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Twilight Princess: Neat Details Compilation.

This is mostly an improvised thread (quick and dirty) about some minute "details" that may not have any significant impact on Gameplay but help to make the Twilight Princess world more interesting to explore and interact with.

Since this is going by memory i'll keep adding other ones subsequently, the most recent ones will be highlighted in red.

[ENVIRONMENTS]

-Global Lighting and Atmospherics.The game lighting implementation shades the ground depending on the sun's angle. A good way to see it in work is by standing between 2 tall structures like in the canyon area after exiting Kakariko. This is one of those hacked and very specific lighting systems we used to see back when hardware wasn't powerful enough to have more realistic realtime lighting and shadows.

By virtue of the above lighting technique, the game creates a very cool black silhouette look for objects, in the opposite face of the setting sun.

Some metal items like the Gale Boomerang, Sword or ball and chain will glow with different hues during different times of day. At sunset the glow is of an intense pink/orange. During night is bluish. In daytime is a normal not so glowy silver look.

There's also rolling cloud projected shadows, that shade anything below them. This is most noticeable in Hyrule Field.

Character shadows get subdued when the sky is cloudy during rain and get more accentuated when lighting strikes.

-Rain. There are various degrees of rain intensity and in some cases it's accompanied by lighting. There's also an effect in which the rain changes it's angle according to the speed Link moves.

-Myst. At the early hours of the day a veil of myst covers the environments. This remains true for all places save for the dessert in which it wouldn't make sense due to how dry the environment is.

-The myst reacts to the winds direction and intensity. This is easy to appreciate in a place like Kakariko Village or in some rooms in the Forest Temple.

-In the desert during day time due to the amount of heat, the distant horizon is involved by haze. The effect is turned off at night which makes sense since the temperature gets colder.

- In the desert during the game sequence to reach Arbiter Grounds. Waitng for nightfall reduces the enemies view distance and numbers. The tower guards can't see far away unless Link is very close and under a light source. Some ground guards are sleeping.

-In day time in various places of Faron Woods is possible to see sun shafts filtering through the tree canopy. The effect disappears during night.

- In Ordon Ranch, when Link's gets possetion of a wooden or normal sword is possible to attack the goats. This will cause the animal to strike back knocking him down from Epona.

-In Dungeons the first time a door is opened, debris and dust will fall from it's frame. During the same play session this visual cue will not repeat.

- Destructible Environments.

Snow Peak Ruins: One of the most interactive and destructible environments in the Zelda series. Once Link gets his hands on the Chain Ball he can wreck different objects that he couldn't otherwise. Wooden barrels, boxes, chairs, benches, tables, armors, ice walls, etc. There's even a place reminiscent to a church full of wooden benches everywhere and Chilfos for Link to level.

Temple of Time: Once getting control of the statue there are several large objects to destroy: Traps such as rolling and spining spikes. Or obstacles like fences, moving barriers, Beamos, etc.

-Zora's Domain. Zora Rider. Why bother with the Clawshot or Wolf Jump when there's no need for Link to go through much effort to reach the top? At the base of the main waterfall, there's a Zora that will offer to take Link to the main hall entrance. Link's hops in the Zora's back as this agile creature will gracefully swim up the waterfall in a few short seconds.

-Peak Province. Upon arrival this area is covered by a perpetual blizzard that extends from the mountain base up to the Snow Peak Ruins dungeon itself. The blizzard is so dense is not possible to witness the passage of time as celestial bodies are covered by the strong wind and snow. Once Link retrieves the mirror piece the blizzard subsumes and we are graced with one of the best vistas at the peak's summit.

-Snow Peak Ruins. Another very clever detail is that throughout the mayority of the dungeon there are no heart drops from enemies or objects. The idea is for Link's to use the evolving Yeto soup as he's only way of healing.

The Mini Freezars are an enemy that shows of quite well the physics engine. It quite cool (literally) to see multiple of them bouncing around between themselves and the environment.

-Hyrule Castle Town. Once in a while is possible to see a citizen carrying a shopping bag from the store. When Malo takes over the place a lot more people will be carrying bags around.

Different from Ordon or Kakariko, the passing of time doesn't stop when entering Hyrule Castle Town. So it's interesting to watch how the amount of activity and pedestrians varies as the day goes by. Early morning sees some people moving around, noon until night is at peek and after twelve almost no one is around save for the patrolling guards that move around all day.

Agitha's Castle in Hyrule Castle Town. The more bugs Link's bring her, the more populated the place becomes. Here's is easy to see the effect the Lamp has over insects. When brought out some flying ones will even latch to it.

-Star Game.This one is quite unique among Zelda's mini games since it allows for experimentation and trusts the player in figuring things out by themselves. It can be played as soon as reaching the Castle Town in human form and even withouth the Clawshot. Upon completing the game one time, a second more difficult round can be played that is supposed to use Double Clawshots to conquer. However, with enough skill this challenge can be overcome with just one. A clever player will figure out by himself that is possible to equip the Iron Boots in conjunction with the Clawshot making the orb gathering process more efficient. Wining the game will make Link the object of affection of the 3 lovely ladies that hang outside the tent, chasing him around and dropping hearts when they get excited.

-We are not Racists... We are Speciesists. Ordon Village, Kakariko and Hyrule Castle Town all these places react adversely to Wolf Link's presence. While in places like Goron Mountain or Zora's domain he just seen peacefully without the inhabitants over reacting.

Hyrule Castle.The Throne Room. The area is surrounded by Pillars. During the Beast vs Beast fight the pillars can get destroyed turning them into debris. The debris remain in the ground as an interactive objects tat can be kicked around as the fight progresses.

-Hena's Fishing Hole.

The amount of care put into this area and side attractions in amazing.

As many know the four seasons are replicated. The season affects the type of fish available and it's biting habits. Also the water conditions are affected by time of day, season and weather conditions, it can be clear or murky.


