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List your favorite companions
Durance.
- Joined
- Oct 14, 2012
- Messages
- 1,879,250
PoE companions lack that special something. The closest one was the Feather Girl, in my opinion. Durance and Grieving Mother seemed like grimdark meh. Can't like Kana anymore since Tommy Wiseau started using his avatar.
That I agree with.
DraQ
Arcane
Let's see... I generally prefer companions that actually feel like live characters - reactive and with actual personality that's preferably not some one dimensional cliche. I also only count proper "wanders with you a lot of the time" characters as actual companions companions. Both of those limit the list of candidates quite a lot.
1. Pretty much the entire cast of potential party members from PS:T. I either genuinely like and care about them OR, if that's not possible (Vhailor, for example is not the most likeable of guys, neither is Ignus) have mad respect for their writing. Since they have all been covered in depth I don't think I have much to add here.
2. Pretty much the entire cast from Anachronox. Also highly original bunch, although in quite a bit lighter tone.
...and regarding vanilla classic style cRPGs that would be it.
Honorable mentions could go to a handful to BGs characters who actually happened to be not completely flat and somewhat interesting or at least amusing (so NOT Minsc) or happen to have decent intraparty interactions. I also kind of liked Khalid for being pertty much a regular guy, but BG is slim pickings here. I kind of like Goris from FO2 but that's because I like non-humanoid characters and love his combat entrance. I guess I also didn't mind Madora and Wolgraff from DOS, but that might be because of the contrast with the rest of the writing rather than any genuine merits. I guess a bunch of RPCs from Wizardry 8 need a mention too, because they actually have something to say, for example commenting on areas you visit.
Fortunately (because how many times can one replay PST?), vanilla classics aren't all there is - there exist mods for non-classics that outshine all but the best companions. Like I said, characters that feel alive are the best ones, and some of the mod companions leave pretty much any vanilla game follower in the dust in this regard without lagging too far behind the very best ones (PST) in terms of quality of writing:
3. Quite a few characters from aptly named Interesting NPCs mod for Skyrim (also known as 3DNPCs). The mod itself is basically a meshwork of quests and characters tying deeply with (often obscure) TES lore that treats vanilla game as filler but often uses vanilla content as context or provides context to it resulting in massive, continuous and mostly seamless incline (although there are a few biowarisms especially in PC dialogue, some try hard attempts at both humor and edginess, and a handful of incredibly grating cutscene paralysis events, there are also some copypasted dungeons as mapmaking doesn't seem to be part of the author's skillset, sadly).
The characters are usually well written , well voiced, verbose and some are *very* reactive, with a lot of banter concerning not only the mod questlines but a lot of vanilla content as well, down to insignificant details about various in-game locations.
My personal favourite would probably be Anum-La - a somewhat hot headed, but also a bit broken female Argonian knight (well, sort of) neverthless retaining sharp wit, and unusual sense of humour (that's effectively bent sideways and seems to largely be a defense mechanism against certain tragic blunder in her past), but she's hardly the only one with a lot of background, own story arc and unique running commentary for wherever you set foot. Works both as serious companion AND comic relief (unlike that clown Minsc who works as neither) - the only thing stopping her from being *THE* broest of sis' is PS:T and even then she remains a strong contender.
4. Also a Skyrim mod - Inigo. A weirdly coloured, atypically named and somewhat crazy ex skooma-head Khajiit who has phobia of the undead, loves sweetrolls and smashing spiders, sight-smell synesthetic, good archer, keeps a dragonfly in a jar which he talks to, claims he can understand animals, tells weird stories that may or may not be skooma induced hallucinations, insists that he has, at some point, shot you in the head and left you for dead for which he is deeply repentant and is generally a bit wrong in the brain.
Banters a lot, puns a lot, has surprising amount of awareness of what's happening mechanically in the game which influences his banter and combat taunts, so he will comment on all the junk you're carrying around OR have given him to carry around as well as his equipment, your equipment, current location or at least type of location, time of the day, weather, current quests and prior dialogue, nearby NPCs, vanilla followers (including talking with them); will taunt enemies differently depending on their type, his combat style and weapon and current combat situation (so for example while nailing a swimming bandit with arrows from above he will actually acknowledge all these facts in his taunts). Then he might have specific dialogue based on the above, down to the specific taunts used (usually when sitting down somewhere safe afterwards). His commentary ranges from lulzy, through crazy to sometimes serious and even oddly insightful. Can also be asked to improvise a song while weaving moment-to-moment events into it.
While he is to a large degree a comic relief it's hardly all he is (which is a bro). Overall he has bit less unique banter (specific to either quest or location) than the best of 3DNPCs characters but his generic banter (related to more general stuff) and awareness of in-game situations is unmatched by any character in any game I've played so far.
1. Pretty much the entire cast of potential party members from PS:T. I either genuinely like and care about them OR, if that's not possible (Vhailor, for example is not the most likeable of guys, neither is Ignus) have mad respect for their writing. Since they have all been covered in depth I don't think I have much to add here.
2. Pretty much the entire cast from Anachronox. Also highly original bunch, although in quite a bit lighter tone.
It includes a superhero who got driven into drinking and forgot how to fly, an old fart who can yammer at people both in and out of combat to make them cave in and a fucking planet
...and regarding vanilla classic style cRPGs that would be it.
