depends on the game. Most of them are frustratingly barren imho. the lack of an npc village to come home to really sucks the life out them to me.
Conan does have npcs. but, they are really lifeless. you can get npc gaurds. who stand in place, and aggro in range. you can get craftsmen npcs, who are just items you place IN crafting tables. they do show up visually... but, they never leave their bench.
you can tell npcs in conan to follow you. and take them along to dungeons.
They don't have any life cycles. no sleep, no food, no entertainment.
Kenshi units have much more life to them. although, towards the robot end. in kenshi, you have direct control over them all. and, assign A.I. Behavior commands. >craft x tools, >guard, >pick up and bring injured to beds, >apply bandaages/splits, etc. and automatically eat and sleep as required.
There are a few which take the rimworld/oni approach. where your npcs have full on jobs, and needs, while you dont have any direct control over them. Fallout 4, dragonquest builders 2, and some real indie stuff, which isn't quite good enough to recommend.