Some older games might not get the appreciation they deserve from younger generations. Many might think the newest releases are breaking new ground while, in reality, games over 15 years old already include such a mechanic or side quest. Hopefully, the list below shines a light on such classics that innovated with their side quests.
Baldur’s Gate 3: 5 Best Side Quests in Act 3
Side Quests are an important part of the adventure in Baldur's Gate 3, and these Act 3 additions certainly make the whole experience even more fun.
Usually, it is not just the side quest that shows innovation. The main focus of each entry is just an example of everything else each particular game did that would still impress modern gamers. These are side quests, after all, and the game should still be fulfilling even if the player decides not to engage with them.
6 Great Gospel
Final Fantasy 7
Final Fantasy 7
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation (Original) , PC , iOS , Android , Nintendo Switch , Xbox One , PS4
- Released
- January 31, 1997
- Developer(s)
- Square Enix
- Publisher(s)
- Square Enix
- A special ability for a character who leaves the party shortly afterward
Players level up their party members' respective Limit Breaks by simply using them. However, the final Limit Break must be obtained by completing a side quest. Aerith's Great Gospel Limit Break is obtained through an obtuse series of steps that are never really hinted at during the game.
They have to find a sleeping man in his house and talk to him when the battles they have fought end with the same odd number twice in a row. This earns them Mythril, which can then be traded at the blacksmith in his cabin for the key item that unlocks Aerith's final limit break. The innovation comes from the mysterious nature of the quest along with the fact that it earns an ability for a character who dies not long after the ability can be earned.
5 The Power Of The Atom
Fallout 3
- Blow up a town or save it from destruction
- Determines where the player can live
Fallout 3 is not only memorable for taking the series into a new gameplay direction, but it was also many console players' first taste of big, open-world CRPGs after Morrowind and Oblivion. As an early showcase of the effect choices had on the game world, players were offered a quest to either blow up a town called Megaton or turn the tables on the quest giver and ally with the town.
Every Creature That Appeared In Amazon’s Fallout Show
Part of the Fallout universe is its many creatures made famous by the nuclear wasteland. Here's which ones made it to Season 1 of Fallout.
Blowing up Megaton earned the protagonist a suite in Tennpenny tower. Doing the latter gave them dwellings within the town. This is the first town many players visit, so it gets them used to the idea that their actions have consequences.
Later on, there is another quest where players can let ghouls into Tennpenny tower, who go on to massacre everyone within the building.
4 Multiple Endings
Chrono Trigger
Chrono Trigger
- Platform(s)
- SNES , PlayStation (Original) , PC , Nintendo DS , Android , iOS
- Released
- March 11, 1995
- Developer(s)
- Square Enix
- Publisher(s)
- Square Enix
- Multiple ways to beat the game
- Unique for a JRPG to have so many endings
Before Chrono Trigger, one did not expect so many endings in a JRPG. This style of game is more about a focused adventure with very defined characters. Chrono Trigger breaks this mold by offering numerous side quests, many of which lead to one of many endings.
Some of them involve doing certain things during the course of the game to have a different outcome during the final boss, while others let the player end the game significantly earlier than usual. It begs the question; did one really beat the game if they only went through it one time in the traditional manner?
The game subverted JRPG tropes in other ways too. For example, there is a character called Magus who players can either kill or have mercy on to let them join the party.
3 Anger Tower
Phantasy Star 4
- Unlocks a hidden ability
- Tests the main character's emotional stability
As one of the most celebrated JRPGs of the 16-bit era, players can bet their lives that Phantasy Star 4 is filled with great side content. The most emotionally impacting side quest is the Anger Tower. In it, they fight a strange version of a recently deceased party member, Alys, before being confronted by Re-Faze who asks Chaz, the protagonist, if they want to turn all their hatred into strength.
It is a trick question since players are supposed to say no, rejecting the idea of fighting because of hatred. Re-Faze trusts Chaz with the ability after this, knowing that the protagonist has not lost themselves despite the tragedy of losing Alys.
2 Excalibur II
Final Fantasy 9
- Speed run the game for a special reward
PS1 JRPGs are no slouch when it comes to length. Despite this, there is a side quest in Final Fantasy 9 that tasks players with reaching the game's fourth disc in just 12 hours to obtain the hidden weapon Excalibur II. As one could imagine, reaching this point in 12 hours takes an intimate understanding of the game, the world's layout, and its systems; along with a little bit of luck.
6 Things Final Fantasy 9 Does Better Than The Other Main Games
FF9 might be showing its age, but Square Enix's ninth installment in its RPG franchise does do a few things better than the rest.
There are some tricks one can do to make it a little easier, though, and the assists available to one in the remaster make it far more achievable. Adding a reward for doing a speedrun is almost unheard of it in JRPGs even today, let alone in 2000 when the game came out.
1 Rebuilding The City
Mega Man Legends
- Repair the town to unlock more side quests
- How well players defend the town determines how much they have to repair
Early on in Mega Man Legends, the family of pirates known as the Bonnes attack the main city. Mega Man's efficiency in holding off the assault determines just how damaged Kattelox's city ends up being.
If that was not innovative enough for the time, players are then tasked with rebuilding the city bit by bit through the course of the game. The amount of effort involved in doing so depends entirely on how badly the Bonnes attacked it. On top of that, other side quests only become available after players repair certain buildings.
10 Best Mega Man Spinoffs, Ranked
Outside of the mainline games, there are loads of other adventures that take place in the Mega Man universe in various spin-off series.
