What RPG made the best use of its extended cast?

[SolVanderlyn]

It`s unfortunately all too common for party members to be one-note in RPGs, or for characters to fall out of relevance after their particular story arc is over.

I was going to say Final Fantasy VII, as each party member gets a story arc and regular input in cutscenes (even the optional characters!) but Tales of the Abyss does it a bit better, I think.

The cast in this game gets a lot of flak for being unlikable, unreasonable, and deeply flawed, but purely on the merits of each of them being relative to the main story and having a role and purpose to fulfill, I think this game did it best. Every party member has a past that ties in with the main plot, every party member has a personal story arc that isn`t a one-and-done scenario like most other RPGs, every character remains relevant throughout the game, every character gets meaningful dialogue on a regular basis, and the cast is relatively small by comparison to other games in the genre or even in the Tales series, leaving the party feeling tight and cohesive. This is including - maybe even ESPECIALLY including - the temporary spoiler character who leads the party for a short while.

Each character also has a personal villain in the story that likewise remains relevant for almost the entirety of the game.

I don`t hate this cast like others do, but they`re not my favorite group of characters, either. Even within the Tales series, I prefer others - Yuri and Flynn`s foils to each other in Vesperia, Lloyd and Genis` friendship, Stan`s shonen hero dumbass self conflicting with the brooding Leon in Destiny - but as for making good, consistent, meaningful use of the ENTIRE extended cast, even including NPCs like Van and Ion, I think Abyss had it down.

Lost Odyssey did a great job of this, too.

What do you think?

 

[lorddarkflare]

Modern tales games in general do a fantastic job leveraging their large casts.

At this point, it is the only thing they manage better than other JRPGs.

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 does a fairly great job as well.

 

[Tohsaka]

The Suikoden games, all party members have some role.

 

[Aokiji]

Well to answer the title? The Witcher 3

But to answer your OP, concerning party members? Chrono Trigger. It gave each member their arc/story before FFVII did it.

 

[Jessie]

Devil Survivor 2 has a ridiculously large cast, and I always thought it did a great job fleshing them all out and giving them quality moments.

The Devil Survivor games are interesting, because main characters can die permanently and the game moves on without them. This is exaggerated in the Devil Survivor 2 anime, where the ending song erases main characters after they die

Spoiler

(eventually most of them die, and the ending is completely empty)

 

[Deleted member 8861]

^Gonna have to give DeSu a try after hearing that, I love it.

Persona 4 for my money, Inaba felt like a real place.

 

[SolVanderlyn]

Well to answer the title? The Witcher 3

But to answer your OP, concerning party members? Chronic Trigger. It gave each member their arc/story before FFVII did it.

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CT did a great job of giving an identity to each member of the cast, especially by tying them to their particular time periods and giving them each an elemental atttribute that works in tandem with the others for dual and triple techs, but I think story-wise, they fall a bit flat on a grander scale. Ayla never contributes much outside of the prehistoric arc, Frog is likewise relatively silent after the Magus stuff is over with, Marle doesn`t contribute much outside of the intro arc... a lot of this has to do with the storytelling limitations/standards of the time and the general structure of CT as a whole, but I do think other SNES RPGs did it better.

I`m not saying CT`s cast is poorly implemented by any stretch of the imagination, don`t get me wrong. But looking at another game from that era - let`s take, for example, the unlikely example of Super Mario RPG - it manages to do a LOT with a small, cohesive cast stretched out over the course of a full game:

-Subverts traditional expectations by having Bowser join you, with regular, main-story relevant dialogue throughout most of the game. His motivation to get his keep back is consistent until the end.

-Geno is obviously front and center in the Star Retrieval story, and remains as such for the game`s entirety. (One could argue he`s the real star of the game - pun intended)]

-Mallow has multiple personal story arcs and a personal mystery that lingers until the penultimate area of the game. He is also the very first character to join, making this doubly impressive.

-Peach is the weakest link in the chain, but shares in the subversion of expectations by working alongside Mario rather than needing to be rescued. Also has a personal story arc in Marrymore.

