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A game character can be unpleasant and still be well written. To tell whether the dislike is intentional or a sign of weak characterization, look past whether you enjoy the character: examine whether their motives are understandable, their voice and behavior feel connected, their contradictions are established, and any change grows from what the story has shown. Then compare the character in the story with the actions the game requires you to perform as them. These are practical questions for interpretation, not a definitive test.
Start by separating likability from writing quality
“I dislike this character” describes your reaction; it does not explain why the writing produced it. A character may be designed to be cruel, selfish, abrasive, or frustrating. The more useful question is whether the game gives that behavior a coherent place in the character and story.
Writer and narrative designer Justin Keenan, who worked on Disco Elysium, said his first concern when creating a character was not whether a mass of players would like them, but whether his studio colleagues would. That is one writer’s perspective, not proof that every disliked character succeeds. It does underline why audience approval and craft quality should be judged separately. Game Developer’s October 22, 2021 highlights from a GDC podcast with Keenan discuss his approach.
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Likewise, a writer’s apparent intention does not automatically make an abrasive character effective. The game still needs to make the character legible: what they want, what shapes their choices, and how they matter beyond making the player angry or moving a mission along.
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Ask what the character wants and why
Start with a specific scene or decision rather than trying to diagnose the whole character at once. What does the character want here? What reason does the story give for wanting it? Does their conduct connect to a conflict, relationship, fear, belief, or personal stake that the game has established?
Obsidian developers have emphasized motivation, dialogue, and personality as central concerns in character creation. They also warn against characters who exist only to push the player to the next plot point or NPCs whose sole investment is their quest. Their advice is useful because it distinguishes unpleasant conduct with a story-related cause from behavior that feels arbitrary or purely functional. See GameSpot’s interview with Obsidian narrative designer Nitai Poddar and co-game director Leonard Boyarsky.
- More legible: The character’s actions serve a goal, even if the goal is selfish or morally objectionable, and the game gives you enough context to understand the stake.
- Less legible: Their choices repeatedly change to serve the next plot beat, without a reason the story makes clear.
Understanding a motive does not mean approving of it. A character can be convincingly motivated and still behave badly; the question is whether the writing connects the behavior to a recognizable person and situation.
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Check whether voice and behavior belong to the same person
Voice is more than a distinctive way of speaking. Look at the character’s dialogue alongside their concerns, reactions, and choices. Do those elements feel like they come from the same personality, or does the character abruptly become a different person whenever the plot needs a particular line or action?
Former BioWare narrative designer Sylvia Feketekuty described a way to keep exposition from flattening a character: “As for making sure exposition doesn’t flatten a character’s voice: one thing I like to do is give an NPC something to complain about, or worry over, or be excited for.” Giving a character a specific concern can make even necessary information feel shaped by who is speaking. Her interview discusses voice, exposition, and character arcs: RPGamer’s May 2026 interview with Feketekuty.
A character need not be consistent in the sense of always saying or doing the same thing. They do need to be recognizable: changes in tone or conduct should make sense in light of the scene, their priorities, or what the story has revealed.
Read contradictions as possible inner conflict
Conflicting feelings are not automatically a writing mistake. A character may want acceptance while resenting the people whose approval they seek, or value loyalty while also wanting freedom. Such tension can make a character feel complex if the game establishes it and lets it shape choices. If the contradiction appears without context or consequence, it may instead feel like inconsistency.
Feketekuty advises establishing a character’s hopes, fears, contradictions, and yearnings before deciding how a major choice will change them. One example of tension in a game character is Aloy’s described desire to belong to a community that treated her as an outcast, alongside resentment toward that community. PlayStation Blog’s 2017 account of Guerrilla Games’ creation of Aloy discusses that conflicting pull.
When a character seems contradictory, ask whether the game dramatizes both sides. Do they make choices that reveal the conflict? Does it affect their relationships or decisions? If so, the disagreement between their stated beliefs and behavior may be intentional characterization rather than a broken personality.
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Judge character growth against a clear starting point
A dramatic change is more convincing when you can identify what the character was like before it, what pressure or choice prompted it, and how the new behavior follows from that groundwork. The character does not have to change in a predictable direction, but the game needs to give the shift a foundation.
Feketekuty describes establishing a character’s core voice, hopes, and fears before a player-influenced choice changes them. A different structural problem arose in Watch Dogs: Legion, where many playable characters had no fixed biography. Narrative designer Brendan Hennessy explained: “We can’t make them grow, because we don’t know what they have to grow from. You need two points to form a line.” Ubisoft’s account explains that the team used authored story anchor characters to provide that foundation: Ubisoft News on the game’s Play-As-Anyone narrative design.
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Compare the written character with the playable character
In a game, characterization comes through both story scenes and play. Compare what the narrative says the character values with what the player must do as that character. Do the required actions reveal a side of the character, or do they seem to undermine what the story has established without acknowledgment?
Ubisoft narrative director Navid Khavari has observed that gameplay needs can outweigh character needs. That is a real design constraint, but its presence alone does not prove that a character is poorly written. A mismatch is worth examining: perhaps the game intends a tension between the character and the player’s actions, or perhaps the mechanics and story are pulling in different directions. Khavari discusses the challenge and the way a character’s perspective can shape a game’s world in Ubisoft News’ interview about the Far Cry 6 villain DLC.
Use the same evidence for competing interpretations
When one player calls a character deliberately unlikeable and another calls them poorly written, compare the evidence behind each reading rather than treating either reaction as conclusive. These questions can help:
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| Question | What to examine |
|---|---|
| What motivates the character? | Their stated aims, decisions, and investment in the conflict around them. |
| Does the character feel recognizable? | Dialogue, concerns, tone, and recurring reactions across scenes. |
| Are contradictions dramatized? | Competing wants, fears, beliefs, or loyalties—and whether they affect choices. |
| Does the arc have a foundation? | Early characterization compared with later decisions and changes. |
| Do they serve a purpose beyond a plot function? | What the character contributes besides directing the player to a quest or advancing a plot point. |
| Do gameplay and characterization fit? | What the story says about the character compared with the actions the player is required to take. |
These questions organize close reading; they do not turn a subjective interpretation into a verdict by themselves. There is no formal standard or validated test that separates intentional unlikeability from weak writing. The available guidance comes from craft interviews and developer accounts, not a scientific measure of character quality.
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