Poll: Silent Protagonists.

[caladors]

I am playing a game, were not at the point infact a long way from the point were I can say what I want even if it fits in with game, I can just hook up a Kinect and say "Surrender and maybe the council can help you" on Mass Effect, I know I am playing a charater, From John Shepard to Jane Shepard to Alex Shepard they are all a character not my in game persona.
So I want a voice because the story of Dirty Harry doesn't work without a voice infact all good video audio without voice.

Your playing a character even though you may make the choices your still have limits and so long as there are limits you are playing a character and there voice makes them so much more memorable.

 

[Phisi]

I really don't mind. If they are silent I just use my imagination as their voice. I don't talk much to people anyway. When it comes to role-playing a character a voice helps, it separates your character from the real life you. At least for me. For example, the talking in Dead Island kinda got to me because this person was me, I was playing as me in the zombie apocalypse with my friends but it wasn't me, it was that guy saying that "THAT ***** WAS HUUUGGGEEEE" and not me. In something like Uncharted where Drake is Drake and defiantly not you because otherwise you'd be a dick, I prefer him to be voiced, I don't put Half Life into this category because Freeman, although being a character and having a back story and everything, doesn't have a defined emotional response to things. It comes down to whether the protagonist is a character or if you are the character.

 

[natster43]

It depends for me. I am kinda sick of Shooters doing the silent protagonist thing poorly. Look at Battlefield 3, your character talks, but only in certain cutscenes, and never when you are in a mission. In fact a major event in the game could possibly be averted if you were to just talk during it. This is also kinda annoying because you play as multiple people who never speak at all, so we never find out anything about those characters, which is a problem since none of the characters are YOU, they all have backstory and personalities. But besides this I am fine with characters being voiceless if it helps with the game.

 

[RagTagBand]

Always voiced; Voiced characters always add to believability but non-voiced characters can easily fuck it up, Your character never uttering a single goddamn word even though they're being spoken to is about as unimmersive as it gets. Does anyone on earth who doesn't have a mental condition do that? When face with tens if not hundreds of people talking to them they stand there silently like a moron? When faced with extra ordinary scenes they express no opinion?

Non-voiced characters in this day and age is either lazy or cheap.

 

[Chased]

Depends on the game. Worked really well in Half Life 2, where everyone was telling Gordon to go do X thing a certain way and then when he'd accomplish said task they'll praise him and he just stares. It was almost satirical, added a bit of dark humor. Another somewhat silent protagonist that works is Link, even with dialogue options in the new Skyward Sword he still lacks a voice. Since I started playing Zelda games Link has a certain kind of voice in my head that I wouldn't want to be replaced by an actor/actress. Skyrim is another great example since it adds to the whole role playing as whoever you want element.

On the flip side, having a voiced character allows a deeper story to be told relating to the protagonist. An example would be Resident Evil 4 where Leon's past was revealed through dialogue. Another game with a solid voiced character was Deus Ex: Human Revoultion. He had a grizzly "I'm the Batman" voice which added to his persona of being a bad ass.

 

[ImperialSunlight]

Depends on the game, but more commonly silent. If a game has any role-playing elements at all, a silent protagonist works better so that you can imagine the character how you want (Legend of Zelda, Elder Scrolls, etc. ). Characters such as Hawke in Dragon Age II are okay but they can cause role playing to suffer, as it did in that game.

 

[Fishyash]

I don't really care. Voice/dialogue is simply a tool to express a character. Voice acting can also be rather time consuming, so it's understandable if you don't want a Protagonist to comment on everything or initiate a dialogue with the other characters.

Since you can express your character's feelings and create responses through something like a facial expression through other means, then you don't really need your character to talk really.

 

[Fireface]

It really does depend on the game, at times it just works having them not say anything such as Chell or Gordon freeman.

 

[The Funslinger]

silent protagonists are just lazy development.

Not particularly. I think things like that are a roleplay style of thing. You're meant to envision what your response is meant to be.

I also don't get why Master Chief is considered a silent protagonist when he speaks in cutscenes. Yeah, not in gameplay, but the same goes for a lot of characters who are considered speaking protagonists.

I think it just comes down to Halo being one of the quintessential FPS games and a stereotypical FPS thing is an unspeaking protagonist with no personality.

At least I find having him be silent in gameplay to the infuriating repetitive one liners some protagonists spout. I swear to god, as fun as the game is, if I hear the guy from Just Cause 2 say "son of Amia!" one more time, I'll break my television.

 

[go-10]

it depends really Nintendo is really good with silent protagonist and for good reason. Samus had been silent for years the minute she started speaking we all wished she would shut up, the same with Link in the cartoon at least that was proof enough he should remain silent, everyone else in the world can talk (voiced or otherwise) but some protagonist need to stay quiet

 

[SFMB]

Silent protagonist is way better. Usually, when the player character is voiced, it gives the production team the option to fuck up the story by putting idiotic words and decisions in the cutscenes for the guy you are supposedly controlling. Think back and if you haven't seen one cutscene in which (after slaughtering countless minions, finally reaching "the boss"), the player character gives a pause to allow the bad guy either get away or get in to a better position, all while rambling so stupid crap about "I cannot kill him for he is my father" or something similar... Better just let the environment to do this by breaking down, not making the protagonist an utter imbecil.

 

[Chemical Alia]

I don't mind either way. As long as the developers thought it out and made a clear decision, so the dynamic between the player and other characters is balanced and natural.

 

[CrazyGirl17]

Eh, it kinda depends. I like games like the Legend of Zelda and Chrono Trigger in which the hero doesn't talk... but on the other hand, I prefer the main characters to be vocal.