Games I Have Finished (as far as I can remember)

[DMiller]

What you need to do is you need to get the warping ability for your "flute" (ocarina) and warp to the Desert location, which puts you on a hilltop with the warp tile on it. How are you supposed to realize this without using a guide? Who knows...

Perhaps the fact that you get that item, the Flute, but it has no function (it just plays a sound) should be a clue that somewhere there's something that will give it greater functionality, but even so... who, exactly, would have guessed that what you have to do is go up to the weathervane in Light World Kakariko Village and play the Flute there? Um... no. Without prior knowledge (and by this I mean a guide) there's no way you'd have guessed that.

This is what makes me think you rushed through the game. You'd know from talking to people in town that the flute boy has some connection to the old man in the bar. Once I found the flute I brought it to the bar and played it for the old man since he was asleep. He wakes up and specifically says "Play it before the windmill in town." I don't know how you could ask for a more obvious clue than that. Once I had the warp ability I tried it out to see where it took me and, of course, I found the way to enter Misery Mire.

Most items in the game are hinted at somewhere, and maybe you forgot some of the clues since it was so long between your play sessions. Even unnecessary items such as the cane that creates a magical barrier can be found through exploration. In that case I found the cave with the cane but it was covered in spikes that I couldn't get past without dying. Once I found the invincibility cape I knew how to get through. It's almost like a Metroid game where you see an inaccessibile area that you can get through later after you find an item.