  • Spring: The trees blosson with pink cherry petals that litter the ground. The sky is usually clear with little clouds.
  • Summer: The trees, pasture and grass are of an intense green. There water tends to be crystal clear so is easy to see the botton of the lake.
  • Autum: Trees, ground and grass has a brownish hue. Mapple like leaves fall everywhere and insects become more common. It also produces the most colorful sunsets seen in the game.
  • Winter: Trees turn white and the ground is covered with a slight frost. The sky tends to get quite cloudy during this season.

There's also a random generated rain in the fishing hole. The Water visibility changes in this climate, so is harder to pin point the fish location.

If you enter Hiza's cabin during the rain and look through the window, she'll comment about the lousy weather but how it's a good time to go fishing since the fish are more active.

During Autum, if Link's casts the line and leave the Fishing Pole still, after some seconds a dragonfly will pose itself over the pole.

During Spring or Autum the petals and leaves that fall from trees will float in the water. The ones that are in the ground or in mid air can be flustered by doing a spin attack.

There's an area of the pond that says no littering allowed. Fishing near here causes some surprises. Link can potentially fish a variety of garbage like cans, wheels, boots. But also valuable stuff like a money sack or a bottle.

Almost all items inside Hena's cabin can be inspected when watching it in first person, a rather interesting way to interact with something for the Zelda series. The carpet, canoe, fish tank, Roll Goal, multiple pictures, pots. There's even fishing informative comments if you look at the lures and books, which describe "The legend of the Twilight Loach."

Besides using first person view, the other main way to interact with objects inside Hena's cabing is Link's Forward Roll. Almost every object has a reaction animation when Link bangs them. And some of them even cause Hena to react and scold Link in different ways. Forward Roll enough multiple times and she'll get angry, ending up with Link thrown outside and only letting him in again until he apologizes.

[CHARACTERS]

- One Reactionary Hood. Special attention has been paid to this piece of clothing. It reacts to the wind's direction and intensity or even the explosion of a bomb. In most cases it obeys the law of gravity like when dropping from high places, sinking on the water or when upside down. Thought for some reason it glitches out when walking on some Goron Ore ceilings in the Mine Dungeon.

Just like the hood, Link's hair and sideburns is affected by the winds direction.

- When getting an item, Link's facial expression changes according to it's relevance.

-Link's facial expression also changes depending of what type of thing he catches with the fishing pole. For example, bracking a new record with a fish catch causes a big smile while catching something like a boot is greated with a marked disappointeent.

- Links tunic gets wet in 3 different ways depending on how much of it's body enters the water. Or if he rolls in a shallow pool of water some times just the torso part of the tunic will gets wet. Also after some seconds in the rain the tunic will dampen.

-Zora Tunic. A very small detail is that Link slips up a "mask" to actually breath underwater with this tunic. Once leaving the water it slips off automatically.

- Failing to land Final Blow will cause a delay since the sword gets stuck in the ground and Links takes some time to get it back.

- When aiming with the bow Links squint he's eyes.

- Realistic Climbing Debacle. Links climbing animation was deliberately made slow in some surfaces to clearly convey a sense of effort. This is also shown in the animation where he first secures his grip with each hand and pulls himself up. This clearly contrasts with his ladder animation were the ascension is faster and more relaxed.

- When Links subdues a Goron or wins in a sumo match, he froths his hands like he just took out the garbage. Same applies when dropping a goat.

-Developers took the time to add a different animation when Link carries and throws a very heavy object. It's a bit interesting since savr for one big rock in Ordon village, i don't remember any other place where the animation is used.

- Drowning causes an instant Game Over.

- After disturbing a hive, the quickest way to get rid of wasps is to jump into a pool of water. Or transform into Wolf form.

-Link the chicken or a commentary on animal abuse. This game brakes the tradition on what reaction happens when disturbing Cuccos. When hitting the creature several times, instead of a Cucco mob pecking Link around, actual control of the Cucco is assumed. My interpretation of what this actually happens is because the developers wanted for the player to be in the abused creature skin to gain some perspective. This seems plausible since there's an underlying animalistic theme in the game among others.

That Wolf Chain. Is interesting the amount of care invested in these 3 small chain links. First it has a very well done collition box since it's rare to see any visual artifacts like clipping the ground. It reacts pretty realistically to gravity. The faster the Wolf moves the more apparent the metal "cling" sound becomes, however if moving in a pool of water the chain won't emit any sound.

- When in Wolf form Midna will open any dungeon door using her shape shifting pony tail.

-There's an easy to miss animation in Wolf form. Get wet and exit the pool of water, if in the exact moment Wolf Link gets out he doesn't move, the Wolf will shake itself to dry up.

- Failing to land a Final Blow in Wolf form causes the animal to bang it's head on the ground and get stunned for a second.

-When in Wolf form is actually posible to approach a whistling grass patch and use the wolf voice as an instrument. Singing Epona's song will summon her. It's something put in there withouth much purpose but easy to miss.

-Another easy to miss ability and very nice attention to detail of the Wolf form, is that it doesn't sink on deep snow. On the other hand Link human form ends up moving even slower than with the Iron Boots equipped.

-Taking a walk through town. Reactions upon enetering a town in Wolf from:
  • When Wolf Link's enters Ordon the first time and if seen, Hanch will use a Hawk to attack him and Russel will chase him out with a lighted torch. When visiting the town again everyone will run out to their houses.
  • In Ordon Goat Ranch, Fado runs from Link's beast form and goats start to attack him. Some times a whole group of goats will gang on him.
  • In Kakariko, Talo will give an alert from the highest point of the village and everyone will take shelter in their homes.
  • In Hyrule Castle town everyone runs for their lifes. A phalanx of guards form behind Wolf Link, cowardly chasing him out with spears.

