I finally got the itch to return to the game. This time, instead of playing it in my DS, I popped it in the Game Boy Player on my GameCube. I think I enjoy it more on the TV than on the DS screen. It’s nice to have the option to play either though, since I’ll soon be hitting the road for Florida and can take it along (and hopefully wrap it up) on vacation.
Part of the reason I think I was putting the game off was that I was kind of stuck. I just finished the 2nd castle in the Dark World, but I couldn’t find a way to get to the 3rd castle. I either ran into cliffs, trees, fences or rivers. I remain determined to not view hints or walkthroughs though, so I forged on.
After wandering around for a while, I came across a destroyed bridge on the main river. I used the mirror and switched back to the Light World to see if I could somehow repair it from there. Instead, I found the bridge was fine in the Light World and nothing I did there seemed to affect it in the Dark World. Then, I got the bright idea to use the hookshot. There were two or three places where there was a partial bridge platform out onto the river. I tried them all, and that was the trick! I think the last one I tried brought me safely across the river. I now had a clear path to the 3rd castle in the forest.
Upon arriving in the forest, I found several holes in the ground. I initially avoided them, but then accidentally fell into one. Instead of dying or losing life, this brought me into a dungeon. I believe this is the dungeon of the 3rd castle. I got the map, compass and skeleton key, so I have a fairly good idea of the layout. Based on the map and the location of the 3rd castle on the Dark World overview map, I think this is it. I need to explore it more, and get to the boss to know for sure. It is neat how you navigate seamlessly between the dungeon and the forest. In fact, I have found at least one “secret” entrance to the dungeon by cutting down bushes in the forest overworld.
If all goes as planned, I should return to the game this evening and hopefully beat the 3rd level. That will leave only 5 left, then a final confronation (I presume).
Time played: 30 minutes
