Line #137 Main/Sidequest


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6	[[quoteright:265:[[VideoGame/{{Borderlands2}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zero_effort_1469.png]]]]
7	[[caption-width-right:265:Nice job [[ZeroEffortBoss shooting his face]]. Enjoy your [[LastLousyPoint +1% completion]].]]
8
9	->''"For a bunch of guys on a mission to save the world, you sure do love your detours."''
10	-->-- '''Gig''', ''VideoGame/SoulNomadAndTheWorldEaters''
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12	%% One quote is sufficient. Please place additional entries on the quotes tab.
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15	A sidequest (or optional quest, side mission, etc.) is any part of a video game that is not required to complete it. Sidequests come in a variety of forms, and completing them generally brings reward to the player such as additional equipment or abilities, areas to explore, supplemental plot related details, or fun unlockables.
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17	Going out of your way and completing all sidequests results in HundredPercentCompletion.
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19	Some sidequests such as the BonusDungeon and {{Superboss}} may provide challenges more difficult than any content available through the main storyline. This allows more casual players to still complete the game and see the plot resolved, while also giving gamers seeking an additional challenge something to go after.
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21	It is important to note that this appears in practically every game which gives the player even a slight amount of free rein, and is one of the best way for a developer to add more content and extend the length of a game. If sidequests take up the majority of the game, it may be a WideOpenSandbox.
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23	In a lot of post-''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' [=MMOs=] (and games inspired by it), most sidequests fall into the Big Five templates: [[MassMonsterSlaughterSidequest Kill Quests]],[[note]]"kill a certain number of certain mobs"[[/note]] {{Fetch Quest}}s,[[note]]"bring me a specific thing"[[/note]] [=FedEx=] Quests,[[note]]"[[ProductDeliveryOrdeal deliver this thing to another place]]"[[/note]] [[CollectionSidequest Collect Quests]],[[note]]"find a certain number of certain things", often [[TwentyBearAsses rolled into Kill Quests]][[/note]] and [[EscortMission Escort Quests]].[[note]]"guide this vulnerable NPC to another place"--i.e. an extra frustrating variation of [=FedEx=] Quests[[/note]] As [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otAkP5VjIv8 discussed]] by ''WebAnimation/ExtraCredits'', the prevalence of the Big Five is often a result of the common view among game designers that the only purpose of sidequests is to {{justif\|iedTrope}}y in-story the endless [[RPGsEqualCombat combat]] [[LevelGrinding grind]] gameplay.
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25	[[AC:Subtropes:]]
26	[[index]]
27	* AssassinationSidequest
28	* CollectionSidequest
29	** RecollectionSidequest
30	* CompanionSpecificSidequest
31	** LoyaltyMission
32	** RomanceSidequest
33	* InitiationQuest
34	* LoadsAndLoadsOfSidequests
35	* NeglectedSidequestConsequence
36	* OrganizedCrimeSidequest
37	[[/index]]
38
39	Related to CartographySidequest, CrowsNestCartography, IrrelevantSidequest, LoadsAndLoadsOfSidequests, MassMonsterSlaughterSidequest, ThatOneSidequest, and SidequestSidestory. Compare with WackyWaysideTribe, a non-interactive version. Also compare BossAlteringConsequence, for when a sidequest affects a boss battle in a unique way. Also see EasterEgg, InfinityPlusOneSword, and QuestGiver.
40	----
41	!!Examples:
42
43	[[foldercontrol]]
44
45	[[folder:Action Adventure]]
46	* ''VideoGame/ANNOMutationem'': There are several side-missions throughout the main cities, ranging from gathering a certain number of items, finding an lost object in a major area, and searching for a missing person. Completion of these quests grant [[CreditChip credits]], [[ExperiencePoints Grombitz]], and TechPoints for the [[SkillScoresAndPerks Skill Tree]].
47	* The ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed'' games have plenty of extra quests that help the player complete the synchronization of the memories of the past, which in turn leads to unveiling several rewards. ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIVBlackFlag'' goes as far as giving the player the opportunity to explore a very large part of the Caribbean to visit numerous islands, in which plenty of collectibles can be found, enemy bases can be confronted and dismantled, and treasure chests can be opened; then there's fishing, exploring sunken ships, doing requested assassinations, etc.