- When engaging in a fight, Epona reacts to enemies raising her two front legs. If this happen when an enemy is near this will knock him down giving Link a chance to use a finishing blow.

-Mounting Epona from the back, will cause Link to do a quick hop and boost instantly.

- Dismounting Epona while an enemy is around causes Link to do backflip to quickly engage in combat.

Ganondorf. The man has a very impressive cape, yet as the decisive encounter progresses the cloth will accumulate more visible tear and damage.

-The Ordon kids are programmed to react to sword or projectile items. They will quickly dodge any incoming agressions.

- TrillCoro's bird runs a shop near Forest temple. There are a various interaction possibilities:
  • Link can steal the items causing Trill to peck him until the debt is settle.
  • Link can pay less than the value of the item causing Trill to call him "Cheap"
  • Link can pay more than the item value causing Trill to call him "Generous young man".
  • Trill also attacks any near by Bokoblins that come close to his store.
  • Trill has a very specific animation that is easy to miss. He can be seen turning on or off the lamp of the shop as day time changes.

- Iza. Destroying the yellow pot in Iza's place will make her angry. Doing it again will cause her to charge Link 10 rupees. Is possible to refuse payment but she won't let Link ride the canoe until the debt is settle.

- Agitha. This NPC's has various special details. First, it has a "one time only" dialogue interaction. She will compare Link to a different type of insect depending of what tunic he's wearing the first time they met. If Link's leaves her place with a complete pair of insetcs of the same species, she' ll get mad and scold Link for hidding something. This explained by her own claim that she can smell pheromones. Also she's one of the few characters that have some sort of Majora's Mask level of schedule as sometimes is possible to see her in Hyrule Field near one of the Castle Town entrance.

- Barns the Fireman. In the Bomb Shop, if Links takes out the Lantern. Barns will bang the counter dropping a water bucket on Links head.

- The Courageous Hyrule Town Guard. There's a very concentrated effort in making the Royal Guard look like a bunch of incompetent tools. Been it getting trounced in the Hyrule surrender cinematic or presented as cowards in the sequence preceding the scort mission. Not to mention their behavior when they see Wolf Link.

The Postman. Nintendo had some fun with this character making him appear in the most unexpected places throughout Hyrule, always with a different remark for each place he pops in. He always shown reading a piece of paper. The actual texture of the letter is readale even in the lower resolution of the original Wii/GC versions. Upon close inspection it is noticeable that its just an inscription of the Hylian alphabet.

-Fairies. Different from other Zelda games, fairies don't get consumed when Link approaches her with full health. Due to this, is possible to move them around the environment using the Clawshot or the Gale Boomerang.

Letting Link idle (in either form) will cause a Fairy to pose itslef on his head. Taking the sword out will cause yet another Fairy to sit in the swords edge.

Gor Goron Sumo match. The usual thing is to get caught of guard and initiate the "right of passage" sumo match without wearing the Iron Boots, which makes it impossible to win. This is so common that one could assume is the intended way for the game to proceed. But it is totally possible to equip the Iron Boots and defeat Gor Goron in the first match. Really handy knowledge for repeated playthroughs since it saves a little time.

- Some Anthropomorphic type enemy characters such as Bokoblins or Bublins for example, run away from bombs when near them.

- Archers are programmed to get some space when fighting Link. So if he gets close they'll run away and shoot an arrow.

-The Bublin Riders. These NPC's typically ride a Bulbo in packs of 2. One controlling the animal and the other attacking either with a bow or maze. Taking out the driver will cause the animal to lose control crashing with obstacles or hitting the ground. In some cases they can even fly off a cliffs. If the rider survives, he will stand up a board the Bulbo again, probably trying to ram Link if hes alone.

Is actually possible to fish Bomb Fish in Lake Bed Temple or some Grotos in Hyrule field. It won't be added to the fishing journal as it's against the law to catch them but it will be added to the water bomb count.

-As well, in many places is possible to catch Skullfish. These ones also arent added to the Journal.

[ITEMS]

- Sign Posts Like most Zelda games since Ocarina, some sign posts can be sliced in different ways depending on the direction of the sword swing. But in Twilight Link can pick up the pieces and throw them around. The pieces also float in water.

Throughout Hyrule, there are sign posts textured with actual readable Hylian, some of them are found: In Kakariko, Barn's Bomb shop, the Hotel and entrace signs. In Hyrule Castle Town: the meat, bread, hot spring water and the fancy store ones. Also the hospital, the Circus Tent and the cafe. The Mail man Flag reads: "Postman". The Pedestal at the temple of Time reads: "Master Sword". Then in various places there's a generic sign post that reads: "Sign Post of Hyrule".

-Coro's Nasty Soup. A drink of this lovely elixir will deplete the health by one heart. But drink this soup when the heart counter reaches one and all the health will be restored. And is free of charge.

Yeto's Soups. Yeto Soup evolves the more Link progresses in to the dungeon. From "Simple", to "Good" all the way to "Superb". Not only the healing effects and apperance changes. But when looking at the cauldron itself the number of ingredients and color changes. Another clever touch, is that ingredients that go into the soups can be seen through out the kitchen: Garlic, potatoes, carrots and fish. Funny enough Occo is tucked away in one part of the KItchen, makes one wonder if Yeto was thinking on trying something aviary in Yeta's diet.

- Lantern. In Arbiter Grounds, there are small insects that attach to Link and slow down his movement. The light from the Lantern keeps this plague at bay in a perfect concentric circle away from Link.

On the other hand, collectable bugs are attracted to the Lantern's Light. So if by any chance a bug is giving a hard time to grab just take out this item to make thigs more easy.

- Bottles. Pouring bottled water over a pumpkin plant will make another pumpkin sprout.

- Dungeon Maps. Every dungeon map has the name of the place written in actual Hylian.

