It's not so much the use of the protagonist that's the issue. But moreso the defense. Silent protagonists existed pre-2002 due to an overall lack of voice acting. Even worse are protagonists that do talk but only say "I need to find a gun."
Worst use of a silent protagonist
- Thread starter DustyLion
- Start date
Recommended Videos
That is a interesting thought. I don't like the HL games because I don't like the "freeman" but does that have to stop me from enjoying the world. I kinda get what you are talking about. The difference for me is I get more interested in characters then I do settings but it sounds the opposite for you. I have to like the characters to enjoy something. This is why I hated Dishonoured so much. That game expected me to care more about the world then the people in it. I like the Halo games because I like MC and Cortana and then that allows me to enjoy the setting. Different people different ways of gaming.rorychief said:
I don't know If I agree with that. I personally like the voiced options better. I find that Mass Effects and DA2 style is more engaging. The Witcher also voices all of is dialogue but these games are set up as RPG. You take on the roll of someone else were as DA:O set it up for you to create "yourself." I prefer that latter but I can understand why people like the non-voice. Do you like to read the book and image what the character sound and talk like or watch the movie and enjoy the voices given? Kinda a bad example but it is all I could come up with.Alek_the_Great said:
Many.
Mario - Mario is not a character. He never has been.
Master Chief - not a character. An annoying cliched shell.
Gordon Freeman - less than a character. Not once throughout any of, what, 7 Half-Life games (1, Blue+Green+Decay, 2 and the episodes 2-3) not counting Source has he said a word. It's infuriating, as the writers are clearly good at giving character personality. Just not the main character.
And to some extent, Maya from Persona 2: ET. Unlike her role in IS, she mostly stands around, takes part in a few scenes where things actually happen, ect. It's because she got "promoted"[footnote]demoted[/footnote] to the protagonist of that game. Which is strange, because Tatsuya in IS actually had a lot to do with the plot (in the second game, they make him annoying and give him a terricle voice) and the various points at which his incredibly uncomfortability-inducing, icy glare is lampshaded, it's hilarious.
Mario - Mario is not a character. He never has been.
Master Chief - not a character. An annoying cliched shell.
Gordon Freeman - less than a character. Not once throughout any of, what, 7 Half-Life games (1, Blue+Green+Decay, 2 and the episodes 2-3) not counting Source has he said a word. It's infuriating, as the writers are clearly good at giving character personality. Just not the main character.
And to some extent, Maya from Persona 2: ET. Unlike her role in IS, she mostly stands around, takes part in a few scenes where things actually happen, ect. It's because she got "promoted"[footnote]demoted[/footnote] to the protagonist of that game. Which is strange, because Tatsuya in IS actually had a lot to do with the plot (in the second game, they make him annoying and give him a terricle voice) and the various points at which his incredibly uncomfortability-inducing, icy glare is lampshaded, it's hilarious.
I get what you're saying but I feel like protagonists who have no personality and don't participate in conversations until the player is specifically prompted to answer a question might as well be silent. DA:O's protagonist actually does have a lot of conversation options that you can initiate so I'll backslide on that. Something like the protagonists in the Persona games on the other hand just passively sit by while everyone else is talking, occasionally answering a question when they're forced to.Alek_the_Great said:
I agree with dylanmc12 about Maya from Persona 2: Eternal Punishment. In Innocent Sin she had a great, fleshed out personality, then in eternal punishment she becomes the (almost) silent protagonist who has virtually no personality at all.
yeah, he cannot talkMysticSlayer said:
in the book telling the events after crysis 2, he says his throat got damaged too badly for him to talk and it wasn't until the suit symbiosis allowed him to use the voice module that he could finally start speaking again
He is going to come here now that you said his name. ^_^'TizzytheTormentor said:
And I don't really see the hate with the Persona 3 protagonist. (I still need to finish Persona 3 Portable or buy Persona 3 FES off PSN ... but I have been busy with playing Persona 4: Golden twice.)
OT: I don't really think about this much.
If I had to choose, it would be with the FPSs that don't voice the MC.
I mean for example, Soap MacTavish. Wasn't voiced in Call of Duty 4 and was in Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2.
Really I just don't see the reason WHY they don't give a voice to the MC in the FPS genre.
Dragons Dogma. It really only highlighted the seemingly incomplete feel of the story parts when the character never talks at all. Possibly moreso cause the pawns (which're also user-created) are incredibly (pre-patch, almost unbearably so) talkative. The major point being when you get arrested for a blatant frameup and seem to just go along with it.
