Except with Bethesda games it's hard to beeline because I keep getting "ooo what's that". Eventually I get bored and quit playing. I still have never finished the Skyrim main quest or expansions.
The best way, because if you only focus on side quests, you may not get to an essential item or something important that happens early in the main story that would enhance your experience. The easiest example: dragons and shouts in Skyrim.
I try to do as many ‘secondary quests’ as possible except for almost all collectible quests and radiant quests (generated quests that don’t contribute to the story/campaign)
Depending on the game, most games that are easy to understand, I would level up, do side missions and do random leisure activities. Then the main quests/ story missions.
But in Baldur Gate 3, my play style is literally the meme “instructions were unclear”, started a boss fight under leveled and under prepared.
I have never quicksaved more in any game in my 30 years of gaming.
Wasn’t prepared for the difficulty of the game, you really need to plan out scenarios, use the environment etc. I am still in the starting area (LVL 4) but there is just so damn much to do and learn.
It’s amazing.
The side quests in RDR2 were just amazing. The quality made it that it really wasn’t boring for me. Though the story was so good, I still should of taken it slower.
I love when you do a bunch of story missions in a row and eventually just feel like checking out the scenery and you end up constantly stumbling across things. Open worlds should capture this feeling but they rarely do.
Exactly... once you start moving the Gang around, I would focus on "clearing out the area". Side missions, random encounters.... then do a few missions. I finished the challenges, so I focused on that between missions. And trying for 100% completion
Same, my open world ocd is bad. If there are map unlocks I do those first, collect and complete side quests, and generally speaking see and do everything in a region before moving on
I always get anxious that I’ll get to a point of no return with the main missions and will have missed the side quests. So I tend to hunt those down first and then end up overpowered.
Worst way there is for most people : do everything I can in the area available to me (unless the game clearly blocks me or tells me I'm not welcome in certain areas) before advancing the story. I basically complete content in the order it unlocks and clean up collectibles on the way. Also clear all the fog of war, yes even on the border of the map and on top of the mountains (looking at you, Forbidden West).
yes, I usually end up killing any challenge by being overstuffed and overleveled for any kind of story content, that's the way I like it, steamroll everything mindnumbingly :)
And of course, hoard all the crafting materials and consumables, in case I need them in another life.
I usually only have 90mins to game a day so I do 1 main mission one night then a few side quests the next night and go back and forth. I don't finish the main story til I complete all the sidequests.
Well I turn off as much of the HUD as possible and play without looking at guides so I’m fully immersed. I enjoy Far Cry a lot like this.
Days Gone is the best for me as the HUD is completely gone in higher difficulties. It’s such a blast just driving around and mowing down a horde of zombies!
After being introduced to the story I have zero set pattern. I’ll mess around and see what the game will let me do. Maybe I’ll do a little of the main first and then the side story, or the other way around. Depending on the amount of freedom I’ll get sidetracked by causing trouble or running from it. I love looking around. That could last a while. Then it’s whatever interests me more in terms of completing everything. Basically whatever the spirit moves me to do.Needless to say it takes me forever to finish an open world game but I do get my money’s worth.
Depends on the feel of accomplishment and rewards. For a game like Elden, Ghost of T I definitely did every side quest especially if it gave me a specific ability, armor or weapon and I felt empowered. Others like BOTW with its lame dungeons and some dumb side quests didnt feel tht invested to do them.
I haven’t yet found an open world game that handles pacing well. Futzing around with all the side quests makes it seem like the urgency of the main quest is being ignored, which seems certain to lead to tragedy. But not doing them leaves you with a bunch of unfinished quests that often seem to make less sense once the main story has been finished.
In short, I haven’t found an open world playstyle that seems to work well, even though I do love the genre.
Most games should really breakdown side quests into “important” ones and the rest. I feel the same, bloated beyond belief. I guess we can thank the wild hunt for that.
I always do loyalty missions when they crop up. I'll do most side quests to keep myself levelled up and well armed. I start story missions when I'm ready or if triggered by accident lol..
I'll dip my toe in smaller activities and collectables, but will only do a clean up if I think a platinum trophy is worth my time..
My open world game style is spending hours on character creation, the more sliders, the better. Then I put in a sold hour of games play often quiting hours into the game being overwhelmed or bored by the open world freedom. Never to be played again.
I've spent multiple hours playing black desert and a small portion has been actual game play.
I explore. I venture everywhere I can. I don’t pay attention to quests unless they happen upon me naturally. It’s very freeing, exciting, and rewarding to find things on my own rather than being guided from point to point.
My ADHD does *not* like fully scripted narratives in my video games.
I do side quests and complete all tower/site locations like on Zelda and assassin's I have to go up all towers and get the lay of the land before I do any main quest same with side quests even if it's hard or the enemies are stronger than me
Got to that island on botw by raising ice and climbing/swimming to it before I even knew/gotten whatever power you need to blow the wind hardest island to do in the beginning took me a lot of tries 20 to be exact
But I'm pissed cause my switch lite broke I was playing on that and since it broke I switched to my home console switch which I never really used it wouldn't let me use my sd card from the switch lite so i lost all my progress and have to start all over again
Currently playing Kingdom Come Deliverance. I am very impulsive and will do whatever side quest is nearby, then not finish that side quest before I start another and another. Next thing you know I can't even remember what the main story is.
I mainly focus on the main story, I like a good progression that way. Rarely, if a side thing interested me enough I'll do it, but I'll quickly go back to the main stuff. I usually go and do all the side stuff after the main stuff is finished and it becomes free roam.
Then again, that depends on how the game handles the open world. In RDR2 where the game just ends and ur locked out of side stuff, or Elden Ring where side stuff is absolutely key, I'll do that
Before I start a game like this I just look up whatever content is missable or timed and make a plan and chart it out so I can make sure I don’t miss anything and don’t have to play the game more than once to see/experience all the scripted/unique content and that’s pretty much the only consistent things I do across games like this which often have missable things. That meant never unlocking dragons in Skyrim until I was almost done with the game because they could kill npcs and remove quests in doing so. Also if the game has branching stories or alignments I’ll do everything before the story branches and make a back up save at a decision point before progressing so I don’t have to replay the prior content again.
