Support NeoGAF

[Mozzarella]

Side quests are often a defining part of the RPG experience. They allow players to step away from the main story and engage with short, self contained narratives that offer real choices and consequences.
At their best, side quests go far beyond simple distractions. They develop side characters, flesh out the lore of the world, open up new paths and endings, and sometimes even decide the fate of entire factions. They can reward players with unique gear, introduce meaningful dilemmas, and create memorable moments that stay with you long after the credits roll.
Great side quests also give players the freedom to experience these stories in their own way, shaping both their character and the world around them. Whether it is deepening relationships with companions, uncovering hidden history, or influencing the direction of major conflicts, strong side content can elevate an RPG from good to truly special.
Of course, not every game treats side quests with the same level of care. While some developers pour creativity and consequence into optional content, others reduce it to repetitive fetch quests and shallow excuses to gain experience.
Below are some of the RPGs that truly understand side quest design, along with highlights that show why they deserve recognition.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

-Whodunit
-Paranoia
-Dark Brotherhood Questline


The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

-Carnal Sins
-The Last Wish
-Warble of Smitten Knight


Fallout New Vegas

-Come Fly With Me
-Beyond the Beef
-That Lucky Old Sun


Cyberpunk 2077

-Dream On
-The Hunt
-Sinnerman

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines

- Carnival of Death
- The Pain of Being Mercurio
- A Bounty for the Hunter

Baldur's Gate II

- Planar Sphere
- Firkraag
- The Unseeing Eye

Divinity: Original Sin 2

- The Purged Dragon
- A Taste of Freedom
- Almira and Mihaly's Escape

Dark Souls

- Solaire of Astora questline
- Siegmeyer of Catarina questline

Elden Ring

- Ranni the Witch questline
- Fia, Deathbed Companion questline
- Volcano Manor optional assassination quests

Baldur's Gate 3

- Astarion: The Pale Elf
- The Nightsong
- The Blood of Lathander

Mass Effect 2

- Tali Loyalty Mission
- Legion: A House Divided
- Lair Of The Shadow Broker

Chrono Trigger

- Fiona's: Restoring A Forest
- The Ghost Of Cyrus

Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth

- Sujimon League

Kingdom Come: Deliverance (KCD + KCD2)

- Pestilence (KCD1)
- Bellatores (KCD2)
- The Fifth Commandment (KCD2)

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

- The Forsworn Conspiracy
- Thief's Guild Questline
- A Night to Remember

Xenoblade Chronicles 3

Companions Ascension Quests

Dragon Age: Origins

- A Missing Child
- Orzammar Succession

Disco Elysium

- The Ravers Nightclub
- Cryptozoologist and the Insulindian Phasmid


-------------------------------------

Pick your favorites, if a game is missing be sure to mention it and post few highlights, apologies for the halfassed photos, not every game has good shots on the internet!

 

[Yoshichan]

I see what you mean, but have you even played FFXV noodle side quest?

 

[iQuasarLV]

Honestly it was a close one between Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk. Those side quests were both Grade-A.

 

[rodrigolfp]

Missing AC Odyssey...

 

[Mozzarella]

Honestly it was a close one between Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk. Those side quests were both Grade-A.

You can pick more than 1, its up to 3!

 

[uncreativename]

I voted Witcher 3, KCD, and FNV in that order.

A lot of these games don't have traditional quest structure. Like, what is a side quest in Dark Souls? The dlc, maybe, but pretty much the entire game is about exploring off the beaten path trying to find secrets. That's the reason why it's so good.

Apart from companion stuff maybe, old school jrpgs like Chrono Trigger didn't really have clearly defined sidequests either.

Honourable mention to SMT4. I remember that game having pretty cool side quests. I should go back and replay it sometime.

 

[kiphalfton]

DBZ Legacy of Goku II
DBZ Buu's Fury

Get to fight Broly, Cooler, and some other cool side enemies.

 

[IAmRei]

missing lot of jrpgs, final fantasy in 7 8 9 or 12 have lot of sidequests as well, or breath of fire 4, or shin megami tensei, and more and more. recently i found metal max series, have lot of great sidequest with many upcomes and branches, but it's kinda obscure games. in GBA, there is one very obscure game, called oriental blue, which had very dynamic sidequest, for example: if you are killed by boss, the game continues, and some stories or sidequest will changes. or if You late by xx:xx playtime, your soon to be sidequest will be missing. or if You are not giving requested potion to a sick kid, they will die after several hours Your playtime. it's simple, yet very immersive, and that's on Gameboy advance.

 

[IDKFA]

Oblivion gets my vote, purely just for the Dark Brotherhood quest line.

 

[xrnzaaas]

Yakuza series always had great substories and Infinite Wealth is no exception, they're pretty varied, both hilarious and sad/depressing. Plus a ton of characters making comebacks from earlier games.

Witcher 3 had very good side quests, you can tell a lot of effort was put into creating them and some of them have very interesting options.

