Most enjoyable companions?

[sffrrrom]

Your opinions on the companions you find most entertaining personality wise? For me, based on my playthrough of about 30 hours (restarted post-patch) it's as follows, grouped from most enjoyable to least, roughly:

 

Tier 1:

Pallegina - Love her peripherals (art, sound) and her sometimes fiery, sometimes practical personality. Her interactions with Hiravias have been entertaining as well.

Hiravias - Comic gold from my perspective, at least so far. Rude, crude, and entertaining, with enough moments of serious personality interjected to keep him from being a one-dimensional caricature.

 

Tier 2: 

Eder - Could be seen as pretty basic, but has an affable, albeit slightly vanilla, charm. Could get old faster than some of the other companions due to his relative flatness.

Sagani - In some ways seems to be the most realistic companion, i.e., the most similar to someone from real life (if someone from real life was from a tribal society and on a sort of vision quest for years). 

 

Tier 3:

Aloth - Hard to get a feel for, due to his, erm, personality issues. Seems like he provides some real comic moments, but also sometimes feels out of place and makes me want to replace him.

Grieving Mother - Weird and offputting at times but also seems well-written and with a lot of depth to her. Probably depends on your personal tolerance for cryptic mysticism. Much like Aloth, I'm at times inclined to include her and other times she makes me want to bench her.

 

Tier 4:

Kana - Want to hate him less but I really can't. His portrait with the pointy teeth gives me the willies, I hate his voice, and I also just really don't like his character. Just seems like a stupid jolly annoying giant.

Durance - STRANGER DANGER. DO NOT ENGAGE WITH THE CRAZY BEARDED HOBO WITH THE FLAMING STICK. The only companion I have been tempted to murder so far.  

 

At the moment I'm going with everyone from Tiers 1 and 2 and Aloth. Tempted to include GM, but my PC is a cipher, so I think I'll stick without her.

[Quillon]

Just finished act 2

 

tier 1: Eder & Hiravias & Pallegina

tier 2: Kana & Sagani & Aloth

tier 3: Grieving Mother & Durance - Why make their quests so we have to take them with us all the time in order to progress through? I mean it's ok with other characters' quests that they need to be with us in those certain locations, but with these 2 I feel like I have to have them in the party all the time so I don't miss anything in their quest-line. Also another thing that separates these 2 from others is *the way they see us* which is OK - I can enjoy it but I don't like it :D unlike the quest thing: I neither enjoy nor like how they done it. Was the catch here: "Most people wouldn't like these characters so we should force them in some way to play with them"? 

[RedSocialKnight]

Tier 1: Eder and Durance
"Guy I would actually want to hang out with" meets "guy I wouldn't even make eye contact with on the bus, but this is a videogame so it's awesome"

 

Tier 2: Pallegina, Sagani

Both take the risk of being maybe a little bit ordinary, and both get the payoff in feeling like fully realized and interesting people. In character, these are the two my PC relies on without question.

 

Tier 3:

Kana, Aloth, Hiravias

Often get a smile from me, haven't yet gotten my heart.

 

Tier 4: Grieving Mother

Nah. Much as with Cole in DA:I, the writer tried an experiment with an anti-realistic, lyrical style of dialog, aaand -- didn't quite get there. I respect the attempt, but I can't enjoy the result. But it's okay Avellone, you also wrote for Tier One.

[Voss]

1) Eder, Kana, Sagani

-Real people with rational motivations and well developed backstories

 

2) Hiravias

-amusing little ball of filth

 

3) Aloth

-attempting... something with this story. Rather ruined by the 'twist' and just being able to end the problem by frowning hard.  Right after being told that wasn't even possible.

 

4) Pallegina

-cardboard cutout

 

5) Durance and Grieving Mother

-the monster happily supporting atrocities waiting to judge you for... no apparent reason, nor rationale for how he even knows about you, and GM for the repetitive regurgitation of a book on dream analysis. And an extra thumbs down for just repeating the same stuff from Torment, specifically Ei-Vene and Mebbeth.

Edited April 4, 2015 by Voss

[Ichthyic]

I actually found Durance's storyline by far the most interesting out of any of them.

In fact, having played every infinity engine game ever made at least twice, I'd go so far as to say his story matches up with any of the best companion stories in any of the other games.

he was directly involved in the key event of this entire history, and has been touched by it profoundly.  how can that not be interesting?

[Osvir]

First thought:

Move this thread to Stories and Spoilers?

Second thought:

In order:
- Kana Rua, fell for him the moment I saw him on a stream with Josh Sawyer. Scholar, Aumaua, voice. He's awesome.
- Durance, my GOD! He's fantastic. And frustrating.

