The Silent Hero...Still viable?

[UnusualStranger]

I recently saw something on many people's gaming doctor Gordan Freeman. It made me remember something that I once saw. An argument about whether there even should be silent heroes.

With recent games, like Mass Effect 2, the main character is voiced, and many people have expressed that no longer should the main character go without a voice.

Yet, I don't think I want to hear my character talk all the time. I don't mind not having a voice to listen to what I felt like saying.

But how about you? Would you like to hear normally silent heroes of Link, Gordan, and whoever else is out there actually....striking up a conversation?

 

[Omikron009]

If it's an action game or something then it's okay, but playing mass effect and then playing any other RPG is quite a difference. When there's one with a lot of dialogue it just seems weird to not have a voice.

 

[Kollega]

Honestly? Freeman and Link can stay as they are, but i'm really really tired of silent protagonists already.

 

[Mcupobob]

Depends on the game, is sometimes knowing what the charater feels is important, other times it gets in the way.

 

[Arbitrary Cidin]

There's no reason to do away with a plot device. As was spoofed in the Eascapist's Doomsday Arcade, it helps you to get an immersive experience. When you play Mass Effect, do you feel like yourself or the made up character that you've strung together a persona for? Silent Heroes are very effective in linear games, and in fact, are often the most loved characters with the largest fanbases.

 

[ultrachicken]

I like silent characters because it makes me feel more like I'm actually in the game.
Especially since I don't talk much.

 

[NuclearPenguin]

Even on games like Baldur's Gate, where you dont hear your character talk during dialogue you heard him talk during combat, and you even got to pick the voice..

 

[likalaruku]

I only want my character to have a voice if I get a list of different voices to pick from, like some oldschool RPGs. Shrill girly voices & booming manly voices make me want to rip my hair out.

 

[QuirkyTambourine]

I think there's a very specific type of game that silent protagonists work. Look at the Half Life series, every happens while you're in control of the character, with no cutscenes. It'd be awkward to have it any other way really, since cutscenes would have the character basically be forced to talk

 

[Hurr Durr Derp]

When you play Mass Effect, do you feel like yourself or the made up character that you've strung together a persona for? Silent Heroes are very effective in linear games, and in fact, are often the most loved characters with the largest fanbases.

I think this is the main argument. If you're playing a character as a representation of yourself in the game, hearing his voice can break that bit of immersion. But if you're playing a character as if you're just taking indirect control of someone else, it sounds odd when everyone but the protagonist speaks.

There are of course a number of different ways to deal with it. A completely silent protagonist, a silent protagonist who can still express thoughts and emotions somehow (Chrono Trigger), a protagonist who never speaks but does make sounds (Legend of Zelda), a protagonist who does speak but isn't voiced (Dragon Age Origins), or a completely voiced protagonist (Mass Effect). All are different approaches to a similar issue, and none of them are completely without merit.