Honorable mentions could go to a handful to BGs characters who actually happened to be not completely flat and somewhat interesting or at least amusing (so NOT Minsc) or happen to have decent intraparty interactions. I also kind of liked Khalid for being pertty much a regular guy, but BG is slim pickings here. I kind of like Goris from FO2 but that's because I like non-humanoid characters and love his combat entrance. I guess I also didn't mind Madora and Wolgraff from DOS, but that might be because of the contrast with the rest of the writing rather than any genuine merits. I guess a bunch of RPCs from Wizardry 8 need a mention too, because they actually have something to say, for example commenting on areas you visit.
Fortunately (because how many times can one replay PST?), vanilla classics aren't all there is - there exist mods for non-classics that outshine all but the best companions. Like I said, characters that feel alive are the best ones, and some of the mod companions leave pretty much any vanilla game follower in the dust in this regard without lagging too far behind the very best ones (PST) in terms of quality of writing:
3. Quite a few characters from aptly named Interesting NPCs mod for Skyrim (also known as 3DNPCs). The mod itself is basically a meshwork of quests and characters tying deeply with (often obscure) TES lore that treats vanilla game as filler but often uses vanilla content as context or provides context to it resulting in massive, continuous and mostly seamless incline (although there are a few biowarisms especially in PC dialogue, some try hard attempts at both humor and edginess, and a handful of incredibly grating cutscene paralysis events, there are also some copypasted dungeons as mapmaking doesn't seem to be part of the author's skillset, sadly).
The characters are usually well written , well voiced, verbose and some are *very* reactive, with a lot of banter concerning not only the mod questlines but a lot of vanilla content as well, down to insignificant details about various in-game locations.
My personal favourite would probably be Anum-La - a somewhat hot headed, but also a bit broken female Argonian knight (well, sort of) neverthless retaining sharp wit, and unusual sense of humour (that's effectively bent sideways and seems to largely be a defense mechanism against certain tragic blunder in her past), but she's hardly the only one with a lot of background, own story arc and unique running commentary for wherever you set foot. Works both as serious companion AND comic relief (unlike that clown Minsc who works as neither) - the only thing stopping her from being *THE* broest of sis' is PS:T and even then she remains a strong contender.
4. Also a Skyrim mod - Inigo. A weirdly coloured, atypically named and somewhat crazy ex skooma-head Khajiit who has phobia of the undead, loves sweetrolls and smashing spiders, sight-smell synesthetic, good archer, keeps a dragonfly in a jar which he talks to, claims he can understand animals, tells weird stories that may or may not be skooma induced hallucinations, insists that he has, at some point, shot you in the head and left you for dead for which he is deeply repentant and is generally a bit wrong in the brain.
Banters a lot, puns a lot, has surprising amount of awareness of what's happening mechanically in the game which influences his banter and combat taunts, so he will comment on all the junk you're carrying around OR have given him to carry around as well as his equipment, your equipment, current location or at least type of location, time of the day, weather, current quests and prior dialogue, nearby NPCs, vanilla followers (including talking with them); will taunt enemies differently depending on their type, his combat style and weapon and current combat situation (so for example while nailing a swimming bandit with arrows from above he will actually acknowledge all these facts in his taunts). Then he might have specific dialogue based on the above, down to the specific taunts used (usually when sitting down somewhere safe afterwards). His commentary ranges from lulzy, through crazy to sometimes serious and even oddly insightful. Can also be asked to improvise a song while weaving moment-to-moment events into it.
While he is to a large degree a comic relief it's hardly all he is (which is a bro). Overall he has bit less unique banter (specific to either quest or location) than the best of 3DNPCs characters but his generic banter (related to more general stuff) and awareness of in-game situations is unmatched by any character in any game I've played so far.
List two for each.Triss, Yennefer and Ciri from The Witcher 3. Reasons should be obvious.
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- Joined
- Sep 25, 2012
- Messages
- 29,854
laclongquan
Arcane
I will note that for Ciri specifically, it's thighs and asses. Because I dont find her flat chest arousing.
Azrael the cat
Arcane
Nordrom requires some of the higher and unusual combos of stat-checks to unlock a lot of his stuff. At first he's a weak character, but one you might keep around because he's the only pure ranged attack party member, so he fits well in a large party (Ignus has a base ranged attack, but no real way to raise it, plus is a mage first and foremost, and you've got plenty of mage firepower once you've got all his spells and massive bonus xp by giving him your various body parts). Complete the Modron cube quest, then realising that you've broken him (via your general curse of tormenting your followers) by tainting him with individuality, so he's just a bit too hive-mind to be a true individual (and will be doomed as soon as he no longer has you to patch things up temporarily by being his 'command centre'), and using various combos of stat-checks and game-knowledge (as in TNOs knowledge from doing shit in game) to massively upgrade his damage like you do with Morte and Dakkon, until he's a tragically broken killing machine (and starts getting REAL high in the DPS count from that point).
Also worth noting that there's about 4 different upgrades for Nordrom depending on stats and where you are in the game (how much you've learnt about him via other stuff in the game), maybe more in that some are mutually exclusive. From memory, there's at least 2 sets of stat upgrades (at least one of which involves a choice between 2 mutually exclusive stat boosts), and 2-3 upgrades to his weaponry (unlike the other party members, Nordrom's weapons are upgraded by examining him with the right stats/knowledge). So it's really easy to think you've got his upgrade and that's that, while missing most of what turns him into a killing machine, especially as the big improvements require some very high stat combos (not just one stat) + knowledge.
