This chapter covers the normal mode of the HD version of Twilight Princess for the Nintendo Wii U. If you are playing on the Nintendo Wii, check out the Ordon Village – Wii Version.

1.1 Introduction

The game begins with Link and his mentor Rusl speaking at a spring deep within the Faron Woods. Rusl asks Link a favor: to deliver something to the Royal Family of Hyrule. This delivery is what will trigger the beginning of Link’s journey.

After the lengthy cut-scene, you will gain control of Link just outside of his house. Travel northward to reach the woods and then run ahead to find the Ordon Spring. Here you will meet up with Illia, along with your horse, Epona. After chit-chatting with Ilia, mount on top of Epona and ride her back to Link’s house. Continue southward to enter Ordon Village.

1.2 Goat Herding

You can talk to some of the residents if you’d like to familiarize yourself with the characters and the village. Once you are ready, ride to the south end of the village and enter the Ordon Ranch.

Speak with Fado and he will ask if Link can help herd the goats into the barn. Ride around the ranch with Epona, and when you are near a goat, press A to whoop. This will cause the goat to run away from you. Move around with Epona so that you move the goats in the proper direction towards the barn. There are 10 goats in total. This mini-game serves as a tutorial to get you accustomed to controlling Epona.

After all the goats have been herded, ride Epona and press A to gain speed and jump over the fences, leading back to Ordon Village. You will be prompted to save your game, so go ahead and do so.

1.3 Children of Ordon

Link will then appear back inside of his house, with some of the children of Ordon yelling at him to get up. Exit the house and talk to the kids to hear that a Slingshot has become available at Sera’s Sundries, a shop in the village. Standing next to Epona is Colin, who is Rusl’s son. He mentions that they have a Fishing Rod for you, but that you need to visit with Rusl first to get it. Travel southward to enter Ordon Village once again.

1.4 Exploring Ordon Village

Run ahead to the river and you’ll see Uli, Rusl’s wife. She is a bit upset at the moment because she has lost her cradle, and this prevents her from giving you the Fishing Rod.

Turn back around and run towards Link’s house. You will see a man on a higher ledge that calls over to you. Climb up and speak to him if you’d like and he mentions a nearby cat who looks like he’s trying to fish. This man is Jaggle, who is the father of Malo and Talo. He also mentions the nearby grass, which Link can pick and use to summon hawks.

Jump over to the next platform and then on to the roof of the nearby building. From here jump across two more ledges and you’ll find a blue rupee. Pick up the hawk grass and blow on it to summon a hawk. If you look in the distance up the stream you will see a monkey jumping around holding the baby cradle that has gone missing. Aim at the monkey and release the hawk, who will fly over and snag the cradle.

With the cradle in hand, jump back across the ledges and return to Uli. She is glad that you found the cradle and will ask you to follow her back to her house. Run on over and she will give you the Fishing Rod.

Run to the east end of Ordon Village, where you saw the cat staring into the water. Stand on the ledge and pull out the Fishing Rod. Toss it into the water and you’ll see some fish swimming around. Once the stick on the rod turns vertically and sinks into the water, pull on the Fishing Rod to reel in a fish. The cat will snag the fish and will carry it throughout the village, back to a shop.

Follow the cat and enter the building that it ran into and you’ll meet up with Sera. She is happy that her cat brought a fish in and she will give you a bottle that is half-filled with milk. While the milk will restore your energy, the real prize here is the empty bottle, which can be filled with an assortment of goodies throughout Link’s quest. Now that she is happy, she will sell Link a Slingshot, but Link will first need to acquire 30 rupees.

There are a handful of ways Link can get rupees, but here is the most efficient way to do so: Return to the higher ledge where you met Jaggle, who taught you how to summon hawks using the hawk grass. Jump to the second ledge and use the grass to summon a hawk. If you look towards the west end of the village, there is a lengthy vine with a beehive at the top of it. Aim the hawk at the beehive and it will nail it, causing it to come tumbling down. Run over and climb the vines. Carefully walk across the narrow branches to collect a blue and yellow rupee.

Next, run over to where Mayer Bo is, at the south end of the village. Near the mayor, you will find a Cucco walking around. Lift up the cucco and carry it near the vines where the beehive was located. Walk up to the higher ledge and look southward and you’ll see some pumpkins that are enclosed by a fence. Leap off the ledge with the cucco and use it to fly over and get to the other side of the fence.

You can toss the pumpkins to get some rupees, but then run around and climb the wooden crates. Here, climb the long ladder to reach the top of the house where you will find another yellow rupee. Next, pickup the hawk grass and summon a hawk. Toss it at the cucco that is right behind the building that you just climbed up. The hawk will snag the cucco and bring it to Link. Now use the cucco to fly over to the south end of the village on the higher ledge where there is another yellow rupee.

You should have more than enough rupees at this point, so return to Sera’s Sundries and purchase the Slingshot for 30 rupees.

