Our favourite game characters

Link from Zelda. He just has this crazy adventure from going from a little village, to going into the future and killing the bad guy. It’s always classic, saving the princess story. Prompto Argentum from Final Fantasy XV, because he has the best back story, which really helped me understand what you can be and what you desire to be. I would pick Crash Bandicoot from the same named game, right? I guess I would pick it just because of its activity and how dynamic it was. When we were a child, I remember playing as Crash if I had the chance with my friends. So I had to pick that one. For me, it was Lara Croft.

Just as a child, to sort of see such a cool lady doing all this amazing stuff, for me that was it. I was so sold. I’d have to say probably Big Boss from Metal Gear Solid. He’s a very well developed character. He starts out almost immediately tasked with killing someone very close to him for the US Government. He’s just painted as the bad guy throughout most of the series afterwards, because he’s kind of got that dichotomous attitude. He’s good because he’s trying to do the right thing, but he’s doing it the wrong way. That kind of light versus dark, that portrayal is really important to me in terms of getting characterisation to be quite objective, but also gritty and human.

So that’s always been something I’ve considered. Plus I’m a huge fan of the series, so it doesn’t hurt. I’m going to sound like a Borderlands fan, because still Handsome Jack. Because he’s the first character I’ve actually properly hated in any game and wanted to kill. In fact, I hate him so much, that I saved the game before I killed him and then reloaded it and killed him multiple times over and over again. Well, the character I think has most affected me in terms of story is probably Ellie from The Last Of Us. Really like the fact that she wasn’t just sidelined to being a little girl companion character. She was actually useful in terms of game play.

And she had her own story and narrative completely separate and that can be developed upon more than it just being about the lead protagonist man. In terms of story and game play, it’d probably be Zelda. One of the first games I’ve ever played was Ocarina of Time. In fact, I think that was the first game I’d ever seen. And I just got hooked on it as a kid, and the adventure made me see there’s a lot more in the world I could be doing. I would like to say Niko Bellic from GTA IV, because the story– I mentioned Niko Bellic off the boat scenes. The original Americans experience a lot of stuff.

The story’s given me a lot of impact, because it’s just like myself. The first time I came to the UK, I experienced a lot different stuff which I never thought I would do before. The story is very attractive to the players, because it shows different lives and style which is what Niko Bellic was hoping for, but it’s not actually the thing he’s looking for in the story. I would say The Inquisitor from Dragon Age Inquisition, because I think that you start out as someone who is in the middle of the situation they know nothing about. They’ve kind of been thrown into the deep end and don’t really have any context for what they’re going through.

And then you rise to be one of the most powerful people, and your decisions affect everything along the way. So I think she or he has the most influence on me just because you see their growth throughout the story. You see them make mistakes as well as good decisions. So the character I’ll choose for this is Ezio from Assassin’s Creed 2, because he goes through a lot of tragedy. Over three games, you can see his progression as a character and as a person itself, the different difficulties and trials he faces while taking revenge against the people who harmed him and his family. Lara Croft. She had a big impact. She was the first female main role lead.

She was very iconic, everyone knows her. Solaire from the original Dark Souls game. He’s an NPC you come across. And you don’t really take much consideration to him, because he’s just sort of a generic NPC. He doesn’t come across as much. But as the game progresses, his back story takes a bit of a darker turn. And the way he interacts with the player is visually more emotional. So his journey progresses as well as the player’s, and towards the very end of the game, his goal consumes him. And you’re led to kill him, which is difficult, because as you’ve gone through the game you’ve taken a liking to him. He’s probably the best character in the game.

But the counter to that is that you can save him and deny his dream, which saves him. But again, it affects him in an emotional way. And that is again visible, which is very memorable as a character. Probably Samus Aran, because not only is she from a video game that I really quite like design-wise, but they really managed to convey her character through her actions and the way that you, the player, play as her.

Until they butchered her in Metroid: Other M. But other than that, she’s just really well done. She’s also the first female video game protagonist– one of the first female protagonists. So that’s good.