No Right Answer: Best Silent Protagonist Ever
- Thread starter Firefilm
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I'm gonna give it to Serge from chrono cross now hear me out chrono trigger fans i still consider chrono trigger the better game but its not a arguement over the better game because if you include the ending of chrono cross it amplifies the point of a silent protagonist which is for the player to be able to place themselves in the characters shoes. Also Link is the master of patience but as he does have a voice and dialogue he can't be classified as a silent protagonist i say master of patience cuz he never once told navi to shut the fuck up.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CD-i1337mokro said:
Basically, after Nintendo backed out of their deal with Sony (screwing them over) on the Playstation add on to the SNES, they tried to develop it with Phillips. Likewise, Nintendo backed out of their deal with Phillips, but Phillips was still able to make some games with Nintendo licensed characters even though the game themselves weren't licensed by Nintendo. Games such as Hotel Mario, Link: The Faces of Evil, Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon and Zelda's Adventure.
Those games were so awful, several people refuse to acknowledge their existence.
"Dear God... Poor Lazlo! ...the finest mind of his generation! To come to such an end[...]What's the point?"
Yeah I think Link is more suitable as a silent protagonist since Gordon IS a doctor, who knows the people around him and at the beginning of Half Life 1, he knew what was going on. He learns a lot about who he is fighting and what is happening but never shares this information with those around him. It is almost unsuitable for him to be silent.
Not sure I'd say Link is the best silent protagonist though - there were so many times I wanted him to tell people to piss off.
"I'll help you, but only if you do me a favour..."
"I'M TRYING TO SAVE THE WORLD ASSWIPE! JUST GIVE ME THE MAGICAL MCGUFFIN!"
I think Chell is a good silent protagonist, since there just aren't many other people around for her to talk to at all (except GLaDOS, who Chell may refuse to talk to since she is holding her captive and Wheatley in the 2nd one, who can easily have a conversation all on his own).
Not sure I'd say Link is the best silent protagonist though - there were so many times I wanted him to tell people to piss off.
"I'll help you, but only if you do me a favour..."
"I'M TRYING TO SAVE THE WORLD ASSWIPE! JUST GIVE ME THE MAGICAL MCGUFFIN!"
I think Chell is a good silent protagonist, since there just aren't many other people around for her to talk to at all (except GLaDOS, who Chell may refuse to talk to since she is holding her captive and Wheatley in the 2nd one, who can easily have a conversation all on his own).
Except gamers as a nation have decided both zelda 2 and MOM are non-cannon because of how terrible they were. The cartoon is a complete nonentity.madwarper said:If we can still call Link a silent protagonist after Zelda 2 and the cartoon, surely we can forgive Samus from Other M.
So, I'd say Samus is better that Freeman and Link.
Reading this thread I would like to bring up a misconception people are placing on characters, a Silent protagonist doesn't talk at all, just because there is no voice work for them does not automatically make them a silent protagonist. The courier, the warden, and others mentioned are not silent protagonists because they do talk back, just through text choices rather than a voiced narrative. A Good example is mario from Super mario RPG, he doesn't talk, AT ALL, and instead mimes out everything he is trying to get across to people.
I fully agree with the comment that Corvo shouldn't have been a silent protagonist.... mostly because they broke a cardinal rule when writing the other characters.... DON'T DIRECTLY ASK THE SILENT CHARACTER QUESTIONS! It leaves us either with an uncomfortable silence where both us and the NPCs are weirded out by Corvo, or the NPCs responding like Corvo did respond to them and only we couldn't hear it, alienating the player. Dishonored did both and along with the subject brought up by critical miss made the game alot less fun than it should of been.
Finally some love for Claude (yes, that is his actual name). I do give props toElijah Newton said:
because that was also someone over looked. Especially since his voice, or anyone's for that matter would interfere with the narrator's brilliance.Michus said:
Link does talk, though. It's just that his dialogue is always styled as "..." so you can imagine what he's saying. That's immersive. A boneheaded scientist not saying something in a situation where any sane person would is not immersive, it just makes me realize my character is a complete idiot.
My personal mind canon is that Gordon is actually mute, and when the resonance cascade happened it activated an automatic self defense mechanism on his suit that causes it to go on a murderous rampage. He's just squinting at everything that goes on around him and shouting Oh God Oh God Oh no Oh no.
