Devs announce the introduction of a secret protagonist in Starfield.

After an interval of eight years, Emil Pagliarulo found himself elucidating Bethesda's change of direction concerning the protagonist's voice in Starfield. In a recent interview with Polygon, Pagliarulo expressed his sentiment that reverting to a silent protagonist was "really freeing." Expanding on this concept, the experienced developer disclosed that Starfield boasts an extensive script comprising over 200,000 lines of spoken dialogue. Given the sheer volume of dialogue, Pagliarulo clarified that it would have been unfeasible to record voice acting for the main character while also tackling such a monumental script.

As we know, in the past, Bethesda's AAA role-playing games had typically featured silent protagonists. However, this tradition was broken with Fallout 4 in 2015, which introduced a fully voiced main character. While this change garnered mixed reactions from fans, Emil Pagliarulo, the lead designer, has shed light on the reasoning behind the decision to voice the main characters in Fallout 4. According to him, the shift was driven by a desire to create a more emotionally charged narrative that could be achieved through the nuanced delivery of voiced characters, as opposed to the limitations of mute protagonists.

Despite the advantages of having a silent protagonist in Starfield, Bethesda's original plan didn't involve this approach. Initially, the studio intended to follow the model of Fallout 4, even going so far as to hire a voice actor and conduct recording sessions. However, this direction was ultimately abandoned. Given that Starfield offers players the freedom to craft various character types, the most immersive way to present such a protagonist was by not giving them a voice, according to Pagliarulo.

When asked whether the backlash from players against Fallout 4's voiced protagonist influenced the decision to change course for Starfield, Pagliarulo acknowledged that it "certainly played into it." Nonetheless, he emphasized that the choice for a silent protagonist was made only after evaluating all potential options. As part of this deliberation, Pagliarulo recognized that the dialogue system in Fallout 4 had its flaws. For instance, players sometimes chose abbreviated responses only to receive entirely different lines from their character. This discrepancy led to an imperfect dialogue experience. Furthermore, reading the entire response before selecting it often resulted in players skipping their character's voiced lines, undermining the effort invested in recording them.