Editor's note: I certainly agree with Travis that a case can be made for the silent protagonist. I like feeling that I am personally involved in the game and not just "along for the ride." Sure, I've experienced some great stories in games, but developers have a tricky balance to strike in order to tell a story well enough without giving the player a sense of detachment from the characters. What do you think? -Jay
Storytelling in games has come a long way. In fact, many reviews now include consideration of the story as part of their overall scores. I recently played through Final Fantasy 13 and, after finishing it, I just didn't get the same emotional reaction from the story like I used to. Instead, I'm left with a melancholic nostalgia for the good ol' days.
As I see it, FF13 was a character piece; much of the story focused on fleshing out the characters and watching them evolve and overcome their own weaknesses. For one character, this overcoming of personal weakness was even punctuated by a battle against an Eidolon.
The problem you run into when so much time is spent on character development is an increased risk of detachment. These characters have their own problems and own identities and, as they become more defined, they become more separate from the person controlling them. So, in order to have well-defined characters that a player can also attach to and empathize with, you must have some strong storytelling. I think FF13 falls short of this mark.
To compensate for the weaknesses in the story, FF13 uses a shotgun-like method -- here's a bunch of characters and hopefully one of them hits the mark enough that you can identify with him. My problem with this method is if I don't care about these characters, I'm not motivated to play as them. For example, I never played as Snow unless forced.
You can call me jaded, or try and argue the merits of FF13's story, but in the end I longed for a hero that just kept his mouth shut and got business done. Chrono Trigger stays close to my heart, despite the fact that its story is not as complex nor is its character development as deep as some newer titles. You might attribute my feelings to nostalgia, but having a mostly silent hero can have strong effect on the experience that you have while playing a game.
Crono is a spiky-haired, katana-wielding, somewhat generic anime-looking hero. He is quite shallow as a character -- he can emote and not much else -- but, in gaming, that's not necessarily a bad thing. This blank character allows you to easily project yourself into the story. Who is Crono, if not your vehicle to progress through the story? Since Crono doesn't say much, we can judge his character by his actions or, more specifically, your actions.
You can even change his name if you so desire. This helps you lose the idea of Crono as the character and you begin to feel like he is more of an extension of your own will. Then the supporting cast of characters talks to you and not to each other as if you're some voyeuristic pervert peeking into their heroic awesomeness. You become invested in the plight of Chrono Trigger's world.
So, when you're pitted against Lavos for the first time, you don't wonder why you make a stand, you don't wonder about your motivation, and you fight even though it causes your death. You're the hero, and you're there to save the world. You shut up and get the job done.
Now don't get me wrong, I did enjoy FF13 (I thought the battle system compensated for the story) and I think that rich, cinematic games still have a place on the shelves. I just think a "man of few words" hero can still can have an impact even on modern-day gamers.
Travis, this is why I like games like Fallout 3 and Oblivion. I like feeling like I am in control of what happens and not just giving commands to a bunch of people I have no connection to. Sometimes it's better to make your own story.
Really interesting thoughts. I get easily detached from characters in story based games because of the disparity between the character you play and the one you watch in a cutscene. The personalities of characters are often completely removed from gameplay. While no one would call it the pinnacle of game storytelling, I like to use RE4 as an example of this. Leon is completely silent during gameplay so like you say it's easy to project into the story. In cutscenes he becomes a singularly defined character whose motivations we might not be interested in or agree with OR whose cutscene-actions might conflict with the idea of him we've developed during gameplay.
Basically it's hard to sell a story when a character is seen one way during gameplay and another in cutscenes.
The silent hero is disappearing. Today's console players want main characters that speak -- just look at how some complained about this in Dragon Age. This infects all aspects of RPG development, and it's very sad. I don't need it; I don't want it. As a longtime PC RPG player, I'm getting very weary of the cinematic production needs of console development ruining my favorite genre of games.
This is why I think more RPGs should take inspiration from how Mass Effect handles it's protagonist because it's a nice balance between the "silent hero" and the "chatty hero". With the Mass Effect style, you do have control over your characters actions and personality but the character also has it's own voice and you don't know what exactly it is going to say. This way you do create a character that is an extension of yourself while not having a character who has no individuality.
Coincidentally, I just got around to finishing Half-Life 2 Episode 2 last night. After which I had a pretty long discussion about the role of the "silent protagonist" with a friend of mine. And while I'm in favor of the stoic, man of few words type, I always seem to find myself almost completely detached from a character who doesn't speak at all. Even Gordon Freeman, far-and-away the greatest character I've come across in said perspective, seemed to ring kind of hollow for me.
