Kakariko Village

Ah, good old Kakariko.  In this game, we discover that Impa and the Shieka founded the village; but it appeared before now (in A Link to the Past).  What a nice place though, it looks very plantation-like, though it comes complete with a graveyard and a trail leading to Goron territory.  One must wonder what else is beyond, however, there is much to do in this village, aside from beginning a side quest and collecting quite a few things.  You have a lot of fun with cuccoos in this village, though I'm sure they don't have too much fun when they see you coming.  Either way, though Kakariko isn't the major city of the game, it, as it did in Link to the Past, serves as the cross-roads to here, there and everywhere.  (In fact, the citizens of Kakariko are proud that the village rivals Castle Town).

So here we start the mask trading side-quest.  Not really much this will get us, but hey, it's kind of fun and it turns a little bit of a profit.  This also introduces Link, and the player, to the concept of franchising/exportation (not to mention a little exploitation of the poor laborer who is only compensated with whatever profit he happens upon).  Welcome to capitalism!  Nice aside, Nintendo.

Our main goal is to get the guard to open the gate to the Death Mountain Trail.  A simple task, really, we show him Zelda's letter (though he laughs at us and the princess...he's got cajones.)  Then the fool has the audacity to ask a favor (which launches our side-quest.)  Funny how a lot of NPCs work like that, they poke fun at us and then want us to do something for them (after all, we're just saving Hyrule...we surely have spare time on our hands!)

Master Quest Note - Again, nothing is different about this leg.  Seems as though the programmers didn't do much to change the overworld nor the mini-puzzles that dot its landscapes.