Tentalus is probably the only time that I will ever admit to thinking that something needed more tentacles. Like, give that thing a tentacle beard at least!
the sand ship is what the divine beasts should have been more like. while the navigation is small, it makes up for a very consistent puzzle box dungeon.
Totally agree! I think that the developers watered down the beasts to avoid scaring off unexperienced players; that's very inclusive on their part but I think that overcoming challenges is one of the most satisfying things in videogames and it is no coincidence that some of the best dungeons in the series also have a respectable curve of difficulty. But that's my opinion, a gaming opinion!
@@oxjpmg5554 sand ship is in my top 10 but to be honest with its navigational level of difficulty this one i would have designed as the level 2 or 3 dungeon. sky keep i rank as the best final dungeon in the series simply because of its groundbreaking yet sadly unrevisited dungeon design where it is literally a puzzle. the problem most puzzle box dungeons have in the series is that they are generally an on/off switch scenario. the water temple, jabu jabu's belly, lakebed's central room, sky keep, and vah naboris avert this problem because there are multiple directions or states in how the levels are laid out.
@@scorpionsapprentice3248 very much correct. I don't know why "sky keep type" dungeons are not more common, they're such a cool concept. A meta puzzle pretty much
14:32 I'm about to give that puzzle an exaggerate amount of praise. This puzzle is an instance of what I like to call "natural progression": we know the concept behind this because we've already found one alike in the Ancient Cistern. We aren't being introduced to anything new, we're already familiar with everything about the puzzle. It's obvious since we arrive there that the solution consists in hitting the four parts in the correct order, all that remains is finding it. There's a fair chance that some guessed the correct order back at the Ancient Cistern, and it's only natural to think that we'd have to strike each part once in the right order. We could brute-force it, since there would only be 24 possible sequences. However, that is not true. The correct order has repetitions, meaning there's a total of 256 possible sequences. This time, it's worth actually investigate the correct one, using the clues on the wall and below the sand. It's such a small change, but it has deep impact on the solution to the puzzles. It's brilliant
Hylian Translations in this Video: 18:25 New Item: The Bow It’s a bow. You know what a bow is. I can’t imagine what new information you would hope to learn about the bow from my little blurb in this video. Oh, but the bow can be upgraded at the scrap shop in Skyloft, so that is at least something cool. 18:21 Tentalus The Abyssal leviathan Tentalus is a giant monster with a lot of tentacles and tenacity. Its brute strength allows it the power to tear even the Sandship apart in mere minutes. However, Tentalus is vulnerable if struck in the eye.
I think this is in my top 3 dungeons for Skyward Sword. The first time I found that time shift stone was such a WOW moment. The pirate themes, the fight with the captain, back and forth through time, the treasure room, and the final boss all flowed so well together. I always look forward to this dungeon on replays
Sadly, the only interesting thing to me about Tentalus is the name itself. It’s derived from Tantalus, a Greek mythological figure and son of Zeus. His punishment was to be made to stand in a pool of water with a fruit tree above him. Doomed to eternal starvation and thirst, the tree would move away if he tried to eat, and the water would drop if he tried to drink. I know localizations can be a bit on the uninspired or reaching side, but combining “Tantalus” with “tentacle” for a monster waist deep in water was just brilliant. Waaaay late on this, but I recently discovered you and have been binging during my night shift custodial job, love your stuff!
I always found the Lanayru Sandsea music to be some of the most calming in SS. It's definitely one of my favourites. My favourite dungeon of this game. Woo! An awesome video CB. We'll just ignore that Tentalus is a thing that happened. Poor Link. ♠
Not really relevant to the dungeon itself, but I have to say that Lanayru's Silent Realm trial was directly responsible for me putting down the game for a full six months before I got brave enough to pick it up again. I somehow managed to pick up the tears in such a way that my very last tear was on the far side of the area from the finish, across that field full of the little lantern guys. As soon as I picked up the last tear, one of the lantern guys spotted me and alerted all the Guardians, and without any more tears to put them back to sleep, I had to make a mad dash across the ENTIRE area while being hunted by the Guardians in order to get back to the finish. I just barely made it before one of the big guys would've cut me down with his sword (doesn't help that those ones are as fast as Link's sprinting speed). I finished with my adrenaline so high I had to walk it off, but went on with the dungeon and continued the story...until I got to Eldin's Silent Realm. That's when panic kicked in and I put the game down for six months before looking up a video to see how bad that Silent Realm would be before tackling it, and didn't have nearly so much trouble when the *fourth* Silent Realm was revealed.
So glad you shouted out the Sand Sea music. I'm just now playing through this for the first time and it's easily going in my favorite Zelda theme list.
