First Experiences with the Silent Realms

[Shadsie]

You know, I wasn't really scared of the Silent Realms. In paying attention to Fi's dialouge, I figured "This is just a test of my spiritual strength" and the whole thing with "your spirit will shatter" was apparently not a Game Over - it just ended with Fi telling you that you didn't pass the test. This, therefore, lacked the urgency for me that I have when facing a boss or a regular dungeon/puzzle-trap of dangers. Sure, one hit "kills" you, so it's an added challenge, but I never got the impression through any of it that Link was in mortal danger - only in danger of failing the trial and not getting the shiny new divine present.

I found the non-standard Game Over of the Imprisoned fights (I lost a lot on the third go-round) a lot more emotional/scary. (I just *know* that dammed thing ate Grannie on Game Over, as well as instigating the end of the world)...

That's not to say I do not like the Silent Realms - I love them!

What I liked best was - I noticed how each one tests the aspect belonging to the Goddess to which it is named. Farore's Silent Realm tests your courage by having a number of the Tears in very skin-of-your-teeth places: Right next to Guardians, right past Waking Water... You have to grit up your courage and just go for it.

Nayru's Silent Realm tests your wisdom by having Tears in "puzzle" locations. You have to move minecarts to get to a few of them - one you have to figure out a jump for. There's one stuck in a tree that you have to roll into in order to shake down. There's one located just past a Watcher that you have to figure out timing for to get past.

Din's Silent Realm has Tears in locations you have to pump your Stamina Gauge to reach - climbing climbs, running and jumping off them... it really tests your Power.

Then the Skyloft Silent Realm seems to test all three with Tears next to Guardians, in hard to reach/find places, and in places you have to pump your stamina to get to, so it's Courage, Wisdom and Power in balance!

 

[Go_Skyward]

I can say is that they all hated me. And I seem to have Courare but no wisdom. I almost cried when we put our sword in the ground in the last dungeon when I have found the courgae symbol thing. I was like "OH GOSH NO! NOT ANOTHER SILENT REALM!"

but then it was the triforce and I was happy.

It scared me to death when the gardiens woke up. :c. Its even more fun when your on the photo with your best friend and your both raging and freaking out.

The rest of the game was wonderful though c:

 

[ZeldaLover1]

The first thing I did was the following; like you, I barely read what Fi had told me - - so, as soon as I stepped out of the protective circle, I was surprised to have the guardians chasing me. Though, it wasn't that hard in Farore's silent realm, I found that Lanyru's Silent realm was the hardest, being the the dumb guardian was like - two feet away. In this realm, I instantly ran back into the circle, saved and quit, playing with my friend for support the next day. But Eldin's realm wasn't hard with the guardians, I just couldn't seem to find the tears. So again, my friend came over and helped me. But it was in this realm that I realized that the guardians could go through walls, which startled me. But it was fun. Now I just need to go do the fourth and final silent realm in Skyloft. I have been putting it of, so I'd better play it tonight. Good luck! :clap:

 

[Link~Triforce]

I remember the first time round, i had the same adrenaline-inducing experience as a lot of others, but then i played the Metal Gear Solid main theme and it was one of the best things in the world.

 

[MidnaOfTheTwili]

I was absolutely terrified the first time. Before I got Skyward Sword, I had a magazine that introduced a little bit of the game to give you a taste. It talked about one of the dungeons, and one of the silent realms. I read abut the silent realms, and it scared me. I thought it was gunna be super hard. I got the game a month or so later. I put my sword into the first trial gate, not really knowing what this was. But the minute I entered the realms, I recognized it from a picture in the magazine and my heart started pumping. Even though I was scared, I went through the silent realms fairly easily. It still took me several tries though. Why? I got every tear just fine, except for one. I would get every tear except the one easily, and then I would die while searching in vain for the last one. It was the one on top of the building where you start at, I had no idea there was one up there. After I got that one, I finally won. The rest of the silent realms I did pretty easily too, except when I would make one simple stupid mistake like get myself cornered, or try to run by an activated guardian. Other than that, they were easy. They still get my heart pumping though.

