To use Threads of Time in the Ocarina of Time remake, press the minus (-) Button and move to the Threads of Time tab with L or R; it sits between Key Items and the Map. It is not in the + menu, which holds your equipment, items and the System settings. The entry marked with a red diamond is where you are in the story, and its last line is your next objective, so that one screen tells you where to go next.
Threads of Time is new to this version. Nintendo describes it as a way to “see the progress you’ve made in the story and check your next objective” at any point, while “a large tapestry will also gradually fill in as your journey continues.” Below we cover how to read it, how to view the tapestry, and what it will and will not do when you are stuck.
How to Open Threads of Time
- Press – during play. It opens a screen of its own with three tabs along the top: Key Items, Threads of Time and Map.
- Press L or R until Threads of Time, the middle tab, is highlighted.
- Read the list on the left. It holds the chapters of the story you have reached, in order, with the current one marked by a red diamond.
- Select an entry to read it on the right. Finished chapters carry a Complete label.
- Press Y (See Tapestry) to view the tapestry, or B to back out.
The game introduces the screen as Link leaves Kokiri Forest, when Kaepora Gaebora, the owl, tells him to look at Threads of Time whenever he is unsure which path to take. After that, each new chapter brings a New Event banner in the top-right corner with an Open Threads of Time prompt beside the minus icon, so one press takes you straight to it.
What Each Entry Shows
Every entry has two parts.
The recap. A few short paragraphs retell that chapter like a storybook. The first entry opens with “There once was a young boy named Link who lived in a woodland known as Kokiri Forest.” Director HokWai Ng says in Nintendo’s Ask the Developer interview that it “combines a feature that supports the adventure with one that lets you follow the story like a picture book.”
The objective. The current chapter ends with a line marked by a red diamond, with the place to go picked out in red. In Nintendo’s demonstration, the entry after the Great Deku Tree ends with “Head to Hyrule Castle,” and Aonuma reads it and sets off: “based on this, we should head to Hyrule Castle.”
Threads of Time keeps track of side quests you have started too, not only the main story, so an errand you picked up and forgot about does not vanish. It is a record of what you have done, though, not a list of everything in the game: in Nintendo’s demonstration, the list ends at the chapter you are on.
How to View the Tapestry
Press Y on the Threads of Time screen to step back from the entries and see the tapestry itself. In that view the controls change:
| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| Left stick | Move across the tapestry |
| Right stick | Zoom in and out |
| Y | See Events, back to the list of entries |
| B | Back |
Each chapter you finish adds illustrations to it. Ng says “new illustrations and passages of text are unlocked, eventually coming together to form a single tapestry,” and art director Aya Shida says “we were confident that it was going to turn into something special.” In Nintendo’s demonstration, most of the hanging is still bare this early, with empty panels waiting to be filled.
When You Are Stuck: What It Does and Does Not Do
Threads of Time is built to answer one question: where to go next. Producer Hidemaro Fujibayashi says in the same interview series that players of Nintendo 64 era games “often relied on strategy guides,” and that this time the team “wanted players to be able to work out what to do next within the game itself.”
What it does not do is solve the problem in front of you. It names the next destination, not the route there or the answer to a puzzle inside a dungeon. For those, the remake has other help:
- Navi. Target an enemy and ask Navi about it, and she names it and hints at how to beat it. Her lines go into the same dialogue box as everyone else’s, so our conversation log guide shows how to scroll back if you skipped one.
- The dungeons themselves. Ng says objects are now placed so players “intuitively figure out which direction to go,” and in the Water Temple some walls that made it easy to get lost are now lattice you can see through.
- The Map tab, one press of R away from Threads of Time.
The remake follows the 1998 game’s structure, so our guides to the original still map the bigger route: what to do after the Deku Tree and the best order for the temples. Our what’s changed guide covers where the remake differs.
Threads of Time on Your Phone
ZELDA NOTES, the Zelda section of the Nintendo Switch App, has its own Threads of Time tile for this game in Nintendo’s trailer, next to Map, Today’s Record and the other features. Nintendo’s support notes for version 1.1.1, released November 4, say that update added ZELDA NOTES support, and the game shows setup instructions when you start it after updating. You need a compatible smart device and a Nintendo Account, but not a Nintendo Switch Online membership. Our Switch 2 features guide covers the rest of ZELDA NOTES, and every Ocarina of Time guide we have is on our Zelda hub.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you open Threads of Time in the Ocarina of Time remake?
Press the minus (-) Button, then press L or R until the Threads of Time tab is highlighted. It sits between Key Items and the Map.
Does Threads of Time tell you where to go next?
Yes. The current chapter, marked with a red diamond, ends with your next objective.
Does Threads of Time track side quests?
Yes. It keeps track of side quests you have started as well as the main story.
How do you see the tapestry?
Press Y on the Threads of Time screen. The left stick moves across it and the right stick zooms.
Can Threads of Time spoil the story?
In Nintendo’s demonstration it lists only the chapters reached so far, so it recaps what you have already done rather than what is coming.