There was going to be Voiced protagonist in Starfield in the beginning?





The release of Starfield is approaching and we are getting even more details about the development of this amazing game. According to IGN, Bethesda was planning on having a voiced protagonist for Starfield in the earlier stages of development. This is quite a revelation that is important to reveal to the players this late right before the release of the game on September 1st. I believe that the release of this information shows that Bethesda is confident in showing that their video game will surpass all expectations. However, onto the substance of the information that has been shown to IGN. Was it the right decision to not have a voiced protagonist?

Voiced Protagonist in Starfield: Pros and Cons

I am 50/50 on this decision by Bethesda. I appreciate that the game has many lines of dialogue, allowing for a greater variety of responses by NPCs, However, there is a part of me that enjoyed the voice acting of the protagonist in Fallout 4. Both of the voice actors in that game did a wonderful job conveying a range of emotions for a variety of playthroughs even though there was only so much they could do with it. The characters in Fallout 4 were funny and emphatic at the same time. However, some players believed that the voicing of these characters was detrimental to the experience. They weren't able to truly get into their characters and this was a big problem for some of the more veteran players of the Fallout games, who were used to having a great variety of playstyles available to them. 

The thing is that the people weren't able to play a playthrough that allowed them to not care about Shaun, the son of the main character.

Because people had this storyline put upon them, gamers just didn't feel really invested in the plot of the story.

The voice actors did a marvelous job but I do not think that the cinematic style of the voiced protagonists really fits what Bethesda was trying to accomplish with this game. Cinematic style may work for some games but Bethesda are trying to make atmospheric games not cinematic ones. 

Silence is the key to success

I believe that the silent protagonist will truly help the game. We are getting more than 200,000 lines of dialogue, which means that characters will feel alive and be more engaged with the player than with a voiced character. It is important to remember that a silent protagonist allows for the player to creaqte in their imagination what they view the character to be. They put themselves into their own roleplaying opportunities. That is why I believe that the silent protagonist is the right for the developers to be making with this game. 

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