This page guides you through the beginning of The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds.
To start playing, press A at the title screen, then choose one of the empty game file slots. Your character is automatically named Link (finally!) but you can choose Rename to give your character a different name if you wish.
Wake Up
You have a bad dream, then Gulley wakes you up when he knocks on the door. He comes in after a moment. When Gulley tells you to wake up, press a button to sit up. When Gulley goes outside, you should, too. But first, you can pick up the pots in the corner and throw them by pressing A. You might get some rupees. And look in the bottom right corner to see Majora’s Mask if you want. Then go outside.
Gulley says you have to go to the blacksmith’s shop, but first you need to check in at the weather vane. Go up to the weather vane and press A to save the game. The weather vane will be added to your map so you can find it again later.
Now go west to follow Gulley. You’ll see him run northwest, so follow him that way. You can jump down the cliff to get there more quickly. In the next screen, go west. You’ll see Gulley to the northwest, in front of the blacksmith’s house. You can pick up and throw the bushes if you want to. You might get rupees. Then go to the door of the blacksmith’s house and press A to open it.
Meet the Blacksmith
Inside, you’ll see the captain of the guards getting a shield from the blacksmith. After some dialogue, the captain leaves.
The blacksmith’s wife notices that the captain left his sword behind, so now it’s up to you to follow the captain and give him the sword.
Return the Captain’s Sword
Go up to the table and press A to pick up the sword. The blacksmith says that the captain went to Hyrule Castle. The blacksmith marks it on your map.
Go outside and use the southeast exit, then go east and then north up the bridge. Talk to the guard there. The guard says that the captain was going to stop by the sanctuary. The guard mentions the outbreak of vandalism on the walls of the castle.
The guard says to go west on the stone path for a shortcut to the Sanctuary. The guard marks the Sanctuary on the map. On the way, you can talk to the other guards to hear about the vandalism, which, strangely, won’t come off no matter how much they scrub.
Follow the path around the west side of the castle, and exit west when you can. From there, go north, then east. Go through the gate in the stone wall and go north. Use the weather vane to the left to save the game, then continue north to reach the Sanctuary.
Meet Seres and Dampé
In front of the Sanctuary, you find Seres talking to Dampé. When you explain that the captain forgot his sword, Seres goes inside to tell her father the priest, who is talking to the captain.
Suddenly you hear Seres cry out, then the Sanctuary doors lock. Dampé doesn’t have a key, but he has heard that there is a secret passageway under one of the graves in the graveyard. He recommends that you use the sword if you’re in trouble. You can choose whichever dialog you want, but you should agree to use the sword, because you kind of have no choice. You can swing it by pressing B.
Find the Secret Passageway
Go east into the graveyard.There are some green Buzz Blobs walking around. Just hit them with your sword to get rid of them.
You can push up the graves by standing in front of them, then pressing A to hold them, then push up. Some of the graves have rupees underneath, but beware: Poe ghosts might pop out of some of the graves and attack you.
The hidden passage is under the grave that is surrounded by walls. Cut the trees south of this grave in order to reach it. Hold the grave with A, then press up to push it up. Then go down the stairs to enter the secret passageway.
Reach the Sanctuary
Go north. There are some pots blocking your path, so swing your sword to get rid of them, or press A to pick them up and throw them. Then keep going north to find a glowing chest. Press A to open it. You get the lamp! The touch screen will guide you through equipping it. Tap Items, then drag the lamp to the Y button area. Then you can press B or tap Close to close the items menu.
You don’t have to press Y to make the lamp provide light. It will light up the dark areas wherever you walk. You can press Y to make a temporary flame in front of you.
Go north into the shallow pool of water and read the tablet for a clue about what to do next. Go north to find a locked door. Use the lamp on the two torches to the left and right of the door to make it open.
You can use the lamp on the torches here, but they only stay lit up temporarily. Be careful of Rats and Ropes in this room.
Go west from the door to find a chest. Open it to get a red rupee.
Go west from there until you can’t go any farther west, then go north to find some stairs. They lead to a door, but it’s locked. Go east from the locked door to walk on a raised path. You’ll see a rupee to the north. Continue along the raised path to find another chest. This one contains a key.
Go back to the locked door to the west and press A while standing in front of it. You’ll unlock the door and go through.
