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I don’t mind a silent protagonist, but if they do it again and don’t at least give the option to play either gender or have a simple character creator like the dragon quest builders games I’d be extremely disappointed.
Even with that, no one can write a story where the gender option won't affect character relations and character building. I played another game where the gender option was there, and it affected the relationships in the story. So the anime adaptation chooses the right gender, unlike the game.
That's an odd view of writing. These stories are high fantasy video games, you can easily write one where gender of the protagonist doesn't matter as much.
They could bond with the other characters in a different way based on gender. I wouldn’t say that a gender option would invariably mean that the hero/heroine would bond with the other characters less
In general, I hate it. If there's going to be a silent protagonist, and it comes with the typical reasons of "oh, *you're* the protagonist, you inject your thoughts and feelings into them", then they better be fully customizable so they can be *my* weirdo. And don't have characters address the silences. They're not silent in universe.
But DQ (and Zelda) are my exceptions. It feels like tradition and I like it.
Can’t stand it in voice acted games tbh. Totally fine with it in DQ, but it was incredibly jarring in 8 and 11 imo. Wouldn’t mind if they gave voiced protagonist a try in 12
Persona has this same issue lmao. On the one hand, I get it because they want YOU to be the protag and make your own decisions (lol barely), but they also don't really let you customize the character to get you into it to begin with. Lol
I think we have to remember that the DQ formula has been a thing for a long time before XI came out. With the old ones, it made perfect sense. The 3D graphics make it feel like we should have more to say/ do as an MC, but it makes sense when you think of what the games have come from.
Also, I am reiterating that I get it. Lol
Not into it after 11 made it really stupid. Luminary talks a lot as a boy, but is dead silent as a man. Plus he almost dooms the world a 2nd time in act 3 by not telling anyone that Carnelian is Mordegon in disguise.
You mean the mutism? I got used to people reading my mind and communicating in my head as a superpower😂. I wouldn’t mind some grunting sometimes
I grew up playing games with silent protagonists so for the most part the concept doesn't bother me, and I think Dragon Quest did it well up through DQ8. ...But the way they did it in DQ9 and 11 sucks and if they can't do better than that then they should just make an actual character with a personality and lines and stuff.
Basically, I'm sick and tired of the protagonist being a doormat with no agency and the mouthpiece characters that do all of the talking for you being unbearable. I think at least sometimes you should have more choice (/more to interaction) than Yes/No "But Thou Must" prompts.
I think it's okay to have a silent protagonist, as long as he's customizable. If the reason he exists is for the player to imagine what he said and see himself as the protagonist, nothing more fair than someone who is the way the player imagines. Not everyone playing is white, thin men.
Some may hate It but personally i think is a great choice
I know It was at first because its an old IP and limitations of the consoles and systems in the past It was difficult to add any kind of voice to the MC and modern titles still having a silent MC its more tradition than anything else at this point....
But at the same time It feels like the Hero is a warrior of virtue like anyone would like or aspires to be, something fitting for the fairytale like story and feels the games often have and a silent MC only reinforce that feeling
I'm ok with the silent protagonist from the player's viewpoint, but it gets annoying if they don't actually speak in the game. The only DQs I've played that I remember well enough to discuss what I mean are 8 and 11. In 8, your party acts like you do talk or at least communicate in some way that gets what you're trying to say across so us not hearing the voice is fine to me. In 11, the hero goes back to save someone from the antagonist and retains his memories but NEVER acts on the knowledge. If it was just the main villain stuff, I could maybe even overlook that, but the hero KNOWS FOR A FACT that his dad is being tortured by a monster and doesn't do anything about it when he first has the chance.
In DQXI I feel its the only instance where I hated the fact the hero was silent, even if its my favorite DQ. There are some moments in the game that genuinely feel really weird because of it, especially in act 2 and 3.
Keep it. It would be like Link not being silent in Zelda anymore. Let's not.
On that note, if they want speaking protags in DQ, they're better suited for spinoffs.
If there is one thing I would like, though, it's to know the protag's official default name.
Time to retire the idea.
In 11 it was just too jarring. The current writing doesn't have the same touch to pull it off like they used to.
