RPG, many characters join, but you just use the first few the whole time

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Board 8 » RPG, many characters join, but you just use the first few the whole time
Anagram
03/19/2024
12:33 AM
#1
What games do you find this ISN'T true for? I was thinking about this, and I do fall into this almost all the time.
Not changing this sig until I decide to change this sig.
Started: July 6, 2005
Leonhart4
03/19/2024
12:37 AM
#2
I usually try to rotate through my party members to keep everyone equally leveled
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Raka_Putra
03/19/2024
12:40 AM
#3
Valkyrie Profile 2 I guess. Don't the characters pass on to the next life after a certain amount of battles?
God has heard my soul.
Anagram
03/19/2024
12:50 AM
#4
Leonhart4 posted...
I usually try to rotate through my party members to keep everyone equally leveled
I thought I was going to do that with Persona 3 Reload, then I just decided to use only Yukari, Mitsuru, and Akihiko.
Not changing this sig until I decide to change this sig.
Started: July 6, 2005
Hbthebattle
03/19/2024
12:51 AM
#5
Pokemon

in games where needing HMs stopped being a concern, weak early mons tend to drop from my roster pretty fast.
:)
WazzupGenius00
03/19/2024
12:59 AM
#6
Chrono Cross, considering that for most players the first character that joins you is Poshul
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Lopen
03/19/2024
01:10 AM
#7
For me keeping the early party members is the stranger occurance. I don't know if you'd want me to go into a list of all the RPGs where I use mostly later game characters.

Trying to think of a game where I use EXCLUSIVELY use characters not from the start of the game in my ideal endgame party

It's like...

Suikoden and Suikoden 2 I feel like Zamza and the Main Character are the only early game character I use between the two.

Chrono Trigger I tend to use Magus Robo Lucca when it's possible to. 2/3 is about as best as you can do in a game with 7 characters.

Those are probably the winners other than post Gen 1 Pokmon.
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Lopen
03/19/2024
01:11 AM
#8
WazzupGenius00 posted...
Chrono Cross, considering that for most players the first character that joins you is Poshul

Ironically this is one of the few games where I DO keep the earlier characters.

I love Poshul she's so ridiculous. Kid is one of the better characters too.
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pjbasis
03/19/2024
01:13 AM
#9
I rotate
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Wanglicious
03/19/2024
01:33 AM
#10
super robot wars.
you gotta eventually run amuro and some big name robots.
"Maybe it's a tentacle, molesting the planet itself. - Aschen Brodel.
Kenri
03/19/2024
01:39 AM
#11
Most RPGs I end up with a mix of early and mid game characters. Maybe someone late game if I'm feeling spicy.
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MZero
03/19/2024
02:50 AM
#12
I almost never do this. Actually, it just happened in Persona 3 Reload, where I mostly used Yukari/Junpei/Akihiko (except a brief stint with Shinji :( and switching out Akihiko for Misturu near the end) and it felt weird, which is when I realized how unusual this is for me.

Persona 4 was the exact opposite, my final team was Kuma/Kanji/Naoto
FF7 I used Cait Sith and Cid

Leonhart4 posted...
I usually try to rotate through my party members to keep everyone equally leveled

I have never done this though
MZero , to the extreme
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NeatoAnAccount
03/19/2024
02:57 AM
#13
Anagram posted...
What games do you find this ISN'T true for? I was thinking about this, and I do fall into this almost all the time.

LISA the Painful, you get lots of party members throughout the game and they die all the time, and the party is diverse
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ChichiriMuyo
03/19/2024
03:03 AM
#14
FF7 kind of doesn't allow it. One of the first characters you meet isn't there long term and the character you start with dips out for awhile. Also one of the coolest characters in the game is one of the last characters you can recruit.

FFT is an edge case, maybe some wouldn't even think of it for this, but there is really only one character from the early game that you can keep using. You can definitely make the unnamed members of your party into good role players, but you don't even get the good party members that stay until awhile in.

Both Chrono games offer some of their most interesting options later.

I think there would be so many more examples if there weren't so many RPGs that force you to use one or more specific characters for most of the game.
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MoogleKupo141
03/19/2024
03:50 AM
#15
I dont think this is how I play anything
For your Azuarc .
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SHINE_GET_64
03/19/2024
06:11 AM
#16
Level everyone equally when possible
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paperwarior
03/19/2024
06:59 AM
#17
Rance 6 and Quest (7) have a mechanic where characters return home after a certain number of battles in an area, so you have to rotate them. Sengoku Rance works similarly in dungeons. 9 also has SRPG-style battles where you deploy many units each time and sometimes need to distribute them into multiple groups. A game where it is kind of true is Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. The last two characters to join need to catch up in power, mostly exist after you have a full party of other characters available, and seemingly aren't that great anyway.
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malyg
03/19/2024
07:28 AM
#18
MoogleKupo141 posted...
I dont think this is how I play anything

Same I try and rotate the team regularly.

