So what does the Sacred Land have in store for us?
Well, right off the bat part of the map is obscured. And it's not like the main maps where the clouds/fog clear as you move-it won't be cleared until about 2/3rds of the way through.
Eww. What even is that?
Oh great, Ghirahim too...the good news is, the K. Rool doesn't move or attack. So if you KO Ghirahim/wait until he leaves, it's easy.
So I figured I'd be a little fancy and kill him with a full-power Eruption.
The area's first gimmick are these owl statues, which give you cryptic hints to get around the area/solve puzzles.
...I guess that's a hint to trust the statues. Kind of wish there was one somewhere that lies and you have to figure out which one is telling the truth.
Another unavoidable 4-star...the boss is right after it, but you have to explore the whole area before you can fight them. Not doing this fight until then.
Our second statue gives a clue about opening the top part of the map. So clearly we need the Master Sword...
So it's like fighting Hero?
He was easy, though. K. Rool is fun to use-he has so many unique options.
This is one of two areas where the music changes depending on where you are.
Music: Saria's Song/Middle Boss Battle
I've never gotten into the Zelda series, so this was really unhelpful my first time playing. It makes a little more sense now (it's leading you to Young Link), but...
Two Isabelles?
Oh, that's cute-one's tiny because they're (presumably) mother-daughter. Why is there fog, though?
I actually won with a down-air spike. For some reason, a lot of fights in this area ended in way more stylish ways than I usually play.
You actually have to check the statue for this to work.
The sparkle shows you you're going the right way. But it's only activated after you check the statue.
Oh look, everyone's favorite villain! I mean, I like him too, mainly because Luigi acting suave and badass was such a 180 from his normal personality, but I think he's a little
too beloved...
That said, I wouldn't mind seeing him return sometime.
He was about as hard as he is in SPM.
Why the heck does he give you a water weakness? He wasn't weak to water in SPM!
(I assume it's because of the paper aspect, which would make sense, but...)
Anyway, that makes another statue appear here, which is where the invisible path takes you.
It's hard to see, but the path is under these trees.
Again, this only works after you read the statue, otherwise you get stuck at the pond. There's also a chest nearby...
No thanks.
I don't know why, but I never really liked Tiny as much as the other Kongs-maybe because Dixie was already a thing.
This fight's actually really annoying-Diddy's so small it's hard to hit him, and he likes to run away.
It actually came down to the last couple seconds...
I think I was literally less than a second from losing. Luckily it all worked out, or I'd be down a crocodile
Moving on. Feels like it's been a while since we fought a Robot Master.
Luigi cleaned them up easily.
A chest on the other side of the pond...
Much better!
Again, the sparkles don't show up if you don't read the statue. So now we can jump in the pond...
Which takes us over here.
This is who the "girl waiting for her friend" statue was talking about. I don't know who she is, though...
It could have been bad if she got her FS, but a lucky up-B took her out.
Even with that, perfect shielding is still impossible for me
Anyway, beating her clears up a tree blocking this path, which leads to a fighter.
This chest is unique-not only did it have a prize, you can actually climb in it, which takes you to...
...Oh. I'll pass-Chrom's my least favorite of the FE cast.
This is one of the most helpful spirits in WoL, but it's a tough fight.
But I figured I'd give it a shot, and since Jigglypuff utterly wrecked Tabuu, I thought I'd try her again.
And it worked!
Normal autoheal is 3% about every five seconds. Great autoheal is almost twice that-5% every five seconds. This could be a lifesaver against bosses (especially the final boss.)
Ugh, the most obnoxious Assist Trophy...
Decided to risk a character I don't like as much just to be safe.
Luckily he didn't reverse controls-that was what I was worried about.
Once he was gone, it was easy. So now we can get a fighter...
Ugh, I don't want him, but we have to grab him to progress.
Not too hard. I think I said this already, but Young Link is one of my 5 least favorite characters-I don't think we need him and Toon Link,
and normal Link on top of them. I'd be okay with dropping both and just having normal Link.
Anyway, unlocking him gives the first piece of the Triforce.
I would have figured this guy would've been way earlier, since they're so common in Pikmin.
Easy.
I was really confused that it was enhanceable at first, but when I enhanced it, it made sense (
it becomes Empress Bulblax.)
...That is a lot of Charizards.
It starts off with one...
But when you take him out, three more show up.
And then a fourth pops up right after.
This would probably be a dream for some people. I wouldn't mind it myself...
Again, a KOs heal damage spirit comes in really handy here. That leads us to another statue:
...Okay? That's not very helpful.
There's the Master Sword, along with possibly the two closest fighters in all of WoL (aside from whichever two of Marth/Sheik/Villager you didn't grab at the beginning). But I'm gonna wait to grab them until I get rid of the rocks so I can do it all at once.
Is he holding a freaking tea set???
I decided to have fun and win as many fights as possible with Luigi's up-B. This makes two, and leads to another statue:
This will make sense in a little bit. Also, different area means different music:
Music: Dark World (3DS/Wii U)
Moving on...
That's three.
This is essentially a big clock, like the arena in Catching Fire. Difference is it's not full of ways to kill you.
There's a hint for the second Triforce piece, but outside of trying random times there's no way to get it yet.
(I guess you could keep trying random times, since there's only 144 possibilities and it doesn't take that long...)
There is a statue that tells you the answer, but we have to clear more fights to get to it.
That's four! Luigi's on a roll.
...I guess that could be useful if you're gutsy enough to fight Calamity Ganon right off the bat?
Who the heck are they?
Couldn't get a fifth up-B kill, but it was still easy.
Again, who are they? I remember them having a trophy in Melee, but Melee had a lot of trophies of random characters no one outside Japan had ever heard of.
So many animals!
I'm not sure whether an up-B won this fight or not.
There's our clue to the clock. I don't know if 12:10 is a significant time in the Zelda series, and If not, I wonder why they chose then specifically?
Anyway, that makes a spirit appear in the middle.
Makes sense.
I think I did win this with up-B, but not 100% sure.
Beating her clears the way to another fighter. But there's a chest nearby I want to grab first.
This fight was an absolute mess.
One, I got double teamed, and two, once Simon hits 50% you start getting hit for 30% at random.
And with it being on normal Temple, everyone survived to ridiculous numbers.
But eventually I got my FS. Even though I hate ZSS's FS when I'm fighting her, I'll happily take it now.
And thanks to Double Final Smash, we got the win. But I'm pretty sure that's the highest damage anyone's taken...
Worth it.
One more battle before the character...
Not bad.
Also pretty obvious.
Even though I'm not into the Zelda series, I've always liked Zelda herself. I love her Ultimate redesign-it's nice to see her get to be happy for once, after she was so serious in Brawl/4. And I'm glad she's finally halfway decent.
Freeing her gives us the second Triforce piece, and clears the path to the Master Sword. We'll grab it next time.
Game stats:
Fights cleared: 391
Fighters alive: 49
Fighters lost: 3