Was thinking about the PS Vita game “Freedom Wars”
Story was never anything good, and it somehow managed to have an ending like a cancelled manga, so I won’t talk about it.
But I keep coming back to the concept of the player’s ‘follower character’
RPGs have had a lot of “Blank Slate Protagonists” especially ones you can customize from the ground up. From gender, to look and dress.
But rarely in games do they give you the same full customization of a SECOND character, especially of a follower. Usually mods allow that, but it’s never really as interesting.
Somehow, despite that, I think the follower or as the game calls them: “Accessory” is really ahead of it’s time compared to many other companions and followers.
They don’t follow you around and explain to you how to play the game, they don’t even have story relevance as they’re technically government cyborg jailers (Again, story stuff, not really that important)
But they are always there for you, and since the game and it’s story has a huge multiplayer and PvE component, they don’t feel like a crutch, but an ally who’s always got your back, even when other human players are playing with their eyes closed.
Are you spidermanning from building to building before leaping into the air and burst SMG spraying a 2 story mech?
Chances are, when the human players are figuring out how to aim on the PS Vita, your accessory will nail it on it’s weak point with a well timed rocket launcher opening it up to climb on and empty your mags point blank.
Which, is a hard balance to make. Making them feel strong enough to ‘help’ without making them ‘overpowered’
Another common issue people have had with ai companions is ‘them being kidnapped and getting you a game over’
Yes, these guys can be kidnapped if a giant enemy captures them and holds them until it can escape But instead of giving you a game over, it unlocks a ‘rescue mission’ game mode (Optional, as the game will bring them back after some time or if another online player does the mission for you) where the point is to intercept the thing that took them and rip your accessory out of it’s cold dead corpse. Turning something that would normally result in a game over into a whole new way to play.
Honestly, I just feel like it’s ahead of it’s time on the companion aspect. Its hard to explain how the game managed to take a blank slate companion and make so many players genuinely bond with them over the course of a story without any actual story relevance or sidequests.
They’re just there for you, ride or die, and the players are there for them.
Anyone know what i’m talking about? Or have any other games that do this or any other aspect well despite being ‘mid tier’ in general?
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