Timeshift Thursday – Forsaken Fortress

Hi Zelda Dungeoners, and welcome back to another Timeshift Thursday feature! I am glad to proclaim I have just started playing through the Wind Waker properly for the first time and I must say I am greatly enjoying it; at least the introduction anyway! The cartoon shading has survived amazingly well over the past 10 years and all credit to Nintendo for planning to give us a HD remake. As we head into this week’s feature, we will be taking a good look at one of the standout areas experienced in the Wind Waker which Link faces straight from the get-go and also later on in the adventure.

The area we will be exploring today is known as Forsaken Fortress and happens to be the evil lair of the powerful Ganondorf in which Link must breach if he wants to save his beloved sister, Aryll. It’s a difficult but welcoming start to the game and we’ll see why this helps the Wind Waker to be one of the most memorable Zelda titles. We’ll also check out theories regarding Forsaken Fortress and how it relates to another well-known area featured in a different Zelda title placed earlier in the timeline.

Would you like to take a look at Forsaken Fortress-one of the Wind Waker’s most memorable areas? If so, then be sure to click the jump below and take a look for yourself!

Forsaken Fortress sure is one dark, scary, and terrifyingly dangerous place! Ganondorf dwells at the top trusting in his Bokoblin gang to be rid of any trespassers they may uncover with their specially designed searchlights while Moblins also tread endlessly around the lower floors of the fortress. For any casual adventurer, it may seem like this fortress is impenetrable. It most certainly would be unless you happen to be Link! For those who don’t know the story of the Wind Waker an evil bird, the Helmaroc King, captures Link’s sister Aryll and kidnaps her away to Forsaken Fortress. A group of pirates along with their leader Tetra reluctantly agree to take Link on their ship and escort him over to the dreaded fortress where he may courageously delve into the area to rescue Aryll. Not wanting to steer the ship close to the fortress’ shores in case of being spotted, Tetra shoots Link out of a cannon so he may enter unnoticed. Unfortunately, the cannon slams him into the side of the fortress, he loses grip on his sword forcing it to plummet down into an unknown area, while he drops into the water below.

Then the stealthy adventuring begins! I really enjoy the difficulty of this opening introduction to the game as Link is fully unarmed for most of the dungeon’s length and must sneak past the searchlights and Moblins to find a way to where Aryll is being held captive. Link must use barrels to stealthily maneuver around the patrolling Moblins without being seen and regain his rightfully-owned sword. The great aspect of the Wind Waker is that although Link doesn’t have a sword doesn’t mean he can’t pick up loose weapons and use them to his own advantage! It’s quite cool although Link doesn’t seem to have a good grip on any weapon that’s not his own because it only takes one hit by the enemy for him to drop it. It’s a great dark opening to a Zelda title and, interestingly enough, it showcases just how brave Link really is considering his very young age.

Zelda fans have theorized that the Forsaken Fortress is indeed the exact same stronghold known as Gerudo Fortress in Ocarina of Time. Both fortresses are located in the northwest of their respective regions and happen to be bases for Ganondorf’s purposes so this emphasizes the possibility that the top of Gerudo Fortress (which is now Forsaken Fortress) could have survived the flooding of the land of Hyrule. The ship perched atop the fortress intriguingly bears the eye and teardrop symbol of the Sheikah symbol which leaves the speculation about the Forsaken Fortress further open.

I enjoyed delving deep into the Forsaken Fortress because it gave me a sense, early on in the game, that this would be a tough adventure. Even with the cel shading, the Wind Waker does include snippets of darkness in the story; a very welcome element of the adventure. The fact that it’s so easy for Link to be captured and put in prison creates a greater challenge for the player and I enjoyed the Forsaken Fortress for that reason. I also enjoyed the way Link had to complete most of the dungeon without his own sword and had to rely on weapons laying around to do the dirty work. The stealth aspect of this area was created brilliantly for the player’s gaming experience.

What are your thoughts on the Forsaken Fortress? Do you like the way the Wind Waker opens up with this area? What do you think the Forsaken Fortress was before the flooding of Hyrule occurred? I’d love to hear your comments so let me know below!