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** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake'' has other party members usually kept away for story reasons. ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRebirth'' takes a different approach since you start this game with more party members than can be in the active party at once. Characters in reserve can still be seen hanging around during battles, and if your active party is in trouble, you can use a Backline Command once per battle: a Synergy Ability making use of a reserve party member and which doesn't consume the synergy counter.
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** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'', you can only fight with three party members at a time, but you can swap out a front-liner for a reserve PC at any time (if they are not being targeted by the enemy), AND if all three front-liners get KO'd, the game forces you to switch in at least one of the reserve [=PCs=]. You can even target your reserve party-members with buffs and heals, so you can have your secondary party revive your primary after a total-party-KO. In fact, the only way to die is to have all six members of your party KO'd. There is a boss that has instant death attacks -- the only way to win against him is to constantly raise the characters who are not in the front line.
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** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'', you can only fight with three party members at a time, but you can swap out a front-liner for a reserve PC at any time (if they are not being targeted by the enemy), AND if all three front-liners get KO'd, the game forces you to switch in at least one of the reserve [=PCs=]. You can even target your reserve party-members with buffs and heals, so you can have your secondary party revive your primary after a total-party-KO. In fact, the only way to die is to have all six members of your party KO'd. There This is a boss that has helpful against enemies with instant death attacks -- the only way to win against him is to constantly raise the characters who are not in the front line.attacks, since you can immediately swap KO'd members with live ones.
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* ''VideoGame/SweetHome1989'': Even though you can only have two parties at a time, if one of them is caught in a RandomEncounter, you can use the "Call" command to take control of the other party and move them to where the battle is taking place so that all five characters can team up. You only have a limited amount of time to move the backup party before the battle resumes again.
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* ''VideoGame/SweetHome1989'': Even though you can only have two parties at a time, three characters (out of five) in each party, if one of them is caught in a RandomEncounter, you can use the "Call" command to take control of the other party and move them to where the battle is taking place so that all five characters can team up. You only have a limited amount of time to move the backup party before the battle resumes again.
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* ''VideoGame/EternalSonata'' builds your party up to 10 (UsefulNotes/XBox360) or 12 (UsefulNotes/{{PS3}}) characters -- provided you brave the BonusDungeon, that is -- but only allows three active characters in a party at one time. You can switch any time you're neither in a battle nor in a cutscene, but no character will even move to replace fallen characters, and if all three of the ones you chose fall, it's game over. (At least any active character that's not dead can revive any that are, provided they have the right item.)
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* ''VideoGame/EternalSonata'' builds your party up to 10 (UsefulNotes/XBox360) (Platform/Xbox360) or 12 (UsefulNotes/{{PS3}}) (Platform/{{PS3}}) characters -- provided you brave the BonusDungeon, that is -- but only allows three active characters in a party at one time. You can switch any time you're neither in a battle nor in a cutscene, but no character will even move to replace fallen characters, and if all three of the ones you chose fall, it's game over. (At least any active character that's not dead can revive any that are, provided they have the right item.)
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* ''VideoGame/SeventhDragon'' triggers a GameOver if the current party is wiped, even if you have reserve members back at the guild hall. Gets pretty dumb in ''7th Dragon III: Code VFD'', where even after you gain access to a rear-line team of up to three that can provide battle support and later a ''second'' rear team, both of which can follow you at once (in other words, you have twice as many members following you as you have fighting as part of the front team), it's still mission failure if the front line kicks the bucket, even if you die to early enemies and your rear teams are composed of level 99 members who should be able to curb-stomp whatever killed the front line and then revive those fallen comrades.
* In ''VideoGame/AtelierRyzaEverDarknessAndTheSecretHideout'', the game even warns you the minute you get a fourth party member that "If all team members get knocked out in battle, it counts as a loss even if other members are available," with "even if other members are available" presented in RainbowSpeak to drive home the point.
* In the ''Franchise/BaldursGate'' series, the game ends instantly if the main character dies, regardless of how many characters in the party happen to be capable of casting Raise Dead or Resurrection. This may be justified when you actually die [[spoiler:because as a Bhaalspawn the divine part of your soul rejoins your father and presumably cannot be retrieved (like what happened to Sarevok), meaning even if you're revived, you can no longer affect the outcome of the prophecy and thus the game is effectively over. This would explain why setting a contingency to resurrect yourself works just fine, but ends the game anyway. Reviving the main character would also require a Resurrection spell at minimum since your body disintegrates, and Raise Dead requires a mostly intact body]]. However, the same thing happens when you're [[TakenForGranite petrified]] or [[{{Oubliette}} Imprisoned]]. That it doesn't happen to [[spoiler:Imoen]] is another discrepancy.
%%* ''VideoGame/BatenKaitos''
* In the ''Franchise/BaldursGate'' series, the game ends instantly if the main character dies, regardless of how many characters in the party happen to be capable of casting Raise Dead or Resurrection. This may be justified when you actually die [[spoiler:because as a Bhaalspawn the divine part of your soul rejoins your father and presumably cannot be retrieved (like what happened to Sarevok), meaning even if you're revived, you can no longer affect the outcome of the prophecy and thus the game is effectively over. This would explain why setting a contingency to resurrect yourself works just fine, but ends the game anyway. Reviving the main character would also require a Resurrection spell at minimum since your body disintegrates, and Raise Dead requires a mostly intact body]]. However, the same thing happens when you're [[TakenForGranite petrified]] or [[{{Oubliette}} Imprisoned]]. That it doesn't happen to [[spoiler:Imoen]] is another discrepancy.
%%* ''VideoGame/BatenKaitos''
* In ''VideoGame/CosmicStarHeroine'', not only you can have a reserve party almost twice the size of your ArbitraryHeadcountLimit that you can freely exchange with your active party outside of combat, you also have a loyal crew on your CoolSpaceship which includes armed security officers, yet once your active party enters combat, they can only count on themselves (and one support member who doesn't participate but provides passive bonuses). Lose them and your only option is to restart the battle or go back to the title screen.
* In ''VideoGame/CrossEdge'', there is a potential cast of over 20 characters; but you can only ever have 4 at a time in your party, and if you die, it's game over. Regardless of the large group that is there, watching.
* ''VideoGame/CthulhuSavesTheWorld'' lets you use in battle [[ArbitraryHeadcountLimit only 4 out of 7]] ([[OptionalPartyMember potentially 8]]) party members that you can change at any time outside of battle, yet if that quartet gets thrashed the rest won't lift a finger to chime in. It's all the more jarring because despite this being a parody game full of LampshadeHanging, this issue isn't addressed at all.
* In ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor'' you can deploy a maximum of four characters in a given battle. This isn't particularly bad for most of the game (as it spans 7 'days' and only up to 5 characters '''can''' be recruited in the first 6, meaning at most only one unit will sit out at a time). On some of the final routes though (Day 7) specifically the most difficult one, up to '''ten''' characters can be recruited. More then double the deployable limit.
** Well, in ''Shin Megami Tensei I'', ''II'', and ''Strange Journey'', there's a reason for the lazy backup. Your COMP doesn't have enough RAM for that. And even if it did, demons have to be physically summoned -- if your character is dead, there's nobody around to summon the backup out of your COMP.
** Also, the majority of demons only respect strength, and are essentially hired mercs anyway. If you get beat up, why should they bother saving your weak ass from death at the risk of their own? You simply weren't tough enough, and they aren't getting paid enough for that kind of crap.
** Same problem in ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor2''. There at least part of the time you don't have more than four party members or the game tries to justify it with a cutscene showing the backup doing something else while you're on the front lines, but by the midpoint of the game you can have far more than four characters available but still only able to deploy four. Then again, it's made clear that the whole group isn't actually together most of the time - implications are that the main character phones up his battle party and tells them to meet him when he sees a fight breaking out.
* In ''VideoGame/CrossEdge'', there is a potential cast of over 20 characters; but you can only ever have 4 at a time in your party, and if you die, it's game over. Regardless of the large group that is there, watching.
* ''VideoGame/CthulhuSavesTheWorld'' lets you use in battle [[ArbitraryHeadcountLimit only 4 out of 7]] ([[OptionalPartyMember potentially 8]]) party members that you can change at any time outside of battle, yet if that quartet gets thrashed the rest won't lift a finger to chime in. It's all the more jarring because despite this being a parody game full of LampshadeHanging, this issue isn't addressed at all.
* In ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor'' you can deploy a maximum of four characters in a given battle. This isn't particularly bad for most of the game (as it spans 7 'days' and only up to 5 characters '''can''' be recruited in the first 6, meaning at most only one unit will sit out at a time). On some of the final routes though (Day 7) specifically the most difficult one, up to '''ten''' characters can be recruited. More then double the deployable limit.
** Well, in ''Shin Megami Tensei I'', ''II'', and ''Strange Journey'', there's a reason for the lazy backup. Your COMP doesn't have enough RAM for that. And even if it did, demons have to be physically summoned -- if your character is dead, there's nobody around to summon the backup out of your COMP.
