History Main / SidequestSidestory

* ''[[TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask Zelda: Majora's Mask]]'' is a pretty good example, with the Anju & Kafei sequence particularly sticking in the mind.

* StarWarsTheOldRepublic has planets that each have their quest chain that usually revolve around the situation going on there at the time the player arrives. Most if not all of the planets in the game have stories that revolve around the war with the republic or the empire and,depending on which faction the player is on,will determine what types of quests you can do there.

* StarWarsTheOldRepublic has planets that each have their quest chain that usually revolve around the situation going on there at the time the player gets there. Most if not all of the planets in the game have stories that revolve around the war with the republic or the empire and,depending on which faction the player is on,will determine what types of quests you can do there.

* StarWarsTheOldRepublic has planets that each have their questchain that usually revolve around the situation going on there at the time the player gets there. Most if not all of the planets in the game have stories that revolve around the war with the republic or the empire and,depending on which faction the player is on,will determine what types of quests you can do there.

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* All the quests labeled with 'Story' in ''DragonQuestIX'', which are available through DLC. A lot of backstory is only available through these.

* The GrandTheftAuto series features this. In some cases they are required to achieve OneHundredPercentCompletion.
** The most prominent example is in GrandTheftAutoViceCity, where Tommy can purchase several assets. Many of these assets unlock sidequests not directly relevant to the main story.

* The ''MassEffect'' games have a few examples where sidequests are chained together- ''MassEffect1'' has the Cerberus quest line from Admiral Kahoku, while ''MassEffect2'' has you tracking back the source of infected mech [=VIs=] in order to prevent further outbreaks or the Blue Suns quest line in which you shut down a piracy operation.

* ''[[TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask Zelda: Majora's Mask]]'' is a pretty good example, with the Anju & Kafei sequence particularly sticking in the mind.
* Most of the ''SandsOfDestruction'' {{anime}} is a series of sidequests that, while none of them connect into a ''separate'' story, they culminate in [[spoiler: WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds Morte]] coming to the realization that [[spoiler: what she had seen as a CrapsackWorld is really a WorldHalfFull, because [[RousseauWasRight of the inherent goodness in the people around her]]]], leading to the decision [[spoiler: not to use the Destruct Code to destroy the world.]]
* ''WorldOfWarcraft'' used to overuse this trope to the point that it was almost impossible to distinguish main quests from sidequests. They generally have an area-wide story arc, along with many many smaller story arcs that you could pick up while you are running about. A lot of leveling guides take advantage of this by making you pick up quests that go in the same area.

* ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamCity'' has several side missions which involve plots by the Riddler, Zsasz, Bane, Deadshot, [[spoiler: Hush and Azrael]].
* The ''MassEffect'' games have a few examples where sidequests are chained together- ''MassEffect1'' has the Cerberus quest line from Admiral Kahoku, while ''MassEffect2'' has you tracking back the source of infected mech [=VIs=] in order to prevent further outbreaks or the Blue Suns quest line in which you shut down a piracy operation.

* A lot of them in ''DragonAgeII'': completing a sidequest in one act will make you deal with its consequences in the next or even until the end of the game, such as the Bone Pit quests. WordOfGod is, this was the whole reasoning behind the three-acts-and-time-skips plot structure.

* ''BatmanArkhamCity'' has several side missions which involve plots by the Riddler, Zsasz, Bane, Deadshot, [[spoiler: Hush and Azrael]].

*** One side story has you meeting with a zombie that is not hostile and she is trying to find out what changed her into a monster. You then go on a series of quests trying to find out who changed her form and then looking for a way to change her back into a human while seeing two other characters having to deal with shortcomings, heartbreak, and death.
*** Another side story has you clashing with a criminal organization several times throughout the game but each encounter has you see the leaders develop in character and even clash against each other or teaming up with you in several occasions. Most of the leaders fall under EvenEvilHasStandards but one of them would rather have power to himself.

* TalesOfSymphonia features many of these. They'll nearly always give you backstory on party members, like why Zelos is putting up such a happy front, or Yuan's connection to Mithos.

* ''TheElderScrolls'' games typically have the main quest, the standalone sidequests, and major story arcs consisting of sidequests for each big faction in the setting (Fighters Guild, Mages Guild, Thieves Guild, etc.). The latter are often almost as expansive as the main quest.
** Interestingly, up until ''Skyrim'' each game had topped the previous one in this regard: ''Arena'' lacked the trope, ''Daggerfall'' introduced the possibility of joining factions and had small sub-stories for some of them (and had quests that intersect with the main quest and may appear to be part of it when playing), ''Morrowind'' made the Faction quests into more of stories, and ''Oblivion'' went all-out and had the Faction quests centre around some important thing to the faction in question (''Skyrim'' did the same, but re-added random quests for the first time since ''Daggerfall'').

