There’s nothing better than a good video game sidekick

destructoid.com:

Who doesn’t love a good video game sidekick? I’ve been playing through some of the old Ratchet & Clank games with a friend, and while A Crack in Time is one of the best of the series, my biggest gripe is that we don’t get enough Ratchet and Clank quality time. Maybe I’m just too sentimental, but I really love seeing best buddy characters in my games, and Clank makes just about the best sidekick a girl could ask for.

He’s got it all — an adorable personality, quippy dialogue, useful game mechanics, he never gets in the way, and his gameplay sections break things up and provide some cool puzzle mechanics. Clank is so awesome, he got me thinking about some other great — and not so great — sidekicks in video games.

The most classic example is Ashley from Resident Evil 4, and one of the most tedious, awful escort missions in the history of gaming. I haven’t played any of the Resident Evil games because I’m too much of a wimp, and even I know about this trainwreck. Players have used Ashley as the prime example of annoying sidekick characters and escort missions for years now, to the point that her name is evoked at game studios when discussing what not to do. She’s whiny, she gets in the way, and requires help to do basic tasks like using a ladder, which then triggers a long animation you have to wait through.

Ashley is less of a sidekick and more of a walking embodiment of frustrating game mechanics. Having another character around to bounce off of both narratively and in gameplay can be a huge asset, but when buddy AI is bad, it’s really, really bad.

Then we have characters like Elizabeth from BioShock Infinite or Ellie from The Last of Us, who feel like direct answers to the Ashleys of the world. They don’t get in the way,