Summary
RPGs, especiallyexpansive open-world RPGslike Bethesda’sStarfield,are well known for their side quests. Side quests offer something away from the main story or Faction quests, something different to do. These quests can be boring and mundane, things that players have seen thousands of times before - kill 10 rats, fetch an item from the other side of the map - all the usual stuff… or they can bejust that little bit more different.
Sometimes, weird is better, and the devs at Bethesda know that as well as anyone. So here’s a look at ten of the quirkiest, most charming, side quests thatStarfieldhas to offer for players looking for something extra.
10Bare Metal
Who Spray-Painted Renick’s Best Friend?
One of Neon’s merchants, a grumpy arms dealer by the name of Frank Renick, needs some help defending his robot’s honor and dignity after vandals have spray-painted it. The robot appears to be Renick’s best - and maybe only - friend, so it’s easy to see why it’s important to him.
This quest also showcases how some people in the world ofStarfieldfeel about their metallic companions, and it’s a nice look into the kinds of thoughts people might have about near-sentient robots in the future. It’s also a great way to introduce players to the Ebbside Strikers, a minor faction on Neon.
9The Great Laredo Caper
Help A Child Stop A Robbery After Their Bedtime
Players can encounter a child NPC named Annie Wilcox in Akila City. Claiming to be anassistant to the Freestar Rangers, Annie wants the player character’s help thwarting would-be thieves of one of Akila City’s very own arms manufacturers.
Because the theft is going to happen late at night, it takes place well after her bedtime, and as such, it’s up to the player to foil the caper in Annie’s stead. This is a neat little side quest with big Nancy Drew energy.
8Red Tape Blues, Red Tape Runaround, Red Tape Reclamation
Get The Martian Miners Some New Gear
A commentary on how hard it can be to get anything done within a big organization,Red Tape Blueskicks off a small side quest chain that sees players help a tired, fed up mine manager on Mars get brand-new equipment for his workers.
This quest gives a good look into the ineptitude present at the top of large corporations while also letting players get a taste for sneaking around and schmoozing. There’s even a falsified job application. This is a fun quest and offers something a bit different from the standard RPG fetch quest.
7A Tree Grows In New Atlantis, Out On A Limb, Late Bloomer
Investigate A Strange Tree
This set of side quests is good for a laugh. Early on in players' explorations of New Atlantis, they may encounter Kelton Frush, a scientist worried about a particular kind of tree that’sgrowing in New Atlantis.
What follows is a surprisingly intricate quest involving academic rivalries, espionage, and journeys to another city, all in the service of getting a tree some action. Hey, it’s a job.
6Loose Ends, Fishy Business, Supply Run
Working The Xenofresh Fisheries Factory
For players looking to dip their toes into the big and fragrant world of industrial fish processing, these three quests are the perfect starting point. After witnessing an altercation between a man and the Neon City guards, Loose Ends ultimately allows players to craft the drug Aurora as part of the reward for completing these quests.
This quest line is a weird one, because it involves actually going to work at a fish processing plant undercover. This after confronting a bootlegger about his illegal hooch.
5The Lair Of The Mantis
The Son Of A Pirate Hunter Is Killed By His Mother’s Traps
The rewards for The Lair of the Mantis are pretty great: a whole Legendary space suit set, along with a brand-new spaceship. That’s awesome, but the framing of this quest is an odd one.
A legendary pirate hunter known as the Mantis had a hidden lair, and she tasked her son with becoming the Mantis after her death… except she didn’t explain any of that to him. Not a single thing. So he ended up dead because of all her traps and puzzles. Well, his loss is the player’s gain, but this is one of the odder side quests.
4Tourists Go Home
Pretend To Be A Space Monster
As fun as it is being a tourist, not every local is happy with the hordes of tourists that descend upon their communities. Tourists Go Home is a perfect representation of how some people local to tourist hotspots feel, and in true Bethesda style, the quest giver makes this preference known in a weird and wonderful way.
Players don a ridiculous space suit to scare off tourists, and have to do it multiple times, pretending to be a space monster. This quest even pays off later during another side quest if players are wearing the alien space suit. It’s definitely one of the weirder quests inStarfield,but much more fun for it.
3Juno’s Gambit
Deal With A Self-Aware Ship AI
Juno’s Gambit is a very short little side quest featuring two agents of Ryujin,Starfield’sshady megacorp which also has agreat faction quest lineattached to it. However, Juno’s Gambit is fully self-contained.
After an encounter in space, players can dock with a ship, and on that ship is a self-aware AI, called Juno. The two Ryujin agents are in a bit of quandary over what exactly to do with Juno, and allow the player character to intercede. This quest is a great one, drawing on the popular sci-fi trope of emergent consciousness in AI.
2Operation Starseed
Confront The Clones Of Historical Figures
This quest is hidden away in a far-flung part ofStarfield’smap, but it’s absolutely worth doing. It’s unclear exactlyhow, but some mysterious group in the Settled Systems has managed to acquire the DNA of various figures from history and, because that’s a perfectly normal thing to do, has cloned them and set up a society of clones in the far frontier.
With a truly amazing collection of historical personages ranging from the great Genghis Khan to Franklin D Roosevelt and even Amelia Earheart, who can berecruited as a companion, Operation Starseed is a great if somewhat weird quest.
1Space Frog From Outer Space
Space Frog From Outer Space is a great little quest that’s absolutely pointless in the grand scheme of things. Easily missed, Space Frog From Outer Space can be picked up on Cydonia by speaking with a bored and somewhat sad young girl called Renee.
Renee wants nothing more than to cheer up the doleful miners of Cydonia and tasks the player with spreading cheer in the form of posters of a character she’s designed. Once completed, Space Frog posters start appearing in other parts of the galaxy, bringing a smile to many a face.
