Best Quests from Other Titles

[Elkor_Alish]

So I have noticed the topic of writing, and specifically satisfying quests, brought up in a couple different threads. Since these are things which I also find very important, I thought I would launch a discussion on the most memorable moments from other games.

 

For me? The first that comes to mind is pretty recent, it was called The Flea of Cyrene from Assassin's Creed Origins. To start this quest, you perform a Leap of Faith off of a temple in Cyrene, and a little kid spots you, then asks you to perform similar jumps off of other locations around the city. After each, more children gather around, commenting on your actions, speaking to one another, spouting the sort of inane madness which young children are prone to (some eight year old girl, for instance, tells you come back and marry her in ten years). . .And like. . .I really liked it. It was a very human moment. It reminded me of being a kid and building BMX ramps, or playing basketball, when that odd adult would come over and show off, leaving us all impressed and rabidly motivated for the rest of the day.

 

I hate saying it, but PoE didn't have anything like that for me. . .So what side quests stuck with you so vividly that they stand out with distinction? Who knows, maybe if the devs are listening, we will get more than mere fetch, carry, and kill content going forward :D

[daven]

The mysterious box thing in KOTOR. I liked that one, haven't played it in a long time so can't remember exactly how it goes but... was a bit different and there was 0 combat.

[VincentNZ]

PoE for me is 30 months away from my mind and I sadly have to say that, while I thoroughly enjoyed the writing AND the game, I can not recall a whole lot of any quest or the main story. Some fragments remain, like Aloths personal quest that I really liked. I also really liked, in terms of simple writing, that the shield Eder was using throughout my entire game, was a pantry door, which was just a stroke of genius and the most unique weapon I have seen in a RPG especially in PoE which lacked memorable items.

 

Speaking of this, something similarly awesome, but much more present, is Lilarcor, speaking two-handed sword in BG2.

 

As far as quests go, I think the Elder Scrolls and Fallout Series (all of them) offered a lot of totally ridiculous quests, something which I enjoy. The pornstar quest in Fallout 2 comes to mind, or the Last Voyage of the Constitution in Fallout 4, the battleship manned by robots.

On more serious topics, ME2 and 3 allowed you to heal the Genophage a virus that made a certain alien race sterile, which has a huge impact in the forthcoming centuries. So basically everything that leaves you a choice, but with no immediate effect on the gameplay. Also Tyranny offered similar things, where you could totally go your own way, side with one, all or no factions, but it would mainly change things in the power structure, not in the direct gameplay unless you worked for it really hard.

[Wormerine]

That's... harder than I thought it would be.

A lot of quest, which really stuck with be and delighted me are those, which pop up in unexpected places. I like when Devs foresee what a player will do and prepare reaction for it, or just go to places other games didn't go yet. 

Witcher series were always great in doing more casual quests - Geralt's hungover must be one of my favourites from Witcher2. Not a deep quest, but one which comes unexpected, brings some potentially pernament consequences (stupid tatoo), and is really funny/human. Now, when thinking about witcher - more common events. Wedding from Heart of Stone was great.

[Tigranes]

The Siamese Twin Skull Mystery in Arcanum is unparalleled.

 

1) You never 'solve' the mystery and make all the pieces fit together perfectly.

2) Some quests, some mysteries, some plots, are larger than you - and so, you never quite catch the 'bad guy', you realise you can't solve everything.

3) The sheer eery, creepy moments along the way, like finding that secluded island full of blood-soaked medical beds.

4) The fact that, afterwards, you'll never walk the streets of Tarant and look at the nobles in the same way again, leaving some new knowledge about how the world works that might otherwise have been a boring loredump.

Edited March 10, 2018 by Tigranes

[Mannock]

One of my favourite quests ever is the Bridge district murder in BG2. It starts off as a who dunnit, which is something I always enjoy. And when you find the guilty party it ends. Or you think it ends. But by chance, the thread gets picked up again in a whole other part of the region, if you're lucky enough to stumble upon it. And no, there's no quest markers or hints about it in your log. You just have to stumble upon it.

 

After that, you get an item which takes the quest in a whole other direction. Which there also are no quest markers or hints about. It's just a long sequence of odd happenings which takes you on a great ride and ends with a really awesome item (or two, cause you get one of the parts to the Bow of Gesen too).

[jones092201@gmail.com]

The urn of sacred Ashes - da:o (should i defile the ashes of the chantry’s messianic figure?) - excellent conflict for that world’s tone.

 

Fallout 1- quest to save Tandy from the raiders— either kill them all, break her out using skills, speech check leader, fight to death vs leader — again, perfect introduction to that world

[Elkor_Alish]

The Siamese Twin Skull Mystery in Arcanum is unparalleled.

 

1) You never 'solve' the mystery and make all the pieces fit together perfectly.

2) Some quests, some mysteries, some plots, are larger than you - and so, you never quite catch the 'bad guy', you realise you can't solve everything.

3) The sheer eery, creepy moments along the way, like finding that secluded island full of blood-soaked medical beds.

