Since the release of its first title thirty-five years ago, The Legend of Zelda series has established itself as one of the gaming industry's great triumphs of design. Nintendo's first 3D Zelda title, 1999's Ocarina of Time, continued this trend of innovation with dynamic open-world design years ahead of its time.
One of the unsung beneficiaries of this immersive overhaul is Ocarina of Time's side quests. Numerous and immersive, these optional missions represent some of the best narrative designs in the Zelda franchise, effectively leveraging a revolutionary open-world to create a memorable assortment of clever quests.
Farmer Link
One of the most inventive side quests in Ocarina of Time is also one of the shortest. In classic fairytale fashion, Link can purchase magic beans from a mysterious salesman near Zora's River and plant them in patches of soft soil located around Hyrule.
Players who return to these spots once Link travels to the future will be rewarded for their efforts, with the beanstalks having grown into tall, scalable platforms. For their agricultural work, players are rewarded with up to six Heart Pieces, as well as access to useful shortcuts leading to the Lost Woods and Zora's Domain.
Biggoron's Sword
One of Ocarina of Time's longest side quests and a contender for best in the series, this journey puts players on an arduous path toward increasing their damage output. The premise of this exhausting quest is deceptively simple. Biggoron, the legendary Goron blacksmith, needs eye drops to soothe his irritated eyes and requests Link's help in securing a remedy. Obtaining these drops, however, is no easy feat.
Players must trade numerous unique items, many of which are among the strangest items in the Legend of Zelda franchise, with the denizens of Hyrule to eventually receive the "World's Finest Eyedrops." The final reward for this side quest is the supremely useful Biggoron's Sword, which deals more damage and has a longer reach than the fabled Master Sword at the cost of not being able to use a shield.
Hunting Gold Skulltulas
In Kakariko Village, Link encounters a rich family that has been cursed by their greed and transformed into spider-like creatures. To free them, players must kill 100 Gold Skulltulas hidden around Hyrule and its assorted dungeons. Often placed in out-of-the-way or hard-to-reach places, finding these golden arachnids is usually a puzzle in itself, occasionally requiring traveling through time to revisit areas once players have acquired items like the Longshot or Hover Boots.
The Many Minigames Of Hyrule
Scattered across the Kingdom of Hyrule, players will find an assortment of minigames that test their mettle with various items and weapons. Not only do these games provide an enjoyable break from the central campaign in Ocarina of Time, but they each also allow the player to practice the skills that will keep them in top form as they progress throughout the game.
An archery-based game in Hyrule tests players' marksmanship in a shooting gallery, while a horseback variation at Gerudo Fortress increases the difficulty for the late game's more challenging stages. One of the most memorable of these games tasks players with launching Bombchus at distant targets in a ski-ball style arcade setting. A fan-favorite minigame gives Link unlimited time to go fishing at a pond adjacent to Lake Hylia -- handily the most relaxing adventure in the series.
The Scaleable Scarecrow
At Lake Hylia, Link encounters a sentient scarecrow named Bonooru. He prompts players to play him a unique tune -- any series of eight notes from the ocarina that players choose. When Link returns to Bonooru as an adult and plays this custom melody, the scarecrow will grant him an unusual mobility perk.
By playing the "Scarecrow's Song" at key places in Hyrule's many dungeons, Link can summon Bonooru's brother Pierre -- another scarecrow that can be targeted and zipped to via grappling hook. This allows players to collect extra rupees, hearts, Heart Pieces, and even elusive Gold Skulltula tokens.
Acquiring Epona the Horse
Despite being an iconic visual component to Ocarina of Time's legacy and a fan-favorite character, it is entirely possible to finish the game without coming across Link's trusty steed, Epona. This optional side quest begins at Lon Lon Ranch immediately after Adult Link first leaves the Temple of Time so long as he has learned Epona's song from Malon as a child. At the ranch, players can summon Epona and challenge the stable owner Ingo to a pair of races. Win both, and Link will be able to ride with speed and ease throughout one of the best versions of Hyrule in the Zelda series.
The Gerudo Gauntlet
After freeing the carpenters from the Gerudo Fortress, Link will be deemed worthy enough to endure the Gerudo Training Grounds. Within, Link must prove his mettle not only in combat but also by solving a sequence of timed puzzles. Some of these puzzles include a straight-forward silver rupee collection game, while others require inventive use of the Longshot, Iron Boots, and Lens of Truth.
For each small trial Link overcomes, he's rewarded with a small key. Once Link receives all seven keys from this mini-dungeon, he's able to access the final room and lay claim to his prize: the eminently useful Ice Arrows, capable of freezing most enemies on the spot.
The Happy Mask Salesman
Just off the main square in Hyrule Castle Town, players will find a unique store selling masks. The shop's proprietor, the Happy Mask Salesman -- a polarizing NPC destined to become one of the central reasons why Majora's Mask is one of the strangest Zelda games of all time -- engages Link with the task of buying and selling masks at a profit.
Throughout this brief quest, players will peddle masks to the guard at the entrance to Death Mountain, the Skull Kid in the Lost Woods, the boy in Kakariko Graveyard, and the running man of Hyrule Field. The prize for selling all four masks is access to four different masks, most notably the Mask of Truth, which allows Link to gain valuable tips and insights from the Gossip Stones scattered around Hyrule.
Big Poe Hunter
In addition to adding an industry-defining open world to the Zelda franchise, Ocarina of Time features a dynamic passage of time mechanic that shifts day to night and back again. At night, the world of Hyrule can become a much more dangerous place, especially Hyrule Field where skeletal Stalchildren and botanically bladed Peahats can wreak havoc by moonlight.
Once the sun sets in Adult Link's timeline, players can encounter ten Big Poes -- larger and more powerful versions of the ghosts found in the Kakariko Village graveyard. These specters are quick, however, so players are advised to take on this side quest only after they've freed Epona from Ingo at Lon Lon Ranch. Once vanquished, Link can trade the poes' souls to the Poe Collector for an Empty Bottle -- perhaps the most useful item in the Legend of Zelda franchise.
Finding the Fairy Fountains
A staple character in the franchise, the Great Fairy in Ocarina of Time is presented as a larger and more powerful version of the more common life-restoring fairies found around Hyrule. Though it is entirely optional to cross paths with these fantastic faes, players who seek out these colossal allies are rewarded with some of the most powerful upgrades in the game.
These include the area-of-effect weapon Din's Fire, the protective spell Nayru's Love, upgrades to magic capacity, and even Link's iconic spin attack. Players can also reap the value of refilling their Empty Bottles with fairies at each of these fountains, giving them the ability to resurrect if they fall victim to Hyrule's many pitfalls.