Are the Companions Really THAT Bland?

[Tarlonniel]

I don't mind acting as group psychologist as long as my companions are engaging. But simply being unusual is not enough for me to engage with them. Durance and GM were a "nope" on that front.

 

Durance: I'm complicated! Don't you want to understand me?

Me: Well... I suppose I...

Durance: Whore!

Me: GTFO.

 

Grieving Mother: I'm complicated don't you want to understand me.

Me: What was that?

Grieving Mother: I'm complicated don't you want to understand me.

Me: What's going on here?

Grieving Mother: I'm complicated don't you want to understand me.

Me: I give up.

[Tick]

I don't mind acting as group psychologist as long as my companions are engaging. But simply being unusual is not enough for me to engage with them. Durance and GM were a "nope" on that front.

 

Durance: I'm complicated! Don't you want to understand me?

Me: Well... I suppose I...

Durance: Whore!

Me: GTFO.

 

Grieving Mother: I'm complicated don't you want to understand me.

Me: What was that?

Grieving Mother: I'm complicated don't you want to understand me.

Me: What's going on here?

Grieving Mother: I'm complicated don't you want to understand me.

Me: I give up.

 

lol

 

I didn't mind them being difficult, and I liked their stories/arcs, but their personalities/interactions with others probably could have used work.  Grieving Mother in particular.

 

I still like the character!  I'm glad she was in the game, but her interactions in the now felt kind of empty.

[Crucis]

 

 

I honestly found her story boring.  I don't play this sort of game to play psychotherapist to a companion.

That's pretty much all the companion stories?

 

Anyway, subjective and all- people will respond differently to different characters- but I don't think that can honestly be called a bland story, just from the aspect of it being so unusual.

 

Yea somehow all companions have some sort of issue you need to comfort them on. There's no one that doesn't look for praise, pat on the back or encouragement. They're all some sort of melodramatic cry-me-a-river goofball. Some less sane than others.

 

 

There's a difference between talking to someone like a friend and someone who is so damned trouble that they need a psycho-babbler.

[InsaneCommander]

I don't mind acting as group psychologist as long as my companions are engaging. But simply being unusual is not enough for me to engage with them. Durance and GM were a "nope" on that front.

 

Durance: I'm complicated! Don't you want to understand me?

Me: Well... I suppose I...

Durance: Whore!

Me: GTFO.

 

Grieving Mother: I'm complicated don't you want to understand me.

Me: What was that?

Grieving Mother: I'm complicated don't you want to understand me.

Me: What's going on here?

Grieving Mother: I'm complicated don't you want to understand me.

Me: I give up.

 

They were my favorite companions (with Zahua) but I confess that I didn't read all their dialogue in my second pt (and nothing at all in my third).

 

I think a good way to satisfy players in cases like this is to give us a Skaen blood pool or (Tyranny spoiler):

 

 

 

the "this is Sparta" kick in the top of the spire (but with a companion)

 

 

 

This way even people who don't like them will have very good memories of the companion.

[wRAR]

I don't mind acting as group psychologist as long as my companions are engaging. But simply being unusual is not enough for me to engage with them. Durance and GM were a "nope" on that front.

 

Durance: I'm complicated! Don't you want to understand me?

Me: Well... I suppose I...

Durance: Whore!

Me: GTFO.

 

Grieving Mother: I'm complicated don't you want to understand me.

Me: What was that?

Grieving Mother: I'm complicated don't you want to understand me.

Me: What's going on here?

Grieving Mother: I'm complicated don't you want to understand me.

Me: I give up.

It's an interesting fact that a lot of their content was cut, we can only wonder if it was for worse or if they should have cut even more.

[Celan]

People want less companion content?? That's a new one.

[AeonsLegend]

People want less companion content?? That's a new one.

Less crappy content. Let's be honest the companions are kinda dull and after one playthrough they are just there as party and not to add anything. There's no stand out character really. Sure some of their characteristics are unique, but its not really fleshed out as well as it could be.

 

Let's look at BGII.

Jan Janssen, my favorite gnome with his hilarious stories. Goofy yet serious about what he's doing.

