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Mute Protagonists vs Talking Protagonists
Cetus
MemberFull Members
I know everyone remembers that day in RPGs, where there was a huge abundance of mute mains characters and there still are in some RPGs. Which do you prefer to have as a games main character? and does the way the character act change the whole rpg in general or does it give you a whole different perspective of the character. I don't mind if the protagonist talks or not but to me it would sure change the way I saw the RP, in a good way that is..how about you guys?
Comments
Another thing I'd like to mention is now that we're in an era where a large percentage of a RPG's feature voice acting, developers need to stop including the option to change character's names. ?The biggest offender I can think of is FFX. ?You could rename Tidus (for what reason I can't comprehend - Are there really people out there who feel like if they rename the lead character of an RPG to their name that they feel like they are a part of the story? ?If so, seek help.), the price of which is that his name isn't spoken once during the game. ?It detaches him from the rest of the cast. ?It's not glaring, but I did notice it often during the game, and especially during the ending sequence. ?I really wish Yuna had been able to say his name during that.
What's worse is in games like Fire Emblem for the GBA. The side characters ask you a question and also answers it for you. For example:
"Are you going to accompany us for this journey?" *Pause...pause...pause...pause...pause...pause... and then* "Great! We could sure use your help!"
A good example of a good story brought down by a 1st person main character is Chono Cross. Which had lines such as this:
Kid: So you ready to kick some arse Serge!
Serge: .....................
Kid: Right! Let's get the ship ready!
Oh God I'm blogging anime now?!?!?!?!/
*sigh* thankfully they aren't THAT common. Shining Force II kinda upset me because they decided to give Bowie TWO LINES.
Thanks, Sega. You jerks.
Some of my favorite games (most notably Zelda and Chrono Trigger) have silent heroes. I've always thought that this adds a rare element of the player's own imagination to the story. In the modern console RPG genre, this sort of thing is becoming less and less common, while non-interactive, out-of-engine cutscenes and written dialogue seem to get longer and more complicated (read: not necessarily better) each year. I guess many (most?) people prefer that everything be spelled out for them. Me, I value having input in a game's story somewhere between the insignificance of mere subplot speculation and the outright cheesiness of the old Choose-You-Own-Adventure scenario.
How do you put that together with a mute character? If he or she never speaks, how can you determine his personality?
Actually, I'm kinda midway on this. ?On the one hand, silent protagonists are 100% unlikely to say something that'll make me wish I was playing one of the other characters. ?On the other hand, they're 100% unlikely to say something cool.
But I vote so because BoF's Ryu was still cool no matter how silent he was (or not, considering Dragon Quarter). ?And frankly he was amazingly expressive considering the fact that he never says anything, which I find oddly endearing, almost cute even (I laughed aloud watching Ryu plummet in BoF IV after Nina down a chasm, only to realize shortly afterward that the advantages proffered by wings sort of render this kind of heroism unnecessary). ?And as Ashgad pointed out, let's not forget that many of us (myself included) would happily give Link a gold star despite that he hasn't said a word yet (to the best of my recollection).
Dracos
What if they decide to be original by making the main character legitimately mute?
How do you put that together with a mute character? If he or she never speaks, how can you determine his personality?[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
I would like to object on that. Ryu from Bof3 is a silent one but he shows a lot of personality without saying one word. He is by far the only protagonist, who is mute that displayed his personality. Even though I don't mind either character, wether talkative or not I belive silent dudes and dudettes, with enough effort upon the creator and show a good chunk of personality without saying a word.
According to the various books, the reason to have a Mute Protagonist is so the player can identify with him more-- by having the hero not speak, the player's emotions in the game are experienced through that character. ?For example, in the Zelda games, Link never speaks, but he still reacts to situations, giving him a personality...
Talking protagonists are used in games that are more heavy on story-telling (there are exceptions, obviously-- Chrono Trigger had a good story and a mute protagonist, but the story wasn't as deep or involved as, say, Final Fantasy VI). ?"<span class="spoiler">Not everyone can relate for a talking protagonist; I had trouble relating to Tidus of FF X, a whiny little brat who hated his father and couldn't live up to his expectations. The whole father issue I can relate to very well, but the whiny tinge to his voice just annoyed the hell out of me. I'll go on the record as saying I prefer Squall to Tidus.</span>"
I think both kinds can work for different kinds of game as long as the writing (and voice-acting, in certain cases) is decent. ?A lot of games have very cliched writing and poor voice-acting and, hopefully, when I graduate from college I'll get a job being involved with writing or designing games to change that a bit. ?
Well, his personality was only shown through the voices of others, like with all mute characters. That sucks. The only thing he did on his own was to scream in battle, and shake his head / nod. While the other members of the party did well on explaining Ryu's will and reasons etc, I know nothing about him. I don't know what kind of a person he is or anything.
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Crono yet. He's silent, yet everybody keeps saying he's the "coolest protagonist ever, in the greatest RPG ever" (Chrono Trigger, for the real dense
Let's look at one example here: Chrono Trigger.
Here you have a story where the entire focus is split between so many random variables that it is not even funny. There are SO many characters with important roles and places to fit into the framework of the plot that it (at least at the time) was enough to make your head spin. It was not only the story of an entire world, but the underlying passage of time OF that world that kept it going. There were constant plots, groups of people, and dramatic elements being thrown at us that each pocket of interaction acted, in and of itself, like its own story.
This was all blended into one cohesive thread quite well, and all by one simple element. Crono.
There he was, at the center of all of this chaotic action, the only constant. Why did anything need to be said? He was there for a reason: to observe the elements utilized and be the link of ALL of these personable characters together. His personality was not void, because you, like Crono, were the one to fill in the blanks as you felt with all of these variables flying every which way. Perhaps some of you may find this to be "lazy writing."
I, for one, would defy you to write as engaging a script, without the precedent of Chrono Trigger to back you up. I would further defy you to imagine the game WITH Crono as a speaking protagonist...how completely one-sided the story would be! You would not have a fresh perspective on events because you would always have the main character telling you what the overall feeling of the mood SHOULD be. Yes, you would be free to come up with your own opinions on the matter, but ultimately, you would be forced to reconcile ALL of these elements with a character that you may or MAY NOT relate to in the end. You would constantly have this character's philosophy on life coloring every event you encountered. Laziness? No, more like thoughtfulness.
In a more linear story, like in say, FFVI, this would not be such a bad thing. In fact, I encourage speaking protagonists during a linear story. But in Chrono Trigger...no, that would not work. The main theme of the game was discussed "<span class="spoiler">when all party members were gathered around a fire at night. Robo had done a few calculations after being left at Fiona's villa for centuries, and had thrown in the possibility that a single being, in traditional Zen Buddhist fashion, had created all life that they knew as a means of reliving its life, and that they were simply there to observe as it happened.</span>" If that is a possibility or not, well, I do not know, but it certainly does make sense, and all of the elements, good, bad, annoying or interesting, came together in such a way that just made it all flow, much like some being's stream of conscious thought.
And there was Crono, guiding you through, linking it all together.
Nevertheless, it really just depends on the game.
Speaking, mute, whichever work, works.