Tight level banding works in a Dragon Quest-like setup, where the player is strictly led along and each new area is a microcosm of the leveling curve, presenting as very difficult when first entered and then, with a level-up or two, moving to fair and then trivial.
My favorite way to balance this is s-curve shaped; enemies get significantly easier or harder just a level below or above the player, but this slows down and caps so that no enemy is truly trivialized and or impossible – it’s really obvious in Destiny when running through low-end content that they still take a few body shots.
Most of the party members band together to exact revenge upon the Mechon for killing loved ones. But I love how Heropon Riki—the cutesy/comedy-relief animal friend—joins up because he’s being extorted and possibly cuckolded by his village elder.