- OverWorld Map. The provinces and places of interest names are written in actual Hylian.

-Fishing Pole. When raised in the air Link's head and gaze will follow the hook position. The same applies to whatever thing he might catch with the rod as it swings around dangling from the line.

When taking the fishing pole out in a windy place one can notice how the line and the lure react properly to the wind's direction and intensity.

Fishing for a King. No matter how magnanimous one might be everyone get's hooked on by something:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVSV6_d0iz4

[WII REMOTE]

-Most items and equipment have a distinctive sound coming from the Wii Remote speaker. Here are some interesting ones:

The cork of a bottle. You can actually diferentiate between corking and uncorking them.

The "Cling" sounds when swinging the Lanter.

Midna's laugh indicating that is possible to Wolf Jump.

Both unsheathing and sheathing the sword have distinctive sounds. However, when Link only has the wooden sword this "clinging metal" sound is muted.

The swing of the shield bash, Jump Attack, Spin Attack and the normal sword swings have very distinctive "Woosh!" sounds from one another.

The fishing rod's reel clicking sound.

The Bob fishing pole's line sound when casting it and the souns of the lure when leaving the water.

The string of the bow or slingshot while pulling them. And another soubds for when they run out of ammunition.

The Clawshot has a variety of sounds. A sound for the extension and another for the contraction of the chain. A sound for the expulsion of the hook portion. And by pressing and holding the B button the sound of the Clawshot's hook arming itself.
 

I Wanna Be The Guy

U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!
Seems im above the character limit so i had to make another post instead of editing the old one. New entries will be highlighted in red.

[ENVIRONMENTS]

-Other Lighting Touches. The visible distance gets closer progressively as night falls. When is full night is not possible to see much in the distance, big structures are pitch black and regain detail the closer Link gets to them. Even Landmarks like Hyrule Castle or Death Mountain get covered by darkness.

The shadow tonality gets darker the closer the character is to a light source, for example a bornfire or torch.

The water surface will change it's color throughout a day's progression. This is noticed more easily in places with cuarrents like in Zora's Domain. During day it will have a sparkling white hue, at night it's more neutral and during dusk it gets an orange tone.

Other elements that change as a day passes are clouds. They change in color according to the lighting conditions. At night exhibiting a dark tone, snow white during the day and an orange one during the sun's rise and setting.

-Sparks. When hitting hard objects such as stone or metal the sword will produce sparks. These are generated depending of the angle in which the sword hits the surface and the impact is accompanied by a brief light source that iluminates the close surroundings. Other objects such as wood or soft surfaces won't create them.

Some surfaces that generally emit sparks when striked, like walls or stones, when covered with certain elements won't generate them. For example, some places around Lake Hylia that are covered with moss.

- The Lava's Glow. Objects near lava will glow with an orange hue. Materials such as the polished steel of items like the backside of Iron Boots, the Swords or the Ball and Chain will reflect an even more intense glow than other objects.

-Torches. Another thing that set Twilight Princess appart from other Zelda game's is a twist in the by now stablished "torch convention". Throughout the series players have been conditioned to light a torch the instant he sees it. However, in this game there are various instances where extinguishing the torches will have some surprises. The most infamous case was a trick that alowed the player to open the doors in the Cave of Ordeal without the need to kill the enemies. This trick was removed from successive revisions of the game.

-More Fun in Hena's Hole.Another set of details among the most easier ones to miss:
Inspecting the "Legendary Fisherman" picture will cause Hena to scratch herself.
When inspecting Hena while scratching, she' ll comment about "not knowing why sometimes she does that". This is yet another reference to Ocarina of Time, where the fishing pond owner was constantly scratching to the point of losing his hair.
Standing close by Purdy's cage will occasionaly give the command prompt to "speak". The bird will make an assortment of comments, one of them will make Hena really mad.
Interacting with Purdy:

When Link stands in contact with the cage and occasional "speak" prompt will appear. When interacting in this occasions, Purdy will make very polite remarks like "Good Morning" or "Good Evening". If Link's does a forward roll to rattle Purdy's cage his next lines are a bit less amicable: "Scram!", "Get lost", "Idiot."

Inspecting Hena's Canoe will make her comment about it been exclusive to use with her boyfriends. After she says that and Purdy's cage has been rattled, he's next line will be about "Hena's been Old". Causing her to scold the bird for speaking "lies".
There's a heart piece in the fishing hole that's rather trivial to grab with the Gale Boomerang or Clawshot. However, is possible to grab it with the fishing rod. If Link chooses a tour guide for the fishing, Hena will make a comment about not minding Link keeping the heart peice for himself since it counts as fishing.

-Underwater. A side of the Zelda world we first experienced in Ocarina, this facet has been refined a bit more in comparison to that classic. As expected all of Link's actions and animations are performed at a lower speed. Throwing objects underwater will cause them to slowly glide until hitting the bottom. The cutting "grass" animation is slightly different as the pieces slowly float up before disappearing. The larger sea plants bend according to the direction the sword hits them. The spin attacks will have a diiferent whirlwind effect accompained by bobbles. The "Woosh!" sounds coming from the Wii Remote speaker when swinging a sword ( produced by the air displacement) are muted completely here, however sheathing and unsheathing the sword will still produce sound effects, as well as using the Clawshot. Underwater the music gets more and more muted the farther away the character move's from the surface.

-Snow Boarding. Some things to try in this game:
Is possible to hit Yeto/Yeta with an spin attack causing them to spin in place and giving Link a chance to overtake them.
Doing an spin attack while in mid air will cause some extra hang time. In the GC version is possible to chain multiple spin attacks in succesion to get some Helicopter like lifting.
Is possible to snowboard with the Iron Boots equipped. This will make Link fall faster during big jumps.
For some extra flair and pimp, Link can be equipped with the Iron Boots and the Lantern while snowboarding.

