Inspired by Side Quest Week, I began reminiscing about a lot of Ocarina of Time’s side quests. While it isn’t a game as loaded with interesting side quests as some other Zelda games are, it still has a fair share. There is actually a lot of content in the game that is unnecessary toward completing the main quest, and the usefulness of some of the rewards from the side quests vary. I didn’t really need a higher capacity of Deku Sticks and Deku Nuts. The mask side quest was cool, and some of the masks Link can rent are pretty interesting, but the prize for it, the Mask of Truth, isn’t very useful. In contrast, a larger arrow quiver is very appreciated, as is a bigger Bomb Bag. I also would never turn down an extra empty bottle! Then we have one of the game’s more interesting side quests, which involves a robust trading sequence and a family drama, resulting in not only the most appreciated reward for a side quest in Ocarina of Time, but also the best item in the whole game: the Biggoron Sword!

Overall, the affixed tasks involved in ultimately obtaining the Biggoron Sword span throughout the majority of the game. The quest begins with Link agreeing to raise a Pocket Cucco for the Cucco Lady in Kakariko Village. Accomplishing this and returning the Pocket Cucco after it has awoken a heavy sleeper, Talon, causes the Cucco Lady to recognize Link is a good Cucco breeder. So she gives him a rare Blue Pocket Cucco, named Cojiro, that once belonged to her brother. Link finds her brother in the Lost Woods, looking for Forest Mushrooms. Since Link has Cojiro, he takes that as proof that Link is a nice guy and asks  him to take some Forest Mushrooms to the Potion Hag in Kakariko. She converts the mushrooms into a medicine, but when Link returns to the Lost Woods, the Cucco Lady’s brother is gone, leaving behind a Poacher’s Saw. The saw belongs to the Master Craftsman, who can be found near the entrance to the Gerudo Fortress. In exchange for returning the saw, Link is given the broken Biggoron tool. The final series of trades involve getting Biggoron some eye drops, and after receiving them, he wastes no time getting to work on fixing the broken Biggoron tool. The end result is the coveted Biggoron Sword.

After a long interconnected arc of quests, the Biggoron Sword is such a fulfilling and worthwhile reward. If a player knows what they are doing, they can get it pretty early on in the Adult Link portion of the game, maximizing its usefulness. It deals out twice as much damage as the Master Sword, making regular enemies pushovers — and makes it faster to kill Bosses. It’s a dream-like item, the crème de la crème. Sometimes I wonder, though, if it was maybe too much? Once I found out about the Biggoron Sword, I immediate got it and a carefree mentality came over me, proof of just how much this item really has an effect over making Ocarina of Time easier. As engaging and ambitious as the quest to obtain the weapon was, did the Biggoron Sword as another piece of Link’s inventory seem superfluous?

Do you think the Biggoron Sword is overkill? Does it bother you that the Master Sword is outclassed in Ocarina of Time? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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