Voiced protagonists in open world RPGs, while not rare, are much less common than their silent counterparts. Silent protagonists have been popularized through the years by games such asThe Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrimand many MMORPGs. However,Fallout 4’s mixed reception to its voiced protagonists shows that Bethesda has a lot to learn about beforeFallout 5.
Fallout 4’s introduction of a voiced protagonist was not met with the warmest welcoming. Previously, the franchise had been composed of silent protagonists, as it allowed to player to better imagine themselves in the character’s shoes. However,Hogwarts Legacycould helpFallout 5better acclimate to a voiced protagonist.
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The Potential of a Voiced Protagonist in Fallout
BeforeFallout 4, all the mainline protagonists were silent. However, when compared to a franchise likeThe Elder Scrolls,Falloutis much more suitable for a voiced protagonist. This is because of the franchise’s history of having backgrounds for each main character.Fallout 1and2both had well-established backgrounds and story arcs for both characters, even more so thanFallout 4’s.Fallout 3had a greater degree of variability, but the main story still could not be deviated from. A voiced protagonist complements these ideas because it represents that the player is playing a character they can help shape, but can’t completely mold the outcome of. In reality,Fallout 4’s dialogue optionsmay have been the real issue.
DespiteFallout 4fitting the bill for a game that could have a voiced protagonist, many fans did not find it so appealing. For example, there exists multiple mods that remove all voiced dialogue from the player, being more in line with previousFalloutgames. However, similar open world RPGs such asCyberpunk 2077and the more recentHogwarts Legacywere loved for both the games themselves and their voiced protagonists. The issue may have been in howFallout 4chose to present its dialogue, as it’s one of thebiggest things thatFallout 5needs to improveon before continuing to use the voiced protagonist formula.
One ofHogwarts Legacy’s biggest advantages is hat it was better built around voice acting thanFallout 4. Part of the issue withFallout 4’s dialogue choices is that they were often represented by short phrases that didn’t do a good job at summarizing what the player character would actually say. This was often misleading and led to players finding dialogue choices to be unsatisfactory.Hogwarts Legacygets around this by better representing what the character will say, as the short phrases ofFallout 4don’t cut it. Also, things likeFallout 4’s focus on moddingalso hurt it somewhat, as modders could not create dialogue for the protagonist.
IfFallout 5is going to have voiced dialogue, then it needs to ensure that player’s have more control over what they will say. It should also abandon the 4 button options found inFallout 4, going for a list-like structure found inHogwarts Legacyand previousFalloutgames. This would grant a greater degree of freedom in what the player can say, while also allowing for more satisfying conversations. While many fans believethe best gift forFallout 5playerswould be removing voiced dialogue, this neglects the fact that it has worked before to great success.Hogwarts Legacy, The Witcher 3, andCyberpunk 2077have all done incredibly well, despite their voiced protagonists.
Of all thefeatures that should be worked on forFallout 5, voiced player dialogue should be on top of that list. Though Bethesda’s past with it has not been as successful as player’s wanted, giving up on it would be declaring that the studio is unable to innovate on previous concepts.
Fallout 5has been confirmed by Bethesda Game Studios but is not yet in active development.
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