With the Titan Mitt, Link is now quickly moving to the end of the game.
The Smith Comes Home
The Titan’s Mitt is the final world-opening item in the game. There are surprisingly few things still left to get, and three of the four heart pieces Link can get now are close to dungeons six and seven and don’t increase the heart total so it’s kind of pointless to go after them immediately. So that leaves three items, centered on the blacksmiths’ shop east of Kakariko Village. First, where the Library is in the Light World, Link finds the blacksmith’s missing partner. Somehow, he can follow Link through the Magic Mirror, and the two go to the shop. As the smith promised, now that they’re both there they can temper the Master Sword.
Once that’s done, it’s time to visit the Dark World version of the shop. On the grounds outside are a pancaketon of pegs just asking to be hit by a hammer. Link obliges and opens a passageway to the 20th heart piece. Inside the ruined building where the shop stands, there’s a chest with its key locked inside. Since this isn’t the randomizer where that only happens if the key’s not important, Link takes the chest, which follows him around rather than going to inventory, and finds a man capable of picking locks – the “average middle-aged man” near the entrance to the desert. The man opens the chest in exchange for Link’s keeping his identity as a thief secret, and Link’s rewarded with a fourth bottle, just in time to tackle the hardest dungeon in the game.
Ice Palace
What makes the Ice Palace so frustrating is that there’s no avoiding doubling back, twice. The first time there’s no indication it’s time to turn back, so it’s possible to go further on than needed before Link runs into a dead end (no big key) and needs to start working his way back up the dungeon. Then the second time involves one of the most infuriating puzzles in the game. Link needs to trigger a switch block to be able to push a block down a floor, but hitting that switch means going up and around to be able to push the block. Plus if he goes too far, he’s got to hit a switch on his way back down1, rendering the whole trip moot. Sequence breaking and getting the treasure from Misery Mire makes this puzzle really easy. Speaking of treasure, this dungeon’s treasure is the blue mail, which makes the Dark World foes a lot less deadly.
There are a bunch of new enemies here; despite Sahasrahla’s advice that magical fire would be essential, the Hookshot is even more useful. Oh, the Fire Rod and/or Bombos are indispensible, no doubt, and the dungeon makes sure Link has one or the other before the first door opens. But the Hookshot’s the best way to deal with Pengators, kills Babasus in a single shot, and lets Link deal with Baris without a chance for being electrocuted, all without consuming magic. Sahasrahla also says that Stalfos Knights can’t be killed with just the sword, which is patently untrue; sure, it’s so much easier to use a bomb when they’re down, but keep beating on them with the sword and they end up just as dead.
Compared with the rest of the dungeon, the boss, Kholdstare, is almost a joke. His first phase can be beaten with a few shots from the Fire Rod or one from Bombos, and then he splits into three worm-like creatures who are also vulnerable to the Fire Rod or just getting hacked at. The maiden tells Link that time is growing short, but he can take the Triforce from Ganon.
Next: More swamps, yay.