** Also, the majority of demons only respect strength, and are essentially hired mercs anyway. If you get beat up, why should they bother saving your weak ass from death at the risk of their own? You simply weren't tough enough, and they aren't getting paid enough for that kind of crap.
** Same problem in ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor2''. There at least part of the time you don't have more than four party members or the game tries to justify it with a cutscene showing the backup doing something else while you're on the front lines, but by the midpoint of the game you can have far more than four characters available but still only able to deploy four. Then again, it's made clear that the whole group isn't actually together most of the time - implications are that the main character phones up his battle party and tells them to meet him when he sees a fight breaking out.
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* ''VideoGame/GoldenSun'':
** By the end of ''VideoGame/GoldenSunTheLostAge'', you'll have eight characters, but only four active in battle at any time. If your first four are knocked out, the game will automatically switch to the other four characters if any of them are still alive. You can also switch individual party members between turns.
** ''VideoGame/GoldenSunDarkDawn'' also brings in the rear guard if the entire front line falls in battle, and allows you to rearrange the party mid-battle. Rear-line characters will also automatically switch in during the [[{{Superboss}} Ancient Devil]] battle after someone falls prey to [[BrainwashedAndCrazy Demon Sign]], and allies KO'd under Demon Sign will be placed in the rear instead of wasting space on the front line.
* In ''VideoGame/CrossEdge'', there is a potential cast of over 20 characters; but you can only ever have 4 at a time in your party, and if you die, it's game over. Regardless of the large group that is there, watching.
* In the mech battles of ''VideoGame/{{Xenosaga}} 3'', if one mech gets knocked out a backup mech will automatically jump in and replace it. Unfortunately there's only one backup mech so any other [=KOs=] are down for the rest of the battle.
** By the end of ''VideoGame/GoldenSunTheLostAge'', you'll have eight characters, but only four active in battle at any time. If your first four are knocked out, the game will automatically switch to the other four characters if any of them are still alive. You can also switch individual party members between turns.
** ''VideoGame/GoldenSunDarkDawn'' also brings in the rear guard if the entire front line falls in battle, and allows you to rearrange the party mid-battle. Rear-line characters will also automatically switch in during the [[{{Superboss}} Ancient Devil]] battle after someone falls prey to [[BrainwashedAndCrazy Demon Sign]], and allies KO'd under Demon Sign will be placed in the rear instead of wasting space on the front line.
* In ''VideoGame/CrossEdge'', there is a potential cast of over 20 characters; but you can only ever have 4 at a time in your party, and if you die, it's game over. Regardless of the large group that is there, watching.
* In the mech battles of ''VideoGame/{{Xenosaga}} 3'', if one mech gets knocked out a backup mech will automatically jump in and replace it. Unfortunately there's only one backup mech so any other [=KOs=] are down for the rest of the battle.
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*
** By
** ''VideoGame/GoldenSunDarkDawn'' also brings in the rear guard if the entire front line falls
* In
* ''VideoGame/EternalSonata'' builds your party up to 10 (UsefulNotes/XBox360) or 12 (UsefulNotes/{{PS3}}) characters -- provided you brave the BonusDungeon, that is -- but
* In
* ''VideoGame/EtrianOdyssey''. You have a guild of
* ''Steven Universe'' fangame ''VideoGame/FlawedCrystals'' avoids this by also averting ArbitraryHeadcountLimit -- every character will help you in battle if they can. According to WordOfGod, this was an attempt at GameplayAndStoryIntegration by showing ThePowerOfFriendship.
** This even extends to NonPlayerCharacter Lapis Lazuli, who, despite being unable to fight herself, will extract you from the battle if you lose. In the battle against [[spoiler:Jasper]] in one bad ending, she will actually attack and win the fight for you if Stevonnie falls. Played straighter in the final dungeon, however, where Lapis never participates in battles despite accompanying the rest of the party.
* ''VideoGame/GoldenSun'':
** By the end of ''VideoGame/GoldenSunTheLostAge'', you'll have eight characters, but only four active in battle at any time. If your first four are knocked out, the game will automatically switch to the other four characters if any of them are still alive. You can also switch individual party members between turns.
** ''VideoGame/GoldenSunDarkDawn'' also brings in the rear guard if the entire front line falls in battle, and allows you to rearrange the party mid-battle. Rear-line characters will also automatically switch in during the [[{{Superboss}} Ancient Devil]] battle after someone falls prey to [[BrainwashedAndCrazy Demon Sign]], and allies KO'd under Demon Sign will be placed in the rear instead of wasting space on the front line.
** This even extends to NonPlayerCharacter Lapis Lazuli, who, despite being unable to fight herself, will extract you from the battle if you lose. In the battle against [[spoiler:Jasper]] in one bad ending, she will actually attack and win the fight for you if Stevonnie falls. Played straighter in the final dungeon, however, where Lapis never participates in battles despite accompanying the rest of the party.
* ''VideoGame/GoldenSun'':
** By the end of ''VideoGame/GoldenSunTheLostAge'', you'll have eight characters, but only four active in battle at any time. If your first four are knocked out, the game will automatically switch to the other four characters if any of them are still alive. You can also switch individual party members between turns.
** ''VideoGame/GoldenSunDarkDawn'' also brings in the rear guard if the entire front line falls in battle, and allows you to rearrange the party mid-battle. Rear-line characters will also automatically switch in during the [[{{Superboss}} Ancient Devil]] battle after someone falls prey to [[BrainwashedAndCrazy Demon Sign]], and allies KO'd under Demon Sign will be placed in the rear instead of wasting space on the front line.
* Not only are most of your characters in ''VideoGame/InfiniteUndiscovery'' stuck off-screen during the action, but if the PlayerCharacter dies and the party members' ArtificialStupidity [[LuckBasedMission doesn't feel like using the resurrect item/spell]] in just a few seconds (you can't order it) it's GameOver even if all the other ''on-screen'' guys were still going strong.
* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfDragoon'', while traveling with a party of 7 characters if your 3 active characters got KO'd it is a game over, despite being able to swap out characters anywhere except in battle, [[CantDropTheHero with the exception of Dart]].
* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel I'' and ''II'', if all four party members on the front lines are knocked out, it's an automatic game over even if the player has a few party members in reserve. ''Cold Steel III'' does this a bit better in that if all the party members in the front lines are knocked out, then the party members in support will tag in, continuing the fight. But then ''Cold Steel IV'' goes right back to this again in that while the characters in support can tag in, whoever is at the reserve spot will not tag in even if all the characters from both the front lines and the support characters are all knocked out.
* In ''[[VideoGame/LegendOfLegaia Legaia II: Duel Saga]]'', there will eventually be five playable characters, and you can freely switch the party order between battles. However, only three can participate in battle, and if those three fall, it's game over.
* Usually played straight in the final chapter of ''VideoGame/LiveALive'', but subverted for dramatic effect at the TrueFinalBoss - [[spoiler:once all four active party members fall against Sin of Odio, the remaining three jump in to fight. Then once they get taken down as well, the final party member enters to strike the final blow - [[RedemptionEqualsDeath Oersted]]]].
* ''VideoGame/LostOdyssey'' has this. In this case it's probably for the best since some of the characters are {{immortal|ity}} and will always automatically revive after a while, so it would be ''impossible to lose the game'' otherwise.
* In ''VideoGame/LufiaTheLegendReturns'', you have a total of twelve playable characters ([[OptionalPartyMember well, actually, 13 PCs]], but who's counting), of which number you take nine to make you company during battles. Yep, ''NINE'', which means that every time the enemy uses a multi-target spell, you will have most of your buddies right beside you to suck it up with you. And you can only make three moves during your turn. Don't worry about the healing though. [[WhiteMage Melphis]] and [[TheMedic Yurick]] have [[HealingHands everything you need]] to put your party back on track in just one spell.
** In one of the more bizarre examples of this trope, though, if the 3 front line units are defeated, you get a game over despite the fact that the others are not only still up and well, but ''actively present and fighting''.
* In ''VideoGame/LufiaTheRuinsOfLore'', you can have up to eight characters in your party, with four in battle at a time. Characters can be swapped out for other conscious characters; a knocked-out character can't be switched back into battle. If a {{Mon}} falls, it is removed from battle and the next character in line joins, but if all active human characters fall, it's Game Over even if you have other human characters on the sidelines.
* The ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigi'' games avert this trope for the most part, as Mario and Luigi themselves are the two characters who are primarily controlled, and battles are not lost unless both brothers are defeated. In fact, if one brother falls, the other will actively protect him as enemies attack, which makes it harder for them to dodge or counter attacks themselves.
** ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiPartnersInTime'' takes this further. When one of the adult party members is [=KOed=], their junior counterpart pulls them out of the fray and takes their place. If both Marios or both Luigis are knocked out, the other brother has to carry them around, making battles much harder since it takes longer for them to jump over attacks.
** ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory'' does something similar. Although at a certain point on Mario and Luigi can leave Bowser's body, and both teams can fight pretty well, you have to have at least one character on each screen left alive, otherwise you get a game over. This is made more interesting in one battle, where the boss is fighting Mario and Luigi, but also harms Bowser with some attacks, and you have to keep Bowser alive during the battle as well. A DummiedOut battle item that lets the Bros heal Bowser implies that this [[WhatCouldHaveBeen was going to be]] standard procedure.
* The ''Citadel'' DLC in ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' [[PlayingWithATrope plays with this]] in one sequence, as the squadmates you didn't take with you will still banter over the radio as they make their way across the field off-camera. This culminates in a final scene where the entire ''[=ME3=]'' ground team plus [[GuestStarPartyMember Wrex]] sweeps the rest of the enemy force [[MoreDakka in a hail of bullets]].
--->'''Garrus:''' And that's the moment when the universe ran out of ammunition.
* ''[[VideoGame/MindZero Mind=Zero]]'' only allows three party members to fight at once and gives you a game over if they all fall. However, the other party members are right behind the battling party and apparently are content to leave their fallen comrades if they die.
* Played with in ''VideoGame/MonsterHunterRise'' during Rampage Defence quests. The game makes these out to be all-hands-on-deck situations, but only [[PlayerCharacter the Hunter]] and any multiplayer allies actually stick around for the whole defence. Other villagers are armed, but can only be deployed at specific moments, making it look like ItsUpToYou. However, talking to people after a Rampage will clarify that the Hunter is the very last line of defence - everyone else is [[OffscreenMomentOfAwesome out in the field taking on the horde themselves]], funnelling as many monsters as they can away from Kamura to keep the load on their ace manageable. One specifically explains other villagers only have short call-in windows because they can only leave their posts to help you if their assigned sector is already quiet.
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%%* ''VideoGame/BatenKaitos''
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* ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'' only lets you have one party member at a time, and if he or she is downed you can swap them out for another (though it uses up a turn). This is turned against you when you're forced to fight an enemy who's accompanied by your party: taking out the party member makes another step up and take their place. Also, if you fall for the poisoned cake in The Glitz Pit, while only your active party member eats the cake, it leaves you unable to use any of your party members for the following fight.
* Played horribly straight in ''VideoGame/Persona3''; you are only allowed to have four members in your party, and unlike the exploration implications in ''VideoGame/Persona4'', whoever you leave behind stays at the base of Tartarus. While [[MissionControl Fuuka]] is communicating from the ground floor and may need protection, only one instance has happened where Shadows have attacked at Tartarus' entrance, and it's for a story-driven boss fight. Also notable is that Fuuka's own Persona surrounds her in an [[BarrierMaiden indestructible barrier]], whereas Rise, who came after her, is mostly exposed with her own, so the idea of staying behind to keep Fuuka safe loses a lot of credibility.
** It's somewhat more justified in the final battle, in which the backup members have to stay behind to fight the Shadows climbing up Tartarus.
* Mostly played straight in ''VideoGame/Persona4'', though you'll occasionally encounter them standing around in the dungeon, implying that they can't back you up because they're busy [[LetsSplitUpGang exploring on their own]]. The ''Golden'' rerelease also adds Cavalry Attacks, allowing party members to charge in on their scooter/bike/skates and use their follow-up attacks even if they aren't in the party.
* Also played straight in ''VideoGame/PersonaQShadowOfTheLabyrinth'', and [[VideoGame/PersonaQ2NewCinemaLabyrinth its sequel]]; you have a five person party, but events and cutscenes that happen in the dungeon make it clear that ''all of the Persona-users are present in the dungeon'' whenever you go. Do they come and step in should your party die? Nope.
* ''VideoGame/{{Persona 5}}'' is somewhat better about this. After the fifth member joins the Phantom Thieves, they continue to operate in a group of four, since it's easier to move stealthily as a small group, but have the backup members follow from a safe distance. However, backup members can participate in battle by performing follow-up attacks, and a Confidant ability allows you to switch them out as needed. In fact, if two or more of your party members die, one of [[MissionControl Futaba's]] abilities can immediately switch them out for backup members.
* ''VideoGame/TheReconstruction'' has a novel justification: Wadassian law restricts your guild to six armed fighters at a time, so other characters aren't allowed to intervene. Although, this still begs the question of why [[spoiler:they still don't do anything in the final chapter, where Wadassia has been ''reduced to ruins'' and you're fighting to save the ''entire world''.]]
* ''VideoGame/RivieraThePromisedLand'' also has this. The game ''does'' comment on why only 3 characters can fight, but there's no comment on the ones who are not fighting tagging out the ones who are down.
* In ''VideoGame/SagaFrontier'', you can have a party of up to fifteen, but you can only ever have one five-person team battling at once. If everyone in that team dies during the battle, it's game over. Therefore, unless you like to have all your characters evenly ranked, you'll probably only level and use one team, and gather other characters only to experience their stories, see their cutscenes, and use their items in the communal inventory.
* Avoided in the final battle of ''VideoGame/SailorMoonAnotherStory''. Losing with Sailor Moon's team results in Chibi-Usa's party fighting the boss (which is actually made slightly easier). Winning with ''them'' produces a slightly different ending.
* ''VideoGame/SeaOfStars:'' You usually have three characters in the active party, and one or two backups. The backups can be freely swapped with the active characters during combat, but if all of the active characters are knocked out at the same time, then it's Game Over.
* For most of ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV'', Flynn is followed by three of his fellow Samurai, and as long as he's not on a Quest, they'll jump in and help during combat. While it's implied that sometimes they're off on their own adventures, that doesn't explain why whenever they're all fighting the same boss (Minotaur and Medusa), only one jumps in and the others twaddle their thumbs.
* ''VideoGame/StarOcean'' games allow you to have eight characters in your party, but only an active party of four. However, the inactive characters aren't on an airship or in another city or anything - they are very obviously travelling with everyone else, and you can switch them in and out of the active party at any time outside of combat. And yet they do nothing when your active party get creamed by a powerful enemy, and the game ends with the defeat of the active party even though you literally have a ''replacement party'' waiting.
** In ''VideoGame/StarOceanTheLastHope'', you only get a game over when the entire team is wiped out. However, you're only allowed to switch characters in combat one at a time and with [[{{Cooldown}} a time delay between switches]]. Because of this, getting your active party KO'd generally means anyone you switch in will die alone before you can switch in another.
** ''VideoGame/StarOceanIntegrityAndFaithlessness'' has [[AvertedTrope everyone]], even Relia, take part in every fight unless there is some story reason that stops them from fighting.
* In ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRPG'', you eventually get a total of five party members, though you can only take three at a time with you. Should your main three die off, the remaining two won't count. There's also the DuelBoss occasions with Jonathon Jones and Dodo. The latter is a bit more understandable, but the former is just JustForFun/{{egregious}} because ''the rest of your party is literally standing at the sides watching you fight.'' Keep in mind this is one of the RPG's where it normally doesn't matter if Mario dies, either. The remake averts this by automatically tagging in backup party members if any of your current ones [[CantDropTheHero barring Mario]] go down.
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* The ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigi'' games avert this trope for the most part, as Mario and Luigi themselves are the two characters who are primarily controlled, and battles are not lost unless both brothers are defeated. In fact, if one brother falls, the other will actively protect him as enemies attack, which makes it harder for them to dodge or counter attacks themselves.
** ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiPartnersInTime'' takes this further. When one of the adult party members is [=KOed=], their junior counterpart pulls them out of the fray and takes their place. If both Marios or both Luigis are knocked out, the other brother has to carry them around, making battles much harder since it takes longer for them to jump over attacks.
** ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory'' does something similar. Although at a certain point on Mario and Luigi can leave Bowser's body, and both teams can fight pretty well, you have to have at least one character on each screen left alive, otherwise you get a game over. This is made more interesting in one battle, where the boss is fighting Mario and Luigi, but also harms Bowser with some attacks, and you have to keep Bowser alive during the battle as well. A DummiedOut battle item that lets the Bros heal Bowser implies that this [[WhatCouldHaveBeen was going to be]] standard procedure.
* ''VideoGame/RivieraThePromisedLand'' also has this. The game ''does'' comment on why only 3 characters can fight, but there's no comment on the ones who are not fighting tagging out the ones who are down.
* Avoided in the final battle of ''VideoGame/SailorMoonAnotherStory''. Losing with Sailor Moon's team results in Chibi-Usa's party fighting the boss (which is actually made slightly easier). Winning with ''them'' produces a slightly different ending.
** ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiPartnersInTime'' takes this further. When one of the adult party members is [=KOed=], their junior counterpart pulls them out of the fray and takes their place. If both Marios or both Luigis are knocked out, the other brother has to carry them around, making battles much harder since it takes longer for them to jump over attacks.
** ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory'' does something similar. Although at a certain point on Mario and Luigi can leave Bowser's body, and both teams can fight pretty well, you have to have at least one character on each screen left alive, otherwise you get a game over. This is made more interesting in one battle, where the boss is fighting Mario and Luigi, but also harms Bowser with some attacks, and you have to keep Bowser alive during the battle as well. A DummiedOut battle item that lets the Bros heal Bowser implies that this [[WhatCouldHaveBeen was going to be]] standard procedure.
