The Legend of Zelda series almost always features a massive world for players to explore. Those worlds are filled with characters to meet and quests to complete. With so much to do, it’s easy to miss some of the more hidden quests in The Legend of Zelda series. The list below features five of the hardest-to-find quests, but shouldn’t be considered definitive. Instead, think of this as a rundown showing off how great the series is when it hides some of its best quests outside of the main story.
Breath of the Wild basically redefined what it meant to be an open-world video game. That’s because the team at Nintendo doesn’t do much sign-posting or heavy-handed funneling. Instead, the developers opened the world and let you pick your own path. If you want to try something, you can do it. You might die a horrible death, but Nintendo lets you make your own mistakes.
Because there isn’t a ton of direction from the developers, it’s easy to miss some of the smaller quests. A Parent’s Love is one of those, which is a shame because it’s relatively heartwarming. After you finish “From the Ground Up,” one of BOTW‘s most important side quests, you’ll create Tarrey Town. If you hang around a specific window late at night, you’ll hear two parents talking about their sick daughter. Baking the cake to save the daughter isn’t difficult, but if you don’t know the specific location and time of day to stand outside the window, you’ll never see this one.
To be clear, this location isn’t actually hidden. You’d have to try to miss the laboratory sitting on the shores of Lake Hylia. What many players miss are the hidden items that you can pick up if you know exactly what to do. Of course, there aren’t any hints about your objective. Instead, you’ll just need to figure out all of the steps on your own, assuming you don’t look up a guide.
First, you’ll need to head to the Fishing Pond as Child Link. You need to catch a fish that weighs at least ten pounds. Once you pull that off, you’ll earn a Piece of Heart. You might think it stops there, but if you head back to the lake as Adult Link, you can grab another secret item. You’ll need to catch an even larger fish, which gives you the Golden Scale. This lets you dive deeper underwater. With that in your inventory, head into the Lakeside Lab, jump into the fish tank, and dive to the bottom to get another Piece of Heart. It’s a lot of work for something you don’t really need, so most players never bothered.
This is another quest that’s easy to find, but many players skipped it because it’s a bit too convoluted. During your time in Majora’s Mask, you’ll meet up with a woman named Anju. She and her husband have an in-depth quest chain that takes a ton of work, but that’s not the hidden quest. Instead, you need to see out Anju’s grandmother. This lady loves to spin a yarn. She will tell you stories deep into the night, putting Link to sleep.
If you want to stay up for her stories and earn her rewards, you need to acquire the All-Night Mask. The only way to get that mask is to save another old lady from a robber in North Clock Town at midnight on the First Day. Why is this granny out so late? Who can say? Once you save her, the thief will sell the All-Night Mask to the Curiosity Shop. You can then buy it at night during the Third Day. This mask lets you stay up all night, so head back to Anju’s grandmother. Now, you can listen to all of her stories, earning two Pieces of Heart for your efforts.
During The Wind Waker, you’ll eventually meet Tingle. He will give Link the Tingle Tuner, which lets players who have a Game Boy Advance and a link cable access Tingle’s Shop. However, it actually has another use that fewer players will ever dive into. See, if you revisit Outset Island, you’ll meet Tingle’s brother, Knuckle.
This odd fellow will send Link on a lengthy scavenger hunt, which eventually gives you access to Knuckle’s shop. Knuckle sends you out to find five hidden Tingle statues all around the world. He’ll pay you 50 Rupees for each one you find and 500 for the full set. It’s not game-changing, but if you know what to do, you can get a nice head start. However, The Wind Waker never tells you about this quest, so many players missed it if they weren’t using a guide. Granted, you might not want to meet that Knuckle guy. He might be the only person in the Zelda universe that’s weirder than Tingle.
The Minish Cap is filled with quests you might miss thanks to Kinstones. Link can use these to fuse with NPCs and unlock all kinds of items. There’s one notable Kinstone mission that deals with the Goron near the wall by Lon Lon Ranch. This guy really wants to get inside a hidden cave, but it’s going to take some work to help him out.
You’ll have to walk around the world, fusing with various Gorons. Eventually, they’ll all go back to Lon Lon Ranch and dig out the aid. This will earn you an empty bottle, which is a great reward on its own right, but isn’t quite the final step. Next, you need to fuse with one final Goron inside the cave. That will then let Biggoron appear in Veil Falls, where he will give Link the Mirror Shield. However, you can’t do any of this until you’ve beaten the game, so most players never finish this lengthy quest.
