Your Most Memorable Sidequests

[SonOfMethuselah]

Getting the aeon Anima in Final Fantasy X is, without a doubt, my most memorable sidequest. You have to use the destruction spheres to get the special items in each of the temples in order to be to proceed into the temple where Anima is, and if you miss the item in the temple in Bevelle, you can't go back for it, so you're completely locked out. I only got that item by luck, so I felt really proud of myself the first time I completed this quest. The entrance to the temple is also in a place you visit early on in the game, so you get a rematch with a monster that nearly swallows you the first time you encounter it, which is immensely satisfying.

Also, if you know the game, you know that Anima is the aeon that Maester Seymour uses, and if you go to get it yourself, you get a little extra background on him, which is a nice touch. It doesn't amount to much, but between that and your success being dependent on your diligence in earlier temples, this quest definitely felt really interconnected with the main quest, a feature I think a lot of sidequests lack.

 

[Skeleon]

Loved the "psychic crime mystery"-sidequest in Dungeon Siege 2. First, you need to learn how to communicate with ghosts, then speak to the dead butler, find clues, learn the story of betrayal and murder and apprehend the perpetrators. It wasn't really that interactive, you basically just walk around and click on items and people. But it's well presented and a nice take on a sidequest that doesn't involve killing X number of Y or killing Z to have it drop B which you bring back to A.

There are almost certainly better sidequests, but this is the one I think of off the top of my head.

 

[TheEvilCheese]

The side quests in Chrono Trigger remain unbeaten to this day if you ask me, I would urge everyone to go into them not knowing what to expect. More specifically, Fiona's quest. The gravity it adds to the characters and the way it fleshed out Lucca's backstory and Robo's personality.

Spoiler: Massive spoilers to late game CT, particularly this quest.

Through a seemingly inconsequential remark in the year 12000BC, you cause a woman in 600AD to be attempting to replant a massive (we're talking a large chunk of the continent) forest in the wake of the war with the fiends which is drawing to a close around you. Robo is left behind to work on planting and encouraging the forest for hundreds of years and you find him broken atop a shrine to the forest, worshiped by the locals when you travel to 1000AD. This brings up the idea that the gates allowing you to travel through time were in fact created so you could experience all these things, rather than a coincidence/accident on the part of the 'Big bad'. This is then explored when a time gate opens to Lucca, allowing you a glimpse into her past and the opportunity to change the fate of her family. It's all emotionally moving stuff and it all started because you told someone to do what they felt was right thousands of years in the past.

Also, Lucca's (other) sidequest. Which involved being charitable with your money, and a LOT of time travel, it was clever and fun, as well as rewarding some of the best items in the game.

 

[Ninjat_126]

If Dark Souls counts, I love Ash Lake, The Great Hollow, The Depths, The Painted World of Ariamis, Darkroot Basin, the Moonlight Butterfly and the Northern Undead Asylum (revisited).

All optional. Some more than others though, The Depths you have to really go out of your way to skip, while the Painted World is fairly obscure, and Ash Lake is almost impossible to find.

 

[voiceofneutrality]

I just skimmed this thread, so I dunno if anybody mentioned Red Dead Redemption's sidequests. Personally I thought that in certain spots during the game the sidequests became more interesting than the main story.

 

[Spectrum_Prez]

Haunted hotel in Vampires: the Masquerade Bloodlines. Actually, there are a few from that game that are really memorable, for example the one where you fend off waves of zombies in a graveyard, and the one involving the snuff films and nightmare creatures (shudder).

Lots of good open world games are 90% sidequest, 10% main quest. Look at anything Bethesda or Rockstar have put out. I'm fine with that and love it. If the newer Bethesda games have any glaring weakness, its the general decline in the number of side quests/factions.

As far as memorable because it was frustrating, that would be:
"All you had to do was follow the damn train, CJ!"

 

[Shoggoth2588]

Since I think you could technically call everything The Dark Brotherhood does a side-quest, I'm going to say House Party (I don't think that's what it was called). Anyway in Elder Scrolls IV, one of the Dark Brotherhood quests has your character locked in a mansion with 6 other people who think they're part of a lottery...that is until you start to murder them. The characters locked in with you are a a former Blade, a Nordic asshole, dotting old woman and three other corpses who I don't remember.

Anyway, this quest can do one of three ways: you wait until dinner (or not) before you go bat-shit crazy with your weapon of choice. You could systematically murder everyone one-at-a-time until you're all alone in the mansion. The third way is my preferred way: it's essentially the second way only you talk to everyone after killing someone to gauge their reaction of the situation. When there are only two other people left, you can convince one survivor to attack the other. Generally I leave it down to the three people I mentioned earlier, convincing either The Blade or The Nord that the old woman has been murdering people and watching as they smash her face into a pulp. Then I end the quest with no stealth whatsoever and still get the stealth bonus from The Brotherhood.

 

[TJSAINT]

"Whodunnit" from Oblivion's Dark Brotherhood questline is one of my favourite side quests of all time. I also enjoyed many of the Caesar's Legion side quests from Fallout: New Vegas, as well as pretty much any side quest from Arkham City.

 

[Olas]

Can I just put "Majora's Mask" and leave it at that? The Anju Kafei one is obvious but many others from that game are almost equally rewarding, like helping Romani fight off the alien ghosts and then defending the carriage. Or completing the challenges to get the fierce diety mask.

 

[Poetic Nova]

Putting t in spoilers since it's from Borderlands 2

Spoiler

All sidequest that involve helping Dukino (a friendly skag)

 

[likalaruku]

Can't name the actual quests, but they were from Neverwinter Nights, LotRO, & Runes of Magic.

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

I like those games where all your gear is removed and you have to restart from scratch and work your way out. Skyrim had No One Escapes Cidna Mine, Diplomatic Immunity (to a point), and Fallout 3 had The Pitt.

 

[Jason Rayes]

I like those games where all your gear is removed and you have to restart from scratch and work your way out. Skyrim had No One Escapes Cidna Mine, Diplomatic Immunity (to a point), and Fallout 3 had The Pitt.

While I don't like the idea of "remove all your gear" as it's so cliche its like "Not a'fucking gain". No One Escapes Cidna Mine is one of my fave Skyrim quests, which goes to show that done well it can work.

 

[VeryOddGamer]

I'm also going to go with Whodunit from Oblivion. Seriously, it's so very awesome manipulating all those poor people.

Captcha: "smoked salmon" No thanks, SolveMedia, I'm not a big fan of fish.

 

[Paradoxrifts]

A shotgun wedding to a completely useless soon-to-be party member in Fallout 2.

 

[purf]

Most memorable?

Spoiler: Easily this.img

 

[Eddie the head]

I liked For Auld Lang Syne. It's funny because all you are doing is walking around talking to people, and yet I remember it better then any quest in Fallout 3 or the rest of NV. I don't know I just like the fact that they can never relay redeem the Enclave but they can help do some good before they die.

 

[Tallim]

Pariah and the guardian portal from Fallout 2. Pariah can be a pain in the ass but the guardian portal bit was rather amusing, plus you get a nifty weapon out of it.