Right off the bat, I want to make clear that Characterization in Combat does necessitate nor include a Barrage of Textboxes. Characterization is, simply, the things that allow the player to get to know the character. It's a wide category and is certainly no stranger to combat, but bears discussion nonetheless.

I stated earlier that a player should be able to get to know a game's characters purely through combat, or w/e the main gameplay asset is. There some games that do this well, like Tales of Symphonia's with Lloyd Irving. All of his skills have rather aggressive names (Sword Rain, Tiger Blade, Demon Fang) and every action he takes drips with brash, reckless fighting. Sure, he has some voice lines mid-battle, but his swords do most of the talking. Final Fantasy 6 took a different route and gave each character a unique skillset. I haven't touched the game in a decade and still remember Sabin as 'that blitz guy.' Granted, it's not as complete as the Lloyd example, but it was never intended to be as the differing visual capabilities made that all but impossible.

In Whisper, the small cast once again allowed me to focus on this area. Each character has unique strengths and skills that highlight their background and their Zoid. They also have pronounced interactions with other characters that are best explained via examples.

The Holy Triangle of Heal, Tank, Spank is so prevalent because it turns individual characters into a cohesive team. I'll explore its pros and cons later, but note that it was the basis for combat in Whisper, despite my ultimate rejection of it. For example, take Adele, the simplest character. She fills the familiar Glass Cannon role, dealing high damage at the cost of frailty. She can benefit from Pana by receiving heals, a defensive boost, a quicker action or more. Juno can help her by drawing enemy attention or otherwise hindering them. Christopher has a more explicit interaction as he is able to increase her damage by linking attacks with her. None of these are essential to her function, but rather enhance it.

There is never a situation where two characters look at one another and have naught to say but, 'you do your thing and I do mine'

Next time, I'll dive into the Holy Triangle.