Zelda Notes makes Ocarina of Time’s hidden collectibles easier to find

Available through the free Nintendo Switch app, Zelda Notes does not require a Switch Online subscription. Its Hyrule map lets players zoom into individual areas, view icons for collectibles and tap them for clues about items or conditions needed to claim them. Filters can switch between maps for child and adult Link and hide or show categories of icons.

The maps have proved especially useful when the game’s cues are not enough. While exploring, the player sometimes hears the sound of a nearby Golden Skulltula but cannot work out how to reach it, even with additional chimes from the new Echo Gem Skulltula tracking item. Zelda Notes can identify the spider’s location and flag requirements such as a particular item or time of day.

In the Shadow Temple, a Skulltula spotted while descending an elevator seemed inaccessible. The app’s map indicated that the Scarecrow Song was needed to create a hookshot point, making it the player’s first priority after finishing the dungeon. On Zora’s River, a clue showed that a Cucco was needed to reach a Piece of Heart on a distant ledge, explaining the bird near the area’s entrance.

Checking a phone can interrupt play, and the writer would rather spend less time with a screen. Online guides are another option, but may mean sorting through walkthroughs of varying quality, AI summaries or YouTube videos. Zelda Notes, the writer says, usually provides a quick clue and gets the phone put away again. The app has turned a collectible hunt once easy to abandon into a goal: finding all 100 Golden Skulltulas.