Better Companions in Open-World RPGs

Gameplay
#1

I love Elder Scrolls and the Fallouts, and Mass Effect was a huge favorite too, but I rarely have time to complete a whole game, let alone multiple ones. I have never been a completionist, but I do feel the need to do a majority of inconsequential side-quests, sometimes for the possible rewards like better weapons and armor but also because it unlocks more doors for later on in the game. But I also want to have the experience of playing through both good and evil, as well as other more shades of gray playthroughs. But time has always been a huge factor.

Give me companions who do more than just follow me around. Let me send them out to complete delivery side quests to build connections and reputation and score a little cash, but are too tedious to merit wasting my own time on. Let me send them out of scouting missions to discover more fast travel locations or mark important resources like mining veins or important artifacts. Give them a bit more combat AI so that I can send them out on point if I want to play a ranged character, and hell, even add some voice commands. Make them nearly as customizable as I am, but also keep the ability for auto-leveling if I don’t want to take the time.

Companions could still die and fail missions when you send them out, there would have to be some strategy to it. I don’t want to send out an abrasive personality to negotiate a trade and I don’t want to send out a warrior to silently scout a dungeon.

Thanks for reading,and tell me what you think.Hope this game do it good. :smile:

6 Likes
#2

Above all that, they all must be sworn to carry your burdens.

I’m sorry, I had to say that.

3 Likes
#3

you don’t need a companion postman if when you want to deliver something, you just give it to a courier, or better yet, simply don’t include fedex quests.

#4

You know what I would like to see. I would like to have a companion, or let’s say a mercenary if the player could afford it, fight alongside you and protect you through some parts of the game only to basically tell the player to piss off after being asked to fight something like a 2v5 which he probably wouldn’t survive. Like, even companions that are asked to follow you, paid to follow you, or choose to follow you should still have a mind of their own with limits they won’t cross and their own threat interpretation that would determine if they would do something risky or not.

Even something like a deeply religious companion leaving you on Sundays and maybe getting annoyed if you won’t join him in church and flat out abandoning or turning on you if you should do anything too against the church would add some life to the companion NPC’s.

5 Likes
#5

Some great ideas here. :thumbsup:

1 Like
#6

Awesome ideas !
I think that Mass Effect did quite a good job on companions. But they should go deeper! The main trouble with ME was that any “dateable” character was automatically trying to get into your bed! The system of Warband has some nice ideas as well. If you pillage villages or attack caravans, good companions won’t appreciate it and eventually leave you. Same if your battles end up in bloodbath. That system is quite nice! I think that Warband’s thing, mixed with Dragon Age and Mass Effect companion’s personality would make something great!

#7

Well,i think Mount and Blade fail at some point,To me, the reward is the freedom to choose that playstyle. If I explore, then awesome- I can go hunt someone down and take their stuff. If I want to explore, then I find untapped resources and undiscovered locations before anyone else. If I build, then I have the best protection- maybe I turn my place into a vault for ppl to store their stuff and charge rent or a maze to challenge others to beat. If I spend all my time crafting, my stuff’s going to be the best on the market and I’ll be on the cutting edge of inventing new things. I mean if Companions can do this,it will be best game ever.

Games shouldn’t always be a “press button to receive reward, then move to next button” machine, but a facilitator in finding what brings us joy. :smile:

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