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Im the only one being 'bothered' by every character on narrative games being so extrovert?

Whitecrow

Banned
EDIT Dont et the thread title misslead you. This is not about intro or extroverts, it's about characters having a mindset according to what they are experiencing.

This may seem (and may be) a silly question but, it almost seems like if characters arent constantly balnting about everything they are not interesting,

We see a lot of cringe dialogue because for some reason devs think characters must be speaking whatever shit that coes through their minds, commenting on everything and in summary, trying to make them look jokesters.

I'm currently replaying Uncharted 4, and while there's no inherently childish cringe dialoge, dialogue is a nostop jokefest and it makes less than 0 effort on reflecting, in anyway the possible mindstate of the characters.
Alsothey made Sam just as a Natahn 2.0, same personality, and withount anytrace of being the older brother who always tried to take care of nate. ANd I dont find it beliavable.
But that's just one example.

In almost every story driven game I played (except some FFs), charaters never look worried, always look cheerful, motivated, and full of energy whatever happens with the world. The mood remains unalterable.
They never seem to get tired or reclutant about shit.

I dont know. It's just a thought. but what I thik it's clear is that most of time there's chatter just for the sake of it, when in a lot of cases, they should be in such a bad situation that makes such happyflower mood to be impossible to keep.
 
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Lupin3

Targeting terrorists with a D-Pad
Still better than

PyRpM5x.jpg
 

Konnor

Member
Uncharted may have started the trend but it pales in comparison to the new games with their awful, AWFUL dialogue and dull, almost corporate humor no one would ever laugh at.

It's not that the characters are extroverts, it's that they're annoying and often obnoxious extroverts with a terrible sense of humor.
 
I agree, because I don't relate to the character. I'm not that extroverted and would never chatter constantly about nothing and everything. Some people tend to comment on everything they lay eyes on; I think it's very annoying. Video game characters often do that.
 

AV

We ain't outta here in ten minutes, we won't need no rocket to fly through space
Uncharted is a bad example considering it's intentionally a cheesy fun adventure romp. Know why Nate quips constantly? Because if he didn't it would draw attention to the fact that he's a savage mass-murderer.
 

Rykan

Member
Movies. That is the answer to every single criticism of modern games storytelling and character development. Blame the movie industry.

Games have been trying to imitate movies for decades now. It's why you have "setpiece moments". Random explosions, "Cinematic walking with dialogue moments". Main characters that won't shut up and make quips about everything. Take the latest sate of play event for instance. Look at how many trailers had characters that are basically just generic action movie characters.

Can't really blame the industry for doing this when there is such a large amount of players who unironically think Uncharted is the best game they've ever played and label every game ND makes as a "MaStErPiEcE".
Still better than

PyRpM5x.jpg
Alright, listen here you little sh..
 
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Whitecrow

Banned
Movies. That is the answer to every single criticism of modern games storytelling and character development. Blame the movie industry.

Games have been trying to imitate movies for decades now. It's why you have "setpiece moments". Random explosions, "Cinematic walking with dialogue moments". Main characters that won't shut up and make quips about everything. Take the latest sate of play event for instance. Look at how many trailers had characters that are basically just generic action movie characters.

Can't really blame the industry for doing this when there is such a large amount of players who unironically think Uncharted is the best game they've ever played and label every game ND makes as a "MaStErPiEcE".

Alright, listen here you little sh..
Well, a story driven game is a game, with a story, but it's a game. We can have both mixed well.
We need more action scenes, an more light-hearted ones. The diversity and contrast in emotions is what makes a great story.

But if you dont know how to do it, it becomes an unrelatable mess...

Why would anyone want to play as gloomy characters? They're most of the time boring.
Gloomy characters can be also relatable characters, and that's what matters.
 
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The Cockatrice

Gold Member
Gloomy characters can be also relatable characters, and that's what matters.

It doesnt. I dont relate to Shepard, Geralt, Nathan, Agent 47, Doomguy, etc and they're still incredible games. Games should be about fantasy not reality. There are games where you may relate to characters if you want but they should remain, a smaller degree,
 

Yoboman

Member
Well, a story driven game is a game, with a story, but it's a game. We can have both mixed well.
We need more action scenes, an more light-hearted ones. The diversity and contrast in emotions is what makes a great story.

But if you dont know how to do it, it becomes an unrelatable mess...


Gloomy characters can be also relatable characters, and that's what matters.
Why does that matter?
 

SJRB

Gold Member
Isn't it just because conveying emotions, thoughts, narration and overal storytelling is infinitely more difficult when the main character is an introvert?
 

Whitecrow

Banned
Isn't it just because conveying emotions, thoughts, narration and overal storytelling is infinitely more difficult when the main character is an introvert?
Why is it more difficult?
Introverts have emotions and thoughts too, even if they dont show them .

