hotnheavyload
Banned
May from Shining Force II joins you for no reason.
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Stupidest reason for a RPG/JRPG character joining your party?
- Thread starter bomblord1
- Start date
Came here to post this. I like the game, but talking dog and robot guy and boat guy and doctor and wrestler and...lol
On the other hand, she didn't stick around much. Madame ADD spent most of the game wondering around and getting lost; multiple times if I remember correctly. Kind of made sense given her character.
thewhitehawk
Member
Uhm.... they don't exactly join the party as much as they are the initial party but both Vaan and Penelo are completely irrelevant to the story of Final Fantasy XII. You could remove both of them from the game entirely and nothing of value would be lost. They exist purely for marketing reasons.
clay_ghost
Member
They don't localize her correctly in tohr or changed it in the demake and missed / have lessen emphasise on part of her reasons if I remember, the DS version made it more obvious that she felt guilty(because kohaku was kidnapped and almost died partly because of her?) and bad about kohaku and wanted to help her get back her heart thingy. She also have a tiny crush on shing. I feel like I have to play the DS version again to see what else was change, it had been some time since I last place it.While playing through RPG/JRPG's I've seen quite a few absolutely ridiculous reasons for characters becoming a permanent asset in your party.
The one that made me think of this topic was Beryl in tales of hearts R (just recently beat it)
She just literally decides to stick with your party after you briefly meet her in the city and after that she sticks with you through absolutely ridiculous things and is never given any clear motivation as to why she sticks around
.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20141013063809)
Anyway, what is your stupidest reason for a character joining your party?
It is kind of funny that they keep Vaan around just because they could use a gopher to send into town while they focus on the important stuff. Penelo just came along with Vaan after they rescued her.
What do we call it when the main character is the one who didn't really have a reason to join the party?
B is exactly why he did it. The
chance at revenge
It's not at all far fetched. Just like why Kasumi joined. Some motivations are worth risking your life.
this actually makes too much sense. Especially when you consider that the whole gang besides Vaan and Penelo are wanted criminals; Basch, Ashe, Balthier, & Fran lol
ShadowgeistX
Member
I'm probably mixing my thoughts on it, and that would be that the protagonist should have changed halfway through because Edge is so bad at being one. I'm surprised nobody actually walked out on that clown after like an hour of that trash.
But wasn't Reimi still leading the party when Sarah joined? My memory is probably not so great for Star Ocean 4 since I try not to remember the plot exactly. In any case, Arumat didn't seem to really care whether he was in the group or not, Lymle probably could have ditched out anytime since I think everyone at that point as pretty much a stranger. I don't think Sarah actually knew why she was there, and Meracle...well, I'm actually still not sure why she decided to stick it out till the end.
I might not have been paying very close attention, but most of the group happens to be a case of "just because", which is sort of valid for JRPGs, but pretty weak when it's that many of your members. My memory of SO4 might not be so great, so if I'm corrected then I stand corrected haha.
Lymle and serah but I think meryle was fairly justified personally.
Karsticles
Member
You beat me to it, Ishida.
A Link to the Past
Banned
CC is interesting to really think about who does and does not have valid justification to join. Honestly, if I could redo CC, I'd have only these characters playable:
Serge
Kid
Razzly
Glenn
Harle
Leena
Starky
Leah
Guile
Fargo
Janice
Norris
And for the characters in that list that are somewhat under-developed, just give them more development.
Serge
Kid
Razzly
Glenn
Harle
Leena
Starky
Leah
Guile
Fargo
Janice
Norris
And for the characters in that list that are somewhat under-developed, just give them more development.
VanillaCakeIsBurning
Member
This reminds me of something I found interesting in Final Fantasy XIII.
The natural expectation is that your party once assembled will stay together over the course of the game because that's what parties in games do. But at various points over the course of the game the main characters will leave of their own accord.
I found it interesting that they weren't beholden to staying together and instead followed their own goals/motivations over maintaining the party.
I found it interesting that they weren't beholden to staying together and instead followed their own goals/motivations over maintaining the party.
Morrigan Stark
Arrogant Smirk
B-but he looks cool! >_>Like this guy? Pesmerga aka "You fought Yuber, I want to kill Yuber!" then you never run into Yuber again...oh and that is all his dialogue in 1
To be fair, it does make some sense that people would want to come to your castle for freedom/protection/etc. from the Evil Empire (tm). So I cut it some slack if they didn't write tons of justifying dialogue for every single 108 star.
Chrono Cross, on the other hand, can get fucked.
