Most players can agree that most escort missions are less enjoyable and more infuriating. Players are forced to take an NPC (who does not seem to care too much about their own mortality) through dangerous areas for a rather measly reward. They take too much time, they rarely match the player's pace, and if they are eliminated the quest has to reset and restart.
However, sometimes it feels like the developers took the time to ensure that the requisite escort mission is actually fun. Sometimes they have cool twists, good rewards, or a lot of good lore thrown in that makes the quest feel worthwhile instead of a chore. Games like these have got it figured out and their escort missions were truly enjoyable.
10 Fable: Trader Escort Has A Dangerous Twist Halfway Through
The original Fable is a game that is blunt and brutal to a fault. For the Trader Escort mission, it even advertises itself as an escort-style mission right in the title just to warn the players what they are about to get into. The good news is that in Fable most AIs will listen to the Wait and Follow commands as long as they are given enough space away from the action as to not trigger their fight or flight programming.
At the beginning of the quest, a pair of traders meet up with the Hero to express how scared they are about going through this dangerous path in order to get to the much safer and profitable side of the marsh. About halfway through, the entourage is met with yet another trader who has clearly suffered a brutal attack from a Balverine. If the player shows pity and brings him along, the merchant will inevitably turn into one of the monsters and likely murder the traders, resulting in a failed quest. The player can also kill him immediately to protect them, though it will give a ton of evil points. There is also a secret third option that requires the use of glitches in order to save all three, but the game will proceed as if he didn't survive.
9 Portal 2: The Companion Cube Is A Stellar Feature
A good amount of Portal 2 involves Chell needing to use the Aperture Science Weighted Companion Cube to solve the puzzles. GLaDOS insists that the box is a best friend that is sentient, but cannot stab, lie, cheat, hurt, or even talk to Chell. Despite all of this, the Companion Cube bores a hole into the player's heart.
It literally needs to be escorted around the Enrichment Center up to the point where Chell has to incinerate it. It is a typically very painful part of the game for most players, but it is shown to be still alive, just charred, during the end credits.
8 Suikoden 3: Treasure Hunting With The Kids
There is a lot that happens within the Suikoden games, and the third installment is no different. Part of the allure of the games is the need to collect every single one of the 108 individual characters. This leads to some being easier to get than others, with different missions, side plots, quests, and random stories to follow.
At one point the player can end up on a treasure hunt with a couple of kids. Nothing ever happens to the kids, but players have to go around and find things with them. It's a very wholesome escort mission that reminds the player that sometimes it's worth taking a break to do something fun, even if that is a little escort mission with some kids.
7 Saints Row 2: Saving Johnny Gat From The Hospital
Johnny Gat is a character that showed up in the original Saints Row and quickly became a fan favorite. So much so that he ends up with his own game, Gat Outta Hell, and makes cameos in the studio's other works.
In the second installment, there is a quest where the player has to get Gat out of the hospital as some rival gangs are trying to kill him. So the player has to push his gurney around and try not to get him killed at every turn. It's irritating at times, but it makes sense in context rather than feeling like a forced gimmick.
6 Skyrim: The Darkness Returns Actually Gives A Useful Pair Of Escorts
The Darkness Returns within Skyrim's Thieves Guild Questline counts as an escort mission as the player has to bring Karliah and Brynjolf safely through the Twilight Sepulcher. It doesn't make a lot of sense when considering the lore, as Karliah has been there before while the Dragonborn and Brynjolf have not, but it is also mentioned that she is nervous due to falling from grace.
Both Brynjolf and Karliah are actually useful and won't trigger traps when sneaking with the player due to being thieves themselves, and give some very good lore about Nocturnal and the history of Skyrim's Thieves Guild as the story progresses. They're not overly chatty, and all of the little puzzles are fun to get through, facts that don't usually hold true in most escort-style missions.
5 Dawnguard: Beyond Death Escorts Serana Through Death To Find Her Mother
The majority of the Dawnguard expansion of Skyrim is one big escort mission for Serana, who is going around and trying to uncover where her mother is and a few other secrets throughout the game.
Beyond Death is a fascinating quest though in which the player and Serana have to go into the Soul Cairn and get an Elder Scroll, participating in a ton of fights and getting one of the best summons in the game (Arvak.)
4 Death Stranding: Order 34 Has A Happy Ending
Up to this point in Death Stranding, there were a pair of people who were deeply in love, but through circumstances were separated. Order 34 finally allows them to get together, but that means that the player has to transport a living person this time.
It's a bit of a pain, but it was interesting and memorable in a way that wasn't due to frustration. Then when it's all said and done and everyone's all back together and happy, it just warms the soul
3 Pikmin: The Entire Game Is Just One Big Escort Mission
The whole point of Pikmin was to make a sort of escort-style game that was actually fun to play. The player gets a ton of these adorable little followers that need cared for and taken about, but will actually listen and help out throughout the story.
They can also be sacrificed and ignored if the player has had enough of them. Which (while some players see it as cruel) can be really satisfying. It's an adorable and rewarding experience and shows how escorts can be done right.
2 Dungeons & Dragons: A Good DM Will Ensure That Every Escort Mission Is Worthwhile
In the hands of a good Dungeon Master, even the dreaded escort mission can be a fun and engaging experience. NPCs don't have to be there solely to feed to the dragons or bait the masses, instead they can be beneficial to moving the party towards a singular goal in a more subtle way.
In a game like Dungeons & Dragons, escort missions can be fantastic ways to guide the players towards a specific area (as they tend to get sidetracked if left to their own devices.) A good DM can fill these missions with subtle and exciting events in order to ensure that they are a memorable experience.
1 Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, And Platinum: Cheryl Was Actually Fun To Have Around
There are a few points throughout the Pokémon series in which the player gets an NPC helping them for a fight or two. Back in DPPt, the player encounters Cheryl, a green-haired girl with a Chansey.
Cheryl needs help getting through the forest and will accompany the player through an area with a strangely high encounter rate. Very little happens as the player escorts her through the forest, but that Chansey of hers was actually a boon to any player who had gotten a little bit too far over their heads or had forgotten to keep some adequate healing on hand. Making for a good time to level grind.