Summary
- Side quests in open-world games like The Witcher 3 are as compelling as main storylines.
- Games like Ghost of Tsushima offer deep character studies and emotional side quests.
- Side content in Kingdom Come: Deliverance immerses players in a realistic medieval world.
Some side quests feel like chores. Others feel like stories that just happened to unfold while heading somewhere else. But in a handful of open-world games, side content is essential.
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These are the games where the best writing, most interesting characters, and most satisfying moments aren’t tucked away in the main path, but quietly waiting off to the side, hidden in some cave, village, or dusty saloon. Whether it’s deep lore, clever mechanics, or just emotionally gripping writing, these side quests don’t just reward players with loot. They reward them with meaning.
Horizon Forbidden West
Sometimes the Side Quest Is the Main Attraction
Horizon Forbidden West
- Released
- February 18, 2022
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- T for Teen: Blood, Language, Use of Alcohol, Violence
- Developer(s)
- Guerrilla Games
- Publisher(s)
- Sony
- Platform(s)
- PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5
While Horizon Forbidden West continues Aloy’s journey into a world reclaimed by machines and myth, it’s the people she meets along the way that truly deepen the experience. From desert clans to swamp-dwellers, every side character feels like someone with their own life and their own motivations, not just quest markers waiting to be clicked.
What makes these quests special isn’t just the writing, although it’s surprisingly rich, even for the one-off stories. It’s how much they fold into the bigger worldbuilding. One quest might see Aloy tracking down a Tenakth warrior who left her outpost to chase a vision, only for the entire thing to spiral into a haunting exploration of tribal beliefs, guilt, and legacy. The rewards aren’t just in gear—they’re in how much more layered the Forbidden West becomes when players take their time exploring its edges.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3
Even The Fetch Quests Hurt A Little
Xenoblade Chronicles 3
- Released
- July 29, 2022
WHERE TO PLAY
What begins as another sweeping JRPG with anime-infused politics turns into something much more emotionally raw in Xenoblade Chronicles 3. The world is locked in endless war, and the side quests, almost deliberately, seem designed to humanize everyone caught in it. These aren’t errands. They’re eulogies.
Recruitment missions, in particular, are the beating heart of the side content. Some characters join Noah’s crew only after deeply personal and often tragic mini-arcs. There’s a girl who watches her entire squad fall before deciding to defect. A commander who’s slowly losing control over her Flame Clock. And through it all, the game forces players to ask what’s really worth fighting for, even in the smallest corners of a battlefield. It’s rare for side quests to feel this emotionally urgent. But in Xenoblade 3, they’re some of the most unforgettable moments in the entire experience.
Fallout: New Vegas
The Side Quests Are Where the Apocalypse Gets Personal
Fallout: New Vegas
- Released
- October 19, 2010
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Use of Drugs
- Developer(s)
- Obsidian Entertainment
- Genre(s)
- RPG
In Fallout: New Vegas, the main story is mostly about a delivery gone very, very wrong. But it’s everything on the periphery that gives the Mojave its soul. Vaults filled with tragic experiments, towns hanging on by the last threads of sanity, and lonely wanderers who just want someone to talk to before the radiation gets them too.
One particular quest in a quiet, off-the-road town involves a ghoul preacher trying to convert a group of feral ghouls into something resembling a peaceful community. It’s absurd, but also touching, and surprisingly philosophical. These kinds of stories show up everywhere, often with consequences that echo across the map. Reputation systems mean helping one person might put another faction on edge, and many of these outcomes only play out long after the quest ends. New Vegas doesn’t hand out resolution. It makes players earn it.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance
No Magic, Just Mud, Blood, And Meaning
Kingdom Come: Deliverance
- Released
- February 13, 2018
WHERE TO PLAY
Few games commit to realism like Kingdom Come: Deliverance. Set in 15th-century Bohemia, it drops players into a world where the most dangerous thing isn’t a dragon, but a hungry bandit with a rusty sword. And yet, somehow, the side quests are where the setting feels the most alive.
There’s one quest that involves investigating a monastery. What sounds like a simple errand turns into an intricate, hours-long sequence of deception, roleplaying, and consequence. Elsewhere, helping a wounded soldier might lead to discovering a dark secret about the local lord. These quests don’t offer magical loot or level spikes. They offer immersion. Often clunky, sometimes frustrating, but always authentic, they mirror the harshness and complexity of the medieval world itself. Players who embrace that will find some of the most grounded, layered side content in any open-world RPG.
Red Dead Redemption 2
No One’s Really a Stranger
Red Dead Redemption 2
- Released
- October 26, 2018
WHERE TO PLAY
Side quests in Red Dead Redemption 2 don’t always feel like quests at all. Sometimes, it’s a man begging for help on the roadside. Sometimes it’s a woman stranded with a broken wagon. And sometimes it’s a chance encounter with someone who, six hours later, turns up in a saloon with a grudge.
Rockstar’s Stranger Missions are famously rich, and RDR2 doubles down by giving many of them multiple stages, evolving over time as Arthur crosses the country. These aren’t just world-building—they’re story-building. One side arc involving a traveling sideshow performer stuck in a grief spiral feels like it belongs in a prestige TV show. Even the goofier quests, like helping a man launch a flying machine, end up saying something about the world and the people trying to survive in it. Every path leads somewhere interesting, even if it starts in the mud.
Ghost of Tsushima
Samurai Movies Never Had Side Content Like This
Ghost of Tsushima
- Released
- July 17, 2020
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Language, Partial Nudity
- Developer(s)
- Sucker Punch
- Platform(s)
- PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5
There’s a quiet nobility in the side quests of Ghost of Tsushima, even when they’re soaked in blood. As Jin travels across Tsushima to repel the Mongol invasion, he comes across villagers, warriors, and monks with stories that hit far harder than expected.
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The Tales of Tsushima, particularly the multi-part ones involving key allies like Lady Masako or Sensei Ishikawa, are essentially full-length subplots. These aren’t distractions. They’re character studies. One tale follows a man haunted by a death he could have prevented, while another puts Jin in a position where even victory feels hollow. These moments don’t just add flavor. They shape how players see Jin, and how Jin sees himself. When a game makes players question the cost of compassion in the middle of a revenge arc, that’s not a side quest. That’s storytelling at its sharpest.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Side Quests That Could Carry Their Own Game
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
- Released
- May 19, 2015
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Use of Alcohol, Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Nudity, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content
- Developer(s)
- CD Projekt Red
- Platform(s)
- Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
There’s a reason why The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is constantly brought up when side quests are mentioned. It’s because some of its side quests are more memorable than entire games. And not in a “fun distraction” kind of way, but in a “how is this not a main storyline” kind of way.
Whether Geralt is helping a bloody baron reunite with his family or solving a murder that spirals into political intrigue, these stories go places. There’s a quest involving a haunted tree and a village of orphans that forces players into a decision so morally uncomfortable that most still argue about it years later. These aren’t throwaways. They come with consequences, emotional weight, and choices that often ripple back when players least expect them. CD Projekt Red didn’t treat side content as filler. They treated it as the heart of the entire world. And it shows.
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