The silent protagonist is a hotly debated topic among RPG enthusiasts. Usually acting as a substitute for the player, this character is usually the main character, although they have no (or very little) dialogue and can only interact with the characters through basic dialogue options. And the creator Dragon QuestYuji Horii, assessed the difficulty of using silent protagonists in modern video games.
In a conversation with the director Persona Katsura Hashino series published in Denfaminicogamer (and translated Automatic media), Horii admitted that the “increasingly realistic” graphics made the silent protagonists “increasingly difficult to portray”.
Horii’s rationale for using silent protagonists is not surprising — it allows the player to imagine what that character must be going through, as well as project their own emotions onto the character. This was helped by the graphics of the NES era, which did not allow expressive portraits of characters or models, or even complicated animations. Players had to use their imagination.
During the conversation, Horii jokes with Hashin about the evolution of visuals, saying “…as game graphics evolve and become more realistic, if you make a protagonist just standing there, he’ll look like an idiot.” So it’s a safe bet that the character reacts in certain situations, right?
Well, not really. This introduces a new problem: the character’s reaction to events may not reflect the player’s reaction, therefore breaking that connection. So, in Horii’s eyes, “… the type of protagonist that appears in Dragon Quest is becoming increasingly difficult to describe as games become more realistic. This will also be a challenge in the future”. Game development is an ever-evolving process, always complicated.
Dragon Quest is one of the few major RPG series that still has a silent protagonist, and Dragon Quest XI Luminary is the latest prime example. Apart from a few grunts or noises, it is completely silent. Persona is another example of this, although since Persona 3 (when Hashino became the director), the protagonist has a handful of voice lines in battle — and sometimes in cutscenes. Significantly, this tradition does not carry over to Hasha’s latest game, Metaphor: ReFantaziowhere the protagonist will be voiced.
Does this mean anything for the future of Dragon Quest? Want Dragon Quest XII have more realistic graphics? Or will Dragon Quest XII have a voiced protagonist? Luminary is a pretty expressive character in Dragon Quest XI, and the visuals of that game aren’t super realistic, so we think there’s a way to balance the two. But this little snippet will likely lead fans to debate whether or not the next hero should have a voice.
However, Dragon Quest XII is still a long way off. The game was reportedly delayed internally earlier this year, but Horii-san confirmed in a very brief update in May that the game was still being worked on and that he was “in a meeting” about it. Before Dragon Quest XII, comes Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake, which will absolutely feature a silent protagonist.