The comparison that worked the best for me was between Master Chief from the first 3 Halo games and the "Rookie" from Halo 3: ODST. I felt more immersed in the game playing Halo 3 as a 7' tall 1000 lb behemoth than I did someone who was supposed to be more human and thus easier for me to relate to in ODST. I'd rather take control of a character who seems to exist beyond my intervention than try to create one through my own actions in most games.
In regard to Final Fantasy 13, I just thought two thirds of the characters were annoying.
Actually, I find silent heroes to be annoying. Everyone in the world talks to him/her/it, but he/she/it says absolutely nothing back. That's more jarring to me than... I don't know, a mouse trap going off on my toe while I'm playing. Try playing Persona 4 where everyone around you sees you as this paragon of courage and leadership when all you ever did was push a bunch of buttons and accidentally made the right choices to make everyone happy. Worst yet, try watching some of the animated cutscenes where various characters poured out their hearts at you and all you did was nod and stare at them blankly without screaming at the top of your lungs "SAY SOMETHING!" Then there's Gordon Freeman who everybody talks to and somehow nobody ever wonders why he never says a word. Everyone relies on him to do what they want him to do, but he himself never has a say in anything. The way I see it, games with silent protagonist isn't about saving the world. It's about doing what everyone else tells you to do, and if that happens to involve saving the world, then so be it.
At least it makes some sense in games where you legitimately do have a mind of your own. Games like Oblivion and Fallout 3 has you making the choices and everyone in the world reacting to those choices. The choices you make represents your voice in the game. That's why it doesn't work all that well in linear games like Half-Life 2 or Zelda or Chrono Trigger or the Persona series. You're basically just a slave to the whims of others in the game. I thought we play games to get away from that and not be bossed around by a bunch of digital characters.
With characters that talk, Master Chief not included, and show some level of personality, at least you get the sense that this person that you're playing as knows what he/she/it is doing. You get the sense of what their motivations are for going along on this journey that they're undertaking.
As for this whole business of putting yourself into your in-game avatar, who exactly wants to be a mute simpleton who is compelled to do exactly what everyone around them tells them to do? I'd rather be Vanille. At least she has a mind of her own.
@Karli Do you find silent heroes to be more annoying because you play console games, which have given heroes voices more than PC games (especially RPGs) over the years?
@Karli- I fully agree that the pendulum can swing the other way with silent protagonists and understand why many people find their silence jarring. But as geeky as it sounds, a character that is fully silent lets me imagine what I would say when presented with such situation like the example you give of a character pouring out their feeling. And games like Fallout 3 or Dragon Age or Oblivion provide you with options to say in various situations allowing you to feel more involved in the story but eliminates some abstraction and room for imagination. But like your feelings about a silent protagonists, I have a similar jarring reaction to the fully defined characters of Final Fantasy 13. You mention Vanille, now I have a couple of friends who grew a strong attachment to her. However as an earlier comment suggests, I just found her kind of annoying, and that’s a risk you take when fully fleshing out a character. Yes she does have a mind of her own, but she's still a bubbly, scantily clad girl with a high-pitched voice and a semi-Australian accent. She was what she was, and the game designers made a definitive leap in creating her, but I didn't much care for her because it was hard for me to put myself in her shoes. I think what I’m getting at with the article is that you take a major risk when creating well-defined characters because you have very specific characters for players form attachments. I just think a little abstraction can go a long way and its up to the player to determine the amount of abstraction they are comfortable accepting as far as story and characters are concerned.
@Eli- I agree that it's good to be a bad-ass, and a character like Master Chief allowed for a definitive sense immersion while the “Rookie” kind of lacked that since you didn’t really feel like part of the greater struggle of the Halo world. But even with Master Chief, even though he’s voiced, you still have those gray areas for the players to establish an attachment, this why I think you never see Master Chief outside of his armor, there’s still a bit of mystery of what’s under the armor leaving you room put yourself in the character of Master Chief.
I'm all for the silent protagonist. Once you add voice-acting into mix, a whole new dimension to the characters opens up. Yes, the characters become more human, but the player becomes aware of the human who is doing the voice acting as well. If it is a job well done, then fantastic; if the voice acting is sub-par, then that is a problem.
I like Link in the Legend of Zelda becomes he doesn't speak. I never want him to have a voice actor either. The silent protagonist leaves open imagination. They become an enigma. That's not something I want ruined. With that said, Uncharted 2's voice acting was phenomenal! It is an excellent example of voice acting done right.
@Eli Yes, I agree with you on Final Fantasy. Two-thirds of the protagonist are annoying, even long after the game should end.