Sidekicks/Followers that GET SHIT DONE!!!

[KoolHndLuke]

It ain't you or your player pc kicking ass- it's your follower/sidekick!!! Sometimes you stand in awe of their awesome ass-kicking art while you take a breath. Maybe they're part of the story/main quest, maybe they're not and just someone (or -thing) that you stumble upon and rejoice as they help you/slay enemies throughout your adventures. Maybe it's a MOD that adds that someone/something that you feel so confident/dreamy about.

 

Now I've read/watched some opinions and vids giving their take on the best companions in video games- and I'm not sure any of them actually play video games. Found Dogmeat in FO4 mentioned at least 3 times.... which is a sour joke to me since I greet that dog once and leave him in Sanctuary the rest of the game. Running in Skyrim, I always have my faithful beautiful companion/lover Selene at my side- until she glitches and I send her "home". I've enjoyed hours of watching her destroy enemies with special attacks and shouts.  Maybe I should mention BB in Death Stranding? Without that little tike, I would be so vulnerable and feel very alone.

 

Earning stuff by yourself in a game is satisfying. but, then so is whoever/whatever's got your back. Who or what's your favorite?

 

[Mez558]

It would be my first ones.

I was never really into SP games, Online FPS and then MMORPG's were my thing. My first Single Player game was Star Wars - The Old Republic (Yeah, I am aware it's sold as an MMO but it's far more SP than MMO)
So it would be Kaliyo, Scorpio and Vette

Spoiler

 

 

I've not felt much connection to other companions/followers from other games. Thinking about them makes me want to player SW:TOR again but everytime I go back I have to respec my characters as they keep dumbing the advancement system down. I don't know if it'ss for balancing or so players with the intelligence of plankton could "enjoy" the game.

Faceroll ftw. /rant off

 

[Mr. Otaku]

I have a few that i really like. Off the top of my head, Shaundi from Saints Row. Especially from 3 onwards. She takes shit from nobody, master at weaponry, bluntly honest, cold as hell and hot as fuck. And with super powers in 4 she's super effective too.

 

Spoiler

   

She's like the angrier and meaner version of Viola DeWynter, speaking of which...

 

Viola DeWynter from the same franchise. There's something about her that i just really really love and she is one of my first video game crushes ever. Maybe the fact that she's voiced by the legendary Sasha Grey is a contributing factor to that but man i love her coldness. And she's super perceptive and smart in addition to being a complete badass.

 

Spoiler

  

 

[Kitty]

Pretty much all companions from any of the original Mass Effect trilogy.

 

Not that they're especially useful, but a lot of the time it's their little dialogue injections or banter comments that make or break moments of the games, and you sort of have to appreciate all of them as they each have a unique tone, and in a lot of situations, different pairings will result in wildly differing points of view.

 

Um.. That Elizabeth chick from Bioshock comes to mind.  She wasn't again especially *useful*, but I thought she was very well done.  You can (if so inclined) spend hours on a few of the maps just walking around and letting her run over here, comment excitedly, run over there.. it's really amusing and fun to watch.

 

Most of the companions from the old KotOR games - particularly HK-47 probably.  That guy cracks me the hell up every time.

 

Ellie from The Last of Us - and yes, I know lots of people utterly hate the game to begin with but again, I like my 'deep story' feel games, and even if this one doesn't really qualify, it does feel more like a narrative than a game lots of the time, and in that aspect, I think she was again done pretty well.

 

Everyone from the original Fallout franchise (1/2) - Back then, basically a few of them added some color, and occasionally one of them would brutally (by accident) murder one of your OTHER companions because their AI was pretty stupid about burst fire, but mostly they were just there to help you shoot things and later, to carry junk around.

 

Really haven't spent much time in your big sandbox style games where most people base this sort of thing from (Obliv, Skyrim, FO3+) so I don't have much to offer on those.  At least, not as yet anyway.  Probably check out some base game and follower mods eventually.  Someday.

 

Oh, and of course, the old Baldur's Gate games or any of those D&D, party-style games though.  Like Minsk.  Guy kept me laughing all through BG1/2.  But I mean, a lot of these sort of games, without the companions (party) there really wouldn't be a game in the first place, so it's a different sort of comparison really.  Meh.  Whatever. 