-Towns at Night Time. Since the amount of inhabitants runing around is decreased, is far more easy to find places to transform between forms. It can save some annoyance when a particular ability is needed, specially in Castle Town.

-Mirrors. There's a mirror in Link's basement with a rather particular way to reflect things. Since the place is pitch black Link can equip the Lanter or use Wolf sense to see the reflection. A remarkable thing here, is that in the dark the mirror will only reflect Link's eyes. If by that stage the Master Sword has been acquired, is the only other object that is reflected in dark conditions. Don't know if it's an intentional reference to how some characters throughot the plot take special notice on Link's eyes.

On the other hand The Mirror of Twilight on Arbiter's Ground will reflect Link normally but still Midna doesn't show any reflection.

-Grottos.A nice world building detail is that the grounds ones are only accessible by digging in Link's Wolf form after identifying them with it's senses.

- Zora's Domain. A nice attention to detail is seen in the cuarrent behavior across the entire province. The water flows from high in the throne room to low in Lake Hylia, througout the various load zones the water speed moves in a logical manner getting faster as it drops from the higer places and decreasing in speed in the more open a leveled areas.

- Lake Bed Temple. A clever environmental detail can be seen in the room where the Clawshot is acquired. The switch needed to unlock the door, is exactly like the ones Link can cling to with his hands in the early parts of the temple, save for one important detail: an absent handle. Not far from the switch itself, the missing piece can be seen laying on the floor, broken.

In the temple, Rooms with tourches will have small god rays coming from the water surface near the light sources when seen from underwater.

-Arbiter Grounds. This place is a landmark that can be seen from many points throughout Hyrule. One of it most distinctive characteristics are it's six pillars used to sustain the Mirror of Twilight. Each pillar represents a sage. Upon close inspection, is apparent that the upmost section of one is broken. This is a symbolic represenation of death, one of the sages perished during the Ganondorf execution.

-Snow Peak Ruins.In the Boss Key room, Chilfos remain dormant in stalactite form. By carefully positioning Link, is possible to kill them with one hit with no opposition using the Chain Ball. SInce there are like 10 of them this strategy can save some work.

-Temple of Time. The Sacred Grove area that Link reaches with the 2 statues and the Master Sword pedestal is the delapidated Temple of Time after an unknown amount of years has passed. In the present time to one of the sides, a broken old chest lies in view. When pasing through the door of time to reach the past, this treasure chest will be intact and inside of it there's a Heart Piece.

In the past time, all the areas of the Temple are in a clean pristine state so much so, that opening the sliding doors here won't emit the typical dust we see in other temples. However, the lower part of the temple were Ghoma lies clearly shows a progressively ruined state. In this part of the temple the doors will generate debris and dust when they are opened the first time.

Darknut Battle. This one is special because the fallen pieces of armor will remain in the ground as you strip the enemy of it. When a strong attack is missed the peices that are hit are send flying all over the place.

- City in the Sky. As Link advances towards the main tower, is possible to see Argorok constantly circling around it from various distant places.

-Flying Cucco Mini Game. This one surprsies people that found out by themselves. Inside Falbi's mini game cabin, going to the outside part and looking up to the top of the structure, there's a weather vane very similar to the Gale Bommerang switches. Using this item here will make the rotating platform below stop thus making it a lot easier to land in it.

When Link's about to jump from the platform after paying the fee, is possible to throw every single Cucco down. This will make Falbi comment "Wonder where all the Cuccos have gone and that Link will have to learn to fly himself."

The Cuccos thrown from here will remain swiming way down in like Hylia. If Link jumps down there he will be able to talk with them in Wolf form. What's interesting about this is the forsight the developers had to program some dialog lines for them since it's impossible to transform to Wolf Form in the cabin, due to Falbi been there.

This, like the Star Mini game, has a secret technique that involves the Iron Boots. Is possible to equip and unequip the Iron Boots while flying to get an extra degree of control.

-Ordon Village My apologies.Eventually returning to Ordon Village as a Wolf, is possible to Howl in one of the Hawk Grass Patches. Perfoming the calling song will make the Hawk talk to Wolf Link, "apologizing for attacking him earlier in the game and saying the reason was because obeying the caller it's in his DNA." To make up for it, the Hawk will do a fly by pointing out any items of interest in the area.

Forest Cave Shortcut. There's a shortcut accesible with Wolf Link by digging to one of the sides near the entrance of the cave that leads to the poison myst area. It let's one skip the entire trench.

-Tree banging. A stablished Zelda tradition, rolling into trees in a few places in the game, the Ordon Village ones for example, will make some of them drop rupees. However, the most interesting ones to bang are the gigantic Sacred Grove's trees. Rupees, hearts and even possed Marionettes come crashing down from the top.

-Other Hyrule Castle Town Touches.There's a slight schedule system for the characters present here:
The attendants of the shops will leave them at night. As well as the majority of the interactive NPCs.
The musicians are in the Plaza in the day. The closer to nightfall some of them will leave, the less of them the less musical instruments their melody will have. Late at night they are gone.
Some characters appear at night, for example the two guys staring at each other wandering what the other is saying.

Throw this Dog a Bone. In West and East Castle Town dogs are present. When Link picks a near by bone they' ll get ancious and is possible to play fetch with them. However, the interesting part is when Link throws the bone to one of the grass patches in these places. The dog will enter them and comeback with some items like hearts or Rupees.

[CHARACTERS]

-Wolf Link Nuances: There's a set of minor abilities that are inherent to this form. For example, it has better traversing capabilities in sand or snow. Crawls a lot faster in small spaces than human Link. Can see at night with Wolf Sense. When dropping from high altitudes Wolf Link doesn't take fall damage.