The point about how much better the dungeon lead-up here is than the previous is such a good one. I always got confused when people talked like “too many things to do before the dungeon” was a bad thing like… oh no! More game!(??) My first Zelda was LA and my favorite part was finishing a dungeon and seeing just how much new stuff I had access to! I’d explore everything possible before finally giving in and doing the next dungeon. Can you tell I liked exploration a *lot* more than dungeon diving. xD
Definitely agreed that the things to do before this dungeon was very much geared towards getting you to the dungeon and exploring new areas than the previous dungeon - it was also just more interesting than just a generic fetch quest that really dragged... Using the time-shift stone on the boat at The Ancient Harbour in order to sail The Ancient Sea was highly imaginative and immersive gameplay. It was very fun and engaging as well as being able to use the cannons to attack enemies and hit explosives. I very much get the impression that this was perhaps inspired by using the ship and its cannons from Phantom Hourglass and expanded upon for a 3D Game. The mini-dungeon (Pirates Stronghold) was a good introduction to the main dungeon in Lanayru Desert as it expanded upon the time-shift stone mechanics that were established in first part of the Lanayru Desert Region for specific room puzzles. The rollercoaster track ride at the Shipyard was also very cool, however, seeing the 3rd main boss of a dungeon return as more of a 'mini-boss' takes away the significance of a dungeon boss battle in my opinion (it seems less epic and more of just another fairly strong enemy). I absolutely love the design for this dungeon (A Galleon) as it's completely unique to 3D Zelda Games but it was hinted at in Wind Waker with the Ghost Ship. I admit I did not imagine that Nintendo would ever make a dungeon into a ship design but clearly they did instead of it being 'just a mini-dungeon concept.' The soundtrack of this dungeon is very well suited to the 'abandoned, mysterious atmosphere.' The music itself sounds somewhat typical of what I would call 'desert music.' I think it's the sparseness created between the space of the notes that achieves this (creates this barren-type of sound). The use of synthesisers is really well done and also adds to the futuristic-feel to the 'past' and there is irony here as you would expect anything 'futuristic' to be in the future and not in the past but we're going with video-game logic here. The single time-shift stone on the ship and its ability the recreate the past in order to transform the entire dungeon is a really cool concept - similar to Stone Tower Temple in a way that changes the dungeon's layout but not to such a dramatic extent as flipping the entire dungeon upside-down! I found this dungeon pretty difficult in comparison to all the other dungeons so far and this is created for me by the challenges presented with how the time-shift stone alters things. The mini-boss was a cool design and a difficult challenge with the limited space available and was much more threatening is more than the boss fight of the dungeon would ever be - which is a major let down in my opinion but it seems to be shared within the community. The dungeon item (bow and arrow) is something you would expect to have before entering the dungeon as opposed to getting it during the dungeon late on in the game but there it is. This item has been established so many times in the Zelda Series that it should be surprising to no one. I also find it annoying how firing an arrow was not as immediate as you would expect in the original version but glad to hear it has been rectified in the HD version (yet to play it). The various 'eye switches' on 'The Sandship' present a different design but the function is still the same (fire arrow at it and it does something). Meeting other NPC Characters in the past that are confined behind energy laser-type bars created a sense of companionship inside the dungeon as the rest of the dungeon feels very isolated most of the time which is also strongly emphasised by the dungeon music. The escape sequence in this dungeon was a work of art. The tension you talked about was great in the lead up to the boss. It would be interesting if other dungeons implemented 'dramatic scenes' during a dungeon, for example, a ceiling collapsing to add to the immersive quality of the gameplay - I think Tomb Raider Games have done something similar... Judging by the tentacles, I was expecting a Giant Octorok with multiple eyes but no we unfortunately get a Monster's Inc inspired boss fight... The amount of references this boss alone has to 'Ceilia' in Monster's Inc is quite frankly embarrassing given that the Zelda Series has presented much more threatening and is known for some terrifying mini-boss/boss battles - Bongo Bongo comes to mind. Shoot the eye and slash... Wow, after such a great dungeon what did fans of the series do so wrong to deserve such a terrible boss fight?
the present day track for the interior reminds me of how I image the music from The Last Unicorn would sound if it was done with modern sound equipment. Very melancholic film. I definitely understand the feeling of loss.
Had to hold off on this video since I was a lil before the silent realm. Man that whole trip to the sand ship was lengthy! Hadn’t realized how lengthy this game really was! I had some alternate dialogue because I turned on one of the power before talking to the crew mate robot in the jail. This dungeon was pretty smooth for the most part, but definitely had me stopping to think quite a bit. 8:09 “so that way we never have to go thru there again”. Made me chuckle hehe 29:41 whaaat I actually didn’t see this part of the battle I guess tentalus was too easy for me. It’s big time cookie cutter Zelda boss it sucks. So much potential. Lol I feel like they took note from Monsters Inc with that. The music is absolutely great. I love the past version of the (on deck) sand ship. The way the synth strings resonate with the music is so good I can listen to it all day. I think I might replaced mining facility with that track as a favorite even though it’s more simplistic. So I ended up coming up with a few theories since I replayed this dungeon. Does anyone else notice those “zonai”-like swirls on the doors? Isn’t that a lil sus? While I don’t think much of those swirls, I think it could indicate something completely different. What if it’s just an extension to sheikah history and the sacred technology has disappeared and turned to ruin? That’s enough time for a barbaric race to find refuge at these locations but idk I haven’t thought much further with this theory but the design is very uncanny. Plus it would make the connection to SS much stronger. Looking at the design of that swirl on every door, I feel like the possibility of the robots contributing help for the sheikah’s new technology shouldn’t be too far fetched they were great helpers Also I have a soft spot for Skipper and all of his robot pals. I really do, I hope he was able to change the present and continue to sail with his crewmates and take his family back. Also I think it’s odd how even the sand ship, like the mining facility has barbed areas in the present. Considering it was taken over by that pirate, what If he had something to do with lanayru turning into a wasteland leaving all of the other bots to die out? Wouldn’t be surprised if he went on over to the mining facility to barb certain areas too. I mean why else would it be there? Idk a lot of questions were raised on this dungeon. I thought it was hilarious how when revisiting the sand ship all the bokoblins are in the jail! Lol once I saw that I did not hesitate to assassinaten each one of them with the bow while they stand defenseless in there. Only wish there was some response dialogue from the robots with that.