I feel as if each character was more central to the story than in CT. CT`s strength was in making each character feel unique, rather than in giving them a plot-related purpose. Although, I reiterate that it did fairly well in that regard, too. I just think other games did better.

Edit: After thinking on this answer, I realize it`s just another way of interpreting what`s important in making use of the extended cast in an RPG. Obviously, I was thinking of things in a purely plot related manner, but I think CT made great use of its cast in other ways, so this is actually a pretty good answer.

 

[Deleted member 28523]

Mother 3 does a really good job at this. You don't get the full party until lat e Chapter 4 (out of 8 chapters). Chapter 1 you play as Flint who you never play as again. They all have their own storylines and they all intersect by the time it's deemed important.

 

[Deleted member 34949]

ToTA was actually going to be my answer. Huh. But yeah, I agree wholeheartedly. Even the standard endgame superboss is intricately tied to the personal arc of a party member

Spoiler: ToTA Mild Spoiler

That member being Jade

and managed to do so while feeling like a natural conclusion to said character's arc.

 

[Ayirek]

Final Fantasy VI. 14 playable characters, 11 of which have sidequests fleshing out their stories. The The three who don't are entirely optional. 2nd half of the game is devoted to characterization. Each party member has a personality, identity and motivation.

 

[Benzychenz]

Xenoblade 2. Optional heart to hearts scattered around the world give great interactions between the party members, and every rare blade has their own side quest with voice acting and cutscenes.

 

[Chaosblade]

Surprised at two mentions of Xenoblade 2. I think both Xenoblade games are awful at using thier casts and focus to much on the lead character while everyone else is just kind of there most of the time.

I'm struggling to think of an actual good example of this that I've played.

 

[Zeno]

Surprised at two mentions of Xenoblade 2. I think both Xenoblade games are awful at using thier casts and focus to much on the lead character while everyone else is just kind of there most of the time.

I'm struggling to think of an actual good example of this that I've played.

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I feel XBC2 is better than the first one since the first felt like there were too many "We have to rely on Shulk!" lines. XBC2 has it as well to a degree, but I don't feel it was as bad.

 

[water_wendi]

Planecape Torment.

edit:

Its not just that the stories are great and the writing is phenomenal. Its how the characters are integrated both thematically with the story and mechanically with the game systems.

 

[SatoAilDarko]

I'll like to give special mention to Xenoblade X having well over a dozen possible party members but even giving the more obscure ones their own series of missions and heart to heart conversations that gave them an arc. I really enjoyed having so many different characters to fight with.

With the four player parties and tons of side content I also was able to use them more equally and spend time with each one in battle and missions.

 

[Torpedo Vegas]

That is one thing FF 13 did. By splitting the party up early in the game you had to play with everyone.

 

[Deleted member 9714]

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 has such a great cast. Each one is part of a "duo" with a partner they have nice synergy with, but they're even better when they interact with the other party members. Brighid is the only one I don't care for.

And while they aren't party members, the (bosses) Asterisk users in Bravely Default and Bravely Second make up what is such a memorable cast for me. They're unique characters with personalities that make for a great time when they interact with other bosses and the cast. It's even better in Bravely Second, when they all have a role to play in the events preceding the game (in this case, a plague) in addition to their faction. The Bravely games without a doubt have my favorite cast of characters.

 

[Aselith]

Final Fantasy 6

 

[DonB(qv.YankeeTeachings)]

I'd say Final Fantasy VI. I think Suikoden V does a fantastic job of this too, though there are obviously filler characters.

ToA is a pretty good answer too.

 

[Syril]

Definitely Suikoden. By keeping the conflicts in each game to a regional scale and often mentioning other regions outside the setting of the game, it reinforces the fact that there's more to the world than the events onscreen. Then when you recruit tons of characters who often have little to no story presence it comes across less like a bunch of underdeveloped characters and more like a bunch of characters who are on their own journeys and just stopped to help out in the current conflict.

Tales of the Abyss is a good one for just about main party members though. Plenty of RPGs have a hard time keeping three characters relevant to the end, let alone six.

