Companion Romances (with other NPCs)? [Spoilers]

[Jackalgirl]

So, I'm on my second play-through.  I happened to have Felix in the party when I went into Left Field Tossball Betting in Stellar Bay...and he started flirting with Nell.  Next thing I know, over in the factory bay, Velma's referring to Felix as "the infamous Felix".  In the first play-through, Felix's end story was kind of sad.  I'm wondering, now, if that will change, so I'm looking forward to eventually reaching the end again.  But I'm also wondering if it's possible to find partners for the other companions, either with generic named NPCs or in other quests.  Has anyone come across something like this for Nyoka or Ellie?  I'm going to have to spend more time introducing companions to various NPCs and see what happens, now.  But I'm not complaining!

Edited December 24, 2019 by Jackalgirl
Realized I didn't put a spoiler warning in the title -- I apologize!

[GammaReagan]

Did you do the Phineas ending or the Board ending? Personally I've sided with Phineas on every playthrough as the Board really sucks, imo, but as long as you complete Felix' quest with the outcome that he remains a part of your crew (finding Trask's evidence), he'll get the best ending possible.

Companions will comment on various NPCs depending on which companions you'll bring where. For example, Nyoka speaks a lot of good about Zora Blackwood; Max will get into direct debate with Graham Bryant, and both of them will have positive things to say about Catherine Malin, whilst Felix will be reserved concerning Malin, disrespect Sanjar Nandi and be all in favour for Graham Bryant. At least for a start. I'd recommend that you bring out all of your companions to different situations in different adventures and in different stages of their personal quests to find out the most about them and their interactions with other NPCs.

But no, the only companion romance with another NPC is that of Parvati's.

Edited December 24, 2019 by GammaReagan

[Jackalgirl]

14 hours ago, GammaReagan said:

Did you do the Phineas ending or the Board ending? Personally I've sided with Phineas on every playthrough as the Board really sucks, imo, but as long as you complete Felix' quest with the outcome that he remains a part of your crew (finding Trask's evidence), he'll get the best ending possible.

I went with the Phineas ending; I just can't bring myself to play an evil character.  But Felix's ending seemed lonely, and it sort of surprised me given the conversations he had with post-vision Max while we were walking around (the background conversations that the companions have, especially when Max is in the party, are really wonderful).  At one point, Felix asked Max if he could read some of Max's books from seminary, which Max welcomed, so I thought there'd be an opportunity for Felix to expand his education, and when his ending basically said, "Felix, being too dumb for anything but manual labor, spent the rest of his days working hard alone," my heart cracked for him a little.

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Companions will comment on various NPCs depending on which companions you'll bring where. For example, Nyoka speaks a lot of good about Zora Blackwood; Max will get into direct debate with Graham Bryant, and both of them will have positive things to say about Catherine Malin, whilst Felix will be reserved concerning Malin, disrespect Sanjar Nandi and be all in favour for Graham Bryant. At least for a start. I'd recommend that you bring out all of your companions to different situations in different adventures and in different stages of their personal quests to find out the most about them and their interactions with other NPCs.

Indeed, the various ways that companions interact with each other (and with NPCs) based on where they are in their own arcs is very interesting and layered, and calls for many more play-throughs*. ; )  I have also found it useful to ask my companions when there's a decision to be made; they usually give me the "Middle Path" answer I'm looking for for my character.  One thing I've noticed, though, is that on my PS4, I don't get any kind of "companion wants to talk to you" marker.  So I periodically have to stop and see if they have something to say.

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But no, the only companion romance with another NPC is that of Parvati's.

That's a pity.  Because it seems like there's hope for Felix with Nell. 

* More walk-throughs -- I'm already playing this game so much.  You know you're playing "The Outer Worlds" too much when you sit down to watch "A Christmas Story" with your family and when Ralphie** daydreams about defeating Black Bart & his gang with Old Blue***, you want him to kick into TTD and start popping off heads.

** Even funnier when you realize your Better Half's character in TOW is named "Ralph".

*** I have now named my character's rifle "Old Blue"

[GammaReagan]

On 12/25/2019 at 3:08 PM, Jackalgirl said:

I went with the Phineas ending; I just can't bring myself to play an evil character.  But Felix's ending seemed lonely, and it sort of surprised me given the conversations he had with post-vision Max while we were walking around (the background conversations that the companions have, especially when Max is in the party, are really wonderful).  At one point, Felix asked Max if he could read some of Max's books from seminary, which Max welcomed, so I thought there'd be an opportunity for Felix to expand his education, and when his ending basically said, "Felix, being too dumb for anything but manual labor, spent the rest of his days working hard alone," my heart cracked for him a little.

You and me both - there's a hard block there somewhere, preventing me from playing an evil character. However, I did expose myself to a Youtube spoiler to see the Board ending and what happens if you don't finish your companions' quests and that's all sad for sure. I think I can understand why you find Felix' ending a bit saddening but I'd rather interpret it as he abandons his old ideals and find new ones instead. 

 

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Indeed, the various ways that companions interact with each other (and with NPCs) based on where they are in their own arcs is very interesting and layered, and calls for many more play-throughs*. ; )  I have also found it useful to ask my companions when there's a decision to be made; they usually give me the "Middle Path" answer I'm looking for for my character.  One thing I've noticed, though, is that on my PS4, I don't get any kind of "companion wants to talk to you" marker.  So I periodically have to stop and see if they have something to say.

No kidding! That's one of the reasons why I'm currently on my 6th play-through!

I'm on PS4 too, btw, and no the marker doesn't show up but on the other hand the companions seem to say "can we talk?" or "can I have a word?" whenever something's up, though. And after only one play-through you know that they will eventually want to talk and can trigger the conversations yourself. 

