Umbral Cloud is the second Zelda Classic quest made by Evan20000. Unlike the first, Isle of Rebirth, this one does not feature Link, Zelda, or the Triforce at all, instead taking place in the land of the Solots. This land was once bathed in a dark miasma that exerts strange effects on the Solots; most who were exposed died, and others became shadow creatures known as Shades (but mostly retained their original personalities). The miasma has been thinning since then, allowing the remaining Solots to survive, but the Shades rely on its protection from the sun, whose light burns them on contact. One Shade, Olsov, is certain that the Sun Spirit, Horizon, has something to do with this, so he is trying to get into her home, the Sun Tower. Until recently, his adopted son, Gaius, has been helping him, but Gaius has fallen ill; it is now up to Gaius' younger brother, Sasic, to hunt down the keys to the tower.
The quest is known for its difficulty (even relative to its predecessor) and diverse plethora of boss fights. As with Evan's first quest, this one allows you to choose a difficulty setting at the start, but it also allows you to switch between them at any time. Download it here
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This game provides examples of:
- Action Bomb: Bombchu and ice bombs.
- Artifact of Doom: The Abyss Tablet. According to Olsov, something "isn't right" with it, and it whispers things intermittently. That's because Tartaros can speak through it.
- Attack the Tail: Kholdorm's second phase.
- Awesome, but Impractical: Nightwave Pulse, the Smart Bomb spell that hits everything on the screen like a supernova, but takes a long time to charge and burns 5 stamina units per cast. Thankfully, this isn't an issue in the two places where it's a must: saving Saiya from Horizon, where you have just enough time at the start to charge it before you're attacked, and Frogger X, whose attack sets each contain at least one move that can be avoided while charging (though it's almost never easy).
- Barrier Change Boss:
- Tartaros shifts his weakness every three attacks when in his true form (except when using Darkness). This number decreases as he loses health.
- Frogger X becomes immune to each of your attack elements (including neutral) as he's hit with them. Fortunately, making him immune to everything triggers an attack that resets his barrier.
- The Battle Didn't Count: Olsov in the Solot Necropolis, if you win.
- Beam Spam: Horizon.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Tartaros can grant Sasic the power to stop Horizon without killing Saiya. Unfortunately, said power is lethal to Horizon and, by extension, the sun.
- Big Bad: Tartaros.
- Big Brother Mentor: Gaius appears to have been this to Sasic before falling ill.
- Big Good: Horizon, unless you ask the Shades.
- Black Screen of Death: Tartaros' only Darkness attack is essentially a Raging Demon that leaves you with no stamina and minimal HP if it connects.
- Blue-and-Orange Morality: Horizon sees the miasma as such a blight on the world that dispelling it is well worth killing the Shades. Subverted in that she's not that far off; the miasma itself isn't evil, per se, but its source most certainly is.
- Body Horror: Tartaros, as before.
- Boss-Arena Idiocy: Hauntrock's third phase can only be damaged by making it land on spikes when it jumps.
- Boss Arena Urgency:
- Seism's jumping attacks break the floor tiles in his room, revealing spike traps underneath.
- Inverted by Hauntrock. Once its hands are destroyed, the battle cannot progress until it smashes a hole in the floor and falls through.
- Boss Game: Almost. It's technically a Metroidvania, but, on top of the story bosses, most areas have two minibosses and an Optional Boss, and the map is fairly small.
- Bragging Rights Reward:
- Defeating Olsov in the Solot Necropolis is rewarded with a miasma token that does nothing but fill an inventory space.
- The reward for defeating Frogger X, this quest's Superboss, is a single Rupee.
- Broke Your Arm Punching Out Cthulhu: Using Nightwave Pulse on Horizon kills her, freeing Saiya but dooming the sun.
- The Cameo:
- Keepers, Li'l Haunts, and a Wizoob from The Binding of Isaac all appear in this quest. The former two are regular enemies, and the latter is Hauntrock's final form.
- Six witches resembling Twinrova serve as minibosses, and Moosh is the Wind Spirit.
- Cactuar appear as mooks in the desert.
- Captain Ersatz: Subverted by Tartaros, whose resemblance to The Binding of Isaac's Satan is much weaker than in Isle of Rebirth.
- Casting a Shadow: Olsov is proficient in this, as would likely be expected of a Shade in combat. You can be, too, but not until you unlock Nightwave Pulse. It's all technically Tartaros' power, though.
