Latecomer Party Mmebers
Bemused Observation: Characters who join later in role-playing games tend to be shunned or not used as much.
Clarification: I never used Fang in FFXIII for this reason. Same for Amarant and Eiko in FFIX. They have to be two of the biggest latecomers in RPG history.
Query: Why is this? Have people just become set in their ways by this point? Maybe they're attached to the characters they have already and have formed a bond with?
Addendum: I think I made this thread before but I cannot recall.
You kidding me? Fang is one of the best party members in FFXIII! I used her near constantly. And she first becomes playable in chapter seven, which is not really late in this game.
Yeah, Fang is the most tolerable character in the game by a long shot, along with Sazh.
It's a 13 Chapter game. Chapter 7 is over halfway done.Originally Posted by Formalhaut
By this point you've already been pretty thoroughly introduced and informed about everyone else. If you liked them, as I did, then you don't need someone else. Splitting up the party into teams ensured you either really loved or hated them since you had only Lightning/Hope and Sazh/Vanille for a long, long time.
Also the lack of Snow made me fixate on his return.
And this is not a XIII bash thread, Fynn.
I'm not bashing anyone. I just praised Fang and Sazh. How is that bashing? Sorry if it wasn't strong praise, I'm doing my best here, okay?
Xenogears was actually pretty bad about this, with characters being added after more than halfway through the game, but while some were really negligible, like Maria, Emeralda was actually pretty cool and is pretty popular with the fanbase, even if (or maybe because of the fact that) her sidequest got reduced to a single scene.
I think it really depends on the game. The biggest problem I have with characters that arrive late is that they are always lagging behind in terms of learning skills and abilities, which often makes them more trouble then they are worth. Should all things be equal then I don't think I am that biased against them, just going from examples in this thread I use Emerelda, Eiko and Amerant as my mains.
I do think the are easier to forget about from a story point of view, being around for a shorter period of time means they have less memorable moments.
>>Am willing to change opinions based on data<<
Oh right, Child of Light is another example where you get two party members really late. But while Oengus was my favorite to use for many reasons (AMAZING attack stat, big furry guy, need I say more?), Gen was pretty lame. i mean, yeah, she had that time manipulation magic that was sorely missed after that one party member leaves, but it really isn't done as well and she joins you just before the final dungeon so you really don't get that much time to grow attached to her.
Yeah, but that's based solely on the number of chapters. Chapter 8 is tiny in comparison to chapter 7, which is Fang's introduction chapter and she gets plenty of development. Not to mention we already know a bit about her from Vanille's story, so we already have been introduced to her, of sorts. She doesn't stick out like a sore thumb, I felt she integrated rather well.
Even if we took chapter 7 as being technically halfway, that's still half the game to use Fang and get to know her more. She receives more plot development throughout chapter 10 and 11. The only reason why I could see someone not using her is because she starts off without the ravager role (which does hamper chain building) but when the roles open up to everyone, literally giving her a single spell makes her usable. She's slow to start, but she becomes a really powerful combatant.
I don't care when they show up; I'll use them if they seem more interesting to me than the alternatives.
The examples that immediately sprung to mind for me were Chrono Trigger (Magus), Dragon Age (Loghain), Gogo/Umaro (FF6), and like half the characters in Dragon Quest V. I've definitely used some or all of them when I felt like it.
Fang wouldn't have even occurred to me as someone you get "late." I guess you do.
Only if they don't show up at all prior to becoming an available character?
If the game has any kind of skill or experience system that is based on how much you use the character in battle (Espers in FFVI for example), then I hate getting late characters if they don't come with skill/exp points that are on pace with what I have on other characters. Also if they are mostly story irrelevant (Aramant) then that annoys me. Otherwise, I welcome them to the team! Gogo/Umaro are great examples of this since, although they are completely irrelevant to the story (they are clearly meant to be), they don't need magic points so you can slot them right in to a party and be fine. Vincent (FFVII) is another great example since the materia system allows everyone to be interchangeably good and he also has an interesting backstory that you can get into.
Proud to be the Unofficial Secret Illegal Enforcer of Eyes on Final Fantasy!
When I grow up, I want to go toBovineTrump University! - Ralph Wiggum
Pretty much this. If I like said character better than what I have I'll use them unless their stats are lower than the team I'm using already. Then I'd probably just leave it the way it is.
One of the examples that pops into my head is Legion in Mass Effect 2.
Everyone levels up at the same rate, and Legion's a fairly versatile tech/tank, so in terms of gameplay Legion's totally usable. But, in terms of character development, Legion does get pretty short-changed, and he appears well over three quarters of the way through, so you can't really use him (for the main story at least) for that long.
Legion did get a very important role in Mass Effect 3 - although he wasn't playable - mind you, so at least they tried to make up for it.
Holy trout, YES! Umaro was BRUTAL!
I think FFXII did it best. You get Ashe late in the game but she comes with all the stats and LP's that you've gathered for the rest of the characters.
I can't remember if FFX does this with Auron and Rikku, can anyone clarify?
I think they do. I remember Auron being a little stronger than the rest of my party when he first joined.
When Ashe joined my party in XII I made her party leader and never looked back.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
