In games, do you prefer silent or talking protagonists?

[Aiko_E_Lara]

Silent protagonists are literally silent protagonists while everyone else talks and the protagonist don't have any dialogues. While I do understand it's appeal to some players, I personally don't like it. They just look out of place and don't feel equal to the other characters but instead they look at you as if you're a god like you're "too good" to be their casual friend.

Silent

Talking

[NamerOfStars]

Well, here's the thing: look at Half-Life and Half-Life 2. Gordon Freeman's never said a word (unless he did in Alyx, I suppose, but I doubt that happened), yet it felt MUCH more natural and smooth in the first game than in the second, where it was so jarring that the game pointed it out, albeit as a joke.

The idea is that it leaves the character as a blank slate you can project yourself on to, but I've never reacted to ANYTHING as blasely as these characters react to people trying to kill them. It doesn't immerse me; it pulls me out, because they're neither screaming, nor gritting their teeth and letting off an action movie one-liner- they're not reacting at all.

This is just depressing, because there are so many ways to do it. Take, for example, Freespace. This was the four-page foldout ad that caught my brother's eye:

See that ideo locator next to the tiny dot? Yeah, if you adjust the size of that ship for the obviously not properly aligned image, it's not an exaggeration. It's actual size. Why, aside from scale, is that noteworthy? Because in Freespace 1 and 2, you don't (with the exception of Aken Bosch), the game has no human characters. Oh, there are humans, and even named and voiced ones, but they're just a name given once and mission briefing voiceovers; the actual characters in-game are the ships. Not in the sense of their being alive or self-aware or anything, but THEY are what acts and what things happen to. This means you can have disparities of size, power, mobility, and abilities that normal human characters- or even superheroes- couldn't believably do. Freespace is a masterwork of minimalist storytelling, in addition to a darned fun game series in its own right.

For some reason, it was decided that THAT type of experimentation was to be avoided, in favor of giving blank slates that betrayed no emotion. Let's compare a game in which a character, voiced by Stephen Russell, sneakily goes up against a mechanical genius inventor who's invented powerful, dangerous robots that speak with his own voice:

with a game in which a character, voiced by Stephen Russell, sneakily goes up against a mechanical genius inventor who's invented powerful, dangerous robots that speak with his own voice:

It's hard to imagine two games having a more similar moment without being straight-up knockoffs. Now, Dishonored's robots were certainly freakier-looking, and the Clockwork Mansion was a masterpiece of level design and creativity, but Corvo barely even HAS a character (in 2, that is; in the first game, he flat-out DIDN'T have one), whereas Garrett was deeply and memorable (particularly since he barely has any interactions that don't revolve around bludgeoning unconscious, stabbing to death, or flat-out avoiding people), and Kirin Jindosh I didn't even remember the name of, whereas Father Karras creeps me out to this day (especially since he manages to be terrifying despite sounding like Droopy Dog).

[DarkLegacy]

Being silent would be boring and pointless. I prefer talking protagonists

[DarkLegacy]

Thanks for MHO

[CupcakeTheDestroyer]

As someone who goes nonverbal in stressful situations, I’ve always appreciated silent protagonists. It’s not exactly much in terms of representation, but it’s nice to see that you don’t have to verbally communicate to have someone understand and help you.

[Brittanyroseee]

I wish in animal crossing and in pokemon, the protagonist would talk more

[BCA6010]

Talking, but with the caveat that the dialogue has to be well-written, and be a well-delivered performance. It's a pathetic joke that almost all games have laughably stupid dialogue now, and voiced main player characters tend to have especially soulless performances. I'd rather have a silent protagonist than that crap, but it still hinges heavily on the writers.

[TheSpaceGnome]

I prefer silent protagonists in games, or rather ones that can talk but don't for the most part, like master chief in the first 3 halo games.

I'm not a fan of dialogue heavy games, and I prefer "empty husk" player characters that I can insert myself into, rather than player characters with predefined personalities.

[Berethor]

They say that is so it feel more like it's you, but I think that it mainly saving on a voice actor.

https://allthetropes.org/wiki/Heroic_Mime

[Aiko_E_Lara]

They don't need to be voiced. Even in old games where voice acting is not a big thing, there are still silent protagonists.

[Gochogirl]

It's not that I dislike talking protagonists, it's just a guarantee I won't be annoyed with a silent one

[Aiko_E_Lara]

But you would probably twice as annoyed with the other characters if the protagonist is silent. They're going to be the ones who do all of the talking for you to understand where to go.

[sirderpsalot123]

I prefer talking protagonist. Except in Dead Space. I think it made the game scarier when Isaac didn't talk.

[PeachyPie93]

I like both but I think I like silent ones more since TLoZ is my favourite series, and Link is my favourite lol.

[Astarlessnightsky]

Depends on the game type. Both can work out brilliantly and both may come across quite awkwardly.

[DextroShade]

I prefer the middle ground like Commander Shepard where you choose what they say. I honestly don't care that much though as long as the game and story are good.

[mobiusforniner]

Silent. Because what makes a hero is not what they say, but what they do.

[RSav4013]

I prefer talking, but it has to be really solid writing and voice acting.

[genericname85]

talking only if the voice acting is really good. otherwise i prefer them to just shut up xD

[JesseP1nk]

...

https://www.youtube.com/embed/nn-o4nqUn4g

[Dat-Alpha-Lion]

If we’re going to have talking portage, I’d rather have dialogue like the main dude from Hi Fi Rush, and NOT like the main chick from Forspoken.

[thisAppIsGarbage]

I'm 42. I've played every video game there is. TLDR a single thing. Ever.

[strateguy632]

i prefer silent, just the story not talking

[MattyIce_IceBaby]

Talking protagonists.

[jahaims]

I don't play games for stories