Aiden Pearce
The main protagonist of Watch Dogs has come under a lot of criticism for his somewhat bland character design, personality, and position in the overall storyline. He is brutal, merciless, and importantly – a criminal.
His own history of hacking, theft, and robbery caused the death of Lena Pearce, Aiden’s niece, which changes his perspective on the importance of family. Watch Dogs is driven by revenge and the emotional trauma that Aiden experiences throughout. However, he seems to deal with these issues in a much more indirect way.
Aiden’s character is very protective of the people he holds close but continues to remain calm whilst not showing any conscious in killing several people.
He may not appeal to many players, but Ubisoft were successful in creating a protagonist that could easily become a main nemesis in a gaming series but instead is given to the player to control as the “hero.”
Arno Dorian
Arno’s romantic and emotional journey through the French Revolution is presented well in Assassin’s Creed Unity. Losing his father to rebel assassin Shay Cormac, Arno was raised in a Templar household alongside his main love interest, Elise.
After being falsely imprisoned for the death of Elise’s father, Francois, Arno decides to join the Assassins to discover who is responsible. Wracked with guilt and blame, Arno takes matters into his own hands to gain justice and revenge for Francois death.
Despite Assassin’s Creed Unity‘s rough release, Arno Dorian’s character continues to shine throughout the game. His emotional journey from orphan to assassin is unique within the gaming franchise. Arno only has one goal in mind – to protect and find justice for Elise.
A detailed love story may be rare to find in AAA games, but Ubisoft does Arno’s romantic journey justice throughout Unity.
Delsin Rowe
Replacing former inFamous protagonist Cole McGrath, Delsin Rowe brings a much more youthful and care-free character to the series. Comedic, cocky and reckless, Delsin pulls all the great aspects of inFamous together for Second Son.
Delsin has received a mixture of positive and negative reviews, with many citing his emotional characteristics and decision making throughout the game. However, due to the fast paced nature of the inFamous franchise, a lot of his personality traits were taken as bland and negative, especially early on in the game.
Delsin portrays a character who gains incredible super-powers and is in a position to use them for good or evil. Despite this trope’s common use, his youthfulness brings a lot of thoughtlessness and clumsy decisions that cause more problems. This is where his character becomes more organic and refreshing. Players are truly able to make decisions to the situation if it was themselves. He is a character that grows on people, a journey from gaining extraordinary powers that matures and brings out a unique emotional side from characters within the series.
Sucker Punch Productions have always had fantastic characters within the inFamous franchise, with Fetch and Zeke leading alternate charges. Delsin stands out in giving us a relatable character fighting for the sake of his tribe and family.
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