Playing video games can often be a solo activity, particularly when you enjoy single-player role-playing games, which often put you in a world all by yourself.
Video game heroes don’t always have to work alone. Many games let them join groups or call on allies for help.
These helpful characters often come with their own tasks to finish, but it’s worth doing them. They appear in games where players really need assistance to succeed.
Not every group you encounter will be beneficial, or even worth joining. Some are simply ineffective, while others are actively harmful, and aligning with them will only lead to trouble in your story.
While most groups in video games are interesting enough to explore, a few are so poorly designed or unpleasant that it’s best to steer clear of them completely.
10. Bodhi & The Vampires
Baldur’s Gate 2: Shadows Of Amn
When you start playing Baldur’s Gate 2 and arrive in the city of Amn, you’ll discover a conflict is underway between two powerful groups: the Shadow Thieves and the vampires led by Bodhi.
Although the Shadow Thieves are a shady group, they’re willing to assist the main character – if you can pay them. Vampires, on the other hand, are solely focused on feeding and will immediately attack the player.
You can team up with Bodhi early in the game and help her defeat the Shadow Thieves, but it’s a really bad plan to do so.
The Shadow Thieves are challenging opponents, and the game later forces you to fight them, adding to the difficulty of an already tough area called Bodhi’s Dungeon.
9. The Salarians
Mass Effect 3
In the Mass Effect universe, the Salarians are a major power, and gaining their support is crucial for players hoping to defeat the Reapers in Mass Effect 3.
The Salarians are willing to help, but their assistance comes with a difficult condition: they want Shepard to abandon the effort to cure the Genophage, a weapon that has almost destroyed the Krogan race. This would likely involve killing Mordin, a member of Shepard’s team who helped create the Genophage and now wants to fix his mistake.
Throughout the Mass Effect games, the Krogan have consistently proven to be strong allies. Their focus on combat has been more valuable in the fight against the Reapers than the approach the Salarians have taken so far.
8. Hikawa
Shin Megami Tensei 3
Hikawa is a central figure at the beginning of Shin Megami Tensei 3. The game opens with the player meeting him in a hospital basement as a catastrophic event wipes out most of humanity and brings demons into the world.
Throughout Shin Megami Tensei 3, the player repeatedly meets Hikawa, who reveals his goals: to build a peaceful world without the problems caused by human desire and ambition.
Choosing to support Hikawa lets you build his idea of a perfect world, but it begins as nothingness and unfolds into a reality hidden from you. Frankly, Hikawa’s vision isn’t very good, and you won’t even get to see what it becomes.
7. The Omar
Deus Ex: Invisible War
The Omar characters in the game Deus Ex: Invisible War are completely different from Omar Little in the TV show The Wire. These Omar are a group of cyborgs who have no faces and share similarities with the Borg from Star Trek, but with a preference for leather clothing.
The Omar are known as practical traders, but they aren’t particularly friendly. Interestingly, the player can actually choose to support them by eliminating the leaders of all other groups. This supposedly results in a positive outcome – a unified humanity. But is that really the case?
Choosing the Omar path in the game leads to a devastating outcome: almost all of humanity is destroyed, and what remains must start over completely, becoming something entirely different. Deus Ex games aren’t usually happy endings, but the Omar faction delivers one of the most terrible fates for the world due to the awful consequences of their actions.
6. The Frenzied Flame
Elden Ring
Most FromSoftware games don’t make their factions matter much beyond online play. Elden Ring is different – the various powerful characters in the game have their own goals and actively try to get the player involved in achieving them.
Players who find the Three Fingers can align themselves with the Frenzied Flame. Completing the Three Fingers’ questline grants the Flame of Frenzy, unlocking one of the game’s Chaos endings.
Choosing the Chaos ending in the game means burning the Erdtree, which ultimately destroys the world. Melina will then kill the player character. It’s generally not considered a very uplifting ending, and is mostly appealing to those who strongly dislike the game’s bosses and want to see everything obliterated.
5. The Legion
Fallout: New Vegas
Image Via Bethesda
The Legion in Fallout: New Vegas isn’t known for making a good first impression – they’re notorious for their brutal practice of crucifixion, leaving people to die a slow and painful death.
The Legion is a group in the Mojave Wasteland inspired by ancient Roman soldiers. They aim to take control through harsh methods and a strict sense of justice. While many factions oppose them, players can choose to join the Legion if they agree with their brutal tactics.
Choosing to support Caesar’s Legion means they could establish order in the Mojave Wasteland, but it would come at a significant price. Their harsh rule essentially turns the people into slaves.
4. The Rakyat
Far Cry 3
Image Via Ubisoft
Most of Far Cry 3 involves rescuing the protagonist’s friends, who have been kidnapped by pirates and scattered throughout the islands. To do this, the player must work with the Rakyat, the local islanders, who will help them on their journey.
Citra, the sister of the main villain, leads the Rakyat. At the game’s conclusion, players face a difficult choice: they can align with Citra and the Rakyat, but doing so requires them to betray and eliminate the characters they’ve been protecting throughout the story.
Okay, so choosing to help the Citra? Huge mistake. Not only does it totally ruin the whole point of playing the game, but they kill you at the end, meaning nobody gets off Rook Islands. Seriously, it’s a bad ending all around.
3. Way Of The White
Dark Souls
Okay, so the Souls games are famous for being tough – seriously tough! But honestly, it’s not always a solo struggle. I’ve learned you can make things a little more manageable by choosing a certain playstyle, or ‘build,’ and even better, you can get help from other players online. It’s a huge relief when you’re stuck, let me tell you!
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In Dark Souls, joining the Way of White covenant is meant to simplify the game by decreasing unwanted player attacks and boosting cooperation. However, this often results in a less engaging and ultimately dull experience.
One of the most enjoyable parts of Dark Souls is when another player invades your game and you manage to win. However, the Way of the White covenant isn’t very engaging compared to the others, which makes the overall experience less interesting.
2. The Killer
Persona 4
Image Via Atlus
Persona 4 is a mystery game centered around a series of murders in the quiet town of Inaba. The protagonists discover someone is using a special power – the ability to summon Personas – for malicious purposes, terrorizing the town’s residents.
Towards the conclusion of Persona 4, players can choose to support the killer, covering up their crimes and allowing them to avoid punishment. This decision results in a negative ending, highlighted by a particularly unsettling final scene.
Honestly, as a Persona 4 fan, I was really disappointed when the game let you side with the villain after everything that happened. It just didn’t feel right, and it meant you skipped a whole part of the story! I think a lot of people who are curious about that ending will probably just watch it online instead of going through the trouble of getting it themselves, and I get why.
1. The Kuei-Jin
Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines
Image Via Activision
In the Vampire: The Masquerade universe, Kuei-Jin are a type of undead originally from Asia. While previously established as part of the game’s history, they’ve recently been re-imagined. In recent times, many have left Asia, spreading across the globe and causing friction with vampire communities in Europe and the Americas.
In the video game Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines, a faction of Kuei-Jin vampires tries to seize control of Los Angeles by challenging Prince LaCroix. Players can choose to side with them, which makes bypassing the game’s hardest boss fight surprisingly simple.
The main issue with the Kuei-Jin is that they don’t really add much to the game for the player, particularly since they appear so late in the story – after you’ve already invested a lot of time getting to know the other groups.
These vampires are isolated from the main vampire community in Los Angeles, making it hard to build any meaningful relationships. Plus, players who choose to align with them generally find their storyline unsatisfying and may regret their decision.
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2025-12-26 02:41