Followers (Spoilers)

[LogicfromLogic]

Have I ever mentioned how much I loathe followers in games? They are just the damn worst. You are either spending half the time reviving their weak asses or you are going too fast for them. In Skyrim, you get some really, really obnoxious ones (mind you, this is just my opinion, if you like these characters more power to you) like Cicero, Kharjo and Serana. Mainly Cicero. I put Serana there because I get so tired of her constant bitching about the sun. And then you run into the outright racist ones like Lydia and Farkas.

With animal followers, they die because stupid doesn't realize that I have a weapon, and instead of attacking from the side they jump right in front of your crossbow or gun. BAM! Fucking Meeko is dead because he was too stupid to realize that he was allergic to bolts.

I was recently playing Saints Row 3 and I got to the part where you kidnap Nightblade. The exit out of the building was easy, however driving both Viola and him to HQ was a huge pain in my god damn ass.

You are abandoning a follower in X amount of time.

God damn it, who the hell got out?! Now I have to drive back and pick them up. *gets out and finds them, meanwhile my car gets blown up* God job you assholes, you got the car blown up. Stop shooting at people Viola and get in the damn SWAT car.

Three times this happened, but I made it. I hate followers, most of them anyway. There are some ones that I really like depending on which game.

I consider animals as followers, Shadowmere was the best follower I've ever had.

What are your best and worst followers? Best and worse stories with them?

 

[CalibansEnthusiast]

Saints Row 3 has very, very shitty followers.

Worst follower experiance I had was Rainbow Six: Vegas 2. Dumbest. Companions. In the world. I ended up ordering them to wait at the beginning of the level, while I soloed.

Best follower though? Boone, Fallout New Vegas. The one follower who says "I have your back" and actually has your back. His random killcams scare the crap out of me.

Fallout 3 had some solid ones, namely Fawkes and Charon. But their AI was pretty crappy.

Fallout 4.. every companion was useless except as a bullet sponge or loot hauler. Until Automatron. But character wise, Nick Valantine and Piper, all day everyday.

 

[Autarch]

Best: Fixer, Sev and Scorch from Republic Commando. The game is one of my favorite tactical shooters ever, specifically because of these guys. They take cover on their own, can down targets almost as fast as you, and follow any order you give them to the best of their ability. I love the fact that the only functional difference between you and them is intellect-- they have the same health, same weapons, same damage output, and can perform all of the actions that you can if ordered. It just... God, it felt like a goddamn squad working together instead of the common "RAMIREZ, I NEED YOU TO X WHILE WE HANG BACK AND COVER" trope.

Second Runner Up: Ellie from Last of Us, and a lot of the companions made by Naughty Dog in general. It feels palpably good when an enemy gets you in a hold and an ally comes up to assist by breaking their nose. Ellie also had the amazingly rare trait of a personality, which automatically boosts her up in my book.

Honorable Mention: The marines in Halo 1/2. They just tried so goddamn hard, even if they were outmatched by almost any enemy past grunts and jackals. They had solid banter, too.

Worst Companions?

 

[Grothnor]

Best: Fixer, Sev and Scorch from Republic Commando. The game is one of my favorite tactical shooters ever, specifically because of these guys. They take cover on their own, can down targets almost as fast as you, and follow any order you give them to the best of their ability. I love the fact that the only functional difference between you and them is intellect-- they have the same health, same weapons, same damage output, and can perform all of the actions that you can if ordered. It just... God, it felt like a goddamn squad working together instead of the common "RAMIREZ, I NEED YOU TO X WHILE WE HANG BACK AND COVER" trope.

God I miss that game.

In Skyrim, you get some really, really obnoxious ones like Serana.

I actually liked Serana from Skyrim for two reasons: She had far more personality than any of the other companions and she was essential, so she couldn't die. The one thing I hated about Skyrim's companions was that they could die, leaving you feeling bad that they're and leaving you to make several trips to retrieve all the stuff you've told them to carry. Alternatively you could reload a previous save, but that usually meant going back through all the stuff you (often painstakingly) fought through, which drives me nuts.

 

[Autarch]

God I miss that game.

It was under five dollars recently to celebrate how the Fourth is with us, in about a year's time you can grab it for incredibly cheap.

 

[LogicfromLogic]

I actually liked Serana from Skyrim for two reasons: She had far more personality than any of the other companions and she was essential, so she couldn't die. The one thing I hated about Skyrim's companions was that they could die, leaving you feeling bad that they're and leaving you to make several trips to retrieve all the stuff you've told them to carry. Alternatively you could reload a previous save, but that usually meant going back through all the stuff you (often painstakingly) fought through, which drives me nuts.

I adored her personality, she was really in-depth. But I could not get over her complaining.

 

[Windsong]

-Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen improved on already awesome Pawn AI. Actually teaching them to catch people so they'd catch me when a Gryphon throws me off 150ft up. Showing them that throwing oil on an enemy before our Mage casts a fire spell really speeds up Cyclops and Chimera kills. Showing my main Pawn to climb up and knock off armor, aim for the weak spot, make diving attacks, etc against enemies.

It all felt really fucking cool watching them grow like that. Learning how to do it properly from the get-go was a real new experience. Getting to dress them up and have other one's give hints about things they know from their player really made taking a team worthwhile.

-In Skyim (Modded) companions take on a whole new life compared to Vanilla. Vilja especially stood out just for her sheer amount of lines and things she responded to. As well as her ability to notice things from other mods really made her feel like a true developing friend over weeks/months more than any other game. And she's a fucking MOD. She was either so convincing or I was genuinely infatuated enough with her that it actually made my wife jealous.

-S.T.A.L.K.E.R./Call of Pripyat had pretty some pretty silly followers. For a game as ambitious yet so flawed it was bound to have it's incredible share of hilarity despite the super grim and moody atmosphere.

Watching the AI interact was always priceless while perched in a tower or atop a building. Seeing STALKERS poke heads around corners before turning back to gesture to allies who then began flanking. How they abused the stealth mechanic to 1v4 ambush bandits. Shit, just seeing them react to dogs making it through the gates was grand.

Also, bloodsuckers + modded game + middle of the night with that games lighting system = pants shat.

-Battlefield Bad Company 2, not sure if these guys count. But Haggard, Sweetwater, and Sarge were a grand fucking cast. Haggard especially cracked me up with the sheer absurdity of his character while they game pretended (and did well) for being relatively serious.

EVERYONE FROM SOUL SACRIFICE YOU DO SHIT WITH. HNNNGH.

 

[Autarch]

EVERYONE FROM SOUL SACRIFICE YOU DO SHIT WITH. HNNNGH.

RADUX WHY YOU GOTTA BE LIKE THAT

RADUX YOUR MORNING WOOD IS LITERALLY CONSUMING YOUR BODY

RADUX DON'T BE MAD AT ME FOR BEING NICE TO MONSTERS

RADUX PLEASE

 

[Dervish]

The only companion I'll ever need.