Link's objective now is to meet the Princess of Destiny in Hyrule Castle. She is, of course, the one and only Princess Zelda. Speak to Mido as you leave after the Great Deku Tree dies, then go ahead to the exit of Kokiri Forest. It's located to the left of the map.
The guy blocking it has now moved, so go ahead and leave the forest.
A short cutscene is begins where Saria talks to Link and becomes all melancholy and such, most understandable. She gives him an Ocarina, and then we watch as Link hurries away from her intensely poignant gaze. Link has now officially left Kokiri Forest.
Exciting? Much. What mysterious land lies beyond this forest that he had previously been not allowed to leave, for fear of dying?
A field. Hyrule Field. That is what lies beyond…don't feel too disappointed, now.
Hyrule Field
Link barely takes a few steps round the corner when he's stopped by the famously irritating owl, Kaepora Gaebora. A word of warning: after an incredibly lengthy, one-sided conversation filled with unnecessary tips, he asks Linksomething along the lines of ‘Did you understand that?” Sneakily, the ‘No' option is the default option, whereas the ‘Yes' option is below it. If you've been hitting the A button senseless all throughout the owl's lecture and fallen into this trap, you'll understand why everyone finds him frustrating.
After an impossibly extensive explanation involving how maps work, Link is free to go. If you want, wait around until nightfall – it won't take long. Once you hear howling and the sky turns dark (as night usually looks), turn back and return to Kokiri Forest. Link is going to get ourselves a Gold Skulltula.
The Know-It-All Brothers' house is to the west of the map. Head on over and hit the Gold Skulltula hiding behind the house for a pretty token. Jump attack to take it. Now that that's done, since Link's here he can get a Piece of Heart. If the player doesn't want that, skip this part.
Optional: Deku Seed Bullet Bag and Pieces of Heart
Go to the exit to the forest. Keep walking straight past it and hop up the ledge. Climb the vines that hang off the side of a higher ledge here and go on into the Lost Woods.
Its name is fitting. One wrong turn and Link is back at the start.
For the Bullet Bag that allows Link to carry 40 Deku Seeds, take a right turn. Shoot the trunk-like target hanging from the large tree in front of Link with the Slingshot. Do this three times successfully, getting one hundred points each by aiming for the centre of the ball, to prod a friendly Deku Scrub into appearance and award him with a Deku Seed Bullet Bag! Congratulations!
From here, drop down into a new area. Stand on the stump in front of them and take out the ocarina. This will prompt a minigame in which Link has to copy two creatures' notes without any mistakes. The player has to memorise it, so if it's too difficult you may want to write the order down. Once Link completes it three times, he'll be awarded with his very first Heart Piece!
Link should learn Saria's Song now. Leave the area back the way you came and this time take the following route: Right, Left, Right, Left, Up, Left, Right. You know you're going the right way when Link gets interrupted by a certain bird species again…
You'll see that Link ends up in the Sacred Forest Meadow. Upon approaching the gate, a White Wolfos appears. Don't worry about it – just make Link block its swipes and smack it straight afterwards. Once defeated, the gate will open. It's like magic!
The camera shifts into birds-eye-view as Link enters what looks like a maze. Head right and round the corner, keeping the shield lifted. Rebound the Deku Nut the Mad Scrub on the other side spits at Link and swipe at it with the sword. This time it connects.
Run around in the grass for good Rupees. There'll be another Mad Scrub waiting at the end of the next path, so just rebound and hit as usual. Keep going around the corner two times before Link reaches a rather long stretch of grass. Go across here, defeat yet another Mad Scrub and round the corner. Hop into the pool of water at the end and swim over to another path. There's a ladder behind Link that he can climb. It's not that useful at the moment, so head up the stairs.
Defeat the two Mad Scrubs here if you want, otherwise run up the stairs on the other side. Watch Link and Saria be reunited…how sweet. It seems as though Saria had been playing the music Link had been following. He learns Saria's song (order: Down, Right, Left) and tells him that the two of them can talk through that song.
After another interruption from Kaepora Gaebora...
He tells Link that if he ever gets stuck in the game, he should try taking out the ocarina to see if a musical staff appears. This is perhaps the most useful thing he ever says in the game.
If you want another Piece of Heart, turn left at the beginning of the Lost Woods (the easiest way to get out of the Lost Woods is by getting…erm…lost). Play Saria's Song for the Skull Kid over here for Link to receive a Piece of Heart.
Everything here is done. Leave Kokiri Forest altogether and head for the castle to finally meet Princess Zelda.
Don't waste a second – make Link start rolling forwards. Keep going straight ahead and roll rather than walk. Rolling gets Link further than walking, so do that or he won't reach the castle's drawbridge before night falls (unless you caught the Gold Skulltula, in which case it'll already be dark). Don't worry about not reaching the drawbridge before it closes if it's day time at the moment. If you keep pressing A and roll all the way, Link will make it in the nick of time. Once it's night, the drawbridge closes and Stalfos pop up all over the field. If you don't want Link to be stuck playing survival for several minutes, I suggest you hasten.
Once Link's on the other side of the drawbridge, turn right if you want off the path. Inside this building Link can smash pots for Rupees (the guard standing there actually encourages it), and then roll into the crate beside him for a Gold Skulltula. Leave and this time take the main path. Link will reach the Market – It's supposed to be a cheerful-looking place, but quite honestly it looks tragically depressing.
There's a shop here that sells a Hylian Shield, but it's terribly expensive so Link will get it shortly for free.