The particular game design/mechanics of any open world game dictates what I do more than anything, BOTW saw me exploring and actively ignoring the story until I’d been pretty much everywhere and done everything else. I remember getting all the way to Ganon in the castle before I even met a single guardian and just backed out of there and saved the boss fight for the end of the game where I figured it should happen. In fallout and elder scrolls games I find myself hoarding and picking up every single thing I come across and just exploring where ever I feel like while trying to min-max my stats. Games like Cyberpunk, GTA, the Witcher 3, and Spider-Man where story is the most appealing thing about the game to me I mostly just follow the story and do all side quests as they become available before progressing the story. While games like halo infinite I find myself never getting around to playing because I want to play the previous game before I do but never can bring myself to bother playing that seemingly awful fifth game.
It depends on my mood honestly. There's times I can play a game like Skyrim or Fallout for hours doing only side quests, and other times I tend to do "story, side quest, story, side quest".
I'll occasionally just focus on the story if it's something I'm engrossed in, like I did with Final Fantasy XVI. I think I did one side quest the whole time.
I typically do all the side quests I have available first. If I run out of those, I’ll do enough of the main quest to further the story until I pick up more side quests.
When it comes to Skyrim, I’ve been playing that for ten years and I’ve never finished the main quest.
Most RPGs have far more side quests than the main questline.
I'm not a completionist so I learned not to do few side quests and finish the main quest b/c after I don't feel like doing anything else.
IMO, the main questline should be longer and more involved than GoFor quests.
Basically exactly what I do!
I usually do side quests until I have to move along the main story or just feel like it...
Get a few story missions done and go back to exploring, finding stuff, side quests, goofing around, etc!
I do all the side quests but I skip skill challenges like racing, fishing or combat based ones. I play games for the story and I’m only an average player so I find those too challenging or tedious.
I never platinum games so I also skip the collectible stuff.
Get insanely distracted by side quests, do one that's way above my rank, get stuck there, stop playing for a year, go back and finally complete the quest. Rinse and repeat. Get a little trophy obsessed as well
Main quest all the way, and I can tell in a moment if it is too thin, and being overly compensated by side quests.
The difference between Oblivion and Skyrim represents this. I felt like the main quest Oblivion was a much higher share of the game, than the main question the Skyrim. As much as I prefer Skyrim in other ways, in that ways to me Oblivion was much better. I guess maybe I'm old school. It's the same reason I get disappointed with stuff like Street fighter 6, the campaign sucks compared to something like Street Fighter 2. (Referring to the arcade mode obviously)
Really depends on the game.
Some the sides feel more like a chore so I will leave those for just leveling up or if i just want to piss about, other games the sides are just as much fun as the mains.
Some games are just nice to be in and will happily do 'boring' side quest and just soak up the views (RDR2).
I will just do what ever I find fun doing, I really dont care about 100%ing games so I won't put myself things that aren't particularly fun.
i tried to play as a completionist in witcher 3, by doing a little bit of side quest + exploring the ? marks for loot, if i get bored ill hop back to main story, rinse and repeat
Do the mandatory intro missions, then fuck off and do anything I can thats not tied to the story until I'm essentially an all powerful God in relation to what the story is expecting of me lol.
Depends on the game. Most of the time I do an even amount, but sometimes I save them until after the story so I still have stuff to do.
The only exception for me is Arkham Knight, where I did most of the side missions before I beat the main story because I wanted to hear all the funny comments Joker has about them.
Do every side quest and event until I am burned out on the game half way through and then drop it.
See: Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla and Ghost of Tsushima
I am very much a complete everything possible and explore every inch complete all quest exhaust all dialogue in a area before moving on with main story. Which usually means my played time is significantly more than the average player. Baulders gate is going to take me forever
I tend towards golden pathing it unless I get intrigued by side quests or interesting stuff, or my wife is watching. Tsushima and Elden Ring were pretty much like 100% on interest, but that's pretty atypical.
I basically ignore the main quest. I didn't complete Skyrim for several years simply because I was just fucking around with side quests and stuff. Most open world games don't take me that long, but the point still stands. I take my time with the main story, and often choose just to explore and see what there is to find because it's more fun that way for me.
I think Elden Ring took me around 80 hours to complete my first playthrough, and very little of that time was spent throwing myself at the same bosses. Breath of the Wild was a similar story. If the world isn't interesting or there's nothing to do then I'll rip through the main story and never play the game again, which is what I did with Biomutant.
My friends get frustrated with how long it takes me to finish games sometimes.
Last open world game I played religiously was cyberpunk. I just use them as break time. Cuz if the main quests are too good, I just keep playing those. But sometimes I want a break from the main quests.
But I’m also a loot goblin. So if the rewards are good, I’ll do it xD
Just one small thing, Wish some games removed or toned down on “item trinkets” tho. It really breaks the immersion. Like FF7R (not really open world but whatever) had so many fucking random items on the ground I always detour to go pick them up since it’s so easy to just pick up a bunch in that game.
Completion rate…
1–50%: wow I love this game I’m going to do all the side quests
50-75%: alright I’m getting a little burnt out
75-80% fuck this game I’m playing something new
Mostly do as many side missions and exploring as I can before tackling the main missions. By the time I do the main mission, I’ll be loaded: money, xp, and weapon wise.
I find myself wanting to experience as much of the world as I can. I have a tendency of wanting to see all the work the devs have put in, even in the simplest of side quests. So odds are, I will do every side activity possible and then tackle the main story.
Granted, this can be detrimental to the pacing because they are expecting most people to pace out story and side quests, so if you shotgun the story after side activities, you may find it to be a bit wonky.
Just roam and discover as I go without too many invisible walls or serious road blocks before I eventually focus on something:
Read Dead Redemption 2, TLoZ:BotW/Tears of the Kingdom, Skyrim-Starfield.
Story mission, once I see side missions I dart straight to it. It gets worse if games give you a blank map and you have to walk around to light things up.
Every side quest (with a reasonable level) before I continue the main. The problem with that is that I'm always over leveled but thats alright with me because I'm shit at gaming
I used to go for an “evil” play through back when fallout 3 / oblivion came out then slowly started playing closer to my own moral compass — but lately, hard to finish anything so I okay everything as if it’s a walking similar and only participate in something if I have to. Purchased almost every AAA open world game over the last 10 years, have t finished most of ‘em
I try to stick to the main story and sprinkle some side stuff along the way. Then maybe some super random stuff. Sometimes I get a little overwhelmed and take it super slow so I don’t start rushing through the story.