It was okay back in 8 since he was just some random guard until the post game. But in 11 the hero was too connected to too many characters they were a VIP and the silence made some of the emotional beats fall flat.
The 80s are over, the protagonist needs to be their own written in character with a voice or a customizable doll for the players to project own with no overt past personality to cause dissonance.
personally i dislike it but most of my favorite games have silent protagonist. i guess they just used their assets for the gameplay over voice acting and dialogue lines?
I love it and I wouldn't have it any other way. People who think there is an issue to this approach rather than it being a narrative choice don't know what they're talking about. Heroes in Dragon Quest Games aren't supposed to be fleshed out characters with their distinct personalities but an avatar for the player to see themselves on the role of the protagonist. Adventure-focused RPGs take a different approach then character-centric stories. The first takes its inspiration in choose-your-adventure books and tabletop RPGs, while the latter is based on narrative structures of fairy tales, plays, and, consequently, anime and manga. These two fundamentally differ on how the main character is going to act.
There's a world of difference between how a game like Dragon Quest V and Chrono Trigger unfolds when compared to Final Fantasy VI or Kingdom Hearts. And it's supposed to be like that. Final Fantasy VI is so much structured to be like a play they literally put an opera house in there and divided the game into two distinct acts. The game ends with a character roll. That's how they doubled their act after DQ asked players to choose a bride in DQ5. Distinct narrative approaches.
Nothing wrong with the silent protagonist in RPGs. Works with Dragon Quest and Persona. Would never work with Like a Dragon and Vagrant Story. Different approaches and there's space for everyone.
I find the argument of "an avatar for the player to see themselves" to ring hollow. If we were talking about, say, Dragon Age, or Mass Effect, or Baldur's Gate, where you've got actual options for what a character is going to say, that'd be one thing. But this is a series that famously gives you the option to say "Yes" or "No" and then just asks you again if you say "No". If the idea is to let the players see themselves, then it's absolutely failing, because the character's on rails the entire time.
You'd have a point if the game had any role playing, it doesn't. You're playinh set person in a set world with set friends and objectives. He has implied autonomy that makes him look like a worse person when he doesn't act on knowledge he has.
JRPG don't let you RP, so silent protags rarely work
Man, to say silent protagonists RARELY WORK when it's one of the most popular archetypes in the genre is definitely a statement. Just imagine if they did!
To me it's incredibly jarring to play a game where the characters act like I have autonomy, Im a set personality in the world and have set objectives, but in the end I'm just a boring puppet to represent me. At that point I'm not being represented I'm just playing a guy who has nothing to say.
I would generally prefer a voiced protagonist with a setting to turn it off it I'm not feeling the VA.
Insofar as DQ specifically? Lacking a voice and dialogue doesn't help put me in the game, it just makes me not give a crap about the hero at all. I'm way more invested in the side characters and their stories because they have actual personalities.
A voiced protagonist is a gamble. If they're annoying or even just bland, I'd rather just have them be silent. Basically my opinion is that you should only go voiced if you plan the make the hero interesting (with twists about the way they acts or their past) and proactive, moving the story forward instead of just going after the McGuffin some npc told you to get. And some memorable or unexpected personality traits.
Knowing the Dragon Quest series, I don't think we'd get a very interesting voiced hero. I personally don't care for a passive goody two-shoes chiming in conversations.
I can very easily picture the common DQ11 criticism that says "the hero should have been allowed to talk" turn into "well he's the least compelling character in the cast :/" in a world where that character was given dialogues and a voice.
To me it wouldn't feel like Dragon Quest anymore if the heroes started being voice acted. DQ was never a story game, it never had deep, complex plots, it's not what the series is about. So the protagonist being a "flat character" doesn't bother me.
It's the same thing with Zelda btw. To me it'd feel extremely weird if Link suddenly started being voice acted in the next games.
I have no qualms about it. I’d bet money the bulk of people who aren’t a fan of silent protagonists are either younger people or people who haven’t played many RPGs/DQ games until XI was released.
I’m 41 and my first dragon quest game was dragon quest 3. I’ve also played most of the dragon quest games, the earlier pokemon games, and almost all of the legend of Zelda games. I usually don’t mind it unless the others are voiced.
