Theorycrafting: Early Lorule

[Myria]

We've wondered for a while what'd happen if we broke into Hyrule Castle while the barrier is active.  Well, by hacking the ROM to remove the barrier, now we know.

The game acts very much the same as if you'd broken the barrier with the Master Sword, with a few differences.  Although I haven't yet done so, I believe it is possible to complete the game this way.  It is annoying, though.

The castle has hostile guards.  If you did Power Glove Skip, the Zelda event plays as normal.  The door to Hyrule Castle Tower is open, and you can go in; the two red guards normally outside it are missing, for whatever reason.

Hyrule Castle Tower plays as normal until you get to where Yuga turns Zelda into a painting.  That cutscene doesn't play, and instead Yuga and Zelda just stand there, and you can move around.  You can even talk to Yuga and Zelda, who each say four empty dialogue windows.

From there, you can continue, and the rest of the tower proceeds normally, including the Yuga 2 battle.  Following Yuga 2, you enter Lorule entirely normally, with the usual cutscene of Yuga becoming Yuganon.  Link wakes up in the Lorule blacksmith's house as normal.

From this state, the game mostly functions normally.  Unlike with hacks that let you enter Lorule surreptitiously, this method will unlock all the portals, and you can save Sages without getting stuck in the Sages' room.

There are some things to note:

* Quick Equip is triggered by the Master Sword, so no QE or QE cancel.
* Item purchasing is also triggered by the Master Sword, so no Nice Bombs.
* Without QE Cancel or Lemon Boost, no Desert Palace skip, right?
* Getting Master Ore does not let you upgrade your sword =(.  The Hyrule blacksmith acts like you have the butter sword already.  I don't know what the Lorule blacksmith says if you have all 4 ore.
* Going to the Master Sword area still acts like you don't have the Pendants.
* Hyrule Castle still has the barrier if you save then reload with an unhacked ROM.  That is, getting to Lorule doesn't despawn the barrier.
* Yuganon will really suck to fight with the Forgotten Sword, taking 128 hits.

[Weegeechan]

Interesting!   Good work myria! I suppose we would have to do the Desert Palace skip the old way, with good old unforgiving Marcus. Then we could just use the Vulture Boost to skip getting the Sand Rod.

For the Yuganon fight...I guess we would just have to figure out a new method of fighting him. I honestly don't know what the fastest way to take him down would be. Maybe just the Forgotten Sword would have to do?

So really, the entire Lorule section would be slightly slower without having the Master Sword and QE cancel but hopefully skipping Tower of Hera and House of Gales would make up for it. The biggest downside to this seems to be the Forgotten Sword and no DDPS.

[Roadagain]

You could do double bomb boost probably, or even Zirro boost for Desertless Desert Skip tho.

[Weegeechan]

You could do double bomb boost probably, or even Zirro boost for Desertless Desert Skip tho.

Was it possible with normal bombs? I can't remember anymore. A Zirro boost could possibly work. I've never tried Zirro damage for a boost before but it would be definitely easier than a bomb boost