Stupid mobile versions cannot make polls(afaik). But I will ask this anyways.

Should the protagonist have been fully voiced?

Here is my take.
I think so. He is a set character with a set name, appearance and role. I can understand that he might not have been voiced due to a strict budget though. However with that aside I do not know why he wouldn't be voiced.
If the devs still browse here, I am curious as to why Corvo was not voiced if budget wasn't the reason?

Now to what the community thinks. Voiced or not voiced?

A primary reason for not having a voice for the protagonist of a game is to make it much easier for the player to project themselves into the protagonist. This is a big factor why games like Half-Life, Bioshock or Dishonored don't give the protagonist any real dialogue or identity apart from a name and a few other small things. It's a design choice not a budget issue 9 times out of 10.

I liked him silent in this game. There is such a wide variety of personalities he could have based on your actions, that I don't think it'd be right to give him specific lines or a specific tone of voice.

Yes.... that is one of the minor things I would have liked to have been done differently.

Would have liked occasional side comments, perhaps.... definitely full voice in cutscenes. Usually,
when main character is not voiced, it is because the game design wants the player to think of
themselves as the main character, and having that character have a voice detracts from the immersion.
But in this case, the lead is well-defined and I, for example, never thought of myself as Corvo... it was more
like, I was an observer as the story unfolded.

No. I like the little glimpses we get of Corvo, but I don't want to spend minutes of my life watching boring cutscenes of him. I want to BE him, in the slip-into-your-skin avatar sense- anything else is a waste of my time and Arkane's resources.

And, I would add- having a PC voice cut in constantly actually interferes with that "being" process for me. First person play FTW.

Meh!

Noooo, I don't want him voiced. If the game had been made so I could have created a female character (my preference), then I would have been very, very happy. It isn't though but the way it is right now and without a voice, all I can see are my hands and I can just imagine I'm female with man hands.

Ahh, but he would have had a sixy voice I bet Kind of like a mix between Garrett and Sam Fisher.

Probably, but mysterious silent guy is much sixier.

The problem with him being silent(at least to me) is that he has a rigidly defined role and a name as well as backstory. We even know he is from another island and what he looks like. Who he cares for. What interactions he has had in the past. People talk directly to him and then there is just this awkward silence. It would be one thing if he never had a name and you could cast yourself into the character but he does. He is a character. He has perceived reactions. You could define who he was by the myriad choices they give you. With varying ways of defining his personality throughout the game. You have Corvo as a nonlethal character? His dialogue vaguely reflects that. A bloodthirsty ghost of revenge? Dialogue for that. This would make the game come more alive imo. It is fine how it is. But it would be a better experience as well. Again my opinion.

I am all for a silent protagonist, where it is appropriate. Like Dark Souls, TES, Fallout, Etc etc. Where the protagonist has no or miniscule defining background. Corvo could have been referenced as Guardian/Protector throughout the game as opposed to his actual name and then we would not have this issue. I am not advocating a loud mouthed Corvo. Merely a gruff, not very talkatve protagonist. One who only really speaks when absolutely necessary. It would have added much to the game imo.

When you read a book, do you assume that the character is a "void" because you never hear his voice?

No, because a book usually describes the persons voice. Eg, 'Grogrash the Orc spoke with a gruff, gravely tone.'

Your point?

Deus Ex had a voiced protagonist and it's more immersive. Not saying anything makes Corvo seem aloof from everything. Perhaps having the option to hear the protagonist's voice would be in order... maybe for no voice you could have subtitles so you could speak the lines even. Would increase the immersion factor for sure. Hell, if you have a Kinect it could recognise what you say too.

Nearly word for word what I want to say.


DE:HR is a different kind of immersive. Fantastic game, but I couldn't project onto Adam like I can Corvo.

This, so much this.

Either way would have been fine with me. (Though I'm not really sure why people think a voiced character is less immersive or harder to get into.)

