Should the main character speak?

[Sheep]

Would you like to see the protagonist of main series Pokémon games speak?

Should they be allowed to have dialogue text set for them by the developers, or would you prefer options to choose from? What about voice acting - would you want to see this (such as selecting from a set of voices at the beginning), or would it break immersion for you?

 

[Zeostar]

No thanks to a speaking protagonist. I wouldn't mind the main characters being more expressive though.

 

[Orion☆]

Ehhhh... I don't think a speaking protagonist is necessary. I know I am way past the age of a typical Pokémon protagonist, but I still like imagining myself in their shoes - and having them act more childish than I would does break immersion.

One certain fangame got me into being a sort of invisible/ghostly "guide" or "chaperone" for the protagonist - because of course I wasn't going to pretend to be Giovanni's grandson/granddaughter! Yet still, I like to fill in my protege protagonist's personality myself, to see how it can play off mine.

 

[Corveone]

I wouldn't mind a different plot treatment and more character development in general, and if that means giving the main character some personality and dialogue lines, I'm fine with that. Because what we have now is literally the same bidimensional protagonist in every main game. Red, Gold, Brendan, Dawn... and whatever the other protagonists are called are essentially the same person with the same traits, only with a different look. You could swap the main characters between any Pokémon game and it would make zero difference.

 

[Devalue]

Yes? Expects very little from the main character. Provides someone for other, more prominent characters to bounce off of. Holds no strong opinion on this, however.

Would be okay with voice acting, especially with several voice options. Mitigates the odds of an awful voice dragging the experience down. Please stay largely out of battles, though. Accepts cut-ins for moments like the last Pokemon. Becomes repetitive and irritating if the characters yelled their move choice every time. Searches for a "Disable Voices" feature in that case.

 

[agravedigger]

I'd like it! sometimes I'd prefer to control a shaped character much rather than seeing it as "me". this is present in Digimon Story games, for example. the gameplay there is fun and surprising because the MC sometimes blatantly blurts out unexpected and silly stuff - that made Cyber Sleuth and Hacker's Memory for me :) there is no voice acting for the player character there, but it'd be just extra points from me!

 

[ReKoil]

Actually speak? Not really.
I would like text dialogue of what you as the player say though, rather than the usual spamming A to get through 'dialogue' (which is 98% of the time just someone talking to you... that's more of a monologue lol). There are sometimes when you get a prompt and a choice, but those decisions never matter. Guess I kinda want more of RPG like dialogue, like say in Fallout or Elder Scrolls, where you walk up to someone, interact with them and get a bunch of dialogue options.
Don't see that ever happening though lol

 

[Duck]

I personally don't care for pants type main characters anymore, so, sure, especially since Pokemon games rely on the illusion of choice too much nowadays. I don't mind having the main character be a fully realized character instead of just a simulacrum.

Most times they already want the game to go a very specific way and if the main character helps that, I'm all for it.

I personally don't care that much about voice acting in particular, and would be fine with text / dialogue trees.

 

[Elite Overlord LeSabre™]

IDK, I kinda like imagining my characters with their own personalities. For example, in SwSh, I made it throughit by making my character curse like a sailor at Hop whenever he showed up and call him a deluded twit whenever he suggested he was her "friend." That game would be insufferable if the character was given dialogue which suggested they actually *were* friends with that loser.

With that said, if Charles Martinet voiced the protagonist, and they said, "WAH everybody cheated! Next time <trainer's name> cheat too!" after being defeated, I'd purposely lose battles just to hear that.