I think the playable character is rarely given a backstory so the player can immerse themselves better. If an NPC asks, "Remember that time we ___," you obviously don't, because it didn't actually happen. This pulls you out of the world and reminds you that you might be controlling the character's movements, but you can never truly be the character. Of course it would be nice to have some variation, but I actually like that; games where the main character is undefined means you can fill in whatever you want.

waifu logic omg

i think games dont comment on how you single-handedly saved the universe and everyone in it because it would kind of break the immersion because it seems rather silly and unrealistic. I guess they do it in some games like half life 2

>>1832
you're saying it's perfectly reasonable and realistic to single-handedly save the universe and everyone in it... but to thank them for doing so, that's silly and unrealistic?

>>1833
well you do alot of unrealistic things in games, npcs just dont comment on it so not to break the immersion. Like what if npcs said "hey you just got shot in the head 10 times, good thing your health regenerated and you're perfectly fine"

>>1831
I was thinking the same thing, until I asked myself, "why should I care?"
a blank slate character with no background you can make your own isn't necessarily "bad" for a game, but it is for a story.
Why should I care if any of the main characters in a game die, if I haven't known them for more then a few hours? why should I care about anything in the game world if I'm little more then a mindless robot, sent in to do what everyone else in the game can't?
Without a name or background, The main character becomes little more then a tool, a tool you toss away when it has done it's job and don't actual care about, if a videogame is trying to tell a story, this is not a very good thing to have as your protagonist I think.

but you certinly do have a point, I guess it comes down to what the game makers are trying to do.
to make you feel for the characters, and care about the story they present to you.
or attempt to make you, the player, the main character and you yourself the center of the story.
and I guess for that matter, it also depends what you want out of your games, a good story in which you play as the hero, or a game in which you are the hero.

>>1834
I have played a few games have done stuff something like that, trying to explain the characters abilities.
Crisis comes to mind, which points to your high tech armor as what allows you to be the super solder you are.
Honestly, it would be a welcomed change for a npc to come up to me whenever I did something nuts and say "holy fuck man, you just killed a helicopter with a car, you fucking rock dude!"
instead you get a npc telling you to hurry up and follow him to the next area over the headset.. as he's standing five feet away.
If I was the average main character of a fps or other like action games, I'd have some serious depression problems.

In an FPS I don't care, I'm just plying to kill stuff.

But in certain games like RPGs I like it. Take Demon's Souls/King's Field, you really are just a nobody and you're just trying to survive/escape.