The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons Deserves Your Attention
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 11 ก.ย. 2024
- The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons is the odd case of beginning as a remake before shifting to a piece of a planned trilogy and ending up as half of a duology. And yet, it still stands out as a unique piece of Zelda gaming. Join Derrick as he discovers this half of the Oracle Duology for the first time!
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#thelegendofzelda #oracleofseasons #nintendo
You avoiding Mable hurt you more than you realized. She is the best source of Magic Potions as she will drop them pretty often. So you can get them for free and from early on, especially if you learn how to make her appear.
You just have to kill a certain amount of enemies to make her appear. I think it might be thirty
@@joefarrow1599 Unless you're wearing the ring, which cuts that number in half. Plus there are certain screens she won't appear on.
@@Ryujishida there's a ring for that? Dang, i wish i picked that one up on my playthrough.
Also the openendedness of the game that he keeps talking about is just older game design. You were expected to experiment with the world they gave you to figure it out.
It's honestly hit or miss for most people.
It really all spiralled from there. More access to potions means more time to look and experiment with bosses and less frustration. Then the 2d boss fight against dragon Onox would not have felt so desperate. It is actually fairly doable to jump back and forth from one side to the other when you're already on the hands, doing massive damage and drastically reducing the length of the fight. I don't even think you need spin attacks at that point. But if you're so used to it from the first two forms and you are scrambling to get a single hit in as is, why would you let go of the spin attack that had up until then been required?
@@sharkjack Definitely, and it probably discouraged him from exploring too. I remember having the Red Ring when I first played OoS, and the Red Ring isn't that hard to get if you are exploring. I think once you find the old man that gives you the quest, the golden beast locations are marked on your map even. On my most recent playthrough I was actually lucky enough to get a Green Ring from a Maple drop which made the rest of OoS and all of the linked OoA trivial.
33:42 the real wizard casts a shadow. Also earlier at 29:19 you mentioned leaving a seasons area of effecton accident. These area changes are marked by fence posts on both sides of the screen exit
Wait, are they? Marked by the fences? Now that you mention that sounds right, and I kinda just figured out where the boundaries were, without directly noticing the fences were always there.
The whacky puzzles are similar to Classic Zelda and Links awakening.
Onox only getting hurt by a spin attack is similar to links awakenings final boss.
The shadow was tough to spot at first. The game hitches when the flames go out and if you light them one immediately after the other it causes a pretty significant slowdown. That made me focus so hard on the magic attack that it took a second attempt at the boss to even see the shadow. Plus I was heavily focused on trying to see differences in the sprite or flicker that I never saw the shadow on the first try
the thing with the wizard boss at 33:29 is that turning on the flames indirectly reveals which one is real; the one that's real casts a shadow.
Literally one of the most common fantasy tropes for wizards ever made.
Like, I just watched it used in Digimon against Wizardmon yesterday. It was everywhere.
Sorry to hear you had a rough time with this one. It was a blast for me as a kid.
I could literally relate to everything he said 🥺 The frustration was real and felt so dumb 😪 when I'd figure it out or had to look it up on my phone. But in the end I did have a lot fun with the game! Also Maple was my favorite character, she was so funny and unexpected.
That's what happens when you bring a modern gaming mindset to games that were made by people way smarter than you ever could hope to be.
These games are amazing and everything he criticized was literally just his own stupidity or shortsightedness or arrogance.
@@bb3k761 Nice bait, mate.
@@bb3k761 How old are you? To die there, you gotta be an inexperienced kid.
Not enough yellow paint 😂
Something that I always find fun: when you defeat the Moblin king you can find him trying to rebuild in a house in Sunken City. It's possible to use a bomb or an ember seed to blow up his pile of bombs and blow him up again. (With the proper timing you can even escape it without dying... the first few times. if you keep doing it they eventually catch on and hold you there to die with them.)
Seasons is to this day my favorite Zelda game. It was also my first Zelda game. I have such fond memories of the dungeons, seasons mechanic, and especially Subrosia. I hope Grezzo remakes this and Ages.
Yeah, it was one of my early Zelda titles as well - it holds a special place in my heart.
It's fun to go back and try the games in the series you've missed. I'm glad Derrick didn't dismiss the game as "dated" or too difficult and saw it through. Older games just have a different set of language they use based on player expectations at the time and it's worth the payoff to work through the stumbling points that come with retro game literacy at times.
Player expectations and the limitations of the media. It's easy to forget that the Oracle games had only so many pixels, only so much RAM, only so much cartridge memory to work with.
The GBC screen could hold like 4 tiles of Minecraft, and the RAM couldn't actually load those texture files as they exist in Minecraft. Each Oracle game contains less data than the King James Bible in text form.
They're not just fun games that give you a glimpse of history. They're technical marvels.
The series is underrated, to be able to add the depth they did when there wasn't much memory. Truly is amazing most people like Seasons more because it's more action and less puzzles. But that's a missed point because that's what makes it Zelda the thinking you have to do.
The fact that I could finish this game when I was 11-12 years old without any guide should make you realise it's not thát hard.
I had the guide only for my collection. Didn't really use the guide.
the only puzzle in OoS and OoA I couldn't figure out myself as a kid was the one in the Lost Woods right before the Ancient Ruins where you have to change the seasons. I don't know why, but I just couldn't figure out the correct order and was stuck for days until one of my sisters classmate told her the solution. While I also struggled really hard to get the second melody in OoA I could figure out everything else in those games on my own and I wouldn't say that I was very smart or had great videogame knowledge, also they were my first Zelda games ever.
