Elden Ring Fans Are Still Getting Confused By NPC Quests

thegamer.com:

Last month, Elden Ring officially turned one year old. Now, 12 months on from release, you would think players would have it all figured out. Well, it turns out that the Lands Between are still leaving some fans scratching their heads - at least when it comes to those pesky NPCs.

A thread on the game’s Reddit page poses the question “What’s your main criticism of the exploration aspect of the game?”. While the 1,000-plus comments started all over the place, a theme soon emerged: those troublesome NPCs. Specifically, how confusing the NPC quests are and how easily they are missed.

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One comment sums up their frustrations over the way the NPC side quests are incorporated into the game: “I understand the point about not handholding, but some of the quests are so ridiculously opaque with instructions I just don’t know how it would be finished without guides.” They go on to argue that if the game was more “linear” then those side quests would simply be a part of the journey. Instead, the open world makes it a struggle.

Another comment agrees with the NPC issue, adding that it is a flaw to give the side quests specific timings. I think we can all agree how much of a pain it is to kick off a side quest, get sidetracked with the main story, and come back to the NPC only to discover you spent too much time away and are now locked out of the quest line. Looking at you, Nepheli.

If you couldn’t tell, the consensus on this thread is that the NPC quests for Elden Ring need some work. Not only are they easy to miss, but when you do find them, they can be incredibly confusing. In fact, many of the comments argue that you shouldn’t need a guide just to give someone their prosthetic arm back.