And not just because the companions you can get are dumb, expendable pack mules whom you can’t heal or revive.

When you’re in the middle of the wilderness or a dungeon, you develop a sense of isolation and endangerment, that any moment, an enemy or two might surprise attack and then eventually kill you, and no one was going to save you except yourself. But at the same time, you can’t help but feel awestruck by the gorgeous environments around you, despite them being dangerous. And it’s further enhanced with the background music that changes depending on your location, or whether or not you’re in battle.

And by the time you head into a town to rest up and prepare for the next few quests, there is a sense of community, safety, and coziness that gives you a breather from the outside world. Especially once you head to an inn or tavern to rest up and talk to NPCs in-between quests, or purchase your own house and live, eat, and sleep there. Which just makes it that much more stressful once you leave these towns and enter the dangerous outside world again to complete more quests.

Like how we have the Hero’s Journey, as revealed by Joseph Campbell in his book, “Hero With a Thousand Faces”. That is, the cycle of breaking out of a safe area and into the dangerous outside world to complete a quest, and then returning home successful until the next quest. Like when Bruce Wayne dons his Batman costume and identity to leave the safety and comfort of one identity, in order to put his life at risk to save Gotham from its own criminal underworld with the other identity. Or Clark Kent doing the exact same thing with his Superman identity in order to save Metropolis from its own supervillains.

And having companions at all would have ruined these location-based feelings, especially in the wilderness or dungeon. Because you’re no longer isolated, and the outside world doesn’t seem as dangerous when you have companions as it would have when you fly solo, instead.

Plus, RPGs have you build and customize your character to fit any playstyle you want, whether for melee, tanking, stealth, sniping, attack magic, or healing and supportive magic. Companions just give you weapons, armor, and abilities you didn’t pick to complement the ones you did. But when you fly solo, you wouldn’t really need companions to give you abilities you don’t have, when you can just pick your own abilities and do better with those solo than with said companions’ other abilities.

Thoughts?