A Dream Worth Waking For: A Beginner’s Guide to Starting The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening
You wake up on a strange beach, with no memory of how you got there. A girl named Marin is looking down at you, and somewhere in the distance, a giant egg sits atop a mountain. This is Koholint Island, and it is unlike any Hyrule you’ve ever seen. Link’s Awakening is a game that strips away the familiar—no Princess Zelda, no Triforce, no Ganon (at least not in the way you expect)—and replaces it with something stranger, warmer, and ultimately more haunting.
If you’re starting the Switch remake (or revisiting the Game Boy original), this guide will help you get your bearings without spoiling the dream.
See other game guides : Guides and Walkthroughs in Gaming
The First Steps: Sword, Shield, and a Very Odd Island
Your immediate goal is simple: get a sword and a shield so you can leave Mabe Village without being eaten by Sea Urchins.
The Shield is easy. Talk to Tarin, Marin’s father, and he’ll give it to you. In the Switch remake, the shield is permanently mapped to the R button, so you never have to swap it out for another item—a massive quality-of-life improvement over the original.
The Sword is on the beach to the south. Head down, but be careful: spiky Sea Urchins block the path. Hold your shield up and push through them to clear a path. Once you grab the sword, a mysterious Owl will appear and tell you to head north to the Mysterious Forest.
A crucial early tip: The game does not hold your hand. If you’re ever lost, find a telephone booth. Old Man Ulrira lives for these calls, and he’ll give you a hint about what to do next.
The Trading Quest Is Not Optional
Here is the single most important piece of advice for any new player: the trading quest is mandatory.
It starts in Mabe Village with the Trendy Game—the claw machine in the southeast corner. Play it for 10 Rupees and win the Yoshi Doll. From there, you’ll trade that doll for a Ribbon, the Ribbon for Dog Food, and so on, through roughly fourteen trades. The game will give you hints, but you must complete this chain to finish the game. If you see an odd item, grab it. If someone wants to trade, do it.
Also mandatory: Buy the Shovel from the shop. It seems optional, but you need it to progress.
The Shopkeeper and the Bow (A Confession)
At some point, you’ll need the Bow, which costs over 900 Rupees. That is a lot of money. Fortunately, there is a way to get it for free: pick it up, stand where the shopkeeper can see you, and dash out the door before he turns around.
A warning: If you do this, your save file name will permanently change to “THIEF,” and the shopkeeper will kill you if you ever return. It’s a valid strategy. It’s also a choice you have to live with.
Explore, Mark, and Listen
The Switch remake adds two features that make exploration far less frustrating than the original :
- Map Markers: You can place pins on your map. If you see a cave you can’t enter yet, or a chest you can’t reach, mark it. You will forget otherwise.
- Seashell Sensor: Once you collect about fifteen Secret Seashells and visit the Seashell Mansion, you’ll get a sensor that pings whenever you’re near a hidden shell. Use it.
When you’re in a dungeon, listen to your Compass. It chimes when a key is nearby—and many keys are hidden in rooms, not chests. If you hear a chime, search that room carefully.
The Medicine That Saves Your Life
In most Zelda games, a bottled Fairy revives you when you fall. In Link’s Awakening, that is not how it works. You need Crazy Tracy’s Secret Medicine. Buy it when you can afford it, and keep it in your inventory. It is the only thing standing between you and a game over.
A Final Word (No Spoilers)
Link’s Awakening is a game about a dream. It is also a game about the people you meet within that dream—Marin, who wishes she could be a seagull and fly away; Tarin, who turns into a raccoon; the eccentric villagers who populate this strange little island. The game is funny, and weird, and then, without warning, it becomes something much heavier.
Do not rush. Do not look up a walkthrough unless you are truly stuck. The joy of this game is in the discovery—the moment a puzzle clicks, the moment a hidden path opens, the moment you realize what the Owl has been trying to tell you all along.
You washed up on this beach for a reason. Go find out what it is.
