With Amazon Prime’s TV show and Fallout 4’s long-awaited Next-Gen Update, Bethesda’s 2015 post-apocalyptic RPG has seen a massive resurgence in sales and player activity, and though many are revisiting the game, there are also quite a few who’re getting a taste of its radioactive offerings for the first time. If you’re in that group, here, we’ve prepared a list of what we feel are some of the best side quests in Fallout 4, which, incidentally, also rank as some of the game’s brightest highlights- this is a Bethesda Game Studios RPG, after all.
DIAMOND CITY BLUES
Found in Diamond City, Diamond City Blues is easily one of Fallout 4’s most memorable side quests. Though it’s fairly short, it manages to pack in some interesting moments of player choice, tense fights against feral ghouls, shady chem deals, and more. This is a pretty easily missable quest though, so make sure you explore Diamond City thoroughly to find it.
HERE THERE BE MONSTERS
Found a little ways off from the Shamrock Taphouse, this is a quest that sees you traveling into the innards of a submarine and striking a deal with its captain to help fix the vessel. What makes this quest really tick is the characters at the center of it, and it doesn’t hurt that the rewards it doles out at the end are excellent- like being able to call a nuke fired from the submarine.
LAST VOYAGE OF USS CONSTITUTION
Most Fallout 4 fans end up citing this as one of their favourite quests in the entire game, and as is often the case with this series, a lot of that is down to the characters it revolves around. Eccentric robot Ironside and his crew of goofy mechanical helpers are a joy to interact with, while the quest also presents some interest choices to players, from helping Ironside restore the USS Constitution to the sky to sabotaging the ship and killing its entire robot crew.
THE DEVIL’S DUE
The Devil’s Due is an absolute rollercoaster ride. What starts as an investigation of strange incidents at the Museum of Witchcraft in Diamond City quickly reveals a mysterious murder, and before you know it, deathclaws and an unhatched deathclaw egg have also entered the equation. The quest an also end one of several ways, one of which even sees you crossing paths with a friendly deathclaw who gives you a unique weapon.
THE SECRET OF CABOT HOUSE
A perfect example of how wonderfully weird Fallout quests can be when they’re firing on all cylinders. To go into too much detail here would be spoiling one of Fallout 4’s best quests, but suffice to say, there’s a lot going on here, from a seemingly immortal and crazed man and a family with dark secrets to surprising twists, genuinely tough choices to be made, and more.
PICKMAN’S GIFT
Pickman’s Gift delivers probably one of the best short, self-contained stories in all of Fallout 4. At the outset of the quest, a fight against barbaric raiders in an art gallery may seem like a straightforward incident, especially with those raiders having a prisoner, but it soon becomes apparent that they’ve got some genuine (and understandable) beef with him. The choice you end up having to make between the two carries more weight than you expect it to going in.
CAPPY IN A HAYSTACK
The Nuka World DLC quest Cappy in a Haystack may seem like a generic fetch quest at first glance, but there’s more to quest than it lets on initially. For starters, the process of finding the hidden Cappy paintings is a surprisingly fun one, but what makes this quest really stand out is, once again, the choice it presents you at the end- especially given that it’s a choice involving John-Caleb Bradberton, the head of Nuka Cola himself.
VAULT 81
We’re cheating a little bit here by combining multiple quests into a single entry, but Fallout 4’s Vault 81 does deserve that concession. Vault-Tec Vaults are always some of the most fascinating locations in Fallout games, and that’s true here as well, with Vault 81’s quests having you learn more about the surprisingly well-off Vault and its history, helping its denizens, unraveling its secrets, and more.
HUMAN ERROR
Found in Covenant, Human Error is one of Fallout 4’s most elaborate and best side quests by far. It tells one of the game’s more gripping stories, taking players to a walled-off settlement inhabited by some of its most curious side characters. On top of delivering plenty of intrigue, twists, and surprising reveals, the quest also boasts some of the best implementation of choice-and-consequence mechanics in the entire game.
THE BIG DIG
There’s no doubt that The Big Dig ranks as one of Fallout 4’s most exciting quests on a conceptual level, and it executes on its strong premise to great effect. Your goal is to break into Diamond City’s vault and steal its riches, but to do that, you need to make your way through tunnels dug under the city- which, as you might imagine, is a task rife with danger. Add to that bizarre personalities like the eccentric ghoul Bobbi No-Nose, and you get one of the game’s most unforgettable quests.
THE SILVER SHROUD
The Silver Shroud kind of picks itself for a feature such as this one. Widely regarded as one of the game’s highlights, The Silver Shroud is Fallout 4’s post-apocalyptic, neo-noir take on a superhero story. The tale involving the vigilante told in this quest is a captivating one, and the fact that it rewards you at the end with the vigilante’s costume (which is also one of the game’s best armour sets) makes it that much more unmissable.
DUNWICH BORERS
We all love sprinklings of a little bit of horror in our Fallout games, and if that’s what you’re looking for in Fallout 4, you need look no further than the quarry known as Dunwich Borers. Yes, we’re bending the rules once again by speaking about a location as a whole rather than a specific quest, but uncovering the deeply unsettling secrets of the quarry, its creepy depths, and the tragedies that took place there is an experience that etches itself into your memory.
LONG TIME COMING
Nick Valentine is one of the best companion characters in Fallout history, so it’s no surprise that the quest that serves as the centerpiece of his storyline ranks as one of Fallout 4’s strongest. Out of everything in the entire game, Long Time Coming is likeliest to hit you right in the feels. From a cathartic ending to Nick’s storyline (depending on your choices, at least) to how effectively it sheds a light on the nuances of a synth’s very existence, this quest is one of those sections where the game is at its very best in every area that matters most.
BRAIN DEAD
There’s a lot to love in Fallout 4’s Far Harbor DLC, but for the purposes of this feature, we’re going to go with the quest Brain Dead. Why? Well, it embodies the best attributes of Fallout in the best way. It revolves around a unique cast of whacky characters, it tells an interesting story that grows more captivating as it progresses, and its brimming with the sort of absurd humour that this franchise is so often associated with.
CAMBRIDGE POLYMER LABS
One of multiple quests tied to the eponymous facility, Cambridge Polymer Labs sees you trying to complete a science experiment two centuries in the making. That’s a fascinating elevator pitch in and of itself, especially in the world of Fallout, but what ensues only makes it that much more memorable. That includes an encounter with Molly the robot, an elaborate trek through a dangerous facility, old secrets coming to light, and more.