UncleSporky
Member
The winners should probably be all secret characters. The ones who join because you stepped on a certain square of the map, or walked behind a wall just right and pressed A, etc.
For example, Jogurt from Shining Force, who has like one of dialogue that has nothing to do with his recruitment, who joins when you walk past a priest, panning the camera up until you can see him:
For example, Jogurt from Shining Force, who has like one of dialogue that has nothing to do with his recruitment, who joins when you walk past a priest, panning the camera up until you can see him:
SatelliteOfLove
Member
Divinity: Original Sin: The Thread
We'll never get the full reason for this, unless Maruyama releases The Bible.
Like this guy? Pesmerga aka "You fought Yuber, I want to kill Yuber!" then you never run into Yuber again...oh and that is all his dialogue in 1
We'll never get the full reason for this, unless Maruyama releases The Bible.
thewhitehawk
Member
Marketing.
I played only the Vita version and I remember the same thing.
I always quite liked Quina, she's not very smart so she didn't really need a compelling reason to join. She gets some funny scenes throughout the game, and everyone just seemed a little bemused she was travelling with them. I think she even got a bit of a meaningful scene with Zidane, but I can't remember it now. I guess I just find it easier to buy a dumb frog creature obsessed with food joining a travelling group, over another human being with multiple goals and values.
I'm working my way through FFX right now and Rikku joining the party really confused me. Please don't post any spoilers past that point, it might get explained more in depth later on and I've never played the game before. But it still doesn't explain why
For a first time player the cutscene was just very confusing and it was very frustrating to see none of my internal questions be asked by anyone on screen.
I'm working my way through FFX right now and Rikku joining the party really confused me. Please don't post any spoilers past that point, it might get explained more in depth later on and I've never played the game before. But it still doesn't explain why
all the people who didn't know who she was didn't even question her becoming a guardian after they have a "girl talk". Unless they already knew her? In which case their lack of interaction with her is just as weird. And Tidus knew Rikku was trying to kidnap Yuna or whatever she was planning, but raises 0 objections about the situation.
Lord of Castamere
Member
That's wrong. He joins you because he's
a Qunari spy which he tells you on the beach. He's a Qunari priest sent to spy on the Herald of Andraste.
Like this guy? Pesmerga aka "You fought Yuber, I want to kill Yuber!" then you never run into Yuber again...oh and that is all his dialogue in 1
Well, in suikoden 2 you actually fight yuber but before recluiting him. So still pointless but he's one of the best character stat wise in the game so i can forgive him
This. Yuber is a pretty big deal in III, so I think they were going somewhere with them. Murayama was setting something very big up in I, it's crazy.
That said, there are a lot of characters who join you for stupid reasons, which is perfectly normal when there are 108 per game....
I'm thinking Vaan and Penelo from XII. Vaan just goes with Ashe and Basch because... fighting evil empires is cool, I guess? And Penelo just wants go with Vaan, of course.
They have literally no reason whatsoever to follow these guys. It would have fitted better if Vaan was a silent protagonist (which I hate btw, but Vaan is even worse than those).
Scrooge McDuck
Member
Mm, Vaan has no family or obligation, he aspires to be a sky pirate and makes Balthier his role model, he hates the Empire, he needs to know what's the deal with Basch and he wants to see the world.
It could be argued that practicality-wise all those reasons are stupid, but narrative-wise those are valid as a motivation for a 17-year old.
Just playing the game, and I was litteraly just going to answer that lol.
A lot of more... japanese? innocent? jRPGs have stuff like that, like most Gust games for example.
Iron Bull has very good reasons to join you.
First, you are paying him, he's a mercenary.
Second (character story spoiler I guess?)
he's been ordered to do so by his boss (he is a Qunari spy after all)...
HP_Wuvcraft
Banned
Well, you did hire him. Krem did approach you earlier.
And honestly, DA:I is not the best game for this thread. The reasoning is sort of in the title of the game itself. Hell, Varric even has a few monologues with Cassandra about how he was basically conscripted.
Dark_castle
Junior Member
I loved the game, but almost half of the FFVI's cast have weak/non-existent reason to join the group. The game's story/plot wouldn't be much different with just Terra, Locke, Celes, Edgar, Sabin, Cyan and Setzer.
Some Nobody
Junior Member
This thread is teaching me that many people don't actually pay attention to the dialogue when they play a video game. Several of the characters mentioned someone has later given a perfectly reasonable explanation for them joining up.
Iron Bull in particular is actually pretty funny--no way you aren't aware of why he joined if you went through the full dialogue tree.