I'm not talking about making an Uncharted game with an instovert, of course that would be boring. But not all narrative game must be like Uncharted.

Lets bring another example. Journey. Not a single word in the whole game, yet it gets very emotional. There you have the proof.
 
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I don't know I can think of a fair few introverts or less talky main characters.

Kratos- God of war
Joel- The Last of us
Cloud- FFVII
The Slayer- Doom 2016 and Eternal
Claire and Leon- Resident Evil 2
Issac Clark- Dead Space
Solid Snake- Metal Gear Solid
Sam- Death Stranding.
Duke Nukem- Duke Nukem

These are off the top of my head in the last 10 minutes or so
 
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Kimahri

Banned
Sya what you will about Infinite Undicovery, however..

At that point in the game where the main character experiences something not good, and his whole demeanor changes for a while, is pure brilliance. They redid all his battle sounds, so now he roars and yells and is pissed off, they even changed his animations so he's looks more reckless and on a mission of vengeance. It was awesome.
 

BbMajor7th

Member
I blame Joss Whedon - he seems to have popularised this glib, snarko-sarcastic brand of humour with things like Firefly and made it the mainstream staple thanks to his work on the Marvel universe. It's just become the standard that every time the heroes are facing down insurmountable odds and unthinkable levels of pressure they respond with 'man, I really ought to get paid more for this' or some other glib expression of stoic indifference. I'm very done with it to be honest.
 

Whitecrow

Banned
I don't know I can think of a fair few introverts or less talky main characters.

Kratos- God of war
Joel- The Last of us
Cloud- FFVII
The Slayer- Doom 2016 and Eternal
Claire and Leon- Resident Evil 2
Issac Clark- Dead Space
Solid Snake- Metal Gear Solid
Sam- Death Stranding.
Duke Nukem- Duke Nukem

These are off the top of my head in the last 10 minutes or so
Certainly there's game with not so chatting characters.

But my point was really, how it bothers me that in some games that are story driven, when you are suposed to relate to the characters, how the mood of the characters dont reflect their situation hence making them kinda unbeliavable.
 

The Cockatrice

Gold Member
I don't know I can think of a fair few introverts or less talky main characters.

Kratos- God of war
Joel- The Last of us
Cloud- FFVII
The Slayer- Doom 2016 and Eternal
Claire and Leon- Resident Evil 2
Issac Clark- Dead Space
Solid Snake- Metal Gear Solid
Sam- Death Stranding.
Duke Nukem- Duke Nukem

These are off the top of my head in the last 10 minutes or so


None of these are introverts lmfao. Being a reclusive, solo-wolf type of person does not make you introvert. Far from it.
 
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tassletine

Member
Yes. Same problem with the film industry.
Extroverts are more likely to complain in focus groups and therefore get the results bent to their particular flavour.

I can't stand unnecessarily talking in games myself, as I find it completely distracting.
In real life it's easy to screen other peoples conversations, not so in games.
Usually it's just some random NPC but it always takes me out of the experience, same when my character just starts blurting things that are already in my field of vision.
 

junguler

Banned
it's weird when wanting to play a game and the protagonist constantly talking to themselves or others to let you know what is happening, i much prefer visual cues and color coding things that are gameplay relevant than the character telling me "i guess i can climb that" it's so unnecessary and bloated. the game designers can fill these empty gameplay moments with music and interesting sound designs or distant chatter to give the illusion of something always happening.
some of these game designers are really scared of a game being silent at times and the only thing you'll be hearing going to be your footsteps which i find weird and irrational because look at souls games for examples, they take the silence and use it to great effect to relay the thick atmosphere on you.
 

Fafalada

Fafracer forever
In almost every story driven game I played (except some FFs), charaters never look worried, always look cheerful, motivated, and full of energy whatever happens with the world. The mood remains unalterable.
How narrowly are you defining 'narrative games' here? Because on quick recollection - most of hallmarked narrative experiences I'm aware of (TLIS, FireWatch, Gone Home, Until Dawn etc.) feature a broader range of character traits than just 'cheerful and ready for action'.
Hell, I know they are very polarizing for their writing quality, but most Quantic Dreams games have protagonists that cover a range of emotional states as well. I suspect action-driven games may be more prone to 'not reflecting situation' in character moods, but that's just a guess based on mechanical limitations of the medium.

The 'chatty catty' syndrome I agree is incredibly common even with many on the above list. I'd say it's not exactly universal(we even get occasional silent protagonist in games with heavy narrative), but it does seem a long standing gameplay (and story) device for character to narrate their inner observations about the world (it was common even before voice-acting became a thing).
Not sure if I have an actual issue with it (I mean even in other mediums - narrating protagonists thoughts is a thing), I guess it's a question of overuse or not *shrug*.
 
