How many heroes do you use?

[TheoAllen]

How many heroes do you use?

Answering the thread title, I use 3-4 actors. I'm not a great storyteller to make many characters. If I make a character even if it just an NPC, I feel like committing to telling/making their story.

What are pros and cons of using having more or less support characters?

I'm not sure what do you mean by "support character", but if you mean side character, then
pros: Fewer perspective (So you can focus on them)
cons: Fewer perspective (So you can't tell what's happening in the other different perspective)

Larger project scope and more difficulty to balance are the main cons I can think of with having more heroes but what are the benefits?

The benefit of more characters? If you're able to commit to all of them, you could make a funny interaction between them all outside the game media. It will be a character-driven development. Each of them has a chapter to tell their own story (both in-game or a separate comic strip), and maybe there would be a guest character. Or maybe a meme made by people. Just look at popular gacha games.

As for the gameplay part, it may become a puzzle. No one character has all skills. Instead, some of them could focus on the thing they could do. Some focus on healing, some focus on the offensive, some focus on utility. And you could build a team around their available skill to beat a boss battle or beat a stage.