Ah trail and error; Derrick's greatest weakness 🤣
Truly a skill issue.
My copy of Seasons is the most important game that I own. My friend has Ages, and we would often trade games to continue our story, and my copy still has my friends save file on it, so it is my most prized possession from my childhood.
I used to do that too. I got my own copy of Ages about a year ago. My copy of Seasons is the same one from when I was 10.
This video made me realise how creative the oracle games are.
This video is looking at it at the perspective of an adult. We tend to overthink things. However, a lot of things in these games are so simple that we overlook them.
Take for example the thing about Moosh. The child me never read the instructions, when I faced that long set of holes I just thought that press A and Moosh goes flapflapflap. So i thought, hey if I spam A can I go through multiple holes? and boom, I made it past the holes!
Now I'm really excited that these games are coming to Switch. I adored these games so much when I was young and until now I really do. Thank you for this wonderful piece.
It's interesting to see what areas caused you problems. I played this game wheb it came out, and can't remember ever really being blocked (except against the final boss), mostly because I was intensely obsessed with exploring every bit of the map and talking to every npc. But then again I was a bored teen with a lot of time to waste, so I did have that time. I can only imagine that playing on a deadline to make a video makes it harder to really take your time. Anyway, it's nice to see people talking about this game, and the age one. They are not the most popular games of the series, but they are old faves of mine and I love replaying them every few years
the only thing that troubled me was the final boss in a linked game with the corridors that you had to navigate though a specific pattern.
the oracles were my most played games as a child and your detailed commentary and reactions reminded me of my own experiences. i struggled quite a bit as a child, having to hand my older sister my gameboy so she would beat the harder bosses for me, as well as the dance minigame lol. i remember feeling lost quite frequently, and some of the dungeon bosses frustrated me too. i didnt even have internet at home back then, so i remember having to go to my dad's workplace to look up a guide, take notes and then beat that part at home. hell, i didnt speak english at the time so at some points i had to look things up in a dictionary in order to understand what to do. but all those things added up and to this day i still remember every single bit of this game and could beat it with my eyes closed probably.
it was so special to me. im glad you enjoyed it :)
Man these series of games are so damn underrated but this game holds a special place in my heart as a kid. I think my dad got it for me out of nowhere one day as a gift, despite never playing a Zelda game prior to this let alone knowing what the LOZ was it got me hooked to the beautiful aesthetics and music it provides.
Shame that i never finished back then since my cartridge got damaged by water but everything that this game embodies and the memories it left in me allowed me to reencounter with it many years later via emulation since the last time i played it back in 2004-2005.
While these games flew so under the radar, personally i think it deserves a full on remake and get the love and attention it truly deserves.
I love Aquamentus's design in this game, would love to see something like that in 3d in tears of the kingdom
Your content is some of the best Nintendo coverage on the internet. Do I want to spend an hour of Christmas Eve watching GBC Zelda retrospectives? On games 2 decades old? YES. Yes I do.
one thing about dodongo that always bothers me is that its weakness in zelda 1 isnt swollowing bombs, thats the slow way to kill them, they are weak to a bomb exploding in their face stunning them and allowing an instant kill with the sword. wish they would bring this back as i imagine timing a bomb blast would be fun now
Haha, I always thought you had to make them eat the bombs in Zelda 1. I played later Zelda titles before 1 so this will be a useful tip in my future playtroughs.
yep it also changes the drops, netting you bombs i think.
It seems as though the biggest problem for this guy was lack of attention to what was going on. The weather change screens are signified by fences. The one boss is signified by a shadow in the light which you can even see in this video even though he still didn't catch on. He fully admitted that he didn't even catch that the crab's claw flashed to signify damage dealt. Potions are given free by Maple when you run into her but he outright avoided her. Don't get me wrong, there are definitely flaws in this game and I think ages is better, but it seems like a lot of this guys problems were more a lack of attention to detail. The onix fight is complete bs though and is absolutely a terrible fight.
He's the guy who did a shitty Daemon X machina review where all the footage show him not using a lot of mechanics, even the fucking boost xD
So yeah, he's just bad at games.
Lol, yeah, playing an oldschool styled Zelda game definitely requires you to actually pay attention to what's going on and what's said, looking at all the finer details, and not just embracing the atmosphere thinking you can charge straight through, lol. Modern games have clearly spoiled some gamers/reviewers with how little attention most games require these days to just blast through. It feels like actual puzzles are being largely removed from the gaming zeitgeist in lieu of explicit tasks, do this get reward. Even the Koroks in BotW were all variations of the same small set of puzzles, completely removing the puzzle element after the first time you see one of them, and a lot of which can be "solved" through simple happy accidents or curiosity. Hopefully TotK will have more puzzles. Still praying Pokemon could bring back puzzles one day, but I highly doubt they ever will
@@Chronoflation the problem with the korok seeds in botw I believe is just the sheer amount of them. 600 alone would have been a crap ton, let alone 900. Heck, if it was 200-300, that would have been a great amount so that they don't get too repetitive as you explore, but then you would need other things to fill in the rest of the areas where 700-800 seeds no longer exist
@@Prime_Rabbit Yeah, but when those 700-800 things were all just versions of something you already did, they weren't really content anyways, for the most part. Just kinda a to-do list. I'd have loved if they added in more other stuff in place of those extra 700-800 koroks, even if it only took as much time as finding 100 korok seeds would take.
@@Prime_Rabbit You don't have to pick all of them, but close to half. It has a shitton of them so anyone can get all the upgrades. It's like OoT's Gold Skulltullas, you only need half of them for the best prize, but you get a token gift and bragging rights if you collect them all.
