Zelda's Second Quest Hates You and Wants You Dead

[@PrimalScrub]

Fans: Nintendo should release a Zelda Dungeon Maker. The average Zelda fan dungeon:

[@LittleBeanGreen]

🤣🤣🤣🥲

[@harukaze7388]

Very long ago (like, 25 years ago) there was a Zelda maker fangame and it came bundled with a Third (and then fourth!) Quest. People made things like fights with 20-headed Gleeoks, forced swordless dungeons, and big mess puzzle bosses involving finding the right Tile while dodging absurd damage hitboxes everywhere. To say nothing of the new enemies like putting "Windrobes" everywhere that took you to the start of the dungeon, or super fast Lynel Darknuts. You could get a wallet upgrade and of course that meant people would put money or life rooms needing you to pay 999 rupees to continue. So of course I put two of those before you had a chance to get rupees and go through an entire dungeon where the dungeon item was a single rupee so you could pay for a third room without dying. Alas, that was going too far for the engine.

[@TalkingLoon]

In the Switch release of Link's Awakening there's this really cool dungeon maker. You talk to this one guy in a cave late in the game, it's like solving a puzzle and then playing that puzzle. Had hours of fun with it, especially if one player makes the dungeons and then another tries to beat them without knowing the design.

[@rodneylives]

@@harukaze7388 That game, now called ZQuest Classic, is still going! It's worth a Google'n!

[@King_Luigi]

@@TalkingLoon Problem with that is, that it's very limited. You can only use pre-existing rooms from dungeons you've beaten. You can't control where the stairs connect or what's in the chests. All you're really doing is shuffling the order/placement of rooms, but not what's in them.

[@thelastwindwaker7948]

The second quest really is the epitome of what detractors of this game say it is. Cryptic, confusing and random.

[@LittleBeanGreen]

It takes very specific instances of things you may run into once (or not at all) from the base game and makes them mandatory. It's wild 😅

[@Olimario34_]

what if all the Zelda 1 haters named their file "Zelda" on their first playthrough without realizing....

[@religion15]

Well, at least for me it's what makes 2nd quest awesome xd

[@EnjoySackLunch]

Just like my underwear drawer

[@LittleBeanGreen]

@@EnjoySackLunch Enjoy....sack lunch?

[@JasonBoyce]

I'm one of those people who, as a kid, named their character "Zelda," because that was the name of the game, I never made it very far in the game. This was the 80s or early 90s, so I had very little info and no ability to figure out that I had made the game insanely more difficult for myself

[@LittleBeanGreen]

you poor, poor soul.

[@Mordecrox]

Kid named Justin Bailey playing Metroid:

[@harukaze7388]

​@@Mordecrox that's the actual origin of the code. the password is genuinely a coincidence of random characters, and could only be found that way. some Justin Bailey either put found it and sent it to a magazine, or someone who knows a Justin Bailey did

[@ViviSectia]

@@harukaze7388 A few years ago, some site tried to track down the origin of the password and found that the first person to submit the password to any magazine was a kid named Steve from Kentucky and it was known around his school. The only known person named Justin Bailey to go to that specific school around that time was two years old when the game came out so it was likely a family member who tried it and the real Justin Bailey might not even know he's the Justin Bailey people are talking about.

[@Dark.Shingo]

Zelda's second quest freaked me out as a kid as all rules were broken. It was kind of a creepypasta before creepypasta.

[@LittleBeanGreen]

I don't know what Faustian bargain Nintendo made to create it but...we're all paying for it.

[@BAIGAMING]

I wonder how many people accidentally named Link as Zelda and went onto the Second Quest by mistake 😂

[@LittleBeanGreen]

Poor souls...

[@daisukidatotoro]

Me

[@mattsweeney3790]

Me as well

[@Daniel-l9z6l]

I did at like 7 years old and it was hard as fuck years later I played under a different name and was like what is this it was too easy lol

[@captainpowers]

Yep

[@MIchaelArlowe]

Creating a whole second adventure because you notice some space left over in the cart is such a Chad move.

[@Mordecrox]

Remember when Iwata picked up Game Freak's slack and upon massively optimizing the Gold/Silver games, decided to also do that and cram the entire Kanto region? I wish they kept this pattern of previous region being unlocked by first game clear.

[@LittleBeanGreen]

a diabolically chad move

[@fbomb7184]

Don’t forget. The only reason there was extra space is because somebody screwed up and accidentally only used half the space. The 2nd Quest is the ultimate “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade”.

[@TheBreadPirate]

Oh my gosh, I never knew there were invisible walls in this game. I thought that was just a Zelda II thing. OH LORD! I'm gonna have to play this now.

[@LittleBeanGreen]

and let me know at which point you start ripping your hair out!

[@n1nj4l1nk]

There's a dungeon hidden behind one in the first Quest. Edit: I feel super smort rn and not embarrassed at all in any way. No siree.

[@TheBreadPirate]

@@n1nj4l1nk Have you ever played the First Quest?

[@LittleBeanGreen]

@@n1nj4l1nk As far as I know there is only one invisible wall in the first quest in the northeast corner and it leads to 100 rupees, not a dungeon.