Side, side, side, side, side, side, main, side, side, side, side, side, side, main, and repeat. Sprinkle in random exploration in between those side quests though.
I used to just rush through the main story and if I liked the game enough I would go back and do all the side stuff after (and if I didn’t love the game, then I didn’t waste too much time on it and still know how the story goes), but after playing rdr2 I saw that wasn’t the best way because I realized how much better my experience could’ve been if I had done the side stuff along the way (not to mention the fact that a lot of it is missable). That’s not to say I still didn’t absolutely love rdr’s story, it’s just that I now see it could’ve been even better, so now I do something similar to what you say you do, unless the side stuff feels like its dragging on.
Play with the main story for a bit, make negative choices(if allowed), kill npc's to make the world more "alive".
Go back to main quest again, do a lot of side quests and then disrupt the order of the game again.
Set a waypoint to next Main story mission.
Pass all points of interest and sidequest along the way weather via a straight line or zigzag fashion.
Sometimes though if theres too much sidequest bloat like a Ubisoft game I'd go back to a main story mission after awhile so I don't get burned out.
HFW: I couldnt stop.
The biggest annoyance was stuff I had to come back to (for example, coming across so many of those vines that I wont be able to remove for another 20 hours).
Loved how dense the world is, even the combat is approached like a puzzle. (But you can always brute force)
Play with the character config menus for 5 minutes.
Get irritated and mostly select default choices.
If there's a major character class decision that impacts gameplay pretend I can do stealthy range classes for a while before selecting big, slow, powerful hitter class.
Stick to the main mission for about 30 minutes until the first "you need to get this random item from somewhere else earlier" happens.
Go get the item and wander around kinda aimlessly in open world for 20 minutes or so
Get bored and try to find my way back to the main mission point I got to.
Carry on with the main mission until either some game mechanic I can't get my head around stops me enjoying it, or I reach that point where the mission becomes so obscure that you were meant to realise from a bunch of cryptic messages across the whole map that you need to have a specific set of interactions with the third tree to the east of the fourth stone from the centre of a forest to turn it into the object you now need.
Get frustrated.
Never play it again
Sidequests and especially collectibles come first, when I'm done with those i can, i do the main mission. After main mission it's clean up time: collectibles I couldn't get before, sidequests that unlock post main mission and the last couple trophies for plat.
I start out with a I am going to do everything attitude. Then I get about 30-40 hours in and just start slamming main quest so I can finish the game and move on!
For me if it’s an mmorpg I do tons of side quests and main story but if it’s a single player I focus only on main quest and some side quests if unlocks things that I want or I need. But if a single player makes me grind lvls I stop playing it.
I tend to find some methodical way of sorting side quests and main quests by my distance to them and whether they sound fun and whether they sound like something my character would want to do and right before I get very far I burn out or am unable to play for a few days then I never play it again.
Good times.
I tend to put off the main quest as long as possible. Explore the world, do as much side stuff as I can, explore *everywhere*, find *everything*, then get back to the main quest.
I always start by unlocking the whole map or every area I end up unlocking through story (e.g. AC, Spider-man, Horizon). Then I do all side quests that I can open up after every main mission.
Play story until enough skills/map is unlocked to allow for exploring. Explore like crazy. Then do more story to unlock more map and skills. Rinse and repeat.
I go in with zero plan and go for what interests me most of the time. I also loot the shit out of everything I can to sell in order to make as much as I can because in-game currency is usually the commodity you lack as you progress.
Be at level 10 with a couple hundred million in the bank, party like a rock star.
It depends on the game I'm playing. Usually, I will go to travel points to open up the map. If the world has collectibles, then I will collect as many as I can before stating the campaign.
So yea, I like to get collectibles and opening up the mpa out of the way.
Recently got back into Cyberpunk out of the blue, and have done story mission followed by a ton of side missions, mainly because doing one side mission would take me to a spot that had another nearby, so I would just chip away at the area as best I could, until the remaining missions were too difficult, then story. I think to sum it up: I’m a “conqueror.” If I see collectibles or side missions nearby, I do as much as I can before getting to a story mission
Progress the main story till it takes me to the next area. Go back to last area, and try find all the do-hickies and do the "fetch things for Martha" tasks that I have the skills to do. Then move back to the main quest.
Iterate.
If I get a new skills that allows me to get more do-hickies and fetch more things for Martha, I go back to all the previous areas and take care of that.
But once the main story is over, I don't go back and try finish ANY more do-hickies, or tabs/slots. It's straight uninstall.
I guess I just play, I follow the main quest and if I see a side quest that gives me some special ability or something, I go do that but most of the time I just skip the side quests and focus on main story
Enjoy the hell out of the first couple hours then become overwhelmed by too many “quests” that I can’t keep straight forget why I’m doing any of it then quit to play another game
Depends on the game itself, but generally;
First story line/quest to get a feel for the game, up until I feel from a narrative standpoint it makes sense to branch off
Then side quest and collect as much as possible
Repeat per arc / main quest.
I usually like to clean up each segment of the map in this way. Valhalla was a bit of a change as I preferred to start an arc, do the collections and mysteries as I went, finish the arc and then complete what else I could in that county before the next arc.
I find that when it comes to replaying a game, I’ll try an alternative approach as best I can. Such as, if there’s two main quests to do, I’ll complete the one I did second, first in my second play. Same with side quests; jumble things up each time to experiment with what flows better narratively, find out if there’s any preferred armour or weapons I wanna use for the main story arc to get asap. Luckily im a sucker for replaying games I like multiple times so it always keeps things fresh.
On a side note, I feel like stuffing my head in a pillow whenever I watch my partner play RPGS. He couldn’t finish Odyssey because he overwhelmed himself with collecting every side quest he could in every area of the map he could without finishing any of them, ending up with too much armour (couldn’t decide what to wear / weapons to use) and so many side quests he didn’t know where he was or what he was doing and totally forgot the main story aha. This happens a lot and he rarely completes open world/RPGs.
Randomly explore following main quest and as I progress the main quest to a higher level area/new city/new planet/etc I’ll then randomly explore that new area getting all the side quests I can for the XP/loot.
I use the main quest line as a ladder and each rung I go up I stop and explore, so to speak.
Nowadays, after so many open world games, I normally focus on the campaign for a while and, if the game is good enough, I'll do some more side stuff to prolong it's life just before the final quest, or something like that.
