Do you try to use every party member when playing JRPGS?

[CharlesAznable]

Whenever I play a jrpg, I try to make sure I regularly rotate my party to give each character equal use, even if I tend to usually have favorites. Part of this is due to me getting burned 1 too many times in games where my main party gets wiped and I have to use my shitty underleveled reserves, though this isn't really a problem anymore with recent games.

 

[Mekanos]

I typically stick to a core team, I don't like to micromanage my team too much and it incentivizes replays to try other teams.

 

[formasymphonic]

I do this for any RPG unless the characters are actively detrimental. I figure if they are in there then there must be some kind of use for them do it's worth seeing how I can use them.

 

[Cheesebu]

I have a core team unless I know there is a multi team event like FF6 or FF8.

 

[PlanetSmasher]

I will never, ever, ever, ever use the annoying child character if I'm not forced to by the plot.

I abandoned Peppita on an exploding moonbase in Star Ocean 3.

 

[CharlesAznable]

I have a core team unless I know there is a multi team event like FF6 or FF8.

Click to shrink...

Lol that's one of the games that made me start doing this lol. That shit when you split up into 2 teams almost fucked me up.

 

[Ravelle]

Ideally yes but games sometimes have too many characters and characters not always too useful, sometimes they just get benched for an entire game.

 

[Quinton]

Almost everyone. I can't bring myself to play those kiddy annoying sorts.

 

[hwarang]

Almost everyone. I can't bring myself to play those kiddy annoying sorts.

Click to shrink...

Nor those android "moe" anime girls. Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

 

[Lightjolly]

I try to use every member every once in a while but when shit hits the fan, like a hard dungeon , I have my core group

 

[The Stig]

Nope. Once I find a team everyone else warms the bench.

 

[DJ_Lae]

I'll usually try everyone out a few times but I gravitate back to my main group after.

Except for Chrono Cross, where I just didn't care about a bunch of them and/or they looked stupid.

On the other hand, I like everyone in Chrono Trigger but once I have access to them my party will never not be Crono, Frog, and Ayla.

 

[carlosrso]

Sharla, Shulk and Reyn. Only. Do not judge me please.

 

[SkyOdin]

I use everyone. Trying out new character abilities and various mechanics is what I find fun in RPGs.

 

[Deleted member 3208]

Try to stick to a core team on first playthrough. If I replay the game then mix it.

 

[SolidSnakex]

Nope. Like I already know that i'm going to be playing as Kisara exclusively once she's in my party in Tales of Arise.

 

[Dogui]

I'm too lazy to invest on building every character, tho i may change party members sometimes if exp is shared equally. But even then i mostly don't want to try learning another character after being used to the first 3/4.

 

[Glio]

I try to use all of them so as not to reach a point where I have to use some that I have not leveled up and pay the consequences.

 

[RPGam3r]

I bench people all the time.

Kimahri? Bench. Quina? Bench. Amarant? Bench. Cait Sith? Bench. Red XIII? Bench. And countless other characters I don't like.

Not even exclusive to JRPG.

Kaiden/Ashley? Bench. Garrus? Bench.

 

[Simon-chan]

No one, and I mean no one, in any universe or dimension, has ever ever ever used Kimahri.

 

[Modest_Modsoul]

Most of the time, yes.

Except if your game is a Chrono Cross.

 

[Rune Walsh]

I will never use Yuffie or Cait Sith. Pure garbage characters.

 

[SkyOdin]

No one, and I mean no one, in any universe or dimension, has ever ever ever used Kimahri.

Click to shrink...

I did! I sent him down Wakka's sphere grod route for most of his path, then jumped over to Lulu's to pick up Demi, Death, and the -aga spells. He came out okay, but not particularly great.

 

[NekuWitTheDraco74]

Yes, I admit it. I main vaan in ffxii so what... Also I LOVE KIMAHRI

 

[FrostweaveBandage]

Really depends on the game. FFVII I always kept a core team, but FFX I'd try to max everyone.

 

[Shyranui]

I try to level everyone equally, but I always have a preferred team, usually for bosses or hard parts.

 

[DoctorPlayer MD]

I usually have a main party but always try to balance the levels and skills.

Except in Pokémon, that would be unfeasible.

