00:15Welcome to MojoPlays, and today we're looking at locations within the Zelda series that are
00:19going to take you the most effort to reach, whether they're optional or mandatory.
00:30But before we dive in, we publish new content all week long, so be sure to subscribe and ring the
00:35bell to get notified about our latest videos. The Star Island Above Lookout Landing
00:40The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom
00:43After completing your first dungeon in Tears of the Kingdom, you'll find that a sizable stone
00:48monument has crashed into Lookout Landing. Speaking with Wartsworth, this begins the
00:53Messages from an Ancient Era questline, where Link must find and photograph 12
00:58similar monuments, all found on star-shaped islands in the sky. But what about the
01:04island where the original monument came from? Well, it sits at a much higher elevation than
01:11any island in the sky. It's directly underneath the threshold where the game literally tells you
01:16that you can't go any higher, around 3000 meters. Getting to this island can be tricky. You'll have
01:23to use a Zonai build to fly there, using devices that don't disappear after a certain amount of time,
01:29and you'll need enough battery or charges so that you can reach it. And what do you get for your
01:34effort?
01:35Nothing but a great view.
01:50I'll admit this is a bit of a cheeky entry since it only became hard to reach over time and
01:55because
01:56of certain restrictions. Oracle of Ages and Seasons were released a little less than a month before the
02:01Game Boy Advance in both Japan and North America, in Europe a few months after. Most probably just
02:08played them on the Game Boy Color, but if you played them on the new handheld, you could access
02:14a secret shop near the know-it-all birds hut in Seasons and the Lina Village Shooting Gallery in Ages.
02:21The shop sells magic rings you can't buy anywhere else, and this is the only way you can get inside.
02:26It isn't accessible in versions bought through the 3DS eShop, nor those through Nintendo Switch Online.
02:33And with how pricey older games and consoles now are, it would still be hard to access it today.
02:40The Great Fairy's Room The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess
02:45Several games in the Zelda series feature combat dungeons, challenging you with fighting your way
02:50through a ton of rooms with progressively tougher groups of enemies. One of the harder ones
02:55dungeons is the Cave of Ordeals in Twilight Princess. Trying to fight your way through when you first
03:01come across it will lead to disappointment, since you need items from later dungeons in order to
03:06complete it. There are also 50 floors in total, so it's best to come prepared with some potions and
03:12fairies. The last two fights, featuring two Aralfoses and three Darknuts respectively, are especially
03:19troublesome. But at the end, you're greeted by a great fairy who gives you a bottle of her tears, which
03:25completely refills your health and doubles your attack power for a brief time.
03:43The Dark Realm The Legend of Zelda Spirit Tracks
03:54We aren't putting final areas on the list just because you can't reach them until the end of the
04:00game. But they are grounds for inclusion if reaching them is barred by a challenging task. Enter the
04:07Tower of Spirits from Spirit Tracks. You revisit this area throughout the game, completing chunks at a
04:13time. However, the last few times you visit can be really hard. The phantoms that stalk the halls can
04:19knock Link out in a single hit, sending him back to the beginning of the room. Zelda can possess them,
04:25but there are several types that are used for certain obstacles and puzzles. By the end, you have to
04:31consistently swap between different phantoms, found in different locations, in order to make it through.
04:37When you're finally done with the place, the prospect of venturing into the Dark Realm to battle a
04:41mighty demon king doesn't seem so bad. Bellum's Chamber The Legend of Zelda Phantom Hourglass
05:03The Tower of Spirits is just a less annoying version of the Temple of the Ocean King. Like in Spirit
05:09Tracks,
05:09it's a place you have to visit multiple times throughout Phantom Hourglass. And there are phantoms
05:15that patrol every floor, able to knock Link out in a single hit. What makes it far less fun is
05:22the
05:22fact that when hit, Link loses some of the sand in his Hourglass. When it runs out, he'll begin taking
05:28damage while inside the temple. Also, unlike the Tower of Spirits, you have to retread each floor you've
05:34already been in on every visit to make it deeper inside. And you don't have a ghostly Zelda as a
05:40companion to take over a phantom and protect you. Reaching Bellum's Chamber at the end is a test in
05:47patience. The End of The Cave of Shadows The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess HD
05:53The Cave of Ordeals is clearly tough. And when Twilight Princess got an HD remaster, Nintendo included
05:59another combat dungeon solely for Wolf Link called The Cave of Shadows. While this one is a little bit
06:06shorter, 40 floors instead of 50, that doesn't necessarily make it easier. Fighting as Wolf Link
06:12means you have less items and abilities, less resources to use against your enemies. There are
06:17also fewer opportunities to recover health. You can find a buried heart now and again, and amiibos can
06:24restore health, but there aren't dedicated rest spots like there are in The Cave of Ordeals.
