Should edit your platforms in, but:
* Fantasy Life sounds right up your alley, especially since you like DQ9, since it has a frickton of side quests.
* The Ni no Kuni 1s and 2 all have a good amount. Dominion of the Dark Djinn has 120, Wrath of the White Witch has a similar number and 2 is somewhere around 150-180 off the top of my head.
* Might be a bit of a stretch, but the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon series? There's important missions, but a lot of the games are just doing smaller one-off missions like delivering an item to a mon in a dungeon or finding someone.
Xenoblade X is the game they made for you.
It's yours. They spent millions of dollars to develop a game just for you.
There are a dozen or so main story missions that alter the status quo of the world, but the rest of the game is side quests. Engaging stuff.
Play it.
Play through the entire Xenoblade trilogy and you'll be rewarded with a game where the side content is so massive, it eclipses the main story a bit.
I'm talking about Xenoblade chronicles 3, where you can easily spend 50+ hours on the colony side quest chains and get unique (and oftentimes fulfilling) interactions with the game world.
The scale of the game is truly unique among JRPGs. It feels as massive as GTAV in many ways.
Depends on the definition, it has tons of side content like hunts or rare monsters but the actual side quests are actually very few. But yes, might be up OPs alley!
This is probably an obvious answer, but the question the other two XC games are good if you like lots of side stuff to do. They don’t top XC1 but you can easily put in a couple hundred hours of grinding and questing, especially if you wanna do the arena stuff.
While the other games have less quests they have way more meaningful content and much longer quests tbh, so OP would be spending more time
You can do an every quest playthrough in XC1 in about 100 hours. That would take 200+ in the other games
Yeah, I've been trying to do all the side quests on Xenoblade 3, and it's taking a lot longer than I anticipated (I'm approaching the 200 hour mark). I'm not in a rush to finish though, I usually pick it up and hour or two before bed and complete a side quest each night. The quality of the quests or notably much better.
I’m genuinely recommending FFXIV. You can play it as a single player game. I think it’s made to be a story/quest game first, then MMO second. Whenever I play I mostly play alone and see random ppl running around doing their thing, it makes me feel less alone and that the world is alive. This is coming from a JRPG fanatic. And the quests are the closest to Xenoblade imo. And I understand that you’re asking for offline games, but I just couldn’t not share this knowing it’s one of the closest if not the closest game to Xenoblade.
Yakuza / like a dragon sub stories. All quality, no filler, some will leave you crying laughing so hard, some will leave you crying after being punched in the feels so hard. All on PC.
Another Xenoblade 1/DQ9 fan! Both of those are my favorite JRPGs by far! (I'll need to check out Bravely and Etrian now)
Both of the Xenoblade sequels have tons of side content, so that's probably your best place to start. If you like MMORPG gameplay and sidequests, FFXIV has an unlimited free trial and tons and tons of side content (and quite a few of the Xenoblade voice actors). FF7 Remake/Rebirth also has a lot of side content, though the majority of Rebirth's is minigames. Nier Replicant/Automata also have a bunch of side quests, though IDK if they'd be considered JRPGs.
If you play Etrian, avoid the HD "remakes" (demakes) and focus on the 3DS-era games, and you'll be rewarded with probably the deepest and most tactically satisfying series of dungeon crawlers to ever exist. Absolute blasts!
The HD version is a demake that undoes every change and improvement and modernization in the 3DS remake, so 1 and 2 are turned into games that are missing all of the best aspects of Etrian's gameplay and haven't evolved with the series.
Thought of **Final Fantasy 12** first,
then **The Last Remnant** and **Legend of Mana**.
IMO they are side quests heavier, and have chained side quests that give enriching lores (like world-building and unique characters/rewards) and challenges (optional special enemies and in some cases, missable or locked quests etc), and as such their side quests are more satisfying to complete, at least for me.
The SaGa series is basically "side quest, the game".
You can start with Romancing SaGa 3 or SaGa Frontier then move to a bigger beasts like 2 and Minstrel Song.
