TOP 10 side quests that surpassed the main plot: assassins in Skyrim, dead peasants in The Witcher 3 and politicians from Cyberpunk 2077

Epic battles, incredible boss fights, deciding the fate of the world — this is what gamers face in the main plot of many games. But side quests usually tell more down-to-earth stories. However, some of them sink into the soul so much that they surpass the main story in intensity of passions. These are the tasks we have collected in this collection. If you prefer to watch rather than read, feel free to turn on the video: there will be jokes and memes.

P.S. The collection is full of spoilers for secondary quests. Read at your own risk.

Westworld is rich in extraordinary encounters. For example, one day Arthur meets a strange man named Margaret. A man dressed as a woman will tell the story of his circus, from which all the performers fled. Morgan will volunteer to help, not even suspecting that he has found himself in one of the brightest quests of Red Dead Redemption 2.

First you need to find the animals. It turns out that the runaway «zebra» is a decorated mule, and the «tiger» is a puma quite common for those places. The turn comes to return the lion to the circus bosom — and now he turns out to be a real «king of beasts» who is not averse to feasting on your flesh.

Later you will have to return the giant and the dwarf magician, who is not burdened with intelligence, to the troupe. Together they should be the centerpiece of a freak show.

There are many bright quests in Red Dead Redemption 2: participation in Dragic's experiment, helping escaped prisoners Black and White, meeting an unfortunate widow — but it was the circus task that many gamers loved most.

One day, Geralt accepts an order to hunt for a monster from Dobrov. Having reached the place, he sees that a real massacre has occurred in the village — all the inhabitants are dead. It looks like the monster got to them first.

Out of the corner of his eye, the witcher notices the surviving girl, but she shies away and runs away. Soon the «White Wolf» learns that the child was frightened by the witcher's cat-like eyes: the killer had the same ones.

The tracks lead Geralt to a wounded colleague from the Cat School. It turns out that he killed the monster, whose head the hero appeared, but instead of gratitude and generous payment, he received a pitchfork in the side — this is how the peasants wanted to save money. In revenge, the wounded hunter staged a bloody massacre.

The murderer can be understood and forgiven or deprived of his life. If you decide that the villain deserves death, he will ask permission to drink a life-giving potion before the fight. As soon as Geralt hesitates, the scoundrel blinds him with a bomb and attacks. The «White Wolf» will have to try hard to survive.

The Witcher 3 is full of incomparable quests, but «Games of Cats and Wolves» greatly impressed many gamers with its particular darkness and cruelty.

On one of the missions, V meets the Perales family. The former mayor of Night City was recently killed, and the investigation is full of inconsistencies — customers are asking to look into this matter. If the hero gets to the bottom of the truth, he will receive another quest from an influential family.

Jefferson Perales is a politician with excellent chances of achieving high office. Recently he noticed a stranger at home and even fired a pistol at him. By morning there were no traces of the incident left in the house, there was nothing unusual on the cameras, and the security insisted that no one entered the apartment. Only the duo of V and Silverhand can solve this puzzle.

An attentive gamer will quickly find out that the apartment is full of rooms from which the family was monitored around the clock. Moreover, the suspects influenced the minds of the couple, rewriting their memories. The villains erased the past of politicians, instilled lies in them and pushed them to make the necessary decisions — while the wife was in the know, but was afraid to do anything.

The fact is that behind the operation is someone so powerful that he can hack and finish off anyone. If the villain had his way, V and Jefferson would have been dead long ago. What to do: convince the politician to give the villains a fight, or let him act thoughtfully and look for a chance to strike? Maybe Jefferson shouldn't know anything at all? You'll have to think about your choice.

One day, Dovahkiin from Skyrim will hear rumors that a certain boy has committed the Dark Sacrament. So he calls on the assassins to kill someone. When the hero finds the child, it turns out that he lives in an orphanage, where Grelod the Good is in charge. In fact, this woman has never done anything good — on the contrary, she prefers cruelty and bullying. If you kill Grelod in front of the orphans, they will rejoice and thank the hero. This is where the story just begins.

Soon the courier will deliver a note to Dovahkiin with the inscription «we know» and a handprint. At night, the hero decides to take a nap, but wakes up not in a warm bed, but in an abandoned barn. There he will meet Astrid, the leader of the Dark Brotherhood. The lady will say that it is dishonest to take orders from assassins, and the debt will have to be repaid right now. In front of you are three poor fellows in suicide hoods: one of them needs to be finished off — then Astrid will invite you to the family and open an impressive quest chain.

However, you can not fall for Astrid's demands, but finish her off. This will open the quest «Farewell to the Dark Brotherhood», in the final of which you will have to find the lair of killers and slaughter everyone who is there.

The chain of quests with the Dark Brotherhood in Skyrim seemed to many to be much more interesting than the confrontation with Alduin.

Not every incredible story in GTA 5 begins with a meeting with another madman. Sometimes trouble can be found just by surfing the Internet. One day, Michael visits a strange website with a «Rate Your Self» test. After answering 10 questions, he receives an invitation to a meeting: a red pickup truck will be waiting for him there. As soon as you approach him, people in unusual outfits will attack the hero.

