NPCs
Characterization
See dialogue filters, same principles applied to all actions.
Kurt Vonnegut
"Make your characters want something right away even if it's only a glass of water."
As Jeremy Bernstein puts it: "Avatars create context for the game mechanics, characters provide emotional context". They're remembered not for their plot functions, but for their characterization.
NPCs are defined by their actions, which allow us to decode what they think and want.
The problem of agency
Immersion is not just being alone in an attraction park, it is social. NPCs and their personal history should raise important stakes and demand things of us.
BUT: shouldn't AGENCY be prioritized?
ie.: should there be a way to achieve any goal in the game? If true: the player should be a god -> no possible stakes, at best we're making an entitlement simulator.
AGENCY is a secondary effect in a narrative context.
Agency
The ability to interact MEANINGFULLY with the game world.
If meaning is what matters, only being able to understand or participate in a passive way without strictly acting is just as powerful as influencing the course of events -> MORE ROOM FOR THE NPCS TO BREATHE.
Meg Jayanth on 80 Days: "immersion needs faillure, frustration, pain, and not just by proxy (aka through a "girl in the fridge")".
Papers Please
In your options, you have certainty but no framing, having agency only shows how truly powerless you are.
NPCs beyond plot or mechanics
- Characterize the protagonist through their limitations. Bring on strong situations where the player feels powerless, highlighted by contrast.
- Have the NPCs' personal concerns explore predefined themes. Always COMPLEXITY AND CONTRADICTION.
Darkwood
The mother of the Elephants is convinced that the oxygen tank she gives us is full. What could have been a simple transactional fetch quest highlights her delusion.
Toolbox
Using contrast
Slow Horses spoiler
The psycho kidnapper is suggested to be the infiltrated agent at the start, before a huge switch where he shows his true colors -> his actions are much more impactful because of the stablished contrast
Disco Elysium spoiler
Kim Kitsuragi starting off as a silent, judgemental type of character before selling his beloved car parts to pay for your hotel stay heightens the fundamentally altruistic nature of his personality