Geralt of Rivia.

He has real depth in his character which you uncover through his surface characteristics (speech mostly) and discovering his past along with him. What I love for a game character is that your choices also develop him even further.

Each choice you make is fully written out with consequences that you as a player and Geralt as a character have to deal with. It's not just surface choices like how strong your character will be or inconsequential choices like taking a left or right path. Geralt makes real choices. Life and death for those he loves or disdains. Grace and mercy or vengeance and murder. Love or lust. Sacrifice or greed. He hits choices that most video games don't dare to take on b/c it takes brilliant writing to make the emotional connection with the player.

I almost didn't play The Witcher games b/c of content. But I won them on GOG and I'm glad I've had a chance to play them.

And if you really want, you can do some supplemental reading to get more.

... beautiful!



Thank you very much, really appreciated! :)

Gelu from HoMM3.

When considering the criteria for "fleshed out", the total volume of available information shouldn't count; it might be Bioware gigglesquee. And on the other hand, there are amazing characters who are only described in vague terms. A good campaign in a strategy game offers a sequence of varying situations so that you can observe the character's reaction and evolution while minimizing fetishization of inconsequential details. Oh, and the character better not draw any background characterization from fallback everyman stereotypes.

Not in.

Pacman. Dark rooms, electronic music, persecutional mania and lots of pills... He showed me the horror of drug addiction and the consequences of excessive drug use.

Thanks KTC! I'm in.

I would have to say Arthas of WarCraft fame. He has a lot of history and lore which spans numerous games over the years. I know it seems cliche, but he has been an interesting character for sure.

Cristiano Ronaldo in Fifa 13 because he can do every moves and scores the most when I'm playing him.



Video isn't mine

In. Just for fun :3

I'd go with... Andrew Ryan from Bioshock. A man who wanted to create own dream, capitalist and free underwater heaven, only to lose it all. And his life.

Thanks, count me in :)

To me, the most fleshed out and memorable character in video games I've yet to come across has been Kyle Hyde from Hotel Dusk: Room 215. He has it all: a troubled backstory, mysteries to solve, enemies to confront, and people to defend. Even though, on the outside, he just seems to be a generic noir hardboiled hero, once the game gets into full swing, he kind of evolves beyond that into a rich person, full of thoughts and distress. The whole plot of the game is great, but Kyle is definitely the most interesting character in the bunch. I've yet to complete the sequel, Last Window: The Secret of Cape West, but so far, he has proven to be even more interesting than the previous game. Truly a protagonist to last throughout the ages :D

Thanks for the giveaway!

I've always had a fondness for Cate Archer from No One Lives Forever. She is a mega badass. Some of the cutscenes and intel items you find throughout the game give a really interesting insight into her past. What her early life was like, how she ended up joining UNITY, and her frustration with getting the crap assignments because she is a woman.

But the most interesting stuff is in the present day. She wants to prove herself, but it is not about proving that she is better than the men in the organization, just proving that she should be treated based on her own merit and excellent skills, which happen to be better than anyone else. She kicks constant ass, and is always fighting with her partner and superiors, but she genuinely cares about everyone, even some of her enemies, and she takes death pretty hard.
But nothing - emotions, personal feelings, or proving herself - gets in the way of her job, to save innocent lives.
And she is such a badass (did I mention that?)

I'll say Mario for the same reason, lol. Talking mushrooms, princess constantly getting kidnapped by giant turtle, going down pipes, flying squids, etc. That is some trip. Actually, where is the horror in this? Sounds better than my real life.

I'm not in either, thanks Knee!

I guess you're right, Mario seems to have a fun trip. But Pacman... He's already seeing ghosts behind every corner. But instead of quitting, he's taking even more. As if it was his only chance to flee the ghosts. It is a vicious circle...

Prince from Prince of Persia - running for his life since 1989.

I'm in, thanks.

Lee in The Walking Dead. The game is absolutely character and story driven. As the game progresses, you slowly find out about Lee's life, parents, wife, why he's in jail, what kind of person he is. When you get to Macon, you find out how it ended for his parents and brother and feel for him. And then the choices you make for him regarding Clementine, the other survivors, stealing other peoples property, showing mercy or anger or ruthlesness - all these things define him even more all the way to the end of the game. The other pc characters all relate back to Lee in different ways depending on what choices you made for him along the way.
He's one of the very few playable characters that I have had such an affnity for and felt like I was part of the game itself.

Thank you for this giveaway game which required a little bit more thought than usual. Appreciate it very much and good luck to all.

Gangster's BUMP

I'm not in but thanks for your offer, KneeTheCap.
I don't play many game titles or varieties. I like wargames and historical games. Games like that don't have characters you're looking for.