Board 8 > Help me find games with NPC "life simulation" in them

(+) Yeah! (+)

It doesn't necessarily have to be a simulation style game.

Think more along the lines of the old (false) Elder Scrolls promise of "every NPC needs to eat, sleep, socialize, etc".

If it's a game where I can gather loot and then give it to NPC's who will use it to survive on their own, and I can see them thriving with the gear I gave them, that's a huge bonus.
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animal crossing
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Rune Factory sorta?
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Harvest Moon
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That's a hard one since most games don't put that kind of effort into NPC schedules. They kind of do in My Time at Portia, but not to the level you're looking for.

Majora's Mask kinda does this, but not to an extreme degree. Every NPC has a schedule over the repeating 3-day period that they will follow to the T unless interrupted in some manner by the player.
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Well every NPC in Xenoblade 1 has a daily schedule and you can watch and follow them all on their routine from when they leave their house in the morning until they return at night. They'll even have different dialogue depending on where they are or while walking. None of the other stuff about about gear or anything, but a lot of side quests can alter their dialogue or routine as you update the massive Affinity Chart. Plus there's the Colony 6 town building.

I don't think it's really what you're looking for, but it's an astonishing amount of detail put into something most people won't pay much attention to.
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Dragon Quest Builders 2 kinda has this. The NPCs at your base all do various jobs while you're out adventuring, and make use of all the facilities you build them. I'm not sure how much of it is 'schedule' so much as "This job is open so I will do it now", though.
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