Viconica the drow hunted, hounded and looking for a place to belong.

Minsc. Go for the eyes! Gotta love that guy. Dumb, but strong.

Aerie, love her hate her, she's unique and lovable to me.

Keldorn Firecam, the paladin with a mission. Feels much more like a paladin than any of the paladins in PoE thrown together. Pallegina? She feels like she took paladin training and was kicked out.

Haer'Dalis. Well this is basically Tekehu done right. The roguish ladies man. But with actual charm.

Cernd. Didn't play much with this guy.

Anomen Delryn. Self righteous prick. A bit like Durance, but with more intelligence. God I hated this guy.

Korgan Bloodaxe. Bloodthirsty dwarf. Keep him in the party with Aerie and you will have to choose between them.

Mazzy Fentan. Fighter halfling. A stoic feel good character with lots of charm.

Nalia de'Arnise. A royal rich girl fallen from grace. Gives you an interesting quest. She's actually a decent party member and has lots of charm and growth throughout the game.

Valygar Corthala. Mysterious, stoic ranger with a knack for magic.

Yoshimo. Well you'll have to play the game to see

Jaheira. A lot of people don't like her. She's very unapproachable and the loss of her husband weighs heavy on her. Maybe not someone you bring along on every playthrough.

Imoen. Happy go lucky. I dunno, I never really liked her. Xoti is worse though.

Edwin Odesseiron. The typical mage. Knows everything better, looks down on you. But man, is he fun to have around. Also, strongest mage in the game. By. Far.

 

Also all characters (or at least their romance)have their own music. I think that can be a strong addition to the game!

 

Next to that many characters personality can be changed by doing quests for them or making dialogue choices along the way.

 

To top it off for each class type there are two or three characters to choose from allowing you to create a different party that fits your playing style. With PoE it feels like it doesn't really matter who you bring along. Sure some may complain at litteraly random events, but meh, nothing impactful. The only time the game surprised me was when Tekehu stopped me from putting the poisoned Koiki fruit in a basket. I'm looking for more of that. For more ways for characters to express what their deal is. And for more types of characters. So far NOBODY likes slavers. Slavers bad. Killing bad. Murdering bad. Stealing bad. Ugh.

Edited June 24, 2018 by AeonsLegend

[zilbest]

I don't think companions are bland at all. On the contrary, they have their own characteristics and strong unique features.

 

Although, I agree with most of you here: it's not one of the best feature from PoE franchise compared to other RPGs I played, or even very weak. It just 'bland' is not the correct term.

 

Aloth is definitely underdeveloped considering there are choices about Iselmyr.

 

Pallegina is just annoyingly egocentric in here compared to the first game.

 

Serafen, Xoti, and Tekehu are so-so in terms of characteristics. While Maia and Eder is quite interesting.

 

 

IMHO, these are 3 big problems with companions in Deadfire.

 

1. Not enough time / contents to explore their story / characteristics deeper. Compared with D:OS franchise where every companions has deep quest. Even Tyranny has better expositions on each companion (compared to Deadfire).

 

2. They are not relevant / related to the bigger picture. Compared with Alistar in DaO, Miranda in ME, Isabella in DA2, or many other companions on Bioware's games.

 

3. Since Obsidian is previously make 1 in 2 games (with Bioware), maybe they should find a great writer who has experiences in writing sequels. Because, as many of you said here, the characters between PoE 1 and 2 seems disconnected.

[AeonsLegend]

I don't think companions are bland at all. On the contrary, they have their own characteristics and strong unique features.

 

Although, I agree with most of you here: it's not one of the best feature from PoE franchise compared to other RPGs I played, or even very weak. It just 'bland' is not the correct term.

 

Aloth is definitely underdeveloped considering there are choices about Iselmyr.

 

Pallegina is just annoyingly egocentric in here compared to the first game.

 

Serafen, Xoti, and Tekehu are so-so in terms of characteristics. While Maia and Eder is quite interesting.

 

 

IMHO, these are 3 big problems with companions in Deadfire.