The ages video and this one were my first introduction to this channel and I have to say after having watched both? The ages video narrator did a great job.
Well there are a lot of things about your play style that irritated me to hear, which partially come from thinking in terms of expectations from other Zelda games (not getting in to the gasha game or maple encounters, not noticing shadows or that different weather areas are marked by wooden posts), I was glad to hear that you ultimately appreciated this game. I think it’s one of the best 2D games; though probably not as good as its counterpart.
4:58 - “DeezNuts”
12:20
Actually if you know the secret you get at the end of the trading quest you can get the better sword immediately and skip the entire trading quest.
Not really, as there are 2 upgrades!
@@k.b.7718 You can only get the 2nd upgrade in a linked game. The same in oracle of ages.
You’re going to kick yourself when you find out that the fake wizard minibosses don’t have shadows…
I take it that you never read text in the game. Everything you were confused by was literally explained in the game.
Not really, like how to beat certain bosses certainly wasn't. I had pretty much the same problems with these obtruse moments.
I was thinking that also when it was mentioned at 26:22 that no one talks about the Mt. Cucoo shortcut when the Master Diver himself tells you about it shortly after getting the Flippers.
Derrick don't know how to play games in general. I have no idea why he insists in talking about them.
Not going to lie A lot of the issues you have with the game sound like personal problems and skill issues. I know every person approaches games differently and has different thought processes and goes about problem solving differently. I played these games blind for the first time on my 3DS with no guide and didn't have any issues like this
This was the first Zelda I played as kid in the early 2000s... and it was sooo frustrating I got stuck for days or weeks constantly not knowing how to defeat bosses or how to solve puzzles and by that time with no internet at home, no online guides... it was traumatizing lol
Happy to see more discussion about my favorite Zelda title! A few things that I wanted to comment on:
I seriously love this design of Link too, really solid proportions and just the right amount of design complexity. The rest of the promotional art is extremely solid too, and it's definitely had a big impact on my own artstyle.
I will admit that progression can be obtuse at times, I believe I did refer to a guide myself a few times, mainly during the minibosses of dungeons 3 and 8. I found the game to be much more fun on replays. Ages had more streamlined progression, sure, but it was at the cost Labrynna's landscape feeling artificial compared to Holodrum's really natural and open feel.
I also struggled a lot during Onox's boss fight too, it took many deaths to finally take him down. The winning strategy I found was to equip a Power Ring once you jump on his hand, and to take it off right away after hitting him. Since then I learned about the secret Red Ring which makes the game pretty trivial after opening up Tarm Ruins. I also never figured out on my own to use the Rod of Seasons on Din, it wasn't until a while after beating the game I saw someone else use it.
Oh yeah and you didn't really mention it much, but the music tracks that are exclusive to Seasons are way better than the Ages-exclusive tracks.
The game has its flaws, but I still love it regardless. It never ceases to inspire me.
I disagree with it not being made clear that the Spin Attack is stronger than normal sword swipes, since the Spin Attack has *always* been stronger than just your basic sword slash, at least in the Zelda games at the time. I feel like nowadays the Spin Attack's better damage comes from it hitting multiple times, rather than just being one stronger hit.
That works for people who are familiar with Zelda. While it can be argued that the Oracle games are made for existing Zelda fans rather than new players, I think the explanation of game mechanics should be largely self-contained rather than relying on existing knowledge from other entries in a series for the sake of accessibility for new players.
@@theEndermanMGS Even then, just using the Spin Attack against normal enemies should show clear enough that its stronger than normal sword attacks
@@JarylGaren That’s assuming they decide to use it. If it is just a slower slash as far as they know, why would they bother? There doesn’t need to be something like the sword training sequence from Wind Waker, but something like the Beginner’s Hall from FFVII to explain mechanics to new players might be a decent compromise to let established players just get on with the game while also providing extra information for new players.
@@theEndermanMGS There is the Tutorial House, I think Derrick even shows it in the video, and they talk about „holding the Sword button to charge power“ there
@@JarylGaren Fair enough. It’s been a few years since I’ve played the Oracles, so my memory of them isn’t the clearest.
I loved the Oracle games, I remember getting these 2 and Pokemon Crystal the same time. I had to look up quite a few guides back in the day but that never bothered me to much. The password connection was mind-blowing back in the day similar to Golden Sun. Kinda wish Capcom would do another 2D Zelda.
I really feel this opinion on Oracle of Seasons. The Oracle games are easily my favourite of all Link's 2D adventures the high's (the season system, items, Subrosa, etc.) are that good. But the low's really do drag it down at times and make it the weaker of the pair personally. And your take on Onox? Felt that. Well and truly. Literally the hardest final boss of any Zelda game I've played.
I literally bought both games on my 3ds yesterday wanting to try them out before the eShop closes. If this wasn’t a sign to play them now I don’t know what is.
You underestimate scent seeds.
They do double impact dmg, attract enemies to whoever you hit, gain TRI shot effect at lvl2 sling and are spammable.
In ages when used with the seed shooter they have the added benefit of bouncing off wall, and diagonal aim.
What's not to get.
Man, you really despise anything that requires exploration and experimentation, eh?
As for the not-Agahnim, the issue is on your emulator not displaying flickering shadows correctly.
As for Onox... I guess it was unfair but I dunno why I never had that much trouble. Did any of Link's Awakening's bosses also require spin attack?
The Nightmare Ganon in Link's Awakening requires a Spin Attack (alternatively Pegasus Boots dashing), just like in A Link to the Past.
There is a hint for the mini boss of Dungeon 3. There's an owl statue that states "It is invincible in water", a clue for needing to get the mini boss OUT of the water.
