Troubles balancing main story, side missions, and completionaries

[Reality vs Adventure]

You got a game you love playing, and when you feel you are getting close to the end, you still wanna look at the map you haven't cleared. All those quests... Once you finish the game, all those other quests.....Should you finish as many quests you can before finishing the main story? Or finish those other quests after beating the game? Are you motivated to continue playing the game after completing the story? So that you can finish quests? 

I have it in all intention to go back and play other quests after the story. But do I get around to it? I put it in mind, but towards the back of it because I want to play other games and have new experiences. So I'm stuck leaving games on my system taking up space because I want to be a completionary and afraid to let go of my experiences from the game. 

[Empire]

Infamous second son paper trail dlc (before the rework) I love the infamous series and I hope we get another one but the paper trial dlc was so infuriatingly mundane and tedious. You had to complete some part in game then another on your computer and repeat. All for a couple of jackets. At least after the websites were taken down all the out of game stuff was removed and you could finish it quite easily. I (and quite a lot of other people) were at least hoping for a paper power or something better than a couple jackets

[Kane99]

I usually like to play all the side quests before finishing the main game. I know that then leaves you nothing else to do aside from side activities and so on. I'm speaking of RDR2. I mostly focused on a mix of side missions and doing a couple main story missions. 

But games like Skyrim are a bit different, because sometimes I get the feeling that the side quests are just as good as some of the main story. So I think it's 50/50 there, where I do side quests, main story, side quest, main story, etc. And I think Skyrim is the game I would finish the story and still have so many side quests left for me to do. Making it feel like you have unlimited stuff to do. 

[Reality vs Adventure]

21 hours ago, Kane99 said:

I usually like to play all the side quests before finishing the main game. I know that then leaves you nothing else to do aside from side activities and so on. I'm speaking of RDR2. I mostly focused on a mix of side missions and doing a couple main story missions. 

But games like Skyrim are a bit different, because sometimes I get the feeling that the side quests are just as good as some of the main story. So I think it's 50/50 there, where I do side quests, main story, side quest, main story, etc. And I think Skyrim is the game I would finish the story and still have so many side quests left for me to do. Making it feel like you have unlimited stuff to do. 

After beating the game in Skyrim, do you still feel motivated to go back and play the side quests? I usually have full intention to finish side quests, but time passes and my motivation decreases while I'm playing other games. It's a hard balancing act not to fall too far behind in the story and forget things while doing a bunch of other quests, or not to finish the story too early while you may miss out on some awesome side quests. Sometimes some games even add bonus quests after finishing the game like Days Gone. Developers sometimes intend for you to keep playing after completing the game. Right now while playing Cyberpunk 2077, the story has captivated me sooo much that I feel I have neglected side quests. The map is full of stuff I need to do. So now I've stopped the story to do a bunch of quests, and now I feel I'm losing immersion in the story. But if I just finish the story, I won't get the whole experience. Because those side quests so far are very incredible too. Excellent game. But, my intention for a while is to clear some of the map at the sacrifice of immersing in the story. It's a tough balancing act, wobble wobble. 

[Shortie]

When it comes to games that have both a main story and side quests I like to play through the main story and complete side quests as best I can during the main story gameplay but if I still have a lot of side quests left after completing the main story, I don't mind going back through and completing the side quests that are left as long as I enjoyed the game on my first play through. 

[Kane99]

On 3/11/2023 at 1:27 PM, Reality vs Adventure said:

After beating the game in Skyrim, do you still feel motivated to go back and play the side quests? I usually have full intention to finish side quests, but time passes and my motivation decreases while I'm playing other games. It's a hard balancing act not to fall too far behind in the story and forget things while doing a bunch of other quests, or not to finish the story too early while you may miss out on some awesome side quests. Sometimes some games even add bonus quests after finishing the game like Days Gone. Developers sometimes intend for you to keep playing after completing the game. Right now while playing Cyberpunk 2077, the story has captivated me sooo much that I feel I have neglected side quests. The map is full of stuff I need to do. So now I've stopped the story to do a bunch of quests, and now I feel I'm losing immersion in the story. But if I just finish the story, I won't get the whole experience. Because those side quests so far are very incredible too. Excellent game. But, my intention for a while is to clear some of the map at the sacrifice of immersing in the story. It's a tough balancing act, wobble wobble. 

With Skyrim I usually do a mix of story and side quests. Sometimes more side quests, and other days I mix it up and do more story missions. If I finish the main game before the side quests, I will feel motivated to finish those up. Usually once I finish everything, I call it quits. I haven't really gone back to Skyrim much after finishing it. But, it is something I'm due to play again soon, I feel I need to. 

There is a game that comes to mind where I don't usually bother with side missions. I usually do the main story and destroy stuff. Aside from that, I don't bother doing the racing missions, or any of the other side missions. I did collect all items in one of the Just cause games, but I forget which one at this point. 

But yeah, some games side missions/quests aren't worth it sometimes. 

[killamch89]

I usually complete most if not all of the side missions before finishing the main story because in some games, the side missions add extra bits of insight into things that got overlook or were never explained fully in the main story.

[Debashis]

It depends on your playstyle. Some gamers prefer to complete all quests before finishing the main story to get the full experience. Others prefer to finish the story first and then tackle the remaining quests as post-game content. Motivation to continue playing after beating the game varies from player to player, but quests can definitely provide additional content and goals. Personally, I am someone who focuses on the main missions first.

[Kennysplash]

The main missions actually piques my interest first, and most times I don’t see any other missions until I have completed the main mission. It is usually put there to serve as a peripheral mission and I don’t allow it to interfere when the main one is still in play. 

[Heatman]

Even though I'm not a completionist in any way but the way I love to go about my games is to complete the main story first. It gives me a sense of accomplishment before moving towards completing all the side quests as much as I can. 

[JennyorAlice]

Once I've finished the main storyline, I'll go back and finish any side quests that I haven't completed already. 

[Lens]

On 1/15/2024 at 6:11 AM, Debashis said:

It depends on your playstyle. Some gamers prefer to complete all quests before finishing the main story to get the full experience. Others prefer to finish the story first and then tackle the remaining quests as post-game content. Motivation to continue playing after beating the game varies from player to player, but quests can definitely provide additional content and goals. Personally, I am someone who focuses on the main missions first.

I completely agree with you. I mean, it's should be about personal preference and playstyle as well. Also, I appreciate the kind of challenges that quests provide as well. 

[JennyorAlice]

On 7/11/2024 at 2:27 PM, JennyorAlice said:

Once I've finished the main storyline, I'll go back and finish any side quests that I haven't completed already. 

Actually, this isn't always true. 

When I was playing Hogwarts Legacy last year, there were times I'd stray from the main story and get focused on completing some side quests before getting back on track with the main storyline. 

[Lens]

On 7/16/2024 at 3:13 PM, JennyorAlice said:

Actually, this isn't always true. 

When I was playing Hogwarts Legacy last year, there were times I'd stray from the main story and get focused on completing some side quests before getting back on track with the main storyline. 

Honestly, I find it very difficult to balance my love for side content with the need to progress through the main story. How are you able to do this?

[Heatman]

On 7/16/2024 at 3:13 PM, JennyorAlice said:

Actually, this isn't always true. 

When I was playing Hogwarts Legacy last year, there were times I'd stray from the main story and get focused on completing some side quests before getting back on track with the main storyline. 

I believe that it is always going to be based on how the game appeals to you as you kept playing at one particular point in time. This is going to decide what direction you are going to be following in completing the game.