The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild complimented its story with some of the saddest side quests in the franchise. BOTW's version of Hyrule is full of characters living in a world that was once torn apart by Ganon's forces, and not every part of the world has recovered. In such a difficult world, Link will find characters who are struggling in several ways.
Breath of the Wild showcases one of the direst versions of Hyrule that The Legend of Zelda franchise has seen. Calamity Ganon is possibly the single most powerful version of Ganon in the series, with the power to bring an apocalyptic wave of destruction across Hyrule. Four of the world's most powerful heroes are all dead, killed before they could aid Link and Zelda in saving the world, and Zelda has sealed herself away to keep Ganon from destroying everything. With the terrible events of Hyrule's history from BOTW weighing heavily on the land, it's no surprise that many of the kingdom's people are struggling.
Breath Of The Wild's Koko Has A Sad Story Behind Her Cooking Hobby
In Kakariko Village, there is a young girl named Koko who gives Link several quests to find ingredients for dishes that she is attempting to make. At face value, it sounds like a harmless enough quest, and a good way to learn some new recipes for Link to make. The situation is far sadder than one would assume simply from the quest's description though, and it will leave the player feeling more sorry for Koko than enthusiastic about new dishes.
Link will find Koko multiple times trying to cook in the village, but each quest begins with her missing an ingredient. In return, she is very hard on herself, berating herself for forgetting and saying that she's not good at anything even though she knows some of Breath of the Wild's best recipes. If Link tries to make her feel better, she'll even brush it off and continue despairing over her missing ingredients. Seeing a girl as young as Koko speak so cruelly about herself is difficult enough, but her reasons for doing so are even more heartbreaking.
Koko mentions wanting to be able to cook like her mother, and it's revealed that said mother was murdered by the Yiga clan. Koko knows that her mother is dead too, since at one point she mentions wanting to make a dish for her mother in heaven. In this light, it's hard not to see Koko's determination to cook as an attempt to mimic her deceased mother and keep her spirit alive.
Even when Koko gains more confidence after Link helps her complete her mother's recipes, it's hard not to feel bad for her. Much like how Zelda lost her mother in BOTW, Koko lost one of her parents at an early age, and learning to cook is a way to feel close to them. Once her questline is over, all the player can do is hope that she maintains her newfound confidence from Link's help.
Medicinal Molduga Sets Up A Seemingly Hopeless Situation
A lot of the quests that Link embarks on in Breath of the Wild involve collecting things or defeating monsters before reporting back to the quest-giver. A lot of the time, the reasons these characters need their chosen items can feel trivial, or at the very least they feel like something that Link doesn't necessarily have to rush to complete. One mission in Gerudo Town bucks this trend by making the player feel like they have to race against time.
The Medical Molduga quest is given to Link by a Gerudo named Malena, who is despairingly wandering around Gerudo Town, and the player would regret deciding to ignore her plight in BOTW. Her husband has been struck by a mysterious illness, and the only way to brew the cure is with the guts of a Molduga, a monstrous sand serpent that functions as a miniboss fight. Malena isn't a warrior, and worse, she can't convince the guards to help her since they're focused on their other duties. By the time Link finds her, it's clear that she's lost most of her hope to save her husband.
Thankfully, this side quest does have a happy ending, as Link can slay a Molduga and provide Malena with the ingredients that she needs. Although Malena is able to save her husband, the sheer level of despair involving her situation at the quest's start is heartbreaking. She knew that her husband was dying, and she couldn't find anyone to do the one thing that could save him, which must have seemed like one of Breath of the Wild's most unreachable secrets in her eyes. Were it not for Link arriving at the right moment, her husband certainly would have perished.
BOTW's Rito Village Sees Two Quests Regarding A Troubled Marriage
In Breath of the Wild, Link will undertake several quests that involve the loved ones of the quest-givers. He helps a mother find her missing child, gathers medicine for the sick, and in one case even helps put together a wedding. Unfortunately, not every example of a relationship in the world of Breath of the Wild is a positive one. In Rito Village, there's one relationship on display that looks to be on the rocks.
The Spark of Romance and The Apple of My Eye are two quests in Rito Village involving a married couple on their honeymoon, Jogo and Juney. Unfortunately, unlike Breath of the Wild's completed Tarrey Town, their relationship does not seem to have a strong foundation. Jogo decided to take them to Rito Village for their honeymoon, but Tuney absolutely hates it, so Jogo wants to try to make her some baked apples to make up for it. Jogo fears that Juney may divorce him over the trip, and speaking with Juney doesn't make his fears seem unfounded, since she seems to be considering it.
After their respective quests are complete, Juney wants more baked apples, and Jogo wants more flint to cook more baked apples. Juney still hates Rito Village, and Jogo is still worried about the state of his marriage. Link helped them with their immediate goals, but their future is still uncertain. Maybe if Link wasn't silent in The Legend of Zelda, he could have helped them talk things through. Instead, their relationship still seems to be on shaky ground despite his help.
Breath of the Wild might have more side quests than any Legend of Zelda game before it, but that doesn't mean that they're all happy stories. Just like the war-ravaged land, a lot of the people of Hyrule have faced misfortune that spills into their quests. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has an emotional main story, but its side quests can make the player feel as well.
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