As a huge fan and advocate for these two games I do feel it is worth addressing some of the points you brought up, both to clear up some misunderstandings as well as give some overall commentary on some points in your journey.
- Rings are quite a powerful tool which drastically allow you to modify your game, as such the decision to limit you at the start to 1 ring and then max to 3 is more of a balance aspect more than anything. It makes you have to think about what you want to protect against or worry about the least and work with it. You can however always go back after seeing a dungeon and change out what you have so you have exactly what you need. Something which gets better as you have Gale seeds to quickly warp back one screen away from the ring shop.
- I really do feed bad for your poor placement on the first encounter with Maple. The fight fight is meant to setup as a learning opportunity to continue getting into those fights with her since she drops a lot of basic items, but also has the potential to drop: Gasha Seeds, Magic Potions, Rings (some of which are only available from being dropped by her), and a singular heart piece.
- I'm going to have to disagree about the whole trading quest being obscure and hard. By the time you already complete Dungeon 1, you already have met the first 3 of the trade NPC's and know what they want. (That being Dr. Left who needs light, Malon who needs the Cuccodex and Maple who needs the Lon Lon Egg. Maple even says what she is looking for and what she will give on her first encounter with her.) I will admit that the 4th and 5th ones are a bit unclear but you should have run into who needs them with some exploring before you get into Dungeon 4. After completing Dungeon 4 you should have run into everyone in the trade quest and could complete it right then. That all being said I do have a Fun Fact for you, that being that unlike Ages where you MUST fully complete the trading quest every time you want the LV2 sword, in Seasons you can completely forgo the whole sequence if you just get to where you need to and already know what to do.
- Mystery seeds are basically the Random effect seed for the Oracle games. They can be used for intended purpose of getting important info from owl statues but can also be used on enemies to have the same effect as another of the 5 seeds which is selected at random.
- With regards to the seed trees for quick travel I find they are fairly well spaced out and cover everywhere you could want to go with minimal inconvenience. You usually can walk to a section you need to be in about 10 screens. The places which do not quick warp points accessible such as the Desert, and Graveyard are areas which you do not really come back to once you are done with what you need to do there. Even then your closest warp point is the town one. The Mountain is the one we can argue you revisit a bit due to trading quest, but even then you have the tree in Sunken City to get you there quickly.
- Sadly there is no real good solution to the sub menu every time you pick a seed due to lack of buttons since it's on GBC. If we had the GBA shoulder buttons having them alternate through it would be nice but sadly we have to deal with the menus. It is one of the reasons the QoL aspects a remake could bring if they were done. Though be glad you played Seasons, you had 1 less item with a selection menu because of it.
- One thing I have to mention is that the 2D zelda games in general do have is incentives for getting better and growing, and punishments for doing poorly or mistakes. If you do well and learn what the game wants you to, you can breeze through the game fairly fast. On the flip side however, rushing through things and not properly taking the time to read/learn what it tries to tell you will make you restart from the start due to dying and make you take longer.
- I am honestly surprised you had a hard time with the trampolines and did not instantly realize you could move them. There is a own statue not only mentioning indirectly you need to use it to progress, the floor marking match up with the holes on the higher floor and the only way out of the room is the way you came if you did not use it which these games rarely use unless there is a key item at the end of it.
- If memory serves there is an owl statue RIGHT outside the midboss room at the top of the room which says that the Dungeon 3 midboss are invincible in water. I believe that is meant to be your hint to get them out of water with the power bracelet to attack them, cus then they are helpless like a flopping fish on land.
- With regards to using a guide, a lot of the situations which come from it usually happen due to not reading/remembering what a character said or a thing does. With regards to Moosh, he says both when you encounter him the first time he can cross big pits by hovering if you "Tap A repeatedly" along with if you transition to a screen with these pits for the first time while riding him he reminds you. With regards to the bomb flower, in that section of Subrosia there are no less than 3 NPC's which all give hints and info about going to the temple first to figure out where to go from there. If you missed them, naturally exploring Subrosia after you got the Roc's Feather you would have come across the NPC's at the temple which say they need a Bomb Flower to help clear the rubble and where it is found. Usually new players to the game tend to visit the temple first before finding out what their new unlock method is for the next season, you happened to get lucky and do the dancing game before you found out you needed the boomerang to access winter and that it is won from it.
- I'm going to heavily disagree on this game being unclear or cryptic. Sure some parts require some reading or remembering of past events, but even then it's nowhere near the level of guess and check that Point and click adventure games for PC are.
- I'm also going to heavily disagree and say that A Link to the Past is WAY MORE cryptic than the Oracle games. They make you assume some things which really did not make sense to try and some things ended up being really hard to find a way to progress. In fact when I first played A Link to the Past I could not understand what they wanted after the first dark world dungeon. Mainly because it was unclear about the fact on how to unlock and use both the flippers and fast travel. I finally got so frustrated at exploring the map, talking to people and not making progress I just broke out some cheats to just give me every weapon and item I needed and go to turtle rock and beat Gannon. Only after beating the game did I realize the level of leaps and assumptions it expected you to try to do before you could actually get what you needed to progress and go back to finish the rest of it.
- With regards to the Phonograph Deku Scrub. He may seem easily forgotten or miss-able, but if you do go to the animal companion area there is a scrub there who will increase the size of your Seed Satchel and he likes the music also and will remind you to play it for the one in the ruins for a secret.
- With regards to the Mid Boss of Dungeon 4, while you do need to light both torches you also need to look UNDER each one to see which makes a shadow. Only the real one will cast a shadow on the ground since there is no graphical difference between him and his copies.