I'm currently playing Tainted Grail and I'm also pretty amazed by the writing and creativity in some of the side quests. There's still a lot of fetch quests in the game, so you have to dig a little deeper to uncover the cool ones.

 

[cormack12]

RDR2

Marko Drajic
American Dreams
The widow
Photography
And a lot of the companions like Mary

 

[vaibhavpisal]

A lot of CRPGs are made up mainly of side quests.

BG2, 3, Skyrim, Fallout 1,2, NV etc.

Witcher 3 I feel has a much stronger critical path. Some side quests are really good though.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Mass Effect 2 Zaeed lighting the guy on fire.

 

[RafterXL]

If you include side quests in your game they should be TW3 tier quality, otherwise don't do them because they aren't actually there for the players enjoyment, they're there to pad your game. Developers should treat side quests as an extension of the main quest and give them every bit as much care, and not just toss them in a game so you have something to do.

 

[protonion]

Don't understand the point of this poll tbh.

 

[vodka-bull]

Don't understand the point of this poll tbh.

The point is to kill the time on the weekend.

 

[vaibhavpisal]

If you include side quests in your game they should be TW3 tier quality, otherwise don't do them because they aren't actually there for the players enjoyment, they're there to pad your game. Developers should treat side quests as an extension of the main quest and give them every bit as much care, and not just toss them in a game so you have something to do.

Witcher 3 itself has insane amount of padding though.

There is a trick to figure out the good ones.

 

[geary]

Sinnerman and The Hunt from CP2077 fucked me up a bit..

 

[roosnam1980]

witcher 3 by a mile

 

[Shifty1897]

It's probably Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk.

Chrono Trigger would be a contender if there were actually more side quests and weren't all part of the endgame.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 had a great loop of making you actually want to do the side quests (new classes or upgrading existing classes) but the side quests themselves were just okay.

 

[cireza]

Going to list my three favorites.

Phantasy Star : the first game has several optional dungeons that are available regularly throughout the game, and all the ultimate equipment is entirely optional. The game was also a proper open-world. Released in 1987.

Phantasy Star IV : the game has a guild with 8 quests, all interesting, the final one with a large dedicated dungeon. On top of this, there are a few more optional places and dungeons in the game. Available on a regular basis throughout the adventure. Again, this is the perfect balance.

Skies of Arcadia : this game does not have massive dungeons as secondary tasks, but rather gives you reasons to explore its vast world (it does have a couple optional bosses). You get to uncover places and sell the location at a guild, explore towns and places to find crew for your ship, each character being unique. Also finding little seeds to feed the Cham (a creature for Fina that acts as a weapon). The game itself has a ton of dungeons and they are large, so adding to it was unnecessary. However, having to fully explore everything was the way to go.

 

[Flabagast]

witcher 3 by a mile to be honest.

The only one who came close recently (except Cyberpunk) is KDC2

 

[The Cockatrice]

Cyberpunk 2077 and Witcher 3.

 

[thefool]

Yakuza zero, they are so wacky and charming.

 

[Gabe ♥]

Witcher 3 by far.

Also where is my boy FFVII remake secondary quests ?

 

[Gonzito]

Cyberpunk is a good candidate

But I will say another very underrated game that I don't see mentioned here which is Deus Ex Mankind Divided. The sidequest in this game are absolutely fantastic and deep with meaningful choices

 

[Sorcerer]

Having played tons of RPG s, I would say side quests are mainly there as an alternative to grinding. Just disguise the tedium of leveling up as a mission. Xenoblade Chronicles is guilty of this. I believe the game has 450 side quests, most not particularly memorable.

In my experience it seems Western RPG s implement Side Quests better than Japanese RPG s

 

[DaciaJC]

TW3 by a mile.

BG3 had some really good side quests as well.

 

[TheDarkPhantom]

The Witcher 3, no contest.

 

[LavitzSlambert]

It's becoming apparently just how many of these games I have yet to play. As for the ones I have, Oblivion had the best and most memorable sidequests, with both Skyrim and Fallout NV following closely behind.

 

[Knucklepux]

Banishers Ghost of New Eden is criminally underrated

All of the side quests are unique and directly impact the main story

 

[Fess]

Top-3…

Skyrim is legendary for it's side content, I actually still haven't managed to finish it, I always drift off doing side stuff. The lore written into it all is also in a league of it's own for me. Expansions are amazing too.

Starfield is not in the poll but faction quests and some specific side quests are fantastic. The lore building is classic Bethesda deep with lots of stuff to read, unfortunately the art team hasn't dug as deep as the writers so there can be clashes occasionally. Hopefully some of it is rebuilt in 2.0.

Oblivion needs to be here as well since I'm supposed to list favorites, currently going through Remastered and I'm surprised at how much there is to do in this two decade old game,


Not quite…

The Witcher 3 is up there too but it's not among my top 3 favorite so for this poll I avoid voting for it. I've only gone through half of it so I understand I might've missed a lot.