One of the main reasons I dropped the trails of cold steel series was how long it was taking me to switch materia/equipment whenever I switched up the party.

Fire Emblem might be the closest fit I can think of here as I usually reset when someone dies, so there's often no need to bother with the late game higher level characters when I've still got a full party. Will still use them if they're good enough tho.
UF8
03/19/2024
09:44 AM
#19
MoogleKupo141 posted...
I dont think this is how I play anything

NFUN
03/19/2024
10:00 AM
#20
ffx
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colliding
03/19/2024
10:02 AM
#21
I'm trying to think of a RPG series where I actually do this and I think the closest I get is Trails, which usually has pretty strict story-driven character parties anyway. But it's definitely the series where I have characters I never want to touch (get out of here Machias and Elliot)
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Fiop
03/19/2024
10:33 AM
#22
I deliberately try to rotate in characters these days, though sometimes there are a few characters I just don't bother with. I don't mind if it makes the game more challenging that way, as it's more interesting at least.

Trails is a good example where I really try to rotate in everyone. Although there's a couple of games there that have some characters join very late that I didn't bother with.
"so is my word...It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." - Isaiah 55:11
Isquen
03/19/2024
10:45 AM
#23
NFUN posted...
ffx

Disagreed, as I tend to drop Lulu and Kimahri pretty quickly. (Still find it weird just how dodgy she is for a black mage, though.)

Fire Emblem's probably the correct answer here overall, but it doesn't hold in some games. For instance, in Radiant Dawn you're swapping parties so much and by the endgame if you're taking almost ANY of the Dawn Brigade with you you're handicapping yourself, but you're forced to have Micaiah and Sothe, and the only other decent ones of the lot (Nolan and Zihark) are because of their earth affinity giving stupid dodge - and NOT being monumentally unavailable. On the other hand, you have Path of Radiance, Sacred Stones, and Awakening, where your starter lord/Avatar + paladin can solo or duo the game.
[Rock and Stone] <o/
NFUN
03/19/2024
11:18 AM
#24
You'd drop Kimahri even if he was with you all game (and he basically is, same with Lulu)
List the ominous stern whisper from the delphic cave within:
They enslave their children's children who make compromise with sin
Leonhart4
03/19/2024
11:20 AM
#25
FFX makes it so easy to use everyone so that's the game where I definitely use everyone
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Fiop
03/19/2024
11:27 AM
#26
Kimahri's great to get Steal & Use so I can have a second character with access to those, without needing to disrupt any of my other characters' natural progressions. Then send him down whichever path (I think I did Yuna's last time for another white mage). He's fine to use for the main story, as is Lulu since she's your main black mage. Lulu also gets a deathtouch weapon before anyone else, which is nice (and humorous watching her attack do something). I never got far enough into the post game to get to the point where I didn't need certain characters.
"so is my word...It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." - Isaiah 55:11
foolm0r0n
03/19/2024
11:30 AM
#27
Suikoden is the only one where I didn't do it
_foolmo_
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Alanna82
03/19/2024
12:00 PM
#28
Leonhart4 posted...
I usually try to rotate through my party members to keep everyone equally leveled

This. Even in games like Fire Emblem. (I do drop some people, but I still use enough to have to rotate)
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Hbthebattle
03/19/2024
12:27 PM
#29
speaking of games where it's impossible to do this, FF6. Terra's gone for like half of the WoB storyline. Locke is the last one back during WoR on a normal playthrough. The need for constant party splits makes it so it's kinda hard to, and even with just the WoR I feel like most people don't keep Setzer around too long despite being early there.
:)
Yesmar_
03/19/2024
12:56 PM
#30
I usually rotate, but I like using the initial party members for the final boss.
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Yesmar
Isquen
03/19/2024
01:09 PM
#31
FF9 I basically stuck with Zidane, Garnet, Steiner, and Quina whenever possible. The less I used Eiko and Amarant the better, Vivi eventually dropped off, and while I like Freya she didnt exist or do anything special after Cleyra.
[Rock and Stone] <o/
shane15
03/19/2024
01:15 PM
#32
You're pretty much forced to use everyone in FFX unless you wanna spend ages chipping away at certain enemies in fights.
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Maniac64
03/19/2024
01:20 PM
#33
FFX, Tales games, Ogre Battle 64 (thanks to how it does battles you use every story character you get)
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HanOfTheNekos
03/19/2024
01:25 PM
#34
Xenoblade Chronicles 1 and 2
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TheArkOfTurus
03/19/2024
01:31 PM
#35
I've played a ton of RPGs, and I'm struggling to think of a single instance in which I just stuck with the first party on my first playthrough.
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Bitto
03/19/2024
01:34 PM
#36
I aim to rotate the party and keep everyone equally leveled, but if I have a "core" group, it tends to be early characters. It's usually because they have more defined roles. I usually swap out one character that's not working out for a character I mesh better with.

