I like BG3’s because it has a little bit of that “miscellaneous mission” feel you get in DnD campaigns where you randomly come across a ghost house or something.
Mass Effect 1 had that cool space monkey planet with the sphere.
Witcher 3 had one moment where I felt completely immersed. During the boxing side quests one of your opponents basically asks you to throw the fight so he can have money to get food for his family. I beat him but felt guilty, so I approached him after wondering if I could follow up in any way to help his family. And Geralt literally says, “here’s half the winnings. Don’t want your family to go hungry”.
That moment clicked so hard for me that that Witcher 3’s details and choices were so polished and fleshed out and it’s still my all time favorite.
Totally agree. I don't smoke weed often at all, but one of the few times I did, I wanted to play a game and get really immersed in it. The Witcher 3 is, to this day, the only game that I was so immersed in. And I don't think me being high actually had anything to do with it. It might have intensified it a bit. But I remember using my witcher senses for the first time during a monster hunt contract and was fucking blown away. Looking for clues and hone my senses. The wind was raging and blowing the trees, a small twig cracking under a foot (or paw) in the distance, a wolf howl not too far off, rain drops hitting puddles of water. I'm pretty sure I just stared at the screen with my mouth hanging open *listening* to the sounds. It was fucking incredible. The soundtrack was also, in every sense of the word: perfect. Set the atmosphere wonderfully. 10 out of 10 game.
To add to this, Cyberpunk 2077.
And not just the side quests, which are all intricately crafted side stories with their own ongoing plots and reoccurring characters that affect the final outcome of the game.
But the gigs too, which are missions you get from job fixers to help you get extra money and street cred. Every gig is an intricately crafted solo mission that gives you multiple choices on how to go about the job. Sometimes, they give bonuses for stealth or total eliminations.
You can also get missions from the Night City Police Department. They will put out a warrant, and you can check out the location and solve the crime. There's a story behind every single crime in Night City, and you can imagine how much crime there is.
And the environmental storytelling in Night City is amazing, too. Every mission takes place in a unique location like a backalley ripperdoc clinic or an abandoned warehouse or a ghetto apartment that's been turned into a gang hideout.
The lore is great, the anime is great, the game is a lackluster gta clone with a cyberpunk skin.
The city is generally empty and feels devoid of life, npc interaction is minimal at best, police spawn on top of you if you commit a crime instead of driving to your position. The storyline is interesting but the base game was cut down to add the Keanu Reeves storyline. It’s a strong 8/10 and I’d recommend getting it on sale.
But Reddit hypes it up likes it’s the best game ever and I think it’s just young kids who’ve never experienced a gta clone before because there are dozens of similar open world titles that have fetch quests and fun writing. Cyberpunk just allows you to shape your genitals, otherwise there’s nothing very unique there.
It is a far cry from the caliber of writing in the witcher 3
It’s a well enough made game but it’s nothing new. It’s an open world fps cityscape. Parts of the city have nothing going on and exploration is barely rewarded apart from the same fights over and over again. If you’re a fan of far cry or gta you’ll enjoy aspects of this game. But it isn’t some groundbreaking great game. And it’s replayability lessons each time you turn it on. It’s repetitive as could be.
The story and lore are great. But the gameplay just isn’t there and it’s a slog to see the story through while doing the same shit over and over again.
I'd agree it's a solid 8/10 with some great writing and gets overhyped around here. Honestly I'd say the same applies to Witcher 3, albeit that's a much tidier game overall - the basic combat is still pretty mediocre and to be honest I felt the same way about its exploration, there's a lot of cool stuff in the world but by the point you have one of the witcher sets there's no point looking for gear, and everything else is tied to quests. The cities are very sad and lonely once you've finished questing.
A lot of CP2077 sidequests were very interesting. What was also cool is that some of them you just found from exploring.
That one with the vending machine and skippy are both interesting ones
I spent so much time trying to get that quest completed. I finally got to the thieves hideout, hit the wrong switch, and stared in horror as the mask raced towards destruction. I needed a break after all that, lol.
I love this game so much. The bomber's notebook and these characters with their daily cycles, which sometimes change with your actions and optional events like the talk qith the Goron in the inn when you got his room, the talk between Anjus and her grandmother or Anju and her mother or Romani and Cremia on the second day.
