I like this list, but the hard thing here is that 2007 brought a lot of great games, and I'm sure people will feel a lot of characters were left out. While Andrew Ryan was a huge one for me and definitely belonged on the list, where's my favorite madman of the year, Sander Cohen? I suppose two from the same game is a list no-no, but every time I think about finding that recording of Cohen's bunny "performance," I still get the chills.
Anyway, here's the top 5 per Gamasutra:
5. Frédéric Chopin (Tri-Crescendo's Eternal Sonata, Xbox 360)
4. Kratos (Sony Santa Monica's God of War II, PS2)
3. Andrew Ryan (2K Boston's BioShock, PC/Xbox 360)
2. GLaDOS (Valve's Portal, PC/console)
1. You (You, Everywhere)
I get the vibe of number 1, but I don't like it within the rhythm of the list. I'd have rather seen a straightforward list than a moving tribute to the importance of the gamer in the industry, but that's just me. I was actually pleasantly surprised to see Chopin on the list as well, as the character really resonated with me (and he's voiced by an incredible voice actor as well.)
The indies are missing from this list though, and usually those are the sources of my favorite characters, but when I look at some of the characters from this list they seem as if they somehow waded out of indie-level creativity and found their way into big name titles, which is a bit of a thrill. Readers, cash in: I'm wondering if you had favorites that weren't on this list, and if so, who were they?
[Via Gamasutra, Thanks Justin!]
Contest:
1:19 PM on 12.12.2007
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yea i played through about half of it and I liked it a lot. RPGs arent my expertise but I had a lot of fun with it. Especially the art direction it took.
Word. It seems like ever since Time did it, every top how-ever-many list of most important people always ends with "You!"
I never used to mind a little shout out at the end of a game's credits or something, but once I start coming up as The Most Important Person Ever... well... someone's never taken a look at my trophy room. ('96 4H Camp Three-Legged Race: Honorable Mention)
#1 was too much, but i like what they were trying to do.
missing from the list? Master Chief or Cortana, Alyx Vance, Sander Cohen, and the cast of Persona 3.
Here are my reasons:
5. Why not have top 10? 15? 3? WHY?
4. Are these in any order? WHY NOT?
3. Master Chief
2. This wasn't #1 cause we'd get flamed if it was
1. It was all a dream
Anyway, that list is missing some Vance, be that Eli or Alyx from HL2:ep2.
Cohen wouldn't even exist in the way he did in Bioshock if it wasn't for Ryan's vision of a world without rules or rulers. Regardless of the subject of Ryan being a puppet for the philosophy behind the games story. In terms of the games telling of the story Andrew Ryan was the main reason why Rapture is the way it is.
There is some meaning in that choice though, beyond the fact that "it's all about you guys!" Like, when you control a character in a game, you sort of project your own ideas and motives and background onto him.
You're quite right, but it all depends on what they mean by "Most Affecting Character": Affecting the audience or affecting the game story?
If we're talking game story, yeah, Ryan was WAY more important. But I'll tell you right now that I was way more scared of Cohen than I ever was with Ryan.
And that #1 choice is a cheap copout of having to make a hard decision.
BYAHHHHH FTW!
My pick for #1 would be the player-controlled character in Passage.
It's better than "You"...you got to design the character's appearance and background, and make decisions that affected the gameplay. You could avoid entire battles if you made the right decisions, and you even have to make a decision on the lives of two of your teammates! (No pheonix down's either; dead for reals)
I kinda agree with the rest, although I think if not for Andrew Ryan, I would have voted for Atlas/Fontaine from Bioshock. I was much more 'affected' by that whole deal and the implications it all had to you and Ryan as well.
Now, would you kindly put him on the list too?
Master Chief is a great character if you've read anything in the Halo expanded universe, but taken just as an in-game character he's lacking any real depth.
I suppose they made the right choice.
I regret ever burning her, the sex was absolutely wonderful.
Also: Honorable mention goes to: Sander Cohen, Dr. Steinman, and Yi Suchong.
Cohen was easily the most well written character in Bioshock. For me though the story up until you find out that Atlas is Fontaine is all about Ryan. With his philosophical recordings and his attitude towards anything involving rulers, made me worried with what he was going to put me through next. Rather then Cohen losing his mind on tape and blowing up people with piano's (even if it did make me LOL).
Dr. Steinman was pretty fucked up aswell though, the Medical Pavilion was full of moments involving walking into a surgery office, the lights being cut and then realizing that the shadow you saw on the wall when the lights were cut has now disappeared. That was pretty scary, especially at 3 in the morning.
Basically Bioshock has enough influential characters to make up the top 5 on its own.
I love Bioshock :D