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.
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.
Players level up their party members’respective Limit Breaksby 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 unlocksAerith’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.
Fallout 3is 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 afterMorrowindandOblivion.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.
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.
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 Triggerbreaks 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.
As one of the most celebratedJRPGs of the 16-bit era, players can bet their lives thatPhantasy Star 4is 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.
PS1 JRPGs are no slouch when it comes to length. Despite this, there is a side quest inFinal Fantasy 9that 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.
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.
Early on inMega 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.