Once you are in the room, the door will lock. There are three Poes floating around the room. Defeat them all to make the north door open. Go through.
In the next room, there are two switches in the north wall. You have to pull the correct one to make the door open. If you pull the wrong one, Ropes will fall from the ceiling and attack you. The correct switch is on the left. Pull it to unlock the door. Go through.
Enter the Sanctuary
You are now in the Sanctuary. Go west and then walk north. In a cutscene, you encounter a bad guy named Yuga, who turns Seres into a painting, then defeats you and threatens to turn other things in your world into paintings. The priest says you must warn Princess Zelda.
Back Home
Afterward, you wake up once more in your house. Ravio is there. He’s a travelling merchant. He found you in the Sanctuary and dragged you back here. You tell Ravio what happened and he tells you to report it to the castle immediately. But before you go, Ravio asks if he can stay in your house for a while. You can choose whatever dialogue you wish, but eventually you have to agree to let him stay. Ravio gives you his bracelet as payment for letting him stay.
Go outside and save at the weather vane. Then go north to the castle.
Meet Impa
Go north into the castle courtyard and talk to the guard at the main door. You go into the castle with Impa.
Inside, Impa encourages you to take a close look at the painting gallery. Start on the far left side. Each painting tells a part of the history of Hyrule. The guard to the left of the paintings says that Impa is a descendant of the Seven Sages. After you have looked at all five paintings, Impa comes out and says Zelda is ready to see you. Use the stairs to reach the door that she went into.
Zelda has had the same dream as the one that you saw at the start of the game, so she recognizes you. You tell Zelda what happened, and she fears that evil is rising again in Hyrule. Impa tells you to ask Sahasrahla for help, and Zelda marks his location in Kakariko Village.
Zelda also entrusts a charm of the royal family to you. It’s a green pendant.
Explore the Castle
Before you go to Kakariko, there are a couple of things you can find around the castle. First, go south from the throne room, then east. From there, go south to exit. Go south after that, then west. There is a chest here that contains a purple rupee.
If you go down to the main courtyard where soldiers are practicing against scarecrows, you can use the northwest door and go to the north end of the room to get 5 rupees.
Go West
Go west from the castle to reach Kakariko Village.
Explore the Village
Just north of the village, there is a fortune teller. You can pay the fortune teller for a hint about what you are supposed to do next. When you first go in, the fortune teller gives you the Hint Glasses, which allow you to see Hint Ghosts in certain locations. You can pay a Hint Ghost one Play Coin to get a hint about what to do in that location. You can earn Play Coins by going to the 3DS home screen, closing the 3DS, and walking around. The 3DS earns 1 Play Coin for every 100 steps you take.
In the village, you will find a Weather Vane where you can save.
West of there, you find a merchant. You can buy a bottle from him for 100 Rupees. This item is very useful, so I recommend getting one if you have enough rupees.
There is an item shop west of that. You can buy a shield there for 50 rupees. The shield is automatically equipped, and you have to hold R to defend yourself.
South of that, you find an old man who will set up StreetPass battles for you. If you StreetPass with other Link Between Worlds players, your character will be sent as Shadow Link, which other players can have battles with. If you tell the old man to activate StreetPass for this game, he’ll plant an apple tree in the garden near your house. In addition, he says that if you get StreetPass tags, he will put up a sign in the field in front of him.
In the cave north of the item shop, there is a chest that contains a red rupee.
On the east side of town, there is a house with a treasure chest on the front. This is Fortune’s Choice. It’s a game that costs 50 rupees to play, where you have to open one of two treasure chests. If you open the correct one, you get 100 rupees.
West of the Fortune’s Choice house, there is a house with a bee on the front. This is the home of the Bee Guy, who will give you a net that you can use to catch bees. The bee guy asks you to catch bees with the net and bring the bees to him. He’ll reward you for the bees you bring. If you can find a Golden Bee and bring it to him, he gives you the Bee Badge, which causes bees to be friendly to you instead of stinging you. The Bee Guy will still reward you for the bees that you catch and bring to him.
South of there, you find the Milk Bar, where if you have an empty bottle, you can buy some Lon Lon Milk. You can also pay the musicians at the top of the room to play some music.
You can go south of town to find the Cucco Farm, where you can play the Cucco Game. The goal is to avoid letting any of the cuccos fly into you during the time limit.
