Boone, because he's a badass ex-Sniper  

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Vanilla
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Fallout 3

Jericho, Fawkes, and Charon
Just wish they all had proper stories like NV


Fallout New Vegas

All of them, with the exception of ED-E whom i prefer the Lonesome Road verison..
[ I really wish that DLC added ED-E's emotions into the base ED-E.. Is there a mod that does that? ]

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Modded
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Fallout 3

Malcolm ( From FOOK2 )

New Vegas

Willow, Niner, and Vincent

Difficult, very difficult, if only because I actually consider this one of the weaker areas of the Fallout setting. You never really get close to anyone, even companions. New Vegas does it best, I guess, but even then it's clearly not as fleshed out as they would have liked with more time (they were planning romances.)

Let's start with Fallout. Ian was cool (unless you let him use an SMG), but really he was just a merc on the surface and outside any headcanon relationship progression you gave him. Dogmeat was nice but tended to die quick. I liked Katja because she had plenty of dialog, had bettered herself so to speak, but you generally pick her up late game. Tycho wins here, as he is pretty much the basis for the NCR Veteran Rangers, and he also takes you under his wing when you meet him, so to speak. His little history lesson is fun, and you get a real sense he wants to make a wasteland a better place. I actually also enjoy keeping Tandi around for a while, until its just too dangerous to keep her around being that she doesn't wear armor or level due to being intended as an escort mission.

I'll leave Fallout Tactics out, due to the focus on squad base combat, rather than actually having characters you have a set of walking stats with a small bio blob. Bonus points for having Riddick and and the Vault-Boy.

Onto Fallout 2. Here is where things actually get somewhat interesting. Unlike many, I actually liked the shotgun wedding you can get forced into, and didn't see the spouse as a ball and chain. It became a challenge to keep them alive, and I generally cared for their well being. Generally it was Miria I married. It added something unique to the game. Even more so with the mod that allows her to wait (so you can leave her behind when going somewhere dangerous, and pick her up afterwards) and added a ton of extra dialog and options.

Cassidy was also, of course, interesting. I liked that he seemed to have your back, but sadly he didn't have the depth of his daughter. Goris was one I liked, despite being surprisingly weak, due to being both an intelligent Deathclaw, but also a generally civilized being.

K-9, Robodog, and Dogmeat were okay, but I really never have been a fan of the 'pet' companions. Lenny was interesting and the first ghoul companion, but that was the height of his interest to me. I did like Sulik, but I generally end up leaving him at his village to look after his sister (I use the restoration patch) or with the girl who has fallen for him in the base game. Myron is just pure scum, which actually makes him pretty interesting, even if I generally never recruit him. Skynet is also facinating, but in an overall sense, rather than as a companion. Marcus is generally a must have, because not only is he interesting, but pretty powerful early on.

Vic? Vic has always been a sore spot for me, as I had one of my first characters... 'dishonor' herself to save him, before I knew the tricks to easily afford freeing him, and was worried I would run out of time if I didn't accomplish my mission quickly. He then turned out to have little to nothing of value to offer as far as advancing my quest went. I believe I then shot him, upset at how low I had the character fall for nothing. And then regretted it, also. Really, it was a masterful set up by the game writers, and is the sort of thing that is missing from games often these days.

In Fallout 3, the companions have little character outside who they are, and a little flavor. That said, this allows the players interpretations to shape them just as much as the world. Jericho is good if you are roleplaying a naive, but not entirely moral, LW. I generally assume he is playing at mentor for his own ends. Clover I generally hire our of pity, but I find her somewhat dull once I get used to her being basically Charon: The Loveslave Edition. By this I mean she 'loves' whoever holds her leash, the same way Charon is loyal to whoever holds his contract. Onto Charon, I really do like him. His concept is an interesting one. I just wish we could have delved into it further with a NV style companion quest. Dogmeat is Dogmeat. Sarge is fun, in a passive 'keep him around to kill stuff' way. Cross is interesting in her backstory, and that she has connections to your father, but generally has a personality like cardboard. Fawkes is (of course) awesome, and feels like an actual companion rather than a hired gun or underling. My problem with Fawkes is, no matter how they handwave it, that it just doesn't make sense for him to be able to walk around the settlements unmolested. It breaks my immersion.

Now, I come to the important one (for me). Butch. Hear me out! we first meet him as a snot nosed little brat, whose mother apparently has a drinking problem. We then find him hassling Amata with his little gang, and find that he has progressed to outright violent and somewhat dangerous bully, raging against the stifling authority of the Overseer. But, in the escape years later, we see his more vulnerable side, when we (can) save his mother. He can be genuinely thankful, and if you had time you can realize a friendship could have perhaps formed if things had been different. And, when you return after your adventures, you find him changed yet again. A rebel with a cause now, he is wants to leave the Vault and try and follow your example in the wastes. When you find him in the muddy rudder, you also discover that he managed to make it all the way to Rivet City alone, and also has inherited his mothers drinking problem. Generally, I think due to his story running alongside the Lone Wanderers that he is one of, if not the, most fleshed out companion we get prior to New Vegas. We know his flaws, his fears, his insecurities, and that despite them he is made of stern stuff. He can also easily end up being the last piece of the players old life that remains in the wastes, that gives him a special place at our side. Just my opinion of course.

