Belboz
Literate
- Joined
- Mar 31, 2021
- Messages
- 18
There is one thing that I truly despise in RPG, I'm talking about those games that – as some point, for plot or other reasons (balance, for example) – take away a crucial member from the party.
In Dragon Age: Origins Morrigan leaves only at the end, under a specific condition, but I can think of many RPG in which we are left devoid of an important companion. Usually, in games à la Baldur's Gate, I never play as a thief, and so I need one for various purposes, but Shadows of Amn, at some point, takes away Yoshimo, the only pure thief in the game. A truly great loss!
In Wasteland 2, I was counting on Angela Deth and her assault rifles proficency, but then Angela is called back at the Citadel, and in 'exchange' I am left with Scotchmo, Chisel and Vulture's Cry, useless in the context of my party.
In Arcanum, Virgil leaves the party to be never found again, if you are determined to not find him again (which is definitely a possibility, if you dislike him). In Neverwinter Nights 2 there are no ways to save Shandra, my precious tank.
There are other examples (Pathfinder: Kingmaker comes to mind), but I don't want to write down an exhaustive list.
I'm not averse to lose a party member IF I've somewhat displeased him or her (i.e., I'm an evil villain and so the paladin feels rightfully out of place in my party), but – in general – I find this solution annoying. First and foremost because I choose the party core members in order to have a balanced group and then because I recruit companions only if I like them, I don't want 'second rate' solutions, or hired mercs.
In defence of the developers, one could say that some plot decisions are made to give a resemblance of free will to otherwise 'bidimensional' characters. It could be cited the case from Mass Effect, when Ashley shoots Wrex (if Shepard is low on renegade or paragon points), removing him from the story. Ashley do so becasue her loyalty to the cause is absolute and she responds to threats with lethal force and because of her xenophobia, but in many cases the loss of a party member – be it temporary or permanent – is always a bad thing because interferes with the way one plays.
In my opinion, party members must be 'mindless' slaves, under our unquestionable command throughout the game. And I don't want to mention those situations in which the departing member waves me goodbye, wearing that precious chainmail +5, without me having the means to shoot him (or her) in the head, because that was a loot worth 10.000 gold, for Maker's sake!
In Dragon Age: Origins Morrigan leaves only at the end, under a specific condition, but I can think of many RPG in which we are left devoid of an important companion. Usually, in games à la Baldur's Gate, I never play as a thief, and so I need one for various purposes, but Shadows of Amn, at some point, takes away Yoshimo, the only pure thief in the game. A truly great loss!
In Wasteland 2, I was counting on Angela Deth and her assault rifles proficency, but then Angela is called back at the Citadel, and in 'exchange' I am left with Scotchmo, Chisel and Vulture's Cry, useless in the context of my party.
In Arcanum, Virgil leaves the party to be never found again, if you are determined to not find him again (which is definitely a possibility, if you dislike him). In Neverwinter Nights 2 there are no ways to save Shandra, my precious tank.
There are other examples (Pathfinder: Kingmaker comes to mind), but I don't want to write down an exhaustive list.
I'm not averse to lose a party member IF I've somewhat displeased him or her (i.e., I'm an evil villain and so the paladin feels rightfully out of place in my party), but – in general – I find this solution annoying. First and foremost because I choose the party core members in order to have a balanced group and then because I recruit companions only if I like them, I don't want 'second rate' solutions, or hired mercs.
In defence of the developers, one could say that some plot decisions are made to give a resemblance of free will to otherwise 'bidimensional' characters. It could be cited the case from Mass Effect, when Ashley shoots Wrex (if Shepard is low on renegade or paragon points), removing him from the story. Ashley do so becasue her loyalty to the cause is absolute and she responds to threats with lethal force and because of her xenophobia, but in many cases the loss of a party member – be it temporary or permanent – is always a bad thing because interferes with the way one plays.
In my opinion, party members must be 'mindless' slaves, under our unquestionable command throughout the game. And I don't want to mention those situations in which the departing member waves me goodbye, wearing that precious chainmail +5, without me having the means to shoot him (or her) in the head, because that was a loot worth 10.000 gold, for Maker's sake!