Best and Most Fun Side Quests in Games

In the past, games were simple. You went from left to right with an easy goal: defeat the villain, save animals or save a princess, beat up everyone on the street and rescue your girlfriend. In short, nothing was too complex and your goal was always straightforward. Nowadays, with the size of games, with maps that are increasingly larger and more elaborate, you need to fill that world with cool things to do in addition to the main mission. And that's where side quests come in.

In general, these missions are simpler, but easy to complete and finish in a short time, so that you don't lose track of the main story and achieve your objective. But sometimes, some stand out and are more memorable than the main mission and make you regret having finished it because it was so much fun, interesting or just so bizarre that each checkpoint completed made you think "what just happened?"

In the midst of the chaos and violent missions of Cyberpunk 2077, a secondary mission stands out for its humor and absurdity: “Machine Gun”. In it, V finds a smart pistol with its own personality, called Skippy.

The gun talks to the player, sings songs, makes bad jokes and even asks you to choose between two modes: one that only shoots at the legs and another that aims straight at the head. But after a few shots, Skippy changes the mode on its own, without warning. Skippy is one of the best weapons in the game. What seems like just a joke ends up becoming a strange and fun mission.

However, at some point, the gun tries to convince you to return it to its rightful owner and. If the player decides to return the gun, they lose Skippy for good. If not, the gun insists on trying to convince you or you keep hearing complaints from the gun itself. It's a short mission, but with so much charisma that it became one of the most remembered in the game.

“Find the Blood of Lathander” is a short side quest in Baldur's Gate 3 that takes place in Rosymorn Monastery during Lae'zel's personal quest to visit the githyanki nursery. The quest is a mix of mystery and puzzle-solving as the party follows clues left in the monastery's final moments before its fall to the githyanki. Besides the goal of finding the Blood of Lathander and the various puzzles, the amount of lore about Lathander and Faerûn learned during this quest is both fantastic and heartbreaking.

The monastery must be explored thoroughly to find all the pieces of the first puzzle, which allows the party to understand how much was lost when the Githyanki invaded this pilgrimage site. After the party meets up with the Githyanki and speaks with Vlaakith, a secret tunnel leads to the final puzzle, where traps must be disarmed before the Blood of Lathander can be obtained. And if you let the temple fall on Astarion, you’ll get one of Neil Newbon’s best performances in the game as he revives him.

What starts out as a simple mission quickly turns into something disturbing and hard to forget. In Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare, the mission “Birth of the Conservation Movement” is given to John Marston by a stranger who raves about baby-eating sasquatches living in the Tall Trees forests.

The mission requires the player to hunt and eliminate these creatures, which are actually peaceful and run away when they notice you approaching. That alone is uncomfortable. But the tone changes completely when we meet the last Sasquatch, who begs to be killed after witnessing the extermination of all his fellow creatures. He reveals that his species is herbivorous and has never harmed a single human. The player is faced with a meaningless and satisfying choice: put an end to the creature's suffering or simply leave.

This mission left its mark on many players due to its unexpected emotional charge. An example of how even a zombified spin-off like Undead Nightmare can deliver something genuinely memorable.

This side quest from Fallout 4 is completely different from the others. “The Silver Shroud” lets the player play as a retro comic book superhero, complete with a 1940s radio-style costume, voice acting, and speeches. The main character takes on the role of the Shroud, dispensing justice in his own way in a post-apocalyptic Boston.

The charm of this mission lies in its over-the-top tone, as if it were an old radio episode mixed with a low-budget film noir. It's a complete change of tone from the game's more serious atmosphere. And yet, it doesn't lose its impact.

The mission also features radio broadcasts that guide the player through the stages of the journey, maintaining the theatrical atmosphere until the end. It's so memorable that many fans consider it one of the best missions not only in Fallout 4, but in the entire franchise.

The Batman Arkham series has had a number of psychological horror-themed missions, especially when Scarecrow is involved. But in Arkham Knight, a side mission called “Perfect Crime” takes this to a whole new level. While patrolling the skies of Gotham, the player may hear an oddly out-of-place operatic tune. Upon investigating the source of the sound, they find a grotesque crime scene: a mutilated body posed as if it were a macabre work of art.