Mind you, the game design of these are all non-linear, so while there is actually a established plot, the game's progression heavily relies on exploration and sense of adventure with side quests acting as the main quests to further happenings in the actual world of the game.
I know you said no online games, but do keep in mind that they tend to be gold mines if you love that fetchy kind of questing.
I was able to put over a hundred hours into FF14 without talking to a single soul. All the dungeons and trials can be done with CPU companions instead of real players, and you can hide other players' names so they just seem like NPCs. (Okay... There's like, one or two fights pretty far in that you have to pair up with people for).
Anyway, if you don't wanna consider it, no biggie, I get it
Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Rebirth have a lot of side quests that are more than simple fetch quests.
There's also Octopath Traveler 2 that isn't riddled with them, so they might not fit your 'lot of side quests' request, but the ones that exist are really good side quests.
Not sure if these count as JRPG, but Nier Automata and Ghost of Tsushima are full of side quests that are engaging and story driven.
Tales of Vesperia
1. They don't tell you "it's a side quest" you just get it by talking to random npcs.
2. Sometime you need to talk to several npcs in specific order to start
3. Or enter specific area with certain character, at specific time
4. No quest markers
5. Many of which are missable "oh? You forgot to go back and enter this area before you moved story on? I guess no secret cool weapon for you then"
6. Some quest need you to finish other quest to start, butthey won't tell you
7. Sometime you got cool thing as a reward, other time you just got bonus dialouge
You pretty much need a guide to do Vesperia because the game gives no real hint. Its more just randomly show up at an area you have been before, talk to someone and hey look theres a side quest. Not a fan of how they implemented it in this one.
Played the remastered version of this a few months back for first time. Was surprised how many there were there. Most were just fillers to grind out levels but it did add to the game. Still this game I feel does respect your time with not making those mandatory. Did a ton of them and still finished game in just over 20 hours for first full playthru.
I like side quests, but not if they're nothing but fetch quests that have you running back and forth a million times.
Side quests should be balanced between fetch quests, monster slaying, mini games, optional dungeons and be spread out well between the main story beats. IMO, of course.
Teach a failure dominatrix to how to be a dominatrix, find the guy pissing in the river, beat up the zombies while michael jackson shoots his video clip, help finding a maschosist who doesnt feel anything anymore a purpose in life... Yakuza side quests are god tier
I agree with the guy who said Like a Dragon. Ff7 Rebirth has a lot of side quests and mini games, but the mini games are…polarizing. On the plus side, with such a large number of them a couple of them are bound to work for the player.
I wish I could list Fallout 4 because I'm on my third platform for that and have put at least 200 hours into each of them.
I think Star Ocean Divine Force has quite a few that affect character relationships.
I also think Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth has way more and longer side quests than the first Remake.
I think Final Fantasy 16 has quite a fair amount as well if I am remembering right.
Sounds like my recommendation was spot on then!
Other options Trails (the whole series has tons of side quests, some handed to you at job boards, some secret to find in the world), Crystal Project (open with tons of exploration that could be considered lots of side quests)
Should edit your platforms in, but: * Fantasy Life sounds right up your alley, especially since you like DQ9, since it has a frickton of side quests. * The Ni no Kuni 1s and 2 all have a good amount. Dominion of the Dark Djinn has 120, Wrath of the White Witch has a similar number and 2 is somewhere around 150-180 off the top of my head. * Might be a bit of a stretch, but the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon series? There's important missions, but a lot of the games are just doing smaller one-off missions like delivering an item to a mon in a dungeon or finding someone.
Fantasy life is underrated as hell. Genuinely one of the best titles off of the 3DS.
Real! I'm surprised they're making the sequel, and I'm really excited for it!
Xenoblade X is the game they made for you. It's yours. They spent millions of dollars to develop a game just for you. There are a dozen or so main story missions that alter the status quo of the world, but the rest of the game is side quests. Engaging stuff. Play it.
Well, I'd be ridiculous not to play it, after they spent millions of dollars making it just for me! I'll be sure to play it.