- When it comes to Onox and the spin attack, one of the birds in the town do tell you about spin attacks, how to do them and that they do extra damage. I also am highly skeptical that someone can go the full game prior to final boss without holding attack just long enough to accidentally learn about it.
- Lastly I am highly impressed that you instantly realized to use the rod of seasons to bat away the electrified crystal Din was trapped in. Most new players either tank through the extra damage it does to you while spin attacking, or end up using a ring which makes you immune to electric attacks.
Those baffled me too, and I found Link to the Past to be a much more difficult and cryptic game as a kid. A perfect example is that if I hadn't known how to defeat Trinox from a guide, I would never think to use the ice rod because it is only hinted at at the end of the first dungeon, and you're expected to use it a full 9 dungeons later on the boss. It has to be some kind of bias that makes games you completed as a kid "make more sense" to you. Similarly, defeating Goma in this game is perfectly logical since you get the slingshot in the dungeon and eyes have always indicated a weakness to projectiles in the games.
Another thing I am mystified by is the fact that Ganon almost always requires the spin attack to defeat (I guess except for dash attacking?), so why would you need a guide to try that on the final boss if you have already beaten LttP and Awakening?
I think Link’s Awakening story still hits well even knowing what’s coming, it’s no Majora’s Mask (and the vocal theme should have been in the game), but it’s compelling
I originally got Seasons first, but got stuck when I couldn't figure out how to get the Shovel until I found part of a guide by pure chance. It's not very obvious that you can jump down the chimney from the snow, you'll know when you reach that part. Wished for Ages that I already knew for a good portion thanks to a friend for Christmas and was Very Happy. I finished it before Seasons.
Now for the unique portion of this comment! (Couldn't resist)
The two big selling point of Seasons, for me, are the fights and the adventure. There are two, or I guess three, standout Dungeons, but the fights in them are far more memorable. The puzzles are much more straight forward than Ages'. With the exception of where you have to drop down a chimney to get the Shovel. Just a warning: I might sound more critical in this comment, but that's because I don't want to write too much about the bosses, as great as Derrick's walkthrough is until where he does it. Suffice it to say though, I can write a whole article on these Dungeons, especially the bosses. The standout ones in terms of puzzles are Level 5 (Unicorn Cave) for its Magnet Gloves, Level 7 for the Roc Mantle and its weird movement options (poor Moosh) and Level 8 for its theme. The "free form" adventure is also the biggest weakness of Seasons. Because, as Derrick points out, you can struggle a lot to find your way, If you enjoy exploration and remember, it's great! But if you don't, you will likely have a worse time. Plus the fights can be incredibly difficult, although ultimately rewarding. Except Onox. He is the perfect boss for a more action orientated game, but he is also the reason I will ALWAYS play Ages first. Sure, the story of Ambi and her Captain gets the proper continuity in this order while keeping the Goron Dancing much more manageable. If you want it to be even harder, add Subrosians into the mix.
How is it not very obvious that you can jump down the chimney?
The game previously explained to you that you can change the season to winter on a tree stump.
There is a tree stump nearby.
Jump up to it, change the season & look what you can do.
If you do that, you will notice the snow pilling up with footprints leading to the chimney. How is THAT not obvious?
It's similar what the guy in the video did...blaming the game for the players incompetence...
@@tadaokou4919 Little me perceived the chimney to be higher than the snow and, as opposed to the tree stump being directly mentioned, this wasn't as analogous to me. You can't jump back up either after dropping down a ledge. And I guess it looked too similar to that for me back then.
24:30 actually there was an owl statue that said something along the lines of "in the water it's invincible" so that one came pretty easy for me
That wizard boss, if you look again at your footage, you'll notice that only the real wizard casts a shadow when the torches are lit.
The thing about Link's Awakening is that it released in early 90s on the OG Game Boy. It was multiple tiers above any other GB game released at that time, and honestly pretty much throughout the rest of its life too.
That said, yes it's easy to be oversold because of that "you had to be there" reality, and I personally enjoy the Oracle games more, too.
Oh, that's funny, I remember loving the Onox's final battle because it was so tough. It felt like a true accomplishment to me and I enjoyed playing through these games with my players guide back when I was a kid. Beat each game once and did a follow-up playthrough in each, so I also played the games with each animal buddy by the time I was done as a kid. Those were good times. I still hold these games in high regard for the fun they provided me with as a kid
15:57 This was the thing that held me up the most when playing the game as a kid. I had no reason to think you could jump down into the house, since there was an even more obvious place to jump off of the snowdrift. I thought the path above the house was just empty space (which I didn't find uncommon in the game's I played at the time )
I love this game. As I kid I could never beat it for the reasons you listed, but this game had a magic to it back then. It felt a lot like playing Breath of the Wild for the first time where the world was so mysterious and magical.
I don't have anything to say about the video, but i just listened to this to hold off a panic attack, and it worked! Thanks for saving my day!
Sorry to hear you were having a really rough time, hope you're doing at least a little better now ❤
I'm gonna be honest "no boss prepared me that using links strongest move would be important" seems a little silly. also, always get the red attack up rings
We need an Oracle's remake that contains both games, tracks the secret codes between them without inputting codes, and a new combined ending by making the cancelled third game version.
These games are some of my favourite Zelda games. Glad they are receiving some love again.
I personally feel your middling experience with Links Awakening is entirely at the fault that Nintendo did nothing to modernize the story and themes beyond what the developers originally worked with on the gameboy.