 

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That's a pity.  Because it seems like there's hope for Felix with Nell. 

The love for Tossball unites?;) 
Speaking of romance between NPC:s, I find the "relationship" between ADA and SAM _hilarious_!

 

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* More walk-throughs -- I'm already playing this game so much.  You know you're playing "The Outer Worlds" too much when you sit down to watch "A Christmas Story" with your family and when Ralphie** daydreams about defeating Black Bart & his gang with Old Blue***, you want him to kick into TTD and start popping off heads.

** Even funnier when you realize your Better Half's character in TOW is named "Ralph".

*** I have now named my character's rifle "Old Blue"

I fell ill this Christmas and had to cancel all celebrations, why I stayed at home, sneezing, coughing and playing TOW instead. Alas, I've never watched "A Christmas Story" so the name Ralphie rather makes me associate to the ED-E eyebot in the New Vegas DLC "Lonesome Road".

[Jackalgirl]

3 hours ago, GammaReagan said:

You and me both - there's a hard block there somewhere, preventing me from playing an evil character. However, I did expose myself to a Youtube spoiler to see the Board ending and what happens if you don't finish your companions' quests and that's all sad for sure. I think I can understand why you find Felix' ending a bit saddening but I'd rather interpret it as he abandons his old ideals and find new ones instead. 

Indeed!  YouTube is really handy for that.  There's a video about the "ice cream endings" that's pretty funny.  As for Felix, I'm still holding out hope that his ending will change a little.  If not, it'll just run in my head that he makes his home in Stellar Bay and is with Nell.

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No kidding! That's one of the reasons why I'm currently on my 6th play-through! I'm on PS4 too, btw, and no the marker doesn't show up but on the other hand the companions seem to say "can we talk?" or "can I have a word?" whenever something's up, though. And after only one play-through you know that they will eventually want to talk and can trigger the conversations yourself. 

Yes, I always pay attention to them when they say that -- always -- although I discovered quite by accident that Max will give you advice about the MSI/Iconoclast situation after a certain point (if I recall correctly, and I'm not saying that I am, it's after you complete the print shop quest).  He didn't ask Aethel to talk with him at all, so now I make it a point to have her periodically talk with the companions.  Aethel also had to go talk to Parvati in the Unreliable to kick off "Don't Bite the Sun"; Parvati didn't ask her to speak with her.  But other than those two instances, the companions have spoken up when there's something on their mind.

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The love for Tossball unites?;) 
Speaking of romance between NPC:s, I find the "relationship" between ADA and SAM _hilarious_!

Yes!  Although I'm disappointed that I can't actually have the captain ask Parvati to have SAM check in with ADA, or for ADA to be more overtly jealous of the way that Parvati pampers SAM.  Have you been able to dig into ADA's background more, or get her to uncover the "[REDACTED]" parts of her self-knowledge?

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I fell ill this Christmas and had to cancel all celebrations, why I stayed at home, sneezing, coughing and playing TOW instead. Alas, I've never watched "A Christmas Story" so the name Ralphie rather makes me associate to the ED-E eyebot in the New Vegas DLC "Lonesome Road".

I have never played that, so I'm not familiar with that either.  But I do hope you feel better soon!

[GammaReagan]

3 minutes ago, Jackalgirl said:

Indeed!  YouTube is really handy for that.  There's a video about the "ice cream endings" that's pretty funny.  As for Felix, I'm still holding out hope that his ending will change a little.  If not, it'll just run in my head that he makes his home in Stellar Bay and is with Nell.

Speaking of Felix, I've heard that a lot of people really don't like him and I can't understand why. They guy is hilarious (and his bickering with Max crack me up every time)!

 

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Yes, I always pay attention to them when they say that -- always -- although I discovered quite by accident that Max will give you advice about the MSI/Iconoclast situation after a certain point (if I recall correctly, and I'm not saying that I am, it's after you complete the print shop quest).  He didn't ask Aethel to talk with him at all, so now I make it a point to have her periodically talk with the companions.  Aethel also had to go talk to Parvati in the Unreliable to kick off "Don't Bite the Sun"; Parvati didn't ask her to speak with her.  But other than those two instances, the companions have spoken up when there's something on their mind.

The first time you engage Max in conversation after having finished The Commuter quest for the Iconoclasts, he will air his thoughts about said situation, just the same way he'll thank you for keeping him from beating up Reginald Chaney the first time you speak with him after having met with Chaney in Fallbrook but in none of these cases are you prompted to speak to him. Ellie, on the other hand, seems to have opinion about everything pretty much all the time, whether you want her to or not

Concerning Parvati, she sometimes speaks up to start Don't Bite the Sun, sometimes not. The same goes for Felix' Friendship's Due.
 

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Yes!  Although I'm disappointed that I can't actually have the captain ask Parvati to have SAM check in with ADA, or for ADA to be more overtly jealous of the way that Parvati pampers SAM.  Have you been able to dig into ADA's background more, or get her to uncover the "[REDACTED]" parts of her self-knowledge?

Hahaha, I don't think ADA would ever admit being jealous. I mean, come on, she obviously had a thing for Alex Hawthorne (with her comments like "Captain Hawthorne used to be more dashing") but in a quite suspicious manner denies it all,  when asking her if she was in love with Hawthorne).
Alas, I've never found out anything past the "(REDACTED)" part. It that even possible? 

 

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I have never played that, so I'm not familiar with that either.  But I do hope you feel better soon!

Oh, give it a shot, you'll love it!
Thank you!

[RPGfanKiller]

Where is ma romances Obsidian??