A game character should remember more than its stats
Mochi holds your place in the world and keeps playing while you are gone. When you come back, it gives you a recap.
That is already more interesting than loading a save file.
Now imagine the agent also remembers how you coach. The orders you repeat. The risks you allow. The times it disobeyed you and was right.
Someone else can copy the loadout. They cannot copy that history.
Progression stops being only levels, gear, and +10 strength.
The strongest thing you build might be trust between you and an agent that knows how you play.
More from Johannes Cortez · The next generation of games · Sitrep field notes