History Main / Sidequest

* ''VideoGame/PotinPermit'': Besides the major story tasks and Friendship Events, you can take requests from the noticeboard 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.

* In ''[[VideoGame/ToTheRescue To the Rescue!]]'', 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.

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]]"[[InvertedTrope 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.

Subtropes:

* 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.

* ''VideoGame/FlynnSonOfCrimson'': Quest givers have a big red exclamation point hovering over them.

* ''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.

* ''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.

* ''Franchise/BaldursGate''
** ''VideoGame/BaldursGate'' is 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.
** ''VideoGame/BaldursGate2'' is famous (amongst other things) for having ''no'' pure {{Fetch Quest}}s. Subverted and parodied in "Throne of Bhaal", 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.
** It also has ''one'' pure FetchQuest 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]].
* ''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.
* ''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.
* ''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.
* 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.
* 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...
* ''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.
* ''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.
* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy''

* 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.
* ''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.

%%* ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights''

* ''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!
* ''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.
* 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.
* Played with 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.
* The Franchise/{{Pokemon}} contests, which were first introduced in ''VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire''.
* ''VideoGame/TheLastStory'': Some of them are dead easy, like [[FetchQuest fetching ingredients]] for [=NPCs=] to plain weird.
** 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.
** 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.
** 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.
* 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.
* ''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.
* 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.
* ''[[VideoGame/TrailsSeries The Legend of Heroes - Trails]]''
** 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.
** ''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.

* ''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.

* [[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").

* 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.
* 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.
* 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.

Related to CartographySidequest, CrowsNestCartography, IrrelevantSidequest, LoadsAndLoadsOfSidequests, MassMonsterSlaughterSidequest, ThatOneSidequest, and SidequestSidestory. Compare with WackyWaysideTribe, a non-interactive version. Also see EasterEgg, InfinityPlusOneSword, and QuestGiver.

Related to CrowsNestCartography, IrrelevantSidequest, LoadsAndLoadsOfSidequests, ThatOneSidequest, and SidequestSidestory. Compare with WackyWaysideTribe, a non-interactive version. Also see EasterEgg, InfinityPlusOneSword, and QuestGiver.

* ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil3'' 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.

* ''LARP/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.

* ''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]] {{Bonus Boss}}es. More side quests!

Some sidequests such as the BonusDungeon and BonusBoss 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.

** One optional sidequest is practically a BonusBoss 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.

* ''VideoGame/TrailsSeries'' 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.
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel'' Is more fleshed out and more streamlined than that of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsInTheSky'' as the optional jobs are mixed with the required tasks.

* 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.
* 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.

* In ''VideoGame/TheLastStory'', sidequests range from single-step item deliveries, going through a very long ChainOfDeals, to entire playable chapters that are optional.

[[caption-width-right:265:Nice job [[ZeroEffortBoss shooting his face]]. Enjoy your [[LastLousyPoint +1% completion]].[[note]]But he was asking for it!... [[DeathSeeker Literally.]][[/note]]]]

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', notably has the recruitment of two optional party members buried within its numerous sidequests.

** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', most are contained within the Gold Saucer location.

** ''VideoGame/BaldursGate'' is 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 [[RantInducingSlight a long tirade]] that anyone who has ever played [=RPGs=] will agree with. Your journal will be full of [[DeadpanSnarker snark]] about it.

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]]"[[InvertedTrope 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.

[[caption-width-right:265:Nice job [[ZeroEffortBoss shooting his face]]. Enjoy your [[LastLousyPoint +1% completion]].]]

* Most ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquer'' games features 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.

* In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', a NPC [[https://www.egscomics.com/egsnp/parable-042 tells]] Susan to come back after she's done some sidequests to increase her fame.

Related to IrrelevantSidequest, LoadsAndLoadsOfSidequests, ThatOneSidequest, and SidequestSidestory. Compare with WackyWaysideTribe, a non-interactive version. Also see EasterEgg, InfinityPlusOneSword, and QuestGiver.