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Our Lord Ditto died for your sins so that His prophet, this regular ordinary human child, could rebuild a society for Our Blessed Trainers to return to.
this post was submitted on 03 May 2026
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I'm an avid Ocarina of Time player. It's one of my comfort games, and it codifies many races and features that are mainstays of the series now. I'm also pretty hyped about Ship of Harkinian as well as other N64 decomps.
There are some in-game UI/UX hints that will help keep you spoiler free. I'll try to keep any spoilers vague.
I use emulator save states because it's 2026, so no shame.
Some random things that come to mind. I keep it to advice, but spoiler'd just in case you want to be completely blind.
Thank you for all the tips, especially the one about the original song! I knew about it as a vector for weird glitches, but not its actual gameplay function. As for the 20x Skulltula Token reward, unfortunately Ship of Harkinian won't make my controller rumble for some reason, but thankfully there's an option for a visual indicator (they really do have everything!) and I've already used it to find two locations that would have otherwise been impossible. Well, maybe 1.5 is more accurate...see the spoiler below.
On Secret Holes
The first one was the one right past the tree in Kakariko Village. I'd just scored my 500 rupee bag, so a cool 200 rupees was the perfect reward!The second was in front of the entrance to Goron City, which I always thought was suspicious since even before I got the Stone of Agony I'd worked out that a circle of stones is an indication of a secret hole, but I bombed the absolute hell out of that platform to no avail. What gives? The only thing I could think of is that I need to place the bomb in such a way that I destroy all of the stones simultaneously, but the blast radius doesn't seem big enough.
Also, unfortunately save states are pretty jank in Ship of Harkinian and not officially supported (I thought I'd permanently borked my save right before the third dungeon and was panicking for a good few minutes), but they're still useful for when you need to do stuff like repeat one of the minigames without having to farm a bunch of rupees. I haven't really felt the need to use them much, thankfully.
After thinking on it, I guess one justification behind always loading you at the starting zone is the fact that
Save Location Speculation (+ a question)
the Lost Woods are connected to Goron City and Zora's Domain once you've obtained each of their respective items, so you can travel to those places relatively quickly. I haven't played any of the 2D Zeldas yet (although I'd like to!) but it's similar to the NES Super Mario Brothers titles and their warp pipes/warp whistles—there were no saves or passcodes, but a skilled player armed with game knowledge could get wherever they wanted to go pretty quickly.Actually, speaking of the Lost Woods: can you reach Saria again after visiting her deep in the woods but before going to the Temple of Time with all the Spiritual Stones? I'd wanted to stop by just because it seemed like what I would do in Link's position, even if it doesn't actually unlock anything, but I can't seem to get back to the maze no matter how many times I try (although everyone in Kokiri Forest still assures me that Saria is there waiting for me).
I'm glad I did try, though, because I realized that 1. I'd missed some upgrades because I was skim reading the Business Scrubs' text (like I said, I'm playing in Japanese, so my skim reading skills aren't the best and I didn't realize that some are selling upgrades and not just refills) and 2. I stumbled into completing the second mask trading quest, but not before I'd also stumbled into getting a Deku Stick upgrade using said mask.
As for your extra tips:
Tips
Way ahead of you on the bean thing! I bought his entire stock out as soon as I could and I've planted all of the beans I could (still have two left).Noted on early Lon Lon Ranch and the final cleanup. While I had heard about the Stone of Agony, I genuinely have no idea what you're referring to in terms of songs that will help with item collection, so I'm curious to find out!
And that's interesting about the 100% reward! I've heard that it's a bit tedious and that most people just go for all of the "regular" rewards (which I think requires 50/100?), but I don't actually know what the rewards are beyond maybe more wallet space and I have no idea what the 100% reward is. I guess I can save before I collect it and see what I think!
