There were always twists, trying to throw off expectations.' I expected to skip through some boring dialog and do some simple fetch quests but each one kept drawing me in and kept my interest. 'Their side quests are more involved from both a gameplay and story perspective than most games' main quests. 'The best side quests in the business are in The Witcher 3,' says Deep Silver Volition senior designer Brad Johnson, who did mission design on the past three Saints Row games.

The Witcher 3 - a masterclass in side quest design This includes having the same range of reactivity, choices, and consequences as a normal quest in the main plot, although the scope of the reactivity, etc. Side quests should use the core gameplay mechanics and avoid special case new functionality (or be careful with it).Side quests should be quick and fun to complete (15 min is the range I shoot for).A bad side quest is a quest that upstages the main quest in terms of stakes, enemies, or even the lore.A good side quest informs the main plot or the area it’s located in in all respects - lore, NPCs, even through the rewards you get.Their responses are summarized below, but first, courtesy of former Black Isle writer, designer, and Obsidian creative director Chris Avellone, here are four general guidelines to evaluate everything against: To that end, we reached out to several game writers and designers for their thoughts and recommendations on great side quests - or games with generally-strong side quests - that every developer should study.

Witcher 3 side quest list