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I'm a big fan of the side quests in Chrono Trigger. Going back and forth through time in order to change things was very interesting! I liked leaving Robo in the past only to come back to the present and find the world map had a full forest where a desert used to be. I also liked seeing Cyrus' ghost, which was a great part of the game for Frog's storyline.
What video games do you think had great side quests, and what did you have to do?
FFTA2.
The entire game is pretty much sidequests, and they all rock. Sure, the main story sucks. But the rest of the game? Awesome sidequests.
I liked how getting knights of the round was this epic tour de force where chocobos had never been more important in FF.
Valkyria Chronicles II set them up in a cool way where if you used a character enough you would unlock scenes with them and eventually a sidequest that gave them an important character arc. That,s a big reason why the game was so good and expanded on the original.
If you choose the chaotic story path in Tactics Ogre's psp version there's a pretty sad and intense side story having to do with necromancy and explores why someone would do it. You get an awesome character and someone pretty important who dies along the story for that alignment path comes back zombified and its pretty hard hitting considering what your choices were to get to that point. I went lawful this time and that character's still alive but I'm still hummed I wont see it again.
White Knight Chronicles had a disappointing scenario but the multiplayer sidequests were pretty awesome.
I guess (begrudgingly) that's you have to bring up FFVI in conversations like this. That game had some of the best dungeons in the seriesi could really take my pick with about a half dozen of them that were awesome.
Fallout 1 and 2 deserve a lot of praise in this regard. In both there's a big main quest, and in both there's a vast array of side-quests in most locations. What's special is that not only does everywhere have their own mini-stories but to what extent it helps your own greater personal quest is very well handled. Sometimes you'll get your regular quest rewards and stuff, but absolutely nothing that helps with the main quest. Sometimes you'll get a hint on where to look. Sometimes you'll get something really important (though you might not know this until later). I'm failing to explain it well but basically it's all really well and believably handled with a great mix of tying into your main quest in a variety of ways.
Borderlands (2) has awesome side quests. :3 I think I've maybe managed through like 5 or so actual story missions in Borderlands 2, the rest of the time has just been pissing around doing other stuff. Infinite fun.
Catching/raising/racing/breeding Chocobos -> KoTR. In my experience, every replay of FFVII is motivated by the desire to do this again.
My favorite was Jack giving you a quest to Kill yourself. XDQuote:
Originally Posted by Shauna
Shutting down operations at the Genocide Dome in Chrono Trigger.
Xenoblade had a series of Side quests that stretched from close to the beginning to near end game centering around an illegal drug running operation. It was glorious.
the KOtRT "side quest" also had those other special materia's you could get by getting the river & mountain chocobo's. On top of the breeding & racing aspects.
It really was just an awesome sidequest.
SO3 battle arena was fun, all those unique monsters & fights. Might be the best version of an arena.
If you consider optional characters "side quests" I would say SO2.
FF8's triple triad was fun in the mental challenge of it, but do minigames count?
I know there are a number of smaller ones that I can't put my finger on, things like ff6 lovers' letters quest etc...
CHOCOBO HOT AND COLD
I agree with everything said about Chrono Trigger
Also I loved the seemingly simple quests in Skyrim that lead onto insane whacky adventures like the buy me a drink quest at or find my dog quest.
Chrono Trigger is a great example, obviously, as is Final Fantasy VI. Pretty much the whole second half of the game is side quests. :)
The Mass Effect games also have really good side quests.
I like older games where the side quests actually made you do unique stuff rather than just 'talk to this person', 'kill x of this monster', 'bring me this item'.
Probably my favorite side quest ever is the trading game in Link's Awakening.
Yeah, Skyrim needs to be on here not just for this but also just for the sheer number of them. So easy to grind all the side quests and never touch the story at all before getting bored. /speakingfromexperienceQuote:
Originally Posted by blackmage_nuke
My favorite was probably the one where you get drunk with someone at one of the bars and blackout. When you wake up you need to go back and fix all the trout you did. lol.
Chrono Trigger and FFVI obviously have great sidequests as already mentioned.
Easily one of the coolest quests in the game.Quote:
Originally Posted by Futan
I'd gotten that quest in Riften, and my god was I mad. I was going to hunt that mother smurfer down and find out what he did to me.Quote:
Originally Posted by NorthernChaosGodChrono Trigger and FFVI obviously have great sidequests as already mentioned.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Futan
Easily one of the coolest quests in the game.
Then as I progresses, I slowly came to the realization he didn't really do anything, I just got really smurfing drunk.
