In honour of the 24th of July I’m going to take a look back at some of the bestest of best friends in video games. Having a buddy makes those long, cold nights staring at a screen that little bit more bearable. These are the relationships that have helped us get through the good times and the bad times.
Grayson Hunt and Ishi Sato-Bulletstorm
One’s a bitter yet noble and morally upright wounded cyborg, the other’s a foolhardy, foulmouthed meathead whose primary source of pleasure is in launching bullets up anuses. Why would they ever be friends? Who knows? But the bromance is evident as they ride that robot dinosaur.
The Player and the companion-Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Sky
Who could have thought that it would take a pokémon to teach a man to love?
The Boss and everyone and everything else-Saints Row IV
Nothing says BFFs for life like casual, no-strings attached sex on a spaceship. Perhaps Saints Row 4 is the most progressive video game of our time.
Man and other man-Call of Duty
It might not look like much, but to a marine there is no more meaningful gesture than holding down a button for up to two seconds. No more than that though. Wouldn’t want people getting the wrong idea.
Me, Alistair and my gifts-Dragon Age Origins
Ha ha! You’re so funny, Alistair! Please say more funny things about your chaste upbringing and your issues with the templar order! If I give you this old boot will you tell me about how you never knew your mother?
The best relationships are those built upon mutual reward.
You and Buttdog-Skyrim
Your dog is a faithful and trustworthy companion until you tell him to wait for you to perform a robbery and he wanders off. Perhaps you should have thought harder about the name.
Your Squad-XCOM
That friendship was never there. It was all in your head. Deadshot didn’t really fall into a cycle of deep depression when she panicked and shot Papa Bear in the face. And Prophet never promised Double Down that he’d name his first born after her as she lay bleeding in the sand.
Talion and Ioreth-Shadow of Mordor
What is a wife if not a perfect analogy for orc murder?
Cursor and Sim-The Sims
You can’t help but love the cursor. At once your creator and your destroyer. The cursor giveth and the cursor take away. Some don’t acknowledge the cursor, but, in our hearts, we all know it’s there looking out for us.
Left Bat and Right Bat-Pong
These two show that even where there is darkness there is love. Two brothers caught on either side of an eternal war, their story is a tragic one that teaches the true value of enduring friendship.
Jim Huxter 