Games you didn't want to play because of the main protagonist

[Snotnarok]

DMC: Devil May Cry, because while DMC3 had a bit of a smug bastard he was at least likeable. While I'm not opposed to change I don't think rewriting everything there is about something and titling it the same thing is alright.

 

[AidoZonkey]

Tidus from Final Fantasy X, he really put me off the game, I only played and finished the game last year because of this. Shame really, his character was the only one that I didn't like as the others fine apart from Aurron who was just amazing. If they Aurron had as the main charter I probably wouldn't have left it for so long

I know he can be a tad grating at times, but overall and throughout the game as a whole I really like Tidus and can't see why there's such a distain for him.

The sincerity of his character works great in a lot of the game, especially when it comes to watching him and Yuna fall for each other.

I will admit he did have some redeeming moments, his hate for his father seems something real and not just tacked on in my opinion, and thats great. However, his whining in a lot of the game is just greeting on me, his voice is horrible (I know its petty but I just can't help it) and overall I just didn't like his character. I understand there are people who like this character but I just can't see it

 

[JamesStone]

I fucking hate the protagonist in Elder Scrolls, Fallout and Dragon Age Origins. There are more, but I'm not gonna list them here. They're always so annoying and full of shit. And they talk too much, they think they're funny when they're not and they're ugly.

Wut.

Seriously, that makes no sense. Zero sense made. In Fallout and the Elder Scrolls you are the one -making- the character. You can't craft a character who doesn't annoy you?

I think ya missed the joke there, buddy.


OT: Besides the classics, GoW III and such, I couldn't play Uncharted 3 because I was sick and tired of the Indiana Jones-wannabe smug piece of shit who you call Nathan Drake (I prefer calling him Sir Dickinson McCock). After 2 fucking games the douchebagness is starting to hit Singularity, but then there's this moment when it looks like the guy is going to finally be granted some depth...
And Sir Dickinson McCock ignores it completely just to keep being a douchebag.
Fuck that, the games are already boring me enough without you coming here trying to jerk off to your own witty one liners.

 

[Tribalism]

It's a strange question that I can't give a conclusive answer to. I want to say "no", because a game has never swayed me to not play it based on the lead character. Having said that, I don't think I'd ever play a Superman video game. It's not that I hate Superman as a character, but I just can't see his games being that fun in this day and age. That's more of a criticism with the game, rather than the character. It's why I find the argument that "male gamers would be frightened of female leads" a hard argument to swallow. The lead shouldn't matter, but the game and how it's designed around those choices SHOULD.

Edit: I scrolled back through the discussion and found something. DmC's Dante is the closest contender. I followed a lot of the development for that game. If it wasn't a Devil May Cry game, I would have given it a shot. However, Tameem did himself no favours and designed a character that is a huge middle finger to fans of the previous games. That said, I tried the demo and found the game very uninteresting. This is less a case of "creating an undesirable character" and more "recreating a fan favourite". It's like replacing Duke Nukem with Tidus from FFX. Part of the charm for the previous DMC games was Dante's charm/attitude and the fluid combat. DmC had neither.

 

[ghostrider409895]

Far Cry 3 became this for me. I still ended up finishing it, thanks to the game finally letting me acquire all weapons and skills, opening up the full map, and giving me the glorious...

Spoiler

wingsuit and disguise outfit.

However, I did seriously almost quit the game outright due to Jason Brody becoming an unforgivable douche who did not believably and naturally develop into the horrible character that he wound up becoming.

Spoiler

After Citra rapes him and Brody embraces it rather than ripping her apart, then proceeds to abandon his friends entirely after having been a complete and unnecessary ass to his supposed girlfriend

I just could not stand him anymore, let alone want to play as him. Seriously, I wanted Brody to die from then on out more than even the villain who spent the whole game wrecking my life and those that I supposedly cared for. Die Jason Brody. Just fucking die.

When it came to Jason, I also didn't like playing as the guy in the first place. He was a privileged kid who has little skill. He then takes to killing and acts kind of smug. I get the idea of him being far from savage yet turning more and more into a hardened killer, but I had a hard time thinking of him like that. What he says and does really do not make him seem like someone with grief and anger pushing him to kill. The way he acts around other people like his friends are not how a normal person would act. He brushes his friends off after they have to deal with killing and being a captive, when that would be traumatic. I suppose Jason could just be a psychopath with little empathy for others, and he could really be a blank slate emotion wise. I suppose that would fit in with the idea of insanity that the developers were big on. Yet, that just makes him more of an unlikable characters.