4) The fact that, afterwards, you'll never walk the streets of Tarant and look at the nobles in the same way again, leaving some new knowledge about how the world works that might otherwise have been a boring loredump.

Now that is a worthy mention. It was an inspired way of incorporating lore. . .and I will be honest with you, I pretty much never trusted another Gnome I met after this quest. If they had a half orge bodyguard, and they all did, I just could not see them as anything but complicit. I think the various abandoned vaults one encountered in Fallout, particularly New Vegas, were also clever ways of letting you experience lore, but none of them really rivaled this though.

[Quillon]

I like quests that concludes in an epic gathering of important characters to resolve an issue the most. Like the trial in NWN2, kingsmoot(?) in DAO, armistice meeting in Skyrim etc.

 

Sadly Act 2's end in PoE wasn't good enough.

Edited March 10, 2018 by Quillon

[Pasi]

Oh, Planescape: Torment has a lot of those. One of my favorites: You notice a ghoul with a severed finger with a magic ring on it, the finger is strapped around ghouls neck. Now if you want to get the ring you have to allow ghoul to bite some of your flesh off (you are immortal regenerating being btw, so no biggie you lose few hp). The ghoul gives you the finger and leaves. Great you have the ring... nope it's cursed and wont slide off the finger. Sooooo.... you can bite off your own finger and attach the other one. It works somehow and you are equiped with cursed ring of protection +1, which is not bad for the beggining of the game. Great game, personal advice if you are willing to play it: play as a mage with high int+wis, otherwise you will miss like half of the content.

[jones092201@gmail.com]

Never winter nights 2 did a good job of using quests to introduce characters- the one where bishop the ranger helps you track down shondra Jerro is good. Also, the one with the paladin and the orcs— did a good job on introducing quest villains—

 

Pillars didn’t really do this- there was thaos as antagonist, but no real side villains, henchman boss type guys.

 

Both kotor and kotor 2 did a good job creating active villains, who interacted with the character and party.

 

Irenicus stands alone in this regard-

Edited March 10, 2018 by jones092201@gmail.com

[SonicMage117]

Psychonauts... the brain quest was basically a "anti-fetch" quest. Shot at rpg's in general, made me laugh. It's this type of writing that makes me love Tim Schaeffer's humorous games. I have to give credit to this because we don't see this in games as people are afraid to put tht kind of stuff into their games.

 

Dragon's Dogma quests were really good, only a couple were fetch quests while all the others were really developed well. The clear out to regain your territory approach never gets boring, adding purpose to how we approach our games and rewards you for your efforts. It's not only the "Wow... I can't believe I just did that" feeling that every game gives us but also a "Wow... They actually made all that effort worthwhile" which both classic rpg's and newer ones fail so much to give us.

 

 

Zenith, there is a quest that allows you to meet characters from different rpg's including Cloud, Squall, Anya, etc. It's just a pretty cool thing they did. The parody game just did something that nobody else seems to have ever done and that's pretty awesome.

 

Dishonored 2, it can hardly be catagorized as an rpg but I found the quests to contain more freedom than most revered rpg's out there. With everything from riddles to finding alternate ways to complete a mission without killing the targets and watching how that affects the story is brilliant structure.

 

What I look for is writing, uniqueness and reward enough to make it worthwhile.

[huang]

I remember a quest from Witcher 1, in which Geralt has to run an investigation into several sketchy characters. The interesting thing here and the reason why this stuck in my mind, is that you can completely bungle this investigation and yet the game will go on. The quest will always complete, but will have different outcomes. And even better yet, it will also affect the relationships with all the characters Geralt investigated. They will be more friendly or more hostile as a result. If Geralt plays his cards right (no gwent pun intended), he can even get a signet ring from the guard captain, which will also help with other stuff. So everything you do during this quest has an effect on the quest but also the game/world beyond that quest. It pays off to actually try and it's all very reactive. I was really impressed when I played the game again, with how different it all can be.

 

I'm sure there are countless other great examples, but this is one of the quests I'll never forget.

[CottonWolf]

One of my favourites is the Wutai kidnapping quest/event from FFVII. It's entirely optional, but it lets you see another side of the "villains" (the Turks) entirely. They're just on holiday there, at the time, and it makes it clear that they've got nothing personal against you, it's just their job. Then they help you resolve the kidnapping. I always thought that was a very organic way of providing characterisation without ever having to say anything explicit.

Edited March 11, 2018 by CottonWolf

[TheisEjsing]

I'll do 3 that really stands out to me, thou there's so many great quests in games, we could go all day. ^_^

 

Best quest goes to the bloody baron quest line from Witcher 3. That's the golden standard for quests imo.

 

I really enjoyed the haunted "ocean" house in VtMB, that was legit scary.

 

If you can call it a quest, I also really love the citidal DLC quest from ME 3. That's a top tier humoristic, and emotional journey.

Edited March 11, 2018 by TheisEjsing

[CottonWolf]

I really enjoyed the haunted "ocean" house in VtMB, that was legit scary.

 

This is a good answer. By far the best part of that game.

[Hybridsalmon]

The bridge district murder that Mannock already said is the one that springs in my mind the most.

