If you ever needed proof that more isn’t better when it comes to video games, consider the chatty protagonist. Back in the day, player characters used to keep their mouths shut and let their fists do the talking. Link, Gordon Freeman, Doomguy, and Samus Aran are some of the most iconic video game heroes of all time, and none of them ever felt the need to monologue to themselves through the entire goddamn game. As technology improved and game development became an arms race, games started getting stuffed with all kinds of features they never needed, including one I’d argue is actually detrimental to the gameplay experience: characters who never stop running their mouths.

I can’t pinpoint exactly where this trend started, but Horizon Zero Dawn stands out as one of the earliest examples of a player character with can’t-shut-up. Aloy is a great character in some ways, but her incessant commentary, her need to constantly verbalize every single thought she has about a thing she sees, is exhausting to listen to. There’s a tasteful, conservative way to use main character voice lines to give them personality, but both Horizon games go way overboard.

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God of War’s Kratos is reasonably economical with his language, but God of War Ragnarok got a lot of criticism for the way it uses Atreus to hold your hand and solve every puzzle for you. There’s never an opportunity to pause, struggle, or figure things out for yourself, because the second you take a breath, Atreus just blurts out the answer. The dialogue in God of War Ragnarok demonstrates a lack of respect for the player. The developers seem to think that if someone can’t solve a problem without any resistance they'll immediately lose interest. This is an instance where the chatty protagonist isn’t just annoying, but also takes away from the experience you could have had if they would just keep their mouth shut.

A more recent concerning trend is the asshole protagonist. Our own Stacey Henley pointed this out in Atomic Heart, but there’s quite a few games that feature gruff, unlikeable protagonists like P3. It’s so unpleasant to inhabit these characters and have to listen to them say rude, hateful things all the time. It distracts from the gameplay, and makes me not want to even continue playing. A few of Dead Island 2’s characters are like this too, and it makes me wonder what possesses writers to create such unlikeable player characters.

Woman from Redfall looking at the camera holding a gun and using fingers as fangs

Redfall is the most recent example. Its protagonists blur the line between the Aloy-style monologuer and the more unpleasant kind of character like P3. The first character I played was Jacob, a special forces veteran with a pet bird and a ghostly eye. I was initially attracted to Jacob’s stealthy playstyle, but I quickly grew to dislike playing him simply based on his personality.

Jacob is kind of an asshole. He’s impatient and rude to other survivors in Redfall, and he gets a little too amped up by murdering people. His pet bird is really useful because it can help you stake vampires from a distance, but for some reason Jacob calls him ‘shit head’, and every time he sends the bird out to scout an area he barks at him that it's time to earn his keep. It’s not funny, it's just mean-spirited.

Layla, the next character I played, isn’t as bitter as Jacob, but she has to comment on everything that happens. She tells you when things are cool, or scary, or weird, as though you aren’t able to have your own natural reaction to things. Redfall often uses dialogue the way sitcoms use laugh tracks - as a way to guide the player’s emotional response to the game.

When it comes to voice lines in games, less is definitely more. The Witcher 3’s Geralt is one of the best protagonists because he says just enough to give you insight into his mental state and thought processes without ever becoming obnoxious. I would rather have a character who never speaks at all than one that never shuts up, but it seems like games these days are more concerned with increasing production value and getting the most out of their high-profile performers than actually doing what’s best for the game.

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