"In from the Cold" Scenario, any way to skip it?

[Triggers]

I mean they can't all be winners. I didn't like this quest at all, in fact I never like the play-as-npc-with-3-buttons quests, but I think the endless escorts might be worse hahaha. That said, my overall feeling about the content is pretty positive. The dungeons are already a big step up and the trials at both normal and extreme are engaging and cool. It's not a proper mmo if questing doesn't hurt a little bit, right?

[StriderShinryu]

While I said earlier that I enjoyed the instance gameplay and mechanic wise, I do agree in retrospect that the whole scenario as presented does feel a little out of place and pointless. Not in what it showed of the existence of your standard Garlean soldier (which I liked) but more in the whole narrative framing as well as it's long term impact narrative impact, of which there really wasn't any. They could have still had pretty much the same exact instance but done through the Echo as the WoL experiencing the last moments in the life of a Garlean soldier or something similar.

[TaleraRistain]

I can understand how some feel violated but I gather that was the point. Our adversary has no qualms and will do whatever he pleases. No line exists if it prevents his desires.

I found the instance very fun but I'm a huge stealth fan so this was right up my alley. I do think if they do something similar in the future, a bit more guidance could be good. I went completely the wrong way first.

[Kandraxx]

Honestly, these ‘role-playing’ quests are just a pain. I’m not fond of playing an NPC that is given 3-5 abilities, that are assigned randomly to my hotbar and keybinds and also the whole thing doesn’t last long enough to warrant creating a clean setup.

The worst thing was possibly the fight where you control Thancred vs. that general in ShB, mashing 3 skills for 10 minutes trying to kill the biggest HP sponge in existence.

I’m just glad that it seems they de-sponged the enemies, especially the ones in scenarios in this expac.

On the other hand, the scenario where you control the soldier at least had a purpose. It made you feel what it’s like to be on the opposite side of the power spectrum, to be one of the guys you regularly steamroll without giving a second look.

[Alleo]

I understand the reasoning behind this quest. Still I wonder if we really should use this to compare the WoL to other people. Our lvl 1 WoL would have had the same problems even though their soul and body would have been the same. Its just that unlike most people we had many quests and are working hard learning our jobs and improving constantly which includes our own body. So its not really that surprising that another body would be weaker. Of course if you are a paladin it is a bit strange that you would not know more skills. You still have your memories and even if you the WoL still has to get used to the new form this was still the body of a soldier.

So yeah for that it was fine, I just really dont like how it was solved. For me it would have been better if we had to switch to another body that was still able to walk, thus making sense that we would somehow reach the camp. (And it would have been a bit better if the other NPCs were on their knees before Zenos!WoL.)

[Schwarzwind]

I understand the reasoning behind this quest. Still I wonder if we really should use this to compare the WoL to other people. Our lvl 1 WoL would have had the same problems even though their soul and body would have been the same. Its just that unlike most people we had many quests and are working hard learning our jobs and improving constantly which includes our own body. So its not really that surprising that another body would be weaker. Of course if you are a paladin it is a bit strange that you would not know more skills. You still have your memories and even if you the WoL still has to get used to the new form this was still the body of a soldier.

I thought about that as well. However, I understood that quest more as a trial of will. Not as a trial of bodily strength. The only thing that let's the WoL succeed is after all not the strength of the body or his combat experience but his will to survive so that he can save his friends from Zenos. Considering the theme of Endwalker, Azem, Venat and the WoL represent the will to live itself. Which is what saves the world in the end. And even with lvl 1, if we want to take game mechanics into account, the WoL was outstanding compared to others. He was always a bit special and stood out among his peers. So giving him the body of a normal person/soldier gives the WoL a new perspective because his body and skills are different and weaker compared to his own.

[Mat13295]

It wasn't as bad as Monkey madness 2's stealth section at least. I still have nightmares.

[AnnRam]

Filtered.

Did I on first try with 9 minutes left. The quest wasn't hard its just people can't read when the game tells you to don't fight robots and avoid unnecessary fights.

[Jayv]

I honestly loved this. It's easily my favorite moment in the entire game so far. It was the first time in the game where I felt absolutely terrified for my WOL. For once, I didn't feel like he was safe, and his struggle was so very real.

Yeah, it was a bit of a challenge, but when you "scurry like a rat" from cover to cover and carefully figure out the safest path, it's not that hard. I only failed once, and got through with only fighting twice before blasting through and joining up with the allies. You can't play it like it's an easy walk in the park, because it's not meant to be. It's meant to be a terrifying, disorienting struggle, and it succeeds.

Also the slow crawl down the street in dead silence.... *chef's kiss*

[AngeliouxRein]

Kinda felt like they took inspiration from games like Nier where we had to limp walk 2B to the bridge. At least we could see while we crawled D: legit almost panicked when I got to crawling and only had 8 mins left lol literally said out loud to myself “there’s no f**king way I’m gonna make it !” What a relief haha. Anyway I thought it was fun, intense but fun.