Why Do AAA Games Struggle with Side Quests?
We’ve all been there—you boot up a massive open-world game, excited to lose yourself in its world, only to find… soulless fetch quests and “kill 10 bandits” objectives. Meanwhile, indie games and older RPGs seem to nail side quests with actual depth.
We’ve all been there—you boot up a massive open-world game, excited to lose yourself in its world, only to find… soulless fetch quests and “kill 10 bandits” objectives. Meanwhile, indie games and older RPGs seem to nail side quests with actual depth.
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💰 The AAA Problem:
⚠️Studios focus on scale over substance—more content doesn’t always mean better content.
⚠️Side quests often feel detached from the main story (Looking at you, Assassin’s Creed).
⚠️Procedural generation makes quests feel repetitive
✔️The Witcher 3 turned side quests into mini-stories that could completely change your experience.
✔️Baldur’s Gate 3 made even throwaway NPCs feel important.
✔️Red Dead Redemption 2 had organic encounters that made the world feel alive.