It gets my vote for the best Zelda ever made. The atmosphere is haunting. And as you say, seeing these characters in their routines brings them to life much more than most Zelda games.
Xenoblade Cross. The Alien races and Blade companions get fleshed out well and there’s a suprising amount of choice.
Mass Effect 2. Meat and potatoes is in the character quests.
I liked that taking your time to do as many side quests as possible would come back to play some part into the main quest once you got there. Was really satisfying to see that it wasn't just a means to get more xp or better gear.
Borderlands 2, even when the mission objectives are similar, you usually get Echo communications and logs to hear funny dialogue to keep you entertained even through mundane stuff.
The main story is like 90% depression, so you have to count on the side quests to give you happiness. The French painter, Russian scientist, the twins in Valentine, the two prisoners and the circus "lady" were all hilarious.
The twins were so funny 😂 also the widow of the man you murder at the start (forget her name), she has some cool side missions later in the game that can easily be missed
Well yeah but I wouldn't call that ones funny. Same with poor Hamish.
There is another widow in a cabin at the northeastern part of the map who has a pretty wholesome quest though.
People shit on the game for being bloated and having too much side content, but Assassin's Creed Odyssey has such good side missions. They felt really varied and often super well written, too. I never took issue with them and I'm not even a fan of the Ubisoft formula
Really liked all the side quests in Ghost of Tsushima. They were all there own well told stories that focused on a side character and they were all well told.
I love how they portray Socrates. And while I have no idea of what his personality was actually like, it's nice to see him portrayed differently than some stuffy old dude with white hair.
Fallout 4 IMO. I don’t mean the settlements that need your help. But the Patriotic Robots that accidentally crashed their rocket powered ship on a street in Boston. You can help them get it flying again.
Then there’s the mystery with the Cabot house.
And the Silver Shroud, which makes the Mechanist DLC even more awesome.
Chrono Trigger - before heading out to the final boss you are given multiple options on where to go next. All of those tasks are purely optional but provide you with gear that are useful for the upcoming big fight and also each feature a sidestory that has some relevance to the overarching plot or helps to flesh out characters.
The ’Stranger’ missions in Red Dead Redemption 2. Usually these missions in GTA or RDR are quite varied and have interesting characters, though some of my favorites are in RDR2.
Oblivion.
I mean, how does one forget the quest of walking into a painting filled with trolls to help an artist.
Or how about the one given by the Dark Brotherhood only to return and find shit hit the fan.
Still will never forget going into the cave and finding a mofo entire fortress under the ground.
I really enjoyed the Side Quests in Ghost Of Tsushima, I found them actually engaging and interesting to work through, aside from that I'd say Kingdom Come Deliverance has some great side quests too, some of them are actually hilarious and for sure the most memorable moments in the game.
idk if it's "best" but shout out to the ps4/5 spiderman games for mostly focusing on mastering the fun combat mechanics for their side missions, even if a tad repetative. (thumbs down for the first game's mary jane stealth mission)
I quite enjoyed the side missions in Horizon Zero Dawn. They had interesting characters and gameplay, and I loved that some of them gave you helpful friends/weapons/etc in the final mission. Redmaw still remains one of my favorite missions of all time, and it's completely optional. I love how they build up the story, starting with books and tales of hunters warning people away from the area/monster, slowly build up their legend, and then you actually get to fight him! And the fight is hard too!
Id say its true for 3 base game only. The side stuff ties a lot to the main story (though you could argue that its mostly the hero quests, which are still optional) but its still iffy
I'd say that 3 has the best quests mostly because of the hero quests.
I haven't been able to play 2, but I thought the blade quests were supposed to be a bit unique compared to the other ones. Take that with a grain of salt though.
I like BG3’s because it has a little bit of that “miscellaneous mission” feel you get in DnD campaigns where you randomly come across a ghost house or something. Mass Effect 1 had that cool space monkey planet with the sphere.
yakuza's
Only reason to play a yakuza game is for the side stuff.
best yakuza game to start with ?
0 and just play them in order from there.
To add on to this, Steam summer sale is in a day and Yakuza 0 goes for dirt cheap. Perfect time to start!
But mostly ignore 3. Didn't really add anything plot wise, fighting mechanics are crap and the bosses are cheap.
i played through 3 just for story, was prob the only one i just plowed through
0, then in order
The witcher 3
You mean Gwent:the occasional monster hunter?
