Remind me Revned, did you ever play Majora's Mask? Because most of the game consists of side-quests, and they are responsible for meeting most of the game's characters and getting you emotionally involved in the game world. The main quest is only four dungeons long and for that it sucks a bit, but if you ever play it and try to fulfill all the side-quests (and the game even provides a list of sorts for you), you'll go through what is, in my humble opinion, the most rewarding Zelda experience.
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"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censored, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably." [...] The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged. - Captain Jean-Luc Picard
B*tch, meet reality. Reality, meet b*tch. - Me