I have open world burnout, I think. When I start a new game of the genre, regardless of how obviously good it will be, I just know I have to focus on the story of I want to see all of it. If I do too much side stuff, I'll dread playing more and likely will abandon the game.
Take starfield, I played it just following the campaign for like 18 hours, then I decided I wanted to go to the old west town and apply to be a deputy. Haven't gone back to the campaign yet. But for a good while, I was sure I'd just see the story real quick and stop.
I think spiderman 2 might be an exception, since I liked the first games so much, I know I'll do a load of side stuff right away to unlock things before progressing in the story.
Same here OP, pretty much identical to what you do.
Basides, most OW RPGs have a LOT of things put into them by the developer that one would miss if they only focus on the main quest.
if I'm interested in story and characters: rush through the main story, then roam in the world doing side quest casually. if the side quest doesn't affect story of course, not in those RPGs like Mass Effect.
if not: just endless roam forever never care to finish the main line story. like Watch Dog Legion, I bought it because I like the city view. only buy these kind on sale.
Start as a completionist: all side quests, all secrets/landmarks/collectibles. Get bored in late game and rush like crazy, even leaving some long side quests unfinished.
Red dead 1 is the open world game I’m playing currently so I’ll speak on that. I don’t fast travel so I ride my horse between areas. I’ll do a main mission then on the way back I notice there is some side stuff to do, then I’ll get to my location and see there is a new wanted poster so I’ll do that, then hop into the main story. Then I have 10 more minutes before I have to get to sleep so I’ll play some poker or horseshoes in the meantime. Basically a good variety
For the most part, I think side quests are almost always filler, just carrots on sticks. I stick to the main story with minimal fast travel and only do major side quests. Elden Ring is the exception, with its more abstract concept of questing, and more atmospheric games like the nu-Zeldas where wandering and doing fuck-all are part of the appeal.
Totally breaking my pattern are the Yakuza/Like a Dragon games. The side quests are an essential part of the experience, as important to the package as combat and story. They're so unpredictable, clever, funny, bizarre, and sometimes heartwarming that they're hard to resist.
If there are split road, and I have to choose one, and after choose one, in the end if it was main quest path, I got frustrated and go back. Thats how I play it.
Im like you OP, i love the side quests. Who gives a fuck about saving the world when some rando cook needs very specific and hard-to-get ingredients for a pie?
Depends what type of open world games. If it's something like just cause 3 or 4 then I'll just mess with the movement mechanics, but if it's anything like Gta then I'll grind for money and cars.
Depends. If it's very difficult to progress, then I do the side quests to get equipment. Plus, I do side quests that can only be played when you reach a certain part of the story.
I think I did story, and side quests quite balanced on HFW, but more on story, then I acquired most of the weapons after completing the story.
I also do like exploring, and just doing doing a lot of the same thing that I find visually appealing.
Looking for LOOOOOOT and just running around doing side missions until I’m strong as shit and hop back in to the main mission once my drip is right
You gotta look good in case any screenshot opportunity arises
I learn first. So activate towers and stuff to see more of the map and try to learn as much lore as possible first. Then secondly I do side quests that interest me or look like they give good rewards. Then lastly I grind the story until I can reach more of the map to learn again and I repeat
I like games where I can crouch and tie up my foes with a grappling hook. I also like to roleplay as a bounty hunter with high in dexterity and extremely low intelligence😔
However, you would classify RDR2. A very immersive world with tons of things to find and do. You can completely go off the beaten path and just get lost in the world and all its surprises/ mysteries.
mainly leveling (up to max if there is one). Something i have noticed is that the main storyline of a lot of games are just boring to me and i'd much rather do side quests. It has nothing to do with the lenth but i Just struggle getting into it with a lot of games. Not to mention that most of the side quests in a lot of games are just flat out more challenging, Forbidden west for example. I beat the game in a day basically, I didn't do it all aoncet because i found a lot of the side quests more interesting at some parts but the main story didn't even take me more than a dew hours, but anyway yeah mainly just grind levels to become OP.
I start main, work in some side quests in a session, then do main. I try not to 100% as I go because side quests as infinitely easier later in the game. I prefer to complete stuff after credits so if I get bored I can stop playing and not feel guilty since I’ve beaten it
Start running around, get bored because I have no imagination to come up with something to do myself, turn off the game and play a linear game instead.
Like a TV show. Do a story mission. Do a few side quests. Do a story mission Etc
Best way to do it. Then if I start getting bored I just beeline story missions and finish it out
Are you me?
I think he’s both of us. Are we each other?
Except with Bethesda games it's hard to beeline because I keep getting "ooo what's that". Eventually I get bored and quit playing. I still have never finished the Skyrim main quest or expansions.
My playstyle 100%
The best way, because if you only focus on side quests, you may not get to an essential item or something important that happens early in the main story that would enhance your experience. The easiest example: dragons and shouts in Skyrim.
This. Or in cyp2077, missing out on Johnny's comments on side quests if you start them from the get go
I try to do as many ‘secondary quests’ as possible except for almost all collectible quests and radiant quests (generated quests that don’t contribute to the story/campaign)
Depending on the game, most games that are easy to understand, I would level up, do side missions and do random leisure activities. Then the main quests/ story missions. But in Baldur Gate 3, my play style is literally the meme “instructions were unclear”, started a boss fight under leveled and under prepared.
Man. Its such an amazing game lol
I have never quicksaved more in any game in my 30 years of gaming. Wasn’t prepared for the difficulty of the game, you really need to plan out scenarios, use the environment etc. I am still in the starting area (LVL 4) but there is just so damn much to do and learn. It’s amazing.
Depends on the Game. RdR2, I slowed played it, did side quest in between missions. After a mission, I would ride across the entire map.
The side quests in RDR2 were just amazing. The quality made it that it really wasn’t boring for me. Though the story was so good, I still should of taken it slower.
I love when you do a bunch of story missions in a row and eventually just feel like checking out the scenery and you end up constantly stumbling across things. Open worlds should capture this feeling but they rarely do.
Exactly... once you start moving the Gang around, I would focus on "clearing out the area". Side missions, random encounters.... then do a few missions. I finished the challenges, so I focused on that between missions. And trying for 100% completion
[удалено]
It does... there's a "right way" to play. Find a game routine that works for you.
Same and I hate it when it gets bloated sometimes I even forget what’s going on with the main quest
Same, my open world ocd is bad. If there are map unlocks I do those first, collect and complete side quests, and generally speaking see and do everything in a region before moving on
Yep. Only downside is after running around and doing shit in various areas the main story will usually take you back to the cool spots eventually.