 

1. Not enough time / contents to explore their story / characteristics deeper. Compared with D:OS franchise where every companions has deep quest. Even Tyranny has better expositions on each companion (compared to Deadfire).

 

2. They are not relevant / related to the bigger picture. Compared with Alistar in DaO, Miranda in ME, Isabella in DA2, or many other companions on Bioware's games.

 

3. Since Obsidian is previously make 1 in 2 games (with Bioware), maybe they should find a great writer who has experiences in writing sequels. Because, as many of you said here, the characters between PoE 1 and 2 seems disconnected.

I don't think people think they don't have characteristics.

 

The biggest issue for me is how little invested they are in the world and the mission. The only time they seem to care about something is if they can complain about themselves or their personal mission. To top that off they have no real focus on either good or evil. They're just there. I can't read them. I can't seem to push them a certain way. They're almost as memorable as the sidekicks, and they don't talk at all after they join you.

[Neckbitbasket]

If this hasn't already been mentioned, I'm playing through Tyranny now and by comparison the companions in this game are very cardboard. Tyranny characters pop in a way that makes me want to learn more about them - the second character you meet is a soldier fused inside of his own armor, and he's just super casual about it. They engage you from the start and keep you engaged because they're all essentially representatives of the world's different factions, and it's your character's job to understand and mediate these factions, so you actually have an additional motivation to talk to them, and their input actually matters.

 

PoE 2 takes for granted that I'll care without giving me a reason to. They either need to make the companions more integrated into the story like Tyranny and KOTOR, or they need to make recruiting them part of a sidequest that lets you more naturally get to know them, and gives them a reason to be following you around besides, "**** it, why not". Even in PoE 1, it bothered me how easily some people just committed themselves to a random stranger. KOTOR 2 at least justifies how quickly you bond to your companions supernaturally, and makes that part of the mystery of your backstory and a primary motivation for why one of the villains is interested in you; and the companions in KOTOR 2 still have way better reasons to be following you.

 

Fallout: New Vegas (look at that; another Obsidian game) is a great example of the other way. Every companion you don't meet as part of the main quest has a sidequest devoted to initially developing them, and often involves you two working together towards a mutually beneficial goal, thus establishing a connection. And because sidequests like these are such a normal thing in New Vegas, you can often stumble into them without even realizing you'll get a companion out of it, which makes it feel way more organic. 

Edited June 26, 2018 by Neckbitbasket

[etno]

I don't think the companions in this game are bland. They are quite good. Tekehu's voice acting and character is the most interesting IMO.  Serafen took a while to "get used to" for me, but I prefer Hiravias much, much more. With Maia, it feels like some stuff is missing, especially with the interaction with Hylea and Ishiza. Xoti is great. The companions that carried over are just as good - if not better IMO. 

[AFA]

Still not sure why Pallegina is in the game, since I doubt she was the 3rd most popular companion in PoE. She is a stick-up-her-ass paladin now, which makes her even more annoying than before. Her being a self-hating Godlike that a Godlike PC or Fish Boy can never call out is annoying. Casavir was probably a less annoying paladin at this point.

 

I get not including the White March characters, and excluding ones that wrapped their stories up perfectly (GM, Durance, Sagani). Hiravias and Kana could have come back. I know they wanted to shoehorn as many D&D porn... I mean Critical Role people in, and didn't want to have to keep up with world states that much.

[Verde]

They completely ruined Palli so much so she has a spot on the bench after a few missions. You think being toyed around by the ducs would make her more skeptical, not a pro Val robot.

[InsaneCommander]

They completely ruined Palli so much so she has a spot on the bench after a few missions. You think being toyed around by the ducs would make her more skeptical, not a pro Val robot.

 

Some people react just like that. No matter how they are treated they continue to love someone. Others will be fanatic to an ideology regardless of any evidence you give them.

 

That said, I wouldn't expect Pallegina to be one of them.

[Celan]

Still not sure why Pallegina is in the game, since I doubt she was the 3rd most popular companion in PoE. She is a stick-up-her-ass paladin now, which makes her even more annoying than before. Her being a self-hating Godlike that a Godlike PC or Fish Boy can never call out is annoying. Casavir was probably a less annoying paladin at this point.

