Something that's always bugged me is how RPG companions are levelled along with you. This design approach particularly stuck out in NWN2's Shandra, whose Fighter class and attributes were basically born full-grown and wearing armor, directly out of the kludgy narrative's head.
There are a few obvious reasons for all of this. E.g., it's much easier for developers to tune difficulty levels when the player and his companions are all balanced in power. It's also true that, without this type of auto-levelling, players confront a reinforcement dynamic that can narrow their choice of travelling companions; once you've adventured with a particular companion and invested in their advancement, there's an incentive to stick with them rather than with other companions who haven't shared that advancement.
The downside is significant, tho. The most notable bottom line for me is that it simply makes no freakin' sense. Sure, some games claim that your companions are adventuring on their own when you don't choose them, but this feels to me like a crutch for what's essentially broken gameworld logic - particularly because those characters don't appear to do a goddamn thing, since they're always waiting for you the next time you show up at camp. The other problem is that this can reduce feelings of player agency and accomplishment; the player's achievement in levelling her own character is diminished when all other characters keep pace (apparently effortlessly).
And then there's the oft-remarked fact that levelling in RPGs is already ridiculously imbalanced in most cases, ludicrously greater and faster than even the most prodigious of "real-life" growth and advancement. I can almost buy this when I'm the son of a god (BG2/ToB), e.g., but then I see all of my (mostly non-divine) companions levelling at the same rate and achieving essentially the same power - becoming demigod-like forces to be reckoned with in the gameworld. Huh?
It isn't as much of an issue in some games. Take JE, for example: yes, your companions auto-level with you, but it doesn't feel like it makes a difference. You rapidly surpass them in combat effectiveness, so the system remains mostly unobtrusive and doesn't diminish your own sense of character advancement. FO2 also had an alternative system in which companions could level, but only a few times and with much less granularity than the player's character. So yes, systems can be designed wherein companions basically "keep pace" with you but don't obviously break the logic of the world.
Still, even when it's not obtrusive, I don't understand the "need" for balanced companions. Why doesn't Shandra start 10 levels behind you in NWN2, after all? Couldn't that create some interesting challenges with combat tactics and party balance? In other games, what would be the problem with being accompanied by a much stronger, older, more experienced character and learning from her - or guarding and mentoring a much weaker character throughout the story?
There are a few obvious reasons for all of this. E.g., it's much easier for developers to tune difficulty levels when the player and his companions are all balanced in power. It's also true that, without this type of auto-levelling, players confront a reinforcement dynamic that can narrow their choice of travelling companions; once you've adventured with a particular companion and invested in their advancement, there's an incentive to stick with them rather than with other companions who haven't shared that advancement.
The downside is significant, tho. The most notable bottom line for me is that it simply makes no freakin' sense. Sure, some games claim that your companions are adventuring on their own when you don't choose them, but this feels to me like a crutch for what's essentially broken gameworld logic - particularly because those characters don't appear to do a goddamn thing, since they're always waiting for you the next time you show up at camp. The other problem is that this can reduce feelings of player agency and accomplishment; the player's achievement in levelling her own character is diminished when all other characters keep pace (apparently effortlessly).
And then there's the oft-remarked fact that levelling in RPGs is already ridiculously imbalanced in most cases, ludicrously greater and faster than even the most prodigious of "real-life" growth and advancement. I can almost buy this when I'm the son of a god (BG2/ToB), e.g., but then I see all of my (mostly non-divine) companions levelling at the same rate and achieving essentially the same power - becoming demigod-like forces to be reckoned with in the gameworld. Huh?
It isn't as much of an issue in some games. Take JE, for example: yes, your companions auto-level with you, but it doesn't feel like it makes a difference. You rapidly surpass them in combat effectiveness, so the system remains mostly unobtrusive and doesn't diminish your own sense of character advancement. FO2 also had an alternative system in which companions could level, but only a few times and with much less granularity than the player's character. So yes, systems can be designed wherein companions basically "keep pace" with you but don't obviously break the logic of the world.
Still, even when it's not obtrusive, I don't understand the "need" for balanced companions. Why doesn't Shandra start 10 levels behind you in NWN2, after all? Couldn't that create some interesting challenges with combat tactics and party balance? In other games, what would be the problem with being accompanied by a much stronger, older, more experienced character and learning from her - or guarding and mentoring a much weaker character throughout the story?
