Now That It's Out There, It Seems So Obvious

Reading this brief but insightful post at Man Bytes Blog was like a sudden epiphany. It makes so much sense! (In short, Corvus says that it's a character's relationships that make them interesting, not the traits of the character themself.) Thinking about my favorite characters in popular media, I've been able to apply this idea to every single one.

Phoenix Wright, for example, is a lovable but somewhat forgettable character on his own. It's the trust in his clients, his brotherly affection for Maya, and (most interesting to me) his friendship with Edgeworth that make him an interesting and unique character. (By the way, Phoenix and Edgeworth are totally in love, and if you don't believe me, play Justice for All again and pay attention this time.)

Similarly, for most of the games, Gumshoe is a full-blown "bumbling detective" stereotype (who is also lovable and funny), but becomes much more three-dimensional when his crush on Maggey is revealed.

I could go on all day. Are there any games that involves the player actually forming an interesting relationship with the player? Not ones between distinct characters, such as between Jade and Pey'j in Beyond Good and Evil, but with the actual player, or the stand-in for the player that they control? Mass Effect is the only one I can think of off the top of my head, and even that isn't particularly deep, from what I've heard.

I've always understood that the relationships between characters were something that interested me, but I didn't realize just how important they--as well as a character's relationships with their environment, and so on--are.

Quick note: I'm trying to play through Majora's Mask so I can write about it, but so far my game has frozen twice in the middle of Snowhead temple (my least favorite of all of them), and I've lost way too much progress thanks to the damn convoluted saving system, so I'm not sure when I'll get to write about that. Hopefully eventually.