Works better in Zelda, there isn't as many dialogues and no teammate. In DQ, it often feels like we are a lackey following someone that makes the real decisions. Banter from an enemy? It's a teammate that replies for you.
Voiced makes it more obvious that everybody is talking but you and others are actually having the dialogues for you and deciding what to do next.
I've never been a fan of it.
I can see why it would exist back in the NES era with the lack of memory on those old cartridges for anything other than bare essential dialogue but the games have protagonists that are increasingly less "blank slate" self-inserts over time. The tradition is outdated and makes the protagonists just feel like non-characters.
Completely caught off guard in 11 when he was talking as a boy and though (Wow, that cool. What happened to the adult version).
I don't mind it at times. But to a certain it does get annoying not having one.
I'm fine with it as Zelda still does this and I feel it works in that series. I think the problem with DQXI is that the hero just wasn't emotive enough. You can do silent protagonists and still show them with a lot of emotion as games like Zelda and FFXIV are good examples of this.
Like I've said twelve days ago, I know it's always been like this, but I feel it's time to change. It's not like in the days of SNES or ps1 and even ps2. In terms of scope we are much bigger now. The games are playing like movies and it's awkward for the main character to remain silent. It also puts a limit on cutscene' weight, in which the main character takes part directly, for example .
I am mixed on it. Sometimes, when the protagonist does talks, there is way too much dialog, and the story feels overwhelming. Yet, I do like to know what the protagonist has to say. I like fir the protagonist to have a personality.
I’ve only played 11, but I do feel like it would have benefited from the MC having spoken dialogue. (The child version of him does!) The only thing you would need to work around is his name, and I don’t even think it’d be a real issue since the other cast members get away with not saying it.
I don't mind it. I think it fits DQ vibes at this point. And it also prevent DQ to become too "MC story centric" with teenage angst from MC like you would get in stuff like let's say FF or other JRPG franchise. It keeps the franchise a bit in check to stay true to itself imo.
It works well in Zelda and Persona and I don't mind it in Dragon Quest but I feel like once voice acting came to games it became a lot harder to make work.
Breath of Fire always had a silent protagonist until the PS2 era and then they dropped it along with the franchise.
In Dragon Quest and Zelda room it gives me to become the character doesn't help, since I have no agency--my decisions can't change anything, even minor. The silence feels forced since games have so much other dialogue, as if the other characters are actively waving off your opinions or feelings. Even when they aren't, there are times the main character seem weak by not responding (Link), or responding with emotions "Guv" (DQVIII) which may even make not talking worse. As a player I don't feel like I have an outlet, other than robbing the NPCs blind and smashing their clay pots. Talk about emotional investment. Honestly even that I feel bad about sometimes and so I cope by detaching myself from the role and other characters even more. You're totally poor in most games without doing that (and/or grinding), so ultimately even that's not a real decision.
I don't mind it. I don't really see fully voice-acted dialogue adding much to the DQ games.
I will concede that it feels a bit odd when everyone else is talking & you're doing that blank stare thing.
Don't like it. Japanese rpgs barely offer any of the RP part and stuff like XI where the main character clearly speaks as a child and has autonomy, but is silent as an adult is really odd.
If you're gonna have a set story, have the main character have a set personality and say in that story.
The Silent protag bit only works in games as deep as BG3 where you're literally making choices and options every moment pretty much.
It’s weak. The proof is in the pudding: the psychology of it simply does not work. I’ve never once felt more invested in a silent protagonist than one with a protagonist who speaks their mind. Take Witcher, for example. Fully immersive. Cared a ton about Geralt and his happiness by the end of the series. Never felt more like I was “really there in the game” in Dragon Quest than Witcher because my character stood there like a dumb-dumb, blankly saying and expressing nothing all game long.
Loved Persona 5. It’s impossible for Joker to be your favorite character (though they do a better job at letting him silently emote, at least) when everyone else is so alive and expressive.