*** Another side story has you clashing with a criminal organization several times throughout the game but each encounter has you see the leaders develop in character and even clash against each other or teaming up with you in several occasions. Most of the leaders fall under [[EvenEvilHasStandards]] but one of them would rather have power to himself.
***

* GoldenSun hits this up a few times, mostly between the first two games. Opting to save an imprisoned merchant or rescue a man trapped in a land slide has it's own immediate rewards, but then in GoldenSunTheLostAge many of these people track your party down to give you helpful items for helping them out.
** GoldenSunDarkDawn does this poorly. The initial quest you were sent out on gets completed, and then the games real quest starts. By the end of the game, the player's original mission has been demoted to an uncompleted side quest, with only the item sitting in their inventory as a reminder of why this even started in the first place.

In a typical RPG videogame, its basic practice to stuff a few [[FetchQuest fetch quests]] and collectable hunts in to beef up the play time. Some games go the extra mile, and make these [[SideQuest sidequests]] string together to tell the backstories and continuing tales of the [[NonPlayerCharacter NPCs]] around you. For example, a sidequest could be to fetch a [[PoisonedWeapons poison sword]] for someone to help them win an upcoming duel, and a follow-up quest deals with everybody calling that person a cheat for using poison and ostracizing them (real example from XenobladeChronicles). Done well, this can lead to the feeling of playing within a living, breathing game world.

* XenobladeChronicles can't get enough of this trope. A big achievement in the game is completing the "affinity map" showing every [[NonPlayerCharacter NPC]] and how they relate to each other, and an even bigger achievement is to make sure the majority of those relationships are happy ones!

* In WildArms3, a series of sidequests involve investigating UFO sightings. Not only these don't have anything to do with the main plot, it eventually results in the discovery of a separate menace to the whole world: an alien invasion!

* ''TheElderScrolls'' games typically have the main quest, the standalone sidequests, and major story arcs consisting of sidequests for each big faction in the setting (Fighters Guild, Mages Guild, Thieves Guild, etc.). The latter are often almost as expansive as the main quest.

* Most of the ''SandsOfDestruction'' {{anime}} is a series of sidequests that, while none of them connect into a ''separate'' story, they culminate in [[spoiler: WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds Morte]] coming to the realization that [[spoiler: what she had seen as a CrapSackWorld is really a WorldHalfFull, because RousseauWasRight]], leading to the decision [[spoiler: not to use the Destruct Code to destroy the world.]]

* The ''DeusEx'' series has something similar to that. You can hack computers and read emails on them. A lot of times if you have enough time and patience to do this on every PC you find in the game, you'll notice that a lot of them are tied together in complex stories that don't even have anything to do with the game plot - they're just there because the developers wanted them to be.

* Non video game example, except it's based on a video game so... well, anyway:
** Most of the ''SandsOfDestruction'' {{anime}} is a series of sidequests that, while none of them connect into a ''separate'' story, they culminate in [[spoiler: WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds Morte]] coming to the realization that [[spoiler: what she had seen as a CrapSackWorld is really a WorldHalfFull, because RousseauWasRight]], leading to the decision [[spoiler: not to use the Destruct Code to destroy the world.]]

* ''Deus Ex'' series have something similar to that. You can hack computers and read emails on them. A lot of times if you have enough time and patience to do this on every PC you find in the game, you'll notice that a lot of them are tied together in complex stories that don't even have anything to do with the game plot - they're just there because the developers wanted them to.

* Nearly all sidequests in TheLastRemnant have their own backstory and characters. The sidequests cover a wide range os stories that really flesh out the world, and are often necessary to unlock extra characters and boost their stats.

** This quest also finally explains what those bizarre orchid-shaped monsters unique to the Wild Arms series are: aliens!

* ''BaldursGate2'' had a number of different examples of quests that linked to one another separate to the main storyline- each class had their stronghold quests, while any class could do the main quest line for each stronghold.

In a typical RPG videogame, its basic practice to stuff a few [[FetchQuest fetch quests]] and collectable hunts in to beef up the play time. Some games go the extra mile, and make these [[SideQuest sidequests]] string together to tell the backstories and continuing tales of the [[NonPlayerCharacter NPCs]] around you. For example, a sidequest could be to fetch a poison sword for someone to help them win an upcoming duel, and a follow-up quest deals with everybody calling that person a cheat for using poison and ostracizing them (real example from XenobladeChronicles). Done well, this can lead to the feeling of playing within a living, breathing game world.