06:29The larger enemy groups can be overwhelming in the higher floors,
06:32but making it to the end gets you a bunch of rupees and one of the largest wallet upgrades in
06:38the game.
06:44The Music House The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap
06:47We've talked about this heart piece in several videos before,
06:51and anyone who knows about it is aware of its well-earned reputation.
06:56In Hyrule Castle Town, there is a locked house owned by Herb,
07:00who will only let you inside if you complete Karlov's figurine gallery.
07:04Doing so requires trading in mysterious shells, but you have to collect 130 figurines,
07:11and you earn them through a gacha system that essentially requires you to grind for more shells.
07:16Players have long since figured out that this system, where you're supposed to trade in more
07:22shells for a higher likelihood of earning a new figurine, is completely broken. But only by putting
07:29yourself through this monotony and disappointment can you get inside The Music House, where you'll find
07:35a piece of heart, a ton of rupees, and a phonograph where you can listen to the game's soundtrack.
07:39The Final Trials Final Rune The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild
07:56Of all the combat challenges across the Zelda series, the Trial of the Sword from Breath of the Wild's DLC
08:02is by far the hardest. There are three sets, 13 floors in the beginning trials, 17 floors in the
08:10middle trials, and 24 floors in the final trials. Of course, enemies get much harder as you move
08:17through each set, but the real kicker is that everything but your Sheikah Slate is taken away
08:22before you start them. No weapons, no armor, no food, and no champion abilities. You collect what you need as
08:30you go, but everything is of the most basic variety. You really have to rely on your skills in these
08:36trials, and the last set gets pretty brutal with its enemy choices. Fully powering up the Master Sword
08:43in that final room is incredibly satisfying, but it's definitely a place that's hard to reach.
09:01Ganon's Lair The Legend of Zelda Unsurprisingly, the original game on the NES is pretty hard,
09:09and that's especially true for players who didn't grow up with it and have gotten used to quality
09:14of life advancements in video games that make things more manageable. Level 9, the game's final dungeon,
09:19is a gauntlet of nearly 60 rooms, all packed with strong enemies in annoying combinations. Even if you've done
09:27the necessary legwork to make Link as strong and durable as possible, making it through is still
09:32a mighty task. Thankfully, one of the items you can find inside is the Red Ring, which reduces the
09:38damage Link takes. Still, the overwhelming enemy forces and the troublesome traps will make reaching
09:44Ganon's Lair at the end stressful, to say the least.
10:04The Triforce's Resting Place, Zelda II The Adventure of Link
10:21The Great Palace will always hold the crown as the hardest dungeon in the entire series,
10:26so its final room, where the Triforce of Courage rests, naturally deserves a spot on this list.
10:33This place is huge in its size and labyrinthine in its design, with secret walls and multiple paths
10:40that you'll likely end up traversing several times over. The enemies are ridiculous. They appear in
10:46large numbers and take far more hits to go down than most later bosses in the franchise. Top of
10:52the food chain is the Faka, knight-like birds who only appear here and can spell doom for our hero.
10:59That's not to mention that you have to fight two bosses at the end instead of one, which is just
11:03mean.
11:04But this challenge is all to prove Link is worthy of wielding the Triforce of Courage.
11:10What's a location in the Zelda series you found hard to reach?
11:13Share your thoughts in the comments, and we'll see you next time.
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