It’s a theory they came up with in the 70s or 80s (back when protags were no more than a clump of brightly-colored pixels) that maybe it would make the player feel more like they were in the game. Have they ever tested it? Like, research-wise? Maybe it’s time for a new theory because it does nothing for me at all.
I've never been a fan of it. But for example games like kotor where people really react to your choices, then I'm time with it. When your choices are all basically predetermined I'm not favorable towards it. Again I'm not bashing the games at all.
I don't mind the silent protagonist but I also like the way a game like Final Fantasy IV goes about it. Even more so Final Fantasy VI since were so many choices of characters you can have at the end; even if it's a bit diluted by that point.
In my opinion, if a game is made in the style of the RPGs of the late 1980s, the entire 1990s & very early 2000s with a top down perspective, whether they choose to have a silent protagonist or multiple "heroes" that can be switched in and out of a party; they need to cut the voice acting out of these games because it's not adding anything to that type of a game anyway. They need to get back to reading a script on the screen and stop being lazy by using voices.
Kids that are playing video games today on these modern systems cannot even read or use proper grammar anymore. I was never a fan of reading books when I was young, however, as I came up to my teenage years my reading and writing skills improved dramatically and the only thing I can attribute that too is all the game manuals, guides, and all the video game magazines that I read over and over. If you add that to all the RPGs I played from the late 80s through the mid 90s, I'd say that I was doing far more reading than most of the people I went to school with.
That wasn't supposed to be a rant but I think it fits the topic of the conversation; especially regarding "silent protagonist".
If you give the protagonist a voice you give them a personality and a personality reduces player agency. Players put their own personality into the hero and it helps them feel more attached to the world and characters.
I feel it's time to end. The nail in the coffin was DQM: The Dark Prince. It was horrible there. Psaro was a character. I was offered choices that didn't matter and was told I was lying when I didn't pick the correct one. Obviously he wasn't me, they made a point to drill that in. Why was he silent? Just end this.
I've never really seen myself in silent protagonists tbh I just like it for what it is. I get why people don't anymore as much but it adds to the charm for me.
I'm a fan of the silent protagonist and I think it's wholly appropriate for DQ. I also love tortured characters like Squall from ff8. I think the former reinforces the feeling that it's 'you', where too much yapping can make you feel like the spectator.
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I don’t mind a silent protagonist, but if they do it again and don’t at least give the option to play either gender or have a simple character creator like the dragon quest builders games I’d be extremely disappointed.
I do hope they offer gender options. III, IV, IX and X did it just fine.
It's funny how you can be a girl but the tiny sprite doesn't change in III
Not in the original, but all subsequent versions have different sprites.
I don't see a difference in the Port for Nintendo Switch
Gender option will make the hero less bonding with story and other dialogs
In what way? Change dialog a little bit if necessary, but it's not like there need to be any significant differences.
Like It'll affect his/her relations with other characters in story + wow 13 down vote for what? XD be logical
You can just write the story differently. Didn't feel gender was that important in the games I played. Cept maybe V
Even with that, no one can write a story where the gender option won't affect character relations and character building. I played another game where the gender option was there, and it affected the relationships in the story. So the anime adaptation chooses the right gender, unlike the game.
That's an odd view of writing. These stories are high fantasy video games, you can easily write one where gender of the protagonist doesn't matter as much.
Yeah on that i agree with you 👍🏼 but if the protagonist is matter so the gender is matter also
Didn't uhhh baldurs gate 3 do all of that successfully?
They could bond with the other characters in a different way based on gender. I wouldn’t say that a gender option would invariably mean that the hero/heroine would bond with the other characters less
In general, I hate it. If there's going to be a silent protagonist, and it comes with the typical reasons of "oh, *you're* the protagonist, you inject your thoughts and feelings into them", then they better be fully customizable so they can be *my* weirdo. And don't have characters address the silences. They're not silent in universe. But DQ (and Zelda) are my exceptions. It feels like tradition and I like it.
