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Silent Protagonists Vs. Voiced Protagonist

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PriomBlazer:


So I was watching this video, where the guy talks about how every silent nintendo protagonists lack personality.

I personally think silent protagonists create better personalities by immersing the player with the protagonist.

So,

Thesis: Silent Protagonists are better

Discuss!

Apokura:
Honestly, it really depends on opinion. The silent protagonists in Pokémon, for example, might immerse the player, yes, especially the small children who actually think "hey, I'M the Pokémon Master!" or something of the sorts. For other games like LoZ, I can't see how it can aid immersion, however. IMO, an speaking protag is better (unless it's given an stupid personality or voice...I'm looking at you, Tidus) in most situations. This is just my two bits, but for me, making the protagonist silent does not aid immersion by itself.

Kiss x Miz:
Silent protagonist and linear voiced protagonist are a lot less work than a decision based voiced protagonist (which is a lot better than either imo) like Fallout or Deus Ex

Many people get annoyed that they can't change the story when a linear character makes all the decisions.
Silent protagonist is probably better since you don't really blame the player character but everyone around you.

Making a few not-so-ordinary decisions in conversations and slightly altering the storyline is more than enough for some people.

PriomBlazer:

--- Quote from: Apokura on December 02, 2015, 02:23:01 PM ---For other games like LoZ, I can't see how it can aid immersion.

--- End quote ---
Here's how:


Kindly skip to 1:43 please.


--- Quote from: Apokura on December 02, 2015, 02:23:01 PM --- (unless it's given an stupid personality or voice...I'm looking at you, Tidus)

--- End quote ---
Ya, Jrpg protagonists seem to suffer from having a voice or dialogues the most. Most of my favourite JRPG characters I can think of are either silent or have a lot of dialogue options for the player to choose.


--- Quote from: Mizard on December 02, 2015, 02:30:40 PM ---Silent protagonist and linear voiced protagonist are a lot less work than a decision based voiced protagonist (which is a lot better than either imo) like Fallout or Deus Ex


--- End quote ---
Aha! I was hoping someone would bring that up.
If we're talking about a decision based protagonist, the way I see it not having a voice is still comparatively better.

For example, let's talk about Bioware characters. Commander Shepherd is essentially the poster boy for voiced decision making protagonist. But playing as the Grey Warden from Dragon Age: Origins feels more immersive.

Most Shepherd's dialogue options involve either choosing the Paragon option, the Renegade option, an option to gain more info or the generic normal option.
So basically you're given the option to either be a saint, a douchebag or a soulless being.

Now let's look at the Grey Warden's dialogue options. There's no clear paragon or renegade option. You don't fully know what might be the possible outcome of your action. You can only decide what to choose based on your understanding of your allies and your current situation. Which from my point of view, makes the Grey Warden an easier character to impersonate than Commander Shepherd.

Well there's my part of the discussion, continue discussing!

Apokura:
Looking at the video, my point remains. Should Link have a voice in that game, and instead of just grunting saying something like "eeey let me out of here" would it be less immersive? Would you feel less like you were in the game or in the place of the character? Because honestly, I don't think I can say I would...

And in regard to that comparison, I find it...not very good, tbh. OK, so in ME most of the options were Paragon/Renegade and very straightfoward, but...
(click to show/hide) For example, in the first Mass Effect we have the option to save Kaidan or Ashley from death. In that instance, there is no Paragon/Renegade, despite being very straightforward, and I think the voice acting enhances the immersion. Shepard's last words to whoever you chose to let die were, IMO, a sign of humanity that just text can't convey.

And that aside, should you compare DA to DA, you can see that in Dragon Age: Inquisition (which has voice acting) the choices remain the same. You don't really know what consequences your choices will have and the same kind of interaction with your allies and whatnot, but the voice acting makes it all feel more "real"; and besides, to me it's kind of a turn-off when the characters don't have voices.

But yeah, that's just my 2 cents on the matter. In the end, I presume it's a matter of opinion.

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