Open-world games are where the best discoveries are hidden

Questlines in the open-world genre are one of the most important aspects of keeping players invested in the world for a long time. It's no good having a compelling world without reasons to explore it, and so, it's important to give players a sense of meaning and purpose amidst all the action and chaos. However, as compelling as the main quests can be, in some situations, the side content actually provides a more enjoyable experience, taking players on a journey across the landscape, following characters and clues they might never have encountered if they'd stuck to the standard route.

Some of these quests are one-offs, but still manage to be incredibly fun and memorable, while others are very detailed, spanning multiple stages that often take hours to see through to the end. What makes them so great is their ability to feel deeply important on the same level as the overarching goal of the story, allowing players to feel invested in storylines and characters they had no obligation to care about in the first place. By filling the world with so many interesting quests, the atmosphere feels more alive, and players can feel more excited to explore every minute detail, knowing that there could be an incredible adventure waiting for them around the corner.

Skyrim

Curiosity is leading the way

Description:

• Unmarked locations that can often trigger great questlines

• Great stories have no relevance to the main path

Bethesda has always been known for cramming its games with lots of quests, and Skyrim is There are no exceptions. It's very difficult to walk into town without running into someone in need of help, or even into the mountains, where a lost traveler might be looking for someone to help them defeat a terrifying monster. One of the best examples of this is The Mind of Madness Quest, where players start off by talking to a seemingly harmless madman wandering around in solitude, but quickly find themselves traveling through a world of dark humor and madness, with a few twists along the way.

Other quests, such as the Forbidden Legend, can be completely ignored, as the starting condition is literally tied to reading a random book. From there, the mystery slowly unravels, revealing old betrayals and more powerful rewards for those who pay attention to their surroundings. In all of these cases, the quests really feed the idea of ​​curiosity within a large open landscape, as, rather than clearly showing players where to start, they must go out of their way to hunt and explore in hopes of finding a new story to follow. And, because the map is full of these adventures, it's easy to get lost in the side content for hours, waiting for even the dreaded dragon to conquer.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

Paths that last for hours

Description:

• Contractions quickly spiral into giant arcs

• Quests are available with time and ambiguous choices

The Witcher 3 Complete with quests and stories, both optional and mandatory, but as players travel across the country in search of adventure, they will quickly discover that many of the side missions are actually more fun and interesting than the main one. Some, like Equine Phantoms, take players on a more strange but interesting path that can't be preceded by an actual big quest, but it still manages to be a short but fun little trip to go between clearing out enemy camps and saving entire cities from collapse.

Because the writing is so extraordinary, even minor side characters can feel incredibly believable. Where Cat and Wolf Play is a good example of a quest that many players completely miss, but it offers an incredibly complex story about trauma and the cost of living in a world that is. It also poses a difficult choice for the player that weighs as much as any other major quest in the game, demonstrating the importance of a rich environment that doesn't feel empty, but filled with life.

Fallout: New Vegas

Faction-driven stories that are easily missed

Description:

• Some groups are completely optional and missable

• Dialog options can permanently lock content without warning

Fallout: New Vegas The RPG stands at the top of the genre and for good reason. Its characters and questlines are among the best in the industry, and some of the best bunch are tucked away in less obvious parts of the map or in locations that players would never think to explore the first time around. More importantly, many quests can actually be locked and inaccessible depending on the choices the player makes, forcing them to think carefully about their decisions from the moment they step into the wasteland. The Beyond the Beef is an incredibly infamous side story that can't be missed, but is also heavily influenced by the choices the player makes as it progresses.

After reaching the ultra-luxe casino, players can talk to Heck Gunderson in hopes of finding his missing son. But that initial interaction soon turns into a disturbing plot involving cannibalism and social decay, despite what initially appears to be a pretty basic missing person's case. There are many other similar examples, including comedies like Come Fly With Me, and Not Worth a Hill of Corn and Beans, which are more grounded and focus on ability-checks to present a longer plot. No matter where players are in the desert, there will always be someone new to see or talk to, so going the extra mile and really checking out those hidden rooms is often a great way to find some of the best finds in the entire game.

Red Dead Redemption 2

Deep stories off the beaten trail

Description:

• Each area hides a large number of fascinating stories

• Some quests can unfold over several hours without interacting with them

Red Dead Redemption 2 Keeps some of its emotionally resonant content away from the main story, often hidden behind obscure triggers or in isolated locations. The Widow of Willard's Rest is a heartwarming quest that sees players teach a grieving woman how to survive alone in the world, creating a quiet and human story far removed from the grand adventures elsewhere. The quest unfolds over multiple visits, prompting players to return time and time again with no real incentive other than to help a struggling soul, with many players finishing the game without even realizing it exists.

Another standout is the Veteran questline, which is initiated by meeting a wounded veteran in remote Grizzlies. The series of missions focuses on companionship and healing on a much smaller scale, making it feel like a deeply personal set of tasks that sharply oppose the game's larger story. Many quests like this thrive on their isolation and simplicity, reinforcing the game's belief that the most meaningful stories are often the most human and that in a world full of all kinds of people, even the most insignificant ones can be the most important.

Alden Ring

There are no quest markers to guide you forward

Description:

• Lack of clear steps for each NPC

• Unpredictable characters that can move without notice

Alden Ring is a game that is practically a long mystery scattered across a huge world. There are no real markers or ways to reliably locate individual NPCs, so players need to follow rather subtle clues or spend a lot of time Googling to be able to follow these stories to their conclusion. The biggest of these are actually tied directly to the end, like Ranni and Fia's quests, which can easily be missed on the first playthrough, not reaching the farthest and deepest parts of the map. The latter literally sends players deep into the earth and back, forcing them to take on terrifying enemies and succumb to frenzied flames, again, all without clearly showing them where to go next.

The DLC continues this theme by hiding entire bosses and quests in small crevices of the environment. Putrescent Knight is already off the beaten path, but still has St Trina and Thiollier's questline, which is not only as far away from the main area as possible, but also takes players on an adventure across a landscape that could easily be overlooked. Metyr, Mother of Fingers, follows the same pattern, this time the quest to be a precursor to actual combat. Players need to cross a range of shadows, ringing bells and performing gestures, only to then be rewarded with one of the most unique bosses in the entire game. This vision of vaguely leading players around the world is what makes the game so compelling, as many of the NPCs and stories would have been nowhere near as interesting had they been shown to the player from the start.