* ''VideoGame/RivieraThePromisedLand'' also has this. The game ''does'' comment on why only 3 characters can fight, but there's no comment on the ones who are not fighting tagging out the ones who are down.
* Avoided in the final battle of ''VideoGame/SailorMoonAnotherStory''. Losing with Sailor Moon's team results in Chibi-Usa's party fighting the boss (which is actually made slightly easier). Winning with ''them'' produces a slightly different ending.
to:
* The ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigi'' games avert this trope Present in ''VideoGame/TouhouLabyrinth'', both because (as usual for the most part, as Mario setting) nobody is really in mortal danger, and Luigi themselves are the two characters who are primarily controlled, and battles are not lost unless both brothers are defeated. In fact, if one brother falls, the other will actively protect him as enemies attack, which makes it harder for them to dodge or counter attacks themselves.
** ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiPartnersInTime'' takes this further. When one of the adultbecause your party members is [=KOed=], their junior counterpart pulls them out of are leaving all the fray and takes their place. If both Marios or both Luigis are knocked out, the other brother has to carry them around, making battles much harder since it takes longer for them to jump over attacks.
** ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory'' does something similar. Although at a certain point on Mario and Luigi can leave Bowser's body, and both teams can fight pretty well, you have to have at least one character on each screen left alive, otherwise youtime ''anyway'', as they get a game over. This is made progressively more interesting in one battle, where bored wandering around the boss dungeon. ("Motivation to not abandon you" is fighting Mario an individual and Luigi, but also harms Bowser with some attacks, trainable attribute.) If you lose your current frontliners, everyone else simply wanders off at once. You ''can'' switch out teammates in combat, and you have to keep Bowser alive during the battle as well. A DummiedOut battle item that lets the Bros heal Bowser implies that this [[WhatCouldHaveBeen was going to be]] standard procedure.
* ''VideoGame/RivieraThePromisedLand'' also has this. The game ''does'' comment on why only 3 characters can fight, but there's no comment on the ones who are not fighting tagging out the ones who are down.
* Avoided in the final battle of ''VideoGame/SailorMoonAnotherStory''. Losing with Sailor Moon's team results in Chibi-Usa's party fighting the boss (which is actually made slightly easier). Winning with ''them'' produces a slightly different ending.it's assumed you'll be doing so.
** ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiPartnersInTime'' takes this further. When one of the adult
** ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory'' does something similar. Although at a certain point on Mario and Luigi can leave Bowser's body, and both teams can fight pretty well, you have to have at least one character on each screen left alive, otherwise you
* ''VideoGame/RivieraThePromisedLand'' also has this. The game ''does'' comment on why only 3 characters can fight, but there's no comment on the ones who are not fighting tagging out the ones who are down.
* Avoided in the final battle of ''VideoGame/SailorMoonAnotherStory''. Losing with Sailor Moon's team results in Chibi-Usa's party fighting the boss (which is actually made slightly easier). Winning with ''them'' produces a slightly different ending.
Deleted line(s) 77,107 (click to see context) :
* In ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor'' you can deploy a maximum of four characters in a given battle. This isn't particularly bad for most of the game (as it spans 7 'days' and only up to 5 characters '''can''' be recruited in the first 6, meaning at most only one unit will sit out at a time). On some of the final routes though (Day 7) specifically the most difficult one, up to '''ten''' characters can be recruited. More then double the deployable limit.
** Well, in ''Shin Megami Tensei I'', ''II'', and ''Strange Journey'', there's a reason for the lazy backup. Your COMP doesn't have enough RAM for that. And even if it did, demons have to be physically summoned -- if your character is dead, there's nobody around to summon the backup out of your COMP.
** Also, the majority of demons only respect strength, and are essentially hired mercs anyway. If you get beat up, why should they bother saving your weak ass from death at the risk of their own? You simply weren't tough enough, and they aren't getting paid enough for that kind of crap.
** Same problem in ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor2''. There at least part of the time you don't have more than four party members or the game tries to justify it with a cutscene showing the backup doing something else while you're on the front lines, but by the midpoint of the game you can have far more than four characters available but still only able to deploy four. Then again, it's made clear that the whole group isn't actually together most of the time - implications are that the main character phones up his battle party and tells them to meet him when he sees a fight breaking out.
* Mostly played straight in ''VideoGame/Persona4'', though you'll occasionally encounter them standing around in the dungeon, implying that they can't back you up because they're busy [[LetsSplitUpGang exploring on their own]]. The ''Golden'' rerelease also adds Cavalry Attacks, allowing party members to charge in on their scooter/bike/skates and use their follow-up attacks even if they aren't in the party.
* Played horribly straight in ''VideoGame/Persona3''; you are only allowed to have four members in your party, and unlike the exploration implications in ''VideoGame/Persona4'', whoever you leave behind stays at the base of Tartarus. While [[MissionControl Fuuka]] is communicating from the ground floor and may need protection, only one instance has happened where Shadows have attacked at Tartarus' entrance, and it's for a story-driven boss fight. Also notable is that Fuuka's own Persona surrounds her in an [[BarrierMaiden indestructible barrier]], whereas Rise, who came after her, is mostly exposed with her own, so the idea of staying behind to keep Fuuka safe loses a lot of credibility.
** It's somewhat more justified in the final battle, in which the backup members have to stay behind to fight the Shadows climbing up Tartarus.
* Also played straight in ''VideoGame/PersonaQShadowOfTheLabyrinth'', and [[VideoGame/PersonaQ2NewCinemaLabyrinth its sequel]]; you have a five person party, but events and cutscenes that happen in the dungeon make it clear that ''all of the Persona-users are present in the dungeon'' whenever you go. Do they come and step in should your party die? Nope.
* ''VideoGame/{{Persona 5}}'' is somewhat better about this. After the fifth member joins the Phantom Thieves, they continue to operate in a group of four, since it's easier to move stealthily as a small group, but have the backup members follow from a safe distance. However, backup members can participate in battle by performing follow-up attacks, and a Confidant ability allows you to switch them out as needed. In fact, if two or more of your party members die, one of [[MissionControl Futaba's]] abilities can immediately switch them out for backup members.
* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfDragoon'', while traveling with a party of 7 characters if your 3 active characters got KO'd it is a game over, despite being able to swap out characters anywhere except in battle, [[CantDropTheHero with the exception of Dart]].
* ''VideoGame/TheReconstruction'' has a novel justification: Wadassian law restricts your guild to six armed fighters at a time, so other characters aren't allowed to intervene. Although, this still begs the question of why [[spoiler:they still don't do anything in the final chapter, where Wadassia has been ''reduced to ruins'' and you're fighting to save the ''entire world''.]]
* In ''VideoGame/EndlessFrontier'', "those characters you never use" can unleash a support power at any time during another PC's combo, unless the main player character is using a skill or ultimate attack. Or you haven't got the SP. Or you've used all of your support powers already for that combo chain.
* In ''VideoGame/LufiaTheLegendReturns'', you have a total of twelve playable characters ([[OptionalPartyMember well, actually, 13 PCs]], but who's counting), of which number you take nine to make you company during battles. Yep, ''NINE'', which means that every time the enemy uses a multi-target spell, you will have most of your buddies right beside you to suck it up with you. And you can only make three moves during your turn. Don't worry about the healing though. [[WhiteMage Melphis]] and [[TheMedic Yurick]] have [[HealingHands everything you need]] to put your party back on track in just one spell.
** In one of the more bizarre examples of this trope, though, if the 3 front line units are defeated, you get a game over despite the fact that the others are not only still up and well, but ''actively present and fighting''.
* In ''VideoGame/LufiaTheRuinsOfLore'', you can have up to eight characters in your party, with four in battle at a time. Characters can be swapped out for other conscious characters; a knocked-out character can't be switched back into battle. If a {{Mon}} falls, it is removed from battle and the next character in line joins, but if all active human characters fall, it's Game Over even if you have other human characters on the sidelines.
* Not only are most of your characters in ''VideoGame/InfiniteUndiscovery'' stuck off-screen during the action, but if the PlayerCharacter dies and the party members' ArtificialStupidity [[LuckBasedMission doesn't feel like using the resurrect item/spell]] in just a few seconds (you can't order it) it's GameOver even if all the other ''on-screen'' guys were still going strong.
* Usually played straight in the final chapter of ''VideoGame/LiveALive'', but subverted for dramatic effect at the TrueFinalBoss - [[spoiler:once all four active party members fall against Sin of Odio, the remaining three jump in to fight. Then once they get taken down as well, the final party member enters to strike the final blow - [[RedemptionEqualsDeath Oersted]]]].
* ''VideoGame/EtrianOdyssey''. You have a guild of 30, but you can only bring five people at one time. If that party dies, it's game over. Even if it's a party of fresh recruits, and the rest of your guild is max level.