And here's where I'm at, currently:
My progress + another question
I collected the last Spiritual Stone and am basically done scouring Hyrule:Upgrades:
I have one burning question: can I return to Hyrule Castle Town after collecting the three Spiritual Stones without locking myself out of anything? As soon as I started to approach to go and get the next mask, it triggered a cutscene, which spooked me, so I reset. I was operating under the assumption that I'd be okay until I go into the Temple of Time and do the timey-wimey thing, but I don't know if I get put on rails as soon as I let that cutscene play out. At the very least, I wanna go play my fifth song (presumably the Song of Time?) for that last frog in Zora's River!
I have no idea if it's possible to do this using only a save file, but I'd love to make a little program that will take your save file as input and tell you exactly how many Skulltulas you're missing in each area, allowing you to view individual hints relevant to your current item loadout (so it won't rob you of the opportunity to figure out things for yourself or burden you with irrelevant information). Ideally, it would be a series of increasingly specific hints to maximize the chance for the player to still feel some satisfaction for solving the puzzle. I would assume that there's a flag in the save file for each individual Skulltula so the game can check if its token has been collected to prevent it from spawning, but I haven't dug into the code yet.
Anyway, sorry for writing such a long comment! It's been quite some time since I got really immersed in a game like this, and I really appreciate the advice you've already given! I remember hearing kids at school talking about Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask when they came out, but I never saw either with my own eyes, and so I only learned about them obliquely—characters, stages, and trophies in Super Smash Bros. Melee, retrospective comparisons with later games in the series like Wind Waker and Twilight Princess (the former of which I still need to beat, and the latter of which I still need to play), speedrunning glitches, and the like. It's been so gratifying to finally get my hands on it and experience it for myself all these years later.
Don't be sorry, and welcome to the club! Ocarina of Time was the first Zelda where the tech let it have a cinematic flair, much like Final Fantasy 7 or Metal Gear Solid for those franchises, and it clearly left a mark on all of us. Every Zelda from here to Breath of the Wild will follow a similar format. I also highly recommend Majora's Mask after, both because it has it's own unique charm and it has a Ship of Harkinian release as well.
First the burning question. There is no permanent lockout in this game. You can return to all items, side-quests, and map areas even at the very end of the game.
The cutscene (Zelda chase I think?) won't lock you out, you just get an item.spoiler Caveat... There is one temporary thematic lock that will apply between using the stones until you beat the first Adult dungeon. I'm probably overselling this too, and you might only realize you were locked out when it's unlocked for you again. :::
I'm probably overselling a bunch of this with vagueness, especially since Nintendo has been flagrantly spoiling this game for decades.
Save location mechanics
There are three spawn locations that depend on where you save in vanilla:I think your speculation has merit, and I think the logic applies to the Temple of Time as an Adult too. This era of Zelda plays a little like Metroidvania where you progressively unlock more of the map to explore with the items and abilities you collect, so starting somewhere that makes it short to get to anywhere else makes sense to me.
IIRC there is also an achievement tracker inside Link's house on the walls too.
Lost Woods entrance
Yes you can see Saria again. You will need to navigate the Lost Woods puzzle, but it doesn't change.You can get to the Lost Woods maze from the Kokiri Village. From the entrance of the village, it's up the left side cliffs above Mido's house. Follow the climbable vines and you will find the entrance log.
You can also talk to Saria anytime by playing her song. She acts as a hint in case you get stuck about what to do next. UX feature I forgot about.
spoiler Hints for the Lost Woods There is a visual glitch that helps navigating most of the Lost Woods puzzle.
The entrance from the Lost Woods to the Sacred Meadow is...
...a North exit when you seemingly can't go any further.That info is in the save file, and Ship of Harkinian can show you how many there are and how many you have, but it also names every region and dungeon...
It's under the Menu->Dev Tools->Save Editor->Flags, there's a pulldown menu.I don't know if it is tracking specific skulltulas or just counts, but I think your hunch is correct. Lots of things are just flags in the save file.
I think the Water Temple's reputation is a bit overblown. It's a 3D puzzle manipulating the water levels. It can be a pain, especially if you fall somewhere you don't want, but that's hardly difficult. It's the other thing in the Water Temple that scares me :scared: I recommend filling all your bottles with Fairies...
