Ordon Village

You begin your journey with Link in a small village, where Link is apparently a well-known farmhand. Considering that there are less than ten people in the town, though, perhaps it’s not too surprising that everyone knows your name. Under the tutelage of a local familyman, you’re also being prepared for the adventuring life, as he asks you to travel to Hyrule to deliver something to the royal family there.

Grab this piece of grass to play a tune for Epona and Ilia. It does nothing but prove how talentless you are.

There’ll be plenty of time for foolishness later, though. You have to head back to your house after the little talk that Rusl here gives to you. The day passes, and you’re summoned just before dusk by the village idiot, who requests that you help him herd goats. Oh, the ignominy! Doesn’t he know that you’re the next savior of Hyrule?

Not much to do but help him out. Take the time to get used to the game’s controls here. You have to find Epona before you can move on; there’s only one path you can currently take from this area, which leads back to the lake you were at the night before. Head there to encounter Ilia, a local girl, who’s washed Epona for you. Maybe you like your horse smelly and unclean, did she ever think about that? Ilia wants you to play a melody for her and Epona on the grasses that grow along the lakeside. If you walk over to one of the stalks near the entrance to the area and stand on top of it, you’ll get the Pick option; pick up the grass and blow it to get on everyone’s good side.

My-ay-ay Epona

With Epona in your possession, ride her back to your house, then head through the village. Feel free to dismount and talk to everyone around, if you like; you can learn who everyone is, but you can’t head into any buildings just yet.

Shine get!

When you’re ready to help hoard goats, head up to the farm through the far end of town. The idiot is there, waiting for you to help him get the goats into the barn. It’s not difficult to do so; just put the goats between Epona and the barn, then start trying to guide them to the open door. You can hit the A button to "whoop", which will increase the speed of the goats and make them more likely to stay in front of you, but don’t abuse it; use it too much, and the goats will get angry and knock you off Epona. After a simple fence-jumping exercise (hit A to dash towards a fence and Epona will automatically jump it, given enough lead time.)

You can hit the hay by jumping over the gate leading back to town; you’ll automatically warp back to your house, and it’ll be the next morning when those damn kids from next door wake you up with their yelling and shouting. Kids these days...in my day we’d give them a good thrashing, the little brats...

Village Idyll

Head outside your house and speak to all the kids in the area. You’ll learn from them that Colin has made a fishing pole for you (his mom is holding it) and that a slingshot has gone on sale at the store in town. You’re going to need 30 rupees to buy the slingshot, so start looking for them! You can find rupees standing free in the game world, but for the most part they’ll be found by picking up stones and pumpkins and throwing them.

When you head into the village, you’ll learn of a number of troubles that have beset the villagers. Colin’s mom is worried about a baby basket that has floated downstream; the shopkeeper’s cat has run away; and one of the other villagers wants to knock down a beehive above his house. You’ll need to take on each of these tasks in order to obtain the items that they reward you with.

Basket

A precisely aimed bird will help you nab the basket monkey thief. Person.

Colin’s mom will be the first task you should polish off. Talk to her to learn about the basket, then speak to the guy on top of the earth pillars in the middle of town to learn about climbing up and jumping around. You don’t need to actually jump from the pillar to move on to the next one; just run towards it and you’ll move on. He’ll also tell you about picking reeds and whistling in them.

Jump onto the house roof here and reach the farthest pillar out in the water. More reeds grow here, so pick one and blow it to summon an eagle. If you point the eagle directly at the monkey that’s hopping up and down in the distance, near the end of the water, you can press A to send it out; it’ll grab the bonnet from the monkey’s hands and bring it back to you. Jump from pillar to pillar until you reach dry ground, then drop down and bring the bonnet back to Colin’s mom. If you walk her back to her house, she’ll reward you with the Fishing Pole.

The Case Of The Hungry Cat

Now that you have the fishing pole, you can feed the cat that’s run away from the shop here in town. You can find the cat on a pier near the water wheel. Run over to it and equip your fishing rod. (To do so, hit the - button, point at the rod, and hit B.) Using B will equip the rod, then hitting B again will throw the lure out into the water.

After the lure goes all the way down into the water, you can gently pull the remote control backwards; don’t go exaggerated and fling it over your head. If you get the "Fish On!" prompt, keep it pointed upright until you reel the line all the way in, and you’ll have your fish. (Honestly, it seems kind of random as to whether you get a fish on the line or not when the bobber goes into the water, but if you keep trying this action, and simply wait ten or fifteen seconds after the bobber starts to dip before pulling it out, you’ll eventually nab a fish. Don’t worry; you won’t have to do this very often in the game.)

You’ll probably need to grab two fish here for whatever reason. After nabbing the second small fish, it’ll fall off your line in front of the cat (make sure you’re fishing from the correct pier; the cat should be right nearby when you’re fishing), who will grab it and run back to the store. Follow it to find the owner right perky; she’ll give you half a jar of milk and will allow you to buy the slingshot for 30 rupees. If you don’t have enough, try smashing more pumpkins, or explore the town more thoroughly. There’s a ten rupee piece atop the mayor’s house, for instance.

Smashing Beehives

If you walk over to the house across the way from the store, you’ll be able to use the slingshot to knock down the beehive way up in the tree above it. No special rewards for doing so, but you will be able to walk up there and collect 15 rupees if you didn’t do so on your first trip through town. You can also drink the milk that the store owner gave you and use the bottle to collect some bee larva, if you wish. It acts as fishing lure.

The only other minigame in town is available if you talk to the mayor, who’ll enlist you in stopping rogue goats that are attempting to escape the farm. It can be deceptively difficult to hit the A button at just the right time to do so.

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