* ''VideoGame/LostOdyssey'' has this. In this case it's probably for the best since some of the characters are {{immortal|ity}} and will always automatically revive after a while, so it would be ''impossible to lose the game'' otherwise.
* In ''VideoGame/EnchantedArms'', this trope makes the [[{{Mons}} Golems]] largely useless after getting all the human party members. Since you can't switch in battle, you might as well fill the party with the humans so they get more ExperiencePoints, instead of wasting it on a golem that will probably get replaced by another one soon.
* In ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRPG'', you eventually get a total of five party members, though you can only take three at a time with you. Should your main three die off, the remaining two won't count. There's also the DuelBoss occasions with Jonathon Jones and Dodo. The latter is a bit more understandable, but the former is just JustForFun/{{egregious}} because ''the rest of your party is literally standing at the sides watching you fight.'' Keep in mind this is one of the RPG's where it normally doesn't matter if Mario dies, either. The remake averts this by automatically tagging in backup party members if any of your current ones [[CantDropTheHero barring Mario]] go down.
* In ''VideoGame/SagaFrontier'', you can have a party of up to fifteen, but you can only ever have one five-person team battling at once. If everyone in that team dies during the battle, it's game over. Therefore, unless you like to have all your characters evenly ranked, you'll probably only level and use one team, and gather other characters only to experience their stories, see their cutscenes, and use their items in the communal inventory.
* The ''Citadel'' DLC in ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' [[PlayingWithATrope plays with this]] in one sequence, as the squadmates you didn't take with you will still banter over the radio as they make their way across the field off-camera. This culminates in a final scene where the entire ''[=ME3=]'' ground team plus [[GuestStarPartyMember Wrex]] sweeps the rest of the enemy force [[MoreDakka in a hail of bullets]].
--->'''Garrus:''' And that's the moment when the universe ran out of ammunition.
* ''VideoGame/StarOcean'' games allow you to have eight characters in your party, but only an active party of four. However, the inactive characters aren't on an airship or in another city or anything - they are very obviously travelling with everyone else, and you can switch them in and out of the active party at any time outside of combat. And yet they do nothing when your active party get creamed by a powerful enemy, and the game ends with the defeat of the active party even though you literally have a ''replacement party'' waiting.
** In ''VideoGame/StarOceanTheLastHope'', you only get a game over when the entire team is wiped out. However, you're only allowed to switch characters in combat one at a time and with [[{{Cooldown}} a time delay between switches]]. Because of this, getting your active party KO'd generally means anyone you switch in will die alone before you can switch in another.
** ''VideoGame/StarOceanIntegrityAndFaithlessness'' has [[AvertedTrope everyone]], even Relia, take part in every fight unless there is some story reason that stops them from fighting.
* In the ''Franchise/BaldursGate'' series, the game ends instantly if the main character dies, regardless of how many characters in the party happen to be capable of casting Raise Dead or Resurrection. This may be justified when you actually die [[spoiler:because as a Bhaalspawn the divine part of your soul rejoins your father and presumably cannot be retrieved (like what happened to Sarevok), meaning even if you're revived, you can no longer affect the outcome of the prophecy and thus the game is effectively over. This would explain why setting a contingency to resurrect yourself works just fine, but ends the game anyway. Reviving the main character would also require a Resurrection spell at minimum since your body disintegrates, and Raise Dead requires a mostly intact body]]. However, the same thing happens when you're [[TakenForGranite petrified]] or [[{{Oubliette}} Imprisoned]]. That it doesn't happen to [[spoiler:Imoen]] is another discrepancy.
* Present in ''VideoGame/TouhouLabyrinth'', both because (as usual for the setting) nobody is really in mortal danger, and because your party members are leaving all the time ''anyway'', as they get progressively more bored wandering around the dungeon. ("Motivation to not abandon you" is an individual and trainable attribute.) If you lose your current frontliners, everyone else simply wanders off at once. You ''can'' switch out teammates in combat, and it's assumed you'll be doing so.
* ''VideoGame/EternalSonata'' builds your party up to 10 (UsefulNotes/XBox360) or 12 (UsefulNotes/{{PS3}}) characters -- provided you brave the BonusDungeon, that is -- but only allows three active characters in a party at one time. You can switch any time you're neither in a battle nor in a cutscene, but no character will even move to replace fallen characters, and if all three of the ones you chose fall, it's game over. (At least any active character that's not dead can revive any that are, provided they have the right item.)
* In ''[[VideoGame/LegendOfLegaia Legaia II: Duel Saga]]'', there will eventually be five playable characters, and you can freely switch the party order between battles. However, only three can participate in battle, and if those three fall, it's game over.
** Well, in ''Shin Megami Tensei I'', ''II'', and ''Strange Journey'', there's a reason for the lazy backup. Your COMP doesn't have enough RAM for that. And even if it did, demons have to be physically summoned -- if your character is dead, there's nobody around to summon the backup out of your COMP.
** Also, the majority of demons only respect strength, and are essentially hired mercs anyway. If you get beat up, why should they bother saving your weak ass from death at the risk of their own? You simply weren't tough enough, and they aren't getting paid enough for that kind of crap.
** Same problem in ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor2''. There at least part of the time you don't have more than four party members or the game tries to justify it with a cutscene showing the backup doing something else while you're on the front lines, but by the midpoint of the game you can have far more than four characters available but still only able to deploy four. Then again, it's made clear that the whole group isn't actually together most of the time - implications are that the main character phones up his battle party and tells them to meet him when he sees a fight breaking out.
* Mostly played straight in ''VideoGame/Persona4'', though you'll occasionally encounter them standing around in the dungeon, implying that they can't back you up because they're busy [[LetsSplitUpGang exploring on their own]]. The ''Golden'' rerelease also adds Cavalry Attacks, allowing party members to charge in on their scooter/bike/skates and use their follow-up attacks even if they aren't in the party.
* Played horribly straight in ''VideoGame/Persona3''; you are only allowed to have four members in your party, and unlike the exploration implications in ''VideoGame/Persona4'', whoever you leave behind stays at the base of Tartarus. While [[MissionControl Fuuka]] is communicating from the ground floor and may need protection, only one instance has happened where Shadows have attacked at Tartarus' entrance, and it's for a story-driven boss fight. Also notable is that Fuuka's own Persona surrounds her in an [[BarrierMaiden indestructible barrier]], whereas Rise, who came after her, is mostly exposed with her own, so the idea of staying behind to keep Fuuka safe loses a lot of credibility.
** It's somewhat more justified in the final battle, in which the backup members have to stay behind to fight the Shadows climbing up Tartarus.
* Also played straight in ''VideoGame/PersonaQShadowOfTheLabyrinth'', and [[VideoGame/PersonaQ2NewCinemaLabyrinth its sequel]]; you have a five person party, but events and cutscenes that happen in the dungeon make it clear that ''all of the Persona-users are present in the dungeon'' whenever you go. Do they come and step in should your party die? Nope.
* ''VideoGame/{{Persona 5}}'' is somewhat better about this. After the fifth member joins the Phantom Thieves, they continue to operate in a group of four, since it's easier to move stealthily as a small group, but have the backup members follow from a safe distance. However, backup members can participate in battle by performing follow-up attacks, and a Confidant ability allows you to switch them out as needed. In fact, if two or more of your party members die, one of [[MissionControl Futaba's]] abilities can immediately switch them out for backup members.
* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfDragoon'', while traveling with a party of 7 characters if your 3 active characters got KO'd it is a game over, despite being able to swap out characters anywhere except in battle, [[CantDropTheHero with the exception of Dart]].
* ''VideoGame/TheReconstruction'' has a novel justification: Wadassian law restricts your guild to six armed fighters at a time, so other characters aren't allowed to intervene. Although, this still begs the question of why [[spoiler:they still don't do anything in the final chapter, where Wadassia has been ''reduced to ruins'' and you're fighting to save the ''entire world''.]]
* In ''VideoGame/EndlessFrontier'', "those characters you never use" can unleash a support power at any time during another PC's combo, unless the main player character is using a skill or ultimate attack. Or you haven't got the SP. Or you've used all of your support powers already for that combo chain.
* In ''VideoGame/LufiaTheLegendReturns'', you have a total of twelve playable characters ([[OptionalPartyMember well, actually, 13 PCs]], but who's counting), of which number you take nine to make you company during battles. Yep, ''NINE'', which means that every time the enemy uses a multi-target spell, you will have most of your buddies right beside you to suck it up with you. And you can only make three moves during your turn. Don't worry about the healing though. [[WhiteMage Melphis]] and [[TheMedic Yurick]] have [[HealingHands everything you need]] to put your party back on track in just one spell.
** In one of the more bizarre examples of this trope, though, if the 3 front line units are defeated, you get a game over despite the fact that the others are not only still up and well, but ''actively present and fighting''.