Me and my brother thought the boss was fine but we both agreed that the "Monsters Inc." design could've used just ONE more redraft Looking at the concept art though it does look a tad bit more menacing but "vaguely goofy" might've been what they were aiming for? which makes the lead up kind of tonely confusing. So I understand Your disappointment I was getting bored of the timeshift gimmick when I got here and didn't care for the novelty of the a ship themed dungeon. Bow wasn't utilized in any interesting way. So I found this dungeon rather bland and empty. But this video helps me see what there is to appreciate about this well crafted Dungeon that my own opinions made harder to see Also I can't believe I never noticed that Time Travel logic loophole :V my explanation is that those Eyeball switches aren't effected by time and maybe were previously used as locks that not even time travel shenanigans could get through. if so that's a pretty insane lock mechanism!
The Eyeball switch's also look the same no matter the time period. Giving more weight to this theory. (Obviously its just a dev oversight but its fun that there's enough material to craft such a theory)
Oh my, I've just realized a bit of potential environmental storytelling. The molderach is only found in two locations in the game. But its young are found in a third location, the ship. What if the initial infestation was in the filthy pirate fortress, but because the pirates stole the ship, they inadvertently transmitted some of it's young via the ship to the mining facility, allowing the second Molderach to grow there
I loved the dungeon, but personally would have made the boss look more like an actual gargantuan cephalopod, and I would have had the inside of its beak be the weak spot (yes, I would have given it a beak because real cephalopods have beaks). Perhaps you could have had to break a shell using the cannon of skipper’s boat for a first phase, with it becoming faster and more aggressive in the second phase.
this one is my favorite in the whole game, but i didn't talk to the little robot guy in the brig nor did i get the dungeon map until really late, so the reason i had fun was because i was walking around completely blind & got lost multiple times 😭
I honestly think that a very very very cool boss for this would be kind of over the top but basically you open the boss door but then you feel an impact and you run back up to the deck and then see another ship of a similar size to the sandship but it has the robot pirates like scervo and they are shooting cannons at you. You can attack them by CONTROLING the ship yourself and eventually you defeat them and then you can get the flame. That would be insanely cool
One of the coolest dungeons of the game. I was a bit disappointed by the midboss (don't even talk about the boss), he had a very cool design and concept ( a freaking robo-pirate!) but his stay was very short. I think he could have been a stalker type mob (like nemesis) since he was clearly a persistent individual (lasting millenia in an abandoned ship). Combine that with the time stone mechanic and you would have not only a means to solve puzzles but to regulate danger. However I appreciate the effort they made, I'm not a game developer so it is easier to make an idea than to implement it.
imagining if the time shift stones were a bit more... "strict" with how they worked, and link would just poof out of existence the first time he used one. Hylia's Chosen, defeated by timey wimey rocks
Btw, you can insta-charge the bow by pressing "C" and pulling the nunchuk. I've only ever used the "A" button a couple times before checking the controls with "2".
YES! I’ve always said this about this dungeon. The boss is too underwhelming. They could’ve done a similar thing like in the imprisoned fight where u can switch between skipper in the smaller boat and link. Skipper can navigate the water and launch bombs at it to distract it, then you switch to link where he can flank it and use the bow to stun it. Or, maybe you could even go God of War style and let link scale its massive body with the claw shots, climbing up to slash it in the eye while skipper distracts it. You could even use the time shift stones to convert the boss into back when it was a baby form and that’s the only way you can hurt it, because it’s invincible in its adult form in the past. As for the design… There are so many variations of ancient stories and tales of monster sea creatures you could have used as a concept. Making it appear like an overweight, tantrum throwing, dreadlocks creature with bright colours… He looks like a child’s toy… Massive missed opportunity, but the dungeon itself is great fun. 10/10 guide/review ❤
You mentioned how you ride the minecart Donkey Kong style but forgot about how evacuating the ship it throws barrels at you just like in the original Donkey Kong game!
