Voiced vs silent video game protagonists
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Date: 2022-03-21
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Comments and reviews: 10
Breno
in my humble opinion, a choice between both would rely more about in which depth of emotional roleplay you want to get out of a situation. A voiced protagonist needs the player to be empathetic about their feelings. One can't simply enjoy The last of us without having a care about Ellie, Joel and their father/daughter relationship built through trauma coping and emotional gratifications between the two. non voiced characters do allow players to be much more envolved in the gameplay itself although the emotional range the game can tap on is limited from the start. You can't expect multiple layers of drama envolvement like for example Heavy Rain, if the same was made through monologues or a narrator. It does not limit the emotional shock though, of which -gameranx exemplified greatly through the example of KOTOR
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in my humble opinion, a choice between both would rely more about in which depth of emotional roleplay you want to get out of a situation. A voiced protagonist needs the player to be empathetic about their feelings. One can't simply enjoy The last of us without having a care about Ellie, Joel and their father/daughter relationship built through trauma coping and emotional gratifications between the two. non voiced characters do allow players to be much more envolved in the gameplay itself although the emotional range the game can tap on is limited from the start. You can't expect multiple layers of drama envolvement like for example Heavy Rain, if the same was made through monologues or a narrator. It does not limit the emotional shock though, of which -gameranx exemplified greatly through the example of KOTOR
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ExecutorQ3
Haven't watched the entire vid because the answer is pretty simple to me - it depends on the game and approach it takes. But to take it more simple (for those who don't like to think) a huge factor imo is if it's 1st/3rd person. The 1st person tries to (in most cases) make you immerse into the story and thus silent protagonists are much likely and mostly better option (also the money issue is here) - sure there are some exceptions like prey (1) or thief (and most of horror games that are voiced 1st person). In the 3rd person (be it shooter, adventure, iso rpg or w/e) you're mostly playing some character with personality and backstory, so the voice is actually needed... and i don't frankly remember single good one 3rd person game with silent -hero-.
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Haven't watched the entire vid because the answer is pretty simple to me - it depends on the game and approach it takes. But to take it more simple (for those who don't like to think) a huge factor imo is if it's 1st/3rd person. The 1st person tries to (in most cases) make you immerse into the story and thus silent protagonists are much likely and mostly better option (also the money issue is here) - sure there are some exceptions like prey (1) or thief (and most of horror games that are voiced 1st person). In the 3rd person (be it shooter, adventure, iso rpg or w/e) you're mostly playing some character with personality and backstory, so the voice is actually needed... and i don't frankly remember single good one 3rd person game with silent -hero-.
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Joshua
I think the only reason silent protagonists are still around is because it takes more time and costs more money to do a voiced protagonist. With today's tech and such, there's no reason why silent protags should still be around other than it's easier to do and takes less time and because some people are close minded and think immersion for created characters is only best when the character is silent.
It ruins immersion when your character is the only one not talking while everyone else is. As someone else said, South Park handled this in one of the best ways to combat the issue by having them say that you simply don't talk.
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I think the only reason silent protagonists are still around is because it takes more time and costs more money to do a voiced protagonist. With today's tech and such, there's no reason why silent protags should still be around other than it's easier to do and takes less time and because some people are close minded and think immersion for created characters is only best when the character is silent.
It ruins immersion when your character is the only one not talking while everyone else is. As someone else said, South Park handled this in one of the best ways to combat the issue by having them say that you simply don't talk.
