Some video game stories are so good that players can't help but focus on getting through the main missions and ignoring the side content. In other games, the side content is so good that even if the main story is also great, players will be drawn in for hours just exploring or helping NPCs. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is a good example, but there are other games where sidequests matter.
8 RPGs that players always recommend to friends
Find out why these RPGs are an experience players will always love to share with friends and family.
While there may be filler in subsequent games, most of these experiences have such good side content that what little fat there may be is negligible. Players won't soon forget the quests in these games.
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Arrange the covers in the correct US release order.
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Baldur's Gate 3
Create your story
Baldur's Gate 3 it's divided into chapters where each set is like a big, sprawling world to explore. Players can go straight through the narrative, or they can explore each region in depth to uncover secret paths through the main story or perhaps ways around conflicts.
The great thing about the game is the open structure and branching stories that make no two campaigns the same. It's not a typical turn-based tactical game where the goal is to get the best loot. It's all about immersing players in the world through dynamic interactions, rewarding player curiosity, and blurring the lines between what is and isn't a side quest.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
The big third act
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is an homage to classic turn-based JRPGs, but with a French twist. For example, there is a world map with side areas that often lead to a deep dungeon to explore or a secret boss/NPC that deepens the game's lore.
These side quests are minimal for most of the game, but things pick up in the later third when players get the ability to fly and fully explore the game world, much like the third act in most JRPG franchises since Dragon Quest on Final Fantasy. Some of these side areas and bosses are so well designed that they can overshadow the main ones, like an unfinished tower reaching into the sky or a secret dungeon in the ocean.
Mass Effect 2
All about companions
Mass Effect 2 The world design is fairly linear as players cannot explore large and expansive worlds. Instead, they go to specific locations on planets or space stations for missions. Most of the game is focused on the story, but when there is side content, it usually leads to interesting sites that are more than simple quests to get equipment.
The best quests in the game are tied to companions, and the bigger the bonds, the more quests are unlocked to further these characters, which is why Mass Effect the series is so well known for its party members, let alone its squad-based shootouts.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
No black and white
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is an action RPG that takes every type of typical RPG quest and subverts expectations. There is a first quest where players have to break into a hut to retrieve a pan, and while it may seem like a simple fetch quest, the mini-story within this quest is harder than it needs to be.
8 open world games where the side content is better than the main quest
The main quest isn't necessarily bad, but it's simply overshadowed by the great side content in these open world games.
This is just a small example, but the larger quests will add an even greater sense of mystery and drama that are so well written that they could break into entire subplots in any RPG. There isn't a single quest The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt it doesn't make the player think.
Chrono Trigger
Time control
Chrono Trigger is a classic turn-based SNES RPG that doesn't waste time with an endless sea of quests. When a person presents themselves, there are usually many steps to change things in each time period or across multiple steps. For example, players can look at how Lucca's mother lost the ability to walk properly, or they can explore the construction of a church.
Even without the voice acting, players will feel deeply connected to each quest, and that's not to mention that the main story of the game as a whole is fantastic, well-paced, and easily one of the best on the console.
Suikoden 2
Building an army
Suikoden II
- Released
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September 29, 1999
- ESRB
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M For 17+ due to mild violence, obscene themes
Most of Suikoden 2 side quests are associated with collecting each party member in the game and it's journey. The Suikoden the series is known for the 108 Stars of Destiny, which is what the party members are referred to. This includes the main character and characters that are unlocked through the story, but most are extras.
Suikoden 2 is a prime example, as players will strive to build a resistance army, and the more characters they acquire, the greater their power for big, important battles. Not every party member gets an epic story, as some require just finding them or giving them an item to join, but even the little interactions are worth it.
Super Mario RPG: Legend Of The Seven Stars
The evolving 16-bit world
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars is another turn-based SNES RPG where the quests are few but mighty. This was Mario's first RPG and incorporated the action platforming elements well into the combat system and exploration segments. Most of the side quests were associated with hidden areas or secret bosses like Culex, which helped fill out the world.
This is a great example of an RPG that changed the way areas were based on where players were in the story. Old locations can have new NPCs and quests available late in the game, and this was rare for the SNES game.
Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic
An expanding galaxy far, far away
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is another game from BioWare that proved it knew how to fill an RPG with activities that mattered. Set a thousand years before the prequels and allowing players to essentially create their own Jedi, the game allowed fans to explore a galaxy far, far away like no game before it could.
10 open world games where small discoveries matter more than big quests
The wonders in these open-world games never cease if you know where to look, and what you find is often more important than the main quest.
Every planet they visited, from Tatooine to Kashyyyk, was filled with side quests that helped expand the lore. It was the ultimate fan game at the time, even though it looks dated graphically compared to the new one Star Wars games like Star Wars Outlaws now no other game has done world building better through quests than Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.
Parasite Eve
A linear detective RPG
Parasite Eve was a mostly linear RPG set in New York, following detective Aya Brea on the brink of a major supernatural case. As players moved around the city, they had limited access to the world map, and locations were usually unlocked as they progressed. There were some side areas though, like a warehouse containing some rare items and a challenging crab boss.
More importantly, New Game+ dropped a massive side quest that added the Chrysler Building as an area that unlocked a hidden ending, which may be the most significant side quest in a PS1 RPG of this era.
Persona 3 Reload
Your friends are powerful
Persona 3 Reload is a remake of the original PS2 turn-based game that has updated a few things to make progress through this linear RPG faster. While there are quests that are nothing more than filler, this game has one of the best quest systems that persists in any RPG, called Social Links.
By spending time with party members and NPCs all over Japan, from training at school to eating ramen to going to the movies, players can get to know these characters far beyond what is presented in the main story. There's also a combat bonus to these bonds that gives players extra motivation, but the stories they unlock are the real reward.
RPG with the best companion systems
These companions will never let you down. Let's dive deeper into what makes them and their systems so special in the following games.