 

[Amanobuff]

Final Fantasy VI. 14 playable characters, 11 of which have sidequests fleshing out their stories. The The three who don't are entirely optional. 2nd half of the game is devoted to characterization. Each party member has a personality, identity and motivation.

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Came to post this. Thank you.

 

[Deleted member 27921]

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Why do Shadow and Strago both have overtly pronounced racks?
Anyway, I'm gonna go with Harvest Moon 64.

 

[Aaronrules380]

I think Tales of Berseria did a good job of making sure none of the playable cast ever felt unnecessary or like they were just along for the ride

 

[Ayirek]

Why do Shadow and Strago both have overtly pronounced racks?
Anyway, I'm gonna go with Harvest Moon 64.

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I had not noticed until you mentioned that. 10/10 best fan art of all time.

 

[Lunaray]

I nominate Legend of Mana. The game revolves around their stories.

 

[4859]

FF6

 

[Strings]

Surprised at two mentions of Xenoblade 2. I think both Xenoblade games are awful at using thier casts and focus to much on the lead character while everyone else is just kind of there most of the time.

I'm struggling to think of an actual good example of this that I've played.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, I definitely can't agree with Xenoblade 2 using them well at least. Finding out why Zeke is following you around, etc, is laughably half-assed.

I think most of the Atelier games do a pretty fab job, since every named character has at least one sidequest arc. The main stories are kinda a crapshoot in involving them though. FF6 also great as a bunch of other folks have mentioned.

 

[casiopao]

I think Xenoblade franchise actually did this really well with Heart to Heart. It shows so much more experience for each character.

 

[Vestal]

Final Fantasy VI. 14 playable characters, 11 of which have sidequests fleshing out their stories. The The three who don't are entirely optional. 2nd half of the game is devoted to characterization. Each party member has a personality, identity and motivation.

Click to shrink...

While I agree with you.. I hate that picture. Took me a moment to figure out it was FF6, the Art simply doesn't line up with the In game(snes) art or the box art.

 

[The Argus]

Finished South Park The Fractured But Whole tonight. Really liked all the side characters (although they're all pretty well known) and felt they all had a proper amount of back story and screentime, even outside the usual mains.

My faves outside the main cast:
Super Craig and Tweak
Call Girl
Captain Diabetes

 

[Pasha]

I thought that Dragon Age Origins did a really good job with the side characters, it's one of my favorite RPGs of all time.

 

[Myradeer]

^Gonna have to give DeSu a try after hearing that, I love it.

Persona 4 for my money, Inaba felt like a real place.

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Devil Survivor 2 is great. It really did fix a lot of problems they had with the characters on DeSu 1.

 

[Anaron]

Final Fantasy VII and VI

Baten Kaitos Origins and 1

Chrono Trigger

Xenosaga Episode 1

Persona 2 EP

Planescape Torment

 

[Dark_Castle]

Surprised at two mentions of Xenoblade 2. I think both Xenoblade games are awful at using thier casts and focus to much on the lead character while everyone else is just kind of there most of the time.

I'm struggling to think of an actual good example of this that I've played.

Click to shrink...

Xenoblade 2 actually develops the whole party very well. In fact, if you look around, many people like Nia, Morag and Zeke more than Rex in terms of characterization (and I myself like Tora if my avatar didn't gave it away). Rex had a lot of focus sure, but I thought everyone in the group gets quality screen time and character development that they each stand out from one another.

 

[Weiss]

Recently I think Tales of Berseria did a great job with this.

Every character has a believable motivation for tagging along with Velvet (or in Magilou's case, the lack of motivation is the joke) up until the very end of the game, and no one ever really drops out of focus the way, say, Regal did immediately in Tales of Symphonia.

 

[BurritoBushido]

The Suikoden games, all party members have some role.

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The only acceptable answer. Nothing else comes close.

 

[Raysoul]

Tokyo Mirage Sessions. All characters are fleshed out in their quest on the entertainment industry. No one is left out.

