Sealed Power doesn't break new ground, or offer much in the way of new ideas to the ZC universe, but is a good quest if you just want to play for 4 hours or so with your brain in power-saving mode.

The overworld seems, for lack of a better description, incomplete. Not just because there are many unused screens in the 8x16 map, but because like Linkrulehyrule21 mentions, there aren't very many secrets or opportunities for exploration to be had. The screen design and attention to details on the overworld are both OK (if not unremarkable) to me, but if this is a pet-peeve of yours, you will probably find the overworld rather lacking. Item-related obstacles are heavily used on the overworld to necessitate a very linear progression through the 8 dungeons in order. For this reason, the possibilities for exploration are quite limited.

Dungeon design is also OK to me (if again, unremarkable) with the first six dungeons being easy and short. Puzzles are very simple, navigation is very straightforward and there is little backtracking or possibility to get lost. The oft-mentioned puzzle to reach the boss of level-2 also fooled me for a few minutes, but is pretty much the only obtuse or potentially confusing puzzle in the entire quest. The difficulty definitely spikes to mild-moderate (subjectively) for level 8, but purely in terms of traversing rooms filled with potent enemies - which can be mitigated by various tactics. I would have appreciated a shortcut portal to the more isolated rooms in the northern tier of rooms in level 8. I can imagine if the player dies over and over in the northern tiers, level-8 can be very frustrating. I would have also appreciated some shortcuts in the Trial of Courage so I didn't have to go through the first tier to get to the second, or through the first and second tiers to get to the third tier. Exploration of the ToC offers a good incentive for rewards, which besides the sword upgrades and various HCPs, is rather lacking in Sealed Power.

The dungeon bosses are standard off-the-shelf ZC selections, which is OK by my book, because custom-bosses are often a let down in my opinion. The enemy variation in dungeons and on the overworld is quite good, and if this is one of your pet peeves, you will find a good diversity throughout Sealed Power. The final boss is the familiar Ganon fight, but Ganon seems to be buffed to do more health damage to the player, which provides a mild challenge.

Overall, I found this a decent enough quest to play through on ZC autopilot. I think I consider this an objective 3.5/5, but as always, I'll round up for the benefit of the doubt.

Okay, review time.

This quest was pretty good, it's got 8 full size dungeons that get longer and longer. but personally I would not say that the over-world exploration and secrets were that good, there was a tiny bit of backtracking but that's fine. Most of the secrets in the over-world are mostly just items you HAVE to find to progress any. Now onto dungeons themselves

Most of the dungeons were pretty well designed, it didn't tell you where to go but after your first few dungeons, most people start to understand what is expected out of them and what they should expect in coming dungeons. My main problem is really in level two http://prntscr.com/o76sme This room gives you no hints as to what you need to do but you need to burn the bottom 2nd and 4th eyes to open up a staircase to go to the boss. (I would suggest adding a hint in the dungeon that says something like "the second and fourth are cold, heat them up")

In dungeon 8 i personally kept dying over and over and it was kinda a long trip back to where i died so i could try to progress, so I might just be bad but i'd like to think I'm decent at Zelda.

In the Wizzrobe village I was looking for the key everywhere I could for about 40-50 minutes, but alas I had already gotten the key somewhere in the village

Okay, last complaint and that is this, http://prntscr.com/o76txt that is what I ended up with after exploring the entire over-world and beating all the dungeons, it feels empty and I feel like I missed heart pieces or containers but I don't think there was anything else i could have done.

Overall it was a pretty good experience that lasted about 4ish hours I think.

It's an alright quest if you're looking for something to pick up and play, and with enough experience finish within 3 hours. Pacing is pretty well done for the most part and dungeons never really felt too long or short either, with the length of the dungeons picking up around level 3 or so. Attention to detail and branching paths in dungeons went a long ways in making a dungeon still feel refreshing yet fun to explore all the way through. Overworld secrets are pretty well spaced and not too far apart, which encourages backtracking to previous areas for goodies once you get the required weapons so to speak of. Unfortunately, despite the pacing of the dungeons I've mentioned, they're kind of lacking and really do feel like dungeons where the map structure was drawn up on the spot, but alot of it either doesn't make full use of the space given or alot of puzzles are extremely one-note, usually not being anything more than simple Z1 trigger puzzles or half-baked push block puzzles, some of which can be exploited. Enemies also kind of got out of hand pretty early on. Around level 5 you're already throwing enemies like tanky Pols Voices, Fire Octoroks and the like that can easily do you in within 4 or 5 hits without question, and it leaves me under the impression that unless you're extremely familiar with the inner workings of ZC and some of its broken combat exploits (boomerang), it'll definitely throw off alot of players for sure. Things don't get much better, as you're throwing in enemies like Goriya 3s, Traps and Stalfos 3 all in the same room of areas like level 8, and it becomes a living kaizo hell that becomes an extreme exercise in patience. It held my attention long enough to finish and I don't really feel like I wasted my time either, but despite how pretty a screen in the overworld can look, a bit of polish and depth in the dungeon design as well as the overworld beyond simple triggers and progression barricades certainly wouldn't hurt things, and the enemy balance definitely needs a firm looking into. It's a relatively average quest, probably around 7 out of 10 stars, it held my attention but needs alot more IMO

I beat the game in three hours with only one death from level 8.



First, the positives. You improved so much in this quest compared to 4 temples! The first few levels were nice and easygoing and I love it. The quest does get harder from level 5 and onwards. Secrets are easy and simple to find, and puzzles were straightforward, just the way I like it. The quest is great if you just want to chill and don't have to worry much. This is definitely not hard, but at the same time it really doesn't give me much stress.

Since I played through the quest rather quickly, I did not find any game-breaking bugs, but there were some minor issues.


The traps on the left in this boss room don't go all the way through.


This tile is above Link.

When it comes to issues, I have three. Let's start with the first.

Now for the least problematic issue, I didn't get the blue ring item until after I finished level 8, which made that level pretty much hell to me. But I guess that was my fault for not exploring enough. But it would still be nice to inform the player of a very important item like the blue ring. (Like what you did for the old man reminding you about the sword upgrades.)

The next problem is the enemies. First, there's just way too many Goriyas. Really, most screens are just filled with 5-6 Goriya 2s. And in level 8, it's even worse with Goriya 3s. Make sure to use Goriya 3s with caution, too many of them can be annoying. (Although again, it could be just me not having the blue tunic while doing level 8.) The other enemy problem comes in the Pol's Voice, they start to appear everywhere starting from level 5. And you don't get the bow until level 7. So they were a pain to get by because of their health.

The biggest problem for me is the overworld. It's not really enjoyable to navigate, there's no spacebar map, which would've helped the overworld immensely. There's also only two potion shops, both of which are close to each other and a bit annoying to restock and travel back to... let's say level 8. Lastly, there's no whistle whirlwinds, and something like that would make navigating the overworld so much easier.

Despite me going on and on with the negatives. I definitely think the positives outweigh the negatives big time. I really did enjoy the quest. Those issues I had were simply bumps on the road. Nothing too bad. But would be nice if fixed. I'll give this a 4.5 / 5. Which rounds to a 5.

i found a bug in level 7 if you dont stand at the right spot you cant leave the room