I also do not like this character because there have been other main characters that are killers who are likable. For example, John Marston from Red Dead Redemption kills many people, and likes to shoot things. He used to kill for money. He could be considered ethically worse than Jason, but at least he has emotion towards these things. He expresses concern for others, and actually interacts with people in a way that I would expect a human to act. This makes me actually care for his reasons to kill.

In the end, I think I would have rather played as Vass or Hoyt. I know what they do are evil, but at least their characters accept that. I am not meant to like them, or support their reasons to kill, and what I would do as them would make logical sense with their interactions with others.

 

[TehCookie]

The Witcher, because Geralt is both hideous & a womanizer, & the womanizing is apparently a big part of the game, & I am a woman who'd much prefer he was an attractive manizer or at least bi. (Says the incredulous hypocrite who had no problem playing Duke Nukem Forever).

I'm the same way, but I see it that The Witcher takes it more seriously while Duke Nukem knows it's a joke.

Though I'll also add any game with steroidbeasts like Marcus Fenix and if a game does have a white 30-something guy with short brown hair they better have a lot of personality to make up for it. Good gameplay can trump bad characters and good characters can make me play a meh game, but most of the characters I don't like are in meh games.

 

[sageoftruth]

Star Ocean: The Last Hope.

His name is Edge Maverick.

And that should tell you how fucking stupid the cast in that game is. My wife played, and the battles are fun, the game mechanics engaging, but that whole cast can jump off a cliff. Whoever wrote them is a terrible.

Ah, yes. I forgot about that one. That guy really needs to get over himself. Thanks. I had nothing until you brought that up.

 

[sageoftruth]

Batman Batman Batman

I love you.

Batman is an idiot. In addition to that game having way too many crack-the-vent-open quick time events, the idea that this pajama-wearing self-important clown goes around tip-toeing to make sure he only hits bad guys hard enough to knock them down and never ever accidentally kills anyone, crook or civilian, is (here it comes) batshit retarded. I hate the very idea of Batman so much.

Attention Batman: you kill people. You have to. Gotham is not a magical universe where only bad people die because of you. Just because the camera pans somewhere else doesn't mean that people offscreen aren't dead because of your actions. DEAL WITH IT.

Weeeell, being a fictional story and all, I'm pretty sure Gotham is a magical universe where only bad people die because etc etc.

While I don't like Batman, I actually do like the idea of a strictly non-lethal hero.

I mean, I know it is a fictional place. And a non-lethal hero is great. A character like Corvo works for it because of his sneak attack, ghost hero style. But Batman is a one-man army who blows up Interstates and flies through downtown streets going 150mph. People die. It's the suspension of disbelief breaking for me. I know its fiction, I accept that. But I can't stay in the story anymore than I could if suddenly Batman had a magic flying carpet. Sure the story is fiction so you can do whatever, but within the confines of his universe, that should be an unlikely event. Same applies for him detonating devices and flying through parking garages. SOMEONE DIES SOMETIMES.

Well, it is pretty well known that he's a little crazy. Little hints are dropped about it throughout the series and his enemies are trying to prove it to the world all the time. His inability to straight up kill people is part of his pathology due to his childhood trauma. Anyway, I can't fault someone for trying to minimize his casualties, regardless of how futile his personal crusade is.

 

[sageoftruth]

I fucking hate the protagonist in Elder Scrolls, Fallout and Dragon Age Origins. There are more, but I'm not gonna list them here. They're always so annoying and full of shit. And they talk too much, they think they're funny when they're not and they're ugly.

Wut.

Seriously, that makes no sense. Zero sense made. In Fallout and the Elder Scrolls you are the one -making- the character. You can't craft a character who doesn't annoy you?

Subtle self loathing joke. Maybe a little TOO subtle... Sorry. I do that, make jokes that only make sense in my head.

And how about that space marine from Doom huh? What's his problem? Lol.

You've now got me curious as to what it would be like if all the industry's silent protagonists were to meet in a coffee house and have a chat.

 

[sageoftruth]

Dust: An Elysian Tail.

