Breath of the Wild Supposing all subplots were utterly absorbing, how much would you want?

[Dogzilla]

For example, an RPG like Witcher 3 has many, detailed and interesting subplots in the sidequests, totalling a whopping 13 hours of cutscenes (including those from the main plot).

But even if all side quest cutscenes/dialogues in botw were hugely compelling, given that they put a hold on the action and exploration each time, what would your limit for them be?

 

[Uwu_Oocoo2]

Subplots are great, but they should never overshadow the main plot. While they should be compelling, as an added incentive to complete them, it is not the main objective of the game. When you find yourself more invested in the sub stories, it means the story of the game itself simply isn't strong enough.
Breath of the Wild had a lot of interesting sub storylines, and they kept you invested in your main goal. If they started making more cutscenes for irrelevant sequences, it could have made the game unbalanced. But overall they aced it.

 

[Mikey the Moblin]

Subplots are great, but they should never overshadow the main plot. While they should be compelling, as an added incentive to complete them, it is not the main objective of the game. When you find yourself more invested in the sub stories, it means the story of the game itself simply isn't strong enough.
Breath of the Wild had a lot of interesting sub storylines, and they kept you invested in your main goal. If they started making more cutscenes for irrelevant sequences, it could have made the game unbalanced. But overall they aced it.

uhhh wut

I think we're overdue for something on the level of majora's mask again

 

[Uwu_Oocoo2]

uhhh wut

I think we're overdue for something on the level of majora's mask again

Majora's Mask is a special case. The side quests don't overshadow the main storyline, because theyre interwoven. The events of Majora influence the actions of people in the world, and the lead the story in different directions. In games like WW its very easy to forget the point of your adventure, because everyone is so gosh darn cheerful. The world feels too sedentary. But with Majora it's impossible to lose track of your goal, because its such a major influence on the world and characters.

 

[GZ Zelda]

Majora's Mask is a special case. The side quests don't overshadow the main storyline, because theyre interwoven. The events of Majora influence the actions of people in the world, and the lead the story in different directions. In games like WW its very easy to forget the point of your adventure, because everyone is so gosh darn cheerful. The world feels too sedentary. But with Majora it's impossible to lose track of your goal, because its such a major influence on the world and characters.

A beautiful analysis. However, I do think BotW could have successfully taken the Majora's Mask route and gone deeper into characters. As is, BotW has the most characters out of any Zelda game (maybe even more than all of them combined). I think there are around 500 characters? If you are going to focus on complete NATURAL freedom, which is the aim of BotW, you cannot have utterly absorbing side quests and plots. But if they changed the intention of the game to focus on interacting with PEOPLE, rather than interacting with the empty, post-apocalyptic world, you could go crazy with all the charm and personality the BotW NPCs have.

Essentially, because MM is pre-apocalyptic, it's really important to dive into the characters because you can't forget the entire world will explode. But in a post-apocalyptic world like BotW, you can't dive too deeply or it doesn't feel post-apocalyptic anymore.

 

[Uwu_Oocoo2]

For me, the NPCs in BotW are the most disappointing of the series. For a game with around 500 characters, few of them have a lot of personality. If I cared about these cookie cutter characters, I would probably be more inclined to agree that it could use deeper subplots. But to give two dimensional NPCs three dimensional stories feels a little unbalanced.
BotW is a journey of self discovery and adventure, and focusing on the lives of other characters would distract from the openness of the game, and it's encouragement of having you go wherever you wish. It's less about the story, and more about your personal journey and experience.

 

[MapelSerup]

There can be a balance between more and less involved subplots. For example, a small fetch quest is much less involved than the Eighth Heroine which is much less involved than Tarrey Town. I’d be fine with a couple more Tarrey Town size side quests, but not too many.

Honestly, I’d consider almost the entirety of BOTW to be a sidequest because you can reach Calamity Ganon right after the Great Plateau. The Divine Beasts are woven into the main story but are not necessary and only give you a helpful reward, which is pretty much the definition of a side quest and are most certainly subplots.

 

[Dogzilla]

There can be a balance between more and less involved subplots. For example, a small fetch quest is much less involved than the Eighth Heroine which is much less involved than Tarrey Town. I’d be fine with a couple more Tarrey Town size side quests, but not too many.

Honestly, I’d consider almost the entirety of BOTW to be a sidequest because you can reach Calamity Ganon right after the Great Plateau. The Divine Beasts are woven into the main story but are not necessary and only give you a helpful reward, which is pretty much the definition of a side quest and are most certainly subplots.

I agree. Because it’s not necessary for basic game completion, it’s all sidequest except Ganon.

 

[Mikey the Moblin]

The game lists em as main quests though

 

[Dogzilla]

The game lists em as main quests though

Sure, but suppose the game listed korok seeds collections as main quests, why would they not be?

 

[Mikey the Moblin]

Sure, but suppose the game listed korok seeds collections as main quests, why would they not be?

Well the game doesnt list it as a main quest so we dont have to wonder about that
Skyrim has multiple main quests as well

 

[Dogzilla]

Well the game doesnt list it as a main quest so we dont have to wonder about that
Skyrim has multiple main quests as well

Wait, are you saying that whatever the game lists it as, it is?

 

[Mikey the Moblin]

Wait, are you saying that whatever the game lists it as, it is?

Unless I'm missing a textbook definition of main quest, I dont see how else we'd identify them...

 

[GZ Zelda]

Unless I'm missing a textbook definition of main quest, I dont see how else we'd identify them...

I think the textbook definition would say that the Divine Beasts are main quests, but then so is taking a picture of the Kakariko Great Fairy Fountain and finding all the memories, something I consider side content. Anything not required to see the credits of the game is, to me, side content.

 

[Dogzilla]

Unless I'm missing a textbook definition of main quest, I dont see how else we'd identify them...

If that’s a yes, then you’d agree that korok seed retrieval marked as main quest is therefore main quest. Surely main quest is what’s needed to get to the credits, as GZ Zelda points out