[@n1nj4l1nk]

@@TheBreadPirate yeah, I've 100% all of the games apart from TotK 🤮 I don't have a great memory though, I'm pretty sure I played a dungeon there but I've played a ton of rom hacks in the past few years. Guess I've overwritten my memory of the base game. Still, there's an invisible wall in the first Quest that I thought everyone knew about.

[@vitriolicAmaranth]

"So Zelda 1's second quest had secret walls you could just walk through to find important content, it's horrible." Hidetaka Miyazaki: Wait, run that by me again "It's horrible." HM: No, the other part

[@LittleBeanGreen]

I've heard of these - I don't like it hahahaha

[@EnvyOmicron]

The illusory walls in the souls games are completely optional though

[@vitriolicAmaranth]

@@EnvyOmicron You've never played Dark Souls 1.

[@tardistrailers]

@@vitriolicAmaranth Name one illusory wall required to be found to beat the game.

[@vitriolicAmaranth]

@@tardistrailers You are, I suspect, deliberately splitting hairs while trying to be "subtle" about it to deceive anyone not in the know. The Great Hollow and Ash Lake, an entire large section of the game and by extension the entire dragon covenant, are locked behind not one but TWO illusory walls. I never said anything about being required to beat the game, but if you claim not to consider that important content or to be "completely" optional, you are outright lying.

[@mattray4876]

I defeated the original Zelda back in 1987 and promptly began the Second Quest. Thirty-seven years later, I still haven't completed it for many of the same reasons you mentioned.

[@LittleBeanGreen]

you can do it!

[@harukaze7388]

The commercial for the first Zelda was bundled together with The Lost Levels and featured Mario and Link getting beaten up and the players frustrated in rage while their sibling looks smugly at them. That says everything you have to know.

[@LittleBeanGreen]

and there's nothing left to be said.

[@painuchiha2694]

The second quest probably relates to the pain that miyamoto inflicted on his coworkers.

[@LittleBeanGreen]

not sure why we had to suffer for it!

[@judgecagle1377]

To this day, I can't believe I got through the second quest back in the day WITHOUT A GUIDE!

[@LittleBeanGreen]

I bow before you, humbled

[@wyrmh0le]

I honestly didn't know how long it took me to figure out the wall walking secret but it was long enough that the memory from age 10 has stayed with me -haunted me - for over thirty years

[@feigned53]

It was rough in 1989 as a 9 year old, sometimes. This is one of them.

[@EastonJackson-GMC]

Right there with you. I played and beat both quests as a 14 year old boy. I did have my Nintendo Power subscription as my companion.

[@TrueYellowDart]

I’m a parent and I need all the sanity I can muster and retain. So I used a walkthrough for all of level 9. Fuck that noise.

[@LittleBeanGreen]

At least your priorities are in order!

[@Pasakoye]

I like how the dungeuons spell out ZELDA.

[@LittleBeanGreen]

and added some connective squiggles for the other 3 dungeons haha

[@EnjoySackLunch]

@@Pasakoye no sir, they spell out DEALZ

[@CreativeMindsAudio]

I don’t know, i see EA’LOZ here. Like Electronic Art’s Legend of Zelda or something 😂.

[@DJhero5001]

Adding onto the nightmare of thr second quest, you didn't mention that the Stalfos gain the ability to throw swords whenever yoy see them. And you encounter them in the first dungeon. That you only have three hearts at this point more than likely.

[@LittleBeanGreen]

yeah eff that

[@dmuth]

I’m only halfway through the video and I just wanna say how seriously underrated your channel is! ❤

[@LittleBeanGreen]

Thanks for checking it out - I appreciate that!

[@cherubin7th]

OK I will come back when I finished it.

[@LittleBeanGreen]

Good plan.

[@davidklein8608]

I can't wait for you to discover Zelda Classic, a fan made engine to make custom Zelda quests. Some of the quests there make the second quest of LoZ look like child's play. Though some are easier and add items like the lens of truth that shows you all the invisible walls and everything you can interact with (bomb, burn, push). It can add things like the ability to slash with your sword, hammer, hookshot, fire boomerang, defense greater than the red ring, etc.

[@LittleBeanGreen]

oh god - what fresh hell have I awoken?

[@SidShakal]

i played zelda classic in the early 00s! glad it still exists 😀

[@harukaze7388]

Windrobes everywhere. Flute on every screen. The world was spared from my creative horror back in the day.

[@ghastlynavigator]

This was a pure joy of a video to watch. thank you!! 🙏

[@LittleBeanGreen]

many souls died to bring you this enjoyment

[@RobinLSL]

You should have mentioned the need to play the flute on every single overworl screen in case it hides something! Absolutely horror inducing

[@LittleBeanGreen]

Didn't want to relive the trauma...

[@cartoonraccoon2078]

0:10 I was not "furmiliar" whatever that means, but I was "familiar" with it.

[@LittleBeanGreen]

oh phew, glad you were able to figure that out and had the social awareness to bring it to my attention before I embarrassed myself further.

[@Ravum]

​@@LittleBeanGreenyou didn't handle that well.

[@LittleBeanGreen]

@@Ravum thank you, arbiter of my behavior.