The other one is the quest from the Dark Brotherhood in the house where you need to kill everyone(or convince them to kill eachother).

[M4xw0lf]

I remember a quest from Witcher 1, in which Geralt has to run an investigation into several sketchy characters. The interesting thing here and the reason why this stuck in my mind, is that you can completely bungle this investigation and yet the game will go on. The quest will always complete, but will have different outcomes. And even better yet, it will also affect the relationships with all the characters Geralt investigated. They will be more friendly or more hostile as a result. If Geralt plays his cards right (no gwent pun intended), he can even get a signet ring from the guard captain, which will also help with other stuff. So everything you do during this quest has an effect on the quest but also the game/world beyond that quest. It pays off to actually try and it's all very reactive. I was really impressed when I played the game again, with how different it all can be.

 

I'm sure there are countless other great examples, but this is one of the quests I'll never forget.

I remember that one. Because I got it wrong on my first playthrough. When I stumbled upon the resolution, I was thunderstruck.

[rothamon81]

 

I really enjoyed the haunted "ocean" house in VtMB, that was legit scary.

 

This is a good answer. By far the best part of that game.

 

 

Yep, extraordinary quest (-location). Here you are a "scary" vampire, getting scared like a little girl, really good.

[Guest Blutwurstritter]

"Saving the Bacon" from Divinity II: Ego Draconis. I had to free poor Kevin.

[Blades of Vanatar]

Definitely rescuing Imoen which springs Yoshimo’s betrayal. On my first play through it totally caught me off guard. I was PISSED at him and myself for not seeing it coming!

 

Also my first BG run. I had both Khalid/Jaheira and Monty/Xzar combos in my party. Once they bantering and I realized I had Harpers and Zhents in my party then they start fighting. Also the same with the Minsc, Dynaheir and Edwin triangle. Games just didn’t include that level of NPC interaction back then. Those moments were Unforgettable to me....

[Tarlonniel]

Major quest: Saving (or not) Redcliffe in DA:O. On my first playthrough, I had my PC turn around and leave town as soon as the guy ran up to warn him about the undead invasion. I figured I'd go check out the mage tower first and come back later - no big deal, since the invasion would just wait around for me to get back, right? Nope. Bye bye Redcliffe. I was shocked, appalled and very, very impressed. I thought the rest of that chain was excellent too, right up to choosing Connor's fate and Alistair's reaction afterwards.

 

Side quest: the Cult of the Eyeless in BG2. First you're chasing down some weird cultists, then there's this ancient temple, then a town of undead, then a beholder lair, and throughout the whole thing you're interacting with interesting people and learning about the lore of this world. Plus there's some good loot. I love it.

 

Minor quest: Playing through Redcliffe again, this time in DA:I, you can get 'Flowers for Senna.' It's very simple - talk to a widower, go put some flowers on his wife's shrine, come back - but I thought it was all beautifully written, including a little poem on Senna's grave. If you're playing a Dalish Inquisitor you even get some special dialogue. I'm a sucker for quests like this one.

[Wormerine]

Major quest: Saving (or not) Redcliffe in DA:O. On my first playthrough, I had my PC turn around and leave town as soon as the guy ran up to warn him about the undead invasion. I figured I'd go check out the mage tower first and come back later - no big deal, since the invasion would just wait around for me to get back, right? Nope. Bye bye Redcliffe. I was shocked, appalled and very, very impressed. I thought the rest of that chain was excellent too, right up to choosing Connor's fate and Alistair's reaction afterwards.

 

Huh. Never knew about that. In spite of all my dislike for DA:O I am sincerely impressed.

[Quillon]

 

Major quest: Saving (or not) Redcliffe in DA:O. On my first playthrough, I had my PC turn around and leave town as soon as the guy ran up to warn him about the undead invasion. I figured I'd go check out the mage tower first and come back later - no big deal, since the invasion would just wait around for me to get back, right? Nope. Bye bye Redcliffe. I was shocked, appalled and very, very impressed. I thought the rest of that chain was excellent too, right up to choosing Connor's fate and Alistair's reaction afterwards.

 

Huh. Never knew about that. In spite of all my dislike for DA:O I am sincerely impressed.

 

Not impressive tbh. Cos there is no reason not to save Redcliffe or Leliana from ashes unless you're being evil for the sake of it. What I mean is when you choose to save those things you don't sacrifice anything, no one in anywhere else is getting pissed etc.

[Wormerine]

Not impressive tbh. Cos there is no reason not to save Redcliffe or Leliana from ashes unless you're being evil for the sake of it. What I mean is when you choose to save those things you don't sacrifice anything, no one in anywhere else is getting pissed etc.

It sounds like reactivity Deus Ex:HR had at the start of the game. If you take too much time hostages you were send to save will be dead already. It seems less like choice, as more like devs bypassing expected behaviour (game always waits for players). If it doesn't get any reactivity beyond loosing on "town defence" than it is disappointing. Still, a positive thing in a campaign, in which every thing after the battle of Ostagar I found extremely dull and rigit.