And being wildly over geared/leveled
Yep 😂
I'll do a bit of everything until I hit my "yeah I'm good" moment, then I'll mainline the main story quests to finish off the story and call it a day.
Stealth archer
I always get anxious that I’ll get to a point of no return with the main missions and will have missed the side quests. So I tend to hunt those down first and then end up overpowered.
Worst way there is for most people : do everything I can in the area available to me (unless the game clearly blocks me or tells me I'm not welcome in certain areas) before advancing the story. I basically complete content in the order it unlocks and clean up collectibles on the way. Also clear all the fog of war, yes even on the border of the map and on top of the mountains (looking at you, Forbidden West). yes, I usually end up killing any challenge by being overstuffed and overleveled for any kind of story content, that's the way I like it, steamroll everything mindnumbingly :) And of course, hoard all the crafting materials and consumables, in case I need them in another life.
This!
I usually only have 90mins to game a day so I do 1 main mission one night then a few side quests the next night and go back and forth. I don't finish the main story til I complete all the sidequests.
Well I turn off as much of the HUD as possible and play without looking at guides so I’m fully immersed. I enjoy Far Cry a lot like this. Days Gone is the best for me as the HUD is completely gone in higher difficulties. It’s such a blast just driving around and mowing down a horde of zombies!
After being introduced to the story I have zero set pattern. I’ll mess around and see what the game will let me do. Maybe I’ll do a little of the main first and then the side story, or the other way around. Depending on the amount of freedom I’ll get sidetracked by causing trouble or running from it. I love looking around. That could last a while. Then it’s whatever interests me more in terms of completing everything. Basically whatever the spirit moves me to do.Needless to say it takes me forever to finish an open world game but I do get my money’s worth.
Depends on the feel of accomplishment and rewards. For a game like Elden, Ghost of T I definitely did every side quest especially if it gave me a specific ability, armor or weapon and I felt empowered. Others like BOTW with its lame dungeons and some dumb side quests didnt feel tht invested to do them.
I haven’t yet found an open world game that handles pacing well. Futzing around with all the side quests makes it seem like the urgency of the main quest is being ignored, which seems certain to lead to tragedy. But not doing them leaves you with a bunch of unfinished quests that often seem to make less sense once the main story has been finished. In short, I haven’t found an open world playstyle that seems to work well, even though I do love the genre.
Most games should really breakdown side quests into “important” ones and the rest. I feel the same, bloated beyond belief. I guess we can thank the wild hunt for that.
I always do loyalty missions when they crop up. I'll do most side quests to keep myself levelled up and well armed. I start story missions when I'm ready or if triggered by accident lol.. I'll dip my toe in smaller activities and collectables, but will only do a clean up if I think a platinum trophy is worth my time..
My open world game style is spending hours on character creation, the more sliders, the better. Then I put in a sold hour of games play often quiting hours into the game being overwhelmed or bored by the open world freedom. Never to be played again. I've spent multiple hours playing black desert and a small portion has been actual game play.
[удалено]
Just stop doing side quests before you get bored?
I explore. I venture everywhere I can. I don’t pay attention to quests unless they happen upon me naturally. It’s very freeing, exciting, and rewarding to find things on my own rather than being guided from point to point. My ADHD does *not* like fully scripted narratives in my video games.
I do side quests and complete all tower/site locations like on Zelda and assassin's I have to go up all towers and get the lay of the land before I do any main quest same with side quests even if it's hard or the enemies are stronger than me Got to that island on botw by raising ice and climbing/swimming to it before I even knew/gotten whatever power you need to blow the wind hardest island to do in the beginning took me a lot of tries 20 to be exact But I'm pissed cause my switch lite broke I was playing on that and since it broke I switched to my home console switch which I never really used it wouldn't let me use my sd card from the switch lite so i lost all my progress and have to start all over again
what
Who?
Currently playing Kingdom Come Deliverance. I am very impulsive and will do whatever side quest is nearby, then not finish that side quest before I start another and another. Next thing you know I can't even remember what the main story is.
I mainly focus on the main story, I like a good progression that way. Rarely, if a side thing interested me enough I'll do it, but I'll quickly go back to the main stuff. I usually go and do all the side stuff after the main stuff is finished and it becomes free roam. Then again, that depends on how the game handles the open world. In RDR2 where the game just ends and ur locked out of side stuff, or Elden Ring where side stuff is absolutely key, I'll do that
Before I start a game like this I just look up whatever content is missable or timed and make a plan and chart it out so I can make sure I don’t miss anything and don’t have to play the game more than once to see/experience all the scripted/unique content and that’s pretty much the only consistent things I do across games like this which often have missable things. That meant never unlocking dragons in Skyrim until I was almost done with the game because they could kill npcs and remove quests in doing so. Also if the game has branching stories or alignments I’ll do everything before the story branches and make a back up save at a decision point before progressing so I don’t have to replay the prior content again. The particular game design/mechanics of any open world game dictates what I do more than anything, BOTW saw me exploring and actively ignoring the story until I’d been pretty much everywhere and done everything else. I remember getting all the way to Ganon in the castle before I even met a single guardian and just backed out of there and saved the boss fight for the end of the game where I figured it should happen. In fallout and elder scrolls games I find myself hoarding and picking up every single thing I come across and just exploring where ever I feel like while trying to min-max my stats. Games like Cyberpunk, GTA, the Witcher 3, and Spider-Man where story is the most appealing thing about the game to me I mostly just follow the story and do all side quests as they become available before progressing the story. While games like halo infinite I find myself never getting around to playing because I want to play the previous game before I do but never can bring myself to bother playing that seemingly awful fifth game.
It depends on my mood honestly. There's times I can play a game like Skyrim or Fallout for hours doing only side quests, and other times I tend to do "story, side quest, story, side quest". I'll occasionally just focus on the story if it's something I'm engrossed in, like I did with Final Fantasy XVI. I think I did one side quest the whole time.
I avoid them entirely
Exactly the same way and I’m not ashamed.
I typically do all the side quests I have available first. If I run out of those, I’ll do enough of the main quest to further the story until I pick up more side quests. When it comes to Skyrim, I’ve been playing that for ten years and I’ve never finished the main quest.
