Characters That You Can Love

As a tradeoff for not letting you actually BE the characters, Naughty Dog created a cast that you firmly believe walked off the street and into the game; characters with weight and heft, and would not easily be forgotten. This is no easy feat in video games, a medium littered with the bodies of fallen cardboard cutouts masquerading as people.

Naughty Dog has achieved this through a combination of three things: character design, smart writing, and incredible performances.

The character design in this thing is nearly flawless. And while the basic looks of the characters are certainly appealing, the brilliance lies in some of the smaller things that add up to a greater whole.

Nathan Drake has the build of an adventurer, someone you would believe can traverse a cliff or fire a pistol. But if you look closely at his face, you see lines starting to creep in. These are age lines prematurely brought out by sun exposure, wrinkles caused from furrowing his brow too much, and the general wear and tear that the two years between games would inevitably bring.

"Elena Fisher. Last year's model." - Elena Fisher

You also see this in the supporting cast as well. Let’s take a look at my favourite, Elena Fisher, for example. In the previous game, she was this naïve little x-treme adventures type reporter. She dressed the part too. But in the sequel, she’d clearly moved up in the world of journalism quite a bit, a move reflected in a number of ways: the clothing, the hair, etc. But her growth as a character is also there in a lot of subtle ways as well: the slight glower indicating a more serious outlook in life, the straighter shoulders indicating that she’s more sure of herself, and the casual way that she has her gun holstered showing that she left her naivety behind her on that unnamed island from the first game.

But looks are only the first thing you notice about these characters. Once you spend time with them, you realize that this game is only one stone along their path of life. These characters are written in such a way that you know they have back-stories, histories, politics, opinions, and the like only hinted at in this particular chapter. They are fully realized characters that you know will continue to live on even after the credits roll.

"Oh, is that an ancient Tibetan ritual dagger in your pocket?" - Chloe Frazer

A lot of that is down to the writing, of course, and the dialogue in particular. Nearly everything said in this game, besides the expository ones, are laden with subtext, revealing little bits and pieces of the characters that further strengthen their credence as living, breathing people. Lines like Lazarevic’s “How many men have you killed, just today?” tell us something about Drake, and the way that he reacts to it tells us even more. Elena’s “Elena Fisher, last year’s model” tells us of her wry self-deprecation and hints at the history between Drake and herself. And even Chloe’s “You’re going to miss this ass” tells us a lot about Chloe’s character and her acceptance of her smoldering sensuality, and the slight insecurity she hides behind it. Or what about Nathan’s little mumble questioning whether Elena and Jeff are together or not? What does that tell you about Nate and his feelings?

The writing is further aided by brilliant performances from the actors, aided of course by the animators and motion-capture technicians. The cast is exceptional, but what really works in their favour, aside from individual skill, is their chemistry with each other. When Nolan North as Nathan Drake says “Nice view” while hoisting Elena up a cliff, you can really feel Emily Rose’s exasperation as she says “Men.” Or when Steve Valentine says “Victor GODDAMN Sullivan” in such an accurate imitation of Richard McGonagle’s gruff voice, you can feel that these two go way back.

The way the actors deliver their scripted lines, and the way they ad-lib other lines add weight and heft to these pixellated avatars, so much so that after only a few words, you forget that they only exist within the confines of that shiny little disc.

On the next page: Attention to Detail, Easy-Peasy, Life Everlasting and wrapping up