antumbral

programmer / game designer / writer

anime


I made a thin post about this on Twitter earlier, then noticed a detail I overlooked. In all of these big character roster mobile games, the player always has some title they're referred to in things that can't be personalized like voice lines - Doctor, Sensei, Commander, etc. In PGR you're Commandant, though they do use your actual name a lot.

In this case though, even the disposable dialogue for this character breaks with that. She's a musician, so she calls you Conductor. Her name is Selena, but you don't call her that - to you she's Iris, because she was your childhood pen pal. When they write anything about this character, attention is paid to the personal connection between the player and the character even though the game's mechanics and main story very much emphasize your role as a faceless Commandant throwing androids into the fray to fight monsters and corrupted machines.

It's the details like this that really endear this game to me, I think. You can tell the writers really have an affection for some of their characters and they want you to feel like you're establishing a relationship with them beyond having them be the machinery that makes the plot move along.

Selena is probably my personal favorite at this point since large chunks of the story revolve around establishing a personal connection with her and the other people she loves, to the point that both you and her are quite literally saved from death by the simple fact that in a key moment, you remembered her name. The player's connection with Selena (and her girlfriend slash BFF Ayla) is built all around things like exchanging letters, listening to songs, and attending plays.

(The writers also seem to treat her like your canon wife in classic mobile game fashion, but for once I don't find that irritating.)


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