While I agree with you on the idea of making Mudokon emotions more believable (especially since depressed and angry were practically identical), the problem is that the developers will have to be very careful with how they approach it.
Going too far with the realism can render the gameplay overly complex. Having to jump through hoops to get every single Mudokon to even listen to you would seriously suck the fun out of the game and move it toward tediousness.
So there needs to be a way of preserving the realism while avoiding tedious gameplay. Some possible solutions:
- Establish that Mudokons are reluctant to follow Abe, but have no choice. Perhaps they see Abe as their only chance of freedom, or follow him out of fear he may kill them as well. Problem: the effectiveness of this idea would be dependent on the game explaining why the Mudokons still follow, either through cutscene(s) or in-game dialogue. I can see that being very inefficient if not handled well.
- Build a level progression which branches depending on Quarma, with differing puzzles dependent on Mudokon emotions in the area. Problem: while this would create some great replay value for players, the developers would have to come up with a fuckton of new or reworked puzzles, and possibly even environments. This could be reduced by only altering a handful of the late game levels, but still.
I think that unless a really elegant solution can be found, the best option may be to avoid playing with Mudokon emotions too much, and accepting that there will be some segregation of gameplay and realism. The player’s choices could still be reflected through changes to environmental moods.