I too was expecting a Big Octo to be the boss of this dungeon once the ship came under attack, however I never even thought of having to take the fight to the open ocean in Skipper's boat. Damn, what a spectacle that would have been. Now I'm just imagining a situation where a Big Octo with two invulnerable peripheral eyes to either side of a main eye weak spot, and two primary tentacles that it occasionally attacks with and have to be dodged, alongside many smaller tentacles that can be cut when they lash at you. The first phase is kind of like a combination of the first and second phase of the Tentalus fight. You have to wait for the main eye; which is usually closed, to open while fending off its attacks, and then you have to make an opening in the continuing attacks to shoot the main eye with an arrow before it closes again, in order to stun it and open it up to attack. It's a process you'd have to go through two or three times, depending on how efficient you are with sword swings, to end the first phase, after which the battle enters a transitional state not unlike the one in the Tentalus fight. The Big Octo is destroying the remains of the wrecked ship, and Skipper urges you to abandon ship. You're given a considerable amount of time to do so, even given that you're avoiding attacks, but if you idle too long you are eventually forced into the water, but instead of voiding out immediately, a little cutscene plays where the boss starts sucking in water, drawing Link into its mouth, at which point you void out, returning to the start of the transitional sequence between phases having taken two hearts of damage. (originally I'd written that getting eaten here would trigger an instant game over, on the condition that the save point just inside the interior was still active during the escape sequence, but I removed/reworked it because it still seemed too harsh, not to mention inconsistent with being eaten later on.) Following the successful transition to phase two, using the idea of fighting it using Skipper's boat, you'd avoid tentacle attacks using reflections on the water's surface as visual cues while the main eye is closed. The boss would have an audial cue, such as a bestial cry of some kind, preempting an attempt to suck in the boat, where it would open its main eye. At this point you could target the main eye even when facing away from it, which would have the camera focus on the boss without changing the trajectory of the boat. You'd have to shoot a bomb into the boss's mouth before the boat runs out of boost and gets sucked in. If the boat gets sucked into the boss' mouth, You void out, Link takes two hearts of damage, and the cycle starts over with you having to dodge attacks. Successfully shooting a bomb into the boss' mouth will stun it. Its eye will remain open while its two main tentacles would collapse in front of it in a way that serves as a platform to stand on and attack the eye. A fade-out would occur when you move toward the tentacle platform when within a certain range, fading back in to have Link standing on the makeshift platform. The battle would be in a static state when the boss is stunned but before you trigger the fade out. Trying to shoot the boss at this point would have no effect. Once on the makeshift platform, you'd have to attack the eye with the sword to deal damage. After recovering from being stunned, the main eye would blink, then all three eyes would look at Link before the boss did its roar/cry, and that bit between the blink and the cry would be the grace period to return to the ship without taking damage, similar to finding a balance of not getting too greedy with Kalle Demos, but with a proper grace period. You can try to continue attacking the eye after the blink, but you could only hit it once and that would immediately end the grace period and have Link get eaten. There'd be an invisible wall at the boundary of the tentacle platform, but pushing against said wall in the direction of the boat would cause a fade-out to being back on the boat. Failing to escape during the grace period would have Link fall into the water, much like if you idle too long during the transitional state between phases, with all that implies. After the boss is defeated, the game would be in a unique state where you're kind of inside a dungeon but kind of not, and enough not that you're able to douse if you need/want to, and you have to track down the last remaining piece of the ship that drifted off, and it turns out to be the part housing Nayru's Flame. The crew you met in the brig would be there, and the dungeon's Heart Container would be spawned from their collective gratitude while the brazier of Nayru's Flame came out of the compartment for you to use the Skyward Strike on the emblem. Sorry if it's a bother that I put this here. Once I got going I didn't want to stop, and once it was all there it seemed a waste to just erase it.
@@CaptBurgerson Not to throw shade on your compliment, but that's not a very high bar. As you pointed out so thoroughly, what we got was generic as all get out.
@@CaptBurgerson Well, I did say "shorter" - how short is another question. But maybe, if there are enough you can make an episode featuring all of the mini-dungeons...?
@@CaptBurgerson I was speaking of more Skyward Sword mini-dungeons instead of the entire series. You might do the pirate hideout mini-dungeon as its own video or with other Skyward Sword mini-dungeons. Who knows?
The only problem i have woth this dungeon (and alot of the other dugeons in the game) is that i played through the game too much and now know all the puzzles, ive played this game too much for my own good
The silent realm trials aren’t even difficult. But any type of special requirements like timers I get super stressed. I can’t personally play Majora’s Mask because of the extreme anxiety it gives me.
I honestly hated this boss fight, first because of the aforementioned lackluster design and mechanics, but more egregiously because it makes no god damn sense when you think about it. Link is in the past because of the timeshift zone, which we were previously made aware that if it gets damaged, it shuts off. Yet SOMEHOW, this lovechild of monster's Inc is able to break the ship, destroy or sink the timestone and the mechanism that works it, and yet still stick around and wreck the ship??? Not to mention nothing like this happens before, no one mentions there might be an undersea abomination in the area, nor any sign this fucker was sent by Girahim. It just feels like it was shoehorn in at the last minute because someone didn't think the pirate captain was a good enough fight.
Also I found the whole fetch quest at Skipper’s retreat super pointless. Skyward sword has so much goddamn fetch quests for padding. The dungeons themselves are actually pretty good.
totally agree that a Big Octo would have been a way cooler boss fight, and that would have been an ideal moment to reincorporate the Skipper timeship mechanic, sailing around the Big Octo and trying to land hits without getting sucked too close. Tentalus is, without a doubt, the lamest boss in the game and possibly the series
The boss for this dungeon looks like the love child of Mike and Celia from Monster’s Inc.
Schmoopsie-poo! That’s exactly what I thought!
I fully had this thought when I first played the game upon release
Tentalus is probably the only time that I will ever admit to thinking that something needed more tentacles.
Like, give that thing a tentacle beard at least!
the sand ship is what the divine beasts should have been more like. while the navigation is small, it makes up for a very consistent puzzle box dungeon.
oot mq also had a time paradox where you have a chest spawn in the spirit temple as adult link and must open it with young link.
Totally agree!
I think that the developers watered down the beasts to avoid scaring off unexperienced players; that's very inclusive on their part but I think that overcoming challenges is one of the most satisfying things in videogames and it is no coincidence that some of the best dungeons in the series also have a respectable curve of difficulty.
But that's my opinion, a gaming opinion!
@@oxjpmg5554 sand ship is in my top 10 but to be honest with its navigational level of difficulty this one i would have designed as the level 2 or 3 dungeon. sky keep i rank as the best final dungeon in the series simply because of its groundbreaking yet sadly unrevisited dungeon design where it is literally a puzzle. the problem most puzzle box dungeons have in the series is that they are generally an on/off switch scenario. the water temple, jabu jabu's belly, lakebed's central room, sky keep, and vah naboris avert this problem because there are multiple directions or states in how the levels are laid out.
