Hallo allerseits,
ich dachte mir, ich poste mal was in der Fanzone. Ich habe zwar noch kein eigenes Werk für dieses Forum fertiggestellt bisher, aber es kann ja auch nicht schaden, die Arbeiten vergangener Tage hier zu teilen. Insofern möchte ich euch gerne einen Text von mir präsentieren, den ich vor zwei Jahren bei zeldauniverse.net zu einem Wettbewerb eingereicht habe (leider hat es nicht zum Sieg gereicht). Um es nachzuvollziehen, muss man sich in die damalige Zeit zurückversetzen: es war November 2010, Skyward Sword war seit der letzten E3 durch einen Trailer und eine Handvoll Screenshots angekündigt. Zum ersten Mal war uns der Look bekannt und man konnte in Videos die Spielmechanik endlich live sehen. Der Contest sah vor, dass man für Skyward Sword einen Bosskampf entwerfen sollte; einen, der logischerweise mit dem gebotenen Gameplay-Material harmonierte. Nachdem ich mich wirklich voll und ganz darauf konzentrieren wollte, wie der Kampf funktioniert und auch, wie man ihn steuert, habe ich mir nicht die Mühe gemacht, einen eigenen Gegner von Grund auf zu konzipieren, sondern habe ein bewährtes Konzept der Serie aufgegriffen: Schatten-Link. Ich habe mir drei Stufen des Kampfes überlegt und diese detailliert beschrieben, damit man sich die Länge und das Gefühl des Kampfes gut vorstellen kann. Dazu dann noch eine kleine, Zelda-esque Hintergrundgeschichte, die einen sinnvollen Rahmen bietet, aber komplett erfunden ist - bedenkt, außer dem E3-Trailer kannte man von Skyward Sword noch nichts und man wusste auch gar nichts Konkretes zur Handlung - und der Text war fertig. Aufgrund der Userschaft auf ZU ist er auf Englisch verfasst - ich hoffe, das stört nicht allzu viele (vielleicht übersetze ich ihn auch mal irgendwann, wenn es jemanden interessiert). So, aber nun genug Intro-Geschwafel, ich klinge ja schon wie Phai. Viel Spaß beim Lesen!
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Dark Link
THE ANCIENT ZORA SHRINE is a sacred place beyond the eastern borders of the land of Hyrule. Deep within it, the Pearl of Truth is said to be hidden - a sacred artifact that was given to the Zora Tribes from the King of Hyrule centuries before as a symbol of peace and trust, ending years of war and fighting between those two races. As a shadow is drawing nearer to Hyrule day by day, accompanied by a mysterious winter that already surrounds the kingdom with snow and ice, the people of Skyloft have sent a young messenger down to Hyrule in order to support the Royal Family and investigate the events threatening the peaceful land.
Now it is up to Link, the young man who travelled to Hyrule, to set out on behalf of the Princess herself and gain the trust of the Zora Tribes that are driven more and more away from their land because of the sudden winter. Honourable and stubborn, even facing what could eventually lead to their very extinction, the Zora leaders would only listen to a man carrying a symbol of authority and trustworthiness...
What was once a domain of flowing water, colourful plants and streams of life is now covered in ice and snow. Link travels deeper and deeper down into the Shrine in order to find the Pearl. Having been to few other dungeons before, Link brings not much more with him than his sword, his bombs and his new whip, which he eventually uses to pull down icicles in several places; in others, he would roll and throw bombs in order to blast frozen doors open. As various enemies cross his way, Link would use the whip to catch thrown ice-spears in mid-air and hurl them back at his opponents.
THE ENCOUNTER with his darker self would not happen until Link enters the last room. The room looks like a cave, the walls are thick with ice and even down here, the floor is covered in snow. In the middle of the room there's a pedestal - on it, the Pearl of Truth can be seen. Link steps forward, but as he reaches out and touches the Pearl, it would suddenly start to shine and float away from Link. Link remembers that one of the Zora Priests told him that in this dungeon a test of his character would await him; this seems to be it.
A snowstorm emerges from the glowing Pearl and rushes over Link. When he turns around, the snow particles form a familiar shape - and become a literal snowman representing Link. The snowy Link looks at his body and hands and then directly into Link's eyes. He laughs in a familiar, yet very deep voice as his eyes start to glow red and his body turns black - a deep, metallic-looking black, shining and blinking with the snow particles the body is made of. Dark Link draws his shadowy blade and attacks.
