After obtaining the next map piece, we head off for new lands! However, the bridge to the new area is out, and will need to be repaired. What's more, the bridge is right next to a shop run by a very familiar face...
As Link transports a passenger, monsters board the train! To make matters worse, they didn't purchase tickets beforehand! Link may be a hero, but he's an engineer first; and NO ONE gets away with fare evasion while he's on duty!
When Link reaches the Goron village, they welcome him with a gift of a freight car! Now that he has the ability to haul both passengers and cargo, and with an ever-expanding network of tracks to ride on, the future of Link's business venture seems quite bright indeed! Perhaps its time to see whether successful deliveries save the world better than swords do.
Well he hopped in the mine cart
And he circled around on the track now
Seems that since the boss's door's closed
There is no way for Link to turn back now
But with his new bow he's blasting
Link certainly is on the attack now!
And he can run run run
While the monsters try to ruin his day
(Run run run while the monsters try to ruin his day)
There's a man who sneaks around in ruins
To all his teachers he must seem a truant
With all these new designs, he's sidetracked all the time
Odds are he won't end this game tomorrow
Secret absent man
Secret absent man
They've given you distractions, so you're really not to blame
The Gorons and the Anouki are two races that live in very different climates. When members of each group decide to swap houses, can they survive in each others' native habitats? Find out on tonight's episode of Training Places!
Occasionally, we do need to make some progress toward thwarting Ranrock. We quickly realize that thwarting him would be easier if we had some idea of what he was actually planning, so we take the advice of the local bartender and meet secretly with a goblin to plan on robbing a tomb so that he can go undercover in an evil organization. Just another normal day for your average 15-year-old.
We've been seeing a different side of Zelda this game, and lately, she's really showing off her acting ability. She had already mastered acting like a Phantom to help us sneak around. This time, she also shows off acting like Samus Aran by curling into a ball. When we confront Chancellor Cole only to discover that the Demon King has already possessed Zelda's body, and then see them ride off to finish their plans of global conquest, she even gives a rather impressive Darth-Vader-like wail of despair. If this whole "saving Hyrule" thing doesn't work out, perhaps she could try a career in the theater?
After retrieving the helmet, Deek notifies us that there is a way to capture wild beasts and carry them around in a small satchel. They would become "Satchelbeasts", as it were. Maybe, if we capture enough of them, we can fight other people's Satchelbeasts in gyms! So, let's set out on our journey to become a Satchelbeast master! Gotta catch 'em all!
And if, along the way, we manage to take out Team Ranrok, all the better!
As we work on some more side quests in Spirit Tracks, Ferrus learns a lesson on why you should never meet your heroes. Invariably, you'll discover that what you thought they were famous for doesn't actually exist, and they were really just a boring, old, legendary swordsman. Every. Single. Time.
On our way to the next temple, Link has to rescue a local who's been captured by monsters who have set up an entire minigame for prisoners to use when trying to escape, complete with a point system and a high score. I guess if you're going to capture people, you may as well make it fun.
This week, we get to meet Sebastian's family and help him investigate a way to help his sister, and then we meet up with Natty to search for evidence to help us take down Rookwood and Harlow! What could be more fitting for a Hogwarts game than solving magical problems and fighting evil wizards while hanging out with friends?
Though, seriously Natty, you can just walk through the gate while I hold it open. I shouldn't have to open it, latch it in place, adjust the latch to be permanent, call out inspectors, get certification, and then wait through a multi-year accreditation process!
After completing the Sand Temple, Link's is granted a new, more powerful sword! A bigger net to make rabbits easier to catch would probably be more appreciated at this point, but it's the thought that counts.
We take a small break from exploring to attend class, and one of our classmates tells us of more hidden rooms within the school! Inside, there are blocks that must be manipulated and put into proper positions in order for us to progress. Forget wizard chess; it's time to play wizard Tetris!
As we haul cargo and passengers around for side missions, we come across a Dark Ore mine. Dark Ore is a strange substance that is apparently stronger than iron once processed, but melts in the sunlight while raw. Its only purpose in the game is to be given to Linebeck III, so I'm sure this will be the only time we have to haul it. It's not like these delivery missions are particularly difficult, after all.
Out of all the mini-games and side quests in Spirit Tracks, the most bizarre is probably hunting rabbits. We're not doing it because we need to break a curse or achieve some great feat, but just because some guy in a rabbit suit wants to keep every rabbit in the world in his private sanctuary. The whole situation is just so silly, it seems like Link is only one step away from asking the player to be "vewy, vewy qwiet!"
While exploring Hogwarts with Sebastian and Ominis, we come across a sinister, secret chamber linked to Slytherin himself! However, it seems unlikely that we'll be able to continue, as proceeding would require use of extremely dark magic, and none of us are willing to do that.
Link has collected enough stamps for a reward, which turns out to be a new outfit! Between collecting stamps, collecting outfits, collecting treasures, collecting train cars, and even collecting train tracks, this Link is probably the biggest hobbyist of any Link in the series so far.
After busting up an illegal dragon-fighting ring and helping Natty smooth things over with her mum, it's time to take a test! From another student, of course, as this trivia quiz will take longer than the minute or so that most of our classes seem to last.
As Link continues his side quests, he finds himself at Lost at Sea Station. Being lost at sea and having an easily accessible train station don't really seem to go together, but when the train tracks are also the magical barriers keeping an ancient evil locked up, one must expect them to work a little different than normal.
In this episode, Link takes on a gauntlet of bosses, but it turns out he's just a shadow of his former self. Then, he and Zelda try to find the Compass of Light, but are completely in the dark about how to do so.