@@scorpionsapprentice3248 very much correct. I don't know why "sky keep type" dungeons are not more common, they're such a cool concept. A meta puzzle pretty much
14:32 I'm about to give that puzzle an exaggerate amount of praise.
This puzzle is an instance of what I like to call "natural progression": we know the concept behind this because we've already found one alike in the Ancient Cistern. We aren't being introduced to anything new, we're already familiar with everything about the puzzle. It's obvious since we arrive there that the solution consists in hitting the four parts in the correct order, all that remains is finding it. There's a fair chance that some guessed the correct order back at the Ancient Cistern, and it's only natural to think that we'd have to strike each part once in the right order. We could brute-force it, since there would only be 24 possible sequences.
However, that is not true. The correct order has repetitions, meaning there's a total of 256 possible sequences. This time, it's worth actually investigate the correct one, using the clues on the wall and below the sand. It's such a small change, but it has deep impact on the solution to the puzzles. It's brilliant
Hylian Translations in this Video:
18:25
New Item: The Bow
It’s a bow. You know what a bow is. I can’t imagine what new information you would hope to learn about the bow from my little blurb in this video. Oh, but the bow can be upgraded at the scrap shop in Skyloft, so that is at least something cool.
18:21
Tentalus
The Abyssal leviathan Tentalus is a giant monster with a lot of tentacles and tenacity. Its brute strength allows it the power to tear even the Sandship apart in mere minutes. However, Tentalus is vulnerable if struck in the eye.
I think this is in my top 3 dungeons for Skyward Sword. The first time I found that time shift stone was such a WOW moment. The pirate themes, the fight with the captain, back and forth through time, the treasure room, and the final boss all flowed so well together.
I always look forward to this dungeon on replays
“Is this his dead child?!”
Sadly, the only interesting thing to me about Tentalus is the name itself. It’s derived from Tantalus, a Greek mythological figure and son of Zeus. His punishment was to be made to stand in a pool of water with a fruit tree above him. Doomed to eternal starvation and thirst, the tree would move away if he tried to eat, and the water would drop if he tried to drink. I know localizations can be a bit on the uninspired or reaching side, but combining “Tantalus” with “tentacle” for a monster waist deep in water was just brilliant.
Waaaay late on this, but I recently discovered you and have been binging during my night shift custodial job, love your stuff!
I always found the Lanayru Sandsea music to be some of the most calming in SS. It's definitely one of my favourites. My favourite dungeon of this game. Woo! An awesome video CB. We'll just ignore that Tentalus is a thing that happened. Poor Link. ♠
These guides are so well done. You should do all the secrets of oot hyrule field if you run out of dungeons.
Not really relevant to the dungeon itself, but I have to say that Lanayru's Silent Realm trial was directly responsible for me putting down the game for a full six months before I got brave enough to pick it up again. I somehow managed to pick up the tears in such a way that my very last tear was on the far side of the area from the finish, across that field full of the little lantern guys. As soon as I picked up the last tear, one of the lantern guys spotted me and alerted all the Guardians, and without any more tears to put them back to sleep, I had to make a mad dash across the ENTIRE area while being hunted by the Guardians in order to get back to the finish. I just barely made it before one of the big guys would've cut me down with his sword (doesn't help that those ones are as fast as Link's sprinting speed). I finished with my adrenaline so high I had to walk it off, but went on with the dungeon and continued the story...until I got to Eldin's Silent Realm. That's when panic kicked in and I put the game down for six months before looking up a video to see how bad that Silent Realm would be before tackling it, and didn't have nearly so much trouble when the *fourth* Silent Realm was revealed.
So glad you shouted out the Sand Sea music. I'm just now playing through this for the first time and it's easily going in my favorite Zelda theme list.
what? what is this? why does my pizza have sand in it?
The point about how much better the dungeon lead-up here is than the previous is such a good one. I always got confused when people talked like “too many things to do before the dungeon” was a bad thing like… oh no! More game!(??)
My first Zelda was LA and my favorite part was finishing a dungeon and seeing just how much new stuff I had access to! I’d explore everything possible before finally giving in and doing the next dungeon. Can you tell I liked exploration a *lot* more than dungeon diving. xD
The Lanayru Sand sea and every sinyle step of it is honeztly my favorite segment of any Zelda game I've ever played
I love they included lore into the dungeon
Definitely agreed that the things to do before this dungeon was very much geared towards getting you to the dungeon and exploring new areas than the previous dungeon - it was also just more interesting than just a generic fetch quest that really dragged...
Using the time-shift stone on the boat at The Ancient Harbour in order to sail The Ancient Sea was highly imaginative and immersive gameplay. It was very fun and engaging as well as being able to use the cannons to attack enemies and hit explosives. I very much get the impression that this was perhaps inspired by using the ship and its cannons from Phantom Hourglass and expanded upon for a 3D Game. The mini-dungeon (Pirates Stronghold) was a good introduction to the main dungeon in Lanayru Desert as it expanded upon the time-shift stone mechanics that were established in first part of the Lanayru Desert Region for specific room puzzles. The rollercoaster track ride at the Shipyard was also very cool, however, seeing the 3rd main boss of a dungeon return as more of a 'mini-boss' takes away the significance of a dungeon boss battle in my opinion (it seems less epic and more of just another fairly strong enemy).
