Zelda Ocarina of Time Remake Guide: Where to Find Richard the Dog at Night in Castle Town for a Piece of Heart
Among the thirty-six Pieces of Heart scattered across Hyrule in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake on Nintendo Switch 2, rescuing Richard the Dog remains one of the earliest health upgrades Young Link can claim as soon as he steps across the Castle Town drawbridge. However, if you are relying on twenty-eight years of Nintendo 64 or 3DS muscle memory, you will quickly notice that Richard is no longer waiting in his 1998 spot. Because Nintendo rebuilt Castle Town Market from a flat pre-rendered 2D backdrop into a fully realized 3D neighborhood with free camera control, both Richard's appearance and his nighttime hiding spot have changed.
Here is our complete step-by-step illustrated guide to finding Richard's worried owner, tracking down the lost dog in his new alley location at night, claiming your Piece of Heart, and checking out one of the funniest revamped NPC gags in Castle Town.
What Changed With Richard the Dog in the Switch 2 Remake of Castle Town
In the original 1998 N64 release, Castle Town Market was rendered as a fixed isometric 2D background connected to a static Back Alley. Every stray dog in the plaza shared the exact same brown-and-white low-poly model, requiring players to walk up to the market stall near the Bazaar entrance at night and hope the right pup followed them indoors to his owner's apartment.
In the Nintendo Switch 2 remake, Castle Town is a bustling, interconnected 3D hub complete with a detailed bottom-right minimap and winding cobblestone side streets. Two major changes make this sidequest feel much more natural:
- Richard's owner now stands outside in the street: Dressed in her signature blue-and-purple patterned dress with a towering red updo, the dog lady no longer stays locked inside a Back Alley room waiting for a knock on the door. You will spot her right out on the cobblestones clutching her head and crying out, "Richard! He's gone!"
- Richard has a unique all-white shaggy coat: Instead of looking identical to the brown dogs chasing each other around the central fountain, Richard is now a distinct, pure white long-haired terrier (resembling a Westie or white Scottish Terrier), making him unmistakable once you turn down the right street.
Where to Find Richard the Dog at Night in Castle Town Market (Step-by-Step Walkthrough)
This sidequest can only be completed as Young Link at night. If you arrive in Castle Town during the day (for instance, right after picking up the Keaton Mask as covered in our complete Happy Mask Shop trade quest and Mask of Truth guide), you can either step back out into Hyrule Field until sunset or play the Sun's Song on your Ocarina to fast-forward immediately to nightfall.
Once night falls over Castle Town Market, follow these four steps to bring Richard home and collect your reward:
- Head to the northwest corner of Castle Town Market at night: Starting from the central fountain plaza, look toward the Shooting Gallery building, which is clearly marked by a red-and-white target bullseye icon on your bottom-right minimap.
- Enter the alley to the left of the Shooting Gallery: Instead of checking the stalls near the Bazaar like in 1998, walk into the lantern-lit cobblestone alley lined with wooden crates and barrels located immediately to the left of the Shooting Gallery.
- Interact with Richard using the "Play" prompt: Waiting near the bend down this side street is the shaggy white terrier. Walk up to him and press the interact button to select "Play". Richard will bark happily ("Richard!") and immediately begin trotting right behind Young Link.
- Lead Richard back to his owner for your Piece of Heart: Walk back out toward the main Castle Town plaza at a steady pace so he stays close on your heels, and approach his owner waiting beside the stone corner near the market square.
As soon as you speak to her with Richard at your side ("My Richard! Thank you so much!"), she rewards you on the spot with a Piece of Heart. Collecting four Pieces of Heart permanently adds a full Heart Container to Link's health meter, giving you extra survivability early in your journey before you eventually pull the Master Sword and tackle our step-by-step walkthrough for the unbreakable Biggoron's Greatsword trade sequence.
The Bearded Guy Outside the Bazaar: Another Hilarious Castle Town Upgrade
Richard's new hiding spot is not the only detail that makes exploring the rebuilt Castle Town Market so rewarding. If you visit the plaza during the daytime and walk up to the wooden storefront of the Bazaar (marked by signs showing a Hylian Shield, a Deku Shield, and a Bomb), you will meet an imposing, broad-shouldered Hylian in a sleeveless white tunic and green trousers proudly stroking a massive brown beard.
While this character appeared in the background of the 1998 original, the Switch 2 remake gives him a hilarious new bit of characterization. When Young Link speaks to him early in the story, the muscular townsperson strokes his chin and uses an uncanny "beard-sense" radar ("Searching for... bearded guys...") to scan the surrounding area for fellow facial-hair enthusiasts. Beyond the comedy, the joke serves as a clever signpost pointing players toward Talon, the sleeping Lon Lon Ranch owner resting near the Hyrule Castle grounds.
Comparison Table: Castle Town & Richard's Sidequest (N64 1998 vs. Switch 2 2026)
| Castle Town Feature | N64 (1998) / 3DS (2011) Version | Nintendo Switch 2 Remake (2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Camera & Layout | Fixed isometric 2D pre-rendered backgrounds | Full 3D geometry, free camera control, and detailed minimap |
| Richard's Appearance | Brown-and-white dog identical to other strays | Unique all-white shaggy terrier 3D model |
| Nighttime Hiding Spot | Behind the bottom-right market stall near the Bazaar | In the cobblestone alley immediately left of the Shooting Gallery |
| Owner's Location | Inside her Back Alley apartment at night | Standing outside on the Castle Town cobblestones |
| Interaction & Reward | Walk near him at night, rewards 1 Piece of Heart | Dedicated "Play" prompt at night, rewards 1 Piece of Heart |
| Bearded Bazaar NPC | Standard background townsperson dialogue | Expanded "Searching for bearded guys" gag pointing to Talon |
My Perspective
Turning Castle Town Market from a flat 1998 pre-rendered diorama into a living, breathing 3D neighborhood is one of the smartest creative decisions in the Nintendo Switch 2 remake. Giving Richard a distinctive shaggy white terrier design and tucking him into the lantern-lit alley beside the Shooting Gallery turns what used to be a trial-and-error guessing game into a genuinely charming midnight stroll, while small touches like the Bazaar's beard-detecting giant give veteran players a reason to talk to every single NPC all over again.
Based on the outskirts of New York City, Chaya 'Chayane' spent five years studying software engineering in Montreal before returning to her home state. A Full-Stack developer and Deep Learning AI architecture researcher, she explores neural networks and algorithmic optimization while engineering data pipelines for Retrocharting and Gamescharting alongside Grimtag. A gamer for over 20 years and an avid collector of Nintendo history and The Legend of Zelda, she explored World of Warcraft's Azeroth before bringing her deep technical background to video game analysis.