Go southeast from there, then cut the bushes that are in an arrow shape. Go north past those bushes to find Gulley in a clearing. Animals surround him, but the animals run away whenever anyone else comes near.
There is a stone building in the north end of town, and you can see a chest behind the bars. But there are wooden boxes blocking what looks like the door of the cell, so you can’t do anything here for now.
Meet Sahasrahla
Now go into the long wooden house in the north part of town. Use the door on the right: the one on the left is locked. You find Sahasrahla dozing and muttering in his sleep, then he wakes up. When you tell him what happened, he asks if you know the legends of the Seven Sages and the hero who saved Hyrule. If you want to hear it, say Tell me.
Sahasrahla believes that Yuga turned Seres into a painting because he wants to gather the descendants of the Seven Sages in order to release Ganon from imprisonment. Sahasrahla sent his disciple Osfala to the Eastern Palace to investigate reports of a strange man there, but now Sahasrahla realizes that since Osfala is a descendant of the Seven Sages as well, Yuga will try to kidnap Osfala too.
Sahasrahla tells you to go warn Osfala. He marks the location of the Eastern Palace on your map. Go that way now.
Detour to the Witch’s House
If you go east past the graveyard, you’ll see a witch fly overhead. Continue east, then go south, cross the bridge to the east, then go north. You’ll find the Witch’s House to the east. Use the weather vane here to have it added to your map.
In the Witch’s House, you can buy potions that will help you on your quest, but you need an empty bottle in order to purchase them.
Continue to the Eastern Palace
Go west, then south until you reach an area with stone mounds and some Octoroks running around. From that area, go east. You can find a cave entrance to the east where there is a fairy fountain, where the fairy will heal your wounds. Back outside, use the north exit. Keep going north and you’ll discover that the path is blocked and there are signs that say Ravio has set up an item shop south of the castle… using your house.
You can find a red rupee east of here, but the Armos Statues will wake up when you go there, making it difficult to get away unharmed.
A little farther east, you find a cave entrance, but there’s nothing that you can do there for now.
Deal with Ravio
Since your path is blocked, you should go back to your house and ask Ravio what’s going on. When you talk to him, he asks you what symbol you saw on the stone pedestals around the blockade in the Eastern Palace area. Choose the correct symbol: the bow and arrow. Ravio lends you the bow and arrow for free.
When you go outside, an energy bar is added to the bottom left of the screen. When you use Ravio’s items, the energy bar depletes. The energy bar replenishes over time. This means that you don’t need to look around for more arrows to keep using your bow. You can just keep using the bow until the energy runs out, then wait for it to recharge.
Now go back to the blockade in the Eastern Palace. Walk up the stairs onto the pedestal, then turn left. Use the bow to shoot the crystal switch. Now turn right and use the bow to hit the other crystal switch. The door will open.
Go north through the door. There is a little house down in the pit, but you can’t do anything in there right now. Instead, go northwest and up the stairs. Go east from there and get rid of the armos knights. Keep following the path to reach a chest that contains a red rupee.
Go to the northeastern part of this area. You find Osfala standing in front of the entrance to the Eastern Palace. He’s confident that he is safe, because he holds the Sand Rod. Instead of going back to Sahasrahla, Osfala goes into the Eastern Palace.
You should go in and make sure nothing happens to Osfala. Save at the weather vane next to the palace, then go into the Eastern Palace.
Eastern Palace 1F
In the first room, step on the switch in the bottom-right corner of the room to open the door there. Then go through the door and pick up the rupees there.
Go back to the last room and use the bow and arrow to shoot the crystal switch that is across the gap in the middle of the room. A couple of floor panels fall down. Go north up those panels and through the north door.
In the next room, turn left and use the bow and arrows to hit the crystal switch to the left. Then go to the last room and through the northwest door to reach the chest. It contains a red rupee.
Now go back to the last room and go through the middle north door again. There is a jelly-like monster here called a Popo. Get rid of it and exit north.
In this room, you can see some balls rolling south. Go down the stairs, then carefully go north, avoiding the rolling balls. Sometimes a huge one will roll toward you. Try to hide in the small gaps on the sides of the path. When you reach the top, go west, then south and up the stairs.