 

[Cuju]

The Faron and Laynaru Silent Realms were both fine for me. I never needed to change my underpants in either of them. I had to in the Skyloft and Eldin ones though. *shivers* *goes and sits in a corner, gently rocking back and forth*

 

[Vanessa28]

In the one in Skyloft I was stuck with one and was searching for it and then I was like what the heck, why should I care for those guardians. I didn't pay attention to the 90 sec and just ran searching for that final one. I believe I got all guardians chasing me but I had the time of my life

 

[SpiritGerudo]

In the one in Skyloft I was stuck with one and was searching for it and then I was like what the heck, why should I care for those guardians. I didn't pay attention to the 90 sec and just ran searching for that final one. I believe I got all guardians chasing me but I had the time of my life

Haha I never paid attention to the 90 seconds. I only ran out of time once, but thats probably more due to my un-coordinated blundering through waking water than skill

Anyway, I hated these things at first, I thought there were two guardians and they would be constantly chasing me. Then I realized this was the complete wrong idea and it got really fun! Now the cut scenes of them waking are just annoying. The first time I played through all of them though, I took like a week for every one, just playing it for a little bit to find the tears and then leaving and doing something that freaked me out less.

 

[Patayha]

At first I hated the Silent Realms. When Fi explained what to do I thought "Welcome baaack, Shadow Insects!". As soon as I stepped out of the circle I nearly got a heart attack! That sound and that colors :S pheew! I messed up the Faron Realm five or six times, just because I couldn't find the last tear near the entrance circle. After I finally completed it I sat there shaking and thinking: "Damn those Silent Realms!!!" Surprisingly I had less trouble with the Lanayru and Eldin ones, I only got spotted several times but never hit by the guardians :clap: I'm sure I'll never forget the guardians' blades behind me while running away
Soon I'll enter the Skyloft Realm for the first time - I'll fail, but I'll fail epical!
By now I enjoy the Silent Realms.

 

[Vanessa28]

Haha I never paid attention to the 90 seconds. I only ran out of time once, but thats probably more due to my un-coordinated blundering through waking water than skill

Anyway, I hated these things at first, I thought there were two guardians and they would be constantly chasing me. Then I realized this was the complete wrong idea and it got really fun! Now the cut scenes of them waking are just annoying. The first time I played through all of them though, I took like a week for every one, just playing it for a little bit to find the tears and then leaving and doing something that freaked me out less.

I remember I was so stupid and couldn't find the tear and I jumped into the water and wanted to swim buit of course I couldn't swim at that time and then those guardians were chasing me. I don't know how I managed it but I managed to escape them though. Not that it helped much because I just couldn't find the last tear either.

 

[felipe970421]

For me the one in Faron wasn't all that adrenaline-ish, I sure got a little bit excited, but not as much as in Lanayru's or Eldin's, I generally just breezed through Faron, in Lanayru I was stupid enpught to gather to ones in the center first, and I died with one tear I couln't find left, I got it second time though, I did Eldin first (kind of) try, Technically it was second try, but first try was like 10 seconds long (lol), I got all the tears except the ones by the watcher-filled sandslide you had to sprinp on your way up, I remember vividly (my breathe is accelerating right now as I remember), I got to the slide and ran up, a dammed watcher got me so I did waht any reasonalble person would do, sprint to the top while being followed by an airborne guardian, I managed to climb the ledge, I swear to god it was some divine intervention or glitch I didn't get killed, SO CLOSE, PHEW, I got the tear on top but then I saw it, the only tear left was in the bottom of the sandslide, I spent about 15 seconds preparating, I had to slide down avoiding the watchers and landing down there in order to get the tear, I launched myself down the slide, I artfully evaded the first two watchers, but the same divine being that killed me when I climbed the ledge decided that a watcher would see me, I trembled as I saw the animation, it was the last tear, and it was right next to the earthborne guardian, I was still sliding, I had one chance, I had to get it while sliding, I shouted, my sister (who was with me) shouted, my parents told us to shut up, and I got it, I got the tear with the guardian right next to me rising his weapon, I, had, done, it.

Moments later I got spotted by a watcher again and had to make an easy sprint to the circle while my sister said "I fyou fail here I'm not your sister"

I also had a hard time getting the tear near the vine, I ran out of flower time while trying to get it and got it right as I saw the airborne guardian approching (I swear they put him on that angle on purpose), I couln't even jump as I had a earthborne guardian at my feet swinging his weapon like mad.

Skyloft was a breeze though.

 

[DeletedUser9]

I knew almost everything there was to know about the Silent Realms before playing the game... on paper anyway. I knew how the mechanics essentially worked, how the areas were going to look. So my first experience wasn't really one of discovery or surprise regarding the concept or mechanics.

However, that was on paper. It was fairly different experiencing that concept and those mechanics firsthand. When I first played through the Faron Woods Silent Realm, I dug it immediately. I loved the combination of almost Pacman-esque arcade gameplay along with stealth and just a cool action formula with a breathtaking visual and audio style. I love the look and feel of the Silent Realms, and I dug the execution. The atmosphere was also fantastic, and while I was never actually scared in the sense that I was afraid, I found the Silent Realm to be alarming and tense. I was playing Resident Evil 2 alongside Skyward Sword a bit, and honestly I felt the Silent Realm was just as scary. Easily.

