Do you always keep the main character in your party/highest leveled?

Whenever I play a turn based RPG such as Final Fantasy, The Legend of Dragoon, Breath of Fire, Chrono Trigger etc I always have the main character in my party.

In some games that's required, but in some cases such as Chrono Trigger where you can switch Crono out of your party, I usually keep him in there anyway. It doesn't feel right otherwise. Maybe i'll switch it up every once in a while. I like to live dangerously. I'm cool with making other people leaders of the party in battle formations, as long as the main character is in it.

There are exceptions though. In Final Fantasy X I rotate anyone in the party, especially considering the enemies have specific weaknesses.

Aside from that, when an RPG has a level up system, do you let anyone have a higher level than the main character? I tend not to. It bugs me for some reason. When I play Breath of Fire, I want Ryu to be highest leveled. When I play Legend of Dragoon Dart needs to be the best.

When I play Final Fantasy VIII Squall needs to be highest leveled. It might be because I associate the main character as my conduit to the story and I want to be the best? Maybe.

Whenever I'm playing a game for the first time and I get an unsuspecting party member who is a few levels higher than me, I might shelf them until I catch up, haha.

Nope. If I can get rid of them, I will.

I think in the past I used to do this but nowadays I tend to be more experimental with some titles. I still do this occasionally with new games but it's rarely intentional, I think it may have more to do with having the MC around so much that you kind of just build your strategy with them in mind since you've had them the longest. It doesn't help that in many of these games the MC tends to be the most overpowered.

I tend to keep the main character in my party, not out of sentiment but because oftentimes they are sword/shield types and I tend to like fighting with that style. In games where the main character is more magic focused, I tend to rely on them less. Obviously that varies on the game as well though - if magic is the easiest way to win fights in a particular game, I'll use it more than melee combat.

I haven't played an RPG where you can switch out the main character so I couldn't say. The MC is always the highest leveled one in my party, too, so that's never really been an issue for me.

I like to keep my favorite character the highest level, which is probably statistically more likely to be the main character than anyone else. For example in Legend of Dragoon I always favor Rose over Dart.

I don't think I've ever played games where you could play as someone other than the main party indefinitely. I'd probably keep them in for sentimental reasons, nonetheless.

Depends on how much I like them and if I'm forced to use them all/most of the time.

My starter Pokemon is always in my party. ALWAYS.

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Originally Posted by Lone Wolf Leonhart

but in some cases such as Chrono Trigger where you can switch Crono out of your party

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I DIDN'T KNOW YOU COULD DO THIS

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Originally Posted by shion

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Originally Posted by Lone Wolf Leonhart

but in some cases such as Chrono Trigger where you can switch Crono out of your party

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I DIDN'T KNOW YOU COULD DO THIS

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It isn't the whole game, only after you get him back.

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Originally Posted by Pike

My starter Pokemon is always in my party. ALWAYS.

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As it should be.

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Originally Posted by shion

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Originally Posted by Lone Wolf Leonhart

but in some cases such as Chrono Trigger where you can switch Crono out of your party

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I DIDN'T KNOW YOU COULD DO THIS

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Well, without giving away too much as I know you're playing through it. You'll come to a point in the game where you'll be able to switch out anyone you want. But for a while I think you're stuck with Crono in your party, yeah.

In Chrono Trigger I think I usually keep Gohan... er... Crono in.

In XII I don't always keep Vaan iin. I usually switch him out w/ Basch. I tend to have both be my tank/heavy hitter/decoy.

Maan Vaan ain't no main character.

I tend to lean toward keeping the main character in there, but not always. Sometimes the other characters are just way better/cooler.

Honestly the most important thing to me is to keep my characters as equally leveled as possible. Even if I hate using them. I want them to all be at the same level. So if I can remove the main character to achieve this end goal then that is exactly what I will do.

Yeah, I do. It'd just feel weird not to. Though I think I prefer RPGs that don't have a main character unless it's a blank slate character like Dragon Age, Mass Effect, Dragon's Dogma, etc.

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Originally Posted by escobert

Depends on how much I like them and if I'm forced to use them all/most of the time.

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I usually do, at least on my first playthrough for immersion purposes. It just feels wrong if the main characters aren't in the party, though I might experiment more if I replay a game.

I usually keep the main character in for my first playthrough. If I like them, then I'll usually use them again the next time I play through the game. If not, I'll usually end up dropping them when my preferred characters become available.

As for levelling, I don't really put effort into ensuring the main character is the highest level, but it usually ends up that way through regular gameplay anyway. Especially in games where you're forced to use the main character.


As for games like Pokémon, I'm a little bit more ocd about levels and tend to keep my starter at least 5 levels higher than the rest of my team. I'll very rarely get rid of the starter, unless I've already finished the game and I'm training a new team or something.