There are some rupees up above, but when you get the blue one, a piece of wall comes out and pushes you down into the gap next to the are where the balls are rolling.
Back in the upper walkway, walk east across the grating, then go north up the narrow path to step on a switch that unlocks the east door. Go through. Go east and walk onto the piece of floor that is rising and falling. You can reach the room south of this one if you wait for the platform to go to the bottom, then walk south to the next room. In that room, you find some fairies, and some rupees. You can use the bug net to catch the fairies. If you have an empty bottle, you can put a fairy into it after catching it with the next. A fairy in a bottle will revive you if you lose all of your hearts. The fairy goes away after it does that.
Back in the room to the north, stand on the rising and falling platform. Use the bow and arrow to activate the two crystal switches. You have to shoot the one on the right when the platform is at the top, and shoot the one on the left when the platform is at the bottom. The crystal switches are only active for a short time, so run to the northeast corner of the room to walk on the platforms and reach the chest. It contains a small key. Use the northwest door to exit the room.
In the room with the rolling balls, use the northwest exit. The door shuts behind you, and three Popos come out of the ground. After you defeat them, four more appear. After you get rid of those, a chest appears, but you can’t reach it.
There is a secret passage under the chest. Walk south through that passage to get to the next room. Step on the switch in the bottom-right corner of that area. A chest appears that contains a red rupee.
Go north to the previous room, then use the southwest exit. Go up the stairs, then go around to the north door. Go through to reach the chest that appeared earlier. It contains the Compass.
Go back to the last room and step on the switch in the northeast corner to open the east door. Go through it.
Go to the north wall of the rolling ball room and use your key in the north middle door. You’ll go up to the next floor.
Eastern Palace 2F
The door shuts behind you. Step on the switch in the middle of the room to wake up the Armos Statues. Get rid of them. A green portal appears in the middle of the room. If you step into it, you go back to 1F. You can use this as a shortcut if you need to leave the dungeon to heal up.
Continuing from the room in 2F with the green portal, go east. There are traps in the wall that spit arrows at you, so be sure to hold up your shield by holding the R button. (If you don’t have a shield, you might want to buy one from the Kakariko item shop.) Make your way to the southeast corner of the room. There is a Popo in the southeast corner that appears when you get close. Once you kill the Popo, a chest appears farther north in the room. After you open it, the mouths on the north wall will spit arrows at you, so be prepared to get out of the way. The chest contains a potion ingredient. Once you collect enough of the potion ingredients, you can take them to the Witch’s Hut (north of Eastern Palace) to make some potion.
You could step on the switch at the southwest ledge in this room to open the south door, but there is more to find in the northwest room of 2F, so go back to the green portal room of 2F.
Back in the green portal room on 2F, go west. There are many rolling balls in this room. Carefully go to the left side of the room, then step on the switch. Stand on it until the stairway has come all of the way out, then run up it. A large rolling ball comes out in this pathway, so be careful to wait until it rolls past before you run east.
Go down the stairs. There is a safe area north of the raised platform in the middle. The switch on the right just makes the stairs go away, but there is a hidden switch under those stairs, so when the stairs have gone into the wall, run up to step on the hidden switch. This makes a chest appear on the left side of the room. It contains another potion ingredient.
Now go to the southwest corner of the room and step on the switch there to open the south door. Go through.
In the next room, go to the south part of the room, then go up the stairs. Go north up the middle of the room and you find a big locked door. Shoot an arrow west of that door to hit the crystal switch there. That makes a platform on the left side start rising and falling.
Go south, then go east down the next stairs. From there, go northeast. Use the bow and arrow on the crystal switch left of the door. This makes a platform rise and fall to the south. Step on it, then shoot an arrow north when the platform is at the top to hit the crystal switch to the north. This makes the east door open. Go through it.
In this room, there are four crystal switches down below. You have to stand on a moving platform and use the bow and arrows to shoot the crystal switches. Also, there are mouths that spit arrows at you, so you will need to be prepared to dodge them or block them with your shield. When you hit all four crystal switches, a chest appears on the right side of the room. It contains a key.
Now go west and use the key on the west door. (If you can’t reach the west door, go to the big locked door in the middle north of the room and shoot the crystal switch to the left.) Go through the western locked door.
