Poll: So I just felt some compassion for a random NPC...

[AroLombardi]

In Majora's Mask, I always felt bad when I didn't save everyone. Because there were tons of side quests, and only three days to do it all, I felt really sad leaving some of them to die scared. (i.e. Anju and Kafei, Romani and Cremia,, and Lulu's eggs. :C)

 

[JCBFGD]

I was really sad when Tali, who my Shepard happened to be in love with, died in the suicide mission. It didn't help that I had modelled my Shepard off of me (same moral choices, etc. No, I don't actually love Tali). I couldn't figure out why she had died...I did everything I was supposed to. I would've reloaded, but I knew it wouldn't make any difference.

Also, thinking about this sort of thing, I realise that I feel really bad for Artemus in the Thief series. He treats Garrett like his own son, lets him into the Keepers, raises him for most of his childhood, etc...and all Garrett ever shows in return is hate and anger, both towards Artemus and the Keepers. He even uses the skills taught to him for theft. And then, in the third game,

Spoiler

he dies before he gets to see Garrett become The One True Keeper (Thief's version of A Chosen One)...he doesn't even get to say goodbye, and neither one ever straight-up said how much he loved the other.

Stuff like that hits me pretty hard.

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

Yes but then I remember that their life is generally expendable and I return to being evil.

 

[Sariteiya]

I am terrible with this stuff. This is honestly the reason I can't choose evil paths, moralities, etc. The minute they say something like, "I have a family!" I'm sunk. My boyfriend makes fun of me for being crazy considerate of NPC's in games like Godfather or GTA.

Specifically? Some of the indoctrinated Solarians in the first Mass Effect really got to me. Even in Mass Effect 3, where you overhear people gossiping on your ship about Colonists going missing started to upset me. There's probably hordes and hordes of others, but It's hard to call them all to mind at the moment.

 

[Danny 6Speed]

I have tried to save all the marines in halo(all of the really) Because to them I was there Hero
and felt a need to protect them and keep there spirits up or just because they were in my command so they trusted their lives to me.

 

[CM156_v1legacy]

Neverwinter Nights 2

Spoiler

I came back to west harbor and saw everyone dead. I was shocked. This is where I grew up. I then frantically looked around, trying to find anyone alive. I then came to the corpes of Brother Merring, and was just stunned. Merring was a good friend to my Paladin/Divine Champion, and there he was. Merring was a humble man, who sacrificed much to bring the light of his god to West Harbor. I kneeled, said a prayer, and then moved on to kill all those who had done it.

Also, I am trying to make my players feel the same way for NPC's in our DnD group, but it isn't working. I think I have to kill off one of the characters girlfriend to make them care.

 

[War Penguin]

Oh, hell yes, all the time. Even the ones trying to kill me.
That was... that was nothing more that freaking awesome!

 

[ajkalan]

In Grand Theft Auto III, there's one pedestrian model around the dock region (I think, it's been a while) who would say, "Don't shoot," and, "I've got a family," when you pointed a gun at him. The way he said it, sounding both calm and frightened rather than over the top like most of the other NPCs, caused me to stay my hand on multiple occasions in my rampages of death.

 

[Jumplion]

Do doves count as NPC's?

Because in Shadow of the Colossus I'd always shoot at them. Sometimes I'd be bored, or too overwhelmed by the game to start a new Colossus, or I needed to get off soon. Sometimes I just needed to think about the game and shooting at the doves provided a mindless outlet to entertain me while I took it all in.

Eventually I learned that they were impossible to kill. Yet, on my many playthroughs, I still shot at them occasionally.

Then, last year, after digging up my copy of this game, I was hanging next to a tree before the final fight when I decided to eat some fruit. I tried to pull out my bow, hit the wrong button, and accidentally swung my sword, and heard a dull thud.

I had hit one and it died. I was so sad I was on the verge of tears.

It also fit in beautifully with the narrative of the game. Eventually, as I thought about it all, 3 or 4 tears rolled down my cheek and I had to shut off the game.

TL;DR Shadow of the Colossus is the greatest game ever.

To expand on this, Shadow of the Collosus is probably the only game that has made me care about a character that was already dead.

The ending was a true heartbreaker. You just have to....let go. And I didn't want to disappoint her, Mono, in the end but there was no other way.

 

[JustJuust]

SPOILERS

In Oblivion, in the Great Gate battle at Bruma, I tried so hard to make sure that every guards I convinced to help defend Bruma lived... I tried so hard, but the soldier from Kvatch died D:

 

[JustJuust]

I have tried to save all the marines in halo(all of the really) Because to them I was there Hero
and felt a need to protect them and keep there spirits up or just because they were in my command so they trusted their lives to me.