Doing all that makes his moment in the end-game, where he acknowledges to TTO that he's broken, but that he's found something greater, and will never stop fighting to defend you, a lot more impactfull (partially because it meets the golden rule of story/gameplay synergy - if you want to make us feel the character's tragic sacrifice because he's been a true 'bro', then you need to combine his story bro-ness with some damn useful contributions to tough encounters, which upgraded Nordrom does bigtime (just like Morte does by a non-fighter TNO being completely reliant on him for the 1st half of the game, and contuing to pull his weight after the upgrade, Dakkon for being the party's killing machine especially post-upgrade, Annah for being the only NPC thief in a trap-heavy and stealing/stealth-rewarding game, FFG for having the only healing spells, etc).
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DraQ
Arcane
Minsc is a dumb oaf that most of the time fails to be funny (while trying hard).
Imoen becomes Emoen in 2.
Khalid is... actually ok, mainly by the virtue of being pretty much a regular, somewhat cowardly guy that tries to keep up and survive. A kind of character you can be sympathetic towards.
Leliana looks like Imoen's clone, especially given how they like to recycle shit, CBA to play post-IE BW games.
Fucking this, extendable to characters and characters' death/misery in general and their contributions to anything.
This is something game writers fail to grasp when they kill off a character we've met just 5' ago and expect us to care and become "emoshunally engayged" - no, we don't and we aren't.
Any game writer guilty of this should have their eyelids pried open and have screen displaying the bolded part pressed against their eyeballs until either the meaning contained within those words manages to seep into their brains or until their eyes dry out and become stuck to the screen like a pair of some hideous raisins encrusted with dried-out tears.
Of course, when it comes to party members it means they'd better pull their weight mechanically - no disagreement here.
3. Quite a few characters from aptly named Interesting NPCs mod for Skyrim (also known as 3DNPCs). The mod itself is basically a meshwork of quests and characters tying deeply with (often obscure) TES lore that treats vanilla game as filler but often uses vanilla content as context or provides context to it resulting in massive, continuous and mostly seamless incline (although there are a few biowarisms especially in PC dialogue, some try hard attempts at both humor and edginess, and a handful of incredibly grating cutscene paralysis events, there are also some copypasted dungeons as mapmaking doesn't seem to be part of the author's skillset, sadly).
The characters are usually well written , well voiced, verbose and some are *very* reactive, with a lot of banter concerning not only the mod questlines but a lot of vanilla content as well, down to insignificant details about various in-game locations.
My personal favourite would probably be Anum-La - a somewhat hot headed, but also a bit broken female Argonian knight (well, sort of) neverthless retaining sharp wit, and unusual sense of humour (that's effectively bent sideways and seems to largely be a defense mechanism against certain tragic blunder in her past), but she's hardly the only one with a lot of background, own story arc and unique running commentary for wherever you set foot. Works both as serious companion AND comic relief (unlike that clown Minsc who works as neither) - the only thing stopping her from being *THE* broest of sis' is PS:T and even then she remains a strong contender.
4. Also a Skyrim mod - Inigo. A weirdly coloured, atypically named and somewhat crazy ex skooma-head Khajiit who has phobia of the undead, loves sweetrolls and smashing spiders, sight-smell synesthetic, good archer, keeps a dragonfly in a jar which he talks to, claims he can understand animals, tells weird stories that may or may not be skooma induced hallucinations, insists that he has, at some point, shot you in the head and left you for dead for which he is deeply repentant and is generally a bit wrong in the brain.
Banters a lot, puns a lot, has surprising amount of awareness of what's happening mechanically in the game which influences his banter and combat taunts, so he will comment on all the junk you're carrying around OR have given him to carry around as well as his equipment, your equipment, current location or at least type of location, time of the day, weather, current quests and prior dialogue, nearby NPCs, vanilla followers (including talking with them); will taunt enemies differently depending on their type, his combat style and weapon and current combat situation (so for example while nailing a swimming bandit with arrows from above he will actually acknowledge all these facts in his taunts). Then he might have specific dialogue based on the above, down to the specific taunts used (usually when sitting down somewhere safe afterwards). His commentary ranges from lulzy, through crazy to sometimes serious and even oddly insightful. Can also be asked to improvise a song while weaving moment-to-moment events into it.
While he is to a large degree a comic relief it's hardly all he is (which is a bro). Overall he has bit less unique banter (specific to either quest or location) than the best of 3DNPCs characters but his generic banter (related to more general stuff) and awareness of in-game situations is unmatched by any character in any game I've played so far.
Drog Black Tooth
Self-Ejected
- Joined
- Feb 20, 2008
- Messages
- 2,636
Morrigan in DA:O, cause she was a believable woman character
selfish manipulative bitch that is
selfish manipulative bitch that is
Top tier, i not just liked them, but they influenced my worldview and identity somewhat: HK-47(he made me cynic I still am), Miranda from ME2 (I married and sired children with a girl, who resembled her to me).
Above average tier : Edwin and Viconia from BG2, Triss probably.
Found all PoE companions dull, because they were so average and politically correct. With a slight exception for Devil of Caroc maybe, which is like watered down HK-47 in a way.
Oh, and I totally hate Garrus, because I hate stoics in general. Most boring widely popular companion for me.
Above average tier : Edwin and Viconia from BG2, Triss probably.
Found all PoE companions dull, because they were so average and politically correct. With a slight exception for Devil of Caroc maybe, which is like watered down HK-47 in a way.
Oh, and I totally hate Garrus, because I hate stoics in general. Most boring widely popular companion for me.
