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Image: Square EnixThe silent protagonist is a hotly debated topic among RPG enthusiasts. Usually acting as a stand-in for the player, this character is usually the lead, although they have no (or very little) dialogue, and can only interact with characters through basic dialogue options. And the creator of Dragon Quest, Yuji Horii, has weighed in on the difficulties of using silent protagonists in modern video games.
In a chat with the director of the Persona series Katsura Hashino published in Denfaminicogamer (and translated by Automaton Media), Horii admitted that "increasingly-realistic" graphics have made silent protagonists "increasingly difficult to depict".
Horii's reasoning for using silent protagonists isn't surprising — it allows the player to imagine what that character must be going through as well as project their emotions onto the character. This was helped by the graphics back in the NES days, which didn't allow for expressive character portraits or models or even complicated animations. Players needed to use their imagination.
During the chat, Horii jokes with Hashino about the evolution of visuals, saying "... as game graphics evolve and grow increasingly realistic, if you make a protagonist who just stands there, they will look like an idiot." So, surely, the solution is to have the character react in certain situations, right?
Well, not really. This introduces a new problem: a character's reaction to the events may not reflect the player's own reaction, therefore severing that connection. So, in Horii's eyes "...the type of protagonist featured in Dragon Quest becomes increasingly difficult to depict as games become more realistic. This will be a challenge in the future too,". Game development is an ever-evolving, ever-complicated process.
Dragon Quest is one of the few major RPG series still featuring a silent protagonist, with Dragon Quest XI's Luminary being the most recent mainline example. Save a few grunts or noises, he's completely silent. Persona is another example of this, though since Persona 3 (when Hashino became director), the protagonist does have a handful of voiced lines in battle — and sometimes in cutscenes. Notably, this tradition isn't carrying over to Hashino's newest game, Metaphor: ReFantazio, where the protagonist will be voiced.
Does this mean anything for the future of Dragon Quest? Will Dragon Quest XII have more realistic graphics? Or will Dragon Quest XII feature a voiced protagonist? The Luminary is a pretty expressive character in Dragon Quest XI, and that game's visuals aren't super realistic, so we think there's a way of balancing the two. But this little excerpt will likely lead to fans debating over whether the next hero should have a voice or not.
Dragon Quest XII is still a ways off, however. The game was reportedly internally delayed earlier this year, but a very brief update back in May from Horii-san confirmed the game was still being worked on and that he was "in a meeting" about it. Before Dragon Quest XII, we've got Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake to come, which will absolutely feature a silent protagonist.
