Best use of NPC characters

[Turbo Kid]

I was thinking of how cool it is the way NPCs in Soul Reaver react to you based on your actions throughout the game.

Most of Crazi Taxi's personality comes from the NPCs you pick up.

I love games where you pick up NPCs that join you like the dancers in Space Channel 5 or the militia you build up in Freedom Fighters

I can't NOT mention mudokons in the Oddworld games. They add soooooo much to the experience and are critical to whatever ending you end up getting.

I love cool animals who help you like in The Pathless, Resident Evil 4, and the Sanatorium section of Until Dawn.

I could probably mention hundreds of games full of NPCs with awesome dialog that gets missed by tons of players who just rush through the game without talking to anyone.

 

[Don Patch]

Makes me think of the OG Animal Crossings where the animals would say some outrageous/over-the-top (by today's standards for AC, anyways) to the player.

 

[Segadude113]

That one wizard that turns you into a chicken in Shining Force. lol

 

[Anoobis]

The Nemesis system made generic npcs able to be full characters, and it's a shame Warner was allowed to consign it to patent Hell.

 

[Jayonnaise6105 Jayonnaise6105]

I could maybe think of other examples, but Two Worlds always pops into my head:

Spoiler: Two Worlds exploit

You can aggro the final boss and lead them to a nearby village where it is possible for the NPCs to kill the boss and end the game in the first like 15-20 minutes

 

[Kremiso]

a mention for Lure of the Temptress
nothing special today, but played back then was one of the first examples of npc's doing their live things

 

[CG4R12I4N]

Imageepoch games literally told the surrounding mini-stories thru NPCs as you progress on with every different appearances and dialogues per chapter, also helped that they're mostly grouped in one big place for easy access.