In my previous Tingle’s Maps column, I extolled the virtues of Hyrule Town Square from The Minish Cap. It got such a great atmosphere, and the square is always bustling with people. I have always really loved the Town Square, but there is so much more to Hyrule Town than a four sided object. Today, we are going to talk about the wonderful residential area of Minish Cap‘s Hyrule Town and the denizens therein. In my previous article, I talked about how fleshed out Hyrule Town was. There are tons of places outside of businesses that really round out the town. I’ll start in the top-left of the map and work my way around clockwise.
First up is the Post Office. We’ve seen the post office in a lot of other Zelda games, but this is my favorite iteration of it. Although the Postman just runs around town, we get to meet the backbone of the operation: Stamp. He’s always in the back, stamping letters for all of the people of Hyrule. After a Kinstone fusion, the post office gets another employee: Marcy. She’s in charge of my absolute favorite little bit in this game, The Swordsman Newsletter. Each time you get a Tiger Scroll, a new copy is added to your collection at the Post Office. This was one of my favorite things to go back to when I first played this game. It was the reason I HAD to get all the Tiger Scrolls. These little books always fascinated me, and I got joy every time I read them.
Directly to the east is the Royal Hyrule Library, which has been covered at length on this site before. I’ve always liked this place, being a librarian myself and all. I related heavily to the librarians who would lament books not being returned to their proper place. I also related to the creepy old man who would scurry about the shelves, but I won’t talk about that.
On the eastern edge of town is the Funday School, led by two strict teachers named Tina and Dina. Throughout the adventure, the school day progresses. Each kid has a different story to tell. The teachers, hard-looking as they may be, are softies are heart who care deeply for their charges. The school has even a little playground for the kids to play on which is a little detail you don’t see in a lot of 2D games. Also, thanks to Ninten’s figurine, we find out that Zelda and Link both attended this school as they were growing up.
Heading south is the Happy Hearth Inn. This was always really cool to me. At the Inn, you can help Din, Farore, and Nayru find homes in Hyrule Town. Throughout the adventure, you can fuse Kinstones and our good friend Gorman will build homes for these lovely ladies. Personally, I always found a house for Din first since I played a lot of Oracle of Seasons. The Inn is also a great place to rest up and, depending on how much you pay, you can get a different colored Kinstone piece each time you stay.
Anju’s Henhouse, located at the bottom right corner of the town, has the worst minigame and no one can convince me otherwise. Her chickens are loose (again), and it’s up to us to help her (again). You also can help a ghost move on to the other realm through a Kinstone fusion here. So, yay? I guess?
After crossing the bridge the the west of the Henhouse, you get to one of the raddest additions to any Zelda game: Swiftblade’s Dojo. Throughout the game, Swiftblade will teach you different sword techniques based on what items you have acquired. Each time you get a new technique, you also get a Tiger Scroll (and Swordsman Newsletter, of course). This game featured the return of the downward thrust from Zelda II, notably absent from other iterations of the game. Now, is it annoying that I have to learn a technique to hold my sword out while I run or learn to smash a pot with my sword? Yes. But, I think is a great mechanic and makes you feel some sort of progression throughout the game. You’re getting stronger thanks to your adventures.
The final big location I want to talk about is Ninten’s Shop, located in a tree in the bottom left corner of the town. What a pain. It’s the worst. This is the place where you can exchange your seashells for useless figurines. Cool. Is it pointless? Yes. Do I want all of them? YES. PLEASE.
Scattered throughout town are a bunch of different houses and almost all of them have plot significance. Whether it is the quest for the flippers or to access hidden locations to aid your adventure, each house has personality. The Mayor decorates his house with masks. Din (in my case) has a clothesline outside her house. The two houses near the town square are connected by a plank of wood. It’s a town full of really cool details.
So, that’s it, right? We covered all the houses and businesses. All done! Well, there is still one other part of Hyrule Town that needs addressing. There are some tiny friends who would like the spotlight for a little bit. In my next article, I’ll cover the Minish areas of Hyrule Town.
