In the interest of not dragging the FFXIII-2 discussion off-topic, I'll move the Desmond discussion here:
Desmond Miles said:
Meaning, I think Desmond does have a personality. He's a hilarious character with a genuine heart, what's wrong with that? ;n; And he doesn't do NOTHING. True he is just sitting around in the Animus, but he still has to move around and do shit too. Did you forget the entire ending of teh game or what. OAO Sometimes you *do* have to leave the Animus and do shizz.... so I wouldn't say he does nothing.
OWD just said that a character moving doesn't constitute character and that whole last bit could have just as easily been Ezio or Altair as it was Desmond. It's not like they play differently. I know that's the point and all, I just mean that doesn't say anything about his character. As a character, he just does next to nothing. He comes out of the Animus, you walk around and talk to some of your equally archetypical teammates, spy on their emails, and then he goes back in the Animus. And is he that hilarious? Maybe my impression's colored by North's portrayal of Drake who really is hilarious, but I dunno. How much can you really tell me about his character? He's a bartender, was once some kind of hitman/assassin. Got kidnapped. Lucy broke him out, and now they're working independently, but he's not being strung along any less than he was when he was in Abstergo. I guess he's a nice guy, but there's just as much chance he's doing this out of curiosity to see what happens as out of the goodness of his heart. T Hat would be fine and all, but we just don't know. The most important thing he's done, he did while under direct control of some other being. [Insert Mass Effect 'Assuming Control' reference here]
I don't dislike him, or think that he'll never be a good character. It's just the nature of the beast they've created - the focus is on his ancestors. I look forward to when he does receive development, he just hasn't yet.