, but he also just likes to wreck shit and given the Inquisition's purpose...you're definitely going to wreck shit.
Iron Bull in particular is actually pretty funny--no way you aren't aware of why he joined if you went through the full dialogue tree.
He's a Qunari spy
DiipuSurotu
Banned
Chrono Trigger.
The game's pacing is so good that the characters stick around in your party for no reason and you don't even realize it unless you stop to think about it:
- Frog technically doesn't join your party; YOU join him in HIS quest to defeat
. But after the latter is defeat, Frog just keeps following you throughout time for absolutely no explicit reason.
- Ayla is the same. You join her in her quest to rescue her boyfriend Kino, but after said rescue and subsequent defeat of
, she follows in the future, leaving her village, Kino and chief position behind for absolutely no reason given.
The game's pacing is so good that the characters stick around in your party for no reason and you don't even realize it unless you stop to think about it:
- Frog technically doesn't join your party; YOU join him in HIS quest to defeat
Magus
- Ayla is the same. You join her in her quest to rescue her boyfriend Kino, but after said rescue and subsequent defeat of
Azala
Dark_castle
Junior Member
Well, at least they got some valid motivation to join the party in the first place, and they still contribute to the main scenario later on, for Frog at least, Ayla to a lesser extent.
Came to say this. Recruited her yesterday.
Wish there was an option : Who the fuck are you and why do you want to join me ???
thewhitehawk
Member
Let's see... for one of them it's pretty much her job to handle such issues.
Another he has an interest in arcane knowledge and understands the severity of the threat.
One was imprisoned for questioning but once he understood the level of the threat decided to help out.
One becomes aware of something wrong or weird happening with his organisation so he decides to join to help investigate the cause and also help the Inquisition.
One is the leader of a mercenary camp, he does it for money and to spy.
One was involved with one of the antagonists and was trying to help a friend. He decided to stay and help once he saw a very literal depiction of the events that would occur should the Inquisition be unsuccessful.
One does it to try to gain favour and further her climb up the political ladder.
I guess you could argue that Sera and Cole had very weak reasons for joining, but I don't find the reasoning for most characters to join that unreasonable.
Perhaps some of the reasons are a bit more realistic than others, I doubt for example Vivienne would try to do something immensely risky simply to gain political power, or Iron Bull would stick his neck out in a battle that may lead to the end of the world for just money but come on... it's a fantasy world with giants, giant reptiles, demons and flying dragons. If you're going to stop your suspension of disbelief because of something so small then I think you'd find it very hard to find many RPGs you could appreciate.
Don't they want to help you after you've helped them? And don't they have a line or two somewhere about wanting to save the planet from Lavos too?
I mean, that alone puts them miles ahead of other characters in other games. lol
SerTapTap
Member
I dunno, that seems like at worst par for the course. There are several people in assorted Disgaea games that force their way into the party despite the main character's wishes, people YOU force into the party despite their wishes, people who join you simply because you beat them up...because they want to kill you...
Doesnt really count for comedy games though? They're purposefully written to be silly/amusing
Theres also his super secret story reason for taking you up on your actual offer of employment. Iron Bull joining is one of the more sensible ones in the game
NeonZ
Member
In both of those cases they learn about Lavos at the end of their personal stories, so they stick with the main party for the same reason they were traveling around in the first place - stop Lavos from destroying the world's future.
Truth. Never left my squad once he joined in it in the chapel. Damage off the charts.
Sir_Crocodile
Member
Frankie in SF3 joins team Synbios if you push him into your headquarters
althogh that's not so much stupid as it is hilarious.
althogh that's not so much stupid as it is hilarious.
Exactly. They're so self-aware that it'd be criminal not to mention them in any thread about JRPG tropes.
FrontalMonk
Banned
Let's not forget, the family Vaan does have is killed by the empire in the intro. I'd say that's a pretty solid motivation.
Penelo, though? Yeah, I got nothin'.
Dr. Buni
Member
It is the same for the other Fire Emblem games*, but it is specially bad in Awakening because the writing is atrocious in that game.
*The ones I have played, at least (7, Sacred Stones, Path of Radiance, Radiant Dawn).
Well, I'm not going to try very hard to defend the others, but at least people would join because they knew another member of your army and had any sort of connection to them. And not because... I don't know, "you're Chrom, so now I'm going to join you even though I've no idea who you are!", lol.
I can't quite recall correctly but doesn't that black woman character join you so you "get good food on your adventure".
She fries up the enemies with skillets.