We’ve come a long way since the early days of gaming, when player characters were sometimes represented on screen by a single, pixelated dot. Video games are becoming more and more complex, giving way to interesting, well developed characters with personalities and flaws. We’ve come to a point in time in which narratives can be as big and sweeping or as tight and personal as any book or TV show, and our characters reflect that.
Of course, gameplay is king, and one of the biggest strengths of this medium is that it need not shackle itself to the conventions of books or movies. Sometimes, a character can go the length of a game without speaking a single word, and without having a motivation more complex than ‘shoot,’ and they can still be iconic and fun.
So, with 2016 halfway over, we thought it was a perfect time to reflect on the fantastic personalities we’ve gotten to know this year. These represent not only the most well written characters, but also those that just make us feel totally awesome.