing it a second time on Hero Mode was almost like playing it for the first
time again, and boy am I glad I did, as I found myself enjoying the dungeon
much more on this second play.
And after finishing it I had to ask myself well, why. For
what indeed, is it about Thieves Hideout that makes it special? What was its
big central theme and core that made the dungeon feel connected and real, and
made me enjoy it more on this replay?
It’s actually still a little difficult for me to pin down
exactly what I’d call the theme in words. It’s easy to think in my mind, but in
words……I’ll do my best, and say the theme I got here was…….change, movement,
speed, and evolution.
To begin, let’s talk about the beginning. Right when you
first enter Thieves Hideout, you’re greeted by a character who tells you his
shift is up and to watch the place, and then leaves. You’ll also meet an NPC in
the dungeon that needs to be saved, and who you’ll be talking to as a result.
The boss itself even talks, and unlike all other dungeons, this isn’t some
quite lonely place with strong silent monsters and bosses, Thieves Hideout has
actual characters that talk. This makes the place feel much different from the
others, and feel well….alive.
When you first enter Thieves Hideout, you can see a big
central room with an NPC below you, and like other dungeons, many of its rooms allow
you access to the rooms below through sight and falling, and they continue to
tell you that this is a very connected place. But while other dungeons make the
place feel connected and as one, Thieves Hideout I thought instead showed that
this place as well, alive and moving.
This was something I really noticed as I saw conveyer belts
moving below in one room. Because yeah, I don’t think any other dungeon in the
game had conveyer belts in them, and these weren’t just slow conveyer belts,
these were fast quick conveyer belts. The belts even made a fast mumbling noise
as they sped on, like you were in some sort of machine that was constantly
building something and moving, and it continued this theme that the place is
alive and changing.
What’s more, the puzzles involving these conveyer belts were
as you expected, fast. This wasn’t like the other dungeons where you were alone
and had to think and take your time to solve a puzzle. No, for many of the
puzzles in Thieves Hideout, the answer was much easier to find, it was simply completing
the puzzle that was hard, because you had to be on your toes. You had to throw
the bomb onto the belt fast enough to have it hit the switch, had to time the
wall merge perfectly as you ride a fast conveyer belt, the puzzles of Thieves
Hideout were more action oriented then the other dungeons…..and I thought this
was perfect, and matched the fast paced theme the dungeon has going for it.
What’s even more, Thieves Hideout is, along with possibly
Skull Woods (I can’t remember off the top of my head), the only dungeon in the
game in which no special item from Ravio’s shop is required, none. All you need
is your sword, shield, and wall merging ability, and you’re good to go. This
means you won’t be spending any time on puzzles wondering how to use a certain
item or just learning how an item works. Because there’s no item to learn
about, puzzles are more simple and go by faster, which make them feel more
action oriented, so that to get through the dungeon, instead of needing the
right item, you’ll need quick thinking.
This sense of action and being quick on your toes creates a
nice tension the entire dungeon has. And what really drives home these feelings
is the music:
The music of Thieves Hideout sounds much more on edge and on
your toes then the other dungeon themes. It’s a song that’s sure to keep you
moving, and keeping an eye out for any dangers that could pop out of anywhere.
It does an excellent job of building a sense of fear inside you, like there are
some big scary things here that could pop out at any moment, and it matches the
fast moving ever changing theme of the dungeon wonderfully.
Another little touch of the dungeon I like is that all of
the enemies are human esque or real creatures. You have rats for one thing, you
have the enemies that only attack when you get close with one eye, which have
human like bodies, and you have the caped creatures that charge at you and also
have a human like body. It does a nice job of making Thieves Hideout feel more
real and alive and moving then the other dungeons, since these enemies look
kind of like you.
But then where the dungeon really takes off, and becomes an
incredibly fun one, is when you save the captured NPC, and must then take her
out of the dungeon and get back to the entrance.
When you find and break out the captive, the dungeon
suddenly begins changing, and this song starts playing. This gets the blood
going even more and perfectly matches you’re now fear filled feeling of where
to go, and what to do, and now the dungeon has begun to change even more and
have a life of its own.
Indeed, when you get to this part of the dungeon, there are
more changes and quick thinking to be done then in the first half, and it
really drives home just how action packed the dungeon is. For as you backtrack
to the entrance of the dungeon, having to escort a character changes how you
play completely. Now you have to use her to get back in different ways, and
rooms take on whole new meaning when you return to them, making the rooms
themselves feel more complex and real.
But on top of this, enemies will now at certain parts drop
down and begin closing in on you and attacking. These require you to think very
quickly on your feet, since if they touch the NPC that you’re escorting, you’ll
have to start all over, and for every moment you wait they get closer. Couple
this with the music, and you have what I thought was the most tense dungeon of
the game.
Really this is what makes Thieves Hideout work so much as a
place that feels alive. Going through old rooms that you must now traverse in
new ways, having enemies now fall where they didn’t, having to take new paths
through rooms you didn’t before, it makes the entire place feel like it’s a
living breathing thing, packed with living creatures and fast paced machines
that require you to think quickly and change your tactics as you go. The
puzzles are more action based, the path you take encourages change and
adaptability, and the music and enemies and more all create a great atmosphere
of a fast on the go dungeon that I had a ton of fun with. It was an excellent
ride overall and has me excited more than ever for the next.
Though one quick thing I’d like to say. On this replay of
the dungeon, I also noticed why I didn’t enjoy this dungeon as much on my first
play. Because on my first play of Thieves Hideout, I wasn’t able to save the
captive in time, and at one point she got captured and taken all the way back
to her cage. This meant I had to go all the way back to her, and then I had to
take paths I already took, so it no longer felt like I was on my toes, but just
following the motions of a video game and am no longer immersed in the
experience. On my second play, I never let the captive be taken, so I never had
this immersion breaking event, but it did make me wonder how it could be fixed
so that this doesn’t happen.
What I think would have worked better for the dungeon, is
that if the captive is touched, they don’t teleport back to the jail cell, but
instead they get dragged off by whichever enemy touches her, and you then have
to chase them down and quickly stop them before they take her back far. It
would have done an even better job of getting you immersed and into that fast
paced think on your toes feeling, and it would have made my first play of this
dungeon a very enjoyable experience. Alas, I don’t really mind in the grand
scheme, but just some random thoughts I had.
All in all, this was another excellent dungeon from this
excellent game. Thanks for reading all, and I’ll see you in the next one!
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