Wait what is this, AppleShy what are you doing now!? Shush
shush shush, let me explain! So if you haven’t noticed I’ve been madly into the
newest Zelda game lately, geez what a game, everyone go play it. And it’s got
me thinking a lot about Zelda, what I like about it and such. And one thing I
noticed when I replayed all the Mario RPGs a few years ago, was that I really
loved the dungeons and areas with great moments of atmosphere. I don’t know why
but I just love it in games when they have great real atmospheres. And as I thought
of Zelda and what I like about it, I noticed this trend continue, as one of my
favorite parts of Zelda is when it has powerful moments of atmosphere, and for
me at least, the moments that tend to have the best atmospheres, are the
dungeons.
Dungeons are an incredibly important part of Zelda to me,
the deep and complicated things they are. And as I fell head over heels in love
with A Link Between Worlds, one of the reasons I enjoyed it so much was that
well, I loved its dungeons. And so, as I replay the game on Hero Mode, I would
like to randomly rant on my favorite dungeons as I replay them, and why I
enjoyed them so much. So without further ado, let’s start with the first; the
Tower of Hera.
For me what makes dungeons and atmospheres great is always
having a theme. A clear cut theme that you can find in so many parts of the
area that you can see perfectly why this area conveyed such feelings onto you.
A theme that if you look hard enough, you can find scattered throughout its many
little parts to connect it all together for a beautiful real place.
And as I replayed the Tower of Hera, the core theme I got
from the dungeon was…….grand, something big, something large scale, etc. Look
at the name for the beginning of this, it’s not called a dungeon, it’s a tower. Towers are known to be very large
structures that can go up very very high and well, are big. Right there is the
beginning, but the more I explored, the more I got the impression that I was in
a great large structure. To my knowledge, Tower of Hera has more floors than
any other dungeon in A Link Between Worlds, and with how quickly you climb
them, it’s almost like you’re climbing up a set of stairs. And the higher you
get, the more it feels like this place is huge, and that you could go higher
and higher like there’s no end to this grand place you’ve found yourself in.
But when the atmosphere really hit home, and when I was just
amazed at how real it all felt, was when you leave the tower. There are certain
points in the dungeon in which you go outside and must travel on slow platforms
that go around the tower to enter in different areas. You’ll use the wall
ability as well, but when you’re outside, you really get the sense that you’re
on something huge and that this is a very big very high up place you’ve
entered. As you travel on the platforms you see clouds below that are
everywhere, covering up the tower so that you can only see part of it below
you. Just not being able to see what’s below you fully due to the clouds says
so much about how high you are up and about how scary this is, you’re up very
very high, and the last thing you want to do is fall.
The other thing that really does a great job of conveying
the atmosphere is the music. When you’re outside of the dungeon, you can hear
some ambient sounds signaling that you’re outside and that there are clouds
around you, you can hear the wind blowing through you. I think the music might
get a little quieter too, but having that greater focus on ambience and calming
down the music does a really great job of tensing you up, making you even more
scared to fall to the great unknown below, which you can’t even see as you
climb up it.
Speaking of music though, let’s talk about the music. Music
is often one of the best ways to convey an atmosphere in game I’ve found, and
for Zelda dungeons this is no exception. Tower of Hera does this wonderfully,
with its song that is also in 2 other dungeons. I’ve always thought the Hyrule
dungeon theme works best with the Tower of Hera, due to one thing I love so so
much about the song, and that’s how ambient it starts. As I listen to it right
now, it takes about a whole 40 seconds before the main melody of the song
starts playing and there’s music. That’s 40 seconds of you beginning to
explore, taking in this giant tower you’ve just entered, and letting those soft
yet powerful sounds play in the background. The melody itself then has a very
slow feel to it, signaling that you’re finally beginning to understand what to
do in the dungeon, and are ready to make the climb up, and it also sounds like
that you’d hear as you slowly tip toe through a grand place, and what grander
dungeon is there then the Tower of Hera?
Indeed, the Tower of Hera is so huge and grand that you’ll
frequently be traveling between its floors, something the 3DS is able to show
beautifully, and I don’t think any dungeon has you moving up and down between its
floors as much as the Tower of Hera. Having such puzzles that require you going
up and down more than you would left and right continues the theme of this tall
great place you’re in, and gives you a real strong feeling that this is a giant
place, and that there is a lot to see by going up to its highest peak.
But those aren’t the only puzzles, a lot of the puzzles
revolve around the central dungeon item, the Hammer. And of course, being a
dungeon I love, I think the Hammer matches the theme of the dungeon perfectly.
For one thing, I noticed as I replayed the dungeon just how much……..slower the
hammer is compared to other items. Granted it’s not a lot but, compared to the
say arrows or bombs or boomerang or many rods you’ll be using, where when you
hit the attack button the item is used like that, when you use the Hammer, Link
has to pull it back for a few seconds and then slam it down hard. It takes a
much greater force to use, and it’s a very tiny thing, but to me it continued
the theme, in which you use this great slow but powerful item, and that only it
can work in this great place, shows even more how grand the entire structure
is, and what sort of place you’re in.
And the main usage the hammer requires in this dungeon, is
hitting you up to the next floor. For indeed, those familiar fun laughing
structures are all over the dungeon, in which you must hit them into the ground
with your hammer, stand on them, and then be shot straight up to the next
floor. And my word, I don’t know if it’s just me but, that whole simple action
you use to go up floors feels incredibly satisfying. The loud bang that comes
from hitting the face into the floor, and then the loud quick sound that comes
as you’re shot up, it just feels incredibly satisfying and fun to do. You’re
not just climbing the stairs like any normal dungeon would have, you’re using
these great powerful structures to shoot yourself high into the air. These structures
that are big and powerful and shoot you far, showing how small you are, really
continue the theme of you being in this giant structure that’s far greater then
you.
And that’s another thing I noticed while playing the
dungeon. Unlike the 2 I played before it, I couldn’t just rush through the
Tower of Hera. I had to wait for the spring platforms to spring up and shoot me
up, I had to wait for the moving platforms when outside to carry me, and had to
move at their slow speed, and I had to wait for the moving blocks to reach me
so I could use the wall ability on them to go up. This isn’t a dungeon that you
can simply overpower and do at your own pace, this is a dungeon in which you
must follow its rules and do it at its own pace if you want to complete it. And
it seems like such a small thing but, as I replayed the dungeon, it went so far
in conveying the main theme of the dungeon onto me. That I was a small helpless
child, at the mercy of this great, powerful, massive tower that I can only hope
to climb by its own means, and that I can’t hope to just conquer and defeat by
my own. The slower speed I played the game at really helped to drive home how
great and powerful this tower was, and that I’m not in your everyday dungeon,
but a massive structure, in which I’ll need a massive item to climb its many
many floors, and that I’ll have to go up and down its floors over and over if I
want to complete it.
Everything about this dungeon from the music to its puzzles
to its design to its title and everything just clicked and seemed to surround
this theme of you climbing a massive grand tower that goes far far up, and boy
did that tower hit me hard. It was incredibly fun and satisfying to climb up
and complete, and following the tradition of my favorite A Link Between Worlds
dungeons, upon completing it I had to run back in and just go around it more
because I loved the atmosphere and general feel of the place so so much. It was
simply incredible, and a reminder of why I love Zelda dungeons so much.
Thus ends my first A Link Between Worlds dungeon write up. I
hope you enjoyed this, and look forward to more, thanks for reading!
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