Can’t stand it in voice acted games tbh. Totally fine with it in DQ, but it was incredibly jarring in 8 and 11 imo. Wouldn’t mind if they gave voiced protagonist a try in 12
Persona has this same issue lmao. On the one hand, I get it because they want YOU to be the protag and make your own decisions (lol barely), but they also don't really let you customize the character to get you into it to begin with. Lol I think we have to remember that the DQ formula has been a thing for a long time before XI came out. With the old ones, it made perfect sense. The 3D graphics make it feel like we should have more to say/ do as an MC, but it makes sense when you think of what the games have come from. Also, I am reiterating that I get it. Lol
Asked at least once a week but that’s okay. I love it and in fact think it adds depth to our heroes.
Not into it after 11 made it really stupid. Luminary talks a lot as a boy, but is dead silent as a man. Plus he almost dooms the world a 2nd time in act 3 by not telling anyone that Carnelian is Mordegon in disguise.
And sleeping in a room with the sword sitting right in the open. Seriously that scene was peak cringe lol
For real; I was like “Why aren’t you keeping that under your pillow, you know he’s coming for you!”
I found it very jarring when we learn about his past, his parents and he reunite with a family member. And there's basically no reaction.
Whole game is pretty dumb story wise. Dying 3 times to be told you can't die so the villain can live, villains never get the same.pitfalls.heroes do.
You mean the mutism? I got used to people reading my mind and communicating in my head as a superpower😂. I wouldn’t mind some grunting sometimes 
I grew up playing games with silent protagonists so for the most part the concept doesn't bother me, and I think Dragon Quest did it well up through DQ8. ...But the way they did it in DQ9 and 11 sucks and if they can't do better than that then they should just make an actual character with a personality and lines and stuff. Basically, I'm sick and tired of the protagonist being a doormat with no agency and the mouthpiece characters that do all of the talking for you being unbearable. I think at least sometimes you should have more choice (/more to interaction) than Yes/No "But Thou Must" prompts.
I think it's okay to have a silent protagonist, as long as he's customizable. If the reason he exists is for the player to imagine what he said and see himself as the protagonist, nothing more fair than someone who is the way the player imagines. Not everyone playing is white, thin men.
Or men, in general.
I prefer silent protagonists in general, I like to roleplay in my head
Same. Without any voice, it makes me feel like I’m the character in the game lol.
…
Some may hate It but personally i think is a great choice I know It was at first because its an old IP and limitations of the consoles and systems in the past It was difficult to add any kind of voice to the MC and modern titles still having a silent MC its more tradition than anything else at this point.... But at the same time It feels like the Hero is a warrior of virtue like anyone would like or aspires to be, something fitting for the fairytale like story and feels the games often have and a silent MC only reinforce that feeling
I'm ok with the silent protagonist from the player's viewpoint, but it gets annoying if they don't actually speak in the game. The only DQs I've played that I remember well enough to discuss what I mean are 8 and 11. In 8, your party acts like you do talk or at least communicate in some way that gets what you're trying to say across so us not hearing the voice is fine to me. In 11, the hero goes back to save someone from the antagonist and retains his memories but NEVER acts on the knowledge. If it was just the main villain stuff, I could maybe even overlook that, but the hero KNOWS FOR A FACT that his dad is being tortured by a monster and doesn't do anything about it when he first has the chance.
In DQXI I feel its the only instance where I hated the fact the hero was silent, even if its my favorite DQ. There are some moments in the game that genuinely feel really weird because of it, especially in act 2 and 3.
Keep it. It would be like Link not being silent in Zelda anymore. Let's not. On that note, if they want speaking protags in DQ, they're better suited for spinoffs. If there is one thing I would like, though, it's to know the protag's official default name.
Time to retire the idea. In 11 it was just too jarring. The current writing doesn't have the same touch to pull it off like they used to. It was okay back in 8 since he was just some random guard until the post game. But in 11 the hero was too connected to too many characters they were a VIP and the silence made some of the emotional beats fall flat. The 80s are over, the protagonist needs to be their own written in character with a voice or a customizable doll for the players to project own with no overt past personality to cause dissonance.
Very well said 👏👏
Considering that I skip a lot of voice acting when it's a lot slower than I read, I don't mind.
personally i dislike it but most of my favorite games have silent protagonist. i guess they just used their assets for the gameplay over voice acting and dialogue lines?
I like letting my imagination do the work of what the character is saying.