[@Ravum]

@@LittleBeanGreen the only person you have to blame for the misplaced rage you feel is yourself. I hope you get better one day

[@LittleBeanGreen]

@@Ravum Huh, this is a new feeling: pride in someone else. Unfortunately, it's overshadowed by all this UNYIELDING RAGE!

[@nezuminora9528]

And almost every Zelda since then has involved getting the thing and then doing the thing. I think Aonuma lost his way when he forgot this basic principle of game design

[@LittleBeanGreen]

Get the thing and do the thing already, Aonuma!

[@christiannorton9400]

The second quest is why i have a hard time picking up new games. Trust issues.

[@LittleBeanGreen]

the trauma is real

[@BigHailFan]

Funny. Everything you said reminded me of my first time playing and trying to find the damn second dungeon on vanilla tucked away in one specific tile near the desert.

[@LittleBeanGreen]

it'll have ya ripping your hair out!

[@harukaze7388]

funnily enough I literally had more trouble finding level 2 in first quest than anything in second quest that one screen may as well not exist

[@Olimario34_]

the entrance to Lv 6 is really the only unfair thing about the second quest. that is real bs

[@LittleBeanGreen]

The truest bs.

[@justintime343]

No playthrough of The Legend of Zelda is truly complete without conquering the second quest!

[@LittleBeanGreen]

ain't that the truth!

[@SkeleSukei]

Legit amazing video, your inflections and descriptions are hilarious

[@LittleBeanGreen]

Thanks for watching!😁

[@fluffystagbeetle4526]

This video style, content, and commentary reminds me a lot of old PBG. Love it

[@LittleBeanGreen]

and i'm a little more green :)

[@JohnSmith-zw8vp]

3:20 -- Back in the day (early 90s) I did indeed find out that walking through the wall thing (as well as whistle unlocking hidden caves like the First Quest's Level 7) purely by accident!

[@LittleBeanGreen]

better by accident then never at all

[@SuperJM9]

I remember my first time playing this. I looked up the locations of two heart containers, the ones you have to find by playing the flute. I also looked up the locations of dungeons 6, 7 and 9. I had the correct location for the latter, but didn’t think of burning the bush from the other side. I found dungeon 8 through the “south of the arrow mark lies a secret” hint. It is really tough. Those orange bubbles are just brutal. And I had to look up walking through the wall in dungeon 2. The Famicom Disk System version, which is what I play now, is a bit easier. There’s no slowdown and you can defeat the Pol’s Voices by shouting into the microphone. This means you don’t depend on finding the bow to defeat them easily, which means you can defeat them in dungeon 4. Then there’s the “Leave your life or money” guy who can just completely stop you in your tracks and force you to come back with rupees. Despite the difficulty I actually really enjoyed it. It was amazing finding most of the secrets by myself. I don’t like how there aren’t as many hidden rupees though. That plus the game’s greater rupee requirements to finish it means there’s a bit of a grind. Still, a great game overall.

[@LittleBeanGreen]

Glad you enjoyed it even given some of its more....obscure moments.

[@seanchoiselat3237]

I just finished second quest without a guide. It was a really fun experience! I put myself in the shoes of a player in 1987, drawing maps of the more confusing dungeons on graph paper. I believe I died about 45 times. The handmade map helped a lot. Many bombs were used.

[@LittleBeanGreen]

You've got more patience then me - I commend you!

[@genuinesaucy]

Second quest is like the drill instructor from Full Metal Jacket and you're Private Pyle.

[@LittleBeanGreen]

"Did your parents have any children that lived!?"

[@DoktorSus]

This might be the jolliest video I have ever listened to.

[@LittleBeanGreen]

the second quest really brings it out of me

[@koumeiseidai]

I did a second quest run a few years ago, and I just kept thinking, wow I forgot how much harder this is.

[@LittleBeanGreen]

tried to remove it from your brain

[@ericneuman9130]

Well done on the video and presentation! You’ve articulated the madness well indeed

[@LittleBeanGreen]

Thanks for watching!

[@ethankolderman6641]

5:44 Feel it burn you!

[@LittleBeanGreen]

tried for 3 years, seems like...90...

[@davidgood840]

I actually played and beat the second quest for the first time 3 years ago , and really loved it . I was disappointed that I had to look up the first hint about walking through the wall , as it just never occurred to me to do that . After learning that this was possible , I got out pen and paper and drew maps to keep track of everything and had a really good time !

[@LittleBeanGreen]

I think they telegraphed it in that room as best they could but it's still kind of a wild mechanic.

[@davidgood840]

@@LittleBeanGreen Oh for sure ! I visited that room several times because you are stuck in the game until you figure it out , but I just didn't have the inspiration to simply walk through the wall like Jesus ;)

[@DTSephiroth]

I'm probably one of the few people who beat the second quest without outside help. i was 8 or 9 at the time. Beat both quests for the first time over the course of a single summer. Once i realized walking through walls was a thing, I started to think outside the box, using the whistle all over the overworld. Between that and my rampant use of bombs and fire, I must have pissed off every old man who really liked their doors. Then I went back to the first quest and found 100 Rupee Moblin number 3. If you know, you know.