My personal mind canon is that Gordon is actually mute, and when the resonance cascade happened it activated an automatic self defense mechanism on his suit that causes it to go on a murderous rampage. He's just squinting at everything that goes on around him and shouting Oh God Oh God Oh no Oh no.
Running across the street firing an AK47, calling out to hookers.. sounds like you just described saint's row or GTA.
Okay, that's also flawed logic, to assume that a good review automatically proves a game is good. And yes, Majora's Mask is lazy. The developers were demanding the game be released before Christmas, giving them a handful of months ot work on it, so they shamelessly copy-pasted models from Ocarina of Time to save money and time. The story is overall half-assed, with a lot of its dialogue poorly written and its inconsistent tone really holds it back. It has its moments, but it isn't put together very well.Anoni Mus said:
Agreed. I can understand some intentionally isolated protagonists not needing to talk, like Limbo or even Bioshock, but if there's substantial character interaction I think they should at least be like Dragon Age where you can personalize the dialogue through text choices.deathzero021 said:
It's why I don't like Gordan Freeman. As well-written of character as Alyx is, there's a waste of potential when all of her emotional responses are completely one-sided.
I basically hate the idea of a silent protagonist. It's a half measure. Not quite a self insert featureless protagonist or player generated character, but not quite a fully fledged character in their own right either. A failure on both accounts.
On the other hand, it is fully acceptable for a character to be silent because the plot demands it, typically because they have no real reason to speak.
On the other hand, it is fully acceptable for a character to be silent because the plot demands it, typically because they have no real reason to speak.
There's still backgrounds, circumstances and experiences - some arbitrarily unavoidable - which inform our ideas of what the silent protagonist is like. Which premise for a hero (or anti-hero) do you find the most compelling, if you could only chose from those who didn't often actually speak?Bhaalspawn said:
Link does talk, not just in the CD-i and Zelda 2. You have dialogue options for him every now and then..."I don't understand," "Yes", etc. I agree that Chell and Jack (Bioshock) are more the kind that make sense.
I'm sorry but every single time I played as Gordon freeman, I literally asked myself out loud "Why am I doing this? Why is Gordon Freeman okay with people telling him what to do? Doesn't he have initiative or thoughts of his own?". He doesn't talk and you never see his face or reactions so when people walked up to me/Gordon and talked to me about how this person died or that person is trapped, I would just shrug. Do I care?, I'd ask myself. And in my head, I just imagined an emotionless Freeman going from point A to point B, no questions asked.
"Oh, Freeman! The world is coming to an end!"
"Okay. :l"
"You, sir, are special and a nuisance!"
"Okay, I guess. :l"
"Thank you, Freeman! You're our hero!"
"Okay. :l"
With Link, at least you could see his face and his reaction. Whenever Zelda gets abducted, you see Link worried or happy or upset. I still remember when Skyward Sword when Zelda got attacked by that...harlequin guy and Link was happy to see Zelda but immediately got worried. For me, that was enough to care about his mission. "Fuck it, we're killing that guy. He's not getting to Zelda.", I thought. Link is just a kid who has to save the world. But he WANTS to save the world. Even though it's almost an impossible task, you see him wanting to do it. You can relate to him. Gordon? not so much.
Also, that point about how Link kinda talks through the conversation menus? It also applies to Gordon. I seriously doubt that he would remain quiet forever if it was a real situation. I mean, he didn't do much to prevent a tragedy but I doubt he's literally mute.
"Oh, Freeman! The world is coming to an end!"
"Okay. :l"
"You, sir, are special and a nuisance!"
"Okay, I guess. :l"
"Thank you, Freeman! You're our hero!"
"Okay. :l"
With Link, at least you could see his face and his reaction. Whenever Zelda gets abducted, you see Link worried or happy or upset. I still remember when Skyward Sword when Zelda got attacked by that...harlequin guy and Link was happy to see Zelda but immediately got worried. For me, that was enough to care about his mission. "Fuck it, we're killing that guy. He's not getting to Zelda.", I thought. Link is just a kid who has to save the world. But he WANTS to save the world. Even though it's almost an impossible task, you see him wanting to do it. You can relate to him. Gordon? not so much.
Also, that point about how Link kinda talks through the conversation menus? It also applies to Gordon. I seriously doubt that he would remain quiet forever if it was a real situation. I mean, he didn't do much to prevent a tragedy but I doubt he's literally mute.