I almost didn't finish the quest because I didn't want to admit that happened. XD
It was great fun, that it was.
I've always liked the trading sequences in the Zelda games. Especially given the awesome new swords you tend to get as a result. Also, loads of Majora's Mask, especially the rather sweet Anju and Kafei one which spans the whole three days.
I also enjoyed filling the Bomber's notebook. Great way to keep track of side quests.Quote:
Originally Posted by Heath
Hmm... This is a tough one. Favorites...
- Star Ocean games. Going through the events to recruit certain characters. Those are always entertaining to me.
- The Contests in Pokemon Platinum. I LOVE those contests. I don't know why, but they appeal to me.
- X-2 was a sidequest. A damn good one. Kinda of.
- VII had some amazing sidequests. Chocobo's, Ultimate Weapons, The Weapon fights, and more. I love VII.
- The Chao garden in Sonic Adventure 2 was fantastic.
- Fallout 3 has some epic sidequests. I love them all.
- XII had some pretty cool sidequests. The hunts mainly.
- Chrono Cross was amazing with the sidequests and junk. Recruiting other characters, I mean.
- Persona 3. I loved building Social Links with other people. For some odd reason. Guess it could be a sidequest...
- Last, but not least is Final Fantasy XIII. I loved exploring every little corner in the hallways, sometimes finding a really useless item. Oh, and there were some monsters that I fought! Willingly! Seriously, the sidequests in this one.
Going down a branching path for a few feet to find a tresure sphere isn't really a sidequest. FFXIII really only had one sidequest.
Not entirely a side quest, but when I had a Dreamcast I used to love the Sonic game where you collected little toy animals to 'feed' your Chaos and stuff, and you had them in a little park and you could make them look super cute and race them.
A lot of the ones that popped up in my head were already mentioned in the thread, so I'll mention the ones that weren't.
- Suikoden 2 side quest to get Hix and Tengaar (lmao)
- Bumping into naked Nords in Morrowind that got fooled by witches
- Sheogorath being a douche and making you kill a Bull Netch with a Fork in Morrowind
- Not really a "side quest" but getting the Hadoken and Shoryuken in Mega Man X 1 & 2
Chrono Trigger had some awesome ones but the three that stand out is finding out what happened to Ozzie, Flea, and Slash; getting the Rainbow Shell which was a great cinematic sequence for a 2D game; and easily restoring the Forest and saving Lara from being crippled. Chrono Trigger knew how to take little things and make the game feel grand in doing them.
FFVI a lot of the sidequests are pretty awesome in this game. I love discovering Shadow's past through his dreams, Cyan's Dream World, fighting the Hidon was an interesting dungeon concept, and the Ancient Castle and learning about Odin and getting a little taste of the War of the Magi.
Suikoden II has recruiting McDohl which is both just an awesome quest and an emotional roller coaster ride for players of the first game, especially if you bring Flik, Viktor, and Sakura with you. It's also one of the coolest payoffs in the series as well. Second is Hai Yo's Iron Chef themed sidestory which was totally awesome and had me hunting down all those recipes. Luc is an asshole cause he hates everything...
FFXII - The Man of Mystery Mark hunt, both parts, it was glorious...
Chocobo Racing is great in FFVII
Triple Triad is still the best mini-game in the FF series.
Xenoblade Chronicles has several good ones but my favorites were helping the inexperienced officer who was trying to get promoted, the drug ring was amusing as all hell, the warring chefs in Colony 6 were amusing, and the Telethia missions in Alcamoth after the games main villain reveals themselves, you never saw the build up for these missions and they are some of the more poignant missions despite being simple Mark Hunts due to the games larger narrative.
Fairy Colony in Breath of Fire series.
Mini-Medals in DQ games, I know its simple and silly but I always look forward to them.
The Brotherhood missions in Assassin's Creed Revelations, really made recruiting the characters get more personality and make the Brotherhood feel human.
Moira's Wastland Survial Guide in Fallout 3
Recruiting all the extra characters in Final Fantasy Tactics
Acquiring adult Emerelda in Xenogears since it fills in more backstory for Kim, and the Zeboim Era.
Building Erde Kaiser in the Xenosaga games, also fighting Welltall~Id in Episode 3.
The Elizabeth Dates in Persona 3 FES
Getting the Mastermune in Chrono Cross
The botched demon summon fight with Mara and getting the final Magatama in Shin Megami Tensei III
Finding all the Easter Eggs in Metal Gear Solid franchise.
Fun City in Star Ocean 2
I'm sure I'll think of more later...