Ooh, Metal Gear Solid is another one I've been meaning to play—it seems to be the kind of series that people get really invested in. And I definitely intend to play Majora's Mask next! I've heard it can be polarizing, partly because of the time limit mechanics (I only vaguely know that it's three days, but you can reset it or something? Guess I'll find out in due time!), and also that it's darker than OoT. I truly know almost nothing about Majora's Mask, so I'm really excited to go in and experience it for myself!
Phew, that's a relief! Part of why I was constantly scouring Hyrule for every last collectible is that I thought you could miss items (although I'm also just a completionist); perhaps I'm misremembering something I heard about another Zelda title, or I just imagined it entirely. With that, after a tiny bit more cleanup, I went forward with the story with confidence, so thank you for disabusing me of that misconception!
Caveat
I missed this when reading the comment for the first time and you suspected correctly—I did not realize what the lock was (maybe you can't immediately place the Master Sword back in the pedestal to go back?)Can I just ask point blank:
Secret holes
are all instances where the Stone of Agony activates secret holes? Because besides that Goron City trouble, I also could not for the life of me bomb open secret holes in these locations:It does seem a bit picky, but the ones that I did open only required maybe two or three bombs, which is what makes me wonder if there's another mechanic. No need to reveal the other mechanic yet if there one, but it'd be helpful to know so I can save myself some bombs and some time.
Lost Woods
Oh, I knew where the entrance was, but I hit what I thought was a dead end because I was relying on what I think is a visual artifact not seen when playing on console: the paths between rooms are pitch black, whereas you can actually see the triangles in the ones that lead you out of the Lost Woods. But when you're going to the Sacred Meadow, it also has the triangles, and when I went through the wrong one (a two in three chance) and it spit me back out, I assumed I was in the wrong place and just gave up...very silly, in hindsight. You don't have the musical cue after the first time as far as I could tell, so I just had to guess. And I made a proper flow chart so I can easily make my way through again if need be!...oh wait you covered the visual distinction in the next spoiler lol. Although maybe this bit was edited in, because I don't remember seeing it the first time.
Also, I did make extensive use of the "call Saria" feature—I guess it's meant to tell you how to progress, but I was mainly using it for roleplaying purposes.
Ah, I guess I'll hold off until I'm doing the endgame cleanup, then. As it is, I'm already up to forty-odd Skulltulas and plenty of extra Heart Containers, so I think I'll be okay.
Rundown of my experiences since the last comment
So, like I said, after a bit of cleanup (including getting Bombchus) I went ahead and leapt forward through time (or...I guess, went into stasis?)! I actually got goosebumps when I opened the Door of Time and stepped across the threshold—proof that you don't need raytracing and 12K textures to create a mood. I'm not sure if I got all the lore, though, and after my confusion, I've finally decided to switch to English for the remainder of the playthrough. I know this isn't exactly highbrow literature, but I still want to make sure I'm not missing any important story beats or lore dumps. Given how much I'm enjoying this, I'll very likely replay it in the future (maybe a Master Quest run?) and I can always flip things then, playing in English for the Young Link section and Japanese for Adult Link. Hopefully my reading speed will have improved by then so I'm not scrambling every time auto-advancing text pops up...Anyway, I immediately ignored Sheik's recommendation that I go to Kakariko Village and went wandering all around. I was pretty shocked by just how grim things were—I did vaguely know that some things were in ruin, but the ReDead in the town square caught me off-guard as did the maelstrom over by the castle. I think the first thing I did was go to Goron City, where I got the Goron Tunic and Giant's Knife, and then I headed over to Zora's Domain, which I was surprised to see had iced over (and where I promptly broke my Giant's Knife on a wall, it never having tasted the blood of my enemies). I tackled the Ice Cavern, making a note of all the currently unreachable Skulltulas and filling all three of my bottles with Blue Fire. I used one of those to free King Zora and receive the Zora Tunic, although not before testing my new Iron Boots in Zora's Fountain on the way over and immediately drowning...whoops.