- Children Are Innocent: Saiya.
- Combat Tentacles: Well, the ones Ferox uses are probably better described as Combat Tendrils, but they still fit.
- Crapsack World: Unfortunately, the inevitable product of Solots and Shades coexisting in a world where two gods have been fighting for decades to shape the world in their respective images, each of which would spell the end of one race. At least Isle of Rebirth suggests that this is eventually resolved...
- Dangerous Forbidden Technique: Nightwave Pulse. It's essentially a Smart Bomb, and using it on Horizon (as intended) kills her, destroys the sun, and releases Tartaros.
- Darker and Edgier: In relation to its parent franchise, given the nature of the miasma and its source, Tartaros.
- Deal with the Devil: Tartaros lends Sasic his power, claiming that using it will allow him to stop Horizon without killing Saiya. This is true, but Horizon is killed instead, allowing Tartaros to smother the world in darkness. This wouldn't harm the Shades, but it would spell the end for the Solots, so Sasic tries to stop him as well.
- Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Arguably any of the elemental spirit fights, but especially when you defeat Tartaros.
- Disc-One Nuke: Defeating Gaius in your first duel with him allows you to fight Seism early, and Ferox can be fought as soon as you've collected the 99 Rupees to buy its tablet. Both of their spells are incredibly powerful, and Seism is fairly easy to defeat for an elemental spirit, especially once you have the Hookshot. (Ferox, while tougher, can be defeated with Seism's spell - or, if you're up for a challenge, just the basic staff - and a good deal of patience and luck.)
- Eldritch Abomination: Tartaros is somewhere between this and the Satanic Archetype he is in Isle of Rebirth.
- Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors: Each of the elemental spirits' spells is strong against one other element. The exceptions are Ice, which is strong against both Nature and Fire due to the Water spell being purely defensive, and Darkness, which is the element of Tartaros, whose weakness shifts with the power he's using, and strong against Horizon's element, Light. Use the water shield with caution, as it is not exempt from this.
- Elite Mook: The larger Gibdos are this to the smaller ones.
- Enemy Scan: One optional item lets you see enemy HP, but decreases your Stamina regeneration while it's active. It doesn't work in Hopeless Boss Fights.
- Energy Weapon: The Incinerator spell plays with this. The laser itself works normally, but it doesn't do any damage on its own; instead, the damage is dealt by the trail of flames it leaves behind, which only appear well after the laser has moved away from their position.
- "Everybody Dies" Ending: Ending A. Every member of Olsov's family dies, followed shortly afterward by the rest of the Shades.
- Expy: The Shades are highly reminiscent of the Twili in all but name and appearance.
- Final Boss: Olsov, Horizon, or Tartaros, depending on the ending.
- Final-Exam Boss: Tartaros and Frogger X each count in their own way. The former is a Barrier Change Boss that can shift among all of your elements, and the latter becomes immune to anything he's hit with until he's been hit with everything possible, forcing you to use all of your abilities
to their fullest potential. - Foregone Conclusion: The quest acknowledges this by denoting Ending C the "True Ending." As of Isle of Rebirth, Tartaros has been sealed away by angels; Sasic still aims to defeat him for good, but Link can beat him to the punch.
- Foreshadowing:
- Near the beginning of the quest, Saiya tells Sasic that she still feels weird calling Olsov their father, but Sasic insists that it will come more naturally with time. Both of their apparent intuitions are correct. Olsov really does love all of his kids, but his plan to save the Shades hinges on sacrificing Saiya.
- The rain-dancing Shade uses Tingle's magic words to do his work, claiming that he stole them from "some fruitcake in green." This quest does take place in the Zelda universe after all; in fact, it's a prequel to Isle of Rebirth.
- Olsov disappears from the Sun Tower entrance the moment you learn something he might find important. What you learn is that awakening Horizon would kill all of the Shades. It's a subversion; Olsov doesn't intend to do that, but he's hiding his real intentions from you because what he is doing (namely, delaying Horizon's return) requires sacrificing Saiya.
- The item that tells you how much health enemies have left doesn't work when fighting Olsov in the Solot Necropolis. It's a Hopeless Boss Fight.
- God and Satan Are Both Jerks: If either Horizon or Tartaros prevails over the other, it would mean the end of the Shades and Solots, respectively. Horizon has no qualms about this if it means eradicating Tartaros, who has no qualms about it whatsoever. Needless to say, Sasic arrives at this conclusion soon after learning the whole truth.