48	* You'll get a series of these in ''VideoGame/AvatarTheLastAirbender''. Each area has different tasks available, some which have to be activated by talking to random characters. You have to get these tasks accomplished before a certain timeframe. If you don't, the sidequest will be unavailable and you won't get a chance to do it again. That is, unless you restart the file all over again or go back to an older file.
49	* ''VideoGame/FlynnSonOfCrimson'': Quest givers have a big red exclamation point hovering over them.
50	* The Metroidvania-esque ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfTianding'' has multiple optional quests you can accept or deny, like getting the Kaoliang Liquor Label, finding Mr. Huang's stamps, completing Uncle He's medicinal broths, among various other tasks. You can accept or deny ''all'' of them, but completing them will boost extra points for your character.
51	* Featured in every single ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' game since the beginning of the series. A well-known example is ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask Majora's Mask]]'' for its sheer number of sidequests, which translates in several characters in need of help, more complex mini-games to play and more secret zones to explore. Other games in the series, such as ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker The Wind Waker]]'', ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheMinishCap The Minish Cap]]'', ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSpiritTracks Spirit Tracks]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild Breath of the Wild]]'' follow a similar trend (the latter one's case is especially notable because ''nearly all'' of its content is optional due to the availability of the FinalBoss since the beginning). In general terms, the availability of sidequests in a Zelda game is inversely proportional to how many dungeons exist.
52	* The search for the Extra-Life clover boxes in ''VideoGame/LittleBigAdventure'' and it's sequel. ''Little Big Adventure II'' also has the optional adventure in the form of a BonusDungeon; an off-the-main-path island cave off the coast of Desert Island which houses the Protection Spell. You do not need the spell to complete the game, and it will be [[PermanentlyMissableContent lost for good]] once you leave Twinsun the second time.
53	* In ''VideoGame/{{Okami}}'', sidequests help Amaterasu to gain Praise units, which gradually enhance her health, paint storage, money and revival chance stats. Some sidequests also house Stray Beads, a bonus supply of Gold Dust (which will permanently power up one weapon) and secret brush techniques.
54	* ''VideoGame/{{Solatorobo}}'' has a plethora of sidequests. They're optional, of course, unless you happen to need to be a slightly higher Hunter rank to take a plot-relevant quest. Not all quests will increase your rank, however.
55	[[/folder]]
56
57	[[folder:Casual]]
58	* In ''[[VideoGame/WithFriends Stampede Run]]'', you can run down side alleys. They're more challenging (no room for side-to-side motion, tight corners, etc.) but you can get lots of stars if you make it through.
59	[[/folder]]
60
61	[[folder:First-Person Shooter]]
62	* Present in ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands}}'' and its sequels, ''VideoGame/Borderlands2'' and ''VideoGame/BorderlandsThePreSequel'', with characters paying in XP, money, and/or loot. Especially notable is the (only) Face [=McShooty=] quest "Shoot This Guy In The Face". Should you find him in the middle of nowhere screaming about how he ''needs'' someone to shoot him in the face, accepting means you have to do so. Completing it actually awards you with cash and XP too, as well as the achievement ''[[ZeroEffortBoss "Well that was easy..."]]''
63	[[/folder]]
64
65	[[folder:MMORPGs]]
66	* ''VideoGame/ToontownCorporateClash'': Each playground contains around six sidequests you can do at any time, starting from when you reach it in the main storyline. One sidequest will always give you [[ZipMode fast travel]] to that playground, while the rest offer cosmetic bonuses.
67	[[/folder]]
68
69	[[folder:Platform Game]]
70	* ''VideoGame/BreadAndFred'':
71	** These generally take the form of picking up an item ([[EscortMission or character]]) and carrying them to a specific location. Such as delivering a canvas to where a painter has set up their easel, or finding the owner of Gertrude the seal and reuniting her with her.
72	** One of the missions of the Fishy Mines is given by a mole whose brothers are very late for their band gig at the penguin town. Your job is to find them all and remind them of their compromise.
73	** There are also all the photographs you can collect. They turn out to belong to [[spoiler:Greg]]'s album. When his rope snapped and he fell over the precipice, the pics of his photo album get scattered all throughout the mountain.
74	* ''VideoGame/ClunkyHero'': There are plenty of [=NPC=]s who have quests for [[PlayerCharacter Rufus]] to complete, much to his chagrin. He even lampshades about why they don't just do it themselves and how it feels like lazy writing.