[@LittleBeanGreen]

oh i know ;)

[@masteryoraerasante]

From what I recall, I heard online that the game came with a mini-manual called something like "secrets guide" that was just for the Second Quest. So probably all these changes and dungeon locations were in there? I mean, the normal quest came with a map already too.

[@LittleBeanGreen]

hm i've never heard of this and can't find anything about it online. Nintendo has most of their manuals in an online database. STRANGE.

[@masteryoraerasante]

@LittleBeanGreen maybe I am condusing it with LttP Dark World? Not sure right now...

[@LittleBeanGreen]

@@masteryoraerasante Hm, ALttP is next on my list so maybe I'll keep an eye open while I'm going through it

[@taemien9219]

The crazy thing about Dungeon 9 in Second Quest is its reused as the last dungeon in Legend of Link. They use Dungeon 9 in the first quest as the fourth dungeon before sending you to the Dark World. Legend of Link is a romhack of Legend of Zelda that introduces items and mechanics seen in Link to the Past and Link's Awakening, as well as unique music tracks for each dungeon. Highly recommend it.

[@LittleBeanGreen]

Hm interesting - may have to check it out.

[@taemien9219]

@@LittleBeanGreen Make sure to watch its intro, you're in for a treat.

[@lct23]

I remember being furious when I finally discovered you could walk through walls to gather the recorder. Level 3 can only be discovered with the recorder and digdogger was in level 4. I knew it had to be in level 1, 2, or 3 being at the time I didn’t know 3 needed the recorder to enter. When I finally saw you could walk through walls I just remembered thinking “how was I supposed to know that never happened in the first quest”

[@LittleBeanGreen]

There is one spot in the northeast corner in the first quest you can walk through...but you'd never know and having it be integral in the second quest is diabolical

[@lct23]

@@LittleBeanGreen there is an old man that will tell you something like the northeast penninsula has a secret. so theres some info in the game that you can do that. theres literally no dialogue to tell you can walk through walls in the second quest. ill add that the room the chose to introduce it is perfect given you walk between those rows of blocks. but that room existed already in the 1st quest. its diabolical and evil lol

[@magnusdiridian]

This guy gives the AVGN a run for his money with far less cuss words.

[@LittleBeanGreen]

deep-seated despair will do that to ya

[@jadenaddams3674]

I remember beating this at about 8 or 9 (In the 80s), and being happy that I beat it... and then making the conscious decision that I never wanted to do it again.

[@LittleBeanGreen]

the right decision if you ask me!

[@rodneylives]

You were lucky to find Level 7 quickly, it was the last one I found when I first played through the Second Quest soon after the game's release. It's the single hardest-to-burn tree location that can still be reached! It can only be burned from the other side of that row of trees! URG

[@LittleBeanGreen]

I was aiming for the tree to the right of it. I thought I had found level 2 (which is what I was looking for at the time). just a happy accident

[@crossrulz]

As a kid, my dad and I mapped out both adventures. There's no way we could have done it otherwise.

[@LittleBeanGreen]

tnat sounds like a ton of fun

[@MythicMachina]

What makes it so much worse is that back in the NES age, game design already had like next to no rules of what not to do. Now take the sticky note's worth of rules they had... and throw them out the window. And then Master Quest in OOT comes along and goes "Congrats for beating the game! You're not getting past the first dungeon."

[@LittleBeanGreen]

I loved the OoT Master Quest...although it's probably been more than 10 years since I last played it.

[@thomasc6574]

got over halfway thru a blind (no help/maps) second quest run on my wii virtual console a few years back. had a rule to bomb everything. eventually became stuck on finding another dungeon and left it alone by watching videos like this i know now to whistle everywhere also. i jost got to pick it back up. blind second quest is pain

[@LittleBeanGreen]

I got through dungeon 5 before I had to no longer be blind - would never have even thunk to whistle everywhere...

[@johnkredit9072]

If someone tells you that you can walk through walls and to, if in doubt, use the whistle, you can probably brute force this one. But the level 8 entrance was the part that got me stuck the longest. I had to look it up, and it's a good thing I did because there was no chance I was going to figure out the bomb across water thing

[@LittleBeanGreen]

Not to mention, I think you get the stepladder in level 6? So not only would you never think to bomb across the water, you would never know what it is you found until the late game. When I accidentally found level 7 right after level 1, I could go in immediately before realized oh. wait. there's no way I'm doing this.

[@Justin-Hill-1987]

Ah, yes! Those "false walls," which usually hide secret rooms in labyrinths, requiring you to walk through them like if you were Casper...

[@LittleBeanGreen]

and then wish you could end it all and be a ghost

[@AmarantiStellar]

As a child, I entered my name as Zelda, because I thought that was Link's name. Only as an adult did I learn that the First Quest existed.

[@LittleBeanGreen]

what a world to live in!

[@PSpurgeonCubFan]

a cornucopia of sadistic confusion - put that on a Tshirt

[@LittleBeanGreen]

you make it, I'll wear it.

[@shadsie5484]

As soon as you entered the room with the clear path and a wall in front of you, I thought "Hmmm... I wonder how long it's gonna take before he figures out pressing-against the wall and phasing?" I remember figuring out that trick when bombs didn't work and I just did the farting around and finding out thing. Then, I cracked it. Every wall you couldn't bomb, just try the phase to see if it works.