 

I get not including the White March characters, and excluding ones that wrapped their stories up perfectly (GM, Durance, Sagani). Hiravias and Kana could have come back. I know they wanted to shoehorn as many D&D porn... I mean Critical Role people in, and didn't want to have to keep up with world states that much.

Re "self hating"- Pallegina turns out to be quite right and justified in wanting to remove the binds put on her by a god, since we find out in this game what those are intended for.

 

I was happy to see her again in this game, but like all the companions I think she suffered from being pigeonholed for the sake of the disposition system, and in her case the faction conflict.

[AeonsLegend]

If you ask me, Pallegina is not a paladin. She's just hired muscle, should be a figther or some such. Her background and actions make no sense. Maybe a fallen palladin with 0 Pally abilities? That's the best she could get. Meh. When I pick her up, I reset her completely so she's not a paladin, but instead just pure fighter.

Edited July 1, 2018 by AeonsLegend

[Celan]

If you ask me, Pallegina is not a paladin. She's just hired muscle, should be a figther or some such. Her background and actions make no sense. Maybe a fallen palladin with 0 Pally abilities? That's the best she could get. Meh. When I pick her up, I reset her completely so she's not a paladin, but instead just pure fighter.

Why should she be in an order devoted to service of the ducs bels? Because she's devoted to the service of the ducs bels??

[AeonsLegend]

 

If you ask me, Pallegina is not a paladin. She's just hired muscle, should be a figther or some such. Her background and actions make no sense. Maybe a fallen palladin with 0 Pally abilities? That's the best she could get. Meh. When I pick her up, I reset her completely so she's not a paladin, but instead just pure fighter.

Why should she be in an order devoted to service of the ducs bels? Because she's devoted to the service of the ducs bels??

 

She can play a devoted fighter then for all I care. She's not a paladin.

[Celan]

 

 

If you ask me, Pallegina is not a paladin. She's just hired muscle, should be a figther or some such. Her background and actions make no sense. Maybe a fallen palladin with 0 Pally abilities? That's the best she could get. Meh. When I pick her up, I reset her completely so she's not a paladin, but instead just pure fighter.

Why should she be in an order devoted to service of the ducs bels? Because she's devoted to the service of the ducs bels??

 

She can play a devoted fighter then for all I care. She's not a paladin.

 

That's what her order IS.

[Verde]

 

They completely ruined Palli so much so she has a spot on the bench after a few missions. You think being toyed around by the ducs would make her more skeptical, not a pro Val robot.

Some people react just like that. No matter how they are treated they continue to love someone. Others will be fanatic to an ideology regardless of any evidence you give them.

 

That said, I wouldn't expect Pallegina to be one of them.

Better said.

[Verde]

I think there is a wider disparity between companion quality that the first...but it's interesting when you compare personality vs. ability.

 

For example, Pal is annoying but her class combinations are quite strong. Serafan I thought was really well written (I'm pro-Orlan bias) but as a party member I consider him low tier.

 

Now, Xioti is a really interesting character. I run her pure Priest every playthrough (because of RP) and she gets pretty strong once you reach the 7th level spells. But also well written, easy to write off initially, but her dilemna is one worthy of pause.

 

Eder, still Eder mostly. Dude doesn't die :D

 

Admittedly, Konstentan is my fav char. Doesn't talk much. Is an absolute BEAST in combat and laughs hysterically when tearing through enemies. As a Barb he makes sense for a all merc missions, but especially good in wilderness missions with his +25% dmg to Wilders perk. Barb is my second favorite class behind Rogue. With a few items you can outfit him with some seriouslone wolf perks and then you get Heart if Fury and BOOM.

 

Aloth is emo but provides damage and utility with Wizard/Rogue combos.

 

Lastly, Tekehu doesn't quite reach his potential as a char imho but it's hard to argue how great of a teammate he is. Foe only AoEs is insane and his Shark form is great.

Edited July 2, 2018 by Verde