Is he right, /v/?
>>338376083
They're meant to be self-inserts really. Through them, you're the one who supposed to relate to other characters. Now most people would then ask:
>then why can't I just customize my own character?
One reason would be that the customized character would feel out of place within the game's world.
Zelda is about the character is about the adventure you go on
>>338376083
Nope.
No. I have a hard time playing voiced characters because I've gotten so used to the self-insert style of playing a game. It draws me away from the experience if my character has dialogue I didn't choose.
Its totally unnecessary to have a voiced protagonist, Half Life and Dishonored proved that quick enough, and you never run the risk of just having a shit main character (Looking at you Geralt)
>>338376491
>They're meant to be self-inserts really.
FPBP
>>338376083
Yes. But I'd rather have a silent protagonist than a terribly written character.
>>338376083
Depends on the game.
If you make your own character in an rpg, have them non-voiced.
If it's a heavily scripted action game, voiced fits.
I actually agree with him in all games besides western styled RPGs. I think having a character like Ratchet voiced is necessary to care for them more. However, there are other ways to give the character "voices" rather than just actually voicing them. Jak has as much if not more personality than Ratchet in the first game alone but Jak isn't voiced yet. Jak's personality comes from his body language, that's his "voice." Link in Wind Waker has a similar "voice" to Jak -- even TP Link has some personality to his expressions and body language. Now, I don't want this kind of shit with my Fallout or Dark Souls characters. I give those characters my voice, so it makes sense to not voice act them.
Just an aside, I know /v/ might hate me for this, but I like to come up with "canonical" builds for characters in Fallout and Dark Souls games, after I'm done playing my own game. Like, I would make the courier of New Vegas a high-luck, high-endurance cowboy and I consider that, to this day, the "canonical" build. In the case of using "canonical" builds I still give them a voice, but I care more for the "canonical" courier than a lot of the voiced characters there are.
Both voiced and silent protags are totally fine by me, but personally I'm biased towards silent protagonists. Depending on the kind of game, a silent protag can make things a lot more interesting because you're using what you've been given (from the character's body language, mannerisms etc) to imagine what they'd be thinking during situations.
If the game is built around a silent Protag, it's fine. I don't need to play as a fucking chatter box. Think Half-Life 2.
I mean, I enjoy a good story-heavy or movie game (I like TLOU and Until Dawn), but not every game needs to be that. I want drama heavy games like TLOU, I want movie games like Until Dawn, I want QTE fests like Uncharted, but I also just want some good old fucking games where I'm just some dude who shoots things.
I didn't read it but probably not.
>>338376083
snake has more personality than this facebook bitch even if he didnt say a word
>>338376083
no, SoC would have been shitty if he talked all the time. ether to him self or some small shitty talkative companion.
>>338376083
>couldn't be asked
>>338377917
>"Killed a Colossus today and got tentacle raped. That felt weird."
>>338376083
Kind of.
Ideally we wouldn't need them in most situations where they get used, but a lot of vidya writers are much more capable of making good side characters that get a little bit of attention, while being much weaker at making characters interesting over a long period of time.
Zelda, for example, has a lot of endearing side characters. They're not particularly deep, but they get the job done, largely due to not being around all that often. Don't really trust them to make Link interesting all the way through.
There are a lot of low tier anime and weeb games that actually have some interesting stuff, but the white bread protagonist drags the whole thing down. Wish those would have a silent lead.
Of course sometimes it's just the right choice overall, and not covering for a weakness.
>>338376083
Silent protagonists are not well written, yeah. But they're not supposed to be, they're essentially not even really characters. Silent protags are a tool used to make the player's interaction feel more personal, at the expense of not having an interesting character. It's not something that you can critique in the same realm as critiquing how a character is written in a film.
It's also why people who complain about Zelda's character being poorly written because she's "just a damsel in distress" are completely fucking retarded. Relative to Ganon, who's entire character is "me evil", and Link, who isn't a fucking character, she's as deep as an oceanic trench.
WW and SS Link are fucking full of character without having dedicated story dialogue.
