Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is a massive game, filled with quests and content, many of which most players probably overlooked if they've only played the game once. It's incredibly easy to do, considering how large and dense the world map is, and turning left instead of right can mean the difference between finding an entire town or not. Even all these years later, new things are still being discovered about this landmark game.
Breath of the Wild has Link move through a massive open world version of Hyrule. One that, at first glance, appears desolate and empty. But once the player reaches those vast horizons seen when Link steps out of the shrine of resurrection, it's quickly discovered that every stone, corner, and patch of grass contains something to do. BOTW's Hyrule is full of open-world secrets, so it stands to reason that some of them go overlooked.
It's staggering how much can still be found in BOTW. From long continuous quests, to small one and done stories hidden in the nooks and crannies of Hyrule's vast landscape. While there are more hidden spots and quests than can be detailed in brief, here are some of the standouts that many players overlook.
Link Can Claim BOTW's Giant Horse
Every BOTW player needs to have at least one horse on hand. They're incredibly useful for traversing the land quickly and passing through areas full of enemies the player may not want to fight at the moment. And if you go to the Mounted Archery Camp and talk to Straia, you can get your hands on giant horse in BOTW.
There are plenty of unique mounts in BOTW, but this is the only one that the player cannot get without first accepting a mission. The horse is almost twice the size of the horses found in the wild, and as might be expected, is much harder to tame. Stamina potions are highly recommended to outlast this horse, but once it's done, the largest horse in the game is free to use like every other horse found in Hyrule.
The Lomei Labyrinths Are Some Of The Hardest Shrines In The Game
There are three kinds of shrines in Breath of the Wild: shrines that contain puzzles, shrines that contain mini-bosses, and shrines that don't contain anything, but getting into them is the challenge. Of the latter category, the hardest examples by a considerable margin are BOTW's Lomei Labyrinth shrines.
The labyrinths are found in three parts of the map, Hebra, Akkala, and the Gerudo Desert. Due to their immense size and density, the labyrinths are given their own sections of the map to occupy, and thus can be easy to miss for first time players, since they're far off the beaten path, and easily hidden by the landscape. Even when found, the labyrinths are some of the hardest shrines to get to in the game, with multiple dead-end paths, patrolling enemies, and no way to track progress to get back out. The only way to make traversing them slightly easier is to have obtained the BOTW Travel Medallion in the Master of Trials DLC. But the barbarian armor obtained at the end of each one makes them a worthy challenge.
Missing In Action Is An Easy-To-Miss BOTW Rescue Mission
Many side quests in Breath of the Wild have Link traveling across Hyrule to find something for someone. "Missing In Action" is the easiest of these to miss since the quest giver is quite out of the way. The quest sees Link helping a man named Sesami find his friends, whom he was traveling with before they were separated by a monster attack.
The quest is both fun to take Link across Hyrule to find the missing travelers, but also a good mini character piece for Sesami. BOTW's quests are full of small but interesting stories like this, but due to random chance, many players don't stumble across this one. It isn't as deep a narrative as, for example, the Tarrey Town quests in BOTW, but it's still a good story that involves a bit more legwork.
The Stolen Heirloom Is A Shrine Quest Buried Under Three Different Side Quests
If a video game has side quests, then a common element that will inevitably appear is the quest chain, where multiple quests must be completed back to back from each other in order to yield a larger reward. Usually, each quest in the chain will be connected, either being given by the same person, or being connected in theme, which is likely why many players fail to figure out how to get into the Kakariko Village Shrine.
In order to unlock "The Stolen Heirloom" BOTW Shrine Quest, three seemingly unrelated quests - "Find The Fairy Fountain", "Flown The Coop", and "By Firefly's Light" - must be completed, only after which the quest opens up. The quest itself, given its secretive nature, is one of the harder side quests in the game, requiring not only stealth but also certain conditions needing to be met. However, the reward for the quest is well worth the effort, granting not only the obligatory rewards for completing a shrine, but also some interesting lore about the history of Kakariko Village. One of the harder BOTW quests to unlock, let alone complete, it's ultimately more than worth the trouble.
It says something about just how much content is packed into BOTW even past its 5th anniversary that features like this can still be written, five years after its release. The game isn't just large in width and scale, but in depth, with every mountain, village, sand dune, and boulder covering up some new secret. Playing it again will yield something that wasn't found in previous playthroughs. There's always a new quest or character that hasn't been found yet. These quests are just a few examples of the interesting, quirky, and sometimes emotional side quests that are scattered throughout the game's densely packed world. If the long-awaited sequel to Breath of the Wild is even half as detailed as its predecessor, then players are going to get completely lost in the wild all over again.