tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-268660459652553228.post8629814129875088468..comments2024-02-26T20:52:27.680-08:00Comments on Thinking Inside the Box: General RPGs' Silent ProtagonistsThe RPGeniushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02752937839502693108noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-268660459652553228.post-45864188292935632882020-05-11T09:21:21.335-07:002020-05-11T09:21:21.335-07:00I only just played Okami a month ago, thanks to th...I only just played Okami a month ago, thanks to the generosity and excellence of our good Ecclesiastes, and Ammy has quickly become 1 of my favorite silent protagonists, as well. In fact, after playing the game, I wrote a List rant on the best Silent Protagonists in RPGs, which is in the queue to get published sometime later this year. But yeah, Okami did the whole thing right.The RPGeniushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02752937839502693108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-268660459652553228.post-53660549746279625152020-05-11T01:07:20.326-07:002020-05-11T01:07:20.326-07:00Your mention of Issun reminds me of Amaterasu, who...Your mention of Issun reminds me of Amaterasu, who is one of my favourite "silent" protagonists (she does bark and howl). I really enjoy how Okami plays her inability to talk for laughs (there's a village that she enters without Issun, and she's unable to talk to anyone since she's a wolf, yet people try talking to her, anyway). Of course, it is a bit silly how every anthropomorphic god except Amaterasu can talk in the game, but I didn't mind that much.Adam E.https://www.blogger.com/profile/15301656119538410691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-268660459652553228.post-8895443567422025782020-05-09T10:43:43.952-07:002020-05-09T10:43:43.952-07:00That's a fair point, although I'd argue th...That's a fair point, although I'd argue that a protagonist capable of reacting in some regard to what's going on around him would still be beneficial even if the game as a whole had little story focus. In fact, it might be all the more important, really.<br /><br />Either way, you're right in that the silent protagonist becomes a pointless impediment to immersion and narrative quality once he's applied to a game with the emphasis on story that we expect from an RPG, and the cheats of the companion characters are rarely a net positive, save arguably for Midna and Issun, the latter of which wasn't actually Nintendo's work anyway.The RPGeniushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02752937839502693108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-268660459652553228.post-91737293704265788632020-05-08T13:20:11.150-07:002020-05-08T13:20:11.150-07:00The less story-heavy the game is, the less I mind ...The less story-heavy the game is, the less I mind the protagonist being silent. For instance, Link in the original Zelda basically had no one to talk to, and the game has almost no story scenes, so I don't care that he doesn't talk. It gets a bit silly by Twilight Princess, which has a much more prominent narrative, and Link still doesn't talk. I'm not a fan of how Nintendo uses companion characters (like Navi, Midna, etc.) to get around Link not speaking. I'd prefer if Nintendo either moved towards putting less importance on the story (so there's no need for the companion to talk for Link) or turned Link into a speaking character if they want to have a more involved narrative.Adam E.https://www.blogger.com/profile/15301656119538410691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-268660459652553228.post-39625267387179040422012-07-20T00:04:27.182-07:002012-07-20T00:04:27.182-07:00That's actually a really good point, Zenic. W...That's actually a really good point, Zenic. Wish I'd thought of that when I was writing this rant.The RPGeniushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02752937839502693108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-268660459652553228.post-88954775268571515982012-07-19T23:48:13.647-07:002012-07-19T23:48:13.647-07:00This idea doesn't resonate with me, a silent p...This idea doesn't resonate with me, a silent protagonist more identifiable as my avatar. The silence has very little to do with me identifying with a character. Unless I've had a hand in the creation of the character, the character is always the same for everyone, so what makes him or her special for me?Zenic Reveriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16441583549326102945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-268660459652553228.post-26077254087559807682012-07-19T17:18:30.350-07:002012-07-19T17:18:30.350-07:00Silent protagonist are suppose to make you identif...Silent protagonist are suppose to make you identify yourself as the character rather than the person controling them and explaining why you can pick things for them to say but this obviously does not work if they actually do have a personality to work with.<br /><br />I've seen some weird variations of this<br /><br />First is Persona 2 in which the silence actually manages to passed around between games when the Heros swich roles<br /><br />The Second is in Pokemon Mystery dungon in which the Protagonist is silent(Most of the time) but you can always see his thoughtsAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com