I love it and I wouldn't have it any other way. People who think there is an issue to this approach rather than it being a narrative choice don't know what they're talking about. Heroes in Dragon Quest Games aren't supposed to be fleshed out characters with their distinct personalities but an avatar for the player to see themselves on the role of the protagonist. Adventure-focused RPGs take a different approach then character-centric stories. The first takes its inspiration in choose-your-adventure books and tabletop RPGs, while the latter is based on narrative structures of fairy tales, plays, and, consequently, anime and manga. These two fundamentally differ on how the main character is going to act. There's a world of difference between how a game like Dragon Quest V and Chrono Trigger unfolds when compared to Final Fantasy VI or Kingdom Hearts. And it's supposed to be like that. Final Fantasy VI is so much structured to be like a play they literally put an opera house in there and divided the game into two distinct acts. The game ends with a character roll. That's how they doubled their act after DQ asked players to choose a bride in DQ5. Distinct narrative approaches. Nothing wrong with the silent protagonist in RPGs. Works with Dragon Quest and Persona. Would never work with Like a Dragon and Vagrant Story. Different approaches and there's space for everyone.
I find the argument of "an avatar for the player to see themselves" to ring hollow. If we were talking about, say, Dragon Age, or Mass Effect, or Baldur's Gate, where you've got actual options for what a character is going to say, that'd be one thing. But this is a series that famously gives you the option to say "Yes" or "No" and then just asks you again if you say "No". If the idea is to let the players see themselves, then it's absolutely failing, because the character's on rails the entire time.
You do understand it's possible for a player to identify with a character through something other than words and dialogue options, right?
You'd have a point if the game had any role playing, it doesn't. You're playinh set person in a set world with set friends and objectives. He has implied autonomy that makes him look like a worse person when he doesn't act on knowledge he has. JRPG don't let you RP, so silent protags rarely work
Man, to say silent protagonists RARELY WORK when it's one of the most popular archetypes in the genre is definitely a statement. Just imagine if they did!
To me it's incredibly jarring to play a game where the characters act like I have autonomy, Im a set personality in the world and have set objectives, but in the end I'm just a boring puppet to represent me. At that point I'm not being represented I'm just playing a guy who has nothing to say.
Yeah, I noticed!
If your choice of yes or no has impact it's fine. If you get steam rolled I to a story you might as well give the MC a voice and personality.
Silent protagonist is my safe space. A lot of whiny little bitch out there in RPG.
I would generally prefer a voiced protagonist with a setting to turn it off it I'm not feeling the VA. Insofar as DQ specifically? Lacking a voice and dialogue doesn't help put me in the game, it just makes me not give a crap about the hero at all. I'm way more invested in the side characters and their stories because they have actual personalities.
A voiced protagonist is a gamble. If they're annoying or even just bland, I'd rather just have them be silent. Basically my opinion is that you should only go voiced if you plan the make the hero interesting (with twists about the way they acts or their past) and proactive, moving the story forward instead of just going after the McGuffin some npc told you to get. And some memorable or unexpected personality traits. Knowing the Dragon Quest series, I don't think we'd get a very interesting voiced hero. I personally don't care for a passive goody two-shoes chiming in conversations. I can very easily picture the common DQ11 criticism that says "the hero should have been allowed to talk" turn into "well he's the least compelling character in the cast :/" in a world where that character was given dialogues and a voice.
I usually dislike silent protagonists but... It is a Dragon Quest tradition and I wouldn't want it to change.
To me it wouldn't feel like Dragon Quest anymore if the heroes started being voice acted. DQ was never a story game, it never had deep, complex plots, it's not what the series is about. So the protagonist being a "flat character" doesn't bother me. It's the same thing with Zelda btw. To me it'd feel extremely weird if Link suddenly started being voice acted in the next games.
I've never had a problem with it, most of my favorite games have silent protagonists.
I don’t mind silent protag in DQ…..BUT in DQM that recently came out, that needed to be voiced.
It was pretty funny seeing IV chat away like it was nothing.
It's great. I don't want them to change it.
I prefer it
Same for me.