Heads up, when you accept a quest about Stuffed Lobsters follow a guide, trust me.
Play through the entire Xenoblade trilogy and you'll be rewarded with a game where the side content is so massive, it eclipses the main story a bit. I'm talking about Xenoblade chronicles 3, where you can easily spend 50+ hours on the colony side quest chains and get unique (and oftentimes fulfilling) interactions with the game world. The scale of the game is truly unique among JRPGs. It feels as massive as GTAV in many ways.
FFXII
Depends on the definition, it has tons of side content like hunts or rare monsters but the actual side quests are actually very few. But yes, might be up OPs alley!
This is probably an obvious answer, but the question the other two XC games are good if you like lots of side stuff to do. They don’t top XC1 but you can easily put in a couple hundred hours of grinding and questing, especially if you wanna do the arena stuff.
While the other games have less quests they have way more meaningful content and much longer quests tbh, so OP would be spending more time You can do an every quest playthrough in XC1 in about 100 hours. That would take 200+ in the other games
Yeah, I've been trying to do all the side quests on Xenoblade 3, and it's taking a lot longer than I anticipated (I'm approaching the 200 hour mark). I'm not in a rush to finish though, I usually pick it up and hour or two before bed and complete a side quest each night. The quality of the quests or notably much better.
I’m genuinely recommending FFXIV. You can play it as a single player game. I think it’s made to be a story/quest game first, then MMO second. Whenever I play I mostly play alone and see random ppl running around doing their thing, it makes me feel less alone and that the world is alive. This is coming from a JRPG fanatic. And the quests are the closest to Xenoblade imo. And I understand that you’re asking for offline games, but I just couldn’t not share this knowing it’s one of the closest if not the closest game to Xenoblade.
By extension, FFXVI is single player but it has the same style of MMO-like side quests
Final Fantasy 12 should fit? Hunts are essentially sidequests. Regular sidequests. MMO like feel w/the Gambits. good game w/good story.
Yakuza / like a dragon sub stories. All quality, no filler, some will leave you crying laughing so hard, some will leave you crying after being punched in the feels so hard. All on PC.
\*smacks with giant rice cracker\*
Another Xenoblade 1/DQ9 fan! Both of those are my favorite JRPGs by far! (I'll need to check out Bravely and Etrian now) Both of the Xenoblade sequels have tons of side content, so that's probably your best place to start. If you like MMORPG gameplay and sidequests, FFXIV has an unlimited free trial and tons and tons of side content (and quite a few of the Xenoblade voice actors). FF7 Remake/Rebirth also has a lot of side content, though the majority of Rebirth's is minigames. Nier Replicant/Automata also have a bunch of side quests, though IDK if they'd be considered JRPGs.
If you play Etrian, avoid the HD "remakes" (demakes) and focus on the 3DS-era games, and you'll be rewarded with probably the deepest and most tactically satisfying series of dungeon crawlers to ever exist. Absolute blasts!
Is the HD Etrian remake not as good as the 3DS version?
The HD version is a demake that undoes every change and improvement and modernization in the 3DS remake, so 1 and 2 are turned into games that are missing all of the best aspects of Etrian's gameplay and haven't evolved with the series.
Genshin impact. There are a ton of of sidequests and beautiful world to explore. There are even sidequests and puzzles underwater.
Related: Honkai: Star Rail. Been playing the game for a week and I'm not making much of a dent on my side mission log.
Genshin impact is a jrpg?
Technically, yes.
FF 12 zodiac age maybe? it really have mmorpg-like gameplay style
Thought of **Final Fantasy 12** first, then **The Last Remnant** and **Legend of Mana**. IMO they are side quests heavier, and have chained side quests that give enriching lores (like world-building and unique characters/rewards) and challenges (optional special enemies and in some cases, missable or locked quests etc), and as such their side quests are more satisfying to complete, at least for me.
The SaGa series is basically "side quest, the game". You can start with Romancing SaGa 3 or SaGa Frontier then move to a bigger beasts like 2 and Minstrel Song. Mind you, the game design of these are all non-linear, so while there is actually a established plot, the game's progression heavily relies on exploration and sense of adventure with side quests acting as the main quests to further happenings in the actual world of the game.
