If you recall in my last post, there was a Korok puzzle I couldn’t solve. I didn’t like that hanging over my head, so I made sure it was the first thing I completed today before I moved on to anything else. And this is a really good example of how it’s beneficial to be familiar with the terrain in this game, because it turns out that the trick is to walk down a low grade part of the cliff so that you’re closer to the ring of rocks before you drop the stone. This path can’t be seen from where you’re standing when you pick up the rock, so you pretty much have to know about it before you pick up the rock.
With that out of the way, I did some more exploring and got a couple more Koroks, and then I crossed the wooden bridge over the River of the Horse God...and reached a dead end. But inside that dead end was a weirs bulb thing asking me for 1000 rupees. I did not have 1000 rupees, because all of my money is tied up in precious minerals. But once I got 1000 rupees, I came back and was introduced to Melanya, the Horse God.
Melanya is creepy, but in a fun way. But she’s very nice, and will resurrect your horse if it dies. So far that has not been a problem for me (Brunblitz did die once, but then so did I, so I got her back), but it’s nice to know in case it does become a problem.
I explored some more and found another Korok puzzle, and it made me feel so stupid. It was one of the ones where you have to set a stone down to complete the pattern, and it was this giant spiral. But I didn’t see a rock anywhere. So I went looking alllllllllll over the damn place and didn’t find the first rock. Turns out, there was a rock only a couple feet from the spiral. I’m just a dummy.
As I made my way back to the lowlands, I entered a wooded area (NOT the Woods; those’ll come later) and discovered a sleeping Hinox. I’m sure you remember the Stalnox; well, this is what it looks like when it’s alive.
Now, as it was sleeping, I wanted to see if I could take it out. So I climbed a nearby tree and shot a bunch of powerful arrows (bomb arrows and shock arrows) into its eye with my most powerful bow. It gave me a lot of treasures and weapons. And then I felt awful.
See, it’s one thing to kill monsters who are coming to attack you, or even ones that you know would attack you if they saw you. But this Hinox was sleeping! It wasn’t harming anybody. And since I’ve never come across one before, I don’t even know how they act unprovoked. I also hear there’s a way to get their treasures from them without hurting them, so from now on, no more killing Hinoxes unless I absolutely have to (Stalnoxes are fair game).
It was also in this area that I discovered Octoroks...on land??? Land Octoroks used to be the norm, but only came to 3D Zelda games recently. They weren’t like this, though. These are Deku Scrubs in all but name. Plant on head? Check. Popping up out of the ground? Check. Shooting rocks out of its mouth? Check. I don’t care what this game calls it, I know a Deku Scrub when I see one.
But they’re another example of how this game twists things you think you know from previous Zelda games. Common wisdom would tell you that you defeat them by blocking the rock with your shield and ricocheting it back to hit the Octorok. And you absolutely can do that, at the risk of damaging your shield. Orrrrrr you can just wait until they’re in the ground, cut down their plant, and then attack them when they pop up confused. It’s up to you, I guess.
Other than that, I didn’t do much. There were a lot of pillars in this area so I climbed them, but they didn’t result in much. I did get a couple more Koroks, however, and I found a chest in the middle of a lake. But my Switch died right as I was about to open it, so that’s where we’ll open tomorrow.
And let me tell you: A LOT goes down tomorrow.
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