You have no mouth and I want to scream.

Video games have plenty of normalized behaviors that I can't stand. From yearly release games charging full price for what is essentially an update, to day one DLC, to the topic of this blog. The silent protagonist is a problem. There are a whole bunch of stories that do the bare minimum when it comes to character writing. Their protagonists are walking cameras, and the supporting cast are cardboard cutouts. These games are not, in fact, the subject of my ire, as you might be surprised to find out. My problem lies in games with excellent stories and characters that decide to silence their protagonists for the sake of convenience or for the sake of a minority of fans.

Loud doesn't make proud

There are plenty of games with silent protagonists that still manage to have some sense of characterization. For example, Courier Six from Fallout New Vegas doesn't have a single voice line in the game, but despite that their responses you are able to choose from are so well written (not to mention depend on which skills you've mastered over your game) it gives that character not only personality but specifically the personality you give it. While certain games with fully voiced characters end up falling short emotionally due to a number of factors.

A tale of two cultures

Most games either come from a western or eastern culture (that's an oversimplification obviously), and I think they both have separate problems related to their video game heroes. Big companies in the west are focused on mass appeal and, as such, like to make their character as vague as possible so everyone can easily customize them to look like themselves and not write them in a way to force a person to say "that's not what I would say/do." But, when you make something for everyone; you make something for no one. In comparison, Courier Six Fallout 3's Lone Wanderer is a walking camera whose only real decision comes at the end of the game: a decision that has a good and bad answer and is made entirely pointless by Fawkes existence.

Meanwhile the one that really gets to me is the Eastern idea. See most of my favorite Japanese games that suffer from this problem get so close to not having it at all. You get a character with an existing design and a canon name and sometimes even a voice they will occasionally use. But instead of making the name canon, they make it so that you can put your own name in place of the protagonist. While on the surface this seems innocuous, it really ends up creating a waterfall that causes so many other issues. If your name can be anything then when your character is discussed during a scene the cast has to say something. In Fire Emblem Three Houses other characters call Byleth professor, which while a little awkward isn't terrible. Meanwhile in games like Persona, they call you that guy, or him, or leader, or any number of awkward things to get around the fact that people like to self-insert.

I'm of the opinion that when making a protagonist one should fully commit. Either your character misses the mark or they don't, but at least they get to be a full-fledged character.

But tell me what you guys think? Are there any games that have done the silent protagnists thing right?