- Godzilla Threshold: Anything that doesn't outright require you to use Quake but is tough enough to drive you to. This spell drops giant boulders from the sky that are likely to hit you as well as whatever you're trying to beat, and they hit about as hard as you'd expect.
- Go for the Eye: Neptune.
- Golden Ending: Ending C, which requires giving Gaius medicine before collecting all of the Sun Tower keys, collecting all elemental spells, and then casting Nightwave Pulse on Horizon before her room goes dark.
- Good All Along: Those who have played through Isle of Rebirth probably know never to trust the man who sends you on your quest. In this case, Olsov appears to be evil for most of the last half of the story, but he's really just a Well-Intentioned Extremist who sees no way to stop Horizon other than sacrificing his daughter.
- Harmless Freezing: Occurs whenever you're hit with an ice attack. There's no way to break out quickly, and you're likely to be hit several more times before you can move again.
- Healing Spring: Miasma puddles.
- Hoist by His Own Petard:
- Trinexx's fire and ice heads can only be damaged by each other's attacks. Fortunately, you can use the Hookshot to pull them around.
- The boulders dropped by Quake deal heavy damage to you and enemies alike, and there's no way to aim them. Use it at your own risk.
- Hopeless Boss Fight:
- The duel with Gaius at the start of the quest. Winning allows you early access to the Earth Tablet, but it's neither required nor easy.
- Olsov isn't meant to be defeated in the Solot Necropolis, but it's possible; doing so earns you a Bragging Rights Reward.
- In Ending A, Horizon instantly kills you when you enter her chamber.
- HP to One: Tartaros' darkness attack.
- An Ice Person: Hera.
- Idiosyncratic Difficulty Levels: Easy, Normal, Stronger, and Swindlingnote . You can switch between them at any time, and the only difference between them is in the damage you take.
- Interface Screw: The screen distorts for several seconds whenever you're hit with a lightning attack.
- Interface Spoiler: Subverted in two places on the subscreen.
- The right side may give one the impression that there are 8 abnormal-weather drops, but there are only 7; the bottom-right slot of their space is for a miasma token obtained by defeating Olsov in the Solot Necropolis.
- The item space to the right of the Lens cannot be filled. According to Evan, this was in case he thought of anything else to add in an update.
- Item Get!: Parodied when you defeat Frogger X. A text box explains that you are utterly ecstatic over having finally overcome that boss and won one whole Rupee.
- Jump Physics: The wind spell is essentially a high jump that damages anything underneath you while you're in the air.
- Kill It with Fire: Everything Pyron throws at you, as well as the laser spell you get from him.
- Kill It with Ice:
- Same as above, but replace "Pyron," "laser," and "him" with "Hera," "charged frost shockwave," and "her," respectively.
- Olsov's fighting style relies heavily on keeping you disabled, and this is one of three ways he does so.
- Kill the Cutie: Saiya in Endings A (by Horizon) and B (by Sasic).
- King Mook: A good number of (mini)bosses.
- Vire: Keese.
- Ice/Lightning witches: Ice/Lightning Wizzrobes.
- Giant Zol: Zols and Gels, obviously.
- Frogger X is this to the frog minibosses, which in turn are this to the frog mooks.
- Hauntrock: Li'l Haunts, more or less.
- Lethal Joke Weapon: The flail. It's hard to use, and it drains a good deal of stamina while in use, but it's incredibly powerful and has some use against certain bosses.
- Luck-Based Mission: Frogger X's second set of attacks includes both the time spell and his usual jumping attack. If he uses them consecutively in that order, and if he's already immune to everything you could reliably hit him with to cancel the former, expect to get hit (and possibly killed) no matter what you do.
- MacGuffin: Orbs, tablets, and Sun Tower keys. Each Orb grants you a new power or ability when charged by defeating a key guardian. The Gray Orb is optional; Gaius left it in the fountain near your home, but you'll need all 20 Naturia Feathers to claim it. It halves all damage you receive. Similarly, each tablet lets you fight an elemental spirit to gain a new spell, and you'll need them all for the Golden Ending.
- Man-Eating Plant: Ferox.
- Meaningful Name: With the exceptions of Moosh and Hera, each spirit's name (Seism, Neptune, Pyron, Ferox, Synapse, Horizon, Tartaros) corresponds to its element and/or nature in some way.
- Metroidvania
- Multiple Endings: Officially designated Endings A through C, in order from worst to best.