Jason Liang
Arcane
This thread is failed. You have all been conditioned by Bioware.
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Jason Liang
Arcane
ALSO
and her
AND THESE GUYS
and her too I GUESS. At least didn't completely forget about her, unlike like the rest of this thread.
and her
AND THESE GUYS
and her too I GUESS. At least didn't completely forget about her, unlike like the rest of this thread.
Jason Liang
Arcane
From some other game series
A shame no one remembered her. She deserves her spot among the other fabulous gingers in fantasy and scifi.
I still hope that one day we'll see the adventures of Grace and Laura Bow.
Class dismissed.
I imagine him cracking jokes like Chris Rock.
The high school girlfriend of many boys my age, but unfortuntely you can't take her to prom.
:origin()/pre08/0c8b/th/pre/i/2016/281/4/4/eiger___shadowrun__dragonfall_fanart_by_akadio-dajzv1e.jpg)
"Mission complete. Bring me my victory wenches!"
Inside, she's just a hungry mouse chasing a bite of cheese.
Nika has the best implants in Invisible Inc... ... sorry Sharp.
Lord, there's a lot of Baldur's Gate smut online
A shame no one remembered her. She deserves her spot among the other fabulous gingers in fantasy and scifi.
I still hope that one day we'll see the adventures of Grace and Laura Bow.
Class dismissed.
I imagine him cracking jokes like Chris Rock.
The high school girlfriend of many boys my age, but unfortuntely you can't take her to prom.
"Mission complete. Bring me my victory wenches!"
Inside, she's just a hungry mouse chasing a bite of cheese.
Nika has the best implants in Invisible Inc... ... sorry Sharp.
Lord, there's a lot of Baldur's Gate smut online
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Jason Liang
Arcane
IMO from a design perspective, Anomen is probably the most interesting of the BG2 companions. Since he is a romance option, yet he's kind of derpy in combat, and you can make him fall and go insane, making him every derpier. Since he's one of the weakest of the companions, and annoying as well, the only reason to party with him is to corrupt him. So in other words, he is one of the only companions you take purely for story reasons (the other ones being Imoen and Saervok) and not for munchkin or smut reasons. We might like Minsc for his looney warcries, but would we really take him were he not Rob Gronkowski's Faerun alter ego? Even Edwin, the most entertaining party member, would you take him along were he a crummy mage instead of a mighty Red Wizard?
Hm. Now I'm inspired to write a smutty Keldorn romance mod. For chaotic neutral female PCs withdaddy grandpa issues.
Coffee with Keldorn romance mod
Flirt with, seduce, corrupt and break Amn's shining tower of justice, Keldorn!
Let him have a taste of how fun breaking bad can be!
Plot to murder the keystone to his Lawful Good personality, his wife LadyDruella Maria
Turn him into a mighty vampiric knight when he sells his soul to demonic masters to save you, the love of his life!
Help him recruit a harem of sexy vampiric concubines! Turn Aerie, Jaheira, Mazzy, Nalia, Viconia, Saerilith and Haer'dalis into Keldorn's mind broken undead pleasure slaves!
Extra content, quests, and banter with Korgan, Edwin, Saervok and cray-cray Anomen! Watch and enjoy vampiric Keldorn run trains on several female NPCs with his new bros!
Corrupt and reforge Carsomyr from a Holy Avenger into a mighty Kangaxx's Unholy Vorpal Crimson Furious Fell Blade of the Ages and Non-Detection +7!
Gain a vampiric gigantic space hamster as your animal companion!
*Requires installing Saerilith romance mod
Hm. Now I'm inspired to write a smutty Keldorn romance mod. For chaotic neutral female PCs with
Coffee with Keldorn romance mod
Flirt with, seduce, corrupt and break Amn's shining tower of justice, Keldorn!
Let him have a taste of how fun breaking bad can be!
Plot to murder the keystone to his Lawful Good personality, his wife Lady
Turn him into a mighty vampiric knight when he sells his soul to demonic masters to save you, the love of his life!
Help him recruit a harem of sexy vampiric concubines! Turn Aerie, Jaheira, Mazzy, Nalia, Viconia, Saerilith and Haer'dalis into Keldorn's mind broken undead pleasure slaves!
Extra content, quests, and banter with Korgan, Edwin, Saervok and cray-cray Anomen! Watch and enjoy vampiric Keldorn run trains on several female NPCs with his new bros!
Corrupt and reforge Carsomyr from a Holy Avenger into a mighty Kangaxx's Unholy Vorpal Crimson Furious Fell Blade of the Ages and Non-Detection +7!
Gain a vampiric gigantic space hamster as your animal companion!
*Requires installing Saerilith romance mod
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Sizzle
Arcane
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2012
- Messages
- 2,473
Kalin
Unwanted
purpleblob
Augur
BG1 - No one
BG2 - Anomen (one of the most interesting character development), Keldorn (probably the only paladin who weren't overly righteous or corrupt), Edwin/a (dialogues were absolutely hilarious). I practically liked majority of them, only ones I disliked were Cernd, Korgan and Mazzy. Oh, and Biff the Understudy was cool too.
NWN1 - No one particularly interesting, maybe Deekin
NWN1: The Aielund Saga - the trio (Robert, Nelise and Criosa). Dante wasn't bad either.
NWN2 - No one
ME series - Garrus (real smooth womaniser) & Legion (didn't derp up in ME3 like the rest). I liked Mordin in ME2 but he was fucked up in ME3.
