Who is your favourite NPC and why?
For me it is Chloe from Detroit Become Human. I like her because she is beautiful, expressive, she breaks the fourth wall and evolve alongside with me the player. It is like she is being affected by my choices in the game.
I’m basic AF. It’s HK-47 and it’s not particularly close.
A correct answer... meatbag.
Linus from stardew valley. He’s mad chill and happy just foraging. I always get to max friendship with him and it’s always worth it.
Absolutely mine as well. I always make sure I have something on me to give to Linus.
Stardew Valley is very low on my backlog because of the day/night cycle and time limits in the game. I know there are mods to slow down or even pause time... I might pick it up again eventually.
For now I find Fantasy Life to be a good alternative, very different gameplay but it doesn't pressure me to do anything within any timeframe.
Verso from the recent Expedition 33 is one of the most well written characters in recent memory. Can't really say much else due to spoilers.
Kim Kitsuragi from Disco Elysium is a masterclass in subtle character writing, and while ostensibly positioned as the "straight man" for your wacky protagonist he has a surprising amount of personality that bubbles up to the surface bit by bit.
E33 is the top game on my wishlist. The only reason I haven't bought it yet is that I'm not sure if my relaxes are too slow for the QTE combat.
I started playing Disco Elysium just yesterday, and I quite like Kim. The voice actor tried to mimic an accent but it doesn't sound like Japanese or Korean.
I hated the game Tthe first time I tried Disco Elysium. The writing at the beginning is so pretentious. I understand the write tried to express the state of mind of the protagonist, but it just felt too annoying to read. I think I got through that part now, hopefully the writing will be more "normal" going forward.
On Story mode E33 can basically be played ignoring parry/dodge and treating it like a classic turn-based game. There is an accessibility option to auto-succeed on the QTEs on your skills, too.
What did you find pretentious about the writing? It is definitely written by self-styled "intellectuals" and in a very high-brow manner, but for me it felt very genuine and sincere and the emotional moments of the story felt extremely raw and heartfelt.
I don't think the writing changes noticeably over the course of the game so if you're not vibing with it you might just not like it.
Probably basic but Handsome Jack in Borderlands. He is such a perfect villain in my opinion, always there and it does feel like he is in control throughout the game. Spoiler for Tales
I always find it fascinating that people enjoyed him. I personally thought his character was incredibly annoying, and I just wanted him to stfu. I guess that's the point though.
I mean like everything it is very subjective, I didn't like the replacement characters in Borderlands 3 they made to recapture how successful Handsome Jack was a villain, but Borderlands 3 has a loooot of writing and pacing issues. It could also be that I played Borderlands 2 when I was in my mid teens and still in school.
I can definitely see why you find him annoying, I definitely wanted to shoot him in the face throughout the story. I felt his quips were also "humanising" aspect, at the beginning of the game he seems somewhat all powerful with a lot of the things he does, but then he says things that make you go, I could just shoot him
Is Tales from the Borderlands good for someone without experience/interest in other Borderlands games? I like narrative games but not FPS.
That's a hard one, it is probably my favourite, but that is from someone who played Borderlands 1 and 2, and enjoys Telltale games. I do think tales is good, but some of the impact is derived from characters or elements from the other games.
Can't say he's my favorite per se, but from recent memory, Ahti from Control. Just an absolute madman, and he just wants to fight the clog.
Detective, while I appreciate you engaging in discussions about radiocomputer games as a hobby instead of drinking - it would be preferable if you could focus on the case, and postpone private matters such as this to the evening hours.
Kim Kitsuragi in Disco Elysium is something that is not easy to do: A straight man, supporting the player character, without getting boring or bereft of his own personality or simply annoying the player and keeping them from engaging in chaotic behaviour. He's the perfect counterpart for the buddy-cop-duo archetype the devs were going for.
From my experience having watched dozens of people play DE at this point this part is only half true. A vast majority of players inadvertently hamper their experience by missing out on massive amounts of content out of fear of "disappointing Kim". I couldn't even tell you how many people I've seen never learn about the Pale because they were afraid of telling Lena they don't remember reality in front of Kim. Though in part of course this is people being trained by all other RPGs that "wacky" dialogue options punish you - which is something Disco doesn't do.
Apart from that I completely agree with you and think overall Kim is probably the best written character in gaming and a tour de force of subtlety and nuance.