Rmt -- very thoughtful stuff! I am going to put spoiler tags in a few places, especially because the spoilers are for games other than Gray Matter.

I agree that we know less about Nina at the end of the first game than we do about April and Sam. Is there considerably less dialog in Tunguska than in The Longest Journey and Gray Matter? That might partly be why.

Does the revelation of character have a lot to do with how much the character is challenged, taken out of his/her comfort zone? April has the challenge of a wholly different world to contend with. I think the contrast between Stark and Arcadia gave lots of opportunity for us to get to know more about her.

Is it easier to reveal character if the story covers a lot of "territory" -- from city to city, for instance, rather than staying pretty much in one place for the entirety of the game (as the Nancy Drew games do).

Thanks Becky.

I just thought I would add that World Union Peace Officer Phoenix Wallis, her best friend Sandra and her boss Chief Morssen in Culpa Innata, really contribute a great deal in changing the traditonal view of women in the world.

Phoenix is also extremely well thougt of and a well developed character, perhaps the most believable of all the previous ones mentioned.

She is undergoing as well a fundamental change as we progress, thinking she is living in the best world there is until she gets to understand that perhaps it is not all so perfect.

I really look forward to witnessing that further transformation in her in Culpa Innata 2. That universe is haunting.

I'm finding this thread interesting because I, too, am just finishing Chapter 3. The obsessed doctor with his self-absorption (which he feels gives him carte blanche to experiment on others even when the experiments turn deadly!) is troubling, at least as far as I have gotten. Still, protagonists in these games seldom fall short in the hubris department. heh Hopefully, he will redeem himself as the game progresses.

In these Adventure games we play, you get used to playing main characters who only seem to advance by having to con others, break into offices and buildings, rob graves, sneak around where they shouldn't, hack into computers, and routinely commit outright theft. Seldom are they your Average Joe or Josephine. It usually doesn't bother me, but I have to say, I agree with those who would like to see a more "normal" person as a lead character from time to time. At my age, it is difficult to identify with a teenage biker Goth chick.

@Rmt, excellent post! I agree with you on most every character except for Zoe and Gabriel. I do think Gabriel has a lot of character depth, more than most adventure game characters. He's not someone who gives many people around him access to his private thoughts and feelings, but I think we get to know him pretty well throughout the games. If you make him confess in the church in GK1, you hear about his guilt for many of the things that he does. In GK3, if you look at Grace after their night together, he says something like, "Mosely's right. She is a babe. I have to figure out what I want to do." In my opinion, he was struggling with denial and feelings for Grace he was afraid of because it would change his life around if he acted on them. He probably showed the most depth in GK2 because of the particular struggles he was going through with his duel nature.

And Zoe was going through some kind of depression, I feel, which is a very different trait to give to a lead character. She felt like she was on autopilot and had no motivation to go on with what she'd been pursuing before, which to me is a clear sign of depression. We never do find out what's causing it, but I wonder if it had something to do with what was going on with the Undreaming.

I agree that Nina doesn't have a lot of depth, and neither does Max, which is why I don't rate the Secret Files games as "best of the best" as some others do. I do love the games, though, they're a lot of fun. I wonder if the fact that professional writers are working on the third game means that the characters will be fleshed out. That would be nice.

Love your comments on Sam, April, Kate, Grace and of course, Phoenix. I do hope we see Culpa Innata 2 someday, but right now, it isn't looking good.

@Reenie, I don't think Sam was a teenager. Wasn't she supposed to be in her twenties? And I found David Styles to be a very interesting and complex character. I understand and appreciate what you're saying, of course. Personally, though, I don't have to identify with the character I'm playing. I like playing a variety of characters in a variety of situations. Maybe it's the actress in me, but I think playing someone exactly like myself would be boring. The closest character I've ever identified with is April, and that's only because she was artistic. Other that that, we didn't have a lot in common, and of course she's a lot younger than me, so her struggles were different. I remember going through some similar things when I was her age, though, so I can sympathize with her.

Yes, you're right about many of the things adventure game characters do. It always bothered me that Nina made that poor guy think he'd won the lottery. Brian Basco is pretty bad with this, too. I'm replaying Runaway 2 now, and sometimes I wonder why he's making up these ridiculous and obvious lies, when telling the truth would make things so much easier for him. I like Brian, but I do want to shake some sense into him sometimes.