Not every side quest is worth the effort. For every detour that rewards you with unique gear or a deeper look at the lore, there are countless "filler" missions tasking you with gathering herbs or clearing out generic enemies. However, some games manage to make these optional diversions feel vital to the overall experience.
The Essential Detours of Final Fantasy 6 and Chrono Trigger
In Final Fantasy 6, the second half of the game—the World of Ruin—is where optional content truly shines. After the apocalyptic events of the main story, your party is scattered. While it is technically possible to reach the final dungeon with only three characters, hunting down the other 11 recruitable allies is where the narrative depth lies. These quests show how each character has adapted to a broken world, ranging from those who have found peace to those who have joined cults or fallen into despair.
Similarly, Chrono Trigger uses its optional phases to flesh out its cast beyond standard RPG tropes. The 1995 classic, famous for introducing New Game Plus and its 13 unique endings, rewards players who take on lengthy tasks. Completing these challenges, such as tasking the robot party member Robo with spending four centuries to transform a desert into a lush forest, is necessary to unlock the game's true ending.
The Witcher 3 and the Art of the Side Quest
CD Projekt Red’s The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt remains a benchmark for optional content. The game manages to make side activities feel like fully realized adventures rather than mere chores. Whether you are assisting talking horses or hunting for treasure, the variety is immense. Notably, the in-universe card game, Gwent, is supported by its own comprehensive open-world quest line, proving that even mini-games can feel essential when given enough narrative weight.
Beyond the Classics: Other Standouts
While the classics set the foundation, other titles handle side content with varying degrees of success:
- Elden Ring: This title favors non-linear, incidental storytelling. Lore is hidden in item descriptions and environmental design, rewarding players who seek out characters like Ranni the Witch, Millicent, or Alexander, though the game offers no hand-holding or waypoints.
- Persona 5 Royal: The game splits its time between dungeon crawling and a social simulator. Spending time with classmates and locals is the most effective way to progress, turning what could be simple filler into a critical part of the character-building process.
- Yakuza 0: While the series is packed with superfluous mini-games—from darts to phone-sex clubs—the developers often strike gold when they commit to a fully realized, plot-driven side activity.
Ultimately, the best side quests are those that prevent the world from feeling like a static backdrop, offering players a reason to care about the people and places they encounter while on the path to saving the world.