I am sad that this category got cut from the Site's GotY categories. So I decided I would try making my own top 5. Be conscious of the fact that I am not great at expressing what I think of things, so these writeups might be lacking.
Also, there is a God of War spoiler on here, so maybe don't read what I write about Atreus
Granted, much of Kasssandra's character is determined by the player, but she comes across as genuine in the cut scenes regardless. Much to the credit of the voice actress, she did a phenomenal job. My Kassandra is an honorable goofball who has found her love and ceased getting into the pants of everyone else since. Shame about that Spartan captain who thought Kassandra was stolen from him by her love, even though I never once flirted with him. Wish I could have spared him, he didn't deserve to be impaled by my spear.
I am putting the game here since the player character, only known as the Prisoner, doesn't have a character page. To be fair, there isn't a ton to his character, there is a limit to what can be expressed without a face and with pantomiming and gestures. He is an immortal being that inhabits a new body after each death. The character that came across to me is that he doesn't really care about anything, his reaction to most things is "that sucks" or "whatever" but he is very enthusiastic about his journeys through the levels.
Again, putting the game here since the main character, Robin, doesn't have a character page. Robin is a very expressive for being a silent protagonist. A rebellious, illegally practicing mechanic, Robin loves her family and helps everyone she can. And she ultimately overcomes the world's "god" just so she can get some peace.
Atreus is a little shit. If he's a little shit, why do I have him on this list? 1. He's Loki, so it kinda fits. 2. It's his being a little shit that caused me to like Kratos. God of War wouldn't work without Atreus and him being a little shit and I loved God of War. I didn't love all of God of War but the parts I loved out weigh those I didn't and Atreus was the cause of both types.
Two characters from the same game bookend this list. Sokrates, as it is spelled in the game, is the philosopher of Greece from history. But this portrayal of him has interactions with Kassandra and those interactions are one of my favorite parts of AC: Odyssey. Every time I see Sokrates in the game I am giddy to have Kassadra talk to him. He frustrates Kassandra in almost every interaction but in those interactions you can tell that the characters respect and even like each other and enjoy their conversations.