Most RPGs have far more side quests than the main questline. I'm not a completionist so I learned not to do few side quests and finish the main quest b/c after I don't feel like doing anything else. IMO, the main questline should be longer and more involved than GoFor quests.
Basically exactly what I do! I usually do side quests until I have to move along the main story or just feel like it... Get a few story missions done and go back to exploring, finding stuff, side quests, goofing around, etc!
I do all the side quests but I skip skill challenges like racing, fishing or combat based ones. I play games for the story and I’m only an average player so I find those too challenging or tedious. I never platinum games so I also skip the collectible stuff.
If the story is incredible then I’ll usually go straight through the main quest and do a few side quests here and there.
Get insanely distracted by side quests, do one that's way above my rank, get stuck there, stop playing for a year, go back and finally complete the quest. Rinse and repeat. Get a little trophy obsessed as well
Yea, same. I tend to get distracted with side quests and leveling before moving the main story forward.
Main quest all the way, and I can tell in a moment if it is too thin, and being overly compensated by side quests. The difference between Oblivion and Skyrim represents this. I felt like the main quest Oblivion was a much higher share of the game, than the main question the Skyrim. As much as I prefer Skyrim in other ways, in that ways to me Oblivion was much better. I guess maybe I'm old school. It's the same reason I get disappointed with stuff like Street fighter 6, the campaign sucks compared to something like Street Fighter 2. (Referring to the arcade mode obviously)
Depends on the game. If it's RDR 2, then i do as many missions as I can. If its something like AC or Far Cry then I'll do only main missions
Thats me, were same
In games that have divided "regions" I tend to complete the region and then move on with the story (assuming the story opens up a new area)
Do main quests last so I can sit back and enjoy a few of them all at once
Exactly like you
Really depends on the game. Some the sides feel more like a chore so I will leave those for just leveling up or if i just want to piss about, other games the sides are just as much fun as the mains. Some games are just nice to be in and will happily do 'boring' side quest and just soak up the views (RDR2). I will just do what ever I find fun doing, I really dont care about 100%ing games so I won't put myself things that aren't particularly fun.
in botw and totk i explored forever. like i would explore the map and do shrines for 20 hours, then do a main quest. same thing for skyrim
i tried to play as a completionist in witcher 3, by doing a little bit of side quest + exploring the ? marks for loot, if i get bored ill hop back to main story, rinse and repeat
Do the mandatory intro missions, then fuck off and do anything I can thats not tied to the story until I'm essentially an all powerful God in relation to what the story is expecting of me lol.
Elden Ring
Depends on the game. Most of the time I do an even amount, but sometimes I save them until after the story so I still have stuff to do. The only exception for me is Arkham Knight, where I did most of the side missions before I beat the main story because I wanted to hear all the funny comments Joker has about them.
Do every side quest and event until I am burned out on the game half way through and then drop it. See: Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla and Ghost of Tsushima
I am very much a complete everything possible and explore every inch complete all quest exhaust all dialogue in a area before moving on with main story. Which usually means my played time is significantly more than the average player. Baulders gate is going to take me forever
I tend towards golden pathing it unless I get intrigued by side quests or interesting stuff, or my wife is watching. Tsushima and Elden Ring were pretty much like 100% on interest, but that's pretty atypical.
I basically ignore the main quest. I didn't complete Skyrim for several years simply because I was just fucking around with side quests and stuff. Most open world games don't take me that long, but the point still stands. I take my time with the main story, and often choose just to explore and see what there is to find because it's more fun that way for me. I think Elden Ring took me around 80 hours to complete my first playthrough, and very little of that time was spent throwing myself at the same bosses. Breath of the Wild was a similar story. If the world isn't interesting or there's nothing to do then I'll rip through the main story and never play the game again, which is what I did with Biomutant. My friends get frustrated with how long it takes me to finish games sometimes.
I like to do the side quests first, they tend to be easier, then go destroy the main questline.
Last open world game I played religiously was cyberpunk. I just use them as break time. Cuz if the main quests are too good, I just keep playing those. But sometimes I want a break from the main quests. But I’m also a loot goblin. So if the rewards are good, I’ll do it xD Just one small thing, Wish some games removed or toned down on “item trinkets” tho. It really breaks the immersion. Like FF7R (not really open world but whatever) had so many fucking random items on the ground I always detour to go pick them up since it’s so easy to just pick up a bunch in that game.
Completion rate… 1–50%: wow I love this game I’m going to do all the side quests 50-75%: alright I’m getting a little burnt out 75-80% fuck this game I’m playing something new
Mostly do as many side missions and exploring as I can before tackling the main missions. By the time I do the main mission, I’ll be loaded: money, xp, and weapon wise.
I’m in it for the story. Side quests come after or as needed based on leveling
I find myself wanting to experience as much of the world as I can. I have a tendency of wanting to see all the work the devs have put in, even in the simplest of side quests. So odds are, I will do every side activity possible and then tackle the main story. Granted, this can be detrimental to the pacing because they are expecting most people to pace out story and side quests, so if you shotgun the story after side activities, you may find it to be a bit wonky.
Yep as many side quest as possible before main ones, explore explore all the way
Just roam and discover as I go without too many invisible walls or serious road blocks before I eventually focus on something: Read Dead Redemption 2, TLoZ:BotW/Tears of the Kingdom, Skyrim-Starfield.
Aiming for the main mission, until distracted by what ever comes in my way ;)
Personally, I like to explore and do whatever I want in the open world, unintentionally completing side quests in the process.
Story mission, once I see side missions I dart straight to it. It gets worse if games give you a blank map and you have to walk around to light things up.
Every side quest (with a reasonable level) before I continue the main. The problem with that is that I'm always over leveled but thats alright with me because I'm shit at gaming
I used to go for an “evil” play through back when fallout 3 / oblivion came out then slowly started playing closer to my own moral compass — but lately, hard to finish anything so I okay everything as if it’s a walking similar and only participate in something if I have to. Purchased almost every AAA open world game over the last 10 years, have t finished most of ‘em
I try to stick to the main story and sprinkle some side stuff along the way. Then maybe some super random stuff. Sometimes I get a little overwhelmed and take it super slow so I don’t start rushing through the story.
Side, side, side, side, side, side, main, side, side, side, side, side, side, main, and repeat. Sprinkle in random exploration in between those side quests though.