The Switch remake should have been something much more than what we got. While I dont hate it i was largely disappointed at the angle of just trying to change as little as possible and make the limited artstyle canon instead of what it actually was, a game working within limited hardware
One thing I discovered as a kid and have never forgotten is that you can actually skip the trade quest if you already know the secret to get to the l2 sword in the ruins
It's safe to say that these games were made back in the days that conveyance was still in a "we haven't figured it all out yet" stage. The fact that Onox needs a sword spin to damage at all, and that you need the rod of seasons to bat Din away, is proof of this (I somehow would beat Onox by tanking the damage from Din's retaliation while being close enough that my spin attack still connected with Onox). If I hadn't picked up a walkthrough (a really neat little book that covered both games by flipping upside-down for the other game!), I don't think I would have ever figured out half of these games, and might have quit them both in frustration, especially Seasons.
But, armed with the knowledge necessary to properly enjoy these games, they're lovely Zelda titles, and I'd love to see them receive the same remake treatment that Link's Awakening did (though if that makes them retail at $60 I might hesitate a little at the combined price tag).
I also did not figure out that you have to push Din away with the rod of seasons. I also managed somehow to beat Onox while taking damage from Din. I remember having the Heartring Lv2 that restores your health and dodging the breaking ground tiles as long as I could to restore as much energy as possible for the dragon fight xD
Great video! I have fond memories of the Oracle duet and would love to see a remake brought to the Switch! That being said the duet was originally intended to be a trio and I think the addition of that third game would cement these games as greats in the modern era. Let’s see Farore’s story!!
I played Link's Awakening for the first time with the Game Boy original. You're right that the big twist is foreshadowed up one side and down the other. It was still kind of a shock to my young and tender heart to reach the end of the game to find out that the monsters had all been telling the truth all along and that there was no last minute save for the island or its people. (What? The monsters were RIGHT? I've been the BAD GUY all this time? I just MURDERED my girlfriend for some dumb whale who left me stranded in the ocean?) This sort of thing wouldn't phase me now because I'm old and jaded, but thirty years ago was a different story. Anyway, that was probably why I never played the Oracle games back then. But now I kind of think I should.
These two games were the only Zelda games that I had when I was a kid. I beat them both 3 times for the full story. I remember my first play through of ages being really hard. But then going to seasons was definitely easier. And then each play through was easier after that because I could remember all the mechanics and bosses. Much easier as a child when I had more time to binge the same games. Now I don’t think I could beat these without a guide and leaving notes for myself. And seeing the frames with the like likes just reminds me of all the times I lost my shield. Those things are awful
4:58
Please excuse me, Derrick, for I am about to be unoriginal but...
It's pronounced "Deez Nutz."
Again, please excuse me.
Oracle of Seasons was my first major exposure to Zelda. Not through the game itself, but rather the Manga Adaptation. It's a really damn good read and a fun adaptation of the story.
I welcome criticism but man just feels like a lot of these complaints are what led to Fi
I've only ever played Ages, but I bought both on the 3ds and they're still "gift wrapped" on my home screen. These videos have definitely inspired me to dust them off... Thanks guys! And happy holidays!
"And I swear I didn't come across any tips for it like I did for Dodongo".
I personnaly found a owl statue few rooms before who says "they are invicible in the water". I think it give enought information for the players to how defeat this mini-boss.
The Oracle games are my fave handheld Zeldas and deserve a Link’s Awakening style remake!
Come on, you are talking about puzzles being cyptid when you had to use the item to pick up things to pick up a thing.
Only just really getting into the GBC titles of Zelda. But as a dude born in the 90s, the aesthetic of these games is just so beautiful to me. I wish they'd just make a bunch more releases in this precise style.
It's my personal theory that Breath of the Wild is the third Oracle game we never got. Ages was the quest given for Nayru, and by the Triforce of Wisdom, Seasons was for Din, by the Triforce of Power, but what of Farore and Courage? Why was their no Oracle of Spirits game? Farore is, instead, reduced to a linking mechanism, the Oracle of Secrets, in the Oracle games. If you buy the whole timelines thing for Zelda games instead of seeing them as isolated, then at this point, time is split into multiple possibilities based on Link's success or failure in Ocarina. In Ages you are repairing the damage done by a rogue time traveler, fixing a smaller version of the big problem in the Zelda timelines, while in Seasons you are restoring nature, the physical. These are challenges of Mind and Body respectively, or Wisdom and Power.
In Breath of the Wild, you are in a hopeless world, literally under the cloud of darkness Calamity Ganon. Everyone is depressed, deep in despair. One of the first things that I encountered after leaving the plateau was a guy on a bridge telling me not to jump off, things aren't that bad, when all I was doing was taking the most expedient route down. Everyone has self-harm on their mind in that world. Their Courage, their spirit, is broken. You travel the world, restoring the spirits of your fallen comrades, bringing hope and courage back to the people of the world. If anything is a quest in honour of Farore and the Triforce of Courage, it's this.
This is all set to the backdrop of the timelines converging, returning to a single whole, if you buy that fan theory (which may end up explicitly spelled out in BotW2). It's fitting that after restoring mind, body, and spirit, or wisdom, power, and courage, that the world would heal, bringing its fragments back to a whole.
There's no timelines converging, BotW is a soft-reboot.
I honestly remember the Onix fight being one of the easiest in the series. Like honestly a push over. Especially his final form.
Those games are developed by Capcom but their Director Hidemaro Fujibayashi is now working for Nintendo and is Director of Skyward Sword , BOTW and TOTK.
The Oracle games are my 2nd favorite games in the series and my favorite of all the 2D Zelda games. I always lump them as one game due to their linking aspect but I think they're great!
