Quests are a staple mechanic in most JRPGs, and this is no different within the Final Fantasy VII Remake. While some of these sidequests are nods to the original game, the majority of them are a brand new addition to the story and gameplay of Final Fantasy VII.
There are four different chapters containing a set number of optional sidequests to complete, and their quality varies greatly. Some of these sidequests are likely the weakest part of the entire Remake, but some of them were actually quite enjoyable to complete.
10 BEST: On The Prowl - Chapter 3
This is one of the last quests you can take on in Chapter 3 and is definitely one of the most fun of the bunch. After completing the first set of quests, Wymer will ask Cloud and Tifa to take care of a particular mutated hound lurking in Scrap Boulevard.
It’s essentially just a prolonged mini-boss fight, but it’s a nice change of pace from a lot of the rest of Chapter 3, which is much slower than the previous chapters. The Wrath Hound does a great job of teaching new players more of the intricacies of the battle system, such as remembering to rely on magic to build up the stagger meter instead of simply mashing square.
9 WORST: Lost Friends - Chapter 3
The first real sidequest of the Remake doesn’t paint a great picture for the rest of them. This is a simple fetch quest where you’re tasked to find three identical cats around the Sector 7 Slums, and it’s quite the boring ordeal.
While it does allow the player to explore areas of the Slums that they might not have otherwise, it ends up feeling tedious when you’re having difficulty locating one of the cats.
8 BEST: Verified Hero - Chapter 8
It takes quite a while for Cloud to gain access to any more sidequests, five entire chapters to be specific. The quests in the Sector 5 Slums offer quite a nice break from the faster pacing from chapters 3 to 7, and the Verified Hero quest is an absolute blast.
There’s no item or person to be found, specific monster to be slain, or delivery to be made; it’s just a simple minigame to prove your abilities as a SOLDIER. The minigame is pretty easy, as the majority of it consists of hitting square to smash boxes until your thumb goes numb, but there’s a nice bit of strategy that goes into achieving a high score.
7 WORST: Weapons On A Rampage - Chapter 8
Monster-slaying quests in the Remake are fine enough in their own right, but the Weapons on a Rampage quest is definitely one of the weakest. Not only does it take way longer than it should to find every group of Mark II Monodrives, fighting them is just a huge pain in the ass.
Even if Assess is used to figure out their gimmick, it’s still a frustrating gimmick to fight around. If neither party member has a Wind Materia equipped, it becomes twice as frustrating to deal with their erratic movements and attacks.
6 BEST: Burning Thighs - Chapter 9
Even if the Final Fantasy VII Remake is far more serious with its tone when compared to the PS1 original, Square Enix used the chapters spent in Wall Market to bring out the weird and whimsical side of FF7. One of the most iconic parts of Wall Market was the squatting minigame, and it makes its graceful return here.
This sidequest only requires Cloud to beat the first squatting opponent, which is rather easy once you get the hang of it. The best part of the minigame has to be the absolute bop that is the remixed version of the battle theme.
5 WORST: The Price Of Thievery - Chapter 9
This sidequest is exclusive to one of two different story routes you can take during Chapter 9, and this one will require you to be on the side of Madam M. This is an extremely short quest consisting of talking to Mirielle, beating up a few enemies in the Collapsed Highway, and returning to Wall Market.
It ends up feeling extremely underwhelming compared to the exclusive quest “The Party Never Stops” on the Chocobo Sam route, which is filled with some of the best humor in the game all thanks to our main man, Johnny.
4 BEST: Malicious Goons - Chapter 14
This seems like any other basic battle sidequest at first, but as soon as the hoodlums bring out the big guns, Final Fantasy veterans quiver in their boots. The Tonberry is quite a fearsome enemy when facing those who are unexperienced in its methods, and defeating it is the only requirement for this quest.
It can brutally one-shot just about any party member, so you’ll need to learn its attack patterns and plan accordingly. Cloud is likely the playable character you’ll want to use, as he’s able to dance with death by countering the Tonberry’s Chef’s Knife by switching to Punisher Mode at just the right time.
3 WORST: The Power Of Music - Chapter 14
In terms of a quest that you wouldn’t do twice, this is one of the more tedious ones, as well as one that you really aren’t even able to do during hard mode. This is a simple quest requiring the party to find three different music discs around the Wall Market area which can take quite a while.
The game is at least kind enough to let you know if you have one of the required discs in your inventory so you aren’t stuck trying out different discs for 20 minutes, but it’s simply not a fun sidequest.
2 BEST: Subterranean Menace - Chapter 14
This is, without a doubt, the closest that any sidequest gets to feeling like it could fit seamlessly into the main story. It has the party returning to the Shinra underground research facility beneath Sector 7 to fight this terrifyingly awesome monster.
It’s a pretty challenging fight, but nothing that the party shouldn’t be able to handle by Chapter 14. It’s also one of the more fun bosses in the game, tying this sidequest together into an enjoyable, satisfying time.
1 WORST: Secret Medicine - Chapter 14
By the time it’s completed, this quest feels like nothing but a by-product of the Subterranean Menace quest, and many players might even forget about it entirely. This is a fetch-quest from the Sector 5 doctor who asks Cloud to get the Moogle Mortar, a Medicinal Herb, and the Behemoth’s Horn.
All of these items are easily picked up while you’re working on other sidequests, so it feels as if this is a passive quest where everything is basically completed for you and is definitely not rewarding whatsoever.
NEXT: The 10 Most Powerful Monsters In The Final Fantasy 7 Remake On PS4, Ranked
