Replaying again. Thoughts on Artyom speaking.

[TimLM]

I am just in the process of replaying these great games (Awesome books too) and I started thinking about the shame that the developers did not include Artyom speaking, the sole exceptions being between levels and one time in game, when he says: "F***!", as the train cart is about to crash on top of him.

People generally say things like "immersion" and a long the lines of that. But that is just nonsense, this is based of a book. We play as the character Artyom he should speak.

Granted, I wouldn't change it now, as I've gotten used to it, but I remember the first time playing it. It just takes you out of the immersion and you are reminded you are playing a game. Same thing with Half-Life.

"But when the character is not speaking, it is because the character is you"

Sure, makes sense.... not....... as I generally answer when people speak to me.

Anyways, just my random thoughts.

[Sovereign]

I don't think it's a big problem but I too would prefer if Artyom spoke during gameplay. He's actually a pretty good character going off the books and his ingame journal entries and narration and I would love to see him actually interact with the other characters other then just staring at them.

[Jig McGalliger]

Yeah, the one time he spoke during gameplay, they removed for Redux. My one major gripe about Redux.

Link in Zelda (all of them) is a notoriously silent protagonist.

[TimLM]

Yes, they removed his voice in Redux during the train cart crash. Which is too bad. Not to mention the new voice actor wasn't as good as the original. The Russian is still fine, now I can't get used to the english since I only play it in russian.

And yes, that silence just ruins so much of the immersion, but as I previously stated, now I've gotten used to it in the Metro series. But I just remember how off putting it was, when I started them up the first time.

[John Clark]

Could you Dev team make Exodus Atyam can talk and decision like Mass Effect? Will be great game ,FPS interactive novel inspire by Dmitry Glukovsky. This topic is awsome.: )

[John Clark]

Gordon and Atyam are not same people.but just say the next game focus on Original Novel perspective.If it's not .the game are gonna be like movie triology that best on early episode but later is bad mutants .hardcore fans will get away

[John Clark]

i dont mean to be foundamental.i mean essenial of Glukovsky wanna tell us in novels

[TimLM]

Well, nobody is talking about talking books.

Also when you talk about: "It's an important tool to let the player be the character. And voice would kill it." is just completely wrong.... at least for Metro 2033. Maybe in Half-Life what you say makes sense but not in Metro 2033. Gordon Freeman was created as a blank slate without personality, whereas Artyom is a full fledged human, with hopes and dreams, opinions and trauma from his past with desires to remember his mother etc that makes him himself and not just you - the player. Even the game developers disagrees with you as Artyom SPEAKS a lot in between missions and comes with his own opinions.

Imagine The Witcher 3 and Geralt didn't talk. You PLAY as Geralt and you play as Artyom.

Maybe the Saints Row series is more in line of playing as yourself since, the character has no name and you create him/her physically to your liking.

But in the other games you play as an already esstablished character, so yes.... the quiet characters often ruin immersion, especially when tyhey are already fleshed out personalities.

I mean Artyom even has a diary in this new version FULL of his opinions on things, so he clearly is not supposed to be you like in Saints row... and maybe Half-Life.

[Jig McGalliger]

There is nothing wrong with the silent protagonist. The devs have a core philosophy in not detracting the player from being Artyom by developing too much of him. You get the diary pages and loading screens to help guide your feelings and flesh out the theme, the rest is all YOU.

This is why Artyom isn't even the main character, the Metro is, followed by Dark Ones, Khan, Miller, Anna, Bourbon, Ulman, etc.

In Exodus the train will be the main character.

[TimLM]

Nothing wrong it, true. Just weird when he is already an established character with his own personality unlike Gordon Freeman.

Imagine Geralt being mute...

And like I said previously, I wouldn't change the game if for some reason I was able too.
It is just my random thoughts.

The S.T.A.L.K.E.R series is a fine example of silent protagonists for example.

[Hugh Mungus]

Nobody has yet mentioned that Artyom says "Sh#t" quietly if you manage to overheat the B@stard :)

[LeoDuke]

Doom guy hasn't spoken once and he's a pretty good character :P

[VoodaGod]

100% agree with you, especially after reading the books it seems a waste to not flesh out artyom as a character by making him talk. especially when he talks about his feelings & motivations in his diary & between levels anyway.
If Metro was a story in which the player doesn't play an essential character to the story i can understand having a silent character, but not when you have a character that (in the original story) talks his way through most of the metro and convinces others to help him with his cause

[Jig McGalliger]

Originally posted by VoodaGod:

100% agree with you, especially after reading the books it seems a waste to not flesh out artyom as a character by making him talk. especially when he talks about his feelings & motivations in his diary & between levels anyway.
If Metro was a story in which the player doesn't play an essential character to the story i can understand having a silent character, but not when you have a character that (in the original story) talks his way through most of the metro and convinces others to help him with his cause

One of the core philosphies of Metro as a video game (not as a novel) is to create an introspection on your feelings about the theme based on your actions (probably one of the only aspects where the games and novel intersect); not force the character (you) to feel what Artyom does, but give you the idea that not everything is solved with a bullet. Do you continue mankind's cycle of war or get woke and break the paradigm?

The diary pages/loading screens are to lead the player towards canon Artyom's feelings. These points of inflection make the core message of the theme (mentioned above) clearer that would otherwise be very, if not completely, opaque. This directly correlates the themes between mediums that I don't think could have been done any better (or easier). It really gives notions to the book that could have been argued heavily by Glukhovsky or agreed to wholeheartedly by 4A. I presume the latter.