I didn't finish his quest, and in an act of desperation, he made a pyre and threw himself into it haha

- Eder. I was surprised, he was much better than I expected, and was a relief to have in the party.
- Pallegina. Actually tied with Eder. She's unique in her own way, and a Paladin. Battleborn, somewhat cliché though, a woman fighting to prove herself amongst men, and also finding her way in the world of Eora "Why do I exist?".

I liked her conversation with Hylea

- Aloth, surprised me a lot. I was going to swap him with Hiravias, but at the time that I met Hiravias, he had grown on me and I opted to keep him.

I also opted to remove his spleen, and that was hilarious xD

 

[Freshock]

Sagani - Love her, but usually keep her at the stronghold because I'm a ranger myself...too many cooks. 

 

Grieving Mother - Don't like all her interruptions, but for some reason I'm having a hard time going against her opinions. I'm trying to be a cruel little dwarf, but when she has an opinion about something she usually bends my will. 

 

Aloth - Used to like him

 

But I made him leave after I found out about his past

 

[mrmonocle]

none, 'till there is a way to fix their attributes and talent picks.

[rf5111918]

1. Durance and Grieving Mother

I actually loved these characters' dialogues. I thought they were very original and creative.

You could immediately tell the difference in writing style. I was not surprised at all that Chris wrote them. 

 

2. Hiravias

Hilarious.

 

3. Sagani

Great story about family.

 

4.  Eder 

Bro.

 

5. Kana

Scientist. 

 

6. Pallegina and Aloth

Kind of boring honestly. Maybe if there was more backstory for both, I would have liked them more. Aloth has backstory, but at the same time, I still feel like there was more to be developed there.  

[Korgull]

Durance is probably the best companion ever written for an rpg. Haven't finished his backstory yet, but so far the dialogue has been amazing. Eder seems kinda like your basic likable fighter that every rpg requires, although I think he's slightly more interesting than most of those. Aloth is really cool, with great voice acting (same as Durance). Sagani seemed interesting, but the American girl accent really puts me off in a character that's supposed to be sort of exotic. Grieving Mother voice acting is also really bad, but at least Pallegina's is good so there's one female companion with good voice acting. Haven't progressed that far in her her story yet. Kana also has good voice acting, and he's also pretty interesting and unlike most cheerful rpg companions, not annoying at all.

[LadyCrimson]

I tend to like characters who make me laugh the most frequently without being total slapstick-y about it. Hence Eder and Aloth at the top for me.

 

The rest I've encountered (haven't met the mall yet) are varying degrees of "ok to somewhat interesting" to "close to spending the rest of the game sitting in my dungeon for annoying me."

[Mungri]

My favorite companions are my own custom adventurers. Not touching the pre made companions until they are 100% customisable - stats and talents.

[Luckmann]

Edér, Durance, and Grieving Mother, easily. The writing is terrific and they feel like genuine people, and aren't based around some singular issue. I also enjoy Hiravias and I'm not hating Kana Rua half as much as I thought.

 

But really, Edér, Durance and Grieving Mother (in no particular order) are easily my most enjoyable companions. Organic, living individuals without some awkward point to prove. Chris Avellone really needs to write more characters, or, hell, just write more everything. If I could switch out the Lead from Sawyer to Avellone, I'd do it in a heartbeat, without even considering other far-reaching effects of that decision.

And I really hope Eric Fenstermaker gets a chance to write more characters. Can't say I've heard much of him before (whereas I was more or less already a fan of Avellone) but he's really good.

 

For reference: http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/74557-companions-who-wrote-what/

[endruwiggin]

I actually really liked Aloth story.

Didn't finish it yet but i REALLY hope it don't stop after the testing done to him in the Sacntarium or whatever the name of the building is :D

It really reminded me of PS:T and thats the biggest compliment I can give.

I love you Obsidian \o/

[Blovski]

Durance has a phenomenal arc. Eder's really likeable with his obsession with petting all the animals. I really like Sagani (and just having female characters who aren't in the Bioware singles club mould is great). I like Kana. Found Pellagina a bit dull. Aloth and Hiravias have potential but I just don't feel that *interested* in them.

[quechn1tlan]

Tier 1

Durance. A crazy, tormented old man, one of my favourite archetypes, who is exceptionally well written and closely interconnected with the main story. A lot can be said about Durance, but what is for sure it's that he's a love/hate type character. And for me, he is indeed one of the best companions in RPGs ever. Also, that scream.

 

Eder. Quite possibly the only blond man in gaming, or even the world who you don't want to immediately punch. He's that everyman with some dark secret that every RPG has, but he's so exceptionally well done and likeable, that he gets my Tier 1, regardless of his tired old concept. Also, animals.

 

Tier 2

Aloth. Without spoiling anything, he's the only character of his type who, after the big reveal of his reasonings, I didn't kill and/or sent away as far as possible. Also, his second personality is nice. Accents quite often do it for me in the endearing department.