The case unfolds as the player finds other corpses arranged in the same way. Using his detective skills, Batman connects the crimes to a character as disturbing as he is little known: Professor Pyg.

Pyg is an insane surgeon who tries to create “perfect bodies” from ordinary people. When he fails, he kills the victim or transforms them into the “Dollotrons,” identityless aberrations that attack Batman in the final part of the mission. The tension, the atmosphere of horror and the sense of urgency make this one of the most intense and memorable missions in the Arkham franchise.

Tali, a member of Commander Shepard's crew in Mass Effect 2 is accused of treason against the quarian fleet. The charges state that she sent geth assets to the quarians, which is a serious offense given the long-standing conflict between the two species. Shepard accompanies Tali to her trial aboard the Quarian Flotilla.

The trial quickly reveals that the situation is complex, involving Tali’s deceased father and his research into the geth. Shepard can choose to defend Tali by gathering evidence, using persuasion, or demonstrating loyalty, which will impact her standing with her people and her journey. The mission can end with Tali being acquitted, exiled (unless Shepard intervenes), or with the truth about her father’s actions coming to light, affecting Tali’s standing in quarian society.

The mission highlights themes of loyalty, family, and the consequences of past actions, further deepening Tali’s character and her relationship with Shepard and the crew. Now, when you meet the ship’s captain Qwib-Qwib, don’t ask him why he’s called that.

“The Bloody Baron” is perhaps the most famous side quest of the last decade. And rightly so. It starts out as a simple search for a missing woman by Geralt, but quickly turns into one of the most dense and emotionally complex stories ever told in a game.

Baron Philip Strenger asks for help in finding his wife and daughter. Little by little, Geralt uncovers layers of domestic abuse, trauma, sorcery, and a past shrouded in regret. Depending on the player’s choices, the outcomes vary — but none of them are happy. The quest shows how wrong decisions can lead to tragic consequences, such as the Baron’s suicide or the destruction of the family.

In addition, the quest introduces bizarre creatures such as the Botchling — a cursed fetus that can be transformed into a guardian spirit if the player chooses the harder path. It’s a story that could easily be adapted for film or TV, and one that proves how The Witcher 3 raised the bar for storytelling in games.

Contrary to the seriousness of The Witcher 3, Borderlands 2 delivers one of the most absurd and hilarious missions in gaming history. “Shoot This Guy in the Face” is exactly what the name says. An NPC named Face McShooty asks, begs and screams for you to shoot him right in the face. No tricks, no @@@@. That’s it.

The mission has no emotional development, isn’t part of any larger plot, and offers no revelations. But the over-the-top tone, the aggressive humor, and the complete disruption of expectations make it unforgettable. The absurdity is so great that it becomes brilliant. And it’s this kind of nonsense that defines the spirit of Borderlands.

Among all the great missions in Oblivion, “Whodunit?” is an absolute highlight. In it, during the Dark Brotherhood quest, the player is tasked with eliminating five guests in a mansion, without being seen by any of them. Then, everyone is locked in a house under the pretense that it’ll be a treasure hunt and whoever wins will get to keep the money.

The idea is to transform a simple murder into a kind of psychological game, where the player acts as a killer and a manipulator at the same time.

The genius of the mission lies in the behavior of the NPCs. They start to distrust each other, fight, panic, and the player can use this to their advantage. It’s even possible to make them kill each other while you watch. The mission mixes mystery, dark humor and strategy in a way that almost no game has been able to replicate since.

Not every memorable mission is a cherished one. Sometimes, the trauma leaves such a lasting impression that the mission becomes part of history — like “Demolition Man” in GTA: Vice City. The mission seems simple on paper: use a remote-controlled helicopter to plant explosives in a building under construction. But the clunky controls and buggy physics make this task a living hell.

Many players were stuck on this mission for days. The frustration of trying to maneuver the helicopter through narrow corridors and staircases full of obstacles, all with a time limit, was enough to almost make many people give up on the game. Even so, winning this mission became a personal trophy. Those who passed it never forgot it. Those who didn't pass it probably still feel angry.