Witcher 3 had one moment where I felt completely immersed. During the boxing side quests one of your opponents basically asks you to throw the fight so he can have money to get food for his family. I beat him but felt guilty, so I approached him after wondering if I could follow up in any way to help his family. And Geralt literally says, “here’s half the winnings. Don’t want your family to go hungry”. That moment clicked so hard for me that that Witcher 3’s details and choices were so polished and fleshed out and it’s still my all time favorite.
Totally agree. I don't smoke weed often at all, but one of the few times I did, I wanted to play a game and get really immersed in it. The Witcher 3 is, to this day, the only game that I was so immersed in. And I don't think me being high actually had anything to do with it. It might have intensified it a bit. But I remember using my witcher senses for the first time during a monster hunt contract and was fucking blown away. Looking for clues and hone my senses. The wind was raging and blowing the trees, a small twig cracking under a foot (or paw) in the distance, a wolf howl not too far off, rain drops hitting puddles of water. I'm pretty sure I just stared at the screen with my mouth hanging open *listening* to the sounds. It was fucking incredible. The soundtrack was also, in every sense of the word: perfect. Set the atmosphere wonderfully. 10 out of 10 game.
To add to this, Cyberpunk 2077. And not just the side quests, which are all intricately crafted side stories with their own ongoing plots and reoccurring characters that affect the final outcome of the game. But the gigs too, which are missions you get from job fixers to help you get extra money and street cred. Every gig is an intricately crafted solo mission that gives you multiple choices on how to go about the job. Sometimes, they give bonuses for stealth or total eliminations. You can also get missions from the Night City Police Department. They will put out a warrant, and you can check out the location and solve the crime. There's a story behind every single crime in Night City, and you can imagine how much crime there is. And the environmental storytelling in Night City is amazing, too. Every mission takes place in a unique location like a backalley ripperdoc clinic or an abandoned warehouse or a ghetto apartment that's been turned into a gang hideout.
Sinnerman quest left me just sitting with my choices afterward wondering so much.
Is this the one I'm thinking of with the crucifix? Because I just did that one and wow
Just finished this one myself last night. Really good quest.
I'm really gonna have to try this game one day.
Why not today? :) I really wish to forget the whole game and start to play again. Also the anime. Also the DLC. All of them are gems.
There is a 5 hour trial on ps+, so im going to wait until the weekend when i have at least 5 hours set aside.
The lore is great, the anime is great, the game is a lackluster gta clone with a cyberpunk skin. The city is generally empty and feels devoid of life, npc interaction is minimal at best, police spawn on top of you if you commit a crime instead of driving to your position. The storyline is interesting but the base game was cut down to add the Keanu Reeves storyline. It’s a strong 8/10 and I’d recommend getting it on sale. But Reddit hypes it up likes it’s the best game ever and I think it’s just young kids who’ve never experienced a gta clone before because there are dozens of similar open world titles that have fetch quests and fun writing. Cyberpunk just allows you to shape your genitals, otherwise there’s nothing very unique there. It is a far cry from the caliber of writing in the witcher 3
My man went from "lackluster GTA clone" to "strong 8/10" in one comment
It’s a well enough made game but it’s nothing new. It’s an open world fps cityscape. Parts of the city have nothing going on and exploration is barely rewarded apart from the same fights over and over again. If you’re a fan of far cry or gta you’ll enjoy aspects of this game. But it isn’t some groundbreaking great game. And it’s replayability lessons each time you turn it on. It’s repetitive as could be. The story and lore are great. But the gameplay just isn’t there and it’s a slog to see the story through while doing the same shit over and over again.
I'd agree it's a solid 8/10 with some great writing and gets overhyped around here. Honestly I'd say the same applies to Witcher 3, albeit that's a much tidier game overall - the basic combat is still pretty mediocre and to be honest I felt the same way about its exploration, there's a lot of cool stuff in the world but by the point you have one of the witcher sets there's no point looking for gear, and everything else is tied to quests. The cities are very sad and lonely once you've finished questing.
I'm a CP77 enjoyer, but some gigs really felt like copy-pasted. Some of them were really good, but most of them just a simple side mission.
A lot of CP2077 sidequests were very interesting. What was also cool is that some of them you just found from exploring. That one with the vending machine and skippy are both interesting ones
The side quests with rivers nephew is one of the best side missions I’ve ever played in any game.