I absolutely love the design for this dungeon (A Galleon) as it's completely unique to 3D Zelda Games but it was hinted at in Wind Waker with the Ghost Ship. I admit I did not imagine that Nintendo would ever make a dungeon into a ship design but clearly they did instead of it being 'just a mini-dungeon concept.' The soundtrack of this dungeon is very well suited to the 'abandoned, mysterious atmosphere.' The music itself sounds somewhat typical of what I would call 'desert music.' I think it's the sparseness created between the space of the notes that achieves this (creates this barren-type of sound). The use of synthesisers is really well done and also adds to the futuristic-feel to the 'past' and there is irony here as you would expect anything 'futuristic' to be in the future and not in the past but we're going with video-game logic here. The single time-shift stone on the ship and its ability the recreate the past in order to transform the entire dungeon is a really cool concept - similar to Stone Tower Temple in a way that changes the dungeon's layout but not to such a dramatic extent as flipping the entire dungeon upside-down! I found this dungeon pretty difficult in comparison to all the other dungeons so far and this is created for me by the challenges presented with how the time-shift stone alters things. The mini-boss was a cool design and a difficult challenge with the limited space available and was much more threatening is more than the boss fight of the dungeon would ever be - which is a major let down in my opinion but it seems to be shared within the community.
The dungeon item (bow and arrow) is something you would expect to have before entering the dungeon as opposed to getting it during the dungeon late on in the game but there it is. This item has been established so many times in the Zelda Series that it should be surprising to no one. I also find it annoying how firing an arrow was not as immediate as you would expect in the original version but glad to hear it has been rectified in the HD version (yet to play it). The various 'eye switches' on 'The Sandship' present a different design but the function is still the same (fire arrow at it and it does something). Meeting other NPC Characters in the past that are confined behind energy laser-type bars created a sense of companionship inside the dungeon as the rest of the dungeon feels very isolated most of the time which is also strongly emphasised by the dungeon music. The escape sequence in this dungeon was a work of art. The tension you talked about was great in the lead up to the boss. It would be interesting if other dungeons implemented 'dramatic scenes' during a dungeon, for example, a ceiling collapsing to add to the immersive quality of the gameplay - I think Tomb Raider Games have done something similar... Judging by the tentacles, I was expecting a Giant Octorok with multiple eyes but no we unfortunately get a Monster's Inc inspired boss fight... The amount of references this boss alone has to 'Ceilia' in Monster's Inc is quite frankly embarrassing given that the Zelda Series has presented much more threatening and is known for some terrifying mini-boss/boss battles - Bongo Bongo comes to mind. Shoot the eye and slash... Wow, after such a great dungeon what did fans of the series do so wrong to deserve such a terrible boss fight?
Monsters Inc lmao I thought it you said it
This dungeon combined 2 Disney franchises in a way. Pirates of the caribbean meets Monster INC. The kraken is.....Mike Wasowski?
My second favorite dungeon of all time right behind Snowpeak Ruins 🙌
Loved this video! the Sandship is my favorite dungeon from Skyward Sword
The Sandship, my beloved
This will be awesome!
the present day track for the interior reminds me of how I image the music from The Last Unicorn would sound if it was done with modern sound equipment. Very melancholic film. I definitely understand the feeling of loss.
also my memory is fuzzy so apologies if you ever watch/have watched that film and I'm completely wrong lmao
Cannot wait!
Had to hold off on this video since I was a lil before the silent realm. Man that whole trip to the sand ship was lengthy! Hadn’t realized how lengthy this game really was! I had some alternate dialogue because I turned on one of the power before talking to the crew mate robot in the jail. This dungeon was pretty smooth for the most part, but definitely had me stopping to think quite a bit.
8:09 “so that way we never have to go thru there again”. Made me chuckle hehe
29:41 whaaat I actually didn’t see this part of the battle I guess tentalus was too easy for me. It’s big time cookie cutter Zelda boss it sucks. So much potential. Lol I feel like they took note from Monsters Inc with that.
The music is absolutely great. I love the past version of the (on deck) sand ship. The way the synth strings resonate with the music is so good I can listen to it all day. I think I might replaced mining facility with that track as a favorite even though it’s more simplistic.
So I ended up coming up with a few theories since I replayed this dungeon. Does anyone else notice those “zonai”-like swirls on the doors? Isn’t that a lil sus? While I don’t think much of those swirls, I think it could indicate something completely different. What if it’s just an extension to sheikah history and the sacred technology has disappeared and turned to ruin? That’s enough time for a barbaric race to find refuge at these locations but idk I haven’t thought much further with this theory but the design is very uncanny. Plus it would make the connection to SS much stronger. Looking at the design of that swirl on every door, I feel like the possibility of the robots contributing help for the sheikah’s new technology shouldn’t be too far fetched they were great helpers
Also I have a soft spot for Skipper and all of his robot pals. I really do, I hope he was able to change the present and continue to sail with his crewmates and take his family back.
Also I think it’s odd how even the sand ship, like the mining facility has barbed areas in the present. Considering it was taken over by that pirate, what If he had something to do with lanayru turning into a wasteland leaving all of the other bots to die out? Wouldn’t be surprised if he went on over to the mining facility to barb certain areas too. I mean why else would it be there? Idk a lot of questions were raised on this dungeon.
I thought it was hilarious how when revisiting the sand ship all the bokoblins are in the jail! Lol once I saw that I did not hesitate to assassinaten
each one of them with the bow while they stand defenseless in there. Only wish there was some response dialogue from the robots with that.