[@LittleBeanGreen]

that strategy wasted so much of my time 😅

[@playdg]

Back in '86 we just played and beat the game. The goal was more important than the journey. And there were no participation trophies, you had to win. With a gold cartridge.

[@LittleBeanGreen]

and you done did it.

[@NeoDeity]

I didn't have internet, but I did have an Nes growing up. Beating the second quest was like my first platinum achievement in gaming.

[@LittleBeanGreen]

It's an accomplishment that should be allowed on resumes and taken seriously.

[@Baragon540]

I was 7 years old and got to pick one nintendo game as my birthday present. I chose this solely because of the gold cartridge. My dad and i both made names, but my step mom picked Zelda. It became an obsession of hers and i remember her pleading with my dad to call the nentendo help-line for tips. my b-day present cost him so much....

[@LittleBeanGreen]

whoops!

[@PaladinLarec]

I was 11 when the original zelda came out. I distinctly remember beating the first quest in 3 months, but by then being so experienced, I beat the second one in a week. I was a very sheltered kid, of course....

[@LittleBeanGreen]

dang. regardless. you had what it takes!

[@heromcdohl]

I remember completing the 2nd quest as a child. Like you it left such a bad memory I never want to do it again. I recall there was a dungeon that had only the red guys but no blue guys, so if you got hit you had to leave the dungeon and go another one with the blue guys. I might be mistaken though as child memory. Either way, Bad times.

[@LittleBeanGreen]

I THINK this is true - or there is a secret staircase that leads to a secret room that only has blue guys. but that's not really much better.

[@ellensunden2778]

I remember playing it when there was no internet, only a small group of my friends and I against the second quest. It took us months and months to play through it, and when we were stuck, we were stuck until we figured it out. 😭😭😭 It's just nice to know that we aren't the only ones who found the second quest to be soul-shattering...😌😌😌

[@LittleBeanGreen]

I feel like playing with a small group of friends would be the only way not to fall into that deep dark abyss

[@ellensunden2778]

@@LittleBeanGreen You're quite right! We would fail and fail, but always keep each other going. And when one of us would succeed in a difficult part of the game, we all shared in the victory. 😄😄😄

[@jameswarner5878]

2:42 took me over a week to figure it out

[@LittleBeanGreen]

that's insane haha

[@dosmunos]

I finally played through the second quest a few years ago and it went way too smoothly for me. Once I realized the invisible door thing, “paranoia” as said here set in and it actually felt a little lazy with how many times it occurs in this quest.

[@LittleBeanGreen]

TOO much

[@supersat]

It seems like they reused the first quest's rooms, but just laid them out differently. And with that constraint, walking through walls suddenly makes sense, as those rooms were never designed to work that way.

[@LittleBeanGreen]

interesting...although they did change some enemy behaviors and even which enemies appear in some rooms...you would think adding bombable walls or doors wouldn't be too much of a lift but.

[@IronMan3582]

I'm glad my memories of even attempting the second quest when I found out about it in the 90s weren't of me not remembering things correctly - it was that difficult, it was that unfair, it was that non-sensical, it was stacked against the player from get get-go

[@LittleBeanGreen]

and yet still people found ways, against their better judgment I imagine, to overcome it.

[@IronMan3582]

@@LittleBeanGreen I'm currently in the middle of finishing Infidelity's port of Zelda 1 on the SNES, if I'm feeling brave maybe I'll stream the second quest...there's just enough QoL updates in the port that will just might make it manageable enough

[@LittleBeanGreen]

@@IronMan3582 I don't envy your position haha

[@IronMan3582]

@@LittleBeanGreen no one should, ha ha

[@xTheToolx]

Congrats! I completed it when I was 12 yrs old in 1999. Good times.

[@LittleBeanGreen]

😅😅😅

[@stur448]

This was delightful. Ty

[@LittleBeanGreen]

always

[@throwbackswiththetechnodrome]

It’s all true. I still remember learning the Zelda naming trick as a kid and going straight to the Second Quest, I got to Level 1 and was almost immediately killed by a sword shooting Stalfos and knew I’d bitten off more than I could chew. Intermittently over the past 35 years I’ve mustered up the courage to try to beat the Second Quest for bragging rights and completion’s sake, and during my campaign to do so earlier this year I realized I wasn’t having fun doing it and life is too short to waste on such a time sucking fruitless endeavor. Good for you for beating this Goliath for all of us who’ve given up! -Cast

[@LittleBeanGreen]

You're right about one thing - it's a time suck.

[@throwbackswiththetechnodrome]

@@LittleBeanGreen 35 years down the drain

[@swampert564]

Accurate and yet I love it.

[@LittleBeanGreen]

more power to ya!

