Why can't role playing video games have talking protagonists?

[Dennis Reynolds 18,658]

Talking about ones with character creation here, of course.

 

I bought and tried two different role playing video games recently, Xenoblade Chronicles X and Monster Hunter: World, and I do not understand why we have mute protagonists in RPGs from the mid-late 2010s  I mean, I know it would take longer to add, say, three different male and female voices to choose from each (which games like this do have, but so far they're basically just grunts and such) but I think it would add a lot to said games. I don't dislike the silent heroes exactly, and I certainly understand and find it easy to accept in older games like KOTOR or even Skyrim, I'm just surprised voice acting isn't more widely used in this day and age. They could even have silence as an option for those who prefer it.

 

[Kenya 2,704]

Mass Effect does which is great. Makes the gameplay a lot smoother, tbh. I can't imagine having a game where they wouldn't have that? Sounds awful, tbh.

[Jake 19,499]

Didn't know Xenoblade Chronicles X had a silent protag  I just became a major fan of the series after playing XC1 on Switch for the first time  Finding out XCX has a silent protag after the first game doesn't is just... weird design. I love it in the Persona/SMT series though.

[Kirjava 8,966]

Budget reasons most likely.

Honestly, having grown up with Dragon Age: Origins and KOTOR I found voice acted RPGs like Mass Effect weird at first. Idk, I don't hate the non-talking protagonist. It gives you the opportunity to imagine their voice and way of speaking however you want.

[Max 16,200]

Guild Wars 2 outsold  

[Chris 58,351]

I haven't played any rpgs outside of the Elder Scrolls

[Kylie 114,728]

Agreed! I play World Of Warcraft and we have certain commands where we can talk, like when we type "/silly" they tell a joke, but all the female and male voices sound the same, it only changes per race. It's not a requirement for WoW to play, but it's a nice way of styling that a lot of users I know would appreciate.