I remember it like yesterday. I had just turned 10 years old when my friend at school was telling me about a gift he received for his birthday, a PlayStation game which spanned across three entire discs. Three! This blew my mind. After a few days, he told me he couldn’t beat a really difficult boss, so he came over and we played Final Fantasy VII together. We started it from the beginning and eventually made it to the brick wall known as the Guard Scorpion. It took me all but one try, and immediately I was hooked to this game and begged my parents for it until I got it for my birthday. Since that wonderful winter day in 1997, I’ve been an avid Final Fantasy fan, playing every mainline game and cheap spinoff I could.

Final Fantasy has never been afraid to try new things with the mainline games. Since Final Fantasy X, they’ve veered away from turn based combat, world maps, and some of the RPGs elements that you normally would get in a Final Fantasy game. Even with all of the changes, it all still has the same Final Fantasy feel.

One element that has grown in all of gaming, especially with the boom of the open world games, is side quests. Obviously with such a vast area to explore, developers want to give you as much content as they can by filling in the gaps of the story with side quests. However, a lot of the time these side quests can feel like more like a to do list, and eventually feel like being more of a chore than a joy. That is until I played Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth follows the adventures of Cloud and friends on their adventure to pursue Sephiroth once outside of Midgar. In the original version of Final Fantasy VII, you left Midgar and walked from town to town on an empty world map. In Rebirth, you explore this former world map as an open world, and much to my delight, it feels very familiar. Throughout this open world exploration, you can pick up side quests which always involve one other party member which builds your relationship with them.

There’s so many side quests I can discuss, but I want to point out one that truly resonated with me, especially as a new father. This side quest is called “When Words Won’t Do.” When you get to a town called Under Junon, you pick up this side quest which seems very basic, you escort a dog to the quest givers son. But once you get started, it turns in to much more. The quest giver is having you deliver money that the dog is carrying, because her son wanted to be independent and start a new life away from Under Junon, so she lost direct contact with him. While escorting the dog, your party member Barrett starts to express how much he loves his daughter Marlene, and would let her spread her wings and be free once she wants to. He then has an internal struggle between protecting her and letting her be free. Of course, he has many years ahead of him before this, but the struggle for him humanizes him and builds his character. The side quest has it’s own incredible song, has a few battles in between, and lasts the perfect amount of time that a side quest should. I felt completely satisfied, and smiled thinking about how great these characters and this world is, and there’s so many more side quests that make you feel this way.

I’ve been down on side quests for quite some time now, but Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is entirely changing my mind. How do you feel about side quests in gaming? Please share your thoughts with us on our Boss Rush Facebook Group or our Boss Rush Discord.

Photo Source: Square Enix