When it comes to criticism, few match the kickback Fallout 4 received for having a voice protagonist. Whilst not unheard of, many RPGs opt to keep their protagonists silent to allow players to more easily inject themselves into their avatar. It was a jarring evolution of Bethesda’s design, and fans are wondering if Starfield will have the same issues.
It’s not unheard of for studios to roll back changes and advances to their games. Whilst we didn’t agree with a voiced main character, it was certainly a novel evolution that makes sense when trying to make a game that is less of an RPG – a game like Fallout 4. In a game that is set to be a sprawling RPG – a game like Starfield – it’s a different matter entirely.
More Starfield content:
Will Starfield Have Multiplayer? | Will Starfield Release On PS5? | Story So Far | Will Starfield Have A Playable Demo? |
Is Your Character Voiced In Starfield?
We are happy to say that Starfield’s protagonist is completely silent. There is nary a single line of dialogue escaping from his/her/their lips, and we couldn’t be happier. The news broke during a GQ interview with Starfield director, Todd Howard:
The team did, initially, record player character dialogue, like in Fallout 4, but eventually stripped it out – having a preset voice and intonation took too much from role-playing whoever you want to be.
Todd Howard
Todd hit the nail on the head with the reasoning behind this. Without a voiced protagonist, players can make their character whoever they want, and respond in whatever ways they want. It legitimises head cannon and allows me to inject my sombre head-voice into every scene.
We don’t know who would have been voicing Starfield had they made it to the final game, but it’s likely they would have had a recognisable voice. Very few things remove you from a roleplaying experience than your character reminding you of a voice actor’s previous role. Suddenly you aren’t playing ‘Rupert The Deadly-Yet-Just’, you are ‘playing half the cast of Quake 4 courtesy of Steve Blum’.
As we get closer to Starfield’s release date, and once embargos are lifted, we will have more information on Bethesda’s space epic. Until then, be sure to check out our other prerelease content for more information on Starfield.