75	* ''VideoGame/{{Dawn}}'' has 23 big purple flowers for [[PlayerCharacter Ash]] to find and bloom.
76	* Even the ''Franchise/MegaMan'' games are not immune. Collecting plates in [[VideoGame/MegaManClassic the Classic series]]; the armors from ''VideoGame/MegaManX'', the Cyber Elves from ''VideoGame/MegaManZero''; and the ''actual'' {{NPC}} sidequests from ''VideoGame/MegaManZX'', ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork'' and ''VideoGame/MegaManLegends'' haven't even been mentioned yet...
77	[[/folder]]
78
79	[[folder:Real Time Strategy]]
80	* Most ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquer'' games feature optional objectives in missions, but Tiberian Sun went one step beyond and featured optional missions, unnecessary to progress further in the campaign but granting some sort of advantage in the associated main mission.
81	* ''VideoGame/DawnOfWar'': In Dark Crusade, you only need to defeat the enemy stronghold provinces to win, regardless of how many provinces you actually hold. In practice, however, you will need to hold several of the other provinces for the bonuses they give (attack twice in a turn, attack any non-stronghold province, start with a base, or simply more requisition with which to buy honor guard units or defense troops).
82	* ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII'', being an RTS with RPGElements, has both Main and Optional Quests, which usually give rare items or advantages to the player. The expansion's Blood Elf campaign has a secret TowerDefense level which gives you an extra hero in the next level if you manage to win.
83	[[/folder]]
84
85	[[folder:Roguelike]]
86	* ''VideoGame/NetHack'' has two:
87	** The Gnomish Mines, a BonusDungeon which has Minetown halfway down (with guaranteed shops and a temple) and a guaranteed [[spoiler:luckstone]] at the bottom.
88	** The ''[[BlockPuzzle Sokoban]]'' BonusDungeon, four levels with lots of food, a guaranteed ring and wand on each level, and either [[spoiler:a bag of holding]] or [[spoiler:an amulet of reflection]] at the end of the final level.
89	* ''VideoGame/{{Elona}}'' has a job board in most towns with quests that cover all the sidequests types above. Jobs are regularly added and removed as time passes. They're a good way for a new character to get some starting capital, or can be used by a higher-level character who wants resources like platinum coins or music tickets.
90	* ''VideoGame/GearHead'' features both more conventional sidequests that can be completed once, and also constantly refreshing series of random quests. The random quests are generated by creating events in the gameworld, and then creating quests based on those events. For example, if a city is under attack, you can travel there and talk to members of the military to get quests to help fight enemy forces, or if you're well-liked by a town's mayor they may ask you to help with renegotiating contracts for town services with the corporations. Watching the news will give you some hints on where these quests are, or you can wander around and stumble upon them.
91	[[/folder]]
92
93	[[folder:Role Playing Game]]
94	* ''Franchise/BaldursGate'':
95	** ''VideoGame/BaldursGate'':
96	*** What is most fascinating about this game is that you unravel many side quests simply by roaming, talking to random people that might or might not have something to tell you, meeting strange creatures or unexpected folks in unlikely places, stumbling upon hidden ruins in a forest, finding the entrance of a dungeon that you weren't aware of. You can directly go for the main quest, or TakeYourTime by wandering in the wilderness.
97	*** The game is also just full of lazy, lazy gits always asking you to go and fetch them a book, a sword, a dead body, a scroll, or something else that's often less than thirty feet away. To the point where your character has the [[LampShade opportunity]] to go on [[RageBreakingPoint a long tirade]] that anyone who has ever played [=RPGs=] will agree with. Your journal will be full of [[DeadpanSnarker snark]] about it.
98	*** The expansion ''Tales of the Sworld Coast" added three large sidequests in increasing size that put in a shadow most of the simplier quests of the base game: the Ice Island, the Werewolf Island, and Durlag's Tower. The latter is considered one of the best crafted dungeons in the history of computer role-playing games for immersion, lore, lut, challenge.
99	*** The game starts without a clear direction for the true main quest, but explicitly suggesting to go meet two people (Khalid and Jaheira) at the Friendly Arm Inn, with a journal entry. You might think of them as plot mandatory, but they are actually optional - you don't need to meet them to go where you have to be. They will however ask to you to go to investigate the Nashkel mines, just like two other optional characters you can meet right after the start of chapter 1 (Xzar and Montaron) who might have made you think of them as a side quest. Regardless of the characters suggesting you where to go, the mines ARE part of the main quest, although you don't initially know and the world map puts them on the opposite side of the titular city you might want to try to reach.