I didn't have that many problems my first time playing through Seasons (though I still died a lot because the game is actually pretty tough at times) but the exceptions were the squid boss (yup... it made little sense to try to use the power bracelet with no hint for it but I was an experimenter as a kid), the wizard splitting into 3 (I never noticed the shadow of the real one being the tell of which to target thus making the midboss a joke), and Onox's dragon form (that one is legitimately REALLY HARD).
That said, exploring the world and using the seasons gimmick is really fun and subrosia is great as well! One of my favorite items in these two games, if not my absolute favorite, is the magnetic gloves. I've found out I love it when the Zelda series works with magnetism and it all started with this game.
I'm probably biased because I played these games for the first time as an 8 or 9 year old but I love these games way too much! I make sure to revisit them every few years to reaffirm my love of them and, as of 2020, I still love them!
There some of my favorites too. I used to love Konami.
I'm hesitant to look at them as a single game, though, because most people who do (not you), essentially say Seasons is the bad/filler half/part.
The Onox boss battle is a huge pain in the ass. In fact, when I replay these games, I nearly always play through Ages first so I can use the Master Sword against Onox.
I had no issues with this game as a kid. It's definitely not as difficult as described in the video. I think like most puzzle based games, some people's minds click with them better than others. Glad in the end you recommended the game and appreciated it but sad that "using a guide" is so common for games these days. As an older gamer I feel some sadness the more modern era has conditioned the gaming industry to need to hold the players hand.
So excited to play these again. I completed both games after getting them for 10 dollars a pop at a hobby shop from my grandpa, I haven’t had them for years (ages was stolen early on and I lost Seasons over 10 years ago) thank you switch, so pumped
there's no reason why you should have struggled so hard in this game as an adult. come on, bro.
bs, I got stuck at the exact same places, because a lot of times in 2D Zelda things are friggin obtruse.
@@k.b.7718
Like a great man once said:
_"there's no reason why you should have struggled so hard in this game as an adult. come on, bro."_
I've been playing the Fallen Hero timeline specifically so I could play through these games for the first time. I just beat Seasons last night, and aside from a few hiccups,mostly from a few bosses that were a pain to figure out how to hit, including Onox, I believe this is a good solid entry not just as a handheld Zelda, but in the franchise overall. I can't wait to start Ages and see how it holds up.
Not going to lie a lot of your complaints about the puzzles seemed really obvious. Like the 3 wizard boss. One clearly has a huge shadow under him. I just think you’re missing basic observation skills.
Oh and that blade combo? You just bait the spinning blade by popping in front of it, then hide in the the next available nook and speed off the second it passes by. It won't follow you quickly enough that way. It looks like you panicked hard and thus made mistakes in your movement. That room is about having a little patience basically. I also had the issue with Moosh to be fair, took me ages to figure it out in the days before guides but I did eventually.
I think some of your complaints are fine but a lot of others seem due to lack of attention, like not seeing the obvious shadow under agahnim which is very obvious when you light the first torch, I can see it in your footage. Goma is super easy too, you just bait it, jump away and then turn and shoot its eye, scent seeds are the safest but I'm pretty sure ember seeds do the most damage, but if you miss with the ember seeds you can't shoot again until the flame expires.
But basically that boss is just about standing in front of it to make it try to grab you with its claw and then dodging away to shoot. You can make it do this intentionally and finish the boss within seconds really. I actually never attack its claws funny enough. It's actually slower.
Onox is a fair complaint in terms of obtuse mechanics. Difficulty is fine but being obtuse and difficult is a pain.
Sorry you didn't enjoy your time with this more, Derrick, but I'm glad you gave it an honest chance and still found things that you enjoyed.
Avoiding Maple really backfired for you and likely indirectly caused other things with your playthrough to trend downwards; she's actually a great resource, especially because she makes it so you'll be able to acquire free potions with relative ease. Not playing around with the rings more probably didn't help either, but I get why going back to the shop to change things would be tedious (and in fairness, a lot of rings aren't especially useful anyway). I don't remember this game being particularly cryptic, certainly not much more than other Zelda/Nintendo games of this vintage (I actually remember struggling way more with the puzzles in Ages than anything that's in Seasons), but I'll concede that it does expect you to try your items on stuff and if you're looking for a lot of clear and obvious guidance ("go here, do this to progress") then you're probably going to have tougher time. I'm all the way with you on the final boss though, I think it's a slog; I have a lot of affection for Oracle of Seasons, but I've never enjoyed the Onox fight.
I love this game, I got it for Christmas in 2001 and I played it to 100 percent. I love the emphasis on exploration and combat. It's so much fun
I played this one for the first time recently and it really surprised me, I’d even call it my favourite 2d Zelda. It honestly felt like the first Zelda game I played all over again, I highly recommend giving it a shot.
Wow It's weird to hear someone having had trouble with this game. When I was a kid I felt this one was rather straight forward o.o;
The three part game was actually announced as coming soon and found in full page nintendo power magazines and the like or something etc, before fading into obscurity... The title was going to be "Fruit of the Mysterious Tree."
Trying to figure out how to link these two videos to get the third video content....
What if they made a remake in which you pick either game to start, then you get to beat the other with the extras as if you entered the password. After that you get to go back to do the extra boss in the first game you played. Finally they add a final "game" that could be a smaller 4 dungeon adventure to finally complete the original vision of the 3 games.
With the Game Boy release on NSO, there's word that both oracle games will be eventually available. There's a good chance they will finally get the attention they deserve, but also means they (probably) won't get the remaster treatment Link's Awakening got.
