How much personality should a MC have?

Given that there are people with preferences in both directions, and I think a lot of people would still enjoy either way if done well enough, and some stories are a better match for one or the other, I’d suggest the most important thing is to figure out the best fit for you and to make sure to make it clear very early on in your writing and be consistent afterward, so people know what to expect and don’t feel like those expectations are thwarted later on.

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It really just depends. For example, a story about a depressed character and their personal journey towards inner peace necessarily needs to have some constraint on the player’s determination of the character’s internal state. You can’t just have an option saying ‘go out and power through it’ because then the entire idea of a character having mental health issues goes out the window. Conversely, a story about a peasant thrust into a sword-and-sorcery adventure should have a far greater degree of control, and doesn’t require some hard lines in the character’s psyche. It depends on the story you’re trying to tell.

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