100	** ''VideoGame/BaldursGate2'':
101	*** The game is mostly famous (amongst other things) for the detail and depth of many of the side quests, which are often termed as major side quests. They can come with full stories and highly detailed series of dungeons, each being like a small version of a main quest. It is also interesting that while all of them are technically facultative, to proceed in the main story you first need to accumulate a certain amount of money [[ButThouMust regardless]], and the intended way to fullfill the task (particularly for first-time players who don't know how to metagame) is to undergo one or two of the major side quests, usually at least the one suggested by Brus at the start of chapter 2 depending on your class (e.g. if you are a fighter he will point you to Nalia in the Copper Coronet).
102	*** The sequel is also famous for having ''no'' pure {{Fetch Quest}}s, in opposition to the first game. Even those that technically are solved by a delivery, like retrieving the ore for sir Arles or bringing the smuggled crates to Aran Linvail, are only part of a more significant story and can have multiple ways of dealing with the tasks. There is also ''one'' pure FetchQuest which is PlayedForLaughs but you have to go out of your way and [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor wish]] for "[[ExactWords A quest unlike any other]] (Sic)". [[HilarityEnsues You then have to find a gong which ends up being]] [[ItMakesSenseInContext a cow dung shovel]].
103	*** Another difference from the first game is that many quests are only available after you talk to someone and get a map update, most of the major quests anyway. Outside of Athkatla you cannot simply wander around and unlock new areas. While in the city, however, you can still find new big or small tasks to do by talking to random people or entering a building.
104	*** Almost all the companions you can meet after you leave the initial dungeon are also tied to an accompanying major side quest: either you can only recruit them while doing the task, or the quest itself becomes available after you meet them. All of them but one also have a further [[LoyaltyMission companion quest]] that will become available later on if you keep them in the party long enough.
105	*** Some of the major side quests are also handed to you by the game, by dialogues automatically triggered when you enter a certain area or meet someone, which makes them hardly missable (in some case also unskippable). For example, the aforementioned Nalia will come and talk to you the first time you enter the Copper Coronet, which is a likely destination at start, even if you aren't a Fighter. You can avoid her. But the first time you leave the city you will also trigger the timed quest for the poisoned Harper with no chance to TakeYourTime if you don't want to fail it. An interesting crossquest: you can avoid Delon in the government district (unless you have Minsc in the party), but if you accepted Tolgerias' quest to hunt Valygar, you will have to go to the Umar Hills, starting Delon's quest anyway at arrival.
106	*** Subverted and parodied in the expansion "VideoGame/BaldursGateIIThroneOfBhaal", where you can subcontract a recovery quest to younger adventurers you just depetrified. They try to kill you for more loot, but reload the game after you slaughter them.
107	*** The expansion also adds a new side quest mega-dungeon in the spirit of Durlag's Tower, that is the Watcher's Keep. It's immensely huge, on its own it can be a single main quest in a smaller game, and can be accessed both in the base campaign and the expansion part whenever you want. You can also use it to store items from the former so that they won't be [[PermanentlyMissableContent lost]] once transitioning to the latter.
108	* ''VideoGame/BatenKaitos'' is no stranger to this trope. Perhaps the most notorious ones are Quzman's family tree quest where you're tasked by an old man on his deathbed to track down his family members scattered throughout the world so he may pass away in peace and the Star Map where an attendant of the church asks you to retrieve all the missing Constellation magnus so the now destroyed Star Map can return to his former glory.
109	* ''VideoGame/BugFables'' has plenty of sidequests that can be accessed from job boards.
110	* ''VideoGame/CapellasPromise'' has forty listed sidequests in the quest log, though most of the optional postgame dungeons and optional characters aren't listed, including the one that requires you to finish all forty listed quests.
111	* ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' has six optional sidequests that can be performed between the end of the main quest up to the final boss and the actual fight with that boss. So much LevelGrinding is needed to defeat it, though, that they are pretty necessary [[NewGamePlus on your first playthrough]], anyway.
