Shocksplicer said:
dylanmc12 said:
Not a silent protagonist
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.
No. It's not a lazy[footnote]That would imply that it's harder to simply write dialogue than to convincingly design a game around a silent character in a way that makes sense and still allows for emotional investment[/footnote] technique at all, it's one that is perfectly logical in the dynamic of a videogame, especially a first person one, where you aren't simply watching a character but are actually stepping into their shoes and
becoming them. This intimate sense of oneness you have with the character is the difference between feeling like an outside viewer of the story and feeling like a part of it.
Because of the limited nature of AI, you, the player, will never be able to voice your opinion in an organic manner that the characters will be able to understand. Games that try to circumvent this problem with dialogue options are really only making things worse. Now not only are you not choosing what to say[footnote]not really, I mean the game is still putting the words in your mouth, it's only asking which of it's own pre-written responses is best[/footnote] but it turns conversations into awkward labyrinths you have to navigate through filled with long pauses that the other characters somehow don't find strange.
I'd argue they really only work when they're kept very strait-forward (as in yes/no) and are used only for important situations in the game.