[@Level_Eleven]

After beating every Zelda game, there are only so many reasons remaining for me to continue putting off giving the Second Quest an honest chance 😅

[@LittleBeanGreen]

it doesn't give you one, why should you give it one? 🤣🥲

[@Fan-lq6uv]

Just found this video and I thought I'd add my memory. I was there 3,000 years ago (well, closer to 40) when I finished the first quest and found the second quest. No Gamefaqs yet, no magazine guide, not even Nintendo Power had any map or detail. Second quest was very hard the first time back then, especially 7th and 8th dungeon with so many one way routes and tough enemies. I eventually finished second quest after 4 months, and was disappointed there was no 3rd quest. Just goes back to first quest. PS if you used Zelda trick, second quest will repeat after completing it, no first quest at all

[@LittleBeanGreen]

you're in luck - there is actually a 3rd and 4th quest that was part of Nintendo's satellaview.

[@Fan-lq6uv]

@@LittleBeanGreen Yeah, not available in USA back then. Had to use emulator when it was dumped.

[@paladinslash4721]

I wonder if this was where Miyazaki got his obsession with illusory walls in the Souls series.

[@LittleBeanGreen]

That's been a common question - someone better ask him!

[@unknownuser494]

Hidden walls are really common in dungeon crawlers.

[@SmarteeeSteve]

I love the second quest , it's a serious endeavor! Helps to get the ladder from L6 after completing L2

[@LittleBeanGreen]

I don't think I'll be playing it again 😅

[@nexus1g]

When I was 12, I bombed every wall, I pushed every rock, awoke every statue, moved every gravestone, and I burned every bush and marked it on the included map. I did this for both quests.

[@LittleBeanGreen]

hope you played the flute on every screen too

[@nexus1g]

@@LittleBeanGreen I actually don't recall if I did that.

[@LittleBeanGreen]

@@nexus1g time to go back and try!

[@jamesbrowne5496]

Back when we didn't have a lot of options, when we were first presented with a gigantic open world, I can say, we wanted more and didn't hate the 2nd quest.

[@LittleBeanGreen]

I can imagine. And then we got spoiled and now look at me.

[@JeremyNoblitt]

Some friends of mine, who are brothers, had no idea there was a first quest because they always named their files as Zelda.

[@LittleBeanGreen]

poor brothers

[@elgatochurro]

It tells you in just 1 sentence at the end of the first quest that you can walk through some walls though you need to run into it first a bit

[@LittleBeanGreen]

When and where does it say this?

[@harukaze7388]

@@LittleBeanGreen The old man in Level 9. Originally, you were meant to walk through the wall next to the old man in the corner of the map, which would be required as it had the Silver Arrows. (However in english said hint was translated as "Go to the next room.")

[@LittleBeanGreen]

@@harukaze7388 I see - although that and the northwest tile aren't necessarily the pinnacle of showing you that that is indeed meant to be a recurring (or good) mechanic.

[@elgatochurro]

@@LittleBeanGreen literally the last thing it says when you beat the first game normally "youve unlocked the 2nd quest, remember you can walk through some walls" thats all it told me at the end... and I specifically felt, and i was right i feel, that it meant walls/spots you would normally bomb. yeah if you type in Zelda and start you dont get that warning/hint hahahha

[@LittleBeanGreen]

@@elgatochurro I just rewatched the end of my playthrough and nowhere does it ever say that. You must have been one of the lucky ones 😅

[@AzureGreatheart]

"Zelda's Second Quest Hates You and Wants You Dead" You say that like this is new information.

[@LittleBeanGreen]

As someone who never played it, it was 🤣

[@shadsie5484]

Ah, good times, good memories. (I remember playing it multiple times, as it was the Zelda game I had as a kid). I'm also that lunatic who thinks "Zelda II isn't THAT hard, you just gotta have patience."

[@LittleBeanGreen]

That's one I've played through the first dungeon then never kept up with...that may be next.

[@shadsie5484]

@@LittleBeanGreen Would be good to make a video on - you'd get to do lots of frustrated screaming!

[@LittleBeanGreen]

@@shadsie5484 oh god 🤣

[@autocosm]

3:30 Did you never get the heart from the "eastmost peninsula?"

[@LittleBeanGreen]

I think I got all the hearts, yes

[@Justin-Hill-1987]

It takes plenty of motor skill to get through the second quest. It also requires you to use a strategy guide if you get stuck. I conquered both quests and I definitely qualify as an NES Zelda master. This is why I chose "The Legend of Zelda" as my favorite game and "Princess Zelda's #1 Fan" as my tagline on the NWC: NES Edition game on the Nintendo Switch.

[@LittleBeanGreen]

you've really done it.

[@Clyde-S-Wilcox]

Most accurate video title ever.

[@LittleBeanGreen]

some truths are obvious

[@Damariobros]

I had to look up the entrance to dungeon 8, the flutes thing where you use the flute to find hidden entrances in the overworld, and hidden walls, which I already swore were there and I already tried walking through the wall but it turns out I just didn't hold Down long enough… bad luck. Outside of those three instances I was pretty fine with second quest! 👌 I had fun! 😊

[@LittleBeanGreen]

great!

[@gallioearthmage]

They told me that the second quest would permanently destroy my sanity, but that's ridiculous. I beat it, and I'm perfectly pinhole buffalo marshmallow cart ride to Tuscaloosa.

[@LittleBeanGreen]

uh oh should we tell em?

