Link and sidequests

This video cracked me up.

Mostly because this sidequest/minigame attitude is totally what I do.

I really liked it - it’s funny how games seem to stand still while we go miniquesting. Are there any games that actively make you choose on a more critical level?

That IS really funny, and that feeling is exactly why I ignore sidequests in most games. If a story gives you a real sense of urgency, it seems retarded that you can go dodge lightning 200 times and get a neat item or some shit.

My favorite types of sidequests are ones more like FF6 or Chrono Trigger. FF6 gave you a sense of urgency in completing the world of ruin to find your friends (and you probably couldn’t finish the last dungeon without them anyways). Chrono Trigger is similar, but the nature of the story means that there’s only a sense of urgency within one particular time period, so it’s not like you can miss out on your change to kill Lavos if you do sidequests.

This is one of those things you’re just not supposed to question, I suppose. Must be some really patient evil overlords out there.

The hat thing just cracked me up, EVERY time I’ve done the adult fishing game it’s been a strict routine of Catch Biggest Fish > Get Golden Scale > Fuck around with the guy’s hat.

This is actually one of the things I loved the most about Majora’s Mask, since the time thing is pretty much the whole gimmick.

What did you actually need the golden scale for, anyway?

You got a heart piece from the old dude at the Lake Hylia lab if you dived all the way to the bottom (without using the boots), which was only possible with the scale. Otherwise, it was useless.

^This.

The Golden Scale really has no purpose outside of that, since the Iron Boots make it obsolete. Though you can use the scale as a kid.

And yeah, the movie was pretty funny. As far as sidequests go, I don’t question it. I may need those few extra bottles or extra quiver for something, dammit! Anything else can wait. :slight_smile:

I am up for any sort of sidequest, so long as it doesn’t involve helping some crackpot breed monsters stronger than the very force of nature I’m trying to defeat. Or freakin’ butterfly catching, or - you know, jsut FFX sidequests in general. Something about the quests in that game in particular always seemed so stupid to me.

I could have done without the rape joke (overkill) but otherwise, yeah funny. :slight_smile:

And this kind of effect could be avoided if the game designers made the subquests and minigames unavailable during “crisis moments” like, you know, the ending.

Fallout also did that well. Not doing sidequests usually means condemning some part of the Wastes in misery (though that makes it sound alluring for evil characters) and as the “baddies” have been doing their job for decades now, not acting right now doesn’t mean you’re jeopardising anything more than usual.

Of course the original Fallout had a timer during the first time of the quest (go on son, do these sidequests. Only we’re dying of thirst back at home) and if you forgot time was running whole cities could get hosed. Most players would only see Necropolis be invaded and all ghouls slaughtered, given that the time limit for the main quest wasn’t pressing (we even lifted it in the nick of time as kids) and that other cities were safe for a long, long time.

All in all you can still explore and toy around, but you also know you ought to be making some progress.