An Introduction
It seems like human nature to seek companionship of some kind. A partner in crime, a friend for the ages, a dog that can’t wait for you to open the door, a diary for you to put your thoughts in. Most of us, from the most outgoing to the most introvert, need a companion of some sort at some point in our lives. And sometimes, I think video games reflect that.
Companions are an important part of video games. From mechanics to plot and everything in between, companions add something to games. Even if it’s just mind numbing frustration and the urge to throw your controller out the window.
Personally, I like companions in games a lot. Sometimes more than the main character. Perhaps this becomes a reflection on myself: I do not like to dwell on my own thoughts, and would prefer to focus on others. If I am supposed to be the main character in a game, then I will immediately begin to focus on the companions. But I also, when playing pen-and-paper RPGs, heavily lean towards a class with a familiar. Or seven.
Of course, I have an Opinion on them. Because game companions come in all shapes and sizes. From pets to people to weapons to voices you hear but never meet. Which companions exist is almost as diverse as the games they are in.
So I’m going to start writing up thoughts and opinions about various companions and companion mechanics as I encounter or encountered them, and what I think they brought to the table. There will be a comparison of companions, some pros and cons. I’ll definitely complain about poor writing and bad AI. Mechanics and story will be addressed. I promise not to write about Final Fantasy too much, but I will be talking about Halo and Cortana again. And, as always, spoilers abound.
Might as well jump right in with potentially one of my companions ever.
Never Wander Alone
I have a clear bias at the beginning here. See, Shadow of the Colossus is one of my favorite games. I have a rotating “Top 5” list and Shadow’s been there since I played it. Wander is one of my favorite characters. So, to me, it makes sense that my potentially all time favorite companion comes from this game.
And, considering you only really interact with about three things for a majority of the game, it shouldn’t be hard to guess who it is.
Yup. Starting off this whole shindig with Agro. Figures they’d be an animal.
For those of you who haven’t played Shadow of the Colossus, stop reading this and go find a copy you can play. I mean, Agro is Wander’s horse. And his only companion besides Mono, the eternally sleeping (or quite possibly very dead) woman he brought to the Forbidden Land to save.
Mechanics wise, the concept of Agro is not new. We’ve seen her before, in Epona from Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. The steadfast, loyal steed. The companion that comes when you call no matter where you are in the world. Probably more fearless than you. That sort of thing.
She basically is Shadow of the Colossus’s all terrain vehicle, and a reason exploring the vastness of Shadow’s map is fun. Agro can go most places for plot or mechanic reasons, though there are places he can’t realistically go (like the levels where Wander has to fight the Colossus in water). And sure, sometimes, she handles like a four-legged boat. Her riding controls took me a while to get used to, and god forbid I had to shoot and ride at the same time (something I wouldn’t master until two playthroughs of Twilight Princess), but, for the most part, very solid.
Agro feels new because she’s the only companion Wander has in the beautiful but desolate Forbidden Land. She’s steadfast and always at Wander’s side. Even when the first colossus sends Wander climbing out of Agro’s reach, the horse waits patiently below him, even tracking his movement should he fall.
In a way, Agro reminds me of the dog Hachiko. Wander’s best, and most loyal friend. One that 
will wait for, support, and follow Wander to the end of the world or further if needed.
There was a theory shared with me back when I played the game the first time, that Agro was stolen, just like the ancient sword and Mono. That when fleeing the society where he never fit in, Wander took the one person who showed him kindness, the way to save her, and someone else’s hunting horse to save the day.
At first, I thought about it and found it believable, but as I went through the game, I couldn’t quite agree with the theory. If Wander truly had stolen Agro, why would she put herself in so much danger to keep Wander alive? I talk, first, of Agro’s reaction to the Colossi in general. She really doesn’t run away from them, and will often come to Wander’s aid even if it puts herself in danger.
When Wander encounters the Fourth Colossus, “Phaedra” and gets stuck under ground with Phaedra effectively trying to drop the ruins he hides in on top of him, Agro rushes in and begins to run around the stage, becoming a distraction. This is not something that is needed to beat Phaedra, actually. But she still is there, trying to distract the giant creature determined to smash her master to a pulp.
The other Colossi, too. Three Colossi require Wander to ride frantically after them, and Agro seems ready to take on the challenge, and does not shy away from what I’d consider supergiants that should scare any normal creature, let alone a horse.
Agro doesn’t even run from the tentacle monsters that scare the shit out of Wander.
No one sacrifices themselves for someone they don’t trust.
This one’s for you, Friend.
To be honest, I couldn’t see for the first half of the final Colossus. It had nothing to do with my eyesight, or the fact the stage takes place in the pouring rain.
It had everything to do with the fact that I was mentally alternating between total rage and heart crushing despair. And I was crying like a baby.
I have met very few people who did not cry when Agro fell. First off, the scene was done very well–you had no hint of what was about to happen until far too late. Nowhere in the game would I have been lead to believe that Agro was a disposable character. She was far too useful, far too constant. Plus, to me, Wander already had lost everything. I didn’t factor Agro into the equation.
Honestly, I think very few of us did.
So when Wander and Agro charge across that crumbling bridge, to where the end of their journey awaits, that final challenge stands…I didn’t expect the bridge to fall. And we see panic.
We see Wander and Agro’s relationship play out in that scene. Wander realizes this is the only way across, that if he backs out now, he may not be able to save Mono. But he’s not willing to lose Agro to do that. So he starts to back off the bridge, he tries to save them both. If the scene had played out this way, they both would have died.
Instead, Agro ignores him, charges forward, and flings him across the gap. Then she falls, and, at that point, is assumed to be dead. I made the mistake of pressing the “Call” button after this happened, after I regained control and tried not look at the fact that Wander kept looking over the edge where she’d gone.
The first time, he screamed her name. The second press he just let out a choked call. I didn’t press it a third time.
They say your greatest friends are the ones who would die for you. I guess you can see where that puts Agro.
So while the final Colossus is the conclusion of the Wander’s journey, it is also his final tribute to the one thing that’s been by his side the whole time. This one’s for you, Agro.
Going Home
Shadow of the Colossus has a melancholy ending, in my opinion. It’s really good, a great conclusion, but very melancholy. The ending only adds to the helplessness that was building since Agro fell.
But if you wait till Mono wakes up, something happens. Agro limps in as she pulls the horned child from the water. The horned child I could only assume was Wander, because of Agro’s greeting of him.
And typically, honestly, I get mad about deus ex machinas that are the “you thought so-and-so was dead? You were wrong!” I typically can’t stand them.
For some reason, though, I was just so happy to see her again that I let it go.
I am amazed, to this day, that thinking of Agro’s fall still makes me as sad as it did. Does. I will admit to having a few saves where I cannot and will not go to the final Colossus, because I don’t want Wander’s only friend taken away from him. I don’t want her to get hurt. It’s too much.
And I want some comfort that Agro survives, and probably dies a later on, a happy old horse. But something about that makes me sad too. Yet, this whole time, here I am talking about what some may not consider a character. A horse, a plot mechanic, someone who cannot talk to you.
But I couldn’t imagine taking on the Forbidden Land without her. And, frankly, I never want to.
(And with The Last Guardian set to come out this year, I can only hope we get a new companion that lives up to Agro).
**Featured photo credited to Pablo Yonder, https://www.artstation.com/artwork/0n06G
