Yes there is backtracking. You're forced to go back to the forest and into the Lost Woods after heading out to Castle Town, just to get a stupid song that's only needed once in the game so you can get through Darunia. Overall there's a lot of annoying things like these you have to keep getting in the child part of the game (Din's Fire, Epona's Song (not really necessary though very important), Ruto's Letter, etc). Also most of these things aren't even mentioned properly in the game, so you can barely progress unless you're either following a walkthrough or just exploring for the sake of it (and exploring Hyrule as a kid was horrible). The pacing is way too bad and to an extent it prolongs into the adult part of the game, precisely until the point where you get the Hookshot which is also pretty annoying to find. After you get it the game simply stops doing this kind of thing and it gets infinitely better.

As for the "room with unlimited rupees conveniently a screen away from the shield"...
I've seen and talked to countless people who've beaten this game, and I've also seen walkthroughs. I've beaten Ocarina of Time easily over 30 times including Master Quest version, but I'm yet to see any sign of this room. In case it's actually in the game, I'm pretty sure no average newcomer will find it.

EDIT: we're getting really off-topic with this personal debate. You love Ocarina of Time, I don't (not to that extent at least). You think it's a great entry-level Zelda, I don't. Let's just call it a day and move on from this.

Yes there is backtracking. You're forced to go back to the forest and into the Lost Woods after heading out to Castle Town, just to get a stupid song that's only needed once in the game so you can get through Darunia. Overall there's a lot of annoying things like these you have to keep getting in the child part of the game (Din's Fire, Epona's Song (not really necessary though very important), Ruto's Letter, etc). Also most of these things aren't even mentioned properly in the game, so you can barely progress unless you're either following a walkthrough or just exploring for the sake of it (and exploring Hyrule as a kid was horrible). The pacing is way too bad and to an extent it prolongs into the adult part of the game, precisely until the point where you get the Hookshot which is also pretty annoying to find. After you get it the game simply stops doing this kind of thing and it gets infinitely better.

As for the "room with unlimited rupees conveniently a screen away from the shield"...
I've seen and talked to countless people who've beaten this game, and I've also seen walkthroughs. I've beaten Ocarina of Time easily over 30 times including Master Quest version, but I'm yet to see any sign of this room. In case it's actually in the game, I'm pretty sure no average newcomer will find it.

EDIT: we're getting really off-topic with this personal debate. You love Ocarina of Time, I don't (not to that extent at least). You think it's a great entry-level Zelda, I don't. Let's just call it a day and move on from this.

You can only choose from the 4 I have listed.

I'm glad I'm European, never played Monster Hunter before and now I'm hooked ;)