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adventure game series with best character arc

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What adventure game series do you think have best character(s) arc(s)? In some serires of course everything stays same for the main character.

     

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garbo - 27 June 2019 04:34 AM

What adventure game series do you think have best character(s) arc(s)? In some serires of course everything stays same for the main character.

Now that I think about it, I’d say that the characters very rarely evolve in adventure game series… I mean they evolve within a game but go back to their initial state at the start of the next game. I’m thinking Larry or Wilco or Guybrush or Indy here.

Perhaps Gabriel Knight, IIRC he kind of matures throughout the series.

     

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Yeah, some work a bit like “classic” comics of the Asterix or Lucky Luke type; a new adventure every issue but the protagonist never really develops (not saying there’s nothing at all, but you get what I mean).

I’d say the Blackwell duo had some nice (subtle) developments.
I’d probably also give some points to Erica Reed in her thriller series; she goes from this obsessed-with-a-certain-serial-killer-straight-laced-police officer to something a bit “more” (unfortunately the last episode really missed out on a few tricks there).

There’s also of course some that are more overt; like Captain Morgana (growing up from a kid ^^).

     

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I agree with Blackwell and Gabriel Knight, but I’d like to add Ben Jordan. In the beginning he’s a dedicated paranormal investigator, who has his head a little in the clouds. In the end, he’s a responsible family man.

     
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Susan in The Cat Lady is a lonely, severely depressed woman who manages to pull herself up by her bootstraps. Sunny in So Blonde starts out as a spoiled brat but changes into a more mature person over time. Tancrede de Nerac aka As-Sayf in The Legend of the Prophet and the Assassin is a cruel killer who develops a conscience and tries to make amends.

     

See you around, wolf. Nerissa

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Karlok - 27 June 2019 06:41 AM

Susan in The Cat Lady is a lonely, severely depressed woman who manages to pull herself up by her bootstraps. Sunny in So Blonde starts out as a spoiled brat but changes into a more mature person over time. Tancrede de Nerac aka As-Sayf in The Legend of the Prophet and the Assassin is a cruel killer who develops a conscience and tries to make amends.

These character arcs are each contained within one single game though.
If I understand the OP’s post correctly, the question was about characters who evolve throughout a series. And that’s very rare.

     
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Police Quest 1-3 probably deserves a mention. From patrol officer to detective-sergeant.

     
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Gabriel Knight certainly progressed from game to game.

     

For whom the games toll,
they toll for thee.

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Ninth - 27 June 2019 05:23 AM

Now that I think about it, I’d say that the characters very rarely evolve in adventure game series… I mean they evolve within a game but go back to their initial state at the start of the next game. I’m thinking Larry or Wilco or Guybrush or Indy here.

Perhaps Gabriel Knight, IIRC he kind of matures throughout the series.


If you think about it, you are talking mostly about comedy games (and in case of Indy they probably couldn’t do anything with him that would have changed him from the man from other media). Erasing their achievements is one more joke. And noone makes Guybrush go through three trials again and he stays married. (It is interesting that MI2 does the Larry on him but in more subtle way, Marley has left Guybrush between games.)

     
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The only one I can think of is Clem from The Walking Dead and how she grew up to be a total badass

     
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I agree about Gabriel Knight. He does go from cheap, arrogant playboy with a sophomoric attitude and a bit of a loser vibe, to someone acting like an actual human being. Now that’s some character development. But I think I like Grace’s progress even more, even though she’s always been portrayed as smart, she has gone from the secretary-like trope who exists solely to run your research and get your messages, to a full-fledged character with agency and personality, and who takes her future into her own hands, even growing the over cringe-worthy emotional immaturity she so blatantly displays in the second game.

Now, for the worst character arcs in a game series, I would nominate Elaine Marley. That woman was everything in the first two games, and then she got damseled over and over again.

A good example (as far as I recall) of barely evolving characters in a non-comedic series would be George and Nico in Broken Sword.

     
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My favorite character arc is Kate’s in Syberia. She starts as someone in her own little world, obsessed with her work and getting things done. When she becomes aware of a larger world beyond her own she develops a heart and sees what really matters in life.

     
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Hold Me Close, Cooed The Dove - 28 June 2019 07:22 PM

My favorite character arc is Kate’s in Syberia. She starts as someone in her own little world, obsessed with her work and getting things done. When she becomes aware of a larger world beyond her own she develops a heart and sees what really matters in life.

What really matters in life? Which is…? Taking care of other people? She does NOT discover what’s important to Kate Walker, she becomes a mother figure to others who don’t give a shit about her and helps them realize their dreams. No dreams of her own.

     

See you around, wolf. Nerissa

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She had dreams of her own, her career, her boyfriend. She was always aiming for a distant horizon which was always receding. Her mind was always on a future that never seemed to come. When she opened her heart she saw that her storehouse where she thought her treasure lay was empty, and she saw the real value in giving.

     
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Hold Me Close, Cooed The Dove - 28 June 2019 09:56 PM

She had dreams of her own, her career, her boyfriend. She was always aiming for a distant horizon which was always receding. Her mind was always on a future that never seemed to come. When she opened her heart she saw that her storehouse where she thought her treasure lay was empty, and she saw the real value in giving.

I don’t remember Kate having any dreams of her own. She starts out as a businesslike but dutiful girl who tries to live up to the expectations of a demanding boss, a demanding mother, and a demanding boyfriend. Sure, she breaks free of them, she becomes more caring, develops more empathy for other people. And then she dutifully helps other people find their glasses, stop drinking, or fullfill their dreams. Like a mother. Without any dreams of her own. Sokal lays it on pretty thick too, far too many NPCs are clueless, retarded or not quite all there. It’s the classic anti-feminist position.

     

See you around, wolf. Nerissa

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I found Syberia 3 unplayable on my system but would have liked to see where Kate went as I thought her story was concluded.
I couldn’t play Draugen either - I need a much newer graphics card.

     

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