Which Zelda Game Had the Best Sidequests?

[Zorth]

I think it's pretty safe to say that out of all Zelda games MM had the best side quests. It's because of their own story I'd say, they aren't just random collectible quests but all of them have their own little story going on which ties in to the main plot of the 3 day cycle. Some of them even left a few unanswered questions that I'd love for Nintendo to explain in the next title; for instance them in the little Ranch story arc, where you meet alien creature. Another interesting quest is the Anju & Kafei love story, spanning across all three days I think this is the best made side quest in all of Zelda. We also have the skulltula houses, which felt like the Gerudo Training Grounds from OoT to me, it felt like I was being tested by finding all of those Gold Skulltulas, not to mention it was loads of fun too.

tl;dr

MM had the best side quests because they had a well written story and were plenty.

 

[snakeoiltanker]

okay guys, i have a confession to make here. and dont discredit my love and knowledge of zelda because of it...... but i never beat MM, or WW. i never owned a game cube and cant find a copy of WW to play on my wii. i pains me to say this really. and when WW came out i was in my weird kid stage and though WW was too cartoony and childish looking, i hate saying that and i wouldnt say that now, but thats just what i thought of is as a freshmen student who thought he was too old for certian things.

as for MM i will admit that that game pissed me off everytime i played it cuz of the time limit on everything and i could never understand the mechanics of the game so i guess my vote doesnt count concidering i didnt play MM. wow, im starting to question myself as a zelda fan now!

 

[The Wanderer]

The vote's pretty much unanimous. It's Majora's Mask, same as I voted.

Zelda needs a return to the sidequests. Not just the chores and errands it's basically devolved to ("Here, Link, clean my house for twenty rupees!") but the varied, emotional stuff seen in Majora's Mask. In MM, you can help two lost lovers find each other and wed, protect a farm from an alien invasion, create a moving song to break through a cold man's hard exterior, find and grow up a bunch of young Cuccos, and use masks to help other people and achieve different effects. That's not counting unique mini-games like Goron racing, betting on dog racing, and three varied archery mini-games. As Cfrock said in a different post, Zelda needs to grow wider, not longer. Imagine something with the length of your average 3D Zelda game but the mini-games and intricate sidequests of Majora's Mask. Imagine it even better, each sidequest deeper, more emotional, and more unique. That's what modern Zelda should be striving to be, among some other things.

 

[shogun_zidane]

Majora's Mask is ONLY side quests.... that's why I love it!

 

[Random Person]

I'm gonna be original and say Majora's Mask!
...
Wait a second...

Seriously, it's difficult to top Majora's Mask considering the game was focused around the sidequests. What I really enjoyed about these sidequests is that even though they were EVERYWHERE, they were still well hidden. There's never a sidequest in MM you felt you were supposed to come across, even the mandatory ones like racing the Gorman Bros. Finding these secrets was a challenge, as was figuring out what to do, as was actually doing them; and the act of completing the sidequest was reward enough in itself, let alone the masks, heartpieces and empty bottles you could get out of them. And of course there's the things everyone else mentioned like the depth of characters and intertwining plots. I love that certain events are triggered by doing or not doing other events.

MM pretty much delivered beyond even today's expectations for what good sidequests should be. After it, I'd choose Wind Waker.

Sidequests:
MM>>> WW > TP > OoT > SS

 

[MW7]

The bombers' notebook is my favorite Zelda item- in other words I think Majora's Mask has the best sidequests. Wind Waker is my second choice, then Skyward Sword, Twilight Princess, and Ocarina of Time. Majora's Mask and Ocarina of Time were a great one-two punch. Majora's Mask focused on everything Ocarina didn't focus on and was great in its own way.