The lack of dialogue for a character is a technique just like any other, employed for a certain effect. Games that do silent characters well (like LoZ, the main Etrian Odyssey games, and Dragon Quest) tend to do this so as to create a certain level of abstraction within the game world. They CAN act as self-insert, but they're more like a good DnD character in that they have their own mannerisms and/or feelings that the player is left to interpret, making you more attached than if they had a more bland, straightforward script.
Basically, anyone who complains about good silent protags (there are shit ones) lack the thoughtfulness needed to really enjoy a story in the first place.
>>338377917
>Wander is a silent protagonist
AGRO! AGRO! AGRO! AGRO! AGRO! AGRO!
Well excuuuuuuuuuuuse me, Princess.
>>338376083
So if I am not able to talk no one will care about me, ever.
Seems about right dough
>>338376083
Yeah he is right. I would rather have protagonists like Donte and Haze.
>>338378317
Link says "Come on!" in Wind Waker.
OP debunked.
>>338376491
I have never seen a customised character that looked better than the default model.
>>338376083
I like seeing the little nuances they use with those characters to give them a unique personality. It's one of the reasons I wish I liked Skyward Sword more, because they do such a good job of making Link into an individual.
Why cant we have both?
>>338376083
Some people let their actions speak for them but that might be too subtle for some people. What I do know is that he is neither right or wrong, just an opinionated spoiled brat like 80% of all facebook users.
>>338378525
Because people are retarded and think only extremist standpoints count.
Some games do it better than others.
If other characters address the player character and clearly expect a response that's probably a point where you should've just written a response instead of letting an awkward silence descend. HL2 barely made it work but they got around it with clever writing, sparse dialogue, and some self-awareness.
The new Homefront, on the other hand, has a bit in the first ten minutes where your character could literally save his fucking life by just saying "hang on, I'm on your side, and by the way I have important information you should know" but instead he just lets this torturer chick describe how she's going to make him talk until at the last moment someone else comes in and goes "hang on, there's been a mix up, this guy is on our side".
It was almost a parody, but I think it might just be slavish devotion to an FPS trope.
>>338377401
Holy shit son that's some autism right there.
>>338378397
I know you're kidding, but it's interesting that Dante barely says fucking anything in DMC1 and ALL of it is in response instead of instigated.
>he need to connect to muh digital characters to enjoy them
>>338378929
Donte isn't Dante.
>>338379141
>I know you're kidding, but
I'm just pointing out that it's funny how DMC1 Dante is pretty close to a Link while 3, 4 and DmC's Donte are the exact opposite.
>Link
Asshole needs to play Wind Waker
>>338376083
I'd argue that link from Wind Waker and even Twilight Princess have a lot of character. They speak through their facial expressions.
gta 6 should have silent protagonists
All previous voiced protagonist are so fucking unlikeable
Silent characters make yourself fill that hole.
People who hate silent characters just aren't interesting.
If you are not playing those videogames like Freeman's mind you might be boring.
>>338380076
Heaven forbid murderous psychopaths should be unlikable.
>>338376083
Silent characters are my favorite, tbqh with you senpai. Unless it is an RPG, devs should keep dialog to a minimum anyway, imo.
>>338378482
Default Femshep is ugly in ME3
>>338376083
I'm not white knight enough to play a game just for his personality
>>338380154
>Freeman's Mind
shit is so good.
>>338376083
Personally dislike silent protagonist if there's never anything to them. Like Link is so pointlessly quiet despite clearly being a character.
>>338376689
>(Looking at you Geralt)
Nigga what?
Geralt is the only good voiced protagonist in any videogame.
>>338380398
Would the gains really gain so much with Mass Effect style dialogue system and link saying wacky shit?
>>338376083
I still agree with that post that says voice acting killed video games.
Silent protagonists are easier for the player to project themselves onto. Even if the character did have dialogue options, it's still constrained by those limits.
windwaker link has more emotion than any voiced character.
>>338376689
Geralt in 3 was great, maybe not so in the previous titles, the voice directing in general was poor in them.
>>338379135
Did you even think about what you typed?
Depends on the game.
For example, silent protagonist in a game where main antagonist sits with you in a jeep for 15 minutes and explains his whole plan DOESN'T FUCKING WORK.
