Play through the game at your own pace, exploring the world and collecting as many upgrades and collectibles as you can. Anything you miss due to progression gating can be easily tackled in Stage 2 once you’ve collected all of the spells. It’s recommended you collect as many souls as possible for 
Specialist and Big Spender, while also keeping an eye on 
Reap what you sow, as it’ll save you the headache of tracking down seeds and planters later. While not necessary for completion of the main game, locating the shrines and spell upgrades now will make combat easier.
There are a few missable trophies to take note of during your journey. Both 
Meal for a King and Hot Pot are boss-specific trophies, meaning that once you eliminate those bosses, you’ll be locked out of completion, and they’ll have to be done on a second run. Likewise, No Threat Detected is potentially missable due to story progression. Check out the requirements for this trophy and take care of it sooner rather than later.
You can also choose to go for Academy of Umbrellas in this stage. This will eliminate Stage 3 and cut down on play time by a few hours. That said, it’s not recommended, as the umbrella weapon drastically limits your melee attack and may suffocate your enjoyment of the game. It’s best to get a feel for enemies’ attack patterns and learn what play style works best for you, while also knowing where most of the shrines and seeds are. You can then take that knowledge into a playthrough with heightened difficulty. Ultimately, the choice is yours.
Lastly, enjoy the game! Like most Zelda-likes, the world deserves as blind an exploration as possible to maximize those big moments and awesome discoveries.
Now’s the time to clean up any missing collectibles (seeds, shrines, weapons, etc.) and work towards that 100% completion. See Lord of Chores for a breakdown of what you’ll need to complete. Doing so will bring you closer to A True Ending, as 3 of the 7 tablets needed are gained through trophies that are also required for 100%. Follow the trophy links for more information on those. Since viewing the true ending is necessary for 100%, you’ll most likely pop these trophies in tandem.
If necessary, fire up a new game and beat it using only the Umbrella. You must equip it before heading to Grove of Spirits and never remove it as your main weapon. You can combine this stage with Stage 1 to eliminate a playthrough, although, holding off will give you a run to learn from, while also being able to enjoy the game without the constraints of the Umbrella. Check out Academy of Umbrellas for more information on how to tackle this run. Once you finish this playthrough, the trophy will pop, along with the coveted platinum. Congrats!
Explore Explore Explore— This is a game that rewards exploration, so do so! There are so many hidden nooks and side paths and caves and rooms. If combat is 50% of the gameplay, then discovery is arguably the other 50. Not only is it a joy to uncover the mysteries of the game, but those mysteries usually lead to helpful items that'll aid you in combat, or a useful shortcut that closes the gap between your destination and a door. There are a lot of areas that are progression gated, but you’ll be able to come back for them once you have the necessary spell. Make note of those spots and get back to them as soon as you can.
Own Your Play Style— What works for some may not work for you. That said, try everything. When you find a new weapon, give it a go. Make use of your spells. Find what works in 1v1 encounters, or which spell is best for crowd control. Spoiler alert: it’s the bomb. You may find that different load outs work better for different enemies. If you need to be fast, go with the daggers. Is the enemy big, slow, and plodding? Try out the Thunder Hammer…or mix it up! You could even try being a spell caster, in which case your melee weapon is used exclusively as a means to replenish your MP charges. There are lots of ways to approach combat, so find what works for you and own it. You can check out Weapon Master for a guide on where to locate all of the weapons.
Deflect Everything— The game doesn’t tell you this but you can deflect almost every projectile the enemies throw at you. Blue orbs? Yes. Fireballs? Yes. Urn Witch’s orbs?? Yes! Basically any horizontally-traveling magical spell can be deflected directly back at its caster, while dealing damage in your favor. Always be on the lookout for ranged enemies in any combat scenario, and keep their projectiles in mind.