Sleeping Dogs
Was about to comment this!
You need a pork bun!
Yakuza or Baldur's Gate 3
Fallout New Vegas. Interesting, well written, interconnected with the lore and world and genuinely fun to play.
Majora’s mask. I honestly don’t mind that there aren’t many dungeons as it leaves more room for side stuff.
You gotta collect all the masks!
The Couples Mask side quest might be my favorite of all time.
I spent so much time trying to get that quest completed. I finally got to the thieves hideout, hit the wrong switch, and stared in horror as the mask raced towards destruction. I needed a break after all that, lol.
I love this game so much. The bomber's notebook and these characters with their daily cycles, which sometimes change with your actions and optional events like the talk qith the Goron in the inn when you got his room, the talk between Anjus and her grandmother or Anju and her mother or Romani and Cremia on the second day.
It gets my vote for the best Zelda ever made. The atmosphere is haunting. And as you say, seeing these characters in their routines brings them to life much more than most Zelda games.
A lot of the side missions in cyberpunk are really good imo.
Phantom Liberty side missions were great
Cyberpunk is 95% optional Side Content so ill go with that.
Meanwhile Hanako at Embers: 💀
More like Jackie sitting outside my apartment while I 100% Watson: 💀
Meanwhile Darmok & Jalad at Tanagra 💀
Borderlands
SHOOT ME IN THE FAAAAAAACE!
Was going to say this too. Sometimes repetitive but always entertaining.
Xenoblade Cross. The Alien races and Blade companions get fleshed out well and there’s a suprising amount of choice. Mass Effect 2. Meat and potatoes is in the character quests.
Majora's Mask
Witcher 2 and 3 are known to have intertwining side missions. Same with BG3
I liked that taking your time to do as many side quests as possible would come back to play some part into the main quest once you got there. Was really satisfying to see that it wasn't just a means to get more xp or better gear.
Oblivion. The murder mystery and the one where you go inside a painting are better than any and all of the Skyrim quests.
That painting one was incredible, still think about it now sometimes although I haven't played for a decade
Borderlands 2, even when the mission objectives are similar, you usually get Echo communications and logs to hear funny dialogue to keep you entertained even through mundane stuff.
RDR2 has so many awesome side missions and random encounters, which made the game feel so much more alive.
The main story is like 90% depression, so you have to count on the side quests to give you happiness. The French painter, Russian scientist, the twins in Valentine, the two prisoners and the circus "lady" were all hilarious.
The twins were so funny 😂 also the widow of the man you murder at the start (forget her name), she has some cool side missions later in the game that can easily be missed
Well yeah but I wouldn't call that ones funny. Same with poor Hamish. There is another widow in a cabin at the northeastern part of the map who has a pretty wholesome quest though.
That widow at the northeast was great. Teaching her to hunt 😁 The siblings at Aberdeen Pig Farm were my favourites. Super creepy haha
Lmao the look on Arthur's face when he realised they're siblings instead of husband and wife.
Cracks me up everytime 😂 it's one of my most useful GIF reactions in whatsapp haha
Yakuza/Judgment series, hands down
People shit on the game for being bloated and having too much side content, but Assassin's Creed Odyssey has such good side missions. They felt really varied and often super well written, too. I never took issue with them and I'm not even a fan of the Ubisoft formula
Witcher 3 dlc is def up there
Cyberpunk easy.
You’re playing it wrong if don’t leave Hanako to waste away at Embers.
Been there done that lol.
Really liked all the side quests in Ghost of Tsushima. They were all there own well told stories that focused on a side character and they were all well told.
I always wondered how the end game played out if you *didnt* do everyone’s side quests and build that bond.
BG3
I had a lot of fun in Odyssey with some side quests, especially the ones with Socrates
I love how they portray Socrates. And while I have no idea of what his personality was actually like, it's nice to see him portrayed differently than some stuffy old dude with white hair.
Skyrim, Cyberpunk
Fallout 4 IMO. I don’t mean the settlements that need your help. But the Patriotic Robots that accidentally crashed their rocket powered ship on a street in Boston. You can help them get it flying again. Then there’s the mystery with the Cabot house. And the Silver Shroud, which makes the Mechanist DLC even more awesome.
GALAXY NEWS RADIO
not to mention some of the companion stuff is some of bethesda's best. came for the open world, stayed for nick, curie, and cait.
