Personally, I was really gripped by Yoshimo's betrayal in Baldur's Gate 2. I know, I know... A very old, widely respected game, so perhaps a bit of a boring answer. However, having played games from a very young age (from the very first PoP with my grand-father on his 368 back in the late 80's), and an advent sampler of many genres, I have never been quite as gripped by a synthetic character's actions as I was then.
I guess the reason why this moment hit home with me was the result of the following
Character's in games have to be 'functional' besides well developed, as is the case in film and even more so in literature. Take Mordin Solus (the much loved salarian scientist from Mass Effect 2, for those not in the know) for instance; a very funny, witty and quirky character, with a well developed back-ground story that unfolds before players eyes as they progress through the narrative of the game. However, the mere fact that Dr. Solus is a great addition to the game's story, being an action-oriented (note the careful labeling of the game, ME2 fans get a bit nuts about the game's genre...) game, Mordin would have a rubbish character overall, for he would not have been applicable in the combat sequences.
Another example would be Aeris from FFXII, the only (if I remember this correctly) proper healer in the entire party, dies before the conclusive boss-fight.
!If you have not played the game yet, and you plan to, SPOILER ALERT!
Now, Yoshimo shows up very early in the game as the third optional (the player HAS to recruit Imohen) party member. He is mysterious, interesting, sarcastic and a bad ass cool mother-forker! (well, he was back in the day of hand-drawn backgrounds and graphics that required the players imagination...) But besides of of this, he was also the only party-member that could wield katana's (one of the game's conundrums was whether to invest skill points in Katana's as they were extremely rare, but very powerful), set traps and have decent dodging abilities.
And then... hoping to find out what is plaguing this lone wolf, he stabs you in the back, leaves your party (irreversibly and regardless of replaying the game and trying different routes) and all this right before the first (old-school difficult) encounter with the boss-man. Ouch... that stung. My English wasn't all that great back then, so I missed out on a lot of the story (went back and replayed it later at 16, the story was so gripping that it inspired me to get my BA/MA in mythology and oral traditions) but I definitely felt betrayed. Don't get me wrong, I'm no masochist, but having "real" emotional reactions towards in-game events, for me personally any way, occurs but very rarely.
So what character, sequence other moments in gaming will you never forget?
I guess the reason why this moment hit home with me was the result of the following
Character's in games have to be 'functional' besides well developed, as is the case in film and even more so in literature. Take Mordin Solus (the much loved salarian scientist from Mass Effect 2, for those not in the know) for instance; a very funny, witty and quirky character, with a well developed back-ground story that unfolds before players eyes as they progress through the narrative of the game. However, the mere fact that Dr. Solus is a great addition to the game's story, being an action-oriented (note the careful labeling of the game, ME2 fans get a bit nuts about the game's genre...) game, Mordin would have a rubbish character overall, for he would not have been applicable in the combat sequences.
Another example would be Aeris from FFXII, the only (if I remember this correctly) proper healer in the entire party, dies before the conclusive boss-fight.
!If you have not played the game yet, and you plan to, SPOILER ALERT!
Now, Yoshimo shows up very early in the game as the third optional (the player HAS to recruit Imohen) party member. He is mysterious, interesting, sarcastic and a bad ass cool mother-forker! (well, he was back in the day of hand-drawn backgrounds and graphics that required the players imagination...) But besides of of this, he was also the only party-member that could wield katana's (one of the game's conundrums was whether to invest skill points in Katana's as they were extremely rare, but very powerful), set traps and have decent dodging abilities.
And then... hoping to find out what is plaguing this lone wolf, he stabs you in the back, leaves your party (irreversibly and regardless of replaying the game and trying different routes) and all this right before the first (old-school difficult) encounter with the boss-man. Ouch... that stung. My English wasn't all that great back then, so I missed out on a lot of the story (went back and replayed it later at 16, the story was so gripping that it inspired me to get my BA/MA in mythology and oral traditions) but I definitely felt betrayed. Don't get me wrong, I'm no masochist, but having "real" emotional reactions towards in-game events, for me personally any way, occurs but very rarely.
So what character, sequence other moments in gaming will you never forget?
