Game Characters That Had Good Development?

[Moonface]

Kratos - God of War 2018

I can't speak about Kratos as a character in any of the other God of War games since I've never played them, but going into God of War 2018 as my first experience with the franchise in any capacity I love how Kratos develops throughout this game. Even without having any major knowledge of the previous games, the game makes it clear that he feels out of his depth when it comes to raising Atreus and trying to express his feelings properly, and seeing Kratos get explored with layers and depth beyond "murder fucking everything!" was really cool to watch unfold and it might be one of my favourite character developments that happens in a single game.

 

Nathan Drake - Uncharted (Series)

The initial Uncharted games don't go too heavy on character development, mostly because of how they're made to be standalone stories that don't require playing the previous one to understand the characters and what's going on. Despite that, the series does try to push some heavy character exploration of Drake throughout Uncharted 3, where we get to see how destructive his obsession is with treasure, as it's put a strain on his marriage with Elena to the point they're practically separated between the second and third games, and everyone around him constantly questions what his deal is. By the end of the game he comes around on trying to prove himself and opts to give up treasure hunting entirely to settle down with Elena and live a normal life. Uncharted 4 however shows his unhappiness with such a life though, and the game goes harder on character development than anything until this point as we learn about Drake's backstory and his brother, among other things. It basically takes what Uncharted 3 started to do and goes all in to wrap everything up and give all of the characters a send-off that I think couldn't be done any better and gives us a true insight into a cast that we'd been hunting treasure with for almost a decade.

 

So, what about the rest of you? What game characters do you think had good development? 🙂

[Justin11]

16 hours ago, Moonface said:

I can't speak about Kratos as a character in any of the other God of War games since I've never played them, but going into God of War 2018 as my first experience with the franchise in any capacity I love how Kratos develops throughout this game. Even without having any major knowledge of the previous games, the game makes it clear that he feels out of his depth when it comes to raising Atreus and trying to express his feelings properly, and seeing Kratos get explored with layers and depth beyond "murder fucking everything!" was really cool to watch unfold and it might be one of my favourite character developments that happens in a single game.

I completely agree with this you could actually relate with how hard he tries to keep Atreus away from danger.

The developers did well to make Atreus act like a regular teenage kid who wouldn't agree to all instructions from their parents and guardians and would always want to do what feels right to them.

[Moonface]

12 hours ago, Justin11 said:

The developers did well to make Atreus act like a regular teenage kid who wouldn't agree to all instructions from their parents and guardians and would always want to do what feels right to them.

This is especially true after he finds out he's a God. It goes straight to his head and he immediately refuses to obey Kratos, to the point he won't even listen to commands you give him in gameplay and will instead act independently in fights until the story has him stop.

[Empire]

Lost Odyssey, easily.

The main character is immortal, and has lived for one thousand years. As we join his story, we players find Kaim Argonar long jaded and stone cold. The countless deaths he's witnessed, the wives and children that have been lost to the flow of time, have turned him into an emotionless husk. He's lost himself in war, moving from one battlefield to the next as a mercenary, barely speaking to anyone at all.

And through the course of the game, he learns to love, laugh, cry, and live again.

[Justin11]

On 11/13/2022 at 1:31 PM, Empire said:

Lost Odyssey, easily.

The main character is immortal, and has lived for one thousand years. As we join his story, we players find Kaim Argonar long jaded and stone cold. The countless deaths he's witnessed, the wives and children that have been lost to the flow of time, have turned him into an emotionless husk. He's lost himself in war, moving from one battlefield to the next as a mercenary, barely speaking to anyone at all.

And through the course of the game, he learns to love, laugh, cry, and live again

This is an interesting character development and witnessing the main character learn about his own emotions as a player would be worth an experience.

I haven't played lost Odyssey but I am now more interested in it than ever.

[killamch89]

• Raiden from Metal Gear - went from a child soldier who was a killing machine with the nickname "Jack the Ripper" to becoming a more upstanding citizen who protects the innocent by the end of the series. Solid Snake really rubbed off on him.
• Kratos - used to be killing everything left and right but with his son in his life, he's become way more mature and understands that violence can't solve everything.

[Justin11]

4 hours ago, killamch89 said:

• Raiden from Metal Gear - went from a child soldier who was a killing machine with the nickname "Jack the Ripper" to becoming a more upstanding citizen who protects the innocent by the end of the series. Solid Snake really rubbed off on him.
• Kratos - used to be killing everything left and right but with his son in his life, he's become way more mature and understands that violence can't solve everything.

The character development of kratos is really a good mention, starting as an aggressive god Slayer to becoming a father who only wants to protect his child Atreus from becoming another version of his dark side.

[killamch89]

18 hours ago, Justin11 said:

The character development of kratos is really a good mention, starting as an aggressive god Slayer to becoming a father who only wants to protect his child Atreus from becoming another version of his dark side.

Yeah - I don't blame him either. This version Kratos seems to look at his past self with some disdain and regret.

[Justin11]

On 11/17/2022 at 4:24 AM, killamch89 said:

Yeah - I don't blame him either. This version Kratos seems to look at his past self with some disdain and regret.

That's true which is why it sometimes look like he is putting much pressure on Atreus and wouldn't let him do whatever he wants some times.