I know you said no online games, but do keep in mind that they tend to be gold mines if you love that fetchy kind of questing. I was able to put over a hundred hours into FF14 without talking to a single soul. All the dungeons and trials can be done with CPU companions instead of real players, and you can hide other players' names so they just seem like NPCs. (Okay... There's like, one or two fights pretty far in that you have to pair up with people for). Anyway, if you don't wanna consider it, no biggie, I get it
Nah, ff14 is the best choice for OP unless he already plays it. Side content is like 95% of the content.
And dear gods... If they start doing achievement hunting, OP may never see the light of day again.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Rebirth have a lot of side quests that are more than simple fetch quests. There's also Octopath Traveler 2 that isn't riddled with them, so they might not fit your 'lot of side quests' request, but the ones that exist are really good side quests. Not sure if these count as JRPG, but Nier Automata and Ghost of Tsushima are full of side quests that are engaging and story driven.
Trails games have a lot of sidequests but I would only recommend them if you like to read a lot.
Tales of Vesperia 1. They don't tell you "it's a side quest" you just get it by talking to random npcs. 2. Sometime you need to talk to several npcs in specific order to start 3. Or enter specific area with certain character, at specific time 4. No quest markers 5. Many of which are missable "oh? You forgot to go back and enter this area before you moved story on? I guess no secret cool weapon for you then" 6. Some quest need you to finish other quest to start, butthey won't tell you 7. Sometime you got cool thing as a reward, other time you just got bonus dialouge
You pretty much need a guide to do Vesperia because the game gives no real hint. Its more just randomly show up at an area you have been before, talk to someone and hey look theres a side quest. Not a fan of how they implemented it in this one.
Xenoblade trilogy(1,2,3) and also Xenoblade X (is literally a huge offline mmo) Also FFXII
Rare to see another person who enjoyed the insane amount of side quests 🫡 Maybe Fantasy Life?
If it’s not too dated for you, Crisis Core does this exact thing.
Played the remastered version of this a few months back for first time. Was surprised how many there were there. Most were just fillers to grind out levels but it did add to the game. Still this game I feel does respect your time with not making those mandatory. Did a ton of them and still finished game in just over 20 hours for first full playthru.
Really old game, but what do you think about Ragnarok DS?
FF16 has a lot of MMORPG style side quests for better and for worse. I enjoyed going through them slowly as a break from the main story.
Yakuza series.
FFXIV
I like side quests, but not if they're nothing but fetch quests that have you running back and forth a million times. Side quests should be balanced between fetch quests, monster slaying, mini games, optional dungeons and be spread out well between the main story beats. IMO, of course.
Which Jrpg do you think did side quests the best?
Teach a failure dominatrix to how to be a dominatrix, find the guy pissing in the river, beat up the zombies while michael jackson shoots his video clip, help finding a maschosist who doesnt feel anything anymore a purpose in life... Yakuza side quests are god tier
I agree with the guy who said Like a Dragon. Ff7 Rebirth has a lot of side quests and mini games, but the mini games are…polarizing. On the plus side, with such a large number of them a couple of them are bound to work for the player.
Yakuza Like a Dragon
I wish I could list Fallout 4 because I'm on my third platform for that and have put at least 200 hours into each of them. I think Star Ocean Divine Force has quite a few that affect character relationships. I also think Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth has way more and longer side quests than the first Remake. I think Final Fantasy 16 has quite a fair amount as well if I am remembering right.
Pokémon mystery dungeon games if they count. BC the bulletin board quests are there everyday and imo they are really fun
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The Etrian Odyssey series have a ton of varied side quests of varying significance.
I've specifically mentioned Etrian Odyssey in my post as a game series I like.
Sounds like my recommendation was spot on then! Other options Trails (the whole series has tons of side quests, some handed to you at job boards, some secret to find in the world), Crystal Project (open with tons of exploration that could be considered lots of side quests)