Main character: Voiced or non-voiced?

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Do you want a voiced main protagonist ?


  • Total voters
    39

iCake

Forum veteran
Main character: Voiced or non-voiced?

Hello there!

Not sure if it was discussed before, most likely it was, but what the hell! :) I've had this on mind for about a week now, so I really need to fire it away now, lest I go crazy.

A little backstory, not long ago I tried to play Fallout 4 with a mod that gives you full lines of what your character can say instead of stupid: yes, no, info, sarcasm "paraphrases". Then I immediately wanted to have the protagonist silent. It's not only that why the hell should I listen to him if I already know what he is about to say, but also that the voice acting often seemed terribly inconsistent with what I had in mind reading the line. This is something that really strikes at you... "hey, you're not involved in this!".

Anyway, that's not when this whole thing started to eat away at me. I quickly trashed Fallout 4 and decided to play VTM bloodlines for the first time ever. Might I say this game won me over in a heartbeat and a very big part of that was the dialogue system that the game has. Yes, the PC is not voiced, but I actually think it's the strength of it. not its weakness. There is no longer this discrepancy between how you imagined it and how it actually plays out, that in turn makes it a way more immersive experience. This is when my mind began to wonder if voiced main characters are actually a good thing. I started to go through all of my favorite RPGs and quickly realized that most of them had silent actors in them. Moreover, the only voiced MC game that was deprived of the inconsitency I'm talking about is the Witcher 3. But, hell, Geralt is just that kind of guy that doesn't express much emotion so this is where it allows to be more in tune to player wishes in how he sounds to your expectations. Even more, another advantage of silent PCs is that in your imagination they can sound whatever you like them to sound. Want them to be like Chuck Norris kind of guy? No problem! Want them to be on the other end of the spectrum... Justine Bieber like! Yes, you can! As long as your imagination allows it. And on and on it goes.

So there it comes. I think I'd like it way more if Cyberpunk had a non-voiced playable character. But what do you guys think?
 
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Ugh its a toughie when it comes to this topic.

First of all personally, I'm all for a voiced protagonist.

That said though as long as he or shes story isn't like FO4s where either you're a soldier or a lawyer aka forcing them into a fixed role.

Usually though when it comes to a voiced protagonist in RPGs they're usually have lesser choices in dialogue and decisions.

Dragon Age Origins and VTMB are great examples of making your own character without the need for a voice, sure I'm not hearing what the character is saying but I have so many choices on what to say it doesn't matter.

I would say do non-voiced cause it not only saves money for CDPR but we'll be able to have more choices in dialogue.
 
I think we had this conversation before. Definitely voiced protagonist. I would be shocked if its gonna be silent a this point. Yes, number of choices with silent protagonist is usually higher, however most of them are cosmetic anyway even in a game like Bloodlines. I would prefer a character with a lot more defined personality where we might have a lesser choice but at least those would count for something. Besides silent protagonist limits you heavily in the way you can present story (lack of cinematics, limited presenation of dialog, )
 

iCake

Forum veteran
I think we had this conversation before. Definitely voiced protagonist. I would be shocked if its gonna be silent a this point. Yes, number of choices with silent protagonist is usually higher, however most of them are cosmetic anyway even in a game like Bloodlines. I would prefer a character with a lot more defined personality where we might have a lesser choice but at least those would count for something. Besides silent protagonist limits you heavily in the way you can present story (lack of cinematics, limited presenation of dialog, )

I hear you. However, I think that a protagonist with a defined personality actually hurts role-playing as the most fun in an RPG goes with defining this personality yourself and for yourself and that actually adds a lot of replay value at that. However, if you have an RPG with a pre-set character, like the Witcher, Mass Effect, then your point can be dubbed valid. As for the cutscenes... I don't see much problem there... The only thing gone from cutscenes at that point would be seeing your character saying things, other than that you're good.
 
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I'm more in line with iCake on this one. A silent and less defined character would be preferable. More player agency, more ways to express different characteristics for different kinds of characters. Rather than the PC always being that gruff sounding and predefined "John/Jane the hero of this story". Aaand, also with less cuscenes and other movie-like elements.