[@coolguychecker7329]

Yeah it's pretty great, but I don't think it's particularly masochistic. It didn't feel anywhere near as sadistic as say Elden Ring. What's great about the second quest's dungeon design is you have to pay attention to the map, read context and the room design to figure out where to go. The dungeon with the stairs that warp you back require you to map out those connections, you actually have to keep track of the layout, not just go wherever there's stairs or a door. These kind of design principles would be cued much better in later games, but these are nonetheless the prototypical elements of traditional dungeon design that ended up being so strong in later games such as Ocarina of Time or the Oracle games. Just a specific example to make my point, the room at 6:14 is basically the same design as those wheel room in the Oracle games, the ones where you enter from one side and it turns one way but only turns back. A lot of those navigational design elements are in these dungeons, admittedly just not as well communicated.

[@LittleBeanGreen]

The wheel rooms are good, I like those (and part of the reason I think the Oracle games are some of the best love letters to the original). Yes a lot of this is a precursor to things that were much better down the road, that room you specifically pointed out not being one I had issue with. I think the problem is that a lot of those staircases you have to find pushing blocks, which would normally advance you through the dungeon, so when you find these and it's a reset - that sucks. The other issue is that, in later dungeons, you can uncover these staircases, and they'll be one way to somewhere else in the dungeon and so you have to navigate all the way back. A lot of time the map was not useful for getting from room to room as many were either connected in a way that's not communicated by the map or that have such bizarre connections, the in-game map doesn't do the best job.

[@coolguychecker7329]

@@LittleBeanGreen All good points. You really have to make your own map in the second quest. The whole push block mechanic was not great even in the first quest, but it's really bad in the second quest. Zelda would get better with having the puzzle mechanics actually cohere logically with the effect they produce. Unfortunately, the series continued to have those kinds of weirdly coded puzzles basically up until Wind Waker, though all still huge improvements over the first game.

[@LittleBeanGreen]

@@coolguychecker7329 I do like that the newer games, because the puzzles are built on physics, it's easier to intuit what you can/should do - I just wish they were better integrated into the world/larger dungeons.

[@girlbuu9403]

Let me tell you a story, that takes place before this game in the 1970s. The story of a man named Gary Gygax. He was making some random board game, Monsters and Mazes or something, and play testing it with his two children and best friend. Like in Zelda, you had free reign to do anything, go anywhere, and explore, solve puzzles, and all that kind of stuff. But his kids soon started getting cocky. Started getting smug. Started talking about how easy the game was. He ramped up the difficulty, and even with their characters almost dying they still were giving him bravado. Gary decided he'd had enough of that. So he made a very special dungeon for them. He called it the Tomb of Horrors. It lived up to both the first and last words in its title. He decided why not, and released it for sale to the public, so other people could put their friends through this obtuse, punishingly difficult, insta-death everywhere meat grinder. People played his board game and got this module for it. They ran their friends through that, and for many people that seemed to be the point of the game. To make it frustratingly difficult. Soon people made their own dungeons quite similar to this one. Everyone assumed constantly DYING was just synonymous with the game. Enter the 1980s. Computers have gotten much more powerful, allowing computers small enough to sell to the public to do things room sized computers were doing in the 60s. This included running complex videogames. In fact, Liches and Labyrinths could be ported into them in a way and many programmers had played his board game. So they made games similar, like Ultima, Might and Magic, and Shadowgate. All of which were- as Tomb of Horrors was- punishingly difficult. In some ways more so, because while a game master might have pity and help you out a computer would never unless programmed to do so. At the same time a big tech boom was happening in Japan, and many of these games would find their way overseas from North America and Europe. As a consequence Japan saw a huge boom in games like this and medieval European style fantasy- though that was also blowing up in the west, so it is debatable how much of it was videogames. Couple this with many programmers believing the best way to satisfy customers and make them feel like a videogame was longer than it actually was was to put cryptic secrets and punishing difficulty into it. This was true of the NES era Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest games, and while the Legend of Zelda is a different genre as an action adventure game it almost certainly influenced some of their decisions there. I refuse to believe when designing the second quest the programmers at Nintendo weren't pulling inspiration from Tomb of Horrors, if not one of the plethora of nightmares it spawned. Frankly Zelda 2 Adventure of Link does too.

[@girlbuu9403]

For the record, I am a child of the 80s. But grew up in a house hold that considered Beholders and Basements a demonic occult gateway. But videogames obviously inspired by it were fine, because my parents and grandparents never played Centaurs and Catacombs. I played games like Zelda, Shadowgate and Ultima Exodus as a toddler, but wouldn't play D&D proper until the 2000s. Third edition was more hard core than fifth, but a lot of the "kill all your player's characters and laugh" mentality was waning by that point. My GMs were mostly cream puffs, actually afraid to kill characters unless it was a big fight. One eventually ran Tomb of Horrors, with stern warnings we probably would die. We all were prepared for that and didn't get attached to our characters accordingly, but the insanity of the dungeon had a bunch of the 90s millennials losing their minds at how brutal it was, just marveling as we all died hideously in the first few rooms. And I was like "I dunno, it just seems like an old NES game to me." "But you died almost immediately." "I did when playing those old games too for the first time. So what?" Just stunned silence. Dungeon master reveals it wasn't even as bad as the original. A lot of the instant death stuff had just been turned to high damage output for 3rd. I laughed. For giving me the ability to take things like this with a grain of salt I owe a lot to games like these.

