Poll: Voiced Protagonists - Shepard vs Geralt

[endtherapture]

I've recently completed another run of The Witcher 2, and was thinking of the difference between Shepard/Hawke, and more well defined voiced protagonists in games such as Geralt and the characters of Alpha Protocol and Deus Ex.

I found roleplaying as Geralt to be much more satisfying than playing as my Shepard - Geralt wasn't a blank slate like Shepard - he had a past, friends who knew him before his amnesia, and certain motivations and principles he can uphold - however you can do vastly different things in the game, from being an arse, to be neutral, or trying to be a idealist - all of the decisions feel natural and I found Geralt to be enough of a blank slate for your decisions to shape him, but enough of a character for him to have friends and proper motivations.

I don't think Hawke had that at all, and I think the lack of Shepard having a family or friends before Mass Effect kinda hurt it. I don't know where I'm going, but yeah.

Do you prefer more defined voiced

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Geralt works better because he already has a defined personality. Like Alpha Protocol, the choices and reaction that have player input are tailored to what the character would do if given the choice within the context of the decision.

It allows for a more consistent character, since we already know how Geralt would react, and how each new choice is still in tune with what we've seen before.

 

[Tuesday Night Fever]

I voted for well-defined and voiced because of JC Denton, and characters like him. Because he had a defined personality, it really didn't matter what conversation choices you picked because they always fit the character's personality. Shepard on the other hand, if you were trying to play as a certain morality, you'd often be pigeonholed into certain dialogue choices that sound completely out-of-character (this is especially true in ME3).

 

[hazabaza1]

Having only played the first Witcher game for about... 10 hours or so, I find that Geralt is an annoying fucker with a dull voice who I certainly didn't like.
So I prefer Shep.
I kind of liked Mike Thorton as well.

 

[putowtin]

It's all personal choice, you see I think femshep's voice has a lot more emotion than maleshep.

I found Adam Jensen's voice to be bland, like Elias Toufexis was doing a really bad Neo impression.

then again if you want bad voice acting, look no further...

captcha: agree to disagree .... well said!

 

[endtherapture]

It's all personal choice, you see I think femshep's voice has a lot more emotion than maleshep.

I found Adam Jensen's voice to be bland, like Elias Toufexis was doing a really bad Neo impression.

then again if you want bad voice acting, look no further...

captcha: agree to disagree .... well said!

I actually don't mind Sheploo's voice acting, it isn't that bad, kinda a parody of a flat action hero type character.

The voice actor who is Geralt though is just plain awesome, the delivery is so wry and sarcastic sometimes it's just plain hilarious, but he's quite menacing when he's being serious.

 

[Condiments]

I think that overall the non-voiced defined protagonist is my favorite from games that I've played(Nameless One, Jedi Exile) due to the opportunities it presents story-wise but also the freedom in terms of its options. Its a best of both worlds scenario. The other options do serve their purpose, with a more blank slate(Vault Dweller) character being better for more open games with character building/skill opportunities(Fallout). The voiced main protagonist is probably works in more linear/cinematic type of games for easier conversation flow, and makes more sense with a well defined personality like Geralt from Witcher 2.

The only one I can't reasonably justify is the 'shepard' quasi-blank slate. It comes across as stilted due to the bizarre nature of the choices you have to make(NICE GUY/ASS-HOLE) and it hardly attempts to form a coherent personality through the choices. I prefer something akin to what was done with Geralt, with more nuanced less 'collar grabbing YUR GONNA DO WHAT I SAY' approach.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

Choices in The Witcher are tailored in such a way that whatever you do feels like it's something Geralt would choose to do even if The Witcher wasn't an RPG. In Mass Effect you're replaying the game in various ways to see how different it would be, but only one choice feels like the right one every time.
Geralt is also better because writing in The Witcher is a lot better and because he's a character from books. He has a serious advantage over most RPG characters.

And he's just a badass.

But I prefer my Dragon Age Origins character to all of them, because that was me!

 

[Smertnik]

Shepard isn't really a blank slate character, though. You can shape his/her character in certain ways but it still remains inside the (relatively small) boundaries set by the amount of choices and especially the (quite strong) voice acting. In my opinion as long as voice acting is involved a character stops being a 'blank slate' because the voice acting by its very nature imprints a certain personality to him/her.

As for Geralt, I never really liked his video game reimagining, most probably because I read the series long beforehand and his personality hardly matches the original, even more so if you go for anything other than neutral responses. I find his voice acting by far not as great as Shepard's as well.

 

[endtherapture]

Shepard isn't really a blank slate character, though. You can shape his/her character in certain ways but it still remains inside the boundaries set by the amount of choices and especially the (quite strong) voice acting. In my opinion as long as voice acting is involved a character stops being a 'blank slate' because the voice acting by its very nature imprints a certain personality to him/her.

He is really though.

Apart from a few throwaway lines, your Shepard's background doesn't really matter and never comes out.

Geralt's background is integral to the plot of the game and as you learn more about his past, and make more decisions, his character is shaped more.

It helps that TW2 has no morality meter.

 

[Kahunaburger]

Geralt is also better because writing in The Witcher is a lot better and because he's a character from books.

Truth.

OT: It's interesting to me that even people who don't like Geralt tend to say things along the lines of "I don't like his personality," which is notbsomething you hear about Shep or Hawke. This is because he's defined enough to actually have a personality. IMO, this is also why "character moments" for the protagonist work in Witcher games but tend not to in Mass Effect games.

I also think there's a lot to be said for unvoiced characters in general (I like to read, and devs having to pay more for more dialogue is a terrible incentive structure). If the writing is good (example: New Vegas), the ability to completely define your own character makes the game much more interesting.

 

[Dr Pussymagnet]

I know Bioware made Shepard a blank slate on purpose because supposedly that would make it a more personal experience for people, but it just makes Shepard feel like a dull, walking statue of a character.

It's why I liked Adam Jensen so much more. You still decided what choices to make but you could tell Adam actually had his own morals and opinions.

 

[AD-Stu]

I voted blank slate voiced, but it really depends on the game and the character.

One of the reasons I never got around to finishing the first Witcher is because I flat out hated Geralt as a character - I just wanted to punch him in the throat the whole time... and since I was playing as him, it was like I wanted to punch myself in the throat. Rather than trying to resolve that metaphysical quandry, I just stopped playing the game.

If I had have had more leeway with the character (and his voice actor wasn't so irritating) then maybe that would've been different, more enjoyable experience for me. I dunno, the rest of the gameplay mechanics probably still would have killed it for me

Also, I agree with whoever said above that Shepard isn't really a blank slate character. Sure, you've got more leeway than in other games, but no matter what choices you make the character is always basically heroic and motivated by the same goals. It's nowhere near as divergent as, say, the protagonist in KOTOR where you can take the character down very different paths.