The Shrine of Light Sensor sound effect in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom made me make two beeps at the same time which drove me insane. Not because it’s annoying or constant but because I’d love to hear it as I hunt for the last Temples in the game. But now, when I hear it, the Temple it points to is so dim that I have to spend hours trying to find the source of the noise.
I am beyond the friendly sight of the bright green spiral reaching into the sky that I can see from miles away. I found all of those. Looking out into the distance, I occasionally see a blue door signaling a temple I’ve discovered. Every time, it makes me think I’ve finally found a new Temple before realizing what I’ve been to dozens of times before.
I was there already.
At this point, I’ve been using the Hero’s Path Mode and the general layout of the Temples I’ve found for ballpark locations where Temples are possible. If I haven’t gone through there yet and there’s no Temple nearby, I’ll head in that direction and hope for the best. This resulted in the discovery of a new Temple 15% of the time.
On the occasions when I hear that beautiful couplet beep alerting me to a nearby temple, my heart races, and I warn everyone in the family to be quiet while I begin the detection process. find an elusive temple that can’t be seen from the surface. Last night, I circled Veiled Falls in Zora’s territory for two hours as the beeping sound slowly crept into my skull. I found six cave entrances on the mountain east of Zora’s Domain. Every opening inspires the certainty that I’ve finally found my Temple, only to be rewarded with a Bubbul Gem, which I don’t need anymore because I’ve bought all of Koltin’s merchandise. At this point, he wants all of them, and I don’t care enough to help him with that. It was the sixth and final entrance to the cave that revealed the Temple I was desperately trying to find.
It’s come to a point now that when walking through my neighborhood, the fierce barking of dogs that consider me trespassing on their territory sounds like a Temple beep. Looking at this display of aquarium shards at my local PetSmart, all I can see are possible Temple locations and the chance to use Ascend to soar higher into the sky. There may be a Temple I missed that I can see from the top of that Nate & Jeremia™ Wooden Tower.
Probably the worst is my Ring security system, which beeps softly every time a door is opened in my house, using a sound effect called “Navi” that sounds a lot like the Shrine beep in Tears of the Kingdom. Every time I open the door to let the dog out, or leave, I have to remind myself, there is no Temple nearby. Your trip to Target for carbonated water and butter will not lead to the discovery of the Temple. Calm.
I have 35 hearts and full stamina in Tears of the Kingdom. I don’t know how many Shrines I have left, and I refuse to seek any hint of any kind. I just hope that, like in Breath of the Wildthe statues of Rauru and his wife, Queen Sonia, will let me know that I have found all of them and likewise will give me a reward that I will never use because then I will be playing finished.
Maybe it’s time to look for a guide. Or I can keep talking to Patricia. Glory to Master Kohga.