1.5 Combat Training

Return to Link’s house and the kids will be ecstatic that you have acquired the Slingshot. You can talk to them and they’ll setup a training station for you to practice with the Slingshot. You can target the scarecrows, and hit all the targets that are hanging around the trees. It’s rather humorous to see all the kids interact with each other.

Rusl has left a gift for Link inside of his house, but there is an enemy blocking Link’s path. The first enemy encounter of the game comes in the form of a Walltula. This spider-like enemy can be see on the ladder leading to Link’s house. Nail it with the slingshot and climb up to enter the house.

Inside you’ll notice there is a Treasure Chest in the center of the room. Open it up to get the Wooden Sword, the first of many swords that Link will acquire in the game. Exit the house and once again speak with the three kids. Malo and Beth will take turns explaining the various attacks and how to perform them. Link will learn how to perform the horizontal slice, vertical slice, stab, Spin Attack, and Jump Attack.

Once the tutorial is over, Talo will spot a Monkey and the three kids will chase it into the woods. Follow suit and you will find Beth and Malo have stopped short in the Ordon Woods area. Keep heading onward, crossing the bridge and continuing into the Faron Woods.

1.6 South Faron Woods

There is a gate that is blocking your way, but nearby you will find some horse grass. Use the grass to summon Epona and then mount on top of her. Pick up some speed and hop over the gate.

Follow the pathway to the northeast and you will meet a character by name of Coro. Talk to him and he will give you a Lantern, completely free of charge. Coro is in the Lantern Oil business, and is giving away lanterns in hopes to sell oil later. You can use the lantern to start a small fire where Coro is boiling up a special recipe. You can actually empty your existing bottle and scoop up some of Coro’s soup, but the soup is so bad, it actually takes away a heart from Link, so there is no real reason to do that.

Turn back around and return to the fork in the road. This time take the path that leads to a Cave. You will encounter a Deku Baba, and you can use a series of sword slashes to defeat it. If you break the nut that is left behind, it will reveal some seeds, which are used as ammunition for your Slingshot. Go ahead and continue in the cave, where you will see the wooden stick that Talo was carrying.

1.7 North Faron Woods

Use the lantern to light the nearby torch. Throughout the cave there are a few torches and you should light them whenever you can, as they will stay lit even after you have left the cave. There are also some spiderwebs that can be burned down using the lantern. Throughout the cave, there are a few Deku Babas, two new bat-like enemies known as Keese, and a few Rats. All of these enemies can be defeated with simple sword slashes.

At the west end of the cave, you will find a treasure chest that contains a yellow rupee, so be sure to snag it. Follow the cave to reach the north exit.

In this new portion of the Faron Woods you will encounter a new enemy known as a Bokoblin. These enemies wield swords of their own and have more health than any previous enemies you have battled. Fortunately, they are easily defeated with a few sword slashes.

Navigate through this portion of the woods, defeating the Bokoblins, Deku Babas, and Keese. Enter the cave found at the northeast corner of the map.

Inside, defeat the enemies and open up the treasure chest to get a key. Just beside the chest there are two torches that can be lit. Do so and it will cause a larger treasure chest to appear. Open it up to get a Heart Piece. There are 45 of these Heart Pieces scattered throughout the game, and after acquiring 5 of them, Link will gain a full Heart Container.

Exit the cave and make your way to the southwest corner of the screen. Use the key that you just got on the locked gate to open it up. Continue onward into the next area, defeating an assortment of Bokoblins.

As you walk forward, you’ll meet with a bird named Trill, who runs a small shop selling both Lantern Oil and Red Potion. You can ignore him for now, as you shouldn’t need either. Continue onward, and on the left you will find a Deku Baba along with a treasure chest containing a yellow rupee.

Run ahead and you will find Talo and the monkey he was chasing trapped inside of a cage. Defeat the Bokoblins and slash at the cage to free Talo and the monkey.

Next, you will be back at South Faron Woods and Talo will run off back home. Rusl then appears, telling Link he is thankful for saving Talo and that he has a strange feeling about the woods. The screen then fades away.

1.8 Into the Twilight

Next we see Link back at the Ordon Ranch and once again Fado asks him to finish up for the day. Use the Horse Grass to summon Epona and once again herd the goats. This time there are 20 goats and there is also a timer, but nothing else notable has changed. Herd all 20 goats and once again ride back into Ordon Village.

Here you will trigger a cutscene with Ilia and her father, Mayor Bo. Ilia claims that Epona was hurt and will take her away to the Ordon Spring.

Make your way back to Link’s House and you’ll meet up with Colin. He will mention that the other kids are not letting him past, and ask for your help. Try to go up the path, and Talo will ask for Link’s Wooden Sword. Allow him to borrow it and they’ll be so excited they’ll move out of your way to go play with it right away.

Afterwards, follow Colin into the Ordon Woods and you’ll find that gate leading to the Ordon Spring is locked. Colin mentions a secret crawlspace that Link can head through. It is found at the southwest portion of the area and Link can easily crawl through. Make your way through to enter the Spring, triggering a lengthy cut-scene, which sets the course for much of Link’s journey.