[@LittleBeanGreen]

Ultima is said to have been an inspiration for Zelda 1 so I'm sure the through line is there.

[@Anwin0066]

You can wall walk for secrets in the first quest too

[@LittleBeanGreen]

If I remember correctly, it's only in 1 specific spot and it's not mandatory.

[@whtiequillBj]

I remember playing thru Quest 1 and 2. I did have the NES Atlas to guide me though and explain all the secrets.

[@LittleBeanGreen]

that would've been incredibly helpful...

[@BigPlatinumDragon]

I actually enjoyed the challenge of the second quest. Once finishing the game and noticing my character had a sword on the selection screen I had to start a new game to see if the game was harder the second time through and finding out the dungeons were in different locations as well as the game being harder made me enjoy it so much more. To be honest games that just make a second play though "harder" simply by adding more opponents or making it so you take more damage and they take less per hit just shows lazy programing, I loved all the unexpected changes and the fact you had to experiment to discover new things. Plus it made an unusual hint in the first playthrough have a much greater meaning in the second map. I purposely worked my way across the overland map to the far upper right corner to hopefully score another big rupee pay off, and was delighted to discover the Blue Ring. of course I had to round up a bunch more rupees before I could buy it.

[@LittleBeanGreen]

I think the idea of the second quest is great. that said, the quest itself is largely bullshit.

[@edenisburning]

North, West, South, West The path through the lost woods is permanently imprinted in my brain

[@edenisburning]

BTW.. level 4 is easily one of the hardest levels in the 2nd quest.

[@LittleBeanGreen]

What information has it kept you from retaining I wonder. It all sucks hahaha

[@kamileon7065]

I actually didn’t mind the dungeons, I thought the twists they introduced were fun. The new overworld flute “puzzles” on the other hand…

[@LittleBeanGreen]

don't get me started...

[@wentencel]

I've recently spent a lot of time playing the second quest because it was unfamiliar territory. I did spoil the experience with having all the maps ready to go, though. I just couldn't get over how scarce and unhelpful the other NPCs are in giving hints compared to the first quest. Once I had the maps to chart a course it actually turned out to be a faster playthrough than the first, so I think the "no hints good luck" unless you have a Nintendo power really was the boss of the second quest.

[@LittleBeanGreen]

I made it through five dungeons before I decided I couldn't take it any longer. Maybe if I was a kid and me and all my friends were playing it....but alas.

[@BrotherBearBarras]

The fact that you have to blow the whistle/recorder to find hidden staircases, when it's never that way in the 1st quest is one of the reasons I hate it.

[@LittleBeanGreen]

When I came across that as an answer, I about threw in the towel. Never would've crossed my mind.

[@MrPSaun]

I refused to use a guide when I played the Second Quest. Figuring out the false wall in Level-2 was one of the largest hits of dopamine I've ever received in my life.

[@LittleBeanGreen]

and it's all been downhill from there 🤣

[@Dethneko]

Miyamoto: hating fun since 1986

[@LittleBeanGreen]

The Original Player Hater

[@aweirdwombat]

When I first played, I named my character Zelda because that was the name of the game and I assumed the hero. I didn't understand why the game was so hard. It was only later I'd learned what I'd done.

[@LittleBeanGreen]

you poor fool

[@alexstoner4446]

i dont remember haveing to go through the walls without making a hole

[@LittleBeanGreen]

zelda's second quest - no holes required!* *some holes required.

[@JoLiKMC]

Okay. _But._ Can we talk about the "Third" and "Fourth" "Quests"? _(BS Legend of Zelda_ Maps 1 and 2.)

[@LittleBeanGreen]

ST GIGA. We gotta do first and second before moving on! Maybe once this nightmare fades...

[@azurabayta133]

Damn you didn't have to sell me on it THAT hard

[@LittleBeanGreen]

Didn't I!?

[@Magus12000BC]

The first issue of Nintendo Power gave you a map and guides exclusively for the second quest.

[@LittleBeanGreen]

I'm a little behind the times.

[@megagrey]

Well, 'unreasonable challenge' is an apt descriptor of most of the 8/16-bit era.

[@LittleBeanGreen]

I'd say this is unreasonable even for that era hahaha

[@jasonhelenburg5759]

That second quest I never seen a game streamer play it. They know they will get their a$$ handed to them.

[@LittleBeanGreen]

I imagine it'd be like watching a live execution.

[@Georghiou2D]

don't you have a map in this game? doesn't it become somewhat obvious which walls must have a room on the other side by looking at the map?

[@LittleBeanGreen]

You do have a map, but it isn't obvious. Some rooms don't even follow the same rules. One level is shaped like an 'A' and the room you get to by walking through the walls is the hole in the middle of the A that is technically not even part of the letter. Some walls are one way, some you can pass through in both directions, some rooms have hidden staircases that may take you to rooms you can't reach that aren't even accessible otherwise, some dungeons have all three AND bombable walls. You end up pushing into every wall and block and bombing every wall on the off chance they may lead somewhere, which they often don't.

[@Georghiou2D]

@@LittleBeanGreen oh what the hell haha. great video.