DA series - Anders & Justice (both in Awakening only)
KotOR series - HK-47, Kreia & Atton
PoE: No one. I hated everyone in this game.
BG2 - Anomen (one of the most interesting character development), Keldorn (probably the only paladin who weren't overly righteous or corrupt), Edwin/a (dialogues were absolutely hilarious). I practically liked majority of them, only ones I disliked were Cernd, Korgan and Mazzy. Oh, and Biff the Understudy was cool too.
NWN1 - No one particularly interesting, maybe Deekin
NWN1: The Aielund Saga - the trio (Robert, Nelise and Criosa). Dante wasn't bad either.
NWN2 - No one
ME series - Garrus (real smooth womaniser) & Legion (didn't derp up in ME3 like the rest). I liked Mordin in ME2 but he was fucked up in ME3.
DA series - Anders & Justice (both in Awakening only)
KotOR series - HK-47, Kreia & Atton
PoE: No one. I hated everyone in this game.
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Baron Dupek
Arcane
- Joined
- Jul 23, 2013
- Messages
- 1,871,363
Cassidy for being Texas-like and not wielding automatic weapons
Marauder - Vitek for covering you back in backstabbing reality and Serb, for his dreams of being another Terminator
762hc - Paquito, even though he's drunkard and thief (he sold your baggage so you can enjoy running through encounters with pistols only) you need spare hands for another gun
Marauder - Vitek for covering you back in backstabbing reality and Serb, for his dreams of being another Terminator
762hc - Paquito, even though he's drunkard and thief (he sold your baggage so you can enjoy running through encounters with pistols only) you need spare hands for another gun
Jason Liang
Arcane
Textual Explanations-
Sengoku Rance
Omachi- she's tough to recruit, and by the time you do, you think you are already plenty bad-ass with Uruza, Kenshin and Natori. Ho ho. Then you use her nuke for the first time and you know- this is what real endgame power is. Masamune's brides are the four horsemen, and they ride ahead of the apocalypse.
Uruza- as a unit she does pretty much everything. Buffs your team. Debuffs. Snipes. Cancels perparation. Wreck the opposing army's actions. And she's not annoying, whiny or high maintenance either, compared to Magic, Senhime. Omachi is Masamune's bride. Uruza is Rance's true work-wife. Their work is war.
Shizuka- I'm not certain, but I think why Shizuka is SO SO SO popular is that she is the pure archmage. She's Raistlin. She's Ged. The pure mage, who's fragile mortal frame is only a tool to channel raw otherworldly power, plays a powerful role in fantasy literature. Usually this character is male- the pure archmage is rarely ever a young woman. Yes, JRPGs often have powerful magical girls- but they are usually like FFVIII Rinoa or even Sengoku Rance's Ran- their magical power is secondary to their role as plot devices. They are witches, magic is more a curse to them than a joy; they are not pure archmage, magic her birthright, born to sing spells from her fingertips.
No matter how much Shizuka can't stand Rance, he pulls her into his adventures. It's wonderful.
Kichikuou Rance
Rick and Gandhi are Rance's true bros. A man like Rance doesn't develop male relationships easily, so a true bro is a treasure. They ride together 4 life.
Kanami is mediocre in a fight, but she's stayed with Rance in pretty much all his adventures. She sees him clearly, unlike Sill or Lia. She and Rance have a love hate relationship that is the most honest portrayal of male-female relationships in the entire series. It's basically the same relationship I have with my girlfriend. You hate each other, so you abuse each other, but you also care for each other, so you trust the other to forgive you. You have this relationship with no one else.
Sill- Do I need to explain Sill? Selfless, blind, undeserved love. It moves me everytime Rance recounts at the beginning of every adventure how much money he spent to purchase Sill. She's the entirety of his luck, his fortune- and he's not so dumb that he doesn't know it. She changed his life. She is what makes him a great unique character and not just an 8-bit caricature.
Shining Force
Anri- She's the work-wife in this game. A mage with the most powerful long range spell in the game who is also an impervious tank is a thing of beauty. By the end game, Dark Dragon's attacks deal 1 damage to her. Go ahead, she has 73 more hp.
Phantasy Star III
MIEU- Mieu is the benchmark rpg work-wife. Phantasy Star III was my first RPG, so perhaps Mieu is the reason why I am so fond of work-wife companions. She is the first companion you get, and she never ever leaves. She not only deligently serves Rhys, but also his son and his grandson on their adventures. She and Wren are the constants, and awesome. She is the game's primary healer and cleans up in combat with her two attacks. And we know from her prototype, Miun, forever searching the Aridian desert for her Orakio, that she will stay true to us until the end of time itself. And at the end of the game, when Lashute is falling from the sky, who is the deus machina that saves you? Of course it's MIEU. Perfect.
WREN- How awesome is Wren. Actions speak louder than words. At first he's just a tool, a plot device, but as soon as you buy him the Ceramic Shot, HOLY SHIT. He's blowing away the entire enemy party left and then right. He's the primary damage dealer until the end of the game from then on, especially since most of your enemies are monsters so they take extra damage from his mechanical attack. He is also the party's transport, transforming himself into a plane, a boat or a submersible to go wherever the party needs to go. He's also the party's tank, dragging the corpses of your other party members out of the dungeon to town for reviving when you've been party-wiped. He's Phantasy Star III Jesus. No wonder he makes a return in IV.