I like to play ages first and link into seasons b/c IIRC the master sword can damage Onox without needing to charge a spin attack first.
Would love to see more videos on GVG in this style and quality. Oracle of Ages and Seasons are etched on my heart. My brother and I each got one and shared our experiences at night laying up in bed talking about our favorite games with worm lights to play Gameboy before bed. Simpler days.
4:56 a missed opportunity indeed
Your frustrations with the game are exactly why I want to see a remake of the oracle games. I would never have made it through Links Awakening without the quality if life features of the remake.
These videos are awesome, I remember getting these as a kid and was expecting it to be like Pokemon versions, slightly different but same world.... I was pleasantly surprised and not sure we ever see this again but I loved the idea for LoZ, we need a new single player, top down, not a remake and in an original world game in this series basically since 2012 (A Link Between World's) and that was kind of the same world but was different enough from Alttp to feel new. 11 yrs is too long! I loved these videos by you both and thank you for putting in the hard work!
Watching you and Jon play these games back to back; just brings back fond memories, of me doing the same as I played the secret quest in both games! Way back when I picked up the physical copies at my local used game store, while playing the games then and enjoying them once again on the 3DS.
Although these games have a few hiccups in them. I still enjoy replaying them to find every hidden secret to hone my skills at the games core mechanics.
😊👍
The wizard you can beat by looking for the shadow under the real one, which is why you light the torches. Frame rate might make the shadow impossible to see.
I need to revisit them. I haven't played the Oracle games in ages!
8:00 Part of the reason why I want a Switch Remake. So that the Courage game finally gets made. The reason why they couldn't do it in the past was Hardware limitations after all. It was why Kanto was so watered down in Gen 2.
Oracle games are fantastic. Seasons' combat is really hard, while Ages' puzzles are the hardest in the series.
Yes, thank you. I love this design for Link. I am so glade they use pretty much the same design for link between world because I was able to get a wonderful figma of the design.
I think the problem with Oracle of Seasons is that the game lets you explore freely for the most part, but progress is always locked behind one specific item that must be used in one specific place. Considering the map is so intricate - there's Subrosia and the main world, which in turn is split into four different seasons - it's not uncommon to think "I probably need to come back later with a different item" when the solution is right in front of you. The same applies to gimmick bosses which have one specific solution, but you have so many items that can be used in so many different ways, and you have to painstakingly go back and forth between the game and the menu while taking damage.
It's almost like a Metroidvania, except the best games in the genre are better at giving you hints through visual cues and expert game design.
I still love this game, it's such a charming and ambitious adventure for the GBC, but having replayed it recently I understand why it didn't always work for you.
I don't remember this being an issue when I played it. In fact, I think it basically followed the same format that Link's Awakening started, in that you get a new tool halfway in the dungeon, and that tool is what's used for the rest of the dungeon, as well as to reach the next dungeon (+ whatever story stuff inbetween).
If anything, my complaints about these games is that, combined with how linear they are, since Zelda is supposed to be about exploration. The overworld is very sectioned off, and only a little can be seen at a time until you get the next item. Link's Awakening was also the start of this.
Despite this however, these games (especially a Linked Game in Ages) are my favourite Zelda games, cause the pros far outweigh the cons. I think they feature the most creative items puzzles and dungeons in the series, myself. And I love how customizable each run can be with the rings.
@@tamerkoh Yes, it's pretty clear what item you have to use, but not where you have to use it. Sometimes you have to cycle through every season, or you have to go through Subrosia to reach some place in the overworld, only to find that specific obstacle that unlocks progress.
I remember not having this problem at all in Ages, which is by far my favorite of the two, maybe because there's only two versions of the world, or maybe because it's structured in a more intuitive way. Maybe it's just me.
I didn't expect the video starting just bashing my favorite 2D Zelda like that :(
29:35 -- Hoo boy this screen. So I got this game when I was a kid, and I also got the strategy guide for this game. I wouldn't be allowed to play the game during weekdays, so I would just read the strategy guide front to back over and over as a substitute. The strategy guide had this screen as a point of interest, and said that the way to cross this gap was to use the Roc's Cape + Pegasus Seed. And that's how I always did it until I happened to wander on the screen during Autumn.
I realized the actual intended way about 5 or so minutes later after finally making that dumb jump 💀
Oracle of seasons was my first video game when I was around 3 years old and it will always be my favorite Zelda game
This video is just recounting your playthrough, while the ages video actually had thoughtful critique.
Kind of felt like you hadn’t played a Zelda game before this one. I played and beat this when I was in elementary without a guide or internet, but I’m sure I ran into a lot of struggles.
Change One: 3 or 4 designated "item" buttons, determined whether the "Sword" and "Shield" are treated as their own items or given specially-designated buttons.
Change Two: Start with the ability to hold 3 rings at a time, and be able to upgrade it to a max of 5 rings. This gives a bit more diversity in what the player has access to, with less overt pointless backtracking.
I will criticize that you use "I never thought to use this item in this way" as a critique against the game since... take the Power Bracelet on the Squids. You already used it on at least one previous boss. So you never thought to use it on another boss that you needed to pull out of the hole it was hiding in?
That said, an "objective journal" or "Task List" could be a potential benefit for those who might forget things between their play-sessions.
That wizard mini boss in the 4th dungeon: the real one has a shadow when you light the torches, the two fake ones don’t.
Links awakening is easily my top 3 favorite Zelda games of all time. Something truly special about it
Bro, Oracle of Seasons was the first Zelda game I ever owned and I literally just got through with a session playing it Randomized a few minutes ago 😂