8 PS4 RPGs Where Companions Can Derail the Entire Story

Role-playing video games often feature main quests centered around a particular event, villain, or the main player character, but it's rather easy for people to get distracted by side quests, collectibles, loot, and other factors that lead many to take forever in completing the main quest, if they ever get around to it at all.

Easily one of the most distracting factors in RPGs that can completely derail the pacing and attention towards the main quest are companions who, more often than not, come with engaging side quests tied to earning their friendship or learning more about their backstory.

The PlayStation 4 was home to many RPGs that featured such distracting yet enthralling companions, with some companion-focused side quests featuring stories that improve or even rise above the main questlines themselves in terms of narrative quality.

8 GreedFall

Confronting the People of Teer Fradee

GreedFall RPG FX Wiki Wiki Released September 10, 2019 Developer(s) Spiders Publisher(s) Focus Home Interactive Platform(s) PS4, Xbox One, PC, PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S Genre(s) RPG

In 2019, the French developer Spiders released one of the most underrated third-person action RPGs of the eighth console generation, with that game being the 18th century-style GreedFall.

Set on the island of Teer Fradee at a time when its native inhabitants are in conflict with European colonists, GreedFall has players take control of Legate De Sardet as they arrive on the island to help Prince Constantin d'Orsay negotiate with the indigenous clans and other colonizing nations whilst searching for a cure for the Malichor Plague.

Players can easily ignore their diplomatic duties and instead explore the island and help companions solve their own issues and goals, such as helping the firearm-wielding naturalist Aphra find the fabled Cave of Knowledge or helping the Coin Guard Kurt find the Phantom Training Camp, with many of these personal quests often ending in potential romances.

7 Horizon Zero Dawn

Meeting the Tribes of the Sundom

Horizon Zero Dawn Adventure RPG Released February 28, 2017 Developer(s) Guerrilla Games Publisher(s) Sony Franchise Horizon Zero Dawn Platform(s) PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 Genre(s) Adventure, RPG

In 2017, Guerrilla Games departed from their FPS Killzone roots and ventured into the world of action RPGs with their hit PS4 exclusive post-apocalyptic sci-fi game, Horizon Zero Dawn.

Here, people play as Nora Seeker Aloy as she sets out to find the source of corruption for roaming animalistic machines, learn more about her mysterious past, and stop a violent cult from attacking tribes, but Aloy can get easily distracted in her quest to save the world by interacting with other tribes and the people found therein.

For example, if people travel to Meridian, the Carja's capital city, players can find Talanah, a Hawk of the Hunters Lodge who will temporarily join Aloy in helping people of the Sundom take down rogue machines before ultimately taking down the menacing Thunderjaw Redmaw and later joining Aloy in the defense of Meridian from the AI HADES.

6 The Outer Worlds

Building a Crew in the Halcyon System

The Outer Worlds RPG FX Wiki Wiki Released October 25, 2019 Developer(s) Obsidian Entertainment Publisher(s) Private Division Franchise The Outer Worlds Platform(s) Switch, Xbox One, PS4, PC Genre(s) RPG

For decades, developers at Obsidian Entertainment and Black Isle Studios before it crafted some of the best western RPGs the gaming industry has ever seen, with titles like Baldur's Gate, Alpha Protocol, and Fallout: New Vegas, and they built upon these RPG roots in 2019 when they released The Outer Worlds for PS4 and other modern platforms.

A primarily first-person action RPG similar in gameplay to New Vegas, The Outer Worlds has players embody a survivor of the lost colony ship, Hope, as they set out in the faraway Halcyon star system in an effort to revive the rest of the Hope's crew and save Halcyon from corrupt corporate overlords.

However, players can fairly quickly ignore these main objectives and instead fly around the system's many planets and recruit companions to join the crew of the Unreliable, with characters like the mercenary Ellie Fenhill and the mechanic Parvati Holcomb offering fun quests to boost their connection with the player, with Holcomb's quest to go on a date with her crush being particularly endearing.

5 Dragon Age: Inquisition

Making Friends Throughout Thedas

Dragon Age: Inquisition Action RPG Released November 18, 2014 Developer(s) BioWare Publisher(s) Electronic Arts Franchise Dragon Age Platform(s) PS4, PS3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PC Genre(s) Action RPG

Over the course of the sixth and seventh console generations, BioWare became particularly famous for its in-depth RPGs full of expansive, enthralling worlds, and intriguing characters, with many companions featuring captivating personal questlines and even romance options, and this trend continued with their first game of the eighth console generation, Dragon Age: Inquisition.

