OMG RPG

My husband recently finished playing Fallout 3 as the Good Guy.

“So did you find that place where there are real leafy green trees?” I asked, having heard Three Dog go on and on about it all the time.

“Oh yeah. No, I didn’t; I only covered like 50% of the world map.” 

What?! Didn’t he spend over 90 hours playing that game? Shouldn’t he have finished exploring the world? The amount of extras the developers packed into the game was astounding and in my personal opinion, frightening. The same thing happened to my husband last year: he spent so much time doing sidequests in FFXII that he lost track of the original plot! In a similar tale of woe, I, too, am overwhelmed by sidequests. Each time I have to choose between upping my Social Link and working to earn more money in Persona 4, I become anxious and worried. As I grind my way through the dungeons, trying to complete optional quests and get extra optional weapons, I start feeling…bored and restless. To my horror, I realize that the fun of playing RPGs is being leeched away by complex and/or time consuming sidequests. At one point, I wonder how much is too much?

Of course, like every argument in the world, there are two camps: the ones loving it and the ones hating it. Those who love sidesquests argue that it adds to the depth and replayability of the game, prolonging its life and stretching the price tag. Others who play mainly for the story or who have limited gaming hours like me, find sidequests a necessary evil. Dodge lightning 200 times to buff up the black mage? Ok, but she better kicked the last boss’s ass! Occasionally when my neurotic, perfectionist side rears its ugly little head, and I get sucked into the ‘I-must-get-100%’ blackhole, the game suddenly becomes a mindless, tedious chore. I get bored and frustrated and in turn, inflict my crankiness on everyone around me. 

But, not all sidequests are devised by developers to suck the joy out of gaming. Skies of Arcadia: Legends’s sidequests are the perfect balance of fun and necessity. I went crazy for a while and went sidequesting for hours. But miraculously, I had so much fun hunting down Wanted fugitives and getting crowned as the Bounty King. Similarly, for Shadow Hearts covenant, I had tons of fun doing the sidequests thanks to Yuri’s sense of humor. However, despite my general positive outlook on sidequests, I’m still a big proponent of ‘let’s-focus-on-the-story’ movement. Sure, there are tons of people out there who are campaigning for more sidequests, but for people like me, who loves a good story and can’t wait for the plot to thicken and twist, sidequests are at most side dishes – enjoyable but not really necessary. 

What really irks me is if the developer makes it a must to engage in the sidequest. One of my favorite games, Valkyrie Profile 2, is not overburdened by sidequests. Similarly, FF8’s main sidequest, the glorious Triple Triad, is fun but not necessary for completing the game. In this day and age, with WRPGs dominating the scene and developers catering more and more to explore-loving RPG fans, I ask that they do not forget to give other gamers the equally precious choice of not engaging in the sidequest mania. Don’t make it hard for us to complete the game just because we don’t have the will or time to track down THE ultimate weapons. We just want to kick back, relax, and follow the plot, ya know?

What do you think? Are there too many sidequests packed into RPGs lately or too little? Know any game that just overdid it? Or are you here to defend the glory of sidequesting? Let us know; the comment box is right down below.