 

[Hours Left]

I'll use every party member for at least one mission, but I'll stick to my favorites for the most part.

 

[Heh]

All the ones I like

 

[kimbo99]

I try and use every character simply because I have a fear of an upcoming boss where character X who I barely used has an advantage over said boss.

 

[Dineren]

No, I stick with one group which always bites me in the ass in games where party members are forcibly swapped.

 

[pbayne]

Yes.
It really bugs me when none party members dont get exp or only get a tiny amount that leaves them useless, ie Persona 3 and 4.

 

[Wood Man]

Yes, I like to mix it up

Unless it's Suikoden. I may skip some of them.

 

[mute]

Not unless the game asks me to. A lot don't, meaningfully anyway.

 

[Teenage Fansub]

I try to level everyone just in case the game makes you use them.

edit: Which leaves you with an overleveled leader in a lot of games.

 

[Jimnymebob]

No one, and I mean no one, in any universe or dimension, has ever ever ever used Kimahri.

Click to shrink...

Kimahri sucks and is a cool design wastdd on a nothing jobber of a character, but I'm gonna use him on expert grid when I can just have him do whatever with the bonus of not having to look at some of the other losers of the party.

 

[BasilZero]

I use my favorite characters based on appearance I like, their abilities and fighting style

 

[tadabola]

I don't mix up exactly, I do keep my favorites more than the annoying ones. but I do try to vary sometimes, even if the game don't force me to do it.

if its a game with tons of characters and you get nothing to use everyone, I still would do a trial run with everyone

 

[RedShift_]

I tend to stick to the core team of "main" characters (those i feel are more prominent in the story/are on the cover or similar). This of course means that if the story requires the party to split in two teams I'm usually fucked, 'cause the leftover characters are basically sporting lv1 gear and stats.

I should mention I'm the kind of guy who levels the starter pokemon to death in pokemon games and just forgets everyone else in the roster.

 

[Truly Gargantuan]

I'm 100% the type the switch my party up every dungeon. There might be 1 or 2 members that are my anchors but I will ALWAYS try to keep everyone balanced. And if I run into troubles then I can fall back on the core team.

 

[Captain of Outer Space]

Unless they have mechanics to keep everybody at similar levels, I usually don't want to grind to keep everybody as a viable member of the team. That was why I'd always burn out on the early Pokemon games.

 

[TwinBahamut]

Unless it has tons of usable characters like a Suikoden game, then I rotate a lot and try to use everyone equally. I usually lean on a few characters more than others, but not to any big extent.

 

[Meows]

I try to use all the characters I like, even some of the worthless scrubs in Suikoden.

 

[Crayolan]

Using every character usually requires pointless grinding which provides little to no long term benefit. So no.

 

[GamerJM]

I use as many as I can actually put on my active team. In something like FF4 or Dragon Quest 2 you don't really have a choice of swapping characters out (well, you do in FF4, but only at the very end of the game), so in those games I use everyone.

 

[FinalArcadia]

I like keeping everyone evenly leveled, but inevitably some are going to be favorites and I'm going to try to keep them in the party when possible. I'm running into that issue now in Persona 5 Royal, where I want to keep Ryuji in the party even though the part of me that loves keeping the whole team evenly leveled is like "put Morgana back in the party right now or so help me!"

 

[Truly Gargantuan]

Using every character usually requires pointless grinding which provides little to no long term benefit. So no.

Click to shrink...

I've played countless JRPGs and rarely do I find the need to grind while rotating members. You usually get enough currency while playing normally,side questing, and getting loot to keep everyone relatively geared and up to level. Some members will fall behind but that's why I keep one or two members up to speed to always act as an anchor while other members catch up.

 

[whiteninja]

If a game doesnt dole out exp to the reserves then Ill spend some time leveling them up before there's a part where they might be needed. Otherwise Ill stick with a core team that I like through as much of the game as I can.

 

[EggmaniMN]

I cycle in characters as they're introduced and switch things up after any major story beat.

 

[Kamek]

I at least try them out. I was in LOVE with Yakuza 7 and went through most of the game, did almost every side quest except the store one, took my time, completed almost everything (except the store) and lo and fucking behold the store is tied to a character and I had no idea.