* In ''VideoGame/LufiaTheRuinsOfLore'', you can have up to eight characters in your party, with four in battle at a time. Characters can be swapped out for other conscious characters; a knocked-out character can't be switched back into battle. If a {{Mon}} falls, it is removed from battle and the next character in line joins, but if all active human characters fall, it's Game Over even if you have other human characters on the sidelines.
* Not only are most of your characters in ''VideoGame/InfiniteUndiscovery'' stuck off-screen during the action, but if the PlayerCharacter dies and the party members' ArtificialStupidity [[LuckBasedMission doesn't feel like using the resurrect item/spell]] in just a few seconds (you can't order it) it's GameOver even if all the other ''on-screen'' guys were still going strong.
* Usually played straight in the final chapter of ''VideoGame/LiveALive'', but subverted for dramatic effect at the TrueFinalBoss - [[spoiler:once all four active party members fall against Sin of Odio, the remaining three jump in to fight. Then once they get taken down as well, the final party member enters to strike the final blow - [[RedemptionEqualsDeath Oersted]]]].
* ''VideoGame/EtrianOdyssey''. You have a guild of 30, but you can only bring five people at one time. If that party dies, it's game over. Even if it's a party of fresh recruits, and the rest of your guild is max level.
* ''VideoGame/LostOdyssey'' has this. In this case it's probably for the best since some of the characters are {{immortal|ity}} and will always automatically revive after a while, so it would be ''impossible to lose the game'' otherwise.
* In ''VideoGame/EnchantedArms'', this trope makes the [[{{Mons}} Golems]] largely useless after getting all the human party members. Since you can't switch in battle, you might as well fill the party with the humans so they get more ExperiencePoints, instead of wasting it on a golem that will probably get replaced by another one soon.
* In ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRPG'', you eventually get a total of five party members, though you can only take three at a time with you. Should your main three die off, the remaining two won't count. There's also the DuelBoss occasions with Jonathon Jones and Dodo. The latter is a bit more understandable, but the former is just JustForFun/{{egregious}} because ''the rest of your party is literally standing at the sides watching you fight.'' Keep in mind this is one of the RPG's where it normally doesn't matter if Mario dies, either. The remake averts this by automatically tagging in backup party members if any of your current ones [[CantDropTheHero barring Mario]] go down.
* In ''VideoGame/SagaFrontier'', you can have a party of up to fifteen, but you can only ever have one five-person team battling at once. If everyone in that team dies during the battle, it's game over. Therefore, unless you like to have all your characters evenly ranked, you'll probably only level and use one team, and gather other characters only to experience their stories, see their cutscenes, and use their items in the communal inventory.
* The ''Citadel'' DLC in ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' [[PlayingWithATrope plays with this]] in one sequence, as the squadmates you didn't take with you will still banter over the radio as they make their way across the field off-camera. This culminates in a final scene where the entire ''[=ME3=]'' ground team plus [[GuestStarPartyMember Wrex]] sweeps the rest of the enemy force [[MoreDakka in a hail of bullets]].
--->'''Garrus:''' And that's the moment when the universe ran out of ammunition.
* ''VideoGame/StarOcean'' games allow you to have eight characters in your party, but only an active party of four. However, the inactive characters aren't on an airship or in another city or anything - they are very obviously travelling with everyone else, and you can switch them in and out of the active party at any time outside of combat. And yet they do nothing when your active party get creamed by a powerful enemy, and the game ends with the defeat of the active party even though you literally have a ''replacement party'' waiting.
** In ''VideoGame/StarOceanTheLastHope'', you only get a game over when the entire team is wiped out. However, you're only allowed to switch characters in combat one at a time and with [[{{Cooldown}} a time delay between switches]]. Because of this, getting your active party KO'd generally means anyone you switch in will die alone before you can switch in another.
** ''VideoGame/StarOceanIntegrityAndFaithlessness'' has [[AvertedTrope everyone]], even Relia, take part in every fight unless there is some story reason that stops them from fighting.
* In the ''Franchise/BaldursGate'' series, the game ends instantly if the main character dies, regardless of how many characters in the party happen to be capable of casting Raise Dead or Resurrection. This may be justified when you actually die [[spoiler:because as a Bhaalspawn the divine part of your soul rejoins your father and presumably cannot be retrieved (like what happened to Sarevok), meaning even if you're revived, you can no longer affect the outcome of the prophecy and thus the game is effectively over. This would explain why setting a contingency to resurrect yourself works just fine, but ends the game anyway. Reviving the main character would also require a Resurrection spell at minimum since your body disintegrates, and Raise Dead requires a mostly intact body]]. However, the same thing happens when you're [[TakenForGranite petrified]] or [[{{Oubliette}} Imprisoned]]. That it doesn't happen to [[spoiler:Imoen]] is another discrepancy.
* Present in ''VideoGame/TouhouLabyrinth'', both because (as usual for the setting) nobody is really in mortal danger, and because your party members are leaving all the time ''anyway'', as they get progressively more bored wandering around the dungeon. ("Motivation to not abandon you" is an individual and trainable attribute.) If you lose your current frontliners, everyone else simply wanders off at once. You ''can'' switch out teammates in combat, and it's assumed you'll be doing so.
* ''VideoGame/EternalSonata'' builds your party up to 10 (UsefulNotes/XBox360) or 12 (UsefulNotes/{{PS3}}) characters -- provided you brave the BonusDungeon, that is -- but only allows three active characters in a party at one time. You can switch any time you're neither in a battle nor in a cutscene, but no character will even move to replace fallen characters, and if all three of the ones you chose fall, it's game over. (At least any active character that's not dead can revive any that are, provided they have the right item.)
* In ''[[VideoGame/LegendOfLegaia Legaia II: Duel Saga]]'', there will eventually be five playable characters, and you can freely switch the party order between battles. However, only three can participate in battle, and if those three fall, it's game over.
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* ''[[VideoGame/MindZero Mind=Zero]]'' only allows three party members to fight at once and gives you a game over if they all fall. However, the other party members are right behind the battling party and apparently are content to leave their fallen comrades if they die.
* ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'' only lets you have one party member at a time, and if he or she is downed you can swap them out for another (though it uses up a turn). This is turned against you when you're forced to fight an enemy who's accompanied by your party: taking out the party member makes another step up and take their place. Also, if you fall for the poisoned cake in The Glitz Pit, while only your active party member eats the cake, it leaves you unable to use any of your party members for the following fight.
* ''VideoGame/SeventhDragon'' triggers a GameOver if the current party is wiped, even if you have reserve members back at the guild hall. Gets pretty dumb in ''7th Dragon III: Code VFD'', where even after you gain access to a rear-line team of up to three that can provide battle support and later a ''second'' rear team, both of which can follow you at once (in other words, you have twice as many members following you as you have fighting as part of the front team), it's still mission failure if the front line kicks the bucket, even if you die to early enemies and your rear teams are composed of level 99 members who should be able to curb-stomp whatever killed the front line and then revive those fallen comrades.
* ''VideoGame/CthulhuSavesTheWorld'' lets you use in battle [[ArbitraryHeadcountLimit only 4 out of 7]] ([[OptionalPartyMember potentially 8]]) party members that you can change at any time outside of battle, yet if that quartet gets thrashed the rest won't lift a finger to chime in. It's all the more jarring because despite this being a parody game full of LampshadeHanging, this issue isn't addressed at all.
* In ''VideoGame/CosmicStarHeroine'', not only you can have a reserve party almost twice the size of your ArbitraryHeadcountLimit that you can freely exchange with your active party outside of combat, you also have a loyal crew on your CoolSpaceship which includes armed security officers, yet once your active party enters combat, they can only count on themselves (and one support member who doesn't participate but provides passive bonuses). Lose them and your only option is to restart the battle or go back to the title screen.
* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel I'' and ''II'', if all four party members on the front lines are knocked out, it's an automatic game over even if the player has a few party members in reserve. ''Cold Steel III'' does this a bit better in that if all the party members in the front lines are knocked out, then the party members in support will tag in, continuing the fight. But then ''Cold Steel IV'' goes right back to this again in that while the characters in support can tag in, whoever is at the reserve spot will not tag in even if all the characters from both the front lines and the support characters are all knocked out.
* ''Steven Universe'' fangame ''VideoGame/FlawedCrystals'' avoids this by also averting ArbitraryHeadcountLimit -- every character will help you in battle if they can. According to WordOfGod, this was an attempt at GameplayAndStoryIntegration by showing ThePowerOfFriendship.
** This even extends to NonPlayerCharacter Lapis Lazuli, who, despite being unable to fight herself, will extract you from the battle if you lose. In the battle against [[spoiler:Jasper]] in one bad ending, she will actually attack and win the fight for you if Stevonnie falls. Played straighter in the final dungeon, however, where Lapis never participates in battles despite accompanying the rest of the party.
* For most of ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV'', Flynn is followed by three of his fellow Samurai, and as long as he's not on a Quest, they'll jump in and help during combat. While it's implied that sometimes they're off on their own adventures, that doesn't explain why whenever they're all fighting the same boss (Minotaur and Medusa), only one jumps in and the others twaddle their thumbs.