I watched a video of the game and, although it looks like a really good game in almost every way, the main character seems to be an utterly generic, insufferable, brooding furry character. And, no, it's not because he's an anthropomorphic animal. I have no problem with Sly or Crash. It's the fact that he's written like a terrible Shadow the Hedgehog fanfiction.

Also, that flying companion thing seems even more irritating than Tails.

Fidget(Yup.) IS the most annoying part of the game, but it's a shame that the brooding thing has been done poorly to death, cause this is that style of character done right. It IS generic, but that's like saying the old school action hero is generic. That's true, but when done properly it makes all the pretenders seem that much worse. You still with me on this?

Feel like I'm rambling.

Dust kicks ass is what I'm getting at.

I agree. He had his brooding moments, but most of the time he was just soft spoken. He knew how to crack a smile and crack a joke and clearly had more to his personality than just dark and brooding. I think the eye-concealing hat just made everyone assume he was another generic brooding archetype.

 

[ninjaRiv]

I fucking hate the protagonist in Elder Scrolls, Fallout and Dragon Age Origins. There are more, but I'm not gonna list them here. They're always so annoying and full of shit. And they talk too much, they think they're funny when they're not and they're ugly.

Wut.

Seriously, that makes no sense. Zero sense made. In Fallout and the Elder Scrolls you are the one -making- the character. You can't craft a character who doesn't annoy you?

Subtle self loathing joke. Maybe a little TOO subtle... Sorry. I do that, make jokes that only make sense in my head.

And how about that space marine from Doom huh? What's his problem? Lol.

You've now got me curious as to what it would be like if all the industry's silent protagonists were to meet in a coffee house and have a chat.

That would be awkward, I think. You know when you're out with people you don't really know anything about so most of the conversations are pretty much "So..." and that's it? It'd be like that but without the "so..." bit. I'd imagine ordering the drinks would be difficult, too.

 

[Darth_Payn]

The Batman Arkham games.

I played them, but Batman himself is easily the least enjoyable aspect of them.

Try cracking a fucking smile once in a while you miserable, joyless, gormless, constipated, uninteresting, zero-dimensional prat.

Are you sure you know who Batman is...? He's supposed to be like that.

A) Intentionally boring, one-note and joyless is still boring, one-note and joyless.

B) I remember other versions of Batman not being built from purified scowl. The animation series I watched as a kid allowed him some levity and normal human interaction on a regular basis. Hell, even Christian Bale managed to smile a few times. As I recall, both those Batmans were pretty well received.

I thought the plural form of "Batman" is Batmen. And if any humor came from Batman in the DCAU, it was when he played straight man next to one of the Robins, the Flash, occasionally Superman, and last but not least, Alfred.

 

[sageoftruth]

I agree. He had his brooding moments, but most of the time he was just soft spoken. He knew how to crack a smile and crack a joke and clearly had more to his personality than just dark and brooding. I think the eye-concealing hat just made everyone assume he was another generic brooding archetype.

I can understand why someone would be put off, but it's still a massive shame. He's actually quite a brilliant character(once you see the whole picture), and the emotional baggage he has is for once fully realised and completely relatable. And, like you say, it helps that he comments on beauty in the world and relaxes from time to time. Might have to play through dust again you know... Loved that game.

About that, I like the story and the characters, but I thought his dust storm was a little overpowered. I'd just spam it and instantly clear the screen of enemies. I just got to the snowy mountain area. Are things about to get more challenging?

 

[AgentLampshade]

Well, my answer should be obvious. A good chunk of the reason why I didn't and won't buy DmC is because of the butchered characters. Dante and Vergil are completely unlikeable from what I've seen of the game. Dante's a sweary, smelly hobo and Vergil's just...Argh! For what it's worth, around the E3 2011 demo, I was pretty optimistic about it. I thought "it all hinges on the likeability of the characters."

As an example of a game I did play but didn't like the protagonist: Raiden from MGR: Revengeance. I really didn't like where they took his character. Game was still badass, but we had this odd disconnection where Raiden would be killing people and laughing, to a funny codex call with Kevin in his regular voice.

 

[Zombie Badger]

However, I did seriously almost quit the game outright due to Jason Brody becoming an unforgivable douche who did not believably and naturally develop into the horrible character that he wound up becoming.