Phantasy Star IV
Alys- Alys leaves the party very early in the story, but in some way her spirit is with the party until the end. Phantasy Star IV is a real ride from start to end, and Alys' role in the story kicks everything off. It was 1992, and the first important choice I ever made in life was Genesis or SNES. Obviously Genesis was my call, and it was the right call, since it is one of the all-time great RPG consoles. And Phantasy Star IV is the crown jewel of the Genesis rpgs. My love of rpgs began with Phantasy Star III, and it is poetic that Genesis got it's sendoff from Phantasy Star IV, demonstrating how far rpg design had advanced under the Genesis years between these 2 titles.
Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
Sophia Hapgood- how could you guys forget about her? Indy's companion, his better half, on his greatest adventure? Is she not the prototype of the Baldur's Gate 2 companions? Maybe the first modern companion with personality in computer gaming.
Gabriel Knight
Grace Nakamura- Gabriel's foil, like Rance and Sill. Gabe isn't Gabe, a great character in the history of computer gaming, without Grace. And Grace is also the work-wife, doing research, investigation, taking important phone calls and reminding Gabe to eat. The life of a schattenjager is difficult, a woman like Grace who doesn't get freaked out by the supernatural makes Gabe work.
Final Fantasy VIII
Quistis Trepe- Quistis' relationship to Squall is probably unique in computer game storytelling. She's the sexy teacher, but she's barely older than him. There is physical attraction, but their relationship doesn't become sexual. Her card is one of the first S-rank cards you collect in Triple Triad- that counts too! Lol, Quistis might not be the work-wife of FFVIII, but the Quistis card is absolutely the work-wife of Triple Triad! In combat she's quite unique. She uses a whip (awesome) and her special ability is Blue Magic. She can shoot lasers from her eye. She can belch ghoul stench. And, one of the best moments of the game, she knows how to operate heavy artillery when shit gets real.
Diablo II
Act III Iron Wolf Ice Mage- Time has told: gamers have been playing Diablo 2 now for 16 years, and the Iron Wolf Ice Mage has proven himself as clearly the best henchmen in the game. He's not lithe and sexy like the Rogue, and he isn't immediately awesome like Might Aura Act II spear guards, but he stays out of the way, keeps himself alive and out of danger, and he quietly does his job- freeze enemies to keep you alive. Totally Diablo 2's work-husband.
Baldur's Gate 2
Aerie- it's hard to not like someone once she's had your baby. Aerie is the best Baldur's Gate 2 romance. Not only can she wield Crom Feyr, but unlike Viconia, she can also Project Image and Simulacrum! So now you have TWO Crom Feyrs, and a near infinite well of Heal spells! She can Sequencer. She can Sequencer Cleric spells! Aerie is the only mage in the game that can cast cleric spells, which makes her the best mage in the game. She's the best mage in the game in a game where the best characters are mages. She's not a specialist so she can learn EVERY Wizard spell. She's the only mage in the game that should carry a shield, melee and tank. She's the only mage in the game that can cast Heal. So SHE CANSEQUENCER SPELL TRIGGER HEAL. HOLY SHIT.
There are only a few classes that can solo the entire game. But ANY character can beat the game with only Aerie. She is clearly the best companion in Baldur's Gate 2. And you get to knock her up too.
Shadowrun: Dragonfall
Eiger- Eiger isn't quite the work-wife in this game, but she's really kick ass. In a way she's just like Anri. She's a devastating Sniper, which makes her the team's primary damage dealer, AND she's also a Troll! So she can tank, comes with grenades, and can run up and punch enemies out of cover or shotgun them if the opportunity arises. She carries 3 guns so she's useful in pretty much every situation. Dietrich is a cool bro, but in a fight he's just a buff bot. When shit gets real, would you rather have assault rifles or throwing knives?
Eiger is the first awesome troll companion I ever had.
Shadowrun: Hong Kong
Gobbet- yeah, HBS knew they'd hit the character design jackpot with Gobbet. In combat she's a complete upgrade over Dietrich- SMG to flush instead of Throwing Knives! Lots of free summon fetishes! Shiny Object grenade! She's the team's primary healer- always a companion plus. She also gets two awesome AoE damage spells that she can actually cast, unlike Dietrich who almost never has a chance to cast his Dragon ball since he's too busy buff-botting. Dragonslayer totem sounds cool, but Dietrich doesn't play like a Dragonslayer at all. He isn't Prince Phillip who slays Maleficient; he's the green fairie that enchants Phillip's sword. Gobbet plays a lot more like how you would expect a Rat Shaman to play.
Gobbet also brings humor to a team that has very little of it. The only other member with a sense of humor is Gaichu.
SR: Hong Kong was a terrible game. So it's a real tribute to Gobbet, Racter, Gaichu and Gunshow that it's even playable. Even Is0bel had her moment at DeckCon.
Invisible Inc
Sharp- HOLY SHIT Sharp is awesome once he's fully upgraded. He knocks people out for 7 rounds- basically just as good as lethal.
Nika- HOLY SHIT Nika is plain awesome. Give her a Power Disrupter, Predictive Brawling augment and some Stim IIIs and she can clear half the map in a single turn.
Shalem's pretty awesome too since he comes with a sweet gun if you start with him. I have him hold all the team's guns and he trails behind Sharp and Nika to inject catamose guards with Paralyzer, truly taking them out for the rest of the mission.
Sengoku Rance
Omachi- she's tough to recruit, and by the time you do, you think you are already plenty bad-ass with Uruza, Kenshin and Natori. Ho ho. Then you use her nuke for the first time and you know- this is what real endgame power is. Masamune's brides are the four horsemen, and they ride ahead of the apocalypse.
