mk64 wrote:

I like how portal builds your character by talking at you

Portal's all about GlaDoS first though, innit? 

That game is another example of how an NPC becomes more important to the game than your own avatar (like, Ico, SotC and The Last Guardian). You're definitely right about how Portal's scenario leads you to assume much about Chelle, without actually knowing anything about her though.

@dynamite

For all I've played of HL, I have to disagree. Silent Gordon isn't a blank canvas to paint your personality on. Silent Gordon is a very specific, weird personality that draws more attention to how wrong it is than any dialogue would have. I hated the story sections because of how poorly they were handled. It's dire stuff.

I'd be surprised if HL3 didn't have some "Freeman. Are you listening?" type dialogue. But as everything else gets closer to realism, the mute fucker is going to stand out like a sorer thumb.

adkm1979 wrote:

@dynamite For all I've played of HL, I have to disagree. Silent Gordon isn't a blank canvas to paint your personality on. Silent Gordon is a very specific, weird personality that draws more attention to how wrong it is than any dialogue would have. I hated the story sections because of how poorly they were handled. It's dire stuff.

I don't think it's mindblowing or anything, but I will admit to appreciating it.

Were Valve to give him one of the two lines I'd suggested for the head crab pet section, we'd have a clear idea of what Gordon thinks of head crabs, and we'd certainly internalize that.

If he was shook up by the encounter and was found to relate as much, we might not take his approach to the next armed checkpoint as seriously as we would have, if he had shown indifference to the set piece instead. 

But I'll agree that character dialogue is a useful tool for framing and colouring action.

I seriously doubt anyone would have liked Starfox half as much, if McCloud and his merry cache of wildlife were not found to natter like tarts... Looking back to the original title, their constant chirping added very little to the play experience, but somehow gave the impression that the game couldn't take place without them...

Breaking it down, the only play mechanic ascribed to Slippy, Peppy and Falco's presence, was pretty much the exact same mechanic which Centipede (remember that game?) once enforced with the occasional appearance of an 8 pixel spider...

But you rarely thought about the 100% level completion bonus. You mostly thought about Slippy, the crap pilot, Peppy, the whiny bitch, and Falco the cunt...

You'd have saved the fucking galaxy yourself if I wasn't there innit', Falco? You cunt.

I'm a big BD fan and Iliked the tone but the characters were out of a book of stereotypes. Apart from Cain, the robot, he's literally the best thing ever.

I can't really think of any great character. The Agent Smith guy from Half Life is good, I like badasses like Dante, Bayonetta & Same Gideon, funboys like Prince of Persia or Nathan Drake, and gruff heroes like Snake Solid. But they're all straightforward characters that I probably only like because they're in good games.

Persona could be a great platform to explore social meanderings if they changed the cast to adults living in a modern city. Instead we're stuck with schoolkids because target demographic.

IanHamlett wrote:

Flicking through CrunchyRoll and dismissing anything with "highschool" in the description leaves you with about 5 things to watch. There was a japanese animator on reddit trying to kickstart his project because he couldn't get funding in the traditional way. I suggested he should set it in a highschool and have some kind of supernatural element. He didn't get it.

It's somewhat akin to the US' fascination with dysfunctional family units.