i am sick and fucking tired of silent protagonists in Nintendo titles
- Thread starter Mezati99
- Start date
Like that, I'm supposed to speak at the screen or just imagine what I would say in that situation while the actual character on screen says nothing? Both of these, to me, do not seem to preserve immersion.
Doesn't matter, as long as noises are projecting from those monkeys I'm happy.
There are thousands of RPGs out there. A handful of franchises you mention is literally just a few exceptions (Is Half-Life even a RPG?).
But yes, Bethesda games with their high budget used to not use VA, but with Fallout 4 and onwards, I believe they're fully onboard with full VA.
Same OP, it does nothing for me. I usually end up not caring at all about the silent protagonist because they have zero personality or charm, especially contrasted with other characters. Happened in Xenoblade X, now in 3H too. Haven't played Astral Chain but it's one part I'm not looking forward to.
Also sick of silent protagonists that receive heaps of praise from better characters in attempts to make the player feel good. Fuck off with that. Literally just played a chapter in 3H where Claude takes Byleth aside to gush about how they're only winning because everyone "worships them almost religiously" and their amazingness boosts morale. Cue Byleth responding with a creepy dead eyed smile.
Also sick of silent protagonists that receive heaps of praise from better characters in attempts to make the player feel good. Fuck off with that. Literally just played a chapter in 3H where Claude takes Byleth aside to gush about how they're only winning because everyone "worships them almost religiously" and their amazingness boosts morale. Cue Byleth responding with a creepy dead eyed smile.
I 100 percent agree, though this isn't exclusively a Nintendo problem.
Don't count on a voiced MC happening anytime soon in Dragon Quest.
Came to say this
I like them too, they suit certain games
I'm happy people like OP will continue to be ignored for years to come
I don't care about Fire Emblem or AC but I truly hope Link stays silent. Link is the most likeable and at the same time most inoffensive protagonist of any game series and the reason for that is that he never speaks.
Link is a listener only - I never thought that him actually speaking or responding would have added anything to any game in the series.
Link is a listener only - I never thought that him actually speaking or responding would have added anything to any game in the series.
It was still non-union, but the ADR (Patrick Seitz) as well as the cast involved did a great job.
Back on-topic, someone described Byleth as an over-correction for Corrin, & I feel like that's accurate. I don't hate Byleth, but I wish they spoke more (but again, we would have had to wait longer for Male Byleth's recast).
Exactly. The idea that a certain character drones on and on as they die about how Byleth was their "favorite teacher" is so confusing because Byleth has no personality. Unless that character just really likes emotionless mannequins.
But that's not possible in FE:3H. Byleth has fixed reactions, fixed dialogue (often time there's ONE dialogue choice, lol. Even when there's two, it's on the level of choice between 'yes' and 'of course'), etc.. The only thing missing is his/her voice.
But Byleth says stuff. It's just not voiced.
So few games have quality VA and animations I actually prefer it. In games with VA I generally just run subs and skip all the VA and just read it. It's painfully slow otherwise.
Games that force you to sit throw slow as hell VA with no skip/subs are the real culprit imo.
Games that force you to sit throw slow as hell VA with no skip/subs are the real culprit imo.
They also could be annoying. And that's a much greater detriment to a game for me. And with FE in particular I'm not sure if I'd want to take that risk lol
In all seriousness I showerthoughted this: E3 2020 BOTW2 trailer.. Lots of sick action showing new co-op Link and Zelda fighting n puzzling then.. last scene they're getting some downtime and Zelda is prattling away in her cut glass charming/annoying way and the last shot is Link saying "yes mlady" or somesuch... Gigaton right there.. All your suffering of silent protags worth it.
Mute MCs are an easy way out and vehicle for self-insert shit. I want good stories and protagonists, I don't need to self-insert myself.
Imagine how shit FFT would be with Ramza as a souless husk who blankly stares at everything.
I do excuse mute MCs in story light games and when it is plot related (like Drakengard where Caim loses his voice).
Imagine how shit FFT would be with Ramza as a souless husk who blankly stares at everything.
I do excuse mute MCs in story light games and when it is plot related (like Drakengard where Caim loses his voice).
Non-union != cheap
"Cheap" implies poor acting and directing without care for the final result. Chaos Wars was cheap enough to establish the bargain basement. Three Houses was only cheap in that they didn't go for unionized talent.
I don't see anything wrong with it, it usually works well in games where it's used. I'm old-school though, I consider things like story and immersion as 'nice to haves', but I don't really care about them if the gameplay is good. In the case of Astral Chain I think it works well, it would be annoying if the your character was constantly expositing on the clues you find etc, instead of just letting you take it in for yourself. There's usually your twin around or that yellow drone if some exposition is really required.
The "Link should never speak" shit is bizarre to me. He barely ever feels like a character in most of the games. The exception being Windwaker. I feel like if you go silent, you need to add a LOT of personality in the look and animation. I think that's why WW gets away with this. Mario and Luigi RPGs also pull this off for similar reasons.
Are people just obsessed with tradition of something old? Like the Dragon Quest series?
Zelda should at the very least have full voice acting. And Link could speak if they actually bothered to make him a character. Nintendo localization is too good when they bring their A game for Zelda to be stuck on the past like this.
Are people just obsessed with tradition of something old? Like the Dragon Quest series?
Zelda should at the very least have full voice acting. And Link could speak if they actually bothered to make him a character. Nintendo localization is too good when they bring their A game for Zelda to be stuck on the past like this.
I swear this topic comes up at least once a month. They're usually less childishly profane, though.
I should have mentioned, I was mostly talking about my favourite silent protag, Link. I hope they never force dialogue on him, it would be too jarring for how I play LoZ games.
With someone like Byleth, I don't mind either way but I do agree Byleth could have been handled better, needed more options in dialogue. I think they should have done it like FE Awakening!
Agreed, it's fucking boring. I'm a boring fucker, I don't want to play as myself. This applies to all media and self-insert characters. It isn't a deal breaker though, and it's totally understandable if it's for budgetary reasons.
I can understand the argument for western RPGs much more than JRPGs. WRPGs have you create your own backstories and customise yourself (most of the time) but in JRPGs you're normally a set character with their own stories, designs and traits.
I can understand the argument for western RPGs much more than JRPGs. WRPGs have you create your own backstories and customise yourself (most of the time) but in JRPGs you're normally a set character with their own stories, designs and traits.
I guess I'm not sure why the idea of Link having a voice is a bridge too far when his actions and emotions have been his own for several games now.
It at least made some sense pre-Wind Waker when you could argue that Link was largely still an empty vessel avatar for the player, but it's become similar to the uncanny valley effect for me when they have cutscenes showing the character having conversations with other NPCs but no dialogue.
It at least made some sense pre-Wind Waker when you could argue that Link was largely still an empty vessel avatar for the player, but it's become similar to the uncanny valley effect for me when they have cutscenes showing the character having conversations with other NPCs but no dialogue.