There’s a really ugly truth that some players don’t like to face. After spending anywhere from $50 to $70 on agame, there are some parts of a title that you skip.It feels like throwing money away.
When I pay that much for a game, I will do everything I can to get my money’s worth, but even I’ll admit that there are some optional sectionsthat I prefer to ignore.
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Some sections of games warrant skipping. It’s like the devs put these sections in there just to waste the player’s time or even trick them. More likely, someone higher up told them they had to put it in the game to either pad out playtime or drive “engagement” somehow despite affecting overall quality.
To see if you’re on the same page as everyone else, take a look at theseoptional sections in games we all skip.
To find the most common optional sections in games that most players skip, we reviewed social media posts and forums with high engagement about sections that players felt were meaningless, filler, or simply a waste of time.
10Oxenfurt - The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Coolest College In The Book Resorted To Boring Nothing-Scape
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Fextralife Wiki
The Witcher 3 has some ofthe best lore in an open world game, but the developers sort of let book fans down with Oxenfurt. Being a book fan, myself,I certainly count myself among the disappointed.
In the book, Oxenfurt is meant to be this thriving college town with interesting culture and a whole lot going on. Yet, when players visit the city inThe Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Oxenfurt is basically empty in terms of content.
The hallmark of the city, its college,is inaccessible and closed. There are also very few quests here that impact the main story in any way.
In short, there’s very little reason to visit Oxenfurt, and considering what a disappointment it is,it’s best to skip altogether.
9Malis - Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
The Frustrating Volcano Climb Ain’t Worth It For A Crafting Location
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
One of the coolest things aboutAssassin’s Creed Odysseyis that players can travel to the various Greek islands and visit ancient cities. As a history buff, I found this particular aspect of the game delightful.
That said, even I need a reason to visit some of the more remote islands. That’s why one island in particular, Malis,is absolutely worth avoiding.
The area has only one place of interest, which is Hephaistos' forge, which allows you to upgrade engravings on your weapons and armor. Now, I’ll admit, with everything else I needed to do in Odyssey, traveling all the way to Malisnever felt worth it.
Add the fact that you have to climb a volcano just to access the forge each time, and you’re able to bet this particular area just isn’t worth visiting.
8Pacifica - Cyberpunk 2077
Former Resort Leaves A Lot To Be Desired
Cyberpunk 2077
Night City is an incredible map that feels full of life. I find it so easy to immerse myself and almost turn it into a life sim with all the activities I could do like showering, eating out, and doing small jobs.
However, there’s one area inCyberpunk 2077that I think wasa complete letdownand not worth spending time in. Pacifica is a region in Night City that was meant to be a thriving resort and vacation spot, but when the money fell short, it was basically abandoned and taken over by gangs.
It sounds like such a place would be cool to explore and have several interesting quests.Unfortunately, that isn’t the case.
You can’t break into the forgotten shops, and the NPCs there are just more of the same in the rest of the Night City. I enjoyed the rollercoaster ride in the area, but otherwise, players can focus on other parts of Night Cityand leave Pacifica abandoned.
7Woodfolk Ruins - Elden Ring
Avoid If You’re Not Into Survival Horror
Elden Ring
Fextralife
When I first started traveling through the incredible world ofElden Ring, I didn’t expect my grim fantasy gameto suddenly enter the survival horror genre instead. That’s exactly the sort of experience I got when I traveled through the Woodfolk Ruins.
Besides being a generally grim place, it’s also home to Lesser Wormfaces. Not only do these creatures look horrifying (friendly warning, do NOT to look them up if you haven’t encountered them), but they make the spookiest of sounds.
The Woodfolk Ruins arefull of them, and since the area doesn’t have any game-changing loot in it, I’d suggest passing on by. At the very least,you’ll avoid the nightmares.
6The Reach - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
So Many Forsworn, So Little Time
There’s no question thatThe Elder Scrolls V: Skyrimhas one of the best open worlds out there to explore. However, there are some areas that players tend to avoid.
One of the most common isThe Reach, which is a large area that includes Markarth. It’s also where a lot of Forsworn have settled.
The Forsworn are especially frustrating since they have poisoned arrows that can make surviving the area hard at lower levels. I can’t even count the number of times that a Forsworn arrow ended my adventure early.
