2607 replies to this topic

[Peteo]

Yeah, I was fearing we would run out of tilespace, but fortunately we didn't. I got the bird idea from NoeL, but I made the birds do different things so they all don't feel the same.
And that castle is cool isn't it? But the outside of Level 4 is even cooler IMO.

[RyanBlazeheart]

Someday, I'll get back to going through Level 2 and getting the Power Rod.

Edited by Blackdrake1, 06 November 2007 - 09:04 PM.

[DarkFlameWolf]

Thought I would share a nice review Sephiroth had to post on his blog, but in case anyone didn't see it:

I finished the quest, after 37 hours of play time, and a total of 122 deaths. (According to ZC) I beat the quest. Overall, this is a damn good quest. Albeit a little hard at times, it's still completable. This review, however, may contain spoilers, so if you don't want to be spoiled about things in this quest, shoo! This review is going to break the quest down by section and level.




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Overworld
Overworld: Just as I would've thought. DarkFlameWolf's excellent overworld skills made the overworld of this quest, and the fact that you got roughly an hour of exploring before level one is pretty damn good. You can pretty much see half of the Overworld before you even find level 1! I just don't know how I could pull off an overworld like that. Each screen is detailed to the max, and actually feels natural with the way she used those mountain tiles. How the heck do you use these, for I'm always scratching my head when it comes to trying to use these, that I eventually settle with the cake-layer mountains when designing an overworld. The overworld also contains plenty of secrets and little stone tablets that give you detailed information about that island you're stranded on.




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Main Levels
Ancient Temple: Level 1 - Exellent first level. Big, open, and freely explorable! The main gimmick of this dungeon is to alter the water level in the dungeon itself, and it was pulled off supremely well. The dungeon may seem large to new players, but you haven't seen what this quest has in store for you yet. This is only the first dungeon, and the later dungeons are much, much larger. The amount of exploration one can do in this level, however, counter-sets the size attribute of the dungeon.

Sky Garden: Level 2 - A Stone Tower knockoff, eh? Very well pulled off. (Reason why I say Stone Tower Knockoff, is, if you think about it. When you're on the light side, you're walking on a floor. HOWEVER, switching to the dark side puts you on a ceiling, which is why you see the sky on the Dark Side). Very well thought up. It is essentially twice as large due to this gimmick. It's also one of the first sky-based dungeons that I have seen in a completed ZC quest, and it pulls off that style very darn well. Good job, Peteo! I'm pretty sure you're the one that designed that dungeon. At first, the flashing bushes confused me, but then I soon realized their use, and actually put them to use. Shortcuts ahoy!

Bhalstok Castle: Level 3 - This level is a major pain in the ass, if you know what I mean. I spent about 4 hours alone in this dungeon, because of the fact that I fell down one too many holes! For a castle, I'm pretty damn suprised that holes made up most of the floor in this dungeon. Pretty suprised, however, with those ice blocks in the dungeon. At first, I thought having them at a 4-way push was a bad idea, but then I got further in the dungeon, and actually realized why they're 4-way push. There's some puzzles that involve these blocks later on in the dungeon.

Plague Fort/Lab: Level 4 - A change from the overly-infested world of grasps that always stole my shield every time I turned around. However, some of the Goriya 3's really caught me off guard. Another excellent massive dungeon, and by far my favorite one of the quest. I'm trying to figure out just how all those flags were juggled in that dungeon. o_O Turning the power off and on, opening gates, clearing lazers, lowering stairs for shortcuts, etc� You would think this had come from Nintendo itself, but think again. Peteo really went all-out for this dungeon. Kudos to him!

Inner Volcano/Horgrus Temple: Level 5 - The inner Volcano, once you figured out the traps, and was able to swerve around them, I never died in here at all. The inner Volcano was rather straightforward, as there is only one path to take, at most two paths to take. However, the Horgrus Temple was absolutely awesome. I loved the idea of bringing back the 4 major gimmicks of the game in a small bit just to top the quest off. The falling keys were a nice touch as well. The gleeok in the main room was an interesting fight, as you had to fight from the side of it, rather than the front, so you had to come up with a different tactic to get past it. However, the final boss of this dungeon and the entire game was absolutely spectacular! That boss was perfect, I only died once against it, but then after figuring out it's pattern, I actually managed to get past it without using any of my potions. Very nice!

The Home Stretch: Escaping the island - I wonder how the heck the Deathbos managed to take over the island while you were inside the volcano beating up on the final boss? That never did make any sense. I managed to die quite a few times here, but eventually learned that I shouldn't go the wrong way, or turn back on accident. That wasn't very forgiving. Very nicely done.

Though, I do want to know something, where did that raft point down at the starting beach come from? It also seemed to appear out of nowhere. O_o; Anyways, very well done!




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Side Levels
Svalbard Temple: Mythril Mail Dungeon - Interesting change of pace here, you're dropped into a temple that's all frozen over, and you gotta work your way through it to get to the boss. It was a nice change from the massive levels from the rest of the game, seeing as it was rather small. Though, the boss at the end of it balanced out the length of the dungeon to make it pretty darn well. You also gotta think on how to actually kill the boss, since you don't kill it using traditional methods. Very nicely done!

