• Welcome to the Zelda Sages Forums!

    The Zelda Sages Community Forums are a fun and easy way to interact with Zelda fans from around the globe. Our members also have access to exclusive members' only content. Register and/or log in now! Please note that user registration is currently disabled. If you would like to register please contact us.

Sidequest Discussion!

Dakare

Dakare

Deus Ex Machina
So I've been talking to Webmasterbob, and we both agree that one of the best parts of any Zelda game is the sidequests.

There are two main examples of sidequests that I always refer to, one being the best use of them, and one being the worst implementation of them (in my opinion).

Best: Majora's Mask. The Bomber's Notebook in particular. This took the various people in the world, fleshed them out, made connections, etc. It made you feel like you were in a real world, where people had real problems. Not to mention that this was essentially the bulk of the game, so you could play the game for hours without actually advancing the storyline. This was also the case in Windwaker, but I still think Majora's Mask executed it better.

Worst: Twilight Princess. As some of you may know, I did not like TP a whole lot, but the sidequest was my main issue. All of the sidequests were basically collection quests. Heart pieces (which are a staple of Zelda, so whatever), Poes, Bugs. Three things to collect. Really? Boring. There is no fleshing out of characters, there is no making the world feel like it's connected, or full of real people. The world itself is pretty empty, to be honest, but that's another rant. Sure, there was the bridge/store quest, but even that was pretty short, and involved a lot of collecting (rupees this time). With a world that big, they could have done a lot more as far as sidequests go.

So what are your opinions? Sidequest good or bad? Do you do them, or ignore them? What are your favorite examples of sidequests?
 
I have to agree with that. Majora's Mask was molded out of the bomber's notebook, Most of which you didn't need to do, But you could spend hours just on the notebook.

I did in fact like Twilight Princess, but I do agree the world was pretty empty and lacked sidequest. The bridge/store sidequest was also not needed to complete the game, helpful but not needed.

Even in Ocarina of Time, the sidequest with Biggoron and all that was not needed but it fleshed Biggorn out.

I also think cut scenes helped with the storyline in some of the games.
 
I do agree that Majora's Mask is the perfect foundation for a Zelda Game Side-quest. You had to fill up that Bomber's Notebook, collect all the Masks (if you wanted the Fierce Deity's Mask), and even the Stray Faries...

Now, I really liked Twilight Princess and everything in it. The sidequests may have been a bit slow to get into, yes I agree. But, there wasn't a part in that game that I didn't like.

Another example of sidequests is from Spirit Tracks. You were able to collect bunnies and you were to collect a few of them from each part of the map. Then, you were enabled to re-awaken lost parts of the rail-roads that connected to every part of the map. Another part was collecting the little trinkets to upgrade your train.
 
You see, I just feel like you can't just have a bunch of collection quests and leave it at that. The sidequests need depth, explore the world, and flesh out characters. The TP sidequests didn't have any of that, and I honestly lost interest in most of those sidequests because of it.
 
Yeah, that is true. But, me personally, I loved that game and everything about it. What other sidequests were there in this series??...
 
On a new note, I believe the sidequests in Skyward Sword are not as good as Majora's Mask, but for sure gives you the sense of characters as alot of sidequests are required.
 
True, true. The gratitude crystals are no Bomber's Notebook, but at least they focus on multiple characters and flesh them out a bit as opposed to, say, the Poes in TP, where it was all for one person.
 
yeah, good ol' poes. took me some time to actually find all the gratitude crystals and I have about 5 pieces of heart to find yet as well, other than that it's just finishing the main stuff.

Even without sidequests some characters seem to be more into the storyline as well.
 
I really like the gratitude crystals. It feels like a much better throwback / combination of Gold Skulltulas and the Bombers Notebook. IMO, MM still has the best sidequests, just because of how whacked out a lot of them are, but I'm really happy Nintendo has gone back to giving meaning to completing the sidequests rather than just something that seems tacked on.

I mean, don't think this is really a spoiler, there are some fetch-quest type sidequests, but at least they are made a bit more interesting.
 
So is it just me, or has there not been an epic trading quest in any recent game? Closest I can remember was the merchant quest in WW, where you had to go around trading with the Gorons, but I can't remember any trading quests in recent years. And they were always so much fun.
 
There wasn't one in MM, unless you count the land deeds, but that was for heart pieces, not a crazy awesome sword or something. I really do think the last true trading quest was OoT and the Biggoron's sword. The Merchant's quest was sorta one, like I said, but it was between the same three/four people, and you just traded decorations around.

Minish Cap's Kinstones were kinda fun, too, if only for the fact that they gave you interesting results (changes in the world, stat boosts (yes, I said stat boost in relation to a Zelda game)). And the rings in the Oracle games were neat, too, cause while it was a collection, they all had unique powers ranging from stat boosts to sprite changes.
 
So, started playing the game, finally, on the 17th! Really in love with Skyward Sword. I've completed the game, and I'm currently working on getting the extras before I go ahead and publish the ZS review. On a side note, my family members pitched together and got me a new HDTV for Christmas to replace my nearly 15 year old tube tv. Lesson, get Wii component cables, everything looks far better on an HDTV with component cables, haha.

To continue the thread a bit, I'm enjoying the SS sidequests. Yes, they are not as intricate as Majora's Mask, but they rank about 2nd overall, IMO. I mean, much better than Twilight Princess, for example. Regardless, this game makes me pretty happy. Much like Spirit Tracks, it seems someone at Nintendo got the hint that an easy game with obvious puzzle solutions, etc does not a good Zelda game make.
 
I haven't beaten it yet. I feel ashamed to be able to say that.

But yeah, sidequests. Like I mentioned before, the gratitude crystal sidequest at least fleshes out some of the characters a bit, and gives you a sense of the community that is obviously there. And the Thunder Dragon challenge is neat, getting to fight bosses over and getting rewarded for it (I actually rage quit the last time I played SS cause of this). But I think my top five sidequests of all would have to be as follows:


  1. Bomber's Notebook
  2. Trading Quests (OoT is the most obvious example)
  3. Kinstones (A bit of fleshing out of characters, but mainly the changing world is what I enjoyed about it)
  4. Ring Collection (Oracle games. I know I rant about collection quests, but the effects of the rings were cool. Power ups, sprite changes, challenge rings, etc.)
  5. Fishing (Never really had too much patience for it, but the fact that it's so random and out there is awesome)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top