Spoiler

After Citra rapes him and Brody embraces it rather than ripping her apart, then proceeds to abandon his friends entirely after having been a complete and unnecessary ass to his supposed girlfriend

I'm pretty sure that sex scene was consensual but it is a pretty shitty ending, essentially turning the interesting moral ambiguity of the game's first half into a straight good/evil choice to the point of completely absolving you of any moral ambiguity by having a minor NPC run up and kill the villain for you in the 'good' ending.

Personally I had a hard time slogging through the Tomb Raider reboot, as Lara is just so bland on top of being a completely reactionary character who does nothing to drive the plot along that I just didn't care in the slightest about what was happening.

 

[V da Mighty Taco]

However, I did seriously almost quit the game outright due to Jason Brody becoming an unforgivable douche who did not believably and naturally develop into the horrible character that he wound up becoming.

Spoiler

After Citra rapes him and Brody embraces it rather than ripping her apart, then proceeds to abandon his friends entirely after having been a complete and unnecessary ass to his supposed girlfriend

I'm pretty sure that sex scene was consensual but it is a pretty shitty ending, essentially turning the interesting moral ambiguity of the game's first half into a straight good/evil choice to the point of completely absolving you of any moral ambiguity by having a minor NPC run up and kill the villain for you in the 'good' ending.

Personally I had a hard time slogging through the Tomb Raider reboot, as Lara is just so bland on top of being a completely reactionary character who does nothing to drive the plot along that I just didn't care in the slightest about what was happening.

He was out cold and never actually had a chance to give consent. Drugging someone, then fucking them while they're unconscious and unable to give consent is most certainly rape, even if they would have probably agreed to it if they were conscious.

As for the ending, I fully agree and more. Not only does the moral ambiguity of becoming a mass murderer to protect those you love go right out the window, but the actual endings defy the fucked up themes that the game was building upon throughout and makes Brody's character even more of a "whatever suits the plot" ordeal than it already was.

Spoiler

You simply do not spend the whole game trying to convince players that the tribal bullshit that Citra and the others were trying to jam down Brody's throat throughout the entire game is the right path for him, then turn right around and condemn that very mentality in the last 2 - 3 missions of the game - especially when they can't even keep Brody's character consistent.

Fortunately I wound up with the good ending at least. Might have literally started breaking stuff had I gotten that bad ending. Honestly, I don't think I've ever had a storyline piss me off to my core so very much even with said good ending.

 

[BoredRolePlayer]

All silent protagonists.

 

[Johann610]

Does Metroid: Other M count? I prefer the silent-journal protagonist of Super Metroid to the person depicted in the drony cutscene on YouTube.

 

[Strain42]

All silent protagonists.

I find it slightly amusing to read this from someone who has a Strange Journey avatar (sorry, couldn't resist)

In my case silent protagonists are some of the only ways I can stomach through a JRPG. It's why I pretty much limit myself to the MegaTen games in that genre.

I just got so damn tired of all the Lyners, the Capells, the Welkins, the Eins, the Yuris the...um...the...that dude from Luminous Arc. More often than not, an annoying pretty boy leader jrpg protagonist can just turn me off an entire game, even if I'm enjoying the gameplay or some of the other characters. I'd rather just go play a game that I enjoy just as much without hating the lead.

While I wouldn't say I prefer silent protagonists (for example, I was pissed when they made Maya silent in Eternal Punishment just to keep that tradition. She was already a well fleshed out and beloved character) I will say that I will always prefer a silent character over a badly written one.

Like Yu Narukami from P4. Sure, he wasn't anything special as a silent protagonist in P4 or Golden, I preferred him keeping his mouth shut rather than his personality from Arena where he was basically just the cliched good guy leader who just said stuff like "All right, lets go." and "I can do this. With my friends."

So yeah, in my case, most JRPG Protagonists can turn me off of a game.

 

[TheMigrantSoldier]

I'll just crack my knuckles.

The Persona 3 protagonist, Minato Arisato. Yes, because of his "emo" appearance but I'm slowly starting to like him.

God of War 2. Oh, Kratos. Your recent portrayals do you no good in this regard. In the first game, he was sympathetic. Now? He is a violent force of instability and selfishness, destroying all its path and not giving a second thought about it.

Connor from Assassin's Creed 3 seems like a poorly-written, naive white knight but that's not the only reason I haven't played AC3.

Warcraft 3's Illidan Stormrage. A textbook anti-villain who grows tiresome after just a few of his quotes. So arrogant...