A silent playerdefined character would be a better fit with the idea of a Cyberpunk-game that hails for it's PnP roots anyway.
 
I'm more in line with iCake on this one. A silent and less defined character would be preferable. More player agency, more ways to express different characteristics for different kinds of characters. Rather than the PC always being that gruff sounding and predefined "John/Jane the hero of this story". Aaand, also with less cuscenes and other movie-like elements.

A silent playerdefined character would be a better fit with the idea of a Cyberpunk-game that hails for it's PnP roots anyway.

Have you ever played a pnp session as a silent protagonist? :)
 
Have you ever played a pnp session as a silent protagonist?

I have, actually. There was a character once that was completely mute and had to try and get his point across with signlanguage (that was more fun that it might sound like :D ). And most usually the separation between me (and my voice) and what ever character I played happened via "indirect" dialog - to the GM: "I'll ask him where he last saw that girl", "I'll try to persuade him", "I'll tell him to fuck off", etc - as in, me not speaking directly as the character but instead telling what he says. ;)
 
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It's the same question as with First -person or Third-person!

In TES, a silent protagonist is absolutely okay, because the game want's us players to become the Hero! Same as in Zelda "Link"...if you know what i mean.

But Deus Ex or The Witcher for example have a premade Character/Hero, so there it is okay if he has a Voice, because the game want's to tell a Story to us players! We just experience this story trough the eyes of that special Character!

But for Cyberpunk, i would probably prefer a Voiced Character, and a premade Character like in the witcher.
 
However, I think that a protagonist with a defined personality actually hurts role-playing as the most fun in an RPG goes with defining this personality yourself and for yourself and that actually adds a lot of replay value at that.

When it comes to dialogue options( New Vegas), absolutely...but take a look at Mankind Divided and how many possibilities you have in completing your missions. And honestly, it's more engaging than Barter/Intimidate/etc options popping up in conversations based on your skill level.
This I want to see CDPR take some serious lessons from...writing/characters/presentation/choices/worldbuilding in Witcher sidequests were stellar, but their structure and gameplay mechanics were extremely simple and straightforward.
Perhaps even player height/weight can be taken into account( in Dogma smaller characters could enter passage ways that others could not).
Voiced all the way...great voice actor can hugely elevate even a plain character ( Red Dead Redemption).
 

227

Forum veteran
Does anyone listen to their own voice when speaking, or do we all kind of tune it out? Looking back, I think I've actually become more involved in games with silent protagonists because that lets me choose dialogue for myself instead of choosing on behalf of some foreign voice that isn't me or someone I personally created. Which is fine when there's a fixed protagonist, obviously. If this game has a fixed protagonist, then voice away. If we make our own characters, though, silent is the only way to go. More options, less "why does my created character sound like Nolan North when I pictured him sounding more like a drunk Gilbert Gottfried?"

OR.

Start with silent, but release the script shortly after release and make it possible to record and share our own dialogue. We could have voice mods of all stripes and players could upload theirs so that other players can use them. That way CDPR has the flexibility to add in lots of dialogue options, the trollolol elements of the internet will rise up to give the game even more popularity, and those who need or want voices can add them in through a mod.
 
I definitely, 100% want voiced. I need to be able to empathise with my protagonists, and I find that really difficult when they don't express emotions in tone of voice, or when your eyes are focussed on subtitles and dialogue choices rather than body language and facial expression. It's one thing to have a blank slate, a cipher as a protagonist at the start of the game, but during? No.

And imagining the tone of voice in your head is meaningless if the person you're speaking to can't hear you.

And having lots of dialogue options? Why, unless they actually make a difference? If the only impact is on whether some stat goes +1 or -1, then I'd prefer them not to bother. I'd prefer three meaningful dialogue choices that actually impact on the future to six that only matter if you're consulting some game guide to see which one makes you a nicer person.

So yes, they can sacrifice dialogue choices, language choices, voice choices, ANYTHING. Just give me a voiced protagonist.
 
I did. The dialogue options were pretty limited.

lmfao... there's plenty of dialogue.

Geralt is filled with dialogue choices and dialogue itself. The only problem with a voiced protagonist is mods, unless you can contact the original voice actor...
 
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