Your thoughts on 'mute' protaganists

[GOATOFRAGE]

in general i prefer a protagonist that is developed and therefore can talk

 

[SnootyEnglishman]

I like it because of the POV aspect...at times i'd rather they talk so i don't have to provide my own voice commentary

 

[WorthlessSix]

It's difficult to say. A mute protagonist works for some games and just doesn't for others. It worked really well in Bioshock and Half-Life but in Dead Space, I don't know, I just thought that being stranded on a busted space ship crammed with flesh eating zombies would warrant some sort of a reaction.

 

[Hawgh]

Depends, in primary action games such as Bioshock and Half-life it doesn't bother me that much. The more roleplay-oriented a game becomes, the more riculous a mute PC becomes.

 

[Burningsok]

well when the game is wrapped around the idea of making constant choices, then I think a mute protagonist makes you feel like your more in control of the character and that you can use your imagination and come up with what you think the character is like, and then make the choices based on what you think your characters personality is.

 

[Burningsok]

It stands as the perfect example of gaming hypocrisy.

Gordon Freeman is a beloved character.

No, he is a voiceless space marine. All that's different is his job title.

I think it's a weak attempt at character. But this is personal. I know if I were "put in his shoes" I wouldn't go around saying absolutely nothing.

he may not have really any emotions, but the story from beginning to end shows you what kind of a person Freeman is by his physical actions. but yeah, it would be cool to give Freeman a voice for a more detail personality

 

[drisky]

It varies from game to game, half Life certinly does it well, and i certainly would wont link or my pokemon tranier to talk.

Others are pretty bad, the worst example of mute protaginsts is the golden sun games considering both Issac and Felix talked in the games they weren't the main character in so they had very obvious personalities and motivations, yet they still woun't talk in there own games unless they gave you an arbitrary yes or no question that they ignore anyways.

 

[berault]

I grew up on Pokemon games, I guess i'm just used to the idea now

 

[Kinichie]

There were not many people for Doomguy to speak to when he was left alone.

But showing a character transition to insanity due to loneliness throughout a game... that's something i've yet to see

 

[Lt. Dragunov]

The less stupid comments my character makes the more I'll play the game.

 

[rokkolpo]

link does it good.

the rest are meh.

 

[rokkolpo]

The less stupid comments my character makes the more I'll play the game.

except for resident evil ofcourse.

you gotta love the dialoque.

 

[Pegghead]

He is the shining example of what a man should be!

 

[Ian Caronia]

I thought Issac was handled well. Dead Space he's pretty much alone so he really has no one to talk to. The fact that he's trying save his wife and is keeping quite gave off the impression that he's a very serious individual and instead of saying how worried he is, he's using that nervous energy and aggression as to help him survive. Issac's animations show a very angry man fighting for his survival, his stomps are heavy, when he swings his weapons for melee he's putting his entire body into the strike, sacrificing technique for power, and when monsters get close he prefers to rip them apart with his bare hands or brutally pulverize them with his feet. In all I think Dead Space did you a great job showing Issac's character with them resorting to using spoken dialogue.

-I think you read too much into his character animations, and now I wish I had too. What you described wasn't a blank slate, though, it was a silent character.

--In order for the character you saw to be realized by others, Issac would need to have done more than grunt (maybe grumble incoherently when he was forced to backtrack or clean up after another person's mess). As for his animations, I can see where you're going gameplay-wise, but what about when other characters are just rambling on? Isaac should've made some gestures which portrayed how little he cared about the grand scheme of things and how he only wanted to get this over with for his lover's sake. He also should've gone LOOKING for his lover, instead of just following orders like Bioshock's MC, and even then THAT MC had a reason for playing the obedient mute dog.

---All in all, the devs COULD'VE made Isaac the way you saw him (which would've made that game great for me), but instead they just kept Isaac's personality in Limbo between the blank slate and the silent protagonist.

*Silent protagonists have personalities, blank slates are hollow suits for the gamer to wear*

 

[The Hairminator]

I don't have any favorite styles, it's all about how well pulled-off it is. Say, a mute character in Half Life really adds to the feeling of mysticism, and immersion. Wouldn't work at all in games that try to give a different feeling.

 

[Chipperz]

I don't mind in games where you're on your own, which is basically Doom and Halo. When people are talking at your character, and you still don't hear a reply, that's bad.

It just came out today, and it's the only thing that bothers me about AvP - You don't even have a name, you're just "Private" or "Rookie". There are points when Tequila says something to you that clearly needs a reply, and then carries on talking anyway, almost like she knows you're mute.