Well written characters in games released in 2024

[heltenjon]

You know when you are supposed to vote for the best characters for the AGS awards, and you can't remember their names? Or why you liked them?

This thread is for giving feedback to game devs about characters you liked in this year's games. What did you like? Why did you like it? This will give nice feedback about what works for the devs, and also hints for others about how to create memorable characters.

If it also helps us remember who to vote for when it's time for the awards again, well, that's a bonus.

[heltenjon]

I guess I'll kick off this one, too.

GOC Games' Steeplejack stars two characters I immediately grew fond of. They argue about how to demolish a chimney, and their character traits is the reason for the whole story. The traditional one gets his way, but no way is the other guy going to help him!  And when looking down,

Spoiler

he's headbanging to metal music on a 1984 walkman bacause streaming is for wusses.

[close]

What's not to love?

In ANOPHTOS by Claire Moon, the entire game is an internal journey into the mind of the protagonist. Every action taken or not taken gives clues, quite often through symbols or metaphors. By the end, I had a working theory about the inner turmoil my character was experiencing. But the cool thing is that the symbolism is somewhat open to interpretation, which means that different players will project different thoughts into it, depending on their background.