THE FIRST STEP of the battle is self-explanatory. Dark Link attacks you with his own sword and would force you to block efficiently in order to prevent being hit. Block three times in a row successfully and Dark Link takes a slower, more force-full swing at you. This is the chance to knock his blade away with your own sword, though you must hit it in the right way: if his strike is vertical, you need to knock it away horizontally, and vice-versa. Doing so will throw off his balance and Dark Link will tumble for a brief moment. Now you can hit him with up to four hits or even a spin attack. If you attack Dark Link without this strategy, he will block or mimic your strikes.
For those out there who try everything out: the whip and the bombs will not harm Dark Link. Using the whip at him will simply make him jump away; make him dodge it three times in a row and the whip will catch his blade, whereupon he will pull you to him and hit you. Make a bomb explode next to him and he will burst into a cloud of snow flakes, rush over you and reform right behind you to score another hit. If you try a spin attack without him being off-guard, he will simply backflip and probably perform a jump attack in response.
After you hit Dark Link ten times, a cutscene will play as you trigger
THE SECOND STEP. Dark Link walks back a few steps. The room shakes as a circle of ice crystals emerges from the ground. The crystals are bright blue and half-transparent, their surfaces flat. They surround the two of you in a wide circle, resembling man-high mirrors. You can see Link's reflection in each of them; then Dark Link puts away his sword and steps back into one of the icy mirrors, laughing, and merges with your reflection. You take control over Link again as all the reflections start to run around you in the same direction from mirror to mirror. You look all around the room; eventually, one of the reflections starts to become dimmer than the rest, barely recognizable as Dark Link. Then all of the reflections suddenly stop and face Link in their middle, except for the dark one; that one will face you and dash right at you, breaking out of the ice after a second and knocking you off with his bare hands before merging with the mirror on the opposite side again. Then, the running starts all over again.
Obviously, the only chance to hit Dark Link is when he is not inside the mirrors. If you strike at him with your sword or the whip, he will dodge into the next mirror and instantly jump out of another one behind you, knocking you off again. Getting a bomb to explode when he is outside could actually harm him too, but the timing is very tricky. The main strategy would be to wait until the reflections stop, turn at Dark Link (whom you should have identified by then) and dash at him, too. The two Links will clash and clutch each others hands, struggling to throw one another to the ground. Shake Wiimote and Nunchuk fast enough to win this fight and send Dark Link down. He will be vulnerable for a brief moment, giving you the chance to hit him once with your sword before he flees into the mirrors again.
Repeat this four times in order to trigger
THE LAST STEP. Back into the icy mirrors, Dark Link draws his sword and merges with your reflection again. All of the other reflections draw their swords, too, before starting to run in circles again. After a few moments, the reflections stop again, turn at you and start performing synchronized sword attacks and techniques in a fashion mocking your own training sessions in the tutorial of the game. While they do this, the mirrors will come closer, making the surrounding circle smaller and smaller. While the reflections of Link stick to the surface, their swords will actually slash out as icy blades with each strike, threatening more and more to hit you as they draw nearer. This time, Dark Link can only be identified because his eyes glow red as he comes closer to you.
Bombs won't harm any of the mirrors, as won't attacking Dark Link while he is protected by one of them. Your last resort is to use the whip once you have identified Dark Link - swing it at your opponent to catch his blade and pull him out of the mirror, giving you once again the chance to cause some serious damage while the other reflections freeze once Dark Link is outside. After a few hits, he will jump into a mirror again, the crystal circle will expand and it will start all over again. If you happen not to identify Dark Link in time and use the whip against the wrong reflection, all the others will thrust forward and hit you before returning to their original position.
After about ten hits, a final cutscene will play showing you
THE DEFEAT OF DARK LINK. [SIZE=8]When you strike the final blow, Link will yell and impale Dark Link in a cinematic move. Dark Link looks down his body in shock, the mirrors in the background explode into snowy dust. He looks up at Link for a brief moment; then, the red glow of his eyes and the black color of his body fade away and he bursts into a cloud of snow, too.
Link stands still for a moment, panting. The lighting of the room changes a bit as the chamber becomes subtly darker, making Link notice the strong blue glow behind him. He turns around and looks at the Pearl of Truth which is still glowing brightly; after a few seconds, the blue light fades and the Pearl drops into the snow.
You take control over Link again and eventually collect the heart container from your fallen enemy before retrieving the Pearl of Truth. Once you did, a bright portal opens and teleports you out of the dungeon to continue with your adventure to save Hyrule.