None of these are introverts lmfao. Being a reclusive, solo-wolf type of person does not make you introvert. Far from it.
Well there definitely more introverted than extroverted. Saying that Introvert and Extrovert is a complex topic not making easy to pigeon hall people in to one or the other.

Obviously Duke Nukem is a joke...
 

The Cockatrice

Gold Member
Well there definitely more introverted than extroverted. Saying that Introvert and Extrovert is a complex topic not making easy to pigeon hall people in to one or the other.

Obviously Duke Nukem is a joke...

Kratos having orgies is and mass murdering gods is certainly not what I'd call an introvert at all. Same for Doomguy. Joel is depressed, not introvereted. The dude went through some tough shit. Claire and Leon, well maybe I guess. I'll give you this one. Isac Clark is an unknown variable, he is most likely insane more than anything else and so on and so forth. It's a complex topic for sure but not that hard to distinguish one from another.
 
Kratos having orgies is and mass murdering gods is certainly not what I'd call an introvert at all. Same for Doomguy. Joel is depressed, not introvereted. The dude went through some tough shit. Claire and Leon, well maybe I guess. I'll give you this one. Isac Clark is an unknown variable, he is most likely insane more than anything else and so on and so forth. It's a complex topic for sure but not that hard to distinguish one from another.
Well the point about Kratos sex scenes is he's using the woman to try to help him forget his past (which fails) after the sex he wants nothing to do them "take your thing and get out"

Extroverts thrive on social interaction, being the centre of attention and almost can't live without it. Kratos doesn't care about any of that he just cares about his revenge in the greek trilogy.( I don't see why you can't be a mass god murderer and an introvert)In 2018 his about as introvert as you can imagine he's shunned all social contact accept his wife and son. ( and he's struggling to connect with his son.)

Doomslayer is the same just cares about killing demons and nothing else. I guess you could say him and Kratos are outgoing and Impulsive which are Extrovert traits. But I think there introvert traits are more important to there character, brooding silence, singular focus, lone wolf, mimianl social interaction.

Joel is similar there's very little to suggest he's a big Extrovert. He's seem to only care about his close friends and family and doesn't seek out being the centre of attention and big social networks. In his house there alot to suggest he spends alot of quiet time alone on his own hobbies like guitar and modelling I think.

I could go on but it will be too long. I think it is a complex topic with no definite answer's
 

Estocolmo

Member
EDIT Dont et the thread title misslead you. This is not about ntro or extroverts, it's about characters having a indset according to what they are experiencing.

This may seem (and may be) a silly question but, it almost seems like if characters arent constantly balnting about everything they are not interesting,

We see a lot of cringe dialogue because for some reason devs think characters must be speaking whatever shit that coes through their minds, commenting on everything and in summary, trying to make them look jokesters.

I'm currently replaying Uncharted 4, and while there's no inherently childish cringe dialoge, dialogue is a nostop jokefest and it makes less than 0 effort on reflecting, in anyway the possible mindstate of the characters.
Alsothey made Sam just as a Natahn 2.0, same personality, and withount anytrace of being the older brother who always tried to take care of nate. ANd I dont find it beliavable.
But that's just one example.

In almost every story driven game I played (except some FFs), charaters never look worried, always look cheerful, motivated, and full of energy whatever happens with the world. The mood remains unalterable.
They never seem to get tired or reclutant about shit.

I dont know. It's just a thought. but what I thik it's clear is that most of time there's chatter just for the sake of it, when in a lot of cases, they should be in such a bad situation that makes such happyflower mood to be impossible to keep.
Currently playing Gears 5 campaign and the protagonist is sort of introvert and is worried etc
 
EDIT Dont et the thread title misslead you. This is not about ntro or extroverts, it's about characters having a indset according to what they are experiencing.

This may seem (and may be) a silly question but, it almost seems like if characters arent constantly balnting about everything they are not interesting,

We see a lot of cringe dialogue because for some reason devs think characters must be speaking whatever shit that coes through their minds, commenting on everything and in summary, trying to make them look jokesters.

I'm currently replaying Uncharted 4, and while there's no inherently childish cringe dialoge, dialogue is a nostop jokefest and it makes less than 0 effort on reflecting, in anyway the possible mindstate of the characters.
Alsothey made Sam just as a Natahn 2.0, same personality, and withount anytrace of being the older brother who always tried to take care of nate. ANd I dont find it beliavable.
But that's just one example.

In almost every story driven game I played (except some FFs), charaters never look worried, always look cheerful, motivated, and full of energy whatever happens with the world. The mood remains unalterable.
They never seem to get tired or reclutant about shit.