 

[orlock]

Definitely Suikoden. By keeping the conflicts in each game to a regional scale and often mentioning other regions outside the setting of the game, it reinforces the fact that there's more to the world than the events onscreen. Then when you recruit tons of characters who often have little to no story presence it comes across less like a bunch of underdeveloped characters and more like a bunch of characters who are on their own journeys and just stopped to help out in the current conflict.

Tales of the Abyss is a good one for just about main party members though. Plenty of RPGs have a hard time keeping three characters relevant to the end, let alone six.

Click to shrink...

this x1000. one of my very favorite things about Suikoden is the sense that while the current struggle feels very large to everyone involved, in the grand scheme of the world it's basically something they'd read in a history book or hear at a tavern from a traveling merchant. and honestly for my money every character of the cast in nearly all of the games is at least somewhat interesting and has some unique piece of characterization that really makes them "someone" as opposed to just "<insert character stereotype here>". for instance, my favorite character in the entire series is Kirke from Suikoden 1, an executioner at Lorimar who basically loses his job because Neclord raised all the corpses and killed everyone else who literally tells McDohl "all i can do is cut off heads", and when the game is over literally goes off to be a farmer. like, so much can be read into all of that, all for a character who exists solely as a middling melee combatant.

other nominee: cast of Xenogears (any game that allows you to have a stretch of game played as an entirely separate group of characters beyond the main protagonists gets some points)

 

[BringBackSonics]

Plane scape

 

[Deleted member 5593]

For me it was Mass Effect:

 

[etrain911]

Valkyria Chronicles 2 often gets shat on for being overly anime high-school trope in comparison to the first one, but each classmate had a unique storyline and missions assigned to them that made their reasons for being there more clear and even improved them tangibly (via being rewarded new traits and having bad traits eliminated from them).

I actually think the Xenoblade series does this masterfully as well. Each and every party member gets numerous heart-to-heart moments with each other, and while the story is essentially Shulk's in the first game, all of the characters feel like they have a personal stake in the conflict, in X this is even more pronounced.

 

[Murdamonk]

First answer will have to be Suikoden.

I would have picked the Trails series also. It is kind of similar to the Suikoden series. Differents regions, each with their own stories.

 

[Murdamonk]

Oups.. Double post

 

[Xero grimlock]

star ocean 2 was pretty good in this regards with the private actions fleshing all the party members really well no matter who you take in your party.

 

[SolVanderlyn]

star ocean 2 was pretty good in this regards with the private actions fleshing all the party members really well no matter who you take in your party.

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Except for Dias. He had literally zero until the PSP remake.

He plays a fairly large role in Disc 1 regardless, so it balances out a little, but still.

Interestingly enough, despite the strength of the characterization through PAs, the main story does a really poor job with the side characters... mostly due to the fact that they are ALL optional outside of Claude and Rena!!

 

[Deleted member 5535]

WRPG: Mass Effect
JRPG: Persona

 

[Wood Man]

Suikoden (except Suikoden 4) does a great job giving all 108 members of your group a story and place in the world.

Suikoden 5 does an extremely good job with this

 

[Deleted member 14002]

Devil Survivor 2 has a ridiculously large cast, and I always thought it did a great job fleshing them all out and giving them quality moments.

The Devil Survivor games are interesting, because main characters can die permanently and the game moves on without them. This is exaggerated in the Devil Survivor 2 anime, where the ending song erases main characters after they die

Spoiler

(eventually most of them die, and the ending is completely empty)

Click to shrink...

Came to say this + Persona and SMT.

 

[Freddo]

The Suikoden series, easily. Such masterpieces.

 

[Syril]

Except for Dias. He had literally zero until the PSP remake.

He plays a fairly large role in Disc 1 regardless, so it balances out a little, but still.

Interestingly enough, despite the strength of the characterization through PAs, the main story does a really poor job with the side characters... mostly due to the fact that they are ALL optional outside of Claude and Rena!!

Click to shrink...

And then they did that sequel Blue Sphere where the supporting characters all took the spotlight and Claude and Rena didn't even appear until later on. I hope that gets translated someday.