You’re standing on the edge of a cliff in Akkala. The wind is howling. You have a world-ending calamity to deal with, a princess waiting in a castle for a century, and a sword that needs finding. So, naturally, you spend the next forty minutes chasing a specific type of dragonfly for a kid or hunting down a guy who wants to see a very particular type of weapon. It sounds absurd when you say it out loud. Why do we do it?
Breath of the wild side quests aren’t just filler. They aren't the "go here, kill ten wolves" busywork that plagues modern open-world RPGs. Well, some are. But even the fetch quests feel grounded in a world that’s actually alive.
Most people play this game for the exploration or the physics-based combat. They treat the side content like a checkbox. That's a mistake. If you ignore the people living in the stables or the weirdos hanging out in Hateno Village, you’re missing the actual heartbeat of Hyrule. It’s the small stories that make the big story matter. Without them, Link is just a silent guy in a tunic hitting things with a stick. With them, he’s a neighbor.
The Design Philosophy Behind the Distraction
Nintendo did something weird with this game. They gave you the final boss location immediately. You can go fight Ganon in your underwear within twenty minutes if you’re brave (or crazy) enough. This means every single side quest is technically "useless" for the main ending. You don't need to do them.
Because they aren't mandatory, the developers had to make them intrinsically rewarding. Honestly, the reward is rarely the item. Sure, you get some Rupees or a piece of armor, but the real payoff is the world-building. Take "From the Ground Up." It’s widely considered the best quest in the game. You start with a lonely guy named Hudson in the middle of a rocky outcrop and end up building an entire town.
It takes forever. You need hundreds of bundles of wood. You have to travel to every corner of the map to find specific NPCs whose names end in "-son." It’s tedious on paper. But watching Tarrey Town grow from a single tent into a thriving community is more satisfying than defeating a Lynel. It gives you a sense of permanence in a world that feels transient and broken.
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Why Some Quests Feel Like Chores (And Why That’s Okay)
Not every quest is a masterpiece. "The Weapon Smuggler" in Hateno Village is literally just showing a kid different weapons. "Little Sister's Big Request" involves finding cold, electric, and warm darners. It's basic.
But these tasks force you to look at the environment differently. You stop looking for the "objective" and start looking at the grass. You start noticing how weather patterns affect insect spawns. This is the "Chemistry Engine" at work. Breath of the wild side quests serve as a tutorial for the world's deep systems without ever feeling like a pop-up menu. You're learning biology and meteorology through the lens of helping a villager.
Hidden Gems You Probably Missed
If you’ve only done the quests that NPCs shove in your face, you’ve missed the good stuff. Some of the most poignant moments are tucked away in corners of the map you have no reason to visit.
Have you found "A Gift for the Princess"? It’s simple, but it hits hard because it bridges the gap between the past and the present. Or "Special Delivery," where you follow a letter in a bottle down a river. It’s frustrating. The bottle gets stuck. You have to clear debris and fight Octoroks just to keep a piece of plastic (well, glass) floating. It’s a literal escort mission for an object.
Yet, it’s memorable because it’s a tiny, human interaction in a land filled with ancient, terrifying robots.
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- The Stolen Heirloom: This one is a masterclass in narrative layering. It requires you to complete several other quests in Kakariko Village first. It turns a simple village stay into a murder mystery (well, a theft mystery) that deepens the lore of the Sheikah and the Yiga Clan.
- Riddles of Hyrule: Found on top of the Great Hyrule Forest. It’s a classic Zelda trope, but it makes you rethink the items in your inventory. What is "small, red, and round"? A lonely apple.
- The Sheep Tucker: It’s a goofy name for a quest about protecting a flock from monsters. It’s low stakes. But when you succeed, the gratitude of the NPC feels earned because the combat in this game can go sideways so fast.
The Misconception of the "100%" Grind
There is a huge difference between completing the side quests and completing the game. Most people see the 900 Korok seeds and the 76 side quests and the 42 shrine quests and they panic.
Don't.
The side quests are best enjoyed when they happen naturally. If you use a guide to teleport from point A to point B just to clear a menu, you're killing the vibe. The game is designed for "distracted play." You should be on your way to a tower, see a weird campfire, talk to a guy, and suddenly find yourself hunting for a giant horse. That's the intended flow.
The Impact of Localized Storytelling
Hateno and Kakariko feel different not just because of the architecture, but because of the problems the people have. In Kakariko, the quests are steeped in tradition and the burden of the past. In Hateno, things feel more domestic and forward-looking.
Lurelin Village is another great example. It’s a coastal fishing town that many players miss entirely because the main quest doesn't lead you there. The side quests there—gathering crabs, dealing with a literal "Sunken Treasure"—reinforce the idea that life goes on. Even with a giant pig-cloud circling the castle, people still need to eat and they still want to find gold at the bottom of the ocean.
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This is what Hidemaro Fujibayashi and his team mastered. They created a sense of "active history." You aren't just reading about the world in books; you're participating in its recovery. Every time you finish a side quest, the map feels a little less lonely.
The Problem With Rewards
If there’s one valid criticism of breath of the wild side quests, it’s the reward scaling. By the time you’re strong enough to finish some of the harder quests, a Silver Rupee or a mid-tier meal feels insulting.
However, the game doesn't view Link as a mercenary. It views him as a knight. If you’re playing for the loot, you’re going to be disappointed 80% of the time. If you’re playing for the "world state" changes—like getting the bolson construction crew to finally leave your front yard (though they never really do, do they?)—then the rewards are perfect.
Practical Steps for Your Next Playthrough
If you’re hopping back into Hyrule or playing for the first time, change how you approach these tasks.
- Turn off the HUD. Go into the settings and switch to "Pro Mode." It removes the mini-map. Now, when a quest tells you to find a landmark "to the north near the twin peaks," you actually have to look at the horizon. It turns a chore into an actual navigation challenge.
- Talk to everyone twice. NPCs in this game have different dialogue based on the time of day, the weather, and whether or not you’re wearing clothes. Some quests only trigger after a specific conversation that seems like flavor text.
- Don't fast travel. This is the big one. Most side quests are discovered in the "in-between" spaces. If you teleport from town to town, you'll never encounter the traveling merchants or the NPCs wandering the roads who give out some of the best hints.
- Read the quest log. The writing in Link’s adventure log is surprisingly personal. In the Japanese version, it’s written from Link’s first-person perspective, which adds a lot of character that gets lost in the silent-protagonist shuffle. Even in English, the descriptions are often witty and give context the dialogue might skip.
The beauty of these missions isn't in the completion. It's in the way they tether you to the land. Without the side quests, Hyrule is just a playground. With them, it’s a home worth saving.
Go back to Tarrey Town. Check in on the couple you helped get together. See if the kid in Hateno ever found his legendary weapons. The Calamity can wait another day. Link has errands to run, and honestly, those errands are the most important part of the journey.