Me and my brother thought the boss was fine but we both agreed that the "Monsters Inc." design could've used just ONE more redraft
Looking at the concept art though it does look a tad bit more menacing but "vaguely goofy" might've been what they were aiming for? which makes the lead up kind of tonely confusing. So I understand Your disappointment
I was getting bored of the timeshift gimmick when I got here and didn't care for the novelty of the a ship themed dungeon. Bow wasn't utilized in any interesting way. So I found this dungeon rather bland and empty. But this video helps me see what there is to appreciate about this well crafted Dungeon that my own opinions made harder to see
Also I can't believe I never noticed that Time Travel logic loophole :V my explanation is that those Eyeball switches aren't effected by time and maybe were previously used as locks that not even time travel shenanigans could get through. if so that's a pretty insane lock mechanism!
The Eyeball switch's also look the same no matter the time period. Giving more weight to this theory.
(Obviously its just a dev oversight but its fun that there's enough material to craft such a theory)
Tentalus looks like he punches into work with Mike and Sully.
It’s Mike and Celia’s unholy love child
Oh my, I've just realized a bit of potential environmental storytelling.
The molderach is only found in two locations in the game. But its young are found in a third location, the ship.
What if the initial infestation was in the filthy pirate fortress, but because the pirates stole the ship, they inadvertently transmitted some of it's young via the ship to the mining facility, allowing the second Molderach to grow there
Great video and dungeon IMO
I loved the dungeon, but personally would have made the boss look more like an actual gargantuan cephalopod, and I would have had the inside of its beak be the weak spot (yes, I would have given it a beak because real cephalopods have beaks). Perhaps you could have had to break a shell using the cannon of skipper’s boat for a first phase, with it becoming faster and more aggressive in the second phase.
this one is my favorite in the whole game, but i didn't talk to the little robot guy in the brig nor did i get the dungeon map until really late, so the reason i had fun was because i was walking around completely blind & got lost multiple times 😭
I honestly think that a very very very cool boss for this would be kind of over the top but basically you open the boss door but then you feel an impact and you run back up to the deck and then see another ship of a similar size to the sandship but it has the robot pirates like scervo and they are shooting cannons at you. You can attack them by CONTROLING the ship yourself and eventually you defeat them and then you can get the flame.
That would be insanely cool
One of the coolest dungeons of the game. I was a bit disappointed by the midboss (don't even talk about the boss), he had a very cool design and concept ( a freaking robo-pirate!) but his stay was very short.
I think he could have been a stalker type mob (like nemesis) since he was clearly a persistent individual (lasting millenia in an abandoned ship). Combine that with the time stone mechanic and you would have not only a means to solve puzzles but to regulate danger.
However I appreciate the effort they made, I'm not a game developer so it is easier to make an idea than to implement it.
My bae nails another video. Love it
imagining if the time shift stones were a bit more... "strict" with how they worked, and link would just poof out of existence the first time he used one.
Hylia's Chosen, defeated by timey wimey rocks
Btw, you can insta-charge the bow by pressing "C" and pulling the nunchuk. I've only ever used the "A" button a couple times before checking the controls with "2".
Indeed. The pumpkin shooting mini game would be damn near impossible without that
YES! I’ve always said this about this dungeon. The boss is too underwhelming. They could’ve done a similar thing like in the imprisoned fight where u can switch between skipper in the smaller boat and link. Skipper can navigate the water and launch bombs at it to distract it, then you switch to link where he can flank it and use the bow to stun it. Or, maybe you could even go God of War style and let link scale its massive body with the claw shots, climbing up to slash it in the eye while skipper distracts it. You could even use the time shift stones to convert the boss into back when it was a baby form and that’s the only way you can hurt it, because it’s invincible in its adult form in the past.
As for the design… There are so many variations of ancient stories and tales of monster sea creatures you could have used as a concept. Making it appear like an overweight, tantrum throwing, dreadlocks creature with bright colours… He looks like a child’s toy… Massive missed opportunity, but the dungeon itself is great fun. 10/10 guide/review ❤
You mentioned how you ride the minecart Donkey Kong style but forgot about how evacuating the ship it throws barrels at you just like in the original Donkey Kong game!
I too was expecting a Big Octo to be the boss of this dungeon once the ship came under attack, however I never even thought of having to take the fight to the open ocean in Skipper's boat. Damn, what a spectacle that would have been.
Now I'm just imagining a situation where a Big Octo with two invulnerable peripheral eyes to either side of a main eye weak spot, and two primary tentacles that it occasionally attacks with and have to be dodged, alongside many smaller tentacles that can be cut when they lash at you. The first phase is kind of like a combination of the first and second phase of the Tentalus fight. You have to wait for the main eye; which is usually closed, to open while fending off its attacks, and then you have to make an opening in the continuing attacks to shoot the main eye with an arrow before it closes again, in order to stun it and open it up to attack. It's a process you'd have to go through two or three times, depending on how efficient you are with sword swings, to end the first phase, after which the battle enters a transitional state not unlike the one in the Tentalus fight. The Big Octo is destroying the remains of the wrecked ship, and Skipper urges you to abandon ship. You're given a considerable amount of time to do so, even given that you're avoiding attacks, but if you idle too long you are eventually forced into the water, but instead of voiding out immediately, a little cutscene plays where the boss starts sucking in water, drawing Link into its mouth, at which point you void out, returning to the start of the transitional sequence between phases having taken two hearts of damage.
(originally I'd written that getting eaten here would trigger an instant game over, on the condition that the save point just inside the interior was still active during the escape sequence, but I removed/reworked it because it still seemed too harsh, not to mention inconsistent with being eaten later on.)
