No replies to this topic

[Gazillion]

So I find myself at a standstill. I'm working on a RPG that is extremely influenced by the Dragonquest and Mother series (the latter having a bigger impact on the style). That being said the game borrows a lot of retro or old school game elements to try and invoke nostalgia but I am also trying to move forward and add my own flare to the genre. Some of these game elements were used cleverly to mask limitations of the systems they were designed for which wouldn't be necessary today.

I have been doing a lot of googling about the silent protagonist because I'm just not sure if I should have one in my game. For one, most of my favourite RPGs have protagonists that don't utter a word and it has never bothered me, yet it seems to be hated by quite a lot of people (I don't how common it is, maybe it's just a case of the louder complainers getting a better Google index).

On the plus side I see people who enjoy it because it makes them feel more attached the to the character while others feel like the character never makes his or her own decisions.

That being said, if I'm trying to go for a more retro feel with 16x16 pixel sprites, 16 bit sound effects, and turn based combat would it be appropriate to have the main character be silent or should I scrap the idea entirely because it'll hurt the narrative of my game? So should this little guy talk or what?