It’s no secret that open-world RPGs are usually all about side quests and optional activities, with the main story path accounting for just a fraction of what the full game may offer. In some cases, it’s almost a general fan consensus to ignore the main path as much as possible, and some games are even specifically built around that approach, giving players only vague goals and the necessary freedom to lean into whatever is most fun for them.
In the open-world RPGs below, side quests are typically better than the main plot, albeit for various reasons. At times, a game’s main story can be just okay, serving mostly as a way to guide players across different regions, so it’s not that huge of a deal for smaller, more condensed side stories to offer something better. In rare instances, though, even an excellent main quest can be outshone by side quests with great variety. Let’s check out the games that are prime examples of this.
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Hogwarts Legacy makes some effort to pull you into its world of magic through the main story, with a strong and spectacular opening, but pretty soon, the game’s plot starts to fumble with its generic storyline involving evil goblins and wizards searching for Ancient Magic. While many of the side quests and errands are far from brilliant either, often feeling safer and more predictable than you’d like, there are still a few arcs that are arguably the best part of the entire game.
As you meet students from all four Houses in Hogwarts Legacy, you can follow several of their longer questlines, with Sebastian Sallow’s arc from Slytherin easily being the most praised. It’s the game’s darkest and strongest moral conflict, with spectacular character development and meaningful choices. Some players even regard Sebastian and Ominis’ storyline as the narrative the main game should have focused on to be much more interesting, and it’s hard to argue with that.
Unsurprisingly for a Bethesda RPG, Starfield’s main plot will hardly grab you by the neck and make you forget about everything else. To the game’s credit, there’s some really cool stuff happening toward the end, along with a few unique design choices, but most of the time, its story is serviceable at best. Revolving around rather repetitive Artifact hunting, it offers little sense of stakes or pressure, and few lasting choices. Fortunately, some of the game’s faction arcs routinely overshadow the main story, offering everything you’ve come to expect from the genre.
Arcs like the UC Vanguard, Crimson Fleet, and Ryujin, as well as several standalone questlines, are Starfield’s strongest content, so missing out on them means you’ve hardly experienced the game. The UC Vanguard storyline turns into a compelling Terrormorph conspiracy, while the Crimson Fleet and SysDef let you infiltrate the pirates and ultimately choose a side. Not to forget Operation Starseed, involving cloned historical figures, which delivers the kind of bizarre standalone premise Bethesda does best.
Assassin’s Creed is a series you can approach in various ways, but it’s safe to assume that its overarching Isu lore has long been lost on almost everyone except the most die-hard fans. Ubisoft is seemingly aware of that as well, even removing the modern-day part entirely from the recent AC Black Flag Resynced. As such, it’s perfectly normal to approach later entries as completely standalone games that can work simply as historical backdrops for another adventure.
سەرچاوەی فەرمی بە زمانی ئینگلیزی: https://gamerant.com/best-open-world-rpgs-side-quests-better-than-main-story/