I quite like Dishonored, but even so Corvo should have been a voiced protagonist. Hell the developers could have even done a Spec Ops thing where depending on your playstyle and decisions his voice and comments could either be calm and collected, or descending into bloodthirsty savagery driven by desire for revenge. That would have been neat and would have fit perfectly into the games existing mechanics!
As for the whole 'rpg voiced protagonist' thing I like voiceless dialogue in rpg simply because it allows for more options for the player. A game like Planescape: Torment could never have been made if even a tenth of those lines of dialogue were voiced or had the developers tried any other means of conveying many of the actions that take place through dialogue. But with a well written bit of dialogue and evocative descriptions we've got a game that drives players imaginations moreso than any elaborate bit of CGI (Especially for the time) could have.
As for the whole 'rpg voiced protagonist' thing I like voiceless dialogue in rpg simply because it allows for more options for the player. A game like Planescape: Torment could never have been made if even a tenth of those lines of dialogue were voiced or had the developers tried any other means of conveying many of the actions that take place through dialogue. But with a well written bit of dialogue and evocative descriptions we've got a game that drives players imaginations moreso than any elaborate bit of CGI (Especially for the time) could have.
I find metro 2033 use of silent protagonist completely pointless. It's based (loosely) off a book so he already had characterization, other characters talk to the protagonist quite a bit despite the fact that he adds nothing and he talks in the loading screens so "silent so the player can project and give him their own personality" (which I don't care about it the first place unless it's an rpg) doesn't really work.
I prefer my protagonist voiced over silent or at least having text dialogue.
I prefer my protagonist voiced over silent or at least having text dialogue.
I'll agree with the Battlefield 3 and 4 protagonists.
Granted, in 3 you saw Blackburn at least talk in the cutscenes, but on a different note, that game REALLY liked to make it obvious that it didn't need you. Characters constantly getting in your way, shoving you, and going in before you almost all the time, I didn't even feel like I was there at all.
Haven't got through Battlefield 4 yet though, since once again they screwed up the PC gamepad support and forced all prompts to be keyboard and mouse. ( I get it, it's a PC port, but if they are going to put gamepad support in to begin with, at least make the prompts for the gamepad as well!)
Anyway, my personal choice would be Dead Space. Seriously, the guy didn't utter anything except pain noises, even when he was addressed directly. "Issac, go back out there with the hideously mutated creatures, down the hall to the open room where you JUST KNOW some large bastard is going to come out at you. Me? I'll...I'll stay here and play with this touchscreen." "Issac: ..."
Also, the entire F.E.A.R. series. The only time you hear a protagonist talk then is when you find Michael Becket in FEAR 3, but that's only for like...10 seconds and then he blows up.
Granted, in 3 you saw Blackburn at least talk in the cutscenes, but on a different note, that game REALLY liked to make it obvious that it didn't need you. Characters constantly getting in your way, shoving you, and going in before you almost all the time, I didn't even feel like I was there at all.
Haven't got through Battlefield 4 yet though, since once again they screwed up the PC gamepad support and forced all prompts to be keyboard and mouse. ( I get it, it's a PC port, but if they are going to put gamepad support in to begin with, at least make the prompts for the gamepad as well!)
Anyway, my personal choice would be Dead Space. Seriously, the guy didn't utter anything except pain noises, even when he was addressed directly. "Issac, go back out there with the hideously mutated creatures, down the hall to the open room where you JUST KNOW some large bastard is going to come out at you. Me? I'll...I'll stay here and play with this touchscreen." "Issac: ..."
Also, the entire F.E.A.R. series. The only time you hear a protagonist talk then is when you find Michael Becket in FEAR 3, but that's only for like...10 seconds and then he blows up.
Not a silent protagonistdylanmc12 said:
OT: I've never encountered a single game where a silent protagonist has failed to make the story far weaker. It's a pathetic, lazy technique that should have died long ago. Special mention goes to Dishonored, whose entire plot was rendered utterly ridiculous due to the fact that it is a revenge tale about a man with no personality whatsoever, making it impossible to invest in his struggle in any way.
This is my thought as well. It's bad enough when you get a CoD or Battlefield situation where you have a supposed character that can't do anything but be led around by the nose with others doing everything. It's, however, even worse when you have a clearly developed and designed character, with clearly intended emotional relationships to other characters, like Gordon Freeman that just can't speak for "reasons." There is no blank shell character for the player to inhabit, there's a clearly designed character who just is mute for no reason.Mikejames said: