The story begins with the Great Deku Tree – a huge, talking tree that looks undeniably creepy – introducing the game. As the Great Deku Tree says:
In the vast, deep forest of Hyrule...
Long have I served as the guardian spirit...
I am known as the Great Deku Tree...
The children of the forest, the Kokiri, live here with me.
Each Kokiri has his or her own guardian fairy.
The Great Deku Tree concludes his little speech with these final words:
However, there is one boy who does not have a fairy...
It doesn't take a genius to work out who the boy is, and that he's going to be the protagonist. Enter: Child Link.
Yes, Link is full-blown 3D child all the way from his chubby cheeks to his short stature. He's hanging out in front of a huge drawbridge while it lowers ominously; a white horse gallops out, a manly-looking woman and child Princess Zelda riding atop it. A black horse is going after them – riding it is a thoroughly nefarious-looking man who looks suspiciously like…ahem.
Link then understandably wakes up with a start in his own room. Hey, it was only a nightmare. A very annoying fairy called Navi has woken him up. Evidently, Link is now to have a fairy and she is to take him to the Great Deku Tree.
Bear with the fairy for now and head on over to the doorway. Use the nunchuk to move. Unfortunately, you don't have a sword yet so taking a swipe at a certain someone isn't possible. Go through the doorway and be welcomed to Kokiri Forest.
Link is prompted to talk to his childhood friend Saria, who appears to have immaculate timing. Go ahead and talk to her if you wish, but realise that she doesn't say anything important.
Now, in case you're a tad confused, the objective right now is to get to the Great Deku Tree. It's the path on the map (bottom right) that leads off to a whole new area to the right, but unfortunately Link is stopped from continuing his awesome adventure by a particularly grouchy Kokiri. His name is Mido and he really seems to hate Link.
The big bully tells him that he have to get a sword and shield before approaching the Great Deku Tree (hey, think of it this way. He's just looking out for Link). There's no point in running past Mido because he seems to have the reflexes of a cheetah and anticipates Link's every move…without even moving his legs. Yes. Without even moving his legs. Instead, turn back and get the sword first. You can start with acquiring the shield first, but you're going to be running around gathering forty Rupees for a very long time. Why not gather them as you journey towards the sword instead?
The Rupee Currency Goes as Follows:
Green Rupee = 1
Blue and Silver Rupee = 5
Red Rupee = 20
Purple Rupee = 50
Gold and Orange Rupee = 200
Kokiri Sword
Find the south-west corner on the map – that's the bottom left in plain English – and make a route for it. Link will end up in a place called the Forest Training Area.
Go through the maze of fences to reach the L Sign. You'll find an orifice to crawl through beside this sign. To crawl, simply stand in front of the hole and press A.
Once Link appears on the other side, you'll find yourself in a fascinating place consisting of giant rolling boulders that seems to defy the laws of physics. Head on around the bend to snag a Rupee worth five Green ones – the Blue Rupee! Dun da la dun dun duuun. Give way to the boulder rolling past beside Link before following it – sensibly, so that he doesn't get squashed in the process – and reward yourself with another Blue Rupee. Give way to the boulder again and hurry into the safety of a niche that's pretty special – a splendid-looking chest awaits, and inside lies a Kokiri Sword just for Link!
As the game says pretty clearly, press START, either manually press the little arrow to the side of the screen or press R or Z until you find yourself on the Equipment Subscreen. Hover over the sword with the cursor and press A to equip it. Now to carry on with your fantastic adventure.
Wiggle back out of the hole and begin some serious Rupee-collecting. Alternatively, you can first teach yourself the art of the sword with the help of the signs and a sword-master Kokiri person in the Forest Training Area.
Deku Shield
Well, now that Link has a sword, getting Rupees should be much easier. One way to get easy Rupees is by giving a grass-cutting service and slashing at overgrown clumps of grass all over the forest. Rupees will pop out with a jangle, so gather all those up. If you're feeling lazy, you can simply take a stroll through the even more overgrown grass – they can't be cut, but there sure are a lot of Rupees hiding in it. Get into houses, smash pots, open other peoples' chests, do whatever you're allowed to do in the game that you're not allowed to do in real life, and sooner or later you're going to have your forty Rupees. Go to the building in the top right-hand corner of the map – this is the forest's shop. A Kokiri girl hanging out on the roof teaches Link how to L-Target – simply press L when you can't reach someone, and press A to talk to them. You won't really need this for the talking, but L-Targeting in general is a sure-fire way to survive some really tough baddies.
Enter the shop and talk to the shopkeeper. Purchase the Deku Shield, and…congratulations! Great Deku Tree time. Practice your equipping skills.
Head on past Mido to walk down the path to your unknown future.
How profound.
Link will face three Deku Babas that do virtually nothing along the way. They aren't technically his first enemies in the game…ahem…but this time he can actually swipe at their stalks with his trusty Kokiri Sword. Collect the Deku Sticks that they drop; these sticks will really come in useful later, when you have to light a torch or something…hint…hint…
A cutscene ensues where the Great Deku Tree tells Link that his nightmares have been caused by Hyrule being approached by evil. Funny how he knows what Link's been dreaming.
The Tree says that there is a curse that can be broken by Link. He opens his mouth and asks the boy to go in.
Yes, really.
Home Part 2: Deku Tree