After that, I heeded your advice and went to Lon Lon Ranch, where I unseated the comprador Ingo and got Epona pretty easily but then took an embarrassing number of tries to clear Malon's trial (maybe a half dozen, and I just squeaked by with a second to spare). Sure, BotW's horses are lovely, but seeing as you already have fast travel before you get one I think Epona in OoT still has the greater impact! I went to Lake Hylia and Zora River to check on what I thought would be beanstalks but actually ended up being moving platforms—definitely a surprise!—as well as learn the Scarecrow's Song (thanks again for saving me some tedious backtracking!). I then went to Kakariko, where I talked to everyone and collected everything that I could (including the Hookshot and multiple Pieces of Heart). After going back to get my Ice Cavern Skulltulas and entering the Water Temple for about 5 seconds before coming to my senses, I returned to where it all started: Kokiri Forest.
Again, I was pretty surprised by how my home had become such a hostile place! After visiting my trophy cow, riding the weird bean platform in town, and paying my respects to the Great Deku Tree, I finally made my way to the Lost Woods, which I carefully mapped out as mentioned earlier. I was surprised to be attacked by the Skull Kids, but it seemed to sad to fight them, so I just ignored them and hurried onward. Both the bean platforms I encountered in the woods seemed fairly pointless: there's one that takes you above the bridge to Kokiri forest and one that puts you up on a ledge in the Business Scrub room where there are no items to be found. Am I missing something?
Anyway, after taking an embarrassingly long time to get through the maze, I finally started the Forest Temple, and...boy, was it harder than I'd expected! I knew the dungeons would get more complex, but there were multiple points where I got stuck for a bit, and I also now realize how useful Farore's Wind is when you hit a door that you don't have a key for but want to be able to return to it quickly to keep progressing. I won't bore you with the details (other than that it took me way too long to realize I was supposed to shoot the portraits), but I eventually made it through, and after dying to Phantom Ganon once (in my defense, I went in with like 5 hearts and no healing items!), I successfully vanquished him. Suddenly seeing Ganondorf was definitely an "oh shit!" moment, since I assumed it be some unrelated thematically appropriate boss. And while I did get a bit frustrated at points in the dungeon, it was very satisfying to clear it all out!
I'm definitely glad that I RP-visited Saria one last time in my previous session because I was gutted to find out that Saria had become a Sage and would be forever separated from Link from then onwards. Again, I know that the writing isn't super deep (Saria cheerfully says that she's glad to be helping you save Hyrule when you call her afterwards), and maybe I'm just a sucker for this stuff, but it hit me surprisingly hard. And the Mido's dialogue after that...my heart!
After recovering from that emotional blow and chatting with the rest of the Kokiri, I returned to Kakariko to claim the 40x Skulltula reward (it just said "Bombchu", but I think it was an upgrade from 20x to 30x capacity?). I also did the fetch quest (which was a breeze, thanks to obtaining Epona early) to get the Poacher's Saw, which was darker than I expected (poor guy, I was really rooting from him the moment I met him as Young Link...), and I was also sad to see that despite me never laying a hand on them, the Skull Kids didn't return to the Lost Woods, not even after I played Saria's song on their stumps. But on the bright side, at least the Deku Tree has been reborn!
Obviously, I don't expect you to reply in any detail whatsoever to my summary of my playthrough, but I just thought it'd be fun to share (and it was also a nice way for me to reflect on the day's progress). I've probably been playing a bit too much, so I'm going to try to dial it back a bit and savor the rest of the game.
I've never actually tested the soft lock. I've just assumed it was there. It would be funny if Link walked outside the temple, took one look around and nope'd back to childhood.
Stone Circles, spoilered but I don't know when or how you would ever know this. It might be some sign or dialog I've skipped over for several playthroughs...
Try the Song of Storms, or the Megaton Hammer (when you get it)If those don't work, I try Zelda's lullaby, Song of Time, or the Scarecrow song, or the eye that can see the truth.
most of the time I just give up lmao
commentary
I would put Zelda's writing in the Young Adult category; enough moral distinction for a proper Hero journey, while still letting some dark to seep in around the edges. In fact one later dungeon kinda depends on a little dark lore. If anything, Sheik loves the poetic so I imagine that Japanese would be hard to translate. I can see playing a second time, lore firmly in hand, would make a Japanese run easier since you would know the gist.
There is a way to fix your sword, but I'll let you find that one out on your own
Hell yeah Epona! Combined with the size of Hyrule Field, riding around with her felt like the world was big in a way previous games couldn't capture. Also Hyrule Field is big and sometimes pretty tedious to cross without her. Win some lose some amirite? Horses are my favorite feature in all the Zelda games.
The Lost Woods is definitely tricky, but it will become second-hand in no time. Also Skull Kids don't like adults, as one Kokiri will tell you. And yes sometimes the beanstalks don't go anywhere special, however try going at night.
The Forest temple is my favorite thematically. The theme and level design mesh well; it feels like a rich chateau that's haunted by centuries of overgrowth. It's also when the 3D puzzles start ramping up, as you noticed. Also yes, Saria, ouch! That hit hard too my first playthrough. A big theme of this game is rescuing everybody you met in childhood one temple at a time, and Kokiri forest leans hard into this in the beginning. I mentioned earlier about the cinematic, and I think of Saria's scene in particular. It elevates Ocarina of Time above it's predecessors and why the game leaves a lasting mark on the series since. You are saving the world, but that doesn't mean everything goes back to the way it was.
I'm on my own slow playthrough myself in the background of other games. I'm finishing up the last temple before Ganon, so only a few temples ahead of you now. At my pace you'll catch up by the time I pick it back up again.
To this day it's the trickiest part of the game for me no matter how many times I replay it. It is a very cool room though.
(this comment covers all the time I've played since the last one—been adding bits and pieces to it as I go, so it's long and a bit jumbled)
I wouldn't blame him! But I guess that's why he's the Hero of Time and I'm not.
Stone Circles
Wow, that seems like a pretty random assortment of things! I've been interrogating every NPC and Sheikah Stone I come across with the Mask of Truth and haven't seen anything about that, but I'll keep my eyes peeled. I'm definitely after the truth thing that's in the Kakariko well (alluded to by one of the old men taking refuge from Hyrule Castle Town), but I haven't managed to get at it just yet. In the small bit that I've played since my last comment, I got the Golden Scale from the fishing hole, but to my surprise, it was still juuuuust short of letting me get to the bottom of the well and enter the opening (although I did get a surprise Piece of Heart from the lab in Lake Hylia as a consolation prize). And as Adult Link, the well is dry but appears sealed off. I haven't tried that hard to get in, though, so for the time being I'm not asking for any hints, especially since it might just be something that changes as I progress through the dungeons....actually, speaking of which: is the Song of Storms something that will just come in due time? Judging by its placement in the pause menu, it does come after the Song of Time chronologically, but I'm a bit mystified at what I need to do to get it. As Young Link, the guy mentions that he's trying to write a song about spinning, but neither my spin attack nor my boomerang seemed to entice him. Full disclosure: I accidentally spoiled myself when looking something else up (which is why I really try to avoid doing web searches for things) which indicated that the Song of Storms may be the key to opening those secret holes, but I guess I'll have to wait and see.
[a few days later] Aha! The solution ended up being pretty simple, but I really enjoy how with this kind of game it's not like, "Get quest, go to marker A, talk to person X, go to marker B, talk to person Y, complete quest." Instead, I remembered that there was a guy in Kakariko who mentioned that the windmill was used to draw water from the well, and then when I talked to the guy in the windmill he talked about how he was annoyed by some kid who played a song. The mental block I had was that I expected to learn the song as a kid, but instead I had to learn it as an adult and go back in time! First puzzle that I had to solve with time travel, but I suspect it won't be the last.
As for the Lens of Truth—I wasn't expecting a whole dungeon! I thoroughly enjoyed being trolled by all the invisible walls and floors. Leans pretty heavily into horror, what with the piles of flesh and the torture implements—definitely seems like the kind of thing that would stick with you if you played it as a kid back when it first came out! It was my first encounter with a Like Like, which I remembered from its Melee trophy eats shields (put together with what at least one person mentioned, specifically Hylian shields), so I kept it stunlocked with my boomerang and escaped unscathed. Also did a cheeky little skip past a pit by jump slashing across the corner, which made me feel smart.
In the end, it is the Song of Storms that opens those secret holes! It worked on every single one of the non-bombable ones that I'd written down. Entirely possible that there's a third type (or even more) in OoT, but that's what I've found so far. Surely must be somewhere in the game that hints at this...I know that NES-era games were more likely to require you to just throw stuff at the wall and see what sticks, but in this game it seems like everything is pretty carefully laid out.
Also, is it just me, or is the timing with the frog minigame ridiculously tight? I consider myself to be pretty good at rhythm games, but it took me about two dozen tries to get the fixed song that they start out with and I found the changing ones after that impossible. Wonder if it's a bug in the original code—I notice that there's a tweak in Ship of Harkinian to give you unlimited time to complete it (because of course there is!).
Oh, and regarding the Lens of Truth: can you give a general idea of how frequently it'll actually come in handy? Knowing me, I'll probably end up scouring every last inch of Hyrule with it regardless, but it'd be nice to know how often I should be hitting paydirt.
commentary
Yeah, I was definitely getting lost with her dialogue as well as the sages, which is kinda problematic when that's where most of the core story is.
200 Rupees?! Well, I act indignant, but I'm basically always maxxed out even with the Giant's Wallet, and if I were ever strapped for cash a single three-bottle run to the Ice Cavern for some Blue Fire to sell to that person who wants to buy stuff in bottles would basically fill it up in one fell swoop. So I'll just take it as Link being a Job Creator™. One thing that I was expecting to need to spend my money on was the tunics, but I got both of them for free, so there are no other big ticket items to spend on (not that I've seen yet, anyway). I even delayed the last part of the mask trading quest because I didn't want to waste the money, but in the end I sold it for 0 rupees
(also, I see that Biggoron has appeared at Death Mountain's summit, but it looks like I need to advance further before he'll forge anything for me. The comment about "Hylian carpenters praise me for my skills" makes me wonder if I need to chat with the carpenter from Kakariko, who I spotted across the broken bridge in Gerudo Valley (another nut which I've yet to crack, but all in due time, I'm sure))
I do really want to go back and play some of the 2D Zeldas. I bounced off of the original game when I tried it a little while back (might have to cave and use a patch to tweak the difficulty or use a guide or something), but A Link to the Past and Link's Awakening (DX) are more modern so maybe I'd have better luck with those (although that'd probably make it even harder to go back and play the original). Super Mario Bros. is still pretty accessible if you're into platformers as long as you know about how to continue from the Start screen, but The Legend of Zelda is pretty brutal when it comes to not holding your hand, so it'll take a mentality shift to fully enjoy it. Might want to go back and read some contemporary coverage of it, since that always gives me perspective.
Ah, I missed this, but when I returned to the Lost Woods as Adult Link I was happy to see that they were there, just hostile, and Navi explained about how they didn't like adults. I don't mind being heckled as long as they're okay!
...of course
Well, I'm still missing some Skulltulas in both the Lost Woods and Kokiri Forest, but I at least managed to rustle up a few more (the one on said elevated part of the room in the Lost Woods as well as one on top of a building in Kokiri Forest), and overall I managed to juuust scrape together 50 Gold Skulltula Tokens. There were two weird ones, though, which I suspect I may have collected in an unintended manner. In Dodongo's Cavern, after running to and fro I finally spotted one in that corridor with the teeny Dodongos (not sure of their actual name). It was up on a ledge that I couldn't climb up to nor reach directly with my hookshot, so I ended up dragging one of the statues used for pressing a button all the way over, backflipping onto it (since you can't climb on them), and then pulling myself onto the ledge. The other one was more straightforward: in Zora's River, there's a Skulltula on the wall a bit before the entrance to Zora's Domain, and while it wasn't there as Young Link and was out of range of the Hookshot as Adult Link when using a normal approach, but by precisely standing on top of the fence I was juuuuust able to reach.
