Is “sub-quest” one word or two? Best to play it safe.
One of the wacky things about most RPGs worth a darn is where they overlap with Epic Fantasy/Sci-Fi when it comes to the idea of the whole “gotta catch them all” thing. The supporting cast character who they spent 3 chapters finding, 2 chapters convincing, and then after all that only does, pretty much, just ONE thing and it’s not even something that saves the party but just makes this one part easier for the team? Yeah, that. The going out of one’s way to breed just the right Chocobo to get the Knights of the Round? Especially that. The finding of the 101st little dinky thing to get the last piece of equipment for the last outfit in the game? Yeah, most especially that.
Anyway, I’m doing what I can to find every piece of treasure, restoring every business, fixing every aquaduct, and buying every piece of real estate I possibly can in Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood and thinking about how, even though the main storyline of the game is good, it’s so much more *SATISFYING* to watch how I’m cornering the market on Art stores.
What non-essential but oh-so-satisfying sub-quests are proverbially stuck between your proverbial teeth like a proverbial seed?
I still have not completed the polypolon index thingamaggie quest in Morrowind: Elder Scrolls.
It bothers me.
Hrm, Does trying to find a way to make a fighter good in Pathfinder count?
There must be some good feats to do this…..
I recall spending a lot of time trying to get every item in both Katamari Damacy games. I never got it all completed and I certainly never got anywhere near a million roses in the final secret bonus stage, but the blank spaces in the indices drove me crazy. I might have to dust off the PS2 . . .
The most recent one that I finished was Marvel Ultimate Alliance: All characters + All costumes.
To me, the sub-quest must have a few factors:
Must be something that would enrich a game or sets off my OCD. Collecting widgets, in and of itself, doesn’t do it. I have never 100%ed a widget quest for that reason. Getting all the personnel files in Jericho, on the other hand, enhances the story so, hell yeah, I’ll do a Billie playthrough.
Can’t be too tedious. Look, I’m not going to search every little nook in Enslaved just to find the widgets. The widget-quest is often as much fun as searching all of Colorado Springs for loose change. I’ll gladly do the Ghost Ship for Rogue Galaxy because it is a story-based sidequest that also gives you some background on Dorgengoa but I’m not willing to search each planet over and over to kill the appropriate number of a certain type of critter just for some extra points to put towards extra merchandise.
Can’t be too hard. Do you know anyone who has gold-medaled every single race in Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit? Yeah, me neither. There is a certain point where I just give up on things whether or not Jiminy Cricket is calling me a bitch or not.
http://penny-arcade.com/comic/2006/05/05
Plus, with the advent of Youtube, my tolerance for herculean feats is somewhat diminished. If the task is too damn impossible, then I can always Youtube the super, secret ending. I like a challenge but there is an upper limit to what I can do.
Clearly defined rules: If I need to collect 30 paperclips, then tell me so. Don’t just say “You need to collect 30 of something” because I won’t bother with picking up 30 of every object in the game in hopes of getting the right thing. Yes, there is Gamefaqs so I could look it up but I don’t feel that I should have to.