- Ending A: Gaius succumbs to his illness. Sasic fights Olsov to the death and wins, only to be obliterated by Horizon. A short funeral is held for their family before Horizon awakens and kills all of the Shades. Occurs if you collect all Sun Tower keys before giving Gaius the shaman's medicine.
- Ending B: Gaius interrupts Sasic's fight with Olsov, and Olsov gives Sasic the Abyss Tablet, which protects him from Horizon's first attack. Sasic tries to save his sister, but is ultimately forced to kill her to return Horizon to her slumber. Olsov, Gaius, and Sasic meet outside the tower to discuss a longer-term solution to the Horizon problem. Occurs if you give Gaius medicine in time and defeat Horizon by normal means.
- Ending C: Sasic kills Horizon and saves Saiya, but Tartaros reveals himself to be the source of the miasma and explains that Sasic just helped him smother the world in darkness, which would make all Solots either become Shades or die. Sasic discovers Tartaros' identity as the Fallen Spirit and defeats him, but this does not thin the miasma; he sets out on another quest to track down Tartaros once more and save both the Solots and the Shades. Occurs if you use Nightwave Pulse on Horizon's first phase; this spell is unlocked by bringing all 7 of the other spells to the room in front of the Sun Tower's final chamber.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Sasic kills the sun trying to save Saiya in Ending C.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Frogger X will deliver one to you if he rams into you during his final phase.
- The Not-Remix: In effect. Isle of Rebirth's soundtrack was entirely made of MIDI versions of existing video game music, but, thanks to updates to the Zelda Classic engine, this one uses OGG versions instead. As a result, both of Tartaros' battle themes were vastly improved despite being the same pieces.
- Ominous Latin Chanting: Tartaros' theme.
- One-Hit Kill: Frogger X's black hole attack is effectively this on Swindling difficulty. His No-Holds-Barred Beatdown attack is unquestionably this on any difficulty.
- Pest Controller: Ferox can spit out bugs that chase you. The spell it gives you on defeat allows you to summon your own swarm.
- Poor Communication Kills: Olsov never even considers that Sasic and Gaius may be able to help him find a way to save the Shades without killing Saiya (which is exactly what Sasic does in Ending C). If Gaius is alive when you fight Olsov in the Sun Tower, he'll call him out on this; otherwise, Sasic kills Olsov, Horizon kills Sasic and Saiya, and Horizon's awakening kills the rest of the Shades.
- Prequel: This is the origin story of both of Isle of Rebirth's major Bonus Bosses.
- Rare Random Drop: Several enemies have unique drops that can only be obtained in abnormal weather. Most of them can be sold to some specific Non Player Characters, or given to others in exchange for tablets or unique weapons; the only exception is the Rain Amulet, which one NPC can use to trigger abnormal weather whenever you like.
- Rock Monster: Seism and Hauntrock.
- Running Gag: Isle of Rebirth had one of providing you with one Rupee as a reward for clearing specific tough rooms of enemies. This quest carries on the tradition when you defeat Frogger X.
- Satanic Archetype: Tartaros is more of an Eldritch Abomination this time around, but he still resembles Satan from The Binding of Isaac, his theme consists largely of Ominous Latin Chanting, and the other spirits refer to him as the "Fallen Spirit" and a traitor.
- The Scottish Trope: Horizon appears to treat Tartaros' name this way, referring to him only with highlighted third-person pronouns (indicating emphasis).
- Seemingly Hopeless Boss Fight: Tartaros' true form is invincible when it first appears; to win, you first need to survive until the other Spirits recognize your strength and charge you up with their remaining power.
- Sequential Boss:
- All of the orb guardians, although Hauntrock is the worst offender.
- Tartaros has two forms, the stronger of which you can't harm without the aid of the other elemental spirits.
- Frogger X plays with this; he progresses through four sets of attacks as he loses health, with each roughly separated by his black-hole attack, but he'll generally hit the threshold for a new attack pattern shortly before maxing out his immunities.
- Shock and Awe: Synapse, Lightning Wizzrobes, the undead witches, Hauntrock, Tartaros, and Frogger X. Sasic, too, once he defeats the former.
- Smart Bomb: Nightwave Pulse is effectively this. It hits the entire screen at once, deals damage heavy enough to take out all regular enemies, and can even kill Horizon in one hit without harming her vessel, Saiya... but it takes some time to charge and consumes five units of stamina when cast. (For reference, that's how many you start with, and fifteen is the maximum.)