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Lopen
03/19/2024
01:47 PM
#37
shane15 posted...
You're pretty much forced to use everyone in FFX unless you wanna spend ages chipping away at certain enemies in fights.

Not really. Most characters can hybrid to fill

I basically use just Tidus Rikku Wakka with a splash of Yuna and Auron earlier game and there is very little they can't do cause Rikku is so versatile.
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Johnbobb
03/19/2024
01:54 PM
#38
Pokemon

Aside from your starter
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azuarc
03/19/2024
02:30 PM
#39
What about games where they forcibly rotate in different configurations of characters? Trails of Cold Steel, Lost Odyssey, etc.
Only the exceptions can be exceptional.
Anagram
03/19/2024
05:12 PM
#40
I can't remember, do P4 or P5 party members scale when outside of the party? Because I know P3R don't, and it's more modern than them.
Not changing this sig until I decide to change this sig.
Started: July 6, 2005
Leonhart4
03/19/2024
05:14 PM
#41
Anagram posted...
I can't remember, do P4 or P5 party members scale when outside of the party? Because I know P3R don't, and it's more modern than them.

They do not.
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htaeD
03/19/2024
06:00 PM
#42
MoogleKupo141 posted...
I dont think this is how I play anything
And
SHINE_GET_64 posted...
Level everyone equally when possible

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WazzupGenius00
03/19/2024
06:00 PM
#43
There are 8- and 16-bit RPGs that get that right, how is Persona fucking that up
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shane15
03/19/2024
06:03 PM
#44
I tried levelling everyone equally in Persona 3 and it was a nightmare.
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Anagram
03/19/2024
07:21 PM
#45
Leonhart4 posted...
They do not.
What a bad idea. Games in the mid-90s had party level scaling, I don't understand why they don't add it. It must be a conscious decision.
Not changing this sig until I decide to change this sig.
Started: July 6, 2005
Brayze_II
03/19/2024
09:23 PM
#46
If I'm going to play an RPG I definitely rotate the characters, to me this is part of the point of even playing that sort of game!
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MZero
03/19/2024
09:35 PM
#47
Most surprising thing to me is how many people rotate party members. I've never heard of that or even considered it, aside from like bringing someone in off the bench if you're struggling with a boss or something. I usually just take my favorite characters and make it work

Maybe I'll try it next time I play an RPG with more characters I like than party slots
MZero , to the extreme
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pjbasis
03/19/2024
09:49 PM
#48
Yesmar_ posted...
I usually rotate, but I like using the initial party members for the final boss.

Oh yeah I definitely do that too.

I think it's something like fusing narrative and game mechanics. I'll care more for a character if I see them often, especially controlling them. Also varies the gameplay.
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NeatoAnAccount
03/19/2024
10:27 PM
#49
Fiop posted...
Kimahri's great to get Steal & Use so I can have a second character with access to those, without needing to disrupt any of my other characters' natural progressions. Then send him down whichever path (I think I did Yuna's last time for another white mage). He's fine to use for the main story, as is Lulu since she's your main black mage. Lulu also gets a deathtouch weapon before anyone else, which is nice (and humorous watching her attack do something). I never got far enough into the post game to get to the point where I didn't need certain characters.

Fun fact Kimahri is the best black mage in the game by a country mile, he gets a weapon in Djose that makes his magic stat higher than Lulu's.
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Mewtwo59
03/19/2024
10:53 PM
#50
Anagram posted...
What a bad idea. Games in the mid-90s had party level scaling, I don't understand why they don't add it. It must be a conscious decision.

Persona 5 actually does. It was the bonus for Mishima's confidant. (And you got the base level for free, so don't say "Well it was Mishima so I ignored it")
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Board 8 » RPG, many characters join, but you just use the first few the whole time
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