I dont know. It's just a thought. but what I thik it's clear is that most of time there's chatter just for the sake of it, when in a lot of cases, they should be in such a bad situation that makes such happyflower mood to be impossible to keep.
Try Joel in The Last of Us. He's not a chatty chap.
 
If you think uncharted dialogues are bad, try Gears of War
Completely different takes. Uncharted is trying to simulate an Indiana Jones type of atmosphere where the protagonist is charismatic and witty and always knows how to get out of crazy situations. Gears of War on the other hand is trying to emulate the gung-ho war vibes of 80s action movies or something like the Expendables where all the characters revel in bathing in enemy blood and scream at the top of their lungs.
 

kiphalfton

Member
Total Tommy V. fan over here.

Characters in games need to shut up and do your thing.

Uncharted may have started the trend but it pales in comparison to the new games with their awful, AWFUL dialogue and dull, almost corporate humor no one would ever laugh at.

It's not that the characters are extroverts, it's that they're annoying and often obnoxious extroverts with a terrible sense of humor.

It's the "Avengers Effect", where all characters need to be silly and have some stupid quip to add in order to make them seem likeable.
 
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The Cockatrice

Gold Member
Well the point about Kratos sex scenes is he's using the woman to try to help him forget his past (which fails) after the sex he wants nothing to do them "take your thing and get out"

Extroverts thrive on social interaction, being the centre of attention and almost can't live without it. Kratos doesn't care about any of that he just cares about his revenge in the greek trilogy.( I don't see why you can't be a mass god murderer and an introvert)In 2018 his about as introvert as you can imagine he's shunned all social contact accept his wife and son. ( and he's struggling to connect with his son.)

Doomslayer is the same just cares about killing demons and nothing else. I guess you could say him and Kratos are outgoing and Impulsive which are Extrovert traits. But I think there introvert traits are more important to there character, brooding silence, singular focus, lone wolf, mimianl social interaction.

Joel is similar there's very little to suggest he's a big Extrovert. He's seem to only care about his close friends and family and doesn't seek out being the centre of attention and big social networks. In his house there alot to suggest he spends alot of quiet time alone on his own hobbies like guitar and modelling I think.

I could go on but it will be too long. I think it is a complex topic with no definite answer's

Theres more than just introverts and extroverts. It's not you're one or the either. Most protagonists you included are in neither of these two. They're more complex or in some cases very simple such as Doomguy.
 

thief183

Member
Every time a company use an introvert as a main character there is a lot of ppl complaining about it, I actually like it to be honest, as a kinda balanced person in real life I like both worlds ^^

Aiden from Watch Dogs 1 was an introvert and it is one of the most hated character ever (along with Squall)
 
Theres more than just introverts and extroverts. It's not you're one or the either. Most protagonists you included are in neither of these two. They're more complex or in some cases very simple such as Doomguy.
Sure it's a continuum and often situational.

My points was at the very least there are plenty of games with less talky characters.
 

GreenAlien

Member
If it helps, just imagine you are directly hearing the characters thoughts instead of talking. They are actually silent, it's just.. you can read minds.

Personally, I love the characters commenting on everything, but I guess there could be more self doubt and self reflection.
 

RJMacready73

Simps for Amouranth
i personally loved the banter between Nate & Sully in the UC games plus Nates little quips throughout his journey, its suits the style of the game plus ND are masters when it comes to this sorta shit then you get others where the protagonist wont fuck up
 

ripeavocado

Banned
EDIT Dont et the thread title misslead you. This is not about intro or extroverts, it's about characters having a mindset according to what they are experiencing.

This may seem (and may be) a silly question but, it almost seems like if characters arent constantly balnting about everything they are not interesting,

We see a lot of cringe dialogue because for some reason devs think characters must be speaking whatever shit that coes through their minds, commenting on everything and in summary, trying to make them look jokesters.

I'm currently replaying Uncharted 4, and while there's no inherently childish cringe dialoge, dialogue is a nostop jokefest and it makes less than 0 effort on reflecting, in anyway the possible mindstate of the characters.
Alsothey made Sam just as a Natahn 2.0, same personality, and withount anytrace of being the older brother who always tried to take care of nate. ANd I dont find it beliavable.
But that's just one example.

In almost every story driven game I played (except some FFs), charaters never look worried, always look cheerful, motivated, and full of energy whatever happens with the world. The mood remains unalterable.
They never seem to get tired or reclutant about shit.

I dont know. It's just a thought. but what I thik it's clear is that most of time there's chatter just for the sake of it, when in a lot of cases, they should be in such a bad situation that makes such happyflower mood to be impossible to keep.

Awful hacks that have been made writers because they have the right opinions or belong to the right group.

They have no talent, they are mindless NPCs that replicate something they think is smart and original.
 
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