Sadly, of all the ridiculous things I remembered from playing LoZ roughly 30 years ago, the location of the first labyrinth, known as "The Eagle", was not one of them. I had to brute force my way through pretty much the entirety of the Overworld before stumbling upon this most secret of fortresses (Fig. 1).
Okay, so it's not that secretive, but it was still a thrill. Upon entering, that spooky, 8-bit dungeon music evoked some serious nostalgia. I remember playing late at night and being scared shitless at every turn. Among the enemies that caused me grief: keese, stalfos, and boomerang-wielding goriya! That's right, son. Kill a few of these bad boys and you get a boomerang to wield yourself!
I also found a bow, but I refuse to pay rupees for arrows. Still saving up for that blue ring, suckaz!
Overall, The Eagle is a decently-constructed level. It was fine in terms of difficulty (probably way easier if you go in there with the blue ring), and was a solid introduction into some dungeon mechanics (bombing walls, pushing blocks to open doors). The two knocks I give it are the fight with Aquamentus and the extremely unhelpful old man in Fig. 2 (granted his first language probably isn't English).
I went into the fight with Aquamentus with less-than-full hearts, which means I didn't have magic-sword-throw-power at my disposal. I also had neither arrows nor magic shield because cheap-ass (cf. blue ring comment above). Basically, I had no way to attack it and no way to block its fireballs. So I bombed its ass back to a time more primitive than the pseudo-medieval world encapsulated in Hyrule by the creators of the Legend of Zelda series for various Nintendo video game systems, boyeeeeeeee!
Two bombs later, I was holding a piece of the Triforce With Wisdom (or With Wisdom, holding a piece of the Triforce) aloft in my tiny elven hands. It was an achievement as glorious as can be imagined, and for the first time in a long time I felt important. Like a doctor. Or a realtor.
I exited The Eagle flush with victory and a new heart container. On to the second labyrinth (after I get my blue ring)!
Fig. 1 - FINALLY
Okay, so it's not that secretive, but it was still a thrill. Upon entering, that spooky, 8-bit dungeon music evoked some serious nostalgia. I remember playing late at night and being scared shitless at every turn. Among the enemies that caused me grief: keese, stalfos, and boomerang-wielding goriya! That's right, son. Kill a few of these bad boys and you get a boomerang to wield yourself!
I also found a bow, but I refuse to pay rupees for arrows. Still saving up for that blue ring, suckaz!
Overall, The Eagle is a decently-constructed level. It was fine in terms of difficulty (probably way easier if you go in there with the blue ring), and was a solid introduction into some dungeon mechanics (bombing walls, pushing blocks to open doors). The two knocks I give it are the fight with Aquamentus and the extremely unhelpful old man in Fig. 2 (granted his first language probably isn't English).
Fig. 2 - Thanks, dumbass, but I already found the map AND the compass!
I went into the fight with Aquamentus with less-than-full hearts, which means I didn't have magic-sword-throw-power at my disposal. I also had neither arrows nor magic shield because cheap-ass (cf. blue ring comment above). Basically, I had no way to attack it and no way to block its fireballs. So I bombed its ass back to a time more primitive than the pseudo-medieval world encapsulated in Hyrule by the creators of the Legend of Zelda series for various Nintendo video game systems, boyeeeeeeee!
Two bombs later, I was holding a piece of the Triforce With Wisdom (or With Wisdom, holding a piece of the Triforce) aloft in my tiny elven hands. It was an achievement as glorious as can be imagined, and for the first time in a long time I felt important. Like a doctor. Or a realtor.
I exited The Eagle flush with victory and a new heart container. On to the second labyrinth (after I get my blue ring)!
A refresher post about how many hearts you start off with, the type of sword, basic overlay of the map (some area fam), what the blue ring is would be helpful
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