112	* ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' features many optional quests, most of which involve you assisting other NPC adventurers, in addition to many optional dungeons and bosses. Most of these quests are [[GuideDangIt difficult to accomplish if you don't know what you are doing]], so it will probably take multiple playthroughs to beat them all.
113	* ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'' not only has a ton of side-quests, it even gives you an Achievement for completing 75% of them. The achievement is called "[[TakeThatAudience Easily Sidetracked]]" The sequel features many as well, some of which come back to haunt or reward you as the game goes on. One notable type is the inverse fetch quests, where you find an unusual item then locate someone who can make use of it.
114	* The ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'' series has quite a few of them, but the one that stands out is ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIX'', which has ''one hundred and twenty'' of them... that came in the box. With DLC, this gets upgraded to over one hundred and eighty. True, the majority of them are either {{Fetch Quest}}s or killing a certain enemy a number of times and/or in a certain way, but the rewards are almost always worth it, such as class-exclusive armour, rare [[ItemCrafting alchemy]] ingredients, or even [[PrestigeClass new Vocations]]. This is a JustifiedTrope as well, your PC is part of a race of {{Winged Humanoid}}s called [[OurAngelsAreDifferent Celestrians]], who ''all'' have {{justified\|Trope}} ChronicHeroSyndrome.
115	* PlayedWith in ''VideoGame/DreamfallTheLongestJourney''. At one point, Zoe must complete one that involves a lot of running around. She comments on this and there's an option to be lazy and skip a step--with its own consequences.
116	* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'':
117	** After seeing how much time players spent on the much more limited sidequests in ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsArena Arena]]'', Bethesda responded by adding dozens of unique sidequests and an infinite number of [[RandomlyGeneratedLevels randomly generated]] sidequests in ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIDaggerfall Daggerfall]]''. (Though they do get repetitive rather quickly.) They also added a reason why you'd do sidequest (the same one as in ''Morrowind'', although less explicitly stated) and joinable factions as a reliable source and framework for sidequests with additional rewards for doing many (although actual faction ''[[SidequestSidestory stories]]'' did not come until later).
118	** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'' drops the infinite randomly generated sidequests in favor of having non-random LoadsAndLoadsOfSidequests, and even has an in-story explanation for why your character would do them. (You're a spy for the Empire and need to keep up a cover identity as a freelance adventurer, cleverly playing with TakeYourTime.) The Guilds and Factions all have their own [[SideQuestSideStory Side Quest Side Stories]], which are nearly as expansive as the main quest itself.
119	** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'' keeps the trend going with plenty of sidequests available and expansive faction questlines as well. However, the main quest's [[ContinueYourMissionDammit sense of urgency conflicts rather sharply]] with the still sidequest-focused gameplay.
120	** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'' continues the trend, with dozens of sidequests available and plenty more in the faction questlines. It also has a "Radiant Quest" system that revisits the same ground as ''Daggerfall'''s procedural generation to the same effect.
121	* ''VideoGame/ExitFate''. The majority of your 75-person crew roster are optional. How do you get them? Side quests! And if you get them all, you unlock the [[spoiler:Shadow character]] {{Optional Boss}}es. More side quests!
122	* The ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' series generally have a game-spanning storyline that consists of a handful of major quests in key locations and a plethora of sidequests to fill out the world, such as rescuing a town from raiders or clearing out monsters from an abandoned mine. The results of these quests may determine the fate of settlements and people you come across in your travels.
123	* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'':
124	** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII'' is full of {{Broken Bridge}}s and situations which end in benefits for the party (like, say, a nice new airship) and quite a lot of them are just sidequests woven into the main plot, or sidequests that remove something to inhibit you - come on, do heroes normally have to beat up some guy when he chains up their airship?
125	** The second half of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' is free form. There are three missions you have to do, but other than that, the missions are all side-quests, with rewards like powerful magic and recovering your party members.
126	** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' notably has the recruitment of two optional party members buried within its numerous sidequests.
127	** This idea has unfortunately spread to the PSP game ''VideoGame/CrisisCore''. There are 300 missions and just the very first one is required to continue with your game. What's worse is that there are only eight or nine "dungeons" the missions take place in with varying parts of them blocked off and all of them boil down to "find all enemies visible on the map and kill them", meaning the gameplay requires you do to the same thing over and over and OVER again...
128	** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake'' justifies this by having Cloud undertake odd jobs to pass time while waiting for the main plot to progress and make a little scratch.
129	** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'' averts this with two of the mini-games, as they are required to play in order to advance the story.
130	** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2'' is a game constructed almost entirely out of sidequests.
131	** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'' has many sidequests, one example of which is killing of [[BountyHunter "marks"]].
132	** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'' has sixty-four side quests available in Chapter 11. All of them revolve around killing a fairly powerful enemy.
133	** ''VideoGame/LightningReturnsFinalFantasyXIII'': The official guide states that completing all of the side quests will raise Lightning's stats more than the five main quests and the Canvas of Prayers quests combined.
134	* ''VideoGame/GhostTales'' gives you some optional sidequests to complete. Some are mandatory for the main game, but you will be presented with some that are available for a limited time.
135	* ''VideoGame/TheLastRemnant'' has a wide variety of sidequests, which is the main way to unlock map locations and the ability to hire some powerful people. There's also Guild Tasks which are similar in function but aren't classed as quests.
136	* ''VideoGame/TheLastStory'': Some of them are dead easy, like [[FetchQuest fetching ingredients]] for [=NPCs=] to plain weird.
137	** In order to learn how to dive into the water (you know how to swim however...) you have to catch three frogs. And in order to find said frogs, you must talk to a fortune teller who tells you where the frog is.
138	** An old man who lives at the far east end of the river in the city will reward you with various goods depending on the following: 1. How many times you've bumped into [=NPCs=] in the city. 2. How many times you've made Zael run face first into a low hanging sign. 3. How many times you've made Zael fall on his ass by slipping on a banana peel/spilled fruit.
139	** One optional sidequest is practically a {{Superboss}} in and of itself: Swim to the east end of the river in Lazulis City to find three Cave Cougars. Can you defeat them all by yourself? Probably not without a NewGamePlus. Fortunately for you, getting a Game Over here at least lets you exit the dungeon and return to town without penalty.
140	* ''[[VideoGame/TrailsSeries The Legend of Heroes - Trails]]'':
141	** The series has what is called "jobs" that players can fulfill outside of the story. Some may be a bit harder than others, despite that they garner great rewards.
142	** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel'' is more fleshed out and more streamlined than that of ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsInTheSky Trails in the Sky]]'', as the optional jobs are mixed with the required tasks.
143	* In ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiSuperstarSaga'', the Castle Town has two sidequests; you need to find a man's missing 'Beanlets' and dig up ancient artifacts for another man.
144	* ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' has a subversion. The loyalty missions are under the plot-relevant "Missions", but are mostly kinda-sorta optional. You had ''better'' get OneHundredPercentCompletion of them [[EarnYourHappyEnding if you know what's good for you]].
145	* ''VideoGame/MightAndMagic'' tended to have a fair number of sidequests. VI, in a minor twist, made a fair number of them connected to the main story... in ways that you don't find out until the end of the sidequest, and maybe not even then if you miss a single chest or fail to read that letter you found.
146	%%* ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights''
147	* ''VideoGame/PaperMario'' had a good deal of them as well. The second game made it easier to find the minor ones by means of a ''Trouble'' center, where {{NPC}}s would put up help requests.
148	* In ''VideoGame/Persona3'', Elizabeth, or in ''[[UpdatedRerelease Portable]]'', Theo, offers nearly ''one hundred-fifty'' different requests throughout the game, some of which need to be unlocked by completing others, not to mention filling the Persona Compendium.
149	* ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment'' has a clever subversion of optional {{Fetch Quest}}s. An old witch will only teach the PC magic if he fetches her three seemingly-innocuous and useless items: some herbs, rags and a fish. Not only do the apparently pointless errands actually have meaning attached to them but the items themselves are used to create spells.
150	* The Franchise/{{Pokemon}} contests, which were first introduced in ''VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire''.
151	* ''VideoGame/{{Robopon}}'' has a couple in the first game. There's the Brownie quest with Sam, accessible only at 5 o'clock, rescuing Princess Darcy with the Teardrop of Morris, found by fighting Hunter on Cherry Hill, and the Underwater Creature you give Dream Shells to in order to unlock the Underwater Health Spa.
152	* It is traditional in ''VideoGame/ShadowHearts'' for every playable character to unlock a personal sidequest once TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon shows up on the world map. These sidequests contain the character's InfinityPlusOneSword, and usually fill out their CharacterDevelopment. In addition, the later two games come with game-long sidequests for certain characters that complement or replace the last-dungeon-cued one.
