General News - The best Sidequests

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HiddenX

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Henriquejr spotted an article about the best sidequests on PC Gamer:

The best sidequests in PC gaming

Sometimes good things happen when you stray from the beaten path.

Stepping off the beaten path in any given game can open up a whole new world. Main story lines are fine, but side quests often contain better writing, funnier jokes, and more interesting mechanics. Sometimes they’re so good that when the credits roll, the distractions and detours burn brighter in your memory than the central journey itself. With that in mind, here’s a list of the best side quests on PC. Don’t blame me if you suddenly have an urge to reinstall that RPG you sunk 100 hours into five years ago. Oh, and leave your own suggestions in the comments below the story.

Oasis, Fallout 3

“I had you brought in here to ask one simple favour. Would you kill me?” It’s one of my favourite lines from Fallout 3 within arguably its best side quest. Tucked away in the corner of the grey wasteland is Oasis, where flourishing plant life obscures a tragic tale.

At the centre is Harold, a mutant with a tree growing out of his head. It’s grown so large that Harold is rooted in place, and he wants you to end his miserable life. But killing him will destroy this pocket of calm, stopping any chance of it spreading life to the rest of the world, and end the hopes of his followers. So what do you do? It’s a great opportunity to role-play, and the writing is superb whichever option you choose.

The Harper Hold Quests, Baldur's Gate 2

Bioware’s 2000 RPG remains one of the best in the genre, and it’s largely down to its side quests. The Harper Hold quests are a perfect example: complex, fiddly at times, but ultimately rewarding. It’s all about the characters. Two of the best from the first Baldur’s Gate—Xsar and Montaron—return fleetingly (one dies, the other is turned into a bird), and most of the tale centres around Jaheira, and ties in with her excellent romance story.

It’s really, really long but you don’t have to pay too much attention. There’s splices of action—mainly fighting the Harpers—followed by days of downtime, and then suddenly a character will pop up on your travels to move the quest forward. It’s not something games do much nowadays, sadly.

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More information.
 
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<anything>, Fallout 3
…
Lair of the Shadow Broker, Mass Effect 2 (DLC)
Kasumi's Loyalty Mission, Mass Effect 2 (another DLC)
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That article is a joke.
 
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It was as expected from PCGamer. Some of the quests were pretty cool, though.
 
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ElderGnome said:
I actually did love the Fallout 3 Oasis sidequest, that was cool.

:D
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Man, just any sidequest from Fallout2 can put it to shame. The list is supposed to be the best sidequests. Not "the best sidequests in 5 games PC Gamer journalist played so far in their life".
 
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Witcher III ( storytelling, presentation) and New Vegas ( roleplaying) are kings here. But too many older games also count.
 
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I can agree with many of their choices, like the Dark Brotherhood quest in Oblivion. I'm missing some great ones from older games though, especially from Fallout 2 and V:TmB (although maybe all the most memorable ones are part of the main quest in the latter title?)
 
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One quest I have fond memories of is the car quest from Fallout 2. I would save a place in the list for that :)
 
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luj1 said:
Cancer article. Talks about sidequests, lists non-RPG as an example. Clueless amateurs.
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Well, there are sidequests in loads of games that aren't RPG's, so why would that make them clueless amateurs?

EDIT: Luj edited his post. You bastard. ;)
 
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You tell me :)

Are sidequests typically a feature of shooters? Action games? Racing games?

Can sidequests in those games come close to Fallout, Vampire the Masquarade, Toee, Nwn, Morrowind and half a dozen others? Might as well stick to the genre where its done best.
 
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luj1 said:
You tell me :)

Are sidequests typically a feature of shooters? Action games? Racing games?

Might as well stick to the genre where its done best.
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I agree RPG's are probably the original sidequest genre, but many open world games that aren't RPG's in my opinion use them extensively, like GTA. I suppose they might exist in the other genres too but I never play them so I wouldn't know. I have enjoyed several GTA titles though.
 
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The game itself was pretty meh, but my favorite sidequest was in Sacred 2. The reward for completing the quest was an in-game concert by Blind Guardian. With head-banging monsters..........:lol:
 
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luj1 said:
Cancer article. Talks about sidequests, lists non-RPG as an example. Clueless amateurs.
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You forgot to call them a bunch of SJW hipster cucks. Cmon man, you're slippin :lol:
 
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Nephologist said:
The game itself was pretty meh, but my favorite sidequest was in Sacred 2. The reward for completing the quest was an in-game concert by Blind Guardian. With head-banging monsters……….:lol:
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Yeah, that was an incredible quest. I'd forgotten about it and couldn't remember which game it was in, so thanks. I'll remember this now for at least a week or two ;)
 
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Sacred 2 was 'meh'? Meh. It's the best Diablo-style Action RPG out there. Still. :)

TES has had lots of great side quests over the years. Too many to name. In Skyrim I really enjoyed the Dawnstar tower quest. I thought the little bit at the end where you were given a choice of what to do was really cool.

The greatest side quest ever, though, has to be in Morrowind. The guy in the river near Gnisis who had his pants stolen while he was there bathing, and you had to get them back. Questing really doesn't get better than that. :)
 
It was cute but still a fetch-quest. Should be better than that. There were sidequests in Morrowind which didn't even have a journal entry. Which is incredibly stimulating. I remember once talking to a random person on "latest rumors" and he mumbled something about how he was fishing one day and thought he saw a city off the coast, somewhere southish from Hla Oad, but couldn't recall whether it was low tide or was he just buzzed to his eyeballs with Sujamma. Opened up my journal, nothing. So I went for a long swim, perhaps an hour of real time, and found a sunken shrine belonging to the deity Boethiah. There I received another quest, from a talking statue.
 
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