One of the best elements of any video game is getting to customize it to your liking, whether this be through equipment, weapons, skills, or even the characters themselves. Party members are what make your team, and every character is unique and different in their own class, personality, stats, and skills.
You may just prefer to use your favorites; however, when a character is annoying in the story, you will likely not use them in battle. With so many options for your ideal party setup, there’s always at least one party member who is left in the dust, and if you can believe it, some of these unloved characters are the secret MVPs of their game.
9Gau In Final Fantasy 6
What A Grind
Final Fantasy 6is one of the best classic RPGs in the classic long-running series, and while its cast is iconic, not all of them were created the same. While characters such as Terra, Celes, Edgar, and the adorable Mog are beloved to this day, some of the less important characters have sadly started to fade into the series' obscurity, and one of the most unfortunate is Gau, the wilderness-bound child.
Gau is unlocked during the story, but unfortunately, there is a downside to him, and most usually bench him quickly despite his power. To make Gau stronger, you have to go through a convoluted process of learning enemies' attacks through his Rage ability. While this can make him a super-powerful ally with tons of utility, it takes a lot of grinding to search for and get the right enemies for him to reach his full potential.
8Orphelia In Fire Emblem Fates
Overshadowed By Parents
Fire Emblem Fates is one of the more mixedtitles in the franchise,but just like its predecessor, Fire Emblem Awakening, it has one standout feature with its party lineup: the child units. Both titles have a massive cast, which leaves the child units feeling overshadowed if they aren’t plot-relevant. Many players overlook them, but some, such as Orphelia, can be powerhouses if you put in the time and effort to train them.
That’s the issue with child units, they require alot of planning and building, which can be a slog. Choosing which characters get paired up to make the child inherit good stats and skills can be a nightmare of a task. If you do go through with this, however, you will be rewarded with some of the strongest units in both titles with the potential to make any battle a breeze at the cost of a nothing sandwich in terms of story involvement.
7Junpei Iori In Persona 3
Ace Defective
The Persona series is full to the brim with masterful combat, with each party member feeling so different from one another. However, when it comes to the first few to join your team, there tend to be some stinkers, such as Jumpei in Persona 3. Junpei is a character who specializes in high physical damage but not much else, and in the early game, he can struggle to be useful enough to stay on the team.
In the remake, Junpei was improved just like everyone was, but his grating personality leaves many not using him once better DPS options become unlocked. In all versions of Persona 3, Junpei is able to be strong, but other party members outclass him with more utility, such as Aigis or Mitsuru. Junpei still has his uses, though. When given the proper gear and skills, you won’t get anyone as good at raw damage as him.
6Volcarona In Pokemon Black & White
But Bug-Types Stink…
While Volcarona may be a fan-favorite Pokemon, in its debut game it was nearly impossible to get before the post game. Larvesta and Volcarona both do not spawn in the wild, and both have only one location where they can be obtained. Bug-type Pokemon are always known to be theweakest type by far,and so to receive an underpowered one in Larvesta as an egg in a missable location after the sixth Gym Leader does not bode well for it staying in your party for long.
Not only do you have to train it up from level one, but Larvesta doesn’t even evolve until level 59, which is higher than the final Ghetsis fight. The only other way to get a Volcarona is in the post-game, where, going through another convoluted process of venturing through Relic Castle, you will be able to find a level 70 one as a static encounter. At this point, though, you will likely have little use for it.
5Freya Cresent In Final Fantasy 9
Sidelined By The Story
While we all wait for thatremake to come true, it’s a good time to look back on Final Fantasy 9 and rethink your party choices because one of the best characters has been hiding under your nose the entire time. Throughout the adventure, we get introduced to many characters with wonderful stories and powers, and one who stands out extremely well is Freya.
Freya is a Dragon Knight with high physical attack prowess, but after she gets a relatively great backstory setup, the game barely brings her up again. This and the combination of better, more likable characters leave her being swiftly benched despite her amazing potential. If the remake does anything, we hope she gets the proper story arc that she deserves, so more people will hop on the Freya train.
4KOS-MOS In Xenoblade Chronicles 2
Gacha Game Mechanics
The Xenoblade series is no stranger to having many party members who are underrated, but for this list, we wanted to put a special highlight on KOS-MOS in Xenoblade Chronicles 2.KOS-MOS is the protagonist of the Xenosaga games, whichhave some tiesto Xenoblade, and in this crossover, she is one of the most powerful in the game with her giant damage potential.
There is just one downside: it is completely luck-based to obtain her. Even if you put in over 500 hours, there is no guarantee that you will get KOS-MOS because of the Core Crystal gacha. Many players have never even gotten a chance to use many of the rare Blades because of the gacha mechanics, but KOS-MOS takes the cake for having the lowest chance out of them all at 0.1 percent from a legendary Core Crystal.
Sharla from Xenoblade Chronicles is also widely forgotten in both gameplay and the story. Being an outclassed support who struggles to keep up with the other supports due to her having to deal with gun mechanics that make her slow and the fact that she has zero story relevance outside of her introductory arc.
3Cole In Dragon Age: Inquisition
Don’t Forget The Spirit
Dragon Age is praised forits well-written characters and depth, and Dragon Age: Inquisition has some of the series' best qualities. With a small pool of only nine companions and three slots to join you on your journey through Ferelden and Orlais, you would expect no one to be overshadowed, but with some being tied to quests or optional events, you may miss some of them.
Cole is one of the optional party members who can be easily missed, but even once he has joined your party, you may forget he’s even there. Unlike other companions who love to chat about themselves, Cole is quite silent, and when he does talk, he has an odd, cryptic personality. In battle, he is a frail glass cannon with good damage output that can be either great or just a pain to keep alive.
2Alfyn Greengrass In Octopath Traveler
The Master Of All Roles
Octopath Traveler is one ofSquare Enix’s best RPGsthat perfects a small roster of well-fleshed-out characters with brilliant turn-based gameplay. Each one of the eight playable characters has their own strengths, and they all shine in their own ways. Except for one who goes underused because of his more technical abilities, and that is Alfyn the apothecary.
Alfyn is an interesting support character who is great at healing, but he can actually be a great alternate tank or even a damage dealer too, which is what makes him a bit confusing to many players. He can be a tad bit tricky to understand and build correctly around everything he can do, but with the right class and supporting allies, he can be devastatingly strong.
1Skelly In Chrono Cross
The Tedious Side Quest
Chrono Cross may be overshadowed by its predecessor, Chrono Trigger, but it deserves just as much praise for being an unmissable title. From lively towns and characters to an emotional story and cast, this is one classic RPG that has it all, and of course, being classic, means plenty of side quests. One of the most frustrating side quests is the one to unlock Skelly by finding all his parts.
Since Skelly only has six parts to find, you may think it would be easy to find them all. However, some of these are deviously hidden. If you don’t have a guide, you will likely give up in the process of thinking about whether it is even worth it. If you do commit to this, you may be surprised to find that he is actually a solid party member who can deal great crowd-control damage in the early and mid-game.