>being ableist towards mute people
>>338376083
>what is role playing
Your character is an avatar of you. If doesn't make much sense when they talk, since you're already controlling them. A talking protagonist is like a schizoid voice speaking in your head, on top of the things that you're thinking.
>but they have no personality :((
No, YOU have no personality, since a silent protagonist is an extension of YOU
>>338380698
literally cynical badass narrator: the protagonist
his whole personality is gone because there are muh moral decisions every five minutes
>>338376083
To a degree.
When I'm old an about to die, I will think about the day Gordon Freeman won the "greatest video game hero" award on Gamespot's month-long contest, and how fucking retarded that was.
How do I get a silent protag gf?
>>338376083
.......
Silent protags can still have a personality, even if they don't talk they often still emote and stuff. Or give you some basic dialogue options here and there like in SMT/Persona.
>>338376083
You stupid faggot.
First of all, caring about the characters should be the very last thing to define a game "good". A game could have a super developed character and yet being a big steaming pile of shit, see Gone Home. Gameplay akways comes first.
Second, you goddamn faggot, a protagonist might be silent because YOU are supposed to be the main character. The guy on screen is just your avatar, something that lets you get into the game.
I hate this kind of people. They pretend to be somewhat videogame experts when they can't even grasp what make a videogame a fucking videogame.
Well we saw how bad fallout 4 went without a silent protag
I hope a mute person reads this and feels horrible.
Because apparently if you don't have a voice you don't have a personality
>>338383425
mute people have normal facial expressions and aren't written by untalented people
>>338378397
I wish all protagonists where as edgy as XxXhAz3XxX
>>338383656
So Link has no facial expressions?
And Silent chracters are written by people or what?
>>338376083
>Actions aren't important
>Words are important
Who is retarded enough to think this?
>>338377917
Wander isn't a silent protagonist, he talks to Dormin at the beginning of the game. He just doesn't talk most of the time, because there's no need to.
>>338383656
Video game characters have facial expressions too
>>338383768
I'm not talking about Link, but take Quiet as an example
Two fucking face expressions and shitty writing.
>>338384128
>Quiet
>protagonist
Okay I think I must've missed like 50 post
the fuck is your argument now? I am completely lost.
>>338384101
>normal facial expressions
Yeah, but they look like shit.
>>338384237
My mistake, I meant Venom Snake. Watch the jeep scene again and tell me that silent protagonists in games work.
>>338384346
>Yeah, but they look like shit.
>>338384346
>Snake
>silent protagonist
What the fuck are you rambling on about
>>338384534
>Venom Snake
>not silent protagonist
Have you even played MGSV?
No one ever says that Link is a great, interesting character.
They may say that the Zelda games are great, but not the main character.
So who is this guy arguing against?
>>338384852
This might come as a shock to someone who is used to /v/ but sometimes when people say something they are not arguing with anyone.
He is saying he doesn't think silent protagonists are interesting characters and interesting characters are apparently important to him.
>>338385126
To quote the OP directly
>I don't get how people think the likes of Claude from gta 3 or link from Zelda are interesting characters
This implies he thinks someone holds that opinion.
>>338376083
No he isn't.i can't speak for all silent protags, but Zelda is about the adventure. It's not about link, its about what he must do to protect hyrule. It's these fucking self important millenials that need their character to declare how awesome they are and make sure everyone knows that they are the badass that will save the day. It reassures them of their speshul snowflake status.
>>338376083
>silent protagonists
>interesting characters
>they have next to none in terms of personality
Thats the fucking point you fucking idiot. Silent protagonists are next best thing to self insertion. There's absolutely nothing in a character that would disturb the player from experiencing/exploring the world. Because as soon as a "character" exists, it'll rub some people the wrong way, even if they just don't like it.
Also
>Link
>No character
Where does that retard even come from? Link has lots of character personality for a silent protagonist. His facial expressions and actions induce the character with more personality than some voiced protags.
>>338376491
I'd like to insert myself into Link that's for sure.
>>338385994
Fuckin this
>>338376083
This person has no imagination.
