Can you truly like an NPC?

[The Man With the Soap]

Wadsworth, your trusty Robot Butler in Fallout 3.
The only killable thing in that game that I didn't have the heart to shoot.

you realise he actually hates you right?

Oh yeah, but it was a mutual love/hate thing that we had going on.

yeah, it's funny when he sass's you under his breath, or in his case, with the volume turned down

 

[gamshobny]

Are we forgetting HK-47 from Knights of the Old Republic? Someone I can see eye to eye with in a philosophical way and a very loyal friend-like slave assassin droid. Most of the NPC from Knights of the Old Republic were very like-able... well except for the wookie.

Actualy, I could really talk with the wook... allright, I can't say that without laughing! Anyways, I liked Carth a lot better as a friend, and the first time around Mission as well. Now that I'm playing it again, I realise just how close her voice sounds to "that's hot", which makes me die a little inside....

Valve definitely is the mother in making likable NPCs. HL2 being the prime example.

Of course, the HL2 NPCs go without saying.

Nonsence. True, Alex was a nice character, but other then her, and even including her, I never really felt connected, especialy not like in Jagged Alliance 2 or KOTOR.

Yeah, Gaz was awesome. DAMN YOU ZAKHAEV!

Seriously, CoD 4 was way too fast paced for me to pay any kind of attention to Gaz, Price or anybody. I just wondered when I would get to shoot again at that point, because it was just getting boring.

Anyone else get really attached to the NPCs in Mass Effect? I loved them all except Kaiden, but especially Nihlus (see avatar. He was cool even though he was only around for like, 5 minutes) and Tali.

I found that the NPC's in Mass Effect had some irritating chat loops and repeats. I really hate it when you can ask an NPC about some trivial detail of their own personal history over and over and over again and they never ask you why you've been asking thesame question six times in a row. Now, that was good in KOTOR, when you reacted badly to an NPC in KOTOR, you would never had a chance to do it again (not couting save games).

However, the one game that sticks out the most of all? Jagged Alliance 2. I seriously wouldn't play the game because I just lost one of my beloved mercs and I just had to get away from it all... you know, you've got to give the memory time to fade away.

 

[runtheplacered]

I happen to think you can. Not like as in, say, make a cardboard cut out and take to the movies like, I mean a like where you enjoy it when they come on screen. Like Barney off Half Life. He was a likeable NPC.

My measure of a likeable NPC is when you get irritated when they get shot. In some games when a NPC I like gets killed I say screw shooting the enemy and I run up and punch em in the face.

Do you think that NPCs are or could ever be likeable? Why not? Which ones have you liked in the past?

Sorry for all the questions.

Dogmeat.
/thread

What's so great about Dogmeat? I found him useless. In fact, I went ahead and put him out of his own useless misery with a hunting rifle.

He's a doggie. I'm ignoring the rest of your post out of kindness.

I don't know how that's being kind, but I suppose I'll thank you anyway, just in case. Anyway, when it comes to NPC's, there's two different kinds. The ones that join me and the ones that don't. The ones that join me need to have some utility (usefulness) to them or else they're just getting in the way. While Dogmeat might be able to tank a radscorpian, I found that it really didn't come in that handy very often. If he aggro'd say, 3 radscorpians, I might as well go ahead and start digging his grave right then and there for him. In reality that means I need to quickload because he died. That's just not being very useful. Sending him to Vault 101 isn't very useful either. Shooting him and watching him roll down a hill, while not being useful, was at least entertaining.

As for NPC's that don't join my group, they don't get graded on such a harsh scale. If they have a plight that I can sympathize with, then that'd be an NPC that I care about. Three Dog was one such NPC from that game that I did find myself caring about, and hell, his Public Service Announcements could be helpful, so he was the best of both worlds.

 

[Aschenkatza]

I loved the NPC Voice for Portal and Companion Cube will always hold a piece of my heart.

 

[Sporky111]

I think you can definatly like NPCs. The best ones are the ones that don't get in your way, like Al from Ratchet and Clank 3 and on. He was fun to be around.

I also like Sgt. Johnson from Halo, maybe I just think that because Guilty Spark killed him. That little *****.

 

[Mostly Harmless]

Sure any game with a decent story has great NPCs. Glottis from Grim Fandango, Mans best friend, or Le Chuck

 

[riyun]

I have gotten along better with some npcs than people.

 

[Ursus Astrorum]

Deekin. No kobold was ever more cute nor badass than that little guy.

Also on my list is Neeshka, who reminds me of a close friend, and Magatha Grimtotem, who's sheer badassery in her old age never ceases to make me to respect her.

There's several more, of course, but these guys are among my most loved.

 

[JohnSmith]

eli, no come on you can't be dead, not you eli. Probably my most emotional moment in a game ever. The answer is yes.

 

[The Man With the Soap]

to actually answer the question, when the enclave killed my father, i personally tracked down every one of their camps and slaughtered everyone of those bastards three times

 

[maddawg IAJI]

of course npcs can be liked ppl liked cole from the gears series. its just that more npcs are unliked such as all of the american npcs in cod world at war (i did not like any of them and much rather would have liked it if all 3 died) now the russian guys they were likeable

 

[The Iron Ninja]

Wadsworth, Andy, Godfrey and all similar machines in Fallout 3 are all excellent.
NPCs work best as robots.

 

[The Shade]

Companion Cube, Charon, Barney, Eli, Alyx, Lamarr...

So many memories!

*pulls out a scrapbook with photos of our time together*

 

[Ronwue]

Really, I think 50% of my posts here contain Baldur's Gate in one way or another. I loved all the NPCs there even the protagonist's lines were awesome. They don't make games like that anymore...

 

[ElephantGuts]

A better question is, can you ever NOT like an NPC? Wait, no, that's stupid, of course you can. But of course you can like an NPC, they can (potentially) be like any other character in any other form of entertainment. I've liked plenty of NPCs, and if they're developed right they can be great.

 

[Willwillwritehiswill]

Fable II. That damned dog. i missed it so much when he was gone. Stupid good ending...

Middle choice ftw! Gotta have someone to play catch with ;D

I was given a happy reuniting thanks to knothole island. All for the cost of one measly NPC's life.

 

[GreenDevilJF]

I try to but I just end up feeling weird about giving a shit about a scripted NPC.

 

[Double-O]

Alyx from HL2. She is a) super cute, b) useful in combat and c) also a damsel in distress I would virtually do anything for (including attacking Combine special forces with just a crowbar after depleting all my ammo seconds earlier)

 

[Double-O]

Also your fellow rebels in Freedom Fighters, I really felt like we were all brothers in arms taking our the Russians, although I enjoyed sending them to scout areas heavily infested with troops alone, because they were pretty useful.