Editorials Reviews Previews Essays Worth Playing

Essays

Essays 22 July 2020, 15:30

author: Karol Laska

10 Cruelest Things We've Done to NPCs

Players can be heartless. Often carried away by impulses, venting off their emotions on the screen. The victims of these behaviors are the innocent NPCs. Here are 10 special atrocities committed to them.

Table of Contents

NPC stands for non-player character. They're sometimes also called independent characters, but we all know this means your next merchant, bandit, or companion in any game. These characters aren't controlled by any player, but we can often influence their "lives."

We kill the enemies, command the companions, and trade with merchants. Without us, NPCs lose the sense of their ostensible existence, though the player also feels a certain emptiness when there is no one to talk to (Fallout 76, I'm looking at you). On the other hand, there's no point fooling ourselves – conversations are very often of secondary importance. Players mostly crave these slightly more drastic interactions. Therefore, let us move for a moment to the land of sadism and massacre, to look at the truly cruel (yet creative) ways in which NPCs are oppressed or even killed by malevolent players.

GO AHEAD

Did you do any of that? Don't be shy, share examples of your cruelty with us in the comments.

GTA V – running people over

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to predict a car's flight path. - 10 Cruelest Things We've Done to NPCs - dokument - 2020-07-22
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to predict a car's flight path.

A few words about the game

GTA V is the latest installment in one of the most popular video game series in the history of the industry. The title offers an open world of considerable size that we can freely roam. The player also has an extensive main plot thread providing over 30 hours of play (not counting side activities). "Five" stands out from its predecessors with the fact that we play as many as three main characters with completely different personalities. In addition to single-player mode, we also have GTA Online, which is governed by one law. The law of the street.

Type of cruelty

It's best to start with the obvious. At some stage in your life, I'm sure you've had contact with any part of Grand Theft Auto. And whether you've been following the damn train with CJ, doing mob stuff with Tommy, or gone manic with Trevor – I'm sure you know the feeling of pedestrians coming into contact with a speeding car. Chances are, even, that they're fond memories.

But why do we feel a kind of pleasure in the mass killing of random pedestrians? After all, it's not that we are degenerates who hide our psychopath alter egos from the world, only satisfying our perverse taste in video games. The answer is simple: because we can. The creators not only allow us to do this: they often encourage it. It is worth reminding that in the first, still two-dimensional GTA, we were actually paid for running over passers-by. You could make even more money by running over police officers, or hitting people with their own cars.

Karol Laska

Karol Laska

His adventure with journalism began with a personal blog, the name of which is no longer worth quoting. Then he interpreted Iranian dramas and the Joker, writing for cinematography journal, which, sadly, no longer exists. His writing credentials include a degree in film studies, but his thesis was strictly devoted to video games. He has been writing for Gamepressure since March 2020, first writing a lot about movies, then in the newsroom, and eventually, he became a specialist in everything. He currently edits and writes articles and features. A long-time enthusiast of the most bizarre indie games and arthouse cinema. He idolizes surrealism and postmodernism. He appreciates the power of absurdity. Which is probably why he also tried soccer refereeing for 2 years (with so-so results). He tends to over-philosophize, so watch out.

more

Red Dead Redemption 2

Red Dead Redemption 2

Grand Theft Auto V

Grand Theft Auto V

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Spec Ops: The Line

Spec Ops: The Line

Baldur's Gate

Baldur's Gate

Pathologic 2

Pathologic 2

See/Add Comments