InFamous: Second Son - 10 Reasons It's Dividing Opinion

9. Main Man Delsin Rowe Is An Acquired Taste

Once again, opinions seems divided, this time on the likability of protagonist Delsin Rowe. Delsin is played by the eponymous Troy Baker. This incredibly talented actor is best known for his voice work in Bioshock Infinite, Final Fantasy XIII and his perhaps greatest role of Joel in The Last Of Us. In Second Son Troy reveals the full gamut of his acting ability through extensive facial animation and motion capture, delivering a consummate performance that favours nuance over exaggeration. Maybe it's a soft spot for anti-authoritarianism, maybe it's a longing for the lost glory days of youth, but this writer found Delsin eminently likeable, even if his actions or dialogue occasionally make him seem a bit of a jerk. Occasionally being a bit of a jerk is human; it is our flaws that define us as much as our more positive traits. A character without human frailty is a character without humanity. Delsin is portrayed with a realism towards both his Native American lineage and his sibling rivalry. The relationship with the (equally well-portrayed) Reggie, voiced by Travis Willingham, is believable and convincing and a considerable advancement from earlier games in the series. Although some weak humour is occasionally allowed to slip through the generally satisfying dialogue, there are genuinely chuckle-worthy moments with one particular mission guaranteeing to either make you laugh out loud or groan inwardly, this writer definitely did the former. The cut-scenes and dialogue make much more sense when on the 'good' playthrough, providing another reason to play this arc first, on your second playthrough you'll be more interested in just killing everything, including Reggie's police cohorts, and although you'll notice how Reggie seems to pay no heed to you wiping out his law enforcement buddies, you'll shrug it off and get on with the mayhem. Lastly, it is extremely refreshing to have a main character deviating from the 'everyone-is-white' theme, but not only do we have an ethnic minority as our main character, we have an ethnic minority character who just 'happens' to be who he is. No resorting to stereotypes, clichés and tired-out overused hackneyed memes. Even if an Assassin's Creed III-style tomahawk would have been cool!