Dream World: Long Bow Dungeon - There are a few �Bugs� in this place that's actually intentional, which makes this place rather messed up. First of all, you're in somewhere where there's no clue about where you're at. Secondly, some of the strangest characters can be found here. Thirdly, BEWARE OF THE CHICKEN! That is all.

Triforce Dungeons: Triforce Piece Dungeons (Total of 6) - This is a change of pace as well, miniature dungeons that only revolve around a specific gimmick or puzzle. These weren't that large, either, but were still worth beating, as these help unlock the Oderra Catacombs.

Oderra Catacombs/Doom Cave: Death Sword Dungeon - Opened after you get all of the Triforce. Long, and tedious. I think I racked up quite a bit of deaths from the boss here alone. First, you're dropped into a long trek of walking through a large underground facility filled with Deathbos and other hard as heck enemies. It's nice you can open the shortcuts after getting through the mazes and stuff once, which I used tremendously because of the fact that I died quite a few times in here. Secondly, the underground cave you're dropped into at the end is a change of pace. Complete with nothing except annoying enemies. It was easy to traverse this place compared to the dungeon above. Next comes the boss, which I deem harder than the final boss, because of the fact that you can come unprepared, since it gives you nothing on how you should beat it. First, I didn't last long enough, because I died too quickly. Then I didn't kill it, because I came without enough bombs, and then I was finally able to take that boss out.

The Cultist Cave: This dungeon is rather sad, actually. It has no real gimmick or anything like that, and it's fairly linear to boot. It's rather hard to get yourself lost in here, since there's only one way you can go most of the time. Though, the secret in here pays off big time.

Oderra Hideout: Dragonian Armor - I'm kinda dissapointed here, actually. We had a major boss battle for the Death Sword, why not one for the ultimate Armor in the game? The dungeon was short, just like every other optional dungeon, (Minus the Oderra Catacombs/Doom Cave). I went and got this as soon as I was able to, since it increased my longevity in the quest when I had it. (I actually didn't die as much as I did without it, to be exact)

Master Dome: Sadistic, is all I can say. While you can easily try to just run through the rooms, I took the slow route and eliminated most of the enemies except for one, to make my stay in the dome somewhat feasible. The boss at the end had a very clever trick to it though. Well done!




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Final Comments
The overworld has a lot of exploring to do in between levels, and the levels just fit in perfectly. Gameplay is very nice as well.

Gameplay: 10/10
Graphics: 10/10
Music: 10/10
Difficulty: 8/10
Story: 9/10
All in all, I would rate this quest a 47/50, for the following few reasons why it's not a perfect 50.

The quest started out easy, but the difficulty just spiked at certain points of the quest.
The story is basically unknown to players, � that is until they reach level 4. I personally didn't like that you held off on the story until that late into the game. While there may be statues scattered across the overworld that gave you rather vague hints, it was all out of order, and didn't quite make sense until I did step into level 4's lab.
That is all.

~Sephiroth

Edited by DarkFlameWolf, 06 November 2007 - 09:52 PM.

[Peteo]

I was thinking about starting a speedrun with LI and see if I can beat your 8 hours, Wolfie. Though I think more fun would probably be trying to 0 game LI. But not with 3 hearts like Anarchy Balsac attempted.


And people, more feedback is always welcome. I have read many thorough and lenghty reviews, but more wouldn't hurt.

[DarkFlameWolf]

I guess Lost Isle doesn't lend itself very well to very 'speedy' speed runs. If anyone gets less than 8 hours, that'd be a good feat.

[Bowser Blanchette]

It has been a while since I started playing this quest! I want to know how to reach Level-2?

Is there anything else I need just to get to it?

[CastChaos]

After you have beaten Level 1 and the bush have been removed, you still need the ocarina which is at the northeast woods.

[Bowser Blanchette]

Okay, thanks! How do I reach it?

[CastChaos]

If my memory isn't too hazy, if you kill all enemies at one of the northern screens of the woods, a chest appears with it inside. I think it's close to an eye statue (you remove those with ocarina).

[Bowser Blanchette]

Thanks CastChaos. One more question, in Oderra Graveyard, I found an entrance to a Catacomb, unfortunately, I don't have the 1st Triforce Piece.
Can I get it before Level-2?

[CastChaos]

Yes, as I remember the first Triforce piece requires just the ocarina. However, it's as far from the ocarina's finding place as possible (too big hint, hint).

[Bowser Blanchette]

In Sky Garden, I found the chest containing the Power Rod. But, I don't have a key for it. Where can I find the key?

Edited by Bowser Blanchette, 15 November 2007 - 04:01 PM.

[DarkFlameWolf]

Its guarded by a plant monster in the upper right of the LIGHT side.

[Bowser Blanchette]

Thanks! Finally got the Power Rod. Now I'm trying to find the key to open up the Boss Chest? Where is it?

[DarkFlameWolf]

Lower left corner of the DARK side.