Following the successful transition to phase two, using the idea of fighting it using Skipper's boat, you'd avoid tentacle attacks using reflections on the water's surface as visual cues while the main eye is closed. The boss would have an audial cue, such as a bestial cry of some kind, preempting an attempt to suck in the boat, where it would open its main eye. At this point you could target the main eye even when facing away from it, which would have the camera focus on the boss without changing the trajectory of the boat. You'd have to shoot a bomb into the boss's mouth before the boat runs out of boost and gets sucked in. If the boat gets sucked into the boss' mouth, You void out, Link takes two hearts of damage, and the cycle starts over with you having to dodge attacks. Successfully shooting a bomb into the boss' mouth will stun it. Its eye will remain open while its two main tentacles would collapse in front of it in a way that serves as a platform to stand on and attack the eye. A fade-out would occur when you move toward the tentacle platform when within a certain range, fading back in to have Link standing on the makeshift platform.
The battle would be in a static state when the boss is stunned but before you trigger the fade out. Trying to shoot the boss at this point would have no effect. Once on the makeshift platform, you'd have to attack the eye with the sword to deal damage. After recovering from being stunned, the main eye would blink, then all three eyes would look at Link before the boss did its roar/cry, and that bit between the blink and the cry would be the grace period to return to the ship without taking damage, similar to finding a balance of not getting too greedy with Kalle Demos, but with a proper grace period. You can try to continue attacking the eye after the blink, but you could only hit it once and that would immediately end the grace period and have Link get eaten. There'd be an invisible wall at the boundary of the tentacle platform, but pushing against said wall in the direction of the boat would cause a fade-out to being back on the boat. Failing to escape during the grace period would have Link fall into the water, much like if you idle too long during the transitional state between phases, with all that implies.
After the boss is defeated, the game would be in a unique state where you're kind of inside a dungeon but kind of not, and enough not that you're able to douse if you need/want to, and you have to track down the last remaining piece of the ship that drifted off, and it turns out to be the part housing Nayru's Flame. The crew you met in the brig would be there, and the dungeon's Heart Container would be spawned from their collective gratitude while the brazier of Nayru's Flame came out of the compartment for you to use the Skyward Strike on the emblem.
Sorry if it's a bother that I put this here. Once I got going I didn't want to stop, and once it was all there it seemed a waste to just erase it.
Oh my goodness that would have been WAY better than what we got
@@CaptBurgerson Not to throw shade on your compliment, but that's not a very high bar. As you pointed out so thoroughly, what we got was generic as all get out.
@@devonm042690 ahahah fair play. I guess to rephrase, that would have been an ACTUALLY GOOD AND INTERESTING boss fight.
Best dungeon in all of Skyward Sword
the trials being stressful is kinda the point lol
imagine phantom hourglass or spirit tracks without the 1 hit knockout phantoms
ive redesigned tentalus so many times
shoulda had a time shift stone implying you could only kill it when it was younger or smth
Would you do a shorter, but similar to the series, video about the mini-dungeon before this one?
Great question. I’m not sure there is enough material there though tbh
@@CaptBurgerson Well, I did say "shorter" - how short is another question. But maybe, if there are enough you can make an episode featuring all of the mini-dungeons...?
@@nickjayyoung7662 I did cover OOT and MM mini dungeons more in-depth already if you want to check that out too.
@@CaptBurgerson I was speaking of more Skyward Sword mini-dungeons instead of the entire series.
You might do the pirate hideout mini-dungeon as its own video or with other Skyward Sword mini-dungeons. Who knows?
RUclips Shorts potential? 👀
The only problem i have woth this dungeon (and alot of the other dugeons in the game) is that i played through the game too much and now know all the puzzles, ive played this game too much for my own good
The silent realm trials aren’t even difficult. But any type of special requirements like timers I get super stressed. I can’t personally play Majora’s Mask because of the extreme anxiety it gives me.
I honestly hated this boss fight, first because of the aforementioned lackluster design and mechanics, but more egregiously because it makes no god damn sense when you think about it. Link is in the past because of the timeshift zone, which we were previously made aware that if it gets damaged, it shuts off.
Yet SOMEHOW, this lovechild of monster's Inc is able to break the ship, destroy or sink the timestone and the mechanism that works it, and yet still stick around and wreck the ship???
Not to mention nothing like this happens before, no one mentions there might be an undersea abomination in the area, nor any sign this fucker was sent by Girahim. It just feels like it was shoehorn in at the last minute because someone didn't think the pirate captain was a good enough fight.
Also I found the whole fetch quest at Skipper’s retreat super pointless. Skyward sword has so much goddamn fetch quests for padding. The dungeons themselves are actually pretty good.
Tentalus has the exact body build of a stereotypical Nintendo Adult caricature and something about that makes me uncomfortable.
totally agree that a Big Octo would have been a way cooler boss fight, and that would have been an ideal moment to reincorporate the Skipper timeship mechanic, sailing around the Big Octo and trying to land hits without getting sucked too close. Tentalus is, without a doubt, the lamest boss in the game and possibly the series
I thought this was a pretty good dungeon. This is how you do a dungeon without a dungeon, unlike BotW and TotK
Wait..... TENTALUS IS A HE??
Well... it's ambiguous
Love this dungeon but the Boss is meh, premiere gang btw
i will never understand why people whine and complain about this boss so much. you like ghirahim but ot this lolol what