Another very important characteristic is how it streamlines the game in terms of item management, since it also works as a kind of swiss army of items, the Wolf Form is basically:
The Lens of Truth.
The shovel.
The Pegazus Boots.
The muscial system we typically saw in the series after Ocarina (summon, warp, etc)
A context dependand navigation mechanic, due to the Wolf Jump.
An special homing area attack with combat and puzzle uses.

Fancy Sword Sheathing.The classic sword acrobatics from the unveil trailer remain in the game. After wining a battle let Link's stand still and hit the A button.

Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf.The more relevant NPCs have been giving a variety of reactions or dialogues in the even they meet with Link's Wolf form. Here's a few ones:
Russel. After their first encounter in Ordon. Meeting him again will cause Russel to get nervous and defensive "Shusshing!" wolf Link around.
Fyer. He hunches cowaring in fear and covering his ears with the hands.
Barns. When Wolf Link is in his sights, he will slowly slide down his protective mask, just like he did the time the Big Bokoblin entered Kakariko.
Iza. Of the few human characters not afraid of Link's Wolf form. In fact, she threatens to transform Wolf Link in to a rug if he keeps bothering her around. It's interesting that some dialogue is dedicated to this event since it's rare for most players to have the chance to interact with Iza in Wolf form.
Purlo. Upon entering the Star game tent as Wolf Link Purlo will receive him with this lines: "You idiot! Don't come over here! Ah-CHOO! I finally get my canine allergy under control, and now... Ha... Ha... Ah-CHOOOOOOOOO! Ugh..."
Coro. He stays chill and just comments how his sister Izs is even scarier than Wolf Link.

-Postman. When delivering a letter this eccentric character will hum briefly a different chime. It either can be the one played when Link gets an item or the discovery tune when a puzzle is solved. Which tune he sings depends of the contents of the letter:
A hint related letter = discovery tune.
An Item related letter = item get tune.

Attacking the Hyrule Town Guards. When in Wolf Form attacking the guards with the charge attack will make them drop different things, like hearts or Ruppes.

Footprints. When the character steps in the sand or snow it will leave footprints. The same can happen on any surface whenever the feet are wet. The distance between the prints varies according to the speed of movement and the shape of them changes according to Link's cuarrent transformation.

- Hawk. Even though "Hawks" can be seen in different places far from each other in the game, it seems to be the same one that just follows Link around. This becasue the bird apologizes when is summoned in different places for attacking him in Ordon. Is even possible to see the bird circling above Link's house.

On the first arrival to Death Mountain is posible to use the Hawk to take out the Bokoblins from a distance. Interesting since Link doesn't have any strong ranged weapons at this stage in the game.

The Hawk grass has a distinctive shape reminiscent to a flying Hawk. Rather easy to differentiate from the Whistle ones to summon Epona.

-Cuccos Behavior An easier way to catch them, is just approach them walking slowly instead of running towards them, this will cause them to remain calm.

-Cucco Bommerang. A thing to try out is throwing the Golden Cucco everywhere. Even to the depths of an abyss, the mythical creature will return to Link. It is for obvious gameplay reasons but fun never the less.

Great Fairy. Topless! enough said.

-Baba Serpent. An interesting behavior routine. Once the Baba is cut it will crawl on the ground trying to bite Link, but if he stands out of range, the monster will crawl back to it's original place and respawn to it's original form.

-King Bulblin. With each succesive encounter King Bulblin will brake ones of his horns.

-Aeralfos. A really nice environmental hint regarding the enemy's weakness is presented to the player in a very subtle way. The developers made the beast shield reminiscent to Clawshot surfaces around the dungeon.

-Darknut. There's a total of 12 pieces that make up their armor. With each succesfully landed attack a piece is taken away and the Darknut model is visually updated to reflect this.

-Some anthropomorphic enemies like Lizalfos, Bulblins or Bokoblins, if finished with an spin attack, will be send flying doing a top spin in mid air kung fu style.

-Chu. This is enemy is interesting because is unique behavior and how detached it feels from the game, it's like an easter egg on itself. A good attention to detail is that in this game they appear in dark and wet places like Caverns, Grottos or places covered in shadows, which makes sense. When various are in proximity of each other they can combine to form a bigger entity, hacking it will make them separate, take too long and they' ll combine again.Chus of different colors can combine generating an individual of yet another different color.

[ITEMS]

-Earning those ItemsThis game has some very unique ways in relation to the rest of the series to grant Link some items.
The Gale Boomerang is first used against Link by the possessed Baboon Ook in the Forest Temple, once the creature is defeated Link becomes it's new master.
The Lantern. Although Link getting an item as gift is rather commona across the series, the justification in the Lantern's case is rather interesting. It's basically a scheme for Coro to sell Link his Snake Oil Lanter Oil. Really devilish since it's one of the most used items in the game and adquired at the game's beginning.
The Iron Boots are won after wining a Sumo match against Ordon's Mayor. This item also has the little backstory of been actually a cheating device to win some Sumo matches.
The Boss Key for the Goron Mines is gradually put together by reaching the Goron Elders that are situated higher and higher as Link's climb ups the temple.
The Snow Peak Ruins temple map is giving almost at the beggining by the NPC Yeta.
In this same temple, the Ball and Chain is first used against Link by Darkhammer and then is obtained after defeating the foe.

Other subtle stuff is how Link basically is using Bombs through out the entire first temple without actually having them. Or how the Deku's Leaf functionality (an item from Wind Waker) has been absorbed by the Gale Boomerang and the use of Coocos or Occos in several instances during the game.

- A Block to Block Puzzles. Another interesting aspect in regards to defying series conventions is that block pushing is vastly reduced, mostly taking place in the Snow Peak Ruins dungeon. And it's done in a rather covenient way since blocks can slide on ice or quicky pushed by the Chain Ball, making these puzzles flow a lot better.

