Relate to this guy here.

[Vyk]

I think this is why I started shying away from JRPGs, as they were the slowest to evolve away from mute characters meant to be the avatar of the player, and since all players are different, they rarely got a voice to speak their (or our) minds. I think that's what drew me to western RPGs around the turn of the millennium, with the Baldur's Gate games, where I actually got to tell my character to say certain things. And other characters had fully fleshed out personalities that would react differently to my statements and actions. And it even introduced me to the concept of having consequences for actions

And you're right, I've always found it hard to relate to token characters (though now that you mention it, I did kinda like Jubilee). It really depends on the quality of the writing though. Sometimes a token character can work, but only when they're close to being as fleshed out as everyone else. Its really not a good idea to shoe-horn anyone into a work of fiction. It detracts from the over-all story you're trying to tell. Hoping to cash in on a few undecided gamers or movie-goers is a pretty decent gamble when that one cash-in character could ruin the whole flow and feel of the narrative. Not worth making the bet, usually

Edit: Also, I really wish I could get into Persona the way other people do.. I just tried P3 Portable a couple months ago, but once the story stopped moving and I was just set free into the world (only a couple hours in), it lost all momentum, and thus my interest. Getting tasked with going to school and getting a job (which I had to keep track of which jobs I could do on what days) and other after-school activities. The micromanaging thing kinda just killed it for me. Plus they just threw all that at you at once. I might read-up someday on how I'm supposed to approach the game rather than floundering around wasting time, I might give it another try in the future