[FauxFurry]

I would include the dogs from Fable but they might as well be equal partners as much as the dog from Secret of Evermore or Shadow in Dead to Right were.

[landess]

Old School? I'd say the 3 teammates from Star Wars: Republic Commando. They felt more like teammates than anything else I experienced - needing and giving help equally. Needing because I made poor decisions and giving, because I made poor decisions.

 

Spoiler

 

 

As for a follower that could be carrying the player while being sexually entertaining and completely customizable: The follower mod IVY for Fallout 4 gets my vote as the 'last follower you'll ever need'.

[Ernest Lemmingway]

I'd include the companion characters from SWTOR, but the game is so designed around you having a companion active--or being in a group at all times--that the best they do is keep your ass from dying.

[FauxFurry]

10 hours ago, Ernest Lemmingway said:

I'd include the companion characters from SWTOR, but the game is so designed around you having a companion active--or being in a group at all times--that the best they do is keep your ass from dying.

I had yet to get around to trying that game since I just can not get myself into MMORPGs these days even when they are free to play but that balancing act weighed towards having a party at all times reminds me of Code Vein more than it does Knights of the Old Republic. No one was on par with Revan, not even the other Jedi.

I suppose I could add the followers from Code Vein to the list, specifically Io who is so effective that it almost feels like she is on an escort mission to protect the player from whatever obstacles get in their way, be it the Lost or hypo-competence. 

[KoolHndLuke]

Honestly other than whom I mentioned, I can't really think of another companion/follower that just rocked. I'm reminded of most Bioware game companions in that they (the dev) really tried to "flesh out" all the characters in their games to give them very distinct personalities. They had their own opinions in any given situation and there was the affinity system as well which most seemed to like. The thing is that you could do a different playthrough with different companions and get very different feedback each time- maybe even consequential events. They were blended into the story in a way that gave the player freedom to go different directions- i.e. Wrex on Virmire. Can't really think of another dev that did that much with followers/companions and the mods- some of which are very, very good- have to make up the difference in something like Beth games. Beth tried, but failed to deliver the same experience that Bioware sort of pioneered with the followers/companions making a difference in the story.

 

I feel I literally could list almost every Bioware companion I've ever played with. Some I liked, some I didn't- but I always wanted to know more about each and every one of them because they were interesting.

[Ernest Lemmingway]

18 hours ago, FauxFurry said:

but that balancing act weighed towards having a party at all times reminds me of Code Vein more than it does Knights of the Old Republic.

I've never played Code Vein but I have played both KotOR games.

 

It's the dumbest thing I've seen in an MMORPG. I remember watching my cousin play WoW Legion and they had a similar setup in that xpac where you basically had to have a companion because the mobs were so OP. It's the same damned thing, only without the fleshed out personalities that BioWare included.

[27X]

On 3/15/2021 at 7:06 PM, FauxFurry said:

I had yet to get around to trying that game since I just can not get myself into MMORPGs these days even when they are free to play but that balancing act weighed towards having a party at all times reminds me of Code Vein more than it does Knights of the Old Republic. No one was on par with Revan, not even the other Jedi.

I suppose I could add the followers from Code Vein to the list, specifically Io who is so effective that it almost feels like she is on an escort mission to protect the player from whatever obstacles get in their way, be it the Lost or hypo-competence. 

 

Mana Tank being a verb and an adjective.

[27X]

On 3/12/2021 at 8:48 AM, Kitty said:

Ellie from The Last of Us

 

Very few people hate the first game, yes it's cliched as fuck, yes everything in literally by the "nebulous morality" book bullet point for point, but it's still a decent survivalist walkie.

 

Second game is simply wokejoke fiery garbage.

[KoolHndLuke]

10 hours ago, 27X said:

Second game is simply wokejoke fiery garbage.

Now, now- if you can't say something nice.... 

 

I haven't played the second one and prolly never will considering what I've seen of it.

 

I'll give a favorable mention to this guy from the video game Mad Max for being both my gunner and mechanic. Read some pretty unflattering reviews for this game, but I liked it.

 

Spoiler

 

[FauxFurry]

If summons/cooperators from Elden Ring count, let me solo her now sits atop the heap. The main hero could not get things done so they need to bring in expert assistance to settle things with Malenia while they look on helplessly.