Can an NPC Feel Like A Friend? | Semi-Ramblomatic
Added 2024-08-18 15:42:18 +0000 UTCWith all the craziness, forgot to share this week's episode of Semi-Ramblomatic.
Peep the new thumbnail courtesy of Javed!
Enjoy!
Comments
Fallout 4 sort of ticked those boxes. You pick up a new friend, as you travel they approve or disapprove of your actions moving the needle, at set friend levels they confess more secrets until you become BFF. At which point you gain the perk and tell them to fuck off. I sent all of them to Sanctuary so when I returned there it became a very awkward experience, they kept coming up to me to tell me how much they appreciated my friendship while I avoided eye contact.
Ben Repton
2024-08-26 21:41:30 +0000 UTCI think she's liked a lot more in part BECAUSE she's not supposed to be considered totally likeable or helpful from the word go, compared to Navi and Fi being annoying because they're presented as supposed to be in-universe helpful while being annoying to the player. Having the actual arc with a turnaround ends up reflecting the player's feelings well.
Swift Justice
2024-08-20 13:48:51 +0000 UTCIt’s an odd one because it’s a linear plot but speaking of Zelda helper NPCs, Midna from Twilight Princess is my favourite of the series. An actual fleshed out character (and arguably the actual main character of the game) she starts out a snarky, mean imp who bullies and belittles you and Zelda, before eventually (I found at least) becoming an actual companion whose goals aligned with mine as we aid her quest before she aids ours at the end. Ngl I get things in my eyes every time that mirror shatters at the end.
Tim Wilson
2024-08-20 12:30:52 +0000 UTCHad commented elsewhere that I feel this video is missing one more key form of making friends in video games: Beating the crap out of them. There's quite a few games that do the classic anime thing of having you fight characters before they end up being your friend and joining your party. Some games are built around it, Pokemon is kind of an example. There's a lot of jokes to be made about that, but it can work, and not just for the reasons it works in the animes. (Where everyone's a rowdy fight maniac who acts like and often outright is a teenage boy) So much about games in particular is pretty much built around fights with distinct and memorable designs and movesets, and it makes it all the more interesting when the moves they used against you in their boss fight are now used for you in your team. (Of course, they're almost always weaker than when you fought them, but so it goes) And you also get the other way around at times, people love when you fight another player character and wonder what it looks like from their perspective; the Yakuza/Like A Dragon series has a few great cases of this, and somewhere in between it's also popular to have boss characters get their own games. Bowser's Inside Story also comes to mind, where halfway through the different player characters collide and you fight Bowser using the same moves that you use when playing as him. (He'll even only use a particular special move if you already unlocked it as him!)
Swift Justice
2024-08-20 03:21:32 +0000 UTC
