Does not Pairing up characters make the plot worse?

[Icelerate]

I wasn't able to pair up Lachesis with anybody and I don't get Nanna so now Leif will be lonely. Will this negatively effect the story?

Out of curiosity, If one ends up not pairing anybody, will the story experience be drastically worse? 

[Parrhesia]

It'll be... patchier. You'll get 'substitutes' for Lachesis' children - IIRC Tristan and Janne.

The substitutes are worse at fighting, and their characterisation is somewhat inconsistent; Deimne is shy and unassuming until he needs to read Lester's lines, for example. But no, it's no disaster, and at least some of the substitutes have their own backstory. Just the game generally tries to make them too neat a parallel, rather than letting them breathe on their own. But yes, point is, Leif will still have a troubadour at his side one way or another.

[JSND Alter Dragon Boner]

1 hour ago, Icelerate said:

I wasn't able to pair up Lachesis with anybody and I don't get Nanna so now Leif will be lonely. Will this negatively effect the story?

Out of curiosity, If one ends up not pairing anybody, will the story experience be drastically worse? 

They have substitute character taking the roles, and frankly speaking in general subs have "more characterizatioN" than the OG in some ways although both sub and OG are kind of dull papers although yeah.... what parrhesia said is an issue

 

Leif have no need for a healer wife since he's a better healer than them though, he only married Nanna to fulfill the destiny of incestuous relationship and because Nanna is best girl

[Etrurian emperor]

Kinda. 

With everyone paired up it will be a story of the children of fallen heroes avenging their parents against the evil regime that had them killed. 

Without pairing everyone up its a story of Seliph avenging his own father with a collection of random people he picked up on the road. Doesn't have the same ring to it does it?

[Interdimensional Observer]

The 2nd Gen feels less connected overall to the main story than the first. This can be attributed to the variability of the mere existence and paternity of 14 of its units. The 1st Gen cast is fixed in full, and hence is overall more memorable and defined.

[𝐅𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐥]

18 hours ago, Icelerate said:

I wasn't able to pair up Lachesis with anybody and I don't get Nanna so now Leif will be lonely. Will this negatively effect the story?

Out of curiosity, If one ends up not pairing anybody, will the story experience be drastically worse? 

it depends.

there's some characters such as Asaello, aka "the hitman of Conote", Tristan or Laylea that could still make an impression, but overall the alternative cast from 2nd generation isn't really memorable.

besides, watching the children from 1st generation going back to their homelands to rebuild their kingdoms does give more satisfaction, in my opinion.

[0 Def Cleric]

It thematically takes away from the idea of your army leading a "holy war", since none of the subs (with the exception of Tailtiu's) have holy blood. But on the other hand, the first holy war started off as a group of people who came from nothing as well... so it doesn't take away too much, I guess? You still get all the important players, so it doesn't really matter.

[Mylady]

Leif can marry other characters that are not Nanna, they are together in Tracia but not exclusive in. Genealogy And theres  substitutes kids so Jeanne will be the healer that appear with Leif

[Dandy Druid]

A little bit. One of the main themes of Generation 2 is reclaiming your birthright and the subs don't have that birthright like the holy kids do. However, they have the same dialogue so while the story is still there, the motivations are completely different. However, there's some subs I feel work despite being substitutes. They are:

• Laylea. Lene is just an orphaned dancer who doesn't know her heritage. Even though she may have holy blood (even major holy blood!), she's not really interested in governing her parents' land because she doesn't know them. Her character arc is more about her own life and trying to find kinship, not getting revenge for her parents. 
• Charlot. Coirpre, like his sister, is an orphan. Hannibal adopted them so he fights for Hannibal and their territory. He isn't aware of his heritage so the overarching theme isn't really affecting him. Sylvia's kids are the only ones who don't necessarily follow the main theme of Gen 2: reclamation. They follow the secondary theme of carving your own path.

Everyone else more or less works. Although I can go into detail about each pair, I don't think anyone would actually read the whole thing. The only pair of kids that confuse me is Edain's kids: Lester and Lana.

• Lester's substitute Deimne is the only one that has a different personality. It's really weird for him to speak Lester's lines because Lester is quite jovial and brash while Deimne is a bit more meek and shy, similar to Ignatz. It's weird to see how shy and cute he is with his childhood friend but then teasing Patty/Daisy in the next chapter.
• Meanwhile I find Mana to have a stronger characterization than Lana. In Ch.6, there's a conversation between Edain's kids where the brother warns the sister about falling in love with Seliph because he's destined to be king and they may not be worthy of his station, etc. However, this doesn't translate well with Lester and Lana, mainly because they're nobles and Lana is of a good noble standing by birth to be eligible for Seliph's hand. She isn't some Baron's daughter, she is of one of the major houses of Grandbell and has minor holy blood. It's true that they technically will be inferior in status to Seliph, but they act like he's untouchable which isn't true. This makes more sense for Deimne and Mana, who are commoners.