a Yourlist ranking · the crowd decides the order
From tragic murder mysteries to absurd cult rituals, these are the optional missions players still talk about years after finishing the game. Vote for the side quests that outshone their own main stories.
What counts: Ranked by narrative craft, emotional impact, and lasting cultural footprint rather than sheer length; years and playtimes are approximate estimates, and each entry is attributed to the game it originally appeared in.
Geralt tracks down a missing woman for a grieving, monstrous drunk of a warlord, only to discover the truth is far uglier than any monster contract. The quest twists from missing-person mystery to domestic-abuse tragedy to body-horror finale with the Botchling, and its three wild
Game: The Witcher 3: Wild HuntYear: 2015Approx. Length: 2-3 hoursQuality Rating: 9.5/10
added by IJRThe Bloody Baron
Ranni's Questline
What starts as freeing a witch from a doll's body spirals into a globe-spanning saga involving astrology, cosmic gods, and an entire alternate ending for the Lands Between. Ranni's arc is so vast and lore-dense that many players consider it the game's real main story, hidden in p
Game: Elden RingYear: 2022Approx. Length: 10-15 hoursQuality Rating: 9.5/10
added by IJR
Blood on the Ice
A serial killer is butchering women in Windhelm and the guards are hopeless, so the Dragonborn plays detective, tailing suspects and piecing together clues in one of Skyrim's rare genuine whodunits. The reveal of the Butcher's identity and eerie backstory gave Bethesda's usually
Game: The Elder Scrolls V: SkyrimYear: 2011Approx. Length: 1-2 hoursQuality Rating: 8.5/10
added by IJR
Come Fly With Me
A trio of alien-obsessed cultists in Nipton want help building a rocket to reach the 'Great Below,' and the quest lets you mock them, help them, or sabotage the launch. Depending on choices, you can literally shoot a cultist into orbit atop a warhead — pure, absurd Fallout comedy
Game: Fallout: New VegasYear: 2010Approx. Length: 1-2 hoursQuality Rating: 8.5/10
added by IJR
Treason (Tali's Loyalty Mission)
Tali'Zorah is put on trial for treason by her own people, and Shepard must gather evidence to clear her name or watch her exiled from the Migrant Fleet forever. The courtroom drama forces players to weigh loyalty against galactic politics, with real, lasting consequences for a be
Game: Mass Effect 2Year: 2010Approx. Length: 1-2 hoursQuality Rating: 8.5/10
added by IJR
The Noblest of Men, and a Woman
Arthur Morgan keeps bumping into a pretentious, unreliable stranger who insists he's writing the definitive account of the Old West — only to reveal himself as a fraud, then a coward, then something far darker. The multi-chapter mystery pays off with one of the game's bleakest, f
Game: Red Dead Redemption 2Year: 2018Approx. Length: 3-4 hoursQuality Rating: 9/10
added by IJR
Astarion's Personal Questline
A flirtatious vampire spawn's arc unfolds from self-serving rogue to survivor confronting centuries of abuse at the hands of his master, culminating in a ritual that can free him or corrupt him utterly. The writing and voice performance turned an optional companion thread into on
Game: Baldur's Gate 3Year: 2023Approx. Length: 20+ hoursQuality Rating: 9/10
added by IJR
Ladies of the Wood (Crones Questline)
Investigating Crookback Bog's missing children leads Geralt to the Crones, ancient witch-goddesses whose folk-horror bargain with the villagers turns rural fantasy into genuine dread. The quest's slow reveal of communal complicity and monstrous ritual is Witcher 3's folklore writ
Game: The Witcher 3: Wild HuntYear: 2015Approx. Length: 2-3 hoursQuality Rating: 8.5/10
added by IJR
Whodunit?
To join the Dark Brotherhood's inner circle, the initiate must murder every guest at a dinner party without anyone noticing — and without knowing who's watching them. Bethesda's black comedy peaks here, from poisoned drinks to shoving bodies into closets while other guests chat o
Game: The Elder Scrolls IV: OblivionYear: 2006Approx. Length: 1 hourQuality Rating: 8/10
added by IJR
The Silver Shroud
Sole Survivor dons the costume of a radio pulp hero and role-plays as a real vigilante cleaning up Goodneighbor, forced to speak only in Shroud one-liners for the quest's duration. It's a loving pastiche of noir radio serials wrapped around a surprisingly touching redemption arc
Game: Fallout 4Year: 2015Approx. Length: 1-2 hoursQuality Rating: 8/10
added by IJR
Breeding Business
Kiryu is asked to track down an escaped, extremely amorous turtle for an old man's breeding program, escalating into one of the most gloriously absurd substories in a game overflowing with them. The Yakuza series built its reputation on side content this committed to a bit, and t
Game: Yakuza 0Year: 2015Approx. Length: 1 hourQuality Rating: 8/10
added by IJR
A Matter of Life and Death
Geralt must lift a deadly curse from a mute, traumatized girl named Uma, unraveling a fairy-tale-tinged mystery that ties directly into Ciri's own past on Skellige. The fusion of folklore horror and genuine pathos exemplifies why Witcher 3 side content routinely out-writes other
Game: The Witcher 3: Wild HuntYear: 2015Approx. Length: 1-2 hoursQuality Rating: 8/10
added by IJR
The Truth
Scattered glyph puzzles hidden across Renaissance Italy unlock a secret documentary-style video essay questioning human history, aliens, and the Assassin/Templar war itself. Solving all twenty puzzles rewards players with meta-narrative lore that recontextualizes the entire serie
Game: Assassin's Creed IIYear: 2009Approx. Length: 2-3 hoursQuality Rating: 7.5/10
added by IJR
Epsilon Program
Michael gets roped into a Scientology-style cult promising cosmic enlightenment for cash, and the quest chain is Rockstar's sharpest satire in a game full of satire. Completing every donation and ritual nets a free robe, a parked Voodoo, and the game's most gleefully mean-spirite
Game: Grand Theft Auto VYear: 2013Approx. Length: 3-5 hoursQuality Rating: 7.5/10
added by IJR
The Replicated Man
A synth hunter hires the Lone Wanderer to track down an android hiding in plain sight among Rivet City's citizens, and the investigation plays like a Blade Runner homage inside a nuclear wasteland. Players can expose the synth or help him escape to Underworld, one of the game's e
Game: Fallout 3Year: 2008Approx. Length: 1-2 hoursQuality Rating: 7.5/10
added by IJR
John Marston stumbles onto a cannibal family in the hills of West Elizabeth, and what begins as a rescue mission spirals into one of the bleakest, blackest-comedy side stories the Wild West setting ever produced. The quest's matter-of-fact horror, delivered with total straight-fa
Game: Red Dead RedemptionYear: 2010Approx. Length: 1 hourQuality Rating: 7.5/10
added by IJRAmerican Appetites
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