It wouldn’t be an overstatement to say that most major RPGs played by people today are fairly high-stakes affairs. There will always beRPGs with lower stakes,but in general, games in this genre usually involve escaping mortal peril or saving the world from some major force of evil. This emphasis on the bigger picture has worked in the favor of many titles, giving players some of the best narrative games ever to be put on the shelves.
However, part of what makes these games with higher stakes so interesting is how they compare to other quests in the game. If every single side quest isalsoabout saving the world, it diminishes the whole experience, saving the world becomes a chore like running to the store for milk.In sprawling open worldsor more linear narrative affairs, these RPGs all have small-scale quests that focus on adding realism to the world, and making the player’s desire to save it that much stronger.
Backtracking on the intro a little bit, part of what has madeRed Dead Redemption 2such a fantastic title is its emphasis on the smaller-scale and more intimate story of Arthur Morgan and the Van Der Linde gang.
There areplenty of random encountersalong the wilds in this game that are either self-contained moments in their own right or seeds that will eventually bloom into a longer side quest. These add character and flavor to the setting in a simple but effective way.
If there’s one thing thatMorrowinddoes better thanOblivionandSkyrim… it’s actually almost everything.Please play this game. In terms of side quests, however, the game does an excellent job at making the character feel like a living, breathing part of the world, not just ‘The Protagonist’ cruising through the setting in a blaze of glory.
The lower level of guilds give players actual busywork or minor contracts to do, and it’s fun because it feels like you’re actually a participant in the guild’s operations, and not a savior to the guild given the pretense of two minor quests before some great crisis threatens the entire faction and the real story begins.
For many players,Night City is an amazing settingfor an open world title.Cyberpunk 2077may have its flaws, but V feels like an integrated part of the world from the very beginning, and that’s in no small part due to side quests.
Whether found ambiently through exploration or by contacting a Handler, the fact that V can even have Handlers helps tell the player ‘hey, this person is actually a mercenary, both in name and deed’. The game offers plenty of moments for V to engage in a bona fide, real-deal profession.
Withan incredible storyand some RPG elements that truly set it apart from its contemporaries,Fallout: New Vegasis a truly iconic post-apocalyptic RPG. One of the ways this game excels is through the side-quest content that gives every area more depth.
Players can take on odd jobs to get some caps, or ingratiate themselves with a smaller faction through helping them, and it all feels like a real, fleshed out part of the world.
A JRPG that isequal parts difficult and engaging, Atlus truly created one of the best games in their catalog withShin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance.The side quests in this game might not always seem small-scale, because they usually involve, well, creation deities, but this often makes them more entertaining than anything else.
Helping a Spider-God trick his father, or chasing Turbo Granny across Tokyo, or any of the other low-stakes quests in this game each have something special about them, and more than often a great reward for players.
Potentially BioWare’s magnum opus,Dragon Age: Originsmakes every single side quest feel exciting and substantial. Beyond the most paltry of quests from job bulletin boards, almost every quest has branching options to take.
Beyond this, every quest will also incite reactions from the player’s companions, so side quests aren’t just an avenue for the player to explore the world, but also to explore the mindsets of their companions.
Thehype is steadily buildingfor Obsidian’sAvowed, and while it does, there are a host of great titles in this developer’s catalog to look back on.Outer Worldsis often overlooked by players, but it has some of the most entertaining side quests from any Obsidian title.
Similar toOrigins, each of the companions in this game have unique insights to which of the major factions are being assisted in every side quest, and it really helps develop them as characters.
The beginnings of a masterwork among RPGs,Mass Effectwas the game that introduced players to a narrative of galactic proportions, with an excellent space opera story that helped cement Shepard as an incredibly iconic protagonist.
Whether along the Citadel or exploring many of the distant planets in the galaxy, there are a host of small-scale side quests that help give this world personality. Yes, it’s a world about stopping world-ending robots (or biosynthetic creatures or whatever the Reapers are) but it’s also a world about a Widower trying to get his late wife’s body back to earth, or helping a Hanar merchant get a trading license.
