If you’ve spent even a few hours wandering the snow-dusted valleys and forested slopes of Ghost of Yotei, you’ve probably stumbled over a handful of odd, unmarked side quests that don’t pop up on your main map. The first time I found Ghost of Yotei: A Flower for Your Thoughts, I was halfway through chasing a stray fox shrine and almost missed the soft-spoken old villager huddled behind a broken torii gate. At first glance, it looks like a simple fetch quest, but if you rush through without paying attention, you’ll miss out on one of the most heartfelt story beats and a rare permanent buff that makes traversal way easier for the rest of your playthrough. This guide breaks down every step, from triggering the quest to unlocking its secret ending, so you don’t waste 40 minutes running in circles like I did on my first attempt.
How to Trigger Ghost of Yotei: A Flower for Your Thoughts Without Wasting Time
Before you even think about hunting for the flowers required for this quest, you need to make sure you meet the basic unlock requirements first. You won’t be able to start this quest if you haven’t reached the village of Kori at least once, because the old woman you speak to is the grandmother of a side character you meet during that early main mission. If you try to talk to her before completing the first main story arc “The Fall of the Frost Clan”, she’ll just brush you off and tell you she’s too busy to chat.
If you’re having trouble finding her exact location, look for the small cluster of red maple trees just east of Kori village’s southern gate. She’s usually sitting on a weathered wooden stool next to a pile of dried herbs, so she’s easy to spot once you know what you’re looking for. A lot of players miss her because they fast travel directly to the village gate and head straight for the main quest marker, never veering off the path just a few feet to the side. She also only appears between 6am and 2pm in-game time, so if you show up after dark, she’s inside her hut and won’t come out. I learned that the hard way when I showed up at 10pm, camped for 8 hours, and still almost left before she stepped outside.
When you first talk to her, she’ll ramble a little about her late husband, mention he left a pile of mountain edelweiss on her grave every anniversary, and ask you to pick 3 specimens from the higher slopes because her knees won’t let her climb anymore. You don’t need any special items to accept the quest, but it’s a good idea to stock up on warm drinks and stamina potions before you head up the mountain.
All 3 Edelweiss Locations for the Flower Collection Phase
The three mountain edelweiss you need are scattered across the lower southern slope of Mount Yotei, and none of them are particularly hard to reach if you know where to look. The first flower is on the south face of Yotei’s lower slope, right next to a fallen pine tree that’s half covered in snow. Watch out for the patrolling frost wolf pack that roams this area between 10am and 4pm—they’re level 12, so if you’re under level 10, you’ll want to sneak past or take them out from a distance with a bow. You don’t want to get caught in a fight mid-climb, because you’ll run out of stamina fast and fall off the ledge.
The second flower is tucked in a crevice behind the abandoned hunter’s cabin, about 200 feet up from the first flower. You have to climb up the low rock ledge to reach it, don’t waste time looking around the cabin floor because it’s not there. The third flower is on the edge of the frozen lake, half buried under a dusting of snow, so you have to brush the snow off by interacting with it twice, not just once. If you’re having trouble spotting it, use your survivor sense ability, which will highlight all collectible items in the area with a soft gold glow. That’s the only way I found it on my first run, because I walked past it three times before I thought to turn on my sense.
There are a few really common mistakes players make during this phase that can add extra time and frustration to the quest:
- Forgetting to bring a warm drink to stave off frost damage while climbing the upper slopes, which drains 2 HP per second if you’re not prepared
- Picking the wrong white wildflowers that grow in the lower valleys—these don’t count, and the NPC will refuse to take them when you return
- Accidentally triggering the nearby bandit camp before collecting all flowers, which will lock the third flower location until you clear the camp first
Always check the item description of the flower you pick before you leave the area to make sure it says “mountain edelweiss” and not “common valley daisy.” I picked 3 daisies on my first run and had to hike all the way back up, which was so frustrating.
How to Unlock the Secret Hidden Reward for This Quest
Most players just hand over the flowers and take the standard reward, which is 500 gold and a common healing potion, then leave immediately. But if you do a tiny extra step, you get a way better reward that will benefit you for the rest of your playthrough. After you give her the flowers, don’t leave right away. Wait 30 seconds of in-game time, and she’ll pause wiping her eyes and invite you inside for tea to thank you for your help.
If you accept her invitation and sit through her full story about her husband, who was a legendary mountain climber that died trying to rescue a group of lost hikers during a blizzard, she’ll give you his old climbing gloves, which reduce stamina drain from climbing by 30% permanently. That buff is a game-changer for exploring the higher peaks of Yotei, which have tons of hidden shrines and rare crafting materials that are almost impossible to reach without the gloves. The climbing gloves also come with a small perk that makes you less likely to slip on icy surfaces, which is a huge help during the winter storm sections of the main story that hit around the 15-hour mark. I tried doing that storm section without the gloves once, and I fell off a ledge three times in a row, losing half my healing items in the process. With the gloves, I got through the whole section without slipping once.
You have to listen to her full story to get the gloves, don’t skip the dialogue, otherwise she’ll just thank you again and send you on your way with the standard reward. I skipped the dialogue on my second playthrough to speed things up and missed the gloves, so I had to reload an earlier save to get them. It’s only three minutes of dialogue, and it’s really well written, so it’s worth taking the time to sit through it.
Why This Side Quest Is Worth Completing Early In Your Playthrough
A lot of players skip side quests early on to focus on the main story, but this one is absolutely worth stopping for as soon as you unlock it. The climbing gloves make every subsequent traversal section way faster, you don’t have to waste as many stamina restoring items, and you can reach areas that are supposed to be locked until later in the game. I used the gloves to climb to the top of the northern peak 10 hours before the main story sends you there, and I found a rare sword blueprint that made every boss fight for the next 5 hours trivial.
The story of the old couple also ties into a later main story mission about the history of Kori village, so if you’ve completed this quest first, you’ll get extra dialogue from the village chief that gives you more context for the main plot. Another little bonus: if you complete this quest before you do the “Frost Clan Legacy” main mission, the village chief will give you an extra 200 gold and a rare fire arrow blueprint as a thank you for helping his grandmother. Most players never get that reward because they do the main mission first, so that’s another big reason to knock this side quest out early.
You also get 1,000 extra experience points for unlocking the secret ending, which is enough to push you up a full level if you’re right on the cusp of ranking up. The only downside is that it takes about 20 minutes to complete if you know where the flowers are, so if you’re in a huge rush to get through the main story, you can put it off, but I really don’t recommend it. The small time investment pays off tenfold later in the game.
At the end of the day, Ghost of Yotei: A Flower for Your Thoughts is the exact kind of small, thoughtful side content that makes the game feel so alive. It doesn’t have big boss fights or massive rewards that break the game, but it adds a layer of heart to the world of Kori village, and the climbing gloves make the rest of your playthrough so much more enjoyable. Next time you’re wandering the lower slopes of Yotei and see that old woman huddled by the torii gate, take a few minutes to stop and help her out. You won’t regret it.