Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess - hands-on

The tale begins with an adolescent Link sitting near a small pond. His pal next to him has a delivery to make the next day in Hyrule, the vast open lands just outside Link's tiny Ordon Village. In the interest of seeing Link venture out, the man assigns him the task instead of handling it personally. Then, you take control as Link finishes up his daily farmhand duties - in this case, wrangling some runaway goats back inside their barn. Doing this on your own would be pretty tough, but your suggestive gal-pal Ilia has a present for you - Epona, the very horse that carried your heroic ass all through Ocarina of Time. Nah, it's not the exact same horse, but still a welcome touch this early in the game.

After steering the goats back in (each with a giant GOAT IN! chime), a series of small tasks have to be completed in Ordon. In true Zelda fashion, each mystery is connected and you've got to figure out which one acts as the main domino to make the rest fall into place.

Little kids want to mess with a slingshot, but aren't allowed to buy one because, well, they're little kids. The shop owner won't sell you one because she's strung out about her lost cat. You find the cat near the river, trying to catch some fish. A pregnant woman just so happens to have a fishing rod for you, but can't remember this because she's too busy worrying about her lost cradle. After wandering the town looking for it, you find that a monkey, of all things, has stolen the cradle.

After wandering around the town for a good bit, you find that picking up certain reeds and blowing in them will summon a hawk to your arm. With it perched at the ready, you can point it at something and set it loose. Once you find the monkey, dancing happily atop a rock surrounded by water, you sick the hawk at him, and it brings the cradle back in one piece. With it in hand, you can finally unravel the long string of puzzles to obtain the slingshot and learn how to aim precisely with the Wii remote.