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RPG main characters typically fall into one of two categories. The leading character is either a blank slate to be shaped by the player or a deliberately written character for the story. Sometimes, we even get a hybrid of the two, such as in Fallout 4. For its latest RPG, Starfield, Bethesda sticks to a more traditional silent protagonist.
In Fallout 4, Bethesda made the protagonist fully voiced. Unlike a silent main character, the player had a personality, clear emotions, and voice acting for every line. However, unlike most other aspects of character creation, players had no options to change this voice outside of dialogue options. In a way, unlike Starfield’s silent protagonist, this made the main character of Fallout 4 feel less like a character players were creating and more like a preset hero. While this isn’t necessarily bad, the problem arises when people dislike the main character’s personality. If players weren’t happy with the Sole Survivor of Fallout 4, they had no other options except being stuck with an MC they didn’t like.
Starfield’s Silent Protagonist Gives More Freedom
Luckily, despite having tons of different voice lines, Starfield features a silent protagonist. In contrast, this may feel like a downgrade at first, but this decision dramatically impacts the personalization of the player’s character. First, rather than saying everything outright, a silent lead character leaves more to the imagination. Although having hundreds of different voice options for a protagonist would be nice, this would be impossible for a game as big as Starfield. With over 200,000 voice lines already, creating even one main hero’s voice seems unlikely. The better solution, however, is to let players fill in the blanks on how their protagonist sounds themselves. While this might not be an ideal solution, currently, it’s the only option.
A Silent Starfield Protagonist Fits All Aspects Of The Game
When playing through the story, like many other Bethesda RPGs, there is quite a bit of dialogue. A voiced protagonist in Starfield isn’t going to fit every scenario the game offers. For example, in CyberPunk 2077, the leading protagonist’s voice sounded great for some aspects of the experience. However, V’s male voice actor doesn’t fit nearly well for some scenarios and career paths, like the Corpo path. With a silent leading character, the character has much more fluidity to fit every situation presented in Starfield. From a personal viewpoint, this made transitioning from being a stealthy thief to helping settlers repair satellites almost seamless in terms of character. If the main hero had a grizzled and brooding voice, it would fit for the former but not the latter. With so much freedom to do what you want, a silent protagonist is a fantastic choice for Starfield.
There Are Issues With a Silent Main Character at Times
There are a few downsides to a silent protagonist in Starfield, however. Although a silent main character helps players with personalization, a voice helps flesh a character out and makes them feel more grounded in the story. Sometimes, a silent MC can feel like an outsider who doesn’t belong in the world, breaking the overall immersion. Additionally, a non-voiced main character makes much of the game’s dialogue feel a bit one-sided. Of course, players read the hero’s voice lines, but hearing only one voiced individual feels more like an NPC reciting lines to you rather than a fully fleshed-out dialogue. However, despite this, Starfield still conveys dialogue well, even if the main character lacks some personality.
Ultimately, based on the circumstances that Bethesda had, a silent protagonist was the best choice for Starfield. By having a non-voiced main character, players can have more freedom with the leading character’s personality rather than being constrained to one character type. Additionally, an unvoiced protagonist gives the character a broader appeal. Rather than having a voice that some players may not relate to, the character’s voice is a bit more ambiguous. Lastly, a voiced protagonist would be impossible to pull off due to the restraints of workload and time. Even if they attempted one as well, it would most likely lack the same quality as other characters due to the sheer size of the role.
