RPGs With the Best Companion Systems

Party members/companions in RPGs can make or break an adventure. Characters who are not interesting or strong will weigh an RPG down. Some of the best RPGs of all time coincidentally have some of the greatest lineups of party members, like Chrono Trigger. While there are a lot of Western and Eastern RPGs to choose from, this list will focus on the party members that are more intricately designed into their games because of the inner systems at play.

Party members are so much more than battle companions nowadays, as players can affect their stats through bonding, and even romance them in some instances, like in Mass Effect 2 or Baldur’s Gate 3. Let’s find out more about how these companion systems work and why these games stand out.

.hack//Infection

You’ve Got Mail

.hack//Infection, and the rest of the original quadrilogy, is an action RPG set within a fake MMO called The World. Players assume the role of Kite, who could invite two other players to join him in dungeon runs. If players spent time with party members, it would result in emails that they could access through their game’s desktop interface.

They could reply, start conversations, and this would lead to extra dungeon info or other secrets. As the series went on, more options opened up, along with the cast growing.

Avowed

Always Up For A Conversation

Avowed is an action RPG that lets players befriend companions throughout the journey, and they can choose to have two follow them at any one time. How characters behave around other companions is dynamic, so they’re not just reacting to what players ask.

Additionally, when interacting with NPCs, they will either chime in during conversations or respond after if players ask for their opinion on a current situation or quest, and they can often provide valuable insights into the world. They are useful in battle, and the more time players spend with them, the more they will open up about their past.

Baldur's Gate 3

Astarion, Enough Said

Baldur's Gate 3 is a strategy RPG that has some of the best systems in RPGs overall, from character customization to dialogue choices to companions. After the initial ship crash, players can walk around the crash site to find several companions at the ready.

Every decision players make in the game will affect their party, lowering or raising their affection levels. Companions will share information about themselves. The more they trust the player, the more they will share. There are even romance options leading to a lot of fun back at camp, and every Baldur's Gate 3 player has their favorite romance option.

Fire Emblem Awakening

Making Time Babies

Fire Emblem Awakening has a basic party structure like most Fire Emblem games initially. Players will gain party members in the story, and most characters have different grades of affection levels that can be raised if paired next to another character in battle, leading to different combat assists.

If there are potential romance options between characters, then that can lead to having children later in the game. Eventually, these children will become party members too and take on visual and stat traits depending on who is paired up. Games that have romance options don’t go nearly this far, making Fire Emblem Awakening truly stand out as a tactical RPG.

Mass Effect 2

Getting The Band Back Together

All of the Mass Effect games have some of the best companions in all RPGs, but how characters interact was improved in Mass Effect 2. Some companions carry over from the original, although players have to re-recruit them because of certain events, like Garrus.

In battle, players can issue orders to their two other companions, which is useful given that the game is a squad-based cover shooter and demands players to think strategically in real-time combat. Characters can be romanced or just bonded with, leading to special missions that deepen the stories of the characters further.

The Outer Worlds 2

More Customization Between Companions

The companions in The Outer Worlds 2 are an improvement over the original game, and they may be some of the finest in Obsidian Entertainment's history. Players can squad up, often asking for their opinion on certain situations, just like in Avowed, but the key difference is that players have more ways to interact with a character’s build.

They cannot be fully customized and upgraded manually, but there are options in the menu to tweak things like weapon and armor skills. The Outer Worlds 2 doesn’t have the best cover or tactical system when it comes to first-person shooters, but companions are invaluable in combat either way.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

Exploration And Battle Buddies

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, unlike most turn-based RPGs, only lets players have one companion at a time in battle. If need be, they can be swapped out, but players will also lose a turn for that partner character. While useful in battle, companions are more dynamic than most RPGs as they carry different abilities, changing how players can interact with the world.

For example, players can ride their Yoshi companion to get around faster, and Madame Flurrie can use wind gusts to blow open secret passages. It gives the game a Metroidvania approach to exploration, and the remaster makes switching during exploration easier.

Persona 3 Reload

The Cards Of Fate

Persona 3 was the first game to include a Social Links system that allowed the player to raise affection levels between party members and NPCs, and the remake, Persona 3 Reload, raised the bar. Important characters all had a representative Arcana card, which in turn would affect the Personas that players used in combat.

Mitsuru belonged to the Empress arcana while Kazushi had the Chariot arcana, for example. Spending time with characters between schoolwork and dungeon crawling was necessary to get the strongest party of Personas possible, and it also sheds some light on how these characters tick.

Suikoden 2

Oh Starry Night

One of the coolest aspects of the Suikoden series is the 108 Stars of Destiny mechanic, with Suikoden 2 being the fan favorite game. Players could have a whopping six party teams in battle, and choosing between a hundred-plus characters could be daunting.

However, party members could be assigned jobs where it made sense at headquarters, too, which made sense in the game’s context, as players were building an army. It took a lot of effort and dedication to find every party member and go through their recruitment process in Suikoden 2, but either way, it makes this game and the rest of the series stick out.

Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty

Partners In A Dark World

Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty was a Soulslike action RPG set in ancient China. Unlike most Soulslikes, this game differed because players could invite two companions to join them in battle, which could make exploration and boss battles easier. The more time players spent with companions, the greater their affection grew, leading to bonus unlocks.

It was important to swap around all companions just to get every reward possible, and while there weren’t dynamic side stories to follow with these characters, it was still an appreciated system within Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty to make it just a little less difficult.