You're standing in front of Ganon’s Castle. Your sword is glowing, your magic meter is full, and you’ve got those shiny gold gauntlets. But something’s off. Your health bar is a jagged, uneven mess of red hearts, and that empty space at the end of the second row is staring you in the face. It’s annoying. We’ve all been there.
Collecting Ocarina of Time all heart pieces is basically a rite of passage for Zelda fans. It’s not just about the health; it’s about the sheer obsession with 100% completion. Most players stumble through the first twenty or so just by playing the game. You find one in a crate, you win one from a grave digging tour, and you feel like a pro. Then you hit the wall. Suddenly, you’re pixel-hunting in the Gerudo Desert or realizing you forgot to plant a Magic Bean seven years ago.
The struggle is real because Ocarina of Time doesn’t hold your hand. There is no in-game checklist. No map icons. Just you, a boomerang, and a lot of rolling into trees.
The Mental Tax of the 36-Piece Hunt
There are exactly 36 Heart Pieces in the game. Since four pieces make a whole container, that’s nine extra hearts added to your starting three and the eight you get from bosses. Do the math: 20 hearts total. If you have 19 and three-quarters, you know the pain I'm talking about.
What most people get wrong is the order. They think they can just sweep the map at the end of the game. You can’t. Well, you can, but it’s a nightmare. Some pieces are significantly easier to grab as a kid, while others require specific adult items like the Longshot or the Golden Scale. If you miss the "Heart Piece under the windmill" while you're already in Kakariko as a kid, you’re just making yourself backtrack later. Backtracking in Hyrule is fun until it’s your fourth trip across Hyrule Field.
The Kakariko Graveyard: A Test of Patience
Let's talk about Dampé. Honestly, the Grave Digging Tour is one of the most frustrating RNG (random number generator) moments in gaming history. You pay the guy, he digs a hole, and usually, it's just a green rupee. You do it again. A blue rupee. You're burning through your wallet, and Dampé is just slowly shuffling along.
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The trick? There isn't really one, other than persistence. The Heart Piece is buried in a random patch of soft soil. It’s not fixed. You just have to keep paying until the game decides to be merciful. It’s a classic example of 90s game design—slightly disrespectful of your time but incredibly satisfying when that "Da-na-na-naaa!" sound finally plays.
Why the Fishing Pond is the Absolute Worst
If you ask any veteran player about Ocarina of Time all heart pieces, they will eventually start venting about the Fishing Pond. Located in Lake Hylia, this mini-game is the definition of "janky." The physics are weird, the fish are stubborn, and the controls feel like you're trying to perform surgery with oven mitts.
As a child, you need to catch a 10-pound fish to get a Heart Piece. As an adult, you’re aiming for the Sinking Lure and the Golden Scale, but that’s a different beast. The child-era heart piece is the one that gets people. You’ll spend forty-five minutes casting at a fish that looks huge, only to realize it’s 9 pounds. Then the sun sets, the shop closes, and you have to start over.
Here’s a tip: look for the fish hanging out near the logs in the middle of the pond. Those are usually the heavy hitters. Also, don't just mash the buttons. Wiggle the stick. Be the fish.
The Magic Bean Long Game
You know that guy sitting by the entrance to Zora’s River eating beans? He’s the key to a massive chunk of your health bar. If you don't buy those beans early, you're shooting yourself in the foot.
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Magic Beans grow over the seven-year time jump. You plant them in "Soft Soil" patches as a child, and when you return as an adult, they’ve turned into floating platforms. Several Ocarina of Time all heart pieces are locked behind these platforms.
- The one on the ledge in Death Mountain Crater.
- The one high up in the Graveyard.
- The frustratingly out-of-reach ledge in Zora’s River.
If you forget to plant the bean, you can’t get the piece. It forces you to play the Song of Time, warp back to the Temple of Time, turn into a kid, run back to the spot, plant the seed, warp back, turn into an adult... you get the point. It's a logistical headache.
The Pieces Everyone Actually Forgets
It’s never the big ones that trip you up. It’s the weird, obscure ones that require a specific "wait, I can do that?" moment.
Take the Gerudo Fortress. Most people get the one in the chest at the top of the fortress by using the Longshot or the Scarecrow’s Song. But did you get the one from the Horseback Archery Range? You need 1,000 points. 1,000! That requires precision that the N64 analog stick wasn't exactly built for. You have to hit the bullseye on almost every target while your horse is galloping. It’s a genuine skill check in a game that usually relies on puzzles.
Then there’s the Frog Choir in Zora’s River. You have to pull out your Ocarina and play every single non-warp song for them. Then, you have to play a "bug-catching" mini-game where you make the frogs jump. It’s chaotic. It’s fast. If you have high latency on a modern emulator, it’s basically impossible.
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Hyrule Field’s Hidden Grates
Believe it or not, some of the hardest pieces to find are right under your feet in the most boring part of the map. Hyrule Field has two specific "hidden" holes that contain heart pieces. One is near the entrance to Lake Hylia, inside a circle of bushes. You have to drop a bomb in the middle to reveal the hole. Inside? A business scrub who sells you a piece.
The other is near the entrance to Gerudo Valley. You use the Stone of Agony (or just know where to look) to find a secret grotto. These aren't documented on any in-game map. Without a guide or a very vibrating controller, you’d never know they existed.
Master Quest vs. The Original
If you’re playing the Master Quest version (found on the GameCube or 3DS), don't expect the heart piece locations to change. That’s a common misconception. The dungeons are mirrored and the puzzles are harder, but the overworld Heart Pieces remain in the same spots.
However, the 3DS remake added a "Vision" system that can hint at locations. If you're a purist, you'll ignore it. But if you’re at 35 pieces and your hair is falling out, there’s no shame in checking the Sheikah Stone. Honestly, the 3DS version is the superior way to track these down anyway, simply because the inventory management is faster. Swapping boots and items on the fly makes the Zora's Fountain and Ice Cavern hunts much less tedious.
Practical Steps for Your 100% Run
If you are starting a fresh save and want to snag every single one without the headache, you need a plan. Don't just wander.
- Abuse the Golden Scale early. As soon as you become an adult, head to the Lake Hylia fishing pond. Getting the Golden Scale early allows you to dive deep enough in the Lakeside Laboratory to get that heart piece immediately.
- Plant every single Magic Bean. There are 10 soil patches. Buy all 10 beans from the bean seller. The price goes up every time, so make sure you have a bigger wallet from the Gold Skulltula rewards first.
- Carry Bugs. Always keep a bottle of bugs. Several Heart Pieces are tied to Gold Skulltulas, and you need bugs to pop them out of certain soil patches. More Skulltulas = bigger wallets = more beans/mini-games.
- The Scarecrow’s Song is mandatory. Go to Lake Hylia as a kid, make up a song for the scarecrow, and remember it. As an adult, Pierre the Scarecrow can be summoned in specific spots to provide a Hookshot target. This is the only way to reach a few specific ledges, like the one in the Shadow Temple or the one above the Pierre/Bono combo in the desert.
- Check the "impossible" spots. Did you get the one in the windmill by using the Boomerang? Did you get the one in the crate in Lon Lon Ranch by pushing the blocks as a kid? These are the ones that usually ruin a perfect run.
Collecting all the heart pieces isn't just about the extra health. By the time you have 20 hearts, you're so powerful that Ganon is basically a joke anyway. It’s about the journey. It’s about seeing every inch of Hyrule, from the bottom of the Well to the top of Death Mountain. It’s about that final, satisfying moment when the UI is perfectly symmetrical.
Go get that 36th piece. You've earned it.