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I apologize in advance if this has been a topic before but a comment by Del Murder in another thread brought this thought to mind.
What gaming character, if any, did you all find you developed an actual emotional investment in? For me 2 characters come to mind, Solid Snake & John Marston.
On Final Fantasy games where you get to name the character, I notice I definitely get more into the story if I've named them. I wouldn't call it emotional investment per say, it's just a lot more fun watching the names I chose, instead of stupid pre-rendered names.
Zack Fair. I nearly cried.
Unlike all the other final fantasy games where there are multiple protagonists with one obvious lead, Crisis Core focuses on one person over ten years of his life and how he grows and matures, maintains his bonds, and even to the end protects his honor. That is why Zack will always be my favorite character in any game.
I was really upset when I thought EVA was going to die in Metal Gear Solid 3, and I do nickname my Pokemon in Nuzlocke runs to create more of a "bond" with my party. Beyond that they're just playing pieces on a board to me and I don't really care for them.
My pokemon.Quote:
Originally Posted by Shattered Dreamer
Not even kidding.
I get attached to them like I would to real pets.
I get attached to characters a lot easier than I imagine most of you do. Listing examples would be a fool's errand. But then you always get characters who you are meant to like and don't.
I only get that way with the cute ones or ones I personally evolved over hundreds of battles. I give them back stories.Quote:
Originally Posted by PikeMy pokemon.Quote:
Originally Posted by Shattered Dreamer
Not even kidding.
I get attached to them like I would to real pets.
Both of you. Nuzlocke run. Now.Quote:
Originally Posted by Zack's CrotchI only get that way with the cute ones or ones I personally evolved over hundreds of battles. I give them back stories.Quote:
Originally Posted by PikeMy pokemon.Quote:
Originally Posted by Shattered Dreamer
Not even kidding.
I get attached to them like I would to real pets.
I always play nuzlocke. Except with eevee evolutions.
I'm too out of step with Pokemon for that. Last Pokemon game I played was Emerald, and I didn't finish it.
I really got attached to the cast of FFIV, FFVI, and Chrono Trigger when I was a kid/early teens. As an adult, most of the cast from Metal Gear Solid would be a pretty normal example.
John Marston for me too. He was a very well developed character and since you see this great open world through his eyes it is easy to become attached.
I also had a strong connection with Crono from Chrono Trigger. Even though he doesn't talk, you do become engrossed from his story, from the very beginning when he wakes up in his mom's house. I really identified with him, probably because I'd love to go on an adventure through time.
The ships I design in any 4X that lets you design ships.
Oh! MILF's answer reminds me of my city I made in SimCity 2000. I made Gotham City and it was awesome. It had Wayne Manor, Joker's Hideout, Penguin's Museum and many other things. I loved that city so much that I turned off all disasters so that it would never be destroyed.
I don't get emotionally invested in games. Sure, I think Marston is a great character and I wanted to follow his adventure but that is where it stays. Interest as an omnipotent diety over his world. I know not what comes next but he is but a puppet that dives over a cliff at my whim...which lead to a hilarious crash when I did that with a horse.
I will ponder motivations, the cause/effect relationships and the meaning/messeage that this all contains. Marston pretty much got what was coming to him. He tried to change but you can't change your past and eventually it will catch up with you. It was just the end of his story and I only knew a sliver of it which isn't nearly enough to get me emotionally invested.
About the only emotion I display in a game is frustration but I get frustrated by other assholes on the road so take that for what its worth. In all fairness, it is mostly frustration at the people behind the game rather than the game itself so I guess that is still outside of the game. Stuff like "I can't believe they just did that. THat makes no smurfing sense. He had no reason to do that! You could have accomplished the same thing and stayed in character with blah blah blah! troutty writers!"
I just remembered that I got pretty attached to some of my WoW characters. I gave all of them personalities and little backstories and such, even if I never RP'd with them.
Urge... to re-sub... rising... must... suppress....
pandaspandaspandaspandasQuote:
Originally Posted by Pike
That actually encourages me NOT to resub because BURNING CRUSADE IS DEAD MAN, IT'S NEVER COMING BACK *sobs*Quote:
Originally Posted by Tifa's BoobspandaspandaspandaspandasQuote:
Originally Posted by Pike
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tifa's BoobspandaspandaspandaspandasQuote:
Originally Posted by Pike
Deerhoof - Panda - YouTube
This was mandatory.
I actually get emotionally invested fairly easily in video games. The Lone Wanderer from Fallout 3 was probably the worst, because I didn't feel like I was playing a character. I took everything that happened very personally. I was COMPELLED to be the good guy all the time because it was genuinely upsetting to me when someone made derisive comments towards me. Dogmeat was arguably worse though. Can't even count the number of times I reloaded because Dogmeat died trying to save me from some unseen mirelurk. I loved that little guy. I also got really attached to The Prince in Prince of Persia (2008). It was one of the more well done relationships in a game in my opinion, and having the ability to randomly initiate legitimate chit-chat in the middle of regular gameplay went a long way towards building that feeling. It was rather novel to think "I wonder what Elika's thinking about?" and not only be able to ask her, but get genuine response back instead of just mission hints or something. Still begging for a sequel that will probably never happen.
yup yupQuote:
Originally Posted by GhandiOwnsYou
great character development and banter
and frankly i thought that ending was really well done story-wise, even though it was a setup for a sequel that'll never happen
shame the expansion was a piece of crap in terms of story (ie nothing happened) (i watched it on youtube)
Most of the characters in the Golden Sun series, especially Isaac and Jenna. That game hit me incredibly deeply, and even yesterday, I was going through the soundtrack, and just hearing some of those songs bring back vivid enough memories that I was tearing up a little.
I rarely develop real long term attachment to characters, but the few I really enjoyed have been Solid Snake, Big Boss, and Ezio Auditore mostly because we really watch their lives unfold and I must say I like a sequel showing older versions of characters getting on in years. The scenes with a 80 year Altair in Revelations are quite well done from both a story and gameplay standpoint.
From Final Fantasy, there are a few like Vivi who really stand out. I also have to bro-fist Del and say that Crono has always been a character I've been really attached to. I think his death midway through the game really cemented those feelings, but he also just has some funny quirks that keep him from being a total blank slate character.
Speaking of which, the MC of Persona 3 is someone I also grew really attached to, which is what made playing through The Answer so powerful because I was kind of in the same emotional state as the rest of the cast concerning the ending of P3. Elizabeth was also a character I really grew attached to thanks to the addition of her "dates" side mission. The last date in particular kind of blew my mind tbh... Honestly, in terms of writing good characters, I feel Persona has found a really good means of immersing the player and getting them attached to the characters. It's difficult not to form a bond when the game kind of pseudo-similates every day life with them.
I forgot to mention that I get relatively attached to the "characters" in Crusader Kings 2. It always gives me a bit of a shock when one dies and I have to pass the dynasty on to the next "me".
Not gonna lie, that sounds really fun. Are there a lot of strategy games that do that?Quote:
Originally Posted by Pike
The Crusader Kings series is the big one that focuses on dynasties more than countries. There's a Game of Thrones mod, too, which is rather popular!
I'm another one who mostly becomes attached to their MMO characters. I guess it's all the shaping and molding of the character over umpteen levels and how they are much more being treated as the player's personal avatar that makes it this way for me. While I don't play the genre all that much any more, I still have fond memories of all my WoW and FFXI characters.