NPCs Do More Than Give Quests
They Give Your Game Substance Too

From what I know, there are two types of gamers. Ones who only approach NPCs for quests, and those who go out of their way to talk to every. single. NPC in-game.
I’m not going to explicitly say which category I belong in (though I think it’s pretty obvious, hence this article), and I’m not judging either type of player. But NPCs may play a larger part than you realise, consciously or unconsciously.
Turns out, NPCs do more than give quests. They are what brings life to a world, here’s why every game needs NPCs beyond its basic functionality of quest-giving.
Building Believability
I don’t need to talk about how NPCs’ designs and dialogue reveal a world’s history, culture, beliefs and more. We all know that. Game Designers have known that too since the beginning of time. That’s why NPCs exist.
But most seem to underestimate how NPCs add believability to games. We may not even pay them a second glance when we run past them for the umpteenth time during missions, but if they are gone, the world would just become a flat floor with buildings. And unless you are in an abandoned town, there’s no way you believe that a city without a single person exists right?
But what I wish to highlight even further, is that it’s hard to believe in a world where NPCs remain in the same location, day and night, summer and winter. Good game design gives NPCs things to do, that’s what ultimately pushes worldbuilding to the pinnacle level of believability.
In Stardew Valley, NPCs are constantly running up and down the map doing their daily chores. I can’t even count the number of times I’ve waited outside of Sebastian’s basement with a Frozen Tear in hand (he never leaves his stupid room). With the NPCs moving around the map, it gives a sense of realism and breathes life into the game. Like, ah, so people do have lives here. They don’t exist for me. They coexist with me.

After all, the world doesn't revolve around you (even if you're the chosen one, sorry). People have lives, people have mood swings. Some days they feel like appearing to grace you with a quest, sometimes they just want to hole up in their basement for the whole day. Having NPCs that don’t adhere to your schedule is what makes a game thrive. They are just like you and me.
Enhance Player Immersion
Adding to game believability, NPCs can imbue the game world with life and consequences. While many games feature static NPCs scattered across the map, a dynamic and interactive crowd can be a catalyst for deepening player engagement.
An example that comes to mind to me is the notoriety system in Assasin’s Creed. The more you run around pickpocketing, killing and generally causing trouble for people, the more you have to go back around tearing down wanted posters, killing officers and bribing heralds. If you don’t, suddenly all NPCs in the game are alert at the mere sound of your footsteps.

Having NPCs that react to your actions sucks you into the game. Now, every action you do, even to an NPC, has consequences. They become active participants, and help make the game more interactive for you. They shape gameplay for you.
Driving the Narrative Forward
Here is where storytelling comes into play. NPCs are a great tool for the game to tell you a story.
This is probably more prevalent in cutscenes, but using NPCs to deliver a message is something we often don’t consciously notice. How do we go from one major plot point to the next? Turns out, NPCs can be brilliant actors that signal what your next move should be.
Let’s say you don’t know where to go and happen to run into a lost child in town. He is crying. He says he hasn’t seen his father since he went out hunting. He turns to the young man next to him and asks him if it’s the monster rumoured to prowl in the woods. The young man comforts him, and he says “Of course not, there can’t be monsters in the woods. ha, ha.”
Now, as a player who isn’t sure what your current mission is, you know that hey, maybe you should check the woods out. The game is using NPCs to leave breadcrumbs for your next location. It’s ensuring that you don’t lose your way.
You may not be conversing with them, nor did they give you a task to explicitly hunt down the monster in the woods. But the subtext is your next roadsign, and you can now happily travel to your next spot, knowing that your journey continues there.
Take a Breather
Finally, we are at my favourite part of why NPCs exist. Mini-games. They don’t exist to add to the story, they just simply wish to let you take a breather between your intense main quest. It’s not necessarily a side quest, but it gives you a diversion that also contributes to the immersive nature of the world.
Remember Addison, the sign guy, from Breath of the Wild? You happen to bump into him, holding this sign with his lanky stature, and just, help him prop that sign up.

It’s a stupid little activity that doesn’t contribute to the story. Not as a side quest, not as a main quest. It simply exists. Sure it gives you some context about the world and atmosphere, and it does help you practice the game mechanics. But you still encounter him late in the game. One minute you see a barren land, another second he pops up, holding his stupid little sign. And there you go, using rocks to help him hold it up.
It’s funny, it garners attention on the internet. People rave about him and how creatively they can help prop up the sign. At the end of the day, NPCs can help lighten the tense mood conjured in the main story. Some days you just run into weird, random things that happen, but it makes your day better.
Turns out NPCs are more useful than most people may initially perceive. Have you thought about other reasons why NPCs are so important? Feel free to comment below.
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