Discussion Characters / ShinMegamiTenseiIVApocalypse

Okay, bringing some of them here for discussion:

• Crutch Character: As the first partner of the game, she's genuinely invaluable at a time when healing is scarce. But later on other characters can heal almost as well and also do damage, not to mention the fact that players have access to more healing items and techniques, she quickly becomes a lot less useful, her only use being to grant free Smirks.
  • Removed without explanation. Presumably because of Heart Is an Awesome Power below, but between the fact that's a shoehorn and the fact that she spends 95% of the game other than the first hour and last dungeon overshadowed by other partners, I'd say it still applies, though if she does get as useful as this claims it could be a subversion.
• The Ditz: Not exactly dumb, but she definitely isn't known for her smartness and relies a little too much on Buffy Speak.
  • Removed without explanation. Seemingly mutated into Hot-Blooded without realizing what Hot-Blooded means. She's not Hot-Blooded at all. Hot-Blooded isn't "someone who leaps into the fray," it has specific connotations that she doesn't fit. Genki Girl and/or Leeroy Jenkins is a much better fit.
• Heart Is an Awesome Power: Asahi already starts out as a reliable healer, and in a game where you can go from max health to death in a single turn, her support is indeed useful. However, she eventually plateaus after a certain point, especially when Nanashi gets access to strong healing demons and in a game where your partners consist of superpowered mages, strong physical attackers, obscenely useful status buffers and a character who can do a bit of everything, Asahi ends up becoming somewhat replaceable as a result. Cue her awakening, which jacks up her healing to 11, making her one of the most dependable partners in the game. She is able to instantly recover a ridiculous amount of damage with her standard Mediarama spell, making her one of, if not the most useful partner against powerful bosses. Literally personified in the form of Cheer (a skill that only she can get) which provides someone with instant Smirk status.
  • Massive shoehorn. The gist of it could be rewritten (and toned down) into an example of Magikarp Power, though.

She only gets that awakened power on one route, and even then whether she's useful her demons can still disobey her just like Gaston steals press turns.

Any thoughts on readding Crutch Character?

Been a few years with no comment, so I'm readding Crutch Character at least.

Dagda was believed to have said it in the Japanese version on the Massacre route. The english version at no point has him imply or say as such. So it's either inaccurate info caused by unreliable translations or removed, and it's more likely the former than the latter as Atlus USA is as faithful as they can be with the story in SMT games.

Ah, ok.