Uruza- as a unit she does pretty much everything. Buffs your team. Debuffs. Snipes. Cancels perparation. Wreck the opposing army's actions. And she's not annoying, whiny or high maintenance either, compared to Magic, Senhime. Omachi is Masamune's bride. Uruza is Rance's true work-wife. Their work is war.
Shizuka- I'm not certain, but I think why Shizuka is SO SO SO popular is that she is the pure archmage. She's Raistlin. She's Ged. The pure mage, who's fragile mortal frame is only a tool to channel raw otherworldly power, plays a powerful role in fantasy literature. Usually this character is male- the pure archmage is rarely ever a young woman. Yes, JRPGs often have powerful magical girls- but they are usually like FFVIII Rinoa or even Sengoku Rance's Ran- their magical power is secondary to their role as plot devices. They are witches, magic is more a curse to them than a joy; they are not pure archmage, magic her birthright, born to sing spells from her fingertips.
No matter how much Shizuka can't stand Rance, he pulls her into his adventures. It's wonderful.
Kichikuou Rance
Rick and Gandhi are Rance's true bros. A man like Rance doesn't develop male relationships easily, so a true bro is a treasure. They ride together 4 life.
Kanami is mediocre in a fight, but she's stayed with Rance in pretty much all his adventures. She sees him clearly, unlike Sill or Lia. She and Rance have a love hate relationship that is the most honest portrayal of male-female relationships in the entire series. It's basically the same relationship I have with my girlfriend. You hate each other, so you abuse each other, but you also care for each other, so you trust the other to forgive you. You have this relationship with no one else.
Sill- Do I need to explain Sill? Selfless, blind, undeserved love. It moves me everytime Rance recounts at the beginning of every adventure how much money he spent to purchase Sill. She's the entirety of his luck, his fortune- and he's not so dumb that he doesn't know it. She changed his life. She is what makes him a great unique character and not just an 8-bit caricature.
Shining Force
Anri- She's the work-wife in this game. A mage with the most powerful long range spell in the game who is also an impervious tank is a thing of beauty. By the end game, Dark Dragon's attacks deal 1 damage to her. Go ahead, she has 73 more hp.
Phantasy Star III
MIEU- Mieu is the benchmark rpg work-wife. Phantasy Star III was my first RPG, so perhaps Mieu is the reason why I am so fond of work-wife companions. She is the first companion you get, and she never ever leaves. She not only deligently serves Rhys, but also his son and his grandson on their adventures. She and Wren are the constants, and awesome. She is the game's primary healer and cleans up in combat with her two attacks. And we know from her prototype, Miun, forever searching the Aridian desert for her Orakio, that she will stay true to us until the end of time itself. And at the end of the game, when Lashute is falling from the sky, who is the deus machina that saves you? Of course it's MIEU. Perfect.
WREN- How awesome is Wren. Actions speak louder than words. At first he's just a tool, a plot device, but as soon as you buy him the Ceramic Shot, HOLY SHIT. He's blowing away the entire enemy party left and then right. He's the primary damage dealer until the end of the game from then on, especially since most of your enemies are monsters so they take extra damage from his mechanical attack. He is also the party's transport, transforming himself into a plane, a boat or a submersible to go wherever the party needs to go. He's also the party's tank, dragging the corpses of your other party members out of the dungeon to town for reviving when you've been party-wiped. He's Phantasy Star III Jesus. No wonder he makes a return in IV.
Phantasy Star IV
Alys- Alys leaves the party very early in the story, but in some way her spirit is with the party until the end. Phantasy Star IV is a real ride from start to end, and Alys' role in the story kicks everything off. It was 1992, and the first important choice I ever made in life was Genesis or SNES. Obviously Genesis was my call, and it was the right call, since it is one of the all-time great RPG consoles. And Phantasy Star IV is the crown jewel of the Genesis rpgs. My love of rpgs began with Phantasy Star III, and it is poetic that Genesis got it's sendoff from Phantasy Star IV, demonstrating how far rpg design had advanced under the Genesis years between these 2 titles.
Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
Sophia Hapgood- how could you guys forget about her? Indy's companion, his better half, on his greatest adventure? Is she not the prototype of the Baldur's Gate 2 companions? Maybe the first modern companion with personality in computer gaming.
Gabriel Knight
Grace Nakamura- Gabriel's foil, like Rance and Sill. Gabe isn't Gabe, a great character in the history of computer gaming, without Grace. And Grace is also the work-wife, doing research, investigation, taking important phone calls and reminding Gabe to eat. The life of a schattenjager is difficult, a woman like Grace who doesn't get freaked out by the supernatural makes Gabe work.
Final Fantasy VIII
Quistis Trepe- Quistis' relationship to Squall is probably unique in computer game storytelling. She's the sexy teacher, but she's barely older than him. There is physical attraction, but their relationship doesn't become sexual. Her card is one of the first S-rank cards you collect in Triple Triad- that counts too! Lol, Quistis might not be the work-wife of FFVIII, but the Quistis card is absolutely the work-wife of Triple Triad! In combat she's quite unique. She uses a whip (awesome) and her special ability is Blue Magic. She can shoot lasers from her eye. She can belch ghoul stench. And, one of the best moments of the game, she knows how to operate heavy artillery when shit gets real.
