Alright, here we go again: Companions. Your followers. The characters that can be recruited into your party.
I believe I don't need to stress on how companions are a big part of the life and the soul of the game. Or perhaps not "part of". They are the life and the soul of the game.
Things like flawed combat mechanics, poor balancing, bugs, etc., they can all be fixed by a mod, and in most cases, easily. It's much harder to fix a "bad" character, however. Imagine you want to make a character "better". You basically have to "rewrite" them. How confident are you that you can write a good character? And if you write new dialogue lines for a character, there will be the issue of voice acting.
If you are a fan of the original BG games, simply think, what do you like about the companions in both games?
The first BG is fairly primitive, compared to standards set by BG2, then other games like the DA games. Yet it has things such as:
* Death reaction: a companion may say something when another companion dies. Some companions have a unique line reserved for a specific companion.
* Reaction to area type and time of day: when in forest, when in dungeon, during nighttime, Viconia's "The light! It burns!" during daytime, etc.
* Reaction to reputation: I still chuckle when Imoen says "Mutton mongerin riff raff", when your reputation is below 9. What they say depends on their level of annoyance - I must say, this is a very nice touch.
* When companions are too annoyed with your reputation, they leave you for good.
* A companion may throw a compliment or a jab at another companion, depending on whether they like or dislike each other.
* Two companions who really hate each other's guts have a chance to start fighting each other and you can't control them until their differences are settled.
* And quite a few other quotes triggered by conditions such as very low health, morale failure, fatigue, getting bored (when you leave the game unpaused for a few minutes). There are also "rare selection sounds" that are only triggered if you right-click a character quickly a dozen times or so.
You can easily tell, a lot of thoughts were put into this.
In BG2 companions also remark on certain events throughout the game, expressing their thoughts. Certain extremely evil acts will also make some good characters turn on you.
As a big fan of the original games, all these little things make the characters very endearing to me. The things that they say, the pop culture references, can be hilarious.
As for BG2, even after 5 or 6 playthroughs, I could still discover new dialogue interjections from companions that require you to talk to certain NPC's. For example, they may say different things when you give a beggar some gold, or refuse to give him gold. I know of at least one interjection which requires two specific companions in the party, and you need to talk to a beggar. I'd rather not say anything more specific than this, just so I won't spoil anyone (much).
All these short dialogue lines make the companions feel alive and enhance their personality. In BG2, there are some deeper interactions between various NPC's, more than just simple bantering. Again, I'd rather not say anything too specific. Anyone who has played the game knows what I'm talking about.
My point is, there is a reason why the companions in the original BG games feel alive, real, and relatable, without needing a substantial amount of personal quests and overly complicated personal life events. They can react either favorably or unfavorably to the things that you do. You love to travel with certain characters, while you may hate some others.
Some players may find that it is too punishing that companions have the right to leave you permanently, or to turn on you. They may find it an inconvenience that two companions can suddenly become uncontrollable and start fighting each other to the death. But then, we're playing an RPG. We make our choices and we reap the consequences. It's part of the game that we have to put thoughts into whom we want to keep in our company, and make decisions that are.... smart.
To me, these things about "companions" are part of what makes the BG games Baldur's Gate games. I'm sure it's the same for many other players. To be honest, I will be very disappointed if BG3 doesn't have things like these, at least to some extend. I will probably still enjoy the combat, and the story, and other things, but it would be a huge bummer for me.
I hope the group who are in charge of the "companions department" in BG3 have at least played the original BG games. Much better if they have played the DA games too. So hopefully they'll know exactly what would make companions great. As flawed as DA2 and DAI are, they still got the companions right.
Last edited by Try2Handing; 28/06/19 05:59 AM.