It soon becomes clear that the attack was part of the spiritual program of the Epsilon sect. Later, Michael will be required to make donations, steal cars and do other crazy things. All in order to finally stop being Antithesis and become Thesis.

The hero can follow the lead of the sectarians for a long time, but in the finale few will resist the temptation to freak out and kill all the villains.

Many people liked the bold quest, which ridicules sects, spiritual gurus and their followers. Some even think that this story is more powerful and funnier than the main plot.

Wandering through the Wasteland in Fallout: New Vegas, the hero may stumble upon the town of Novak, overlooked by a dinosaur statue. The place seems pleasant, but then you find out that local resident Boone climbs into the mouth of the statue every night and examines the area through the scope of a sniper rifle. The fact is that Boone's wife was kidnapped and given into slavery, and one of the neighbors is to blame.

The character entrusts the hero with a quest to find the scoundrel. You need to identify the criminal and bring him to the statue — Boone will do the rest. You can quickly chat with the residents, choose a victim at random and condemn him to death. However, a responsible gamer will thoroughly explore the area and find a strange purchase and sale agreement. Under its terms, rights to women are transferred to slave owners. The worst thing is that Boone's wife was pregnant.

The villain will be the sweet and caring owner of the motel, who previously said that the woman simply ran away from her hubby. She earned 1,500 caps for her crime.

The quest «Abduction» makes your blood run cold. No wonder this mission is considered one of the best in the entire Fallout series.

Larian knows how to create cool quests for partners — everyone who played Divinity: Original Sin 2 will agree with this. It's interesting to fight shoulder to shoulder with a lizard prince, learn about the family of a mysterious skeleton, or delve into the past of a skilled warrior. However, the best quest went to Lowes.

The kind and beautiful sorceress seems like an ideal partner to help the hero stop evil. Only one day will Lowse behave like crazy: will suddenly grab a harmless NPC and try to strangle him. A serious conversation will reveal the girl's problem: she is possessed by a demon.

If you decide to help the lady, you will have to find out the name of the villain, find him and go through a difficult test. To weaken the demon, the heroes must travel to another dimension and extinguish the candles. The problem is that each candle represents someone's soul: when the flame goes out, the soul will disappear into oblivion.

First you find one candle. What is more important: Lawse's freedom or the soul of a stranger? Afterwards you are led to two more candles. And then you stand in front of a cliff from which you can see millions of lights. Still want to save your companion? Then blow them all out. For many, this episode became one of the most emotional moments in games.

If you cope with the tests and destroy the demon, Lowse will remind you that she is not only a skilled sorceress, but also a talented artist. In gratitude, she will sing a song that will not leave anyone indifferent.

One day the hero Arcanum will be asked to steal cargo from a port warehouse. The order seems to be a trivial one — only it soon turns out that everyone who tried to help the customer is dying. Is it really possible that a sad fate awaits you too?

The solution will be a nightmare. There is a company that provides services for hiring half-ogres security guards. There are few creatures left, so the villains kidnap women and cross them with ogres — the ladies die during childbirth. The customer intends to put an end to the conspiracy, but he needs evidence.

The hero goes to the island where experiments are being conducted, finds burials of women's bodies there and collects evidence. Alas, upon returning to the island, he finds the customer's corpse.

To make the case public, you can go to journalists. They like the story so much that they promise to tell about it in the morning. However, when you reach the editorial office after dawn, you find only a blood-stained room. The new editor says that he has not heard anything about half-ogres and they have no evidence. It seems that this time the perpetrators of the crimes will remain unpunished.

A simple assignment turned into an investigation for several hours, the ending of which left gamers in a state of complete mental devastation.

Planescape: Torment is rightly considered one of the best RPGs in history — it's full of memorable quests.

In one of the alleys, Bezymianny meets a man who offers to earn extra money. All you need to do is take the box and take it to the warehouse — the task seems dust-free. However, as soon as you take the cargo to the warehouse, the owner will panic, send you to someone else and run away. So you will rush from person to person until you find out that the box is cursed, and you were given it by deception.

In the end, the hero will be able to lift the curse, and gamers will learn that even simple quests in Planescape: Torment can turn into a great adventure.

One day, the plot of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic will lead the hero to the planet Manaan, where he will have to not only swing a lightsaber, but also defend his own and others' rights in court. First you need to convince everyone of the nice guy's innocence, and then you yourself will appear before the arbiters of fate.

First, the hero will be tried for invading the Sith base. Then for the fact that he blew up an underwater station or killed an unusual shark. Each meeting can be turned into a farce by making shocking statements and openly mocking the process. Manipulate, threaten, bullshit — even this strategy can work. However, if something doesn't go according to plan, you will simply be thrown out of Manaan and never allowed in again.

***

In this collection we have included only a small fraction of the impressive side quests. If you remember assignments that largely surpassed the main plot, tell us about them in the comments.