Dungeon Week: Skyward Sword’s Lanayru Mining Facility

Ocarina of Time‘s Forest Temple, Skyward Sword‘s Ancient Cistern, and Skyward Sword‘s Sandship: all three are very distinct dungeons which brought something entirely new and innovative to The Legend of Zelda franchise. But they also share one very recognizable feature in common: they’re all from 3D iterations of the series. These dungeons represent just a taste of our writers’ favorite dungeons so far this week, and in what may be both a surprising and questionable choice to some, I will be tackling Skyward Sword‘s Lanayru Mining Facility. I know what you’re thinking—The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is often criticized for its linear game play and world construct when compared to its predecessors, and rightfully so. So why have I (and our other writers this week) been so keen on choosing its dungeons?

Regarded as one of the most unique dungeons ever featured in a Zelda title, the Lanayru Mining Facility is an ancient and technologically advanced facility that laid dormant until our Hero comes upon it on his quest to enter into the Temple of Time, where he finds it buried in the sands of the Lanayru Desert. It is the third dungeon in the game, a long forgotten robot infested industrial complex, and it is the mystery surrounding this dungeon that intrigued me the most upon its discovery and return from the depths beneath the desert. Where did it come from? Who was the civilization or corporation that built it? Why was it abandoned? What purpose did it serve in the world we’ve come to love? Many of our questions would be answered upon its completion, but as we would come to learn, most were left to our imagination. When asked to choose my favorite, this was the first one that came to mind. No dungeon has left me wondering for so long about its origins within the world of Hyrule and and its purpose for being there. From the minute I activated the power generator and saw it spring forth, I knew there was something different about this one, and boy was I making an understatement! Lanayru Mining Facility is even Eiji Aonuma‘s favorite dungeon from Skyward Sword, and I have a feeling it may be for many of the same reasons.

To make things a little easier, I’ve broken up the main features of the dungeon that I’ll be covering into sections for your convenience.

Themes, Puzzles, Atmosphere, and Visuals

It’s often said that on any adventure the destination is not as important as the journey, and I think this entire idea resonates throughout both the Zelda series as a whole, but most importantly throughout Skyward Sword. As cliche as it may sound, this idea is very obvious in the many trials that our Hero faces throughout each of his adventures, and more specifically through many of the dungeons within Skyward Sword. Lanayru Mining Facility is no different in this aspect. The dungeon is essentially a means to an end, only traversed in order to get to the Temple of Time by way of an activated ancient robot that it is connected beneath the ground to the Temple of Time. Once inside however, it is more than obvious that this wasn’t simply included to just impede the Hero and player, but to add context to the story. The previously seen Timeshift Stones seem to be refined within this facility and play a huge part in this part of the game and further on.

The atmosphere and visual style of the dungeon is unlike anything seen before within a Zelda title, made obvious by its use of aging yet advanced technologies such as conveyer belts, windmill door locks, tram tracks with mine carts, and artificial lighting. These aren’t the only dangers, with electrically charged barriers, stamina required quicksand, and unrefined materials impeding the player as they move through each section. As obvious as it may sound, sand plays an important part in traversing the dungeon design, often times hiding levers or buttons needed to move forth, and sometimes even enemies that can spring out without warning, or treasures that have been lost for ages.

The dungeon incorporates refined Timeshift Stones, many of which must be used to activate the technologies and bring them to life once again in order to proceed through various parts of each room. Timeshift Stones are hands down one of my favorite parts of this dungeon, if not the entire game, and is what makes it stand apart from anything else we’ve seen before. Having never seen or experienced anything like it, this feature made possible entirely new gameplay styles and level design, both for puzzles and story telling. I was in awe of the beautiful transformation and seemingly perfect implementation of this new concept, more prominently so during the areas where you were tasked with manually transporting the stones by hand, watching the change between your current world and the time that existed before while on the move. The ability to move the Timeshift stones, rather than it being simply a placeholder item activated through a simple on and off system, made it seem all the more real and lifelike, and turned a simply amazing idea into a dynamic game changer.

