As a matter of game design, you normally want the very first quest to be a straightforward one. Help the player cut their teeth, as it were. Let's take a look at the first two Final Fantasy games to see what they do, shall we? Alright! The first one provides you with an enclosed area, with fairly easy random battles, a settlement you can visit to buy equipment, spells and items for use in combat. And the only other thing on that section of land is your very first dungeon which broadly consists of a straight corridor leading right to the boss.
Perhaps that is a little too easy, but it does help the player get the general idea. Later quests can be more difficult, more challenging, iterate on ideas presented previously and build up to something truly grand.
By contrast, the second Final Fantasy game has two settlements you can visit and buy equipment from, as well as the city that your characters quite literally ran away from during the opening, with a much more wide open area which can so, so easily let you wander by accident into a late game spot which has nothing in it but monsters way, way too strong for you to handle.
You can tell which of these this author prefers, yes? Now, we might well joke about how the demon lord sends their troops out to face the hero in ever increasing waves of difficulty rather than smash them to pieces with their strongest generals right from the word go, but remember that this is a game first and foremost. A game where the player is meant to get stronger and stronger to face the ever increasing difficulty of the challenges ahead.
Also remember that this particular story is based upon those games. Thus, the Succubus Nest was rather remarkably easy to find. Much to Harmonie's annoyance, as the horny tsundere Elven Princess had intended to use this time to get to know the dashing, bold and brave hero better. Alas, his attention was too taken up by -
"Be sure to block like this!" the Knight said, raising her sword into a parrying motion. Ah, maybe after this battle -
"Sometimes it is better to use magic than brute force to overcome your enemy," the mage said, casting a simple ice spell at the enspelled dryads that tried to attack them, freezing them on the spot. Ah, maybe after this battle -
"When you have to hit your enemy, go all out!" said the loincloth wearing brute as she pummelled a particularly large rodent into powder. Ah, maybe after this battle -
"Be sure to heal when you're hu~urt!" the healer chirped, while pouring a potion down the hero's gullet, even as his head lay upon her lap. Ah, maybe after this battle -
"There it is! We've found it!"
Yeah, that's pretty much how it had gone. For a moment she had thought something dumb, like, "maybe I can pretend this isn't the right place," but that died a quick death when she actually looked at the nest and saw -
"Best penis on the planet, XXX!" Harmonie read aloud. In bright pink neon. Which contrasted rather spectacularly against the vivid, verdant greens all around them. "How the hell did we not see -"
Which was when she saw some very, very satisfied looking Elves and Nymphs and other assorted fae stumble out of there one at a time, bleary eyed, a flush about their faces, practically stumbling past the party as if they hadn't even noticed them.
"You!" Harmonie yelped, accidentally setting the air around her alight for a half second from sheer righteous anger. "You idiots have been going to a Succubus Nest and using it as a brothel?! How stupid are you!"
"I find that one should not ask that question if one does not truly want to hear the answer," the mage said, condescending, smirking, utterly arrogant beyond belief! Oooh! That tore it! Hrmph!
"Percival! I must insist that you speak to your mage about showing me the proper respect!" Harmonie insisted, and nodded her head. "Now, we have found this accursed nest. How do we deal with it?"
"We could always burn it down?" the healer offered which earned a stark stare from her.
"Percival, please explain to your healer why setting a fire in the middle of a forest is a bad idea!" Harmonie hrmphed. "Besides which, some of my subjects might still be in there. As distasteful as it is, they should have a more suitable punishment than being burned to death. We shall have to endure this, enter this den of iniquity and - "
"Smash the perverts into pulp!" said the barbarian woman. She stormed inside the nest - and then immediately turned around beet red, marching away. "Perverts, perverts, such filthy filthy perverts!"
Gosh, how helpful. Harmonie shook her head. "Well, going in like that half cocked- " the barbarian made a strangled whimper. "Was always doomed to failure. If you'd let me finish, I was going to say that we need a plan if we're going inside."
"Really?" the healer asked. "Because what I remember you saying was 'we shall have to endure this, enter this den of iniquity and - Then you got cut off when she stormed in. How were you going to end that sentence?"
"That's besides the point!" Harmonie huffed. She was still too upset at them all for stealing her precious time away from her precious handsome hero! Who was standing there quietly, looking around, scratching his head, and now raising his hand as if to ask a question.
"Uh... If we're going to come up with a plan, shouldn't we first learn a bit more about what we can all do?" he asked.
"I suppose!" Harmonie answered, turning up her nose, while internally going 'what a great idea! Great idea! Great idea!' Such is the nature of the tsundere, after all. "Very well then! As the Princess of this land, I shall explain my own abilities to you first, so that we may better defeat the incursion with all of our strength!"
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Ah, the Incubus King was having the time of his life! In service to Lord Sebastien, he had been working tirelessly producing the troops necessary to overcome the accursed Elves that had kicked him out of his land. He had, indeed, been quite diligent in his work, ensuring to produce as many offspring as possible.
Which meant breaking the brains of countless fae folk - Nymphs especially - on his magical penis. Producing these mixed race creatures capable of enticing even the most stalwart of Elven men, penetrating their barrier that kept out non-elfs, and potentially even recruiting them to his ever growing army!
"Sire!" a particularly busty succubus said, bowing deeply and making her breasts jiggle on purpose for his personal amusement. "The hero and his party have been spotted approaching the nest!"
"Is that so...?" the Incubus King stroked his handsome manly chin, then snapped his fingers. "Are the puzzles ready?"
"Yes, sire! They will never solve it! That puzzle will confound them until they face their ruin!"
That puzzle being, incidentally, a switch that only opens a door when it's held down when there's nothing in the room to hold it down! Genius! Absolute genius! Like this, he could relax and spend the afternoon fucking a few more nymphs. Ah... Now, of course, this did lead to the inevitable question of 'what about his battle prowess, surely he should try to retain that at some level right?'
To which I say, what battle prowess! In case you hadn't noticed, this guy isn't exactly the epitome of intelligence here. He's an incredibly handsome idiot that's only actually good at one thing - breeding women. Put him in combat and he'll crumple like a sandcastle.
And so, he would naturally fulfil the requirements for a first boss extremely well. By creating a lair that is specifically designed to lead to the boss of it, with an extremely trivial to solve puzzle, and a boss that might look like a big deal with his big rippling biceps, handsome features and so on, but he'ls actually an enormous pushover.
What was Harmonie saying before about needing a game plan? Not for this dungeon you won't! Hell, if anything overplanning it might be more to your detriment....
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