Say something, Crono!

by William Kearney

There are many classic games that we all know and love, and some that we don't. An example of the former is Chrono Trigger, and the latter, the Breath of Fire series, the Shining Force series, and a number of others. The thing that these games have in common is that, other than an occasional player-chosen line of dialogue here and there, the character does not say anything during the entire game. I ask, what is the point of this? There are three possible reasons I can think of.

I suppose I will never know for sure, but possibly, the people who write the scripts for some games just get tired of writing more lines and simply give up on the main character because it is an accepted tradition. This robs players of the enjoyment of getting to know their main character. There is a way to justify this, and that leads me to my next point...

Some companies will justify their lack of a main character having the ability to speak by telling gamers that you are supposed to define the main character and how he reacts to certain situations etc. They fail to realize that there are not NEARLY enough choices in most RPGs for a player to get a clear definition of who their main character is.

Yes, some companies think a mute hero adds to the fun factor of their game. Tell me, when Chrono is resurrected by the Chrono Trigger, basically the turning point of the game, do you think it would be more effective when Marle/Lucca is pouring her heart out to him for him to just SIT there stupidly, or to react with whatever character he may have had, whether serious, joking, or romantic.

So, after considering these options, I fail to see how a gaming company can justify a mute main character. Luckily, we are moving away from this trend and I don't see it rearing its ugly head as much. However, I believe that we as gamers need to make in painfully clear that we want a main character who has dialogue and who we may actually care about as a character!