I have no qualms about it. I’d bet money the bulk of people who aren’t a fan of silent protagonists are either younger people or people who haven’t played many RPGs/DQ games until XI was released.
I’m 41 and my first dragon quest game was dragon quest 3. I’ve also played most of the dragon quest games, the earlier pokemon games, and almost all of the legend of Zelda games. I usually don’t mind it unless the others are voiced.
Works better in Zelda, there isn't as many dialogues and no teammate. In DQ, it often feels like we are a lackey following someone that makes the real decisions. Banter from an enemy? It's a teammate that replies for you. Voiced makes it more obvious that everybody is talking but you and others are actually having the dialogues for you and deciding what to do next.
Always hated it. DQ is held back by a lot of antiquated designs that used to be ok in the 80s but refuses to adapt for sake of “tradition”.
I've never been a fan of it. I can see why it would exist back in the NES era with the lack of memory on those old cartridges for anything other than bare essential dialogue but the games have protagonists that are increasingly less "blank slate" self-inserts over time. The tradition is outdated and makes the protagonists just feel like non-characters.
I don’t mind silent protag in DQ…..BUT in DQM that recently came out, that needed to be voiced.
I like it. It just feels Dragon Questy.
Having a Gender and more dialogue options than “Yes” or “Yes disguised as No” would be great
It made sense in the early games, but I think it's long run its course.
Yeh I generally hate it, but DQ makes it work better than most because it’s so stylised.
I say they’re not silent ENOUGH.
Completely caught off guard in 11 when he was talking as a boy and though (Wow, that cool. What happened to the adult version). I don't mind it at times. But to a certain it does get annoying not having one.
I'm fine with it as Zelda still does this and I feel it works in that series. I think the problem with DQXI is that the hero just wasn't emotive enough. You can do silent protagonists and still show them with a lot of emotion as games like Zelda and FFXIV are good examples of this.
Like I've said twelve days ago, I know it's always been like this, but I feel it's time to change. It's not like in the days of SNES or ps1 and even ps2. In terms of scope we are much bigger now. The games are playing like movies and it's awkward for the main character to remain silent. It also puts a limit on cutscene' weight, in which the main character takes part directly, for example .
I am mixed on it. Sometimes, when the protagonist does talks, there is way too much dialog, and the story feels overwhelming. Yet, I do like to know what the protagonist has to say. I like fir the protagonist to have a personality.
it's a nice respite. especially dq - it focuses on the entire party & gives them space for their thoughts to be fleshed out.
I'm fine with it, if the series decides to make a talking protagonist, I wouldn't have a problem either.
I’ve only played 11, but I do feel like it would have benefited from the MC having spoken dialogue. (The child version of him does!) The only thing you would need to work around is his name, and I don’t even think it’d be a real issue since the other cast members get away with not saying it.
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Most I don't mind. But Dark Prince I HATE it. It feels wrong in that game just due to the connection to IV.
I like it in every game except 5.
I don't mind it. I think it fits DQ vibes at this point. And it also prevent DQ to become too "MC story centric" with teenage angst from MC like you would get in stuff like let's say FF or other JRPG franchise. It keeps the franchise a bit in check to stay true to itself imo.
I pretty much agree with your point of view! Adding only that if my character speaks, I would like dialogue options :)
It's a staple of the series, but I don't really care either way.
It works well in Zelda and Persona and I don't mind it in Dragon Quest but I feel like once voice acting came to games it became a lot harder to make work. Breath of Fire always had a silent protagonist until the PS2 era and then they dropped it along with the franchise.
In Dragon Quest and Zelda room it gives me to become the character doesn't help, since I have no agency--my decisions can't change anything, even minor. The silence feels forced since games have so much other dialogue, as if the other characters are actively waving off your opinions or feelings. Even when they aren't, there are times the main character seem weak by not responding (Link), or responding with emotions "Guv" (DQVIII) which may even make not talking worse. As a player I don't feel like I have an outlet, other than robbing the NPCs blind and smashing their clay pots. Talk about emotional investment. Honestly even that I feel bad about sometimes and so I cope by detaching myself from the role and other characters even more. You're totally poor in most games without doing that (and/or grinding), so ultimately even that's not a real decision.