153	* ''VideoGame/SkiesOfArcadia'' has a ton, and you wouldn't realize half of them actually are sidequests. How can you tell? In [[UpdatedRerelease Legends]], there are special ranks for completing these things, included ''[[FetchQuest catching 1000 fish]]''.
154	* ''VideoGame/UnhappyEverAfter'': You can talk to some [=NPC=]s, who will ask you to do things for them. They promise to pay you, of course. Gretel, however, [[LampshadeHanging has a few choice words about always being asked to do things]].
155	* ''VideoGame/{{Xenosaga}} Episode 2'' was condemned for having what many have argued the vast majority of its gameplay be in the form of crappy Fed Ex sidequests and minigames.
156	[[/folder]]
157
158	[[folder:Simulation Game]]
159	* Once you enter elementary school in ''VideoGame/GrowingUp'', your parents will sometimes give you sidequests called Expectations, where you're given tasks such as performing a certain activity several times or raising a certain Attribute. You'll be rewarded Pride Points which you can spend on gifts, vacations, and special requests from your parents, but failing to complete Expectations within a certain number of turns will lower your parents' satisfaction.
160	* ''VideoGame/PotinPermit'': Besides the major story tasks and Friendship Events, you can take requests from the Community Board in the Town Hall. Any required materials are dropped off at its postbox, and any incomplete requests are abandoned by the following in-game week.
161	* ''VideoGame/RuneFactory2'' has an optional sidequest composed almost entirely of fetch quests. The townspeople post requests on a message board that you fulfill to win their money and affection. Marvelous and/or Neverland apparently thought that wasn't enough, so ''VideoGame/RuneFactory3'' adds a mailbox and a message-delivering owl in addition to the message board. (Each one can only have one request fulfilled per day, so a total of three can be done per day if each one has at least one request.)
162	* In ''VideoGame/ToTheRescue'', you accept sidequests called Grants, which you complete by accomplishing tasks such as vaccinating your dogs and making sure the overall welfare is above a certain percentage. You have five working days to complete Grants and earn money from them, but you won't be penalized if you fail. You also receive two new Grants[[note]]three if you unlock the Industry Connections skill[[/note]] to pick one from every five working days.
163	[[/folder]]
164
165	[[folder:Survival Horror]]
166	* ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil2'' has an optional room in Umbrella's facility that can only be accessed in Scenario B. However, in order to get to the room, the player character in Scenario A has to unlock the first lock on the door to the room, then the second character has to release the second lock in Scenario B. The room contains [[DemonicSpiders three Lickers]] and a submachine gun. The weapon is a good find if you had the character in Scenario A take the same weapon from the police station weapons locker. You don't have to go to the double locked room to complete the game, but if you want the machine gun or want to get more ammo for it, it's there.
167	* ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil3Nemesis'' has a minor side quest with a key item in the disused disposal facility. You get a key that has a scannable card on the key ring and it's used to open a door. However, if you take the key to a certain machine, you can insert the card into it to change its ID. The newly written tag can then be used a bit later on to open a weapons locker that contains a [[InfinityPlusOneSword rocket launcher]]. You can still defeat the FinalBoss without the rocket launcher, but having it makes the fight easier.
168	[[/folder]]
169
170	[[folder:Turn Based Strategy]]
171	* ''VideoGame/BlazingSouls'' [[SidetrackedByTheGoldSaucer has so much side content]] that you don't even know what part of it is required to advance the story, [[GuideDangIt and you need to do every sidequest and nail everything right]] in order to get the TrueEnding. That said, this is true of basically all Creator/IdeaFactory games of this genre.
172	* ''Videogame/FinalFantasyTactics'' opens up a lot in Chapter 4. The PSP version even added new sidequests.
173	* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsAdvance'' [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsA2 and its sequel]] both have tons of sidequests (out of 300 missions, around 30 are mandatory to see the ending). The sequel has up to 400 missions if you count random encounters etc.
174	* ''VideoGame/TacticsOgre'' is quite unusual for its genre, in its approach in which the game opens almost completely after you do the first half of Chapter 4. In the [[VideoGameRemake PSP version]], you get new quests in earlier chapters, too.
