Majora's Mask: A New Look At An Old Game (Part 4)

Day 6, Part 2: Great Bay and Ikana Canyon (Again)

After a short break spent taking an exam and reading, Great Bay was a snap.  I figured out that the golden fish wasn’t necessary at all and I was able to get into the Gerudo Fortress through an underwater tunnel, which is where I got the hookshot, which made doing the rest of the stuff I needed to do a snap.

But let’s talk about that golden fish for a second.  There’s actually two of them, both seahorses, and one of them has been captured by a fisherman.  The fisherman, incidentally, is happy to give the fish to you as long as you get him a pictograph of a Gerudo Pirate.  What is with all the pervy people in Termina?  Seriously.  Anyway, reuniting the two fish will net you a piece of heart, which is always nice.

There’s not much to say about the Gerudo Fortress, except that Gerudos are the worst guards ever.  At least Hyrule Castle Guards and others have the excuse that Link is usually hiding behind shrubbery or whatever, whereas the Gerudos guard this wide open room and Link can pretty much go wherever he wants without getting caught.  It’s crazy just how LITTLE sneaking Link has to actually do.  I also learned, though, that Gerudos can be knocked out for a short time by getting hit with an arrow, which made sneaking around all the easier.

After getting the hookshot and bringing all seven of Lulu’s eggs (4 were in the fortress and 3 were elsewhere) to the Ocean Laboratory, they hatch and turn into musical notes, which teach Link the New Wave Bossa Nova.  This isn’t some fluke, either.  Apparently, these eggs had something in their genes that would let them teach the song that would cure their mother’s loss of voice.  Really.  The ocean scientist says so.  This is one wacky world.

So now with Lulu healed and hookshot in hand, I was able to go to Great Bay Temple.  But I didn’t.  Because I remember it being awful, so I put it off.  Instead, I went to talk to the Beaver Brothers, and they wanted me to race for a bottle.  But the race was bogus – like all minigames in Majora’s Mask so far – so I only tried twice.

Instead, I used the hookshot to get further into Ikana Canyon, where I was actually able to talk to Kafei…sorta.  He didn’t actually say anything and he wasn’t added to my Bomber’s Notebook, but at least he’s not just mysteriously missing anymore.  So that’s good.

One more thing: Yesterday when I played, I had a double magic meter despite having to redo the Snowhead Temple.  Today, however, I had a regular magic meter with doubled magic.  And once I used up that magic, it only let me refill the magic meter I had instead of the one I *should* have.  Which means I have to go through the Snowhead Temple AGAIN, which is megalame.

Day 6, Part 3: Great Bay Temple

Fuck this temple.  Fuck Gyorg.  I’m so pissed off right now.  And I’m gonna have to redo the whole thing tomorrow, which isn’t helping matters any.

That was written last night.  Now that I’ve had time to sleep on it, I can talk about it more calmly.  I know the word “Temple” can be thrown around a lot in Zelda games, but this one is by far the least temple-looking temple ever.  You can’t imagine people worshiping there by any stretch; it’s a factory, plain and simple. And it sucks.  It’s a water dungeon so it already has one strike against it, but this one takes the cake:  you can’t even control where you’re going have the time because you have to follow the current.  It gets a little better once you have the dungeon map, but it’s nearly impossible without one.  And I had to use a strategy guide to find Stray Fairies again, but I don’t care anymore; at this point, I’ve just accepted that I’m going to have to do that, and I’m ok with it.

Now, let’s talk about Gyorg.  He’s a giant armored shark.  You’re in a big room filled with water that has a small pedestal in the middle.  What you have to do is hit him with an arrow to stun him and then electrify him with Mikau’s electric shield, which is a lot harder than it sounds.  If he wakes up while you’re near him, he’ll eat you, which gets annoying fast.  And if there’s anything you have to do after that (there better not be, damn it!), I don’t know what it is yet.

I still like this game a lot so far, but I’d like it a lot better if Great Bay “Temple” wasn’t in it.