Bethesda Game Studios’ confirmation that Starfield will feature a silent protagonist has divided fans who look forward to the role-playing title’s 2023 release.
Starfield’s lengthy gameplay presentation counted among the highlights of this past weekend’s Xbox + Bethesda Games Showcase.
For the first time, the Bethesda-based development crew treated the public to a look at Starfield’s shooting mechanics, character customization, and exploration.
The gameplay reveal also featured instances of dialogue exchanges between characters. However, it wasn’t clear if the player-controlled character had the ability to respond with voiced lines. Bethesda has since set the record straight on this front.
Starfield’s protagonist will be silent
In a post on its official Twitter account, Bethesda Game Studios revealed that Starfield’s protagonist will never speak.
Some fans in the thread below the tweet applauded the news, with prospective players such as Octavian and Nick Eickman expressing their frustration with the voiced protagonist in Fallout 4.
Others like Raziel argued that voiced leads in western RPGs often disrupt the immersion of truly role-playing your own character.
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Yes, dialogue in @StarfieldGame is first person and your character does not have a voice. pic.twitter.com/A8384m6rGN
— Bethesda Game Studios (@BethesdaStudios) June 13, 2022
On the other hand, a contingent of Starfield fans, Tenkay23 and Yusuf Farra among them, think a silent protagonist marks a step backward.
Thus, western RPG players have begun to debate whether fully voiced leads in the likes of Mass Effect and Cyberpunk 2077 make or break the role-playing experience.
Silent and voiced protagonists both come with their fair share of positives and negatives; for now, the jury’s out on whether Bethesda made the right decision for Starfield.
Players will get to judge that much and more for themselves when the long-awaited title finally hits PC and Xbox platforms in 2023. Unfortunately, the developer has yet to announce a concrete release date.