175	[[/folder]]
176
177	[[folder:Wide Open Sandbox]]
178	* The ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'' games all feature numerous side-missions that are not essential for completion, but often give you abilities that will make the game easier, such as fireproofing (for completing the firefighting mission) or the ability to get out of jail for free (for completing the vigilante mission).
179	* ''VideoGame/TheSimpsonsHitAndRun'' has collector cards that contain items from [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons the cartoon]] (Such as [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS9E1TheCityOfNewYorkVsHomerSimpson crab juice]]), collecting all in a level unlocked a multi player bonus track that was specific to the level, collecting all in the game allowed you (in level 3) to trade all of them (although they're still there in the pause menu) for a ticket to the "Itchy and Scratchy: 300 Yard Gash" from the Comic Book Guy. There is also a bonus mission in each level where you can unlock a car, as well as three races that will also unlock a car if you complete them.
180	[[/folder]]
181
182	!!Non-video game examples:
183
184	[[folder:Fan Works]]
185	* {{Lampshade\|Hanging}}d in ''Ian's Adventures in Morrowind'' ([[http://web.archive.org/web/20030627014843/machall.com/morrowind/page8.html archived here]]).
186	-->'''Dagoth Ur:''' What the hell are you doing here? I'm the end boss!\
187	'''Ren:''' Correction, you ''were'' the end boss. That's my job now...\
188	'''Dagoth Ur:''' But you can't just skip to the end of the game without doing any of the 400 side missions!?\
189	'''Ren:''' Fine then, you can go tramping around this God forsaken rock for years on end, doing odd jobs for complete strangers, which in some twisted way ends up saving the whole world for no reason at all...
190	[[/folder]]
191
192	[[folder:LARP]]
193	* ''Roleplay/OtakonLARP'' naturally has a plot that's supposed to string together the events of the weekend, but you wouldn't necessarily know it from the individual players [[QuestGiver inventing their own side goals and quests]]. "Player Specialists" often run a storyline that runs parallel to the GM plot, making what looked like a side quest part of the overall story.
194	[[/folder]]
195
196	[[folder:Myths & Religion]]
197	* [[Characters/ClassicalMythology Herakles]] makes this trope OlderthanFeudalism as he frequently had unrelated adventures ([[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu like wrestling '''Death''' to return someone that had died]]) while performing his [[FetchQuest 12 Labours]]. To the Ancient Greek tropers this was known as a Parergon (plural "parerga").
198	[[/folder]]
199
200	[[folder:Pinball]]
201	* ''Pinball/{{Heist}}'': In addition to modes that advance the main storyline, the characters can start "Side Jobs" for extra points.
202	[[/folder]]
203
204	[[folder:Web Comics]]
205	* In ''Webcomic/EightBitTheater'', Red Mage points out in [[http://www.nuklearpower.com/2002/08/02/episode-180-headin-to-pravoka/ strip 180]] that sidequests are the primary source of EXP for adventuring parties, and are what distinguishes them from thugs and monsters.
206	* ''Webcomic/{{Adventurers}}'': Karn is obsessed with these, defending them with "Sidequests are an efficient way to increase experience", and once admonishing Ardam that he needs to get his priorities straight when he complains about the team going on sidequests instead of saving the world.
207	* In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', an NPC [[https://www.egscomics.com/egsnp/parable-042 tells]] Susan to come back after she's done some sidequests to increase her fame.
208	* In ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'', Vriska and Tavros [[HeroOfAnotherStory apparently]] spent quite a while doing side quests on the Land of Maps and Treasure, hoarding wealth and experience.
209	* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'': Roy Greenhilt, on the other hand, hates [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0349.html wasting time]] [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0134.html on sidequests.]] And Tarquin [[ItsAllAboutMe refuses to be one]].
210	[[/folder]]
211
212	[[folder:Web Videos]]
213	%%* {{Deconstruct\|ion}}ed in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbUqEPUZ-ds this]].
214	* Parodied in ''WebVideo/TheKingDragonCanon'' ([[https://youtu.be/Uq20WAuTUdQ link]])
215	-->'''Archebald:''' Shouldn't we be saving Prince Horace from King Dragon?\
216	'''Dennis:''' Will you relax? I am trying to find every pinecone, okay?
217	[[/folder]]
218
219	[[folder:Western Animation]]
220	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Tigtone}}'': As the series takes place in a world that runs on video game logic, Tigtone often gets distracted by sidequests.
221	[[/folder]]

Context Main / Sidequest