Here's hoping Subnautica 2 goes back to the silent protagonist.

[(☞ ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)☞]

A large reason why players prefer the first game over Below Zero is that you could project yourself onto the character because they never spoke.

And a large reason why people didn't like Below Zero was that the dialogue was honestly pretty cringe.

[Rimuchi]

it was just not written as well as Subnautica and the biomes were very jarring in one sec ice fields then sudden shift. 1 had a little of that but not as much most blended together more. The map was not as deep. and the leviathans were not as intimidating. here is hoping they can bring the creepy back.

[Catalytic]

Silent has the advantage of letting the player role-play. The player creates the internal dialogue. The only time the character really needs to speak is if he's giving an aside (theater term) to the player (inventory's full, need more energy, you're about to die, fix it bruh!). Further, if the premise of the game is that you're marooned as the only survivor on an alien planet, it should be silent. Who are you going to talk to other than to yourself? There's a psychological element there that adds to immersion.

Given that SN2 is going to have Co-op, the player's character must be able to speak to his companion. It can be limited to the basic notifications, a bit like the AI was in SN1, to preserve the effect. Let the players themselves talk to each other in real life. Build in a voice chat feature for online play to support this.

To be fair, there are advantages to doing a voiced protagonist. The developers can tell you a story. They can give you important information and context, if that's what they want to do. We've all played such games.

The question is what kind of game experience do the devs want to create? One similar to SN1 where the player is left very much alone to figure it out, or a guided story more like so many conventional games where you move from cutscene to cutscene?

I'm obviously a fan of the former. However, if they're going to insist on a story, I will ask that they please take the time to think it out thoroughly beforehand. Storyboard it. Script it. Review it and ensure it's compelling. Think a bit like a movie director, because if you think about it, what you're producing in that case is a movie in which the player is the main character. Make sure that the dialogue is snappy and always serves to move the plot forward. Each scene, each interaction with the audience has a purpose, and choose a moral of the story, something that you're trying to explore and do it with openness and honesty, avoiding preaching. SN's universe is a platform suitable for such a thing, but in our world today, the standard to be really compelling (without p...ing off at least half your potential market audience) is very high. Please avoid the situation with BZ where the story was rewritten midstream, the entire writing team was replaced and a new team brought in on an impossible deadline and given almost no creative freedom. It was a disaster, and an avoidable one.

[macheifach]

I absolutely agree with OP. The fact, that there basically was not one interaction with another human, was incredible immersive, like a Sci-Fi Robinson Crusoe fantasy. The feeling of loneliness and thus immersiveness was only enhanced by the fact, that the only human voices you ever heard, were from people long gone (or about to go, in case of the Sunbeam). There was something incredible magical and absorbing about it all, that I have never experienced in a video game before. I call this types of Games "Zen-Games". And then there's the overall sound design, that was so perfect. Please, don't screw it up, devs. Don't make it a cinematic experience, make it even a deeper "Zen-Game".

[Ironbeard]

The first game captured more of the fear of being alone, hopeless and isolation underwater than the second felt were missing. The idea of beauty in the dark really describes subnautica. So much time on land in Below Zero really ruined it for me. The fear of running out of oxygen was more present in the first game, and felt trivial sequel. The layers of underwater maps also I think added a lot, where in the second game you could almost always just come up for oxygen or park your vehicle close for air. My only regret of the first subnautica is the replay value was limited with hand crafted maps.