I loved all the Silent Realms in the same way. Brilliant sections. My first time going through Faron Woods though, that was one hell of an experience. Tense, refreshing, fun. Had me screaming as I was being chased a few times. :xd:

What I liked best was - I noticed how each one tests the aspect belonging to the Goddess to which it is named. Farore's Silent Realm tests your courage by having a number of the Tears in very skin-of-your-teeth places: Right next to Guardians, right past Waking Water... You have to grit up your courage and just go for it.

Nayru's Silent Realm tests your wisdom by having Tears in "puzzle" locations. You have to move minecarts to get to a few of them - one you have to figure out a jump for. There's one stuck in a tree that you have to roll into in order to shake down. There's one located just past a Watcher that you have to figure out timing for to get past.

Din's Silent Realm has Tears in locations you have to pump your Stamina Gauge to reach - climbing climbs, running and jumping off them... it really tests your Power.

Then the Skyloft Silent Realm seems to test all three with Tears next to Guardians, in hard to reach/find places, and in places you have to pump your stamina to get to, so it's Courage, Wisdom and Power in balance!

I actually have always been wondering why they didn't associate the actual trials with the traits, because I could never spot what you brought up here. Very perceptive and I thank you for pointing these out! ^^

 

[Shadsie]

I knew almost everything there was to know about the Silent Realms before playing the game... on paper anyway. I knew how the mechanics essentially worked, how the areas were going to look. So my first experience wasn't really one of discovery or surprise regarding the concept or mechanics.

However, that was on paper. It was fairly different experiencing that concept and those mechanics firsthand. When I first played through the Faron Woods Silent Realm, I dug it immediately. I loved the combination of almost Pacman-esque arcade gameplay along with stealth and just a cool action formula with a breathtaking visual and audio style. I love the look and feel of the Silent Realms, and I dug the execution. The atmosphere was also fantastic, and while I was never actually scared in the sense that I was afraid, I found the Silent Realm to be alarming and tense. I was playing Resident Evil 2 alongside Skyward Sword a bit, and honestly I felt the Silent Realm was just as scary. Easily.

I loved all the Silent Realms in the same way. Brilliant sections. My first time going through Faron Woods though, that was one hell of an experience. Tense, refreshing, fun. Had me screaming as I was being chased a few times. :xd:



I actually have always been wondering why they didn't associate the actual trials with the traits, because I could never spot what you brought up here. Very perceptive and I thank you for pointing these out! ^^

I noticed it when I hit Nayru's Silent Realm. "Oh, you have to move minecarts to get to these, how puzzle-wisdom!" Then I thought about Farore's Realm in hindsight, and that just made me notice the "Power" involved in Din's.

 

[Din Akera]

I thought the silent realms were a very interesting concept. I liked the idea, however, I did not find them overly difficult once I was more used to it. Let me start from the beginning. I was initially completely terrified. When I stepped out of the circle for the first time and the music and color scale changed and these giant things with giant weapons that I knew would one shot me, I was sprinting and running like crazy! I lost the round the first time I did it. In the second round I was more calm and discovered that the guardians are quite slow. This information made me much more laid back about the whole thing. I did the second and third silent realms on the first try, and only had to redo the skyloft one once.

Like Shadsie, I noticed the associations between the make up of the specific silent realms and the different goddesses (Farore, Din, Nayru) once I did the wisdom realm. (It was the mine-cart that made me think of it too! lol)

I think there are somethings that could have ben done to make the silent realms harder, but for a first time run through, I think the difficulty was good. As I said, if the guardian's moved fast enough that you had to sprint to outrun them, it would be very difficult indeed. Also, the 'gem' (don't know the actual name) you could pick up to give the vertical light beams to show where the tears are, makes the trial easier. On a second playthrough, it is possible to make the realm harder for yourself by not picking up these assistants.

Overall, I really liked them. I think they added new dimension to the game and forced you to use other tactics than hack and slash to accomplish a goal when enemies are present. I would think most players normally either kill everything in the way and then do the puzzle/task or ignore the enemies. But the silent realms forced a certain level of stealth and movement skill, and I liked that aspect.

 

[BlueSwordsman10]

Most of my guardian runs were filled with, "OH GOD, RUN LINK RUN! I DONT WANNA DO THIS! PUSH THE BLOCK!" and of the sort