These stalker quests in Endwalker are ruining the game for me

[Rin_onishi]

there are very few cases where escort quests are fun in games, of course i have terrible memory so im not able to currently list any unfortunately, but examples of them being fun do exist...the ones in ffxiv are not fun at all, as mentioned, they are terrible pace breakers and distract too much from the normal gameplay

[Shuuli]

To me, the whole thing was even more frustrating that we need to follow these people in sneaky mode, and then we just suddenly without any reason jump them...

WHY did we even need to sneak anyway then???? So illogical.

[Gokki]

I thought these quests were fun, a nice addition.
I also think they did too many of them. The Urianger one in particular does not need to exist.

[kiagenwa]

I wouldn't mind them so much if they weren't so finnicky. The ones that come to mind are the one in the 4th zone and the optional one in Garlemald. You basically need to already know when to hide before the target gets to that point because if you are trying to follow them, you won't have enough time to get behind cover before they turn around when they give the tell they are about to turn. So it basically becomes trial and error. It's not very fun.

Sneaking behind someone means you must always be in the shadows.
What you did was just following, not stalk/sneaking.

Recall the one with Urianger; we ultimately failed because the way going up was clear of covers and he knew to look back.

Basically it was a puzzle for us to find a cover before getting caught, while still keeping the target in sight.
I can imagine those dislike puzzles would have no fun with it, but with only few instances I think it should be OK.

[RatCopter]

I didn't mind it too much personally, but man was that kid in Garlemald is such a little shit.

[Deifact]

I think they're fine. The places to hide are so obvious too, I'm surprised anyone has actually failed them. If you've experienced any kind of similar mechanic in another game before I don't think you'll have any problem.
And they aren't that long either? Maybe 5 mins max? Maybe I'm playing a different game!

[LeonKeyh]

I think they're fine. The places to hide are so obvious too, I'm surprised anyone has actually failed them. If you've experienced any kind of similar mechanic in another game before I don't think you'll have any problem.
And they aren't that long either? Maybe 5 mins max? Maybe I'm playing a different game!

I mean, I'm defending them here but I failed each one once. Each one has an attempted "got ya" which got me. I hid, they walked farther than I assumed they would and I popped out thinking they wouldn't stop, and then they turned around.

As long as you're not trying to rush or anything though, it isn't bad.

[Iscah]

Escort quests are different from what we got in Endwalker. Every gamer hates escort quests where you have to _defend_ who you are escorting, but that's not the case at all with the new system.

Aside of the "every gamer" comment already discussed, I just want to say that it is definitely possible to do defensive escort quests well, and I think enjoyment also hinges on whether you empathise with the character or not.

I have to mention the PS2 game ICO here, because that was basically an escort quest from start to finish and it remains one of the best emotional experiences I've ever had in a videogame.

I just hate how slow they are.
I don't mine escorting an NPC if they can actually keep up.

If you're on foot, they keep up. I never had a single problem with losing them except for a few times in field zones when I forgot someone was following and used a mount. They seem to freeze up at that point and stop following entirely.

It would be very helpful to have their current location marked on the map, though.

Sneaking behind someone means you must always be in the shadows.
What you did was just following, not stalk/sneaking.

Recall the one with Urianger; we ultimately failed because the way going up was clear of covers and he knew to look back.

We're following them without letting them see us. That's sneaking, even if we break our cover when they're not looking.

And getting spotted doesn't make it not sneaking. It just means you're bad at sneaking. (Canonically, given that it ends with Urianger spotting you at the designated endpoint. If he spots you earlier that's a gameplay fail and you have to restart.)

[LeonKeyh]

Aside of the "every gamer" comment already discussed, I just want to say that it is definitely possible to do defensive escort quests well, and I think enjoyment also hinges on whether you empathise with the character or not.

I have to mention the PS2 game ICO here, because that was basically an escort quest from start to finish and it remains one of the best emotional experiences I've ever had in a videogame.

Sure, or Resident Evil 4, The Last of Us, Bioshock Infinite, God of War, Portal, etc, etc, etc, etc.

The "every gamer" was sarcastically in response to them saying "every gamer."


But also, there's a difference between a game made specifically with the idea of escorting someone in mind (e.g. all of the games mentioned) and a game that has a "one-off" mission where you have to escort someone (one that was likely thrown together with horrible AI) which is what I believe the OP was referring to.

[Charak]

Recall the one with Urianger; we ultimately failed because the way going up was clear of covers and he knew to look back.

Basically it was a puzzle for us to find a cover before getting caught, while still keeping the target in sight.

I ultimately decided to just stand still at the quest start and waited for him to reach his location, never moving. There was no puzzle, it completed by doing nothing, and hence why these quests are intrinsically flawed. Nothing more then forcing the player to waste time for no benefit.