The lack of connection to the Corvo character, to your personal version of Corvo, stems not from the lack of PC dialogue, but from the lack of set-up. No meaningful connections are ever made between characters. Corvo is more of an outsider than The Outsider. The only exception was Emily in the very beginning. As far as giving him a voice... HELL NO. That's not the answer and it would turn Corvo and Dishonored into the cheesy cutscenes from ME3... no thanks.

I have to disagree, I don't feel as if there's something missing unless it's a game that constantly shows you the protagonist's appearance but doesn't give them a voice (Fable 1 and I believe 2).

I feel as if it takes a little imagination to immerse yourself well with a silent protagonist, you have to imagine what they would say when spoken to directly and such to not feel like you're missing something. Better than them just using gestures in conversations (like in Fable, great game but seriously why would they think that was a good idea?).

That's your opinion of appropriate. I personally have ended up disliking or feeling confused by voiced characters while in first person mode. It just throws me off that somebody who you are not physically seeing on the screen is talking, unless it's in third person where you can see him/her. I feel like it would've taken away far more than it added but if you're a Crysis fan or a Bioshock fan (such as I am) then good news, both have first person protagonists who speak (I won't know how I feel about it for them until I play them).

Ideally, i would want Corvo not to be Corvo and instead be a silent self made character called by a moniker like the Guardian/Lord Protector/Assassin/Dishonored etc etc. that way I can really cast myself into the character. I have no major problem with Corvo as he is. I slip right into whatever I project into him, but I also wouldn'd have that character ruined by a voice. Especially if there is branching dialogue choices based on your actions. It just seems odd that they would name him and give him background if he was intended as a silent, live through him, type of protagonist.

Well you do hear a bit of Corvo's voice, when he grunts in pain. My point is that you don't need an audio track to imagine a person speaking in a book. Why is it necessary in a game? Don't say that games are visual media, because that is not entirely true, in that you can't interact with a movie. To me the best games are more like how I experience reading a book. Third person avatar throws me out of that, constantly.

Oh God... the horrors.

Actually there is one cheesy cutscene in Dishonored that makes me laugh EVERY time I hear it... When you hear the audio recording from Slackjaws agent when he dies. Worst. Death. Ever. (I mean, who the hell says "ARRGH" instead of screaming lol).

Mind you it is good for a bit of comedy relief heh.

I would've said no, but I've had second thoughts with it. The silent protagonist seems out-of-place when he's surrounded by characters he's meant to have some sort of friendship to. I know he's silent so we can project ourselves onto and whatnot; but when you give him a name, role, minor backstory and relationship to one or several characters, his silence only seems more confusing.

Yeah, that was pretty terrible, and then the whole knowing by osmosis or whatever that followed it...

http://kotaku.com/5950193/dishonoreds-writer-thinks-that-gordon-freeman-is-creepy-as-hell

Seemed germane. If the other characters were like, "Oh but you have a rapier wit as sharp as your sword Corvo," I'd have to step back and say not really. They're not doing that though. What do we really know about Corvo that makes it awkward for him to be silent. The majority of conversations Corvo is guaranteed to have are informational in nature. "Go here and do this". Most aren't bearing their souls to Corvo. When you do initiate a conversation, people either flatter or (I'm sure during a High Chaos PT) judge you. Should there be a canned "**** off" option?

I know I'm coming at some of the more nuanced problems some of you guys have bluntly, but speaking broadly and without examples it's easier this way. If I've offended anyone, I haven't meant to.

The best conversation people in the business are Obsidian. A true evolution of the conversation wheel would be one that utilizes every piece of that circle and would give you some time but not all in the world to answer. Angry, Sarcastic, Indifferent, Righteous, Positive, etc. It would find targeted words for the whole spectrum of reaction and either make VAs ecstatic or irritated beyond measure. Alpha Protocol had a good system and tabulated the different attitudes, opening and closing avenues depending on which types you pick. Very different though. That would not have been a good fit for this game.