Five Tips Before You Start Playing The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

So you’re planning to play The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time on the Nintendo Switch 2? Congratulations, you’ve officially made the best choice of the year. Although we can imagine that Zelda veterans have already scared you half to death with stories about the infamous Water Temple, getting lost endlessly, and endless detours. Don’t worry—it’s not all that bad. And to make sure you don’t end up at your wits’ end, we’ve put together five tips that can save you a lot of frustration.

1. Stay Focused
Okay, I get that after this first tip, you might immediately wonder if you should even take the rest seriously. But we mean it: pay close attention. Listen, read, remember, and above all, try to think for yourself. You’ll often be tempted to skip a conversation or not fully explore an area, but you might end up really regretting that later. Characters don’t always tell you directly what to do, and clues are sometimes hidden in a remark that doesn’t seem important at first glance. So put that phone away for a moment, read what’s being said, and keep your eyes open. It’ll save you half an hour later searching for something you could have known all along.

2. Come back later
As you read in the previous tip, there’s plenty to discover at just about every location. We’re not exaggerating when we say that you can turn over just about every stone. But that doesn’t mean you should spend hours staring blankly at a spot where you just can’t make any progress. There’s a reason the game is called Ocarina of Time. Sometimes it’s wiser to just keep moving, remember the location, and come back later. Chances are, by then you’ll have the right equipment to finally uncover that one secret.

3. Songs for Life
The game isn’t called Ocarina of Time for nothing, so do us a favor and break out that instrument every now and then. The songs you learn can actually be used for a lot more than you might think at first. Not only can you use them to teleport and manipulate time, but you can also uncover all kinds of secrets. So feel free to try playing a tune in a spot where you’re stuck or come across something suspicious. Who knows what might happen. And if you can’t quite remember which songs you’ve learned, luckily you can easily look them up. For example, why not try a song for those strange stones?

4. Use the map
Here’s another tip that probably makes you think, “Yeah, right, thanks for the advice.” But seriously, it helps a lot to study the map of a temple or dungeon carefully. See which areas you’ve already visited, where the stairs go up or down, and try to figure out a bit how everything is connected. That way, you don’t have to blindly follow the route the game maps out for you. You can also plan ahead a little on your own.
And if you do end up getting lost? Then walk back to the last spot where you were sure you were making progress. Take a good look around, check your map, and try to figure out what you might have overlooked. After all, you can’t just get permanently stuck in a dungeon. There’s always a way forward, even if you still haven’t found it after searching for 45 minutes. Chances are, the solution will ultimately turn out to be a lot simpler than you thought.

5. Take the scenic route
We understand that you’d rather rush to the next temple as fast as possible, but do yourself a favor and take a detour every now and then. Hyrule is full of minigames, hidden secrets, and optional quests that can really help you on your adventure. You can collect extra hearts, upgrade your equipment, and get items that’ll make your life a lot easier. And trust us, you’ll be really glad you did later on. So if you come across something interesting along the way, be sure to take a moment to check it out. That next temple will still be there in an hour.

We should mention, though, that these tips are based on the original The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time from 1998. Although the remake seems to stay fairly true to the original, Nintendo has also announced a number of new features. For example, the controls and camera have been revamped, and thanks to the new Threads of Time feature, it’s easier to keep track of where you need to go. So the experience won’t be exactly the same, but we expect these tips will still take you a long way. Have fun in Hyrule!