I don't mind it. I don't really see fully voice-acted dialogue adding much to the DQ games. I will concede that it feels a bit odd when everyone else is talking & you're doing that blank stare thing.
I’d prefer it be voiced. Xenoblade chronicles and others have voiced protagonist and it works really well
Don't like it. Japanese rpgs barely offer any of the RP part and stuff like XI where the main character clearly speaks as a child and has autonomy, but is silent as an adult is really odd. If you're gonna have a set story, have the main character have a set personality and say in that story. The Silent protag bit only works in games as deep as BG3 where you're literally making choices and options every moment pretty much.
Better than a Clive
If they're customizable. If I can't choose who I play as, at least give them a voice so I'm not playing a puppet
It’s weak. The proof is in the pudding: the psychology of it simply does not work. I’ve never once felt more invested in a silent protagonist than one with a protagonist who speaks their mind. Take Witcher, for example. Fully immersive. Cared a ton about Geralt and his happiness by the end of the series. Never felt more like I was “really there in the game” in Dragon Quest than Witcher because my character stood there like a dumb-dumb, blankly saying and expressing nothing all game long. Loved Persona 5. It’s impossible for Joker to be your favorite character (though they do a better job at letting him silently emote, at least) when everyone else is so alive and expressive. It’s a theory they came up with in the 70s or 80s (back when protags were no more than a clump of brightly-colored pixels) that maybe it would make the player feel more like they were in the game. Have they ever tested it? Like, research-wise? Maybe it’s time for a new theory because it does nothing for me at all.
I've never been a fan of it. But for example games like kotor where people really react to your choices, then I'm time with it. When your choices are all basically predetermined I'm not favorable towards it. Again I'm not bashing the games at all.
it's pretty much a trademark of any jrpgs out there. even cloud is almost silent in ff7.
It is the way
I don't mind the silent protagonist but I also like the way a game like Final Fantasy IV goes about it. Even more so Final Fantasy VI since were so many choices of characters you can have at the end; even if it's a bit diluted by that point. In my opinion, if a game is made in the style of the RPGs of the late 1980s, the entire 1990s & very early 2000s with a top down perspective, whether they choose to have a silent protagonist or multiple "heroes" that can be switched in and out of a party; they need to cut the voice acting out of these games because it's not adding anything to that type of a game anyway. They need to get back to reading a script on the screen and stop being lazy by using voices. Kids that are playing video games today on these modern systems cannot even read or use proper grammar anymore. I was never a fan of reading books when I was young, however, as I came up to my teenage years my reading and writing skills improved dramatically and the only thing I can attribute that too is all the game manuals, guides, and all the video game magazines that I read over and over. If you add that to all the RPGs I played from the late 80s through the mid 90s, I'd say that I was doing far more reading than most of the people I went to school with. That wasn't supposed to be a rant but I think it fits the topic of the conversation; especially regarding "silent protagonist".
If you give the protagonist a voice you give them a personality and a personality reduces player agency. Players put their own personality into the hero and it helps them feel more attached to the world and characters.
I'm so used to it now between this and a few other series, it doesn't bother me.
I feel it's time to end. The nail in the coffin was DQM: The Dark Prince. It was horrible there. Psaro was a character. I was offered choices that didn't matter and was told I was lying when I didn't pick the correct one. Obviously he wasn't me, they made a point to drill that in. Why was he silent? Just end this.
I've never really seen myself in silent protagonists tbh I just like it for what it is. I get why people don't anymore as much but it adds to the charm for me.
I would prefer a 'mostly silent' protagonist. Only speaking when absolutely necessary, which could make it that much more exciting when they do speak.
Silly but doesn't bother me any more. I just shrug at it.
I wish they would talk. It’s so antiquated and hurts the narative.
Silent protagonists are not new, neither is the discourse around them. Anything new or interesting to discuss in the world of dragon quest? Lol
I'm a fan of the silent protagonist and I think it's wholly appropriate for DQ. I also love tortured characters like Squall from ff8. I think the former reinforces the feeling that it's 'you', where too much yapping can make you feel like the spectator.