Keep running left until Link reaches a building with a target picture on it. Go down the path to its right to end up in the castle grounds.
Optional: Biggest Bullet Bag (50 Deku Seeds) and Pieces of Hearts
If you want, Link can go into the Shooting Gallery and play a game for 20 Rupees. He doesn't pay anything if he manages to get at least eight targets, so at least aim for that. If he wins, he receives the Biggest Bullet Bag to store more Deku Seeds.
For the second Piece of Heart, carry on left after the Shooting Gallery (the building with the target). Talk to a rotund woman in a house who lost her dog.The pesky little white dog is hanging out in the first section of the market. He will begin following Link once he gets close enough, so take him back to his owner for a Piece of Heart.
To the west of the market is a place called the Bombchu Bowling Alley. Pay 30 Rupees for one game – basically, Link has to make a path for a Bombchu to hit the target at the other end while avoiding obstacles. If he succeeds in knocking down both targets, he receives a random prize. One of these will be a Piece of Heart.
Now go back to the Shooting Gallery and go down the path to its right.
Across the Grounds
From here, Link will meet Kaepora Gaebora once again. Speed through his speech – but not too fast, otherwise you'll be sitting through it again – and take note of him telling Link not to get caught by the guards. Don't worry about the guard standing by the fence – he doesn't count.
Get Link to climb up the middle vine beside him. Once he's up, you'll see a mysterious-looking stone in front of him. This is called a Gossip Stone, and ignore it for now – Link can't do anything with it yet. Instead, turn your attention to a hole with a ladder going down it on the bridge not too far away from him. Don't go into that yet. Link's going to run across the bridge to catch the attention of the guards standing on the other side. He'll get kicked out, but now he'll be able to speak to a girl called Malon who is standing by the vine he just climbed. She'll give Link a Weird Egg and tells him that she can't find her father. Equip the egg; if a day-night cycle passes successfully, the egg will hatch and he will receive a Cucco.
Before Link climbs back up the vines, take the time to roll into the tree behind him. A Gold Skulltula falls out, so defeat it and take its token.
Go up the vines, but this time hop down into the hole with the ladder and go out the door. There's a large hill beside Link with two guards facing to the left. Keep going round the hill until you see two more guards blocking the path. Go up the hill halfway once you see the path-blocking guards and edge to the right to get out of the line of sight of the guards on top of the hill. Take your time as Link walks along the path.
In time, Link will reach the castle. Unfortunately, he can't go in the normal way because there are more guards standing in that area. Instead, change the direction a little so that he's walking a little more to the left. He'll reach what looks like cobbled dirt on the dirt wall face that lines the field. Link can climb this, so shimmy up like the skillful ninja he is and drop down off the ledge. Jump into the moat to avoid the guards and collect Rupees as he follows the water. Presently, he'll come across a small ledge at the bend for him to clamber out of the moat. Get out to find a man sleeping beside two boxes that are clearly there to be moved by Link. Wake Malon's father, Talon, using the Cucco. Excellent!
After Talon runs off to his daughter in a panic, go over to the box nearest to Link. Pull it over to the edge of the moat where there is a space for the box to fall down. Push or pull the other box so that it sits on top of it – there's a door behind this one, but it can't be opened – and get onto the top box. Now Link can reach the small hole with water streaming out of it opposite you. Jump across and crawl inside.
Sneaking Through
The camera switches conveniently to a birds' eye view of Link and a courtyard. There is a lone guard patrolling around a square hedge, so when his back's turned just run on over - the guard won't notice so long as he's completely facing away from Link.
NOTE: For the first few times I crawled into the orifice I ran into a bug - the camera would go into birds' eye view as soon as I moved, and there would be, oddly enough, two guards standing directly in front of me and facing my way. If this happens, I suggest getting caught on purpose by running off-screen and keep crawling back in until you don't see any guards.
The second courtyard is much like the first; one guard power walks, but that's really no problem because of their astounding limitations on sight and hearing. Just make sure they aren't facing Link and he's good to go.
The third courtyard consists of one guard going round and round a Rupee-lined area underneath a wooden beam. Link can either climb the steps and walk across the beam, gather the Rupees and then leave or simply keep heading left. The Rupees aren't totally worth it, but hey. Every cent counts, right?
The fourth courtyard is a near repeat of the first and second. Just remember that Link can follow behind a guard and they won't notice.
The fifth and final courtyard has the exact same method. Just note the path the guards take; it won't ever change.
All Wrapped Up: The only way the guards are going to notice Link is if he dances directly in their line of sight.
Link meets Princess Zelda, who appears to be spying on someone in the castle. She tells him about her suspicions about Ganondorf, the nefarious-looking man from his nightmares. Hmm...
After she gives Link the Princess' Letter, which she may or may not have written on the spot, he is escorted back out of the castle by Zelda's maid-person/protector Impa. Before going over to her Link can take a look into one of the windows to find pictures of Super Mario Bros' Princess Peach and other similar characters. In the 3DS version of Ocarina of Time it's a picture of a level from Super Mario Bros. No, nothing beats the good ol' classic.
Anyway, once you're done looking head on over to Impa and leave the castle.
Link will learn Zelda's Lullaby from Impa, a song kept tightly within the Royal Family and with strange, magical properties (from what is fathomed of its description). The order goes: Left, Up, Right, Left, Up, Right, using the small yellow C stick. Don't worry about memorising it - it's saved into your menu screen under Quest Status Subscreen.
It's time to visit Impa's home village, Kakariko Village.
Part 2: Deku Tree Part 4: Kakariko Village
