Silent Lead?

Warbsywoo

Warbsywoo

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How would you react if Enix released a Final Fantasy game with a silent lead, as in, he doesn't speak at all and only shows what he's feeling or whatever else through the supporting cast and party members?

As in...Grand Theft Auto 3 style.
 
As Link does in Zelda? I haven't played many Zelda games, but from what I have seen, Link like...never does any talking.
It really doesn't matter to me. I think it depends entirely on the type of the game. In FFVIII, Squall might as well have not spoken through the entire game and it wouldn't have mattered. XD
But in FFIX for example...you NEED the main character to speak; he's the speaker of the group, the leading man, THE most HEROIC, after all. ^.^
 
That would really bored me to death, to be honest. It was bad enough that Vaan or any other characters on FFXII didn't really interact with the NPC's in the game...but having a main character not talk at all would ruin the whole Final Fantasy feel to it.
 
It would bore me as well. But then again it may add to the main characters mystery. Just depends. They could have a sidekick-like character that would speak for him, and that would work. Something like "Watch out Sever gets that look just before he kills someone." And the NPC would back down.
 
That would frustrate me to death. I like my main character / Villain to be chatty, and without them communicating in some way i would lose it. It's one of the reasons i dislike Link - he never speaks ><
 
Well it did work for Chrono Trigger since Crono never talked. I didn't even notice until someone pointed it out to me. XD

I don't think it would work for a game where there was voice acting though. Maybe it would work for a game where the talking was all in text.
 
You raise a valid point Ali, in the golden Sun games the lead character in each games never talks - but you don't notice because the others react for them, and because theres no voice acting. i think it could work, but iw ould be difficult to do it correctly...
 
In both Breath of Fire 3 and 4, Ryu never speaks either but the characters react just like he's speaking. It didn't mind it at all. I agree with Rydia though. I don't think it would work if the game had voice acting. It would seem kind of silly.
 
It may work for some, but I think I’d have a hard time getting into a later day FF with a silent lead being one of the main characters.
 
As said above, I agree, if it works well and fits the plot I wouldn't be bothered. Who knows if it would or wouldn't work out for a game with voicing acting. I can't think of a game with voicing acting and a main character that doesn't speak. Unless, maybe it might work in a single-character game.
 
I don't think it would work for an FF game. Primarily because FF has more than one character and it would be weird to have a whole cast of characters that speak, only to have the main lead not speak. It only works in Zelda because, being a single character game (like Cerridwen said) Link speaks more through your own actions and interaction with the other NPC's and facial expressions in cutscenes.
But when you have more than one character you need to convey relationships between them and that would be difficult to achieve if the main character is silent.
 
I would be quite annoyed, actually. It would bother me so much that the main character did not speak with his partners or anything throughout the whole game. Ugh.
 
I wouldn´t mind.

In Chrono Trigger which has awesome story, Crono never speaks a word and it is still were great game. I too never noticed that he was silent guy until like 3rd playthrough. If it was done as well like in CT I would have silent FF-hero.
 
It would definatley be odd, but come to think of it, that's basically how Squall was in FFVIII and Cloud was similar in FFVII 0.o Ok, they spoke, but braely!
Depending on the storyline, it could work. And going by how great FF storylines are, I'm sure it would be a success somehow.
 
I wouldnt mind at all as long as the game was good, I would how ever prefer the lead to speak.
 
One of the main reasons why FF is so popular in my opinion is because the stories are so strong. They have the ability to evoke a level of emotional response from the player. So to have a silent lead would be a bit strange for a FF game. For it too work you would have to have a strong performance from the rest of the cast and how the silent lead fits into the context of the story.
 
I don't think it would bother me so much. I think if they did it that way that they would have to shape the game differently, but I still think that they can make it work out and I don't think that it would ruin the game, or make it bad, though they would have to make up for it in some other way.
 
Perhaps if one of the lead characters was mute, but actually medically mute, as in they had a non functioning set of vocal chords rather than not speaking for no apparent reason. I would imagine the character would then have to communicate through nodding and a great deal of attention would have to be paid to his/her facial expressions. Of course it would be hilarious if he/her would occasionally write down a short phrase on a clipboard and then hold it out defiantly for all to see (think ‘Arg!’ or ‘Help’) or a variation on that. It could make for a interesting character.
 
Good point. There's really no point in having the lead character not speak and not explain why. That's kinda annoying, and it doesn't seem so...realistic I guess anymore.
 
personally i think it whould bo awlful. I want all the charactors to talk and the NPC's to talk to the mains. But i admit it whould be weird... i just dont know. Really
 
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