Summary
It can be easy to get a little complacent in any given RPG, playing with thesame party or followersfor such an extended period of time. Eventually, you might just fall into a predictable rhythm with battles, because just sending in Wrex to shotgun some dudes never stops being a viable option.
But what if the game throws you a curveball and brings in somebody else for a short while to shake things up? Suddenly, your strategies change. Whether they’re super powerful or just fun to have around, there have been plenty of fantastic temporary party members over the years to keep things fresh.
12Ethel
Xenoblade Chronicles 3
One of the key mechanics in Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is Heroes, a bunch of charming characters you meet during your journeys whom you can call upon to join your party as an interchangeable seventh member whenever you please. The first you meet is Ethel, and she sets the stage beautifully.
She’s already established as an immenselypowerful and strategic military leader, a point further driven home when you have to fight her yourself. So when she joins you early on, you can immediately feel how she helps in battles. Unlike other Heroes, she can only join for a short while (then some stuff happens…), but that just drives home how great she is to have around.
11Aria T’Loak
Mass Effect 3
Aria makes an impact on players right away in Mass Effect 2, showing off her power as effectively the ruler of the seedy asteroid station known as Omega. Even aside from Omega’s ‘one rule’, her charisma is apparent from the start.
So when she showed up again in Mass Effect 3, many players hoped she would join the team this time around. Thanks to the Omega DLC, she eventually did, albeit just during the downloadable campaign itself. But her intense personality and powerful biotics were well worth it either way.
10Aranea Highwind
Final Fantasy 15
One of the most tragic byproducts of Final Fantasy 15 having its last few updates abruptly canceled is the loss of planned DLC. One of which was centered on one of the game’s best and most criminally underused characters, the merc and military commander Aranea Highwind.
But as it is, Aranea does join your party of Prince Noctis and his buddies during a dungeon after battling them, and she’s a delight to have around. Not only a great fighter, she’s also all about people going their own way, even voicing her distrust of her own employers. Always question authority, kids.
9Dame Aylin
Baldur’s Gate 3
One particularly impactful moment in Baldur’s Gate 3 has you encountering Dame Aylin, the immortal daughter of the goddess Selune who’s confined by a necromancer to exploit her abilities. Play your cards right and you’re able to free her, resulting in a powerful new ally.
After being freed and taking some sweet revenge, Aylin is more than happy to aid in your cause, and more so if you also saved her true love, the cleric Isobel. While not a party member, she can eventually become controllable during the game’s finale, giving you a taste of her righteous and radiant power.
8Shinjiro Aragaki
Persona 3 Reload
Sometimes, a party member is temporary for unfortunate reasons, and spoiler alert, this happens to be one of those times. The class-skipping Shinjiro actually helped start the SEES organization you’re part of inPersona 3 and its various versions, but he left after his Persona went wild and killed an innocent.
But he hasn’t lost his touch, despite doing everything he could to suppress his abilities. He joins up again during the game and is a real force of nature with his massive weapon and Persona, but sacrifices himself to save Ken, the son of the innocent woman who died.
7Glory
Fallout 4
From the first moment you meet the Railroad in Fallout 4, your eyes are most likely drawn slightly to the left, to the dangerous-looking lady with the minigun. That’s Glory, and when she eventually joins you for a mission, you find out that this assessment was completely correct.
Glory is a synth, just like most members of the Railroad andperhaps a few other Fallout 4 characters. But her laid back attitude makes her a fun temporary party member to have during your joint quest, as does her minigun. To this day, fans still lament that she isn’t a full follower.
6Goro Akechi
Persona 5 Royal
Even if you haven’t clocked that Akechi has something sinister going on by the time he joins your party temporarily in Persona 5, you’re probably at least a little suspicious. He’s got that look, that ‘rich kid who carries a briefcase to his high school classes for some reason’ vibe.
The point is, even before his big reveal, when he joins you for a little bit, it feels like teaming up with a bad guy for mutual goals. So Akechi’s powerful abilities, while teasing something more, feel all the more like something you’re not meant to have.
5Beatrix
Final Fantasy 9
Beatrix is quite possibly one of the most fearsome enemies in all of Final Fantasy 9. Every time you face her, she wipes out your whole party with no problem. Luckily, that’s supposed to happen.
But late in the game, she eventually sees the error of her ways and joins forces with the heroes for the sake of her homeland. Controlling her and Steiner through the streets of Alexandria against monsters is a true rush. Now if only she would answer for all the genocide.
4Joshua Graham
Fallout: New Vegas
The intimidating central figure of the Honest Hearts DLC for Fallout: New Vegas, Joshua Graham remains one of the most impactful characters in Fallout history. This is a guy whose various fieryquotes have transcended the Fallout gamesthemselves.
Considering his past as a founding member of the barbaric Caesar’s Legion, some might understandably not want him on their side. But Joshua’s rage that’s been burning for years makes him an unstoppable companion if you’ll have him during the end of Honest Hearts.
3Larsa Ferrinas Solidor
Final Fantasy 12
Ah, Larsa, the young Emperor-to-be who would be a lot better at hiding his identity if he didn’t talk like an Emperor-to-be. He’s an example of how the future could be bright in Final Fantasy 12, given his selfless and empathetic nature, a quality that spreads to his liberal use of hi-potions.
When Larsa joins your party temporarily several times as himself or his ‘Lamont’ alias, he not only has some helpful battle abilities, but he also carries an infinite supply of hi-potions that he’ll toss at anyone who needs them. This quality was nerfed in the Zodiac Age remaster, unfortunately, but he’s still a great excuse to get some grinding in.
