Making sidequests that play off each other might be a good start. Basing their content off broken cliff notes is kinda what has made them have this reputation in the first place.

I would love for side missions to be just as big and expansive as the main quest. To be able to get lost in a mission and realize it has nothing to do with the main quest. Also it would be nice if side quests/missions actually altered the main story.

But I agree a lot of devs need to really invest more in the side missions instead of just treating it like filler.

To use Far Cry 4 as an example, I think side missions should be more like the Longinus missions which have a story unto themselves. The random "rescue the hostage" missions and stuff gets old and is relatively pointless.

I've always liked how FF would do their side missions. Some wouldnt even unlock until you made it so far in the main story. And then when you basically got to the last stretch of the game. it would tell you....some character would basically ask you if you had anything else you need to do before proceeding in this dark long cave which leads to the final boss. But sometimes too many side missions will basically make you tired of playing the actual game. Because you put 100 hours in just Side quest.

I really think side missions should be released as free dlc shortly after a game has been released so the main game can be pushed to its true potential.

This way it's an option instead of almost a requirement. Think about it.

Like the article and most people commenting here I agree that extra care should be given to side quests.

For example I find side quests in Skyrim nothing more than XP grinders. I only pick them automatically and be done with them quickly simply because they're there.

In The Witcher 3, however, I was pleasantly surprised to find the side quests to very engaging, refreshing and most importantly, relevant to what you're doing in the game world. I really want to listen to these characters(the quest givers) talk about their back story and how they feel about the world around them. TW3 sidequests are like new pages of a book that I can't wait to dive into.

I liked Xenoblade, but there were too many side quests, and too few gave good rewards. I know I can choose to just not do them, but I still want to do the ones that are worth doing or that have interesting stories, the problem is knowing which ones are of this kind and which ones are trash. I hope they changed it in Xenoblade X.

I definitely would love to see the repetitive cut and paste type of side mission die off. I love Dragon Age Inquisition but man is that game the zenith of tacked on repetitive side missions. Yes they're technically optional but I still feel like I'm letting a member of my team down by not helping them out, because I don't want to spent hours literally travelling to different map points and hitting randomly placed rocks until they explode.

Side missions are OPTIONAL!!!

The author is "MAD", I tell you. Does not know what he wants? Ruling"!!!!!!!!!keep the side quests..........Hands for Skyrim millenium edition for PS4?

so you will remove side missions from rpgs?

Side missions, if handled right, are good. It is when (and they usually do) become padding that they are bad. Open world is the greatest offender, classic jRPGs being the least bad (Chrono Trigger, anyone?).

I guess MMORPG's are nothing but side-quests.

Fallout says what's up

Tell me again how the multiplatform strategy was supposed to fix everything. Look at your results and compare them to Nintendo, which keeps thriving with exclusives. Your loyal fans are gone. And let’s not forget the pile of IPs you purchased only to let them rot.

The worst thing is this is down from last years numbers/expectations which was down from the previous years numbers/expectations. You think about how long “down” has been a consistent part of the communication and you realize those subscriptions are what’s holding that boat together. The price cut of gamespass is still a price raise in a string of price raises. They are trying to use players to offset the missing revenue. Now call of duty is out of gamespass, which is literally WHY they bought the company. To draw people to the subscription. They realized they missed a boatload of money and that wasn’t sustainable. Now you pay for it like you would have if they never bought the company… so why buy the company? Mind you those billions still need to be paid back. Yeah it gives you a chance to say we make the biggest FPS… but the internal conversations must be brutal at high level on topics that really matter. Like revenue. Profitability. And ROI for the shopping spree.

Is this like the 10th quarter in a row they're down 33% on hardware how is that even mathematically possible. You would think their mediocrity would Plateau

Wuchang is great. Nine Sols didn’t have a physical copy so I never played it but I’ve heard good things so I will check it out. I stopped playing sports games many years ago when before the card dlc’s or whatever they’re called.

Last comment… ):

Great month for others, but not me. Hate soccer and soulslikes. Maybe Nine Sols is good.

🫡 it was fun while it lasted, N4G.

FC26!