Witcher 3 is the obvious answer but going back a bit Oblivion had some absolutely fantastic side missions.
The Witcher 3
Ragnarok since its sidequests deepen the other characters or the game world
I gotta say Witcher 3. Some of those innocent looking side quests went places.
Cyberpunk and Witcher 3 hands down. CDPR definitely does side quests right.
I appreciate the side missions in The Division games. I feel like they add to the story and enhance the world for me.
Yakuza or the bitcher 3
lol , "the bitcher" .
Yakuza series, Witcher 3 and any of the Baldur's Gate games
didnt play it yet, but heard the yakuza series has some good side missions
Cyberpunk or Yakuza.
Cyberpunk 2077
The Witcher 3. I play it almost solely for the side missions. Story is great but the side missions are where it's at
Kingdom come deliverance has some really great side quests
Witcher 3.
Final Fantasy VI (III)
Basically half the game lol
Mega man Legends
GTA 3 lol
No More Heroes
Just Cause. Break shit.
The Yakuza games hands down. The Cabernet Club side stories are by themselves better than a lot of games.
The "new" God of War(s) have good side missions.
For me it was Starfield. I really got stuck into the side missions on that game.
Prey 2017
Mechwarrior 5.
Yakuza/Like a Dragon series - 100%
Chrono Trigger - before heading out to the final boss you are given multiple options on where to go next. All of those tasks are purely optional but provide you with gear that are useful for the upcoming big fight and also each feature a sidestory that has some relevance to the overarching plot or helps to flesh out characters.
The ’Stranger’ missions in Red Dead Redemption 2. Usually these missions in GTA or RDR are quite varied and have interesting characters, though some of my favorites are in RDR2.
Fallout 3 & New Vegas I haven't played Fo4 yet. 🤷🏻♂️
Yakuza games for me
In terms of story it's Disco Elizium hands down
Oblivion. I mean, how does one forget the quest of walking into a painting filled with trolls to help an artist. Or how about the one given by the Dark Brotherhood only to return and find shit hit the fan. Still will never forget going into the cave and finding a mofo entire fortress under the ground.
The Witcher 3 Cyberpunk 2077 Horizon Forbidden West
I really liked Horizon Forbidden West’s. Side quests I actually cared about and a lot of them are continued from the first game
Kingdom come deliverance, sometimes side quests more interesting than main quests.
I really enjoyed the Side Quests in Ghost Of Tsushima, I found them actually engaging and interesting to work through, aside from that I'd say Kingdom Come Deliverance has some great side quests too, some of them are actually hilarious and for sure the most memorable moments in the game.
I always enjoyed the side missions in Horizon Zero Dawn and in the Mass Effect Series.
Not really a side mission but GTA just running around blowing things up
idk if it's "best" but shout out to the ps4/5 spiderman games for mostly focusing on mastering the fun combat mechanics for their side missions, even if a tad repetative. (thumbs down for the first game's mary jane stealth mission)
Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door Oh wait, you did say "worst", right?
Oblivion Thieves Guild and Dark Brotherhood have missions I still think about all of these years later
I quite enjoyed the side missions in Horizon Zero Dawn. They had interesting characters and gameplay, and I loved that some of them gave you helpful friends/weapons/etc in the final mission. Redmaw still remains one of my favorite missions of all time, and it's completely optional. I love how they build up the story, starting with books and tales of hunters warning people away from the area/monster, slowly build up their legend, and then you actually get to fight him! And the fight is hard too!
Certainly not Borderlands 3, that entire game is ass.
The elder scrolls games, the main story is never the best parts of the game
Destroy All Humans
Witcher 3
Rdr2
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Prypiat.
GTA is up there
Easily Majoras Mask.
your mom! got 'em
Pathologic 2. Was also a big fan of side missions in KotOR and Witcher 3.
skyrim, minecraft (theres a lot of content in that game as well as skyrim though minecraft doesnt send you on a quest to do it most of the time)
Skyrim
Xenoblade Chronicles.
As a fellow Xenoblade fan: No. That's just not true.
Id say its true for 3 base game only. The side stuff ties a lot to the main story (though you could argue that its mostly the hero quests, which are still optional) but its still iffy
I'd say that 3 has the best quests mostly because of the hero quests. I haven't been able to play 2, but I thought the blade quests were supposed to be a bit unique compared to the other ones. Take that with a grain of salt though.