A few days separate us from the Starfield release date and after a year of confirming that the protagonist would not have lines, one of Bethesda’s developers explained this choice further. The intention is to immerse players deeper into the unknown and vast universe of Starfield, allowing each one to project their feelings on the customized protagonist, creating endless unique and private experiences. It’s a good premise, but is it really that the title is built around it or is the lack of lines due to difficulties in development?
The Use of a Silent Protagonist in Starfield Came From Customization and Scripting
Bethesda’s AAA RPG games have historically featured silent protagonists, and Starfield‘s protagonist would be yet another example of non-speaking characters in the gaming world. This is nothing new, given the news was announced a year ago, but now the decision has been explained to fans by a senior developer at Bethesda.
While Fallout 4 (2015) broke the tradition with a fully voiced protagonist, Starfield will revert back to Bethesda’s old ways. Emil Pagliarulo, lead designer on the game, explains that the choice in the fourth Fallout was rooted in a desire to deliver a more exciting story than a mute protagonist could offer.
Now, eight years after the release of Fallout 4, Pagliarulo has given reasons for the about-face taken during Starfield‘s development and described the return of a mute character as “really liberating” in a recent interview with Polygon. Developing the interview, Emil revealed that Starfield has more than two hundred thousand lines of dialogue dubbed in a script. It is so large it would be impossible to record everything with a protagonist’s voice along with possible variations added.
While the decision seems intrinsic to the script in the game’s early development, Bethesda didn’t plan to silence Starfield‘s character from the beginning. The original idea of the studio was to keep the standard of Fallout 4, and the company went so far as to hire a voice actor who did a few recording sessions before finally giving up.
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In addition to the extensive script, Starfield also has a varied character build that would add to a complex recording and more voice options for the same lines. Pagliarulo said this customization in Starfield allows players to create any type of character they want with complete freedom, involving as much as possible.
This silence of the protagonist in games often bothers fans, as there is the feeling that the NPCs speak by themselves in interactions with the controlled character. On the other hand, the resistance of Bethesda fans against voice acting in Fallout 4 “certainly contributed” to Bethesda’s decision to go with a silent protagonist in Starfield, after considering all alternative approaches. Bethesda recognized the dialogue in Fallout 4 was imperfect and many players would often skip the protagonist’s lines, making the effort to record them in vain.
And that’s how all these factors influenced Bethesda’s choice to have another silent protagonist in Starfield, its next AAA RPG that will be released on September 6th for Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and PC.
What do you think? Do you prefer mute or talking customizable characters? Are you excited to play Starfield? Let us know in the comments!
Source: Polygon
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