One of the commonalities between the various offshoots of role-playing games is their inclusion of companion characters. These deuteragonists can help break up the monotony and loneliness that players might encounter inexploring a game’s often massive world. However, those companion characters aren’t always considered a necessity. Sometimes, they can get in the way of the story or atmosphere that a developer is going for.
In other cases, they are relegated to only accompanying the player on specific quests, or are left by the wayside completely. A lot of the time, this amounts to a missed opportunity for devs to add another layer of intrigue. To that end, here are a few games that would benefit from giving the playerone or more companionsto adventure with.
Life on the open range can get mighty lonely, as Arthur Morgan works tirelessly to earn money tospend on various upgradesfor the camp that he calls home. For some reason, though, none ofRed Dead Redemption 2’s wily cast of cowboys that are also inhabiting the little community can be recruited to help, or even just to hang out.
It’s a shame, because the gang certainly getsup to some troublethroughout the course of the story. Imagine being able to hop on a horse with John and head into town for a nice game of cards, or have Micah join in on a harrowing train robbery. With every other aspect of the game hinging on the realistic, it’s hard to understand the decision to have Arthur always ride solo.
Fairly early on inCyberpunk 2077, players find out that V’s best choom, Jackie, does not stick around for any real length of time,dashing any hopefor some sort of permanent companion character. With so much to do throughout the streets of Night City, though, they also might not see the need for one.
However, things can get pretty hectic, no matter how players choose to tackle a given mission. Situations often lead to bullets flying from all angles. Not to mention the pure scale ofthe game’s map, incorporating both dense city scape and open desert air, means that there’s a lot of ground to cover. The game could use a constant companion to help kick up some dirt.
Become Someone People Want To Be Around
Fable 3
Fable III is the next blockbuster installment in the highly praised Fable franchise. Lead a revolution to take control of Albion, fight alongside your people, and experience love and loss while preparing to defend the kingdom against a looming threat. Your choices as ruler will lead to consequences felt across the entire land.
Fablegames have dabbled in different ideas of a morality systemover the years. InFableandFable 2, players can earn points toward renown through their good or evil actions. InFable 3’s, they can garner fans. Both systems offer various benefits or challenges when it comes to progression.
All that’s left is to allow players to develop those followers to the nth degree, taking some of the most skilled out into the world to help with combat and exploration.Fablegames have never been very hard, but adding companions might give developers an excuse to ratchet up the difficulty in a satisfying way.
Over the span of his three mainline adventures across The Continent, Geralt of Rivia finds himself spending a lotof his time alone. Whether he’s conducting investigations into monster sightings, or battling a camp of Nilfgaardian troops, he always seems to be on his own in his heroic exploits.
The life of a Witcher, as far as players know it, is a solitary one. But those deeper into the lore know that Witchers help other Witchers in need. So why not develop a story that necessitates this? At the very least, there’s room to explore a narrative that doesn’t involve most of the powerful castof secondary charactershaving to be away for most of the ride. Giving Geralt a companion or two could open up interesting new avenues in both story and gameplay.
Probably one of the most iconic gameplay ideas inSoulsgames is summoning an NPC before a boss battle. This not only helps defeat the boss, but can sometimes unlock the next stage in that character’s quest line. The summoned help is always greatly appreciated, but it begs the question: why can’t they be summoned throughout an entire area, or even for the entirety of a game?
Mods on the PC releases of theDark Soulsgames have presented the ability to bring friends into a game, making it a bit easier to get through these famously punishing titles. This proves that players yearn for companionship, especially in a game as ridiculously big as FromSoftware’s masterpieces. The trade-off for this can be as simple as making enemies even harder to deal with.
