There is no greater honour you’re able to bestow upon some games that coming away feeling so attached to its characters that you simply cannot be without them. However else you feel about a game, a love for its companions shows that sometimes, it’s not the destination itself that matters, but the journey that brought you there.
Sometimes, it’s hard not to imagine another getting a sequel just to see those characters again, even if it wouldn’t quite fit. So why wait for a sequel when our imaginations are just as powerful. I’ve definitely put a lot of thought into where I want to see some of my favourite RPG parties. And I’m going to show them to you now.
A fairly simple one but I think interesting all the same, the worlds of Dragon Age and The Elder Scrolls act as polar opposites to each other. Dark and gritty, covered in blood and swear words. The Elder Scrolls is instead whimsical, feelingmore like a dark folktale and a grand mythosthan some tale of grimdark proportions.
However, Skyrim specifically is all about dragons and great political and religious uprootings. Plus, it is also fairly lacking in terms of quality companions. So with companions rarely ever returning in subsequent Dragon Age games, just imagine them in Skyrim instead. A traveling party that’s actually enticing all the while still getting to hunt dragons. It’s a win-win.
Every Persona game has a different focus. The earliest games felt much closer to Shin Megami Tensei, with the current course set by Persona 3. However, Persona 5 brought the series to worldwide fame with it’s loveable party of Phantom Thieves. Stealing the hearts of their various targets, they put those stealth skills to great use.
And what is the next best place those skills could be put to use? In Metal Gear Solid, obviously. Can you just imagine Futaba calling you over the Codec for absurd rants. Throw Akechi in the role of Ocelot for a lovely dose of rivalry with some extra tension on the side. Who would be the best fit for Otacon? Ryuji maybe?
Final Fantasy 7 has taken on a wide variety of personalities over the years as a result of its popularity. The misinterpretation of Cloud and Sephiroth’s relationship, the endless shipping wars, and the general ignorance towards its environmental message. You literally start the game on a eco-terrorist job. The song that plays is called Bombing Mission.
But what if Shinra won? What if they got to drain the world of all its power and become such a nuclear power that they wrecked the world? You don’t have to look too far, because Fallout is a fairly close comparison. It even holds such of the same aesthetic of the era the urban areas of Midgar are based on, and is packed with creatures mutated by radiation (mako) gone wild.
5Xenoblade Chronicles In Monster Hunter
Overpowered Enemies From The Very Beginning? Sounds Familiar
Xenoblade is known not just for its great characters, but also its deep and philosophical story. There are massive worlds here, filled with equally massive monsters, but it’s the characters and how they move through this world that is some of the most memorable. That said, no one can forget the first time they stumbled into a monster 80 levels above them and wondered what even happened.
And what other game is well-known for immediately throwing into the deep end with incredibly difficult monsters? Why Monster Hunter, of course. Monster Hunter is already a cooperative experience as it is, and even has NPC party members now too. So it’s not too large a jump to see the various parties of Xenoblade finally have a chance to bring the fight back to the monsters that have been constantly harassing them.
There aren’t many games out there like Dragon’s Dogma, and a large part of that is because your entire party, your own character included, are entirely created. You make a Pawn, and then hire two more from other players. And they learn with you, grow in their knowledge and tactics. They become better not from pre-written content, but organically while journeying with you.
And in what other game can you possibly fit such a party? Why, they would be a perfect fit for The Sims. Yes,the grand adventure would be on a decidedly smaller scale, but what other game would give you the chance to 1:1 recreate your custom party, and let them learn by living with you? None that I know of, anyway. And you don’t even have to wait for this to exist. Just boot up The Sims and make it reality right now!
The Suikoden games are incredibly unique RPGs, giving you much larger parties than most other games in the middle of combat, but also a much larger roster in general. The average Suikoden game has over 100 characters for you to recruit and use in combat. There are countless ways to utilise them, especially when it comes to the larger strategic battles.
Very few games let you have 100 tangible party members at once. Except for something like The Wonderful 101. Every single member of your party here is an actual person you can see and recruit, just like Suikoden. So why not wholesale put the Stars of Destiny into the Wonderful 101? No need to worry about party tactics when you can just turn them all into a giant sword.
Self-admittedly, I’ve always been more of a Pokemon person. I was inundated with it growing up, and even to this day I don’t know a whole bunch about Digimon. However, they both focus on completely different things. Really,the only things that are actually similar are the namesand the fact that both have creatures that change form.
That doesn’t stop fan wars between the series though, so the best way to solve that would be to simply put one game into the other. Imagine not being able to change your Pokemon constantly but having to dedicate with them, and actually build a rapport with them. It’s an enticing idea, if a tad impossible with over 1,000 of them with no set personality. But it is a dream all the same.
I finished Metaphor: ReFantazio recently, and it has been so long since I felt so attached to a party in an RPG, or really any game. I know plenty of others felt that too, which is a testament to how remarkable they all were. After spending so much time with them all though, I want more. Another cross-country roadtrip like they promise in the ending.
So I vote to put them into Final Fantasy 15. I love my princely boyband, but I need another royal entourage this time around. Let them travel the lands of Lucis in search of more bounties. Let them share the tales of the prince and let his tale grow. I can think of no better way to have even more time with people like Heismay, Eupha, Strohl and everyone else than throwing them in a car and taking off once again.
