Your Top Five Favorite Sidequests

[Wolf Kanno]

The series has had a long history of cool sidequests, so which ones stood out the most for you?

[Darth Ganon]

In no true order:

1. Chocobo Hot & Cold (FFIX)
2. Chocobo Breeding & Racing (FFVII)
3. Bliztball (FFX)
4. Marks (FFXII)
5. Searching for Friends (FFVI)

Final Fantasy needs a really good battle coliseum someday. FFVII certainly had the best, but it was overshadowed by chocobo racing. I wasn't a fan of the auto battles in FFVI and FFXIII-2 was lame because it was all DLC. Lightning Returns' was nearly forgettable.

[Karifean]

5. Chocobo Treasure Hunting (FFIX)

A fun minigame leading into a sidequest that feels really rewarding? Sign me up.

4. Henne Mines (FFXII)

What can I say, I'm a sucker for tough optional areas and this one certainly fits the bill. It was a toss-up between this one and the Nabreus Deadlands + Necrohol of Nabudis optional area, but in the end I had to go with the one that feels the most oppressive. That music is one of the most ominous things I've ever heard.

3. Catching Monsters (FFX)

Somehow this one just worked so well for me. It's probably the constant, continuous progress you make coupled with the fact that the rewards are extravagant and awesome. It was actually fun going back to earlier areas just to catch 10 of every fiend, and managing to make pointless grinding (especially on fiends you can long since overkill ten times over) turn into that is quite an accomplishment.

2. Chocobo Breeding and Racing (FFVII)

Truth be told over all these repetitions the process has become a little tedious, but I still vividly remember how cool all of it was the first few times through. The whole sidequest just pulls you into its fluffy and lighthearted atmosphere as you get totally invested in making these giant chickens in different colors and have them race as fast as you can. It's glorious.

1. Via Infinito (FFX-2)

I've talked at length about this dungeon already, but I'll gladly do it again. It's by far the toughest challenge in any of the Final Fantasy games and becomes absolutely relentless in the final few levels. FFX-2 does have some powerful stuff in it that makes getting through this dungeon a lot easier, but chances are you'll still get a glimpse of how terrifying this place is if you take it head-on. This dungeon is one of the reasons I started thinking more about what makes a fun challenge.

Honorable mention to Creature Creator in X-2 HD, it probably would've taken #2, but I didn't want to have two entries from FFX-2 on the list.

[Sephiroth]

It would be cheating to count story exploration so I will not count stuff like Yuffie, Vincent, making Aerith's flower cart and the Den of Woe. Stuff I mention can still contain slight story stuff but not that big. Searching for Friends also is way too much of a story-heavy sidequest. Those things should not even be optional. I also don't count saving the souls of your friends in Lightning Returns because it is required for the True Ending. Basically I could not even choose X-2 because of that but it kind of gives me a bit of wiggle room.

Ruby WEAPON & Emerald WEAPON
Final Fantasy VII-1
They will forever be MY ultimate gag secret bosses.

Pitioss Ruins
Final Fantasy XV
To be loved as much as to be hated, The only optional dungeon that is better than the Via Infinito for me.

Via Infinito
Final Fantasy X-2
Creepy atmosphere and a few interesting story pieces. I HATED how Floor 80 or 100 did not have Seymour and don't come at me with "but he was sent" because the dungeon is full of people who were sent like Yunalesca e.g.

Chocobo Breeding
Final Fantasy VII-1 & IX
Chocobo Catching, Racing, Hot & Cold, running around the world map and finding treasures and finding out more about Chocobos and their mysterious locations. Good stuff.

Underwater Research Laboratory
Final Fantasy VIII
I just love something like that. I already like those ruined technological and yet hidden places in the first places. But this one here is the very definition of it. Somewhere hidden at the end of the world map and it reaches down to some excavation place in the ocean where WEAPON sleeps. And it has Bahamut the Great Girlfriend.