* In ''VideoGame/AtelierRyzaEverDarknessAndTheSecretHideout'', the game even warns you the minute you get a fourth party member that "If all team members get knocked out in battle, it counts as a loss even if other members are available," with "even if other members are available" presented in RainbowSpeak to drive home the point.
* Played with in ''VideoGame/MonsterHunterRise'' during Rampage Defence quests. The game makes these out to be all-hands-on-deck situations, but only [[PlayerCharacter the Hunter]] and any multiplayer allies actually stick around for the whole defence. Other villagers are armed, but can only be deployed at specific moments, making it look like ItsUpToYou. However, talking to people after a Rampage will clarify that the Hunter is the very last line of defence - everyone else is [[OffscreenMomentOfAwesome out in the field taking on the horde themselves]], funnelling as many monsters as they can away from Kamura to keep the load on their ace manageable. One specifically explains other villagers only have short call-in windows because they can only leave their posts to help you if their assigned sector is already quiet.
* ''VideoGame/SeaOfStars:'' You usually have three characters in the active party, and one or two backups. The backups can be freely swapped with the active characters during combat, but if all of the active characters are knocked out at the same time, then it's Game Over.
* ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'' only lets you have one party member at a time, and if he or she is downed you can swap them out for another (though it uses up a turn). This is turned against you when you're forced to fight an enemy who's accompanied by your party: taking out the party member makes another step up and take their place. Also, if you fall for the poisoned cake in The Glitz Pit, while only your active party member eats the cake, it leaves you unable to use any of your party members for the following fight.
* ''VideoGame/SeventhDragon'' triggers a GameOver if the current party is wiped, even if you have reserve members back at the guild hall. Gets pretty dumb in ''7th Dragon III: Code VFD'', where even after you gain access to a rear-line team of up to three that can provide battle support and later a ''second'' rear team, both of which can follow you at once (in other words, you have twice as many members following you as you have fighting as part of the front team), it's still mission failure if the front line kicks the bucket, even if you die to early enemies and your rear teams are composed of level 99 members who should be able to curb-stomp whatever killed the front line and then revive those fallen comrades.
* ''VideoGame/CthulhuSavesTheWorld'' lets you use in battle [[ArbitraryHeadcountLimit only 4 out of 7]] ([[OptionalPartyMember potentially 8]]) party members that you can change at any time outside of battle, yet if that quartet gets thrashed the rest won't lift a finger to chime in. It's all the more jarring because despite this being a parody game full of LampshadeHanging, this issue isn't addressed at all.
* In ''VideoGame/CosmicStarHeroine'', not only you can have a reserve party almost twice the size of your ArbitraryHeadcountLimit that you can freely exchange with your active party outside of combat, you also have a loyal crew on your CoolSpaceship which includes armed security officers, yet once your active party enters combat, they can only count on themselves (and one support member who doesn't participate but provides passive bonuses). Lose them and your only option is to restart the battle or go back to the title screen.
* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel I'' and ''II'', if all four party members on the front lines are knocked out, it's an automatic game over even if the player has a few party members in reserve. ''Cold Steel III'' does this a bit better in that if all the party members in the front lines are knocked out, then the party members in support will tag in, continuing the fight. But then ''Cold Steel IV'' goes right back to this again in that while the characters in support can tag in, whoever is at the reserve spot will not tag in even if all the characters from both the front lines and the support characters are all knocked out.
* ''Steven Universe'' fangame ''VideoGame/FlawedCrystals'' avoids this by also averting ArbitraryHeadcountLimit -- every character will help you in battle if they can. According to WordOfGod, this was an attempt at GameplayAndStoryIntegration by showing ThePowerOfFriendship.
** This even extends to NonPlayerCharacter Lapis Lazuli, who, despite being unable to fight herself, will extract you from the battle if you lose. In the battle against [[spoiler:Jasper]] in one bad ending, she will actually attack and win the fight for you if Stevonnie falls. Played straighter in the final dungeon, however, where Lapis never participates in battles despite accompanying the rest of the party.
* For most of ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV'', Flynn is followed by three of his fellow Samurai, and as long as he's not on a Quest, they'll jump in and help during combat. While it's implied that sometimes they're off on their own adventures, that doesn't explain why whenever they're all fighting the same boss (Minotaur and Medusa), only one jumps in and the others twaddle their thumbs.
* In ''VideoGame/AtelierRyzaEverDarknessAndTheSecretHideout'', the game even warns you the minute you get a fourth party member that "If all team members get knocked out in battle, it counts as a loss even if other members are available," with "even if other members are available" presented in RainbowSpeak to drive home the point.
* Played with in ''VideoGame/MonsterHunterRise'' during Rampage Defence quests. The game makes these out to be all-hands-on-deck situations, but only [[PlayerCharacter the Hunter]] and any multiplayer allies actually stick around for the whole defence. Other villagers are armed, but can only be deployed at specific moments, making it look like ItsUpToYou. However, talking to people after a Rampage will clarify that the Hunter is the very last line of defence - everyone else is [[OffscreenMomentOfAwesome out in the field taking on the horde themselves]], funnelling as many monsters as they can away from Kamura to keep the load on their ace manageable. One specifically explains other villagers only have short call-in windows because they can only leave their posts to help you if their assigned sector is already quiet.
* ''VideoGame/SeaOfStars:'' You usually have three characters in the active party, and one or two backups. The backups can be freely swapped with the active characters during combat, but if all of the active characters are knocked out at the same time, then it's Game Over.
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*
* ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'' only lets you have
* ''VideoGame/SeventhDragon'' triggers a GameOver if the current party is wiped, even if you have reserve members back at the guild hall. Gets pretty dumb in ''7th Dragon III: Code VFD'', where even after you gain access to a rear-line team of up to three that can provide battle support and later a ''second'' rear team, both of which can follow you at once (in other words, you have twice as many members following you as you have fighting as part of the front team), it's still mission failure if the front line kicks the bucket, even if you die to early enemies and your rear teams are composed of level 99 members who should be able to curb-stomp whatever killed the front line and then revive those fallen comrades.
* ''VideoGame/CthulhuSavesTheWorld'' lets you use in battle [[ArbitraryHeadcountLimit only 4 out of 7]] ([[OptionalPartyMember potentially 8]]) party members that you can change at any time outside of battle, yet if that quartet
* In ''VideoGame/CosmicStarHeroine'', not only you can have a reserve party almost twice the size of your ArbitraryHeadcountLimit that you can freely exchange with your active party outside of combat, you also have a loyal crew on your CoolSpaceship which includes armed security officers, yet once your active party enters combat, they can only count on themselves (and one support member who doesn't participate but provides passive bonuses). Lose them and your only option is to restart the battle or go back to the title screen.
* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel I'' and ''II'', if all four party members on the front lines are
* ''Steven Universe'' fangame ''VideoGame/FlawedCrystals'' avoids this by also averting ArbitraryHeadcountLimit -- every character will help you in battle if they can. According to WordOfGod, this was an attempt at GameplayAndStoryIntegration by showing ThePowerOfFriendship.
** This even extends to NonPlayerCharacter Lapis Lazuli, who, despite being unable to fight herself, will extract you from the battle if you lose. In the battle against [[spoiler:Jasper]] in one bad ending, she will actually attack and win the fight
* For most of ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV'', Flynn is followed by three of his fellow Samurai, and as long as he's not on a Quest, they'll jump in and help during combat. While it's implied that sometimes they're off on their own adventures, that doesn't explain why whenever they're all fighting the same boss (Minotaur and Medusa), only one jumps in and the others twaddle their thumbs.
* In ''VideoGame/AtelierRyzaEverDarknessAndTheSecretHideout'', the game even warns you the minute you get a fourth party member that "If all team members get knocked out in battle, it counts as a loss even if other members are available," with "even if other members are available" presented in RainbowSpeak to drive home the point.
* Played with in ''VideoGame/MonsterHunterRise'' during Rampage Defence quests. The game makes these out to be all-hands-on-deck situations, but only [[PlayerCharacter the Hunter]] and any multiplayer allies actually stick around for the whole defence. Other villagers are armed, but can only be deployed at specific moments, making it look like ItsUpToYou. However, talking to people after a Rampage will clarify that the Hunter is the very last line of defence - everyone else is [[OffscreenMomentOfAwesome out in the field taking on the horde themselves]], funnelling as many monsters as they can away from Kamura to keep the load on their ace manageable. One specifically explains other villagers only have short call-in windows because they can only leave their posts to help you if their assigned sector is already quiet.
* ''VideoGame/SeaOfStars:'' You usually have three characters in the active party, and one or two backups. The backups can be freely swapped with the active characters during combat, but if all of the active characters are knocked out at the same time, then it's Game Over.
* In ''VideoGame/ContraForce'', the player can switch between four characters, each with three lives. However, if your current character dies and loses his final life, the game will instantly end no matter how many lives the other characters still have. This doesn't apply in 2-Player mode, in which another player can switch to another character if his current character loses all of his lives.
