Ocarina of Time Remake Trading Quests: Timers and Steps

The Switch 2 Ocarina of Time took the stopwatch away from almost everything. Zelda Wiki's page on the remake says every timer in the game is gone except the ones in the Trading Game, the adult-era chain that ends with the Biggoron Sword.

And the clocks are not the same clocks. Three guide sites that played the remake (Nintendo Life, Game8 and Kotaku) give the Odd Mushroom four minutes and the Eyeball Frog two and a half, where the original gave three and three. Two of them give the eye drops three and a half minutes, down from four. Zelda Wiki's own trading table still shows the old numbers. More on that conflict below.

This post covers both of the game's trading sequences on Switch 2: the child-era chain from Malon's egg through the Happy Mask Shop, and the adult chain to the Biggoron Sword. I have not played the remake. Steps come from Zelda Wiki or from guide sites that played the remake, and where they disagree I say so. Route tips that only one site gives are credited to that site. Our older Biggoron Sword guide and mask trading guide cover the N64 and 3DS versions, and they stay that way on purpose.

The short version

The N64 and 3DS column is the one Zelda Wiki's trading table still lists for the remake, and the one our older guide uses. Warping with an ocarina song while carrying a timed item still spoils it.

What changed in the remake

The three timers, and the source conflict

Zelda Wiki's Trading Quest page has a table tagged for the Switch 2 version. It lists the remake's item names, so someone has updated it, but its delivery windows are three minutes for the mushroom, three for the frog and four for the eye drops. Those are the original game's figures.

Three guides written from the remake say otherwise:

• Nintendo Life (November 7): four minutes for the mushroom, "two and a half minutes" for the frog, "three and a half minutes" for the eye drops.
• Game8 (last updated November 9): 4 minutes, 2 minutes 30 seconds and 3 minutes 30 seconds.
• Kotaku (November 10): four minutes flat for the mushroom and two and a half for the frog. For the eye drops it says only that the timer is "a doozy", with no number.

That is three sites agreeing on two of the numbers and two agreeing on the third, each with its own routes and wording. I am going with the guide figures, and flagging that the wiki table disagrees. If you are timing a run, assume the shorter clocks for the frog and the drops. Planning for three minutes on the frog is how you lose it.

The net effect is a trade: one more minute on the easy leg (forest to Kakariko on Epona), thirty seconds less on the two long legs across the map.

On warping, the sources agree on the rule but not the exact effect. Zelda Wiki says a warp song makes a timed item expire instantly, and Game8 says the same. Kotaku says a warp cut its eye-drop timer to ten seconds. Either way, do not warp while the clock is running.

Renamed items

The chain uses the same eleven trade items in the same order, ending in the same sword. Four of those items, and the sword itself, have new names on Switch 2, per Zelda Wiki's remake rename list and the item pages' in-game descriptions:

Pocket Egg, Pocket Cucco, Cojiro, Odd Mushroom, Poacher's Saw, Prescription and Eyeball Frog keep their names. Game8 mostly writes "Broken Goron's Sword" and "Biggoron's Sword"; Zelda Wiki's citations of the in-game equipment and item screens give the shorter forms, and Nintendo Life uses them too.

The adult chain is also now a named side quest. Nintendo Life and Game8 both call it From a Pocket Egg Comes..., and Game8 lists it in the remake's side-quest set alongside one it calls Happy Mask Shopkeeper. The item descriptions do some of the nagging the old game left to you: Zelda Wiki quotes the Odd Mushroom's as telling you to rush it to Granny "while it's still fresh".

The child trading sequence: egg, letter, masks

The child-era chain is short, and the first half of it is the main story.

1. Weird Egg. Malon gives it to Link on the path to Hyrule Castle, to wake her father Talon (Zelda Wiki; Game8 places her behind a wagon by the castle). It hatches into a Cucco as you go.
2. Wake Talon. Use the Cucco on the sleeping Talon by the castle, and he heads home (Zelda Wiki, Game8).
3. Zelda's Letter. Meeting Zelda in the courtyard gets you the letter. Show it to the guard at Kakariko's north gate and he opens the way up Death Mountain, then asks you to visit the new mask shop in Castle Town (Nintendo Life, Game8).
4. The Happy Mask Shop. Nintendo Life puts it in the north-east of Castle Town near the path to the Temple of Time; Game8 says north of the fountain. Both say it stays closed until the guard has seen the letter.

Then the mask relay, where you borrow a mask, sell it, and come back to pay the shopkeeper before he lends you the next one:

Nintendo Life and Game8 agree on that order, those buyers and the Gold Rupee. They do not agree on where to find the Running Man: Game8 has him running laps around Lon Lon Ranch, Nintendo Life says he roams the northern half of Hyrule Field. Look in both places. Both sites recommend a wallet upgrade first; Nintendo Life points out the last sale is worth 200 Rupees.

Two changes matter here, both from Zelda Wiki. Masks can now be worn by adult Link. And the Mask of Truth reads the inner thoughts of NPCs, with new lines for almost all of them, on top of its old Gossip Stone job. The capacity upgrades on the Forest Stage (Skull Mask for sticks, Mask of Truth for nuts) are covered in our 100% checklist.