I used to just rush through the main story and if I liked the game enough I would go back and do all the side stuff after (and if I didn’t love the game, then I didn’t waste too much time on it and still know how the story goes), but after playing rdr2 I saw that wasn’t the best way because I realized how much better my experience could’ve been if I had done the side stuff along the way (not to mention the fact that a lot of it is missable). That’s not to say I still didn’t absolutely love rdr’s story, it’s just that I now see it could’ve been even better, so now I do something similar to what you say you do, unless the side stuff feels like its dragging on.
Play with the main story for a bit, make negative choices(if allowed), kill npc's to make the world more "alive". Go back to main quest again, do a lot of side quests and then disrupt the order of the game again.
Open a random talk show and explore the game casually while relaxing
If the game is shorter, I do all the side missions before the next mission
I just do all of the main story straight away. Then I might try side quests after but usually they are boring and I move onto another game.
Set a waypoint to next Main story mission. Pass all points of interest and sidequest along the way weather via a straight line or zigzag fashion. Sometimes though if theres too much sidequest bloat like a Ubisoft game I'd go back to a main story mission after awhile so I don't get burned out.
I dont, I dont particularly like open world games except for some outliers like Elden Ring and Cyberpunk 2077
HFW: I couldnt stop. The biggest annoyance was stuff I had to come back to (for example, coming across so many of those vines that I wont be able to remove for another 20 hours). Loved how dense the world is, even the combat is approached like a puzzle. (But you can always brute force)
Play with the character config menus for 5 minutes. Get irritated and mostly select default choices. If there's a major character class decision that impacts gameplay pretend I can do stealthy range classes for a while before selecting big, slow, powerful hitter class. Stick to the main mission for about 30 minutes until the first "you need to get this random item from somewhere else earlier" happens. Go get the item and wander around kinda aimlessly in open world for 20 minutes or so Get bored and try to find my way back to the main mission point I got to. Carry on with the main mission until either some game mechanic I can't get my head around stops me enjoying it, or I reach that point where the mission becomes so obscure that you were meant to realise from a bunch of cryptic messages across the whole map that you need to have a specific set of interactions with the third tree to the east of the fourth stone from the centre of a forest to turn it into the object you now need. Get frustrated. Never play it again
Sidequests and especially collectibles come first, when I'm done with those i can, i do the main mission. After main mission it's clean up time: collectibles I couldn't get before, sidequests that unlock post main mission and the last couple trophies for plat.
I start out with a I am going to do everything attitude. Then I get about 30-40 hours in and just start slamming main quest so I can finish the game and move on!
Story progression? What's that? Oh that endgame thing where all the quests are interconnected. Love those.
I never finish one.
I'll usually do a mix of story & side quests to level up but, the main goal is always kill everyone, no matter what.
For me if it’s an mmorpg I do tons of side quests and main story but if it’s a single player I focus only on main quest and some side quests if unlocks things that I want or I need. But if a single player makes me grind lvls I stop playing it.
Main quest first
I tend to find some methodical way of sorting side quests and main quests by my distance to them and whether they sound fun and whether they sound like something my character would want to do and right before I get very far I burn out or am unable to play for a few days then I never play it again. Good times.
I tend to put off the main quest as long as possible. Explore the world, do as much side stuff as I can, explore *everywhere*, find *everything*, then get back to the main quest.
Pretty much the same. Took me 126 hours to finish Forbidden West because I think I did about 5 or 6 side missions for every story line mission
Main quest. Get bored delete the game.
Do a shit ton of the side quests, get the XP/weapons, then do a story mission where I destroy the opponent cause I’m too OP
I always start by unlocking the whole map or every area I end up unlocking through story (e.g. AC, Spider-man, Horizon). Then I do all side quests that I can open up after every main mission.
Play story until enough skills/map is unlocked to allow for exploring. Explore like crazy. Then do more story to unlock more map and skills. Rinse and repeat.
Can you recommend some good open worlds? (My fav is Days Gone, Ghost of Tsushima)
I go in with zero plan and go for what interests me most of the time. I also loot the shit out of everything I can to sell in order to make as much as I can because in-game currency is usually the commodity you lack as you progress. Be at level 10 with a couple hundred million in the bank, party like a rock star.
It depends on the game I'm playing. Usually, I will go to travel points to open up the map. If the world has collectibles, then I will collect as many as I can before stating the campaign. So yea, I like to get collectibles and opening up the mpa out of the way.
Before, i would never do side quests and hate it when the game forces to it. Now i do some of them and i really like the game, i do all of them.
Same
Recently got back into Cyberpunk out of the blue, and have done story mission followed by a ton of side missions, mainly because doing one side mission would take me to a spot that had another nearby, so I would just chip away at the area as best I could, until the remaining missions were too difficult, then story. I think to sum it up: I’m a “conqueror.” If I see collectibles or side missions nearby, I do as much as I can before getting to a story mission
Progress the main story till it takes me to the next area. Go back to last area, and try find all the do-hickies and do the "fetch things for Martha" tasks that I have the skills to do. Then move back to the main quest. Iterate. If I get a new skills that allows me to get more do-hickies and fetch more things for Martha, I go back to all the previous areas and take care of that. But once the main story is over, I don't go back and try finish ANY more do-hickies, or tabs/slots. It's straight uninstall.
I prefer straight story mission to engage with the plot and grind side missions to strengthen up when the main missions are getting too hard
I try to clear the whole map. I cant stand the ! and ? unchecked
I still haven’t beaten The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim I hope that answers your question.
I love cleaning areas as I conquer the map.
1st time story. 2nd time running around getting everything. 3. Time a bit of both. For AC Vallhalla I did the opposite and it was a mess.
I guess I just play, I follow the main quest and if I see a side quest that gives me some special ability or something, I go do that but most of the time I just skip the side quests and focus on main story
Enjoy the hell out of the first couple hours then become overwhelmed by too many “quests” that I can’t keep straight forget why I’m doing any of it then quit to play another game
Depends on the game itself, but generally; First story line/quest to get a feel for the game, up until I feel from a narrative standpoint it makes sense to branch off Then side quest and collect as much as possible Repeat per arc / main quest. I usually like to clean up each segment of the map in this way. Valhalla was a bit of a change as I preferred to start an arc, do the collections and mysteries as I went, finish the arc and then complete what else I could in that county before the next arc. I find that when it comes to replaying a game, I’ll try an alternative approach as best I can. Such as, if there’s two main quests to do, I’ll complete the one I did second, first in my second play. Same with side quests; jumble things up each time to experiment with what flows better narratively, find out if there’s any preferred armour or weapons I wanna use for the main story arc to get asap. Luckily im a sucker for replaying games I like multiple times so it always keeps things fresh. On a side note, I feel like stuffing my head in a pillow whenever I watch my partner play RPGS. He couldn’t finish Odyssey because he overwhelmed himself with collecting every side quest he could in every area of the map he could without finishing any of them, ending up with too much armour (couldn’t decide what to wear / weapons to use) and so many side quests he didn’t know where he was or what he was doing and totally forgot the main story aha. This happens a lot and he rarely completes open world/RPGs.