Music

From the minute I stepped foot inside the Lanayru Mining Facility, I felt shivers run down my back for the first time in Skyward Sword, an otherwise (for the most part) bright, cheerful, and musically uplifting game. The soundtrack once you enter is reminiscent of what it may sound like to live within a rather demented, evil clock with far too many chimes, bells, and hands ticking nervously in the walls all around you while echoing off those in the distance. The atmosphere it adds to a seemingly dead and forgotten place is well paced and absolutely perfect, creating a sense of urgency to get through the area, almost as if someone is watching you with a stopwatch in hand. I simply couldn’t think of any music from Skyward Sword that set itself apart from the rest of the game as much as this track did. Although it will never be a timeless classic like the Song of Storms or Zelda’s Lullaby, its music is as distinct and original as the dungeon itself, perfectly matched with its ancient roots.

Items

The Mining Facility really has only one item of importance and it is found soon after you arrive at the dungeon. The Gust Bellows is, for lack of a better description, a rather exceptional (and possibly magical or scientific) creation that holds a jar of wind which allows the player to blow enemies away when timed properly, sand that is in the way or impeding Link, or anything else that is seemingly light enough to be affected by wind, such as windmill door locks and ancient platforms which require wind to move across.

Boss Battle and Monsters

Being that its located within a desert, its only appropriate that the monsters and baddies within the Lanayru Mining Facility are area specific and add to the sense of age within it. Small Aracha, essentially baby scorpions, will hide within small piles of dirt and attack when disturbed. Although not dangerous in small numbers, they become a nuisance once you’re taking them on by the dozens. Many of the monsters and minor enemies are activated only when located nearby to a Timeshift Crystal and will deactivate or disappear once moved out of range. Beamos are almost exactly as they sound, a tower of three levels that require you to slash twice and stab once in the eye, they quickly become your most hated enemy in the dungeon if you’re like me. Armos are stone statues that come to life and attack you, but are easily dispatched with proper timing. While Sentrobes may seem harmless, if you let them buzz and fly around long enough, their bombs can pack a punch until they’re destroyed. As annoying as these technology based enemies may be, they added a realistic “self defense” security force feeling to the facility which made it feel like this was a once important place that needed something to keep its precious items safe. Electro Spume are the same as the ones encountered within the lava, but are instead hidden beneath quicksand. They can easily impede a player that gets distracted, but are killed easily with a well thrown bomb or two. Froaks pose little threat to the player if you use your Gust Bellow properly, so they don’t warrant much explanation. Staldra aren’t exclusive to this dungeon but will be a threat to anyone who doesn’t do well with a Wii MotionPlus controller (cough me cough), as they require a quick slash across all three skulls while aligned. Thunder Keese and Yellow Chuchu are electric based baddies who will give you a shocking surprise if you’re not careful with your sword attacks, but otherwise don’t post much of a threat.

Surprisingly enough, this is the only dungeon within the game that does not feature any mini boss whatsoever, and only has a main boss called Moldarach, a giant scorpion that lives beneath a room of sand that Link must use the Gust Bellow to uncover in order to fight, or risk being hit from beneath or by surprise. I’m not going to lie, all I could think about during this boss encounter was the scene in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope when Luke, Leia, and Han are trapped in the trash compactor and have to fight off the creature living within it, which probably made me love it even more than I would have otherwise.

Fin

All in all, the mixture of an often medieval based level design with a sudden injection of futuristic features brings into question everything we’ve come to know about the world of Hyrule and that which came before it. With the release of Hyrule Historia and the confirmation that this is the first game in the Zelda timeline, we see many possibilities open up that were once impossible inside the known world of Zelda. Not only does this imply that there was a time much before the creation of the world we see Skyward Sword taking place in, but brings life to an otherwise well known universe and adds new lore that we may see featured within new iterations, 3D, and perhaps even, 2D.