Poll: Should Player characters talk?

[Ricky 49]

Well a common thing i have with video game player characters is their dialog or lack of it in some cases.

Its an interesting point as some characters who talk too much can get annoying if done wrong and some who say too little or nothing at all leaves the player not feeling very attached to the character I?ll give you some examples

-Niko of GTA IV talks a lot and is generally liked as he shows quite human character

-Isaac Clark of Dead Space doesn't talk at all so we loose a lot of sympathy for him as we hardly know him

-and there is the middle ground of course with Master Chief of Halo who talks but not very often and some people like him and some people don't


to be honest I don't know which is better talking player characters who talk or player characters who don't.

anyway please vote and give me your thoughts and any examples of good or bad talking and not talking player characters

 

[Simriel]

Mass Effect. My opinion stated.

 

[Billybarbara]

It depends if were talking about say, gordon freeman give him a voice but if its say, link then prehaps text but no voice actors it all depends on the game i guess.

YOU NINJA!

 

[Shurikens and Lightning]

Well it depends if they want immersion, because if you could talk and you wanted a immersive game then you would create a black hole from the paradox just caused.

Plus if they are bad actors then it will be terrible. I think Gears did a good job with Marcus Fenix, He said what you were saying.

 

[Nexus424]

Only certain games actually need the PC to talk. Games like GTA IV need a person to talk or else you really will lose interest. But those one man army games i.e. Halo and Half-Life can have it but don't really need it. Last thing they need it the repeated phrases that those types of games always spawn.

 

[jimduckie]

a good example of annoying talk try playing mercs 2 they talk too much and say the same thing as long as there's no more of this and the talk actually has something worth listening to great just make sure to cast the right actor for the part and lets not forget writing

 

[UltimatheChosen]

I generally prefer talking protagonists, so long as they react realistically. The idea of a silent protagonist has never made much sense to me... it just creates a block of pixels with the appeal of a soup cracker. It's profoundly difficult to care about someone who doesn't have a personality.

 

[Gerazzi]

I like them with text boxes

yes, I'm a text box whore

 

[Ricky 49]

i always thought you had to imagine what link was saying as some character text dialog seem to be a responce like "oh so thats how got thouse shiney stone things" etc you know cause you could put your own name in and pretend its you talking.

i think

 

[Squarewave]

I prefer games ware I'm given a choice on what to say but my character doesn't say it out loud. Like in oblivion and fallout. it always felt odd and out of place when my guy repeats what I just selected, or worse, comes up with his own words based loosely on what I selected such as mass effect.

I don't care for completely silent even tho the games can be very good like HL2 or crono trigger. Mostly as it feels like my guy isn't given any choice on the matter and is being pushed into it. No one asked Freeman to save the world, they just pointed him to the door and said go do it.

 

[ace_of_something]

I like voices. I remember the first game i played with heavy voice acting. I was amazed.
I believe it was Quest for Glory IV.

 

[Clashero]

Dreamfall: The Longest Journey. That's all I'll say, and I hope someone agrees.

 

[Krakyn]

I picked "depends..." because I love to choose exactly what my character says. He's a representation of me and my choices. Unless I can choose for him to say what I'm thinking, I should just be able to choose my answers silently.

On the other hand, I hate that the only sound Link makes is "HYAAAAAAAH!" I would like some variety, please.

 

[pigeon_of_doom]

Depends. If its a heavily customisable player avatar or Link then I'd prefer for them to stay silent. If its a (mostly) fixed protagonist then I'm all for it.

 

[BubbleGumSnareDrum]

It pretty much always depends. Some games like Gears of War and Halo are more of a cinematic experience and thus everybody has dialogue of some sort, including the player character.

Other games seek more directly to put you more in the shoes of the character, like in the Half-Life series or the Legend of Zelda series.

 

[TheFacelessOne]

I like the protangist to talk SOMETIMES, because, as stated before, gives them some personality. A good example is the player character in Crysis (Nomad). He has a voice. Sure, hes not a chatterbox, but he talks a little bit. Another good example is Master Chief. Not much explaining there.

 

[ArchBlade]

Mass Effect. My opinion stated.

This. Very much this.

I greatly enjoyed the Mass Effect dialogue system. I may not have been able to control everything my character said, but it presented a good balance between immersion as Commander Shepard, and Shepard as their own character.

 

[Avatar Roku]

Well it depends if they want immersion, because if you could talk and you wanted a immersive game then you would create a black hole from the paradox just caused.

Plus if they are bad actors then it will be terrible. I think Gears did a good job with Marcus Fenix, He said what you were saying.

Giant worm comment aside, you're right. John Dimmagio is a pretty good VA.

I prefer games ware I'm given a choice on what to say but my character doesn't say it out loud. Like in oblivion and fallout. it always felt odd and out of place when my guy repeats what I just selected, or worse, comes up with his own words based loosely on what I selected such as mass effect.

I don't care for completely silent even tho the games can be very good like HL2 or crono trigger. Mostly as it feels like my guy isn't given any choice on the matter and is being pushed into it. No one asked Freeman to save the world, they just pointed him to the door and said go do it.

I liked it in Mass Effect. I found it more immersive, but I see why you might dislike it. As for the Freeman thing, that's exactly the point. The series has been exploring Gordon's lack of free will for a while (which actually makes his last name ironic). For example "Dr. Freeman has proven to be a fine pawn for those who control him." "Rather than give you the illusion of free choice, I've taken the liberty of choosing for you."

I really think this is something to take on a case-by-case basis. For example, Gordon Freeman is a good character because he has no personality other than what we project onto him. Isaac Clarke is a bad one because he very clearly has a personality, and that makes his lack of speech counter productive.

 

[Failcrow]

More talking characters, im sick of playing as a mute. I mean, i seriously got distracted in the first FEAR game by the fact that their pointman is someone who cant talk. Isnt the whole point of a pointman to tell the others whats ahead?? But i can also understand annoying characters like mercs 2. Make a character talk, not to much, but enough to give him/her a personality, and get some decent voice actors.

This is just for linear (dont know if thats how you spell it) stories by the way.

 

[captain awesome 12]

I must be the only one that hated the fact that Gordon Freeman was a mute. I mean come one, the emotions expressed in those games are incredible, and not having Gordon say anything detracts from those moments. It seemed so out of place when Alyx Vance kept expressing her happiness to see me and how we make such a good team, etc., etc. and all she got in return was silence. One of the biggest moments was at the end of Episode Two. (I mean the very end)

Spoiler: For those who havent played it I won't spoil it...

Eli getting killed by the Adviser while Alyx cries in the background

With the voice talent they had in that game, that part would have had even more impact if Gordon could have expressed some emotion other than indifference to his plight.
I guess the reason is that you're supposed to project your personality into him? But that's not what I want, I want a character with their own emotions and flaws, if I do want a character that reflects me I'll play and RPG.
OR
Maybe this is a plot device for Episode 3; I don't know?