Diablo II
Act III Iron Wolf Ice Mage- Time has told: gamers have been playing Diablo 2 now for 16 years, and the Iron Wolf Ice Mage has proven himself as clearly the best henchmen in the game. He's not lithe and sexy like the Rogue, and he isn't immediately awesome like Might Aura Act II spear guards, but he stays out of the way, keeps himself alive and out of danger, and he quietly does his job- freeze enemies to keep you alive. Totally Diablo 2's work-husband.
Baldur's Gate 2
Aerie- it's hard to not like someone once she's had your baby. Aerie is the best Baldur's Gate 2 romance. Not only can she wield Crom Feyr, but unlike Viconia, she can also Project Image and Simulacrum! So now you have TWO Crom Feyrs, and a near infinite well of Heal spells! She can Sequencer. She can Sequencer Cleric spells! Aerie is the only mage in the game that can cast cleric spells, which makes her the best mage in the game. She's the best mage in the game in a game where the best characters are mages. She's not a specialist so she can learn EVERY Wizard spell. She's the only mage in the game that should carry a shield, melee and tank. She's the only mage in the game that can cast Heal. So SHE CAN
There are only a few classes that can solo the entire game. But ANY character can beat the game with only Aerie. She is clearly the best companion in Baldur's Gate 2. And you get to knock her up too.
Shadowrun: Dragonfall
Eiger- Eiger isn't quite the work-wife in this game, but she's really kick ass. In a way she's just like Anri. She's a devastating Sniper, which makes her the team's primary damage dealer, AND she's also a Troll! So she can tank, comes with grenades, and can run up and punch enemies out of cover or shotgun them if the opportunity arises. She carries 3 guns so she's useful in pretty much every situation. Dietrich is a cool bro, but in a fight he's just a buff bot. When shit gets real, would you rather have assault rifles or throwing knives?
Eiger is the first awesome troll companion I ever had.
Shadowrun: Hong Kong
Gobbet- yeah, HBS knew they'd hit the character design jackpot with Gobbet. In combat she's a complete upgrade over Dietrich- SMG to flush instead of Throwing Knives! Lots of free summon fetishes! Shiny Object grenade! She's the team's primary healer- always a companion plus. She also gets two awesome AoE damage spells that she can actually cast, unlike Dietrich who almost never has a chance to cast his Dragon ball since he's too busy buff-botting. Dragonslayer totem sounds cool, but Dietrich doesn't play like a Dragonslayer at all. He isn't Prince Phillip who slays Maleficient; he's the green fairie that enchants Phillip's sword. Gobbet plays a lot more like how you would expect a Rat Shaman to play.
Gobbet also brings humor to a team that has very little of it. The only other member with a sense of humor is Gaichu.
SR: Hong Kong was a terrible game. So it's a real tribute to Gobbet, Racter, Gaichu and Gunshow that it's even playable. Even Is0bel had her moment at DeckCon.
Invisible Inc
Sharp- HOLY SHIT Sharp is awesome once he's fully upgraded. He knocks people out for 7 rounds- basically just as good as lethal.
Nika- HOLY SHIT Nika is plain awesome. Give her a Power Disrupter, Predictive Brawling augment and some Stim IIIs and she can clear half the map in a single turn.
Shalem's pretty awesome too since he comes with a sweet gun if you start with him. I have him hold all the team's guns and he trails behind Sharp and Nika to inject catamose guards with Paralyzer, truly taking them out for the rest of the mission.
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Santander02
Arcane
- Joined
- Sep 29, 2009
- Messages
- 3,363
BG2: Keldron, Jaheira, Minsc, Aerie (Good party) Viconia, Edwin, Korgan, Saerevok (Evil Party)
Gothics: Diego, Lester, Gorn
Fallouts: Dogmeat (the OG only), Tycho, Cassidy (Both), Marcus, Sulik (Stupid spirits), Veronica, Boone, Raul
KOTORs: HK47, Jolee, Bastila, Canderous, Atton, Kreia, Handmaiden
Jade Empire: Silk Fox, Sagacious Zu.
NWNs: Sharwyn, Deekin ,Nathyrra, Kelgar, Sand, Shandra, Amon Jerro, Grobnar, Gann, Okku, Kaelyn (I had to kill her though...), One of Many.
PST: Annah, Dakkon, Morte, Grace, Nordrom, Vhalior (JUSTICE IS NOT BLIND)
Witchers: Dandelion, Zoltan, Triss (Second game), Lambert, Shani (first game), Siegfried
MEh: Ashley, Korgan
DAO: Leliana, Oghren, Wynne, Sten (a bit), Shale.
DA2 and I: Everyone is shit.
I think that's it.
Gothics: Diego, Lester, Gorn
Fallouts: Dogmeat (the OG only), Tycho, Cassidy (Both), Marcus, Sulik (Stupid spirits), Veronica, Boone, Raul
KOTORs: HK47, Jolee, Bastila, Canderous, Atton, Kreia, Handmaiden
Jade Empire: Silk Fox, Sagacious Zu.
NWNs: Sharwyn, Deekin ,Nathyrra, Kelgar, Sand, Shandra, Amon Jerro, Grobnar, Gann, Okku, Kaelyn (I had to kill her though...), One of Many.
PST: Annah, Dakkon, Morte, Grace, Nordrom, Vhalior (JUSTICE IS NOT BLIND)
Witchers: Dandelion, Zoltan, Triss (Second game), Lambert, Shani (first game), Siegfried
MEh: Ashley, Korgan
DAO: Leliana, Oghren, Wynne, Sten (a bit), Shale.
DA2 and I: Everyone is shit.
I think that's it.
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