The adult trading sequence: From a Pocket Egg Comes...

All of this happens as adult Link. The trade order and who you trade with come from Zelda Wiki's Switch 2 table; the directions are where Nintendo Life and Game8 agree.

The details worth knowing at each stage:

• Hatching the egg. It hatches the next morning. Play the Sun's Song to get there: once from night, twice from day, per Game8; Kotaku says twice.
• Talon is asleep in a ground-floor house in the middle of Kakariko. Wake him with the Pocket Cucco, then go back to the Cucco Lady, who swaps it for Cojiro.
• The Lost Woods sleeper. The Master Craftsman's Son is close to the Kokiri Forest entrance of the Lost Woods. Nintendo Life says go straight ahead on entering, Game8 says go left, so check both. Cojiro wakes him, and the mushroom clock starts.
• Granny is in the north-west of Kakariko, per Nintendo Life. Nintendo Life and Game8 agree on the building; Game8 calls her room Granny's Cauldron. Fado is waiting where the son was when you come back, and there is no timer on the poultice.
• Gerudo Valley. You need Epona or the Longshot to cross the broken bridge (Zelda Wiki, Nintendo Life, Game8). Nintendo Life and Kotaku also each name a story point after which the bridge is crossable on foot, but they name different ones, so I am leaving that out.
• King Zora is frozen when you arrive as an adult. You need Blue Fire from the Ice Cavern to thaw him before he will take the Prescription (Nintendo Life, Game8). Our remake dungeon changes post covers the new ice bridge to the cavern.
• The wait. Biggoron needs three days to finish. Nintendo Life and Kotaku say six Sun's Songs; Game8 says seven. The count depends on what time it is when you start, so play six, then ask Biggoron, who will tell you if it is not ready.

Zelda Wiki quotes the Biggoron Sword's equipment-screen text as saying the sword is "both sharp and sturdy" and that you cannot use a shield while it is equipped. Nintendo Life says it does double the Master Sword's damage. That matches the original, but I found no second remake source that states the multiplier.

Beating the timers

The guides' routes, and the prep they agree on:

• Get Epona first. All three guides recommend her for the timed legs. You call her with Epona's Song once you have won her from Ingo; the Epona guide covers that race.
• Mushroom, 4:00. Leave the Lost Woods through Kokiri Forest, call Epona in Hyrule Field and ride to Kakariko (Nintendo Life, Kotaku). Game8 instead takes the Lost Woods path to Goron City and walks down Death Mountain Trail. Kotaku warns that a cutscene can run down its clock, so do not dawdle in dialogue.
• Frog, 2:30. This is the tight one. Nintendo Life recommends the underwater tunnel from Zora's Domain to Lake Hylia, which opens after the Water Temple. Game8 goes north out of Zora's Domain into the Lost Woods, out through Kokiri Forest, and rides Epona to the lake. Do the Water Temple first and you get the shorter route.
• Eye drops, 3:30. Nintendo Life rides Epona through Hyrule Field to Kakariko and up Death Mountain Trail, cuts through Goron City's Death Mountain Crater shortcut (open after the Fire Temple), and takes the crater's south-most exit to Biggoron. It finished that route with about a minute left. Game8 instead rides back to Kokiri Forest, goes through the Lost Woods to Goron City, and climbs Death Mountain Trail from there. Clear the Skulltulas on the summit wall before you climb, which Game8 says can knock you off.
• Never warp mid-delivery. If an item spoils, the same character gives you another one (Zelda Wiki).

What is still not documented

• Why Zelda Wiki's trading table lists the old timer lengths. It is the one primary-source page with a remake trading table, and it disagrees with three hands-on guides.
• Whether the remake fixes the Poacher's Saw bug. On N64 the saw can block the Mask of Truth's Deku Nut upgrade; the 3DS version fixed it. Our mask trading guide explains the bug. No remake source says either way, so get the nut upgrade before you take the saw.
• Confirmed remake prices for the Keaton Mask and Bunny Hood, and the exact amounts the guard, the Skull Kid and the graveyard boy pay. Only Game8 lists them, and its own Spooky Mask price contradicts itself; Zelda Wiki gives remake costs only for the Skull and Spooky Masks.
• How many masks adult Link can take out at once. One guide gives a limit; no second source confirms it.
• The Running Man's spawn condition and route (see above).

Quick Action Checklist

• Get Epona, and if you can, clear the Water Temple before starting the adult chain.
• Get the Mask of Truth's Deku Nut upgrade before taking the Poacher's Saw.
• Grab Blue Fire before the Prescription step, to thaw King Zora.
• Budget 4:00 for the mushroom, 2:30 for the frog, 3:30 for the eye drops.
• No warp songs while any of those three is in your pocket.
• After the receipt: six Sun's Songs, then ask Biggoron.
• Child side: show Zelda's Letter at Kakariko's gate, then run Keaton, Skull, Spooky and Bunny Hood in that order for the Mask of Truth.