Did you see the ads for Halo 3 where old men talk about how Master Chief brought them hope, and only lived thanks to him? After watching that ad, I looked at the marines differently...

 

[ScarletRider]

The first time I felt compassion for an NPC, it was when I was playing Battlezone for the PC by Activision. It's rare to find a decent strategy game that puts you on the front lines with your units, and I always had a wingman handy when surveying the area. While I knew my turrets wouldn't hold out for long during the attack on Eagle's Nest 1, I tried everything I could to get the rest of the units to safety.

Also, thinking about this sort of thing, I realise that I feel really bad for Artemus in the Thief series. He treats Garrett like his own son, lets him into the Keepers, raises him for most of his childhood, etc...and all Garrett ever shows in return is hate and anger, both towards Artemus and the Keepers. He even uses the skills taught to him for theft. And then, in the third game,

Spoiler

he dies before he gets to see Garrett become The One True Keeper (Thief's version of A Chosen One)...he doesn't even get to say goodbye, and neither one ever straight-up said how much he loved the other.

Stuff like that hits me pretty hard.

I was actually waiting for someone to mention Thief! But in Thief II, I know the whole point of the game is to avoid killing unless necessary, but the Mechanists make themselves very easy to hate. Especially considering:

Spoiler

Poor Lotus. I never liked the pagans that much, but that they would torture someone to the point where he'd be begging you to kill him when you find him really got to me. Enough so to have me hunt down the Mechanists on Markham's Isle. But that pales in comparison to the sheer righteous fury I felt when I came upon the pagan village in Trail of Blood. When I came to the ghost of the little girl, I made sure to kill any and all mechanists I ran across for the remainder of the stage.

That being said, I hope they're able to do as good a job on the upcoming Thief 4.

 

[vazzaroth]

This is a pretty good thread. I actually like knowing that there are people out there that can feel compassion for these bits of code.

I'm the kind of guy that, while not always "good", I can't be an evil character for long the way most games make you play. Infamous is the best example. Everyone out there is posting video and talking about the evil path, usually casually electrocuting and destroying everything in their path. I can't do that. I am too good at empathy.

So I shoot a guy with a electric shock. What the hell man? That guy was just going to the store because his wife forgot to buy milk when she was out. His kids are going to want cereal in the morning. And now you KILLED HIM. Along with 50 other people. His family will post flyers in the disaster zone that is your wake, hoping he'll be found alive. He may not be identified for weeks. When he is, his family will cry and be shattered for years. His boy will grow up to abuse alcohol and his daughter will go back to abusive men over and over because their dad wasn't there for their formative years. The wife will either spend her years alone, or hook up with some guy who's been in and out of prison, just to feel like she is important to someone. This is all while she's juggling her new job (she dropped out of college, she was persuing her dream, to pick up a job to feed the kids and now shes manager of the local grocery store and will never be anything more than that), and having to deal with the kids hating the new apartment since she had to sell the house.

So anyway thats the sort of stuff that runs through my head when the game is saying "SHOOT INNOCENTS FOR RED SPARKY POWERS +100!!!"

 

[TheKruzdawg]

I was playing Mass Effect 2 the other day and during Zaeed's loyalty mission you have the option to continue hunting Vido or save civilians before the oil refinery explodes. Being Ruthless I decided to go after Vido. The entire rest of the level I could hear people screaming in pain and I don't think I've ever felt more horrible about a video game decision in my entire life. I kept saying to myself "oh my god oh my god oh my god..." Even though they had no names and I never met them in the game, I condemned a bunch of people to a horrible death and I felt terrible about it.

Actually, just pick about any life-or-death decision in that game and I have had trouble making the call. Like choosing between Kaiden and Ashley.

 

[Ponsonby]

In CoD:BO, in the radar tower mission where the guy (who was, until now, faceless and storyless) falls off the gantry when the RPGs hit it, I was compelled to replay the part until I shot both RPG guys. Long story short, 20 restarts later, I hit both with more than enough bullets and the second one wouldn't go down, he was invincible until after the RPG was loosed.

In God of War 3, the way they characertised Pandora just suckered me in, making him the polar posite of Kratos. Just sat there after 'that' cutscene in disbelief...

Finally, from when I was about 6, Croc: Legend of the Gobbos had your typical "Continue or Exit" screen when you lost all of your lives. I got fed up with dying and hit exit once and Croc just shuffled himself offscreen slowly, head hung low . Made little me cry, I thought I'd broken his little heart.

 

[WaReloaded]

I felt like I had a bond with Otis during my time with Dead Rising, his constant calls, his information and advice left me feeling like I had made a friend who needed my company. When I was done with Dead Rising, I kind of missed Otis, at least for a little while.