New Vegas suffers from having released too early, but does arguably the best job. And yet, outside one or two characters I feel that it has the problem of lacking relationships. They are all interesting people, lets get that out of the way, with interesting stories. But a companion is supposed to have a connection with the player, and generally I feel the NV followers don't. Veronica is nice and friendly enough, but even after giving her a dress and talking to her a lot, I still felt somewhat distant from her. Perhaps its the way she uses irreverence and humor as a shield. Lily, poor dear, is just too far gone. Boone is a wounded man, and on certain characters I do feel a bond, but only on certain ones. He is basically a man trying to commit suicide by Legion. Raul is fascinating with his backstory and views, but is a tired old man. It gives him charm and a place in my heart, but doesn't lend to being friends so much as his support network.  ED-I is a funny little thing, but more like a pet than a friend.

The two winners here are Cass and Arcade. Cass has arguably the most ambient dialog of any companion, she cares and wants to help get vengeance for you when she finds out about you being shot, and generally feels like a friend, and even is hinted that she could be a lover after you have both been drinking by the campfire. I just try and keep myself distant however, due to her dying in my favorite/most common (House) ending. It makes for a very Fallout experience in that regard. Arcade surprised me. Despite being the smart guy, he is actually very personable, and it sucks that he leaves you after his companion quest and assembling the old Enclave members. I felt close to to the guy, and he let me in. He also wins points for being willing to travel with a low-int character purely because he feels badly for them.

So, after a very long post (I have nothing pressing to do, so why not? Fallout is one of my favorite series after all) it comes down to Miria, Butch, Cass and Arcade.

If i really had to pick, i'd have to say Cass. If only because of just how much she has to say, and how much like a living breathing person she feels. I love how Butch changes and grows, but you can't escape the lack of ambient and actual dialog. I love that Miria is your wife, but even with the mod, she is intended as a hindrance and has the same lack of depth. Arcade also suffers from clearly not having the same amount of time put into him as Cass.

My overwhelming issue with companions generally falls into the fact they usually feel like indentured servants or allies of convenience. Cass however averts this, and proves herself a friend.

Just my thoughts. My long winded thoughts.

Jerry McGoulsBerry because its Jerry

Well, I guess Veronica.
She is funny and her melee weapon is the strongest.

Veronia, Boone, ED-E, and The King's Dog.
Now you give me a shotty like the thunderpipe and girl is gonna kick-ass!

My favorite is Boone (vanilla) He's a good sniper whit grate combat skill. I like when in combat he can auto switch between melee and ranged weapons and he can loot weapon from dead enemy and used it.
and F1D0 from monster war mod. He just a sample robotic dog make by electronic junk and scrap metal. He has high HP but not strong enough.

Vincent VIncent is a really good fully voiced, lip synced and extremely underrated companion mod, you should definitely go check the mod out on the Nexus.

Tony Tony Chopper (a yao guai) I made in the GECK lol had him since like 2011. Can't imagine playing new vegas without him around.

I have a custom King member watching my back, i also like to bring Willow and Delilah to add some female voice.

Boone, he's really skilled in combat, and I enjoy his perk that you get when he follows

I really like the Your Pal Harland mod because he was a vanilla character that never really was expanded on but this mod allows it

Your Pal Harland:

my fav companion is the deathclaw commander mod he kills when told

Niner, I don't even have to think twice about it. Niner is my favorite companion ever next to Inigo from Skyrim. He's a hilarious junkie companion with a really fun quest. And even though he's not as quest/environment-aware as some companions are he makes up for it with his funny idle chatter.

My favorite would probably have to be Arcade Gannon, I just really enjoyed his enthralling backstory and involvement with the enclave. It would have been so easy for me to have just overlooked all of the things about him if I'd never recruited him as a companion!

steepergold wrote:

It would have been so easy for me to have just overlooked all of the things about him if I'd never recruited him as a companion!

Yeah i know what you mean, the first few times I played through FNV I ignored him completely. I didn't think there was anything I'd like about him until the first time I finally recruited him and talked to him and then you end up liking him a lot and only wishing he had better gear haha. Luckily that's an easy thing to fx

The CRI Squad for Fallout 3 because you could get so many unique units with different weapons and such, it was just overall an outstanding companion mod (It was an Enclave Commander variant so I'm guessing it's still considered a "companion" mod) and I always install it when I play. There was an Enclave Commander made by Corehound which had Section 8 stuff with it the coolest part was the Vertibird was replaced by a Section 8 stlye aircraft and the robots were replaced with tanks.

MundieElMilk wrote:

The cockroach business men or in popular terms Milton and Hans in Nexus. They're like bodyguards and they mean business. Get it?

I see what you did there I forgot about that mod, I loved going through their dialogue and trying to take away their brief case. Ah, good times.

hmm, there is few I like, Willow is I think best companion mod out there, I also use Sarah Lyons companion mod that I have, as for vanila companions I like Cass and Raul, that guy have some storys to tell, from time to time I use Veronica also

Niner, Vincent Vincent and Russell are all great companion mods.