* In Firefight mode in ''VideoGame/Halo3ODST'' and ''VideoGame/HaloReach'', even if you have ten lives left, you only have as many humans on the ground as you have players (for obvious reasons). Interestingly, though, there's "reinforcements" which brings an ally back even if you have no reinforcements.
* In Firefight mode in ''VideoGame/Halo3ODST'' and ''VideoGame/HaloReach'', even if you have ten lives left, you only have as many humans on the ground as you have players (for obvious reasons). Interestingly, though, there's "reinforcements" which brings an ally back even if you have no reinforcements.
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* In ''VideoGame/ContraForce'', the player can switch between four characters, each with three lives. However, if your current character dies and loses his final life, the game will instantly end no matter how many lives the other characters still have. This doesn't apply in 2-Player mode, in which another player can switch to another character if his current character loses all of his lives.
* In Firefight mode in ''VideoGame/Halo3ODST'' and ''VideoGame/HaloReach'', even if you have ten lives left, you only have as many humans on the ground as you have players (for obvious reasons). Interestingly, though, there's "reinforcements" which brings an ally back even if you have no reinforcements.
* In Firefight mode in ''VideoGame/Halo3ODST'' and ''VideoGame/HaloReach'', even if you have ten lives left, you only have as many humans on the ground as you have players (for obvious reasons). Interestingly, though, there's "reinforcements" which brings an ally back even if you have no reinforcements.
* ''VideoGame/HouseOfTheDead'' follows this; don't expect much more from your partners than them commenting on the situation if no one's manning the second controller. Washington in ''OVERKILL'' is particularly notable, as he drops a BondOneLiner at most of your kills even though G's the one doing all the work if you're playing solo.
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* ''VideoGame/HouseOfTheDead'' follows this; don't expect much more from your partners than them commenting on the situation if no one's manning the second controller. Washington in ''OVERKILL'' is particularly notable, as he drops a BondOneLiner at most of your kills even though G's the one doing all the work if you're playing solo.
* Like ''Super Robot Wars'', ''VideoGame/{{Disgaea}}'' lets you switch out current units using the home tile (so long as it wasn't destroyed by a unit you attempted to capture), but every time one is KO'd the party size for the current battle decreases by one.
* ''VideoGame/MutantYearZeroRoadToEden:'' There are five playable characters, with only three in the active party. You can only swap characters when out of combat, so The Other Two are no use when your active party are unable to continue.
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* Like ''Super Robot Wars'', ''VideoGame/{{Disgaea}}'' lets you switch out current units using the home tile (so long as it wasn't destroyed by a unit you attempted to capture), but every time one is KO'd the party size for the current battle decreases by one.
* ''VideoGame/MutantYearZeroRoadToEden:'' There are five playable characters, with only three in the active party. You can only swap characters when out of combat, so The Other Two are no use when your active party are unable to continue.
* ''VideoGame/MutantYearZeroRoadToEden:'' There are five playable characters, with only three in the active party. You can only swap characters when out of combat, so The Other Two are no use when your active party are unable to continue.
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* In ''{{VideoGame/Contra}} Force'', the player can switch between four characters, each with three lives. However, if your current character dies and loses his final life, the game will instantly end no matter how many lives the other characters still have. This doesn't apply in 2-Player mode, in which another player can switch to another character if his current character loses all of his lives.
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* In ''{{VideoGame/Contra}} Force'', ''VideoGame/ContraForce'', the player can switch between four characters, each with three lives. However, if your current character dies and loses his final life, the game will instantly end no matter how many lives the other characters still have. This doesn't apply in 2-Player mode, in which another player can switch to another character if his current character loses all of his lives.
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* In ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRPG'', you eventually get a total of five party members, though you can only take three at a time with you. Should your main three die off, the remaining two won't count. There's also the DuelBoss occasions with Jonathon Jones and Dodo. The latter is a bit more understandable, but the former is just JustForFun/{{egregious}} because ''the rest of your party is literally standing at the sides watching you fight.'' Keep in mind this is one of the RPG's where it normally doesn't matter if Mario dies, either.
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* In ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRPG'', you eventually get a total of five party members, though you can only take three at a time with you. Should your main three die off, the remaining two won't count. There's also the DuelBoss occasions with Jonathon Jones and Dodo. The latter is a bit more understandable, but the former is just JustForFun/{{egregious}} because ''the rest of your party is literally standing at the sides watching you fight.'' Keep in mind this is one of the RPG's where it normally doesn't matter if Mario dies, either. The remake averts this by automatically tagging in backup party members if any of your current ones [[CantDropTheHero barring Mario]] go down.
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** Finally defied in ''VideoGame/TalesOfBerseria'', where reserves can be tagged in by using one point of the Blast Guage. KO'ed party members will be subbed out automatically if possible, and if their AI is allowed to, conscious allies in critical condition will also swap out voluntarily to start regenerating HP on the back line. That said, it is still game over if your mainline party is totaled, even if your two reserves are still in great shape.
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** Finally defied in ''VideoGame/TalesOfBerseria'', where reserves can be tagged in by using one point of the Blast Guage.Gauge. KO'ed party members will be subbed out automatically if possible, and if their AI is allowed to, conscious allies in critical condition will also swap out voluntarily to start regenerating HP on the back line. That said, it is still game over if your mainline party is totaled, even if your two reserves are still in great shape.
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* ''VideoGame/SeaOfStars:'' You usually have three characters in the active party, and one or two backups. The backups can be freely swapped with the active characters during combat, but if all of the active characters are knocked out at the same time, then it's Game Over.
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** If you play your cards right in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIVTheAfterYears,'' you could have a total party of 22 playable characters available to you when you reach the final battle, but only 5 will actually fight. Right before the final boss, you receive words of encouragement from the other characters while your party is in danger much like the previous game. However, last game was justified in the others not helping you because you were on separate planets at the time. Here, everyone is on the same moon but they instead opt to wait at the Lunar Whale and pray while only five people try to stop the literal destruction of the planet. It's even worse as there are interdimensional elevators that connect the surface to the final area that they can take to easily catch up with the main party but decide not to. It becomes hilarious if you make a party with the most plot irrelevant people to fight the final boss, leaving the main characters on the sidelines to sit out the story and conflict.
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Kraden is not an active party member, so he doesn't fit the trope
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** In ''VideoGame/GoldenSunTheLostAge'', Kraden definitely wouldn't be able to handle combat, but couldn't he at least pull out your healing items to help out when you lose?
** By the end of the game, you'll have eight characters, but only four active in battle at any time. If your first four are knocked out, the game will automatically switch to the other four characters if any of them are still alive. You can also switch individual party members between turns.
** By the end of the game, you'll have eight characters, but only four active in battle at any time. If your first four are knocked out, the game will automatically switch to the other four characters if any of them are still alive. You can also switch individual party members between turns.
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** In By the end of ''VideoGame/GoldenSunTheLostAge'', Kraden definitely wouldn't be able to handle combat, but couldn't he at least pull out your healing items to help out when you lose?
** By the end of the game,you'll have eight characters, but only four active in battle at any time. If your first four are knocked out, the game will automatically switch to the other four characters if any of them are still alive. You can also switch individual party members between turns.
** By the end of the game,
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* In ''VideoGame/AbomiNation'' only one Abomi will fight at a time, even though the rest of the team is visibly present in battle. Backline Abomis can even be targeted by long-range attacks and suffer from DamageOverTime, but won't do anything to defend themselves, not even use items.
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* Sometimes occurs in many role-playing games with non-player characters or the characters of players who are absent for that session. Given the choice of loading the game-master or a player with having to handle multiple characters, one option is to simply say that the characters are there, just doing something else. If the party seems to be fighting six Ogres, maybe it's actually fighting ''eight'' Ogres instead, and the characters in question are fighting the extra monsters....somewhere offscreen.
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* Sometimes occurs in many role-playing games with non-player characters or the characters of players who are absent for that session. Given the choice of loading forcing the game-master or a player with having to handle multiple characters, one option is to simply say that the characters are there, just doing something else. If the party seems to be fighting six Ogres, maybe it's actually fighting ''eight'' Ogres instead, and the characters in question are fighting the extra monsters....somewhere offscreen.
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[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* Sometimes occurs in many role-playing games with non-player characters or the characters of players who are absent for that session. Given the choice of loading the game-master or a player with having to handle multiple characters, one option is to simply say that the characters are there, just doing something else. If the party seems to be fighting six Ogres, maybe it's actually fighting ''eight'' Ogres instead, and the characters in question are fighting the extra monsters....somewhere offscreen.
[[/folder]]
* Sometimes occurs in many role-playing games with non-player characters or the characters of players who are absent for that session. Given the choice of loading the game-master or a player with having to handle multiple characters, one option is to simply say that the characters are there, just doing something else. If the party seems to be fighting six Ogres, maybe it's actually fighting ''eight'' Ogres instead, and the characters in question are fighting the extra monsters....somewhere offscreen.
[[/folder]]