Patience is a Virtue— More often than not, you’ll be plowing through the general mobs with ease, especially once you start upgrading your skills and spells. When it comes to the mini and dungeon bosses, though, you’re going to need to find your patience. Spend some time baiting attacks to get a feel for their patterns. Don’t get carried away hacking and slashing. Try getting in a couple of hits then dodging out. Use a spell. Repeat. This will help you get in some chip damage while also pinning down the enemy’s move set. As you’ll see in the next tip, it’s ok to die on your first try, especially if you learned something to better yourself for the next bout.
Dying…Everybody’s Doing It— This game isn’t overbearingly difficult, but at times, it can be challenging. Commit to the idea that you may not beat a boss/mini boss/enemy gauntlet on your first try. It’s an old Soulslike trick, but if you embrace death, you’ll be less frustrated when you do die, thus, making it easier to focus on what you need to do to survive the next encounter—making the win that much sweeter. Plus, you don’t lose your souls on death, so there’s really nothing to worry about. Just remember the rule of patience, take some deep breaths, learn from your mistakes, and forge on.
Clean-Up Made Easy— In terms of collectibles, you’ll undoubtedly have a few leftovers come game’s end. The question is, how is one to know where to find that missing seed/shrine/shiny thing? Luckily, the game has a couple of nice mechanics built into the post-game to make clean-up much easier. If you return to the Hall of Doors, you may notice a red aura surrounding the level doors. This indicates that there’s a secret left to discover in that area. It could literally be anything, including things that only spawn when you turn the game to night (i.e. owls).
If you get to these areas and suspect you may be missing a life seed, there’s a way to check for that, as well. Pull up your inventory and inspect the Rusty Garden Trowel shiny thing . See Plot Head or Ooh Shiny! for guidance on how to acquire it. With the game turned to night (see A True Ending for how to do this), the Rusty Garden Trowel should glow blue if there’s a life seed in that area. Obviously, this will only help narrow down what you’re looking for, as it doesn’t pinpoint exact seeds. Check out Reap what you sow for the location of every seed.
A Note on Saving— This isn’t really a game-altering tip, but it’s helpful to know. Auto-saves will generate any time a “big moment” happens, i.e. travel to another area, beat a boss, solve a puzzle, etc. What’s worth noting, though, are the times when you’re out in the world and life demands your attention. If you return to the title screen, starting up again will put you back at that region's door. So, if you’re knee-deep in a dungeon and you decide to pop out for the night, you’ll essentially lose all of your progress. Obviously, this can be a little cumbersome if you’ve gone pretty far without opening up any short-cuts back to the main areas. If possible, make use of the PlayStation’s rest mode, or, at the very least, get back to a door before quitting to the title screen. Not only is it a pain to have to trudge back through these labyrinthian dungeons, especially if you’re not quite certain where you left off, but all those enemies you hacked your way through will respawn.
*A follow-up note on using this to your advantage: If you happen to be in clean-up mode and don’t feel like shlepping your way all the way back to a door after collecting the one item you needed, you can exit to the title screen, then continue from there, at which point you will be warped back to the closest door.
Reap the Souls— It can’t be stressed enough that when it comes to souls, you need to be a greedy little crow. Slaughter every enemy for their souls. Search every hidden nook for souls. Find a way to reach that soul that you can see but is just out of reach. If you can’t get it now—like you’re missing a spell that’ll get you there—make a note of it and come back. Souls are the lifeblood of this game, both narratively and gameplay-wise. They’re not just important for Specialist and Big Spender: the more souls you stock up on in the first half of a dungeon, the stronger you’ll be going into the second half, and subsequently, the boss fight. As mentioned before, you don’t lose souls on death, meaning you can stockpile thousands of them if you’re looking for that big boost to a specific stat. The more diligent you are in reaping souls, the more powerful you’ll become. So, reap, reap, reap!
*Disclaimer: All actions referred to in this guide are with default PS5 controls in mind.
| Attack | |
| Dodge/Confirm | |
| Back | |
| Interact | |
| Bomb, Hookshot, Arrow, Flame | |
| + | Shoot |
| Charge Attack | |
| Move | |
| Look | |
| / | Menu |
| Menu Left | |
| Menu Right |