The third mainline entry in the Dragon Age series, Dragon Age: Inquisition has players set out to close a Breach in the Veil that unleashes demons throughout Thedas and find the one responsible for the Breach's opening, but players can easily become distracted by companions and delay solving the mystery of the Breach.

For instance, players can meet the Qunari warrior Iron Bull, otherwise known as Hissrad, on the Storm Coast, where they can later aid him in establishing an alliance between the Inquisition and the Ben-Hassrath.

4 Dark Souls 3

Befriending Siegward of Catarina

Dark Souls 3 Action RPG FX Wiki Wiki Released March 24, 2016 Developer(s) From Software Publisher(s) Bandai Namco Entertainment, From Software Franchise Dark Souls Platform(s) PS4, Xbox One, PC Genre(s) Action RPG

The Dark Souls series is unlike most traditional RPGs in that NPCs can regularly help players defeat difficult bosses, but they won't constantly follow players around or join them in a party, though they still do have engaging side quests that players can miss if they're not paying attention.

One such situation can be seen in Dark Souls 3 with Siegward of Catarina, a knight from the same homeland of DS1's Siegmeyer, a good-natured, jolly fellow who can be encountered early on in the Undead Settlement, where players can join him in slaying a roaming fire demon.

If players choose to later recover Siegward's armor from the pesky Patches and free him from the Irithyll Dungeon, they'll be able to fight Yhorm the Giant with Siegward at the players' side, resulting in Siegward telling a tragic story of how he and Yhorm once used to be friends.

3 The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Skyrim's Many Intriguing Companions

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition Action RPG GGMods Mods Released October 28, 2016 Developer(s) Bethesda Game Studios Publisher(s) Bethesda Softworks Franchise The Elder Scrolls Platform(s) PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One Genre(s) Action RPG

While The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim did originally debut on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, it was rereleased and remastered on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in 2016 as The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Special Edition and later in 2021 as an Anniversary Edition, allowing whole new generations of gamers to explore the province of Skyrim.

Here, players can set out to save the world from the dragon Alduin, or they can immediately ignore that quest and wander around the province, encountering all kinds of NPCs and unique companions along the way.

Some of Skyrim's most notable companions are Serana, a vampire whom players can aid in defeating her father, Vampire Lord Harkon, in the Dawnguard DLC, J'zargo, a comical, powerful Khajiit sorcerer who players can meet at the College of Winterhold, and a talking talk called Barbas with a mysteriously demonic backstory.

2 Mass Effect Legendary Edition

Romancing Your Way Through the Galaxy

Mass Effect: Legendary Edition Action RPG GGMods Mods Released May 14, 2021 Developer(s) BioWare Publisher(s) Electronic Arts Franchise Mass Effect Platform(s) PC, PS4, Xbox One Genre(s) Action, RPG

Much like Skyrim, the Mass Effect trilogy originally debuted on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, but BioWare remastered and collected all three games for the PS4 and Xbox One as Mass Effect Legendary Edition, giving modern players an easy way to experience BioWare's original sci-fi RPG epic in full.

Throughout each Mass Effect game, players can recruit beings of all kinds into the crew of the SSV Normandy, such as the intimidating Korgan mercenary Urdnot Wrex, the stunning Cerberus operative Miranda Lawson, and the robotic Geth Mobile Platform 2A93 Legion, with most crew members having optional quests tied to improving their relationship with Commander Shepard.

These quests can often supersede the main galaxy-ending trilogy threat of the Reapers as completing these companion quests can help better the odds of characters surviving dangerous scenarios and potentially lead to steamy romances, with many relationships being able to be maintained from Mass Effect 1 all the way to Mass Effect 3 as long as characters survive.

1 Fallout 4

Helping Folks of the Commonwealth

Fallout 4 RPG Action FX Wiki Wiki GGMods Mods Released November 10, 2015 Developer(s) Bethesda Publisher(s) Bethesda Franchise Fallout Platform(s) PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S Genre(s) RPG, Action

Easily the number one PS4 RPG that features companions who can instantly derail the momentum of the game's main plot, is Bethesda Game Studios' Fallout 4.

The main plot of Fallout 4 is centered around the Sole Survivor searching throughout the New England Commonwealth wasteland for their kidnapped son Shaun, but most players will often put that issue to the side for a while when they meet the game's many unique and interesting companions.

Some of the earliest companions in Fallout 4, like Codsworth and Dogmeat, don't feature in-depth quests tied to their character, but the Minuteman Preston Garvey, Brotherhood of Steel Paladin Danse, the synth dective Nick Valentine, and more all feature complex quests that are arguably more engaging and fun than the game's main quest.