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[batlin]

FIRST, I do not believe either is bad. Both can be done right and both can be done wrong. However, whether either is done correctly relies entirely on the protagonist him/herself. Specifically, whether his/her personality is constant or whether his/her personality is supposed to reflect the players'.

(I'm going to refer to protagonists as "he" from now on because being gender-neutral is annoying.)

For example, Shepard vs. the Warden.

Shepard is a fleshed-out character with a relatively contant demeanor. No matter what dialogue options you choose, Shepard is still Shepard, and you can believe the guy who just punched out a journalist is the same guy who would later joke around with Garrus. It's very clear the voice actors had a solid character in mind when they read Shepard's lines. This is obviously not the case for the Warden, because the Warden has no set personality or demeanor because the player gets to choose what they are.

Don't get me wrong, you don't have absolute control over how the Warden is and we likely never will have the amount of control over a video game character as we would a pen-and-paper RPG character, but it's not impossible to get close. With the Warden there's a much wider array of personalities and demeanors that are represented because the Warden is silent. With a silent protagonist, the player gets to decide the demeanor of the responses in their own mind's ear, and that's why you can believe the Warden who scares off hungry refugees is the same guy who reunites a peasant with her family.

Now, let's talk about Hawke. Hawke is a Warden-like character if you made him voiced. The problem with this is that since there's a wide array of personalities that are supposed to be available as was the case with the Warden, there's no way a voice actor can say each line as the player wants them to. The solution to this problem is that there are 3 Hawkes: Nice Hawke, "funny" Hawke, and puppy-kicking Hawke (note that while there are multiple "kinds" of responses, they all do fall into one of these three personality types). The result of this is that there is no way whatsoever to believe that the Hawke who romances Isabela is the same who hands her over to be killed. Unless you commit to one of these Hawke's throughout the entire game, your Hawke will appear to have a severe case of MPD. I used this example a couple times before, and I like it, so I'll use it again:

Peasant: Oh thank the Maker! Help me, Champion, my daughter has been kidnapped!

Hawke: Well I could never refuse to help a damsel in distress

Peasant: Oh thank goodness, the ruffians are holed-up in that building over there.

Hawke: I WILL SLAUGHTER THE INGRATES AND MOUNT THEIR HEADS UPON MY MANTLE

Peasant: Uh...ok, well just be sure to bring my daughter back safe please

Hawke: Do not worry, my friend. I swear on my life that no harm will befall your daughter

Peasant: Oh thank you, Champion! Oh, but one more thing, I am but a poor farmer and I won't be able to reward you for this kindness

Hawke: DIE, YOU FREELOADING WORM *kills peasant*


To sum up, both voiced and silent protagonists can be done well, but voiced cannot be done well if the player is supposed to have freedom over their character's demeanor.

Agree? Disagree? Your own thoughts?

Modifié par batlin, 26 juin 2012 - 08:06 .

[David Gaider]

There's already a thread on PC VO on the top page. Please don't start another.