The last decade has been kind to players who enjoy deep narrative-driven RPGs that offer a set of characters to keep company with the protagonist on their journey. Fantasy or sci-fi, open-world or tight corridor locations, turn-based or packed to the brim with hectic action, there are plenty of titles to choose from and enjoy.
When it comes to such RPGs, for many players companions are as important as an involved combat system, interesting progression, diverse locations, and deep narrative. These characters accompany your protagonist through the thick and thin, picking them up and dusting them off at their lowest and pushing them to be the best (or the worst!) version of themselves at all times. They also frequently interrupt conversations to voice their very important opinions, get into scuffles with enemies and among themselves, and ruin your best attempts at stealth.
What’s not to love?
Considering the average length of a playthrough when it comes to a cRPG, let alone open-world action-RPGs, these characters might stick by your side for hundreds of hours per title. More, if you take a look at one of the series that feature returning characters, like The Witcher, Pillars of Eternity, Mass Effect, Dragon Age, and others.
However, despite the sometimes concerning amount of time spent adventuring together, many party-based games leave vaguely companions’ shaped holes in your soul due to the lack of that last hurrah and the final closure you get before or right after defeating the big bad. With few very notable exceptions, many titles simply cut off any new meaningful interactions closer to the endgame, and focus on the overarching narrative, leaving personal connections of the protagonist aside. In a lot of cases, once you are done with companions’ quests and/or final romance scenes, the characters might as well be swapped for mute lookalikes all the way until the final credits.
This lack of closure (and the ending slides) was one of the reasons behind players’ unhappiness with the way things originally ended in Baldur’s Gate 3 – that is, until Larian’s triumphant return with a brand-new shining epilogue in one of the game’s major patches.
Other examples include Owlcat Games’ latest titles, Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous and Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader. Thankfully, the former seems to be on its way to remedy this particular issue in the upcoming DLC#6, A Dance of Masks, coming as a part of Season Pass 2 or available as a separate purchase on June 13.
This is also where Mass Effect 3 shines with its Citadel DLC that serves as a love letter to companions and the adventures they had with Commander Shepard. Having been added well after the initial release of the game and the controversy sparked by its ending, it helped players deal with the realization that this adventure is truly over, and still remains on everyone’s mind as one of the greater examples of fanservice. So much so that there are even mods to move the events of the DLC in such a way that they take place after the final battle and thus serve as the game’s “real ending”.
There is something special in taking a step away from the gameplay-driven missions, and focusing on seeing your companions interact among themselves, sometimes in very unusual combinations, and behave wildly out of place when not on the battlefield. (There is no evil clone in Ba Sing Se) Who could ever imagine Garrus and Zaeed would booby trap Shepard’s place?
Just imagine what types of shenanigans would occur as the result of other games’ companions and allies getting a chance to unwind. Especially if we are talking about extremely uptight types like Wrath of the Righteous’ Regill Derenge who wouldn’t know fun if it bit him. Or maybe somebody a bit more awkward, like Aloth (but never Iselmyr) from Pillars of Eternity? Tyranny’s entire gang of murder hobos? Glorious sight, indeed!
Is there any particular game or a set of companions that you would have loved some extra quality time with? Perhaps even an NPC that you love with all your heart and who was left ignored by the narrative? Let us know in the comments below.
