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Maybe because I played it after Witcher 3 but I ended up dropping the first game because I found the characters so dull, and side quests were especially lacking. Funny thing is I played BOTW afterwards and that hooked me despite worse graphics and much weaker story, but the gameplay and exploration I found so fun.
Side quests are definitely filler content. I did a few but not much interesting stuff there. Yhe setting and backstory is what made it for me.