The area doesn’t have a lot to offer, either, and even Markarth, despite being a Dwemer city, doesn’t have a lot going on. With as large a map as Skyrim offers, The Reach is just one of those areasthat falls by the wayside for most playthroughs.
5The Hissing Wastes - Dragon Age: Inquisition
A Pointless Area With Nothing Important
Dragon Age: Inquisition
Dragon Age: Inquisitionhas a weird imbalance of areas that aresuper long with tons of questsand side-quests to complete, and other areas that feel barren. The Hissing Wastes is one of the latter.
There’sa lot wrongwith this area. First, it’s set at night, which, while peaceful, tends to make it a bit less exciting than some of the other regions in Inquisition. It’s also a desert, so there aren’t a lot of beautiful landmarks to find here.
There’s also very little of importance to do here. There’s a dragon to fight, but the rest of the side quests are pretty self-contained to the area itself.
The Hissing Wastes is a wholly optional area thatI always skipto avoid wasting my time.
This Town Probably Doesn’t Even Need To Exist
Red Dead Redemption 2
Exploring the world ofRed Dead Redemption 2is half the fun of the game. The towns, especially, always feel likea beacon of civilizationafter spending days out in the wilderness.
However, there’s one town that just isn’t worth spending time in at all. TheVan Horn Trading Postoffers some activities like a saloon and some duels, but it doesn’t really have any major side quests or other places of interest to visit.
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Having ridden into the town, I thought it would have offered far more quests or things to do like the other towns I visited. I was surprisingly disappointed by the lack of content in the town.
It’s almost like it was an afterthought or just put there to complicate some quests that have you riding through it. In short, the town is so skippable thatI don’t think it even needs to be part of the game.
3The Festering Cove - Baldur’s Gate 3
This Side Quest Is So Unwanted That Few Can Find It
Baldur’s Gate 3
Baldur’s Gate 3has some incredible areas and regions to explore, but there’s one that players should always skip after playing through it for the first time.The Festering Coveis an area that you can access through Auntie Ethel’s region.
Inside, you’ll find a bunch of Koa-Toa worshiping someone they call BOOOAL. Now, the major decision here is if you wantto sacrifice a companion to gain BOOOAL’s favor.
If you’re playing Durge, then I can see the appeal, but in most cases, you probably don’t want to permanently sacrifice a party member.
The sacrificed companion also cannot be revived.
Since this particular side quest doesn’t impact the story’s ending in any way, this is one area in Baldur’s Gate 3that you can safely skip.
2Aite - Mass Effect 2
Skip The Entire Planet To Avoid A Pointless Quest
Mass Effect 2
The planet Aite is home to the Project Overlord assignment inMass Effect 2, where players have to investigate a potential VI breakout. In the mission, players travel across Aite before finally making it to the final station to decide what to do with the VI.
Now, I found Project Overlord to bea big waste of time. Sure, it has some story implications inMass Effect 3(and evenAndromeda), but nothing so substantial to make any real difference.
The quest is alsoreally boring and generic. You run through rooms, fight Geth, rinse and repeat. It’s constant Geth after Geth, too, and everything just feels so cut and paste.
Since the rewards here aren’t worth the effort or frustration,I always skip going to Aiteand taking care of Project Overlord.
1Hundred Acre Woods - Kingdom Hearts
Nothing But Mini-Games And Nostalgia
Kingdom Hearts
I thinkKingdom Heartshas one ofthe best video game stories, but I do not understand the point of Hundred Acre Woods. Unless you’re a big Winnie Pooh fan,this whole area is entirely skippable.
When I first entered the magical book, I found myself constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop. After each mini quest completed, each Pooh friend gathered, and each new area within the region unlocked, I kept expecting some big bad to show up.
They never came. Instead, Hundred Acre Woods became just a region filled with mini-games and nostalgia for Winnie the Pooh fans. As a place to relax after fighting Heartless all day, I get it, but with tons more worlds to visit in Kingdom Hearts,this one is just a waste of time.
The fact that Hundred Acre Woods is a whole world instead of just one area earns it the top spot on our list ofoptional sections we all skip.
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