It really does have quite the atmosphere! Amazing what they were able to pull off with the relatively primitive hardware—just goes to show that it's art direction that matters, not polygon counts or texture resolution.
I normally go on a walk first thing in the morning, but when I went on a walk late at night a few days ago, I was thinking about how different the same environment looked and felt and then had the thought, "This is just like the night/day cycle in Ocarina of Time." I voluntarily submit myself to be sent to the gamer gulag
I've been playing very small bits here and there over the past few days (no more than an hour a day), but as soon as I get a big chunk of time to myself (possibly tonight??), I'm gonna finally tackle the Water Temple, which I'm really excited about!
pure commentary
I strongly feel this game gives you enough hints to know what to do. Part of that is the vast majority of NPCs have a purpose, if only to hint at what needs to happen. You don't have to slog through dozens of taken an arrow to the knee generic dialog just to find the nugget you need.
That's why I was a bit cagey about the Permalock, since it could spoil some mechanics like the time travel, but I felt the game would tip its hand soon enough for you that it wouldn't hurt.
SSB has spoiled more of this game than just about anything else, which is why I don't feel too bad revealing some things for a three decade old game. It's also fun intuiting how far and by what path you are taking in the game just by telling me something as innocuous as your first Like Like.
I don't recall there being a trick, but I did only play it on Emulation or original hardware, not the Ship of Harkinian release. It's entirely possible it's a bug.
It's definitely necessary to complete the game as there are several puzzles you cannot complete without it, but it's not a scour-the-map-like-a-metal-detector necessary. On the flip side, it drains mana slowly and I found mana refill bottles drop only slightly less frequently than Rupees. Feel free to just let it run if you feel the slightest bit suspicious. Most of the stuff are small chests with rupee rewards, hidden walls/floors like in the Well, or it can make some minigames significantly easier. One trick I use is to turn it off and on quickly, seeing if anything flickers (chest, wall, etc) when I do it. If you are strapped for mana or want piece of mind, a green potion in a bottle will restore all your mana and it's another money sink.
The whole NES catalog has a well deserved reputation of being brutally hard, so don't feel bad for skipping it. I treat Zelda much like Mario; they are all kinda the same (yeah I said it!) so I (a) don't feel bad about skipping one or two titles, and (b) I approach each entry curious about their unique gameplay mechanics. I never beat the original NES Zelda, it took me over a decade to play Wind Waker, I didn't play Breath of the Wild until a couple of years ago, and I haven't yet played Skyward Sword or Tears of the Kingdom at all! That said I got my Zelda start on Link to the Past and Link's Awakening (OoT was my third), and both come with my strong recommendation.
The dynamic day/night cycle was genuinely a revolutionary feature at the time. Few contemporary game had it, and it would take years for the industry to mainstream it. Riffing on my gameplay curiosity, going back to old games is an interesting lesson in cultural archaeology to see how they adapted and converged on some mechanics and styles, and seeing what experimental ideas were tried that ultimately never made it out of the 90s.
Challenge: IMPOSSIBLE
If anything, I have to waste money or else I will open a chest with a purple rupee and a full wallet. :all-my-apes-gone: but for rupees
Honestly yes. Nice job! It shows that sometimes not knowing the 'official' answer means you don't know it is hard. For the first one, try the Scarecrow song... As for the second, the Water Temple's item makes collecting these a LOT easier. In fact I'll go so far as to say the Water Temple item is the most valuable item in the game as it unlocks quite a bit.
I wrote out a really long response—like, bumping up against the 10K character limit—and then my computer crashed and I lost everything
I'll be writing any future comment in a proper text editor, that's for sure!
I'm sure when I reply to your commentary I'll come up with similar stuff to say, but I'm bummed about the gameplay diary stuff because I wrote it up when it was fresh and I'll definitely have forgotten stuff by the time I rewrite it tomorrow. Ah well, no use crying over spilt milk. Hopefully I'll be able to respond tomorrow!