This is the year of the Picori Festival, where the Hylians celebrate their friendship with the tiny and mysterious Picori people.

Start a New Game

At the title screen, press Start to go to the file selection screen. Choose an empty slot (or select a used slot and choose Erase to erase it), then enter your name. You can switch to lowercase and numbers using the buttons along the bottom. When you're done, choose End. Then choose the save slot that you just created, and the game will begin.

During cutscenes, you can hold the B button to speed up the dialogue. After the cutscene, go downstairs, then go through the east door. Smith gives you a sword and asks you to take it to the minister at the castle.

After the cutscene, you can press Start to open the pause screen and save the game if you wish (see below for an explanation of the pause screen). Open the chest to get 20 rupees. You can pick up and throw pots with the R button, and they might drop rupees when you throw them. After that, go outside.

Go west and follow Zelda into town. After the cutscene, go north and talk to Zelda, then when she runs north, go north and talk to her again. Then go east and talk to her, then go south and talk to her. Zelda wins a shield and gives it to you.

By default, the shield is equipped to the A button, but you can change that from the pause screen. Hold the shield button to raise the shield and defend yourself.

Then go north with Zelda, and follow her until a Business Scrub stops her. Stand in front of the Scrub and hold the shield button to raise your shield. When the Business Scrub tries to hit you, the shield will deflect it, and the Scrub will go away.

Keep going north to reach the castle, then approach Minister Potho. There will be a cutscene.

The Awards Ceremony

Afterward, press R to wake up, then exit the room. There will be a cutscene.

Smith gives you a map. It shows your next destination: the Deepwood Shrine in the Minish Woods. Leave the castle now and start your journey to the Minish Woods. If you need help using the pause screen, read the section below.

Pause Screen Explained

Press Start to view the pause screen. The features of the pause screen are explained below.

Items

To switch between screens, press L or R. On the items screen, highlight any item and press A or B to equip it to that button. You do not have anything else to equip yet, but you can switch the sword and shield buttons if you wish. You can save from here as well.

Quest Status

This screen shows you the important quest items, of which there is only the broken Picori Blade so far. Your heart container count is shown on this screen. If playing on a GBA, you can put your GBA into sleep mode from here. It keeps your GBA turned on but in low-power mode until you press L+R+Select simultaneously. Please note that the wake-up sequence of buttons does not include the Start button. If you press L+R+Select+Start, the GBA will not wake up.

In the Nintendo Switch version of the game, sleep mode doesn't do anything.

Map

Outside of dungeons, the Pause Screen map shows you the map of Hyrule. The regions that you can see are the ones that you have visited so far, as well as the Minish Woods with your destination check-marked. You can press A when highlighting any section of the map to see a detailed closeup view. In dungeons, the pause screen map shows the dungeon map instead of the world map, or, if you haven't found the map yet, it shows you the rooms of the dungeon that you have visited.

Continue to the Forest

When you are ready, you should go east from Link's house to begin your journey to the Minish Woods.