Sword of Light. When infused with the Sols power the Master Sword functions as a light emitter, basically acquiring similar lighting properties as the Lantern. In this state, the Master Sword constantly emanates light particles that have their own inertia. The objects and characters that cast shadows will have them affected by the position of the Light Sword. The amount of light emitted by this sword will change depending on how strong the attack is, with the Spin Attack generating the bigger lighting radious.

Bottles. Is possible to deflect Puppet Zelda light attacks by swinnging an empty bottle. This is probably an homage to the infamous Ganon fight bottle bug from Ocarina of Time.

Ball and Chain. Besides been one of the stronger offensive items the Ball and Chain has other characteristics. It can prevent Link for been blow by strong wind cuarrents. It also works as an improvised shield blocking physical and projectile attacks.

Iron Boots.This is one of the items that got a hughe boost in Twilight Princes, it became very versatile and used in many occasions. From used as an advantage in Purlo and Falbi's mini games to water combat, latching to ceiling and walls, preventing Link to be flawn of by strong gusts. It even got offensive capabilities. By rolling forwad with them equipped enemies can be hurt.

Zora Tunic. Falling into Lava with the Zora Tunic will cause an instant Game Over, no matter how many hearts or if a Bottled Fairy is present. HD version's Hero Mode, falling in the Frozen Lake of the Peak Province will also cause a Game Over since Link receives double damage.

Worms. Is possible to catch worms in bottles in some places, they are useful as fishing bait. Link's needs to dig them out in Wolf form. The most know place to find them is in the Fishing Hole. But another less know place is in Ordon Village by digging the Pumpkin patches.

Ladybugs. Inspecting closely a Ladybug (First Person View or Hawkeye) one can notice the Tri Force symbol in their backs. As far as i know this is the only Golden Insect with that mark.

Lantern. Here's a more detailed explanation of Golden Bug interaction with the lantern:

As said earlier the golden bugs are attracted to lantern light. This applies specially for the flying ones . Others ground ones like snails, phasmids, pillbugs or ants not so much. When taking out the Lantern and staying still will make them sit on Link's head or the edge of the sword if it's unsheated. Also the ladybugs will latch to the Lantern.

[TWILIGHT PRINCESS HD]

Patches and Fixes. Exploitable bugs or glitches that might been adressed in the HD version.

Early Master Sword has been fixed, so it doesn't work anymore. Early Lake Beth Temple Boss Key has been fixed. Gale Boomerang Long Jump Still Works. Early Sky Temple still works.

Tears of Light. The amount of tears to collect in each region has decreased from the 16 of the original release to 12. The Light Vessel model has been changed to reflect this now featuring 12 orbs. The HUD has been changed accordingly obviously.

-Removed Tears of Light.

Faron Province:

1) The one outside Coro's house.

2) In the original there are 2 that slip below the gate that leads to the myst covered areas. 1 of them is removed.

3) Upon enetering the swamp area to the side wall. 2 in the original, now 1 removed.

4) The last one was removed out of the 3 in the tree trunk that's in the middle of the Myst covered swamp.

Eldin Province:
1) The 1 in the cemetery.

2) 1 less upstairs in the building where is needed to light the oven.

3) The 1 in the bulding you crawl under to enter the hole

4) The 1 inside the pot that is inside the building that leads to the highest part of the village.

This is more substantial than the Faron changes since there's 2 less buildings to enter.
 
It's been a while but I think that when you pick up oocoo or however that thing was called she looks at link while spinning around in the item fanfare animation. It's kinda creepy.
 

Rich!

Member
You missed the biggest one.

In this game, despite you being link and having a horse called epona, you are actually a different link to the one in Ocarina of Time! The horse however may still be the same one, just really fucking old.
 

PtM

Banned
You missed the biggest one.

In this game, despite you being link and having a horse called epona, you are actually a different link to the one in Ocarina of Time! The horse however may still be the same one, just really fucking old.
Zzzzzzzz.....

This is the best kind of appreciation thread.
 

ASIS

Member
You forgot the biggest one.

STAIRS!

ok seriously, if you are standing on stairs you will notice that Link will change his posture accordingly. I don't know how to word it but you know what I mean.
I'm pretty sure there was dusty falling off the doors in the first dungeon in the original game.

That's correct, and if I remember correctly. the dust falls off only the first time you open the door. I could be wrong though.
 

PtM

Banned
You forgot the biggest one.

STAIRS!

ok seriously, if you are standing on stairs you will notice that Link will change his posture accordingly. I don't know how to word it but you know what I mean.
You could already see this in early beta screenshots
of Zelda 64
.
 
You missed the biggest one.

In this game, despite you being link and having a horse called epona, you are actually a different link to the one in Ocarina of Time! The horse however may still be the same one, just really fucking old.

image.php




I laughed.
 

Vanethyr

Member
You missed the biggest one.

In this game, despite you being link and having a horse called epona, you are actually a different link to the one in Ocarina of Time! The horse however may still be the same one, just really fucking old.

That and the Skeleton Knight who teaches you your sword moves is the Link from Ocarina of Time.
 

The Boat

Member
Some other stuff that springs to mind:

If you stand still for a while near a fairy, she will land on your head

You can pick up enemy arrows if they fall on the ground or if you block them

If you're on fire, rolling puts it out faster

Bugs don't just run away from you, they run from enemies as well

Bokoblin's eyes light up at night

You can pet goats and they look pretty happy when you do

There's a dog in Hyrule Castle Town that you can play fetch with by throwing a bone

If you get a high score in that "Tingle" minigame, his groupies will become your groupies, following you around and giggling. If you talk to them they'll scream, run away and drop hearts. Their hair colors are the same as Din, Farore and Nayru

You can clean your shoes at the shoe shiner and they'll sparkle for a while

Inside Hena's fishing store (notice how I avoided saying fishing hole), she'll comment on tons of things if you look at them in first person
 

K' Dash

Member
I'm sure most of this stuff was already in the GameCube/Wii versions.