The door locks behind you and three Stalfos wake up. Stalfos will jump away from your swinging sword, so you can either hold the B button to poke them with your sword, or just back them against a wall and hit them there. When they are all gone, the big treasure chest goes down to your level. The southeast door also opens. The big chest contains the Big Key, which allows you to unlock that huge door in the middle of 2F.
Before you go to the big door, use the southeast exit that just opened in the room where you got the Big Key. There is a crystal switch in that small room. Hit it to reveal a switch in the northwest corner of that room. Now go back to the Big Key room and use the east middle door.
Stand on the platform that is going up and down. Shoot an arrow north when the platform is at the highest point. The floor will change, allowing you to reach the big locked door. Go up to the big locked door and press A to open it.
Yuga
Yuga is there. He turns Osfala into a painting. Then it’s time to battle him.
Stay on the opposite side of the pit from Yuga, and shoot him with your arrows. He will sometimes hide in the wall as a painting, so don’t try shooting him then. After you hit him enough times, he gets angry and starts throwing energy balls at you, but only if you give him time to do so. Try hitting him before he can shoot you.
After a while, Yuga is too badly hurt to keep fighting, so he turns you into a painting on the wall. Is this game over? No! Somehow, Ravio’s bracelet gives you the power to pop back out of the wall and become a painting again whenever you choose. Press A to get out of the wall. Then take the Heart Container in the north part of the room.
Escape as a Painting
To escape, you have to merge with the wall, then slip out through the thin opening in the north wall. Keep in mind that you can only be a painting for a limited time until the purple energy bar runs out, then you’ll automatically pop back out of the wall. At any rate, slip through the crack in the north wall as a painting.
You’ll have to keep walking around the outside wall until you reach a ledge. When you reach a ledge, you can see a pot with a purple glow coming from it. This contains energy to refill the purple energy gauge.
You want to go to the east side of this area. From the room where you fought Yuga, merge with the east wall and approach the crack in the wall from the right. Then you can go to the east side of this area. After you pop back out, drop down to the ledge below you to the north. Merge with the wall there and walk along the wall until you get to the other side. When you pop out there, you will fall to a lower level. Merge with the wall after you fall, then walk along the wall again. You will collect some green rupees. When you pop out on the other side, walk east to find a chest that contains a silver rupee!
Now merge with the wall and walk along it to the ledge on the west side again. There is a moving platform to the west. Step on it when it comes up to your level. Then when it goes to the bottom, go south.
Outside Eastern Palace 2F
You’re now on 2F. Walk south onto a platform that extends and retracts. When it retracts, you have to merge with the wall to avoid falling (unless you are quick). After you get off of the moving platform, go south and then east to the next area.
Outside Eastern Palace 1F
To make any progress, you have to merge with the piece of wall that slides back and forth to the right of you. Merge with it, then walk to the other piece of wall to the right that slides over to connect to it. Wait for this second piece of wall to slide to the ledge, then pop out of the wall.
You can see a crack in the wall to the east, but before you go into there, merge with the wall north of that crack. Walk along the wall to reach a chest that contains a purple rupee.
Go back to the crack in the wall and go through. When you reach the indoor area, pop out of the wall, then walk to the east side of the room and go through the crack there. Open the chest on the other side to get a silver rupee.
By now, you have found all of the secrets in the Eastern Palace, so you should leave. Outside, you find Sahasrahla and tell him what happens. Then you hear a rumbling, and Sahasrahla says something bad is happening at Hyrule Castle.
The two of you automatically go there and discover that the castle is surrounded by a colorful magical barrier. Sahasrahla speaks of the legend of the hero who found all of the Pendants in order to get the Master Sword and break the barrier at the castle. Sahasrahla despairs that one of the pendants is trapped in the castle with Zelda, but then you reveal that she gave it to you.
Sahasrahla realizes that you must be a new hero. He says that you have to get the other two pendants. One is in the House of Gales, and the other is in the Tower of Hera. He marks the two locations on your map, then gives you the option to save your game. He will go back to Kakariko Village and research who the other descendants of the Sages might be.
When you stand near the castle, the paintings in the walls become enemy soldiers. You’ll find tough evil soldiers in many areas of Hyrule now.
There is a lot more you can do now, so you might want to take some time to explore Hyrule before you tackle the House of Gales or the Tower of Hera.