I would have to to voiced is best. I play Fallout 3 after playing Mass Effect, and I felt a disconnect with my avatar. Sure I could select my responses but not having a voice felt limiting and reminded me I was playing a game. Although if you start out with no voice, don't go giving you lead character a voice later (I'm looking at you Other M)
Poll: Voiced protagonist or silent protagonist?
- Thread starter HellspawnCandy
- Start date
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I tend to prefer Silent for FPS's and some RPG's and voiced for the rest of the RPG's.
Unless Jennifer Hale does the voice. I'm a sucker for Hale's work.
Unless Jennifer Hale does the voice. I'm a sucker for Hale's work.
cant stand silent portagonists. that one less potentially interesting character in the game and you have to see him ALL THE TIME. but Black, i hear you say, its for projecting your own personality onto the character, it's immersive. no. i have a terrible personality! the less people with my personality the better.
Gordon Freeman is characterised by his actions and the world around him that he shapes.skywalkerlion said:
Master Chief is characterised by being that big quiet dude with all the guns who kills aliens.
Definatly depends on the game. In Mass Effect, a voice works really well whereas in Dragons' Age and KoTOR, it works really well when your protagonist doesn't talk.
As far as FPS' goes, a silent protagonist is essential in my opinion. It allows you to project your own thoughts into the game and create your own one-liners.
As far as FPS' goes, a silent protagonist is essential in my opinion. It allows you to project your own thoughts into the game and create your own one-liners.
I prefer voiced protagonist. I feel like guys like Gordon Freeman are just mindless drones following orders for reasons unbeknownst to me. i think Yahtzee said it best about how everyone loves Gordon but he doesn't say anything. I've concluded he wears a great set of trousers or throws incredibly epic birthday parties. Now systems like fallout I don't mind.
Voiced. Always voiced.
I've been expressing my dislike for silent protagonists in countless threads. It doesn't increase the immersion, it only makes me angry when NPCs ask the protagonist a question and he/she doesn't answer.
I want protagonists with personalities, I want to see them interact with other characters. How can I symphatize with a mute brick?
The usual excuse for mute protagonists is "The character is YOU". No, if I was the character, I would be talking to people. Why do you give him a name if the protagonist is supposed to be me?
I am playing a story, not my life.
And people actually think that Gordon Freeman is one of the best characters of all time. Umm, no. He's a pair of arms with a name.
I've been expressing my dislike for silent protagonists in countless threads. It doesn't increase the immersion, it only makes me angry when NPCs ask the protagonist a question and he/she doesn't answer.
I want protagonists with personalities, I want to see them interact with other characters. How can I symphatize with a mute brick?
The usual excuse for mute protagonists is "The character is YOU". No, if I was the character, I would be talking to people. Why do you give him a name if the protagonist is supposed to be me?
I am playing a story, not my life.
And people actually think that Gordon Freeman is one of the best characters of all time. Umm, no. He's a pair of arms with a name.
I feel it depends on the game.
Games like Mass Effect, Uncharted, and Assassins Creed really require it for the game to feel right and flesh out the character you play. However, games like Fallout and Half-life function BETTER when you play a character without a voice to hear.
Contrary to what people may think, I feel some games need the old book method of "imagine the voice in your head". Not to mention the fact that not every character needs to speak to be great. Actions speak louder than words, and no one exemplifies it more than Gordon Freeman.
Then again, Commander Shepard saved humanity, but seems to to be able to get a word in quite nicely.
There's room in games for both.
Games like Mass Effect, Uncharted, and Assassins Creed really require it for the game to feel right and flesh out the character you play. However, games like Fallout and Half-life function BETTER when you play a character without a voice to hear.
Contrary to what people may think, I feel some games need the old book method of "imagine the voice in your head". Not to mention the fact that not every character needs to speak to be great. Actions speak louder than words, and no one exemplifies it more than Gordon Freeman.
Then again, Commander Shepard saved humanity, but seems to to be able to get a word in quite nicely.
There's room in games for both.
Voiced protagonist so long as you don't get to name him, or else it just starts to grate with the 'creative' ways they get around saying the name (looking at you, Final Fantasy X).
Mass Effect did it right where you did the first name but it ended up not being even slightly relevant.
Silent protagonists can be done badly too (Fallout 3), but for the most part they work (Half Life 2/Grand Theft Auto 3)
Mass Effect did it right where you did the first name but it ended up not being even slightly relevant.
Silent protagonists can be done badly too (Fallout 3), but for the most part they work (Half Life 2/Grand Theft Auto 3)
Except that the statement could be said for either MC or Freeman =P (the second one). Difference between the 2 is that in half life you actually feel like your achieving something. You go back to areas you have been before and see radical changes. In Halo, while killing aliens is fun, it doesnt seem to affect anything...at all. and with halo the alien killing doesnt seem to help the characterization when its the guy's JOB to kill the aliens. Freeman didnt have to do anything, but I suppose, through the control of the player, he chose to.IBlackKiteI said: