Sidequests?

[DaHeckIzDat]

When a game has sidequests, do you play them or skip them?

For me, I'll play them if it adds something worthwhile to the game. If it has a cool substory, or opens a new area on the map, or a cool new enemy to fight, I'll do it. But if it's one of those "Gather X amount of Y item" I'll ignore it.

[Zack Burner]

When a game has sidequests, do you play them or skip them?

For me, I'll play them if it adds something worthwhile to the game. If it has a cool substory, or opens a new area on the map, or a cool new enemy to fight, I'll do it. But if it's one of those "Gather X amount of Y item" I'll ignore it.

I agree wholeheartedly on doing subquest if it's worthwhile, like in FF7 where if you do Yuffie's subquest, you can skip a boss fight much later in the game that's pretty hard.

[DaHeckIzDat]

I agree wholeheartedly on doing subquest if it's worthwhile, like in FF7 where if you do Yuffie's subquest, you can skip a boss fight much later in the game that's pretty hard.

I'm playing Skyrim right now, and a lot of the sidequests here are unique enough that I don't have a problem ditching the main quest to do them. I find that its usually easy to tell which ones are worth doing because an NPC will automatically approach you to instigate it, rather than you having to find it by talking to people.

[VideoGameCritic]

I will usually try the first one to see what it's all about, but I find they are usually cookie-cutter missions that amount to grinding. A lot of the 3D Spider-Man games are like that. You can drop in on random crimes around the map to pump up your stats.

[Matchstick]

Oooooh, great topic! It really does depend on the game.

I love seeing sidequests in older games where you'd never expect them to be. Keeping in the RPG realm, I was blown away by the "Hunter's Guild" in Phantasy Star IV. Sidequests were fairly rare in JRPGs back then, especially the ones that actually got translated here in the US. I did every Guild quest, and was left wanting more.

Then, of course, Phantasy Star Online came out, which was almost entirely sidequest-driven. Um... I wasn't left wanting THAT much more, Sega!

But if it's one of those "Gather X amount of Y item" I'll ignore it.

Indeed. I think this is even an article on TV Tropes, called something like "20 Bear Butts." Lots of games that involve crafting use this mechanic - "Oh, you want that nice armor? That'll be 10 Lion Manes, 25 Cotton, 20 Tortoise Shells..."

I've been playing through Bloodstained lately, and that whole crafting system is really starting to wear me out. Thankfully, it can be pretty much ignored. In fact, I find that my time with the game has been much more rewarding when I ignore all the crafting and simply focusing on exploring and progressing further through the castle. In other words, I like the game more when I play it like an actual video game!

[DrLitch]

In many decent RPG's sidequests are a necessary evil to level up your character and acquire inventory you cannot simply purchase. I do hate it though when an RPG gives you a handful of XP (equivalent to defeating a few enemies) for a lengthy side quest. Hollow Knight, although not an RPG, was especially guilty of throwing up non compulsory boss fights or areas for items you end up hocking for money (which was hardly in short supply in the game).

I've been playing through Bloodstained lately, and that whole crafting system is really starting to wear me out. Thankfully, it can be pretty much ignored.

In this one crafting is unnecessary for the most part. Just be sure to craft a few meals before the end boss it is quite a tough fight

[Matchstick]

Thanks for the tip, Good Doctor