When playing a game, do you tend to favor the main quest mostly, and then work on the side quests afterwards?

Or do you work on side quests as they pop up?

Or do you purposefully keep the main quest for the end?


I typically:

1. "Get me feel wet" by working on the main quest for a few hours
2. Try a few side quests, especially the ones I think may give me better items/stats/skills
3. Work on the main quest until I can tell I'm at the end-game
4. Work on completing all the side quests I have the patience to (like, 80% completion or so)
5. Finish the main quest
6. Check if there's any good post-game content

I tend to follow the main quest for the first few hours on my playthrough, then take on a bunch of side quest afterwards, then pretty much continue on the main story again. I rinse and repeat this in a game until im at the end of the main story. This actually varies from game to game for me. I've played some games with very tedious and almost unrewarding side quest.

I love it when side quest actually have their own little stories of their own, even larger stories spanning multiple side quest.

for me it depends on the game. In Mega Man Legends I tend to do the side quests first before the main quests. There is a reason for this. In Legends the side quests you can get power ups that can be made into powerful weapons. This makes completing the main quests much easier. Legends 2 is the same way.

Mega Man X its a hybrid. In the X series you have to complete the main quests first. However, you have to backtrack a lot on side quests to get all the power ups and items. I actually like games that are a hybrid.

Mega Man classic series is a lot like the X series and requires both.

Kirby and Mario games they mostly require you to do the main quests then go back and do side quests. You cannot advance in those games until you do the main quests.

Overall, I really like games that are hybrids that make you complete the main quests but allow you to do side quests. I also think that is what makes Mega Man games so fun to play and popular.

For me it matters greatly on how much I like the game and how important I find it to do the side content and if that impacts the game in a meaningful way if I do it first or if I want to beat the game first in case it's hiding more content behind needing to have beaten the final boss.

Side quests can be good, but if it's not good characters, then I don't like it. But a very good example is FFVIICCR because Zack Fair isn't the Main Character of FFVII.

I typically focus on Side quests first. Only problem with doing that it tends to lead me getting burnt out on the game since some Side quests with some exceptions don't Thrill/keep my attention as well as the Main quest. My only problem is if I can see something that can be done that doesn't relate to the Main quest I like to complete it before continuing on with the story. So while it may cause me to hate the game later I just can't continue without doing the side stuff first.

I go straight to the main quest whenever I can. I only attend side quests either when I need to grind for the main quest, when I'm done with the main quest or when I simply want to try something different.
 
Exceptions exist, though. The most recent example is SSBU, where I've left the Campaign nearly untouched and focused on unlocking the characters and battle stages first and foremost, with no apparent sign of ever retaking said campaign xD. While Smash is a saga that allows for it because you don't really need to do the main quest to unlock everything, even in previous installments I did focus on this campaign mode before looking elsewhere. Maybe I became too old for stories lol.

In the case the game has other games within it or other modes besides the main one making for an entirely different experience, I often go to that instead. Best examples are Persona 5 Royal (where I'd spend more time playing President rather than going to school xD) and Sonic Adventure 2 Battle, a game where I poured hundreds of hours into Chao World rather than advancing in the game's story mode, to the point I never reached 50% progression there (but I do have levels I played for well over 500 times just because of Chao World exploits xD). At least in modern games like Persona 5 there are also achievements and things to unlock through those side games, so they're definitely comparable to a side quest.

I vote side quests - ride or die!
Saving the world from destruction can wait; I gotta save that NPC's cat or play cards!

My most recent example was Octopath Traveler 1 and 2. Instead of going right into the next character's chapter, I always explored new towns, and looked for side quests within. Plus, the gains and levels made me that much more prepared for the main quests.

Before that, I played through Zelda: Breath of the Wild (loved it). But I guess most of that game can be considered an encyclopedia of 'side quests,' as very early in the game, you're informed of your main quest objective. That objective being to kill the final boss. Unless you're speedrunning or have a death wish, 99% of players will choose to explore the world to get stronger, and gain better equipment

I'm a completionist. I have to complete every side quest as it comes up before I can continue with the main quest. That's just how my brain works. I guess you could say its FOMO.

I'm the kind of person who will do a side quest then do another side quest, and then ten more side quests before I even get to the second main story quest. It's a curse.

Largely depends on the game, and the content of the side quests for me. I do much prefer quests which feel like they add to the game's lore and/or character development, or are at least more content to the core gameplay loop. This is compared to simple fetch quests where you just need to get X material or kill mob enemy X times for meager rewards that don't really add anything, and end up just really being a waste of time. Those kinds of quests aren't engaging at all since they're not difficult or require any thought, they're just there to waste your time.

I can name a few examples here...

I really love Xenoblade Chronicles 3 sidequests. They're usually very engaging and offer some level of character depth to the main cast, and new additions to the side character cast. Some of them may be fetch quests, or kill an enemy quests, but on the way there, you get special dialogue you can't hear anywhere else. Notably, this dialogue occurs while you're still moving toward the objective anyway, rather than stopping you in your tracks and causing it to be longer than it needs to be.

Atelier sidequests I would not say I "love" but I do not mind doing them. Gathering resources is the core gameplay loop of that game - in terms of fetch quests and killing mobs for materials, I'm already doing that anyway. I wouldn't say they necessarily enrich the game but they don't take away from it either, and are a good way to get special materials or traits you can't get anywhere else in some instances.

A game I do NOT like doing them for is Xenoblade Chronicles 1. A vast majority of the side quests in that game are mind-numbing fetch quests in game with complete RNG pickups, so you could spend either 5 or 30 minutes on any given quest. Additionally, the game practically expects you to do them, as the main story does not give you sufficient EXP, and you are severely punished for being too underleveled.

I'm a main quest person first most of the time. I was to run the full story through on a first playthrough. If the game is good enough I'll try and find all the extra things to do and what not.

The only time I would really stop and do side quests is if I know the next section of the game is harder than what my characters can handle. I'll do the extra stuff for a couple levels worth and then keep going. I hate playing a game and getting through it too quickly and struggling in parts where I don't have to.