It's cool to have all the details listed in one place, thanks OP 😃
 

Dice//

Banned
I knew a lot of these...oddly I didn't appreciate it till now when I think back, really, how many games actually offer this level of detail instead of just making the game world 'not react' like it usually does.

One thing I love too is, and this has been happening since Wind Waker, Link on two different stair steps will have his feet adjust accordingly, not have the one 'floating leg'.
 

Protome

Member
I liked all the implications that wolf/skeleton who teaches you new skills is Majora's Mask's Link.

Hyrule Historia also confirms it.
 

Violet_0

Banned
sorry I need to be nitpicky for a second - it's desert. A dessert is something you order after a meal

anyway, thanks for this compilation, I'm honestly kind of blown away by the attention to detail. I don't think I've noticed most of these little things when I first played the game
 

Myriadis

Member
Is actually possible to fish Bomb Fish in Lake Bed Temple or some Grotos in Hyrule field. It won't be added to the fishing journal as it's against the law to catch them but it will be added to the water bomb count.

-As well, in many places is possible to catch Skullfish. These ones also arent added to the Journal.

Not to forget, you can also catch small rupee bags in the grottos.

Also:

There is a hidden sword technique, the roll stab. If you roll and then push the sword button at the end of the roll, Link will do a unique stab animation, and even the swinging sound is unique.

Iirc, you can use the iron boots as weapons by wearing them and then rolling into an enemy.
 
So I guess OoT, MM, and TP make the hero of time trilogy

I mean, it's a bit of grim end if it really is the case. OoT suggests people who get lost in the lost woods without a fairy turn in to stalfos. So from what we know, Link probably died after majoras mask trying to get back to hyrule from the woods, then ends up waiting to pass his sword moves on to TP link.

So OoT link either dies alone in the woods or dies because Ganondorf killed him. Sucks to be him.
 

TheMoon

Member
- Lantern. In Arbiter Grounds, there are small insects that attach to Link and slow down his movement. The light from the Lantern keeps this plague at bay in a perfect concentric circle away from Link.

On the other hand, collectable bugs are attracted to the Lantern's Light. So if by any chance a bug is giving a hard time to grab just take out this item to make thigs more easy.

Don't think I knew about the first bit. Might have known and forgotten about the second one :D

Love Nintendetail.
 

Garlador

Member
I mean, it's a bit of grim end if it really is the case. OoT suggests people who get lost in the lost woods without a fairy turn in to stalfos. So from what we know, Link probably died after majoras mask trying to get back to hyrule from the woods, then ends up waiting to pass his sword moves on to TP link.

So OoT link either dies alone in the woods or dies because Ganondorf killed him. Sucks to be him.
Not quite. The game also implies the Link of TP is a descendant of OoT's Link, as well as the Hero's Shade being both an adult rather than a Stalchild which a child Link would have turned into. Lots of hints and theories imply Link settled down with Malon, hence why his descendant is a rancher and knows Epona's song right from the start. The Hero's Shade also is never seen in a physical form like a regular Stalfo, and the training sessions all take place in a supernatural realm. Rather, the physical form is a golden wolf... Same as TP Link.

That would make it a bittersweet ending to OoT Link because he saved two worlds (or more) and never received the credit for it. He retired to a simple life and failed to pass on his knowledge or skills because he brought about a world of peace and lived peacefully, failing to prepare the next generation for trials to come.
 

Vanethyr

Member
wait

I wasn't being serious

I should have bolded the bit I was referring to :p I meant the playing as a different Link thing, that's the impression I got from Dan Ryckert talking about it on the GiantBomb Quick Look anyways.
 

PtM

Banned
There is a hidden sword technique, the roll stab. If you roll and then push the sword button at the end of the roll, Link will do a unique stab animation, and even the swinging sound is unique.

Iirc, you can use the iron boots as weapons by wearing them and then rolling into an enemy.
Also, swinging your sword while running.
 

Tookay

Member
I mean, it's a bit of grim end if it really is the case. OoT suggests people who get lost in the lost woods without a fairy turn in to stalfos. So from what we know, Link probably died after majoras mask trying to get back to hyrule from the woods, then ends up waiting to pass his sword moves on to TP link.

So OoT link either dies alone in the woods or dies because Ganondorf killed him. Sucks to be him.

Except he's not a Stalfos in the real-world. He's a spirit who only manifests a Stalfos-like appearance in a spirit world, while being a golden wolf in the real world. He's clearly something different.

Plus, if he had died immediately after MM, then he should be a Stalchild, not a Stalfos, so he clearly grew up to adulthood afterwards.
 
You forgot the biggest one.

STAIRS!

ok seriously, if you are standing on stairs you will notice that Link will change his posture accordingly. I don't know how to word it but you know what I mean.
The limp correctly contours or animates according to the surface the character is standing. i think it's called "inverse kinematics", kind of like a procedural type of animation that these days has become popular and available in middle ware solutions.

This was implemented since Ocarina of Time. Just shows of how advanced that game was back in the day.
 
Haha

You cannot be serious. It's a case of someone misspelling a word, dude. He meant mist.
Why is the old adventure game spelled like that then? Seems like a weird conincidence for someone to repeat the mistake years later and so consistently, assuming that it is a mistake. Likely it's a regional spelling.
 

Rich!

Member
Why is the old adventure game spelled like that then? Seems like a weird conincidence for someone to repeat the mistake years later and so consistently, assuming that it is a mistake. Likely it's a regional spelling.

No. It's not.

Source: I know how to speak English properly.
 

Man God

Non-Canon Member
There's a guide I remember reading somewhere on the internet that went nuts about all of the details in the fishing minigame.
 
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