Growth of the PC Saren/Elenor
Posted: Wed Jan 22, 2014 7:12 am
In Loren: The Amazon Princess within the game we found a surprising amount of character development. To list a few examples:
Loren - Her character perhaps underwent the largest character growth within the game while still maintaining her aura of nobility/superiority, which was nice. Gaining sympathy for the trash of her society and changing the entirety of Amazon culture is no small feat even for a queen.
Various side characters - A common theme for most of the developing side characters which is basically moving past their prejudices and gaining a better understanding that the lines between good and evil, right and wrong are not so clear.
Or instead of character growth, just learning more about the character in depth like characters such as Chambara. In fact, I very much enjoyed nearly all of the characters I met as they all had a strong unique personality that helped give flavor to the game and conversations they participated in.
I list all these to note that the game felt alive with growing characters. My reason for creating this thread and main topic of concern is that while the world is alive, the PC is very much a stoic, stock personality whose personal development, or even character revelation is somewhat stunted compared to the rest of the characters. While the Character itself wasn't bland perhaps, the PC felt like it was the exact same person at the end of the game that he/she did at the beginning.
Taking Saren for example, I didn't think much of it when he was but a slave. However when he got honored with second in command, his backbone stayed the same for the rest of the game it seemed. I would of liked to see the character begin to defend himself more, or rather just hold more pride in himself. It's hinted multiple times how carefree and casual he was allowed to be with his previous mistress, so when he was granted a title that gave him equal footing as most the rest of his country, I was surprised to see his demeanor didn't change.
I don't mean to sound like a harsh critic because I loved the game, It was just one of the bigger things that stuck out to me as a player. It would be great to see Saren and Elenor even grow as characters. I would go so far as to say (at least for myself) that player character development is more important than other characters. Please think about it!
Loren - Her character perhaps underwent the largest character growth within the game while still maintaining her aura of nobility/superiority, which was nice. Gaining sympathy for the trash of her society and changing the entirety of Amazon culture is no small feat even for a queen.
Various side characters - A common theme for most of the developing side characters which is basically moving past their prejudices and gaining a better understanding that the lines between good and evil, right and wrong are not so clear.
Or instead of character growth, just learning more about the character in depth like characters such as Chambara. In fact, I very much enjoyed nearly all of the characters I met as they all had a strong unique personality that helped give flavor to the game and conversations they participated in.
I list all these to note that the game felt alive with growing characters. My reason for creating this thread and main topic of concern is that while the world is alive, the PC is very much a stoic, stock personality whose personal development, or even character revelation is somewhat stunted compared to the rest of the characters. While the Character itself wasn't bland perhaps, the PC felt like it was the exact same person at the end of the game that he/she did at the beginning.
Taking Saren for example, I didn't think much of it when he was but a slave. However when he got honored with second in command, his backbone stayed the same for the rest of the game it seemed. I would of liked to see the character begin to defend himself more, or rather just hold more pride in himself. It's hinted multiple times how carefree and casual he was allowed to be with his previous mistress, so when he was granted a title that gave him equal footing as most the rest of his country, I was surprised to see his demeanor didn't change.
I don't mean to sound like a harsh critic because I loved the game, It was just one of the bigger things that stuck out to me as a player. It would be great to see Saren and Elenor even grow as characters. I would go so far as to say (at least for myself) that player character development is more important than other characters. Please think about it!