Mass Effect, I really enjoyed this one, the whole Shepard trilogy, but it might not be in my top 3 just for side content.

 

[rsouzadk]

TW3... and it is not even close.

 

[Trilobit]

I'm thinking that I should play The Witcher 3 some day. Is it necessary to have played 1 & 2? Perhaps I'll watch a cutscene movie edit of them and focus on 3.

 

[Mozzarella]

Cyberpunk is a good candidate

But I will say another very underrated game that I don't see mentioned here which is Deus Ex Mankind Divided. The sidequest in this game are absolutely fantastic and deep with meaningful choices

Yeah this one is pretty solid, but i didn't consider it RPG, more to the side of Immersive-sim like Dishonored and Prey.

If you include side quests in your game they should be TW3 tier quality, otherwise don't do them because they aren't actually there for the players enjoyment, they're there to pad your game. Developers should treat side quests as an extension of the main quest and give them every bit as much care, and not just toss them in a game so you have something to do.

The Witcher 3 has great side quests and they are memorable, makes me excited about the rumored DLC.
Not only they are well written but they also tend to have great cinematics, on par with the main story quests which most games dont bother to throw money at, usually most of the budget goes to the main quest for that part (cinematics)
Here's an example of one of the quests i listed, literally 1 hour YT video, when i did it, it took me about 2.5 hours because horse combat was terrible lol, but side quests like this are something top notch.


Interesting build up, good characters, everything feels natural and flows in a good pacing, variety of acitivies within the quest, gives you choices and different endings, impacts characters and the world and shows it later, offers you unique gear, its a whole package, this is gold standard imo. Cyberpunk has some great hits as well.
Non-linear quests are also great which we find in games like Fallout/TES & BG3 which can be finished from many different points at different times, they tend to be complex but sacrifice cinematics and tight writing for it.

For me either of these design philosophies is great, but anything else is not my type.

 

[rkofan87]

no ff16????????????

 

[PonyStation4]

1. Kingdom Come Deliverance 2
2. Witcher 3
3. Cyberpunk 2077

 

[Sand Dan Glokta]

Imo greedfall is very underrated. Most of the sidequests actually follow one singular storyline and have their own ending in parallel with the main game's storyline.

 

[Sand Dan Glokta]

I'm thinking that I should play The Witcher 3 some day. Is it necessary to have played 1 & 2? Perhaps I'll watch a cutscene movie edit of them and focus on 3.

You don't need to have TW1 or TW2. Don't need to watch anything either. The game has a good summary of past events at start; that being said, as much as I love TW3 I actually liked the main story of TW1 more, despite its flaws.

 

[uncreativename]

Trilobit You don't need to have played 1 and 2 because they're barely related to the plot of 3, but I'd recommend reading the books at some point. They make the stuff with Ciri and Yeneffer make a lot more sense, I think

 

[Bernardougf]

For me is easily Witcher 3 with the full dlc package.


And I can also give you the worst! Its easily FFXV ... just godawful retarded fetch quests

 

[Bernardougf]

I'm thinking that I should play The Witcher 3 some day. Is it necessary to have played 1 & 2? Perhaps I'll watch a cutscene movie edit of them and focus on 3.

I think a lot of people jumped directly into 3 .. like me ... and its a banger.. awsome game.

 

[BigDeadFreak]

 

[DaciaJC]

I'm thinking that I should play The Witcher 3 some day. Is it necessary to have played 1 & 2? Perhaps I'll watch a cutscene movie edit of them and focus on 3.

Nope, not at all. A brief plot summary video of TW2 is enough to lead you into TW3. The events of TW1 are pretty much completely irrelevant to the third game.

You'd be much better served reading the books, because major characters and plot points who feature heavily in TW3 (and are completely absent in TW1/2) have their roots in Sapkowski's novels. The experience of playing TW3 will be far more rewarding after reading the books first.

 

[Mozzarella]

no ff16????????????

You like them?
Why do you think they should've been on the poll, I played 16 and found the side quests weak, but i must admit i lost interest and stopped doing them later in the game.
Final Fantasy side quests never been worthwhile to me, they tried to give them more focus with the 7 Remake project because apparently the director likes Witcher 3 model, but i honestly found them severely lacking.

 

[rkofan87]

You like them?
Why do you think they should've been on the poll, I played 16 and found the side quests weak, but i must admit i lost interest and stopped doing them later in the game.
Final Fantasy side quests never been worthwhile to me, they tried to give them more focus with the 7 Remake project because apparently the director likes Witcher 3 model, but i honestly found them severely lacking.

well if you played them all you'd get some great insight into the world and lore of the game.

 

[Pokedot]

CDPR makes games with the best side quests like TW3 and Cyberpunk.

 

[xanaum]

The Witcher 3 baby

 

[{insert code here}]

I'm running through the PC version of New Vegas for the first time and wow I forgot how good the characters and stories are. This game is probably never going to leave my top five. It's crazy how much content they packed into the base game in 18 months.