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Ultraman
Crash Bandicoot for me is a great example to discuss silent protagonist vs voiced protagonist. Before CotT, Crash was mostly a mute, and his voice are only there to give him expressions while starting from CotT his voice are used to showcase his personality as well instead of only his actions and reactions like the time before CotT. I'm prefer him as a mute tho cuz for me, his actions are his main charming points and giving him a voiced thoughts kinda took it away for me
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Crash Bandicoot for me is a great example to discuss silent protagonist vs voiced protagonist. Before CotT, Crash was mostly a mute, and his voice are only there to give him expressions while starting from CotT his voice are used to showcase his personality as well instead of only his actions and reactions like the time before CotT. I'm prefer him as a mute tho cuz for me, his actions are his main charming points and giving him a voiced thoughts kinda took it away for me
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DontStopMeeNow
Voiced almost always. Sometimes it-s just hard to find a perfect voice for your character in which case it-s understandable, like with everyone-s favorite example Doom Guy I just don-t care, but there are too many games where the main character having no personality is such a detriment that it makes the game less enjoyable. Perfect example being Far Cry 5. Would-ve loved to hear the guy react to stuff
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Voiced almost always. Sometimes it-s just hard to find a perfect voice for your character in which case it-s understandable, like with everyone-s favorite example Doom Guy I just don-t care, but there are too many games where the main character having no personality is such a detriment that it makes the game less enjoyable. Perfect example being Far Cry 5. Would-ve loved to hear the guy react to stuff
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Squig
I think it depends on player choice and how it's handled, and in my preference i prefer silent protags in game where i create the protag (and therefore the protag is more of a vessel for you) and voiced when it's a more complex, -complete- character
Though to be fair, if done right a voiced protagonist can be tons of fun, like Snake from Metal Gear, Caleb from Blood or Duke Nukem
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I think it depends on player choice and how it's handled, and in my preference i prefer silent protags in game where i create the protag (and therefore the protag is more of a vessel for you) and voiced when it's a more complex, -complete- character
Though to be fair, if done right a voiced protagonist can be tons of fun, like Snake from Metal Gear, Caleb from Blood or Duke Nukem
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Chris
For me it depend on the game. Fallout and fable didnt need the protagonist to talk. Kind of messed up the games for me. But the evil within games would be completely different games and I think less enjoyable. It's almost like a playable movie done good. I like storys that are already made some times but if the game is a giant world I want to have my own story.
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For me it depend on the game. Fallout and fable didnt need the protagonist to talk. Kind of messed up the games for me. But the evil within games would be completely different games and I think less enjoyable. It's almost like a playable movie done good. I like storys that are already made some times but if the game is a giant world I want to have my own story.
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Anthony
Falcon, lol i think the ONLY thing we disagree on in video games is the order of best Dead Space, number one was amazing but I actually love Isaac's voice over, after the script in number 2, he became one of my favorite game characters. but at the same time my FAVORITE character ever is Link, so the voice/silent thing goes both ways for sure
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Falcon, lol i think the ONLY thing we disagree on in video games is the order of best Dead Space, number one was amazing but I actually love Isaac's voice over, after the script in number 2, he became one of my favorite game characters. but at the same time my FAVORITE character ever is Link, so the voice/silent thing goes both ways for sure
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Rikki
I like both but you can have the worst of both worlds too with a silent protagonist who is an established character and not a blank slate you can mold and has a distinct personality separate from the player and yet is inexplicably kept silent even when all the other characters have VA's. That doesn't come across as immersive, just passive.
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I like both but you can have the worst of both worlds too with a silent protagonist who is an established character and not a blank slate you can mold and has a distinct personality separate from the player and yet is inexplicably kept silent even when all the other characters have VA's. That doesn't come across as immersive, just passive.
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Andrea
I personally prefer voiced because being the only MUTE in a world of talking people just destroy my suspension of disbelief..
Look at DA2 vs DA:O.. i love dao with all my heart but hawke is just better all around..
It took me a while to like jo waitt femHawke but after a short time i ended up wanting to romance my sassy self.xD
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I personally prefer voiced because being the only MUTE in a world of talking people just destroy my suspension of disbelief..
Look at DA2 vs DA:O.. i love dao with all my heart but hawke is just better all around..
It took me a while to like jo waitt femHawke but after a short time i ended up wanting to romance my sassy self.xD
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