Posted by Hello there, AmbiGaming readers!
LightningEllen here and happy to be babbling on the Goddess of Wisdom’s wonderful website. One of the few writing gigs I try to take very seriously, eh.
So that Valentine’s Day thing is over with for another year. I won’t complain about the Hallmark holiday here in this post, but suffice it to say… I don’t like it. True love is a beautiful thing that should be celebrated, not cashed in on by greedy cheap chocolate and wilted flower peddling companies. Don’t get me started on the subliminal pressures the Valentine’s Day advertising puts on both hitched and single folks. And I’m going into off topic rant territory already, so refocusing…
Heart Pieces! You know the cool health expansion items from the Legend of Zelda series? When I think of Valentine’s Day, images of these objects always pop into my head. Link has to do some pretty crazy challenges to acquire these lovely things across his many adventures, except in Breath of the Wild (reason #97 why I’m not a huge fan of that masterpiece game, but I digress).
My all-time favourite Zelda game (and honestly favourite video game in general) is Ocarina of Time on the Nintendo 64. I fell madly in love with that version of Hyrule and it will always have a special place in my gamer heart. To celebrate my OoT love I’m gonna take a quick journey through my 5 most loved ways to acquire Heart Pieces in that game.
Oh and minor spoiler warnings if you haven’t played Ocarina of Time yet (seriously, you should try it if you haven’t yet… you’ll probably like it!)
1) Bombchu Bowling Alley
Getting the feel for how to launch these crawly bomb things takes patience and practice. Yep. It took me quite a while to get the hang of this minigame in Hyrule Castle Town, and it doesn’t help that the Heart Piece reward cycles as the top prize, but twas a great feeling to earn this one. I lost count of how many times I exploded that poor Cucco on the playing field by mistake.
2) Treasure Chest Shop
Another Hyrule Castle Town minigame takes place after the sun goes down. Basically, you have to guess which chest contains a small key to move on to the next room. If you guess wrong, game over. If you make it to the end, a Heart Piece is yours! Sure. You could leave it to chance, or you can use the Lens of Truth for an easy “I win” button.
3) Here, Richard! Where Art Thou, Boy?
The people of Hyrule never seem to have a problem with Link randomly walking in their houses, breaking pots and whatnot. Again, in Hyrule Castle Town at night, you’ll find a lady in a back alley apartment who’s missing her doggo named Richard. If you bring him back, you get a Heart Piece. The problem is that the market is crawling with wild dogs at night. I remember leading almost every doggy back to the lady’s place before I found the correct barking little guy. His location never changes though. So once you know where he is, you know forever.
4) Death Mountain Trail Ledge
Above the entrance to the 2nd dungeon (Dodongo’s Cavern) is a Heart Piece waiting to be grabbed. You could do it the proper way by buying Magic Beans, planting them in the soft soil at the entrance as Young Link, and then eventually going back as Adult Link to ride the plant to the Heart Piece. But that’s a long process that takes, like, 7 years, right? Why go through all that effort when you can cheat instead! Near the entrance to Goron City, a backflip off a cliff from the right spot will put Young Link right next to the Heart Piece. A way more exciting method too! To be honest, I always thought this was the legit way to acquire this one… oops!
5) Jamming with the Famous Fabulous Five Froggish Tenors
In the childhood version of Zora’s River resides a group of frogs who are really into music. If you pull out your Ocariana of Time and play the six secondary songs for them, you get a Heart Piece! That’s not the one I love the most, though. The Five Froggish Tenors will award you with another Heart Piece if you beat their next challenge – a melody memory game. I remember really enjoying jamming out with the adorable froggies!
And there you have it! Ocarina of Time has a total of 36 Heart Pieces to track down and these 5 are definitely my fondest memories. Just as a side note, the RNG-related Grave-digging Tour with Dampe is the Heart Piece I find the most annoying to get, and also kinda creepy. Seriously. You have no idea how many rupees I spent trying to get that one. My luck is terrible…
What about you, internet? What are your favourite Heart Pieces to acquire in any Zelda game? Are there any other cool health expansion items you enjoy collecting in other games? Is it St. Patrick’s Day yet? Lemme know in the comments section thingy down below!
⚡Thanks for reading!⚡
~ LightningEllen
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That dog one drove me crazy, I don’t think I ever got it! My memory’s a bit fuzzy but I seem to remember one in the Lost Woods with Skull Kid and the ocarina – especially cool if you’ve played Majora’s Mask. Hookshotting and diving around the canyon in Gerudo Valley was another fun one. I liked the on-horse archery range in the Gerudo area too. Speaking of beans, the Zora’s River one was cool because it let you skip straight to Zora’s Domain.
God, I love Ocarina of Time, what a wonderful game. For me it strikes the perfect balance: a huge feeling world brimming with secrets that is never TOO big or overwhelming.
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Yes!! I remember the Skull Kid one… and the Majora’s Mask connection was wow. I must have spent hours just cliff diving with Link in Gerudo Valley. Good times.
And now I want to play OoT again for the millionth time, haha. I thought it had the perfect balance too! Thank you for commenting 🙂
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