Metacognition: Sidequest Nightmare

We’re back with our “thinking about thinking” series! If you’re interested in our previous deep thoughts, check out the Metacognition series.  Join us for some deep thoughts (and maybe the occasional not-so-deep thought) about gaming. If you find one you’d like to answer, you can either comment below or write a post and share the link so we can all read your fantastic thoughts!

What is a side-quest that was harder than a main quest?

Spoiler alert for Dragon Age: Origins

So there I was, happily traipsing across Thedas on “normal” difficulty, righting wrongs and going about my world-saving business. I took down a dragon at the Sacred Ashes, and was feeling pretty good about myself, when I was sent on a mission by Morrigan.

Flemeth. Holy Maker. Flemeth.

I’ve never been owned by a dragon so quickly in all my gaming life.

I’ll be the first to admit that Dragon Age: Origins has some ridiculous difficulty spikes, but this one was seriously ridiculous. I knocked the difficulty down to “casual” after about 15 minutes of failed attempts, and still had another 15 minutes of attempts and changing party members and trying to level up beforehand before I finally prevailed.

Just for fun, I replayed the archdemon fight on casual to compare, and the final boss was easier than Flemeth’s battle.

The terrain was cramped, Flemeth took up all of the land the players could walk on, if you tried to get away for a moment to heal in the six inches of space her body wasn’t occupying, she’d suck you back onto the cramped field with her wings… My poor rogue Warden never survived the battle. It was her (sadly dead) and three tanks that eventually won the day.

Meanwhile, on “casual” mode I beat the archdemon with two rogues, a mage, and a warrior, thank you very much.

My friend and I joked that the reason the battle was so hard was because Flemeth was a human who turned into a dragon, and so fought with that sort of intelligence. But that is nothing more than a headcanon. And without that sort of insight, it was just the most ridiculously difficult side quest I can think of…

What about you? Of all the games you’ve played, and of all the bosses and sidequests you’ve completed, was there ever a sidequest that was harder than a main quest? What was it? Let me know in the comments!

Thanks for stopping by, and I’ll see you soon!
~Athena

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