A long time ago, in a galaxy blog far, far away. . . we entered the Rohta Chigah Shrine. And there we stayed for over three months. This is the story of what we endured, what we learned, and how we (finally) escaped.
First, some disclaimers. We two Zelders are no longer located in the same city, so our weekly Nintendo sessions have dwindled to monthly-ish. Second, the BOTW game we’re playing resides on Demelza’s and not Itzal’s Switch; and Demelza, it must be said, does not generally wield the controllers except to hunt for Hearty Lizards or to cook Endura Shroom casserole. (She does not use the lizards in the casserole.) Thus, although we jointly[1] attempted Rohta Chigah shrine on four separate occasions, it would be unfair to say we spent three months actively trying to solve the shrine. There were planes to catch, work to attend, and family obligations to fulfill. Life goes on, even when one is trapped in the Rohta Chigah shrine.
Four Rooms of the Rohta Chigah Apocalypse
Next, let’s review the four odious sections, or rooms, of the shrine. The first requires Magnesis to move slabs of metal or a cube to cross bumping, gyrating spikes in the floor. In the second room, one must navigate two spike-surrounded gears and then traverse a giant rolling spike gauntlet on a moving walkway.
In the third, our hero paraglides over a chasm guarded by three swinging, spiked balls. And in the final section, Link has to follow a narrow path, over which spiked cubes can drop from above or impale him from the side; all this while a spiked wall approaches from behind.
What could go wrong? Plenty. And it did. Over and over again. And since you only have a quarter-heart, each time you die, even if you’ve made it to the final room, you start over again in the first. Poor Itzal tried gamely (you should pardon the pun), but, as he snarled after the eleventy-second attempt or so, this was no fun.
Much time passes….
Eventually, Demelza’s guilt caused her to attempt the shrine on her own, resulting in several hilarious videos but no spirit orb from the monk in residence. But hey, Demelza was trying, so as to not leave Itzal with all the responsibility. Indeed, she even enlisted the Spouse, who plays golf and not Nintendo, to give it a whirl. (“What’s the A button for? What’s a rune? How do I make him jump?”) Demelza demonstrated, making it into the third room before dying.
Annoyingly, the Spouse, who had never handled a game controller in his life, made it to the second room after less than ten minutes, whereupon the following exchange ensued:
Demelza: “Now switch from Magnesis to Stasis. Use Stasis on that gear over there so it stops moving and you can walk around it more easily.”
The Spouse: “Wait, aren’t you supposed to whistle for the horse first?”
[Some explanation is required: Demelza does not always remember how to switch runes, and thus occasionally if not often first whistles for her horse; she had done so while demonstrating for the Spouse. Oh, but for Epona to ride to her rescue in Rohta Chigah shrine! Whistling for the horse did not, however, result in equestrian salvation, nor did it advance the Spouse any further than the third room.]
Denouement
Finally, the day arrived when Itzal would be in town for another joint attempt. After laying out snacks and cocktail ingredients, Demelza waited impatiently on the sofa for his arrival. She made a final pass on the Internet, searching for hints. In one Rohta Chigah whine-fest, a player suggested that removing Link’s armor enabled him to jump higher and paraglide further in the third room. Why not? Any port in a storm. We stripped Link to his underwear.
In addition, for purposes of Itzal’s sanity and blood pressure we decided to switch off playing. When Itzal died, Demelza took the controller. When she died – usually much faster – Itzal resumed play. And we gave ourselves a limit; we would play until a set hour, after which, win or lose, we’d switch to something more enjoyable, like Ocarina of Time. About fifteen minutes before the deadline, and to our great surprise, it finally happened: We made it to the monk. And yes, it was Itzal who took the honors.
Lessons learned
With the passage of three months, countless hours, and heaven knows how many deaths, we humbly offer our combined wisdom, a selection of Zelder tips:
- Don’t play Animal Crossing for at least 48 hours before entering the shrine. The buttons aren’t the same in that game. In fact, don’t play anything else other than BOTW, or the wrong button muscle memory can trip you up: you’ll end up brandishing a shield instead of your bow; forgetting how to jump – and why to jump; and possibly stopping to turn around and gawk just as a wall of spikes is closing in on Link’s backside.
- When using Magnesis in the first room, bear in mind it’s the metal you want to move, not Link. Yes, it’s tempting to inch Link backward when you want the piece of metal you’re maneuvering to pull forward just a tad. Doing so will usually result in Link falling off the end of the platform he’s on. Careful with that left analog stick! Remember to use the up and down buttons on the left D-pad instead.
- In the second room, cast Stasis on the furthest gear to enable you to jump to and walk around that gear more easily. When you make it to the moving walkway, center the camera behind you and try not to move so quickly that you weave from side to side, impaling Link on the gears on the side. But, you know, move, lest Link be impaled on the spikes behind.
- Don’t take spiked corners too tightly.
- Whistle for Epona all you like.
- In room number three, shoot the rope on the first spiked ball to get it out of the way. Cast Stasis on the farthest remaining ball when it’s away from the opening. Don’t wait too long to start paragliding, or the Stasis will wear off. And, hey, strip down to Link’s underwear before doing anything at all. It can’t hurt.
- Before beginning the final room, cue up a good video to preview what’s ahead. We liked one by a You-Tuber named Caticulated. In fact, Demelza is responsible for 132 of the most recent views of this outstanding clip. (We would embed it here, but we can’t exactly ring Caticulated up in the UK to inquire about permissions. You can find the video with a quick Google, however. Note that Link goes to the right to bypass the first cube; after that, he hews to the left until the very end.)
- Center the camera behind you before stepping on the switch that activates the final section. And don’t go too fast – although it’s hard to ignore the wall of spikes coming from behind, moving too quickly can cause side-to-side weaving and an eventual slip into the abyss.
- And finally and most importantly, don’t suggest, gently or otherwise, that one’s gaming partner left behind the Forest Dweller’s Shield in the first room and should return for it. Choose to live.
Reward thyself
If all else fails – and it will, more than a few times – have our recommended cocktail: the Suffering Bastard. You’ve earned both the drink and the title.
[1] Itzal protests that the word jointly is being applied rather loosely here, if by jointly Demelza wishes to imply that she, too, attempted to maneuver through this spikey hell. If by jointly she means that she sat on the sofa offering (shouting) ineffectual advice and drinking cocktails, well, then jointly is applicable.