 

Grieving Mother. The chimes instead of voice response when you click on her was a touch of genius. I'm not putting her in Tier 1, mostly because she wasn't with me for too long. She joined the party late and then, who knew she would ditch me when I sacrificed that barbarian baby. A mystery for another playthrough. But from what little I've seen it all was super compelling.

 

Kana. A scholar, a bard, and an adventurer. A kind giant who pursues knowledge instead of fame or wealth. I like this idea.

 

Tier 3

Sagani. I really liked her voice. And her fox. And her background. I'm not even penalizing her for being a female dwarf(we all know those don't exist or if they do, the very least she could do was have a beard) It's just her quest seemed far-fetched and ultimately had no resolution. I don't quite get it why she was doing what she was doing and what she hoped to accomplish.

 

Pallegina. Ok, first of all, can we not have a Paladin whose name is basically so similar to her class that in my memory she remains exclusively as Paladin Bird-Lady? I liked the idea of an Italian(Venetian? You know what I mean.) Paladin, a piece of lore from parts of the world not explored in the game. But her premise seemed a bit obvious, and just as with Sagani - had no real resolution. She angsted all throughout the game but in the end after an angry phrase or two she returned to her old self as if nothing happened, with nothing really explained or surmised.

 

Tier 4

Hiravias. An Orlan, which is a hobbit, or a gnome, which is an auto-pass for me already. But on top of that, he tries to be funny, but in my opinion fails miserably, coming off as repulsive and creepy as hell instead. The only companion in this game, I actually didn't like at all.

[Katarack21]

Tier 1: Eder, Grieving Mother, Durance.

Eder has a sort of cynical world-weary point of view and a low-key sort of humor that I really enjoy. I like the way that his back story ties directly into the recent events and the way that he points out some of the hypocrisy in the culture of the area. Grieving Mother is mysterious--I haven't actually unlocked much about her yet--but I really enjoy the interactions I have with her. The descriptions are vivid and engrossing, and I'm very curious about exactly what is going on (I'm still not even sure if she's human!). Durance I actually didn't like to terribly much...but I just hit the conversation where I found out about what he'd been a part of and I feel like he makes more sense now.

Tier 2: Hiraivis, Kana, Aloth.

I dig Kana's characterization and I love the sound of his voice. Unfortunately, I tried to play with him for about five minutes and quickly realized I despise chanters. Hiraivis I really dig, but I've been running with Aloth for practical gameplay-related reasons, so I haven't gotten to experience him much. He seems like a character I'd really like, however. Speaking of Aloth, I'm with Eder on this--I like his alternate personality more than I do Aloth himself. Aloth is very meh, very...bland. Haughty elven wizard archetype combined with pressured golden boy whose broken inside. Nothing for me there. However, I dig his spell selection and am comfortable with how he works in combat, so I'm running around with him in my party a lot.

Tier 3: Sagani, Pellagina

Sagani seemed really interesting, and what I got of her conversation was good. However I put her in the stronghold pretty soon in the interest of having a second off-tank, so I haven't gotten more than her opening conversation. And Pallagina I haven't even picked up yet, so I know literally nothing of her.

Edited April 4, 2015 by Katarack21

[Bollockoff]

Durance is head and shoulders above everyone else in terms of writing quality. But then again, he has an unfair advantage by having volumes of it. And being the only companion to tell you to piss off and prevent you lore binging.

[sffrrrom]

Wow, great to see all the different opinions. No one has made me reconsider Kana, but Durance and GM maybe.

 

I wouldn't say Durance is badly written at all, but my character at the moment is a bit of a ruthless mercenary type who isn't inclined to put up with his judging. GM is harder to define, IMO.

 

Maybe for my second playthrough I'll be more of a "good guy" drop Hiravias and Aloth and add in Durance and GM.

 

Kana will remained entombed forever.

[takamorisan]

Top for me:

 

Durance,Sagani, Hiraivis and Eder

 

Mid tier

 

Grieving Mother, Pallegina and Kana

 

Low Tier

 

Aloth. Don't get me wrong, I still like him, but it felt the story could use a more beef up, much left to be explained.

[Veynn]

 

 

[Katarack21]

Man...**** you.

[tinderbox]

I reckon that the voice work for Eder is top-notch. Whoever voiced that Eder nailed it. Just the right balance of caring-cynicism-dry humour in the timbre and intonation. Durance is another I'm really rather impressed with so far -- ambiguous.

[AnEndcat]

I like the fact that Durance is either at the top or the bottom in most people's view.

[OchreJelly]

Enjoyed Eder and Grieving Mother a lot. GM especially because of the large amounts of descriptive text, which was my favourite part of PST.

 

Aloth and Kana never really caught my interest; the former felt a bit forced and the latter played against type without much conflict.

 

Sagani was just... there.

 

Left Hiravias and the bird-lady for a second playthrough. Will probably enjoy Durance a bit more then too, because of understanding the plot and lore more.