- Spin Attack: Usable after you charge the Green Orb. Unlike Link's, it costs a bit of Stamina but allows you to move a short distance while spinning.
- Suspicious Videogame Generosity: Most shadow puddles are within one or two screens of a boss.
- Tactical Suicide Boss: Very common in this quest.
- Trinexx is initially invulnerable to everything but its own attacks. Not all of its own attacks can be used to hurt it, and each of its elemental heads has to detach the other before they're both destroyed. It would be undefeatable if it only ever attacked with one head.
- Hauntrock. In addition to the Boss-Arena Idiocy mentioned above, only two of its first phase's three attacks expose its palms, which are its only weak points.
- Ferox is invincible as long as its mouths are closed. Similarly, Pyron and Neptune can only be harmed when they surface, and Moosh is only vulnerable when he's on the ground. Ferox only opens its mouths to spit seeds, energy, or bugs at you; Pyron and Moosh can summon mooks and stay out of your reach as long as the mooks remain; and Neptune is an aquatic eyeball with no apparent need to breathe air. None of them have any reason to expose themselves, but they always do at regular intervals.
- Frogger X could just hold on to his immunities and be completely invulnerable, but he'll always use his black hole attack as soon as he has enough for it.
- Take Over the World: More or less the goal of Tartaros.
- Teleport Spam: Synapse, Frogger X, and (to a lesser extent) Ice and Lightning Wizzrobes.
- True Final Boss: Tartaros.
- Turns Red: The elemental spirits, Tartaros' true form, and (in Ending A) Olsov in the Sun Tower all change their attack patterns as they take damage. Pyron, Ferox, and Olsov are probably the most straightforward examples, though.
- Underground Monkey: Keepers, Darknuts, Wizzrobes, Moblins, River Zoras, and Ball and Chain Soldiers all have multiple variants. Interestingly, the second Darknut variant you encounter is less durable than the first, although it's faster.
- Utopia Justifies the Means: Horizon sees the death of all Shades as an unfortunate but inevitable side effect of stopping Tartaros and saving the earth.
- The Very Definitely Final Dungeon: The Sun Tower.
- Walking Spoiler:
- It's hard to know much about Horizon without knowing that she's chosen Saiya as a vessel for her return, which would kill all the Shades, and that Olsov adopted Saiya and her brothers as part of a plan to stop her that involves sacrificing Saiya.
- Knowing that Tartaros is even in this quest spoils the fact that it and Isle of Rebirth are on the same timeline, and it's hard to go much further than that without spoiling that he's the Big Bad, the True Final Boss, and the source of the miasma.
- Wave-Motion Gun: Horizon loves these. Tartaros gets one, too, but it's a lightning attack.
- Weakened by the Light: Direct exposure to sunlight sets Shades on fire, although they can handle it when it's filtered through the miasma. Possessing the charged Red Orb renders Sasic immune to this effect, but not to solar magic attacks.
- Weather Manipulation: Giving a Rain Amulet to one particular Shade allows him to create abnormal weather the world over (minus the Eastern Valley) for several minutes.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist:
- Olsov. When Horizon chose Saiya as her vessel for awakening, he adopted Saiya and her brothers, Sasic and Gaius, intending to sacrifice her to stop Horizon. However, he tells Sasic that he truly did care for the children the whole time and lamented Saiya's inevitable fate every day, and his actions in most endings back this up.
- For that matter, Horizon herself. She sees the destruction of the Shades as a necessary evil in saving the earth from Tartaros. In Ending A, things go her way; in Ending C, she's killed by Sasic and Tartaros, the latter of whom is eventually sealed away and (potentially) defeated later on by Link in Isle of Rebirth.
- Wham Episode: As soon as you pick up the final Sun Tower key, Saiya runs in screaming about how Olsov is acting crazy and trying to kidnap her. Olsov appears, warps her away somewhere, and tells Sasic to give him the keys. Sasic refuses, knowing what will happen if Horizon wakes up; they fight, and Olsov eventually takes the keys to the Sun Tower and warns Sasic not to follow him. Also, if Gaius hasn't been given medicine by this time, he dies of his illness.
- Wham Line: When you collect the second orb from the hermit in the desert, he warns you that Horizon is asleep, and awakening her would doom the Shades.
- Wowing Cthulhu: Tartaros is impressed by your power if you defeat him.