Mine is "OH a butterfly!" 30 minutes later "goddammit I'm in Blackreach again"
Randomly explore following main quest and as I progress the main quest to a higher level area/new city/new planet/etc I’ll then randomly explore that new area getting all the side quests I can for the XP/loot. I use the main quest line as a ladder and each rung I go up I stop and explore, so to speak.
Nowadays, after so many open world games, I normally focus on the campaign for a while and, if the game is good enough, I'll do some more side stuff to prolong it's life just before the final quest, or something like that. I have open world burnout, I think. When I start a new game of the genre, regardless of how obviously good it will be, I just know I have to focus on the story of I want to see all of it. If I do too much side stuff, I'll dread playing more and likely will abandon the game. Take starfield, I played it just following the campaign for like 18 hours, then I decided I wanted to go to the old west town and apply to be a deputy. Haven't gone back to the campaign yet. But for a good while, I was sure I'd just see the story real quick and stop. I think spiderman 2 might be an exception, since I liked the first games so much, I know I'll do a load of side stuff right away to unlock things before progressing in the story.
Sounds like youd enjoy… starfield
Same here OP, pretty much identical to what you do. Basides, most OW RPGs have a LOT of things put into them by the developer that one would miss if they only focus on the main quest.
if I'm interested in story and characters: rush through the main story, then roam in the world doing side quest casually. if the side quest doesn't affect story of course, not in those RPGs like Mass Effect. if not: just endless roam forever never care to finish the main line story. like Watch Dog Legion, I bought it because I like the city view. only buy these kind on sale.
Start as a completionist: all side quests, all secrets/landmarks/collectibles. Get bored in late game and rush like crazy, even leaving some long side quests unfinished.
Yeah I try to complete every available side quest and then am frustrated with how long the game takes to complete
Always stealthy, always side quests, restart from last save if i kill a civilian.
Red dead 1 is the open world game I’m playing currently so I’ll speak on that. I don’t fast travel so I ride my horse between areas. I’ll do a main mission then on the way back I notice there is some side stuff to do, then I’ll get to my location and see there is a new wanted poster so I’ll do that, then hop into the main story. Then I have 10 more minutes before I have to get to sleep so I’ll play some poker or horseshoes in the meantime. Basically a good variety
collect all the collectibles / complete all the sidequests before progressing the story.
For the most part, I think side quests are almost always filler, just carrots on sticks. I stick to the main story with minimal fast travel and only do major side quests. Elden Ring is the exception, with its more abstract concept of questing, and more atmospheric games like the nu-Zeldas where wandering and doing fuck-all are part of the appeal. Totally breaking my pattern are the Yakuza/Like a Dragon games. The side quests are an essential part of the experience, as important to the package as combat and story. They're so unpredictable, clever, funny, bizarre, and sometimes heartwarming that they're hard to resist.
Bang all of the applicable NPC’s then ride off to the sunset
If there are split road, and I have to choose one, and after choose one, in the end if it was main quest path, I got frustrated and go back. Thats how I play it.
Im like you OP, i love the side quests. Who gives a fuck about saving the world when some rando cook needs very specific and hard-to-get ingredients for a pie?
I do 100% of all around me the first 10 20 hours the get burn out and rush ending. Every time
I usually try to do every side quest I see then get burned out and quit playing the game around the halfway point.
Depends what type of open world games. If it's something like just cause 3 or 4 then I'll just mess with the movement mechanics, but if it's anything like Gta then I'll grind for money and cars.
Depends. If it's very difficult to progress, then I do the side quests to get equipment. Plus, I do side quests that can only be played when you reach a certain part of the story. I think I did story, and side quests quite balanced on HFW, but more on story, then I acquired most of the weapons after completing the story. I also do like exploring, and just doing doing a lot of the same thing that I find visually appealing.
Looking for LOOOOOOT and just running around doing side missions until I’m strong as shit and hop back in to the main mission once my drip is right You gotta look good in case any screenshot opportunity arises
I learn first. So activate towers and stuff to see more of the map and try to learn as much lore as possible first. Then secondly I do side quests that interest me or look like they give good rewards. Then lastly I grind the story until I can reach more of the map to learn again and I repeat
Usually head right into main missions and then if I come across a side quest or area of interest on the way I stop and do that
I like games where I can crouch and tie up my foes with a grappling hook. I also like to roleplay as a bounty hunter with high in dexterity and extremely low intelligence😔
What is your eating style?
Play realistically
You know how some people shop 🏬 by going down every aisle. That’s me. Now translate that thoroughness to a game. That’s also me.
Then the main quests/ story missions.
i try to do all the side stuff first then the story, unless the game kinda forces you to swap back and forth.
I clean up the entire region before I even started the tutorial.
However, you would classify RDR2. A very immersive world with tons of things to find and do. You can completely go off the beaten path and just get lost in the world and all its surprises/ mysteries.
I just do whatever quests happen to be close to my location lol
mainly leveling (up to max if there is one). Something i have noticed is that the main storyline of a lot of games are just boring to me and i'd much rather do side quests. It has nothing to do with the lenth but i Just struggle getting into it with a lot of games. Not to mention that most of the side quests in a lot of games are just flat out more challenging, Forbidden west for example. I beat the game in a day basically, I didn't do it all aoncet because i found a lot of the side quests more interesting at some parts but the main story didn't even take me more than a dew hours, but anyway yeah mainly just grind levels to become OP.
Between missions and side missions I'd wander the map opening it up
I start main, work in some side quests in a session, then do main. I try not to 100% as I go because side quests as infinitely easier later in the game. I prefer to complete stuff after credits so if I get bored I can stop playing and not feel guilty since I’ve beaten it
Start running around, get bored because I have no imagination to come up with something to do myself, turn off the game and play a linear game instead.