Hanayama Hyrule Crest

Hanayama Hyrule Crest

Following on from last week's review of the Hanayama Master Sword puzzle, I finish the trilogy with a quick review of the Hyrule Crest. This puzzle obviously has the shape of the emblem found everywhere in the Legend of Zelda game from Nintendo and not quite so clearly visible is the Triforce knotted up by the chain. At the ends of the chain are 2 more Triforce shapes which prevent the chain passing through the emblem. The aim is to remove the large triangular Triforce from the puzzle and then put it back.

This puzzle is rated as 4 out of 6 by Hanayama and 8 out of 10 by PuzzleMaster and I think that is a little high - it is not a really simple puzzle but I would make it a 3/6 or 7/10. It is a very nice bronze type colour and a good size for playing with at 10.4 x 1 x 6.2 cm. 

Details of the knot revealed

It is not clear from the initial positioning how the chain is fastening the Triforce in place and so I pulled it down to reveal that there are 3 holes in the crest and the chain loops through them all and around itself to hold the Triforce in place.

It may be that I have gotten to be quite good at disentanglement puzzles over the years but as soon as I looked at the configuration the solution just screamed out at me - I knew immediately what the sequence should be. But something was bugging me... I usually have a terrible memory and can find myself solving the same puzzle several times with absolutely no recollection of having done it before (don't tell Mrs S) but I distinctly remember that the Cast Heart (also a level 4/6 or 8/10) has a very similar configuration (I am very impressed with myself because I reviewed that puzzle way back in 2014). Going back to my pictures of the solved puzzle I can see that it is identical but with modified pieces. At $18 CAD the Heart is considerably cheaper but I would say a bit less attractive and is also a good bit smaller and more fiddly if you have fat fingers. If you are a Nintendo or Zelda collector then you will have to get the more expensive one.

Just like the Cast Heart, I was able to see the solution straight away and had my Triforce removed very quickly. The hardest part was manipulating the fiddly chain through some rather small holes:

Solved

I left the puzzle for a day or so and reassembly was still pretty straight forward for me. Is it worth buying? If you are a Zelda freak then definitely, if you are a Hanayama completionism then definitely again. If you already have the Cast Heart then probably not. This is a nice puzzle for newbies and definitely looks good in a display.