Summary
Role-playing games are a joy to play through, with this genre boasting a palpable sense of character progression coupled with epic stories that leave fans satisfied after wrapping upa lengthy adventure that took hours to complete. The main stories of these games need to be riveting for players to stay engrossed until the end, but most RPGs supplement this content with a healthy dose of side quests that aid in a player’s immersion and add a lot of flavor to the world they explore.
However, to say that every side quest in an RPG is worth completing would be a foolhardy statement to make. The truth is that it’s hard to findgames with consistent quality in their side content. Some missteps are bound to be made because of looming deadlines, poor writing, uninspired design, or a combination of all three elements. This leads to the side content in some amazing RPGs being so woeful and forgettable that fans wonder why it was added in the first place.
When word came out that a side quest was discovered inFinal Fantasy 9more than a decade after the game’s release, it’s easy to see why so many fans were interested to see what was present in this content. However, a single look at the Nero Brothers questline made it clear why no one had discovered one of the most painstaking side activities players could undertake in the game. The fact that this quest is tied with the game’s dungeon makes the quest even more grating in the eyes of many.
If players want to waste their time getting a meager Protect Ring, then they must make numerous round trips between Memoria and Lindblum every single time they trigger a boss fight or a special cutscene in the final dungeon. A dialogue must be initiatedwith the Nero Brotherson each trip, with each member of the family making their return until all ten brothers are at their home. The sheer amount of back-and-forth involved in getting such a disappointing reward makes this one of the most frustratingFinal Fantasyquests of all time, especially since it hampers the journey players undertake to the final boss.
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlinesis one of thegreatest RPGs of all time, especially in its first half when the game is fleshed out to kingdom come. Every vampire class feels unique, and there are several routes players can take for any given objective, but the game starts falling apart at the seams by the time players barrel toward the ending. Combat becomes a major focus, and there’s barely any side content to be found, with Chinatown being the worst hub in the game by far.
The main quest devolves into mindless linearity, and there’s no better mission to show the falloff in quality forBloodlinesthan the quest players get if they don’t side with the Kuei-jin. Players must infiltrate the Golden Temple and reach Ming Xiao’s lair, who transforms into her demon form and initiates one of the worst boss fights in any video game, RPG or otherwise. Without a ranged weapon, players are toast, since Ming has a truckload of health and can obliterate the player in just a few hits. Even with a powerful rifle, it takes a ton of mind-numbing shooting and running around for this frustrating encounter to end.
For the most part,the writing inThe Witcher 3is astounding. There’s no black-or-white option for players to choose from, and some of the side quests feature greater narrative depth and variety than the main story. It’s easy to see why this game established itself as one of the greatest modern RPGs of all time, but there’s a weakness in this game’s armor that many fans are familiar with. Until the point where players hunt down Ciri, the game is tightly paced and full of narrative highlights. However, after Ciri is rescued and the endgame initiates, it’s clear that CD Projekt Red had to make some concessions to meet their deadlines.
Nowhere is this more apparent than in Reason of State, where players get the opportunity to assassinate Radovid and ensure that the Northern Realms are free from his tyranny. However, what should be a crowning moment of political intrigue that governs a major section of the ending turns into one of the most frustrating moments in the entire game when Dijkstra, a man who proved himself to be cunning and quick-witted, initiates one of the most harebrained betrayals in RPG history when he outright states in front of Geralt that he will kill Roche, Thaler, and Ves to seize control in the North. There’s no way that such a conniving man wouldn’t have anticipated the White Wolf’s refusal to this turn of events, especially since this witcher could single-handedly take him and his guards down if the need arose.
Final Fantasy 7 Remakelets fans check out the magic of the original game with a fresh coat of paint, but the decision to make this entire game take place in Midgar was a contentious one. To pad out the runtime, classic moments from the original were packed with meaningless filler, with some of the side content inFinal Fantasy 7 Remakebeing downright atrocious. The idea of fighting in an Underground Colosseum should be engrossing, but it’s the bonus battle that makes for a frustrating affair.
The Hell Housewas a regular enemy that players could battle as a random encounter in the original game. However, inFinal Fantasy 7 Remake, it’s a full-blown boss fight that’s ridiculously frustrating and takes ages to defeat. Trying to figure out its elemental resistances while avoiding its attacks and whittling down the enemy’s health bar gets exhausting a few minutes into the encounter, making it a perfect example of the problems that accompaniedFinal Fantasy 7 Remake’s unnecessary padding of the source material.
1Every Radiant Quest Ever (Bethesda)
Bland, Meaningless Filler That Was Marketed As A Revolutionary System
There’s no denying thatBethesda’s RPGs are some of the very best this genre has to offer. Even a game likeStarfieldthat was touted as a disappointment has its moments and is worth checking out if fans want to enjoy abrilliant sci-fi adventure. However, one area where most Bethesda games suffer is the writing, and the motivations players have to complete certain quests waver when the Radiant system comes into play.
In a bid to let players enjoy as much questing as they want, Bethesda introduced Radiant quests withSkyrimthat devolved to fetch quests, basic kill-monster-and-come-here affairs, or other such monotonous tasks that serve only to pad out a player’s runtime. It was far from the revolutionary system Todd hyped duringSkyrim’s reveal, making it puzzling as to why this system was reused forStarfieldandFallout 4. These games are already jam-packed with content, and the soulless nature of the Radiant quests makes them more of a chore to get through, adding to the fatigue players experience while playing such massive open-world RPGs.
